The Primal Hunter 13, page 16
While she had already briefly met the True Royal, this would effectively be their first real meeting, and she wanted to make a good impression. It was also doubtless that this kind of encounter was impactful on her progress as a Court Witch.
Walking into the valley, she turned a corner before finally laying her eyes on Jake and the True Royal sitting on a bench in front of the small pond. Miranda had had a lot of thoughts beforehand and felt quite nervous, but…
What she saw was a True Royal, capable of commanding armies that could destroy galaxies with ease, sitting with eyes closed as Jake ruffled her hair. What’s more, she didn’t lean away or object, leaning further into the hand as if she were a cat getting petted.
Kinda cute… Miranda thought before catching herself and clearing her throat.
The True Royal instantly sat up straight, while Jake had clearly already been aware she was there. Miranda chose to act as if she hadn’t seen anything weird as she bowed slightly. “I greet Her Majesty of the Vespernat Lineage.”
Miranda only now saw how damn tall the True Royal was as she stood up to return the greeting. “It’s a pleasure to meet the Court Witch of the Verdant Lagoon. I have heard good things from my Sire about your abilities.”
Their tones were formal, but the words of the True Royal made it very clear she viewed Miranda as someone of clearly lower status than herself. That wasn’t something that really bothered Miranda, as she also knew the only reason a True Royal even bothered being on Earth and was willing to help them was because of Jake.
“I do not wish to waste your time, so let me get straight to the point: I have been informed Her Majesty is willing to assist us with handling ectognamorphs on Earth and addressing them before they become potential issues during the Prima Guardian event?” Miranda asked clarifyingly, including what Jake had sent in his brief message.
“That is so,” the True Royal simply confirmed. “I was told you had some information that would make this task easier for me. Also, it would be best to ensure I do not interfere with your ongoing operations, especially the operations of the Void-Touched Mechanic.”
“Naturally,” Miranda said with a nod, agreeing that having her and Arnold clash wouldn’t be a good idea. “I have brought along a map and an overview of where we are currently focusing. May I ask how Her Majesty plans on approaching the task of spreading the knowledge of her presence?”
“I will send drones with my pheromones across the planet and into any hive they detect,” the Vespernat Hive Queen said casually as she received the items Miranda had brought along, containing all the information she would need. “After a brief discussion with my Sire just before your arrival, we agreed that I shall not exterminate or make them surrender to us outright but merely order them not to take part in the upcoming event in any way. That way, you can continue using them as nourishment even after the event concludes.”
Miranda nodded. “A good strategy to keep them around.” In truth, she wasn’t really worried about the ectognamorph hives on Earth. They were more hunting spots than real dangers, as Earth was more than fully capable of handling them. Having the True Royal make sure they wouldn’t interfere during the Prima Guardian event would definitely be nice, though.
“Naturally—it was one Sire proposed,” the True Royal said. Miranda had to fight really hard not to comment that Jake’s ideas weren’t usually in the camp of being “good.”
“Just to jump in, we did also discuss having some of her drones help map out the underground while employing the hives she encounters to help,” Jake said, joining the conversation.
“I see,” Miranda said. “Definitely coordinate with Arnold on that front, as he has also been working on mapping out the underground in the area beneath human-controlled lands.”
“Got it.” Jake nodded as he turned to the True Royal. “I assume you can discuss with Arnold alone?”
Vesperia nodded in return. “I will do so.” Her tone, Miranda noted, was very different when she talked with Jake.
“Goodie,” Jake said. “I also just had a thought… Can you leave one of your Queen’s Guards here for a bit? I want some of its venom. For science.”
“Of course,” the True Royal said, instantly agreeing to what, according to all the True Royal etiquette books Miranda had read, was a giant no-no.
“Great,” Jake said, smiling brightly as he patted the True Royal on the head. “Thanks, Vespy.”
Rather than being insulted by the pat and nickname, the True Royal simply smiled and lowered her head. Miranda once more had intrusive thoughts about the Hive Queen being quite adorable.
