Chapter 20: Discord
"APOLOGISE TO WHOM?" Li Qiu shouted as he walked towards Enbi Arin.
"Big bro!!" Prakash interjected.
"Ugh….fine" Li Qiu shrugged his shoulders in annoyance but still gave a commanding gaze towards Enbi Arin and Myra which made them flinch.
"Explain!" Li Qiu
"Fine, let me start from the hidden ability I gained from my 'Karma Incarnation' innate ability" Enbi Arin said.
"Good, its time you stopped hiding about it from us" Li Qiu
"Y-you guys knew?" Inquired an astonished Enbi Arin.
"Yeah, we had initially guessed that something like your ability was bound to have either a trump-card or a hidden power. We already discussed with each other and came to a conclusion to just wait till you told us about it yourself" Prakash chimed in.
"Ugh.. sorry about that. I was actually ignorant about it completely myself. I was only able to figure it out today" Enbi Arin apologized.
On seeing both Prakash and Li Qiu give a nod of approval, Enbi Arin sighed in relief.
"Since you already know about how I can obtain a new innate ability every time I evolve to the next stage either by forming a contract with a creature or plundering it directly from a monster I killed. But the contract I formed with Myra was called as 'origin contract' "
"Origin contract?" Prakash questioned
"Yeah, that's what it means when you share your innate ability, memories of your past and some racial traits with a contracted creature and also established a mental link with them. This is a contract that I can establish only during my entire lifetime" Said Enbi Arin and later encounter everything that happened in the grey coloured dome including the fact about her miniature sized soul.
"That miniature self of yours, did you feel something weird when it fused with your soul or did…..something else happen?… Big bro, scan her with your 'Essence Sense' " Prakash said worriedly.
The system named ' Android A072' and the 'World Wide Web' in the form of the pale golden egg currently attached to their soul had already made them jittery about any external phenomenon
Li Qiu immediately sensed her state with the help of his 'Essence Sense' and couldn't help but sigh in disappointment.
"Did something happen Big bro?" Prakash couldn't help but feel scared when he saw Li Qiu's reaction.
"Nope, it's not like that. Her oval-shaped Aria Core now has sharp needle-like structures over its surface and her soul flame looks like a solidified miniature grey coloured self of her, but I couldn't observe further. Her soul is too strong to see through for the current me. Even her Aria core has experienced a few upgrades… sigh" Li Qiu concluded his observations.
"but…" Prakash.
"Let's leave it at that for now, Prakash, we'll tackle about it in the future and moreover, I don't sense any threat from these modifications. So don't worry about it." Enbi Arin also assured Prakash.
Prakash just decided to currently place this issue at the back of his head after her assurance.
Enbi Arin then continued "Since my memories and life experiences overwhelmed her and almost made her lose her sense of self, that incident with Prakash was an un-voluntary accident. So, please don't blame her" Enbi Arin pleaded.
"See, Big bro, I told you that there must have been a reason. See, that's why I felt no killing intent from her when she tried to hit me". Giggled Prakash trying to ease the tense atmosphere.
Prakash walked towards Myra and stood before the ant-like creature. Myra gazed at Prakash with mixed emotions.
Suddenly Prakash bent over her head a little and the webs around him clumped together into two separate threads that slowly tapped onto the antennae above Myra's head.
"Myra right? Is this how fellow ants greet each other? I hope I'm doing this correctly, Hehe.." Prakash laughed in a cheerful tone. At the next moment, a grey coloured radiance enveloped over Myra and a couple of seconds later Myra assumed her humanoid form.
"Whoa, she looks almost like Enbi Arin except for her exoskeleton armor" exclaimed Prakash
Myra then bowed towards Prakash "I'm really sorry for my earlier transgression. I promise in the future that I won't do such a thing again"
"Its fine, Its fine. Don't worry about it" Prakash consoled Myra as he waved his hands sideways and again made his two spider web-turned threads touch her antennae.
Myra instantly burst into a fit of tears as all her pent-up emotions burst out like a dam as she hugged Prakash and bawled like a kid.
It took a few minutes for both Enbi Arin and Prakash to console her while Li Qiu just stood in the same place with an emotionless face.
"Now that everything is settled, let's go through our loot and discuss a disposal method for all those carcasses" Prakash suggested.
"Fine with me" Enbi Arin replied and Myra too nodded her head in her humanoid form.
Then they started to return to their makeshift fortress.
Suddenly Li Qiu appeared beside Myra and proclaimed "It may have been an accident during the first time, but believe me, there will be no seconds. At that time I will not hold back even for Enbi Arin's sake"
Li Qiu then proceeded to walk towards their makeshift fortress alongside Prakash.
Enbi Arin had a wry smile on her face as she mentally messaged Myra "Just put up with it, for now, he'll eventually calm down"
Myra too nodded while she felt her back completely drenched with cold sweat. At that brief instant, the killing intent Li Qiu released was almost twice that of Enbi Arin. If not for Enbi Arin silently supporting, Myra would have collapsed onto the ground long ago.
'That man is seriously bad news' Myra made a mental note in her head to never get onto Li Qui's bad side.
