Richard Adams

Nothing could have made me got up faster than hearing Mimi make a loud thud upstairs. Me and Robert were both already running upstairs, as a few more people came out of their rooms on the second floor. They saw us both running, and started to run as well. We made it to the third floor and heard Mimi chirping in a way I never heard before. It sounded strained and pained, almost like a scream, but quicker. Robert got ahead of me, slamming the door open.

We saw Mimi writhing on the ground, in pain. It became clear that she needed help, but none of us knew how. Thankfully Mimi defied expectations as always, by contacting Douglas somehow. He quickly explained what she wanted, and Robert directed the faster guy to go get it. A few minutes passed, as we stood there on edge. Everybody else left the room, save for Robert and I. We stayed, watching over her in case something went wrong, or if she needed us to do something.

We didn't think about how she couldn't actually speak to us right now, but I could feel some of the pain through the ring. It impressed me, that even in her current state, she was able to keep control of herself. Thankfully she started feeling better, after our sanity dropped because of how she chose to fix the issue. I was glad we finished eating over an hour ago, since we were able to keep it down. Though I knew if one of us spilled our lunch, the other would also lose theirs.

Roughly thirty minutes passed, as Mimi laid there in a pool of her own blood. She managed to get the last stinger out, and stung herself twice. It took ten long minutes for the skull to grow back like it should. It was both terrifying, and relieving to know she could be brained, and walk away from it just fine. Even if her brain was exposed... I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts. I didn't need nightmares from this, not about her.

She finally sat up, and smiled while flexing her new stingers. She really was a sight, completely covered in her own blood, flexing all her stingers to make sure they had full motion. She even balled her fists and stretched her wings. I barely managed to smile back, "How are you feeling?"

Mimi tilted her head, before rolling her shoulders. "Much better with the pain gone. My sense of time might have been skewed by pain, or just about anything. How long has it been?"

Robert checked his time pebble, "About two hours. Does this always happen when you eat something new?" He was incredibly pale, but seemed to be bouncing back.

Mimi shook her head, "Only when I get ahold of something I killed with a strong enough trait to use. I didn't change when I ate a vampire, which surprised me."

I raised a brow, "You ate a vampire?"

Mimi nodded, "Yeah, there are a few in the sewer system above us. You didn't know?"

Robert and I looked at each other, then back at Mimi, "If their blood gets in you, you can become one." We both said together.

Mimi shook her head, "It doesn't work like that for monsters. It did try though, but it's more like a monster disease than anything."

I shook my head, "Doesn't matter, don't eat vampires, or the Count is going to kill you. He is not somebody you want breathing down your neck."

Robert stroked his chin, "Actually the Count left for war last month and took a small army of vampires with him. It should be fine if you don't do anything too crazy boss."

Mimi smiled, as bugs started to filter in. Workers repairing the hole in the floor, and others swarming her to clean her up. "I won't touch the vampires in the sewers, so don't worry about it. If we find any down here, that's another story."

Robert coughed a little, "Anyway, feel free to do as you want. We'll help you with whatever you need. Please don't scare us like that again."

Mimi stretched her arms, completely covered with workers. "That should hopefully be the last time I grow stingers."

I looked at the ice pick she was still holding, and nodded. "Just keep that with you in case. They can't use it for ice anymore."

She looked at it and smiled, as Robert cleared his throat. "What plans do you have today boss?"

Mimi leaned back, looking at the ceiling. "I'm going to take a small army and explore the other dead-zones nearby. I'll find one that is a good place for Richard to learn how to fight, and anyone else that is interested. We'll spend a few weeks training like that, while I move about scouting out more areas and eating anything I can find. Then I'll head to the arena for a few free meals if I feel I'm strong enough to take on the Minotaur if he tries anything. I need to get stronger."

Robert and me both laughed at that, but the look she gave us, showed how serious she was. Robert adjusted himself, "Why do you think you need to get stronger?"

Mimi smiled a little, "To protect my Hive, including those here. When faced with the Count, I could barely stand as he pressed his power down on me. Then the King made it impossible for me to move, and I couldn't save Oswald. There are things out there stronger than me, and I can't sit by waiting for them to decide I am no longer useful or amusing. Until I am confident I can fight them and win, I will get stronger."

I nodded, "Just don't leave me too far behind okay?"

She looked me over, then nodded. "As long as you want to train, and grow stronger, I will aid you. You do not have to fight, but because you are a part of my Hive I will help you in whatever you choose. Just like the others." She looked at Robert to tell him that last part.

