Chapter 860
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Chapter 860
Throughout his explorations of Akrys, Three Squeaks had seen many things. Quite often he was able to peacefully meet with local individuals. More often than he had to fight them- though that was only counting those with sapience. Getting attacked by random animals with a bit of natural energy didnt count. Either way, most conflicts were resolved swiftly. The Lower Plains Alliance had some small knowledge of tactics from Anton, but ultimately most fights involved sending everyones warriors at each other until one side died.
The thing was, most groups hadnt grown particularly large. Most had territories they could walk in a day. Some, it took several. There wasnt really anything more than that. Difficulties of interacting with different species and simply limitations of time had caused that. Except there was one group that Three Squeaks eventually came across that possessed a much larger territory sort of. Certainly, they claimed a lot of land, and they protected it. It was even weeks of travel to get across it from their perspective.
They werent aggressive, or at least not so much to directly attack. However, Three Squeaks found that they drew out everything, including efforts to become more friendly. The Tortoise Triumvirate was just like that. And he was quite annoyed. They spoke slowly, took days to deliberate positions, and were generally unwilling to give straight answers to simple questions.
Three Squeaks had spent a year just to get to talk to their heads of state, and another year trying to get anything out of them. And then just as he was about to give up, he got a better idea.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.
He honestly couldnt tell the difference between the Triumvirate, so they were numbered one through three in his head. And that was just based on the direction he had to look a particular day.
Number one spoke to him, of course annoyingly slowly. Little rodent Three Squeaks had already informed them he was not a rodent. Your people. Too far. Too early. We do not need to speak.
I think you can be convinced otherwise, Three Squeaks said. The idea was already forming in his mind. I just need to bring a friend. It wont take long.
How long? Asked number two. Unless theyd swapped positions? No, they werent that speedy. Probably.
... Just a few months, Three Squeaks said.
Very well. The Triumvirate will remain in session. Return with your friend.
It wasnt actually the slowness of their speech that bothered him. No, hed dealt with that plenty. It was the attitude combined with it. After all, he had his own individual of slow speech, who might somehow be even worse than them. But Meep was neither slow on purpose, nor otherwise bothersome. He had his focuses.
And while Three Squeaks didnt like to make difficult work for his friends, someone had to talk to these guys eventually. The world was rapidly growing smaller- not in an absolute sense, but as various awakened individuals grew in power, the rates at which they would have naturally encountered each other expanded. Three Squeaks had already pre-arranged some meetings- along with others, of course, but he was the one who chose to travel the whole world. Giving both sides some warning had almost certainly resulted in better outcomes, and when Three Squeaks ran into aggressive individuals he could simply run, as he had no territory to protect.
-----
The one detail Three Squeaks had not considered was that, upon his return with Meep, he would still have to be there. In short, this was a perfect time for him to train his meditative skills, and his patience. This wasnt interminably boring, it was a test.
Okay, no, it was. But he could at least try to grow. Man, how did cultivators sit in one spot for a decade? Oh right, most of them didnt actually do that. But it also wasnt unheard of, at least in stories. In practice, that was a great way to hit a dead end and run out of insights.
The reason he was so focused on this place, however, was that he was getting close to full exploration of the world. Okay, so, maybe he was at like ninety percent. And maybe that last ten percent would take just as long as hed spend on the first ninety percent. But he couldnt consider the area properly explored until hed been everywhere, and the Tortoises didnt like it if he just sprinted past them to go look at their rocks and trees and sand and stuff. The only thing he was fairly certain about was that there were no other sapient species in their modest territory.
Well have to keep watch. Though our explorations, at least, have led to no inhabited system in a decent buffer zone.
I wonder if that is intentional too. Or just a coincidence.
I doubt we can ask them, Devon shrugged.
-----
The colony was developing well. Crossed Antennae was proud of her work. And, of course, proud of the others. Though they were not yet worthy of names, they were developing rapidly. Bounty was developing nicely. The only thing it really needed now was more queens.
That was where Crossed Antennae was hesitant. She was spawned from the Great Queen herself, as all of the queens in the lower realms. As it should be. No, she knew better than that. She had been raised to have a sense of independence. It was only natural that each queen should produce another.
It was just what if she was no good at it? What if they came out wrong? Crippled or underperforming she could blame on herself, and replacing them would merely take time and resources. But if they were not willing to go along with the plans she had, what then? Would they fight? Colony against colony?
It was not something that had happened in living memory. The Great Queen managed everything, and all was aligned. But she wasnt here, and Crossed Antennae realized how many things she didnt know. Certain ants might always follow their queen, but other queens had to be more independent. Otherwise, they could not function.
