Chapter 10: Worm

‘Our Rico seems to be a genius,’ I thought as I savored the heavenly-flavored honey.

Our Rico had done something that even ordinary monsters, and even a subspecies of dragons called Drake, could not do.

He expressed his feelings by making hearts with his roots and even gestured as if he was offering nectar.

At first, I thought it was just a coincidence, but this was definitely intelligence.

‘A plant with this level of cognitive ability… Of all the monsters I’ve seen in my thousands of years of living, there was none so special. Perhaps it was the World Tree’s hidden child.’

I was once again certain that my choice was not wrong.

A smile appeared on my lips as I watched Frost Lunaris approach from afar, fluttering its wings elegantly.

The wings, which seemed to be carved from blue crystals, sparkled like an aurora whenever they caught the light, and its silver antennae trembled slightly, detecting the scent of nectar in the air.

How could it fly so fearlessly even though I was right here?

Does it really want to eat this honey that much?

‘Well, if a butterfly tastes Rico’s honey, it won’t be able to escape.’

“Riko! I guess that kid came to eat honey too!”

I saw Riko lifting up the black root.

When I tried to eat more honey, he pushed my hand away.

At first, he encouraged me.

This time, was he trying to stop the butterfly?

A smile spread across my lips as I thought a small commotion would occur in the peaceful snowy mountain.

Soon, I felt Riko studying my expression.

Then he slowly lowered the root.

His slightly resigned expression, as if he could not refuse, was clear.

‘As expected, the genius is right.’

The momentum of trying to stop the butterfly was nowhere to be found, and now it opened its petals as if to say, “Welcome, enjoy your meal.”

How could its loyalty and obedience toward me be so perfect?

As the butterfly ate the honey as if it was delicious, Rico brought the tip of its root to the honey.

It seemed as if it wanted to eat its own honey.

‘So cute…’

Seeing Rico like this made my heart feel warm.

I wanted to quickly show off this adorable creature to Nice.

However, to Nice and me, it was still just a cute creature.

In order to proudly show off as a subordinate, I needed strong fighting power.

“I need to get more blood.”

Now, almost all the high-ranking monsters in the Sia Kalt Great Labyrinth were annihilated, so there was no good blood left.

I thought about wiping out the nearby human city, but soon Rico remembered that it was related to Mikel, so I put it aside.

“Hmm…”

While continuing to ponder, the butterfly that had finished eating the honey flew toward the sun in the sky.

The sun.

Yeah… I guess it will grow a lot with Blaze Gargan’s blood, right?

I thought about going to hunt the lion monster called the Sun of Disaster, which was the most dangerous of the S-class monsters.

There weren’t many strong monsters on the snowy mountain, and Rico seemed to have gotten much stronger since I first brought her here, so it would be okay to go for a while.

“Rico… Wait a minute. I’ll bring something really delicious.”

‘Ah… Thank goodness.’

The stimulation of the butterfly’s long, thin mouth sucking the honey was incomparably weaker than the touch of its master.

It was bearable enough.

It was almost ticklish.

The butterfly flapped its transparent, sky-blue wings as it drank the honey, feeling good.

Every time it did, a brilliant blue powder would scatter from the tips of its wings, dancing in the cold wind of the snowy mountain.

It was like a fairy sprinkling magic powder.

You like it that much… Is this really that delicious?

I suddenly became curious.

It was my own honey, but it was strange that I didn’t know the taste.

I quietly lifted one of the pitch-black roots and absorbed the honey.

Huh? It doesn’t taste good?

I was disappointed.

No, it seemed like I couldn’t taste it at all.

Maybe it’s because I’m a plant…

I was a little upset that my master and the butterfly liked it so much, but I couldn’t taste it.

That was when the butterfly, which had drunk its fill of honey, suddenly lifted its butt on top of my flower petal.

“Huh!? Wait, really__!?”

That suspicious posture was extremely unsettling!

‘Are you trying to poop on my head!?’

As I was about to swipe the root in panic, a sparkling blue egg fell from the butterfly’s butt.

?Egg LV1?

“Ouch?”

Although it was very small, the round and transparent egg was just like a sapphire.

It seemed like a small light of life was embedded in the softly shining blue light.

The butterfly that laid the egg flapped its wings leisurely as if leaving behind a precious gift and flew away into the snowy mountain sky.

‘This is… a cliché from another world!’

My heart started pounding.

In other world stories, the main character would obtain an egg from a dragon or a divine beast, raise it, and an incredibly strong creature would be born from it and become a comrade.

The butterfly that had just laid the egg was a high-ranking monster with five stars and a level of 102.

Even the question marks for the stars could mean that it would be seven stars or six stars, like the master.

Since the mother had five stars, it would be at least five stars!

The butterfly that would be born from this egg would surely become an incredible being, right?

As I was filled with anticipation, my master spoke with a mysterious smile.

“Riko….☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ 0000*”

Then, with an elegant gait, she began walking toward the top of the snowy mountain.

Huh… what is it?

