Ashlani’s Reincarnation Chapter 54

I stood before the deadly serious Alqat, and looked around. All 17 stood, proud and unmoving, and looked over at . I looked between them, and nodded.

"So, you support who you think to be the most suited or likely to beco a Keel? Or who you think is most like to beco Zaaktif?"

Second quirked a smile. "Sowhat of both. We believe that he or she who becos the Keel progenitor will also be the chosen of Nievtala and the Zaaktif to rebuild Nievtra."

"Then are there other keelish swarms that also have groups of Alqat who look to reestablish the Keel race and Nievtra?"

Second's face beca... resigned. "We are the only swarm, so far as we know, that has any knowledge of our forebears. Further, we are far and away the most intelligent swarm of keelish any of ours have ever co across. The rest... never progress beyond a juvenile thought process. The majority of our own are the sa. You are sure to have encountered many of the kind." Brutus, Greel, and most of the yet unnad keelish ca to mind, almost involuntarily.

"So... the Alqat is comprised of those who aren't... ntally underdeveloped?"

"That isn't our primary requirent, but yes." Second was starting to glance at the door.

"Final question: How do you tell that one has the potential to beco a... progenitor?"

Second arched an eye ridge. "Power."

I waited for him to expand on that. He didn't.

After a mont, Second chuckled lightly to himself. "So, you ant it when you said final question, even when provoked." He shook his head, "Even so, I ant what I said. The most powerful individuals are the closest to being a Keel." He then nodded and walked out. As he went, I watched, then thought to ask the [System].

Is this story correct? I've never heard of the Keel before.

[The Keel are an extinct race, and can be considered the forebears of the modern keelish.]

So is the story correct?

[The Administrator has deed it unnecessary to divulge that information. However, that decision may be rescinded, depending on your future growth.]

Ugh. Are all of the evolutions available to equal in offering potential growth towards being a Keel?

[No.]

... I can't imagine I'll get a straight answer from you, but... which one is best?

[The Administrator has deed it unnecessary to...]

I wanted to bang my head against the wall, but decided against it. I wasn't ever going to get all the deeper questions answered by the [System] but would instead have to continue growing and thinking of important questions to ask the Administrator when I got the chance. What should I ask about next? While I had been focused on personal growth and survival for the last month of my life, I still had one end goal--find and kill Viilor. I'd had more ti on my hands of late, and as I'd found my mind wander, I felt less of a burning hatred towards him. I didn't like it. While I was (surprisingly) quickly finding myself fitting in with the keelish of the swarm, I still wished for my old life back in most ways. I missed cooked food, and not having to constantly be wary for my life, and soft beds, and good hands, and not just pissing where I stood, and not constantly training for combat, and not being able to use the Words of Power, and... the list would be neverending if I didn't consciously stop myself. Regardless, at its core was Viilor's betrayal.

That said, it seed like if I could evolve to a Keel, I could very well create a society that fulfilled many of these needs and wants. So should that line of questioning take precedence? Who knew, since I couldn't figure out my own mind on the subject.

As Second left, he was accompanied by the majority of the Alqat, but Wisterl stayed behind.

"I've heard you want to be accepted by the Alqat." She grinned, and a glint of madness I'd never seen in her before seed to flicker in her eyes.

"That is true."

"You just heard from A--Second," she caught herself, "that what we look for is power above all. In a fight with intelligent creatures, I'm 1. We have a war soon to be, so let ." In her excitent, she seed to be cutting words from her sentences.

I hesitated. "So... you want to train , is that it?"

She nodded, eyes glinting again with that mad tint.

A part of was afraid of what she'd do to , but the rest of figured it couldn't be too bad. "Alright then. Count in. Can we start in two days?"

She cocked her head, "Why wait?"

"I just have a couple of things to do real quick. I promise, in two days, we will be able to begin." I wanted to try to hunt and eat three new species as soon as possible, and then try to see what the newest Quest would be, before I moved into combat training.

Wisterl looked disappointed, but nodded. "Two days then."

I almost felt like I'd dodged a bullet, but shrugged off the feeling and rose up to my swarm's den.

...

There wasn't anything notable in my ascent, but I did see several other adult keelish lurking around, and two others who were speaking with so of the mbers of the Alqat that I didn't recognize, but recognized that they weren't currently Alqat. My competition, then.

I shrugged internally and made my way into my den. There, everything was proceeding as normal, but I ca across Joral, who seed to be looking for , since he lit up once he saw .

"What's up, Joral?"

He almost looked like Ilcron, my pet hultzi (a bird that had hooked talons on its wings), in how he bounded towards and looked at . "I heard we have a real enemy to fight, like you did with the wolfstags. I want to take so of the smaller ones out to try to find them, but Beta said I needed your permission. Permission?"

My imdiate reaction was to say "Blazes no", but there wasn't much of a real reason to it, other than his very likely death at their hands... and the spawnling had no concept of his own mortality, so trying to explain that would be, very likely, to no avail. Instead, I looked down at him and said, "I'll let you know in the morning at the latest. Co look for to remind ." Yes, I decided to put it off. I was physically exhausted from the sessions with Rulac, and emotionally drained by the vision of the Keel.

As I retired back to my room, I sighed, and wondered: do I need to stop caring about survival rates among my subordinates?