I found the book after an hour of searching through the indicated book shelf and found it on the top shelf.
It had around 300+ pages and with a quick skim of the first few pages it seems to be the history of a unique tribe that may be extinct already. Strangely, all the teachings were placed in dozens of books similar to this one and spread through the world. It’s unknown if any other books still exist but it seems most of their techniques are here.
“A book that may give a class, I wonder what this ‘Bugman tribe’ was like.” I mutter as I choose one of the couches and start to read.
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The bug man tribe is what they are called today but their true name was lost a long time ago and this book didn’t record it as the cover was changed to hide this fact. In the early years of mankind, when the era of war, famine and the deadliest monsters was at its peak, a small group of people found a holy place that granted them the ability to control and communicate with the insects in their surroundings. This holy place used all the energy and pushed it into the bodies of these people and created a unique dimension within the very core of their mana pool.
This dimension when opened looked like a cave but it had a unique purpose. It was home to the bugs that served the group. Each one of them had their own hive of bugs that lived inside them and each hive was unique to each person.
In the beginning they were regarded as weaklings because that was how they wanted to be seen. When around outsiders they only used the weakest of their bugs to keep the illusion going. Weaklings that used bugs as troops but they only used the weakest of their bugs when out in the open. When a powerful tribe of warriors came to kill them for their territory that is when the tyrannical power of this monster bug breeding clan was shown.
The youngest of the clan chief’s son’s was the only one that fought and with his army he destroyed the entire warrior tribe that came to slaughter them.
The casualties to the boy’s bugs were as big as the damage to the tribe but he won though he suffered the pain of feeling the lives of his bugs dying. The tribe had a single weakness and that is that their mind and their bugs' minds formed one massive hive mind.
The more powerful bugs developed sentience but still served their master because he provided them a home within their unique dimension that was nearly as big as a world and kept them from dying of thirst or hunger. They fed off his mana but they grew stronger only by eating the dead so by following their master’s they fought and grew stronger.
As time went on the tribe's fame grew as well. Many people wanted this power of the bugs for themselves so they sought the location where the power had originated but it was gone. All the power was within the tribes bloodline and would forever be within it.
Because of this, several dozen tribes grouped together wanting to enslave or slaughter the tribe. The closest tribes grouped up and made a massive army of over 20,000 men but they were easily killed when several insect armies numbering hundreds of thousands fought back. A small part was annexed by the tribe and they spread out making new villages. The tribes married only people they knew truly loved them because the ones they loved never knew they were of the *** tribe.
When they found out they were already married, marriage is forever here. It was because of this that the other tribes prohibited all *** in their territory because as they marry, it would be the equivalent of birthing a new army or several of them.
All the tribes spread rumors as time went that the *** tribe was a tribe of demonists who gained their power from a great demon and soon these tribes grouped up into kingdoms under the strongest tribes.
Still the tribe of bug cultivators never attacked and because they possessed territory that was the size of the other kingdoms they themselves made a kingdom. They were large enough to not need other nations and formed a culture of sending children to the capital which was the original tribe village so that all the youth of the kingdom met and studied together. They would return every year until they were 16 and by then they had already formed relationships and would soon marry their loved ones. This method showed how the single tribe could develop numbers equal to other kingdoms without hundreds of tribes coming together.
If it had remained in peace like this it, would have been safe but as the king of the *** tribe caught word that the other kingdoms had made a contract with a cult of witches to curse the entire nation, the greatest minds of the bug kingdom grouped together and created dozens of the same book showing all their techniques and abilities.
Finally they gathered all the people of their nation and together they expelled all their bugs and told them they are free to live their lives in the world. The insects left causing the sky to blacken due to the immense number. All the residents of the tribe began gathering all the power they were given. This power they gathered was the special power of their tribe which allowed them to control the bugs as close as they could.
It gathered into one massive orb and became like solid gold. The thousands of people had cultivated and made the once strong power almighty beyond comparison.
They were just about to send the power somewhere when a sudden laugh took their attention.
Suspended in the air were the witches the kingdoms allied with.
It wasn’t one witch or ten but the entire witch kingdom that filled the sky. Witches were and are a sentient monster race of females humanoids. They charm human males to be their mates before tossing them out once the job is completed. Their power can only be compared to the bug tribe itself as their magic abilities are one of the greatest of the sentient races.
