บท 108: Chapter One-Hundred and Five: I'll think about it.
Drake stood at odds with the group, his arms crossed as he stared back at several of them not wanting to give any ground.
"I'll think about it," he finally said.
Everyone gave out a brief sigh of relief but Theodore followed up.
"My Lord, what pray tell did Lady Natto divulge with you on the temperament and abilities of the Tyrant Ants, that hast you wary?"
Drake pursed his lips for a moment recalling the information.
"Tyrant Ants on their own wouldn't be much of a hassle. I'm sure even Sherry could beat one alone if she really had to," he said pointing to the grumbling little ball of hanger with his chin, "The problem comes from one, there are insurmountably more than there were Goblins, and even with my stores of Mana, I don't think I could keep going nonstop, I'm just not experienced enough. Two, the variety of Ants that may be here is troubling."
"How wouldeth that be my lord? This one hast yet witnessed a situation thou could not overcome," Theodore replied.
"That's very flattering Theo, but the problem is more the Ant's levels and the classes. From what Natto has said, the tutorial is not allowed to pass a certain number of monsters and monster level," Drake said, pausing then putting up a finger, looking at everyone in turn, "But that is only initially. Whoever or whatever is sponsoring this particular nuthouse of a tutorial was an extra special asshole."
"How do you figure that?" Tom asked.
"I will tell you my good chap! They have selected only monsters that reproduce at an alarming rate. The Goblins, Apes, and now the Ants. Everything except the Kobolds had exploded past the limit because technically the system doesn't see it as a violation of the rules. Now that isn't the only problem. It's the fact that this also means that the different variants are going to be different here in what's essentially captivity compared to in their natural homes. Remember the Goblins? How many Generals and everything there was?" Drake asked the group.
Everyone nodded, Claire giving a particularly deep scowl as she remembered the nasty monsters.
"Well I asked Natto about it after the fact, and that isn't how it normally is. In any region the Goblins normally inhabit, there are multiple Kings and they are constantly at war with each other for resources, namely breeding rights with the local species….." Drake said slightly trailing off, but began again after mentally wiping his mouth from the words, "And this means they die regularly leaving only a small handful of the variants we saw. And let alone the number of Knights this King had, they would normally not have enough resources to form Royal Knights because the Knights would die so often. So it has me thinking the Ant Hive might be worse."
"Well, way to spit in our pea soup there pup. Alright, I'm ganna haul my ass out of going in on this one. I know I'm just a stationary target, and my little guys would only be able to kill so many," Hudson said reluctantly, scratching his growing beard.
"I just want food…. You go do whatever you want man, just make lunch already!" Sherry shouted.
Claire looked hesitant but decided to stand firm in her disagreement to come along.
"I'm still coming. You need my buffs if Chelsea's friend doesn't come."
Wow, she won't even use Megan's name. She must really dislike her… Drake thought.
"I believe the word you are looking for is, hate," Natto laughed, "Although I do agree you should take some of them along. If your plans are to stay the same, you will need them to be as strong as possible later on."
Yeah, but it also requires them to stay the fuck alive. Drake added.
"Break a few eggs to make omelet rice."
That isn't the saying, and isn't what we're going for here Natto, I know you care more about my improvement and well-being but try to give a little thought to other people… Drake sighed.
Drake changed his focus, beginning his attention back to the group.
"Like I said, I'll think about it. But onto the next issue. We are going to move everyone over to Shigure's and honestly, I want to say it's going to go smoothly but, there are still some Knights lurking around somewhere. I'm going to need Theo, and Chelsea to scout for us while we move. Hudson, Tom, and Jacqueline are going to have to help me watch the surroundings. Hudson's drones are going to be put to the grindstone for this little move, and your big Tonka T's are going to be lifesavers with their arsenals if anything tries to show up."
Jacqueline spoke up after this, surprisingly voicing her concern for Drake.
"You sure you want to be doing that gov? Don't want to wait another day so I can fix ya arm there?" she asked.
"I would if I didn't have other plans. We only have around 90 days left as it is. And I don't know how long my plans will take at Shigure's camp as well as how long it might take to go through the Hive. I've managed this far without an arm," Drake said, raising his jet-black earthen one, "And I don't think a few more hours is going to make a difference here. Besides," he said smiling at Jacqueline, "A deal's a deal and I know you won't run off before you heal me back good as new. Well old new… You know what I mean."
Jacqueline rolled her eyes, accepting his reasoning because she didn't want to bother arguing. But the rest of the group still showed some slight concerns.
"Are you really sure Mr. Shot? You've done so much for everyone I don't think anyone would fault you for waiting a bit longer for your arm," Harley said from Theodore's side.
"Thank you for your concern Harley but it's alright. There is only one direction I can go, and that's forward. And right now that points me at Shigure's, I have something I need to do when we get there, and a person I need to have a good rematch with," Drake said, smiling wider, "Oh! And for everyone here, as thanks for putting up with me, I want to show my trust in all of you. Yes even you Tom," Drake pointed with a smirk.
