It was a day later when Rory finally dragged himself back into familiar glades of shock yellow and electric blue, a presence landing upon him all but instantly as he appeared.

Tier Eight… Must be the Khan.

Rather than enter the mini-Ehkorrus, Rory waited further out, his arms folded over each other, as minutes later Apostlos appeared, jogging over with concern on his face.

"Are you okay?" They were the first words out of his mouth, causing the corners of Rory's mouth to quirk up with a half-smile.

"You think something like that would have been enough to do me in?" Rory asked, puffing his chest out like a preening peacock.

"Uh, yeah? Is that a trick question?"

"Bah, never mind," Rory snorted, instantly deflated. "To call it a close fight would have been lying, but I was able to make my escape as promised."

"You were hitting it with serious firepower," Apostolos said, pointing out the obvious.

"Yeah, wonderful," Rory said, rolling his eyes. "I burnt through ten percent of his life force; it only cost me just about every single weapon I've made since I hit tier seven, hell, even some from late tier six."

"What do you mean?" Apostolos asked, looking confused.

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know," Rory said, forgetting that the only one who would have known about this bit of discovery would have been Zoey. "Long story short, you can break the physical bonds of an item if you've got the intent nailed down, alongside an understanding of the item's conception to begin with. It's damn inefficient as a form of fighting, though. Remember, seven decades worth of items, poof, gone in minutes."

"Sorry," Apostolos said, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Why are you apologizing?" Rory laughed. All things considered, he was in a good mood. He'd known that he needed some spring cleaning of his inventory, and while it wasn't exactly the fashion he would have expected, his inventory was finally clean. "It was my idea to go that deep into its territory. I made a gamble that the Khan wouldn't notice us, or wouldn't care enough to get personally involved. Probably could have been more discreet, but ehh, it's whatever at this point. What I really care about is if you got the goods out."

"The hive? Yeah, the contents are safely within an Isolation barrier."

"Great," Rory said, grinning. "Going to be doing some serious experimenting with it."

"Mad science?"

"Mad pseudoscience," Rory corrected. "None of this is technically science by the definition."

Apostolos shook his head after a moment, trying his best to look like a stern adult but failing as his lips twitched in amusement. "I'm not sure what I gained from this entire debacle."

"Oh, come now, it wasn't a debacle," Rory said. "And you benefited from breaking the norm, you directly invaded the heartland of a tier eight Territory Alpha. That's got to add some gas to your ascension progress for at least a few months compared to your normal activities."

"But I didn't do anything,"

"Sure, little if any direct ascension energy was gained on your end," Rory said. "But what matters is the significance. Remember, Significance breeds Ascension, not the other way around."

"Hmm," Apostolos muttered, a contemplative expression on his face, before he shook his head a moment later. "If you say so. Anyway, tomorrow, come through to my home."

"A specific reason why?"

"My family is having our weekly dinner. Violet and I, of course, will be there. More importantly, our children and our grandchildren will be there. It's time you finally met them."

Suddenly feeling more nervous than when he'd been facing down a Tier Eight Territory Alpha, Rory began to fidget.

"You sure? What if they don't like me?" Rory asked, sounding like an anxious prepubescent boy.

"Are you a child, or the Lord Founder?" Apostolos rolled his eyes, punching his shoulder lightly. "My family is your family."

Leaving it on that note, Apostolos turned around, taking three steps before pausing.

"I've got some things to settle; I'm meeting with the current head of the Adventurer's Guild."

"We've got an Adventurer's Guild?"

"Yes, yes, we do," Apostolos said with a sigh. "Try not to go battle any more tier eights, would you?"

"Aye-Aye, Boss Man," Rory barked, bringing his hand up to his forehead in a crisp, mock salute.

Shaking his head, Apostolos left, muttering under his breath as Rory stifled an amused chuckle.

Christ, trying to play it cool like it wasn't apparent that he must have been waiting around for me to get back.

Watching him make his way to the teleportation temple, Rory finally dusted himself off, a habit of decades.

Right, time to find this isolation barrier.

Uncertain where exactly to look, Rory shrugged to himself, wandering into the midst of the miniature village. Within a minute, a rather frazzled-looking woman of barely five feet tall appeared.

"Lord Founder," The woman said, bringing her fists together in the salute that Rory still had no context for.

"Sasha," Rory inclined his head, recalling her name with perfect clarity, forcing himself to remember. "Thanks for taking time out of what must be a busy day."

"Oh, no, it's an honor!" Sasha said, shaking her hands and head. "Also, as soon as you were spotted wandering, word got sent to me rather quickly."

"Uh-huh," Rory nodded, mind already moving on to the prospective project. "So, question: Isolation Barriers. Where would I find them?"

"Oh, you must be after the item that the Chief Protector brought. We were informed that you managed to lead a successful raid against an antagonistic Khan, tier eight, and it still couldn't stop you!"

