The group was quiet as they continued following the underground pathway. Regina knew that they were all considering what just happened, and what they’d just heard. She knew the others were feeling ambivalent. Max, in particular, was concerned — mostly for her and the hive, she thought. Regina didn’t feel like talking to them about it right now, either.

Actually, now that she paid attention, she realized that most of them were speaking to other people in the psychic link. Regina left them to it, she wasn’t going to listen in. Instead, she focused on their surroundings.

The tunnel was opening up into a larger chamber. At this point, it looked more like something she would vaguely expect to see underground, something manmade instead of a natural cave system or the like. She wasn’t sure if this was originally built underground or not, though. The walls turned into smooth, worked stone, possibly some kind of old cement, which might have been used to build aboveground or underground. The sparse moss on the ceiling had clearly grown there later, although it might have been brought there by someone. It had been growing scarcer, though, making it even harder to see, although her eyes had fully adapted to the darkness by now.

“What are we going to do now?” Max asked quietly.

Regina cocked her head and listened, assessing how far the echoes traveled. Not too much, fortunately.

I guess we explore our surroundings, she said. There are probably monsters around, though. At least, it’s better to be safe and assume there are. That means we should stay together, and stay vigilant. It’s probably better not to use artificial light if we can avoid it, either.

While they walked, she quickly checked in with Tim and a few other drones. Luckily, she wasn’t far enough away from them for the distance to be a problem using the psychic link, not at her level. It did mean she had less range towards the east of their territory, though, and some of the drones she’d sent there would be out of range now. Luckily, she’d given them clear instructions, and the Swarm Drones would come back soon, as well as be checked by sapient hive members.

The range limit was still a bit of a pain, but she had to acknowledge that it could be a lot worse. Her sapient drones didn’t lose any of their intelligence and they could still communicate in other ways.

As if on cue, a System notification popped up. Regina flinched, almost expecting the light to illuminate her surroundings and draw some kind of monster, but of course it didn’t.

You have leveled up

She tugged on her mandibles and shook her head. The Experience to push her over the edge must have come from a relatively large training ‘battle’ Tim had staged in the mountains, to keep their forces sharp and ultimately prepare to carry on the war with the gnomes. It wasn’t as good as real combat, of course, but this kind of training still gave Experience.

I’m going to be a little distracted for a sec, Regina warned the others with her. Just leveled up. She acknowledged their excited response and then focused on the next screen the System showed her. Finally level 50.

You may now select your seventh Class Skill. Please choose one of the following: Psychic Reach: Your mind’s reach is the limit of your power, and its instrument. Once per day, you may push past your normal limits, expanding the range of your psychic link by half. Your psychic ability will be sharpened and you may focus your psychic connection to your hive into one of your drones, which will considerably boost all of their stats. This effect will last for level/2 minutes. At higher levels of mastery, the range and strength of the boosting effect will be strengthened further. Hive’s Paths: Your Hive’s diversity is a strength. The Evolution paths open to your drones will increase in variability. Rare Classes have a slightly higher chance of being selected for Swarm Drones. At higher levels of mastery, you may direct their growth more directly, setting goals for your Hive’s Swarm. Hive’s Ranks: Your Hive is a multitude. Its numbers are the key to your growth and power, and constraints on it shackles you would slip. Increase the Hive limits for both Inner Hive and Swarm by a percentage equal to your current level.

Regina frowned as she considered the options. The expected one was Psychic Reach, which she’d already seen once before, so it wasn’t surprising that it would pop up again. If she didn’t take it now, it wouldn’t show again. Still, she didn’t think it was really worth it. It was a bit of a weird skill that did two things at once, but the range booster seemed to be too limited in its timeframe to be as useful as it could be. And it didn’t say how much a drone would be boosted exactly. Kind of interesting it specifically says it has to be a drone, though, Regina reflected. Does this mean I might be able to use the psychic link to boost them even without a Skill? Or is it just some System stuff? Something to think about, anyway.

