Lucius headed deeper into the trenches of the hole he had uncovered, careful to leave subtle markers behind so he could find his way back.
The air grew colder, carrying a tallic tang that clung to his throat. The deeper he went, the less the cavern resembled anything natural.
It was not stone or dirt that greeted him—it was smooth tal walls, angled in ways that reminded him of war bunkers, and faint carvings of runes that had long since lost their light.
He stepped carefully, boots echoing softly on tiled ground as he passed remnants of tables, shattered glass, and the outlines of machines he didn’t recognize.
Eventually, his path opened into what could only be described as a lab. Computer terminals lined the walls, their screens dark, coated in a thin veil of dust.
Strange instrunts lay scattered across counters, so rusted, others surprisingly intact. None of this should have existed down here—certainly not in this world.
Lucius approached one of the larger terminals, brushing the dust from its surface.
"System, connect."
He murmured, his voice low.
The interface in his mind pulsed as the familiar monotone voice replied.
[Attempting to synchronize with external device... running scans...]
Lines of faint light flickered across the computer’s black screen, struggling against years of disuse. The system spoke again:
[Connection established at minimal capacity. Attempting to link to main divine system...]
Lucius waited, eyes narrowing. He almost expected sothing to finally stir, but after a long silence the system answered:
[Link failed. Main body cannot be found. Energy source depleted.]
He let out a quiet breath, half-disappointed, half-relieved.
"So even here, you’re cut off."
He tried to force the computer on manually, fingers running across the cracked keyboard, but nothing answered.
The machines were corpses without a heartbeat—without an energy supply, they were useless.
And dragging a working core down here would be too dangerous, not with the settlent depending on him.
Lucius stepped back, taking in the ruined lab one last ti.
"Another ti."
He muttered. He pulled debris over the entryway until it blended seamlessly back into the earth. For now, this place would remain buried.
When he finally returned to the Dawn Settlent, the rhythm of life was slowly falling back into place.
The guards were steadier, children played again, and the scientists buried themselves in notes. For a mont, Lucius allowed himself to think peace might last a day longer.
That thought was broken by a sudden cry from the farming fields.
Lucius turned sharply, striding toward the noise. A group of farrs clustered at the edge of the wheat rows, shouting in alarm.
"What happened?"
He demanded, pushing through.
One pointed at the stalks with a pale face.
"Look, sir—sothing’s eating through the crops. They’re rotting before our eyes."
Lucius crouched, eyes narrowing. The fields writhed with black-bodied insects, their mandibles chewing through fresh grain until golden stalks collapsed into brittle husks.
Recognition struck him at once. He had seen infestations like this before, back when the world still had four proper seasons.
"Insects. Of course. Spring approaches."
He muttered.
The farrs erupted into debate—burn the fields, crush the pests, spray what little poison they had left. Lucius raised a hand and their voices died.
"Do nothing reckless. Charging in will waste both crops and lives."
He ordered.
"But sir—"
"I said enough. This is no ordinary swarm. They are a sign that the cold is receding. Hunger follows the thaw. But they can be driven away."
His tone silenced even the most frantic. He stood, watching the pests with a calculating gaze.
He pointed toward the edges of the fields.
"Build smoke pits. Keep them burning around the clock. The fus will drive them off without poisoning the soil. Spread ash between the rows—they detest it. That will keep them from burrowing deeper."
The farrs exchanged uncertain glances, but nodded. They had seen Lucius survive too much to doubt him now.
Lucius lingered, eyes narrowing at the insects’ strangely organized movents. There was sothing more to this swarm.
Whether it was natural or engineered, he couldn’t yet tell. But he pushed the thought aside. Survival ca first.
"Do as I’ve said. We will not starve. Not while I’m here."
He finished.
The farrs scattered to follow his orders, steadier now. Lucius remained, staring at the pests devouring the edge of the field.
Unease coiled in his chest like a whisper, but he smothered it. This was only the first trial of spring.
Lucius stayed longer than he intended at the edge of the fields.
Smoke pits and ash could work on ordinary swarms, but the more he watched, the more certain he beca—this swarm was not ordinary.
The insects were larger than they should be, their carapaces faintly glimring as if mana seeped through their bodies.
Their movents were sharp, coordinated, and disturbingly fast.
When one farr tried to swat them with a hoe, the swarm scattered and then regrouped in perfect formation, devouring another row in unison.
Lucius knelt, scooping up the remains of one crushed underfoot. Its mandibles twitched even in death, humming with faint traces of mana.
He crushed it between his fingers, and the faint static burned against his skin.
Of course. These pests had consud the mana-rich crops, and in doing so, they had changed.
Evolution accelerated unnaturally. They weren’t insects anymore—they were mana-borne creatures, driven not only by hunger but by the energy now embedded in their bodies.
Lucius exhaled sharply, straightening.
"So the land itself adapts."
He muttered. He could not afford to underestimate them. Dealing with this swarm would be tricky, but this was not the first ti he had seen such a problem.
Fragnts of mory surfaced—one of his previous lives, long before this body, long before this world had crumbled.
Back then, his kingdom had faced a plague of mana-infused locusts, creatures that had reduced fields to dust overnight. The solution had been difficult, but effective.
Now, he had more solutions for this.
He turned sharply to one of the nearby workers.
"Bring Mira to ."
The man blinked, startled.
"Mira, sir? Shouldn’t we call the farrs instead?"
"No. This is not a problem they can solve with their hands. Go. Fetch her."
Lucius said firmly.
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