Rio and I returned to the surface after collecting enough mycelid spores from the ground and from inside me. Apparently they can grow into a mycelid if left alone, so Eileen would need to make use of these soon or we'd have an unexpected guest. I doubt mycelids would enjoy the surface, being what they were. And it would probably be horrifying if we had to kill it after developing consciousness.

As usual, my cunt was sore from being excessively fucked. If I wasn't already used to this, I'd still be lying there in the underground waiting for my legs to work.

When I emerged from the caverns and saw the beautiful starry sky above me, I couldn't help but laugh at myself at the side adventure I was given. It was completely unrelated to anything to do with Eudora or Edith. This request was simply made from a curious party, and I was more than happy to go despite what was asked of me.

If only things could be as peaceful as this. The greatest concern was getting railed by different species. Complacency gnawing at the back of my head would make me weak in the coming months. I must remain vigilant.

"Should anything happen, you'll stick with me. Right, Rio?" I asked my familiar.

"Nya!" He floated next to me and headbutted the side of my cap.

It was the most affection I could ask for. Rio had come a long way since the powerless familiar he used to be. He might be one of the stronger gluttonous souls in the world. If the world was still normal, I would have had to go to Grathir to evaluate his strength. The Elder Board put an arbitrary cap of magical density. Going over that threshold meant we had to destroy the familiar so it wouldn't become too strong to handle.

Well, that wasn't an issue anymore given our current predicament. 

I grabbed my familiar out of the sky and pulled him down to my face. He wriggled in my grasp, but ultimately settled still.

"So what did you inherit from the slugs this time?" I stared into his eyes that were as black as his fur.

Rio struggled until I let him go. He dropped to the ground, bent low to the grassy terrain and camouflaged into it.

"Oh! That would work great for ambushing— wait…" I knelt down where he had disappeared and realized I couldn't sense his magical signature. He was completely gone from my detection. When I hijacked his vision, I was staring up at myself. Rio hadn't moved an inch, yet he was undetectable by magical means. "This is incredible! We could use this for so many applications."

This made sense why I couldn't detect the slugs falling from the ceiling despite them being engorged with magic. Vespers I knew didn't have that attribution. They likely mutated from the overabundance of magic in the area.

More importantly, we could infiltrate places like Grathir with Rio.

Zeke flew us to the foothills of southern Parthun in search of a place called Kerral's Nose. A strange name to give to a mountain range, but definitely not the weirdest I've heard. It was a sea of rolling green hills, with the occasional flat pasture. Trees were sparse on this side of the kingdom, small shrubberies dot the landscape. 

A rancher whose herd of goats were suddenly bleating in panic, ran into his house screaming.

"Ah. Right. We're on a dragon…" I mused to myself.

It was really late. I might as well make a friend and hunker down for the night.

We landed in front of the farmstead. It consisted of a rather modest single-floor home, two barns, and a stables. A brown shepherd raced up and barked at us with its tail wagging.

"It says it wants to play!" Zeke exclaimed, wagging his own tail.

"We're staying the night. If you're going to play, be gentle. Don't forget, you're a dragon that can easily crush things," I warned.

I cast a clarity of mind over the goats to stop their incessant bleating. The rancher, an older man whose white hair and receding hairline formed a crown around his head, was shaking in the doorway. He held a butcher's knife.

"I'm not here to hurt you or your animals! Just looking for a place to stay," I said.

"I served in the army. I ain't afraid to use this!" he shouted.

"As if a knife could really hurt me…" I muttered.

This area was pretty remote. It was possible he's had little contact with the rest of the kingdom, and less likely that he knew what was going on in the world.

"Look. Even your dog knows we aren't here for trouble." I started petting the dog, and she rolled over onto her belly.

Oh, gods. This was too cute.

"Daisy's a stupid dog! She doesn't know trouble until something bites her tail!" The man was too stubborn.

I didn't feel like sleeping out in the open, and I had a better chance of finding the remsectnid hive asking a local. Maybe he would change his mind if I offered him sex. But as I got closer, he shut the door.

"Are you sure you want to deny a young lady a place to rest?" I asked seductively.

The door cracked open, but only enough to see his eyes.

"You're a witch. You'll sooner turn me into a frog and throw me into your cauldron," he said.

"No… we don't do that. If I really wanted to come in, I would have kicked the door open. We aren't evil in any shape or form unless you're actively trying to kill us. I'll leave if you really want me to. Treat me to a nice hot meal and bed, you might like what you get later." I winked.

He gulped hard.

"The dragon stays outside," he said.

"He couldn't come in even if he wanted." I shrugged.

