Project: Mage - The Frugal Mage

In the basement, there was little light, but it was still possible to see two women and a large white cocoon with red stripes, the stripes seemed to pulse as if it was alive. At the same time, the sound of a heartbeat can be heard from inside the cocoon, but it was very low and barely noticeable.

One of them had gray hair looking 23-24 years old and was sitting in a corner, while on the other side there was a hot, sensual woman with red hair. But there was a strange thing about the red-haired woman, she had a pipe connecting her to the big cocoon a few feet away from her.

Zzzzzz ... Zzzzzz ... Zzzzz ...

The hissing sounds were heard before Liu Yang's body appeared on the scene. A hole appeared in the ceiling and his body fell to the floor.

"Li Wuuuuu !!!" Ivy screamed out loud when she saw Liu Yang's body covered in black flames. She knew how horrible those flames were and being burned alive in them was worse than death.

"Stop" The other woman spoke casually. She had already seen the state of Liu Yang using ants.

"What are you saying???!!! How will he keep his part of the promise if he dies ???!!!" Ivy was almost crying when she saw Liu Yang's current state.

"Look closely at his body. And reflect if he is in danger or not "The woman spoke calmly and nonchalant. She and Liu Yang had made a deal before he fought the three men of the blood race. 

"That's ..." Ivy looked closely at Liu Yang's body and saw that he was fine, his breathing was normal, but his heart rate was very weak. Somehow, his body was regenerating very fast, but at the same time, burning at the same speed.

"It looks like he is using the black flames to train his physical body. He's very crazy "The woman changed her tone to speak this time, she found what Liu Yang was doing impressive. Not just anyone would have the courage to do that.

"How is this possible??" Ivy didn't know what Liu Yang had eaten or drank so that his body would regenerate so fast and keep up with the speed that the flames burned.

"He must have used some kind of treasure. My ants will analyze his current state, you don't have to worry about it. " The woman waved her hand and some ants surrounded Liu Yang.

These ants were different from the previous ones, they had thin and sensitive antennae, but they didn't have the red stripes on the back.

Ants' antennae began to analyze Liu Yang's health status, but they didn't come too close to being burned.

"I see… It looks like his physical body is about to have a breakthrough in his training method. He must be using this opportunity to improve his physical body… He is really brave, this queen likes it "The woman smiled beautifully when she saw what Liu Yang was trying to do.

But who is she? How does she manage to control ants as if they are her servants? The answer was simple, she was the queen of the ants, she was the queen of the entire ant colony of the place. 

Ivy did not comment on the matter. She was happy that Liu Yang was able to get back alive after the confrontation he had with Jarlen, Vincent, and Oberon.

When Ivy appeared on the surface before, the ants were the ones who brought her in before taking her back underground.

When Liu Yang left Ivy somewhere far from the dune and took Sarina and Mia to the Nazca Transport Center, Ivy was kidnapped by the ants, she had been poisoned by another species of ant.

After a brief conversation, Ivy was taken and Liu Yang was allowed to take the two women to the transport center. A deal was made between Liu Yang and the ant queen.

…

Going back more than a month ago ...

After running through the desert for several months, Liu Yang, Sarina, Mia, and Ivy finally arrived near the Nazca Plateau City. When they arrived a hundred kilometers from the city, Little One warned Liu Yang about the three men of the blood race.

The group returned as far as possible, the group walked until they reached a few kilometers away from the anthill. However, this was enough for the group to be detected by the ants.

Little One smelled the ants, but she thought the anthill was as common as any other. But she was wrong because she didn't know that the nest was mutant ants.

The group did not dare to get too close to the anthill because it was suicide to do so.

Ivy was a little distant from the anthill while Liu Yang took the two women to the plateau, he didn't know that Ivy had been kidnapped the first night she was alone.

When Liu Yang left town, he called Ivy to come up with a plan, but someone who answered was someone else.

"The person you are looking for is busy at the moment"

"Who are you?" Liu Yang was serious when he heard an unknown voice on the cell phone. He pretended it was okay not to alert the three men of the blood race.

"You don't need to know who I am, you just need to know that I want to make a deal with you. When you're in a safe place without being followed, you can call me again. Your woman is safe, she is just sleeping. When you call me again, she'll be awake. "The ant queen hung up the phone.

(Little One, can you tell if anyone besides those three is following us?) Liu Yang was startled to learn that he was being followed by someone.

If not even Little One talked about it, that person must be very powerful or its stealths skills were incredible.

(Master, I can't feel anyone else following us, but there are some creatures following the master and those three) Little One was shocked to discover that some creatures were following Liu Yang was someone's spies. She had smelled it before, but she didn't think it would be controlled by anyone.

(What kind of creature?) Liu Yang was curious about this.

(Ants. There are some ants following the master, but they are hidden within the sand. Their camouflage power is incredible. If I didn't have a powerful sense of smell, I would never be able to smell these ants. It looks like they merged with the sand, this is very strange) Little One was frightened by the ants' ability to camouflage, she had thought they were random beings living in the desert. But she was wrong.

(Ants? Are you talking about that anthill we found before? But we weren't too far away? How did these ants follow us here?)

(Master, it seems that inside the anthill there is an extremely powerful existence. For it is very rare for a desert beast to speak human language. It must be very well hidden so that the union cannot find it.) Little One thought about this possibility. For only extremely powerful creatures or with rare bloodlines can speak.

(I see ... Maybe this being could be the queen of the anthill) Liu Yang imagined.

The queen was the most important being within the ant colony and the most powerful at the same time.

(What will the master do? Will we report this to the union? Or will we speak to her?)

(We will talk to her. I don't want Ivy to get hurt) That was the best option for them at the moment.

(Master, rest for a while after you run for a while.)

(Yes, I will do that)

…

Liu Yang ran for several hours before taking out a tent and hiding inside it. The three men of the blood race also stopped and rested.

"I'm glad you called again." The woman spoke provocatively.

"I want to see her." Liu Yang wanted to know if Ivy was okay or not.

"It's all right. You can see her "The video call was activated and Ivy's image was shown, she was sitting on the floor while meditating, there was no injury to her body.

"Ivy, are you okay?" Liu Yang asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. She wants to make a deal with you. "Liu Yang pointed to the ant queen.

When the camera was turned, Liu Yang was startled by the appearance of the ant queen. Humanoid. The ant queen had a humanoid appearance, but its entire body was that of an ant.

The queen was able to stand with both legs, her hands were sharp claws. The head was of a giant ant. She had a tube coming out of her back and was connected to a cocoon.

Looking at this scene, Liu Yang thought something was wrong.

(Little One, have you seen such an ant before? Is a queen like that?) Liu Yang was curious about this. He knew that in the world there were infinite types of creatures and there are those that have never been recorded.

(Yes. I have seen such an ant queen before in my memories. This type of queen with a humanoid physique is very rare, even in the Green World, normal ant queens are extremely gigantic insects or small as the palm of a hand.) Little One has seen a humanoid-looking ant before when she analyzed the memories she received when she was born, this information was passed down from generation to generation in the royal family.

As its name implies, the Green World is a world where a large part of the inhabitants perceive green nature as insects, trees, plants, and many other types of creatures that represent nature. Wild flesh-and-blood beasts were rare in this world but were easily found in the Beast World.

(I see…)

(But there is something strange about this ant queen, she shouldn't be able to live outside the Green World without having a contract with someone. I'm curious about how she stayed in that world after so long)

(That's true?)

(Yes)

The duo was curious to know about the origins of this humanoid ant queen.