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One of the issues the teleportation network had helped address was the beasts and other monsters attacking settlements, but that wasn’t really that big an issue anymore. The beasts had been united by stronger alphas, and large groups had been formed, none of which attacked human settlements. Especially not after the last World Congress, where they had voted on the Unusual Unions Path, which had resulted in many people evolving into classes that worked well with beasts or professions that could make things beasts wanted. This had even formed diplomatic relationships between many cities and beast hordes as they had begun to be called.

All of this is to say that the only beasts who bothered cities were solitary ones or smaller packs. Sometimes natural phenomena also spawned elementals or the like that attacked cities, but nothing large or organized. There were also many D-grades around by now, and even the weakest cities had a few. This is why what came next was a massive surprise to many.

A guard stood bored in a tall watchtower and looked all around. He hadn’t seen anything try to attack for over a month, and his only real job these days was to report whenever caravans or something, anything, approached. He had thought that with the destruction of the teleporters, he would have more work, but that clearly wasn’t the case. Not that no work wasn’t good. They were just a small settlement who were lucky to have a Pylon with about four thousand people living there, of which only five were D-grade. So nothing was probably the best outcome.

As he stretched a bit and looked to the side, he saw some dust being kicked up. The land was dry all around, and he wondered if it was another dust storm. Those could be nasty and sometimes even had a few elementals in them.

Yet as he saw it come closer, he froze. A massive form emerged from the dust cloud, tens of meters tall. It looked like a massive moose and was no doubt well in the D-grade. Behind it, hundreds of smaller beasts were revealed, all charging with their leader. All of these were E-grades, but some D-grades were also there. The guard doubted his eyes for several moments before he collected himself and yelled: ”Attack! We’re under attack!”

With slight panic, he sounded all the alarms as the town went into lockdown. The D-grades present, who had simply been working on their professions, hurried out, and the City Lord rushed up the watch tower. Standing beside the guard, he stared out and also saw the beasts.

”Get everyone ready,” the City Lord said with fear as he gritted his teeth.

--

Similar scenes played out all over the planet. No beast tides had been seen for many months, but now they had suddenly restarted. The fragile peace that had been established by the most powerful monsters crumbled in seconds as if a spark had been lit.

Or, more accurately, like what had been holding them back had disappeared.

Thousands of cities suddenly found themselves unprepared after having relaxed their defenses following the last World Congress. Armies of elementals, tides of beasts, and other monsters took advantage of the stockpiles of resources in all these cities. Their attacks were indiscriminatory and went for every faction. The Holy Church, Noboru Clan, United Cities Alliance, or completely unaffiliated factions or individual cities found themselves under assault.

Nobody seemed to know the trigger for this, and quite frankly, most didn’t have time to care. All they knew was that the monsters humanity had finally begun to soften up to suddenly did a one-eighty and once more viewed human settlements as nothing more than food and experience sources.

Jake didn’t know why it kept happening… okay, he did know; he just felt a bit weird about it. Why was it that whenever Jake entered a new area with a new type of monster, it turned into Jake effectively committing genocide?

The worm was happy, sure, and Jake wasn’t that sad about it as they still made good progress. Both in levels and distance. All the Scorpion Lords were of roughly equal strength, and what little variance they did have wasn’t of any consequence as Jake grew stronger and more accustomed to them between every kill. Moreover, after the first kill, Jake was familiar enough with the scorpions to open every fight with an Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter, instantly giving him an advantage.

There ended up being a total of nine stones and nine C-grade Scorpion Lords. Along with the hundreds of high and peak tier D-grades Jake also ended up killing, he had truly done a number on the local scorpion population. In some ways, he had been lucky to stumble across so many weak C-grades to hunt. They were barely evolved, he was a good matchup, plus they were weak for their grade.

This hunting spree had also naturally led to quite a few levels gained.

*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 175 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 179 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 176 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 177 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 180 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 178 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

As always, his leveling speed slowed down the more of the same enemies he killed, and the fights got easier. But it was inarguable that hunting C-grades was way, way more effective than D-grades. Not once had he gained a level after a D-grade kill despite killing hundreds, and every level came after a C-grade.

Now, finally, they had the stones the worm wanted. Jake had taken the second they came across for himself temporarily as he had eaten it with Palate of the Malefic Viper to get an idea of what they were and how they worked. He had it eaten for around six days before they reached the final rock, and during this time, Jake got some idea of what they were.

Meteorites.

