Level Up The Colony
Chapter 54: Intruder

Chapter 54: Intruder

"Gray, huh? Where is he?" Miriam asked, glancing around.

"Somewhere in this house," Timothy replied, sounding as worn out as he looked.

"What’s got you in such a foul mood?" she asked, eyes still scanning the room, likely hunting for the elusive termite.

"I’m famished," he muttered.

She turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised as if to say seriously?

"I’m too lazy right now," he added after catching the look.

"Are you just lazy, unbothered, or do you genuinely not care?" she asked bluntly.

"I care... about eating."

"You do realize anything you do right now could be your last, right?"

"Exactly. So why stress over it?" he said, still sprawled on the couch.

"Worry about what you can control. And for the rest? Just be prepared."

"You weren’t prepared when your mom..." Miriam began, then stopped herself as the words slipped out.

She froze, waiting for a reaction.

But Timothy just stared at the ceiling.

"Learned my lesson the hard way."

"So you really think they’re dead, huh?" Miriam’s tone sharpened, her attention now fully on him.

"What does it matter what I think? Your friends went up against a threat they weren’t ready for, and now they’re missing. Why are you even telling me this? I don’t have the ability or the energy to go looking for them. You should talk to the Hunters Association or the police. Just don’t make me waste more energy. I’m getting hungrier."

"I have reported it. To everyone I could. Hunters, police, and even private officials. I’m just a B-rank. Barely made the cut after reawakening. And they’re your friends too, aren’t they?"

"No. They aren’t," Timothy replied flatly.

Miriam didn’t say anything else.

She simply turned and walked toward the kitchen.

A few minutes passed, and Timothy could already hear the clatter of utensils.

He didn’t move.

"What are you doing?" he asked without looking.

"You said you were too lazy to cook, but I’m not. I’m hungry too. You’ve got decent ingredients, so I’m making something for us," she said casually, already neck-deep in kitchen duties.

I’m slowly losing privacy in my own house, Timothy thought but didn’t say it aloud.

After all, she was helping.

Just then, the front door creaked open.

The woodworker returned, carrying a dark metal door with one hand.

It looked heavy from the strain in his grip and how delicately he held it.

Timothy, still sprawled on the couch, looked up.

Miriam paused mid-stir in the kitchen.

Both watched the man enter.

"I didn’t know you were married," the woodworker said as he gently lowered the door onto the floor.

"She’s a maid," Timothy replied flatly.

"I’m not a maid," Miriam snapped without missing a beat.

Timothy didn’t respond.

The woodworker just moved to the door frame and began chiseling.

Timothy watched lazily as the man worked, his strokes methodical and quiet.

But something was off.

The woodworker wasn’t just carving a fit for the door, he was digging nearly a foot into the wall, inserting metal rods as he went.

What struck Timothy most was that the man hadn’t come with any visible materials other than a briefcase.

Where the hell are those rods coming from? He thought

He couldn’t bring himself to ask the man openly too

Miriam eventually approached him

. "Sir, would you like to join us for dinner?"

"No, I’m fine," the woodworker replied without even throwing them a glance

Timothy threw a glance her way but said nothing.

The man worked in silence until he finally installed the door, a dark, steel-like slab with a one-way push-pull handle.

It looked nearly indestructible.

Curious, Timothy stood for the first time in hours and reached out to test it.

The moment his fingers touched the surface, he felt something strange.

A subtle pushback not physical, but internal.

The mana in his body stuttered, slipping out of his control.

It was like something severed the connection between his body and his power, even if just briefly.

He turned to the woodworker, unsettled.

"It’s a Mana-Dampener," the man explained with a slight smile.

"The old door was damaged by a boot, right? No regular human could’ve done that. That left one possibility, a hunter. So I used modern tech. This door restricts the mana flow within a narrow field. Anyone without excellent mana control will feel it. The average attacker won’t even notice it until it’s too late. It’s bulletproof, fireproof, mana-resistant, and far more durable than the rest of your building."

