Stepping into the wilderness zone I saw Levi floating in front of me while looking up.
“Hey where is the box!?” I said irritated.
“Up there!” She replied and I looked up.
Looking up the box really was floating there. I noticed how it was starting to glow. The green color had begun to change as thorny vines began covering it.
Suddenly the box exploded with a resounding shockwave leaving behind a round golden sphere of power. It felt just like the same power that entered me when I got the class but it had a small difference.
It began rotating as all the glow and loose power was drawn back into the ball making it a solid marble that slowly lowered.
As I took a step forward the little figure of Levi got in the way and stopped me.
“Don’t!” She said, serious unlike the childish little queen I have seen until now.
I stopped and watched as the ball lowered and finally touched the ground. It began spinning and began drilling its way into the ground. It took a good five minutes until the crust of packed dirt suddenly blew up revealing a circle of 2 meters in diameter of soft earth of the highest quality that would be perfect growing crops in.
The small golden ball lowered into it and with no resistance entered the ground.
After a minute, a glow from the hole that the ball entered started to shine. Then it started to spread. Slowly at first, then it spread to the edge of the unearthed soil and then finally in a mad dash it spread to the rest of the wasteland in a massive earthquake that broke apart all the crust of packed dirt without any reserve even if it was under me.
I was tossed into the air a few meters as the ground was turned into a huge expanse of soft dirt.
When I landed I felt a second wave pass below me and an even stronger earthquake.
Looking around I saw how the earth around me began distorting and rising making hills and in the far distance mountains. I saw clouds forming in the sky and it spread far across the wasteland and as more time passed the more the thicker the clouds got.
Suddenly a portal opened above us and all the Lightning Striders rushed as did the Thunderbolt Darter.
As if they were celebrating they beat their wings with unnatural vigor.
Suddenly every last one of them let out a discharge. The weakest Lightning Striders were at the top and the Thunderbolt Darter were at the bottom.
The Darters literally let out thunderbolts that ran up through the swarm of bugs just as a thunderbolt fell down on the swarm. It completely reversed the current and the mass of electricity ran through all the bugs and ended at the Thunderbolt Darter. Every last one of them ‘ate’ the lightning and nearly every Lightning Strider tripled in size, growing to 10 cm long while the Thunderbolt Darters grew all around 5 cm each.
I was fearing for my life watching this clearly unnatural spectacle.
“Wow! They are growing so much from one Thunderbolt!” Levi said amazed with awe in her two large eyes.
“Wh-what is going on…” I said.
“They are eating… properly.” Levi replied.
I could only look at her with a stupid confused look.
“Erg… they are biologically made to eat lightning. If I get stronger by eating stronger monsters they get stronger the more lightning they eat.” She said.
I was stupefied by what I was hearing. In other words they literally ate electricity? Wouldn’t that mean I could completely nullify thunder mage magic? Can other bugs do the same? This can’t be exclusive to them can it?
Before I could think anymore another wave of electricity ran through the swarm but it seems the timing was off because the thunder struck far off.
“Ah~! Too bad they lost that one!” Levi said.
*BOOM*
Suddenly a new bolt slammed into the swarm stunning us both as they ate the bolt once more in a matter of seconds.
The next instant the swarm began to move and the queen led at the front as she opened a portal into her habit and the swarm followed.
If I remember correctly the habit was called Electric cove. It appeared much later which meant that it only came into being when the Thunderbolt Darters appeared.
A cave that was electrically charged, seeing this species ability, their true ability, I knew that I have been too naive. I’m not in the real world, I’m in a fantasy world with magic. Its obvious bugs and monsters would do things outside of MY common sense.
As the last bug passed the portal I felt a drop of water hit my face.
“AH! IT’S STARTING TO RAIN!” Levi said as a portal opened. “COME ON DADDY!” She shouted and started pulling me up to my feet. Snapping out of my shock I walked through and appeared outside of the hive. I was still dumbstruck but I was moving out to not get caught in that disaster zone.
I was rubbing my forehead that was hurting to no end.
“Please explain exactly what happened?” I asked.
“The Bugs were feeding of course!” Levi said with an innocent smile.
“Are there any other bugs that I own that do something like that so I can properly raise them?” I asked.
“Yep, Flare Flies can absorb fire in the same way and Bombardier Beetle do a similar thing but they can eat their prefered type of food, charred meat instead of raw meat. They like bugs most because they can burn them the quickest due to their size but if you give them charred meat it is best.” She says.
“I really got a lot to learn… wait!” I thought. “How do you know all this!” I asked, interrogating the little queen.
“Hm? This great one’s Buglore skill is Level 6 and Identify skill is Level 2, as long as this great one can see what is happening with this great one’s eyes while both skills are active this great one can understand. Not to mention this great one’s brai URG!” She held her head in pain.
“Quit with the ‘this great one’ thing. Speak clearly with ‘I’, ‘me’ and so on. Talk in first person.” I tell her.
