The Wyrm tore through the thick stone with a [Deep Bite], its [Reinforced Jaw] ripping through the packed stone like it was wet paper. Dirt stuck to the Wyrm's face as it continued to snap & tear through the stone. A group of Xrnite workers kept behind the massive Wyrm, setting up support for the new tunnel. It was the only Wyrm working this shift, the others were resting after a monster had broken through the hive's outer defenses & killed half of the Wyrms in the Hive. The other half barely surviving should’ve gone without saying, the Wyrm had only seen glimpses of the carnage, entire shells missing from the survivors, the one once deep blue chitin of the Wyrms ripped off to show injured & torn muscle.
The only Wyrms fit to work had been it & the other Wyrms who had participated in the raid a few days before. But that Wyrm was needed for waste disposal. A group of Dwarves had been found. Likely trapped after another attempt at finding a hidden ore vein had failed.
And their deaths. The other Wyrm had been given the much more appealing task of eating the corpses of the expedition, the Wyrm could just imagine the pulped flesh, marinating in the deep rocky terrain of the earth. The bodies were slightly bloated from built-up gas which gave a satisfying pop every time a new corpse was opened up, flesh hosting small carrion & parasites to add surprise flavor & some garnish to the corpse. A true feast for any Wyrm, and possibly enough to grant a level to them.
Wyrm’s usually only had one class, not the [Digger] anybody from the other species would expect. For what Wyrms did wasn’t dig, even though the end process was the same. The Wyrm opened its mouth, foamy saliva stretching up like a long string, its first jaw opened up a full two hundred and forty degrees, the second still crunching on the rock it had previously eaten. And chomped.
Chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchomp.
Wyrms ate. They tore through the miles of stone & dirt they were expected to carve through with two reinforced jaws, stomach acid strong enough to melt through steel without any help from a skill, and a robust digestive system that gave the creature a hundred percent efficiency in converting anything they ate into energy. The average [Adventurer] would’ve had no clue, but any time they fought a Wyrm, they were fighting a work of art. Biochemical processes adapted, chitin & muscle & flesh from a hundred different species, and the Xrnite’s genius combined with forgotten alchemy to produce a creature on another level from any bioform. To obtain a hundred percent efficiency for any digestive system requires you to be able to digest just about any food source. Feces was mainly just indigestible material along with gut bacteria after all, simply modifying the body to be able to digest previously indigestible food would’ve seemed like a simple problem.
It was anything but, to do that would require an overhaul of the entire body, as indigestible food was indigestible for a reason. The body simply couldn’t convert that portion of organic matter to anything useful.
Of course, it helped that the average Wyrm ate mostly minerals & various pieces of rock for most of its life. The Xrnites had had a vastly easier time constructing a body that could digest raw minerals for sustenance.
Chompchompchompchompchompchompchompchomp-
Squish? The Wyrm stopped its mad rush and quickly scooted back, the Xrnite workers backed up to give the massive Wyrm a semblance of space, and several quickly ran to get the [Overseer] for the discovery once they saw what lay in front of the Wyrm. The Wyrm itself was incredibly confused by what lay in front of it, small, almost microscopic rocks spilled from the hole the overeager Wyrm had created. Sand spilled across the tunnel’s floor, blue, gray, and black. The colors reminded the Wyrm of its shell, shiny, marvelous, more than enough to deal with the struggles of anything that could stop a Wyrm from eating them for a few seconds. But that wasn’t the thing that confused the Wyrm, it ran a tongue around the inside of its mouth, feeling the smoothness, a product of the reinforced bone applied over the layer of internal mouth flesh. The Wyrm felt the taste that inhabited its only major hole.
Water?
Water spilled out of the multicolored sand, drenching the tunnel floor with liquid, pure deep blue like that of a deep cave lake the Wyrm remembered stumbling upon once. The water of a crystalline hue on the surface, but grew dark & darker the further down your eyes went. This water was like that, a deep, blackish blue that hinted that it should’ve been in the depths of a cave lake just like the one the Wyrm remembered. But it wasn’t there, hundreds of feet below in a world devoid of light. But here in a formerly dry cave, coming out of black & blue sand. Now at this point, the other Xrnites had decided the best idea would be to seal the cave up for a few feet. Wait for the [Overseer] to give further instructions, but that idea was hard to pull off because of the Wyrm.
