Chapter 1154 Cap 1152: Swarm Power
I was returning to the city with everyone, in my hand I had a red and blue crystal that must weigh more than this Whale Golem we are using as a vehicle.
This red and blue Crystal is the blood of all the insects we killed, the amount of blood was too large and the lingering Aura as well as the massive Vitality still contained in all this blood was interfering with attempts to store it in a storage item, so I used Blood magic to compress it as much as possible before it crystallized and shortly afterwards I used space magic to compress the space around the Crystal further decreasing the size, unfortunately, the weight is still too great for a normal person to carry.
“Why don’t you eat that thing soon?” (Layla)
“Because my stomach still has limits.” (I)
“The blood looked kind of gross, especially the blue one.” (Orion)
“Insect-type monsters are strange, their blood by the way has no bloodline, only Queens have bloodlines, and many don’t even have intelligence.” (Ragnar)
“As we’ve seen before, the Death Locust Queens, like the rest of their species, have the unique trait of adaptation, so they can be found in even the worst possible places, which also alters their appearance.” (Ragnar)
“I couldn’t fight, but you describe them as Goblins, with the difference that their changes are more extreme.” (Diana)
“Was the fight difficult?” (Vanessa)
“Those things were annoying until the middle of the fight, they kept acting to slow me down, it was just a waste of time and energy, but strangely afterwards it got easier.” (Sakura)
“That’s because they killed an Insect Empress, but specifically the one my brother killed, the one that cut out his eyes.” (Elizabeth)
“I hadn’t even felt the presence of that thing, it was an attack that took me by surprise.” (I)
“An Insect Empress’s intelligence and Aura control are incredible, they have very strategic minds from birth.” (Elizabeth)
On the way back we talked about the battle, it was exciting and exhausting, but exciting to fight like that without having to think about others, just going all out that way was liberating.
We didn’t touch on the subject of the meeting or the things Astrid spoke to me and Elizabeth, that doesn’t matter to me that much, I can sympathize with your plight and even respect your devotion to your people, but I’m not going to commit to doing something risky for people I don’t know just out of the goodness of my heart.
When we got back I went straight to the Undead city where the Death Dragons were, I performed the Awakening Ceremony on them along with 4 Light Dragon Seals and bestowing the Aura of Life to each one as an experiment.
What emerged was 4 very large Dragon Eggs in black and white.
“I think I may have overreacted…” (I)
“Vanessa told me about her battle, she could have waited until tomorrow to do that.” (Karina)
“…” (I)
Sigh
“I wanted to test something, see how much my power alters the body and how it does it, I never stopped to try to understand the mechanics of the Awakening Ceremonies, I always think only about what I use and nothing else.” (I)
“Besides, these 4 Dragons have been here for a long time, we always have so much to do that I’ve already put them aside 2 times, I didn’t want to let this drag on any longer.” (I)
I look at the eggs, I can feel my Dragon bloodline in them, I also felt my Dragon Totem pulsate when I used my bloodline on them.
“Leave them to me, I’ll prepare everything for them, I know what they need.” (Karina)
“I leave it in your hands.” (I)
Saying that, I left there going to the city, I went straight to the mansion to sleep for a few hours, but the moment I relaxed my body and mind, the pain came.
It was a sharp pain that ended as quickly as it started, I didn’t understand what had happened and I sat in a meditation position at the same time to explore my body in search of any change.
It didn’t take long to realize that my Aura was a little different, it wasn’t an extra trait or increase in power to my Aura, it was more like an improvement on a trait I already had.
I explored this change for a while before trying to find any other changes in my body, but it seemed like this was the only change.
Sigh
“It’s been a while since I gained new power that way.” (I)
What changed in my Aura was exactly the ruler characteristic that was one of the first to be obtained, now it was much stronger becoming a more central focus of my Aura.
I used my identifying ability and found that I can now literally connect my Aura with other people’s, the explanation was vague but I remember the tangle of Auras from the bugs all contracted earlier.