The second option was … pretty good, she supposed. She certainly wouldn’t complain if it was the only real option she got. Unlike in some games she dimly remembered, rarity didn’t correspond with increased benefits in the System, at least in most cases. The increased variability and chance of rarer - probably more specialized - Classes would still be very valuable. And if she could learn to actually influence how her Swarm Drones Evolved, at least to nudge them towards having more drones in a specific role, that would be awesome.

She was too focused on the last option to really give the other two much consideration, though. From the moment she first read it, she realized she basically had to take this one.

To be fair, she wasn’t at her hive’s limits even now. Well, she was slowly getting close to the sapient drone limits. Especially if she considered the Swarm Drones who were counting against that number when they became sapient. Still, this was such an obvious advantage. She was leveling quickly now because of the war, but that was presumably going to slow at some point, and eventually, she would run up against the limits. I didn’t expect to get a Skill like this. Like, ever.

“Was that you, Leian?” she muttered very quietly. “Thank you.”

“My Queen?” Max asked. “I think you should see this.”

Regina blinked and turned her attention to her surroundings again.

They had arrived at an intersection that led into a larger hall. Regina was slightly more interested in the stairway going up, though. It was almost hidden in a corner of the room, but still visible. What captured her attention was the sign hanging on the wall beside it. It was almost completely withered and rusted away, so the only thing she could still make out was what appeared to be the edge of an arrow. Any letters that might have accompanied it were gone. Still, it was something.

“I want to go up there,” she said. “Stay careful. There’s …”

Regina frowned and focused on her psychic senses for a moment. She hadn’t had nearly as much practice with them as she really wished she could. Since she’d almost continuously been surrounded by her drones in large numbers, it had made it impractical to try and sense any other minds near her. Now, she tried to look past the few of them with her and focus on the space beyond them, the underground structures.

“There are definitely monsters around,” she finally said. “A few things that are odd,“ - Those registered more on her magical than psychic senses - “but also a few weird monsters. We should probably stay together, although scouting this spot would probably be a good idea as well.”

“I’ll scout this hall and see if there’s anything beyond,” Max offered. “Ira, want to come?”

“Okay.”

Regina stood and waited as the two quickly walked into the hall. She closed her eyes to focus on Max’s senses, keeping a metaphorical hand on her magic as well, so she could quickly support them with a Spell.

It turned out not to be necessary, though. There were only more dark tunnels beyond.

Alright, Regina said. I can’t sense any minds or magic there for some distance. Come back and let’s check out the stairway.

They did, and Max insisted on leading the way again. Regina carefully climbed the steps after him, only sparing a moment to think about her Skill choice. I’ll increase my limits and I’ll just have to hope the path option shows up again next time, she decided. It should, most likely. It might be more tactically clever to choose it first and the limit expansion later, but I can’t afford to pass that one up.

The stairway didn’t go up very far. On the next level, they still found tunnels, but they looked a lot more like what Regina was familiar with.

“Like subway tunnels,” she muttered. “Or maybe underground parts of regular train tracks. We probably are getting closer to the old city, or the center of it.”

The train tracks in the center were rusted through, to the point that sometimes there was nothing but holes left. Although she supposed that might have been due to other factors rather than simple rust, as well. They were also bent out of shape, twisted and scattered. The group carefully spread out a little and started moving through the tunnel, taking care to step over the old metal pieces. Regina looked up to see only remnants of the electrical lines that would have gone along the ceiling.

“Let’s head in that direction,” she said, pointing at where she guessed the center of the city would be.

They walked in silence, keeping their eyes peeled and ears open. Regina was once more glad of the psychic link, which allowed her group to coordinate easily without talking. On the uneven ground, that helped, especially given the dim light. None of her drones were in any danger of hurting themselves or running out of stamina, luckily. She wished she’d had the presence of mind to send the two younger Workers, Baz and Ena, back, but that wasn’t helping now.

This had to be leading somewhere she should be familiar with. Regina frowned to herself as she walked, ignoring the headache starting to throb against her skull. She focused on her memory, trying to dredge up any hint of familiarity, any snippet of information about the layout of the city.