The concept he had felt from them was some kind of space affinity or maybe astral affinity. Gravity affinity? A mix of it all, probably. Either way, they contained powerful energies. Jake could likely find some ways to use the meteors himself, but it would take a lot of work, and he had already promised the worm.

The entire hunt had only taken roughly a week, during which they made it a few thousand kilometers into the scorpion territory. Each of the stones was above five meters tall and one and a half meters across, making them small enough for Jake to store in his spatial storage. The worm had made it clear that all of them had to be gathered before eating.

Standing before the final stone with a dead Scorpion Lord in the background, Jake turned to the very excited worm. It had only popped out the top parts of its body, making it look like a hill had just emerged next to Jake with the worm’s mouth closed.

“So, here we are,” Jake said as he stood in front of the meteorite.

“Yep…” the worm said a bit nervously.

“Relax, I am not going to take your meteorites. I feel these were once part of one large meteorite and broke part when they entered our atmosphere. Or maybe something else broke them,” Jake shared his observations and some insight from Palate.

“Yeah, one of the big worms said that these stones were once united, and to bring out their full power, one had to bring them together again. The scorpions were just dumb and didn’t like each other, so they never shared. Not like the stones aren’t good individually, just best together,” the worm answered.

They had spoken only a bit over this last week, but it was mainly about random unrelated topics and for Jake to learn about worms. Jake had spent most of his time meditating and trying to figure out how to upgrade Wings of the Malefic Viper between recovering between fights, leaving not enough time to have any long talks.

“I have been thinking,” Jake asked. “Do worms have genders?”

He knew that earthworms pre-system were hermaphrodites, and he had been wondering if maybe these worms were too.

“Worms are worms,” the worm answered very accurately. “Ah, but the big ones can decide, I heard. They got a skill to change shape or something and using that skill, they kind of make a preferred form that can have a sex. Not sure why they would. Do humans have genders? Wait, let me guess, they do, and you are a… female?”

“Missed the fifty-fifty,”Jake chuckled.

“Really? I thought you had to be a female due to your mushy and soft form. Males are meant to look strong and rough, right?” the worm asked. The words sounded a bit insulting, but Jake felt not the slightest amount of mockery in the tone, just genuine curiosity.

“Females are even mushier and softer,” Jake answered, feeling a bit weird about saying that out loud. Telepathically. Wanting to change the topic, he asked something else. “I don’t think I ever got a name either. What do other worms call you?”

“What?” the worm asked, even more confused.

“You know, a name. A way to identify who you are and differentiate you from other worms,” Jake clarified.

“I am a Sand Worm,” the worm asked before it seemed to get it. “Wait… oh, I think I get it! Like, what we call stuff we find or something? A made-up term, umm, name?”

“Exactly!” Jake said, glad he got through.

“We don’t have those. Seems kind of dumb; why do you need them? Any worm can differentiate another worm in the network, and our soul signatures are entirely unique, so if we want to mention a specific worm, we just relay their soul signature. Way better than names, I think,”the worm explained.

“I… that is actually super fucking smart,” Jake admitted as he thought about it. He could identify people using only their mana signature, which was part of their soul signature and was utterly unique. If the worms could relay this signature using telepathy and only spoke using telepathy, then why the hell would they need names? At least not between them. They only had to give names to dead objects and Identify provided ones for free just by using the skill.

“Right?” the worm said happily.

“But I still want you to have one,” Jake stated.

“Why?”

“For when I meet other people in the future, and for my own internal thoughts, I want to have a name to refer to you as,” Jake explained.

“Humans are weird. Do all humans have names? What is your name?” the worm asked.

“My name is Jake, and yes, all humans have names. At least all humans I know,” he answered.

“Oh… so does that mean I should call you human Jake? Or, wait, are you a Jake and not a human then? Like, my Identify does not work on you, and is that because you are a Jake? And are there more Jakes out there like you?” the worm asked, clearly not entirely getting the concept of names.

“No, no. There is only one of me, and Jake is nothing but a name. I am a human, and my name has nothing to do with my strength or anything; it is just something my parents gave me. That is how names work. They are given by someone close to you, most likely your parents, and then you have that name until you die or decide to change it,” Jake tried to explain.

“So I could just get a name if I wanted? Just by saying I am suddenly supposed to be called something else and not Sand Worm?” the worm asked very interestedly.

“Yes,” Jake said.

“What should I pick then… how about Super Sand Worm? Or maybe Best Sand Worm? Oh, I know, Awesome Sand Worm!” the massive worm spoke out loud as Jake saw the mound that stuck out of the ground wriggle slightly.

