He walked over to one of the fresher corpses and tore it into two from the middle. Then he cut out a piece of meat with a Mandible that he had taken from this very corpse.

With the meat in hand, he walked over to a skull that was kept on the ground. He had placed several of these skulls around his hideout. They were his water sources as they collected the water that dripped from the stalactites.

He picked up the skull along with the meat and then sat on his throne. He had to make an important decision during this meal. Whether to continue his adventure in this cave or to leave for a new one.

“um… I can decide that after I see their leader, I guess.”

Well, that was an easy decision. He ate the rest of his meal with random thoughts about what else he could do with his abilities.

If he used the shockwaves and sonic waves to get a big boost like he did in the fight with the Drone, then maybe he can leap over buildings and cover long distances with a single leap. That would have to wait though because he would be exhausted after a single leap. It used a lot of Essence at once so it did leave him exhausted.

He could also attack someone from a distance. Yeah, long range attacks would be cool. But doing it like he did with the crystal, or the head of the first Quaraxi, where he used the target as the medium for his waves, this time it would be air.

So, when the waves reach the real target through the air, they would only be enough to push the target back at most.

If he wanted to deal any substantial damage than he would need to send out concentrated attacks. Like an arrow of waves that focused on one point. But that required control, which he lacked as of now.

He ate the last bite with this thought.

His meal was over and he was ready to find out the reason behind the strange behaviour of the Nest.

***

He left out the Mandibles of the Drone and his makeshift loin cloth. It might get torn when he transforms.

Yes, he was going to scout with his Shifted form. He had no reason not to. His real body was not capable of entering deep into their territory and coming out alive without notifying a soul of its presence.

Finding out the situation was important to help him decide whether he will be leaving this network or not.

He transformed as his back bent forward and his hands took to the ground. Pitch black fur covered his body and a tail came out from his back. The sensation of leaking also came even though no one invited it.

Ragnar left his hideout and ventured deeper into the cave. As he thought, he did not encounter a single creature even after he had travelled substantially deep. The glow from the crystals got brighter than ever before and at this moment, Ragnar finally sensed another presence. Actually, he sensed multiple.

He turned invisible and walked up to the group without any hesitation. He recognised from the steps that it was another Drone followed by two Soldiers. That means an Arcane Menace and two Arcane Rogues.

Ragnar was confident in dealing with them, especially easily in his current form but he didn’t lose sight of his target.

He walked past them as they also seemed to be alert and careful of their surroundings. But it didn’t help them because Ragnar passed through them without a hitch.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

As he went deeper and deeper, he encountered many similar groups, not even one Quaraxi was working alone. Some groups were smaller and some were much larger. But none of them sensed it when Ragnar breezed past them.

He had been using his invisibility smartly, only activating it for few seconds at once and deactivating it when he created enough distance from the Quaraxis.

He had only used the ability for around 1 minute in total, when he finally sensed something unusual. His ears perked up as he heard the clatter of multiple legs. But this time, it was not just another group, like the ones he had seen until now, this clatter seemed like it was made by countless legs stomping the ground as they walked about.

His nose could smell countless scents and they were not very far. Maybe just a few turns away.

He turned invisible and started walking again. The glow from the crystals had gotten even brighter, following their trend of getting brighter as the depth increases. He walked through their glow as the sound of the clatter kept getting louder.

Passing another turn and at the end of this tunnel, he saw light.

That was where all the noises were coming from, they had gotten much louder at this point, almost sounding like drums banging in his ears.

He came to the exit of this cave and his eyes adjusted to the brightness.

The vision formed in them, sent a shiver running down his spine.

***

A dome spanned for hundreds of metres. Walls sprinkled with crystals that glittered like stars, giving it a celestial radiance. Ceiling armed with tower-like stalactites, ready to fall.

Hundreds and Hundreds of Quaraxis lined the dome, forming a circle around a majestic creature, probably their Leader.

There were all sorts of them. From workers to Drones, from Mutants to Arcanes. There were even some that Ragnar hadn’t seen before. Large and small as they went about their jobs in the Nest, with only one commonality between them. Everything they did seemed to revolve around one entity. Making it seem like the whole world revolved around her.

The Queen.

Ragnar had associated her with the queen in the Ant hierarchy on Earth because these creatures shared several other things with those tiny critters. So, he decided to call her the same.

She had a presence about her. Literally.

Featuring a size that was double that of a Quaraxi soldier, a giant from Ragnar’s perspective. Her Mandibles seemed delicate and soft, in wide contrast with the rest of her army, as if she didn’t need them. An exquisite purple exoskeleton fit for a giant adorned her curves. Being the abdomen that was large enough to fit a Quaraxi Drone whole. She did not have any other curves. Her eyes that peeked from behind her armour, seemed intelligent. Her antennas moved ever so slightly, sensing for the smallest of movements in her vicinity, also giving instructions to her Army.

Her body glowed with the same viridescent glow that he had seen countless times until now, from the crystals in the walls. But the glow seemed to be flowing through her, changing her, giving her a Regal aura.

Only two words came to Ragnar’s mind when he set his gaze upon the Queen, Grand and Majestic.

He was in awe for quite a few seconds before he finally started to piece together the situation.

The Quaraxis numbered in thousands inside this dome, and they all seemed to be going about their jobs. But from the pattern they moved in and the formation that they refused to break; it was clear that they were guarding the Queen.

The Queen who was quite clearly a Dread classed creature. Only Dread because Ragnar had no doubt that if she was an Elder, then Ragnar would have been forced out of the network by now.

Ragnar had his doubts. When the Quaraxis did not go on the offensive immediately after becoming aware of his presence. When they did not even try to follow him back to his hideout. The fact that the whole army was called back into the Nest and only small groups of powerful Drones along with Soldiers were sent out on patrol, that too in close vicinity to the Nest.

He was sure that something huge must be going on in the main base of the Quaraxis.

Considering the current situation of the Queen, she seemed to be bathed in the glow from the crystals in this Nest, the glow that Ragnar believed to be raw Essence. She seemed to be sucking it out of this Network. The way the crystals near his hideout had completely lost their lustre and they got brighter as he headed deeper. It was clear that the essence was being sucked out from the crystals in this cave… by her.

It seemed like she was… Evolving?

But doesn’t evolution require them to kill creatures of other species just like humans. It does, it definitely does. This was a sure fact and even confirmed by Ragnar’s own method of evolution into the next Rank. That could only mean one thing.

She was not evolving into the next Rank. Instead, into the next Class.