The monster stumbled backwards, trying to rub the sting out of its eye. The System called it a ‘Troll’, but it had to be a young one, since it only stood a head taller than Regina instead of completely dwarfing her. Its size, bulky physique and oversized club were a poor match for the trees around them, as it might have discovered when it lost the club to a bush.

Max darted forward, cutting right into its knee. Its craggy-looking skin didn’t stop the thrust. The troll stumbled and fell to its other knee, which allowed Max to swing his ax at its neck. Regina watched carefully, but didn’t join the attack herself in order to conserve her mana.

Her intervention didn’t turn out to be necessary. The boys made short work of the monster, and its twitching body thudded into the ground after only a few seconds.

She glanced around, then kept going. There didn’t seem to be any other monsters around for once. She didn’t know how long they’d been fighting their way through the forest, but this had to be the most safe they’d been in that time. And just a few meters farther, there was a small clearing, caused by a toppled tree. Its trunk looked inviting.

“Alright, let’s take a five minute break,” she decided. With a sigh, she sat down.

Tim collapsed right where he’d been standing, and Max looked like it cost him serious effort to drag himself to the tree trunk and sit down. Mia and Tia were only a little better off.

They’d all gotten at least one level, though Regina hadn’t had the time to pay much attention to their status sheets. It was a small miracle that none of them were seriously hurt. She had a nasty cut on her left arm and both Max and Tia were limping a little, but they could keep going.

And they did need to keep running. Regina could tell they were only at the outskirts of the monster horde. Whenever she caught a glimpse of the sky, she saw the dark spots gathering behind them. That would have been a clue if all the monsters moving this way weren’t.

“I wonder what the monsters are doing with our place?” Max asked.

“Probably not much,” Tim replied. “They’re just moving through, aren’t they?”

Regina grimaced. “He’s right. And we will come back one day.”

She saw their surprised expressions and shrugged. “Once we have built up our hive and gotten enough strength, we’ll come back and chase those monsters out, I promise you. If nothing else, there’s still that vault door I need to investigate.”

The others nodded. Max at least looked a little comforted. Regina sighed and turned her attention to the System.

You have leveled up You may select a Spell. You can use a Spellbook, learn a Spell from a teacher or other source of information, or pick one from the list below: Spark, Magic Missile, Firebolt, Magic Armor, Heat Vision, Expand Senses, Physical Augmentation, Water Manipulation, Lesser Basic Conjuration

Regina chewed her lip as she considered her choices. A few were tempting, especially Magic Armor and, of course, Firebolt. That one was new. She needed something to help her survive this trek through the forest, and that was the obvious choice. But she still hesitated. For one thing, fire in a forest might not be the best idea. But the more important reason was that she wanted to consider her long-term strength and that of her hive.

One of the main problems they’d been facing was their lack of tools and materials. She’d do a lot for just a bit of iron. Hell, even copper would be great. And it wasn’t like Conjuration would have no applications in combat, right? Resolved, she made her choice and tapped on Lesser Basic Conjuration.

The screen vanished with a small shower of sparks, and she felt the new spell settling into her, a shift in her mana. Regina closed her eyes and focused on it, but didn’t try actually casting it yet.

It was harder than casting Magic Missile, since conjuring something was complex. But she understood it now, intuitively, at least in its basics. She knew that this spell would be a mana hog for anything even halfway big or complicated. But getting a little bit of metal was now in her grasp. Only simple shapes, she couldn’t make arrowheads or anything, but it was a start.

She opened her eyes again and looked around. “I have an idea,” she said, turning to the Workers. “Do you think you could make a sling or something?”

Tia stood up and grabbed a length of vine. “I’ll do my best, my Queen!”

It only took her a few minutes. What she created was a very crude sling, little more than some flexible length of vine with a small open pocket in the middle. But it should work.

Regina focused, activating her new spell and concentrating on what she wanted. A moment later, she caught a small bit of iron in her palm. It was round, smaller than the rocks they’d been using, but a lot smoother. She tossed it to Tia, who caught it and put it into her sling.

“Hey!” Max suddenly yelled. He jumped up from the tree trunk.

Regina whirled around, her eyes widening as she saw what had caused him to call out. She’d been too distracted to notice, but another monster was sneaking right into their clearing. It must have suppressed its scent in some way.

Somehow, the light of the rising sun didn’t seem able to illuminate it. Its outline reminded her of the Circle Vulture they’d killed, although it was sleeker, and looked like someone had dunked that bird in a pot of shadow.

Shadowing Stalker

Tia reacted quickly. The sling whined slightly as it sped through the air, then she loosed the bullet. It hit the monster and bounced, but the impact rocked it back.

Max roared and swung at it with his ax. Tim was circling around. He’d used his Charge ability too much and now couldn’t access it, but that wouldn’t stop him from fighting. Regina watched for a moment and tried to get a good sense for the fight before she joined in with a Magic Missile.

For all its stealth, the monster didn’t seem that good in open combat. Max exchanged a few blows with it, catching all of them on his shield, which was getting more tattered by the minute. But he got it a few times, and inky black blood started spraying the grass around it. Then Tim entered the fight as well, stabbing at it with three weapons simultaneously. The monster dodged them all, but that let Max strike at the area probably containing its neck.

Regina tensed up as she heard a low hum, but the Shadowing Stalker grew still. Tim retreated carefully, while Max poked it again with a blade-limb. It lunged forward one more time, but the Drone Warrior was prepared and met it with his ax. A moment later, the monster toppled backward, leaking solid shadows everywhere.

