The word on the screen only showed something like an error.
While he tried to figure it out, another notification appeared.
[Do you want to use a red gemstone to supplement mana cost? One red gem is worth 1000 mana. You can use it to summon 2 Krell Scouts. The leftover will be used to recover the user's mana.]
"Yes."
For Ben, it was an easy choice.
He could look for a gem mine nearby later and gather more.
Two masses of flesh appeared in the air.
They squirmed and grew in size.
Bones, organs, flesh, and chitin formed in real time in front of him.
Their appearance was just like Ben had imagined.
When the process finished, both of them dropped to one knee.
"Sovereign, we heed your command."
Elvira's eyes lit up.
She circled the two creatures, studying them from every angle.
Sometimes she knocked on their shells with her knuckles to test their hardness.
"Can I give both of them names?" she asked.
"Do as you will," Ben replied.
He sounded uninterested.
He knew he had the option to name them himself, but his attention was on their information windows.
[Name: unnamed]
[Type: Krell Scout]
[Evolution: not available]
[*Evolution is dependent on the individual's personal experience; it's not guaranteed and can only be triggered under special circumstances.]
[*Requirements will show up when the creature is evolvable.]
"What does this mean?" Ben wondered.
He quickly compared it to the games he used to play.
When the requirement was not clear, it usually depended on how the creature lived and ate, and also on its mood or emotions.
However, these two Krell Scouts were different.
They were connected to the hive mind.
They did not have personal thoughts.
If Ben ordered them to kneel, they would stay kneeling until they died of malnutrition.
They would not complain or resist.
A creature with its own will would never do that.
"Aqua and Airi, how about that?" Elvira said.
"Both female names?
They are genderless, though," Ben said.
"Then it's fine, right?"
Ben shrugged.
He did not care much.
He registered those as their Names and then sent out his first command.
"Look for the location of the ant queen's nest.
Avoid confrontation if you cannot go for the kill."
"Yes, Sovereign," both replied in unison.
They stood up and moved out to carry out his order.
"Is it alright if I go with them, my beloved?" Elvira asked.
Ben agreed right away.
"Finally, some silence.
Now I should create some weapons for them to use."
He took out a block of bronze ore, the one he had recovered from killing the royal ants.
He started crafting gear, shaping a pair of daggers, a crossbow, and armor.
Just after he finished one complete set, a notification appeared.
[Not enough mana, Mana: 1/250]
"What?
A single set should only cost 99 mana.
Does this mean I just recovered 100 mana before?
This system," he thought, annoyed.
[Tax!]
"AAARGGGH!" Ben shouted in frustration.
A week passed.
During that time, Ben focused on building the kingdom.
He drew the designs first, then spent most of his time digging.
At the start, he tried to make it like a dungeon.
He carved long mazes with rooms scattered around.
After a few days, he realized it felt suffocating and confusing.
Moving through the maze every time he went back and forth wasted a lot of time.
It was simply annoying.
So he changed the plan and created two main layers instead.
The inner layer was a huge sphere, split into two halves.
The upper half was the living area.
The lower half was a kind of factory.
Using his experience as a construction worker and handyman, Ben created many simple machines.
He had to adapt each design so the ants could use them with their bodies.
This cost him materials and time.
Out of the 25 ant workers he controlled, he ordered 20 to help with construction.
The remaining 5 took care of food and cooking.
Even though his subjects were not human, Ben still preferred cooked food.
He enforced this habit on everyone.
The ants' main food source came from mushrooms they called red-spotted mush trees.
There was a reason they were called trees.
They were tall and thick.
Even underground, they easily grew up to ten meters.
The stem was white.
The cap was red, covered with white spots.
The sight reminded Ben of his favorite childhood game, the one he chose not to name because the company that made it was famous and strict with copyright.
Ben decided to call the area where these mushrooms grew the Red Spot Forest.
It was a huge open space.
A giant red-spotted mush tree stood in the middle.
This central tree worked as a support pillar.
It helped keep the ceiling above from collapsing.
With a pickaxe resting on his shoulder, Ben stood at the edge of the forest and looked over the area.
Right now, he was riding on the back of one ant soldier as a mount.
The other three soldier ants fought a huge mantis in front of him.
The mantis swung its sharp scythe-like arms.
One gleaming blade cut down toward an ant.
Another soldier rushed in and caught the blow in mid-air with its jaws.
Even with its strong jaw, it barely managed to damage the mantis's chitin.
The last soldier ant rammed into the mantis from the side.
The tackle drove the mantis to the ground.
"As I thought, ants can only attack with their jaws or by tackling," Ben thought.
"Their limbs are just for walking."
He found them useless for anything else.
Even for work, the jobs they could do were limited.
Ben kicked against the back of his ant mount and leaped into the air.
Holding the pickaxe with both hands, he swung it down at the mantis's chest.
"Take this, you green bug.
Send you flying."
He activated the skill.
The impact pushed the mantis back four meters.
The mantis tried to stand up, but the four ant soldiers rushed in before it could recover.
They used the opening and bit into the cracked parts of its armor.
Their jaws finally cut through.
The mantis screeched in pain.
Ben walked closer.
His right hand began to change shape.
"CONSUME!!"
His arm turned into a huge mouth filled with several rows of sharp teeth.
With one gulp, he swallowed the entire mantis.
[Nightmare Mantis consumed. Acquired 12 biomass, no new part.]
"Dammit, my luck is so bad.
This is the tenth mantis we have hunted," he thought.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance, then ordered the ant soldiers to chop down the mushroom tree.