Feeling the hardwood under my butt, I leaned forward and put my elbows on my knees. Intertwining my fingers and putting it under my chin. I stared at the ten floating Mossquitoes. They indeed were amazing. Despite flying around me for hours, I didn’t hear a single buzz. But still, I was frustrated, confused, and dumbfounded all at the same time.

“Ahh!” The sudden shout brought the others’ attention towards me. “Why did I say that?! I couldn’t even beat a group of common thugs, more so, the Golden Sun. Ahh! What should I do?” I stood up, pacing back and forth.

Seeing my obvious distraught, Rihoku rushed beside me, brushing his soft black fur on my leg. I stared at him, then gave in to his silent demand and petted him. Gliding through his smooth, thick fur, I could feel the slight bulge growing on his head. Still, my mind raced, lost and didn’t know what to do.

“My liege.” Shiki’s cold, husky voice sounded behind me. “I presume pacing and biting your lip won’t be of much help. If I may suggest--”

A heavy thud stopped him mid sentence. The pale, silver-haired witch was genuflecting beside Shiki. “No matter your decision, I, Bria Silver Witch, oath to offer this life to you for this battle, Kaito.”

The black samurai helmet serving as Shiki’s head tilted towards Bria’s direction. A few seconds later, Shiki put his hand across his chest, then bowed. “I also vow to protect you to the best of my capabilities against the Golden Sun, my liege.”

Hearing them professed their loyalty, I was left with no other choice but to calm down. After all, I couldn’t put their trust to waste. I gathered my thoughts then flopped back to my chair. “Our current forces include me, the both of you, which are also our strongest weapons, an alpha Nighthowl, four other adult Nighthowls, and three Goblins. If we’re going to fight them now, just how many of them do you think will it take to defeat us, Bria?”

Bria stood up, pondered for a bit, then replied, “Without Shiki and my help, eight adventurers the level of those in the cave is enough to defeat us.”

We’re no match against them. Damn it! The nagging feeling in my head came back. Nibbling the ends of my nails, I mumbled, “We’re too weak. They only need eight people to kill us, and the Golden Sun is planning to build an army.” I emphasized the last word, hoping to bring some sense of urgency to them. I turned to Shiki and Bria, stopping my left leg from rhythmically drumming the floor. “Tell me, Shiki, Bria. What should we do? Can we even fight them?”

“Do not fret, my liege. All is not lost. If the foes are stronger, then we shall strengthen our forcers. If the adversary has a larger army, then we shall recruit more brethren.” Shiki offered. His little speech somewhat calmed me. I got the feeling that Shiki was, if not already, an admirable general.

“Also, do not forget about your strength, Kaito,” Bria added.

“Strength?” My head tilted to the side, confusion clouding my mind.

“Your potential, Kaito. Your speed of growth is undeniably faster than any I have ever seen. Given enough time, I have no doubt that you can amass enough force to rival the Golden Sun’s.”

“Enough time, huh… Then, how will we know how much time we still have? Plus, how can I get stronger still? Will you train me again, Shiki? Will you teach me again, Bria?” A dozen of questions flooded my mind at once. All of which pointed to problems I didn’t even notice before. Ugh!

“If I may suggest, Kaito,” Bria started, then pointed to the flying gray balls of hair.

“Ah, yeah! You’re right! The Mossquitoes!” I exclaimed in delight, forgetting the stupidity of its name. “But, how can we utilize them?”

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“They are Uruq-ai’s spawns, so Uruq-ai still mainly control them. But he should have allowed us remote control access. Inject a few mana to them, and you should be able to control and telepathically exchange information with them as long as Uruq-ai allows access.”

“That sounds easy enough.”

“It does, but the problem lies with receiving information and controlling them. Controlling ten of them at once meant controlling ten different units. That means simultaneously feeding and receiving information from all of them at once.”

“Okay. I take that back. I definitely can’t do that.” I raised both of my hands in surrender. “Hmm… Can you do it, Bria? Can you control them?”

“If that is your wish, then yes,” Bria responded flatly.

“That’s settled then.” I turned towards Shiki, while giving Rihoku another pat. “With the deadline problem solved, we only need to build our forces. How can we do that?”

“Subjugate more, my liege,” Shiki stated matter of factly.

“That’s… That’s easier said than done, Shiki.” I was sure of my limits when it came to subjugation. Even subjugating the Nighthowls was nothing more than a fluke.

“But we do not have much choice, my liege. Training you would only be futile, since it will no longer raise your level. Our only option is to get out of the Hatchery and expand our forces.”

I bit my lip. Shiki’s right. There’s no other option.

“Fine. You win. Let’s do some grinding.” Even I could hear the fakeness of my enthusiasm. Nevertheless, Shiki got a bit excited and the sound of boiling kettle came out from his armor. I continued, “Then, when shall we start.”

“As soon as possible,” Shiki quickly supplied.

“Which is tomorrow, since I have to plant these Mossquitoes in Castel,” Bria quickly added.

***

With the silver moonrays lighting us, Bria chanted a few words. With a few elegant strokes, her lava aura-covered hand moved in circles. A mirror-like opening hung in the air. But instead of our reflections, a few torchlit stone houses were revealed.

Another wave of her hand, and ten perfectly camouflaged specks floated towards Bria. With a flick of her finger, a thread of light shot to each puff of gray. Bria turned towards us, her silver hair reflecting the moon’s glow. She waved her hand, bidding us goodbye, and turned into a silver bird the size of a fist.

As soon as she and the Mossquitoes passed through the portal, it vanished. They were gone. Me, Shiki, and Rihoku were left gazing into nothingness.

Breaking the ice, I turned towards Shiki and asked, “Shiki, what do you think we should do next?”

The two blue dots inside his helmet shifted and looked at me. “Increase our numbers, my liege.”

Putting my hands on my chin, which I often caught myself doing recently, I replied, “Valid, but doesn’t offer much help. How about this. If you’re as weak as me, how exactly can we do that?”

“If I have regressed to your level, my liege, I will perhaps hunt monsters a few levels above mine. Given the chance, I will subdue them and make them my slaves. That way, I can increase my level, whilst amassing my force, my liege.”

I nodded. “Yes, you’re right. That’s probably the Shiki way of getting stronger. Why did I even ask?” I asked myself. “Perhaps, if I can subjugate a Spiked Firebear… but I’m not certain my pseudo slash can--” A realization hit me. “--That’s right! I have to master Crescent Slash! Right?!”

I turned my gaze to Shiki. “Shiki, which do you think should be our first target?”

“I reckon the witch would be the better one to ask regarding this matter, my liege.”

A familiar buzzing sound caught our attention. Curious, I whipped my head towards the sound’s direction. A red mist appeared out of thin air and slowly expanded until it was as tall as a Gobin. Within the mist was a view of the night sky. Coming out of it was a streak of gray that also expanded into a human.

“That was fast. Have you planted them already, Bria?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yes, except for one.” She pointed to a barely noticeable Mossquito hovering above her shoulders. Had she not pointed it, I was certain I would have missed it.

“Why did you leave one?”

“For emergency purposes. Should we need scouting, we have one at our disposal.” She turned around and started to walk towards the house. “I’m exhausted. I’ll go ahead of the two of you and get some rest.”

“Hey! We waited for you!” I shouted.

“I presume we should also head inside, my liege.”