The threats of battle were what worried her the most. She was not Fearsome Mandibles. Her sister chose that name, knowing her own heart. And here she was, barely even understanding her own thoughts. Her name perhaps it wasnt even a name so much as a response.
What if she died? Crossed Antennae was aware of her own life as something she valued, but more than that she had others she was beholden to. The Great Queen. Allies in both the upper and lower realms. All were counting on her.
Yet every time she thought to form an egg containing a princess, she could not bring herself to do so. Instead, her main colony grew larger and larger. Soon, it would be unmanageable. Something had to change. She knew that. But she kept hesitating.
She had no real way to contact anyone, asking for guidance. So instead, she did something foolish. Not the sort of thing that would topple her reign as queen. No, instead, she simply took time away from her colony to go to the woods alone. It was truly difficult, to find a place where she could be alone. Even pheromone trails of danger would draw attention, given she was the queen. But still, she could find some precious moments to herself.
Crafting life was something that came naturally to her. Shed even created a strain of fliers now, so that the void ants could cover their territory more efficiently. But doing it manually, by hand? It wasnt really life. It was something much sillier.
A collection of leaves, twigs, and bark. She formed them into friends.
Good day, Grand Counselor Autumn, she said. Obviously that wasnt her full name. Autumn Twigs of the Beech was the proper name, but too much of an antennaefull to sign repeatedly. And to you, Grand Counselor Bark. Bark of the Oak in Winter, as was obvious from his looks. I come once again to seek your guidance.
They said nothing, of course. But just pretending that they did made her more relaxed.
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Chapter 860
Throughout his explorations of Akrys, Three Squeaks had seen many things. Quite often he was able to peacefully meet with local individuals. More often than he had to fight them- though that was only counting those with sapience. Getting attacked by random animals with a bit of natural energy didnt count. Either way, most conflicts were resolved swiftly. The Lower Plains Alliance had some small knowledge of tactics from Anton, but ultimately most fights involved sending everyones warriors at each other until one side died.
The thing was, most groups hadnt grown particularly large. Most had territories they could walk in a day. Some, it took several. There wasnt really anything more than that. Difficulties of interacting with different species and simply limitations of time had caused that. Except there was one group that Three Squeaks eventually came across that possessed a much larger territory sort of. Certainly, they claimed a lot of land, and they protected it. It was even weeks of travel to get across it from their perspective.
They werent aggressive, or at least not so much to directly attack. However, Three Squeaks found that they drew out everything, including efforts to become more friendly. The Tortoise Triumvirate was just like that. And he was quite annoyed. They spoke slowly, took days to deliberate positions, and were generally unwilling to give straight answers to simple questions.
Three Squeaks had spent a year just to get to talk to their heads of state, and another year trying to get anything out of them. And then just as he was about to give up, he got a better idea.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.
He honestly couldnt tell the difference between the Triumvirate, so they were numbered one through three in his head. And that was just based on the direction he had to look a particular day.
Number one spoke to him, of course annoyingly slowly. Little rodent Three Squeaks had already informed them he was not a rodent. Your people. Too far. Too early. We do not need to speak.
I think you can be convinced otherwise, Three Squeaks said. The idea was already forming in his mind. I just need to bring a friend. It wont take long.
How long? Asked number two. Unless theyd swapped positions? No, they werent that speedy. Probably.
... Just a few months, Three Squeaks said.
Very well. The Triumvirate will remain in session. Return with your friend.
It wasnt actually the slowness of their speech that bothered him. No, hed dealt with that plenty. It was the attitude combined with it. After all, he had his own individual of slow speech, who might somehow be even worse than them. But Meep was neither slow on purpose, nor otherwise bothersome. He had his focuses.
And while Three Squeaks didnt like to make difficult work for his friends, someone had to talk to these guys eventually. The world was rapidly growing smaller- not in an absolute sense, but as various awakened individuals grew in power, the rates at which they would have naturally encountered each other expanded. Three Squeaks had already pre-arranged some meetings- along with others, of course, but he was the one who chose to travel the whole world. Giving both sides some warning had almost certainly resulted in better outcomes, and when Three Squeaks ran into aggressive individuals he could simply run, as he had no territory to protect.
-----
The one detail Three Squeaks had not considered was that, upon his return with Meep, he would still have to be there. In short, this was a perfect time for him to train his meditative skills, and his patience. This wasnt interminably boring, it was a test.
Okay, no, it was. But he could at least try to grow. Man, how did cultivators sit in one spot for a decade? Oh right, most of them didnt actually do that. But it also wasnt unheard of, at least in stories. In practice, that was a great way to hit a dead end and run out of insights.
