Jake and Vesperia hadn’t ever really spent that much together, and he truly didn’t know what she was actually capable of. All he had seen from her was her ability to enter fighting mode, which ultimately wasn’t her main power.
She was a Hive Queen. A living one-woman army that commanded an entire hive of powerful insectoids to overwhelm and slaughter anyone who dared oppose her. Her personal ability to fight was a last resort or to be used only alongside her workers and soldiers. Well, primarily soldiers, Jake reckoned, as workers were meant to stay back at the hive.
Now, after a few years, Vesperia had plenty of time to learn more about her abilities, but more importantly, to actually create some creatures for her hive. Something she enthusiastically wanted to show off.
“My internal space serving as a temporary hive has expanded significantly as I have progressed through C-grade, and I have even absorbed unique treasures provided to me by the Endless Empire to facilitate further growth. This has led to me having an internal space capable of storing at least a few million creations, though I have far from filled it up. To do that, I will likely need some more Hive Queens to assist me,” Vesperia happily explained, as Jake nodded along with interest.
“Have you made any more Hive Queens yet?” Jake asked.
“Only two so far, and both of them were made without any fertilization,” Vesperia answered nonchalantly. “I find it too early for me to look into any potential mates. Besides, if they are too weak, their Records will only end up weakening the Hive Queen.”
Yeah, Jake wasn’t going to touch that topic with a ten-foot pole. He sure as hell wasn’t going to discuss Vesperia’s potential love life, though going by the tone she spoke with, it didn’t seem like she viewed the act of fertilization as anything that had emotions involved in it. It was purely a way to potentially improve the Records of a Hive Queen.
“One of those Hive Queens is in my stomach right now! I’m making a wasp farm!” Sandy added happily.
“That’s nice,” Jake said with a smile. “How about the second one?”
“Would you like to see her?” Vesperia asked. Jake nodded his head without any hesitation, quite curious for sure.
“Do note this one is still very young,” she said, as Jake felt the movement of magic. That is also when he learned that the way Vesperia summoned things from her internal world wasn’t just like pulling stuff out of spatial storage.
A large yellow spinning portal appeared, and a few seconds later, a pretty damn massive wasp walked out. It had no humanoid features at all but just looked like a big wasp with a surprisingly huge thorax compared to the wasps he usually saw. Jake also felt that this Hive Queen was barely in C-grade and not particularly strong either… likely because it was focused on tending to and expanding hives.
[Vespula Hive Queen – lvl 208]
It was even an entirely different race. A Vespula Hive Queen. Still a wasp but far from a True Royal. Jake wasn’t disappointed or anything, though. The mere fact Vesperia could create a creature like this all on her own, possessing a full Truesoul and being its entirely independent being, was incredibly impressive.
“She hasn’t had time to learn to change her form yet,” Vesperia quickly clarified as she looked at the large wasp.
The wasp bowed its head toward Vesperia before it looked at Jake. “I greet the Sire of the True Royal.”
Yeah, Jake definitely shouldn’t be surprised the big wasp could talk and responded politely: “Nice to meet you, too.”
“As you can see, despite being young, Hive Queens are born with the same innate knowledge that I was, albeit far less. She is only a year old and already ready to establish her own hive once a suitable site is found,” Vesperia explained.
“I see,” Jake nodded, impressed.
Could he just mention how fucking scary eusocial insects like Vesperia were? She could create creatures that could make more creatures, creating a massive army within only a few years. He totally understood why many sought to eradicate any ectognamorphs once discovered on a planet, as should they go uncontested, most planets would be overrun.
“Alright, please return to the Internal Hive,” Vesperia said to the young Hive Queen. It bowed its head once more and quickly walked back through the portal, which did make Jake wonder…
“Say, can others enter the portal? Could I?”
“I apologize, that’s not possible. Only creatures I have created can enter. Even that Hive Queen cannot make any spawns within, and I wouldn’t be able to house anything she makes in the future either,” Vesperia said very apologetically as she deflated a bit.
“Why apologize? That’s not necessarily a downside. It means the space is far safer by default, and enemies have no possible way to sneak in and hurt the young within. In fact, I would say it’s a feature more than anything else,” Jake said, shaking his head.
Vesperia smiled as his words quickly pepped her back up. “Hive Queens are far from the only spawns I have made. Actually, they are the only creatures not truly part of the Vespernat Lineage.”
She proceeded to bring out more wasps to show off. Three pretty different insects appeared, all with varying names, looks and purposes, their races pretty explanatory.
