"We have to fight back! The commander and all the others are dead, but we cannot outrun those things!" One of the Masters roared. He was a bulging orc with a huge warhammer in his hand, his green skin and two tusks iconic to his race gleaming.
He wore some heavy armor that was decorated with skins and trophies from his previous kills.
[Janken Fugo - Level 78 Hammer Orc
HP: 26,702/26,702 MP: 1,170/1,170 STA: 12,324/12,324]
Beside him was another orc that only wore a red skirt and a banner that hung on his back. In either arm, he held two long katanas that were chipped but glowing with a red light.
"That's right, we must fight! For Octum!" he roared as he invoked the name of their tribal totem.
[Shiken Kengo - Level 73 Orc Blademaster
HP: 14,000/14,000 MP: 1,241/1,241 STA: 8,176/8,176]
The last orc of the group, a tall and burly warrior who wore two gauntlets on either hand that were spiked and coated with blood, patted his semi-bare chest and straightened his hide armor he let out a low growl.
"If we die, we die like orcs!"
[Hatchken Yango - Level 75 Orc Pugilist
HP: 19,856/19,856 MP: 750/750 STA: 10,200/10,200]
"I may be a half-breed, but my blood runs with the power of the orcs and the wisdom of the humans! Feel my magic!" Another shorter half-orc shouted out as red lighting crackled around him and his staff.
He wore a long robe that covered his entire body minus his face, showing his aged looks and semi-human features. He had a slightly bent back and thick fingers that were almost bony.
[Liam Kugo - Level 72 Orc Shaman
HP: 3,060/3,060 MP: 10,368/10,368 STA: 4,896/4,896]
The final fellow, who was a full human with a bare torso that showed many markings and symbols carved onto his flesh by burning rod tried to muster up the courage, but his voice faltered.
"I am a proud warrior of the Hungao Empire! I-I too shall fight!" He croaked out uncertainly, his bald head covered with sweat and his light green eyes displaying his fear.
[Henson Barrow - Level 71 Tattoo Warrior
HP: 5,950/5,950 MP: 7,242/7,242 STA: 4,970/4,970]
Darius shook his head. The gap between humans and non-humans of the same stage was laid bare with this group. The orcs had HPs in the tens of thousands and great amounts of stamina, while the human variant was far weaker.
Even the shaman who was not a physical fighter benefited from his orcish heritage, blessing him with a good portion of Strength and Endurance while his human side gave him high Intellect.
However, there was balance. The full orcs had less than 20 points of Intellect, the pugilist even having only 10 points! That made him just as smart as your average uneducated human adult!
The human though, had Master level Int, and looking at his skills, Darius believed that he was a strange variant of battlemage called Tattoo Warrior, a specialty of the Hungao Empire.
Some may pity them, since the three Master bugs only spent a few seconds adapting to their newfound power before their eyes laid on their food. They then made some clicking sounds, agitating the lower tier bugs to form a formation behind them.
This shocked Darius and the Masters. These bugs were newly born and ignorant, how could they know about battle formations so quickly?
Darius' only guess in that regard was that it had to be some sort of genetic inheritance that had been unlocked by evolving to this stage.
Putting this aside, Darius inspected the three to gauge their stats and was left horrified.
[Detected target is of a Friendly affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]
[Name: Bugsy Jones
Race: Insect
Class: Killer Bug
Subclass: Open
HP: 28,000/28,000
MP: 11,200/11,200
STA: 14,000/14,000
Level: 61
Strength: 140
Agility: 150
Endurance: 200
Intellect: 160
Charisma: 5
Luck: 0
P-Status: Healthy
M-Status: Confident
Affection: Friendly lvl max]
[Detected target is of a Friendly affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]
[Name: Bugsy Malone
Race: Insect
Class: Killer Bug
Subclass: Open
HP: 28,000/28,000
MP: 11,200/11,200
STA: 14,000/14,000
Level: 61
Strength: 140
Agility: 150
Endurance: 200
Intellect: 160
Charisma: 5
Luck: 0
P-Status: Healthy
M-Status: Amused
Affection: Friendly lvl max]
[Detected target is of a Friendly affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]
[Name: Bugsy Falcone
Race: Insect
Class: Killer Bug
Subclass: Open
HP: 28,000/28,000
MP: 11,200/11,200
STA: 14,000/14,000
Level: 61
Strength: 140
Agility: 150
Endurance: 200
Intellect: 160
Charisma: 5
Luck: 0
P-Status: Healthy
M-Status: Aroused
Affection: Friendly lvl max]
Darius stood up from his seat, no longer able to look on with amusement. After all, these kinds of stats for an early-stage Master were almost as horrific as Lord Darm in his weakened form!
One should know, powerhouses like Lord Darm were rare. How many millennia-old vampires at the Vampire Lord rank would Faust as a whole have? Even then, as the name implied, it would have taken millennia for those undead to reach their power level.
Yet these bugs had only been out for how long? 30 minutes? And they had produced 3 weakened Lord Darms?
What the hell was up with that?
With such a growth capability, how could the Insect race possibly be stopped?
No wonder the Gods and Demons themselves had to take part and quell their invasion!
Even then, they had been unable to fully genocide the Insects, forcing them to return and occasionally send out extermination missions for the continents to combine forces to cull them. A race like this…
Darius' heart quivered as his fear turned to excitement, then glee.
A race like this, if he could raise them… He would no longer need fear Grandmasters and Gods!
Even if they couldn't kill them, he could release his bugs in the territory and leave them to fight it out.
By the time they were done, or before that Darius would rise to their level as he would only have to complete Quests to reach the next stage.
Of course, this was not purposefully ignoring their difficulty.