Miranda also couldn’t help but think…True Royals were terrifying, yes… but if they were considered terrifying, then what the hell would you call the guy who was casually patting one on the head while calling her a cute nickname?
Chapter 17
Politics Still Suck
Miranda stayed a bit longer, discussing stuff with Vesperia, and Jake tried not to get in the way. He did feel like the two weren’t being very friendly but overly professional. It wasn’t ideal, but better than them being assholes to one another, for sure.
After Miranda left, Jake had half-expected Vesperia to do the same. However, she made no attempts to leave; instead, she stuck around even as Jake planned on heading to his lab to do some alchemy with one of her Queen’s Guards.
She seemed to notice his confusion and quickly clarified, “I see no reason to go out myself, but will instead only send my drones to do the job. No point in me taking any risks for myself, and my sisters were also very adamant about being as safe as possible while here on Earth. And the safest place is by your side.”
“So you’re staying here?” Jake asked.
“Can I not?” Vesperia asked, looking at him with big eyes.
“Of course you can; I was just surprised,” Jake said quickly, wanting to make that clear. “I just think it will be boring for you, as I plan on doing alchemy all the time.”
“It’s fine; I shall attend to my own matters too,” Vesperia said with a smile. “I have much to attend to within my Internal Hive. It will slow down things a bit, having one less Hive Queen to assist me since Sandy has already taken one, but one should be enough to continue to facilitate my growth.”
“That actually got me thinking… How do the Hive Queens help in the internal world? I thought you said they can’t spawn anything in there?”
“They cannot… but they can help spawn the eggs I make. Making eggs does not consume that much Hive Energy on its own; it’s only as they grow and hatch that the true cost comes. I can have other Hive Queens share some of this cost in Hive Energy with me, effectively making spawns cheaper for me, at the cost of reserving some of their Hive Energy on my behalf. Queens who do this a lot often end up taking one of two Paths. One Path is to become a fully support-type Hive Queen that never aims to make its own hive but only assists the true Hive Queen of the Hive. The second is to become Warrior Hive Queens, focusing all their time on improving their combat skills, as the majority of their Hive Energy remains constantly reserved anyway, making it not worth it for them to focus on creating their own spawns. Ah, but some Warrior Queens also simply never focused on making any spawns in the first place, and they can even lose their ability to do so with evolutions.”
“I see.” Jake nodded, getting a far more detailed and longer answer than he expected. Also, by now, he was wondering how many huge internal secrets of the Endless Empire Vesperia had shared with him so far. Probably a lot, right?
“Well, if you’re gonna stick around, how about a quick lab tour?” Jake said with a smile.
Vesperia gladly agreed, and the two of them headed down to the laboratory beneath the lodge.
Granted, things did seem a bit cramped in places, as Hank had constructed it with human height in mind, but Vesperia managed nonetheless as Jake showed off the place. He did wonder if she was incapable of shrinking herself in any way but didn’t ask outright, as he felt it might seem rude if she couldn’t. Actually, if she could, she definitely would have by now, seeing as she nearly hit her head on every single doorframe.
Once the tour was over, they ended up in the alchemy lab. Due to the alchemy lab itself being inside a giant bubble of glass, Vesperia couldn’t really enter it while Jake did his alchemy, as breathing in toxic fumes wasn’t healthy unless you had Palate of the Malefic Viper.
Luckily, there was a bedroom right next door where Vesperia could set up shop. Unluckily, she had to bend her head a bit to avoid touching the ceiling. Back to being lucky again, that wasn’t really a problem, as Vesperia didn’t plan on actually being in the room much.
As she summoned the portal to her internal world, Jake’s first thought was that something would break if one of her large spawns tried to walk out of it. However, she didn’t plan on bringing anything out. Instead, she would go in.
Now, Jake had very much assumed her way of entering her internal world would be through meditation and having an avatar or something in there… not physically walking through a portal with her real body, which just left so many questions.