[Vespernat Soldier - 267]
[Vespernat Worker- 255]
[Vespernat Pollinator - 248]
All of them looked purely like insects. The Soldier was the biggest of them at about three meters long, and it definitely looked designed to fight. The Worker and Pollinator looked a lot less dangerous, especially the Pollinator. Rather than a wasp, it looked more like a cross between a wasp and a bumblebee, with its many soft hairs, making it look pretty cute.
“These are some of the common drone variants I can create,” Vesperia said proudly as she proceeded to briefly clarify some more ectognamorph things.
These three weren’t like the Hive Queen in that their souls were a bit… lacking. They were the same as the termites from that hive back then. They relied on the Queen and didn’t have the intelligence to act on their own. Should Vesperia fall, they would also cease to function and quickly just die.
This did come with some upsides, though…
“While I am still lacking, I am up to around two thousand Soldiers, five thousand Workers, and a few hundred Pollinators,” Vesperia said with a sigh as if that wasn’t already a fuckload.
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Jake raised an eyebrow, surprised at the number. “How many of those are C-grades?”
He could already imagine… If just a tenth of them were C-grades, that meant she had an army of two hundred C-grade Soldie-
“Oh, those are the C-grades. Counting D-grades and below, I have approximately fifty times that,” Vesperia clarified.
Jake stared a bit as he processed this. Even if these Soldiers were weak variants compared to regular beasts… that was still a fucking army, wasn’t it? What’s more, she genuinely didn’t think this was a lot?
Again… Hive Queens are fucking scary.
“That’s quite the army,” Jake said after a brief pause as he processed Vesperia walking around with a few hundred thousand insects in her pocket. He did have one more thing he wondered, though. “Do you have more powerful variants?”
“Two more,” Vesperia said. “Royal Guards and Queen’s Guards.”
“Damn,” Jake muttered. “How many of each?”
“Twenty-six Royal Guards and four Queen’s Guards,” Vesperia answered.
Sending back the three drone variants, a new specimen appeared that looked a lot different than anything prior. These did not look much like wasps at all but reminded Jake far more of how Vesperia looked in her warrior form. They each carried what looked like stinger spears, as well as carapace shields, and they walked on two thin legs. Their far bulkier forms than Vesperia in her warrior form, as well as them not giving off the same kind of scent – likely pheromones of some kind - made Jake wonder something as he also used Identify.
[Vespernat Royal Guard – lvl 274]
“Are these males?” Jake asked curiously.
“Yes,” Vesperia confirmed. “Royal Guards are those among a brood who failed to fully mature into Queen’s Guards, hence why they are males.”
Jake nodded as he kept observing the five Royal Guards Vesperia had summoned to show off, ignoring the fact that in ectognamorph society, males tended to be the half-cooked specimen. A very matriarchal society that one. Focusing on the Royal Guards, they were impressive indeed and even pretty powerful variants. They are at least above average, and dealing with an entire army of them would be quite the challenge.
Dismissing the Royal Guards, Vesperia finally brought out her biggest guns: the Queen’s Guards.
The four of them were about six meters long, and they looked a lot like regular wasps except massive. No, perhaps calling them hornets would be more accurate, seeing as they had far darker colors and looked more aggressive. One big difference was that their mandibles were far larger, and their legs looked almost metallic, reminding him a bit of the Hive King from the termite nest.
Then, there were, of course, their stingers. They were not as puffy but longer in shape, with a very pointy tip. Jake’s Sense of the Malefic Viper also made it very clear that there was some nasty venom on the other end – something that wasn’t really unique to Royal Guards, as most wasps had venom.
Anyway, the entire bodies of these Queen’s Guards looked made for combat, and even their antennas were glowing with magic. Healing magic, as far as Jake could tell. These weren’t low-tier variants at all but were powerful in their own right and would no doubt be considered high-tier elites worth nurturing if they were part of any faction. He doubted their level of teamwork was anything to scoff at, either. Even their levels made it clear they were far from weak.
[Vespernat Queen’s Guard – lvl 282]
[Vespernat Queen’s Guard – lvl 280]
[Vespernat Queen’s Guard – lvl 281]
[Vespernat Queen’s Guard – lvl 282]
These four huge Royal Guards sat passively on the lawn, not doing anything as if waiting for Vesperia to give them any commands.
“I can only create four Queen’s Guards currently with my abilities, and the rest of my elites will have to be Royal Guards,” Vesperia explained. “I can make way more of the regular drone variants, as they barely consume any Hive Energy to maintain. Ah, Hive Energy is a special resource I have that dictates how many I can spawn, and everything that isn’t its own separate Hive Queen counts.”
“You sure learn something new every day. Also, I do wonder… why do the Royal Guards have humanoid forms while these four look perfectly insecty?” Jake asked.
