“WHO IN THE HELS ARE YOU?”
Lucas sat up with a jolt to see Polimathras bowing repeatedly and mumbling;
“Pardon me madam Nyx.. My sincerest apologies. Please excu..”
Korah was standing on the other side of the fireplace pointing an accusatory finger at him. Lucas began laughing, but immediately stopped when Korah got out her axe.
“Whoah, Korah. I brought him here last night. Sorry, I would have introduced you but I didn't want to wake you.”
Korah looked at Lucas, threw another sideways glance at Polimathras, then back to Lucas.
“Well then, do that.”
“Right, this is Pollimathras, but his friends call him Polly.”
“Ah My Lord, please, my nam..”
“Why does he look like that?” Korah interrupted.
“Polly is part of my Brood, he is actually part spider.”
“Wow, you can make people?”
“Well, I mean, maybe, but in his case I just made a body for him. Because… he was living in a crystal. It’s kind of a long story, but it was part of the deal that got us a backdoor into Caleb’s camp. I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to end up, and well, this is what happened. So he's with us now.”
“Right... It is nice to meet you Polly. Sorry for scaring you."
She said, giving an open smile to Polimathras and putting away her axe.
Suddenly she turned back to Lucas; “Did you see the furry pile we made for you!?” She gestured to the huge pile of paralysed forest animals.
“Not bad, hey? You should have seen what it took to bring that Elk down. Incredible beast, it was so fast! I will tell you the story next time we sit for a fire.”
“Well you did a great job. Now, if you two will excuse me, I have some work to do.”
The night hunt had been dragging back their catch over the last few hours of the early dawn. Lucas sat himself next to the mound they were building and considered how to make the best use of his resources. The Combat Spiders were easily the most efficient transformation of Mana into killing power, but they required support. The Scouts provided vital intelligence on the enemy, while the Brawlers provided shock-force and prevented the formation of effective defences. Lucas decided on a ratio of two Scouts and one Brawler to six Combat Spiders. In this way he could form self sufficient assault squads that could act independently. There was only one Combat Spider left from the early days before he began granting them the Map ability, his first ever Combat Spider. He recognised it easily by the scars it had accumulated over many battles. It was currently chewing on a bit of raw bear, having just returned from the nocturnal hunt. He called it over. Without the Map skill it wouldn't be able form part of a squad, so it would be his personal guard from now on.
Lucas got out his eggs and Brood nexus. He pulled up the templates he had been using for the various forms of spider and made sure that each of them now had access to the Map, which would be crucial to having them co-ordinate properly. He extracted the squad hierarchy behaviour from the Ambusher template, and isolated it from any of the Ambusher’s other behaviours. Applying this pattern to the Combat Spiders and the Brawler should make them defer to the Scouts authority. Having the Scouts as squad leaders made sense, since they have direct access to intelligence and wouldn't participate in the fighting themselves. He did want them to be smarter if they were going to be the ones determining their squads strategy, but that was something he knew how to handle.
Lucas pulled up the Scout template and stuffed a big old human cerebral cortex into it. He left the spider brain intact, creating a hybrid organ that allowed the spider to access the human brain’s capacity for imagination and complex reasoning while preserving the Arach instincts. The Scout got considerably larger since the new brain matter doubled its body size. It also looked a lot less like an Arach, and more like a bloated tick. He increased the size and power of its legs, balancing out its body so the extra mass wouldn't slow it down. Next he granted it the Analyse ability. Then he increased its Spirit to 4 and then 5. Gaining 5 Spirit would upgrade Analyse to provide detailed information and grant Stealth the ability to maintain slow movement. 6 Spirit would be even better, but upgrading to 6 cost double, so 5 would do for now. The new design was twice as expensive as the original Scout and filled a different role entirely, so rather than replace the template he named the new design ‘Strategist’. He modified a few eggs to the new design so the little embryos inside could start getting used to their new bodies in the dream scape while he continued working.
