Path of the Hive Queen-Chapter 422: Rest and Recovery

Path of the Hive Queen-Chapter 422: Rest and Recovery

The feather hovered in front of her, wobbling slightly in the air. Janis focused harder on it, and instead of stabilizing, it seemed to get worse, like a gust of wind had shaken it. Then she lost focus and the feather dropped to the ground.
Janis caught it in her hand, sighing in annoyance. She held the feather up and examined it critically. At least it didn’t look like the ends were suddenly blackened. She still didn’t know where
that
had come from.
The thought that she would have easily been able to do something like this, before, sent a burning feeling in her gut. And it wasn’t just the task itself; she also would have been able to do it with a heavy object, or several of them. But in addition to fine control, she’d also been struggling with raw power. She’d chosen a feather this time for an extended training session, to not drain her reserves so much, telling herself it was so she could focus on training fine control of her mana. But Janis still knew the truth.
She had charted her improvement, as much as she could. If her current projections held, she might need literal years to get her power back to where it should be. Janis refused to accept that. There must be a trick to it, something she could figure out.
Her mana had possibly been drained, yes … but the capacity of her body to hold mana should still be the same, right? Especially if it was so intertwined because of her being a part-elemental. One of the healers had said something about the wall of her mana well being ruptured, but that was stupid, because mana wells were conceptual abstractions, they didn’t actually
exist
.
For now, she put the feather down and ensured everything was where it should be in her training room. It was sparse, with room to move, and more importantly had good ventilation that could be closed tightly. It was a windowless room deep inside the base, so there was little risk of any other influence from wind, rain or sunlight, too.
Janis snapped her fingers, casting Spark, before she closed her fist and snuffed it out. At least her System Spells still mostly worked fine.
She left, locking the door behind her — with a physical key, which she then pocketed. Since Janis was mostly focused on recovering and training, and currently living in the Hive base, she saw no point in excessive finery and was wearing practical clothes. Of course, they were still made of the best materials and decorated with some gold and silver thread; she might still have to meet people outside the Hive, after all.
As Janis departed, walking down the corridor in no hurry, few other drones were present. Janis reached out to the psychic link, getting an impression of her surroundings and then moving further outward. The base had been expanded in the last year or so, though not at the same pace it used to; but it was still quite spacious by now, made up of an extensive complex of aboveground structures and tunnels. For all that, it was sparsely populated.
Many of the Hive’s drones were needed elsewhere, and few could be spared for manning its bases at home.
More importantly, perhaps, everyone had tasks to do, and few of those tasks led them here. Even people that were mostly based here spent most of their time outside, tending to the Swarm Drones and overseeing the farmland that fed the Hive — and a good chunk of the rest of the Empire.
Janis hummed to herself quietly as she walked. She had tried to help with that important task. Once she got used to the weirdness, it was rather boring. No wonder the drones tried to trade off the duty of watching the hordes of Swarm Drones and guiding them across the Hive’s ‘fields’. She was still a little limited by only being able to do it from here, though, even with the psychic link. And she had already got a few pointed questions and comments regarding if she didn’t have anything more important to do. You know, being crown princess and all.
The problem was that she really didn’t. At first, Janis had been almost glad for the opportunity to finally relax a little, or at least tried to see it as a positive. She’d slept in as long as she wanted every day, read a few books she’d been meaning to, played around with her magic — though that was mostly for her recovery (’magical physiotherapy’ Tor called it) and it was kind of depressing — joined games over the psychic link or occasionally here in person, and even practiced her singing voice and tried to learn new songs. By now, she was getting a little bored of it, though.
She would pester Max again about moving, Janis decided. If he backed her up and didn’t protest because of ‘security reasons’ (overprotectiveness), it would be much easier to convince Regina.
For now, she went outside for her usual midday walk. The healers had recommended regular walks, as a starting point before she attempted heavier exercise, and it helped with feeling a bit less restless, too. Janis stopped and breathed deeply once she left the building, enjoying the warmth of the sun. Then she set out into the countryside. There was a small field not too far from the base where the Hive grew various kinds of flowers. Some of them were still cultivated for medicinal use or even as cooking ingredients, for flavor, but many of them were tacitly reserved for artistic pursuits. A few Swarm Drones were walking through the field right now, working. Which mostly meant weeding, which mostly meant eating grass and some weeds. They weren’t smart enough for very detailed work and there was only so much you could do.
Janis patted the nearest drone absentmindedly as she walked, looking at the field of flowers. It suddenly reminded her of her dream quest and her meeting with Volance. Had she imagined it? She still wasn’t entirely sure.
If it was real, then she might actually have given up the possibility of becoming a proper psychic by joining the Hive. It was a bitter thought. Of course she didn’t regret it, but still … Then again, even Volance didn’t quite seem to be a psychic herself (at least not like humans), and there were actual psychics who had joined the Hive without having lost that ability, so the assumption was probably wrong. Regardless, she still had access to the psychic link.
Janis left the field behind, taking a dirt track and heading towards a bench a bit further away. She was starting to feel out of breath, which was pretty annoying. She’d been fighting a war, even if she hadn’t fought personally; a short walk of this length shouldn’t be so draining.
At least I no longer get dizzy.
She looked up as a flock of Winged Drones blocked out the sun for a moment. They came from the south, probably one of the enclosures with Drone Breeders. They’d have a longer flight to their destination, which a quick check showed to be the northwestern border; but it was still the safest place for Drone Breeders to be put. They were scattered across the Empire, but Regina had made sure to keep a number of them in the Hive’s core territory, and there were always guards for all of them.
At least her own bodyguards were giving her some space today. Janis appreciated it. They’d been a little overprotective at first.
