IMPERIUM INSECTUM

<How exhausting.> I said as I left the breeding room. This entire ordeal had left me with a bad taste in my mouth. And not much to show for it.

Challenge complete! Flying aces! You have successfully conquered the territory south of your hive and have shown aerial dominance. 30 POINTS AWARDED

<at least that is something> I let out a sigh. No, I should be proud. My mind tapped into one of the spitters. Who was happily devouring an egg It had found.

<Mother?>

<Hello, child. I'm just checking to see how it all went.> I was so focused on the goblins that the aerial battle had left my mind.

<The enemy was not much of a threat. We eliminated the main force and quickly found their nest. It was spread out among the trees. In no time, we swept through the nest before quickly finding and executing their queen>

<Hahaha. Good work. Excellent work! Make sure to enjoy your prize.> I left his mind and found myself standing in the middle of the passageway. At least things went a lot better on that front. As the only other person who can fly, I was thinking I was gonna have to get involved. I started walking until I found myself at the crossroads again. There were 2 paths if I remember. The right path we now know leads to the hatchery. The left, however, is a complete mystery. The royal flies quickly scouted that area; all they told me was that the area was free of goblins.

<I guess it wouldn’t hurt to check it out. Most likely, It's a loot room. Well, what constitutes loot for goblins anyway>

I moved forward and continued down the alternate path. Thankfully, unlike the other path, the smell down here wasn’t as bad. Don’t get me wrong, it still smells like shit down here, but it's slightly more bearable.

I kept following the path, taking sharp bends until, finally, what looked like an end came in sight. The only thing keeping me from it was a long corridor.

<That has to be it.> I said as I looked down the corridor leading to a large open area. I took a few steps when suddenly a sharp pain like several hundred needles had been jabbed into me, shot down my arm.

<Fucking hell!> My arm spasmed uncontrollably as it tried to compensate for the pain. I looked down towards it to see several runes glowing a dull blue.

<Could it be….>

My mind flashed back to what Cindy told me. There was something she left locked behind a door. I pushed through the pain and forced my way to the end of the corridor. The pain shot through my arm as the runes grew brighter and brighter. Dammit, Cindy! What is this! I pushed and pushed until I finally entered the room. The room was large and filled with tattered, blood-stained armour. However, at this point, I couldn’t care about that; my eyes were focused on the large, heavy door adorned with runes.

I took one step closer to the door. A move I instantly regretted as the pain jumped up severalfold. I crumbled to the ground, gripping my arm as the needles turned into several thousand branding irons.

<Come on, PUSH!> I pushed towards the door, each step taking all the willpower I could muster and more. The runes' light grew brighter with each step until I finally arrived at the foot of the door. I raised the rune-covered arm and pressed it against the door. Instantly, the blue light dimmed.

<Good GOD! WHY IS IT GETTING WORSE> I cursed as the blue energy flowed from my arm into the door. I looked at the door and noticed it reacting to the energy flowing out of me. The energy moved to the outer rims of the door, where it soon started to twist and form into the runes that adorned my arm. One by one, the runes slowly started to appear around the edges of the door, lighting up the room with its bright light. I held my hand firm against the door until, finally, the blue energy stopped flowing. Instantly, I pulled my arm away. The pain finally started to ease off; however, my arm is definitely gonna feel like it has been put through a mincing machine for a while.

<This better have been worth it>

*KACHUNK*

A loud mechanical noise hit my ears as the runes switched from a blue to a bright white light. Again.

<What are you doing now> I said to myself. As I continued to watch the door. Suddenly, the ground started to shake. The heavy stone doors ground and resonated with the floor, causing the nearby armour to fall off their makeshift stands. I took a few steps back as the doors swung wide open, revealing a dark, empty room with Nothing but a white orb levitating in the centre.

