I Can Devour Monsters' SSS Talents

Chapter 404: Welcome Back

Before doing anything else, Lian opened the system panel.

The blue light slowly appeared in front of his eyes and his gaze immediately stopped on one specific section.

[Hive Dominion]

One.

His most important goal right now was to summon the giant ant.

Of course, before summoning him, he had made some short preparations.

The last time he had seen One, the giant ant could not even stand, one of his legs was broken, the armor on his chest was crushed inward and part of one of his antennae was also gone.

If the summoning did not restore the target’s physical condition and One returned with exactly the same injuries, Lian preferred to be prepared beforehand.

So after washing his face and putting on his clothes, he left the inn.

Base #9 was crowded even in the early hours of the morning. Hunting groups were leaving one after another and stores made for Awakened had started working much earlier than normal stores.

He only spent a few minutes.

He bought several healing potions, bone-repair potions, and recovery potions from a trusted store and put all of them into his Storage Space.

Then he went directly to the area for mounts.

This part of the inn area was completely different from what he had seen nine months ago.

A large area had been built behind the main buildings, with several separate sections, large stables for ground creatures and high platforms for birds and flying monsters.

There were open cages with reinforced walls for more aggressive creatures.

There were even several small training fields where Awakened could train with their companions without disturbing normal people.

As Lian passed by, he saw a wolf almost three meters tall sleeping beside its owner.

Several meters away, a reptile covered in red scales was being kept inside a heated area and on one of the high platforms, a black bird with wings almost ten meters wide was sitting.

In a place like this, the appearance of a giant ant would probably only surprise a few people, rather than putting the entire base on alert.

He rented a private area at the farthest part.

It had tall stone walls and enough space even for a creature much larger than One.

Now he could begin.

[Hive Dominion]

[Eligible Special Member detected.]

[One]

[Register One as a Special Member?]

[Yes / No]

"Yes." He said without hesitation.

[Special Members: 1/5]

For a moment, something changed through the Link.

The same very weak connection that had been almost useless until now became a little clearer.

[Inter-world Summoning available.]

[Matter Origin: Unknown World — Graveyard of Giants]

[Destination: Tenth Ruined Realm]

[Summoning Cost: 300 Fragments]

He looked at the number for a few seconds.

Three hundred.

Then his own amount appeared below it.

[Available Fragments: 307]

[Fragments after Summoning: 7]

These were all the Fragments he had collected during almost his entire time in the Special Area and after killing all those monsters.

His face remained completely expressionless for a moment, he had only just realized how valuable Fragments had become from this stage onward.

Traits needed Fragments.

Skill Fusion needed Fragments.

His class’s Innate Traits Tree also required thousands of Fragments for even the simplest options.

Three hundred Fragments was almost everything he had right now.

"Seven?" Lian looked at the final number with a slight frown.

It hurt a lot but the image of One among the ruins of the graveyard appeared in his mind.

A creature that had refused to leave him even when his master’s body was being controlled by a Calamity.

He had almost gotten himself killed three times because of him.

Lian focused on the confirmation option.

"He’s worth it." Paying all three hundred Fragments was completely worth it for a creature like him.

[Confirm Inter-world Summoning?]

[Yes.]

[300 Fragments consumed.]

[Available Fragments: 7]

[Special Member Summoning has begun.]

[Stabilizing inter-world path...]

Nothing happened for a few seconds.

Lian simply stood there.

Then suddenly, the space in the center of the area bent for a moment, not like the huge rifts humans used to travel between worlds.

It was much smaller and darker, as if someone had grabbed part of the air and slowly twisted it.

A black circle the size of a fist appeared, then expanded.

One meter.

Two meters.

Three meters.

At that moment, Hive Dominion reacted.

He suddenly felt something, he felt the presence of a living creature far away!

A creature that was in pain and its pain was heavy and unclear, then came confusion and exhaustion, hopelessness and the fear that his master had abandoned him.

And exactly when the connection was completed, an emotion so clear passed through the Link that Lian became completely silent for a moment.

Master.