Next he opened the Combat Spider. Thinking over his options he realised he had a new pattern to use since his last fight. He tried to add the ‘Combat Prescience’ pattern, but got an error message from his interface. “The ability Combat Prescience is an evolution of the ability “Analyse” and requires 6 Spirit to function.”
It would cost 14 Mana to bring the spider's Spirit up to 6, then another 2 to grant it both Analyse and Combat Prescience. That took the total cost from 8 to 24. He wasn't sure if a spider with Combat Prescience would be as valuable as three without, but he was quite sure it was overkill for killing Caleb’s mercs. In the last fight, one Combat Spider was already more than capable of killing the mercs in a one on one fight. If he could find a way to make it more cost efficient later he could explore that option.
Next he brought up the Brawler. He gave it the Map ability so it could coordinate with the Strategist properly. The Brawler had 4 Spirit by default, one more than the Combat Spider. Being already 1 point closer to the necessary 6 meant he could grant his Brawlers Combat Prescience by increasing their Mana cost from 29 to 41. That was definitely worth it, since the Brawler represented a significant Mana investment already. Combat Prescience would synergise perfectly with it's 360 degree vision and ability to deflect attacks from all directions. Combined with its Regeneration, this would allow it to leverage it's power to incredibly formidable levels. The grappling net and stun harpoon that caused it problems in the last fight could both have been predicted and mitigated by Combat Prescience. In fact, all conventional forms of combat would be practically useless against it. Again he modified several eggs to the new design, giving them a chance to get used to their new powers in their dream training.
Satisfied with his work, he withdrew himself from the Nexus. Having predicted it's master's needs, Digger had been excavating a sacrifice pit on its own initiative while he worked, earning a thumbs up from Lucas. He began tipping the creatures into it one by one. Brawler trotted over when Lucas was considering how to move the Giant Elk. In a totally unnecessary display of strength, Brawler lifted the thing over its head entirely, before tossing it in. Before long the bottom of the pit was a mottled mess of different kinds of fur, hooves, paws and dull eyes.
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Lucas pulled out his Nexus and eggs, then gave the order for death. Power began to flood into the Nexus. The spider's read the intention from his Aura and kept the killing to a steady pace, preventing him from having to summon a Fractal to handle the Mana flow. Soon one new Brawler, six new Combat Spiders and three Strategists joined the Brood. The Strategists came out last, and Lucas noticed a significant difference in their Aura. After hatching they sat in stunned bewilderment. It reminded him of the giga-brain spider that still lurked in the darkness a few days away. They were not deconstructing reality with pure reasoning like it had, but they were equally bewildered by the sudden need to understand the context of their existence. The other spiders seemed to simply accept everything on face value, so this was apparently a characteristic unique to human brains. Lucas spoke to them, knowing they would not understand his words, but would grasp his meaning from the level of nuance they could read in his Aura.
“Welcome to existence. I am your Broodlord. We have many enemies and few friends. I am building an army to secure our right to exist in this world. You are my thinkers and leaders. Each of you will be granted a squad of warriors and your purpose is to figure out how to get the most out of their potential. I'm going to leave for a while, in the meantime I want you to separate our forces between you three and begin combat exercises. Your priority is to familiarise yourself with our fighting capabilities and ways to coordinate with each other for mutual support. Your first battle starts in four hours.”
Their thirsty little minds drank in his words as he gave desperately needed meaning to their lives. The relief in their Aura's made him feel a pang of guilt that he had not done more for the Giga-Brain Spider. They scurried over to the other Arachs, who were now all gathered in the camp. The other Arach’s seemed surprised, but immediately deferred to their authority. Their brains were modelled on his own, creating a familiarity to their thought patterns that helped the other spiders accept them as an extension of the Broodlord’s will. His final fighting force was now three squads, each consisting of one Brawler, six Combat Spiders, one Strategist and two Scouts. And then there was Digger, who was fidgeting nearby and waiting for an opportunity to dig a hole.
“So Lucas, the big battle is today, yes? What is the plan? I kick in the front door, is that it?” Korah called out from across the campsite.
“Well..” Lucas began, but Polimathras interjected.
“If I may, My Lord, Madam Nyx. I have a map of the Slavers' compound here.”