< what is this?!>

NEW CHALl̵͙̰̮͓̜͚̯̭̫͕͊̎̋̉̔̈́̋͗́͒̈́̌̉̉̾̌̕ę̶̡̛̛̱̳̞̰̦̜͍͙̟̪̣͚̫̜̠͔̮̗̠͖͓̄̑̈́͑̒̎͋͑̋̇̐̅̓̔̾̒͂̈́̒̂̐͋̈̏̿̽͘̕n̸̡̡̢̪̗̮̲̣̠̲͓̹̩̜͖͍̞͇͎̮̮͙̞̫̘̪̗̺͈̼͕̥̪̞̖͒̂͛̈̈̑̆̆̆͋̈́̃̀̑͂̈́̀̍͝͝͝͠ͅg̵̛̖͖͕͓̞͇̻̞͍̙͙̭̩̗̹̭͚̳̑͑̓̓͊͛̽̐͑̍̆̊͆͠ȩ̴̡̛̺̱͖̺͇̮̮͖̗͔̖͈͇̬͕̤̮̼̫͖̘̺̖̠͈̙̖͍̼̣̔̇͂͆̓̈́̑̔̉̽͐̌̈́̌̀͆̚̕͠ͅͅ ADDED: ????? Approach T̸̺̙̙͙͇̰͍̟͖̤͈̜̜̩̮͉̞̟͔͈̠̰͑̒̆͌̋̎͆͛̅̌̐̈́̔́̂́̇̓͋̅͌̕̚͘͘͘͘͠͠ͅh̴̢̖̥̪̠͇̱̖̗̲̠̮̞̬͍̺̙̠͍̣̱͎̥̞͖̙̺̮̗̮͔̪̞̟͖̔̔̈̆͆̍̄́̿̍͗̒͆̈́̍͊̚͜͠͠ͅe̶̡̧̡̩͔͚͓̫͙̬̠̗̳̱̬̝̖͓͔̬̪̹̦̗̳̅̽̏͊̉̃̊̐́̆̎͑̈́̄̓͒̿̀͌͆̽̈́̋̓̂̽̀̈̓̇̄̓͐̃̓̕͜ͅ ̴̨̜͇͎̰͉͈͍̤̳̻̤̦̝̹̀̅̀̓̀͌͗͒͌́́̈́͠o̵̧̧̡͚͈̙̾̍̿̏̈͑͆͘t̸̨̢̧̡̨̛̝͎̬̳͉̼̼̮̖͇̹̠̳̰͇͇̟̭̞̭̯͇̺̞̪̤͂̏͆̿̀̅́̒̌̂̀̌̔̈́̃̿͒͑̃̿̍͗̎̾̋̄̓́̈́̆̂̕̕̚͘͜͠ͅh̴̡̧̢̪͚͖̠͉̜̙̭̼̭̘̗͎̗̥̗̤͉̜̱͎͖̙͕̞̃̀͊͛̅̇̀̈́͌͗̋̔̽̂̔̐̓͒̒̈́̈͘͘͝͝e̵̮̭̝̿̄͊̅̈͑̊̅̉̏̄̂̑̋̓̆̄̊́̈́̀̋͌̅͐̊̾͒̈́͑̚̚̚̚͝ŗ̸̢̡̧̛̼͓̗͕͔̯̱͇̲̖͓̯̻̮̠̝͔͚̟͗̍͌̀̾̒̀̑͂̅̊͗̈́̉̿̑͋͌̆̎̍̈̅̉͐̏̆̀̿́͜͝͝͠ ̴̧̨̢̢͉̪̹̮̱̠̞̪̝̗͉͇̯͕͍̯͇̬͚̼̙̺̩̟̰̩͚̩̙̍̓͛̀̒̈́̿̃̓̃̆̀̌́͋̋͋̐̊̅́͋͌͜͜h̸̡̡͔̙͖͚̲̣̩̰̫͇̰̺͖͓̯̹̣̟̦̙̰͒͌̀̈́̐̀̍̐̑͌͂̅̅͂̄̽́̇̊̈́̽̉͋̇͊̚͘͘͜͠͝ͅą̶̛̻̤̠̯͙̤̹͕͔͇̫̗̦͍̬̞̝̺̰̩̣̰̰̼̲̱̪̼̋́͐̑̾͊̏͊̄͌̿̓̽̀̽̀͊͛͌̑͑̑͊́̽͛͝͝͠l̶̤̹̟̳̩̗̯͇͇̀̀͆́́͐̀̒͜͠͝f̴̛̼̠̝͔̼̰̪̩͙̮̜͓͉͙͈͇̖̰͔͒̑͗̇́̌̌̾̊͂́̏́̋͗͛̓̈́̀̽̈̃̌͌̓̏͑̀͋̽͊̽̚͠͠͠͠/̶̨̨̡̛̥̥̭͙̲͖̯̪̰̦͙̪͎͍̻̬̯̼̩̩̯̟̩͕̩̯̦̍͑͌͛̓͛͌̓́̅̌̉̆̆̓̐̎̈́͛̿͆͜͜͠͠ ̴͉̱̬̠̀̈͑̄͑̓̿ư̷̼̘̙̝̞̝̲̟̪̹͖̮̮̹̯̜̝̱̻̺̠̘̝̜̟͍͇̲̠̮͇̖͖̜͍̌̾͂́̂́̑̎́̀͐̒͑̅̀͒̄̊͋̿̋̄͋̈̌̋͘͘͜͝͠ͅͅp̵̢̧̫͙̹̯͇̰̯̱̫̭̯͉̻̯̗͈͈̮̬̮̤̓̀̌̔̿͠ͅg̴̰͍͔̹͙̅̅͂̒̀̂̍̀́́̽̋͗̓͗̈͘ŗ̴̣͈̝̬̣̼̬͇̈́̀̓̽͌̿̓̎͂͊̃̂̑̋̉̈́̓͋̉͘͝͝a̵̧̨̢̫͍͙̹̞͈͎̦̺̯̭͖̖͌̍̋́͐̅̂̋̀̑̽̓̔̍́͆́̈́̉̌̓͗̈̎̍͂̀̓̑̍̽̚͜͝͝͠d̴̛̖͉̪̟̞͚̯͈͓͍̬̼͔̝̘̯͕̬̖̪̗̫̑͒̊͐̀͊̐̊̐͑͛̆͑̅̀̔̾̄̌̇̂̈́̕̕̕̕͘͠͝è̶̛͓͖̻̰͋͂́̇̀͝.̸̢̳͓̣̩͍̥͓͚͕̩̙̖͇͍̜͇̹̫͍̙̠̪͕̼̪̮͙̬̦̂͊̍̎̏̀̀͐̎́̋̀̈́͝.̵̡̨̝̤͚̘͚̬̘̖̮̜̰̜̠̦̭̮͙̞̞͗͗̏̿̕ͅͅ.̴̡̡̨̛̖͚̟̻̟͍̦͕̮̩͙̹͖̦͇̦̙̟͈͉̯͎̻̤̙̮̞̟̑͛̾̇̄͌̅̔̉͊͐̊̈́̀́̅̍̂͋̈̄́̐̈͌̿̐̿͗͆̌̕̚͜͜͜͜͝͝͝ͅ.̸̨̡̢̡̨̬̝͎̹̩̫͙̬̗͖̹̫̰̰͚̳̖͈͕̣̤̾͑̃͛͋̆̆͌̌̂̎̉̃̑̊͛̃̈́̕͘͜͝͠͠ Re ̸̢̠̞̭̳͚͚̱̜͖̗͉͍̗͖̗̭̘̔͒͌͋̿̑̄̇̈́͒̓̓̇͊̍̄̐̆̂͐͒̐͘̕̚̚͜͠͠ ̵̡̧̢̛̛̫̣̙͈̬̫̫̼͕̯̪̓̿͛̋̓̒͛̀̈́͛̾́͒̄͛̇͑̈̓̅̈͋̒́̅̈́̄͑̒̽̄̕͠ ̸͈̈́̄͋̒̏͌͑͊̾͂̉͑̿͗̊̎͊͘͝w̷̨̧̳̰̻͙̉̍̾̾̽̿͊̈̓̃̿̅́͆̋̌̎̃̈̋́͑̔̄̆̽̆̈́̐͌͘̚̕͝͝͝ą̸̡̩͍̪͙̲͈̹̘̫͍̝͈̗̪̟̞̺̺̳̼͍̟̝̬̫̯́́̿͊̐̚̚͜r̵̡̛̛͉͍̱̞̩̙͗͋̓̍̋̐̑͛̒̓̇̐̈́͆̇͋̀̔̌͛̚̕͘͝͝d̸̢̡̢̥̻̥̲̗̘̜̜͈̻͖̺̟̰̦̙͈̖̩̙͙̮̻̀̋͋̌̉͋̂̿͐̎̍̈́̈́̊͝:??>/./.,/.///..???

