The pearly scythe in the woman’s hand hummed in the darkness of the mined tunnels echoing death. Anthony could feel the presence of a precious element embedded in the bone scythe containing small traces of a silky blue element that glowed in the darkness. He had seen a similar sheen on the bones of Marine Horse he had hunted before, but this one was finer cut and a much more intimidating design. It had to be fashioned from the Pearly Mare bone, a higher grade of seahorse that was dwelled in the coasts of the 2nd continent. They were said to dive deep into the oceans and were hard to capture, but its bones were popular for Water Mages as traditional weapons.

If this stranger known as Al did possess a Marine Mare bone weapon, she must have been a Water Mage from the Free States, maybe even the first continent. Best case scenario, she might not rely on her spirit senses to make certain of her surroundings. The slightest use of spiritual presence could alert the entire ant colony. This meant they were both at a disadvantage but in the end it would all come down to who was the better fighter. He grabbed his crystalline dragger at the helm ready to pull it out at the last possible moment of detection.

“Not to speak out of turn, Sir, but we are on a schedule.” The man of the group called his superior. “If the company arrives before we get our choice picks, we lose out on first claim perks.”

The woman stared through the eyes of her protective suit direct at him as if burning through the glass lenses in her gas mask.

“...Ugh, you got a point, boy.” She called out the woman with the scythe. “Al, change of plans! We’re moving onto the next door, we’ll double back when we get finished marking the routes.”

Anthony could see her blade turning the corner before it swiftly returned. Him, Jason and Master Zoe breathed a silent sigh of relief as they heard the footsteps of the other party turning into another direction. When all seemed silent Anthony waited a minute and then looked around. Whoever they were, they had left the area.

“I think we’re good.” He replied to his friends.

“It’ll take them a while before they finish up, we best hurry up and get what we came for before they return.”

“Angel Mushrooms grow fast but a fresh corpse means we’ll barely get any ripe crops.” Jason protested.

“The mushrooms are only a second priority, there’s something far more valuable we need to retrieve.”

Master Zoe led the way opening the recently marked door with her bare hands. As her hands smudged the marking she climbed down the corridor deep into the closed off pit. Unlike the other ones before them this one did not have garbage, but was entirely barren and marked with the footsteps of hundreds of creatures. Anthony could tell this was by far the most active part of the hive, the kind only a crazy person would have to enter since the door was more heavily fortified than the rest. Unfortunately if they wanted to find what they were looking for, it meant following the trail of claw marks deep into the catacombs.

The caverns ran deep into the ant colony, a labyrinth of corridors and tunnels. It weren’t for Anthony’s memory of traveling down these paths it would take them forever to find the right place. They passed many sights of complete Black and White Ant corpses, possibly dying from exhaustion or old age. The fungus on their bodies was fresh, a garden of valuable mushrooms but Master Zoe insisted they were not here for just any old mushroom. When they reached the deepest part of the catacomb, they started to see a dim light, a glowing luminescence reflected by the luster of their light stones. Shining like a rainbow in the darkness of the cave they found it, the remains of Myrrh Ant Queen laying against the wall of the catacomb.

The average Myrrh Ant was about the size of a large dog, but a Queen was twice the size of Grizzly Bear. Her exoskeleton was cracked from several buds that seemed to pop out of her shell making a small patch of complete mushrooms. She shined with a rainbow color crystalline features that reminded Anthony of the chandelier reflected in the sun of his childhood manor. While he and Jason admired the beauty and majestic features such a large insect displayed even in Death, Master Zoe was quick to instruct everyone on their tasks.

“Mr. Tilt, begin harvesting any ripe Angel Mushrooms as quickly and carefully as possible, Bios, I’ve got a special task for you.” She led him to the creature’s large body while Jason went about selecting the most fully developed spores.

She approached the lower thorax of the creature while Jason tried to gather spores from its feet. Anthony walked close with Master Zoe as she began to run her gloved hand down the creature's lower half scanning for a specific point.

“Few people know this, but Myrrh Ants are some of the most diverse creatures in the second continent. With the exception of certain species of Sacred Beasts, most are in fact divided by a little difference and are more like sub-species. Like how the Stone Lizard has a Silver Gem element in its head and the Ruby Salamander a Fire Gem element in its heart, the Myrrh Queen’s element gem supposedly is different from any of her works.”

