Even against the Journeyman Insects, Darius and co did not gain much from it. The most they could get was 5 experience and that was only if the bugs were level 40, just like them.
Anything below level 35 gave 0 experience and between 35-39 gave 1 measly experience point consistently. This wasn't much of a problem when considering the fact that the Journeyman bugs were numerous, literally hundreds of them.
A consistent flow of droplets would eventually form a mighty ocean. By the time Darius and the other three were about to reach the Adept portion, which was the 50% depth of the underground, they had gone further in their after-class level up.
[You have gained 45,809 EXP, etc.]
[Gunner has gained 42,882 EXP, etc.]
[Xela has gained 40,987 EXP, etc.]
[You have leveled up x11! You are now level 40(+23). You have gained 1.1 Ability Points and Skill Points to spend as you wish!]
[Gunner has leveled up x11! He is now level 40(+84). He has gained 1.1 Ability Points and Skill Points to spend as he wishes!]
[Xela has leveled up x10! She is now level 40(+83). She has gained 1 Ability Points and Skill Points to spend as he wishes!]
It certainly didn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but it was nevertheless progress, especially since their cap was +400 at the Journeyman stage compared to the +200 at the Amateur stage.
Darius also noted that he really had to make up for the gap between him and his Branded Servants. In other news, Gunner now had 50 AP and 51 SP, so Darius was thinking of allocating it since it reached a relatively whole number.
The AP especially could be shared, but the SP was undecided. After all, Gunner didn't really have that many skills that warranted an upgrade, and Darius believed that Earth's Guardian was not the only special skill he would unlock.
From what he knew, the Giant Race should have a base affinity with earth and gain the Earth Guardian skill if their purity was high enough, but as a Royal Half-Giant, there was no way Gunner was limited to just this.
He should also have access to the Royal Giant bloodline skill: Gigantify! With it, he would be able to freely increase his size to colossal proportions, able to maximize his insane strength as he dealt with entire cities and continents, not just one or two foes.
Xela too was no different. She had a connection with the Divine Light and the Divine Life, two semi-divine elemental concepts with unique powers, which had given birth to her Divine Maiden class and her various skills.
But as an Elven Princess, she was more than just that. The whole issue leading to her exile stemmed from the bloodline inheritance ceremony all chosen elves were to go through.
A certain group within the race did not fancy the idea of Xela awakening her bloodline skill, since she was one of the few in their history to gain the blessing of two Divine Concepts at once during the selection ceremony.
Had she done so, her position within the race would have risen and she could very well have been chosen to be the next Elf God, something which everyone selected by the Divine Concepts greatly desired.
As if that wasn't enough the Source of Magic was slowly growing from the culmination of all the Divine Concepts. Darius was greatly interested in finding out what it would give birth to in the end.
Paying a visit to both the elves and the giants was a necessary course of action after completing this quest. As their average power after reaching the Adept stage would be enough to handle most opposition from the two targets.
Finally, the trio reached the most important checkpoint of their mission: the Adept band. Darius regrouped with Xela and Gunner, smiling with satisfaction in the fact that the hives he had planted a curse upon were no longer at their former locations.
That's right, just as he had planned. They had been stricken by fear and migrated downward. This was due to his actions and the descriptions left by survivors, making them think that Darius' group was unbeatable, and only the Grandmasters and co could handle them.
Normally, the Adepts would have stepped up anyway, but all of their hives were feeling lethargic, so they decided to go down and recuperate and let the stronger ones vanquish the foes before returning everything to the status quo.
However, that was a fatal mistake. Darius was now 90% confident that all hives below this point were either fully infected by the Soul Curse or would soon suffer that fate.
In other words, the main event could begin, the actual battle against their accursed race!
Darius did not wait for Miranda and Solena to catch up with their network, not knowing that they had split up their efforts to clear the above and below.
Rather, he continued on with Gunner and Xela in tow, rapidly teleporting down until they found the first bastion of the Insects. It seemed as if the thinktanks within the Insect race had realized Darius' plan after a large majority of their force had been infected.
They had also likely identified that the Adept bugs were the source, and so had punished them to gather here and block Darius outside of the Master band or die.
Once again, this wasn't just speculation on his part, but a deduction he had arrived at after hearing the communication between the Adept hives here. While they knew that Darius had done something to infect them, they did not realize it was through inter-hive communication.
They rather thought it was air-borne or transferred through touch, which was also a reasonable assumption since it was hard to believe someone was able to break down the special communication method nature had given them over hundreds of years of evolution in a mere two weeks!
The mere thought of it alone was bloodchilling, and the Insects would never believe lest they see it.