To give some size comparisons, the average worker could reach five and a half feet, maybe a few inches shorter or taller depending on what modifications a curious [Chitin Crafter] had made or what the [Hive Queen] and/or the [Gene Magus] had ordered. The average Wyrm in comparison was both two meters tall & nearly five meters long. A stray twitch could easily splatter any poor group of Xrnite workers, their shell was far more flexible & fragile compared to the [Soldier Caste]. Whose chitin could even stop a [Piercing Shot] dead, and turn iron swords dull as they wailed uselessly on them.
But Wyrms would listen to an [Overseer], and most of the lower Xrnites castes would as well without question.
“Get out of the way. Seal the tunnel immediately.”
The [Overseer’s] commands reached the Xrnite working crew, and they immediately reacted. The Wyrm reared back from the formerly hypnotic sand and carefully backed away, making sure not to squish the fragile workers as they rushed forward, rock & dirt being quickly placed, wrapping around the entire end section of the tunnel. The [Overseer’s] skill [Work Crew-Fast Construction] turns the already diligent [Workers] into blurs. As the Wyrm quickly left the end of the tunnel, heading towards the [Overseer] to be reassigned to another excavation attempt, or more hopefully be assigned its rest hours early, it heard a crack behind it. The giant Xrnite creature, as a fun fact, couldn’t sweat in the traditional sense, rather instead, a secondary circulatory system with cooling & heating fluids constantly running through its entire body. Offering a far more efficient cooling system for a unit of its size.
It couldn’t sweat, but it felt like a drop had just fallen off the Wyrm's head when it heard the crack. Several more quickly followed before the [Overseer] let out a mental scream. [Emergency Command]. “Get out of the tunnel!”
None of the Xrnites had any time to follow through on those orders before the wall fully broke, and a tidal wave of sand & deep blue water swallowed everyone in the entire tunnel. The Wyrm felt gravity escape it as liquid splashed around its massive chitinous body, quickly swallowing it whole. The Wyrm’s eyesight went dark immediately, blurry figures flew around it like high-speed arrows, several grabbing onto the Wyrm to avoid being lost in the sudden crushing water & overwhelming darkness.
And it was crushing, the Wyrm felt its shell tighten, the large overlapping layers of chitin that could stop even a [Fireball] from doing much damage felt the cold grasp of water, and thin cracks spread across its shell. Like the webs of those spiders who had once breached a tunnel, the Wyrm had done in ages past.
Xrnite workers continued to bob and weave around the massive Wyrm. Most of the small group had managed to latch onto the Wyrm, though several were still floating aimlessly around the tunnel. As the Wyrm looked to and fro around the tunnel, trying to parch out the last remaining workers so it could retrieve them, it saw a gray blur whip out of the darkness, for only a single second did the Wyrm & the other workers see the creature. A large, flat gray slab of muscle and thin patterned skin like that of a wispy cloud of black. Two twin tails as thin as the average worker's antenna, ending in tiny beads that held a wispy yellow liquid inside them. The face held only two thin slits for what could be considered a hopeful attempt at eyes if it were drawn by any amateur [Naturalist].
The main thing the Xrnites were concerned about was its massive size, nearly half as large as the Wyrm in the room, and the large, bloody gray teeth which seemed to take up most of its lower body. Now covered in broken chitin, and blue blood, the antenna of the recently devoured Xrnite worker floated down onto the tunnel's ground.
The Wyrm reacted instantly, whether it was just pure instincts, rage at its fellow Xrnites' brutal death, or appalled at the creature’s looks(it was quite ugly). The Wyrm gurgled a challenge before throwing itself at the creature. For its part, the predator only gave a small smile, before flopping forward with the grace of a trained killer. Its mouth opened wide to tear through another meal before its eyes, a meal that would provide enough to finally birth the creature's clutch of eggs.
----------------------------------------
Qil walked through the tunnels of the Xrnite hive with purpose. Following him was the [Warrior Caste] of the Xrnites. Many sporting thinner bodies on average, blue chitin with a glaze of purple that highlighted their outlines sparkled with light that could be described as dark. They were the [Aquatic Soldiers] of the Xrnites. A rare breed in most of the other hives, though not in this one. Where the borders of many Xrnite tunnels crisscrossed with underground lakes, raging rivers hidden beneath the marshes, or connected to the Uncharted Waters. The [Chitin Crafters] hadn’t needed to make many emergency modifications to promote the soldier's ability to survive an underwater battlefield comfortably.
As Qil walked, he ordered the resident [Overseer] to brief him on the situation. What he heard wasn’t pleasant.
