Regina stumbled out of the house, leaning against its wall for a moment. She focused on taking a deep breath, letting the trembling in her legs die down. She felt an ache in her core, dull and throbbing, but it didn’t really feel like a cramp or anything. At least it was faint enough that she could ignore it.
“Be careful, my Queen.” Max stepped up beside her and gave her a concerned look. “Please. I know we need more drones for the hive, but your health has to take the highest priority.”
Regina shook her head. “I guess fifty is a bit much,” she said ruefully. “But don’t worry. I’m not pushing myself beyond what I can take.”
Ira stepped out of the house beside her, clearly just finished cleaning up. “He’s not wrong, my Queen,” she said. “Please tell us if you feel any more discomfort or pain. We could try healing it.”
Regina grimaced a little, but nodded. She bit down on the urge to say that she could heal herself just fine, if it came to that.
She didn’t have much mana left. Her mana regeneration was almost completely eaten up by the eggs in development right now. But she had accepted that, since her hive now had enough people who could do magic on their own. It was more important to raise their numbers at the moment, especially after their recent victory and with all immediate threats dealt with.
Regina had just leveled up to level 36 recently, and had tried to create as many new eggs as she could to see how far it would take her. With a thought, she pulled up her current status again.
Regina | Hive Queen |
Level: 36 | |
Mana: 653/6400 | |
Hive: 67/226, 3 | Swarm: 515/10000, 50 |
Con: 14 | Str: 13 |
Dex: 14 | End: 16 |
Int: 24 | Wis: 23 |
She’d gotten a point in Wis with her latest level, the reason she’d tried to push her limits, and a point in End before that. The System seemed content to let her Str languish. And her other physical stats, as well, mostly, though she suspected that Dex might get another point soon. Maybe Con, too. At least it wasn’t min-maxing her status too much. In a game, it might be fine for a mage to only put points in the magic-related stats, but you could also respawn in games.
At least her mana pool was back around the level it had been for the battle at the fort, and her Swarm’s numbers were almost up to what they had been, too, though not quite. I did lose quite a few of them in the battle. Or battles, rather.
Still, she was definitely going to buckle down and focus on her hive’s numbers for a while. A few months, if she could manage that. I’m still so far from the limit. If I understand correctly, it should be forty thousand at level 40, the third Tier. Let’s try to get at least a bit closer to that.
She wondered if there was a way to increase her hive’s egg output. Maybe she was simply breezing through the levels too fast, and it was just supposed to take time to build your strength to the next rank.
“Have you heard from Tia again?” Max asked now, obviously changing the subject. “How are things going in the new place?”
Regina dismissed her status window and turned back to him, shaking her head slightly. “Recently, yes. Things are going pretty well. In fact, I was just about to check in with her again. Let’s go home, I’d rather sit down if I’m going to be focusing on the link for a while.”
Tim and the other drones in the south had departed the town quickly, since it was now definitely not theirs and the humans were moving out as well. Kiara had gone with him, to Janis’ obvious, if subtle, disappointment. Regina had considered talking to the mage about it, then decided to keep out of it. She wasn’t a human anymore, she didn’t have any personal experience to draw on, and she didn’t know the culture very well.
Although Tim had joined Tia’s team now and was arguably the more ‘senior’ drone, Tia remained basically in charge of building the new settlement. Regina knew that Mia wished she could join her, but she wanted to keep the other drone here for now. She was doing valuable work, and besides, it was probably better to have Regina’s senior drones spread out a little. In case of an attack, if nothing else.
“And Whitor?” Max asked as they entered the house that currently served as her home.
Regina paused as she stepped into her bedroom, taking a moment to check through her psychic link. “He’s still being quiet and helpful,” she answered. “He actually killed a flying monster that was getting pretty close to Ina. He’s still in the new camp currently, with Ivy and a few Warriors.”
Max nodded, looking thoughtful. “I have to admit, I wasn’t sure about this. Simply letting him go with the others? I know you took precautions, but it just seemed like a risk. I’m glad it seems to be paying off.”
Regain stayed quiet for a moment, absentmindedly tapping her fingers against her leg. She had made Whitor swear publicly not to attempt to escape or to directly or indirectly harm anyone, but she could see where Max was coming from.
“You’re not wrong,” she finally said. “But - I don’t know, it’s hard to explain.” She shook her head and hesitated again, before she continued. “I think my psychic power might be coming in. Enhanced Telepathy did say I would be able to use it outside of my hive, and I’ve got Psychic Focus now, too. I think I can expect to develop more of … some kind of psychic ability.”
“And it’s telling you to trust him?” Max cocked his head slightly. He didn’t sound skeptical, though.
Regina smiled. The drones’ easy acceptance was always comforting. “I don’t know. I felt he was telling the truth, though. I just knew he was being sincere. It’s hard to describe, but a bit like the feelings I might get from one of you through the link.”
Max nodded. “Well, that will be useful,” he commented. “Have you been able to use this again?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ve tried to trigger it again with a few of the other humans, but without much success. I guess I’ll have to keep working on it if I want to develop that power.”
