Chapter 78: New Monsters
My body erupted from the mountain top before I skittered down the mountain, moving through trees and rocks as I made my way to where the soldiers were.
The light from their campfires shone brightly and I could pick up on the princess’s scent as I made my way down.
My dark exoskeleton blended into the night perfectly while my pointed legs sank into the ground with ease without making a sound.
As I moved, I used biomass to lower my size to about 20 feet before raising my wings and taking off into the sky.
I propelled myself down the mountain and just seconds later, the massive army came into view.
I purposefully vibrated my wings loud enough so they could hear me approaching.
Immediately, the soldiers began to rise from their slumber and at the same time, I landed just in front of the princess’s tent.
Fear permeated on each of their faces from my sudden arrival.
"Apex?" The princess stepped out of her tent, wearing a silk nightgown with her sword in one hand.
"We will march on the capital tonight."
It didn’t take much convincing. That single sentence was all it took for her to jump into action.
She gave me a slight nod before immediately turning to her soldiers.
"Gather your horses and weapons, we are leaving tonight."
Immediately, without a second delay, the soldiers jumped into action.
I got to see firsthand just how disciplined they were.
In just a few minutes, the soldiers were atop their horses marching down the mountain while I flew above them in the sky.
The guild master, Blood; I am not sure if he is currently in Vesperia or if he’s outside the gameworld, but this was the only lead I had as to his whereabouts.
Even if I have to destroy the capital, I will get to him. And if these demons get in my way, I’ll kill them too.
As I flew, I took out the core than belonged to the hornet queen from my storage space.
[F ranked monster core. Would you like to create your very own monster from it?]
[Cost: 300 biomass][Y/N]
’Yes’
[New monster has been created! Please give her a name: _____]
What would be a good name for a Hornet Queen? Unlike with Lily, I don’t know her personality so coming up with a name was a bit hard.
I intend to evolve her and put her Hornet Queen title to good use.
Since she’ll be a queen, maybe I choose a name fitting for such a title.
...maybe Aphrodite.
She was a queen right? Arrhh... maybe not, but who cares.
[Name had been inputted]
Immediately, the monster core grew and glowed brightly as it was transformed into a bright orange egg.
[500 biomass has been spent to hatch hornet queen egg instantly]
I held the egg between my legs as spider-like cracks began to form. The cracks grew bigger until finally, a stinger broke through the top of the egg and a monster with characteristics of a centipede and a hornet crawled out.
She had thick orange exoskeleton and two pairs of wings instead of the single pair that a hornet usually has.
I counted 10 legs in total and she even had forcipules to inject venom.
+-----+
Name: Aphrodite
Race: Flame Hornet
Titles: Hornet Queen, Monster
Danger Level: F
Class: Fire Mage
Magic Type: Common Magic
Bloodline: Flame Hornet [Purity: 68%]
Strength: 130
Speed: 147
Defense: 200
Skill Points: 0
-Skill-
-Lv. 1 Flight
-Lv. 2 Sting
-Lv. 2 Venom
-Spells-
-Lv. 10 Fireball
-Evolution-
Choose evolutions->
+-----+
Unlike Lily, Aphrodite retained all of her previous stats.
Because of this, I’m able to choose her evolution path, hence the ’Choose Evolution’ option. I could evolve their bodies just like I do to myself.
Apart from the Hornet Queen title, her Flame Hornet bloodline didn’t have much to offer, so I’ll most likely have to purchase another bloodline for her.
While I inspected her stats, Aphrodite stared at me with her giant orange round eyes.
Maybe I should try speaking with her.
"Hello... Aphrodite."
"Yes, master, would you like me to kill someone?"
Her voice sounded cold and a bit robotic. It’s funny that that’s the first thing she asked.
"Actually, yes. There is a small pack of wolves in this forest. I want you to hunt them down."
As far as I could tell, these wolves were normal wolves that didn’t have a monster title.
Without hesitation, she nodded her head before descending into the forest after the wolves.
While she was gone, I took out another monster core. This one belonged to the vampyric worm boss monster I killed.
[D ranked boss monster core. Would you like to create your very own monster from it?]
[Cost: 800 biomass][Y/N]
"Yes"
Just like before, the boss monster core immediately transformed into a crimson egg with black spots.
The egg grew so large that I was forced to land and place it down carefully on the ground.
[New monster has been created! Please give him a name: _____]
Him? So this one is a male. What would be a fitting name for a worm centipede monster that drinks blood?
Dracule?
[Name has been inputted]
[1000 biomass has been spent to hatch egg instantly]
Immediately, the egg exploded, breaking into small pieces.
From it emerged a monster with dark red scales. Its body was round and long. It had a hundred legs.
But the most alarming thing about this boss monster was its sheer size.
It was at least 20 feet long, the same size it was when I killed it.
The creature had forcipules and a large mouth with several rows of sharp teeth.
And just like a worm, it didn’t have any eyes and mostly relied on vibrations and its light-sensitive cells.
This new monster was undoubtedly an underground dweller.
+-----+
Name: Dracule
Race: Vampyric Worm
Titles: Boss Monster
Danger Level: D
Class: Earth and Wind Mage
Magic Type: Common Magic
Bloodline: Vampyric Worm [Purity: 47%]
Strength: 389
Speed: 156
Defense: 307
Skill Points: 0
-Skill-
-Lv. 1 Dig
-Lv. 2 Bite
-Lv. 2 Venom
-Lv. 3 Mucus Shot
-Spells-
-Lv. 10 Sand Control
-Lv. 5 Wind Slash
-Lv. 3 Twister
-Evolution-
Choose evolutions->
+-----+
Dracule’s stats weren’t bad, but I was still a bit disappointed.
Though it was called a vampyric worm, he didn’t have a vampire bloodline.
Its name must’ve been because of its behavior, like its sensitivity to light and because it drank blood.
Still, since I could control its path, it’s possible for him to gain a vampyric bloodline through evolution.
With this new monster now created, I decided to turn my attention to Aphrodite.
I flew to the entrance of the wolf den and peaked inside, but what I saw was far beyond what I expected.
"What the hell?"
The alpha was dead and the alpha’s corpse was mutilated as if the creature was tortured to death. Its guts and intestines were also ripped out, and so were its eyes and legs.
Atop the corpse sat the hornet queen, perched as if she was sitting on a throne, and below her, the rest of the pack bowed their heads, trembling with their tails between their legs.
