Tejoka

Fair warning, there's a bit of a cliffhanger in this chapter again (I don't think it's that bad, though. Next one is going to be worse.)

There were a lot of things Janis liked about her new situation. To be fair, there were also a lot of things she disliked about it. The fact that she was back in Forest’s Haunt honestly counted among them. But the ease with which she got access to new knowledge, learning such interesting things, had to be her favorite thing. It also helped her train her magic considerably, and likely would have even without being shown new Spells.

Regina was not the best of teachers, however. She clearly tried, and it could have been much worse, but she obviously found it hard to simplify her subject enough to make it easy for her student to understand. She also tended to get frustrated at it.

“No, cells are not the only thing making up the body,” she now said, her fingers opening and closing a bit as she clearly tried to restrain frustration. “The extracellular matrix is quite, well, substantial. Like bones, only the inside of them really has cells. Although the body actually has many kinds of tissues and other things, depending on where you look. And there’s a lot of water in the body, just in general.”

Janis nodded, choosing not to comment further on it. Instead, she leaned backwards a little, until the shade of a nearby house’s roof fell just so to block the sun from her eyes. The two of them were sitting outside, on a blanket thrown over the lush grass, at a quickly put together table that held a few sheets of paper. Mia, Ira and a few other drones were standing close to them, most of them working on another task on the side while they listened, like carving wood or shaping something out of wax.

Wasn’t a matrix something to do with mathematics? But she didn’t ask the question. She figured it was one of those fancy terms that had more than one meaning. She’d stumbled across several of those.

“Is that why you’re going for Water Manipulation?” Ira asked.

Regina smiled. “Yes, that’s a large part of it. I’m not sure if it’s going to work out, but it’s not like the Spell couldn’t be helpful in other ways. Still, the human body is about two thirds water, it stands to reason there’s something there.”

Janis frowned to herself. That was not how mages decided which Spells to learn, from what she knew. Not to mention that Regina seemed to rely on getting the Spell from the System. But she supposed her situation was different than usual.

“I think this is enough for now,” Regina then said, standing up. Janis hurried to do the same. “Let’s get back to work, everyone. We can discuss this further over dinner, or tomorrow.”

Janis hesitated and lingered while the drones mostly left right away. “I think I would like to try the healing Spell again,” she said. “I feel like I’m really starting to ‘get it’ by now.”

“There’s still a lot left to learn,” Regina responded. “But you should still try. It’s not like I knew everything there is to know about biology when I unlocked it.”

Janis nodded and started to follow her to where the War Drones were training. She wondered, not for the first time, if she should just ask about where Regina’s own knowledge came from. So far, Regina hadn’t really told her about that. Janis had some guesses, of course, and it didn’t even seem like Regina was keeping it a secret, as such. But Janis knew she was still new to the Hive and she hadn’t earned much trust yet, or had any real need to know about it. Still, I figure she won’t mind if I’m a little curious.

She found it a little hard to tell if the drones knew, or how much of the truth they knew. They didn’t seem to care much. When she’d tried to obliquely ask about it, Mia hadn’t seemed to understand what the issue was. Regina was their Queen, and the drones seemed to somehow get information they needed when they hatched. Janis wasn’t sure what to make of that whole kettle of fish, either. The drones were normal people, but also, somewhat odd.

Or maybe Mia did know everything about it and had simply not wanted to tell Janis.

That made her think of her Uncle Rich despite herself. He’d asked her some questions, but Janis had not said much. She hadn’t even mentioned that she was going to learn new Spells. She wasn’t even sure why, herself. I can’t risk giving away anything about the Hive, though. Or at least I shouldn’t. Besides, any idiot would have been able to tell he wasn’t happy about the situation. But so what? It wasn’t his life. Like Aunt Marian. Although, I suppose I haven’t actually heard her say anything negative about this … Maybe I will if I talk more with her. We’ve barely exchanged a few sentences.

Regina called over a War Drone, which ran towards them and then sat down, unmoving. Janis only caught a faint echo of what must pass through the psychic Hive bond, but she felt like Regina was doing something. Then the Hive Queen laid her hand on its shoulder and Janis felt the faint sensation of mana being used.

“Alright, I’ll just make a cut on its arm, I guess, and then you can try to close it,” Regina said.

Janis took a deep breath and nodded. Without any visible hesitation, Regina extended the claw on her right forefinger and pressed it against a presumably soft part on the elbow joint. Her claws looked like they’d become sharper since Janis first saw her and they made a decent cut, blood welling up right away. The drone didn’t even flinch, and Janis realized she must have numbed it.

Janis bent closer to look at the cut, then carefully laid her hand above it, her fingers on both sides. She closed her eyes and focused on her mana, trying to guide it out through her hands into the drone’s body in a controlled manner. As she did so, she visualized what Regina had explained to her, tiny compartments that made up the body, a complex system responsible for the clotting of blood and closing of wounds, using some of what swam in one’s blood. She tried to push the idea of the cells regenerating, of new ones arising and the blood flowing only inside again, where it belonged, into the drone’s body.

She winced as a headache started gnawing at her temples and her mana seemed to fizzle out. It dissipated into the drone’s body, agitating it a little, without affecting the cut.

Janis took a deep breath, then tried again. For long minutes, she guided her mana into the drone’s body, trying to affect the changes she stubbornly kept envisioning. Finally, when her mana was starting to run dry, she noticed that it seemed to be absorbed in a more purposeful way. Janis intensified her focus and watched with both her mana sense and her eyes as the cut slowly closed.

Finally, Janis pulled back her hand and stared at the drone’s skin. It was completely whole again, its shell unbroken, although it was still flecked with blood. She smiled slightly.

“I’ve got it,” she told Regina. “And I gained a level, too!”