Max leaned against the doorframe, and Regina settled down on her bed, sitting cross-legged and getting comfortable. Then she closed her eyes and focused on her drones’ minds. It wasn’t really necessary, but she was going to do a deep dive into the psychic link, and less distracting input from her body made that easier.
The drones were hard at work building their new camp, and they’d already made good progress. Since there weren’t many trees around, they’d cut down a few they had found in the area, but also carried some wood from further away along. At the same time, they were starting to dig. The earth they removed was useful as a construction material, and of course what they dug out could serve as living space itself, or for other purposes. Regina thought the plan to build several settlements and an extensive tunnel network connecting them was a little ambitious, but she approved of it, anyway. It might take some time, and a lot of work, but they could do it.
The lack of good construction material is a bit of a problem, my Queen, Tia confirmed when she contacted her. We’re moving on to underground construction earlier than I had thought. The issue is that we haven’t found anything besides wood that would be good to use as a construction material here. It’s not like we can quarry stone from this place. I haven’t found clay or adobe that we could use to make bricks, but there’s probably some around, somewhere. We just need to keep looking.
Sure, Regina said. That’s going to need Workers who can actually recognize the type of dirt, right?
Kind of. Tia shrugged mentally. I’ve been sending Swarm Drones out with instructions to report on what they find, or at least come back when there’s a change in the makeup of the soil. Then one of us just needs to go and check it out. I think it’s working so far.
Good. Is there anything else you require? Do you need me to come down here myself?
Regina felt Tia pause and consider her answer. In time, definitely, but I don’t think there’s a hurry. Unless there’s something you think you should see for yourself?
Not really. I’ll just keep watching through you all. Regina smiled.
She made sure to stay quiet to not bother the drones too much, though. They all had something to do. Even Janis used her Spells, mostly to make fire, though she didn’t seem to have much work otherwise. Except for going out to hunt monsters with some of the warriors. Regina didn’t mind them clearing out the surroundings. It was good Experience and they didn’t need to have monsters too close to their new settlement site.
It would probably take a few weeks until they had enough drones to need a new settlement, really, but that still wasn’t much time in the grand scheme of things.
Janis, Tim and a few other drones staggered into camp a short time later, carrying several rather large monsters that looked a bit like overgrown rabbits. They probably ate the grass of this region, given their set of teeth, but the hard, spiky skin and heavy paws showed they could defend themselves. Regina hadn’t paid attention, so she’d missed their System descriptions. Ina and a few other Workers bustled over to take care of them. Whitor showed up, as well, staying a few steps away but clearly watching with interest.
Regina observed them for a moment, then turned her attention elsewhere. She’d seen a lot of animals being butchered in the last few months, but that didn’t mean she was particularly invested in it. Instead, she checked on her Winged Drones, taking a look at the area from above.
Then Regina realized she couldn’t see Tia. She switched focus and found that Janis was now missing, as well, along with Bea and a few others. It took her a moment to realize they were underground, the view through their eyes a lot darker than usual and their senses muffled.
My Queen? Tia called out hesitantly, but since Regina was already turning her awareness to her, she had her full attention right away.
I’m here, she answered. Then she dove a little deeper into her mind and paused. Okay, I see it.
She could tell why Tia was unsure and had wanted to get her opinion. There was already some kind of cavity beneath the ground, starting a few meters from the start of the tunnel Tia and the others had started to dig. She quickly realized they’d dug out a connection, a short circular tunnel, to get to it.
“The mana level is higher here,” Janis spoke up. “I think it’s getting higher, too, if you went further in.”
That gave Regina pause. She couldn’t sense mana through Tia, so she quickly switched to Janis. It was probably harder to sense than if she’d been there in person, but after she focused on it, she could tell what Janis meant.
I want to explore it. The thought was strong in Janis’ mind.
Regina paused, then tried to widen her connection to include all of the drones there. Well, I probably can’t stop you from exploring, can I? she said wryly. Not that I would. But please be careful. We don’t know if there’s some strong monster or whatever out there.
“What have you found here?” another voice suddenly sounded down the tunnel.
Tia and Janis jumped. They all turned to look at Whitor, who had appeared a few meters away at the start of the new tunnel. Regina withdrew slightly, trying to make sure her own emotions didn’t bleed over. It was almost weird to have a person who she couldn’t feel through the psychic link here.
“Nothing much,” Tia said.
“It appears there’s some sort of cavern or structure down here.” The earl ignored her, peering down the shaft.
“Looks like it,” Janis said, eying him. “Do you happen to know anything about it?”
He shook his head. “No, I am afraid not. I have certainly never been here, or had any cause to talk to explorers who may have been. Although I doubt there are many such people.”
“Well, we’re going to explore it,” Tia said.
He frowned, stepping closer. “In that case, I would like to accompany you. This could be quite dangerous. You never know what sort of monsters or other dangers might lurk in the wild.”
Tia frowned and exchanged a look with Janis and the others. Should we let him? She asked Regina.