Timothy studied him, then the door.

A soft knock confirmed its strength.

He noticed black extensions along the wall near the frame, subtle but definitely there.

He actually reinforced the walls... but where did the material come from?

As if reading his thoughts, the woodworker added,

"I extended into the wall to add internal reinforcements. Not more than a meter deep, though. Your house might collapse someday, but the door still be standing unless a high-ranker decides to level the place."

Timothy figured the last part was an exaggeration, then turned and walked toward the kitchen.

The smell hit him first spicy, rich, comforting.

Miriam had made jollof rice using his ingredients.

Simple, but exactly what he was craving.

Without a word, he sat down and began eating greedily, not sparing a glance toward Miriam or the woodworker, who, for some reason, hadn’t left yet.

Miriam joined him, eating calmly.

At one point, Timothy looked up just in time to see the woodworker open his briefcase and pull out a stack of sandwiches.

’Dont tell me the briefcase was filled with food’ Timothy thought

He blinked, then decided to shelve his questions for later.

He kept eating.

Eventually, he was alone again.

The food is gone.

No sign of Miriam.

No sign of the woodworker.

Just him... and Gray.

Somewhere along the line, he’d passed out after eating.

Timothy suddenly noticed how quiet the house had become, maybe a little too quiet.

He reached into his pocket for his phone and checked the time.

It was just past 8 p.m.

The sky had already darkened, and while Gray was still nearby, everything felt unusually calm.

Feeling oddly at ease, Timothy suddenly remembered he hadn’t claimed his daily quest reward.

Unsure of what to choose, he brought up the system menu and immediately selected the random box reward.

Without hesitation, he used his new skill, Recall, to summon Gray.

The ever-pleased termite materialized beside him with a cheerful hum.

"When did they leave?" Timothy asked aloud.

Gray responded, but the answer was... strange.

"Four of them?" Timothy repeated, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Gray sensed his confusion and clarified.

The first person had left while Timothy was still awake, he vaguely remembered that.

Probably the woodworker, he guessed.

The second left shortly after someone else had arrived, though by then Timothy had already fallen asleep.

According to Gray, this visitor walked through the house, even stopping by to look at him, and surprisingly left a plate of food by his side.

The termite had scurried off to retrieve it.

That sounded like something Miriam would do, thoughtful, in her own way.

But Gray didn’t seem too fond of the gesture.

It was maturing, though not like a child would.

Apparently, the second and third people stayed together for a while, then left together.

That detail gave Timothy pause.

A mutual friend of theirs? He couldn’t think of anyone who fit that description.

Then there was a fourth visitor, another female.

Gray identified her as female based on her scent.

Not exactly pheromones, but something deeper.

Their mental connection gave Timothy more than just emotions, it painted vivid impressions.

He was certain not everyone would be able to understand Gray the way he could.

What startled him most was the path the last visitor took.

She hadn’t entered through the door.

"She used the window...?" Timothy muttered.

He dashed up to his room.

’Why didn’t I notice’ he subconsciously thought

On one part, he knew he subconsciously lowered his guard, maybe his perception too, another part of him felt he sensed no threat to himself despite the person intruding into his grounds.

The window still had its bars, mesh, and security screens intact.

At first glance, everything looked untouched.

But then he noticed it, subtle signs of tampering.

The window had been restored to its original state... but hastily.

Before he could make sense of it, Gray continued his report: the person had seen Gray, done something to him, and left just as quickly as she came.

It was all so bizarre.

And one more thing nagged at him, Could Gray actually hear?

Through their mental link, Timothy could perceive the world as Gray did, but some parts still eluded him.

Termites, it seemed, experienced the world in ways far different from humans.

This mind started running through scenarios of who were the people who intruded on his personal space.

He already had people in mind he had a beef with, but when scaling back down to females, it reduced drastically

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