“Nn~~! My brain is connected to daddy’s power that is naturally in tune with insects. If I see what happened near you or inside the hive, it will be even easier to figure out what happened. If daddy also connects to the hive while that happened you could have figured it out from them directly as well.” She said with two tears of pain in her eyes.
“Okay, that is useful.” I mutter as I let a sigh out. “Please return to your room while I calm down.” I tell her.
“Nn!” She nodded before returning to her room.
I took several deep breaths. The stink from the sewers stung my senses strongly enough to painfully clear my mind but it left me in a more sour mood than the trash in that water.
I walked back to the road and away from the sewer and monsters.
After I was out of the hunting ground of the rats I found a stretch of wooden fencing and leaned against it before pulling out my journal.
Lightning Strider
A breed of flies that were originally Gale Striders. This species of flies gained the ability to discharge weak electric bolts on impact after growing up to this stage.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
The Lightning Strider is a pale yellow colored fly that is from 3 cm to currently 10 cm at max. Largest size is still unknown. The wings are oval and longer than the body no matter how big.
Newest discovery has shown that they have the ability to absorb electrical discharges just like how it can discharge them. By ‘eating’ the electricity they instantly convert it into nutrients through an unknown method. The swarm will converge in stormy weather before rainfall together with Thunderbolt Darter to eat together. It’s unknown if this swarm activity requires the Thunderbolt Darter.
The lineup during the event seems to place the youngest or weakest near the top of the swarm to receive the main brunt of the thunder and gain the most from it or to use as a sacrifice and take the damage for the others of the swarm. The stronger ones remain near the bottom with the Thunderbolt Darters whose queen remains at the lowest point.
Thunderbolt Darters
Queen Variant
Smartest type of Thunderbolt Darter like all queens of the race. This is a Tier 3 monster bug which is able to control to a degree electricity in its body.
The autonomy of the bug is thin and jet like with two wings forming a triangle shape. The speed it displays is very fast and because of its bright yellow color it can easily be lost from sight during the day if they are alone.
Thunderbolt Darter has been shown to be able to easily command Lightning Striders and during a storm seems to arrange the lightning striders as a buffer against the fall of lighting so she can obtain lightning as nourishment with all her subjects.
The lineup during the event seems to place the youngest or weakest near the top of the swarm to receive the main brunt of the thunder and gain the most from it or to use as a sacrifice and take the damage for the others of the swarm. The stronger ones remain near the bottom with the Thunderbolt Darters whose queen remains at the lowest point.
Royal Guard variant
A variant of the Thunderbolt Darter. This variant is seen as a larger and physically stronger individual in the swarm that always protects the queen.
It has the same body shape and color as the queen but it is always larger than hers and stronger physically but like all Royal guard variants they are weaker mentally.
The mentality of the Royal Guard is like all others with a similar name. Protect the queen. It’s unknown if their bodies can conduct electricity better or it has resistance but even against what they feed on they seem to protect her from receiving any heavy damage.
During the storm event where Lightning striders and Thunderbolt Striders gather together to feed on natural lightning. The Royal guard stay right above the Thunderbolt Darter Queen.
After finishing my observation of each race I stood upright away from the fence and stored the Journal.
Bug Lore has leveled up.
I just waved it away cause I already guessed a bit that bug lore was linked to, understanding bugs through logical observation as well as using the skill.
Swiping the notification away and turned towards the fields.
I started walking towards the rabbit area with my Glaive out. I take out the elder rabbit’s ring and put it on.
It took a moment but I quickly spotted my prey. It was like a homing beacon, this ring.
A group of five level 8 rabbits were rushing at me with bloodshot eyes.
I looked at them blankly for a while. Slowly all the things that happened today began running in my mind. Rage began building up at my own naivety, my lack of foresight.
Slowly a red glint began to appear in my eyes and slowly my lips stretched in a near crazy grin before parting and showing my teeth in what could only be a demon’s smile.
The crazed rabbits suddenly felt the murderous killing intent coming from me but with the ring on my finger their rage matched my own. Killing their esteemed elder they wouldn’t allow such a thing.
Suddenly I began laughing a blood chilling laugh.
“COME!” I shout.
****
At the gate East gate of the city where the city was most developed since the road led towards the center region by following it, the gate was filled with players who were looking for quests and parties they could do.
“AHHHHH!!! DEMON!! MONSTER!!” Somebody shouted while running down the road catching everyone's attention.
Everyone looked at him as a warrior ran down the road. He was nearly tripping over himself as he ran and finally stopped when he met the wall of players.
The sudden silence had drawn the attention of the guards and they pushed their way through towards the man.
“What is this?!” One of the guards that appeared before the player asked.
“Monster! Man! Demon!” The man said, trembling as if seeing a nightmare.
The guard looked around and spotted a bucket with water and walked over and grabbed it before splashing the man with it.
“Calm down man!” The guard said, making the man shocked for a man before he nodded and took deep breaths. “Now tell me what happened. What is this about a demon!?” The guard asked.
Demons are a serious problem because they are immensely powerful beings that needs a platoon of paladins, knights of the church, to combat it.
