Trope World - Volume 1 Chapter 39 Two Of Four

Why did nothing work out? Just beyond the storeroom door was a buzzing hive of underworld wasps and hungry larvae. My magic of nothingness kept the wasps from noticing us, but nothing was full proof. An example was the humanoid wasp standing not three feet from me. She wanted an escort out of her hive and to the surface. Anything could go wrong. She could betray us the second we exited the room. She could be plotting to unleash a plague of her kind on the surface. She might have planned to take us to a more secluded place, so she could take her time. There was a lot of room for mistakes.

I looked at the wasp woman. She was an unnecessary complication to the plan. This creature wasn’t really the person she once was. She was a parasite that stole the memories of her host. Why would she want to leave? Why would she want to leave and no others? How was she kept from leaving? Why now? Could my shroud of nothingness solve this complication?

My shroud of nothingness was a powerful Dao, well I thought it was. Creating a shroud of nothingness was only one use. I could do more with it, if the skill was at a higher level. For now, stealth was all it was good for. There was potential for making an infiltration build centered around it. There were many sects on this world to plunder.

For now, I would settle for making an underworld wasp vanish from her hive.

“We don’t have a choice, do we?” Sirius asked. The wasp twirled her tail about. The stinger glistened with venom.

“Fine, what’s your name? If we’re to do this, I’d like to know who you are.” The wasp woman’s face twisted, and her mandibles transformed into a faade of a smile.

“Maxine Weiser when I was a human cultivator, I was called Max by my friends.” I nodded. It was something. She was still manipulating us. It was sloppy and my hand itched to run Max the complication through with Lucifer. I’d have to watch her like a hawk.

“Well if we’re to be friends Max, do you mind telling me why underworld wasps choose the ass to stick their eggs.” Farron asked.

“Because its tighter than the throat after venom is applied. Don’t tell me you want a taste of my long pink pole?” My hand hadn’t left the hilt of my sword. The second she tried anything, I’d take her tail off first then her limbs, and then her head. “You are a scary one human. Do I unnerve you?” She said and twisted her mandibles. “I’ve already told you all, I’m spent, for now.”

“Do you hear that Farron, she’s spent? If you have any kinks you want to try with underworld wasps, you’ll have to leave the safety my shroud.” I looked around at Everon, Riku, Sirius, a fl.u.s.tered Farron, and an excited Maxine the complication. “Are we ready to leave?” She opened the door and I wrapped her in my shroud. She spasmed for a moment then looked back at me. There was a possessiveness to her gaze that I didn’t like. “Whatever it is, no.” I whispered as we slowly made our way out.

Nobody lv6; +600DEX

I was growing better at dexterity with ever step here. This skill wouldn’t lose its value in this nest. It was perhaps better than shapeshifting for stealth. I could be a giant blob monster and the wasps wouldn’t care. To them we were nothing out of the ordinary. We were the background.

Then Max reached out her hand and picked up a wasp larva. Before I could say a word, she bit into its head and began sucking out the brain. We were frozen at the sight. Her mandible easily tore through the larva’s skull and she began to greedily suck down the grey matter. The wasps started running around as the maggot unleashed a horrifying death rattle. Then it stopped and the wasps all around us started to bump against us, but my shroud held. What was normal battled with the wasp’s instincts.

Nobody lv10; +1000DEX

She then ripped open some sac from the larvae and what she did next was disgusting. All of us were green in the face and resisting the urge to vomit. “I’ll explain when we reach a quieter location.” Everon looked on the verge of vomiting while the rest of us moved at a sedate pace. We reached another door and opened it. This time nothing sounded. We stepped through and closed it behind us.

“What in the dark angel’s name was that?” Everon whispered.

“That was a quarter of my memories. I wasn’t the only larva to leave my skull. I needed to get the rest of myself. There are only two more left I promise. We took different paths of cultivation. Mine lead to this form, the other me didn’t leave larvae stage. And the third and fourth will be harder to get to. Killing one another after we leave the host is forbidden by the Matriarch.” I rubbed my face and took a breath.

