Thalion stood at the edge of the alcove, his pale eyes fixed on the pulsing cocoon in the corner. His hand was still raised, mana still crackling faintly around his fingers. He could destroy it. One blast. One moment of focused energy, and whatever was growing inside that silk shell would be nothing but scattered chitin and smoke.

But Jason had said no.

"No one harm it." The words still echoed in his head. This was an order, an absolute command that no one dared to break as they understood while Jason might be a jokester, there were certain times he had shown his more serious nature.

They knew he understood the gravity of the situation more than anyone.

This was life or death but the way he fought made them wonder how he managed to survive this long.

Ylva knew what Jason lacked in strength, he made up for it with courage.

Thalion was cautious. Every instinct honed over centuries of survival screamed at him to kill the thing now—before it hatched, before it grew, before it became a threat they couldn’t contain. He had seen what unchecked abominations could do. He had watched dungeons fall to creatures that should never have been born.

He had no idea why Jason had told them not to kill whatever was inside that cocoon.

But Jason had already established himself as a leader. Not through strength, not through magic, not through any of the traditional markers of power. He had done it through presence. Through decisions and through the simple fact that when he spoke, things happened.

He had freed Thalion from the dungeon. He had brought Ylva back from the edge. He had somehow convinced Kaelen’s guild to take them on this crawl.

There was no way they could oppose him. But this was not a dictatorship either as everyone understood they were free to leave at any point in time.

Not because he was stronger but because he was right. Most of the time. And when he wasn’t, he was lucky. And luck, Thalion had learned, was its own kind of strength.

Ylva stood beside the cocoon, her claws extended, her eyes narrowed. She didn’t like this. Thalion could see it in the set of her jaw, the flick of her tail. But she didn’t attack. She didn’t argue.

She trusted Jason enough to accept his choice even though she didn’t agree with it, they had Thalion’s magic as a last resort and despite him being uncontrolled, he somehow managed to hit every single target when Jason was in danger with sickening precision.

Thalion lowered his hand. The mana around his fingers fizzled and died.

"Fine," he said quietly. "But if that thing turns on us, I will kill it. Quickly."

Jason nodded weakly. He was still on his feet, barely, his body swaying. Mae’s arm was around his waist, holding him steady.

"It won’t turn on us," Jason said.

"You don’t know that."

"I know." Jason’s eyes met Thalion’s. "Trust me."

Thalion held his gaze for a long moment. Then he looked away, Jason wasn’t going to bulge but Thalion also knew Jason was aware he had used magic to kill the insects because he kept glancing over their scattered bodies but this could also just be paranoia on his end.

He could not oppose his savior. Not yet. Not when he owed Jason his life. Not when Jason was the only one who had ever looked at him—really looked at him—and seen something worth saving.

"But if you’re wrong," Thalion thought, "I will be the one to end it."

Jason understood what the system had told him.

"Dominion over the Ant King." The system had explicitly stated.

The words echoed in his mind, heavy with meaning. Full dominion which meant complete control. Whatever that thing was—whatever it became—it would obey him. Not through fear. Not through magic. Through something deeper. Something the system had forged inside him while he was unconscious.

Jason had no idea what was happening. Not really. His body was still burning and mind was still foggy but he knew that having one of these creatures on his side—an ant king, a creature that shouldn’t exist—could be the key to escaping this crawl.

Because right now, no one knew what was going on.

Not him, not Ylva, not Thalion.

And the way Mira had reacted—the way her tail had gone still, the way her voice had dropped to that low, sharp edge—told him that something had changed. Something had gone wrong. Something worse than goblins or spiders.

Mira had been here before, she knew these tunnels and she had been worried.

So Jason would trust the system. He would trust the adaptation. He would trust that the thing in that cocoon was now his.

Thalion’s thoughts churned.

He knew there was a chance that whatever was inside that cocoon was strong. An abomination. He had read about such things in the old texts—beasts born from corrupted eggs, twisted by magic or circumstance into something new and terrible.

But he did not know about the system. He did not know about Jason’s adaptation ability. He did not know that these insects could adapt traits from whatever host they hatched in.

Even though this one had not hatched in Jason. It had hatched from him. Crawled out of his mouth. Grown in minutes instead of months.

That was not natural nor was it normal.

And Thalion did not know what it meant.

"Jason," Thalion said quietly. "What was that thing? How did it get inside you?"

Jason shook his head. "I don’t know. The egg... it must have been when we were fighting earlier... I must have been stung or something in there." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Stung? I thought only queens could lay eggs, how is is possible that one could lay in?"

"Hey, you are the older one here, I should be asking you that." Jason’s voice was tired.

Thalion stared at him. "You’re not explaining anything to me, don’t worry."

"I can’t explain anything. I don’t understand it myself." Jason met his eyes. "But I know it’s under my control. And right now, that’s all that matters."

Thalion wanted to argue. He wanted to demand answers. He wanted to blast the cocoon into pieces and drag Jason out of the tunnels before whatever was inside could hatch.

But he didn’t, not because he couldn’t.

But because Jason was his savior.

And saviors were not always right. But they were always followed.

"Fine," Thalion said. "But the moment that thing looks at me wrong, I’m killing it."

Jason nodded. "Fair enough."

The cocoon pulsed again, but whatever was inside began to squirm within the cocoon. It was louder this time and Jason knew it was only a matter of time before that thing hatched.