“A man… he was in the field fighting. I think he was one of us pl… travelers but he was laughing like a crazy man.” He said.
“Is there a problem with that? A single madman fighting rabbits?” The guard said.
“That’s the problem… he was alone… against... fighting over 100 rabbits on a tall hill of rabbit corpses.”
The entire area was frozen as they heard his words. Fighting 100 rabbits alone… let alone something impossible to believe it’s impossible to do unless the person is extremely skilled or extremely powerful with at least 40 levels above the rabbits. If it was a level 20 person with the old rabbits that were small and level 1-4 then it would be believable but the current rabbits were smart, tactive and ruthless. It took coordinated party teamwork to fight a small 3 rabbit group. It’s not possible for someone to fight over 100 rabbits of these current rabbits by himself yet the man’s look was as if he truly saw a demon doing just that.
“Where did you see this man?!” The guard asked.
“Just follow the road and take a left on the second road to the north, you can’t miss him!” The man said and stood up with his body trembling. This was trembling that no man could fake. Traumatizing fear is something that can cause this so unless this man was a genius actor no one could deny he saw something.
“Get some more guards, we will go check this out.” The guard that interrogated the man said. “Someone take this man inside the town to an inn or tavern or wherever.” He says to one guard.
The guard supports the man with a shoulder and takes him inside the city so he can have more sense of security.
Soon a troop of 20 guards gathered and they moved out. Behind them the players followed wanting to see this for themselves.
As they took the turn and reached the top of a low hill they saw what the man had said but it was much scarier in person.
Gathered around a several meter high hill of corpses was a man that was cutting, spinning, thrusting and bashing a two headed Glaive with one blunt side.
The ruthlessness was unimaginable to a degree that it truly did look like a demon in a man's body.
As the wave of rabbits finishes and dies by the hand of the man he waits at the hill's top for something.
To everyone watching this unimaginable scene only got more crazy when a sudden notification appeared to everyone in the area.
Due to the Traveller Droso wearing the ‘Elder rabbits ring’ and summoning forth a herd of rabbits and indiscriminately slaughtering more than 150 rabbits while still bearing the Elder Rabbits ring, the current rabbit leader has come forth to kill the man that has humiliated the rabbits.
HIDDEN BOSS HAS APPEARED!!!
The boss of the rabbits that has been hidden away since the rise of the rabbits has appeared to kill a human that has humiliated his kind. No one is allowed to interfere with the battle.
The jaws of every man present that just saw that message had hit the floor by now.
Suddenly a heavy impact from below ground about 100 meters in front of the hill of rabbits. The man on the hill was simply drinking a potion and began chewing on a piece of bread.
After several hits from the ground a large hole formed and a being launched out of it and landed right in front of the hole on its hind legs. It slowly lifted itself up and stood looking at the man on the hill of its brethren.
The guards were instantly paled as they saw the being before them.
Standing on two legs was a 160 cm tall rabbitman. The arms were more human like and it possessed thumbs but with claws at the end but with fingers like a human. It doned leather chest armor that was once a human’s and was ripped to fit the rabbit. The eyes were bloodshot and its snarling mouth revealed its large front buck teeth and the sharp fangs behind them. What was surprising was the weapon in the rabbits hand. Holding a single long sharpened bone that ended in a fine point.
“It’s made a bone lance!!” the leading guard said.
Quickly he looked above the rabbit man's head.
[Lance Level 25]
The eyes of the guard widened as his jaws dropped. This was hidden so close to town. Guards could easily deal with it yet if this went and attacked the farmers, it would be facing a different story.
The man that was up above the hill walked down calmly and stood with the Glaive on his shoulder with the blade on the ground.
“So the big man finally appeared. I was wondering when something stronger than this cannon fodder would appear.” He said taunting the rabbit.
The rabbit sneered at the man and growled. The lance was aimed upwards clearly on guard.
“BOY! BE CAREFUL! IT’S A NAMED MONSTER THAT IS LEVEL 25!! GET OUT OF THERE!!” The guard suddenly shouted to Droso who simply scratched his ear.
“That much is obvious. Not like a fucking regular cannon fodder rabbit would get a name.” Droso said out loud stating the obvious.
Anyone that has read enough light novels would know a named monster is in another league compared to the same monster without a name.
“Come on furball. Help me blow some steam or else you will just end up part of the pile of bug food.” He said.
At once the lance dropped and the rabbit took two steps and tightened its leg muscles.
A demonic grin appears on Droso’s face as the feeling of adrenaline passes through his body.
With a small shockwave left from the jump, Lance jumped right at Droso in a Lancer rush that made the bone lance glow.
Grabbing the Glaive, Droso spun it while closing his hand in near the blade his spin gathered a lot of brute force at the blunt end.
“[Spin Crush]!” Droso shouted as a piercing whistle came from the blunt side of the Glaive that began glowing as well just as it made contact with the side of the lance.
“DO BETTER FURBALL!”
BOOM!