Robert bowed his head, "We are really grateful for that, boss."

Mimi just shrugged it off, "Don't mention it. I'm feeling rather hungry right now, so I'll be eating the rations we have here."

We both decided to take the hint and leave her alone. After closing the door, we stood there for a second, as Robert told the others waiting outside everything was fine now. They accepted this, but Robert opened the door so they could see her. Mimi waved back, and it dispelled all illusions that she might not be okay.

I knew the people here by name, after having sat down and ate with them. There were more out there doing their jobs right now, but everyone here seemed happy. I asked Robert a few more questions about the gang, and some information I needed to know before heading downstairs into the basement.

The basement was rather large, and held everything I could ever want or need for alchemy. There was an old man wearing a leather cap, with his own goggles. He was eating his food, with crumbs getting in his long white beard. He was short, but he didn't have the tell tale signs of a dwarf. He looked up to see me, and quickly set his food aside. He half ran at me, as I tilted my head towards him. He grabbed my hand in both of his, shaking it vigorously, "Good day sir! You must be Richard!"

The man was still taller than me, and I slowly nodded while looking up to him. "Yeah, Robert said you'll be helping me with Alchemy. Should I call you master, teacher, or what?"

The old man smiled, "Please call me Lewis, my boy. It is an honor to work with the master of all Alchemy's apprentice."

I tilted my head, "I didn't think Oswald had that kind of title."

Lewis dismissed the notion, "Before he came along, everyone thought Alchemy was just for making food taste better, and poisoning people at best. They still thought that, until Oswald earned his title."

I looked him over, trying to figure out how old he was. He didn't have many wrinkles, but he did have liver spots all over his hands. His skin was sagging, and he seemed incredibly frail. "I thought Alchemy was respected for at least fifty years now."

The man laughed, "That's right my boy, I may not look it, but I'm pushing one hundred years myself. I have a talent that slowed my aging down. Long Life Slow Aging, if you're curious. Sadly it doesn't stop aging, but I'd say I am doing well enough because of it. I promise you that I am no Oswald, but in the field I chose to research I am confident you won't find anyone better than me."

I scratched my chin a little, "What field would that be? I know Alchemy is very general, but you have explosives, drugs, medicines, and more."

Lewis nodded, before heading over to the distilling table. "Components, and I've dabbled in the other fields. What I'm best at is breaking just about anything down to its most basic parts, then using those parts for whatever else I need. Mimi has given me the grand task of finding a way to preserve her miracle venom, and then trying to find a way to replicate it."

I followed after him, looking at what he had on the table. I could see different vials labeled with different components, some even labeled as monster blood. "It's been a hard time since she hasn't been able to provide me with a fresh sample, but now that she's here I'm hoping to make some real progress." It would be an amazing step forward if we could recreate her healing sting. Not to mention very profitable.

"Did you try freezing it to preserve the samples?" I offered, noticing him shaking a few vials around.

"We did, but it destroys the sample if it gets too cold. We tried putting it in a vial that rejects air, a vacuum vial as I believe they are called now. We tried putting them in one of those, and it still broke down. I did notice one important thing though. Most of the time, it would come down as monster blood. Then on a few occasions it came down as milk white elf blood. It was rare that this would happen, but after ten samples we got one, then another ten we got it again. I mixed one of the samples with the monster blood, and it turned into monster blood. One drop in a vial and the whole thing turns black."

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

I nodded, "What is your theory on this?"

Lewis put the samples back, "The venom is a mixture of elf blood and monster blood. Which proves her monster process has her somewhere between an elf and a proper monster. A true perfect union between the two. Which means both monster blood, and elf blood is necessary to make the panacea."

I raised a brow, "Panacea? I'm not sure it can cure everything."

Lewis laughed, "It's better than just calling it a mystery elixir or anything else. It heals the body of any and all physical ailments, so it fits. It cannot break curses, but if Mimi gets ahold of a curse drinker, what do you think will happen?"

I shuddered a little, imagining she might grow new stingers to deal with such. Then I remembered he wasn't there for Mimi's evolution. "She grew new stingers recently."

Lewis looked at me, "Really? How long ago was this?"

"Not even an hour ago. You didn't think to check what was going on?" I looked him over, as he frowned.

"I wasn't aware, I asked for padding to be put into place to dampen any and all sounds. I grabbed my food and came back down here to continue my research. If she has new stingers, would you mind asking her to send me samples of those? I'll test them and find out what they can do for her."

