HC:Pacifist | Ch. 142 - Palatial Skirmish

The amount of light and mental energy that queens gave off was incomparable to that of the other ants. Whereas the larvae felt like little fireflies and worker ants like light bulbs, queens felt like stars. Roth knew the other ants didn't see queens as their rulers, but that didn't make them any less impressive. They brimmed with vitality and strength, and Roth couldn’t help but feel humbled in their presence.

Now, in the heart of the colony, in the cradle where the ants nurtured their young and where the queens laid their eggs, Roth felt a breeze envelop him. The breeze picked up until it was a powerful gust of wind, twisting around him and almost picking him off the ground. The voice he had heard so many times outside became increasingly louder and clearer.

“We meet again, martyr.”

“Lord! It’s you.” He hadn’t expected that the Lord of the Woods would want to address him now. “There’s so much here in Antioch. I have so many questions.” Roth could feel the powerful gust of wind brimming with pride at the compliments. As his mind focused on the surrounding ants, he could feel the synaptic pulses of electricity more clearly than ever before.

“Why didn't you tell me you weren't the tree?”

“Well, if you think about it, we are the tree.”

“Are you?”

“We are a symbiotic relationship, not a creature. We only exist as long as all of our neurons stay together and shielded by the forest's power.”

Well, that was one way of looking at it. “And why can I hear you better here?”

“When you're outside, we must channel much of our stored bioenergy in one concentrated burst toward you. Here, you're surrounded by us; you're in the middle of our mind. It makes it significantly easier to talk to you. Besides, your brain is at a similar size to ours, and the energy required to produce the communication is significantly reduced.”

“I see.” He hadn’t expected the treeants to expend so much effort when addressing him outside. That explained why they kept the interactions with him short. This talk of bioenergy expenditure was starting to nag him, though. Everyone respected the Lord so much, but he came across to Roth as someone tired and on their last leg. It didn’t add up.

“Human, we weren't expecting to receive a guest from the outside, but since you're here and you've proven your worth and are respected by the other monarchs that inhabit these woods, we have a request for you.”

Roth could feel a quest coming. “Of course. You’re my friends! I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

The air stirred gently around him. “As you know, our greatest weakness is our difficulty keeping our numbers. Since the Rain of Fire, the fertility of our queens has halved. But even so, it’s been enough to keep Antioch fully populated. Until now.”

“What happened?”

“We have noticed that our population is decreasing for the first time in decades.”

“Do you know why? I thought nothing could break through the shield of your special trees.” Roth remembered the barrage of attacks being easily deflected by the energy shield.

“We thought so, too, but that isn't true for every danger. There are still things that could get through it. A blight, for example.”

“I see…”

“Martyr, our young are dying at an alarming rate. We are doing what we can to replenish our numbers, but the larvae are dying off quicker than we can make more and hatch them. We don’t know what is causing this and have tried everything to find out, but we could use a fresh pair of eyes. Can you help us?”

New quest received: [Supercolony’s Survival].

Supercolony’s Survival (Epic)

Description: The treeants have noticed that their young ones are dying off at alarming rates. They can't pinpoint the reason for it, and they fear that if this situation is not addressed soon, the colony will suffer a catastrophe.

Quest objectives.

Discover what is killing off the baby ants.

Would you like to accept? [Y/N]

“Count on me. I'll do everything I can to discover what is happening to the larvae and stop it.”

“We thank you and trust you. In the meantime, you are welcome in our city. Enjoy its many wonders.”

*

Xerxes looked terrified at the sight around him. The green, peaceful forest had been turned into a scorched, burning landscape. Even after using the stacked effects of all his guild’s flag skills and the stat bonuses granted by Loki’s race, they had been barely able to thwart the combined attack of the Krakens and Ogres.

Only ten were left from the squad of a hundred players he had brought here. The worst part was that both BlueFire and Mel had escaped. They were both annoying alone, but this was Xerxes’ first time seeing them join forces.

While BlueFire organized the troops, Mel just kept raining death from above. Since all of Xerxes’ skills were geokinetic, dealing with a flying opponent was a nightmare. Still, with all their bonuses to their stats, they had just won through sheer blunt strength. He typed in a message to Loki, highlighting his valiant role in the battle.

“Sir?”

“What is it, Jasper? I’m sending a message to the boss.”

“It’s bad. More people are coming.”

“So soon? Who?”

“It's Jaw-Long. There is also movement on the side of the Centaurs.”

Xerxes gulped. There was no way he would be able to deal with Jaw-Long on his own. He quickly deleted the message and went to the guild chat instead. “Backup. Palatial Clearing. Green Woods.”

He took deep breaths and spared a look at his inventory. He still had one or two tricks up his sleeve. He would at least stall until backup arrived.

