Swarming Sovereignty

Owen stared apprehensively at the orb in his hands, a glowing arrow pointing towards his destination. It had first appeared when he was supposedly two hundred and fifty miles out, and as he followed it, it had gotten larger. According to the instructions he had been given, it was currently large enough that he was only one mile away.

To his surprise, the initial model of orb he had been given had worked as advertised; this spot was roughly a thousand miles away from where he had first picked up a signal. But, as he had feared, he was indeed given charge of the expedition force that had been sent out. The force itself was small, a five person team of elites, just big enough to have some measure of safety against the regular Spine monsters, but just small enough to be fast and not very noticeable.

Most concerningly of all, though, the trip over had been easy. He was well aware that the danger of the Spine was not in its rank and file monsters, though those were indeed stronger than most anywhere else, it was in the big things. All sorts of nasty things had been reported as living in the Spine, and their expedition team hadn’t seen one of them.

To some, that might have been comforting, but Owen knew better; he knew Amelia. He had, for a time, been one of her teachers at the academy, and between that and the reports that were given about her…extracurricular activities, he knew she was something of a mad scientist.

So, here he was, approaching the base of a Hero gone rogue, one who liked to experiment with all sorts of things, and he had encountered abnormally low resistance on the way over. There was really only one option, and it was that all the threats were here, lying in wait.

But brooding over it any longer was going to be counterproductive. As such, he and his team were inching ever closer to Amelia, moving along a mountain wall and watching the arrow carefully, until, at last, the direction it was pointing began to change quickly, indicating that they were close.

Owen signaled for a halt, scanning the cliff face. And, after a moment, it became clear; though attempts had obviously been made to disguise it, there was a cave opening in the wall, right where the arrow was pointing. He motioned for his team to move forward as he carefully hacked away at the obscuring brush, opening a path large enough for a person to slip through.

They descended into the cave, and, to Owen’s shock, what awaited them was not a lab or Amelia, but a portal, swirling ominously in front of them. He bit a knuckle, thinking for a moment, then resignedly signaled for his team to move through it with him. Bracing for the worst, he stepped through the portal, and…into a recreation of the academy campus?

 

Owen’s stomach dropped. He knew Amelia was strong, but no one had created a dungeon before. He was out of his depth, but he couldn’t turn around now just because he was spooked. As much as he hated to admit it, this crisis was bigger than him, and if he failed then the whole world would be in danger.

Unfortunately, the arrow on the compass remained firmly pointed at the portal, so they were on their own now. And…it seemed they were in the marketplace under the academy, though some sort of crude barricade had been constructed around them.

That was strange; Amelia was capable of creating an entire dungeon with apparently perfect recreations of the building, so why was this barricade so…ramshackle? Goblins, perhaps? This was a training ground, by the flavor text, so having monsters like that would make a degree of sense.

Also…who was Amelia’s love? The only person Amelia had been remotely close to was Lia, but Lia was dead; Owen was one of the first on the scene and was the one who had confirmed her death.

Well, there was only one way to find out. He called his squad in close and began to whisper orders. “Follow me, I’m going to check Amelia’s usual haunts. Stay quiet, and don’t engage with monsters unless it’s absolutely necessary; the longer we stay undetected, the higher chance of success we have.”

His team nodded, and he began to carefully lead them towards what appeared to be a gate in the barricade. The short walk was eerily devoid of monsters, and as they neared the gate, the team’s botanist tapped his shoulder.

“See those plants lining the wall?” The botanist whispered. “Those are somehow related to the plants that were covering the cave entrance.”

Owen frowned. “Okay. Excuse my ignorance, but what’s so strange about that?”

“These plants are remarkably similar to those native to the capital, definitely some sort of subspecies or something. And the plants covering the cave were similarly some sort of subspecies of the plants here in the Spine. Those two types of plants are very different, so the fact that my Skills are telling me these plants are related is very strange.”

“What do you advise we do about it?” Owen asked.

“Be extremely careful.” The botanist replied. “Don’t touch the plants with your bare skin, and try not to stay close to them for longer than necessary. My Skills aren’t coming up with anything too immediately dangerous about them, but if the Hero made these…” He let the implication hang, and Owen nodded. Everyone in this team knew that the Hero was out of common sense. The dungeon alone would tell any visitors that, but in addition to the stories they were told? An abundance of caution might not be enough.

