Chapter 306: Chapter 306. Mastering Hive link (1)
When Theo woke up again, he couldn’t help but feel like his head was still heavy.
He kept lying down even though he was awake for a few minutes now, until he forced himself up.
’Is this what migraine feels like?’ He thought while tapping the side of his head a few times to help with the heavy feeling.
His mind got invaded by the ant queen’s emotions right away, asking if he was okay, to which Theo only responded with yes. He was still shaken by the whole experience he just had.
His eyes went down only to see the mantis sleeping beside him peacefully.
Theo tapped its head a few times, but it didn’t wake up, making him realize just how tired this guy was.
He opened his status only to chuckle with a heavy voice.
’It gained a lot of new experience while I was sleeping. I have almost reached halfway through level 8. Just how much did it defeat?’ Theo questioned and checked the system messages to check any abnormalities.
"Hmm?" Theo could see something weird right away.
{Your reinforced shardjaw ant helped defeat a burrow crawler (Level 4)}
{Grade (+) and level (+) difference detected}
{+35% to base EXP}
{EXP distribution: 12 + 35%
Reinforced Shardjaw Ant:
Tunnel Domain Ant Queen:}
There were countless messages with all kinds of ants helping defeat crawlers.
Theo kept scrolling and kept seeing them, and then the mantis.
’So the mantis was not the only one helping me level up... the ants are fighting too,’ Theo realized, to which the ant queen just sent emotions of nodding.
"You finally awake, boy?" A deep voice came from the entrance of the camp.
"My head is still heavy, father," Theo spoke with an awkward chuckle, making the baron stay serious.
"Have you realized how long you have been sleeping for?" the baron asked, making Theo think something was wrong.
"How long?" He asked, with curiosity and panic mixed together.
"A whole day, Theo," he spoke, making Theo nod and look away.
"Now the experience I gained till now makes sense. Everything okay since I went to sleep?" Theo asked again.
"Hmph, can anything be bad if I am here?" the baron asked, only to avert his gaze right away as if something came to mind.
Theo could tell something was going on in his mind until the baron came and sat right opposite him.
His face was serious, maybe too serious, yet Theo was used to it now. He waited patiently for him to speak whatever was on his mind.
"I got too excited for you. I am sorry," he spoke with that same seriousness.
"What?" Theo’s eyes widened in surprise. Why the hell did the baron just apologize to him?
"I shouldn’t have told you to use that ability right away, Theo. I am just glad that you’re okay." He spoke and moved his hand forward to pat his shoulder, yet his hand went to the top of his head instinctively, and he ruffled it a few times.
"Father... you know we would have tried it now or later. It is good we tried it right now. Now we know how it works and what it takes."
"Can you explain?" the baron asked, and Theo nodded.
He explained everything he felt through the ability. It was like he was connected to so many minds at the same time, hopping from one to another.
"I felt everything they were feeling as if it was me who was feeling it," Theo spoke and then chuckled with a heavy head. "I can tell you, these ants do not think about a lot other than work, father. Well, except the ant queen. It is very complicated."
The baron was silent the whole time, his teeth gritted. He wanted to tell his child that he was sorry again, that he felt bad, but it didn’t feel like it was worth it.
Theo didn’t seem to have any problem with what they did to begin with.
"Is this ability still worth using, Theo?" the baron asked. "You did say it shouldn’t be with a human to begin with. We can wait for some other one. I know that you could potentially get more."
The way the baron spoke made him look very guilty, yet Theo only smiled.
"To be honest, I don’t want to have anything to do with that ability again. It was so complex, and my mind was hurting in ways I didn’t know it could. I don’t know if it was physical pain or not, but with how heavy my head is right now, it may have been physical."
"So you won’t use it again, right?"
"..." Theo took a deep breath.
"But beyond all that, I could feel what the ability was all about," Theo spoke again.
He continued right away, "The more I was in their minds, the more it felt like the connection was stabilizing. It felt like I was being helped by the ant queen too. But more than that, there was something else, father."
"I felt like I had all the control over the ants I could get, father," Theo spoke, a sheer chill going down his spine.
"What do you mean?" The baron was too interested in this story to hide it, making Theo chuckle.
"Usually, whatever I want the ant queen to do, I have to tell it first before the order gets transferred to each ant or the specific ones I want to order," Theo explained.
"But at that moment, when I was using that ability, I could feel a direct connection with the ants. It was as if I could give direct orders to them, which is all I have wanted to try from the start."
The baron was totally invested in the explanation, and Theo decided to put the cherry on top.
"My eyes were glowing bright golden, right?" Theo asked, making the baron nod profusely.
"How do you know that? Did you see it through the ants?"
"Yes. I saw all of you around me, being concerned for me at that moment through an ant’s eyes. It felt really weird though," Theo spoke.
"So it could work as a scouting skill too... just like attendant Elias uses that pesky small bird... hmm"