ALL NOVEL Chapter 81: A New Army
-----
Ding!
[Your Combat Units [Corpse-Eating Crimson Beetles] have devoured dozens of corpses!]
[By activating their Special Ability [Corpse-Eating Spawn], their numbers have multiplied rapidly, reaching a staggering number of fifty!]
[Having more than this is not currently recommended, as you lack the Barracks necessary to store these units. Additionally, their hunger will require eating more corpses.]
“F-Fifty… in such a short time?!”
Vlad glanced at the scene in front of him; there were now fifty huge, crimson-colored insects, which were all below his command.
Above all, Insecta’s presence made them several times stronger now; this army could truly help him conquer another territory on their own now.
“I’ll have to inform Vlad’s mother about these bugs and Insecta…” Paul thought. “Insecta, can they wait until the next battle to feed? Do they need a lot of food?”
“A meal a week is enough for them to remain quite healthy,” Insecta said. “We can also feed on blood energy too, which your territory is already producing if we were to feel extremely hungry, don’t worry.”
“That’s a relief,” nodded Paul. “Then where should I leave them now? Hmm… I need more resources to build a barrack.”
“Are you having issues with the production of resources, master?” Insecta wondered. “How did you even summon me with no resources at all?”
“Using this special marble,” Paul showed Insecta. “It allows me to summon Heroes, although I could only use one for now… There were also other items that allowed me to create buildings right away.”
“Oh my, so that’s it! So convenient… I remember my previous master had to start from nothing; you’re quite privileged…” she giggled.
“It wasn’t like I was handed these rewards easily; they’re hard earned from battles where I almost died… Some of such battles also killed a lot of people in the city, almost killed Teressa, and… well, it wasn’t easy to get,” said Vlad.
“Hmm, I understand, so you had to simply go through different challenges,” she nodded. “I see… Then how about you use more of those rewards? Do you happen to have more access to this shop where you got them?”
“Yeah… Let’s see,” Paul nodded.
Vlad had completed the Raid and had gained a lot of Raid Points from the recent Raid; he had only spent the points from the previous Raid of the Unending Crimson.
-----
<Raid Shop [World-Wide Event]: {Awakening of the Ancient King of Neburias} Raid>
[Available Raid Score Points]: [512.000]
< Awakening of the Ancient King of Neburias-Themed Items>
[Random Ancient Neburias-Themed Skill Grimoire (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [25.000] [Limit]: [15/15]
[Random Ancient Neburias-Themed Themed Equipment Treasure Chest (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [25.000] [Limit]: [15/15]
<Material Items>
[Random High Quality Material Treasure Chest For Crafting and Alchemy (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000] [Limit]: [30/30]
<Consumable Items>
[Elixir of Growth (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000] [Limit]: [20/20]
[Elixir of Skill Evolution (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000] [Limit]: [20/20]
<Useful Items>
[Guild Creation Certificate (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [40.000] [Limit]: [5/5]
[Territory Ownership Flag (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [40.000] [Limit]: [20/20]
[Random Territory Guardian Egg (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [30.000] [Limit]: [5/5]
[Random Territory Hero Summoning Stone (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [30.000] [Limit]: [5/5]
[Random Territory Facility Creation Marble (S Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000] [Limit]: [20/20]
[Random Territory Bounty Resource Bag (A Grade)] [Cost]: [10.000] [Limit]: [50/50]
-----
“Ooh, there’s a lot of things here!” Insecta glanced at the shop window. “Very interesting stuff! And you have quite a lot of points, so you could afford a lot... Maybe buying more of the Facility Creation Marbles could be a good idea.”
“Hmm, it's still a Gacha though, but for now, I would probably buy the resource bags,” said Paul. “I’ll buy at least a couple of them. But not now; I’ve decided to log out for the rest of the day, Insecta; I’m exhausted.”
“Ah, pity!” Insecta sighed. “Well, let me carry you to your room at least.”
“Carry me?!”
Paul was carried against his will by the insectoid woman, landing over the rooftop and then entering the manor through the open window.
His mother had already woken up, luckily, although Camilla was still sleeping.
“Ah, there you are… Did I fall unconscious, son?”
“Yeah, a lot happened, so let me explain.”
Vlad explained things to his mother as best as he could, all while she was glaring at the strange “familiar” her son had summoned out of nowhere.
“I-I see… So she’s a “Hero” of our Territory?!” she wondered. “How strange… an insect person, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of your kind before, Insecta.”
“Yes, I’m well aware that Intelligent Insectoids might be almost completely extinct by this era, unfortunately,” Insecta nodded. “Well, it doesn’t really matter, so don’t worry about it. As the mother of my master and the owner of this territory, I also pledge my allegiance and loyalty to you.”
“Yeah, while I’m away, my mother will command you, Insecta. So obey her, always,” nodded Vlad.
“I shall!” Insecta didn’t have problems with it.
“Alright…” Teressa drank some blood as if it were wine while relaxing, sitting over a black colored sofa in the living room. “Well, that is that then. We can discuss more about everything tomorrow, alright? You should go rest now, son. You’ve done enough for today.”
“I will, thanks,” Vlad quickly walked upstairs.
As he ran back to his room, he could hear Insecta and Teressa chatting a lot. Vlad’s mother was very interested about the past of Obscuritas as well as the Insectoids, so Insecta never stopped yapping; she loved talking.
“They’ll get along pretty well…”
Once back to his room, Vlad sighed in relief. There were still a million things he needed to do, but nature was calling; he really had to go to the bathroom.
“Okay, okay, log out!”
FLASH!
Once he logged out, the VR capsule inside his room opened, and he jumped out of it, running to his bathroom immediately after.
