Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 126: Ibtep

On the way back Zac wasn’t accosted by any Zhix warriors, leading him to believe the Zhix had some sort of non-verbal form of communication. He already suspected it when he saw the so-called holiness summon Ibtep by just turning toward the entrance to the hive.

It turned out they possessed some sort of sonar sense and could create small vibrations that were too subdued for human ears but could be picked up by the Zhix though a unique organ. It was also this organ that helped them sense Cosmic Energy, or corruption as they called it, since the energy caused interference to their sonar sense.

It was a bit jarring to speak with the Zhix, who seemed to only follow its own conversation flow. For example, a question regarding leadership in human society was immediately followed by ‘Do humans poop?’.

“What about genders? How do I tell who’s male and female?” Zac asked.

“Gender? Explain?” Ibtep asked, looking confused.

Zac did a simple explanation of the mammal reproductive system, and Ibtep seemed to understand.

“The Zhix are neither. Or both. We both carry the seed of life and possess the ability to germinate it, but we need the blessing of the Anointed to create life. Without their blessing no child can be conceived,” Ibtep explained.

“So you give birth?” Zac followed up.

“No, we create eggs,” Ibtep answered.

Zac glanced over at the Zhix, having a hard time imagining it squatting over a large egg like a bird.

It was clear that their society was more humanoid than ant-like, though the holiness was some sort of equivalent to a hive queen. However, there were no “worker-Zhix” or “warrior-Zhix”, as everyone except the holiness, or the Anointed as they were collectively called, were the same.

Unfortunately, any further questions about the Anointed were unhesitantly rebuffed. The only real information was that the hive on the island was quite small, only having one Anointed. The large hives could have quite a few of them, one of which would be the alpha.

That information was quite troubling since the leader of a small remote Zhix hive was far stronger than any human he’d encountered so far. He wondered just how strong one of these so-called alphas would be, as they might even eclipse his own power. That might only go for attributes though, Zac still had the advantage of multiple Dao Seeds and a Rare class.

“Do you have a Nexus Node?” Zac asked next.

“What is that?” the Zhix answered, to which Zac simply explained the appearance of the crystal.

“Yes, it appeared next to the holiness soon after the integration. However, it was sealed away, as it reeked of corruption. I wanted to study it, but it wasn’t allowed,” the Zhix answered. “Tell me, what does it do?”

“Well, it has a few functions. It can sell skills, and-“ Zac started, but was interrupted.

“Like that large blade of corruption you created?” Ibtep interrupted.

“Yeah, although I got that one from my class. You get a class from the crystal as well,” he explained.

“Can anyone get a class?” the insectoid continued.

“Yes, at level 25,” Zac nodded.

“I want to use your crystal later.”

“Sure,” Zac answered with some surprise.“How did you reach level twenty-five already?”

There were quite a few of the Zhix, and Zac had a hard time imagining them gaining 25 levels from some island critters.

“Stones of Corruption,” Ibtep answered as he took out his backpack, and produced a raw Nexus Crystal. “These Stones of Corruption appeared beneath our hive after the integration, and they were thrown away due to the chaos they contained. I took a few for experimentation. There are also many things to kill underground, though few proved edible.”

Zac frowned when he saw the crystal, but after asking a few follow-up questions it seemed that they didn’t come from his mine. They were scattered about beneath the surface, but with far less concentration compared to his mine. That was in line with what he knew about the crystals. This island wasn’t too far away from his Nexus Vein, so it wasn’t too surprising that some crystals would be created here as well.

However, he made a mental reminder to consult the earth mages to construct some sort of warning system, making sure that these Zhix weren’t getting too close for comfort. They kept discussing various subjects until they reached the ocean.

“What now, human?” Ibtep asked as it turned toward Zac, who took out his creator vessel from a pouch.

“Get on,” on Zac said as he jumped up on the boat, but was surprised to see the Zhix not moving.

“What is this contraption, human? It is throbbing with corruption,” Ibtep said skeptically.

“It’s a magical boat of sorts. We use Nexus Crystals, the ones you call Stones of Corruption, to power this vessel to travel the seas,” he explained.

“Have humans always used corruption for such purposes?” it asked.

“No, before the integration I don’t think our world had any corruption. At least it wasn’t known to the public,” he answered.

“Then how can you possess such a thing now?” Ibtep asked while looking looked up at Zac.

“The System gives out various things, and we have a shop on our island where you can buy things from all over the multiverse. It is very convenient,” Zac explained, skirting the subject of the Creators.

