Master Of None

”A swarm of what?” This shout was the first thing that Walker heard when he had returned from the mossy garden.,

His following sigh made it clear to everyone who was nearby him that he wanted nothing to do with whatever had caused this outburst. However, they also knew that he was not at all going to avoid it. The workers and the guards that had come here knew very well how Walker worked.

But that didn’t mean they would let him investigate alone. Walker nodded as several of the workers, guards, and even a few resting soldiers stood up to support him when he walked to the larger tent set up for the leadership in building.

”That’s what I said, but it is confirmed that a swarm of some sort of small black insect monster has been sighted. The angels say that they are not normally around and that this is a new event for them in their homeland.”

The one reporting wasn’t a scout but one of the staff members monitoring all the incoming information from the surroundings. ”The close combat group being led by Heor Su has already begun to set up a blockade, then there is a small group of mages supporting Hero Midnight.”

This was also good news since it showed people were already making progress to handle the situation.

The issue was that no real appraisal had been done. ”Why don’t we have an appraisal of what these monsters are yet?” He took the lead making sure that he was also showing his confidence in everyone around him. Panic right now was not an option.

”We have been unable to make the scrolls work. We continuously have failed appraisals due to lower skill, distance, or moving targets. We need a monster appraisal specialist.” Knowing that this monster might be tougher to appraise was fine, but Walker knew the scrolls at least should have worked well enough.

”I will take reinforcements or Midnight and Su. The three of us will get an appraisal while we move forward to examine the monsters.” Without hesitation the workers made space for more resting soldiers and guards to volunteer themselves.

Their efforts had been unified since they arrived. They were showing the very same dedication. If the workers had to halt their efforts so that Walker could bring their guards to support the soldiers then so be it. They would rather take the time to slow their work than to allow a dangerous monster to approach them here.

Moving ahead rapidly, the terrain was somewhat challenging. Only thin roads were cleared for organizing the materials broken up in the land. Terron was still digging so he was not able to easily move up to the surface and help right this second. Maybe in a little more time.

What Walker knew though, was that the fallen trees and uprooted plants mixed with boulders and stones also would hinder the monsters that might foolishly join a fight so it was an advantage to him. In the worst case, there was a lot to throw at enemies from anywhere he stood too.

When he caught up to where Midnight and Su stood, Walker could see a vague black haze in the distance. It was akin to a cloud of black birds moving in the sky, or exactly what he had been told it was, a swarm of insect monsters. It moved constantly and was surprisingly speedy.

They didn’t seem to be affected by the wind in the air either. Meaning they were stronger than what many would assume from smaller monsters that stuck close together for safety. They might not need that safety as much.

”Walker, can you appraise them?” Without hesitating Su asked her first worry. She was not pushing ahead with anyone following her unless she had more information.

”I will try. They aren’t easy to follow and from this distance I can’t get a perfect look.” This made Walker much more uncomfortable since he was sure that he would be able to see lost monsters more clearly. It was their movements though. They were small and compacted together that they were not easily singled out.

”Weird monsters.” midnight approached with a single comment about how they felt weird, it made Walker refocus his mind and senses to see if they held any mana around them.

When he reached out his mana senses with more focus, he realized that the mana they gave off wasn’t the same as if there were plenty of smaller monsters. It would be better to consider them as one large mass of mana that was given off by one monster.

”I might be on to why we can’t appease any one of those monsters…” Walker stopped focusing on one and focused on the Whole swarm.

’Corpse fly hive

This is the corpse fly. In ancient times the corpse fly was responsible for breaking down the massive rotting bodies of many monsters too large to be consumed by others. Compared to the other species of corpse flies or flies nowadays, this species is much more dangerous and persistent.

With extremely high resistance to magic, they use their unique dark mana to break down more prey while also breaking apart mana sin to singular forms within their prey.

Due to their potent dark mana and the fact that they constantly consume dead flesh and bones, those that perish become undead. Meaning that the majority of the corpse fly swarm is actually undead monsters.

This causes them to have very low intelligence on a monster scale, in turn it is contested by a singular corpse fly, often the youngest, using its mana to attach to and control the entire swarm as one entity. The swarm will follow it until a new younger corpse fly is born.

In ancient times the bone zombie behemoth kept massive corpse fly swarms alive within its body to help preserve its undead mana and prowess. Most monsters were pile eliminate the swarm as they were pests that could steal their prey…’

With the knowledge that this monster was both dark mana and undead mana affiliated, Walker could think of ways to handle it. However, with their strength being resistant to magic, it was tougher.

After reading out loud the all around appraisal, some were more fearful and others were less fearful. ”They could be a good natural way to handle the rotting monsters in the world. More monsters will breed and until the world balances properly it might be an issue.”

With Su’s perspective, everyone could understand the need for a monster that broke down rotting bodies safely. It was a very good thing. ”The issue is that they are instant to magic and can be dangerous because of the potent dark and undead manas they have. If they are around crops or other monsters they could harm them.”

This wasn’t even addressing the potential that if they were nearby a city or village they could bring illness. Just the idea that there could be a plague brought in to any land because of a monster, drought, flood, and anything was terrifying enough.

”I think we can manage these monsters. If they are here they must have come from some ruin or wilderness area that rested long enough to survive. There is at least one living corpse fly in their controlling all of them. So we can capture that one and control everything.” The idea sounded simple but in practice was anything but simple.

”Catch is?” This intrigued Midnight. She was physically stronger than most because she was a dragon. So, wouldn’t this be like a game catching a ball and being on her way with an advantage?

”If you want to go in to that swarm of flies you will need buff to protect you from their undead and dark mana. You might have the natural resistance since you trained yourself and also started with a dark affinity, but it’s not enough for them.”

This was stern and clear. The monster swarm they had approaching them slowly was dangerous enough that Walker would think that they could damage her.

”Can you use magic to trap or guide them?” Since Su wanted to make sure this went without a hitch, she had to ask the important question. Could Walker’s magic skills even be used here?

”I should be able to. They can fly in the wind but if I make the wind move more and the pressure from other manas increase they might not like it. Especially light mana.” He wouldn’t try to defeat them, but make certain directions uncomfortable.

With that, he might be able to single out the corpse fly which had control of the whole swarm as the leader. Another seemingly simple thought that was anything but simple at all.

”Let’s make sure this direction seems the worst to come. I need mages and shield users to make a wall of mana defense and skills that would deter it.” This was the first step.

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