The rift opened and something huge fell out from the darkness.

Boom!

The ground shook under its weight and One’s huge body fell onto the ground.

As Lian expected, the summoning had not healed any of his injuries, one of his legs was still in a strange position.

The natural armor on his chest was crushed and the middle part had caved in, one of his antennae was cut in half and there were many cracks across his body shell.

But he was alive.

The rift behind him immediately closed and Lian once again had One in front of him.

One did not move for a few seconds, he probably did not even understand what had happened.

The last thing he remembered was the Graveyard of Giants.

The death of the Titan.

The battle.

The huge presence of the Calamity.

Then the humans had disappeared, his master had also left, he thought he had been abandoned...he thought that because he had been useless, he had been thrown away...

And now he was lying in a completely unknown place, his huge head slowly moved and his eyes first checked the surroundings.

Stone walls, an open ceiling, different air and then they stopped on Lian.

For a moment, no feeling came through the Link, there was complete silence as if he could not believe what he was seeing.

But then came disbelief.

The young Vorhelm felt it much more clearly than before, Hive Dominion was not just a simple connection.

One’s emotions were now almost reaching his mind like a direct wave, the disbelief lasted for one second and then turned into recognition.

And recognition turned into a wave of happiness so strong that Lian blinked without thinking.

Master.

This time it was not a weak feeling but almost a wordless scream.

And for several seconds he said nothing, to most people, One was just a strange monster.

A giant ant, a creature that could perhaps be used as a mount or a weapon.

But Lian had seen something else.

When Black Silence had taken control of his body, everyone else had at least been forced to wonder for a moment whether anything of him was still left inside that body.

One had never doubted it, he had crawled and used his half-dead body to reach that creature.

He had tried to contact him through the Hive Link and when he received no answer, he still did not back away.

He had remained loyal to him always and under every condition.

Lian walked forward and stood beside One’s huge head, then placed his hand on the healthy part of his head armor.

"Yeah, it’s me." And he said it in a calmer voice than usual.

One immediately tried to stand up, his healthy legs pushed against the ground, his body rose several centimeters but the broken leg could not support him and his body fell down again.

"Don’t move, idiot." Lian said with a slight frown and pressed his hand harder against One’s head.

A weak feeling of protest came back through the Link but his master looked at him for a few seconds.

"No." But his answer did not change, although the ant still wanted to stand up so he could lick his master and show his affection.

Lian opened his Storage Space and took out three strong healing potions.

One was more than enough for a normal human body, but One was several times larger than a human.

He opened the first bottle and poured some of it into One’s mouth and spread the rest over the broken part of his chest armor.

The green liquid immediately began to enter his body after touching it, then the second bottle was used for the broken leg and the third for the internal injuries.

[Healing effect detected.]

[Condition: Critical → Severe]

[Regeneration process initiated.]

He let out a quiet sigh of relief, at least he was no longer on the verge of death.

One slowly raised his head, this time he did not try to stand and only moved the side of his head closer to Lian’s hand.

The movement looked a little funny because of the size of his body but its meaning was completely clear.

Lian kept his hand there.

"Next time I tell you to run, you have to run, understand?" He added seriously.

The Link immediately reacted, loyalty, stubbornness and something close to completely rejecting that order, the giant ant refused to accept it, he would not run when his master was in danger!

The young Vorhelm became silent and looked at One for a few seconds, then sighed.

"...Forget it, I know you won’t listen."

One became calmer.

"Welcome back, One."

The giant ant could not be fully healed in a few minutes.

Some fractures and deep injuries needed at least several days, even with good potions.

Lian rented the area for a few more days.

The person in charge of the area stared at One’s huge body for a few seconds when he first saw him, but he quickly returned to his professional behavior.

At Base #9, a several-meter-tall ant might be strange, but it was no longer unbelievable.

Lian paid for the food, care, and daily checkups.

Before leaving, he sent a clear command through Hive Dominion.

[Rest.]

[Do not engage in combat unless directly threatened.]

Then he left the area.

His next destination was the medical center, it was time to meet the head of the student council of their academy.