Kai had a surprised expression. “I thought we would build something beneath the ground.”
Anna shook her head. “No, my Lady. We could do it in theorie, but I am not equipped for digging right now and my silk is more suitable for building upwards.”
So many things that Kai had not expected. This one though took her completely off guard. “Silk?”
Anna tapped her tail above the area where an egg would come from on Kai’s tail. She removed her hand and a very thick and white string stuck to her fingers. It reflected the light in a way that made it look like it was glowing violet and Kai really liked the color.
Anna cut the string with her small claws and formed a ball that she handed to Kai. “Besides being able to birth and command swarm drones, producing this silk is a standard ability for Antanoid, my lady.”
Kai took the ball and held it in her hand. It wasn’t sticky anymore and she had no idea how Anna had done that. The sphere had spots that felt differently. There were really soft ones to really hard ones and Kai started to play a bit with the ball.
Anna watched her and smiled at her Queen.
After a few minutes Kai looked up and noticed Anna. She blushed and avoided eye contact with her daughter. God was that emberassing.
She handed the ball back to Anna and cleared her throat. “So, we build our hive above ground. Do you already have a tree you would prefer? And what about food? I am sure the egg was neither pleasant nor enough Anna.”
Anna just shrugged. “I have eaten some leaves of the plants. I do not know if they tasted good or not.” That was truly horrible, maybe more so than eating raw meat?
Kai put her hands on her hips and looked at her daughter sternly. “That will not do! You have to eat good food to be truly happy! This is going to be a priority!”
Anna bowed to Kai. “Of course Lady Antana.”
Kai sighed. “You really don’t have to be that formal around me.” Anna would hopefully stop that in the future.
Anna looked up for a second, before she focused on a tree that Kai could barely make out in the distance. “I believe that would be a good tree to use as a pillar for the hive.”
The tree was taller than the trees surrounding it, but had a few branches that were nearer to the ground. Kai could understand why Anna chose this one. Now they only had to get there safely.
Anna looked up again as if she was watching out for something and Kai followed her gaze out of curiosity. What she saw made her freeze in place.
A giant moth-like insect was flying silently below the canopy of the trees. The moth was flying around 200 meters above Kai and she could still see its half opened large maw full of teeth. It was carrying some kind of deer with its legs.
Kai had wondered on her way to her hideout why she had never seen any large animals despite all the open space that was inside this forest. Now she knew that they had likely been eaten or were really good at hiding from those things.
Kai slowly reached out for Anna’s hand and took it. Her arms were shaking a bit in fear and adrenaline was cursing through her veins. Anna took Kai’s hand gently and squeezed it reassuringly.
The moth-thing disappeared from view, but Kai still found it difficult to relax. Her voice was a quiet whisper. “What was that?”
Kai now had a lot more respect for the forest and might have lost a bit of her courage in the last few minutes.
Anna smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry too much about them my Lady. As long as we don’t make too much noise they shouldn’t notice us.”
She put Kai’s hands between hers. “They also only seem to be active during the dark hours.”
Kai relaxed a bit and tried to distract herself with other things. “The dark hours? Why don’t you just call it night.?”
Anna looked in the direction the light was coming from. Kai had yet to see the sun, because it had always been hidden by leaves. “The sun has yet to set and is already rising again.”
That was weird. Kai couldn’t tell if that meant they were on a pole of this planet. This wasn’t earth and for all that she knew it might have a part that the sun never shines at.
Anna turned to Kai again. “Should we start our journey to the large tree?”
Kai nodded. She couldn’t tell exactly, but she guessed they would need at least 6 hours to walk there. Her tail slowed them down and they might have been faster if it wasn’t so damn heavy.
Anna bowed again and looked at Kai’s tail. “May I help you carry your tail?”
Kai blushed a bit and nodded again. It was embarrassing, but how else was she supposed to walk without leaving a track behind that screamed come and get me?
Anna walked to the back of Kai’s tail and crouched down. Then she put her hands under it and slowly heaved it up. Kai’s center of weight shifted so that she could walk upright and she immediately felt better.
The two then started their walk in silence. It wasn’t awkward, at least not for Kai. She just didn’t know what to speak about with Anna and observed the forest instead. After a while they came past a bush full of berries and took a break.
Kai couldn’t tell if she would be able to eat them and thus left them alone. Anna on the other hand went over to the bush and started to search for something around it. Kai watched her, determined to find out what Anna was doing without having to ask her. Anna crouched down on the other side of the bush and then returned to the foreside.
She took a berry and squashed it between her index finger and thumb. Anna sniffed at the paste, nodded to herself and then licked it. She made a bit of a face as if the berries were sour, but still started to collect more of them.
Kai wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. “How do you know you can eat them?”
Anna stopped her gathering and stood up to turn to Kai. “I am not entirely sure, but these berries are the food of multiple animals. I looked for tracks to make sure. They are a bit sour, but don’t taste too bad. Sadly I can’t tell if they are poisonous by their smell.”