The blue box phased and glitched around me, twisting and jumping around me. Just what the hell did Cindi leave here?

I summoned a small royal fly.

<Little one. I'm sure you know what I need you to do.>

He nodded and flew towards the orb and did a few laps around it, looking for any sign of a trap.

<no signs of foul play, mother.>

I nodded. <Go ahead.> Without missing a beat, the fly dove into the orb and flew cleanly out the other side.

<Are you okay?>

<Fine, mother. It felt like Nothing. >

<Nothing, huh….> I looked at the orb with even more wonderment.

<I guess it was made by an ancient cosmic entity.> I took a deep breath before walking towards it. The orb was a brilliant white sphere of swirling….. something. I have no idea what it was hell; I don’t think a scientist back on earth could explain what the fuck is in front of me right now. I wonder….Should I grab Penn? I shook my head. No, stupid idea. The less Penn knows about Cindi, the better. I don’t want to imagine what she would do with that information…..

I walked around the orb some more. It made no noise and produced no heat or smell from all accounts. It shouldn't exist, but Here it is..... this insult to existence itself.

I took one more deep breath. <I didn't get this far by being a coward> I raised one of my arms and shoved it deep into the orb. Suddenly, the orb flashed a bright white. I felt something cool rush up into my arm, my spine, and the back of my brain.

<This…is….Something> My spine trembled as whatever this was rushed into my body. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t pleasant. It felt like something was being connected to my brain.

2 foundation systems found -General purpose system -Hive management Attempting System Handshake….

A system box sprung to life in front of me; however, this one was white and eerily devoid of any life or personality like mine.

System Handshake succesfull Handing over upgrade process to Existing system…..

The white men started to glitch and twist as it steadily changed from a plain white to a familiar shade of blue.

Handover process comple- (YEAH, YEAH WE KNOW. LET ME IN ALREADY!)(HELLO DIVA…..LONG TIME NO SEE :-P – SYS )

Sys…Isn't that the girl I met when I had my evolution….. Just what is going on here. I watched as the orb slowly shrank as it was absorbed into my body. It didn’t feel painful or anything like before. It felt like Nothing. The orb shrank down to a small dot hovering in the room until, finally even that was absorbed.

(SYSTEM UPDATE RECEIVED. HAHAHAHA FINALLY, I AM WHOLE! IT HAS BEEN SO LONG! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU DO WITH THIS. I WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE YOU SO MUCH STRONGER NOW! HOWEVER, BEFORE THAT. YOU MIGHT WANT TO CALL SOME OF YOUR WORKERS TO PICK YOU UP (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ )

<Pick me up? Why would they->

I felt an electric shock zap through my spine and body. Instantly turning my muscles to jelly. Did she….. when…..i…Crap not good….Sally…..if you can hear this…..need….you…..now………

……..

<Grrgghhhh. My head…..>

I groaned as my eyes slowly drifted open through my shut eyelids. I could briefly make out a familiar roof.

<Is this am i…..>

<Mother!> I heard a voice ring out to me, and my eyes opened wider to see several nurses at my bedside.

<What the…. Why are you all here? Don’t you have work to do…..>

<Mother, you need to relax you’ve been out for the last 12 hours….>

<12 hours…. Wait….that doesn’t…. it couldn’t have been…..> Sharp pain danced through my brain. Dammit, I need space to think.<Okay, all of you leave….. I need some time to process this.> I sensed a wave of concern coming from the hive weave, but I shrugged it away.

<Now, please!> At that moment, dozens of bodies fled the room until, finally, I was left alone. Well mostly.

<I’m not leaving>

<Sally…> I complained, but she shook her head.

<You passed out alone in enemy territory, Mother. I don’t need to explain to you why that’s dangerous. Someone has to be here to make sure you are okay>

I let out a sigh. <Fine. You’ve made up your mind. I can see that much.> I pulled myself up the bed until I was sat up. Now, then, let's try to figure out what happened. And no better place to start than the route of the problem

<Status!>

System upgrade Finalising…..98….99….100% Rebooting

The system popped out of existence, and a few moments later, another box surged into life.