The door swung open, nearly hitting my nose.

"Tobias. Family's long gone. Just me, Daisy, them goats, and a couple of horses in the stables." Tobias stuck out a bony hand to shake.

Zeke agreed to stay outside for the night, and went hunting for food while Rio and I rested. Tobias' home was nothing short of comfy. A thatched roof made the interior extra toasty, especially with a fire going in the hearth. The floor was paved with thick wooden boards, laid over with goat furs. What few furniture he had like chairs and a table were also covered with animal's pelt. The door to an adjacent room was left ajar, revealing all but a single bed inside.

This man had little and lived modestly. I could imagine why he was apprehensive.

Tobias filled two wooden bowls full of the stew bubbling in the cauldron and handed one to me. He took a seat across the table, and slurped carefully while occasionally glancing up.

"Made with goat milk, goat meat, and some lettuce. Won't get anything fancy out here," he said.

"The hospitality is more than enough. Thank you!" I ate a spoonful of the goat stew and wanted to retch, but held it in so as to not offend.

"Don't get many visitors. Witches even less so. What are you doing all the way out here?" Tobias asked.

"I'm looking for a remsectnid hive. They're nomadic creatures, but wherever they make temporary stay a large hive is left behind. Maybe you've seen one?" I slurped the stew down in one go while holding my breath and forced it down my throat.

He chewed thoughtfully on his food. Someone had to have a lack of taste buds in order to eat something as disgusting as this slop.

"Not familiar with no remsectnid. Them supposed to be giant bugs that walk around on two legs?" he said.

"Yes! I'm trying to find them." I nearly jumped out of my seat. Remsectnid eggs were the last thing Eileen needed. It would also be an interesting experience to meet one face to face.

Tobias left the table to rummage through a shelf above his cooking cauldron. Glass clinked together, dried tubers rolled around, he caught one before it fell off like he had done this a hundred times. He came back with a jar of golden honey that had all but a few spoonful licks' worth.

"Downright shit my pants when I first saw them. Thought they'd eat my precious goats. We traded instead. My goat's milk for their honey. Used to visit me every two full moons, but they stopped coming altogether since about… last month," he explained.

That meant they must have left around a month ago. In that time, the swarm could have gone as far as Thanreas. Who knew where they were now.

"I know that look. Same one my son used to give when I said he couldn't have his candy. But the hive ain't gone. They just holed themselves up further east." Tobias squinted while searching his memory.

"Really? They're still around?" I asked.

He nodded.

It was very strange for them to stay in one place. I should have read up on remsectnids before leaving. Now I didn't have my tomes.

Under very abnormal and rare circumstances would an entire swarm stay in one place for too long. It could be something happened to their queen, or they were under imminent threat. The former sounded more likely because few could threaten a hive of remsectnids.

The leftover goat-rounded dinner was thrown fed to a pair of pigs. Tobias had a hard time not staring at me for the rest of the night. When finally decided to retire to bed, he threw a thin blanket at me and said I could sleep by the fire. Instead, I disrobed and followed him into his room.

"W-What are you doing?" Tobias backed into his bed and fell onto it, the bulge between his legs was growing.

"Why waste a perfectly good night sleeping alone? Aren't you curious how good a witch can make you feel?" I climbed on top of him, extinguished the candle with a small magic gust, and proceeded to fuck the entire night until he passed out.

Despite getting on in the years, Tobias went for more in the morning. He was especially interested in my butt and groped at it every chance he got.

"I never thought I'd get to experience this again. Maybe witches aren't so bad at all…" Tobias was on his back while I was giving him one last blowjob.

He blew a load into my mouth and finally got soft. I had no sense of time out here, but I was sure we were at it all morning.

"This should teach you to be more welcoming of our kind next time," I teased.

We had some moist bread for breakfast before taking off in the direction Tobias suggested I search at. He was especially keen that I bring him back more of their honey. After tasting his horrible cooking last night, he sure as hell needed a change in flavor.

It didn't take much longer flying west to find the gigantic, ovular hive protruding from a hillside. These were made from dried vegetation mixed with their resinous saliva, the size of which depended on how populous the swarm was.

This hive had to be housing hundreds at the very least. Some molted exoskeletons lay strewn leading up to the entrance, a hole at the bottom of the hive. The fact that there was no activity or guards was troubling.

Then I felt it.

A large pulse of energy coming from within the hive. It was a magic signature, but on the scale of something as powerful as a dryad or dragon. Remsectnids, not even their queen, shouldn't possess this much magic.

"Only one way to find out, Rio. No eating the remsectnids. At least, not unless they start attacking us," I warned.