It took us about an hour to locate the [Woodland Ant]’s nest. When the nest was found, Ryo did some recon and found out that we are dealing with about 31 worker and soldier ants.

With that knowledge, the middle aged man came up with the plan.

“Here is how we are going to do it. We have 6 bait and 5 trackers. Ryo will be on point for any stragglers and the retard will come with me. So we have a total of 3 usable trackers. You will divide yourselves into 3 groups of 2 bait and 1 tracker per group.

The first group will consist of the 2 foxkin and will head for the ants first. Once you gather their attention, head east. You can use [Sprint] but make sure you do not run away too far and lose them or they will come back to their nest.

The second group will consist of the 2 bunnykin, after about a minute passes and the first group of ants are out of immediate sight. You are to run towards the remaining ants and use the [Jump] skill to jump over them. Then run to the north dragging them them along. This is the most important job so don’t mess up!

The third group will consist of the 2 catkin, after those get out of sight, you are to use rocks to pull away the elites and few others that happen to remain and drag them away from the queen. You don’t have to worry about grabbing all of them, just get as many as you can and take them east.

I will then approach from the south and finish off the [Woodland Ant Queen]. Once she is dead, feel free to bring them in one by one or if they run away that is fine too.

When I give the signal, we will commence the operation.

This is an [Order]!” announced the middle aged man.

We moved in closer and took up our positions. When the middle aged man gave the signal, Kuina and the other foxkin walked towards the [Woodland Ants].

It did not take long for the [Woodland Ants] to notice them and they began running towards them while making hissing noises. When they got close enough, Kuina and the other foxkin activated [Sprint] and ran east. The [Woodland Ants] chased close by after them.

Your skill [RA][Sprint] has become Level 2

By the end it seemed like 13 [Woodland Ants] separated from the nest. Once they were out of immediate sight, the middle age man gave the second signal.

With that signal, the 2nd group of bunnykin ran forward and activated [Sprint]. Once they approached the ants, they activated [Jump] and flew over the [Woodland Ants].

You have acquired a new skill [RA][Jump] Level 1

The higher level bunnykin seemed to be a bit ahead on both the [Sprint] and the [Jump], thus made it to the other side of the [Woodland Ants] a second quicker. The second bunnykin jumped a bit behind and at lower altitude and accidentally ended up tripping on the head of one of the ants on the way down of the jump. So while the first bunnykin continued running on forward, the later one fell over and rolled.

He then desperately got up and reactivated [Sprint] but it was clear to see his legs had injuries which slowed him down. Never the less with will power he trotted forward the best he could as he dragged the ants to the north.

“Tch..it better not mess up the plan” the middle aged man grumbled.

With the 2nd group out of visible sight, we confirmed that 10 [Woodland Ants] have followed them. This leaves the remaining number of ants protecting the queen at 8.

And with that the 3rd signal was given.

The 2 catkin ran towards the remaining ants though visibly slower due to lack of [Sprint] ability and started throwing rocks at the remaining [Woodland Ants], then made their way to the west. This promoted 5 [Woodland Ants] to chase after them, one of which was larger than the rest. Most likely the soldier ant.

After confirming that the ants were out of sight, we began to head for the queen who was guarded by 3 larger ants. These ants already seem to have taken up a vigilant formation around the queen.

“Alright, so far it is going well. Retard, your only job is to use your [Smell Sense] and tell me if any of the groups start heading back ahead of schedule...you better not mess this up….or there will be a severe [Punishment]” he threatened.

Pfft! Who is scared of your [Punishment]?!?! I want to stick out my tongue and give him a piece of my mind. But I know full well he could behead me with just a lift of a finger. So I keep it to myself...for now...

So instead I nod and we proceed closer and closer to the ants. In no time, the [Woodland Ants] notice us and one of them rushes forward while the others stay back to protect the queen.

The middle aged man pays it little mind and rushes forward thrusting right through the [Woodland Ant], thus killing it instantly and continues to run straight for the queen and her 2 guards.

Your skill [NA][Thrust] has become Level 2

Your skill [RA][Toughness] has become Level 3

At this point both guards begin to rush forward as the queen begins to retreat. Though he pays it no mind and spinning the spear flings both guards to the side as he chases towards the queen.

“Hey retard! Distract those with some rocks while I deal with the queen!” he yells.

