I chose another blue and orange.

The good ole Aperture Portal colour scheme. I crushed the blue one first and it vanished in a puff of fading sand.

Well done! You have learned the skill: Summon Ant!

Summon Ant. Creation Spell. Active: Create a single ant within a meter of yourself. Current size: Average earth red ant. Increase of skill will increase properties and control over summon. Cost 2 Energy permanently until ant is defeated or banished.

I was a bit... not impressed if I was being honest.

I tried it out and despite my let down of the skill, I was amused to see a slight poof of white smoke as a single little ant appeared. I felt a slight itch in my awareness. The ant didn’t move. It was a little ant so red it was almost black.

I observed it.

Summoned Red Ant. Summoned by Russel. A tiny insect that is made up of energy. Does not need food or sleep.

Again it was a bit weedy but-

Summon Ant has reached level 2! Increased mass and control

Before my eyes, the ant swelled to be a bit more in line an average ant.

“Oh that was fast,” I muttered. The itch I had felt a bit more... open? I felt the ant a bit clearer.

“Come here?” I tried and the thing just moved towards me. I tested moving it in directions before it brought me a leaf.

Summon Ant skill has reached level 3! Increase size and mental ability.

It was now shedding a shell as it reached a new size of a mouse. I had never seen an insect that big and it was a little odd but still, I was growing attached to the little guy! I picked him up and he was calm as I carried him into the hospital beyond.

“So if we’re going to be together I need to name you. I mean right now you’re just a little guy but at this rate, you’re going to be big enough to ride if I grind the skill enough!” I said cheerfully. The inside was similar to a degree of the Malice zone. No evil material or viruses thankfully. Just a lot of graffiti and damage.

“Hm how about King? Most ant things have a leader right?” I suggested.

Ant has been named King. Skill renamed.

Summon King is now available.

Nice. I sat down beside the reception desk, out of sight of the main entrance as I put King down.

“So, you can go eat or sleep or whatever ants do,” I suggested kindly. The ant paused then vanished into a crack in the wall. I felt a minor pang of worry but after a moment I could still sense the little guy.

He seemed to be fine for the moment.

Basic spider defeated! You need to kill 9 more for 1 EXP due to Strength difference.

I stared then looked at the crack King had gone into. He appeared and dropped a chomped spider at my feet, staring up at me with waiting eyes.

“I’m full thanks, you can eat it,” I said after a moment. King did so and...

Energy feedback from King. Too small to make up a point on its own. Reduced Energy regen time by 0.06 nanoseconds.

King was the best little guy.

“Go kill more but don’t be afraid to come back and rest!” I prompted. King turned without a word.

Summon King has reached level 4! Increased mental ability and power.

No size boost but he chomped and dug the crack into a round tunnel hole within seconds to get to the dark space on the other side.

I was beginning to understand the Mental thing let me sense and locate King a lot easier. I bet if my own Mental was higher we might be able to share senses or something. I placed some Purity Rocks around me and asked the System to only let me know if King killed something worth more than 1 EXP or if he perished.

I was impressed when one of my stones actually began to peel ancient graffiti off the walls somewhat.

I pulled my new cape around me and smiled. Everything was looking up. I still had the sense of something watching me which I assumed was the Demi-Hollow but it didn’t seem angry anymore. Maybe confused but it felt peaceful in the building now.

No Malice, no negative vibes.

I pulled out my orange stone and crushed it.

Well done! You have learned the spell: Holy Glint!

Holy Glint. Buff Spell. Active: The caster gives off a weak light of holy energy. Improves holy abilities used within a meter. Weakens demonic or unholy attacks within range. Cost 5 Ene. Last 10 minutes.

Hm... I didn’t have holy energy attacks but I knew that skills could combo so the buff itself could merge later to give me one. I cast it and my body faintly began to give off a yellowish light. Nice...

If nothing else, it could work as a very weak light if I didn’t want to hold a stone. Perhaps in response to my new light, the feeling of being watched suddenly vanished and a painful moan came from the walls. My cape seemed to give off more light than my body so I held it up to reveal I still couldn’t see anything.

