Chapter 308: Chapter 308. Mastering Hive link (3)
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Clara spoke; the concern just wasn’t leaving her face since Theo had started using this ability.
"Trust me, I have found a safer way to use it," Theo spoke after lying down completely in the camp.
"I am laying down so that I don’t fall this time," he spoke and continued with a reassuring smile.
"And I am going to take the ant queen’s help to target a smaller number of ants this time, preferably the embermaws and the spider," Theo explained.
The baron listened carefully, but whether he understood any of it or not was a different matter.
"Just... be careful, alright? Try to get out of the ability as fast as you can. It will help lessen the strain too," Elias muttered. "When I was using Chip’s scouting skill before to look at the world from above, it used to hurt my eyes a lot in the start, but the more I used it, the better I could hold on for a long time, young master," he explained.
Theo nodded, and after giving a respectful look to the baron, who smirked and showed him a thumbs-up, Theo took another deep breath.
’Hive Link 1,’ he thought inwardly, and just like before, nothing happened for a few seconds.
And then suddenly, his head went back, and his back arched on the ground. Clara quickly held his head so as to not hurt it on the ground, while Elias tried fixing the bent back so that there was no extra injury.
Theo’s eyes went totally golden and remained open since then.
When he entered the skill and the consciousness of the hive, many of the minds reached out to him almost instantly.
But they were all burst out of the way, or Theo was pulled from that place—he didn’t know.
But he could tell that his headache had not started right now.
The ant queen’s emotions were in sync with Theo, and soon, Theo realized that they were together in the hive link.
Theo saw the many minds and eyes change to that of a few twenties instead of thousands.
Theo focused on a few of them through the broader view, and he was pulled toward them like a magnet.
Now, only two visions were in front of him. Theo could tell they were of ants.
’The white insects?’ Theo thought, making the ant queen nod.
The ants he was looking at were touching the small insects attached to the root with their antennae.
The more they touched them, the more Theo started feeling something too.
’It’s as if I am tapping them with my antennae...’ he thought.
He thought of tapping the white insect a few more times, and soon enough, the ant he was looking through moved its antennae down again.
But this time, it was not with controlled strength, and it smacked the antenna right at the white insect, making it start moving here and there in panic.
The ant queen sent emotions of distress, as if saying he was not ready to do all this.
Theo only nodded and moved his gaze out of the two ants and then to the broader twenty visions.
The more he used it, the better his understanding and control became.
’Oh? What’s this?’ Theo delved inside again, only to have vision from multiple eyes.
’It’s definitely the spider,’ Theo thought, and soon, he started feeling emotions of overwhelming joy that felt like his own but were also directed toward himself at the same time.
’It’s the first time we are interacting again, spider. I see you’re still digging the chambers,’ Theo thought in the spider’s mind, making it respond with overwhelming happiness.
Theo couldn’t help but chuckle, but it was at that time he felt a prick in his mind.
{Hive Link 1 leveled up!}
Theo saw the notification in front of him, but at the same time, he felt nothing change in his body.
His understanding, his control, and his pain were still the same.
’So it really seems to be just the tracker of the actual ability, huh... not like if I level up, my skills will increase right away,’ Theo was disappointed and fascinated at the same time.
’I want to get out now, ant queen. Too much pressure on the mind,’ Theo spoke, and then stayed in the spider’s mind for a while.
’I will come back to meet you again. Good work, spider. Have some rest too in between,’ he spoke, and started to feel the same pull again.
The pull made him come out of the spider’s mind to the twenty-something, and then zoomed out to a few hundred before thousands.
Remaining even a second in so many minds felt like torture to his brain. He didn’t feel ready at all.
Another second later, he was already blinking in the real world, looking at the wooden triangle ceiling of the camp hut.
"You’re already back?!" Clara spoke while a tear came out of her left eye.
"Ugh... I really need to get used to this..." Theo spoke after getting up and sitting on his back.
"You look a lot... better this time," the baron spoke, curiosity written all over his face.
"I went after telling you all, didn’t I?" Theo spoke while massaging his head and smiling.
"I had the ant queen’s back this time," he explained, making the trio nod and hum in understanding.
"How long was I in there for?" Theo asked with a bright face.
"Barely a minute, young master. That’s why we are more surprised."
"A minute..." Theo didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.
"But for me, it felt like I was there at least for ten minutes."
"Oh please, if you were there for another few minutes, Attendant Clara would have started telling me off again," the baron spoke with a grin, making Clara’s shoulders jerk.
Theo could see her mind moving right on her face. It felt like she was going to do something familiar again, yet he couldn’t put a word to it.
"F-Forgive me, my lord!" Clara moved toward the baron and bowed. "You can take my head for such insolence!"
"PUHAHAHAHAHHA!" The baron started roaring in laughter while Elias tried getting Clara up.
All at the same time, Theo was totally oblivious to everything.