That answer did not help to ease Kai’s worries, but it explained Anna’s earlier actions. She sighed. They ultimately had to search for something to eat anyway and she had made it a priority so Anna was just following orders. “Just be careful and don’t eat a lot of them. If they are dangerous then it might only make you feel a bit bad that way.”
Anna bowed again. “Your concern for me is an honor. I will do as you suggested.”
She then ate two of the berries and after some convincing from Kai laid the rest on Kai’s tail so they could carry more of them.
A few minutes later the two continued their journey and started collecting different fruits here and there. Anna had even started to gather leaves that might be useful as seasoning.
Watching Anna knowing which plant was which after a while was really impressive. Kai thought of her status that hadn’t changed in any way and realized that Anna’s system might be different from hers and she might already have new skills.
How she hadn’t thought of that before she couldn’t tell, but Kai really wanted to punch herself for that. “Anna, does your system work differently than mine?”
Anna took a bit of time to answer. “I don’t really have any information on your system my Lady. I only know that you have a special system and I most likely have access to the common one.” That was interesting.
Kai urged Anna to continue. “Can you describe your system to me?”
Anna shifted her hold on Kai’s tail a bit. “How to start? You can get skills through your actions and quests. Quests are mainly used to upgrade your body and levels do so too, but their main function is to upgrade the maximal potential of your body. I am able to add 90 stat points per level.”
Kai nearly stopped walking. “How many stat points do you have Anna?”
Her voice came back as polite as always. “I have 1 point in every stat except intelligence, there I have 2.”
Kai looked at her own status again. Going by Anna’s stats her own body was upgraded to the maximum of the first level. Still, that her system was different from Anna’s annoyed her. It made things easier for her, the queen, but it also restricted her. She didn’t get any quests and couldn’t get any skills that way. “How many new skills have you gotten already and which way did you get them?”
Some of her annoyance came through her voice and Anna tensed up a bit. “I got identify through a quest and plant lore through my actions, my Lady.”
Kai sighed. Of course identify was a skill provided by the system and she wouldn’t be able to get it. She also felt a bit sorry for scaring Anna. “I’m sorry Anna. I am not angry at you, only annoyed at the way my system works in comparison to yours.”
Anna relaxed again. “You have done nothing wrong my Lady.”
Kai sighed again and focused on the most important question right now. If she wasn’t able to get skills through quests, could she at least do so through her own actions?
Kai had a surprised expression. “I thought we would build something beneath the ground.”
Anna shook her head. “No, my Lady. We could do it in theorie, but I am not equipped for digging right now and my silk is more suitable for building upwards.”
So many things that Kai had not expected. This one though took her completely off guard. “Silk?”
Anna tapped her tail above the area where an egg would come from on Kai’s tail. She removed her hand and a very thick and white string stuck to her fingers. It reflected the light in a way that made it look like it was glowing violet and Kai really liked the color.
Anna cut the string with her small claws and formed a ball that she handed to Kai. “Besides being able to birth and command swarm drones, producing this silk is a standard ability for Antanoid, my lady.”
Kai took the ball and held it in her hand. It wasn’t sticky anymore and she had no idea how Anna had done that. The sphere had spots that felt differently. There were really soft ones to really hard ones and Kai started to play a bit with the ball.
Anna watched her and smiled at her Queen.
After a few minutes Kai looked up and noticed Anna. She blushed and avoided eye contact with her daughter. God was that emberassing.
She handed the ball back to Anna and cleared her throat. “So, we build our hive above ground. Do you already have a tree you would prefer? And what about food? I am sure the egg was neither pleasant nor enough Anna.”
Anna just shrugged. “I have eaten some leaves of the plants. I do not know if they tasted good or not.” That was truly horrible, maybe more so than eating raw meat?
Kai put her hands on her hips and looked at her daughter sternly. “That will not do! You have to eat good food to be truly happy! This is going to be a priority!”
Anna bowed to Kai. “Of course Lady Antana.”
Kai sighed. “You really don’t have to be that formal around me.” Anna would hopefully stop that in the future.
Anna looked up for a second, before she focused on a tree that Kai could barely make out in the distance. “I believe that would be a good tree to use as a pillar for the hive.”
The tree was taller than the trees surrounding it, but had a few branches that were nearer to the ground. Kai could understand why Anna chose this one. Now they only had to get there safely.
Anna looked up again as if she was watching out for something and Kai followed her gaze out of curiosity. What she saw made her freeze in place.
A giant moth-like insect was flying silently below the canopy of the trees. The moth was flying around 200 meters above Kai and she could still see its half opened large maw full of teeth. It was carrying some kind of deer with its legs.
Kai had wondered on her way to her hideout why she had never seen any large animals despite all the open space that was inside this forest. Now she knew that they had likely been eaten or were really good at hiding from those things.