*

After meeting the queens, Roth had been brainstorming possible reasons for the young ones dying. Could it be a sickness? Could it be a predator? Could it be that the shield wasn't holding off the radiation anymore? What if it was foul play? Perhaps one of the colonies had grown greedy and wanted to take over the super colony. There were many possibilities to investigate.

Whatever the case was, Roth couldn't stop thinking about the grade of the quest. The rewards an epic quest gave had to be incredible. Maybe it was just what he needed to send the guilds over the edge. If he showed up with an incredible item or skill and showed it off to the guilds, he might be able to secure the protection he needed for himself and his family.

At the same time, he wasn’t sure if he should make this quest his priority. If even rare quests took a long time and many resources to complete, he couldn't fathom how long an epic quest would take. Besides, he had been given no clues.

Roth's priority while in Antioch shouldn’t necessarily be to complete this epic quest. He risked having a very hard time at it or, even worse, failing to complete it. Therefore, his priorities were different.

Priority number one was to find something that made the top 10 guilds so thirsty and so excited about getting access to Antioch that they would eat out of the palm of his hands.

Alternatively, the second, next best thing he could hope to find was a way out of here. If there were a secret passage that would take him to another point of the woods or even farther, he would take it. He just needed to get a sense of how this city worked.

Finally, he would look for opportunities to improve his character. If he had resources and advantages that no other player had, then he should go for it. Every small step, every slight advantage could build up and potentially make the difference in him being strong enough to protect himself and his friends and family.

He sighed. Even though his priorities didn’t necessarily include completing the quest, completing it seemed the best way to complete all his objectives in one go.

For now, Roth would keep exploring Antioch. He was very interested in finding out what other items ants crafted. He could trade them off to other races later. Perhaps he could even get Bucky to carry some of these for him. The husky had to come to the clearing soon to complete the trade run that he had assigned to him. If he waited for him near Prince Piglet, he could probably talk to him without traveling to Hilsford.

Roth went to one of the many ant soldiers guarding the entrance to the nursery.

“Excuse me, soldier?”

“Martyr! How can I help?”

“I’ve visited the colony’s farms and weavers. Antioch is a paradise for craftsmen. What’s the next nearest working station? I’m trying to see all the wonders that you ants create.”

Good job buttering up the ants of Antioch.

+1 reputation with treeants.

+1 charisma.

“Near the nursery, it’s mostly farms, larders and weavers. You’ll want to visit the trees next. Try sweet-smell-peeled-spruce-windy #5. You can find chitinsmith shops there.”

Chitinsmiths? What was that? “Can you give me directions?”

A series of flashing images went through his mind. There was too much for him to remember. He would just ask another passerby as he approached the surface.

“Thank you for your service.” Roth turned to leave but stopped. “By the way, quick question.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have any idea about why the larvae of the colony are disappearing?”

“I don’t, martyr. If I did, why would the Lord ask for your help?”

*

Compared to the outside, in Mrs. Bessie’s opinion, baking was simpler here. This computer thing did half of the work.

“Quick, quick, quick! Another platoon of soldiers is coming by soon! We need those pies ready for yesterday,” came the commanding voice from the Mess Sergeant. She had followed Benny here to do a quest. It was a little challenge that gave you points at the end.

This quest particularly involved baking in the citadel’s mess hall. As the Mess Sergeant went around barking orders to all the chefs and pointing out any flaws or waste of ingredients, Mrs. Bessie smiled. She liked this woman. It was someone that she would have befriended in the real world. She would have been able to keep her boys in order! It was funny how similar being a mess sergeant was to being a mom.

“You? Do you want my soldiers to eat this?” She got the pie and threw it into the fire. “This is only good for feeding the hearth! No soldier of mine will eat this piece of garbage.” If the crafting rate for the pies was anything under B-, the lady freaked out.

“Well done, HandsomeBenny.” Mrs. Bessie rolled her eyes at the choice that her cooking companion had made for his tag. “Your expertise in making pies is only beaten by how good you are at eating them.” The man smiled.

Mrs. Bessie didn’t blame Benny. To be able to eat sweets without putting on weight was the best thing about this game so far. The mess sergeant approached with heavy steps toward her. “Let’s see what you’ve got, MammaBessie!” She started inspecting the chicken pies she’d been making. “Not bad, not bad! You even went over the quota there, chef!”

“If the soldiers are like my sons, I fear it won’t be enough, ma’am.”

The officer laughed in a rare relaxed moment, prodding envious eyes from other players who had been lagging. “Very good! That’s what I like to hear! This kitchen is a battlefield, ladies and gentlemen. If a soldier is hungry, he won’t fight! His head won’t be in the battle but on his empty stomach. Wars are won and lost in the kitchen. MammaBessie! Give me ten more pies for yesterday! Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Benny gave her a thumbs up from the distance, and she smiled back. She would work hard. She would do what she could to help her son along.

Ch. 141 - Glue Gun

INDEX

Ch. 143 - Pull Your Own Weight