Chương 66: 1.3.22 - An Old Friend

It took everyone some time to be done with the core absorption and also gathering their injured or dead members. The smell from the blood and the dead ants' bodily liquids pooling at parts of the cavern was starting to make the air more suffocating as well. I took the opportunity to retrieve my dagger from the eye of the soldier ant I killed, which caused some fluid from the eye to splash on me as I pulled it out. Waldo had stopped keeping the orb of light up in the cavern at this point.

He was starting to conserve the mana so that he could use his spell to help with neutralizing some of the acid burns and disinfecting the wounds of those that were injured. Once we had enough stretchers to carry the injured and the dead — courtesy of the Wood mage — we started making our way out. Luckily for us, the team that took the entrance closest to the town remembered which tunnel in the cave they had emerged from.

Our party had lost all sense of direction, especially Waldo, when we had entered the Queen's cavern. Everyone agreed to exit through the same tunnel now that the threat of being boxed in was much lower.

"That's it, one foot in front of the other. Just keep walking" Randell said as he supported someone who suffered a gash on his leg. We applied first aid and gave him a potion but he still had difficulty walking. I grabbed one end of a stretcher, hauling a guy who had lost half his foot to the Queen's acid while Annie went to help someone else as well. Roderic split his party up as they were relatively uninjured.

He took the lead with the Silver ranked Air mage, while the Silver ranked Earth and Water mages brought up the rear. The trek out was just as bad as the trek into the cavern. Mostly because the tunnels sloped uphill, and squeezing around the dead bodies of the ants that were killed on the way in was even more difficult when you were carrying the injured. At some parts of the tunnel, the Earth mages who had recovered some mana had to widen the tunnel so that we could get around the bodies.

That took more time than we would have liked so we kept it to a minimum. A few stray worker ants still wandered in from time to time, not having been informed of the demise of their Queen — they were dispatched by Roderic and the Air mage quickly. I had turned off my Electrolocation at this point as I was in the middle of the line with the others. I also took a second Basic Mana potion to start refilling my core when the effect of the first one ran out.

We emerged in the forest, the light already a hazy orange as the evening was approaching. There was no celebration yet as we all knew that it was still quite a march back to the town from where we were. Now that the space allowed it, we walked in rows of 4 or 5 instead of single file while Roderic and his party continued taking up the front and rear. At this point, I activated my Electrolocation again as attacks were no longer limited to the front or rear.

The threat would be beasts that were hiding in the canopy above us, or a random Yellow cored bird of prey that might decide to try its luck against a bunch of exhausted adventurers. Whether it was the sheer number of people marching through the forest, or Roderic's aura from being a Blue cored mage, I'll never know. Nevertheless, I could tell everyone was grateful that it was an uneventful march. There were sighs of relief when we finally caught sight of Hollow's Reach western gate.

Roderic stopped right before the gate and turned around, which caused the people in the front to stop where they stood while the people towards the back got closer. When the last of his two party members finally joined him in the front, he began to speak.

"We shall rest tonight, and take the time to heal and treat those who have suffered injuries. Aldric has assured that the coin needed for all treatment will be borne by the House of Falden. Those who are still able-bodied, we shall reconvene in the Guild Hall on the morrow to discuss what is next to end the threat for good" Roderic said.

I was too tired to walk all the way back to the orphanage, and I did not want the rest to see me covered in yellow ichor, so I decided to rent a room at the same tavern where Randell and the rest were staying. By the time I was clean and my clothes scrubbed of any ant fluid, it was way past supper. I lay on the bed and finally allowed the stream of notifications that I had been holding off to appear.

[Electrolocation leveled up 6 -> 7] [You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 1, 400] [You have leveled up 8 -> 9] [Lightning Bolt leveled up 9 -> 10] [You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 2, 000] [You have leveled up 9 -> 10] ['Lightning Manipulation (Basic)' leveled up 2 -> 3] [You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 300] ['Lightning Manipulation (Basic)' leveled up 3 -> 4] [You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 400] [You have absorbed a Yellow Core. You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 179] [You have absorbed a Yellow Core. You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 136] [You have absorbed a Yellow Core. You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 107] I let out a low whistle. Two levels in a single day, though most of the experience came from my two Tier 2 spells. The trick with the dagger also pushed my Lightning Manipulation enough that it had leveled up twice in that single instant.

Our team did not take down as many ants directly since we moved to a support role in the second part of the battle, so my share was only three Yellow cores. Though looking at the injuries that some members of the expedition had received and the deaths in some parties, I would say it was well worth it. The three cores I absorbed had already started decaying so I did not get the full experience from them, but it still was more than 400 experience combined.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I pulled on the Weave to bring up my status.

