He walked past the wall of corpses that had started to rot, maybe collecting them all in one place wasn’t such a good idea.

He had been trying his best to maximize the number of Quaraxis he could kill, before he was forced out by its dwellers. In order to do that, he had to hide the bodies somewhere. He couldn’t think of a better place so this would have to do.

Ragnar yawned as he came out of the temporary hideout.

His sleep quality has generally been good but he does get disturbed sometimes. Those Quaraxis make so much noise while moving that it was really not a challenge for Ragnar to wake up and prepare for a battle whenever one approached.

They had no chance of catching him off-guard in his sleep unless they worked on their legs.

He decided to head deeper into the caves just like he had been doing for the past two days. The concentration of Quaraxis increased with the depth.

During these 3 days, he had also figured out the abilities of the Quaraxis. Well not really, because they all had different abilities. But he did figure out that they were all related to the Earth element.

This was a usual pattern seen in creatures that lived in large groups. Their abilities usually originated from a single Element. And that element could be anything, doesn’t have to be one of the five natural elements.

After reaching a diversion, he stopped near a crystal that was glowing much more intensely than the ones near his hideout. But it only brightened around 3 metres of its vicinity.

Taking out a mandible from around his waist, he channelled his shockwaves through it, until it became completely still, then he carved an X into the crystal. After doing this, he continued forward.

He had been marking the routes he takes. This had prevented him from getting lost, at least 5 times by now. He was proud of himself when he first came up with this idea. But there was something else as well that he had come up with. And for this one, he had to marvel at his own genius.

He sent out high frequency sound waves in every direction as he walked past the marked crystal.

Although he did not have the senses that his Shifted form had, something much better had entered his arsenal.

Echolocation.

Ragnar had learned about Dolphins before from Tristan. These intelligent creatures could use sound waves to navigate their environment. This gave Ragnar a spark of inspiration.

Considering he can send out sonic waves at very high frequency, it wasn’t a very hard task. With his affinity for waves, he was also able to sense it when they reflected back to him, especially because they were his own in the first place.

The first time he had tried it, his mind had gone into a sensory overload because of the large amount of information he had received, making him wretch as he laid on the ground. But it didn’t take him long to adjust. His mind and body seemed attuned to it.

The waves returned to him, informing him of any changes within a 50-metre radius of himself. He could have sensed further ahead but the network had too many obstacles that hindered his sonic waves. Even though he could not form an image in his mind, he could still sense any moving object and its location near him.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Ragnar was worried at first, that the Quaraxis might be able to locate him as well from the waves he sent out, but it turned out to be unfounded. This observation led him to dig deeper and his discovery made him appear dumb.

The Quaraxis did not have any auditory receptors in their body, none whatsoever. In fact, he had found out from testing that they were very attuned to sensing vibrations, using their antennas.

Ragnar let out a frustrated sigh.

That means, the things he had been trying to avoid, which would create too much sound were completely useless. On the other hand, the things he had been doing until now, which were using his shockwaves, they might be giving away his location to the Nest.

Now at least he was free to use his Echolocation to its fullest potential without worrying about the Quaraxis discovering him. As for his shockwaves, he had to use them whenever he wanted to deal damage. He just had to vacate that location immediately after.

He had reached quite deep inside the caves by now. The glow of the Crystals kept getting brighter the deeper he went. But it didn’t seem like they would ever be capable of brightening the whole cave.

At this point, Ragnar stopped.

Something seemed strange today. Even stranger than a Mutant hunting Quaraxis this deep into their nest.

Even after Ragnar had ventured this deep, there wasn’t any sign of a creature. Usually, he would have to look for a stray target when he came this deep inside, but today, he didn’t sense anything.

He tried to use his echolocation to sense as far as possible, but there were no movements.

It was impossible that he had killed most of the Quaraxis in the cave, instead it should be a drop in this ocean of Quaraxis. He was sure that he had only explored a miniscule part of this network of caves.

The silence gave him an eerie feeling, as if the atmosphere wasn’t already eerie enough.

This continued for more than 30 mins. Ragnar had never had to look for this long to locate a Quaraxi. He had reached a very deep part of the network, first time he came this deep.

The glow of the crystals was even brighter here, they seemed to be brightening consistently the deeper he went. The stalactites protruding from the ceiling were even more pronounced as if they would fall at any moment.

Ragnar could think of multiple reasons for this lack of activity in the nest.

Maybe they were having a special event today, what could be a special event for these ant-like creatures? Maybe a new Queen was being crowned? Or maybe it was hibernation time? If that was the case than it could be Ragnar’s lucky day.

However, there was another possibility. The Quaraxis might have become aware of his presence. But in that case, they should be sending out more Soldiers or scouts scavenging every corner of the Nest. So why aren’t they….

Ragnar felt like he was onto something but his thoughts were interrupted by his echolocation. He had sensed a new presence in his vicinity.

Its steps were slow today, maybe a bit too slow. But by the intensity they hit the ground and splashed the water, Ragnar could deduce that it was a Quaraxi Soldier. Which means it was a creature of the Arcane Rank.

Ragnar had been capable of killing every Creature he had encountered until now. His Shockwave blast was pretty strong. He was strong enough to kill creatures above his Rank even in his human form. But the battles weren’t clean like in his Shifted form, to say the least.

He had been able to avoid any debilitating injuries but scratches were not uncommon on his body anymore.

He hid behind a boulder and stopped any vibrations from leaking out of his body. Now that he was aware that the Quaraxis could sense vibrations, he was keeping note of such things. Having an ability with which he could control the vibrations was somewhat helpful as he could completely prevent anything from leaving his body.

He waited as the steps got louder and louder. The intensity in those steps seemed higher than what he had felt from any other Quaraxi until now. But its speed confused him.

Why was it walking so slowly?

When it finally came into Ragnar’s gaze, he got the answer to that question.

The Quaraxi seemed…. Alert. It observed its surroundings as if looking for something.

But why? Had the Ants become aware of his presence? Just from the few he had killed? In order to become so alert from such a small disturbance in the Nest, they would need someone with a brain.

Which means that Ragnar’s doubts were not unfounded until now. They did have a Dread or an Elder leading them.

‘FUCK’

Ragnar’s journey in this Nest might have to come to an End