IMPERIUM INSECTUM

I walked over to the chest Cindi left for me. It was a simple wooden chest with lots of ornate blue carvings on it.

“Let’s see *CREE*what gifts my servant left for me” *CRICK CRACK*

I opened the chest and took a quick look.  The chest contained A simple black cloak with 4 diamond-shaped holes cut out in the back, an iron dagger stored inside a leather scabbard, and an old brown scroll tied closed with a red ribbon. Also, there was a small brown bag. I picked up the bag and shook it. I heard the rattle of what I assumed were coins.

“It's not a lot, but it looks like*SCREE* enough to get me started.”

I wanted to put on the robe first, but before I could,, I had to go take a bath. It has been a few minutes since I had just hatched, and I was still covered in some of the sticky slime. I violently shook my hand, causing bits of dry slime to splatter onto the ground. Yep. I definitely needed a wash. I walked over towards the small river that ran through the clearing.  I looked down into the clear flowing river, and was met with my reflection.

“I’m *CREEK* not half bad” *CRICK CRACK*

I had 2 blackish-green compound eyes very similar to a fly. My face structure was very angular yet very distinctly feminine. On the upper half of my forehead, I had 5 black spikes. What they were for, I don’t know. I opened my mouth and was met with a set of pointed yellow teeth.

“Oh, *Skrik*my grandma, what sharp *eHk* teeth you have”, I joked to myself.

 I opened my mouth wider and was met with a pointy dark green tongue. I moved my attention away from my face towards my chest. It consisted of the same type of structure as my arms, but the plates themselves were obviously much thicker and consisted of many overlapping plates. It looked like it should have been restricting, yet I felt extremely flexible, even more than I did in my past life. I rubbed my hands on the thickest parts of the armour. It had a dark green colour and was incredibly rough to the touch. My claws made a loud scraping sound as I dragged them across the armour. I looked down towards the armour; there wasn’t a single mark on it, let alone a scratch. How durable was I? I wondered.

 The only thing I didn’t like was the fact I was completely bald. I used to have very nice brown hair that I spent a lot of time working on. I guess ill save a lot of money by not going to the hair salon anymore. I joked.

“Right lets *Ek* stop*kerr* wasting time.” I took a single step back and then jumped into the river.

“EEEEE. YA! YA! YA!”

It was really, REALLY cold. More than it should be. Am I more sensitive to cold? I wondered. I started quickly scooping water onto myself with my hands, trying to clean off as much dried slime as possible. Luckily it dissolved easily in water. A few minutes later, I was relatively clean. I climbed out of the river and back towards the chest. But before I got there, I took a short detour towards my egg. If I remember correctly from a wildlife documentary, I watched. Certain animals eat their own eggs for nourishment. I looked down at my egg. It was a broken yellow eggshell filled with the grey slime I cleaned off. It didn’t look like a 5-star meal.

*RUMBLE*

I looked towards my stomach. I guess you have a different opinion than I do.

“Well, what’s the *Kek* worse that can happen? Besides, *EHIk* I  feel it would be bad if someone stumbled across this.” I broke off a little bit of shell and ate it. It was mostly tasteless and dissolved on my tongue. I looked toward the grey gloop and shrugged. I dipped my finger straight in to it and then shoved it into my mouth.  

SWEETMARYJOSEPH, THIS IS THE GREATEST THING I'VE EVER EATEN. My whole hand dove into the slime again, taking as much as I could. I’ve never known a flavour sensation like this. Its like all my favourite foods rolled into one. I broke off a piece of eggshell and dunked it into the goop, using it like a weird alien nacho chip. I continued to devour more and more of my egg, Completely losing track of time and where I was in the process. Someone could walk up to me, and I wouldn’t notice. But sadly, all good things must come to an end, and eventually, all that was left of my egg was tiny crumbs.

“Dammit, now I need to get clean again.” I looked down, and my entire front was covered in goop, after a second dip in the ice-cold river. I walked up to the chest and pulled out the cloak. The cloak would barely cover my front, and I can’t imagine what the 4 diamond cutouts are for. I slipped the robe on, and it was a perfect fit. I picked up the dagger and pulled it out of its scabbard. It didn’t look very special, but it would do in a pinch. I tied the scabbard to my thigh and went to the chest to pick up the brown bag. Luckily, there was a pocket in my cloak for the bag. I opened the bag and 10 gold pieces flew out. Was this a lot? I have no clue.

I moved back to the chest to collect the scroll. It was the thing I was interested in the most. I grabbed the scroll and undid the ribbon. The scroll unrolled itself, revealing a bunch of incomprehensible gibberish.

“What the hell is this”

Suddenly the letters on the scroll started glowing gold, and then they disappeared. I Flipped the scroll backwards and forwards, looking for some sort of secret, but there was nothing.

“Must be broken, I guess. I’ll have to speak to cin- ARGHHHHHHHAHHH.”

My legs instantly buckled, and I fell into a foetal position straight onto the ground. As an unimaginable pain scoured through my brain

“CINDI…WHAT…THE…FUUU”

[INSTALLIATION PROGRESS 80….90….100]

I Could barely focus on the world around me. All I could hear was numbers going up until it said 100. the pain instantly stopped in the same way it started. I weakly stood up back to my feet

“CINDI! I’M SO GOING TO *KRIK* PUNISH YOU FOR THAT.”

[TO BRING UP SYSTEM, PLEASE SAY THE WORDS “STATUS”]

“What?”

[TO BRING UP THE SYSTEM, PLEASE SA-]

“I heard you the first *EHK* time. Please shut up”

The voice ignored me and continued to repeat the same phrase.

“FINE, *kek*OKAY. Shut up already. STATUS”

--Status---

Name: N/A

Race: N/A

Title: (outworlder) (herald of the end)

Magic: N/A

Abilities:

• Living nest
• One with nature
• Pincers
• Venomous constitution
• Enhanced reaction
• Insect Vision

Resistances: N/A

Subordinates:

• Cindi (Servant)

HIVE MANAGEMENT.

------

“…….*ehik* what?”