Mar felt at the new presence residing inside of their swarm. Battling Ysandra had been a costly affair and had not ended up with the result that they had originally expected. The Dryad had not been subsumed and become yet another Fungal Zombie as Mar had expected. No she had remained even after the tree had been fully infected and the two had engaged in a vicious mental battle that lasted for hours.

The battle had pushed Mar well beyond their normal capabilities and well into the depths of desperation. When the battle reached its crescendo and it became clear that Mar would lose, which caused him to desperately pull on the fragments that were part of their unity. Somehow, this had given her the power needed to finally drive the dryad into submission. They could feel many notifications burning in the back of their mind, but Mar was so exhausted that they couldn't summon up the will to care.

As for the dryad, Mar could feel her waking up and the unfamiliar sensation of having a full mind connected to the network as intimately as any of their fragment minds. Or not quite as intimately, a fragment was fully Mar and yet slightly separate. It existed to pilot the body of a unit and add their observations and limited thoughts to the communal pool that made up the Sovereign Swarm. This mind on the other hand was connected and had a fragment that relayed all that the dryad saw and thought through the bond, yet it also felt like a separate existence onto itself.

* Subject Added: Dominion Tree Dryad(1)

* A Dryad that has been completely reforged by Swarm Toxin into a new species of tree and bound to serve as a guardian of your forest.

* Hidden Trait: Usurper.: Has been discovered

* New Trait: Usurper: When infecting or subjugating beings of more or near equal power to you then you usurp some of their own power for your own.: Has been Gained

* New Trait: Source of Magic: You are a living being of magic and sapient beings may learn to cast spells and rituals by studying you or through your blessing.: Has been Usurped

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

* New Power: Focus Growth: You are able to direct the growth of plant life and the way life is shaped in a pre-birth stage using your own magic as a baseline.: Has been Usurped.

* Hidden Power: Unit Sacrifice.: Has been discovered

* New Power: Unit Sacrifice.: When lacking in resources or in power you are able to sacrifice units to fuel your Attributes or function as a stand-in for existing resources. Has been Gained

When the first wave of notifications broke through the self-imposed "walls" that Mar had erected after the stressful battle, she did not take kindly to it at first. That was until she sensed the new powers that she had sucked out of Ysandra and shaped into an image more befitting of himself. Mar felt their entire swarm smile at the implications of what could happen in the future when they devoured and subjugated even more powerful beings.

Also this along with when their first Swarm Champion appeared came with a very clear indication. Increasing the tiers between Apocalyptic Ranks was not the only way to gain more abilities to draw on. If she could continue finding more ways to increase their strength then perhaps he would not be as vulnerable to enemy action as he at times feared.

Mar then turned to their first subject and reached out to try and communicate with the only individual that existed within the swarm.