He picked up a bit of animal skin that he had somehow dried out overnight. He had etched into it with a bone and some charcoal to sketch out a detailed map. It showed a roughly oval shaped compound with a large dig site and many square shaped buildings. Polimathras pointed out the markings that indicate the fortifications the Slavers would likely retreat to when the fighting started, as well as their sleeping quarters and what entrances to the buildings could be locked or not via the Relic.
Korah clapped Polimathras on the shoulder.
“Good work Polly. It is very nice.”
The three of them squatted around the map and deliberated on how they would handle different circumstances depending on how the Slavers reacted to the invasion.
With all the plans now in motion, Lucas and his Guard Spider went to enter the tunnels. Polimathras ran to catch up to him.
“My Lord, may I accompany you? I am not needed here.”
“Sure, Polly. Let's go.”
As they walked along the now familiar uniform tunnels Polimathras spoke up again.
“My Lord, in the interests of being able to defend myself and serve you better I did some tests last night and came up with a list of small modifications I would like you to make to my body. Is that possible?”
“Sure, but after we have dealt with the slavers. For now, just stay with Pog and keep out of the fighting. I'd like you two to come up with a list of recommendations for how we might use the Relic to secure a position for ourselves here. I'd especially like it if you could find a way for me to support a large army. My Arachs require a lot of food and the forest will get hunted dry trying to maintain substantial numbers.”
Polimathras began making chattering sounds again, his Aura was letting off a suspenseful joy, like someone about to ride a roller coaster.
“Does that make you happy Polly”
“It does My Lord. Truly I am perfect for this task you give me. Every power in this world will seek our destruction, once they realise what we are, what we are capable of. But I know each of them. Their clockwork minds are rigidly defined, tick, tick ticking the rhythm set for them by knowledge of the future. With eyes on the horizon they will never see the shadows around them growing deep and dark. We will grow fast My Lord.”
By this point Polimathras’ Aura was beaming with exhilaration. Lucas studied it as they walked. A fire of ambition was burning like the heart of an engine as his mind churned over calculations. Echoes of toppling empires and the crumbling edifices of ancient institutions flickered like impressions as he plotted a path to bathe the Brood in glory and grandeur. He seemed... in his element, happy.
Polimathras paused when he noticed Lucas studying him.
“Does something bother you My Lord”
“No Polly, you just live your best life ok?”
“Ahh, yes My Lord”
Pog was making odd honking sounds when they reached the Relic Chamber.
“Hello Pog. How are you feeling?”
“Wonderful Master. I have new functions online, they should make you happy. But I need Power Crystals, and oil. Hello Polly, you were right, it does feel good.”
Polimathras nodded as Lucas brought out three of the six Power Crystals he had stashed in his inventory and then simply looked at Pog’s monstrous form.
“Over here Master.”
A segmented appendage that had grown out of the side of the Relic was wiggling like a forefinger, beckoning him over. Lucas walked over and saw a large oesophagus that was lined with hundreds of small black fangs, like the mouth of a lamprey. Lucas put a crystal in the opening and watched the little fangs as they worked in rhythmic unison to ferry the object up the oesophagus, a bit like how a centipede's legs work. Pog let out a groan of joy, but whatever he was using to speak was made out of brass so it sounded something like a trombone or a tuba. One by one Lucas fed the crystals into the oesophagus and listened to the brassy resonance of delight coming from Pog as he did something with them inside his massive machine-body.
“Did you say you need oil?”
“That's right, Master. I don’t have enough oil to lubricate my moving parts.”
“Can you just… you know.. Produce some kind of slime with your body.” Lucas asked.
“No, I can't, you didn't give me enough slime making things.
Lucas wasn't confident that he could design a lubrication system inside Pog’s already massive and complex body.
“Well I guess I could create some kind of ‘oil sack’ spider that does nothing but eat and generate motor oil. It could crawl around you like a maintenance bot squirting oil in… places. Anyway, we can get to that later. You said you have something to help against the Slavers?”
“Oh yes, you are going to like this.”