Spears and stingers surrounded Luke. He complied even though he could wipe them out in seconds. After all, meeting the Insect Princess would satisfy Quest 5. He could get 40 RP if the encounter went well.
"Lower your weapons," he said "I will go with you to see the Princess."
The bee commander lowered his spear and took the lead. Luke was marched away from the market, past the hills, across a muddy pond, and toward a large cave covered in moss.
Luke was escorted into the cavern, passing termite and wasp guards until the tunnel opened into an underground chamber adorned with silk and leaves to imitate royalty. An anonymous insect sat on the shadowed throne, surrounded by several attendants. The figure was the center of attention in the cave, and the very person Luke had come to see.
"My Princess," the bee commander greeted and bowed his head. Then he presented Luke to her.
"Armorer... where have you been?!" the Insect Princess demanded, her face obscured by the darkness. "How could you just abandon my clan in our darkest hour? Because of your absence, our enemy has conquered our territories, thousands of our soldiers are dead, and war is right on our doorstep!"
Her words hit Luke like a bus. The system hadn’t given him any info breakdown, leaving him blindsided by the accusation. Looking around the chamber, Luke realized this wasn’t just a simple talk-to-the-NPC quest. He had to choose his words carefully and navigate the problem, considering he would never have left them to suffer if he had been there in the past.
"I am sorry for my negligence and the problems it caused... but that is why I am back now. I am here to help you fix this mess."
Silence settled over the cave for a long moment until the Insect Princess began to crawl down from her throne like a centipede. Luke stepped back in surprise as she entered the light. The Insect Princess wasn’t a hideous monster; she was a hybrid of a centipede and an ant. She also had a cute, girlish face.
"Hooray! You’re really back! I missed you so much!"
The Insect Princess skittered around Luke in joy before throwing her arms around his leg. Somehow, her royal majesty switched to the demeanor of a little sister.
"Are you not actually angry at me?" Luke asked.
"Hmph... Well, I’m not angry anymore since you’re finally back," the Princess harrumphed. "Servants! Please prepare a feast for our guest."
Luke politely declined the hospitality.
"I am not hungry right now. Let’s get straight down to business."
The Princess agreed and took him outside the cave into her royal garden.
"Why do you look so different from before?" she asked. "Where did all your muscles go? And what happened to your deep voice?"
"Uh... I think you might be confusing me with a previous version of myself," Luke muttered.
"Ah! It must be the doing of the System!" the Princess clapped. "Since you are finally back to help our clan, we will fulfill our end of the bargain and repay you with materials as originally agreed!"
"Right. Tell me about this enemy. What exactly are we facing?"
"The enemy is my mother’s half-brother," the Insect Princess explained seriously. "He was a very bitter sibling, and my grandfather banished him years ago. But now, he has raised a colony and is planning to march in here and seize the monarch’s throne by force.
Also, he accepted the blessings of an outer godkin to gain the upper hand in battle while with a smaller army. War is imminent!"
Luke nodded as the pieces came together.
"So, you need my help to forge strong armor for your military to rival his godkin-blessed forces?"
"Yes," the Princess confirmed. "Without your armor, my people will be wiped out! We stand no chance!"
"I’ll do it," Luke agreed, deciding to save her clan from destruction. He looked at Amigo, who was playing with a flower. "Amigo, go speak with the bee commander. Find out how many soldiers we are equipping so I can get a head-count for the production line."
A few minutes later, Amigo returned to the garden.
"Master, the commander says they need twelve thousand sets of armor!"
Twelve thousand units?! What kind of war is this? Luke wondered. A war of this scale meant he would need roughly 25,000 Flame Points to clear the objective.
"Princess, I think the numbers are a problem," Luke said, shaking his head. "I’ll need more time to gather that much Flame energy to forge twelve thousand armor pieces."
The Princess looked sad after Luke’s complaint. Time was of the essence. She needed her army ready before her uncle came back. If only there was a way to help Luke acquire Flame.
Unfortunately, there were no monsters to slay or cores to absorb in the Insect World. However—
"Armorer! Armorer! We have all the fire you could ever need right up there!" the Princess squealed, pointing at an active volcano at the top of the royal cave.
Luke glanced at his trusty guide.
"Amigo, is she right? Can I gain Flame from a natural source? He asked.
"Yes, Master... Absorbing natural Fire-type energy from a volcano also counts as Flame."
Luke never knew that it was possible to absorb Flame directly from original environmental sources. This meant he could absorb from volcanoes, lightning, or the sun. It was a rare method, and it made sense why.
He followed the Princess up the rocky path of the volcano, stopping at a point where they couldn’t go any further because of the heat. Only a few wasp guards continued and safely brought back a basin filled with bubbling magma and rocks.
Luke summoned the Hell Ape Gauntlet because it was indestructible to any kind of fire matter. He reached into the basin, picked up the magma rocks, and crushed them one by one. The stone shattered under his strength, all turning into red dust, giving Luke Flame in large pools he didn’t expect.
〖Flame +10,000〗
〖Flame +10,000〗
〖Flame +10,000〗
〖Flame +10,000〗
〖Flame +10,000〗
"Yes! Keep going, Armorer! You’re doing it! Our soldiers will have the best armor in the whole world!" the Insect Princess jubilated, hopping around on her multiple legs.
Meanwhile, Luke felt the energy circulating through his veins. He tried to absorb more, but couldn’t.
〖System Warning: Your soul capacity has reached its current limit. Cannot absorb further Flame until Soul Rank increases.〗
The system told him he could not absorb any more Flame until his soul evolved more. His current Rank D had reached its maximum, forcing Luke to let the remaining rocks cool down.
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