Holy Glint has reached level 2! Increase range.

Summon King has reached level 5! Increased mass and mental ability. 3 levels until skill evolves!

I saw a wriggling ant leg now stuck out the ceiling as King tried to adjust for his new size.

“Doing good... buddy,” I cheered weakly on. I opened my two waiting skills and pondered them before nodding.

I knew what I wanted, based on how I’ve been operating so far and now trying to fit King into things...

I knew I wanted Acid Touch to remain contact only for now.

Acid Touch is evolving! Subpath will be absorbed.

Acid Touch has become Acid Cloak!

Acid Cloak. Active. Lv 1: Coat your body in a strong acid! Higher levels make this more dangerous and may extend outwards from your body. Only affects conscious threats. Cost 6 ENE. Last 10 seconds. Sustain cost: 5 ENE every ten seconds.

“What if I wanted to burn a door open?” I asked, hoping I didn’t need to see a door as a threat.

Conscious effort may control targeting.

A new flash appeared.

King has killed enough foes to award 1 EXP. Praise his diligent efforts!

“All hail the king, baby,” I grinned. I looked to my last skill that would shape my fighting style.

Did I want one superweapon or did I want flexible overall use? Flamebrand would absorb the lesser path but... I had to choose something now. In the end... I wanted to be able to use my fire in a way that couple with my tank choice. If I was covered in fire that would be more spots my foes would have to consider rather than just dodging my attack.

I was in it for the long haul in a fight so I needed the ability to be more flexible.

I chose Arsenal and the screen paused for a moment. My head suddenly felt like an axe had been driven into it. Blinding pain made me wince until it rapidly faded.

Flamebrand has evolved into Pyro Infusion.

Pyro Infusion Active spell: Infused three pieces of equipment or items with your burning fire. You may layer three charges on one item for triple effect. Each charge takes 10 seconds to recharge. Cost 5 ENE and 1 ENE sustain per item every minute.

I grimaced at the pain but I whistled at the skill. Three fire items or a decent combo item. I bet the path of Arson would have still had more power than a triple-layered item but everything had a price.

I was... exhausted. I drank some water and ate another snack bar before I decided to wait until daylight. I could assign my new stat point then. I pulled out a rolled-up new sleeping bag and created a Purity Stone for a night light.

Behind the receptionist desk was now looking clean if not still a little destroyed. It was clean at least and I felt the sleeping bag getting worked over to remove that ‘new feeling’. I yawned, said goodnight to King who decided to take up a guard before me. He was the size of a rat now and kinda cute if you ignored the snappy mandibles and compact eyes. He was actually marching back and forth like a soldier on patrol.

I didn’t remember falling asleep.

---

I woke up to a pile beetles, spiders, and a single dead rat inches from my face. I screeched as notifications bombarded me.

King has reached level 6...7...8! Max Level. Size increased. Mental increased. Power increased. One skill slot has been unlocked for surpassing level 5!

You have gained 15 EXP! 3 EXP left to level!

You feel rested. You feel distressed.

I turned to look at the once small tunnel and my mouth dropped open at the crawl space now present. A dark round tunnel that I could crawl through. It was still hidden by the receptionist desk but holy crap...

My words from last night came back to me.

`So, you can go eat or sleep or whatever ants do.’

Whatever… ants do. I stretched my awareness out and found King way below. I had the sense of... purpose? I decided to risk it and crawl into the tunnel with a Purity Stone. The slope was gentle enough and King had dug right through into a storage room for cabinet files. One of which was moving.

King walked past with it, showing no stress at the action and used it to finish is almost perfect Tetris style barricade at the only door in and out. King was the size of a small dog or a big cat. I stared as he stopped, turned and eyed me.

He went over to a corner and came back with another dead rat, dropped it at my feet, and carried on working.

“Any reason you tunnelled here and decided to redecorate?” I asked. The reply in my head wasn’t words or emotions but simply... purpose.