“Almost every tunnel alongside Quadrant A of the Hive has been breached, currently my [Vice Overseers] are dealing with reports of hordes of Giant Crawfish, Crawler Salmon, and Gray Teeth breaching almost every tunnel. I’ve deployed the skills [Hold Them Back] & [Safety Evacuation] as protocol dictates. My [Vice Overseer’s] and I however have been forced to use nearly all of our skills to their limit to keep most of the Xrnite workers trapped alive.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Qil nodded at the [Overseer], a large lobster-like Xrnite with eight legs & four feelers. Two sets of eyes followed Qil as it relayed the report. Both were unblinking with crystal yellow eyes, burning with light unmade. Nevermore to illuminate the world with its presence. “Noted, I’ll begin the combat measures effective immediately, [Aquatic Soldiers], prepare for immediate combat!” As Qil said that the Xrnites following stiffened, their features seemed to tense, and there were no nods or affirmatives to Qil’s orders. Nothing to tell him that they had even heard what the Xrnite [Commander] had said.
Quickly Qil marched forward, the [Overseer] had already been leading them to the frontlines of this battle. They quickly stopped at a certain point, no reason to endanger the local hive section's leader after all. As Qil walked forward, he straightened out his green cloak, feeling the thick rough thread scratch against his chitin. He quickly unhooked his weapon, a massive hook that glowed with the light of magic, and a Viridian howl into reality. The faintest of magic’s tinged the tip of it.
The opening the [Overseer] had created into the flooded portion of the hive was almost pitch black. Looking like it had more in common with tar than actual water, Qil carefully dipped his hand into the liquid. Confirming it was indeed actually water & the [Overseer] hadn’t made a mistake. Though Qil noticed that even the few drops on his hand after he had pulled it out felt slightly heavier. The water seemed dense, splashing his hand into the water the consistency felt more like the birthing fluid Qil had felt himself floating in in the few memories before his creation.
“[Aquatic Warriors], prepare to engage in anomalous aquatic conditions, the water is far denser than it seems. Expect at least a 15-20% reduction in mobility when entering.”
Qil’s warning did little to physically affect the Xrnite’s, but a keen observer could tell that the warning had not been ignored. With a nod to the [Overseer], Qil quickly dropped into the pool with a splash. The dark water consumed his form instantly, several feet in, and everyone above had already lost sight of him. With almost artificial coordination the [Aquatic Warriors] walked forward and began diving into the pool.
----------------------------------------
Qil knew what he had expected when he dived into the water, panicking Xrnite’s, torn apart worker corpses with a scant few monsters either dead or retreating with heavy wounds, having decided the Xrnite hive wasn’t an easy buffet for harmless food.
So when the first monster rushed at him from the side, a Giant Crawfish to be exact, he was ready and waiting. With a fast swipe, unseen by the charging monster. A hole burst through its small head, shell, and sinew were torn apart by Qil’s hook. Qil quickly dodged a second Crawfish that had seen him enter, whirling around his hook, he rammed its point straight into the second Crawfish's side, twisting the weapon, leaving a gaping hole that spilled murky ichor from the side of the monster.
With a swift quick, Qil pushed the Crawfish back, straight into a far larger Gray Tooth, who knocked the Crawfish away annoyed. Contrary to most land dwellers, Giant Crawfish tasted rather appalling to most sea dwellers. Qil didn’t even give the Gray Tooth the time to react, with a [Swift Strike], his Hook tore through the Gray Tooth, ripping it nearly in half before Qil’s hook got stuck in the monster's corpse. Shaking his hook, the corpse fell off his hook, drifting down to the former tunnel’s ground. With a moment of peace at his disposal, the [Commander] looked around the area he was in.
Even though he had the skill [Keen Eyes], he could barely parse anything past the first few feet in front of him, his [Aquatic Warriors] would have a better time, and even then he knew for a fact that he didn't bring any high level [Scouts] with him. Brukr was the only one who had a [Aquatic Scout] past the fifteenth level. And he had been sent scouting by their [Queen] through the underground lake the [Crawlers] had found.
So he would have to rely on his [Warriors] more than usual for today, as the first [Aquatic Warriors] began making their way to him. Qil turned his head and felt the stronger circuits of magic that ran through him, having been cast by his [Queen] during the beginning of his creation.
An innate spell to allow him to better fulfill his role. [Telepathy].
I want half of you with me, the other half is under the command of [Aquatic Warrior] Alpha. [Overseer], can you hear me?
