Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 148: Into the Forest; Nest Queen’s Metamorphosis

CH148 Into the Forest; Nest Queen’s Metamorphosis

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Alex didn’t know which was older—the Subspace Forest where he met Fen, or the Dankrot Forest. However, what was without doubt was which one was more dangerous.

Even Fen, who had grown up in the Subspace Forest, shivered at the naked oppression the Dankrot Forest exuded on any outsider who dared step in.

No one needed an overt warning to know this place reeked of danger.

According to the dossier handed to Alex by the Fury Fort Commander before the platoon moved out, even the periphery of the Dankrot Forest was far more dangerous than the Subspace.

Here, along the forest’s edges, beasts from Class 0 to peak Class 3 (peak Intermediate rank equivalent) roamed freely. Sometimes, even early-stage Class 4s could detour here from the deeper regions.

As for the inner regions themselves, beasts typically ranged from Class 4 all the way to pseudo-Class 6—half-step Legendary beasts.

And the forest core? That was the territory of true Class 6 Legendary Beasts. And if the rumours were to be believed, there were even stronger beings than that existing there.

Alex’s thoughts turned solemn as he recalled all this. His forty-man platoon moved cautiously through the forest’s edge in a combat-ready formation.

Lieutenant Cross led the vanguard unit—Shield-bearer swordsmen forming a fluid wall. Two other Shield Captains commanded flanking lines to the left and right.

Behind them marched the spearmen, positioned to counter-attack once an enemy was halted by the shields.

The archers brought up the rear. A few had already moved up into the trees, eyes scanning from elevated positions.

Alex himself, as commander, was protected in the centre by two Shield-bearers ready to intercept any attack that broke through the front lines.

This was the standard Ambush-Ready Formation employed by the Fury Family Army—tight, flexible, and ideal for forest combat.

Whine~

Fen suddenly tensed, nose twitching.

Growl~

A heartbeat later, the cub transformed into an adult wolf.

”What the—?!” one of the nearby Shield-bearers gasped, startled by the sudden change.

”Stay alert! Something’s coming!” Alex shouted.

”Dig in!” Lieutenant Cross bellowed.

The Shield-bearers stomped their boots into the soil and raised their shields.

Thump!

The sound of heavy hooves echoed ahead—steady, rhythmic, and closing fast.

Laura suddenly reappeared beside Alex, having just returned from scouting.

”It’s a Bloodboar,” she said with narrowed eyes.

[Bloodboar.]

[A Class 1 beast native to the Dankrot Forest. Travels alone or in pairs. Hyper-aggressive. Charges on sight.]

[Traits: Thick hide, highly resistant to normal arrows. Enters a berserk frenzy when wounded.]

The OmniRune Core AI promptly displayed the relevant entry from the mission dossier in Alex’s mind.

Almost as if summoned by the mention, an oversized reddish-brown boar—easily two metres tall at the shoulder—charged into view.

”Lure formation!” Alex ordered.

The beast charged, eyes bloodshot and tusks frothing with spittle.

When it was just ten metres away from impact, the shield line shifted. The outer wings stepped forward while the centre fell back, forming a funnel.

The Bloodboar, expecting a wall, found itself running into a trap.

It tried to halt—but too late.

Crack!

Fen exhaled a breath of frost. A thin sheet of ice formed beneath the Bloodboar’s hooves just as it attempted to brake.

The beast skidded uncontrollably down the icy funnel.

Crash!

It weakly slammed into the open centre of the formation.

”Pierce!” both Lieutenant Cross and the Spear Captain barked in unison.

On instinct, the spearmen thrust out their weapons from behind the shield wall, their spears plunging cleanly into the boar’s exposed underbelly.

”Graaaagh!” the Bloodboar howled in pain.

Before the beast could struggle free, Lieutenant Cross broke formation, stepped forward with practised precision, and brought his sword down in a single clean arc—decapitating the beast on the spot.

The massive head rolled to the forest floor before several fresh-faced recruits. Thankfully, it seemed they’d been bloodied in the agoge; none lost their breakfast.

The Shield-bearers calmly wiped the blood off their shields and armour with a practiced ease, their movements efficient and unfazed.

Alex’s voice rang out, calm but alert. ”Anything else in the immediate vicinity?”

”No,” Laura responded, eyes still scanning the trees.

”Good. Take what you can from the carcass.” Alex stepped over to inspect the body with his Spirit Sights. ”Don’t forget the beast core—it’s at the centre of its forehead.”

He walked over to Lieutenant Cross.

”Well done, Lieutenant.”

”Thank you, sir.” The veteran bowed slightly, though his face remained tight with concern.

Alex caught it immediately. ”Problem, Lieutenant?”

”Possibly.” Cross nodded slowly. ”This is my fourth time in the Dankrot Forest, Commander. I’ve never encountered a Bloodboar this close to the edge. We’re supposed to see mostly Class 0s and herds of docile Class 1 herbivores here.”

He paused, then added gravely, ”Their absence is troubling. Either they’ve gone to ground or something’s driven them out. Bloodboars don’t stray this near to the border due to the usual crowd here unless something dangerous to them has forced them out.”

Alex’s expression darkened.

If even the relatively stable outer ring of the forest was behaving erratically, then deeper inside...

