Lyra was full of terror. "Ren, this is not a joke! That is the Queen!"
"Relax," Ren said with a big, happy grin. He did a small stretch. "This is just the boss rush. It's the most fun part!"
The angry swarm of wasps charged into the room. It was a black wave of stingers and wings.
"Stay back," Ren called to Lyra. "You might be overwhelmed by how awesome I am."
Then, he did something crazy. He did not defend. He charged forward, straight into the swarm.
What happened next was not a fight. It was a cleanup.
Ren became a storm of steel. The wasp drones were nothing to him now. At Level 13, he was a god to these insects. His Wasp-Sting Longsword cut through their hard shells like they were soft butter. Every swing of his sword killed two or three wasps. He was so fast, they could not even touch him. He jumped and spun, his golden hair flying as he turned the swarm into a pile of dead bugs.
"A triple kill! I get bonus points for that!" he said to himself. He was having a lot of fun.
Lyra just watched. Her shield was down. Her mouth was open. She could not believe what she was seeing. He was not fighting for his life. He was playing a game.
Soon, the tunnel was blocked by the bodies of dead wasps. The Queen, who was watching from near the Hive Heart, became very angry. She launched herself into the fight. She was a purple blur, her giant stinger aimed to kill Ren from behind.
"Here comes the boss!" Ren cheered. He turned around very fast.
The Queen's giant stinger, a weapon that could break steel, hit Ren's small longsword. CLANG!
A big shockwave went through the room. The Queen was stopped. Ren had not moved at all. The Queen's big bug eyes showed something that looked like surprise.
"My turn," Ren said with a smirk.
Before the Queen could attack again, Ren ran straight up her long stinger like it was a bridge. He ran along her back and jumped onto her head.
"Sorry about this," he said. Then he pushed his sword down, straight through the top of her head.
The Queen made one last, sad scream, and then her giant body fell to the ground. She was dead.
The other wasps, now without a queen, flew around in confusion. Then they fled back into the tunnels. The room was silent.
Ren jumped off the dead Queen. He was not even breathing hard. "Well," he said. "That was a decent warm-up. Now for the main event."
He walked to the giant, glowing Hive Heart. He put his hand on it.
[Target: Glimmerwasp Hive Heart]
[Idea Detected: [Endless Swarm]]
[Do you want to absorb this Idea? WARNING: This can have strange results.]
"Strange results are just surprise gifts," Ren said. "Yes, absorb it."
The Hive Heart broke into a million pieces. All its energy, a river of purple and gold light, flowed into Ren's body. His System went crazy.
[ERROR! STRANGE IDEA DETECTED!]
[Idea [Endless Swarm] absorbed!]
[New UNIQUE Skill Unlocked: [Summon Lesser Wasp]!]
[Your bloodline [Unknown] is reacting!]
[Bloodline is Evolving...]
[SYSTEM OVERLOAD. REBOOTING...]
Ren's world went black as a new, wild power started to change him from the inside out.