Her new boss smiled. “Great. Well done, Janis. I’ll be relying on you to help me heal people, then, when it becomes necessary.”

Such as if they had to fight again. Or when, rather, she supposed. Janis knew that Via and Ira should also be quite close to getting this Spell. They seemed to have a natural affinity to support-type magic, so that should help as well.

“To be honest, it’s nice not to be the only mage in the Hive anymore,” Regina said as they turned around to leave, the War Drone scurrying off again to whatever tasks it had.

Janis smiled. “I can imagine. I like having other people to talk about magic with, as well.”

Regina tugged on her mandible, a mannerism Janis had seen before but found difficult to interpret. “Sure, that is a bonus,” she said with a wry smile.

The two of them walked back into the village, the conversation halted for now. Janis looked curiously at Regina. She noticed the way the Hive Queen wrinkled her nose as she stepped around a spot in the street where the dirt was turning to mud, even though Janis was pretty sure that that was just due to a bit of recent rain, and the way she glanced at the wooden houses.

“You must dislike being in a little, human village like this,” Janis commented.

“It’s not my favorite place in the world,” Regina admitted. “But it’s mine now - sort of - and it is growing on me.”

Janis smiled, glancing at a few of the villagers she saw. All people she recognized, and most of whom hadn’t liked her. “I suppose the lords and ladies had something of a point when they talked of ‘dirty peasants’. I imagine it might seem similarly for you.“ This line of thought felt a bit strange, since Regina had lived in the forest, but Janis knew she must have learned all of her knowledge somewhere. It was too much and too coherent to have been found in some random book. It stood to reason that whoever or wherever had this much Ancient knowledge had more comforts to offer.

“Oh, I consider everyone else to be ignorant primitives.” Regina’s lips curled up slightly at the side. “Don’t take it personally.”

Janis raised an eyebrow before she could stop herself. It was a playful comment, and she had the impression that Regina was mostly joking. But not entirely. And ‘everyone else’ clearly didn’t simply refer to the inhabitants of Forest’s Haunt, but also the other people she had met. Maybe even the elves?

"It could be worse, anyway,” she continued. “People are surprisingly cleanly for - uh, ‘dirty peasants’.”

“I suppose.” Janis couldn’t help but frown at that comment. She remembered how Regina had seemed almost surprised when they’d first talked about her own knowledge of the medical arts, especially plagues and diseases. As if she didn’t expect people to know that they could infect each other with disease, and that filth and excrement made it worse, while regular washing helped protect the body. That was just common sense, though. Like how alcohol could burn out wounds and cleanse them.

Their conversation trailed off here, while Via and Ray, two of the Drone Attendants, joined them. They were both still quite low level, and she could tell Ray, the younger one, had been using his mana a lot recently, probably practicing to learn a Spell, leaving him almost dry. Via still had some in reserve. Janis wondered if they were acting as bodyguards, too. That seemed to be Max’s job, judging by the Class name and what she’d seen so far, but the older drone wasn’t here right now. He was probably training or hunting in the forest to try and earn levels to keep up with his Queen.

"How many drones are in the Hive now?” she asked.

Regina stared off into space with a fixed look for a moment, and Janis could tell she was looking at a System sheet. “Almost three hundred,” she said, with a satisfied look on her face.

Janis nodded. She hoped they had food for all of those.

“Don’t worry,” Regina said, apparently reading her expression. “The Swarm Drones can sleep huddled up outside, and they can eat what the Production Drones provide. We don’t have that many sapient drones, so it won’t be a problem. Swarm Drones aren’t going to complain about monotonous fare. I could even send them into the forest for a bit.”

“What about your old base, deeper in the forest?” Janis asked. She’d almost forgotten about it, but now she realized she’d never heard them mention what they’d done with it.

“It’s still there, and we’re still using it,” Regina answered. “I left some drones there before we went here. I guess there’s only a really small part of the Hive there now, since all our, uh, new membership comes from here. Maybe I should start sending more Swarm Drones there …”

“I don’t know how many monsters there are in that area of the forest, but I’d be worried about some potentially damaging your construction,” Janis advised. “I’ve always heard that the forest can be tricky and dangerous in more subtle ways also. Of course, that’s not to mention the clashing armies that are still somewhere between its trees.”

“I suppose any drones there are awfully exposed,” Regina mused. “That’s why I wanted to mainly leave it to Swarm Drones. Actually, I keep meaning to recall the sapient ones and leave just some Swarm Drones, even if it’s a hassle. But, in fact -“

She broke off and stopped walking suddenly. Janis glanced around, but she couldn’t see anything which would have caused that reaction. They were on one of the village’s main streets, which led to the village square, but there were no other people close by, and all seemed quiet. Then she realized that Regina had to be seeing something transmitted from one of her drones. She almost seemed to pale, if that was possible with her type of skin.

“Damn it,” Regina cursed. “There’s someone moving in on the hive’s camp.”

The other drones all tensed up, and Via even produced a dagger from somewhere. It didn’t seem like a carefully deliberated reaction. Janis didn’t spare her much attention. “How do you know?” she asked. “Who, from where?”

Regina took a deep breath and shook her head. “I sent a group of Winged Drones towards that area, since we were talking about it, anyway. On the way, I noticed signs of movement coming from the north or northwest. It looks like a pretty big group, though it’s hard to see much under the forest canopy. None of the Scouts is close to it.”

Janis had to suppress the urge to curse, as well. That sounded like it was a human force, maybe a squad or several from the army.

What were they going to do? And what should she, herself, do? Janis knew she might be called on to fight humans and even fellow Cernlians alongside the Hive, but she didn’t think it would happen so soon. Not that she was reluctant. She owed the Hive loyalty, and they were her march’s allies, anyway. But she couldn’t help the nerves suddenly tangling in her guts.