It took a while, and she even healed her headache once with magic, but in the end, Regina had a rough idea of the city’s layout. She still had no idea where she’d lived at the time, or anything else resembling personal information, but this was apparently factual enough to get a pass. Judging from what she could piece together, and keeping in mind that Leian had said they were in the outskirts, they shouldn’t be that far from what used to be the city proper. Of course, she still had no idea what had happened to it. Is more of it just lying underground, waiting to be discovered?

Just as she was starting to wonder if there was any point trying to get higher up, the tunnel they were following came to a stop. The glowing moss was actually growing sparser, which made it hard to see the threshold. Regina looked around, straining her eyes.

“Wait,” she suddenly said. “There’s a mind up ahead. It’s - angry? Aggressive, anyway. Not a person, though.”

“A monster?” Max asked, getting into a defensive position.

“Probably.” Regina shrugged. She was glad she’d even caught as much as she had, but she couldn’t see someone’s, or something’s, strength with her psychic senses. “It’s coming closer, from that direction,” she pointed.

Max turned and the others formed up, pushing the Workers to the back of the group. Ira stayed beside Regina, and she could feel the other mage preparing to cast a Spell.

A roar thundered through the tunnel, and then a crashing sound as something large and heavy barged towards them. Regina exhaled and released the Fireball she’d been forming.

It lit up their surroundings for a second as the Spell shot from her toward her opponent, giving her just enough time to take in her surroundings. They had reached what might have been a train station at some point long in the past, with cement walls that looked battered and chipped, and half its side caved in. Two stairways led upwards, probably having housed an escalator previously. The light also illuminated their opponent, a familiar monkey-like shape with pebbly skin and a large maw, although this one stood even taller than the last one she’d seen.

Tunnel Terror — Level 50

Regina’s Fireball missed its eyes, but still crashed into its head. The monster reeled back, blinking its tiny eyes and screeching at a higher pitch than before.

They couldn’t give it time to recover and resume its charge. In unspoken understanding, the group pressed the attack. Regina prepared a cast of Magic Missiles, while Max rushed forward, Charging at the Tunnel Terror. Before he reached it, ghostly blue armor flashed around him as Ira cast Magic Armor on him.

Max slashed at the monster, but it caught the attack on its forearm, receiving only a shallow slash. Max didn’t let it stop him, but thrust at it again, keeping its attention on him as he turned to the side.

Regina launched her Magic Missiles, watching while Ira repeated her Spell on the rest of the group. Her own attack hit the back of the creature’s head again, stunning it briefly.

Then it roared again, and this time the sound spread out like a physical wave, battering them. Regina shook it off after a moment and sent another Fireball. Max must have been hit meanwhile, staggering to the side, his armor flashing. But that allowed her Spell to find its target, and this time, it did hit the monster’s face.

Regina cast more Magic Missiles, curving them around to keep them safely away from Max. The rest of her group hesitated, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, and feeling determined to stay close and protect her. Regina had more than enough mana reserves to spam the Spell all day, though.

She started battering the monster down. It flinched and tried to turn to go after her, but Max caught its attention again. Harried by her attacks, it couldn’t muster a proper offense against him. Then, Regina finally caught its eye, and it writhed, its hand crashing against the wall.

Max struck when he had the opportunity. His blade-arm pierced its other eye, and then his axe swung into its neck. He dodged another wild swing, then struck it again. This time, the Tunnel Terror couldn’t muster a response.

Regina sighed and sent a final Magic Missile Spell at it to make sure it was dead.

“We kind of sucked this time,” she stated. “Still, this was surprisingly easy, all things considered.”

“We can do better,” Tia agreed, eying the fallen monster curiously. “I’m sorry I didn’t do anything, my Queen.”

“Don’t be silly,” Regina frowned at her. “You’re not here as a fighter.”

Max walked back over to them. “It wasn’t that much of a challenge, that’s true.”

Regina nodded slowly. “Not sure that’s a good thing,” she said. “Leian clearly didn’t want me here until I was at least this strong. That means, well, I’m pretty sure there’s something worse around.”