The two fought with a ferocity not seen much of before. The Core had witnessed the brutality of a varied degree earlier on in its life, having been a part of what was truly called straight-out sacrificial warfare. If both parties had quantity over quality, throwing the minions with no regard for their lives was the best tactic to have. A strong opponent could beat a hundred in one-on-on fighting, but could it beat a hundred at once? That was likely a no. And it was exactly what the ants had been created for. While the Entity might not have been able to match the numbers of the ant queen, it knew that the mind of the creatures was still the same. If ordered, their care for their own lives would dissipate, their only goal in life being the destruction of their enemies.

They didn't care if they died. They just wanted the other party to go down with them. And that was exactly what was being seen. The Core had long ago disregarded the idea of asking the creatures to be defensive, knowing that such a strategy was too far out of their comfort zones. They were not made to defend themselves. They were made to shake, topple, and go further in the art of offence than any other, biting before the other creature could even ready its mandibles. Even decapitation would not stop them from closing together to do the same to the others. They were brutal.

But no decapitation happened first. Both ran full tilt at each other, even the meter of distance between them not enough to cause any manner of stopping. Mandible reached mandible, the two hitting each other at the same time. WIth the [Infested] having a higher vitality, the Core had originally thought it to win out in the scenario. Yet the increase in mass had been much more minor than what the regular ants got, letting the favour still reign equally. There was nothing more to it, both sides reaching high with their weapon of choice. It was destined to do that anyway, both either going up or down.

However, this position did not remain for long but refused to still slow down. And with both having their heads high, the front legs reached up in the air, it being more of a pushing contest for the briefest of moments, as the contact between the bodies were at an all-time high. And… there was one creature that was favoured more highly in this scenario, being given the energy to spare.

The [Infested] ant proceeded to use [Bite] twice in a row, only able to hit the outer edges of the other ant's antenna. It was minor damage, truly, but it was enough to make the two disengage for a moment so that both could regain footing and attack again. There was no real pause between the attacks, however, the moment that front legs hit the ground again was the moment that both creatures ran at each other. It was brutal, it was quick, and its legs were lost.

Even with the antenna broken, the regular ant was still able to reach one of the front legs on the [Infested], tearing it off with two quick [Bites]. One normally did the trick, yet the [Blood-Moss] was able to use [Drain] just enough for the first hit to be survivable. Yet that method didn't work a second time, the damage too high. The [Infested] ant was not able to push back against this attack, it coming too soon after the regained footing. Willing in an attempt to get to the neck did nothing but make them share to contact for a second more before each withdrew yet again to get a better angle.

The next to gain footing was the [Infested] yet again, the ability to move to the sides not too damaged yet. While there were some issues with not having quick manoeuvring on the front, the remaining five still worked well enough to work. Though, it wasn't quite enough to let it side-step right into the next, only a part of its mandibles able to close around it. And while damage was done, the creature received it back with a bite to the other front leg. While the entire thing wasn't chopped off, only the upper end remained, another two [Bites] having been spent to do just that.

Overlooking the situation, both parties had been damaged. The regular ant had worsened vision due to the antennas not working properly, along with a neck that would squirt out liquid when looked to the sides. The Moss-Covered variant didn't fare well either, however, both of its front legs having been damaged close to an extreme degree. Or… that’s what it had been, at the very least. Regeneration through [Drain] was quite the thing, able to take the health from another and use it on oneself near-instantly. While the foot had not been regained, much of the left front leg was back in place, only making the loss be one-half leg. It was still coming out on top.

And that was paired with a near-full Stamina-Count. The skill had worked its magic, keeping the creature near full the entire time. In the meanwhile, the other, regular ant had used four whole [Bites]. With a Cost of fifteen Stamina for each, it was down to where tiredness would settle in through time. It was slowly but surely losing its grip. It was the one who would meet defeat.

Not that this was shown in any real way, the creature moving just as quickly and with just as much thought about its own life. Its neck was strained at every moment, itching to get within the reaches of the other ant's neck. And it certainly tried, biting and trashing to a point where they each had contact for several more seconds. Yet, while this could have worked with another creature, the [Infested Giant-Ant] worked best against this strategy. With each moment where they kept in contact, more of its wounds were gained back. More and more of an upper hand was gained, and it almost seemed determined by the end.

Maybe some level of confidence was gained there. The Core wasn’t sure. It just watched on as one side of the Moss-Covered Ant’s mandible was brutally ripped away, the regular ant seeing an opportunity never taken before. The infested ant was without its weapons!

The battle could have gone either way at that point. One was supposed to have the upper hand, being with more health and stamina. Yet it was also without its main method of attack one part of the mandible virtually useless, every movement of its also in the meanwhile also creating more and more damage, muscles meant to be connected to a part that had been ripped out convulsing in confusion. Things were not looking good.