Err, right, let's move on with this.

"Well, yes, but that's a minor point," Rory said, waving it off.

What's that look for?

Her eyes only widened further, but not wanting to deal with it, he finally sighed.

"The Isolation Barrier?"

"Oh, right!" The woman clapped her hands as if she'd been jostled out of a reverie. "Follow me."

Doing exactly that, Rory was led to a building that looked much the same as the other buildings. It was only when he stepped inside that he noticed how thick the walls were. There wasn't much to see inside the building, just a collection of closed-off spaces with heavily locked doors. Leading him to the furthest door within the building, Sasha gave a quick wave at the door.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"In there, our maximum-security barrier. Bound Circle with a Grade A integrity rating."

"Thanks."

What's an integrity rating? Did they make that up, or did Eon come up with that?

Curious, Rory pushed the door open, the heavy door sliding open for him without a hint of resistance. Glancing back, he saw the woman still standing there.

"Uhm, you don't have to wait on me. You can go back to doing... whatever you were doing."

The woman bowed, of all things, before scurrying off.

Well, that was uncomfortable.

Putting it aside, Rory turned around, taking in the room. It was rather plain, a bound circle surrounded by runes, and a desk pushed off in a corner. Inside the bound circle was what could have been mistaken for a large sack with six spindly legs, a thick tube jutting out from the sack as well.

"My little precious," Rory whistled at the monster that appeared as if it were frozen in place.

Blight Mite Slave Empress

Level: 1

It was, of course, the true queen of the hive, now isolated outside of its hive. It was notable that, in appearance, it looked rather distinct compared to the Immature Blight Mite Lesser Queen that he'd seen crawl out of the hive back in the Blight Khan's territory.

'Slave Empress' and lower level than the Lesser Queens. Is it because its existence is dedicated solely to spawning the Queens?

Curious, but not quite ready to begin his work, Rory made his way toward the desk crammed off into a corner. Upon it were a few items he recognized as iterations of tools he had made well in the past. A monocle for detecting convergence points on gems in case one was lacking in attributes or correct skills, some oversized tweezers, something akin to an ice pick, and a tablet of all things that reminded Rory of the glorified Etch-N-Sketch he had once made as one of his first inscription-based creations.

While his original 'tablet' had been an emulation of Earth tablets, the 'modern' design was far less 'modern' and far more magical in appearance.

Well, either way.

Waving a hand past the 'screen,' the tablet darkened for a moment, drawing in light before the screen woke up.

Ahh, they still use that old function to operate. How nostalgic.

Flicking through the contents of the tablet, marked by a table of contents, Rory realized that it was essentially a reference guide for all things Gem Crafting, Alchemy, and Inscription; there were even some forging-related notes stored.

You know, I might review this in the future, but for now, it's not particularly useful to me.

With his curiosity sated, Rory made his way toward the bound circle. Approaching it, Rory noticed that the monster wasn't actually frozen in place; it was just moving incredibly slowly, and having a theory as to why, Rory skimmed over the many runes surrounding the circle, nodding to himself after several seconds.

Yep, it's using that same forced slowing field effect that I once used in conjunction with those old growth-site rituals for when I used monsters to fuel them. Clever.

There was more to the bound circle than just the slowing field; also built in were runes for a general barrier, absorption, and aspecting pneuma on the fly.

"Convenient. Maybe that's what she meant by Grade A."

Having investigated everything but the monster bug for long enough, Rory finally turned the bulk of his attention to the Blight Might Empress.

I wonder.

Sending a pulse of pneuma through the circle, the runes powered the slowing field deactivated, the weak monster now contained only by the base barrier.

No longer slowed, the Blight Mite Empress poked around for several seconds before… doing nothing.

Hmmm.

While it would appear to most as a dead end, Rory was already noting the data point as something of interest.

Is it because it has no hive?

With a flex of his intent and the application of Earth Soul, dirt began to pile up inside the circle. It was marginally more difficult than usual, but that was a given as he wasn't manipulating dirt but instead creating it from pure pneuma and small concentrations of earthen matter particulates within the air that he used as 'seeds' to anchor the dirt into reality and not as mere projections.

Watching for several seconds longer, the Blight Mite Empress still did nothing, though the tube jutting from its flabby sack body twitched in the general direction of the dirt mound.

Hmm….

It wasn't just having 'dirt' that it needed. If Rory had to guess, the mite would only be active with all of its requirements met.

I can't say I'm all that versed with the concept of Blight, but I spent enough time on that garbage planetoid that I can probably do something similar.

Fixing the concept within his mind, Rory used another mental thread to connect to the runes around the circle, which were meant to aspect pneuma within. There was a 'port' of sorts that a vessel of pneuma could be plugged into. Still, Rory ignored it, choosing instead to fuel it directly, as unlike crafters who spent time working here, he had more than enough magical finesse and muscle to handle the burden himself. While shaping pneuma into the conceptual wavelength he was unfamiliar with was usually a slow or taxing process, the runes within the bound circle locked onto the 'shape' of the concept within his mind.