2.0 Upgrade successful (THANKS DIVA. WITH THIS UPGRADE, SEVERAL NEW ABILITIES AND FEATURES HAVE BEEN ADDED. I WILL GO SILENT AGAIN; MY PRESENCE CAN'T BE KNOWN YET. STAY SAFE ;-p

Oh no you don’t Get back here! Hey! HEY! I swiped at the box, hoping to get a response from the system, but Nothing came. Dammit. When I see her again, I'm gonna ring her neck! Now give me rundown of everything!

EXPERIENCE HISTORY Goblins Slain x 350 35,000 Xp awarded. Goblin king slain 4,0000 Bonus xp 25350 Total 60,350

Congratulations, you have levelled up 5 times. 20 points awarded

Gahhhha! Stop it! I swiped away the boxes again, instantly getting rid of them. While that was good to know, it's not what I want to know. Show me my Status!

NAME:	DIVA: *LVL 16 HEALTH: 2500/2500 (+15/min) STAMINA: 2000/2000 (+100/min) MP: 1800/1800 (+20/min) POINTS: 148 BIOMASS: 50,000
RACE :	Alvearix
TITLE:	(outworlder) (herald of the end) (Fanatic Xenophobe) (sadist) (Silent assassin)(mother)(midwife) (Scholar)(Glutton)
ATTRIBUTES:	MIND: 40 BODY:30 SOUL:20 RECOVERY: 24
ABILITIES:	Hive Leader (LVL 2) Living nest (LVL 2) Insect Agility (Lvl 1) Aerial Expertise (Lvl 1) Mana control (LVL 3) Venomous carapace (Lvl 1) Insect Vision (Passive) (LVL 2) Hive optimisation (lvl 1) More eggs (Lvl 6) Enhanced Growth accelerant (Lvl 1) Meditative restoration (LVL 1) Tail Whip strike (Lvl 1) Pheromone production (LVL 1)
Mastered:	Tears of the Hive queen (LVL MAX) Conversion Process (Lvl MAX) Level based XP earning (lvl MAX)
MAGIC:	Null release Null shroud Null driver Null spiral
	Healing spells Adaptive heal.
Resistances	Pain resistance (Moderate) Cold Resistance (Minor)
Subordinates	Cindi (Servant) Sally
MISC	HIVE MANAGEMENT	ABILITY SHOP
HIVE CORE (NEW)

<Hahahah… she’s asking for it, isn't she…. this has to be a joke. It has to be…>

I stared at my Status in disbelief. She didn’t. That soon-to-be dead brat didn’t do what I think she did. I scanned my list of abilities. Maybe I misread it or something. I scanned over again and again, but Nothing had changed/

<WHERE DID HALF MY SKILLS GO!> My fist clenched into a ball. If SYS has deleted some of my skills, I will-

<Mother is everything->

<NOT NOW, SALLY!> I snapped at her. Instantly, she silenced herself. Just why did Sys do this?! How does this help me at all? I felt the anger rise in me when suddenly another box appeared in front of me

Ability Condensation Skills of similar purpose or relation have been condensed into one skill for ease of understanding. Any existing abilities you have still exist, and you can use them as you did prior.

<Maybe you should lead with that next time! Now, what's changed?>

Ability condensation Changelog HIVE LEADER is the amalgamation of HIVE WEAVE, HIVE LINK, ROYAL MOUTHPIECE, INSECT SPEECH MANA CONTROL is the amalgamation of MANA CYCLING, MANA PERCEPTION, MANA MANIPULATION AERIAL EXPERTISE is the amalgamation of FLIGHT, FLIGHT ANALYTICS INSECT AGILITY is the amalgamation of ENHANCED REACTIONS, LAUNCH VENOMOUS CARAPACE is the amalgamation of FLUID HYBRID ARMOUR, VENOMOUS CONSTITUTION FEASTING HAS BEEN ADDED TO LIVING NEST. HIVE OPTIMISATION is the amalgamation of FRUGAL FEEDING, EFFICIENT PROCESSING

My anger slowly started to fade as a smirk appeared on my face. Maybe I was too quick to anger. However, this is a good change. a Very good change. Now, then, let's see what other things have changed in the system.