”Understood.” He turned to the Archer Captain nearby. ”Split your men. One group remains with the formation. The other joins Laura. Begin active recon ahead of our advance. Eyes open. I don’t want any surprises.”

”Yes, sir!” the Archer Captain replied, saluting and moving at once.

Alex turned back to the boar carcass. Already, four soldiers had finished butchering it with almost mechine-like precision. The key internal parts and organs had been stored inside specialised storage packs designed for magical preservation—each carried by designated pack-carriers among the troops.

Ideally, they could have salvaged the entire carcass for coin, but the platoon had neither time nor luxury for such indulgence.

”That’s enough,” Alex called out. ”Gather up. Remain sharp. If our assumptions are correct, then this was just the appetiser.”

He raised his voice slightly for the benefit of the rest of the platoon. ”Compress the formation. Stay alert for ambushes.”

The platoon reformed quickly and prepared to resume movement.

Just before they set off, Alex activated the OmniRune Core’s spatial utility. With a subtle pulse of power, the remainder of the Bloodboar’s carcass vanished—transferred directly to the Sanctuary.

Alex had refined the process. It no longer looked like a high-grade spatial transfer or portal spell. Now, it resembled a low-tier spatial disposal technique—something akin to a rubbish dump into the Void.

The soldiers, having heard many stories about mages’ eccentricities, didn’t think much of it.

Lieutenant Cross, however, frowned subtly. He wondered why Alex would waste mana for merely disposing the carcass when there were easier and less costly ways to dispose of the untaken beast remains.

Still, he knew better than to question his commander in public. The man might be young, but he had earned his authority.

Unbeknownst to all, Alex issued a series of mental commands through the OmniRune—orders destined for the Nest Queen within the sealed Sanctuary space.

-

Within the Sanctuary Space...

A pulse of light flashed—brief and silent—and the carcass of the Bloodboar dropped unceremoniously into the sealed chamber, just a short distance from the Nest Queen’s protective housing.

The Nest Queen stirred, responding immediately to the command relayed from her master.

With an eerie precision, she extended the needle-like protrusion from her forehead and injected it into each of the ten drone eggs arranged in a circle around her.

These were the special eggs she had prepared over the course of the past seven days—incubated in accordance with the instructions Alex had been sending via OmniRune during the march to the forest.

A brief pulse of light rippled through the eggs as the instruction packages were transferred.

Moments later, the eggs hatched.

The newborn drones tore through their shells, devouring the remnants of their own eggs with ravenous hunger before presenting themselves to the Nest Queen for inspection.

Like their mother, they resembled bees—at least at a glance.

But the similarities ended quickly.

Though their length matched the Nest Queen, their abdomens and heads were noticeably larger and more bloated, almost worm-like in their proportions.

Where bees would have delicate proboscises, these drones bore gruesome jaws—rows of interlocking, serrated teeth reminiscent of piranhas or sharks.

At the tip of their swollen abdomens were not stingers, but nozzles—tubular glands seemingly designed to eject or secrete something.

Their wings, too, were different—wider and denser, meant to carry their bulk despite their grotesque proportions.

Shriek!

The Nest Queen gave a silent command. The drones obeyed without hesitation.

All ten shot into the air and flew to the nearby carcass, descending on it like vultures.

Their flesh-shredding jaws went to work, peeling away layers of meat with terrifying speed.

Meanwhile, the Nest Queen herself floated out of her housing, hovered briefly, then gently lowered her body to the ground not far from the boar’s corpse.

Then she went still—completely motionless, as though entering a dormant state.

Roughly five minutes passed. The drones, now swollen to almost comical proportions, struggled to stay airborne under their own weight. Their wings beat frantically to maintain balance, but the sheer volume of consumed flesh weighed them down.

They returned, wobbling awkwardly through the air, until they formed a tight ring around the unmoving Queen, abdomens pointed inward.

And then... they paused.

Well—almost.

If one looked closely, one would notice their bodies vibrating with subtle internal activity—runic digestive enzymes breaking down the absorbed material into something far more potent.

Then, all at once, they sprayed.

Golden liquid gushed out from the ends of their abdomens, coating the Nest Queen’s form in layers of shimmering, honey-like fluid.

The liquid hardened almost instantly upon contact, forming a translucent cocoon over her body.

By the time they were done, the drones had shrunk visibly, their fattened forms returning to their original, lean state.

They didn’t rest.

Without hesitation, they returned to the Bloodboar’s remains and resumed feeding.

The same cycle continued—feed, swell, return, spray.

Over and over again, until the boar was nothing more than memory.

By the end, the Nest Queen lay within a golden hemisphere of hardened gel, about one and a half metres wide and one metre tall. Inside, her form pulsed gently, swelling ever so slightly as the golden cocoon steadily shrank around her.

She was evolving.

Just as the last of the Bloodboar’s carcass vanished into their jaws, another flash of light illuminated the space.

Two more corpses dropped in—one feline, one serpentine.

Both were largely intact, suggesting they had been spatially transferred before the platoon had time to strip them for parts.

Which could only mean one thing—the situation inside the forest was escalating.

But that mattered little to the drones.

They had no need for context or concern. They existed for one purpose: to feed, digest, and convert the results into fuel for their Queen’s metamorphosis.

And so, without pause, they descended again—silent workers tending their hive.

***