Ep. 621 The Road to the Throne Part 11 (Patreon)

From the looks of things, the elders are going to be handing out the weapons based on merit. That is probably their best bet to keep things calm, it is also sound strategically. After all, you want your best weapons in the hands of the best warriors.

That will also encourage the other warriors to work harder so that they can earn the better weapons. Come to think of it, I don't even know how many warriors the beasts have. I know there are five beast types, but no clue how numerous the clans are.

"Alger, how many people are in the clans?"

Alger says "We try to keep our population just under fifteen thousand. That is the most that the area we control can support comfortably."

"And how many of those are warriors?"

Alger says "Just under five thousand."

"Then this is nowhere near enough weapons. Kitara, when you are done here head to Illium and find Pol. See what he has that we can give them."

Kitara says "Understood!"

"When I head back up I will talk to Core about letting your people take over the city. That is, if we can figure out how to disable the defenses so they won't target you."

Alger says "Live in the city of the creators? I don't know if we deserve that!"

"That will be up to Core to decide. But, considering you have been loyally fighting the spiders for thousands of years, I think you do deserve it."

Alger says "I will wait and see what opinion Lady Core has on this."

Myria says "Are we leaving now then?"

"Not quite yet, I have something to finish."

Myria says "What's that?"

"Just an experiment I am working on."

Myria says "Do you have permission for this experiment?"

"Yes, Seronia gave me permission. At least for the first part of it."

Myria says "And what is the experiment?"

"I am attempting to modify myself, similar to what I did to you."

Myria says "Oh, good! You need to get stronger!"

"Eh, since when are you okay with me experimenting?"

Myria says "Um, since I am living and breathing because of your experiment!"

"You've got that backwards, you never would have been in danger if it wasn't for my experiment."

Myria says "That may be true, but I would have remained weak and useless! The risk was worth it!"

"You aren't useless!"

Myria says "Then why did you stop letting me fight with you?"

"When you gave up archery and started using daggers it became too dangerous. Besides, I got too strong."

Myria says "I didn't give up archery, I still practice. But I started learning daggers because that is how challenges in my tribe have to be fought."

"So, you've been planning to fight your mother for a while?"

Myria says "Yeah, ever since you sent me to recruit some of my people."

"I should have figured that out."

Myria says "It's not important. So, what's the plan now?"

"You, me, and the girls are going spider hunting. Kitara will go to Illium, and the guards will stay here to teach the warriors how to use their new weapons."

Myria says "Sounds fun! Let's go!"

After giving the guards their orders I leave and take Myria, Kechara, and Asuna with me. We cross the defensive wall and head into the tunnel system looking for spiders. I guide our path towards where I remember coming down originally.

"When we encounter a group I will grab one to experiment on. You three will need to kill the rest."

Myria says "Okay!"

"I am not sure how long my experiment will take, you will need to protect me."

Kechara says "No problem!"

"Now, I also have another goal while we are down here. I want to get a look at the controller and see what we are up against."

Myria says "Won't that be really dangerous?"

"Maybe, but I need an idea of her strength. If I don't know how strong she is I can't plan for dealing with her."

Myria says "Alright, we will follow your lead."

It takes a few minutes of wandering before we find the first group, which consists of ten driders. I jump forward and grab one, trusting the others to handle the rest. I ignore its attacks against me and focus until I can feel its life force.

As soon as I start gathering its life force to a single spot it stops attacking me. All it does is stand there and twitch as I finish gathering its life force to its chest. Then I move the life force from its chest into mine, which kills the drider.

Unfortunately, as soon as the life force touches my chest it vanishes into me and I can no longer sense it. It isn't gathered anywhere, it is like my body just sucked it up instantly. I don't feel any different after absorbing the life force, and as far as I can tell nothing changed.

It did seem that the drider's life force was fairly weak, the rabbit beast had ten times as much. My guess is that the driders are created to be short lived, hence not much life force. They are tools for fighting, nothing more, so they might not be the best test subjects.

The others have long since finished off the other nine driders and are keeping watch around me. Without a word I gather up the drider corpses and set them on fire. Then I lead the others to continue the hunt, hoping to find a warrior spider.

Unfortunately, the next group we run into is also composed of driders. There are only six this time but again I rush in to grab one and leave the rest to the others. Gathering up the drider's life force is a little easier this time but the exact same thing happens making me swear.

Myria says "What's wrong, Ash? Did the experiment not work?"

"The first part worked, but the second part didn't and I have no idea why!"

Myria says "So, do we keep trying or are you giving up?"

"We keep trying, I have a few ideas still. If none of them work then I will ask Krenocia for help."

Myria says "Okay! More killing!"

Shaking my head I quickly gather up the bodies and destroy them before moving on. The next couple of groups are just driders, but I don't want to waste time so we just kill them and move on. Finally, the third group we find is made up of seven warrior spiders, just what I wanted.

When I grab a warrior spider I pin it so that it can't bite me before focusing on its life force. The life force is way stronger than a drider's and resists my attempt to move it. The resistance just makes me work a bit harder, it can't stop me.

This time, once I have gathered the life force into a single point, I wrap it in sacred power. I am hoping the sacred power will prevent it from absorbing directly into my body. It takes all my focus to move the life force while keeping the sacred power wrapped around it.