“Understood. If you see anything wrong or dangerous, tell us immediately.” Owen instructed. “We’ll proceed slowly.” His team carefully extracted themselves from the barricade, and entered into the campus proper.

Worryingly, they didn’t encounter any monsters until they were halfway to Amelia’s dorm, when they ran across something that Owen had never seen before. It appeared to be some sort of kobold, a rat-kobold if Owen was any judge, but it was…strange. For one, there was a slight but clear feminine shape to it, which wasn’t something standard amongst kobolds of any variety.

For two, it was carefully carrying what appeared to be a large chunk of beeswax from some type of monstrous bee. This was a dungeon, and monsters in dungeons tended not to attack each other unless outside intervention forced them into closer proximity than the dungeon’s natural spawning had them in. And, even if they did fight, they wouldn’t dismantle part of their opposition’s base to bring elsewhere.

He motioned for his team to stop, and indicated that he was going to Scan the monster. He snuck closer, activating his stealth Skills so he could get within Scan’s range without alerting it. And, just as he entered Scan’s range, the monster’s head perked up and it whipped around to face him, looking him directly in the eyes before nodding and returning to its path.

The act chilled Owen to no end; dungeon monsters were notorious for their heightened aggression towards people, and for one to just ignore a person it had clearly sensed was all sorts of unnatural. So, he activated Scan, and got its info.

Owen backed away slowly, mind racing as he considered the implications. Amelia had made some…swarm it was called, presumably as workforce of some kind. And, instead of using golems like a normal mage, she decided to create an entirely new kind of monster to work for her.

He signaled to his team that the monster was likely harmless before resuming his path towards the dorm. On the way, they encountered more of these “drones”, some of which were goblins, some of which were rat kobolds, and even a few that appeared to be some sort of bee kobold, yet another thing Owen hadn’t seen before.

Finally, they made it to the dorm, which was crawling with the things. And yet, each of them treated Owen and his team like they weren’t even there…until they opened the door to the dorm. When they did, one of the drones that had been standing inside the lobby reached down to the end table it was next to, picked up a piece of paper, and walked over to the group, presenting Owen with the paper.

Hesitantly, Owen took the paper, and began to read it. “Professor Owen,” it read in neat handwriting, “I’m surprised you found me here. I would like to speak to you, so come to my dorm alone. Take the most direct route, come in, and close the door behind you. Leave your party in the lobby – there are many dangerous things here, and I cannot guarantee their safety if they poke their noses into places they shouldn’t be in. Should you refuse to follow these instructions, I will take this as an act of hostility and will defend myself accordingly. – Amelia.”

So, it was a trap, then. Owen gingerly handed the paper over to the other members of his team for them to read, while he began to think of a plan. While the Hero could not directly harm a person, Amelia’s letter indicated that attempting to gather information in this place would lead to an “accident”, likely by way of some sort of dangerous trap she had set up.

If he followed her instructions, he could likely guarantee his subordinates’ safety, at least for a time. If he just left, Amelia would apparently take that as hostility and “defend” herself, which was certain to get…messy.

Owen sighed. Unfortunately, Amelia was just too overwhelmingly powerful to be dealt with in his preferred way. So, he’d have to play her game and hope he could talk his way out of the situation. But…he wasn’t hopeful; Amelia was an unreasonable girl, and he didn’t see this ending any other way than she had intended.

With another sigh, he cursed his own bad luck and turned to his team. “I’m going.” He said. “Keep yourselves safe while I’m gone. I’ll hopefully be back soon.” And with that, he turned and left, making his way to Amelia’s old apartment.

---

Lia was pacing back and forth in the dorms, waiting for Rose’s return when it happened. Through one of the swarm, she caught wind of five humanoid intruders in the dungeon, and she immediately snapped to attention. Using her Skills, she ordered the swarm not to engage, save for a few scouts, and had the rest of the fighting force converge on the dorm. The minutes went by, and eventually the scouts reported in. “There are five of them, my Queen.” Dahlia said. “The leader seems to be a human man, fifties or sixties, gray hair speckled with black, big scar down his left cheek. They seem to have some sort of dwarven botanist, and the other three are humans with no distinguishing features. I couldn’t quite pinpoint their roles though, sorry.”