Janis closed her eyes and focused on her magical senses, not just to practice, but because it was a good way of seeing the terrain around her. She could sense the drones in the psychic link, but unless she looked closely enough to make use of their own sensory information, it didn’t tell her much about anything else. Right now, she felt the elements around her, the shape of the earth, slightly sloping despite what felt like level ground, the hollows further away.
There were tunnels beneath the earth — not the ones the Hive had dug. She remembered them, of course, although she wasn’t sure exactly where her current position was in relation to what she’d seen before. But she had, by accident, walked pretty close to one just now, close enough to make out small creatures scurrying through the open spaces in the earth. Janis tilted her head, focusing more intently. They were monsters, probably? The tunnels hadn’t had a rat problem last she knew.
Tunnelers, maybe? She did know there were a few of them further down the tunnels.
Janis sighed. If she wasn’t weakened, she would be leading an expedition into the tunnels herself. It would be fun and good training, and it wasn’t like she was too occupied by other duties right now. But she already knew how people would react to the idea, and to be honest, her heart wasn’t really in it, either. She really wasn’t strong enough to do something like that at the moment.
For now, she only pointed a few other drones at the problem and watched as they made plans to send a few drones down there to take a look. They should probably secure the tunnels more, anyway, especially since they still had an enemy army approaching from the west — there were entrances in and around the Great Forest, so finding one of them probably wouldn’t be that difficult, especially if they had help. Seeing that enemy army disappear into the old subway tunnels would not be good. Assuming they got that far, of course.
Janis sensed other people approaching. She didn’t turn to look, just kept sitting there and focused on her magical senses.
“Janis,” Iseis finally greeted her, coming to a stop beside her. After a moment, she settled down on the other end of the bench. “How are you doing today?”
“Same as yesterday,” Janis answered. She glanced around. Two Star Guard were nearby, but they’d taken defensive positions far enough away to let them talk in private. There were also a few Swarm Drones around, at work. No one else.
“That’s good,” Iseis said calmly. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few sweets, offering one to her. Janis took it silently.
They sat there for a moment, enjoying the day together. Janis was pretty sure Iseis was just checking up on her out of obligation, but she wasn’t going to be rude to her because of it.
“How are you settling into your new position?” she finally asked after a minute, deciding that starting a conversation was better than just waiting.
Iseis shrugged lightly. “To tell you the truth, I’m not doing much. I have other things on my mind, and while the queen’s gift was certainly well-intentioned and is appreciated, I confess I have little desire to play a human noble lady.”
Janis hummed in acknowledgment. “How were things handled where you are from?” she asked curiously. “I don’t think you ever said much about it. Did your people have hereditary nobility or not?”
Iseis was quiet for a moment, rolling another candy between her fingers. “That is a more complicated question than you realize,” she finally said. “We elves did not have a single government even before the Cataclysm. And afterward, of course, people from all sorts of different societies were thrown together and built their own new communities. By now, in the small states south of the Alps, it varies, although an outright monarchy with an institutionalized nobility is rare.”
“And how was it where you are from?” Janis asked.
“That depends on what you mean,” Iseis said lightly. “My parents were from different societies, before. I spent most of my childhood in a southern city before my mother moved us to another one. It has democratic structures, but in practice, wealthy and entrenched families dominate the political landscape and have put barriers in place for anyone else to reach high positions.”
Janis nodded. She felt like she at least vaguely understood that. “It sounds like it’s a lot closer to Ariedel than anything else I’ve seen,” she commented.
“True,” Iseis muttered. “It’s a shame the Elvish Free State is still so unwilling to commit to the fight.”
Janis paused for a moment. It felt like there was a hint of genuine bitterness in Iseis’ words. “Yes, it is,” she agreed hesitantly. “Are you planning to do anything about it?”
Iseis actually smiled in response. “Maybe. There is a reason I came south, and it’s not simply to check up on you.”
“Is it because the Confederation’s western army is getting so close? I’ve heard they’ll fight the elves soon,” Janis probed.
“Perhaps. There are plans at work, my dear. And I should probably go,” she sighed, standing up. “Places to be, people to talk to.”
“Alright.”
If Leian was going to interfere in that fight, who was Janis to argue? Hopefully, they would take care of things without too much trouble. And the Hive did have drones in the area, so Janis would be able to keep informed. She knew the dwarves had also been preparing for it, but she was curious to see the elves stand and fight.
“You know how to reach me if your condition gets worse,” Iseis reminded her.
“I know,” Janis answered. “Good luck out there.”
She watched as Iseis opened a portal. The other woman was doing it deliberately slowly and keeping her moves distinct, the pattern of her mana clearly evident, so Janis took advantage of it and studied her spell as closely as possible. She got a good loock before Iseis stepped through the portal and vanished.
Well, that
’s new I guess,
Janis mused. It didn’t feel fundamentally different from the teleportation she’d seen Iseis do before, and it probably wasn’t her new Champion portal-making Ability at work — at least not directly — but it definitely felt like an evolution of her previous spells.
If even an old mage like Iseis can innovate and improve, I suppose that leaves a lot of room for me, right?
Janis mused. The thought made her smile a little.
It would probably be a while until she could actually work on teleportation again, but at least it was nice to have a goal in mind.
Janis sighed, standing up and straightening out her clothes. She reached out to the psychic link and called a flying drone over. She should return to the base, but she wanted to feel the wind in her hair a bit first.
And then she’d look for new books. Now that she had the time, she might as well read up on what she could. Especially subjects that Janis suspected the others had neglected, like theology (Regina seemed barely willing to grant the current world the use of the term). And maybe a few travelogues, but mostly that.
It wasn’t because she was curious about the chance she’d given up. But trying to figure out how the gods’ power worked seemed like a good task to tackle. She could bother Iseis for more answers later, too.

.
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Chapter 422: Rest and Recovery