The Malfae observed the mana knots for a moment before it deactivated [Mana Manipulation] to activate [Sense Essence] and the world faded to reveal the essences within. The [Reincarnated] ignored the essences of the world to focus on its own. Much like it had always been, the Essence was unclear as the Essence cloud seemed to be contained within a Malfae shaped form.

The [Survivor] frowned. Instead of feet or glabella, its Essence was located in the middle of its body. 'This is as expected. But why do those knots feel like Essences?’ It messaged its forehead before focusing again on the Skill but to no result. The Malfae didn't give up though and continued to study the Essence.

However, it was shocked out of its observation by a sudden decrease in hunger from the drone and it activated [Hive Mind] without a second thought. Immediately, the [Hive Monarch] felt the difference. The mana knot at its feet appeared within the creature’s body once again within the view of [Sense Essence]. With the appearance of the new knot, its own Essence moved until it reached the Malfae's glabella.

‘Huh. There were 2 Essences after all.' It frowned. 'But why are there 2 Essences?’ It focused on the new Essence and the haze began to move to take shape until an outline emerged within the haze. ‘Eh? Is this…that caterpillar?’ The [Reincarnated] focused on the caterpillar only to be bombarded with the caterpillar's emotions. Instantly, the Malfae scowled. ‘That bug reached Level 100. It's alright. It has an easy life but that’s okay. It is just a drone.’ Before it could do anything that it would regret, it breathed deeply and let it go.

Holding back its envy, the [Survivor] returned its focus to the drone's Essence. However, as it focused, it felt as if there was something that it could bring forth. As such, the creature didn’t hesitate and pulled.

Ting.

The Malfae jumped back like a cat surprised at the sudden appearance of Status. The fact that the Status was not its own left it dumbfounded. It hadn't known that such a thing was even possible. The wide-eyed Malfae stared at it for a moment before it frowned as it studied the screen and then looked at the caterpillar.

The [Reincarnated] studied the Status for a moment to pause on two things. The very first thing was the drone’s Title, which was unsurprising, [Drone]. The creature focused on it.

Ting.

The [Hive Monarch] frowned to focus on the word Existence but nothing happened. It hesitated for a few moments before it focused on the word Creature but, once again, there was no response. The [Survivor] huffed as its eyes narrowed before it focused on the caterpillar’s [Race], Egoless.

Ting.

‘So…it’s basically an animal. And a dumb one at that.’ The [Reincarnated] huffed once again and dismissed the screen to summon the Status of the caterpillar. Its glared at the Status as if the screen had offended it personally before its eyes came to pause at [Name: Unnamed].

Ting.

The Malfae paused and turned to stare at the caterpillar, only to find the bug was still eating. 'As expected.' The creature pf malice scowled to focus on [Yes].

Ting.

With a scowl still etched onto its face, the Malfae didn't hesitate.

Ting.

If the [Survivor] had the ability to hit the screen, it would have smashed its fist in the [Yes] option. As it was, it focused on [Yes] with no small amount of schadenfreude.

Ting.

The creature giggled as it eyed the continuously eating caterpillar and moved back to the bug’s Status. When its eyes landed on [Name: Fatface], the joy experienced by the Malfae was so immense that if it had been capable of it, the creature would have orgasmed.

This, of course, would have been an overdramatic reaction. And this reaction would have thus been because of the inherent maliciousness of its Vessel; the Malfae which was a creature of malice and venom. The creature could hardly do anything when malicious acts delighted it like it was being tickled. Which was, all things considered, quite an apt comparison.

With mirth still dancing its eyes, the Malfae focused on [Evolve].

Ting.

The creature’s eyes widened. ‘This! This is just too good!’

Ting.

‘Ah. Stop it! Stop it blue screen! This is just too good.’ The creature giggled with each new screen that mentioned the caterpillar’s new name. ‘It seems like raising Fatface wasn’t a waste of time, after all!’

The Malfae eyed the caterpillar and its giggles slowly died down. ‘Why is there only a single evolution option available? Shouldn’t there be that butterfly form too?’ It thought back to its own evolution. From what it remembered, its own inherited form had been that of a butterfly while its Moth form had been granted due to its actions. ‘Ah! If that’s the case, then no wonder this bug only had a single option.’

Ting.

‘Yes, yes. Just evolve Fatface now.’

Ting.