Qil only had to wait for a few seconds before he felt his magic respond to the [Overseer’s] thoughts. ‘Yes, I hear you Vitae Qil, what are the tasks you wish me to carry out?’
As an [Overseer], give directions to the second group of warriors led by Xrnite designated Alpha. Provide support when appropriate to Alpha’s group. Report to me should complications arise. How is the drainage process for Quadrant A progressing?
‘Less than adequate, but we are capable of finishing the process before any of the trapped Xrnite run out of oxygen.’
Affirmative. What openings are present in this chamber? I cannot sense any walls even with my limited vision.
‘One to your left about two hundred feet away, the other one to your center-right about three hundred feet away. Most tunnel systems had their original openings collapsed during the breach, but new ones were created to contrast. I have confirmed the leftmost opening holds the more dangerous invaders.’
Then Alpha, head into the center-right tunnel opening, objectives are to kill all monsters & aid any Xrnites you find and prioritize Xrnite safety over killing monsters. The rest, follow me. [Overseer], utilize skill [At The Leaders Back].
With that, Qil took off at full speed, shooting through the water like an arrow, his soldiers quickly following behind, before fully enveloping their [Commander]. Their better eyesight gives the [Aquatic Soldiers] an easier time at spotting threats. Even if the highest leveled monster would be no more than 15 thanks to repeated efforts by the Xrnites, most could still body higher level Xrnites with ease. Qil’s role was to be a [Commander], though he often forgot that in most engagements. This was another one that proved he couldn’t continue to act like a [Scout]. He wasn’t built for such a class.
It didn’t take long before they met another pack of monsters, devouring the shattered remains of the Xrnite workers they had ambushed. Gray Fangs, all seven of them, turned their heads. Qil threw his hook. Rending through the largest. Then the Xrnites were upon them, the [Aquatic Soldiers] cutting with their sharp glaives of chitin, crackling with a sliver of magic. Sharpness read to Qil’s eyes. Qil tore out the hook with a turn, moving behind the largest of the Gray Fang pack as he detached the hook. The sheer force stripped the monster of much of its skin. Strips of muscle and sinew spilled like dirt, a swarm of tiny chunks of red that looked more brown than anything in the water.
The monster let loose a silent roar, [Paralyzing Roar] in fact, though that didn’t touch the Xrnites fighting. Qil simply cut into it again with a snap of his wrist and tore it back out. His hook now holding a mangled lung on its tip. The Gray Fang let out a breathless scream, blood and various bits spewed out of it like a torrent, Qil simply kicked it down. He then turned, the rest of the Xrnites were finished, and their enemies turned into shredded bits. Qil simply swam forward, the rest surrounding him once again like a school of minnows.
But several seconds of carnage. Only a second more reprieve before the next fight, this time with Xrn still living to be rescued.
Again & again. As the [Commander of Silence] lead his force through the bowls of the flooded Xrnite hive.
----------------------------------------
The Wyrm crunched on the monster that had tried to kill it. Well, crunching on one of the many monsters that had tried to kill it and the [Workers]. [Continuous Eating] was super helpful in this regard. The monsters that had come out of the hole were all smaller than the Wyrm, and weaker too. Besides a few deaths and some wounds on the [Workers] and Wyrm respectfully, no further harm had come to them, even the monsters had largely decided to leave the hole alone.
The Wyrm was a messy eater, and when dozens of creatures had gone into one singular hole, and the only thing that had come out was a bloody mist and bits and pieces of vaguely similar-looking meat. Few had decided to go into the hole. And those few that did were awarded the distinct privilege of feeding a Wyrm.
If there was one problem the Xrnites were currently facing it’d be the lack of oxygen. Xrnites by their nature were created with robust lungs and circulatory systems, allowing them to live for extended periods before reaching a critical state. But at most, the average Xrn could live only for two hours before dying because of oxygen deprivation. It had been one hour already, and the chances of rescue seemed to be getting slimmer by the second.
And it was unlikely they'd be able to escape through the opening, there were who knew how many monsters laying in wait, each one equipped far better for tearing apart Xrnites than the Xrnites were in tearing apart them. It was only the Wyrm & the choke point which had saved them from all dying. And neither were both the [Workers] & the Wyrm not in a hurry to test if it was as deadly swimming as it was sitting on the ground. Not to mention that when the water had rushed in, parts of the tunnel had collapsed, and it was taking longer than expected for the [Workers] to dig themselves out. What with their main digger currently focused on making sure no monsters came in and killed them all. Plus, no one was exactly confident of the Wyrm’s ability to dig in an aquatic environment.
