Apotheosis

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Loud sounds of drums from outside woke Zen up in the early hours of the morning.

As soon as he opened his door, he was infected by the atmosphere.

Amidst the bustle of the drumming, a hundred imperial soldiers were marching out of the fort in groups.

Martin located Zen, assembled the team, and they took up the task of hunting blade locusts beyond the confines of the fort.

Hundreds of miles in front of Dragon Fort was the principal battlefield against blade locusts.

Dead blade locusts were piled up in heaps on both sides of the path.

Zen saw some people crowding around the heaps as if they were searching for something. Occasionally one of them would prod at a corpse.

He noticed that all those scavenging the bodies were ordinary citizens. None of them were body refiners.

'So why are they out there?' he wondered. Common people were so weak that a single blade locust could easily kill them all. The battlefield was too dangerous for them.

After watching the people rifling through the remains, Zen asked, "Why are these civilians risking their lives outside the fort? Aren't they afraid to die?"

Martin laughed at his question, "Afraid to die? Of course, they are afraid to die. Every year many civilians get themselves killed here. Just a few days ago, some damned blade locusts got lucky! They rushed in, killing a dozen civilians."

"Then why do they come out of the fort?" asked Zen, puzzled.

Martin smiled, "It has to do with your sect."

Zen was still confused, so, Roger explained, "Each blade locust has a crystal core in its chest. In our sect, they only need the crystal cores you have collected to count the number of blade locusts you have killed. Usually, we take the crystal cores after we kill them. But, we always miss some amidst the many carcasses. These people are here to take a chance on luck. Crystal cores are sold at a premium in the fort."

That explanation cleared it up for Zen.

Twenty crystal cores were worth one point. One point was worth two cubic crystals.

Refiners would love to buy some crystal cores with gold or silver that they had no use for. At the same time, through trade, ordinary individuals could make a fortune, living a prosperous, comfortable life. It was a small wonder why so many men were willing to risk their lives looking for crystal cores outside of the fort.

Ahead, the lush green rain forest was quiet.

In the face of the insect army, other beasts migrated yearly because they were as defenseless as humans when it came to the insect horde. The creatures either went into hiding deep underground or fled the forest entirely.

All was still. The only sound was the leaves rustling in the wind.

Moving silently, Zen and the others made their way into the forest.

Since a blade locust's entire body was grass-green hues, they blended in with the environment perfectly, making them good at camouflaging themselves in the forest. When prey was close enough, they would leap out and make the kill.

The instant Zen brushed by a shrub, there were two blades shooting out at his n

.

Not far off branches stirred and then blade locusts came into view.

But this time, something was different.

Dozens of purple blade locusts were with this lot.

"Blade locust officers!"

Zen's eyes flickered at sight.

These locusts were more valuable than the normal blade locusts. Each officer was worth one point, the equivalent of twenty normal blade locusts.

Surely officers were harder to kill than normal blade locusts.

"All right, men, watch out! The officers are poisonous. Be careful of the needles!" warned Martin. The truth was, only Zen needed the warning since everyone else already knew.

A blade locust officer was a level four beast with a body comparable to a refiner who was a half-step in the nature level. Sharp venomous spikes spread across its purple body, making it a savage foe.

Martin's warning didn't make Zen flinch though. Instead, he charged forward fearlessly.

Blade locust officers made clicking with their mandibles as if they were talking to each other when Zen rushed at them.

The significant difference between the officers and ordinary locusts was that the officers were intelligent, and could communicate!

A half dozen officers had reached a decision after their short discussion and fanned out in Zen's direction, and the next second he was surrounded.

"That was a little reckless, Zen! You've gotten yourself enclosed!" called Martin from behind.

"Let's give him a hand," said Tank as he and Sun moved in closer. They fought side by side in the battle, and before long they warmed up to each other, becoming fast friends. So as soon as they saw Zen in danger, they hurried to lend him a hand.

Roger was the only one who didn't move. He knew full well Zen was too cautious to make such a mistake. Zen would have thought it through before acting. So, Roger was secure in his belief that Zen could handle the situation.

Standing there, Roger wondered what Zen's plan was. What tactic would he employ to deal with the six blade locust officers simultaneously? Roger's curiosity was piqued.