I nodded, "Sure thing. I'd like to see how you work to figure it out. Oswald didn't really spend time teaching me how to do that." I knew it was mainly because he didn't know how to do it himself. His talent just let him cut through all the testing needed.

Lewis smiled, while handing me a few vials. "I can already tell you were a good apprentice, not even questioning that I want to start with the basics to see what you know. We'll get along just fine."

I smiled a little, " Yeah, I figured everyone had their own way of doing stuff. I'll take what I can use, and try to improve on it where I can. This is your lab, so do you mind if I watch and ask questions?" I couldn't let him know Oswald never taught me such basic things. I was learning them from what I read in his journal, but it didn't help much."

I took the vials, as Lewis grinned. "Of course, my boy. I'll be more than happy to show you how I set everything up as well."

I left the room, and walked back up to Mimi fresh and clean from what happened earlier. After a bit of talking, and making certain she was alright. I was able to get samples from two of the three new sets she had. She took the time to explain the ones she knew, making certain I understood which one could heal me if I needed it, and she was unable to give it to herself for some reason. Turns out one of the sets was able to drain blood rather quickly, which she found out by using it on herself. So we only needed to identify two. A tiny black stinger with a red stripe, and a white one that was more like a thin needle than a stinger.

I made it back to Lewis, learning a lot about the basics and how to discover how these samples would react when injected into people. We mixed it with various different samples. Which because of alchemy, we were able to separate, and feel if anything was going on. The samples would mix into any kind of blood as far as we could tell, but that acted as a carrier for it. It wouldn't react with anything dead, simply lingering there and moving around.

I also learned something incredibly useful. You could break things apart and mix them back together to let your Alchemy control how it reacted with something. The same basic principle behind Oswald's tonic, but I thought it only applied to cells to some degree. Which meant if you can break it apart with Alchemy you can also control it.

The sample from the red stripped stinger was a sleeping agent, that made the rattle rat we tested it on pass out. Multiple doses only made it sleep for longer periods of time. We naturally started out with a drop, and worked our way up to an entire dose. Lewis determined that it was some kind of anesthetic, which could be useful and would sell for a bit of coin since overdosing appeared impossible with it. To make it better, we could freeze it and it didn't appear it would go bad so long as it was kept frozen until time to use it.

The sample from the smallest stinger Mimi had was outright terrifying however. A single drop on a rattle rat was enough to kill it. We started with dripping it on one of them, letting another drink it from a water bowl, and finally injecting it directly in a third. All three died from a single drop, with the difference being how long it took for them feel the affects. They grew lethargic, before closing their eyes. It did not seem to cause any pain, but they never woke up. We knew they were dead when they stopped breathing, and their hearts stopped.

From what Lewis told me, the colorless venom moved through the bloodstream of the rattle rat. Then much like the other one, it seemed to interact with living brain matter. It would make the one stung with it feel very tired, and then destroy the part of the brain that carried out life functions. In his own words, it was the perfect poison. No one would feel it; it was colorless, tasteless, and odorless. Depending on how it reached the victim it could take minutes, or even hours if they ate it. After all our testing was done, we decided to tell Mimi about it tomorrow. She decided to explore since it was already night time.

I walked outside, to see how the light above dimmed in response to it going dark above. I never questioned why it did that before. Now, I wanted to know why those crystals above us lit up when the sun was out, and dimmed when it was gone. I never understood why we painted our buildings with all kinds of colors, and made pictures on every flat surface. It was just the way the world worked, and the best way I could honor my fallen brother was by finding all the answers I could. I will protect Mimi, just like she protects these people. It will be a long time, but I will be useful. I just needed to practice and train.

----------------------------------------

Mimi

The day was uneventful after my little issue earlier. I finished eating my meal, when Richard walked in asking for samples. It was nice to see him excited over testing things. I happily gave him what he wanted, and found out that one of my stingers came from the vampire blood line I started. It was so redundant when I already had fangs. I had to keep from slamming my palm to my face when I discovered it. To make up for it, I gave them an extra dose of samples to more properly test.

Feeling a bit better, I left the room, only to be tackled by little ones. I pretended to fall from their ambush, as they made adorable monster sounds like rawr. I appreciated that they were so happy to be around me, and tickled them to get them off. Finally I gave them the hug they desired earlier. I declined their invitation to play games with them, as I prepared my escort with Argus and Scix.

