Reid's scream carried a knot of frustrated emotions with it, and his mace whipped hard into the hooked claw of a deep red insect. The dog-sized creature just made more ominous clicks with its mandibles and tried to strike him with a different arm.

This hadn't been a good fight.

Each of the Queen's 'honor guard' were large, red insects that effectively used their magic to deal actual damage to Reid. They'd attacked with mandibles, stingers, and the hooked claws that defined the end of their legs. The damn things hadn't moved while he slaughtered the smaller insects, but threw themselves at Reid aggressively as soon as he targeted the Queen. He responded by lashing out at anything close to him.

Feral swings crushed red carapaces. Reid fought emotional, undisciplined. Careless, and reckless. He savored every stab and bite, every wound inflicted on him as his own strikes tugged loose knots in his heart. He was inefficient, and the bugs died poorly. One was just a head and most of a thorax that bled out on the ground. He'd torn the wings off another and pinned it to the ground with Requiem so he could fight with his bare hands. It died struggling to free itself.

The queen had been the size of a pony, with incredible pearlescent chitin that Reid shredded with a shrapnel Brock as the thing tried to flee the battle. It had the intended effect of tearing the Queen's wings enough to ground it. Punching through the chitin was difficult, but not impossible. It got easier when he flooded himself with power. It ended when four blows to the Queen's head staggered her, one good pull ripped out a mandible, and a foot crushed the rest of her head.

It left the guard in front of him as the last alive. Reid was soaked with bug guts up to his knees, stained by gore from his fingertips to his elbows. The pain and knotted emotions that fueled most of the battle were waning, and he was left with a hollow feeling. Requiem severed another hooked claw off the red insect, then smashed down onto its thorax. He took the opportunity to finish it off.

Reid didn't bother to wash himself clean. He trudged over to the trunk of the great tree that had once held up the hive, and swept insect corpses away with his feet. The ground was still cool and damp, shaded from the risen sun by the wide crown. Reid pulled a water from storage, and drank half.

His body was damaged. He'd taken a number of wounds, and almost all of them were entirely his fault. His energy pathways were stressed again, and he knew he'd need to rest them for a few more days before they were back to healthy. But he'd made it through the fight without worrying about any of that.

"Thanks, Nyx."

"No problem, Reid. Just... don't make it a habit, okay? I can help you figure out better outlets. Ones that don't hurt you so much."

Reid took a deep breath through his mouth. Nyx was there for him, again. She had his back. She helped him move forward. She did all of that and barely asked him for anything at all. She did it all without being able to go crush insects when she got frustrated, or unlock memories of separated family when she needed to remind herself of them. Reid wasn't sure if she even had family that would still be alive, without a long series of 'great-great-great's before their tie. That the two of them had even been connected to one another, when she was still dominated by the shackle, was a miracle unto itself.

Reid felt it all, whole and big and illuminating, but his words fell short.

"Nyx, I'm glad you're... you. And I'm happy you're here."

A sympathetic cloud of emotion swelled alongside his own.

"Yeah. Me too."

#

#

The afternoon sun filtered through leaves cast dancing shadows over the field of insect corpses. Reid had his eyes closed as he listened to his own breathing.

"Holy fuck, look at this mess!"

Brinkha grunted. "Gerald, shush! There could be more, still alive."

"Or there could be scavengers." Norton added.

Reid cracked an eyelid. The trio were wearing the osteal armor he'd made them, and each was carrying a weapon. Reid was surprised to see Norton had taken the warhammer, and Brinkha the sword. Gerald had the spear and a small shield. He used the weapon to poke bug corpses as they carefully made their way through the carnage.

Reid used their slow approach as an opportunity to review his notifications.

Questline Stage Completed: The Beast Lords - (Stage 8 of 10) Secret Challenge Completed: Finished Stage 8 in less than 180 days. Secret Challenge Completed: Break the hive and win against the full force of the colony

Secret Challenge Failed: Eliminate the queen before killing any of her honor guard

Bonus Experience awarded for completing secret challenges!