Their best bet was to let the [Workers] dig while the Wyrm defended, even if all the Xrnites had accepted that at the rate they were digging, they’d probably die today. It wasn’t the worst way to go, the lack of oxygen would slowly cause the Xrnites to shut down, entering into a state of pseudo-hibernation before death took them. It was a small mercy that some [Queen] had given the average Xrnite a circulatory system that could stop water from entering their lungs. Though they couldn’t eat underwater, unlike the Wyrm, who was enjoying its last few minutes of life. It had a good run all things considered, and it was eating in its final moments, not many Wyrms got to say that, they usually died from monster attacks or in raids.
It had just reached the hundred-minute mark for the Xrnites when they heard, or more accurately felt, something moving just outside of the tunnel, displacing huge amounts of water, sending both [Workers] & Wyrm tumbling back like soggy murderous ragdolls. As the Xrnites recovered from their tumble, they noticed two things. One was the massive eye staring back at them, now, giant eyes staring right back out of you from previous unoccupied openings were already terrifying to the average creature.
But consider the nature of the water the Xrnites were in. It was black with a slightly blue hue if seen outside, dark enough that you struggled to see your hand even a few inches from your face. Normally any giant eye would be impossible to see if it weren’t glowing. And that usually implied something nasty was about to go down. Second, if a giant eye were staring at you, that usually meant there was something connected to it as a basic rule of thumb. Meaning there was a giant monster outside, something that would be strong enough to destroy the entire section of the hive the Xrnites were in. Especially if it had been swimming through this particular liquid. Which was far denser, comparable to slime in density.
Right on both accounts. As the Xrnites felt the dirt & earth breaking down around them, the Hive rumbling, shaking with such a force that had the water been gone most of the Xrnites would’ve been splattered against the walls. As the shaking slowly stopped, the eye burst like a giant boil. The Wyrm had seen some Xrnites with ones, the aftereffects of some monster's poison or a skill that had been used on them during a raid. This wasn’t like any of those instances, it felt more like an egg cracking open to the Wyrm's instincts, or a birthing pod releasing a newly created Xrnite. What came after the eye burst explained the feeling.
A slimy slug-like creature drifted out of the orange mucus that had once been the eye. Their bodies were long, orange lines traced along their bodies in straight patterns, and four hooks protruded out of what the Wyrm assumed was a mouth, hooking together to form the equivalent of a beak. Slight indentations right before the beak hinted at eyes and nostrils. The flesh of the creatures that were striped seemed vaguely pale, a glowing white that told of weakness. An easy kill for the average predator.
Two thin arms extended out of the creature's side, vaguely chitinous, a disturbing similarity to the Xrnites. Though one lost on the Wyrm, the [Workers] understood it better. Arms like those didn’t seem made for the creature, three hooked claws that seemed of little use in anything but ripping apart creatures. But the claws looked fragile, easy to break even with gentle care. And they did little to solve how it would move. It almost seemed disposable, a thing not meant for the creature's body to be disposed of the moment a more suitable replacement was found. And if one wasn’t? It’d fall apart all the same.
The Xrnites had time for little more pondering when the creature's hook beak mouth opened up, opening wide enough for the hooks to stab into the creature's face, right into the indentations. Tiny tentacles struck out of the creature's mouth. Shooting like an arrow, striking the surprised Wyrm, then piercing it. Before any of the Xrnites could react, the slug-like monster soared through the water, almost like it was being dragged by the tentacles. It slammed into the Wyrm, then it began to suck.
Blood flowed from the Wyrm's veins into the parasitic tentacles. Feeding the slug monster, The Wyrm attempted to tear it out with its mouth, but the claws moved like lightning. As the Wyrm attempted to bite down on the monster, they stabbed out like drills, burying themselves into the Wyrm's first jaw. Keeping it from closing, Wyrm blood flowed freely and the dark water was tainted with a hint of blue sanguineous fluid.
The others began to emerge, similar to the first if with a slightly different hew of orange or pale. Different shaped beak hooks, the appearance of its limbs. But they float forward like a wave of death towards the Wyrm and its fellow Xrnites.
They had seventeen more minutes to live at most if the slugs didn’t kill them. The way behind them was blocked with rubble, and their strongest fighter, the Wyrm, had just had its primary weapon disabled as a swarm of monsters came at the group.
The Xrnites could almost feel the smugness coming out of the slug that lay buried in the Wyrm's side.