Seconds passed, as the air within the circle seemed to change color, as if it had sprung a gas leak. It was darker green than the color Rory had associated with the blight concept, but then that was a given, as he wasn't recreating Blight, just something akin to it.

The Blight Mite Empress, like a fish splashed with water, began to rouse itself, tube attached to its body now flicking about as if searching for something.

Alright, so that theory was correct.

Freed from having to manually shape the pneuma's conceptual wavelength thanks to the bound circle, Rory instead took hold of the dirt mound with Earth soul and the currents of noxious pneuma, and began to weave them together, the elements 'fusing' something he had learned decades ago was possible from the Trial of Space. Infused with the noxious pneuma, the dirt seemed to mold over, rapidly reforming into what looked like gunk you'd find around a stagnant swamp.

The Blight Mite Empress cautiously approached the mound. For several seconds, it seemed uncertain, the noxious conceptual elements foreign enough that it didn't take to it instantly, but after a span of another ten seconds, it seemed to make up its mind, the tube in its body extending like a grotesque worm and spearing into the swampy gunk. Hoovering the material up, from the back of the monster, an opening appeared as it ejected a plaster of what Rory presumed was the same pus-like material and the swampy gunk it had just consumed. Disgustingly moist, the Blight Mite began to shape the blight-tar, a name that Rory decided upon on the spot, into what vaguely resembled a den or, more accurately, a hive.

Perfect.

Once the hive was large enough for its body, the mite empress skittered inside. Unveiling the full extent of his ocular release, Rory was able to see inside the shadowed den with no issue. Continuously feeding the circle with pneuma and creating more swamp-mud, the blight mite empress continued to gorge itself on the back of Rory's effort.

Man, it's a good thing I've got Earth Soul because this would be far less feasible with the generic Earth Touch.

Continuing to gorge itself, Rory suddenly realized that something was still missing. Having an idea of what it was, Rory added an element of growth-aspected pneuma to the mix, as mold began to grow rapidly over the swamp muck. The blight mite empress, sensing the presence of a living organic matter, skittered its legs excitedly, its vacuum-like proboscis stabbing into the mold and consuming it within seconds.

Damn glutton.

If Rory weren't a tier seven, on the verge of tier eight, supplying this much material through purely magical means might not have been possible, forcing him to bring in wheelbarrows of organic matter and other appropriate material.

But Rory was a tier seven on the verge of tier eight, thus the excess legwork was saved as Rory shouldered the effort without complaint.

Still, it took nearly two hours before the blight mite seemed to have gorged itself to the max, retracting its proboscis and pulling its legs in tight as if bracing itself.

After nearly a minute, the back end of the mite monster opened up much as it had when it ejected the blight tar. Except, instead of the gangrenous tar, what was ejected was a sack of what Rory tallied as fifteen eggs.

Oh, hoh, now we're getting somewhere.

Doubling his efforts, even he began to feel strain, as the eggs seemed to mature in real time, fostered by an environment that was purposely pumping them full of energy. As fast as that was, it was still another hour before they hatched.

I'll take an hour over a day.

From the fifteen eggs, once hatched into what was clearly an Immature Blight Mite Lesser Queen, albeit extremely immature. Four hatched into bulky-looking maggot-beetles, and the final ten hatched into maggot-ants.

One Lesser Queen, four Blight Mite Royal Drones, and ten Common Drones. Lesser Queen level eight, and the common drones level one, is about what I expected. The Royal Drones, being level twenty-five from birth, are somewhat concerning.

It was the first time he had seen any drones, but then it had been Apostolos who had been in charge of ferrying the original hive out of the Blight Khan's domain, so he'd probably seen at least a few.

I'll ask him about that at a later date.

Lost in thought, Rory wasn't so cut off from the world that he didn't notice the four Royal Drones turn in unison in his direction, wings flaring as they took to the air, mandibles opening.

Alright, enough of that.

Cutting off the flow of pneuma, the collection of monsters within reacted instantly, listing drunkenly. Flexing his intent, his aura radiated out, carefully avoiding the Blight Mite Empress and Queen as he did. The sheer shock of being blasted by the aura of a peak-tier seven was enough, as the additional blight mite drones died instantly, so effortlessly that the ascension energy gained was like trying to hydrate from a single water molecule.

"Amusing," Rory chuckled. "But haven't you heard? You don't bite the hand that feeds you."

As futile as the effort for a prison break was, a dark part of Rory's mind hadn't missed that four mid-tier two monsters could have easily killed most of the run-of-the-mill crafters.

Right, well, I'd rather not cause more issues when I'm trying to solve them.

With a flex of his will and a hint of pneuma, the mite empress and queen were scooped up in a red crystal sphere.

"Time for a change of scenery."

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