Achievements Upgraded!

Venator VII -> Venator VIII (Earned for engaging and defeating beast lords in solo combat)

Invulnerable III -> Invulnerable IV (Earned for defeating two beast lords without taking any losses)

Pesticide I -> Pesticide II (Earned for eradicating a pest-class species from a local area)

New Achievements Earned!

Domineer (Earned for defeating a beast lord while fighting off an enemy faction)

Undaunted (Earned for willingly engaging in a battle while outnumbered, one-thousand to one or greater)

Heroic (Earned for engaging with an overwhelming threat or cataclysmic event to save lives or protect the innocent)

Magehunter (Earned for defeating more than 20% of the highest-ranking sapient members of a faction)

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Apex Slayer (Earned for killing the most powerful available member of a faction)

Decapitation (Earned for removing the leader of a faction in local space)

Domineer When fighting non-aligned enemy forces, slightly increases discordance between two or more enemy groups and slightly increases your combat ability.

Undaunted When outnumbered at least one-hundred to one, gain a small bonus to combat ability, relative to the number of foes you face.

Heroic Through your courage, others live.

Magehunter Slightly decreases agility of fleeing enemies. Gain a small instinct to the magics enemies wield.

Apex Slayer Slightly increases prowess when fighting an Apex Warrior.

Decapitation Slightly decrease the coordination of enemy forces in near proximity. Gain a small innate understanding of power structures in observed forces.

Final Experience Awarded: 40,000,000 xp (F) Accelerated Growth Experience (.49) Awarded: 19,600,000 xp

Experience: 110,375,001 / 209,715,200 -> 176,114,401 / 209,715,200

-

Questline Stage Unlocked: The Beast Lords - (Stage 9 of 10) NOTICE: Another faction can also access this questline.

The colony rages no more. Push forth, brave warrior, and reach even greater heights.

Stage 9: Defeat the Duke. (Level 49 + ). Secret Challenge: Complete Stage 9 in less than 210 days. (209d 20h 11m Remaining) Secret Challenge: Complete Stage 9 with more than 10% of your combat forces alive. Secret Challenge: Kill the Duke in a single engagement or battle.

It was a damn good result for a less-than-impressive series of fights. Almost every one of the new achievements had a definite and useful impact. He'd gotten a considerable amount of experience, even if it didn't give him a level outright. The descriptions of his achievements confirmed the people from Belar he'd faced were some of their best fighters, and he'd taken out their leader as well. The only thing that wasn't straightforward was the 'Heroic' title. Reid was certain he'd done other things one might categorize as heroic actions, but he'd never earned an achievement for those. It was also one of the shortest descriptions he'd ever seen, and the achievement didn't actually do anything. Sure, it helped his experience multiplier, but Reid was starting to expect an extra benefit to come with each achievement earned.

Gerald swore loudly, and stopped as he wiped at his eyes.

"Gasten's ridges, the smell is so bad it's making my eyes water. I can barely see."

"Then let me go first. It's not bothering me as much." Brinkha tried to move forward, but Gerald stopped her.

"I already let you have the sword instead of making you take the shield. I stay up front. You and Norton run the other way if something happens."

Brinkha pursed her lips, but didn't retort. Instead, she started scanning over the battlefield while Gerald poked corpses. When they moved closer, she locked onto the tree.

"I think I found him!"

"See, I told you he'd be here." Gerald sounded equally relieved and self-assured.

"Hey, no rule said he had to come back to the hut and stick with us, he - wait, I think he's crying?" Brinkha narrowed her eyes. Reid looked down at himself. He had shed another tear or two, but that shouldn't have been noticeable. He put a hand to his face, and realized both were swollen.

"You'd be crying too, if you had a bunch of Lesnch-sized insects trying to kill you. Hell, I bet you'd cry from a regular old sting." Gerald's response was clipped and defensive.

"People are allowed to cry, you lug," Brinkha snapped back. "I meant he might still be hurt."