Seeing as she was the source of the portal, wasn’t it like bringing a portal into a portal? Kind of? Secondly, what would happen if someone broke the portal while she was inside? Thirdly, wasn’t having a portal constantly active like this incredibly risky? Like, what if someone decided to toss dangerous shit in there while she couldn’t sense the outside world? True, no living being could enter, but Jake confirmed that he could pump in toxic mist if he so desired.
Also, while living beings couldn’t enter, that didn’t mean they couldn’t try. Trying would usually result in a rejection, but assuming they were powerful enough and pressed hard, they could collapse the portal, which brought Jake back to the second problem.
He couldn’t help but voice his concerns at what might be a fatal flaw in the function of the Internal Hives of the True Royals… but in retrospect, he should probably have known they had either long since addressed these kinds of things, or that it wasn’t really a problem.
“Firstly, while I cannot see outside the portal, it’s pretty standard to leave some scouts outside to ensure nothing unforeseen approaches,” Vesperia explained. “More often than not, I wouldn’t even wait for someone to try and enter the portal or throw anything into it but simply collapse it upon noticing their approach. Now, this is a bit annoying, as that leaves me trapped in my Internal Hive, but I can always open up a portal in the same place I collapsed one… and if all else fails, I can simply have one of my sisters come fetch me and help me out.”
Still, Jake saw an issue there. “What if it happens in the Ninety-Third Universe, though? Will you just be trapped until the universe opens up who-knows-when?”
“No?” Vesperia said, looking perplexed. “My Internal Hive isn’t located in the Ninety-Third Universe.”
“When you say it isn’t located here in this universe, do you mean it has an actual, physical location that one can go to?” Jake asked after a pause, very confused. As he understood it, something like an Internal Hive had to effectively exist within the soul of someone, right? At least, that was how he knew it worked with Sandy and others who had “internal spaces.” Even Jake’s Palate, which could house physical items, was inside his soul.
“Yes?” Vesperia kept looking confused. “The Internal Hive is located adjacent to the Hidden World from which True Royals once entered the multiverse—our deepest heartlands. It exists physically within the void, outside of any universe, and it wouldn’t be inaccurate to refer to it as a pseudo-nascent divine realm, at least in its function. To make it clear, my Internal Hive is by no means standard, but one I have obtained due to inheritance owed to me on account of my Lineage.”
“That… huh,” Jake muttered. “Doesn’t that mean it’s a surefire escape method to just enter your Internal Hive, collapse the portal, and hide there while waiting for help?”
“No, it’s incredibly risky,” Vesperia said, shaking her head. “I said it’s adjacent to the Hidden World, but distances in the void aren’t truly a concept. No one knows where the Internal Hive is located… but with a collapsed portal, they can track my location, as I lose the system’s effects that help hide it when the portal is active and I’m inside. Seeing as the Internal Hive is located in the void, my enemies will be able to attack me once they know the location. This is how many True Royals have fallen to the Automata throughout the eras. In many ways, it can be compared to how gods try to keep the location of their divine realms within the void hidden.”
Jake just nodded along, feeling like he’d learned a lot. Probably a lot of stuff he shouldn’t have, and things that were definitely considered confidential… which was confirmed a moment later as he heard the voice of the Malefic Viper.
“I’m sure also learning a lot about True Royals today… or at the very least, getting quite a few theories confirmed,” the god said, sounding quite pleased with himself.
This prompted Jake to quickly raise a hand, as Vesperia looked ready to speak again. “Hey, I just wanna warn you, the Malefic Viper is listening in to every damn thing you’re saying… so probably keep all the secrets of the Endless Empire under wraps a bit,” he said with concern.
Vesperia just smiled at his warning. “I am fully aware and do not worry. It has been agreed that I can provide both you and the Malefic Viper every piece of information I have volunteered thus far. The Endless Empire views you as a close ally and as if you are part of my Hive. Almost like an honorary member of the True Royals, if you will. Seeing as the Malefic One is your Patron, we also view him, at the very least, as someone with whom we wish to foster positive relations, and thus will show goodwill towards.”