Kai slowly reached out for Anna’s hand and took it. Her arms were shaking a bit in fear and adrenaline was cursing through her veins. Anna took Kai’s hand gently and squeezed it reassuringly.
The moth-thing disappeared from view, but Kai still found it difficult to relax. Her voice was a quiet whisper. “What was that?”
Kai now had a lot more respect for the forest and might have lost a bit of her courage in the last few minutes.
Anna smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry too much about them my Lady. As long as we don’t make too much noise they shouldn’t notice us.”
She put Kai’s hands between hers. “They also only seem to be active during the dark hours.”
Kai relaxed a bit and tried to distract herself with other things. “The dark hours? Why don’t you just call it night.?”
Anna looked in the direction the light was coming from. Kai had yet to see the sun, because it had always been hidden by leaves. “The sun has yet to set and is already rising again.”
That was weird. Kai couldn’t tell if that meant they were on a pole of this planet. This wasn’t earth and for all that she knew it might have a part that the sun never shines at.
Anna turned to Kai again. “Should we start our journey to the large tree?”
Kai nodded. She couldn’t tell exactly, but she guessed they would need at least 6 hours to walk there. Her tail slowed them down and they might have been faster if it wasn’t so damn heavy.
Anna bowed again and looked at Kai’s tail. “May I help you carry your tail?”
Kai blushed a bit and nodded again. It was embarrassing, but how else was she supposed to walk without leaving a track behind that screamed come and get me?
Anna walked to the back of Kai’s tail and crouched down. Then she put her hands under it and slowly heaved it up. Kai’s center of weight shifted so that she could walk upright and she immediately felt better.
The two then started their walk in silence. It wasn’t awkward, at least not for Kai. She just didn’t know what to speak about with Anna and observed the forest instead. After a while they came past a bush full of berries and took a break.
Kai couldn’t tell if she would be able to eat them and thus left them alone. Anna on the other hand went over to the bush and started to search for something around it. Kai watched her, determined to find out what Anna was doing without having to ask her. Anna crouched down on the other side of the bush and then returned to the foreside.
She took a berry and squashed it between her index finger and thumb. Anna sniffed at the paste, nodded to herself and then licked it. She made a bit of a face as if the berries were sour, but still started to collect more of them.
Kai wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. “How do you know you can eat them?”
Anna stopped her gathering and stood up to turn to Kai. “I am not entirely sure, but these berries are the food of multiple animals. I looked for tracks to make sure. They are a bit sour, but don’t taste too bad. Sadly I can’t tell if they are poisonous by their smell.”
That answer did not help to ease Kai’s worries, but it explained Anna’s earlier actions. She sighed. They ultimately had to search for something to eat anyway and she had made it a priority so Anna was just following orders. “Just be careful and don’t eat a lot of them. If they are dangerous then it might only make you feel a bit bad that way.”
Anna bowed again. “Your concern for me is an honor. I will do as you suggested.”
She then ate two of the berries and after some convincing from Kai laid the rest on Kai’s tail so they could carry more of them.
A few minutes later the two continued their journey and started collecting different fruits here and there. Anna had even started to gather leaves that might be useful as seasoning.
Watching Anna knowing which plant was which after a while was really impressive. Kai thought of her status that hadn’t changed in any way and realized that Anna’s system might be different from hers and she might already have new skills.
How she hadn’t thought of that before she couldn’t tell, but Kai really wanted to punch herself for that. “Anna, does your system work differently than mine?”
Anna took a bit of time to answer. “I don’t really have any information on your system my Lady. I only know that you have a special system and I most likely have access to the common one.” That was interesting.
Kai urged Anna to continue. “Can you describe your system to me?”
Anna shifted her hold on Kai’s tail a bit. “How to start? You can get skills through your actions and quests. Quests are mainly used to upgrade your body and levels do so too, but their main function is to upgrade the maximal potential of your body. I am able to add 90 stat points per level.”
Kai nearly stopped walking. “How many stat points do you have Anna?”
Her voice came back as polite as always. “I have 1 point in every stat except intelligence, there I have 2.”
Kai looked at her own status again. Going by Anna’s stats her own body was upgraded to the maximum of the first level. Still, that her system was different from Anna’s annoyed her. It made things easier for her, the queen, but it also restricted her. She didn’t get any quests and couldn’t get any skills that way. “How many new skills have you gotten already and which way did you get them?”
Some of her annoyance came through her voice and Anna tensed up a bit. “I got identify through a quest and plant lore through my actions, my Lady.”
Kai sighed. Of course identify was a skill provided by the system and she wouldn’t be able to get it. She also felt a bit sorry for scaring Anna. “I’m sorry Anna. I am not angry at you, only annoyed at the way my system works in comparison to yours.”
Anna relaxed again. “You have done nothing wrong my Lady.”
Kai sighed again and focused on the most important question right now. If she wasn’t able to get skills through quests, could she at least do so through her own actions?
