Chapter 72: Wasps

The buzzing grew louder.

One hole after another began to fill with wasps. They poured out of the openings in the cavern walls, quickly gathering in the air before Ethan and Aria.

This was only a tiny fraction of the wasps living in the nest, yet hundreds had already emerged.

Aria moved closer to Ethan.

"There’s so many..."

Ethan remained calm. He had been waiting for an opportunity to test his newly evolved Solar Elementals.

"Good. I was just looking for something to test them on."

The wasps suddenly increased their speed, rushing toward them from every direction.

Ethan gave the order.

"Solar Ray. Fire at will."

Hundreds of Solar Elementals turned toward the incoming swarm.

Their golden-red eyes suddenly grew brighter.

The next moment, hundreds of golden beams shot out at once.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The wasps in front were killed almost instantly. More beams followed, hitting the wasps behind them before they could even reach Ethan and Aria.

In just a few seconds, hundreds of wasps fell to the ground.

The air filled with the smell of burnt flesh.

Ethan’s screen was flooded with system notifications.

The notifications kept appearing.

[Killed Level 15 Wasp. EXP + 750.]

[Killed Level 15 Wasp. EXP + 750.]

[Killed Level 15 Wasp. EXP + 750.]

[Killed Level 15 Wasp. EXP + 750.]

...

Aria’s eyes widened as hundreds of EXP notifications appeared before her.

"Whoa..."

Each wasp was only worth 1,500 EXP, but the experience was split equally between her and Ethan.

Hundreds of wasps meant hundreds of notifications.

The Solar Elementals killed a large number of them, but they couldn’t stop every wasp in the swarm.

Some wasps slipped through the gaps and flew toward Ethan and Aria from behind.

Before they could get close, the shadows around them suddenly moved.

One wasp after another fell from the air.

Ethan watched the last few wasps disappear.

His newly evolved Solar Elementals had already dealt with most of the swarm without even needing to charge their Solar Rays.

Aria stared at the dead wasps scattered across the ground.

"...That’s it?"

Ethan glanced at the bodies.

"This is only a very small number of them."

As the wasps disappeared, several small orbs were left behind on the ground.

Each orb had the image of a feather inside.

Agility Essence.

Ethan walked over to one of them, picked it up, and crushed it in his hand.

[Agility +1,500]

[Duration: 10 Minutes]

[One Mind, One Legion activated.]

[Agility +1,500 has been shared with the Shadow Wraith Legion]

[Agility +1,500 has been shared with the Solar Elemental Legion.]

[Duration: 10 Minutes]

Ethan picked up another orb and tossed it to Aria.

"Crush it."

Once Aria did so, Ethan looked toward the countless holes covering the cavern walls.

The wasps had come from those holes, which meant the real swarm was still deeper inside.

"We need to move."

Aria followed his gaze.

"Into those holes? Aren’t they too small for us to pass through?"

Ethan looked at the openings.

"The Solar Elementals will clear the way."

Aria stared at the holes again.

"We’re really going in there?"

She looked at the countless openings around them.

"Those things are coming from everywhere. I really don’t like this."

Ethan ignored her and chose one of the openings.

"Let’s make a path first."

He gave the order through One Mind, One Legion.

Several Solar Elementals turned toward the wall.

Their golden-white eyes lit up.

The next moment, golden beams shot into the wall.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The stone around the opening shattered, quickly making the passage much wider.

The noise attracted the wasps nearby.

A large group rushed out of the surrounding holes and attacked the Solar Elementals.

One after another, they stabbed their stingers into the Solar Elementals, but their attacks couldn’t do anything against their tough bodies.

After dozens of failed attacks, the wasps suddenly changed direction.

They flew straight toward Ethan and Aria.

Ethan remained calm.

"Solar Flare."

The Solar Elementals’ bodies suddenly released a burst of intense golden light.

The wasps were blinded and lost control of their flight.

They fell from the air, unable to reach Ethan and Aria.

Before they could recover, the Shadow Wraiths attacked from the surrounding shadows, striking the falling wasps before they could recover.

The remaining swarm quickly became smaller until none were left in the air.

At the same time, the Solar Elementals had already begun widening the opening.

Golden beams continued shooting from their eyes, breaking apart the stone and clearing the narrow passage.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The hole quickly became large enough for Ethan and Aria to pass through.

"Let’s go."

The Solar Elementals moved ahead, continuing to clear the path.

Ethan and Aria followed closely behind.

Whenever the Solar Elementals encountered another opening or blocked section, they simply fired their Solar Rays and destroyed it.

The deeper they went, the louder the buzzing became.

Ethan’s Shadow Wraiths spread through the darkness ahead, keeping watch for anything approaching.

The Solar Elementals continued clearing the way as Ethan and Aria followed behind, moving deeper into the Wasp Nest.

Aria covered one ear.

"Why are there so many of them?"

Through One Mind, One Legion, Ethan sensed one of the Shadow Wraiths stop ahead.

Ethan’s expression changed slightly.

"Stop."

The Solar Elementals immediately ceased firing.

Through the Shadow Wraith ahead, Ethan saw the tunnel open into a massive underground cavern. Thousands of wasps covered the walls, ceiling, and ground, crawling over enormous nests that filled almost every part of the cavern.

Ethan remained silent for a moment.

"There’s a massive cavern ahead. Thousands of wasps are covering the walls, ceiling, and ground. There are enormous nests everywhere."

Aria’s expression changed.

"Thousands?"

Ethan nodded.

Aria took a deep breath.

"There’s... way too many."

Ethan remained calm.

"They haven’t noticed us yet."

Aria looked at him suspiciously.

"You’re not thinking about fighting all of them, are you?"

"Of course I am. I’m also thinking about how much experience we’re going to get from all of them."