“Haahh… Man, I almost didn’t make it.” He sighed. "I might as well take a shower too.”
After taking a warm and quick shower, Paul heard his mother coming earlier today, and she even brought something to eat.
“Paul! Mama’s home! I brought Chinese food! Did you have dinner yet?”
“Ah! No, not yet; welcome back.”
Running to greet his mom, Paul hugged her while she placed the food over the table.
“So how was today’s college?” his mother wondered.
“Eh, same as always, I guess it’ll be this way for the rest of the year anyways…” Paul shrugged.
Compared to what goes on inside of Fantasy Story Online, real life was pretty dull and boring…
Well, except for one single thing that has made his life happier.
“Really? Come on, don’t be like that…” His mother said. “Haven’t you made a friend at least?”
“Ah, yeah…” Paul nodded, blushing a bit. “A friend…”
"Well, at least you’ve made one!” giggled his mother. “What about your high school friends, though? I thought you were going to meet one day?”
“Still looking into that,” said Paul. “But like me, they’re busy on their own things after all… And I don’t really want to force them to meet up with me just because of that.”
“But you’re friends! Come on, just call them! Should I call their moms instead? We used to be acquitted too,” his mother said.
“I appreciate your help, mom. I know you want me to socialize a lot and all, but I’m fine, really,” said Paul. “Chris is a good friend, and maybe I’ll make a few more… I mean, I’ve met a lot of people in the VR game I’m playing. I might probably one day meet some IRL… one day.”
Although most of these friends were NPCS, so they didn’t really count.
However, there might be some IRL people, players, that he could meet one day.
Although disclosing his personal life wasn’t in his plans, even less with his ever-rising popularity.
“Eeeh? Online friends? I don’t know, son, those sound kind of lame…” His mom glared at him with a bored expression on her face.
“Haha, let’s just enjoy the food…” Paul shrugged. “I’m doing fine.”
.
.
.
The next day had already arrived, and Paul was already back in college.
Yesterday he had done quite the lewd things with Chris inside the bathroom, but today he intended to not do any of such things.
What happened back then was a thing that just happened in the moment, but… He would rather not do it ever again in a public bathroom.
Chris, however, as always, was poking fun at him while he was trying to concentrate in Arithmetic classes.
“Hey Paul, so you got yourself a bug waifu now? Maybe you’ll stop being a virgin with Insecta.”
“S-Shut up, what are you talking about?!”
“Hahaha! But it is like a dream come true to summon a beautiful woman that is below your command, no?”
“T-That’s…”
Paul wanted to argue, but he had indeed dreamed of such things many times through the several self-insert Isekai novels he had read.
“See? I gotcha! You’re that type of guy, eh?”
Chris smiled teasingly as he giggled at Paul; it was as if this little gremlin could read his mind or something!
“It’s not that… I never even considered it…” Paul muttered. "Also, I got you, so why would I ever want that…”
“Oh?” Chris was the one to blush a bit. “Hmm~ Is that so? Phew! What a relief that you prefer me over some waifu…”
“Insecta isn’t even a waifu though!” said Paul, facepalming. “She honestly scares me a little… she’s creepy. You were right. She showed me something disgusting after you went away.”
“Really? What happened? Oh don’t tell me she-”
"No, it’s nothing perverted you’re thinking about…!”
“Hahah! I didn’t say anything, though. It’s all in your mind, Paul~”
Chris poked Paul’s forehead.
If they weren’t in the classroom right now, Paul would quickly grab him and push him down and kiss him, probably.
“Ugh, the whole Territory thing is going to keep me busy for a little while,” he said while trying to ignore Chris’ teasing.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything else,” smiled Chris.
“Everything else? Are you going to hunt down the last criminal group left in the city or something?” Paul asked.
“Yeah, leave it to me! I’ve grown plenty strong,” he nodded. “Hmm… and maybe let me borrow Insecta or her little bugs.”
“No way I’m letting you do it alone; you’ll probably screw it up in some way,” said Paul.
“Eh?! You’re so mean, I wouldn’t do that! I’m better than you at playing that game!” said Chris, crossing his arms. “Don’t you remember the dozens of times I’ve saved your sorry ass? Show more respect to the GOAT.”
“The GOAT?!” Paul couldn’t help but laugh. “Hahah, okay, fine, whatever, I’m still going with you. I also want to take care of them. Once they’re dealt with, the city will be finally freed from trash.”
“Hmm, I was also thinking of... visiting Argentia’s homeland,” said Chris.
“Homeland? A swamp?” wondered Paul.
"Yeah, he said that a lot of Venom Dragons once lived there,” nodded Chris. “But once they all died and he was the only one left, their bodies, which had been buried, began to rise as huge Undead. And some other dangerous monsters appeared. It could be a good place to find good materials and so on. Also, what if you eat an undead Dragon? Maybe you can get an OP Skill.”
“I hadn’t thought about it, but yeah,” nodded Paul. “We could even make that undesirable swamp into an extension of the territory, an outpost to watch further into the lands farther away.”
“Ooh, good idea!” said Chris. “See? I’m kind of bored of being stuck in that city all the time, so stretching our legs and going on a little adventure doesn’t sound so bad!”
“We should also go find the Dark Spirit Monsters we planned you to tame originally; I am still wondering if they’re better than the grape you have,” said Paul.
“True, true, let’s do that too,” nodded Chris. "Okay, we got a huge to-do list now, eh?”
“Yeah and—Ugh, let’s talk about this later though; the teacher is staring at me…” Paul sighed.
Chris acted as if he wasn’t even talking and looked elsewhere.
The teacher then nodded and continued her classes…
Somehow, Paul was always the one reprimanded.
-----