WHA?!?! I thought I got out of being bait! Grrr…

Well this doesn’t seem too hard, I can get some EXP and these ants don’t seem to be that fast, at least not anything I can’t handle with [Sprint] at Level 2.

So while the middle aged man continues to rush towards the queen, I use my [Throw] skill and fling rocks at the 2 soldier ants. Unfortunately due to their rather decent armor, I only end up doing less than 10 damage per throw.

The 2 guardian ants only stop for a second to glance at me before ignoring me and continuing towards the middle aged man to protect the queen. But that short difference was enough time for the middle aged man to catch up with the queen and with a sweep of the spear knock her off her feet and tumbling on the ground.

The queen tries to get up and face him in combat but right as she gets up, the middle aged man lands on her back impaling her with the spear. She lets out a shrill of pain and tries to shake him off her back. But the middle aged man keeps his balance and again thrusts the spear in the back of her neck, killing her almost instantly.

Of course prior to her death, I used this opportunity to also get an “accidental” throw on the queen when the 2 soldier ants approached to get some free EXP from her.

With the death of the queen, the 2 guardian ants let out a shriek of their own and begin to redden. Then rush at the middle aged man with infuriating vigor.

You have acquired a new skill [RA][Berserk] Level 1

The middle aged man pays it little mind and with 2 quick swings of the spear kills the 2 soldier ants. He then gives a signal to Ryo which Ryo then relays again with a whistle.

Level up!

Sentient Creature: +1 in all unlocked attributes +1 free attribute +20 HP +10 Stamina +10 Mental

Beastkin: +2 STR +2 VIT +1 AGI

Catkin: +2 AGI +1 DEX

A short time afterwards, I see Kuina run back with the other foxkin slightly behind her. And with her comes 10 [Woodland Ants] chasing right after. The middle aged man just moves forward and starts massacring the ants. It took him no more than a minute or 2 to quickly slaughter all 10 of them.

With them dead, Ryo sent the second whistle signal. And soon came the bunnykin followed by 6 [Woodland Ants], except only one of the bunnykin actually came back. Of course this group of ants was dispatched even quicker.

And finally the last whistle signal was sent. With it came the 2 catkin followed by all 5 of the remaining [Woodland Ants]. Probably with a soldier ant leading them, they were less likely to split up or lose track. And like the last group, it was but mere child’s play for the middle aged man.

Though luckily, the entire exchange took over 5 minutes so I got a last parting present in the last sweep.

Your skill [NP][Spear Mastery] has become Level 2

Now that the ants were all cleaned up, we were ordered to use rusted knives to remove the legs of the ants. There was simply too many corpses to drag back to town so we had to be picky on what we could and could not take. The legs were the easiest things to remove from the corpses without the risk of damaging the materials due to lack of [Disassembling] skill. Though I say easy, but in reality it was extremely difficult due to how tough these things were, even at the softer joints. Though it was slightly easier for me then others because I secretly used the [Slash] skill.

Ryo and the middle aged man handled disassembling the more expensive materials. Especially the queen. Of course sneaking a peak at Ryo while he was disassembling made things a lot easier for me.

You have acquired a new skill [NP][Disassembling] Level 1

Then not too long after, the middle aged man added a cherry on top!

Your skill [NP][Disassembling] has become Level 2

Unfortunately 5 minutes later did not yield any more increases from neither Ryo nor the middle aged man.

That said, today has been a very delicious skill-fest, and I am more than happy for it! It was a good thing I decided to stay for the time being. Of course this is only until I get my revenge on the evil mind controlling magician!

Of course it’s not all positive, neither the middle aged man nor Ryo even bothered to ask the remaining bunnykin what ended up happening to the other one. Like they don’t care at all. At one point during the harvesting of materials I managed to sneak out on a restroom break only to find the bunnykin has been brutally mutilated and shred to bits by ants. It was a cruel reminder on how harsh this world really is... From there I hurried back to the rest as my [Smell Sense] picked up some remaining ants lingering around.

It took us a few hours to disassemble and pack all the materials. After which we were forced to carry it. How I wish there was a skill for carrying heavy baggage! Well there is [Item Box], but I can’t exactly use that in public now can I?

Once we traveled for about 6 hours, we set up camp and were allowed to rest till end of the day.