“And people say you can’t do politics… Now look at you, fostering powerful diplomatic ties between the Order and the Endless Empire,” Villy teased Jake.
“You are one of the primary people who calls me bad at politics,” Jake shot back.
“Accidentally being good at it once in a while doesn’t make you a professional. At most, you are professionally good at being accidentally proficient in politics.”
Jake chose to ignore the damn snake god and focus on Vesperia instead. Smiling, he said, “I guess I can only thank you and the Endless Empire for the trust. From both me and the Viper.”
“It’s only natural. You’re my Sire, after all.” Clearly, Vesperia didn’t view her show of trust as a big deal. Likely because it wasn’t to her.
After some more small talk, Vesperia entered her Internal Hive while Jake went into his alchemy lab. His plan was still to work on the Heartrot Poison, but now he had added a bit of stabby-time with wasp venom to feed his Palate.
His alchemy session began, and he was only slightly disturbed when Vesperia went topside and unleashed her army a few days later before going back underground again. She did this a few times, sending her drones in different directions while also using Jake’s phone to sometimes talk to Miranda.
Whenever Jake and Vesperia did talk, it was mainly about getting him some wasp venom. Through the grapevine, Jake did hear a bit about what was going on with Earth, but he focused the vast majority of his attention on doing alchemy.
Weeks turned to months, and things were busy on the planet for sure. Vesperia’s drones swarmed across Earth, spreading her message to all the hives. What’s more, according to her, many of the bigger hives were in contact, and the order of the True Royal would definitely be known to all ectognamorphs on the planet before the Prima Guardian arrived. So that was one potential source of trouble dealt with.
Hearing how Vesperia and others helped did make Jake feel a tad guilty about just doing alchemy, but he tried his best to stay focused and, with his one-track mind, did a pretty good job.
Even when people started to arrive on the planet, Jake didn’t go out to meet them. It simply wasn’t needed, and Miranda even told him that staying away made Earth look stronger. Jake wasn’t sure if she meant stronger as in actual power or more that Earth’s position appeared stronger when they didn’t even feel the need to bring out the true leader of the planet. As if telling the arriving groups that they were ultimately only guests, and at a lower position, unable to make any demands.
Now, Jake did want to go say hi when Casper and the Risen arrived, but Miranda once more informed him not to, with Vesperia in vehement agreement. She also explained some things to Jake, making it clear that the entire aforementioned “stronger” discussion was definitely about political stuff. Jake really hated political stuff… especially when Vesperia made it clear politics were to blame for Jake not going to meet his old buddy.
“You view it as your friend visiting, and if he had arrived alone or with only a couple of people, you could have gone. However, he is not here as your friend but as an envoy and diplomat of the Risen. He is here in an official capacity, and before treating him like the individual who is your friend, you must treat him according to the whole he embodies. Anything else could cause misunderstandings, especially since the Risen are far from a popular race, and your showing favoritism toward them will cause dissatisfaction for some. I doubt you plan to show the same welcoming mood toward the Holy Church, for example, which is a far more popular faction in the multiverse. Remember, even if they do not have any official position on the planet, many still view them as a positive force in the multiverse, and they do still have some believers around, too. Worst-case scenario, your actions may even lead to speculation that in the conflict between the Risen and the Holy Church, you side with the Risen.”
“In my defense, I do like the Risen more than the Holy Church…” Jake muttered, making Vesperia shake her head.
“Better to keep such emotions hidden until you can truly act upon them. Neutrality is a powerful weapon and defense, and right now, you have a powerful position as this planet’s World Leader. You are capable of keeping everyone in check because they all fear being the ones to make you break your neutral stance and act against them, so as long as you remain impartial—at least on the surface—you also remain fully in control.”