The reason he was so focused on this place, however, was that he was getting close to full exploration of the world. Okay, so, maybe he was at like ninety percent. And maybe that last ten percent would take just as long as hed spend on the first ninety percent. But he couldnt consider the area properly explored until hed been everywhere, and the Tortoises didnt like it if he just sprinted past them to go look at their rocks and trees and sand and stuff. The only thing he was fairly certain about was that there were no other sapient species in their modest territory.
Well have to keep watch. Though our explorations, at least, have led to no inhabited system in a decent buffer zone.
I wonder if that is intentional too. Or just a coincidence.
I doubt we can ask them, Devon shrugged.
-----
The colony was developing well. Crossed Antennae was proud of her work. And, of course, proud of the others. Though they were not yet worthy of names, they were developing rapidly. Bounty was developing nicely. The only thing it really needed now was more queens.
That was where Crossed Antennae was hesitant. She was spawned from the Great Queen herself, as all of the queens in the lower realms. As it should be. No, she knew better than that. She had been raised to have a sense of independence. It was only natural that each queen should produce another.
It was just what if she was no good at it? What if they came out wrong? Crippled or underperforming she could blame on herself, and replacing them would merely take time and resources. But if they were not willing to go along with the plans she had, what then? Would they fight? Colony against colony?
It was not something that had happened in living memory. The Great Queen managed everything, and all was aligned. But she wasnt here, and Crossed Antennae realized how many things she didnt know. Certain ants might always follow their queen, but other queens had to be more independent. Otherwise, they could not function.
The threats of battle were what worried her the most. She was not Fearsome Mandibles. Her sister chose that name, knowing her own heart. And here she was, barely even understanding her own thoughts. Her name perhaps it wasnt even a name so much as a response.
What if she died? Crossed Antennae was aware of her own life as something she valued, but more than that she had others she was beholden to. The Great Queen. Allies in both the upper and lower realms. All were counting on her.
Yet every time she thought to form an egg containing a princess, she could not bring herself to do so. Instead, her main colony grew larger and larger. Soon, it would be unmanageable. Something had to change. She knew that. But she kept hesitating.
She had no real way to contact anyone, asking for guidance. So instead, she did something foolish. Not the sort of thing that would topple her reign as queen. No, instead, she simply took time away from her colony to go to the woods alone. It was truly difficult, to find a place where she could be alone. Even pheromone trails of danger would draw attention, given she was the queen. But still, she could find some precious moments to herself.
Crafting life was something that came naturally to her. Shed even created a strain of fliers now, so that the void ants could cover their territory more efficiently. But doing it manually, by hand? It wasnt really life. It was something much sillier.
A collection of leaves, twigs, and bark. She formed them into friends.
Good day, Grand Counselor Autumn, she said. Obviously that wasnt her full name. Autumn Twigs of the Beech was the proper name, but too much of an antennaefull to sign repeatedly. And to you, Grand Counselor Bark. Bark of the Oak in Winter, as was obvious from his looks. I come once again to seek your guidance.
They said nothing, of course. But just pretending that they did made her more relaxed.
Chapter 860Throughout his explorations of Akrys, Three Squeaks had seen many things. Quite often he was able to peacefully meet with local individuals. More often than he had to fight them- though that was only counting those with sapience. Getting attacked by random animals with a bit of natural energy didnt count. Either way, most conflicts were resolved swiftly. The Lower Plains Alliance had some small knowledge of tactics from Anton, but ultimately most fights involved sending everyones warriors at each other until one side died. The thing was, most groups hadnt grown particularly large. Most had territories they could walk in a day. Some, it took several. There wasnt really anything more than that. Difficulties of interacting with different species and simply limitations of time had caused that. Except there was one group that Three Squeaks eventually came across that possessed a much larger territory sort of. Certainly, they claimed a lot of land, and they protected it. It was even weeks of travel to get across it from their perspective.They werent aggressive, or at least not so much to directly attack. However, Three Squeaks found that they drew out everything, including efforts to become more friendly. The Tortoise Triumvirate was just like that. And he was quite annoyed. They spoke slowly, took days to deliberate positions, and were generally unwilling to give straight answers to simple questions.Three Squeaks had spent a year just to get to talk to their heads of state, and another year trying to get anything out of them. And then just as he was about to give up, he got a better idea.