“The leader, was he tall or short?” Lia asked. “Was he carrying a weapon?”

“Shorter side, had a spear and a bow on him.”

“I know him, then.” Lia said. “He taught scouting classes to me and Amelia, and he was supposed to be the best the kingdom had to offer. Did you figure out where his team was headed?”

“He seems to be leading them towards this dorm. What should we do?”

“He’s looking for Amelia, for sure.” Lia said. “Have Lily bring me some paper, I’m going to try to separate him from his party and bring him up here. While I deal with him, we’ll have a bunch of workers seal his party in the lobby, and the rest of the fighters, save for my siblings, will jump and convert them.”

“Can you deal with him?” Dahlia asked worriedly. “You said he’s the best, right?”

“The best scout.” Lia emphasized. “Not the best combatant by any means. It’ll be dicey, but I think I can use his surprise at seeing me to make something happen, especially if he thinks I’m going to fight like I did when he was teaching me.”

“May I suggest leaving Mia in the room over? She can phase through the wall if you have too much trouble.” Dahlia suggested.

“Good call.” Lia said. “You be in charge of organizing everyone when they get here, I’m going to wait in here, and I’ll dictate a note when Lily gets here.”

“At once, my Queen.” Dahlia said, leaving the room.

---

During the wait, Lia suddenly found herself with the option to get a new Skill.

 

Lia took the Skill without so much as a second thought. The Stamina cost was steep, but it would allow her to extract more concrete information from unenlightened members of the swarm. Yes, they were able to bring back some information, but at times it was frustratingly hard to interpret, as it came in the form of emotions. blurry mental pictures, and some stunted words, which were apparently courtesy of Lia’s swarm management Skills processing the memories and ordering the swarm member to speak the results.

Lia would use the Skill for brief moments to keep watch on the dorm lobby, and after an agonizingly long time, Owen’s team showed up. When the drone in the lobby gave them the paper, they deliberated for a few moments, and then Owen headed off towards the stairs.

Lia followed his path, switching from drone to drone as he made his way up the stairs and towards her room. As he neared the doorway, Lia switched back to her own eyes and waited tensely for him to arrive.

She heard the sound of the door opening, followed by it closing, and then he called out. “Amelia?” He said. “Can I talk with you?”

Lia ordered the drones outside to seal the door with modeling wax and those in the lobby to begin their attack. Once she was sure they had, she gingerly stepped out into the main living space of the room, leaning into the strengths her species gave her and beginning to act as best she could. “Professor Sylvain, it’s…good to see you.” She said, watching shock briefly cross the man’s face. “I know what you’re thinking I should be dead, but…I’m not. Amelia faked my death, and took me here.”

Owen frowned, hand straying towards his spear. “You…” he said, squinting at her discerningly, “you’re –”

“A monster?” Lia sighed. “Yes, unfortunately. I’m sure you picked up on it, but Amelia is not…sane. She turned me into this, in some misguided effort to give me the “glory” of slaying the Lord of Monsters. She claimed that she had altered the system itself to the point where I am just person enough to avoid the Lord of Monster’s control, but monster enough to…break my limits, so to speak.”

“Where…is Amelia?” Owen said slowly, hand fully resting on the haft of his spear. “She told me to meet her here.”

Lia frowned. “A lie. She has taken to keeping me “in charge”, though I often end up forced to obey her whims anyway. She wanted me to give you the opportunity to join us, though I’m of the belief that she should have done so herself, even more so now that I’m seeing your reaction. I already know your answer, but even so I am obligated to ask: will you defect from the Glens and join us?” Lia stretched her hand out to him, though she didn’t expect him to take it.

Owen shook his head. “I cannot, sorry. As happy as I am to see that you are alive, I have a family to take care of. But…as your teacher, could I ask that you let us go? We are only following orders, and have made an effort not to harm any of this…swarm.”

Lia gave him a sad smile. “I would love to, but I cannot.” Her hand fell to her waist, a sword and buckler she had picked up during the wait strapped to it. “I have orders as well, and I am physically unable to disobey. So…how about one last bout, between teacher and student?”