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“Fascinating.” Anthony said. “I always thought there was something similar between mages and the demons as well. They use lament gems in the same way Mages use organs like the brain, stomach, heart, and spine, to conjure elemental force.“

“If a white myrrh has a gem located in the head, and ablack myrrh is found in the thorax, then a queen myrrh should have one right about...” She tapped a spot on the dead Queen’s body somewhere between the thorax and abdomen. “...Bios, would you kindly assist me in this operation?”

“Operation?” She drew a small blade from her pocket and took off the protective sheet.

It looked like a Orchialcum scalpel that she used to perform surgery but covered unpolished with a dulled edge. It was the same one she used to take samples of the various spores and now she is standing at the rear keeping one finger on the thorax and holding the scalpel with the others.

“Myrrh Ant skeleton is tough and these ears aren’t what they used to be, I’m gonna need you to break into the shell. Use that fancy knife of yours, I can remove the gem intact afterwards.”

“My knife is dulled, how can I even break a myrrh Ant skeleton.”

“It's not a matter of strength, it’s a matter of finding the right spot.”

Anthony was uncertain as he grabbed his knife and started hitting the area that Zoe had marked.

Clank! Clank! Clank! Three strikes but none of them made a dent. As the echo resonated through the empty halls like a cord, Anthony tried again.

Clank! Clank! Clank! Like the humming of harmonic keys against the crystalline blade.

Clank! Clank! Clank! The work was tiring even after putting all his strength into his strikes. Frustrated that he wasn’t making any progress, she remembered her words carefully. He had relied on Master Zoe for finding the right spot, and using his ears. Using his enhanced sense he had to find out where the right spot was for himself.

Tink, tink, tink! He tapped the skeleton shell with his knife until he heard the sound so well that it reminded him of a finger flicking fine crystal. He continued to tap the same spot until he was certain of the exact area and then let loose with all his power in that one spot.

Clank! The shell cracked and from that one hollow point emerged an opening. Anthony managed to reveal the Myrrh Queen’s flesh, tearing apart pieces of the shell with his bare hands and blade.

“Good work, Bios.” Master Zoe approached that opened area. “Since the flesh of myrrh Ant is still pliable it will not be hard to gather core.”

“Not surprising, defeating myrrh ant is mainly getting past the hard shell. It takes a high class mage or a skilled hunter even if it is freshly dead.”

“I’m hoping that by exercising certain nerves and muscles I can remove the core without having to use much energy.” She breathed a sign of concentration. “Just another operation.”

Master Zoe quickly began to cut nerve after nerve of the Ant’s flesh. Anthony noticed that it was like cutting into a great muscle several layers thick. Each piece she removed seemed to reveal more of the insects foreign anatomy. Although it was an insect it had more in common with the greater beast that he had come across, complex lifeforms made flesh, bone, cartilage, organs. The only difference was its crustacean-like shell and bright colored blood that reflected its shell like living light stone.

After tireless cutting and working through, Zoe finally reached the objects of her search. In her hands she held a large organ that looked like its stomach, and the center of it was embedded with a stone that glowed with a bluish hue that had to be an elemental stone. It was not uncommon to find elemental stones embedded in organs but for whatever reasons Master Zoe was careful when removing it out of the beast’s stomach.

“Ms. Bios, if you would kindly get me a jar.” Master Zoe said, holding the organ in both hands.

Anthony did as instructed and got a large jar big enough to place the organ and stone inside. He watched as she carefully placed the mess of flesh and stone into the large jar, and nodded her head for him to quickly close it. Grabbing the jar from Bios she looked at it with a turn of an eye and chuckled from beneath her masked face.

“Forgive my rudeness Master Zoe but why not remove the gem from the organ as is its custom?”

“Mr. Bios, what we have here is not just a gem attached to a Myrrh Queen’s liver, but the answer to an age-old question.” She placed the jar inside her bag and looked over to Jason. “Mr. Tilt, we’re leaving.”

“Already, but there’s still a lot of ripe spores left.”

“Never mind that, we got everything we need.”

Scree! The sound of a blade scratching the walls echoed through the hall as everyone turned their heads to see its source. They watched as two women stood behind them holding two blades in their hands. One was pearly bone scythe and the other holding a silvery claw attack to her wrist. The scouting party they tried to avoid had finally found them.