Their queen, a young woman flew forward and laughed,
“You have greeted us with such a wonderful present. Not only did you do away with your armies, you gathered all your power in a solid ball for us. We shall accept your power and send you all on your way, to the gates of hell!” She shouted.
Before they could move the cloud of bugs that was supposed to have spread suddenly appeared and attacked the witches.
Many were poisoned and paralyzed and many bugs attached to them leeching of their mana. They swelled rapidly before exploding, killing the victim rapidly.
As the cloud of bugs cleared, hundreds of humanoid females stood before the witches. These women were the same size as a human but with bugs like exoskeletons, antennae on their head, a large abdomen coming out near their rear and long wings that flapped so fast it was invisible. They were all various colors but all of the same race. The Queen.
They were referred to simply as ‘the Queen’. They were small compared to the powerful monster bugs but behind this small body, they held enough power for each one to fight a 200 year old dragon for a week continuously and win. The strongest of them all had two unique golden antenna, this queen as the Queen of the current *** tribe king.
“Begone witches, or you will face total annihilation.” the queen said.
The face of the queen of witches darkened as she expelled a tremendous killing intent.
“You think someone that has lived in safety in this kingdom can surpass someone that has fought for over five hundred years!” The witch queen shouted as she took her staff. It shined a deadly red color.
The strongest queen looked on with a frown. Moments later her two antennae began glowing and a green orb appeared between them.
As the witch queen pointed her staff and shot a bloody red beam. At the same time, the bug queen shot a green beam that collided with it negating it perfectly.
From that point a tremendous fight happened between the bug army and witches. All the while the members of the bug tribe finished their ritual.
The king put his hands up as the last of the power gathered in the orb and said.
“Until my queen or her descendants find someone deserving of this power it shall forever be hidden. Only this single chosen one shall hold its power. May the books of our tribe, the will of the power and the will of the queen’s guide the power to its new owner in the future.”
As the king said this the orb began shining as did all the queens and the cloud of bugs.
The orb flew into his queen before the cloud of bugs was dispersed throughout the entire world where they would oversee the world as it aged.
After this the witches flew into a rage and bombarded the tribe with a curse where all those with the blood of those of that kingdom would transform into humanoid insect abominations.
They lost their ability to reason and became less than bugs and lost themselves to madness, leaving only few of them remaining who built nests before they were besieged by the remaining sentient races and finally killed off.
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I finished reading the book that showed the history of the tribe on the 250th page. As I turned to the next page something moved, coming out of the book too fast for me to even notice not even the blur so I didn’t take notice.
Reading the next page, I saw the techniques were methods of selective breeding, isolating bug genes, information that surprised me such as, the more food and the higher level the bug gets during the larval stage would allow them to live longer and evolve further.
This was all interesting but because I don’t have ‘the power’. I would have a hard time doing all these because they needed a suitable living environment.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I sigh as I scan through the page and stop at the designs of a strange weapon. It looked like a halberd with two heads on each tip. In some other designs there was one side that had a strange instrument and after looking through the explanation I found that depending how this staff was swung it would send a different soundwave out and would give commands to bugs without the user needing to speak.
I could also use it to pole vault myself into the air and attack from above which was a really good and unique battle style.
I sigh and look outside. The sun was approaching the horizon so it would soon be time to work. I didn’t know if I should keep the book or not but as I look outside I notice a large black cloud coming from the horizon.
It was moving this way…
“Wait… moving clouds.” I muttered and looked outside.
“Greetings traveler.” A sudden female voice said.
The sudden arrival of the female almost made me jump out of my skin as I spun and turned to look at her.
My complexion paled as I saw the owner of the voice. With a green exoskeleton and two bugs like arms and two legs with five bug-like fingers, a human face with large black eyes and two golden antennae and large wings on her back.
I felt like fainting. She came close and put one of her hands on my right cheek.
“My, it has been so long since I last saw a human. Not to mention you being the first traveller I see.” She said.
“W-w-wh-at d-d-did y-yo-u n-ne-ed…!!” I said trembling.
“Oh my, you should know, after all you just read the book, didn’t you?” She said with a small smile.