Once the three humans and one ant reached their base, Prakash started to account for their inventory.
"We currently have only about 6 practitioner stage Aria cores. Sadly, the Aria cores of the toad, butterfly, lizard and the mosquito were destroyed in that explosion"
"Too bad" Enbi Arin chimed in.
"But don't worry about that, we managed to secure about 400 awakened Aria Cores"
"That's quite the haul" Enbi Arin said, giddy with joy.
"Hehe, and guess what" said Prakash while rubbing his nose with a smug expression on his face.
"You found an artefact?" Enbi Arin immediately retorted.
"Keh, killjoy. Yeah, take a look at it yourself. Ohh, wait. You are no longer in possession of the 'World Wide Web'. Let me spell it out for you" Prakash said as he read aloud the information about their newly discovered Artefact.
<Ding!>
<Awakened Artefact>
<Colour : Red>
<Attribute : Might>
<Uses: Increases might>
"So, there are other attributes to artefacts too, huh" Myra exclaimed.
"Wait, How do you know about them" Prakash asked in a rather odd tone.
"How rude, I have all of Enbi Arin's memory in me. Of course, I know about artefacts. Actually, as a monster, I can actually sense the aura of an artefact from a mile away" Myra replied in a weak tone.
"Ugh…..Is that so. That explains the swarm that came for the artefacts twice in a row" Prakash wondered.
"Then that leaves us with the disposal of all the monster carcasses. Shall we try burning it Big bro" Prakash questioned.
"It would be beyond our capabilities if an artefact was formed again which might even attract more than 10 practitioners. Everything including our current base would be razed down to dust in the resulting battle" Li Qiu retorted.
It was at this moment that Myra requested in a weak toe "Umm, actually, if you have no further use for the monster carcasses. Can you leave them to me?"
"Those monster carcasses are more helpful to us monsters than the Aria Cores since it takes too much time to absorb an Aria Core but we get a similar increase in stats by eating the carcasses. And moreover, there are still some of my brethren alive. These can save their lives. So, I beg of you. Let me have them" Myra exclaimed as she bowed her head.
Prakash hurriedly waved his hands "Its fine, you don't have to bow your head for that. Except for the Alligator's carcass, you can have the rest. Are you fine with this arrangement Big bro?"
"I'm fine as long as those ants don't start attacking us the moment they lay their eyes on us" Li Qiu retorted.
Myra hurried explained "They won't attack. I'm absolutely sure"
"She would be their current queen after all. They would certainly obey her, so cut her some slack" Enbi Arin interjected.
"Fine, whatever" Li Qiu snorted.
"So, Myra, Where is your nest currently located. Is it far?" Prakash questioned Myra.
"No, it's quite near. Actually its right below us" Replied Myra
"What!!" Both Li Qiu and Prakash exclaimed in unison at her answer.
"It's actually on the other side of the supermarket, near its rear exit" Enbi Arin chuckled.
"How come we never encountered them till now or even heard of any battle sounds" Li Qiu questioned.
"That's because most of our battles were underground or a bit further away from our location above the surface" Enbi Arin explained.
"But if you were living here all along, why didn't ever try to attack us" Li Qiu questioned Myra.
"We never had much time for that, we were constantly raided by those damn lizards and our hunt squad was constantly being ambushed by lizards, mosquitoes, toads, and centipedes. There was also Enbi Arin's aura that threatened us from approaching this side since the strongest of our hunt squad was still an awakened and that translucent bluish while flames all over the floor and the walls made us feel uncomfortable" Myra said.
Li Qiu and Prakash both nodded to show their comprehension.
"Myra, you can call your brethren to take those carcasses. And just in case, you alone visit them first in your ant form and try to communicate to them about us" Prakash advised.
"Sure, I will" Myra replied and began to head towards her nest.
After noticing that Myra went beyond their view, Enbi Arin turned her head towards Li Qiu.
"Why are you acting like a jerk towards her. It's not like you to be a jerk for so long"
"Heh, you can say whatever you want, if you want me to acknowledge her, then she would have to prove herself. She's not a human, so, I'm just finding it difficult to treat her as my companion" Li Qui replied.
"But she's formed a contract with me. She's like a sister to me" Enbi Arin countered.
"I don't care. None of it matters if she, who is a monster acts as you do around us. She may have your memories and find us familiar but that doesn't mean we know anything about her. I may be easy going with you but that doesn't mean I would treat any and every creature that you bring with the same treatment as you" Li Qui retorted.
"But..." Enbi Arin
"And you're telling me to not be a jerk. Look, if not for the fact that she shares a contract with you,
I WOULD HAVE BURNED HER TO ASHES the moment she tried to hit Prakash" Li Qui proclaimed in an arrogant tone and walked away.
"Humph" Enbi Arin too snorted away in anger leaving behind Prakash who could only stand in the same spot with a wry smile on his face, not knowing how to mediate the situation.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Overlord_Venus
Overlord_Venus This chef lacks some power stones in my ingredient list for cooking my next dish. If you have some power stones lying in your inventory, you can consider it as a donation to someone who's trying to save an entire continent.
Yours valiantly
-Master Chef Antarctica
Ps. The Penguins are relying on you.