The Zhix only nodded and got up on the boat after a bit. Soon they were cutting through the waves, almost flying like an arrow toward Port Atwood. Zac was surprised to hear that there were no oceans at the old Zhix homeworld, only subterranean basins. Perhaps that explained why there was so much land on the new world, essentially forming a supercontinent.

There were a few large sea creatures that seemed interested in the boat, but the Creators’ reputation wasn’t unwarranted as the boat quickly sped away. However, Zac slowed down his vessel every now and then to catch one of the huge fish swimming about, wanting to create some variation in Port Atwood’s diet.

The Zhix didn’t mind the interruption, rather the opposite. Since the hive was at the brink of starvation due to the randomization ruining their infrastructure he was very interested in alternative food sources, and kept asking questions about the wildlife of the ocean.

Finally they reached Port Atwood and disembarked some distance away from the shipyard. The advisor was very curious as it saw the structures of the Creators from the distance, but Zac gave the same excuse as he used to. The shipyard was a private area, and entering would result in death.

Since the Zhix was very eager to get a class they headed straight toward his camp. Zac looked forward to the day the third wave done with, so he could become a lord. By then he could buy Nexus Stations and place them around the town, making it so that no one had any reason to barge into his private home.

However, as they closed in on his campsite Zac stopped in amazement, as the area was completely reformed. Large gardens had replaced the woods, creating a beautiful scenery for the newly erected mansion. Some were created with various flowers and bushes, others with stones and gravel like a Zen garden.

Rather than a huge building as with Ogras’ palace in Azh’Rodum his new home more felt like a compound with many smaller buildings. Still, the main building was about the size of the mansions he’d visited in Greenworth.

The architecture was much the same as the one the demons used, with eastern architecture getting fused with nature. There were courtyards and pagodas apart from the gardens, and trees were a constant part of the structures.

To his surprise he saw that they’d even used his camper, pushing it up a few meters into the air by lodging it on a tree, and growing a large patio outside made of intertwined branches. Honestly he felt that the camper was the most interesting place, but he quickly saw that it was occupied as Emily peered out from the patio.

“Why didn’t you come home immediately, I was pla-“ she shouted but got her tongue stuck when she saw Zac’s companion.

“What the hell is that?!” she shouted, quickly retreating away from the edge.

“Emily, come down here,” Zac said with some embarrassment.

Only after some time did the teenager climb down the tree from what looked like stairs naturually growing out of the tree trunk.

“Is this a young of your species?” Ibtep aksed as it turned to Zac.

“An adolescent. Emily is soon 16,” Zac answered.

“Hello young human. Here, have a snack,” Ibtep said as he took out a dead grub from his backpack.

Both Zac and Emily blankly stared at the large larvae for some time, until Zac’s mouth started tugging upward.

“Don’t be rude, have a snack,” Zac said smilingly and received a scathing glare in return.

“I am not sure if we can eat that, humans have a more delicate palate,” Zac could only say before things got awkward.

“How inconvenient, these are very tasty,” Ibtep said as as it chomped down on the fat larvae. “I had to hide this from the others, saving it for a special occation.”

“This is Ibtep, an ambassador for the Zhix hive on the neighboring island,” Zac explained to Emily who was still warily examining the Zhix.

“Your constitutions look a bit different. Is this due to the genders you mentioned earlier?” Ibtep asked.

“Yes, Emily is a female while I am a male,” Zac explained.

“So this Emily will take your seed and bear children in the future?” the Zhix continued Zac to cough uncomfortably.

“Chough… Well, no. Not in this case. You generally only do that with your mate,” he helplessly explained before he turned to the teenager, eager to change the subject. He could only thank the stars that neither Emily or the ambassador had the language skill yes. “Where is the Nexus Crystal?”

Emily quite wary of the Zhix, and kept a constant vigil at it while she quickly led them to the largest building in the area.

“We had to take down all the arrays while rebuilding, the poles are over there,” Emily said as she pointed toward a closet.

“The crystal is in there?” Iptep asked, following Emily’s finger.

“No, I keep a few arrays in there,” Zac answered.

“Arrays?” Ibtep asked, curious about the new word.

“I can show you later,” Zac said as he led the Zhix to the crystal.

“It will automatically start when you touch the crystal. If it works the same as for humans for you, it will give you five choices. Increased rarity of the class will generally mean it is stronger, but it will also be much harder to upgrade in the future. Some classes are meant for combat, some are meant for other things, such as crafting,” Zac briefly recapped how it worked.

The Zhix didn’t hesitate, and just walked straight up to the crystal and placed its hand on it. It stood still like that for a few minutes until it let go and move away.

“So, what did you get?” Zac curiously asked, but was only answered by a toothy grin.