Chapter 84: First Night In Forest of Bug
While getting inside the forest may sound easy, it is harder than it should be, namely because of the soldiers patrolling the area.
The reason the Betrum Nation told the others for the existce of the patrol groups is namely safety, as it would allow them to discover any disturbance in the forest.
However, it is a journalist secret at this point that the reason for the patrol is to make sure there will be no one sneaking in a getting their hands on the materials from the forest.
Betrum Nation has complete control over the market as the Forest of Bug is sured by steep ranges except for it's border with the nation.
It is this reason why Betrum Nation is the only one threat by the Forest of Bug, and the reason it able to hold monopoly of the resources find inside it.
However, while the patrol could stop regular advturers, against a demon, that bought the Tome of Darkness, he was able to slip by them and ter the forest.
Of course, he could only move siltly at night to pass through the guards as he believe there should be some magic tools that allow them to detect any intruders. After all, it is not possible for Betrum Nation to keep a large amount of soldiers at its border to the Forest of Bug.
-x-
As Alros tered the forest, he prepared himself. He did not plan to sleep for the night, as he wanted to see what the night offer. After all, not all insects work active during the day, with some being active at the night.
However, it is also more dangerous as the more terrifying bugs are oft active during the nighttime. As evidt by the fact he only tered the inner part of the Forest of Bug and already seeing an ormous shadow at the deeper part.
Normally, such existce are rarely se at the inner part. Th again, it might decide to roam at the edge of it's territory. Considering bug's fast lifespan and the fact it can reproduce quickly, it is not surprising to him that the ormous one seek the inner part bugs for food.
After all, ev if it eat a lot, there will still be more to inhabit the ecosystem. As he mused over the intricacies of the food webs of the Forest of Bug, his Mana Sse detect the presce of several bugs.
Not wanting to deal with them at the momt, at least until he could handle night fighting better, he quickly head towards the outer part, though not to the edge of the forest, as his chances of being detected will be higher if he did so.
-x-
"It seem I make a good decision in staying up," after all, his eyes are currtly feasting on the plethora of monsters, one that would make a fine addition to his collection and forces.
His eyes mainly focused on the large spiders, though in his head, he already imagined the ormous one at the core.
"Should I try to capture one," he thought out loud to himself. After all, the monsters at the core would not pose a threat unless he is sured by a lot of them.
As he scanned the area where he spot the large one, he decided to make his move. Though, he don't plan on getting the spiders at the momt. He currtly eying several big moths and some fireflies, as it would be the less dangerous among the insects.
He spread his wings before swooping at his target, going as quietly as he can. While moths can detect movemt in the air by their hearing sse, the moths in the area rarely react to target in the air.
After all, there is no nocturnal predator for it in the night, as there is no large bats and birds that would feed on it. So, the moths and fireflies are unable to act wh he unleashed his aura, the same aura causing nearby spiders to fall as well.
Realizing his blunder, Alros quickly subdued all of them. It might have be unplanned, but he could start early gathering invertebrate collections.
"Looks like I have to get two more lairs,"
-x-
After putting his capture of the day, Alros began to search for more target. He already plan to gather insects like wasps, ants, and termites into his collection, though he did not know whether or not he could fit such large numbers of creatures in a single lair.
After all, while the monstrous ants will not t of thousands like regulars ants, at the very least, for the one that chase after him, which is big ants at the smaller size, the number reach more than 00.
However, the bigger the ants, the smaller the colony size, so he would be after larger ants so his lairs would not be dominated by insects only. As for wasps, he has some special plans for the big ones. As for the large one and bigger, they would form aerial force.
Of course, there is also termites. Alros planned to collect them mainly because of their architecture ability. Termites from his homeworld could create some impressive structures for its size. For large one, there is no telling what it could build, though he believe there is some living in the inner and core part of the forest.
After all, there is some reports of termites nest that stretched up to a lofty 90 feet with some ev going up to 0 feet in height. And that is what could be se. After all, most of the structure would be underg or inside a tree, so it would be a lot more impressive.
While termite mounds, no matter how large, did not sound too appealing to live in, the same could not be said for their ability to create powerful structure.
He is not sure as most people that heard of it assume it is a lie or exaggerated, but some claim the the mounds is as strong as brick walls, and ev having mana inside the walls, making it ev harder to destroy.
So, getting the termites is a must have as it would be part of his construction force, allowing him to build a great defse structure inside Lunos Forest.
The only insects that live in his colony he is unsure of is bees. After all, aside from being pollinators and produce honey, there is no other merit as they would die with a single sting, though it might differ in this world. Ev so, wasps are usually more dangerous and powerful than bees so, there is no reason to get them.
"I should wait and see before making any judgemt," Alros decided, his eyes fell on the first ray of light, morning had arrived.