More weeks passed, and there was precious little for us to do except to continue preparing for the attack of the Misti Hawar. That the ants continued to grow more and more active wasn't helpful, but we had a tenuous relationship with them, and they were useful. How we could change this relationship longer term was a mystery, though. I'd never paid any real attention to the insects when I was a human and simply avoided wherever the massive colonies formed. Now that I was a Keel, regular ants couldn't do anything to me while the large ones would struggle to do more than pinch me.
There were mysteries to explore below our feet, but there also wasn't any time to do that, and I couldn't begin to understand how I could get someone down there without sentencing them to death by ant. So, instead of worrying about that, I focused on teaching my people warfare. Instead of hunts or simple violence, we engaged in war games that helped each of the Alphas and leaders above them to learn how to turn the tides on each other.
As far as I knew, [Pack Tactics] was granted to each Alpha as soon as they got the position, and they made full use of their rudimentary knowledge. While they did that, I too needed to learn what the difference was between what I'd done all my life until now, and engaging in a war. When I watched my people quickly develop more and more advanced tactics, I felt a painful realization come over me—every enemy we fought would have centuries of experience in this that we needed to overcome with aggression and a willingness to learn. Quickly.
"Collapse in on the flank!"
"Send in the wolfstags!"
"Disengage!"
"Yes, that there!"
Conflicting orders rang out over the field as the practice fight swelled in intensity. This was a fight between two contingents of 100 Kha and Khatif, and the Sou'Tal struggled to keep their orders specific and the battle lines working in tandem. Even so, the might of Nievtala the Conqueror's people wasn't to be underestimated, and I could see tactics and general military understanding evolving in real time. Though we had nothing but our personal experiences and each other to work against, strategies against Indlovu, Moonchildren, and humans were quickly developed. Without any way to test them in reality, they remained as mere thought experiments and ideas, but every day, we were more ready.
"Our disengagements are suffering." Percral noted as he watched the fight. "We're so used to just throwing numbers and strength at our enemies until they are defeated that we don't know how to do anything differently."
"More than that," Shemira added, "we won't have numerical superiority any time soon, even though the Kha continue to reproduce."
"Still no luck?" I asked her, pulling my attention from the fight. Kha lay where they'd been "killed" on the field ahead, their fellows working around them. The fight was dying down as one side, the militia under the Superintendent's command, admitted defeat and retreated fully while attempting to reduce their casualties.
"No." Shemira ground her fangs as she answered me. The more that Sybil and my eggs moved and showed growth, the more some of the other Keel showed desires to also reproduce. Shemira and Vefir were at the top of that list, but she had yet to become gravid. Months of constant attempts had culminated in nothing so far.
"Well, let me know if there's something I can do." I flicked my tail.
"Nothing at this time, thank you, Zaaktif." More and more, nobody called me by my name in public. Only behind closed doors, where the rank and file of my people couldn't hear us, was I Ashlani. Instead, I was the Zaaktif, the absolute ruler of my people. The more time passed that way, the more I realized I enjoyed the treatment somewhat. More and more, I was deified by my people, to be something beyond a mere mortal. With so many of my [Skills] working in tandem, I had the possibility to be so much stronger than anything else I'd ever seen. Since I had that, I should also have the treatment that befitted that.
"Very well." I dismissed the elites standing around me, allowing them to go deal with their subordinates the way they saw fit. Shemira walked with a stately grace as she walked into the midst of her defeated fighters. Many hung their heads, and she didn't give them any treatment that seemed to give any comfort. I could have listened to the instructions that she and Percral gave their people, but I didn't care to. Instead, I looked over my [Status] and sighed.
[Status:
Name: Ashlani
Race: Sonic Keel Zak'Tal
Titles: Voice of Nievtala
Killer of Redael
Fahvalo of the Moonchildren
Keel Progenitor
Current quests:
-Hunt 6 new species. Reward will vary depending on the evolutionary level of prey. Base reward: Constitution, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Magic +8. Progress: Monstrous Ant Soldier, Shoreline Snapper, Shadow Wyrm
-Subjugate or otherwise conquer a community of at least 1000 individuals. Base reward: Constitution +7, Strength, Agility +8, Intelligence +10, Magic +9. Possibility of additional rewards for greater difficulty.
- Establish a temple to Nievtala. Base requirements: Sanctum, Altar, Priesthood, Divine Representation. Rewards will vary according to effort, quality of materials, and quality of final product.
- Create a city that can house, provide for, and protect 10,000 inhabitants. Rewards will vary according to the quality of the final product.
- Lead a force of 1,000 to victory in battle. Rewards: Constitution +10, Strength, Agility, Magic +12, Intelligence +18.
Stats:
-Constitution: 261
-Strength: 296
-Agility: 263
-Intelligence: 255
-Magic: 274
Skills:
Absolute Dominance: 0/1
Combatant's Bloodlust: 3/4 (Imperial Bearing, Nemesis, Absolute Dominance)
Conqueror's Rebuke: 1/5
Evolutionary Exemplar (Cannot Evolve)
Exceptional Individual (Cannot Evolve)
Fanatic's Fortitude: Unqualified
Imperial Bearing (Cannot Evolve)
Innate Leadership (Cannot Evolve)
Nemesis: 0/5
Pack Tactics: 7/10
Pain Tolerance (Cannot Evolve)
Perpetual Sonilphon (Cannot Evolve)
-Cultivating Presence (Cannot Evolve)
-Destructive Wave (Cannot Evolve)
-Disastrous Discourse (Cannot Evolve)
-Innervating Address: 0/1
-Murderous Melody (Cannot Evolve)
-Soundless Stealth (Cannot Evolve)
Raptor's Eyes (Cannot Evolve)
Spear of the Many (Cannot Evolve)
Tremorsense (Cannot Evolve)
Victor's Spoils (Cannot Evolve)
Voice of the Divine (Cannot Evolve)
Evolutionary Possibilities
Evolutions possible, but not currently foreseen. Progress further, and such possibilities will be presented to you.]
Seeing so many [Skills] telling me they couldn't evolve as well as no evolutionary possibility present had me grinding my teeth. Though I could look at myself and compare what I was and what I could do to a regular human, that didn't give me any solace. According to Nievtala, the baseline Keel was only a bit stronger than the regular True Speaker. That wasn't a High Speaker. Although I was head and shoulders above what a regular Keel would be, I had no confidence in measuring up to a High Speaker. What little I understood about how the Veratocracy assured me that they would be growing stronger every day, as fast as they could manage. As such, I couldn't rest on my laurels, but I just didn't know what else I could do.
While I wondered about that, an interruption in the form of a call from Joral came.