She stood upright again and picked up the book. “This book…” she waved it in front of me, “... reading it completely from the front to back of the entire story of the Arthromancer Tribe is one requirement to have me come meet you here. You can’t flip through it either, you need to properly read through it.” She said.
“So… you’re here to…?” I asked.
“I came to check and see if you are worthy but from the looks of how you already gathered a few bugs of your own and the large number of research notes of this region's bugs it shows you have a least some understanding of insects. Tell me, how far does your ambition go, what are your goals?” She asked.
…
I remained quiet for a while before asking.
“Goals for what?” I asked.
“Well you read this book so you had ambion for the power right?” She asked.
“Until I read the book I didn’t know this ‘power’ thing existed. I didn’t even care to find out more since I wouldn’t have a chance of getting something I was thinking was just a fable.” I said.
“This is true enough. Then let me ask, what were you going to do with those bugs you have with you?” She asked.
“I got these to experiment, the bugs are invading this town due to expansion of the town and I want to remove them from the town because it's endangering the population.” I said.
She nods in understanding what I wanted. “And what will you do after that?” She asked.
“What do you mean after that? I’m stuck in this city for 1 month before I can leave but I want to leave this town safe from this infestation and cured of all the diseases the bugs are spreading.” I replied.
She nods slowly as she sits down. “So you have no ambition to become some almighty ruler or overlord?”
“No, there may be travelers that want that but I’m a 35 year old virgin, I would prefer finding a wife even if it’s later in life and building a family instead of getting stuck with such a troublesome job of ruling a kingdom in this world while living and working as a nobody with no family in the place I came from.” I replied.
She was wide eyed and slack jawed before she started laughing and even fell over by bending too far back and falling.
While flying in the air, she kept swinging her legs in the air while laughing as if she had heard the funniest joke ever.
“Oh my, to think you were so open with such a sensitive thing like this. Still, an ambitionless owner for the power seems a bit hard to swallow but for some reason it’s raging to move in.” She said.
“Maybe it doesn’t want a ruler but a peace keeper.” I said nonchalantly.
“Maybe, you seem like someone that would try to solve problems for others, maybe even being a busybody, instead of trying to grow more powerful. Then again, as the saying goes ‘Give power to someone and see their true face’.” She replies. “That said, you seem overly honest with yourself since you even speak of such embarrassing details so I see no problem with this.”
“Wait, exactly what is the purpose of giving me so much power?” I asked.
“It won’t level you up or anything like that, it will form a dimension in your body so you can house your bugs and let you do these class related skills, such as the ones in here.” She says holding the book and tossing it to me.
“Once, I pass you the power, take this book with you. It may cause trouble for you to remove this book out of this library but you will need this book because there is currently no other way to learn from. Also this is my own gift to you.” She hands me a small fist sized perfectly round stone.
“This is an egg… my egg. This is the only egg I ever laid, it would have gone to the last born son of my previous master but I never got the chance. The Queen bug race can’t hatch outside of an Arthromancer’s hive dimension because we were a race born to rule in there.” She said.
“What if I don’t want this class?.” I asked.
Before answering, she did something that caused a massive golden ball to appear in front of me. Space itself was distorted to fit the ball within the room.
“Sorry but as soon as you finished reading that book and answered my questions, that option was forfeited.” She said.
The next moment I felt a powerful pull on my body as I was dragged into the seemingly solid golden ball. I was dragged to the center and suddenly felt a burning in my chest right where I felt the mana came from when I used the Ember spell.
Suddenly all this golden power rushed into my body. It felt like liquid flame and the worst part is that it didn’t stop just inside my mana pool and also spread all over my entire mana network.
Eventually I lost track of my senses due to the burning feeling that numbed my mind but I remained awake until the last drop of this infernal power was pushed into my body.
“Good, you succeeded in staying awake, that is some good willpower you have. Here, I have placed a spell on my daughter’s egg, she will hatch only when the timer for 1 month that you have on you is up. Have fun with your new class but don’t let it go to your head or I’ll be paying you a visit, okay?” She said in a cute manner but I only sneered at her in anger after being forced to get this class.
She laid the egg on my chest. The power inside me reacted to the egg and a tear in space opened up letting the egg enter a strange space beyond this world.
“Now rest well.” She said and with a wave of her hand she vanished.
I breathed a few times as the feeling in my body was returning slowly.