“… maybe think about it a bit more after you have heard other names to get an idea?” Jake asked with exasperation.

“Are my ideas bad? Oh well. Wait, you said that names are given, right? Can’t you just give me one?” the worm asked.

“I am not sure that would be a good idea. I have repeatedly been told that I am bad at giving names,”Jake tried to argue.

“So you have given names before! That must mean you are experienced at it. Just give me one then,” the worm said. “But after you give me a name, can you let me have the tasty rocks? You said that people give names to those they care about, so if you give me a name, it must also mean you care about me, right? Or doesn’t it work both ways?”

Jake felt like there were several leaps in logic with that argument but didn’t bother trying to correct it. Instead, he thought of a name. The first thing that sprung to mind was Wormie, but his vast experience of naming things made him know he was not allowed to do that. Not anymore.

He also knew it had to be a unisex name. Thinking long and hard on the issue, Jake took inspiration from the environment and the worm in front of him as he settled on a perfect name. A name that was actually a real name, a historically unisex name, and a name that would truly fit the worm in his eyes.

“Let’s just call you Sandy,”Jake said with pride. Truly his naming sense had improved by leaps and bounds since the day he named Hawkie.

“Doesn’t sandy mean that something is made of sand or is like sand? I am pretty sure it is. Like, this place is sandy,” the worm asked, confused.

“Ah, but it is also a name,”Jake said. “And even so, aren’t you kind of sandy? So it even helps describe you, doesn’t it?”

“Hm, I am sandy… okay! I am Sandy from now on. Hello human Jake, I am worm Sandy!” the worm, now named Sandy, greeted him as he heard something akin to a giggle. “He he, this is weird. Sandy, Sandy, Sandy… what happens if I forget it, though?”

“I will remember it for you,” Jake assured the cutely nervous worm. “Now for the true bounty. Are you ready for your stones?”

“Yep!” the worm said expectedly. “Sandy is ready!”

Sandy had managed to reach level 199 over this last week primarily by stealing things from the dead scorpions, and Jake had a strong feeling it was ready for evolution. Sandy was also certain it was ready to evolve, and the meteorites certainly weren’t ordinary items.

Jake took out the meteorites from his inventory, and the moment he did, they flew towards each other right in front of him. Jake was sent scrambling back as a loud crack was heard, and the meteorites merged into each other. Taking precautions, Jake stepped back the moment he took out the final meteorite from Palate, but luckily it simply flew to the larger one and merged with it.

The second all the meteorites were gathered, a pulse was sent out, and the entire area seemed to shake. Jake was curious and walked closer to it, feeling pulled as he got closer.

“You won’t take it?” Sandy asked nervously.

“No…” Jake answered. “But give me a second.”

“Hurry! I can already feel that others are coming,” the worm warned.

Jake nodded as he placed his hand on the meteorite. It felt hot to the touch, and it was as if his hand stuck to it. He wouldn’t say he felt connected to it, but he did feel a call of sorts. He now realized the meteorite didn’t only feel familiar due to the affinities of energy. There was something else. Something that resonated with him.

Closing his eyes, Jake activated Touch of the Malefic Viper almost instinctively as he sent some of his energy into the meteorite to connect with his energy. He wanted to make it better, and he felt part of himself be drained. Like in a trance, he infused it with energy until a distinct sense of weakness overtook his body.

He fell to his knees as he was knocked out of his trance and checked his resources in horror.

Status

Mana Points (MP): 249 /102437

--

What the fuck did I just do? Jake asked himself.

“What did you just do?” the worm also asked him.

“I am not sure,” Jake said with furrowed brows. “But hurry up.”

“Okay!” Sandy said as it dove underground for a moment before emerging right in front of Jake, swallowing the meteorite whole. It had not grown despite them merging but had turned into a darker color.

Jake tried to stabilize himself and looked as Sandy froze. Minutes passed, and Jake quickly took out a mana potion to at least be able to stand up properly and look intimidating if other beasts came. It was good that the corpse was still near, and Jake could pose until Sandy was ready.

“So?” Jake asked the worm after it seemed frozen for over five minutes.

Another minute passed before Sandy’s entire body shook.

“Be right back!”

With that, the entire Sand Worm disappeared, leaving a large hole in the ground that rapidly began to get filled with sand again. Sandy was entirely gone, having no-doubt gone to that special evolution place.

And not even Villy knew what Sandy would return as.