"Hey! I'm trustworthy!" Tom fired back.
"Right. Anyway, as you all know Shot is my tutorial alias. And to make it easier for you all to find me if you wish after this tutorial is all said and done. My real name is Jugemu Jugemu Go-Kō-no-Surikire Kaijari-suigyo-" but before Drake could continue the joke, Natto shot out of the side of his head onto his shoulder.
"You stop right there if you wish to keep your face intact," she threatened.
"Ok, you don't have to be so snippy. Must be the lack of food…" Drake laughed nervously, slowly pushing down her knife from his face, "My real name is Drake Wallen, and I hope to see you all after the tutorial as well when we someday reunite."
"Wait… was that a death flag…." Tom whispered, his face furrowed, hand meeting his chin in deep thought, "That was a flag right?"
---------------------------------------------------
With the meeting over Drake and the group headed to the area that was now deemed the 'Kitchen' for the outpost. Most of the outpost had settled down and gotten used to life here over the week, especially with the addition of more normal activities to do like the sports fields Tom and Drake had made.
Some even took it upon themselves to put many tents together to make indoor arenas for other games. One being an interesting card game involving monsters that they had seen in the tutorial, along with many of the more prominent figures in the outpost.
Drake had gotten to see some of the people play with them and was surprised to see that the cards were made out of actual thick paper, well Mana paper. The cards came in a similar form as trading cards that they had before the system, but the illustrations were more Manga-esque, some even moving.
What had him give a giddy internal squeal of boyish delight was when he saw a card modeled after him. But it quickly turned to confusion when he saw the scene on the card. It was of him fighting the King in his Heretical Endowment Form, which no one should have been a witness to.
Drake shrugged it off as a good way to spread misinformation and let it be, as no one should have been actually able to witness what he had done during that fight as well as he had sown enough seeds that no one besides his inner circle knew of his real abilities and class.
That and the card was so cool looking that he couldn't bring himself to take it from the owner and destroy it.
But the cards were something very interesting to Drake, and he began collecting them himself in his past time, trading skill stones for his initial deck.
Digressing, Drake and the group began prepping the food for lunch.
Since his return, he had had to have some of the other people help with cooking. He was bedridden for several days after all. And they learned quickly but it seemed Drake still had the magic touch that people craved for.
"Why does it always taste better when you cook? We do the same exact thing…" Claire grumbled as she began slicing chunks of boar into small cubes.
"I'm just that good at everything I do. These hands here," Drake said showing his spice-covered fingers, "These are magic."
Claire rolled her eyes, going back to cutting the meat.
"Only magic you have is the supernatural ability to ward off the opposite sex," Natto giggled from inside his head.
Oh, we shall see. Don't think I've forgotten about our little bet. Just you wait till I find a girl to my standards. Drake chuckled.
"I hardly think your standards matter. Certainly, you will have to wait for lifetimes before you find someone willing to tolerate you," Natto countered.
I think I've already found plenty. Drake smiled, looking to his left and right at the line of people cutting and prepping food with him and chatting happily to one another.
"Alright, let's start the stew then. It is a shame we don't have rice though… I miss my rice cooker…" Drake sighed, bringing over his pot of prepped spice to the cauldrons placing a small amount in each one.
The rest of the line followed him, putting each of their ingredients into the respective pots, and others placing the skewered meat on the grill screens that Hudson had made using his old welding skills.
Drake nodded looking at the operation going smoothly.
"Good, that should set us for food for a bit. I'm going to the mines until we're ready to leave tomorrow. Theo has his instructions on getting everyone ready. Claire you are in charge of food till it's done, and if you would please bring some into the mines for me later I'd appreciate it," Drake directed, turning to the mines without waiting for an answer.
After a few moments of walking, he came to the entrance of the mine, a gruff man waiting there with a pickaxe on his shoulder.
"Took you long enough, ya damned idjit. You like cookin' too much, but that food does be mighty tasty so can't blame ya. Either way, ya ready pup?" Hudson asked.
Drake gave a scoff, then pulled out his own pickaxe from his quest.
"Oh, I'm very ready to pick this place clean. Let's get to it ya old bastard!" Drake laughed back.
"Old? The hell you think I'm old fer? I'm only damn near 22."
"Liar! Falsehoods and deceit!" Natto shouted out, deafening Drake's ears.
Shielding his ears out of habit, Drake winced and looked back up at Hudson.
"There is no way you are that young. What's with calling everyone pup if you're younger than 90% of the tutorial?" Drake asked.
Hudson rubbed his nose walking to the Mine's door.
"Just something I picked up working with older dogs in the machine shop. Thought it made me sound more manly, works don't it?" Hudson said, smiling.
"It- Yeah I guess it does huh... Imagine that, speech doing such things, pup," Drake said, trying the word.
"Don't do that. That's mine," Hudson said flatly, his face deadpan as his accent somehow disappeared.
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