They continued to bicker as they closed in, and once they reached him, that bickering changed into fussing over Reid. He was apparently seriously swollen.

"I'm fine, just let me rest."

Gerald glanced between Reid and the insects. He picked one up, turned it in his palm, and gasped. That got the attention of everyone, but he said nothing as he hurried back over to Reid and put both hands on his arm. Magic welled forth, and Reid let it in.

"What are you doing?"

Gerald's words were strained, and his face twisted in a grimace. "Purify. Sting. Venom."

Well, that explains a lot.

Reid nodded, and let Gerald continue. His magic was thin, and weak, but it struggled vigorously against the hornet venom Reid had managed to ignore. He kept up a solid flow of purification magic for a good five minutes before Reid could feel his energy sputtering dry.

"Stop and rest."

Gerald's mouth twitched. "I can keep going."

Reid moved his hands away, and stood. "I'm something of an expert on overextending yourself. So, when I tell you to stop and rest, you do it."

Gerald acquiesced with little argument. Reid used identify on the man, and realized the act had pushed him to level 6. Brinkha was still level 3, and Norton was level 5. They weren't equipped to survive out here. Even leaving them alone was idiotic.

Unless...

#

#

"Fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck-fuck-fuck!"

Norton, Reid's demigod of delicious meals, was fleeing from a buffalo-like creature that had laughably weak earth magic. It had been the least threatening creature he could find in the near area.

A few dozen feet away, Brinkha was doing her best to let her beast bleed while she stayed out of range of the thing. She effectively used the reach of her spear, and her form with the weapon told Reid she'd gone through more than basic hand to hand combat training. Gerald had taken a few blows in his fight, but was further along towards ending his buffalo.

Reid's simple, great decision to solve their problems - and give himself a distraction - was to raise their levels and give them fighting experience, all under his supervision. He'd gone into it expecting Nyx to help him teach, but had been unceremoniously left to his own devices and methods. Method 1 was pitting each of them against the weakest creature he could find. They needed to experience a fight, alone, to understand just where they stood in the larger realm of relative power. Where they stood was... not great.

Norton tripped, and Reid tossed a stone at the leg of the beast chasing him. The thing stumbled and fell, but Reid still had to shout at Norton before he wheeled and slammed the war hammer into the creature. He wielded the weapon like a child trying to lift a barbell. It just didn't suit him. Norton's motions tried to be swift and precise - but lacking strength, Norton couldn't manage to deal any decisive hits.

Reid watched the man move. And struggle. He took another ten minutes to kill the beast before him, with unsteady and often ineffective blows. Maybe Norton needed to start with something… more familiar. Brinkha and Gerald had already finished their fights, and Reid escorted the tired trio back to their stone shelter. The others fell asleep, and Reid soothed his internal energy pathways and inspected his healing body - then crafted a new weapon for Norton.

#

The cook cut through the bison's hide, just right to catch and sever the muscles that held its leg to shoulder. The Beast roared and tried to gore him with a stubby horn, but Norton pulled the oversized chef's knife from the beast and leapt away. Another two well placed strikes took the mobility from its back legs, and he soon finished the beast off - and immediately began to dress the creature.

Gerald and Brinkha had still finished their fights before him, but Norton was gaining strength and an understanding for the fighting style that seemed to suit him best.

Reid smiled. The right tools made all the difference.

Another three days passed by. During the waking hours, Reid pushed the trio to fight and struggle at the edge of their ability. At night, he let himself rest and kept track of when he would be ready to resume his own growth. He was getting closer with each passing lazy day, and he was eager to resume his long-awaited conduit work. Watching his little trio of misfits struggle had given him a number of ideas to tease out within himself.

Reid probed his internals, but found no sore or weak points. His pathways were solid, and his body itself was ready for the usual level of strain he put it under.

"Looking good, Reid. Ready to spend some time on conduits and junctions?"

Reid grinned. "Hell yeah."

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