Status Core: Lightning Affinity (Perfect) Core Stage: Yellow Stage Level: 10 Mana Core Capacity (MCC) Progress to Next Level: 1, 247/2, 500 Core Mutations: - Lightning Brain - Lightning Adaptation Spells: - Electrolocation (Tier 2) - Level 7 - Lightning Bolt (Tier 2) - Level 10 - Lightning Infusion (Tier 1) - Level 10 - Lightning Manipulation (Basic) (Tier 1) - Level 4 Soul Mutations: - Adaptive Soul - Nature's Constitution - Myelin Insulation - Musculoskeletal Compaction Status Core: Lightning Affinity (Perfect) Core Stage: Yellow Stage Level: 10 Mana Core Capacity (MCC) Progress to Next Level: 1, 247/2, 500 Core Mutations: - Lightning Brain - Lightning Adaptation Spells: - Electrolocation (Tier 2) - Level 7 - Lightning Bolt (Tier 2) - Level 10 - Lightning Infusion (Tier 1) - Level 10 - Lightning Manipulation (Basic) (Tier 1) - Level 4 Soul Mutations: - Adaptive Soul - Nature's Constitution - Myelin Insulation - Musculoskeletal Compaction"Fooo~ Halfway to Green, though it'll get harder now that my Lightning Bolt and Lightning Infusion are capped out.

I need to start figuring out how to tier them up once I have some down time." I closed my eyes, and sleep claimed me faster than I had expected. We were all standing in the guild hall the next morning, though this time it was visibly less packed. I had not thought to look yesterday when we were busy fighting and trying to survive the march back but I was glad that Fallic and Haeken had made it out relatively unscathed as they had shown up this morning.

I would have felt a little bad if something happened to Fallic because I took his daggers.

"Greetings everyone. First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has participated in the subjugation mission. Your sacrifices have allowed us to prevent a monster horde from attacking the town. We will hold a vigil for those who have fallen in the market square in seven days" Daresh said.

"In the meantime, we will still need to tie up some loose ends to make sure that your sacrifices were not in vain. We will be sending a team with several Earth mages down to Hollow Delve to seal up the tunnel. Ideally the tunnel should be collapsed all the way back to the Queen's cavern." Daresh looked over at the team that would be accompanying the few Earth mages and got a nod of confirmation.

"Lord Aldric has also agreed to station a rotation of the soldiers down at the cavern for a period of time to eliminate any ants that might return. Roderic's team will be escorting the first rotation to ensure there isn't a horde of ants that are waiting for us down there."

"I've arranged for a Life mage from Karthgate to tend to the more grievous injuries, she should be arriving in a few days' time. The families of the deceased will also be offered compensation, my steward will reach out and make the arrangements" Aldric added when Daresh was done.

"Any questions before I move on to the mission for the rest of you?" Daresh asked. There weren't any questions this time, seeing as the people who were injured or had sacrificed themselves would be taken care of. I had a feeling that Lord Falden would not be too happy with his son's generosity, but I could tell Aldric was the kind that wanted to do right by the people. Daresh then moved on to a map he had pinned on the board of the forest east of Hollow's Reach.

He had divided the forest up into different sections, with teams assigned to specific routes to comb the forest. There was a possibility that we would still miss some of the mutated ants but Daresh and Aldric had seemed to decide that it was worth it to still do one sweep. If the ants had dug a new tunnel and coated it with their clay, my Electrolocation would be useless. That was the reason we were paired up with another team whose Earth mage had a sensing spell.

We were heading out of the guild hall when Sennika pulled me aside for a quick minute.

"Damian, I think someone might have left a note for you."

"Might have?" I asked. Not sure if I actually knew anyone.

"Well the person who dropped it off only said to pass it to the masked adventurer. You're the only person here who's wearing a mask. They did not leave a name though" Sennika said as she passed me the note. When I opened it, my stomach dropped. I was clenching the paper hard in my fist when my team turned back to look for me, having realized I had not followed them out of the guild hall.

"Damian, what's wrong?" Randell asked when he approached. My head was down and I was squeezing the piece of paper very hard.

"I'm sorry team, I need to check on someone. Do you mind going ahead first? I will try to catch up" I said, voice almost catching in my throat.

"Just go" Randell said. It was times like this that I could see why Annie and Waldo trusted Randell to be the party leader. He might joke around at times but when it mattered, you could count on him to understand. I rushed out the door, first heading to the wagon yard to check if old Betty was still there. When I saw that she was still in her shed and Garrick's wagon was still in its usual spot, I ran to his house. I kept Electrolocation on the whole time and slowed down when I approached.

As I was walking up the stairs, I was scanning the surroundings and the interior of his place. There did not seem to be anyone inside, but when I approached the door, I could immediately tell something was wrong. The door was left ajar, and knowing old Garrick, he would never leave his place unlocked. When I opened the door, I could see that there were signs of a scuffle. Some of his things were on the floor and others had been knocked over.

However, some of the drawers on the shelf were still neat and it did not look like the place was ransacked. Whoever had taken Garrick, they had not been after his money. The next thing I noticed was a piece of parchment, nailed to the window frame by a dagger. That was definitely uncharacteristic of Garrick. I got closer and pulled the dagger down. On the parchment were notes in handwriting similar to the note that Sennika had handed me.

"We have your friend. Come alone if you want to keep him alive." Followed by a series of instructions to find the meeting spot and a rough map.

"Fuck!" was all I could say before rushing out the door.