“Surely she won’t be released like this…?”

It was when I was looking at my master’s back with an anxious heart.

Perhaps because the dragon’s powerful aura had disappeared, various insect monsters began to gather one by one.

☆☆ Crystal Beetle LV28
☆ Crystal Beetle LV23
LV31☆☆ Frost Moss LV32
☆☆ Blizzard Hornet LV30
Hyperborean Ant LV25
☆☆ Hyperborean Ant LV27
☆☆ Crystal Beetle LV26
☆☆ Frost Moss
☆☆☆ Blizzard Hornet LV35
Hyperborean Ant LV24
F☆☆ Fly LV29
☆☆ Isis Fly LV33

Ugh… gross… what do I do…? Should I kill them?

Most of the monsters were around level 30. They could be taken care of easily, but the experience points wouldn’t go far.

The crystal beetle’s transparent crystal shell sparkled in the moonlight, and Frost Moss’s wings were beautifully embroidered with frost crystals.

The Blizzard Hornet had a sharp blue ice stinger like a wasp, and the Hyperborean Ants moved in groups with bodies that sparkled like white snow.

The Isis Fly was a beautiful butterfly, but it looked a little disappointing, like the Frost Lunaris before it evolved.

There were so many of them that it looked disgusting, but when I saw them one by one, they were quite pretty.

These guys don’t seem to want to harm me…

They were monsters that had come here of their own accord after smelling the scent of honey.

This might actually be an opportunity.

“Yeah! Shall I make them my lairs?”

I made up my mind and opened the flower petals to let out honey, and the bugs rushed in as if they had been waiting.

I shouldn’t have stopped Frost Lunaris from going!

I regretted it later, but looking at the eggs on the flower petals, I thought that I had to raise them well.

As time passed, dozens of insect monsters now completely surrounded me.

The Crystal Beetle rested comfortably on the flower petals, Frost Moss and Isis Flies perched on my stem, flapping their wings.

Blizzard Hornets flew around warily, marking their territory, and Hyperborean Ants stood in orderly formation around my roots.

“Oh… this feels good?”

I’m hungry.

A Blizzard Hornet looked at the red flower beyond the numerous monsters gathered by the sweet scent of honey.

‘Honey. I want to eat it.’

However, the flower was already filled with monsters that had settled in.

The hard shell of the Crystal Beetle, the swarm of Hyperborean Ants, the cold wings of Frost Moss and Isis Flies.

They were all stronger than me.

Even the sharp sting of the Blizzard Hornet that had arrived first showed no mercy to its kind.

It hurts. I don’t want it.

I tried to squeeze in a little, but was quickly pushed back.

A simple thought came to mind that this couldn’t go on.

‘Hunting, I have to get stronger.’

The Blizzard Hornet spread its wings as it looked at the cold snowy mountains.

It vowed to become stronger next time and taste that sweet honey.

‘Ugh… I didn’t know there would be this many…’

The bugs that came looking for honey completely surrounded me and filled the distance.

The honey that had been given little by little at first now flowed out naturally.

Was I getting used to making honey?

My honey skill had already gone up to level 8.

It was a bit burdensome to have hundreds of them, but it was my first time receiving this much popularity, so I didn’t feel bad.

I had never received this much attention from so many creatures in my past life.

It was the bugs, not people, that were paying attention to me, but as I kept watching, I felt attached to them.

Then, I saw a wasp try to come towards me, give up, and turn away.

☆☆☆☆ Blizzard Hornet LV12

Even though it’s a 4-star monster…

Even though it had 4-star potential, it was still low level, so it couldn’t squeeze through the gaps between the other monsters and turned its body in the opposite direction, which was pitiful.

But I didn’t have time to worry about that right now.

“What should I do with these guys?”

The insect monsters that filled the area around my petals, stems, and roots.

It was a bit much to leave them as they were, and it would be a waste to chase them away.

And I should have something to show my master when he returns…

‘Shall we see what you’re capable of?’

I should try using the [Pollen Temptation] I used to summon the monsters in the middle layer again.

I’ll leave the monsters that have swarmed to these bugles to raise, and when the strong ones come, I’ll take care of them while testing out new skills.

‘Hey guys, get out of the way.’

I shook my long purple stamens and vigorously spread pollen.

“Temptation! Temptation! Temptation!”

MP: 817/1,344

Good! A huge amount of mana was consumed, but I had nothing to fear from this disgusting number of bugs and my level 140 self.

As the pollen spread through the air, I could feel the effects taking hold.

The insect monsters began to react, their movements slowing as they became entranced by the sweet scent.

One by one, they started to gather closer, drawn in by the allure of the honey and the power of my skill.

This was the moment I had been waiting for—a chance to assert my dominance and test my newfound abilities.

With the bugs now under my influence, I could finally see what I was capable of.

“Let’s see how strong you really are!”

I focused my energy, ready to command the swarm and prepare for whatever challenges lay ahead.

The battlefield was set, and I was ready to rise to the occasion.