The next day I went to talk to Natasha who I’m sure must have already fought several of these creatures.
“It’s called the Power of the Swarm.” (Natasha)
“Among insects hierarchy is not a choice but a mode of existence, an eternal instinct, those who possess the power to lead can and will control those below them as they wish.” (Natasha)
“So I can do it now?” (I)
“No, you may have the bloodline of an Insect Empress, but it’s not a true one, rulers of insect types must be born as such, everything about them be it mind, body, Aura, Authority, and Soul revolves around the power to lead those below them.” (Natasha)
“I once fought an Elder Insect Empress that controlled an entire world, I had to fight billions of insects for 8 years without rest, those things moved as if they were parts of a single creature, in the end, I never found that wretched Empress who fled before I could get my hands on her.” (Natasha)
“…” (I)
“I honestly don’t know how you’re going to use this ability, I don’t understand this kind of power focused on connection and control, you should look to Elizabeth to learn more.” (Natasha)
“I will do this.” (I)
—————–
Pov Haku (?????):
I was doing the month’s reports while my new assistant’s body was still being finished, I had gotten everything organized before I had to leave my lab.
“Is that all you have to declare, my daughter?” (Yntra)
“Yes, I am currently working on creating an assistant as you allowed me, great Yntra.” (I)
“You should change your plans a bit, I’m sending you to take care of Project Swarm.” (Yntra)
“My sister failed, didn’t she?” (I)
“As you predicted, your mind still exists and can be useful as a support in your new assignments, but your consciousness is in utterly shattered fragments.” (Yntra)
“That idiot, please say that Project Swarm’s collective mind is not lost.” (I)
“It’s still functional, but we’re losing people keeping it in a controlled state until you have a mind powerful enough to keep the mental anchor in just one place.” (Yntra)
“I’ve already taken care of that, I’ve asked our collaborator for the final piece for this, he should be back in a few more days with the order, then we can move forward with our plans.” (I)
“Don’t delay, I don’t want to lose too many on this project, even if they are expendable.” (Yntra)
“As soon as I have what I need, I’ll head there immediately.” (I)
As soon as I finished speaking the big eye bigger than my own body closes, so the brain it’s trapped in was reattached inside the Armored Giant’s body.
A creature created by Yntra using bones and shells, its body cannot be penetrated by anything we have, it also has many types of Spatial magic allowing it to defend itself and travel the universe between our scattered bases.
Its shape is similar to a fish, inside there is only meat treated when processing the Elves we put our hands on, this allows maintaining a stable energy flow for its functioning.
As soon as the great brain has been pulled into its jaws before closing the entrance, the space around it trembles before disappearing.
“Yntra should have listened to me, my sister didn’t have the patience to take on that kind of project, and because of that she almost lost the Swarm.” (I)
“Ma’am, I didn’t mean to interrupt, but your assistant woke up moments ago.”
“Already!? Did she destroy something? Did she try to kill herself? Is she trying to run away?” (I)
“No, she is standing where she was left and said wait for the lady, these are her body and mind readings.”
“Let me see.” (I)
I take the Crystal Tablet from her hands and analyze the information while walking towards the lab.
“The body seems to be operating in the patterns that I have stipulated.” (I) 𝓫𝓮𝒹𝓷ℴ𝓿ℯ𝓵.𝓬ℴ𝓶
“But the mind… these fluctuations represent hypnosis… these lines represent consciousness… but this pattern…” (I)
It seemed that the conscious mind was not subjugated by hypnosis, but somehow the two complement each other, theoretically, this is a plausible result, but it never happened, it would take a common moral anchor for these two sides to interact in this way.
“It doesn’t seem to be stable, it may cause many unforeseen factors in the mind like creating other personalities, I need to take care of this before leaving urgently.” (I)
With that, I went to my lab while I ordered the materials and tools I would need.
“My personal project is not ready, but it seems that I have no choice, I will have to use Symbiosis.” (I)
“I hate doing things on the fly!” (I)