The Primal Hunter

Chapter 921: Hive Queens Are Scary

Jake and Vesperia hadn’t ever really spent that much together, and he truly didn’t know what she was actually capable of. All he had seen from her was her ability to enter fighting mode, which ultimately wasn’t her main power.

She was a Hive Queen. A living one-woman army that commanded an entire hive of powerful insectoids to overwhelm and slaughter anyone who dared oppose her. Her personal ability to fight was a last resort or to be used only alongside her workers and soldiers. Well, primarily soldiers, Jake reckoned, as workers were meant to stay back at the hive.

Now, after a few years, Vesperia had plenty of time to learn more about her abilities, but more importantly, to actually create some creatures for her hive. Something she enthusiastically wanted to show off.

“My internal space serving as a temporary hive has expanded significantly as I have progressed through C-grade, and I have even absorbed unique treasures provided to me by the Endless Empire to facilitate further growth. This has led to me having an internal space capable of storing at least a few million creations, though I have far from filled it up. To do that, I will likely need some more Hive Queens to assist me,” Vesperia happily explained, as Jake nodded along with interest.

“Have you made any more Hive Queens yet?” Jake asked.

“Only two so far, and both of them were made without any fertilization,” Vesperia answered nonchalantly. “I find it too early for me to look into any potential mates. Besides, if they are too weak, their Records will only end up weakening the Hive Queen.”

Yeah, Jake wasn’t going to touch that topic with a ten-foot pole. He sure as hell wasn’t going to discuss Vesperia’s potential love life, though going by the tone she spoke with, it didn’t seem like she viewed the act of fertilization as anything that had emotions involved in it. It was purely a way to potentially improve the Records of a Hive Queen.

“One of those Hive Queens is in my stomach right now! I’m making a wasp farm!” Sandy added happily.

“That’s nice,” Jake said with a smile. “How about the second one?”

“Would you like to see her?” Vesperia asked. Jake nodded his head without any hesitation, quite curious for sure.

“Do note this one is still very young,” she said, as Jake felt the movement of magic. That is also when he learned that the way Vesperia summoned things from her internal world wasn’t just like pulling stuff out of spatial storage.

A large yellow spinning portal appeared, and a few seconds later, a pretty damn massive wasp walked out. It had no humanoid features at all but just looked like a big wasp with a surprisingly huge thorax compared to the wasps he usually saw. Jake also felt that this Hive Queen was barely in C-grade and not particularly strong either… likely because it was focused on tending to and expanding hives.

[Vespula Hive Queen – lvl 208]

It was even an entirely different race. A Vespula Hive Queen. Still a wasp but far from a True Royal. Jake wasn’t disappointed or anything, though. The mere fact Vesperia could create a creature like this all on her own, possessing a full Truesoul and being its entirely independent being, was incredibly impressive.

“She hasn’t had time to learn to change her form yet,” Vesperia quickly clarified as she looked at the large warp.

The warp bowed its head toward Vesperia before it looked at Jake. “I greet the Sire of the True Royal.”

Yeah, Jake definitely shouldn’t be surprised the big wasp could talk and responded politely: “Nice to meet you, too.”

“As you can see, despite being young, Hive Queens are born with the same innate knowledge that I was, albeit far less. She is only a year old and already ready to establish her own hive once a suitable site is found,” Vesperia explained.

“I see,” Jake nodded, impressed.

Could he just mention how fucking scary eusocial insects like Vesperia were? She could create creatures that could make more creatures, creating a massive army within only a few years. He totally understood why many sought to eradicate any ectognamorphs once discovered on a planet, as should they go uncontested, most planets would be overrun.

“Alright, please return to the Internal Hive,” Vesperia said to the young Hive Queen. It bowed its head once more and quickly walked back through the portal, which did make Jake wonder…

“Say, can others enter the portal? Could I?”

“I apologize, that’s not possible. Only creatures I have created can enter. Even that Hive Queen cannot make any spawns within, and I wouldn’t be able to house anything she makes in the future either,” Vesperia said very apologetically as she deflated a bit.

default, and enemies have no possible way to sneak in and hurt the young within. In fact, I would say it’s a feature more than anything else,” Jake said, shaking

his words quickly pepped her back up. “Hive Queens are far from the only spawns I have made. Actually,

wasps to show off. Three pretty different insects appeared, all with varying names, looks and purposes, their

[Vespernat Soldier - 267]

[Vespernat Worker- 255]

[Vespernat Pollinator - 248]

like insects. The Soldier was the biggest of them at about three meters long, and it definitely looked designed to fight. The Worker and Pollinator looked a lot less dangerous, especially the Pollinator. Rather than a wasp, it looked more like a cross between a wasp and a

of the common drone variants I can create,” Vesperia said proudly as she proceeded to briefly

from that hive back then. They relied on the Queen

come with some

am up to around two thousand Soldiers, five thousand Workers, and a few hundred Pollinators,” Vesperia said with a

Amazon without permission from the author. Report any

the number. “How many of those are

already imagine… If just a tenth of them were C-grades, that meant she had an army

C-grades. Counting D-grades and below, I have

bit as he processed this. Even if these Soldiers were weak variants compared to regular beasts… that was still a fucking army, wasn’t it? What’s more, she genuinely didn’t

Queens are fucking

after a brief pause as he processed Vesperia walking around with a few hundred thousand insects

“Royal Guards and

“How many of

Royal Guards and four Queen’s Guards,” Vesperia

back the three drone variants, a new specimen appeared that looked a lot different than anything prior. These did not look much like wasps at all but reminded Jake far more of how Vesperia looked in her warrior form. They each carried what looked like stinger spears, as well as carapace shields, and they walked on two thin legs. Their far bulkier forms than Vesperia in her warrior form, as well as them not giving off the same kind of scent – likely pheromones of some kind - made Jake wonder

Guard – lvl

males?”

confirmed. “Royal Guards are those among a brood who failed to fully mature into Queen’s Guards, hence why they

males tended to be the half-cooked specimen. A very matriarchal society that one. Focusing on the Royal Guards, they were

the Royal Guards, Vesperia finally brought out

four of them were about six meters long, and they looked a lot like regular wasps except massive. No, perhaps calling them hornets would be more accurate, seeing as they had far darker colors and looked more aggressive. One big difference was that

very pointy tip. Jake’s Sense of the Malefic Viper also made it very clear that there was some nasty venom on the other end – something that wasn’t really unique to Royal Guards,

were powerful in their own right and would no doubt be considered high-tier elites worth nurturing if they were part of any faction. He doubted their level of teamwork

Guard

Guard –

Queen’s Guard –

Guard

sat passively on the lawn, not doing anything as if waiting for Vesperia to give

and the rest of my elites will have to be Royal Guards,” Vesperia explained. “I can make way more of the regular drone variants, as they barely consume any Hive Energy to maintain. Ah, Hive Energy

day. Also, I do wonder… why do the Royal Guards have humanoid forms while these four look perfectly insecty?”

the transformation of these guards,” Vesperia said as she

they turned into carbon copies of Vesperia in her warrior form. Even their auras changed to resemble hers,

Hive Queen

“Are these…?”

said, smiling. “A tried