The plan was to have the same number of magic users to help me move between the dead-zones. Most of them were along the outer edges of the Underground and I could move between them after establishing Hives in new warehouses. The overall goal was to create self sustaining Hives that could act as caravans deep into these dead-zones. Creating safe lines of travel, that could be enforced and marked by any dead giants. The first of them would start to die from old age, and it would be a waste not to use their shells as building material and markers.

I had no idea if or when Mal might poke their head into our territory, given we were using their name for protection. At best, they might send someone to negotiate a price for such. At worst, they are already scouting out our warehouse, and plan on striking when they feel it is worth it. Argus has reported an increase of Entomancers in the area for a few days. Though there is no way to know if they are associated with Mal, or just genuinely curious about the new bugs in a dead-zone. Those that already lived in the area, understood very well that they couldn't connect with my Hive. Those that did try were met with lasting headaches, and the very clear message to not try again.

With my escort prepared, I met Robert at the front door. He folded his arms, while leaning against the frame. "Do you plan on going alone? What about your tag along?"

I glanced towards the basement, then looked back at Robert. "Richard needs to understand alchemy better. He'll only get in the way if I had to fight something dangerous."

Robert let out a soft sigh, before moving out of the way. "You don't plan on taking anyone for this? It can be very dangerous out there. What happens if we lose you?"

I moved towards the door stopping with my hand on the handle. "We'll lose my stingers if that is the case. This body is unique, but my mind is one of many. If my body dies, then I will just come into this Hive, and explain what happened to Douglas. We will use coin to buy an elf slave, and see if we can recreate my body. Worst case, we need an elf child so I can grow into the new body as I did this one. We'll lose generations worth of time, but everything is replaceable."

Robert frowned, "We're here today because of those stingers. We can't afford to lose them. Please, please, take somebody with you. Everyone that lives here, would die for you"

I looked down considering his argument. "No, none of you are strong enough to protect me, as I am now. If something is strong enough to push me back, whoever is with me becomes a liability."

Robert balled his fists. "A liability!? You'll need to run, and they might give you a few seconds to do that!"

I smiled, before going out the door and closing it behind me. "Hey! We're not done talking yet!" I closed my eyes as Robert reached for the handle. I could see through my giants, and teleported behind him.

He looked around for me, as I gently tapped his shoulder. "I can teleport now. If I'm in danger, I can just come back."

Robert spun around, looking me over. "How far?"

"Distance doesn't matter, since I gained it from the Fukuma. I just need to see the space I'm going to enter. Which I can always do through my kin. I won't be able to in the city, and I will drop everything I am holding, but I can do this four times a day. At least judging by the empty feeling it just left me with."

Robert calmed down, "So you wanted to use me to test it just now?" He smiled a little.

I nodded, "Yes, and no. The organ isn't perfect because I'm a monster using the organ of a beast. I can feel it working hard to refill itself, and that makes me hungry. I needed to make sure my theory was correct. If I lost anything important, I could have lost it right in front of you, and I would be right here waiting for you to help me."

Robert let out a small sigh, "We'll keep the ice pick in your room. Don't eat anything out there, where it isn't safe." He rubbed the back of his head, "And thank you for taking the time to show me, my worries were unfounded."

I gently rubbed his shoulder, "I trust you worry for the best interests of our Hive. You are forgiven, and I thank you for your concern. Are you comfortable with me leaving by myself now? I will protect anyone that you assign to me, and I will do my best to keep them from dying."

Robert laughed a little, "Fine, point made. We aren't strong enough yet, but you better find a good spot to train those of us that want to go with you."

I smiled, before moving past him. "The training will be brutal, and limbs will be lost. I hope by the end of the season, we'll have a way to save my healing sting, or outright make more. I don't like being the only one with the ability to save those in my Hive. I realize all too well that I won't be able to save everyone with how few times I can sting in one day. I will grow stronger to protect my Hive, or my Hive will grow strong enough to protect itself and myself."

My escort came from the walls, as others moved to replace them. Robert was watching my back, as I moved to the center of the escort. He waved, wishing me the best of luck. I rose my clawed fist into the air, heading out as fire surrounded me. Only Douglas could map out the area from our dead-zone with the bugs around. Those small groups of Giants I sent out, were little help in scouting as well. Mainly because the dead-zones they entered were close to the bugs, and everything that saw my giants went the opposite direction quickly. The same was true, given that Douglas used the local bugs, and kept them close while exploring. While he didn't see anything that stood out, I was certain other creatures saw him and decided not to fight.

I went in the direction where I there were reports of crude buildings, and tools. Towards the area with molted scales, and tribal drawings. A small village in the dead-zone, that might have lizardmen.