Laws of the Insect Hive - Chapter 60

Chapter 60: The Contract (1)

System touched the ice-blue ring on his head with his tentacles and looked at the surrounding snow.

A few days ago, the surrounding area was still green, and it was the start of autumn.

But now…

System recalled the heavy rain that had been a disaster for the forest’s organisms, but they had managed to make it lively again. He thought of the spiders spinning webs the entire day and the ants that were trying hard to store food for themselves even when other creatures were fighting for food. He also reminisced about his old friend, the slime that had died because of him.

Naturally, he couldn’t forget the countless locusts that had fallen in the old Druid’s trap…

It was difficult to survive and live in this forest.

“Do you know what a grasshopper is?”

In the end, System decided to tell Nellis the truth.

He could feel that the ring was looking at him even though it did not have any eyes.

After looking at System, the Ice Spirit answered, “They are a creature with weird shape and soft legs of different sizes.”

System’s mouth twitched. ‘So this Ice Spirit does not know what a grasshopper is…’

System explained, “I am a grasshopper, but I’m different from the normal kind.”

System sent a telepathic message and a video about normal grasshoppers to Nellis.

“That’s an incredible skill. It can send animated images too!” Nellis complemented System’s [Mind Transmission] instead of viewing the message.

After a while, she sent System a video through [Spirit Connection] too.

In the video, System could see a three-meter tall white bear, with crystal clear eyes, running in a snow-covered forest.

System noticed that the glow in the bear’s eyes was like the ring on top of his head. He speculated that the bear was Nellis’ previous contractor.

‘Why did the bear not have a ring on top of its head?’

System stopped thinking about it as his primary goal was to inform Nellis he was not a creature with Frost Blood. There was no way he could hide it for long, so it would be much better to be honest now.

System explained, “Grasshoppers are terrified of the cold, so I can’t have Frost Blood. There must be a mistake.”

Nellis scanned through System’s body again and said through [Spirit Connection], “There’s no mistake. Not all creatures are born with Frost Blood.”

“So, you are sure that I have Frost Blood in me?”

“Yes?”

System was rendered speechless.

“Okay…”

He spoke up after a short while. “Hey, Nellis.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you think the blue ring looks weird on me?”

“No.”

“Fine… But I find it very odd. Can you change it into other shapes?”

“I can’t do that. Ice Spirits will transform differently depending on the contractor. The appearance is not changeable.”

“Is there anything you can do?”

“No.”

“Fine… Tell me more about our contract and this place you called Leyte Forest.”

…

Although the Nellis had been sleeping most of the time, she had lived for hundreds of years. She had the knowledge that System was lacking.

Nellis transmitted everything she knew, and System got a better understanding of the power in this world.

Most of the life forms in this world were born normal, including plants and animals. Surprisingly, intelligent races were considered normal too.

However, some great power may be hidden in everyone’s blood, and they could activate it because of an inherent bloodline or fulfilling some special condition. It could even be the gift of the world when one became the best of their race.

For intelligence races like Humans and Elves, they could even learn and study those magical powers.

When normal life forms could control their magical power to a certain extent, they would then be considered as magical life forms and possess unbelievable power.

Nellis was such a magical life form, but she was born that way. Other than her world knowledge, most of what Nellis knew was related to snow.

She also told System the God of Winter’s story, as well as the story of Aura, the Frost Dragon.

According to Nellis, snow had been covering the Leyte Forest for thousands of years. The ice had only recently melted, leading the forest to have four seasons.

Nellis had been asleep, so she was not privy to details. However, she was sure it had to do with Aura’s sudden disappearance.

Nellis had awoken because she picked up the Glacier Lord’s aura. However, she did not have any special relationship with the Glacier Lord. She only knew that the dragon’s name was Aura and had no idea what its real name was.

The contract was merely a method for Ice Spirits and creatures with Frost Blood to coexist. Ice Spirits would protect those with frost power, and in return, they would obtain the Spirit of Life from their contractors.

If an Ice Spirit did not find a contractor in time, it would enter deep sleep, The slumbering Ice Spirit may even die if it slept for too long.

System found nothing wrong with the contract, and his [Instinct] did not warn him either. Overall, excluding the ugly ring on top of his head, System was fine with the contract.

According to Nellis, the contract would take about half a day to complete. Even she did not know what kind of power System would get after the contract was completed, but it would have something to do with ice.

Everyone would obtain a unique power after the contract, and it could be sword, shield, claw, or even wings…