Chapter 45: Who does this young lady learn from?
A light engulfed the five buildings as Alchemy stretched.
"I suppose tickets aren't so bad since they're showy. Maybe I should save one of my remaining vouchers until I can use it in front of the monkeys~ that sounds like fun." Alchemy happily hummed.
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"Anything else I'm forgetting?" Alchemy mused, glancing through her inventory.
The [Tier 1 Unit Upgrade Vouchers] could only be used once her [Hatchery Nexus] had finished building, so yes. She was out of things related to her kingdom for the next hour or so.
"It's not even that far past noon, yet it feels like this day has been the length of… At least 11 whole days! What else productive is there to do…?"
Alchemy's head swayed as she wandered around her land, eventually pausing in her tracks and rapidly turning to Nera.
"I remember! Nera!"
"Yes, Mother Goddess?"
"Earlier, before I got my throat punched into several trees, I was asking you about Divine Energy. I want you to teach me how to use it!"
Nera looked at Alchemy with a puzzled expression.
"I only managed to do it by accident, though. I'm not sure if I'd be much help. A-also, can't you just look at the Swarm's memories for that anyway?"
"The swarms… Memory. Oh, you mean the hivemind? Uhm… No!" Alchemy chuckled bitterly.
"E-eh?"
"What? Did you think I was making you give all my orders because I found it fun to give you more work? I can't access the link. I've been trying, but I can't do it. Rather, you're a hero. You should have all my memories… Or, most of them, at least. How did you not know that I couldn't?"
The pseudo-hive mind was an odd quirk. Even in A.O.A, it was never explained in great detail, but as far as Alchemy knew, it was like a pyramid.
She, as the Seraphim Verminae, was at the top. Below her were her Verminae faction heroes, who could access her memories unrestrictedly. Further below them were the units, who could only pull a limited amount of information from the Seraphim Verminae. The exact amount and specific information was determined by the heroes managing that second layer.
"I-I just thought it was rude to probe your memories unprompted and without permission…"
With a smile, Alchemy patted Nera on the head.
"That's very considerate of you. But I don't care if you look. There's nothing up there that I particularly care about hiding. That being said, there is still a lot of weird stuff up there. I'd say look at your own risk rather than not being allowed to look at all."
"We're getting off-topic! I want you to teach me how to use Divine Energy!"
"O-okay! I'll do my best! Then first, let's start with the feeling I used to achieve my usage of it."
Nera quieted down as she pondered the best way to describe this.
"Whenever I'm in my [Gigant] form, it feels like… Not blood flowing out of me, but it's a similar feeling. A life force leaking from my body. As far as the system goes, anything that consumes SP should give a similar feeling."
Alchemy nodded. She recognized that feeling. Primarily when her Divine Power went berserk. It was so vividly contradictory that she couldn't forget it, even days after it happened.
Her body felt cold like she was suffering from the effects of blood loss, but a hot, burning sensation covered her. It was like a weighted and heated blanket was placed on her, but the blanket was covered in thumbtacks that dug deep into her body.
"That feeling. I was worried about that feeling at first, so I tried stopping the outflow, but I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried. So instead of stopping it from the inside, I thought about coating my body with it to see if that would stop it…" Nera continued.
"Was it effective?" Alchemy asked.
Nera gave Alchemy a complicated look before she shrugged.
"Sort of? The system gave me a message saying that it couldn't help regulate SP usage that didn't originate from itself. During the initial battle with the Knowledge Seekers and the wolves, it was draining my SP like crazy. I can't speak to its effectiveness at lowering SP consumption, I can for its usage as a shield."
Nera paused once again, debating whether she should tell Alchemy about this next part.
"I-I think that the fireball I allowed to hit me… Without that thin layer of Divine Energy, I think it… It would have critically wounded me…"
As she finished speaking, Alchemy slammed her fist into the ground with all her might, causing a small crater to appear.
A primeval rage laced her eyes as she looked deep into Nera's.
"I'm going to critically wound you if you do something like that again. How could you do that?!" Alchemy freaked out.
"M-Mother Goddess! In-in my defense! You've been fighting with your life on the line several times already! I don't think you can be mad at me for one close call!"
"NOT INTENTIONALLY, NERA?! I have a skill that makes me take damage for a group-wide buff. I have to take damage, and even then, I don't do it intentionally…"
Alchemy then remembered that she intentionally took a hit from Gravana to get her buff maxed out.
"Okay, not intentionally unless I know I have a way to recover from it! That's beside the point, don't put your life in danger for some stupid experiment!"
Letting out a deep sigh when she saw Nera looking sad and pouting, Alchemy began sitting criss-crossed.
"It's fine. I know I've done… My fair share of stupid things since coming to this world, but you know what? Do as I say, not as I do, please. At least don't do anything THAT stupid, okay? Promise?"
"R-right… I'll make sure to be more careful."
'Honestly… Who does this young lady take after?' Alchemy clicked her tongue like a disappointed parent.