The Core

Level up [Appraisal]? That was easy enough to do.

To get it to [LV10] I'd just have to appraise a ton of things. However it was still stuck at [LV2] and that would take a while.

The last time, [Appraisal] got a slight increase and levelled quicker was when I trained it on the feline monster that was levels higher than myself, but there was some mental backlash in the form of pain. If I did the same now, since my pain resistance was much higher than before, it wouldn't hurt as much.

Perhaps levelling it this way would work faster.

Unfortunately, the only thing around me to appraise were the dusty cavern surroundings and the wasp that was already dead.

This trick only seemed to work on the living, because since then I'd been appraising creatures that were the same level as myself, lower, or ones that were already dead, and so far there was no mental strain and neither did [Appraisal] gain a level.

It seemed my progress could only be achieved through some measure of pain. I'd have to go back out of this old cavern to the outside tunnel to get practice on a live subject, perhaps I could even try this on the lizard to see how it goes. But for now this place was as safe as any.

The terrifying wasp was gone and due to its interference, the two other wasps I should have been wary of were gone also. There was still a chance that other wasps would enter the cavern, or for the terrifying wasp to make a return but the cavern's layout that was filled with many walls was one that was difficult to discern.

I was confident I would not be discovered as long as I kept up my vigilance.

I aimed [Appraisal] at my surroundings.

[Broken Cell Wall] [Dust] [Broken Cell Wall] [Old Wall] [Dust] [Old Wall] [Old Wall] [Abandoned Egg Cell] [Dust] [Abandoned Egg Cell]

There really was nothing to see. After so many mundane appraisal results I quickly grew bored. My eyes naturally fell on the dead wasp's corpse and I drew closer to it. I could eat it but since I didn't kill it directly I would gain no skills from it, which was a let down.

But there was nothing wrong with overeating, plus my MP needed to be refilled! So I nibbled on one of its arms but quickly withdrew at the sound of a loud 'clink' when my fangs struck shell like armour.

How was I supposed to eat something this hard?

I examined the wasp's body to look for weak spots. Its hardened shell was especially tricky, but under it the wasp was mostly soft tissue and fluid.

The long claw that sliced through it was absolutely terrifying to have created such a perfectly clean cut through such a tough body. I couldn't hope to recreate something like that, but even the tough shell had to have a weakness.

If I thought of it like a lobster, the shell was especially hard around its body to cover its soft inner parts, but the weak points laid at the joints of its legs where the shell wasn't fully hardened and still rubbery. The wasp was similar in this way.

When I pulled on its limbs they resisted for a time before I felt them tear. The stubs of its wings would also have this problem but the bulky wasp was unique in that it could not fly. I used appraisal on it to learn of its skills for defence if I came across another.

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LV11 Melior Hesperia

Specie: Ailith Vespoidea

HP: 0/98 Defence: 79

MP: 0/26 Intellect: 22

SP: 0/66 Magic: 28

Attack: 61 Agility: 44

Skills:

[Sting: LV3] [Scent: LV3]

[Compound Eyes: LV2]

[Bite: LV4] [Grip: LV4]

[Lift: LV5] [Claw: LV2]

[Pain Toxin: LV3]

[Paralysis Venom: LV3]

[Exoskeleton: LV4]

Title:

[Hive Builder]

Resistances:

[Fatigue Resistance: LV3]

[Fear Resistance: LV2]

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The appraisal results of the wasp were much worse than I imagined and the precarious reality of my situation became all the more apparent.

Where I had begun to convince myself it wasn't as strong, since it fell so quickly, the appraisal results showed the full picture, completely destroying that notion.

It was every bit stronger than I was, it just faced an even stronger opponent.

I let out a defeated sigh. "If that wasp is around, it will kill every single host I release."

I wasn't seeking Sensei's council, but I knew he could also sense my disappointment.

«I agree, it is too strong to face head on.»

His response was encouraging as usual.

"But it's not invincible." I muttered, trying to convince myself.

«It will keep destroying everything you send.» Sensei deadpanned. «It is futile to execute your plan with it still around.»

I didn't disagree with his statement, but what of it? It wasn't like I was facing the wasp head on.

"It's just one wasp, it can't prevent everything and it's not a Queen." There was no way I could know this myself, I was simply following my hunch and fishing for answers from him. "It has to leave the hive at some point to hunt."

Everything about the wasp from its figure and flight was built for speed and lethal attack. There was nothing suggestive of egg laying in its razor edged form.

When Sensei did not disagree, I knew my hunch was correct.

Rather than a queen, it had to be another form of hunting wasp, a guard or perhaps a commander. It was much smaller than the Queen's would be from the size of the egg clutches brought in from below.

To produce that many eggs, the Queen had to be significantly larger than the wasp, or at least twice its size. The weaker queen's egg clutch wasn't as large but the size of its eggs were the same, which ruled it out.

It was up to me to see my plan through. In the hive there was an abundance of two things, the wasps, and their hosts. If this wasp was too strong to subdue there were more than enough hosts to overrun it, and if it managed to beat those too, why not throw in some wasps!

The memory of my fear in its presence was far too embarrassing to forget. Even if there was only a slim chance of success I was determined to beat it.

After eating a bit of the wasp to recover my MP, I dragged its corpse away from where it originally fell to set it behind one of the walls that was still intact, hiding it for when I got hungry later.

Nothing else entered the cavern, from the entrance or the opening at the top so far, giving the old cavern a desolate and isolated look.

As I looked around the chamber, I kept wondering what the wasp was doing here in the first place. I aimed my [Heat Sense] at the hole at the top to detect any heat traces.

Like I'd done in the tunnels I pushed it to see further than normal, but this time I channelled it like I did with my [Heat Sphere], only rather than a detecting circle around me, it extended towards the ceiling like an arrow.

It only lasted for a second before my MP plummeted again, but a second was enough. There was no heat detected and the hole was just another continuous tunnel.

The wasp was really gone so I decided not to waste anymore time on it, focusing on appraisal instead.

Further from the hole, there was more. Hidden in a collapsed area of the cavern where many crumbled walls piled over each other. There was a little gap in the opening that was too small for anything larger than myself to fit through.

Entering it, I was brought to a whole new section. But this one was so old it made the cavern I was just in look luxurious. Covered with thick films of dust and other sandy debris, it looked like it had not had any visitors in years.

With far too many crumbled sections and broken walls it was difficult to crawl through but I continued until the uneven floor flattened out and a circular room with a low ceiling was revealed.

The area housed a number of tunnel entrances with some having crumbled into disuse, their openings blocked by debris and other matter. I scanned around for any heat traces, just to be careful and detected none. It was like this part of the hive had been forgotten, and when I aimed appraisal into the room it revealed something different.

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[Hive Core]

The first layer of the original hive. Every existing chamber in the hive has been built up from here as the central foundation.

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It wasn't safe for me outside since that wasp could return at any time, but it was completely sheltered and protected here since the entrance was so small. Since this was the centre, didn't this mean I could access any part of the hive from here? If only the tunnel walls weren't decayed or caved in.

I counted fifteen tunnels but only five of them had their openings unsealed. Entering one of these tunnels was a risk but it could also bring me closer to the exit.