Regina hesitated. It was a risk to let him into something like this, though now that he knew about it, he’d probably try to explore on his own, anyway. But she couldn’t help but feel like he had a point. And he was a capable combatant, probably more so than anyone else down there. If he went along, he probably would make it a lot safer. Although underground, in the tunnels, her drones would be a lot more at home than he would be.
She supposed it came down to how much she trusted him, or her possible burgeoning new psychic abilities, for that matter. And how important she found it to indulge him and to keep trying to tie him closer to her hive.
The first question was tricky, but the second had a pretty clear answer.
Alright, if you don’t mind, she said. Janis, stay in the back. Keep the lighting low unless you actually need it to fight and guide him along, if necessary.
As you say, my Queen, Tia and Janis chorused mentally, then shot each other a look and smiled.
“Alright,” Tia answered. “You can come, but you’d better pull your weight and only turn those Skills against any dangers down here. You wouldn’t like what happens if you don’t. Are we clear?”
“Perfectly clear, Dame Tia,” Whitor said, stepping forward to join them.
Regina sat back on her bed and sighed. Another exploration she’d have to watch from a distance. She should get used to that.
I don't think the 'science fiction' tag is justified nor the post-apocalyptic. The ambiance of these 2 genre is just not there, even if it's a post apocalypse world in the futur and if the magic and the system have more or less a scientific explanation.
I don't think the three tags mentioned really fit the story. Not yet, anyway.
The ones you already have for "lost civilizations" and "kingdom building" do seem to fit a lot more.
While this is technically after an apocalypse, adding the tag suggests a timeline much nearer the event in question. Have you ever seen a post apocalypse that wasn't in a state of decay?
Thank you for the chapter!
I don't think post-apocalyptic or scifi are good tags for this because there's just not enough of those involved to justify the tags.
I'm glad to get a fresh status sheet, it's been like 10 chapters. Knowing how many eggs she can make at a time is also interesting.
I just did a deep dive into the progression of her caps, and they make little sense. Though I get that swarm is meant to go up by a factor of 10x between levels. 10 at level 10, 100 at level 20, 1000 at level 30, and 10,000 at level 40. Then modified by Swarm strength x2 so she had 2,000 at level 30, and it will double when she tiers up at level 40, and that's how she gets 40,000. But there's basically no pattern to it in between those marks.
Level 25 (chapter 71), 440 swarm cap
Level 28 (chapter 82), 1225 swarm cap
Level 30 (chapter 85), 2000 swarm cap
Level 31 (chapter 91), 2200 swarm cap
Level 36 (chapter 103), 10,000 swarm cap.
There's no pattern at all, the average per level increase between level 25 and 28 was higher than that between 30 and 31. While the jump from 31 to 36 had to be absolutely crazy. The Inner Hive cap is still beyond my ability to figure out a pattern to, though it's quite close to 2/3rds of the value of the original progression pattern I described after chapter 33. Her cap isn't really relevant anymore, but I like numbers.
At 50 eggs every 2 days it would take 380 days without casualties to reach her current swarm cap. So far she's been getting further from her cap even in % terms for quite a while now, so her aspiration of getting closer doesn't seem to be working. She needs to increase her egg production if she actually wants to get closer to that. But she seems to have worn herself out on the inside with just 50.
Queen's Fecundity is supposed to be improved by mastery, but it's very unclear how she could increase mastery of skill like that other than just laying eggs, which she's already been doing. It will probably increase when her tier goes up, but if it only goes from 1.25x to 1.5x that won't make up the increase in her swarm cap from 10,000 to 40,000 over those levels. Though obviously increasing her hive's growth rate by 20% is still useful, it's not enough to close in on her cap.
The other thought I've had is based on how she felt an ache in her core after laying 50 eggs at once. She's basically forcibly growing them from nothing in a matter of seconds or minutes when she goes to lay them, which doesn't seem right. Maybe she's supposed to be gradually forming them throughout the day. Either laying them in multiple clutches instead of all at once, or just forming the whole clutch inside her over a protracted period instead of rapid materialization.
To be honest, this is mostly because I don't actually have a precise formula for the limits. In-universe, how much her cap grows with every level is influenced by things like her current hive's size and how many sapient compared to Swarm Drones she has, or is adding to the hive, but there are the fixed points for the Swarm cap at every Tier.
Thanks for the chapter!
Thx for the chap.
I guess I could always pretend it's because Regina kinda comes from the future (well, more like an alternate timeline's future, but whatever)
No need ? Like, that's was explained she was from the past but before mana was there. You can give the Tag when the thing begin to be really here. For now there are not really many sci-fi things. If weird door are shown like before, people will think that's a old magi-tech thing made by a old civilation who was more advanced in magic and all (with the part of the elves talking of the past and the metal door in the tunnel too).It's clear than later magi-tech will be a thing with Regina being there, maybe thinking of pullution and using magic instead of what we are using who destroy the planet slowly lol.
For the 'traumatizing content', some thing are hard with the death and all so yeah good to have it just in case.
Science fiction makes no sense unless you plan to do anything science fiction wise. Post-Apocalyptic makes no sense either because this is more like Post-Post-Apocalyptic. Though adding the LitRPG genre would make perfect sense and even help with others finding this.