Owen drew his spear and shield, a regretful look in his eye. “I will do my best to leave you alive, but I can make no promises.” He said. “I’m sorry it came to this.”

“As am I.” Lia drew her sword and shield, raising the buckler in front of her and watching Owen carefully. “I’ll make sure to leave you alive as well.”

Owen shot out a thrust towards her, a small beam of energy flying from the tip and towards Lia, who deftly blocked. While she was blocking, Owen thrust a hand out towards the door handle, attempting to open the door and escape. But the door had been sealed, and while Lia had no doubts that he could break through, it would require him to devote his attention to it, something that would leave him open. Eyes narrowed, Owen returned his shielded arm to his front and began to advance on Lia, inching closer to the effective range of his spear.

Lia struck then, throwing her buckler like a discus, the unorthodox move causing him to be delayed in raising his shield for just a moment. Hitting him with the shield had never been the goal, though; as the shield approached, Lia cast a spell, and shield split into four, each piece going for an arm or a leg.

This well and truly seemed to surprise Owen; Lia had never been good with even basic magic before much less chantless magic, and he must have been subconsciously assuming she would fight like she used to. She couldn’t really blame him for that, though; he wasn’t aware of just how much Lia had changed, and the whole point of even bringing the sword and shield was to get him thinking this way.

Still, he wasn’t the best scout in the country for no reason. Unable to dodge to the side in the tight confines of the entryway, he chose instead to burn an ability, teleporting directly behind Lia, shield swinging down at her.

Thanking herself for having the foresight to put eyes in the back of her head, she shrunk herself down to the size of a child to dodge the blow, then stretched her arms out and grabbed his arm while casting a spell that made the floor writhe up and encase his legs. Through both of her hands, as well as the clumps of floor, she began to empty her reserves of modeling wax, both in her body and her dimensional storage.

The magic thing was a neat trick that Amelia had taught her, though admittedly the explanation had flown over her head. It was something about using the symbolism of a situation to strengthen or enable magic? Normally, such fine control of where she dumped the modeling wax would require both a lot of Mana and the attention of multiple of her processing centers, but by using the symbolism of the floor reaching up and containing him, the act of containing him within a cocoon allowed the magic to flow easier.

It was odd; it wasn’t a trick that any of her teachers had mentioned, nor was it in books on magic. Even Rose had seemed unaware of the technique, which led Lia to believe that this was something Amelia had subconsciously created, and gave the swarm access to it.

But ruminations on the nature of magic and its potential changes would have to wait. Owen’s eyes widened as the modeling wax began racing across his body, instantly using his ability again to get out of his earthen restraints, inadvertently taking Lia along for the ride. And, as it turned out, modeling wax fell in much the same category as clothing, remaining attached to him as he moved.

Desperately, he dropped his spear and began trying to pry Lia away from his arm, but his movements were growing sluggish as the modeling wax did its work. “Lia, I don’t know what’s happening, but you don’t have to do this. I’m sure we could work something out, get you freed from this place.”

Lia smiled sadly at him. “I’m afraid it has to be this way.” She said. “Just…relax and let it happen. When you wake up, we’ll discuss more.”

Owen thrashed about wildly, but Lia caught him with another spell, hastening the application of modeling wax. “I’ll make you into something strong, okay? And we’ll figure out a way to help your family out, too.”

A look of resignation crossed Owen’s face. “I…should have known something like –” Whatever he was saying was cut off as the cocoon finished completely covering him, and Lia breathed a sigh of relief.

Dahlia, status? Lia asked. I’ve got Professor Sylvain under control here.

We lost a few foot soldiers and drones, but we’ve subdued the rest of the team. What do you want us to do with them?

Line them up neatly for me to look at later. Lia instructed. I’ll bring Professor Sylvain down and we’ll figure out how to convert them when the others get back.

Lia returned to her normal height and then bulked her form out with muscle, allowing her to more easily leverage her Strength as she lifted the cocoon up. Now…all that was left to do was wait. She didn’t feel like anyone important had died, but she couldn’t help but be nervous anyway. Until they got back, she would just have to trust in the capabilities of the others.