“You just… go around carrying Legendary Rank Beast Eggs…?”
Kael questioned with a strange look on his face.
“They are the safest with me.”
The woman just shrugged.
“Makes sense.”
Kael shrugged as well. His eyes then fell on a ridiculously small brownish-white egg, almost the size of a normal chicken’s egg and he tilted his head in curiosity.
“This is a Magic Beast’s egg?”
He questioned directly.
“Ah.”
Veylara’s grin widened when she saw this.
Kael, who noticed that, narrowed his eyes.
“You wanted me to notice this one, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
Veylara didn’t deny it.
“What is this?”
“The egg of a Duskmarch Ant Queen.”
“A Duskmarch Ant Queen?”
Kael frowned.
“Indeed.”
Veylara’s grin widened as she stared at the egg that stood out compared to the rest.
“A Duskmarch Ant Queen is a rare Beast. You will not find its egg very easily since the Duskmarch Ants are very protective of their Queen’s egg. It is very difficult to get your hands on one, and even when you do get them sometimes, they are so highly sought after that people bond with them almost instantly.”
“Sounds like an extremely useful bond.”
Kael commented.
“It is.”
Veylara nodded.
“Ask any military man which beast they would like to bond with the most, and 9 out of 10 of those men would say Duskmarch Ant Queen. If you don’t consider the Mythical Ranked Creatures in the choice, of course.
As I said before, one cannot have a Mythical Ranked Bond, no matter how desperately they want to.”
Veylara clarified. Kael’s focus, however, was on the words she said before.
“Why is that? Why is a Duskmarch Ant Queen so important? And why to military men only?”
“Well, it is an excellent bond for normal tamers too, but in the military, it has a special status.
In Drakthar Military, even an Advance Level Tamer will be promoted to a Lieutenant if their second bond is a Duskmarch Ant Queen.”
“Really?”
Kael raised his eyebrow.
“Indeed. The Duskmarch Ant Queen is that important of a bond.”
“Must be quite strong.”
“She is not strong.”
Veylara shook her head.
“Her strength comes from being able to breed.”
“Huh…?”
“You can leave a Duskmarch Ant Queen in the ground, without any supervision, and within a year, she will return with an army of tens of thousands of Duskmarch Ants, a Rare Rank beast that is perfect for warfare.”
“Tens of thousands…?”
“Indeed, having a Duskmarch Ant Queen is like having a personal army of your own. Duskmarch Ants may not be strong individually, but together, they can take down thousands of tamers and their bonds.”
Kael felt a chill running down his spine as he thought of having tens of thousands of ants rushing towards him and crawling on top of him.
Soon, however, he frowned.
“But the Tamer’s Sanctuary wouldn’t allow them to store so many ants, would it?”
“It wouldn’t. These ants usually live in colonies they create under their Queen’s command and follow their Queen. During war, they usually form a colony at the camps and are treated as soldiers from then on. They even help you set up tents, camp, deliver food, and any other task that needs manpower.”
“That’s… amazing…”
“It is. They are incredibly useful.”
“How do you even go up against them?”
Kael couldn’t help but question.
“There are ways, of course. Having the Duskmarch Queen on your side does not make you invincible. Fire is one way to deal with a large number of them. This is also why most of the time, Duskmarch Ants are commanded to be in separate units so the fire does not burn them all.
There are strategies to deal with these ants, then there are strategies to counter these strategies, then strategies to counter these counter strategies.
But we aren’t here to discuss all that, not unless you are interested in this one.”
Veylara smiled.
She then pointed at other eggs and,
“The rest are quite rare too. Your special eyes should be able to help you see what they are, so choose whichever you like.”
“You want me to choose the Ant Queen, don’t you?”
Kael questioned, reading Veylara’s body language.
“I do.”
Veylara muttered.
“I had prepared the egg for Valencia since the ants also act as excellent bodyguards, but…”
The woman then looked into Kael’s eyes and,
“Right now, I think you need more protection than anyone else.”
“…”
Kael turned silent as he looked into Veylara’s eyes.
“Take the Queen, Kael. She will be an excellent addition to your family. You already have a dragon, so the rest of these Legendary Beasts, while strong, wouldn’t make much of a difference. But a beast that will give a numerical advantage… It is definitely worth it.
Think of it as an army that will be absolutely loyal to you, an army you can trust with your eyes closed. For someone who is in your position, it is extremely helpful.”
Veylara’s eyes shined meaningfully.
Kael now understood why Veylara wanted him to get the Queen. It was her solution to the problem he was facing. In a position where he couldn’t trust anyone, having an army absolutely loyal to him was definitely something that attracted him…
Honestly, deep in his heart, he wanted another Dragon because…
Well, Dragons were cool but…
In the end, he turned towards the egg, and as if the system wanted him to get the Egg as well, a screen appeared in front of him.
[Ding!]
[Mother of All Ants Bloodline Detected]
[Skill <Ancient Awakening> can be used.]
[Would you like to use <Ancient Awakening> on the selected target?]
[Y/N]
…
‘Mother of All Ants, huh…’
Kael muttered in his head.
It was definitely a name that attracted his attention. Just as he was about to look at other beasts for more options,
‘Father.’
Igni called out.
‘Hmm?’
‘The Mother of Ants, choose her.’
‘What…?’
Kael narrowed his eyes. Igni had never once told him to choose anyone, that too, in such a solemn tone.
‘Do you know what she is?’
‘I do.’
Igni nodded.
‘She is the progenitor of all ants. A primordial creature with a much purer bloodline than my own.’
‘Bloodline… purer than yours?’
Kael’s eyes widened.
‘Indeed, she is extremely strong, in more ways than one.
Choose her.’
“I’ll take her.”