The Malfae watched as the caterpillar's body straightened up as its mouth came down to spit a sticky substance that began solidifying as soon as it made contact with air. The scene before its eyes was as fascinating as it was gross. The disgust value of it only magnified when the [Survivor] remembered that it itself had done much the same. Not only that, but the creature had also eaten it later.

It shivered in disgust.

But then it remembered that eating the cocoon had levelled it up and the cocoon no longer seemed all that disgusting to it anymore.

Ting.

Ting.

.

.

.

Ting.

Ting.

‘…What?’ It blinked rapidly at the notifications before its eyes fell on the cocoon. The Malfae tried to search for the caterpillar's ever-present hunger but the [Hive Monarch] found it nowhere. Instead, the creature found a sense of deep sleep that did not want to be disturbed.

The Malfae disregarded the drone's thoughts to simultaneously activate [Sense Essence] and [Mana Manipulation]. The world fell away as the creature’s senses were withdrawn within its body as two essences took shape. Though this time, the drone’s Essence wasn't in the form of a caterpillar. Rather, it was a misty cocoon which exuded a sense of deep sleep. The [Survivor] observed the haze within the cocoon’s form and focused on it.

TRAAAANG!!

The loud horn accompanying the red screen shocked it enough that it jumped to shriek like a little girl before hastily retreating. But the screen was not a physical thing that one could run away from and remained within the Malfae’s vision. As if remembering the fact, the creature quickly dismissed it and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Though, from the corner of its eyes, the Malfae eyed the cocoon cautiously. It didn't even dare to look at the cocoon directly, in case its intentions were misinterpreted and the red screen appeared again. After all, that ‘TRAAANG’ was quite a horrible sound as its purpose was to cement within the minds of mortals and immortals alike, their limitations.

0.0

With the drone out of commission, the [Hive Monarch] laid another batch of eggs and continued with its daily routine. Meanwhile, time marched on and over the course of a month, summer was booted out as the monsoon arrived without any warning.

The showers of the monsoon were sudden but not unwelcome. The soft pitter-patter of the raindrops caused a sudden drop in the temperature as if a spell had been cast. The moisture lingering after the rain was carried by the passing winds but it didn't do anything to arrest the falling temperature. Instead, the temperature only continued to fall until it reached a level that the Malfae would consider Just right.

The arrival of the monsoon seemed to have brought life along with it, as the critters and creatures that had been hiding from the punishing heat came out and the sound of life almost seemed to explode. This abundance of critter also allowed the Malfae to make use of its water trap near the pond and kill something worthwhile.

It killed a scorpion looking for territory, who had assumed the Malfae’s trap to be just another puddle. The hunt had given it another 5 Levels and pushed it to Level 20. It had also taught the Malfae that, to anything that had survived long enough to reach Tier 2, its trap had been quite obvious due to the lack of rain. After all, random puddles of water don't form when it doesn't rain.

Thus, as pragmatism won it over, the [Reincarnated] decided to track and hunt its prey using the nearby and abundant puddles rather than waiting for creatures to come to the pond for water during monsoon. After all, none thirsted for water in the monsoon. As a result of this change, the creature found and fought a few Tier 2 creatures but only managed to win a small part of these battles. Despite its few wins, its Level rose further to Level 30 before coming to halt as its cowardice reared its ugly head. It didn't wish to provoke creatures that were too powerful.

However, these weren't the end of its gains. As over the course of the month, quite a few of Malfae’s Skill levelled up. [Flight] and [Night Vision] both reached Level 9, while [Pain Resistance] reached Level 7 and [Poison Resistance] still lead the other Skills as it reached Level 11. The battles with the other creatures even levelled up its defensive Skills and [Malfae Shield] reached Level 5 while [Sense] and [Venom Creation] both levelled up to reach Level 7.

Meanwhile, it also kept on trying to unlock the method of manipulating mana like she had been able to. However, it had decided to change its strategy and tried to apply its experience, from accessing the drone's Status, onto manipulating mana. As a result, it was trying to use [Sense Essence] alongside [Mana Manipulation].

Though, this seemingly simple act proved quite difficult to enforce as [Hive Mind] was a Skill that didn't alter the senses of the user while both [Mana Manipulation] and [Sense Essence] were. [Mana Manipulation] dragged its user within their mana system while [Sense Essence] dissolved the world away, leaving behind the haze, mist and clouds of Essence. Activating the two contradictory action simultaneously led to both the Skill fighting for control.

