Chapter 17: Chapter 17

It woke up, or rather she woke up.

She was inside some kind of liquid and surrounded by darkness.

What was she?

She was an Antanoid, but what was an Antanoid?

Antanoid are a species of insects that form hives. They are the only species known to have both sapient and only sentient members.

What was the difference between the two?

A sentient being had feelings, but didn’t necessarily have to think and be self aware like a sapient Antanoid or a human. A sapient being on the other hand was self aware and able to think rationally, but didn’t have to be able to feel anything.

A lot more information slowly entered her head so she could understand the explanations. She didn’t do anything for some time and just digested everything. The girl didn’t ask what was answering her questions and just accepted things as they were.

The new information led to her having another question. What was her purpose?

The purpose of all Antanoid was to serve their queen to the best of their abilities. Who was the queen?

A picture of a young Antanoid entered her mind. Her legs were shielded by a deep blue chitin armor and the rest of her body was covered by bluish, very light gray fur. She had a large tail that was as long as she was tall. Her mouth was adorned by a pair of cute mandibles and her black eyes were nearly as large as fists.

The girl was entranced by the sight and admired the image for a bit more. Then she got the urge to get free, but free from where?

Right, she was still inside of her egg. The girl extended her claws and then tried to slice through the shell that surrounded her. The technique worked, but because of the liquid surrounding her it was quite arduous.

With a final push the egg fully broke around her and the liquid splattered on the ground. She coughed up a few more blobs of the liquid and then looked up. 

Far above her head the branches of gigantic trees hid the sky. So far above that she wasn’t able to make out single leaves or other details except for a few thick branches.

She slowly stood up and looked around herself. Then she noticed her queen standing a bit away from her together with another Antanoid. The girl froze for a second. What should she do?

The knowledge entered her mind and she got down on one knee with her head bowed. Her voice was clear like- like what? Clear like the singing of a bird. “My queen.”

She could smell the kindness of her queen. “You can get up.”

The girl did as she was told and looked her queen in the eyes. The queen looked at her with a soft smile, trying to hide her excitement. “I like that look. From now on you shall be Artemis and I welcome you to the hive.”

Kai was the queen's name, Artemis remembered now. Did her name have a deeper meaning to it?

Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt and the forest, known to look out for women and children. Artemis smiled to herself, she liked that name.

Her queen grimassed a bit disgusted and pointed into the direction of the river. “You can eat the remains of your egg if you want. Afterwards please clean yourself and come back to me.”

Artemis nodded and Kai began to walk away. The new Antanoid watched her queen for a bit before she regarded the remains of her egg. Not eating them would be a waste so she knelt down again and began to eat the shell pieces. The last shell piece Artemis used as a spoon for the liquid and proceeded to eat as much of that as possible.

The liquid wasn’t exactly tasty, but in a sad way the best she had ever eaten. Artemis quite liked the shell on the other hand. Not for its taste, because it didn’t taste like anything, but for the crunch. The sound gave her a weak sensation of satisfaction.

Finished with her meal Artemis flexed her fingers and retracted her claws. Then she looked at her minimap and walked towards the river. On the way Artemis listened to the sounds of nature around her, making out a few sounds and traces of animals.

She reached the river and for the first time took a look at her body. She was slightly slimmer than the workers and her forearms were covered by chitin. Artemis had the same large eyes and antenna as everyone else, but her ears were elongated like that of an- elf? What even was an elf?

She ignored the information that flowed to her from the mana brain and stepped into the river. The cold water flowed around her legs and through her fur. 

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Artemis shuddered and began to clean herself thoroughly. Her queen had asked her to do so, so she would not accept something only half done.

Once she had cleaned herself she immersed herself fully into the water one last time and then got out of the river. Artemis shook herself to get as much water as possible out of her fur and to get a bit warmer. Luckily the weather was rather warm so the cold water wouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Artemis began to walk back to the hive with a laid-back pace. She would prefer getting back to Kai dry rather than wet.

After about half an hour Artemis got back to the hive and felt for the location of Kai. The queen was currently in her own room so Artemis walked past the other rooms towards the first room of the hive. 

Halfway through the hive the ground had been covered by silk as some kind of street. Artemis stepped on the silk and smiled. It felt nice to walk on this and didn’t produce that much noise even without her trying.

She reached the queen's room and announced herself. “My queen, I have arrived.” She would not enter or even look into the room without permission.

Kai’s voice sounded out from inside. “One second!”

A moment later the queen rushed out of the room and hugged Artemis. “Let me welcome you the right way.”

Artemis wasn’t quite sure how to react and just let her queen do as she liked. Kai let go of her and smiled. “Welcome to life and the hive Artemis.”

Artemis did a small bow. “The pleasure is mine.”

Kai sighed. “You all and your formalities.”

She put her hands on her hips. “You really don’t have to do that.”

Artemis looked at her queen and had to smile. “It’s a matter of principle and respect, my queen.”

A second voice came out of the room. “Finally there is someone else to tell you that, my lady.”

Kai waved both of them away. “Yeah yeah. It’s a pain in the ass and nothing more.”

She turned serious again. “So Artemis, is there anything you want to do?”

Artemis nodded. “If you would allow it I would like to go hunting and exploring.”

Her queen sighed in defeat. “I thought as much.”

Her voice became stern. “But there will be a few rules.”

She raised her index finger. “Firstly, your safety is the most important priority on a hunt. I don’t care if you have to sacrifice a swarm drone for that.” Artemis could see that her queen did not like weighing lives against each other. Sadly, this was the curse of a ruler.

Kai raised a second finger. “Secondly you will always take at least two swarm drones with you and if one gets injured or killed you will come back.”

A third finger rose. “Thirdly, try not to over hunt the forest.”

She raised a fourth finger and her tone became a bit desperate. “And fourth, please look out for a source of wood. We really need that stuff to advance and to create some defenses against these stupid moths.”

Artemis nodded and bowed again. “I will abide by your laws, my queen.”

Then she turned around and Kai grumbled a bit to herself. “As long as you don’t lose your common sense.”

Artemis smiled at that and started to walk away. It was time for a hunt!

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