Yet the other side had it just as bad, nearly empty on both sides. Health was a quarter of the full amount with Stamina being even lower. But it could still attack. It could still walk. There was no need to expend anything more on skills, the other part already without the use of [Bite]. With smart play, the regular ant could win.

But who truly believed insects to be smart. Neither saw their wounds as a setback, still charging in to kill the other. There was no full mandible anymore? Then the Ant would simply batter the other to death! And if there was no more stamina left, the other would simply move out of the sheer will. Neither would stop until the other died. The thought was without ground inside of their heads. Nothing would ever be a true stop. Only death would bring a pause in the fight and even that would be ignored if possible.

Cuts and more cuts were made to the [Infected] ant, the fact getting parts ripped out again and again. And the legs on all sides were getting a similar treatment, everything slowly but consistently being removed. The [Infested Giant-Ant] tried to no avail to defend and attack, but a lack of offensive power brought it down quicker than anything seen before. It would have been a sure death, if not for one ability still running at full power.

[Drain]. With every bite, scratch, and push between them, the regular ant got another small part of its health sucked out. It mattered little on the grand scale, yet the consistency matched the low health already in place. There was nothing that could beat out time. And so… it fell to its knees, even pure will not able to handle empty containers of Stamina and nearly empty Health-Points. The few fractions of points gotten in the Stamina was used to slowly move forth to attack yet it was without any possibility of success.

Instead of waiting for it to come, the [Infested Giant-Ant] hobbled over to the other, resisting its body on the other back. There was no long wait to have, the creature dying in less than five seconds. The last bits of Health did have some form of resistance to it somehow. The Core did briefly wonder how that worked until it came back to the present. There was still work to be done, after all, its strategy seemed a bit more complex than initially expected. While the Moss-Covered had been left the winner with nearly of its Health-Points to spare, it was a battle that could have gone either way. An improvised method of declawing the creature had been found, leaving it near-entirely defenceless. Though… the Core had to see if it could get the other ants to do something like it in the future. Without the gain of having a [Drain] skill or something like it, the ants would die out soon after.

Against an opponent of equal level, the Mossed creature had trouble getting through without luck. How would that work on a level one creature instead? That was the level that most of the enemy had been, after all. And while they had been further enhanced with the help of the black tendrils, there was still a balance needing to be kept up. The Entity wanted to test it out. And since the other ant had died… there would be no problems with it.

Looking over at the corpse, some pity still remained in the Core’s mind. It hadn't wanted the death to happen, yet it would prove to further help the group. If anything, it showed that-

Wait. Something new had appeared inside the corpse. Something only seen a few times before. Though, why exactly was it there? The Core already knew how to make ants. It didn't need to know it again, and the other kills certainly haven't shown up, so why did it…

It was because this ant was level two! The Entity had only owned a creature with level one, making the pattern before it the upgraded version. There was no doubt about it, the Core grabbing it with a tendril and instantly pulling it back to see what secrets could be unearthed. Time was too slow. It needed to know everything.

As expected, it was just like the pattern before it, only bigger in shape and denser around the legs. Not all the new mass had stretched out, some part making it so that the muscles had more space to work with. It made it more efficient, even without having to upgrade the muscles themselves. The Core was unsure of how it had never thought of it, the fact that the level two creatures were known for throwing the others over their heads being so much more obvious now.

It was incredible what only a point of [Vitality] could do to a body. The creatures needed to die more often so that the Core could see what was true beneath their frames. The stats made so much more sense now, the Entity beginning to understand how growth truly worked. But, before it could continue, it had to figure out how simple thing. How much did it cost to spawn?

A level one creature had cost the Core ninety Mana to create. Would a level two creature cost one hundred and eighty? Or would it be along the lines of what the coloured Mana cost? Maybe the very structure and complexity would come into question before anything. There was no way to know at the current moment. The only way to be sure was to simply… do it.

The process was quick and easy, though a bit different from the first. Creating more dense concentrations of Mana and then making sure they didn't change over time before it was finished was quite a change from the usual approach. But it was completed nonetheless, a fully-fledged level two appearing with a flash. And… a lot of Mana burnt through as well.

A hundred and twenty-five Mana was the cost for a level two ant. Quite the number. It even made the Core wonder if it would be able to recreate the third and fourth level of Ants. If it killed them now to check… no, the consequences were too high. And so were they for the [Infested] creature. It could die in real combat but doing it just for death was out of the Core’s range of comfortableness. It would wait for the future to do the deed for it.

Now… there was something about a level one creature that needed to be tested out.