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.He honestly couldnt tell the difference between the Triumvirate, so they were numbered one through three in his head. And that was just based on the direction he had to look a particular day.Number one spoke to him, of course annoyingly slowly. Little rodent Three Squeaks had already informed them he was not a rodent. Your people. Too far. Too early. We do not need to speak.I think you can be convinced otherwise, Three Squeaks said. The idea was already forming in his mind. I just need to bring a friend. It wont take long.How long? Asked number two. Unless theyd swapped positions? No, they werent that speedy. Probably.... Just a few months, Three Squeaks said.Very well. The Triumvirate will remain in session. Return with your friend.It wasnt actually the slowness of their speech that bothered him. No, hed dealt with that plenty. It was the attitude combined with it. After all, he had his own individual of slow speech, who might somehow be even worse than them. But Meep was neither slow on purpose, nor otherwise bothersome. He had his focuses.And while Three Squeaks didnt like to make difficult work for his friends, someone had to talk to these guys eventually. The world was rapidly growing smaller- not in an absolute sense, but as various awakened individuals grew in power, the rates at which they would have naturally encountered each other expanded. Three Squeaks had already pre-arranged some meetings- along with others, of course, but he was the one who chose to travel the whole world. Giving both sides some warning had almost certainly resulted in better outcomes, and when Three Squeaks ran into aggressive individuals he could simply run, as he had no territory to protect.-----The one detail Three Squeaks had not considered was that, upon his return with Meep, he would still have to be there. In short, this was a perfect time for him to train his meditative skills, and his patience. This wasnt interminably boring, it was a test.Okay, no, it was. But he could at least try to grow. Man, how did cultivators sit in one spot for a decade? Oh right, most of them didnt actually do that. But it also wasnt unheard of, at least in stories. In practice, that was a great way to hit a dead end and run out of insights.The reason he was so focused on this place, however, was that he was getting close to full exploration of the world. Okay, so, maybe he was at like ninety percent. And maybe that last ten percent would take just as long as hed spend on the first ninety percent. But he couldnt consider the area properly explored until hed been everywhere, and the Tortoises didnt like it if he just sprinted past them to go look at their rocks and trees and sand and stuff. The only thing he was fairly certain about was that there were no other sapient species in their modest territory.Well have to keep watch. Though our explorations, at least, have led to no inhabited system in a decent buffer zone.I wonder if that is intentional too. Or just a coincidence.I doubt we can ask them, Devon shrugged.-----The colony was developing well. Crossed Antennae was proud of her work. And, of course, proud of the others. Though they were not yet worthy of names, they were developing rapidly. Bounty was developing nicely. The only thing it really needed now was more queens.That was where Crossed Antennae was hesitant. She was spawned from the Great Queen herself, as all of the queens in the lower realms. As it should be. No, she knew better than that. She had been raised to have a sense of independence. It was only natural that each queen should produce another. It was just what if she was no good at it? What if they came out wrong? Crippled or underperforming she could blame on herself, and replacing them would merely take time and resources. But if they were not willing to go along with the plans she had, what then? Would they fight? Colony against colony?It was not something that had happened in living memory. The Great Queen managed everything, and all was aligned. But she wasnt here, and Crossed Antennae realized how many things she didnt know. Certain ants might always follow their queen, but other queens had to be more independent. Otherwise, they could not function.The threats of battle were what worried her the most. She was not Fearsome Mandibles. Her sister chose that name, knowing her own heart. And here she was, barely even understanding her own thoughts. Her name perhaps it wasnt even a name so much as a response.What if she died? Crossed Antennae was aware of her own life as something she valued, but more than that she had others she was beholden to. The Great Queen. Allies in both the upper and lower realms. All were counting on her. Yet every time she thought to form an egg containing a princess, she could not bring herself to do so. Instead, her main colony grew larger and larger. Soon, it would be unmanageable. Something had to change. She knew that. But she kept hesitating.She had no real way to contact anyone, asking for guidance. So instead, she did something foolish. Not the sort of thing that would topple her reign as queen. No, instead, she simply took time away from her colony to go to the woods alone. It was truly difficult, to find a place where she could be alone. Even pheromone trails of danger would draw attention, given she was the queen. But still, she could find some precious moments to herself.Crafting life was something that came naturally to her. Shed even created a strain of fliers now, so that the void ants could cover their territory more efficiently. But doing it manually, by hand? It wasnt really life. It was something much sillier.A collection of leaves, twigs, and bark. She formed them into friends.Good day, Grand Counselor Autumn, she said. Obviously that wasnt her full name. Autumn Twigs of the Beech was the proper name, but too much of an antennaefull to sign repeatedly. And to you, Grand Counselor Bark. Bark of the Oak in Winter, as was obvious from his looks. I come once again to seek your guidance.They said nothing, of course. But just pretending that they did made her more relaxed.