“Oh, that was just a choice for this demonstration, and due to the peculiarity of the transformation of these guards,” Vesperia said as she looked at the four Queen’s Guards. “Transform.”
Instantly, they reacted as all four of them grew in size, and within seconds, they turned into carbon copies of Vesperia in her warrior form. Even their auras changed to resemble hers, and without his Bloodline, he wasn’t sure he could have told the difference. Jake even tried using Identify…
[Vespernat Hive Queen – lvl 284]
“Are these…?”
“Look-alikes,” Vesperia said, smiling. “A tried and true strategy of old."
“That’s… impressive,” Jake said, as he kept comparing the four of them to Vesperia. “Are these also considered drones, or?”
“Partly,” Vesperia clarified as she motioned toward one of the Queen’s Guards, who promptly spoke:
“We live to serve the Queen and have the required mental faculties to do so efficiently,” she spoke in a voice that was even identical to Vesperia’s.
“Having a look-alike that couldn’t even act like me wouldn’t be a very good one, now would it?” Vesperia said proudly. “You four may return to the hive.”
The four of them nodded and went through the portal without saying anything more. After they left, Vesperia closed the portal again.
“Ah, I should mention their ability to mimic me isn’t a known ability and shouldn’t be shared, as it would make it far less effective,” Vesperia casually clarified that she had just revealed one of her big trump cards.
“Of course I won’t share anything,” Jake reassured her.
“I totally would if they had the right bribe,” Sandy also decided to jump into the conversation. “Ah, who am I kidding. I wouldn’t do that to my little sister Vespy.”
“That actually reminds me,” Jake said, looking at Vesperia. “Are you alright with Sandy calling that nickname? I know that Sandy can be a handful, and I would gladly give the big worm a stern talking to.”
“It… it’s fine,” Vesperia said a bit shyly as Sandy jumped right back in.
“Vespy is also having mixed emotions about having her own name already and you not naming her like the rest of us. Seeing as your naming convention sucks, Vespy totally sounds like the name you would have given her if you had been the one to decide, so me calling her that makes her feel like we’re all closer,” the worm once more inflicted panic upon Vesperia.
“… if you want me to also call you Vespy, that’s totally fine?” Jake muttered. “And… well, that probably is the kind of name I would have given.”
“Make it a special family name!” Sandy wriggled happily.
“I… I would be fine with whatever Sire wishes to call me,” Vesperia said.
“That means she wants you to call her Vespy as that sounds way more familial,” Sandy just wouldn’t let up causing Vesperia mental attacks.
“Vespy it is then,” Jake smiled as he saw Vespy blush, making him instinctively reach up and pat her head. Her only response was to lower herself a bit, making it easier for him to do so.
“I must say, your abilities surpass my expectations,” Jake said happily while still rubbing her hair. “You really are a one-wasp army. Do you also remember what we talked about earlier regarding you helping me with something?”
Vespy’s head instantly shot up as she looked at Jake. “What is it?”
Jake smiled and shook his head and pulled back his patting hand – much to Vespy’s disappointment - before explaining. “While preparing for the Prima Guardian to arrive, we are addressing as many potential risk factors as possible. The skies, seas, and land are very much covered, but the subterranean world is still mostly unexplored. What we do know is that there is quite an Isoptera presence that, last time I heard, is far from fully addressed. There might even be some ants or other hives, too.”
“Does Sire wish for me to make contact with these hives and eradicate or place them under our control?” Vesperia asked nonchalantly.
“Not gonna lie, as long as they are addressed, I don’t care how you do it,” Jake shook his head. “But I would still be careful. They are underground, where I don’t know how good your variant is at fighting, seeing as you’re wasps and all. They also had a lot of time to grow, so they might have become quite powerful. Not to mention the fact that much of the underworld remains unexplored, and I don’t know what other dangers might be waiting. As I said, much of it remains unexplored.”
“Firstly, Sire, the Vespernat lineage does not struggle underground. Many of the offshoots from the Lineage are underground dwellers already, and we are more than adapted to that kind of environment. Perhaps not as much as other True Royal Lineages of the Endless Empire, such as the True Royal Lineage ruling the Isoptera line, but in the end, they are only Isoptera. My goal will also not be to fight them. Simply to announce my presence and allow them the honor of swearing fealty.”
Jake furrowed his brows. “Are you sure they will be that receptive? What if they choose to fight back?”
Vesperia looked at Jake with a perplexed expression. “Why would they ever fight against the honor of submitting to a True Royal? One who even acts with the blessing of their True Royal ancestors? Even if I asked the Hive Queens to all kill themselves, it would be the greatest moment in their lives, simply for having the privilege of carrying out a direct order from me.”
… had Jake ever mentioned that True Royals Hive Queens are mega scary?