The [Reincarnated] had even tried to activate one Skill after the other but it had found little success even in that strategy. As doing so had led to the failure of the later activated Skill. This failure didn't seem to cause any harm to the Malfae as the mana just fizzled out. It didn't give up on this route though. It had been trying to figure out how [Mana Manipulation] worked for over a year but it had achieved little success.

The only time that it had achieved any kind of success had been when it had been trying to not use the Skill. ‘…Eh? Could it be…?’ The creature immediately began acting on the thought and sat down once again. It activated [Sense Essence] and this time, instead of activating Skill [Mana Manipulation], it used the skill manually.

The process failed, obviously, but the [Survivor] had gone further in this attempt than it had ever before. Thus, even though it was a failure, the [Reincarnated] had taken another step towards success. With this step forward, the Malfae was further buoyed and when it flew out the next time, it had a significant joy in its flight. Though, it seemed that the Malfae was not a creature that was allowed to experience joy.

Out in the Wild, when the creature was out and about hunting, the breeze that had been gentle and refreshing suddenly intensified to become ravaging gales. These winds picked up dust, leaves and the critters as they raced and the Malfae’s eyes widened. It flew down to land but the winds slammed into it and the [Survivor]'s momentum broke, allowing it to be carried by the gales. No matter how hard it flapped its wings, they couldn't wrestle it away from the grasp of the howling winds.

The gales ran across the length and breadth of the ground as they sped up. They ran through the trees, the plants and the rocks, and they continued to run faster and faster. Nothing hindered the ever-increasing path of the ravaging winds. Instead, the rampaging wind pulled out grass and picked up pebbles. Ad when they struck trees, they tore the branches apart. And yet, it continued to speed up.

The [Survivor]'s finger length body turned into its enemy. With it being as light as it was, it had a surface-area that allowed the wind to overpower its weight. And as it tried to fly and gain control, it worsened its situation. To fly it had to spread its winds which increased its surface area and gave winds even more leverage. As a result, the more it struggled, the more it lost.

The gales continued to race and an increasing amount of debris was lifted off of the ground. Meanwhile, the light suddenly dimmed as the green moon was hidden behind the thick layer of grey clouds that roared in anger and fury. The gales responded in kind as their passing created howls of winds. Lightning flashed and the thunder reverberated as the Malfae completely lost track of its path.

The [Hive Monarch], small as it was, resisted but could an ant stop the march of death and destruction that was the might of the Will of the World?

Leaves, grass, pebbles and branches rushed past it as they were carried by the gales. Its [Malfae Shield] protected it against most of the debris and helped it resist but the more it resisted, the more it was punished. However, now that the [Malfae Shield] was at Level 5, it had HP of 100 points and could endure the grazes of pebbles, critters and other debris. However, as it ceaselessly resisted, its wings began to tire. Its speed slowed down as its wings constantly pushed against the crushing force of the wind.

When even swimming against the slow flow of the river was a difficult task, how could this creature hope to succeed and fly against the flow of the winds and the gales? It was a folly and for this folly, the creature paid a price when it felt a sudden pain shoot in its back and its wings were ripped from its body. In between the moment the Malfae felt the pain and doubled over in agony, its wings had been carried by the gales to the parts unknown.

It was at that moment that the creature realised that there was no escaping from the approaching storm. It couldn't fight it, it could only weather it. With the realisation came clarity and the [Survivor] curled up to fold its limbs while it kept the [Malfae Shield] behind its back to avoid branches and pebbles from catching it unaware. At the same time, it stared ahead in case it needed to move the shield to protect itself. All the while, its back throbbed and its heart kept racing.

The gales continued to race, unhindered and uncaring. The thunder continued to roar and challenge the might of all those living below while the lightning descended to punish those that dared to rise to the challenge. This was the wrath of nature and anyone arrogant enough to accept the challenge was meant to be destroyed by its uncaring fury. All hubris was meant to be destroyed in this low mana zone.

The gales carried the Malfae before it was slammed into a tree. The creature had seen the tree though and had repositioned its shield in response. But that did little good as the shield shattered and the creature crashed into the wood.

Pain erupted across the creature’s body and before the Malfae could even move its body to find purchase in the wood, the winds slid it across the surface of the tree and carried it forward. The creature’s pain addled mind summoned another [Malfae Shield] as it was carried forward.

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.

-X-