“Rest my ass, I need to make a copy of this book quickly.” I said and stored it inside my inventory.
Just before I logged off the messages began appearing.
You have gained the hidden class Arthromancer.
You have gained class exclusive skills.
Bug Language comprehension
Max Level
This language isn’t just a spoken language but instead the understanding of pheromone and soundwave messages that bugs use to communicate.
You can now comprehend Insects Pheromone messages.
You can now comprehend Insects Soundwave messages.
Bug Glaive Mastery
Basic Level 1
A Glaive is a unique staff weapon which possesses one blade side and the other would have a unique instrument that produces sound waves to give commands to bugs. Several types also shoot pheromone bullets that cause bugs to frenze towards it and attack.
1% increase to Slashing damage caused by Glaive.
1% increase to Stabbing damage caused by Glaive.
Hive Portal
Basic level 1
The power has created a dimension within your own body that can house numerous insects of all types. To access this you have the power to open a rift or portal into this hive to recall or release your insects.
You can open 1 portal at one given time.
40 mp to open the portal for 20 seconds.
Hive Mind
Max Level
Because of the Power, you now comprise the main mind of a hive mind with all your insects. They will all abide by your orders as long as they live within your body.
Warning: when bugs die you shall feel the pain of their death. Beware of mental trauma.
As I look at the skills I nod already understanding these are the basics of the class. I feel the hive mind will be a pain in the ass since I would feel the death of the bugs almost like a part of me would die.
Tossing that to the back of my mind I opened a portal and removed all the cocoons that are about to hatch and put them inside the dimension.
“Make a nest once you hatch.” I said and closed it with a wave of my hand.
I will need to look into this dimension to understand what it’s like later but right now I need to act quick because that orb shined very brightly.
I stored the book in my inventory and logged out.
As soon as I woke up I looked at my clock to see it’s 10:56 am just a bit before I would get out anyway.
I jump onto my pc and install usb cable into the VR glasses I use to enter the game. Quickly, I downloaded the app to read books from the site to my pc.
It was installed after two minutes and using my own glasses I scanned my eyes and logged in. Sitting on the screen was the book icon.
After opening the app and finding the original copy of ‘The Bugman Tribe’, I right clicked on it. The options I found made me smile. I had ‘Open’, ‘Drop’, ‘Burn’ and ‘Make a Copy’.
I press ‘Make a Copy’. It said I needed the same number of pages of the book which I had and so I pressed accept. Then a copy icon said it would take 10 minutes to copy. Considering the game runs 4 times faster than 40 minutes until it was done it seems relatively fast.
I went to go make food and relieve myself and take a bath to relax and by the time I was done the copy was made. So I jumped back into bed after everything was taken care of and logged in again.
Appearing on the third floor again I pulled out the copy and checked and compared it to the original.
There wasn’t a word or design out of place and every single word in all the diagrams were there and the pictures were correctly drawn with nothing different.
Once I made sure every last line was in place I placed the original back on the shelf and went downstairs.
As I was going down I looked up and saw the sky was dark but clouds covered the sky and were visible due to the moon light. That said, the strange black cloud was gone. I knew that wasn’t any kind cloud but was instead the insect cloud that was released by the bug man tribe. I wonder what made me different.
I simply shrugged it off and finished going downstairs to the first floor and started working.
While I was working I checked on the cocoons and they seem to have hatched and were now full adult flies. Variants every last one of them and dangerous types too.
The majority of them were either, Toxic Blowfly and Gale Strider. The two that were unique were called, Toxic Blood Sucker and Lightning Strider.
The blowfly still had the round bodies but the blood sucker was thin and long. The striders were thin and arrow-like.
“These striders are fast for sure.” I said after looking at their stats.
The striders had 4 agility which on a bug's small body is fast. The blowfly and bloodsucker caused poison damage and had 1.6 all around.
Seeing this progress I leave and go to the fountain with the dragonfly eggs and opening a portal under the water they were dragged into the rift. I instantly felt that area they entered changed to meet their needs.
I would need to send food there for them to eat until they can fly.
I thought but as it’s my class now I had nothing else I could do.
Looking around at how dark it was getting I quickly raced back to the library and lit the candles before getting to work.
It is going to get busy now so I should work quickly and get to reading that book in detail.