Regina released the breath she’d been holding and relaxed her stance. “Great work, guys. But this is probably a sign that we shouldn’t linger. Let’s keep going.”

She glanced at the girls, who were standing up, then back at the Warriors. “Max?”

The drone finally shook himself free and turned, stepping back to join them. “I got a level, my Queen, kind of.”

Regina waved the others forward and turned to look at him as they started moving. “Congratulations, but what’s the matter?”

Max shook his head. “The System says that my level-up has been suspended due to exceeding my Hive’s current limit.” He cleared his throat and quoted, “’The level a Hive Drone can reach is bounded by their Hive Queen. Your experience has been banked.’”

She swore softly.

Well, she probably should have suspected that there was another shoe ready to drop when it came to a Hive and what it meant to a Hive Queen. It would have been very overpowered otherwise. Arguably, it still was, even with this limitation. Still, this meant that she would always have to have the highest level in the hive, didn’t it?

“So much for the idea of me sitting back and sending you guys out to hunt while I stay safely at home, I guess,” she said. “I’ll have to fight and level hard. Well, we still don’t know much about leveling outside of combat. Still …”

“You would have probably been the strongest person in the hive, or at least one of the strongest, anyway,” Tim said. “You have been since the beginning.”

Regina pulled a face, but nodded. He wasn’t wrong about that.

“This also confirms that there really is an experience mechanic, even if the System is using it behind the scenes,” she said, trying to focus on easier subjects. “Interesting. There may be a way to tell how far you are from leveling up after all.”

The group kept discussing their notifications and the System as they continued traveling. They still seemed to be ahead of the monster horde or at least its main part, although they still saw monsters occasionally. They had to scare off or fight off some of them. Luckily, none was anywhere near as strong as that wyvern, and they managed it without getting more than a few scratches or bruises. Regina suspected that the stronger monsters were all behind them. They could only tell time by the occasional glimpses they got of the sun moving across the sky under the forest’s canopy, but she estimated that they must have been traveling for a few hours at least.

Regina suspected that they might be slowly reaching the edge of the forest. Its trees didn’t grow quite as closely together here. Unfortunately, the number of monsters in the area increased. They had to slow down, especially when they spotted a horde of what looked like the cat cousins of the Flametongue Wolves circling a thicket around some trees.

One of them caught sight of their group, and alerted the others with a yowl. Regina clutched her spear tighter and prepared to cast a Magic Missile, while Max and Tim lowered their shields and readied their axes.

Before they could engage, a hail of icicles rained down on a few of the monsters. Regina started, but didn’t miss the opportunity and shot one of her Magic Missiles at the closest monster. A moment later, a few arrows joined them, then two figures with swords fell on the wolves.

The fight was over quickly. Regina hung back, noticing that Max and Tim also seemed wary of the other people. When they turned to face her group, Regina got a good look at their faces and the sharp ears poking out of their long hair. They were dressed similarly to Alenas, although they seemed a little more heavily armed, with everyone carrying at least three blades. She also got peeks of dark chainmail under their outer clothes.

After a moment of focus, the System gave her the names and classes of the group. They all had question marks for levels and seemed to be a mix of rangers, fighters and a Frost Mage.

“Greetings,” a middle-aged (looking) woman said, inclining her head. “You must be the group of demihumans the scout Alenas spoke of. I am glad to see you survived the arrival of the beast horde.”

“Hello,” Regina replied, stepping forward and bowing her head as well. “Yes, that’s us. I’m glad to meet you as well.” She glanced to the east, where a haunting howl was echoing from further into the forest at that moment. “What can you tell us about this beast horde?”

The elf, who according to the System was a Forest Ranger called Anuis, sighed. “We knew it would be coming soon, especially considering the apparent dearth of high-level beasts in the region, but it is earlier than expected. Beyond that, we haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. The stronger monsters are all still inbound.” She glanced at her companions, who had been gathering the bodies of the cat monsters. Two of them were leaving. “I wish we had more time to talk, but we need to finish securing this area.”

“Of course, this isn’t the time or place for a long chat,” Regina agreed, mentally lamenting that fact. There was so much she wanted to ask them!

“Say,” Max began, hesitantly. He glanced at her, then seemed to take heart from her encouraging smile and kept talking to the woman. “Your home is safe from the monsters, isn’t it? Would you consider giving us shelter there?”

The elf’s face fell and she sighed mournfully. “Alas. I wish we could, children, but I’m afraid that’s not possible. You see, there are protections around our home that prevent anyone but an elf from entering. Of course they can be adjusted to allow visitors, but we do not have the time to modify them now before the bulk of the horde arrives, especially with our mages fighting monsters.”

Regina sucked in air and barely stopped herself from cursing again. That sucks. Finding shelter with the elves would have been perfect. Well, they might just be reluctant to let us in, anyway.

“I see,” she replied. “Well, if there is any help you can give us, it would be much appreciated. I’m afraid we don’t know the area very well.”

The woman exchanged a glance with a male elf who’d stayed. He nodded at her and passed her a leather satchel. Anuis glanced inside, then held it out to them. Tim stepped forward hesitantly to take it.

“There is a human village not too far in this direction, if you follow the river downstream,” she said. “Once you’re past the forest, you should pass the defensive line soon. You’ll be safe from the monsters there.” She glanced at the sky, in which a few more dark spots had appeared. “I suggest you hurry.”

Regina bowed her head again. “Thank you very much. I hope we will meet again, under better circumstances.” She stepped forward and turned to the others. “Let’s go.”

Despite the situation, a part of her was excited to meet humans.