“Alright Max, in exchange for your lightning technique.” I said. There was little doubt that she would lead us in a trap towards the end.

“Melchior you can’t be serious. She’s already shown her true colors. Let’s leave her and get away.” Sirius said.

“I’m more than will to teach you the art of 12 Bolt Halo Blitz. Its nothing extravagant. A stab technique really.”

“How do you use such a human technique? It should be out of the reach of a black qi user.” Riku asked.

“Its simple, I’ve cultivated grey qi since the moment I emerged. My larva sister cultivated white qi and failed to evolve. My other sisters cultivated black and yellow qi respectively. They’ve advanced the furthest.” Max said.

“Is it faster to cultivate yellow and black than grey and white?” I asked.

“For nonhumans who run on instinct. Its impossible to cultivate white qi very far. If my larva sister had lived long enough. She would have had the most humanoid form of all.” I nodded.

“Which of your sisters is farthest away from the exit?” I asked.

“Good thinking, I’d say the farthest is my yellow qi sister. She lost the ability to use 12 bolt Halo Blitz but pursued the lightning Dao. I doubt this shroud could hide from her. She’s at the early palace formation stage and a Pretorian wasp.” I guessed at that moment that if we showed weakness, she would turn us over to her sister. Opportunists couldn’t be trusted. Or perhaps they could be trusted to betray us at the first opportunity.

“We should leave while we can. This is going to get us killed.” Everon said. Max seemed to be on the verge of attacking the wood elf.

“Don’t worry, I’m stronger than an early palace formation.” The elf looked at me wearily.

“How can that be you’re only at the condensation level?” Riku asked. The others looked at me suspiciously.

“My body is much stronger than an underworld wasp.” An alien thought crossed my mind. “Humans like me are like that.” I said. The words felt alien and familiar. I blinked at my companions.

“I’m confused Max. Why are worker wasps furtile?” I asked. She froze for a moment.

We made our way down a hallway to a section of the outpost covered in paper like structures. Lines of sealed rooms fell into an abyss. There were worker wasps dragging the bodies of the squads down into the darkness. This place was filled with dark. Dark qi rose from the holes where the wasps dragged the bodies down. I could feel my shroud grow stronger as it absorbed the dark qi.

Nobody lv12

Nobody lv15

Nobody lv17

Nobody lv20

Nobody lv22

Nobody lv25; +2500DEX

Greed lv5; +200CHA

This place was a holy land for me. I could feel the dark qi pushing its way into my Dao. Nobody naturally fused with dark qi. This was no different than the spirit well only there were more of them. At lv25, I needed time and meditation to turn this good fortune into something useable. The others looked at me in shock. I cut off my Dao skill from the dark qi surging up from the holes in the ground. I could always return here and make full use of this good fortune.

Max twitched her mandibles then applied her faade of a smile. There was a hungry look in her insectoid eyes. I didn’t like it. Nor did I like her mockery of b.r.e.a.s.ts, or the bulge in her crotch slit where her ovipositor hid.

“You have a powerful affinity for the darkness. Truly you would make a remarkable drone. What was your question?” I glared at her for a moment before crossing my arms and looking down on her.

“You know what I asked.” I said.

“Are you sure you want to know? Nothing she’s told us has been good.” Sirius asked.

“Hush, my future drone is talking.” She said and twitched her mandibles. My jaw twitched at her words. “We are given eggs by a queen to implant in our hosts. After we implant the eggs, we drag the host down one of those holes where the Pretorians and Queen can inspect them. If they pass the inspection the eggs will hatch, and the host will be moved to the new hatcher. If they fail the queens or pretorians devours them host and all. If the host is particularly powerful, they’re offered as tribute to the Matriarch.”

“So, the Matriarch is above the queens in this hierarchy.” I said.

“If your thinking about killing the nest and draining the dark wells don’t bother. The Matriarch is the source of the dark qi. She’s a demon of the dark. You couldn’t kill her if you tried.” I raised a brow and smiled. I wasn’t certain. If I fought now, I would lose. Once I had time to break through. Well I wasn’t certain.