System would like to have warned you that previous orders carry over for most summons, even if Russel is asleep. System managed to change the desire to leave the hospital to find ‘bigger’ food and focus on digging. Please be more wary of giving non-thinking creatures orders.

“How far can he go from me?” I asked in surprise.

Distance is usually ten meters per ranks. So 80 meters in a radius. Once skill evolves and hits Rank F, that distance continues to grow.

“Thanks, didn’t want to wake up to find a dead jogger in my face,” I mumbled. I turned to King.

“King? You are not to harm a human being unless I give you the order or instructions otherwise, okay?” I said and the ant looked at me.

I had the odd feeling of a green leaf popping into my head. The ant tilted his head.

“No, that’s a leaf,” I said and the image changed to a spider.

“No, that’s a spider-”

A rat appeared.

“I’m a human!” I said suddenly and the ant looked unsure.

System suggests applying a skill and evolving the ant. Intelligence may be increased. One would hope.

“Sure, so what’s this skill slot and how does it affect King?” I rubbed my face.

Certain creation or other skills may hit levels where additional abilities are added in. These are usually unrelated to the core skills and can drastically mutate the skill.

A select choice of skills have been found for King.

Please choose one!

Acid Ant: Gain acid element from Summoner. Hunter Ant: Detect life and regeneration effect from feasting on blood. Increased aggression. Purity Ant: Crushed Purity Stone is now in blood of ant. Lowers combat abilities and prevents exp from feeding.

“Why does the acid ant not have any drawbacks?” I said frowning.

It is an Acid Ant. Most people would see that as an issue on structure, ecological, and sanity reasons.

“...is it made of acid or spit acid?” I said finally.

Produces acid. System supposes a well-trained ant would not kill you by accident...

Assuring as that was. I guessed that whatever path I choose now would affect the pending evolution of the skill. Bloodthirsty vampire ant was out. I thought about the acid but at this stage, it just didn’t need acid to dig and such.

Shrugging, I choose Purity. King glowed as his skin cracked revealing a gleaming white carapace and legs. His compact eyes looked around and I could feel a shift in the ant’s mind.

Purity Ant: An ant blessed with the power to cleanse and clear dangerous chemicals. Made by Russel Rivers. Purity Ant digs faster due to natural dirt removal. Purity Ant can feed on Purity Stones for a temporary boost. Purity Ant give off the same aura as a Purity stone. Added to ‘Summon King.’

Unique ability gained: Purity Stone production. Produce one Purity Stone every 10 minutes. Last 5 mins.

Would you like to evolve Summon King?

I was staring as the Ant now went around disposing of dirt piles and seeking out the cobweb in the corner.

“Uh sure...” I said.

Summon King is ready to evolve. Please choose desired path.

Path of Quantity: Summon three ants (including King) with the same abilities. Their unique ability remains the same.

Path of Quality: Focus the power into King and his Purity Stones will always reflect the strength of your own skill.

I liked King, he did a wicked job so I knew he deserved the lion’s share of the reward.

I picked Quality.

King blinked out of existence as the skill manually sent him back as it evolved.

Summon Ant(king) has evolved to Summon Ant Lion(King)!

Summon Ant Lion (King): Active Spell: Summon a mutated monster Ant Lion. This Purity Ant Lion has the ability to hide, dig, trap, and contains the beginning of unknown magic. Cost 5 ENE until banished or defeated.

I summoned King and the first thing I noticed was the sharper mental connection and the head had thorny pincers with the same kind of eyes. The area around the head now had about a dozen prickly dozen ant hairs that formed together into an actual mane. It shook the white hair and it moved vaguely the same as hair. The ant still mainly resembled the same shape as an ant if you took in the more thorny legs and thicker body.

It was the size of a big dog now and the thorax looked wider and flatter than before. It titled his head and went on with his previous task of digging and sorting the dirt.

It had a clear image of many interlocking chambers and the idea of myself at the most protected to produce young.

I blinked for a long time.

King thought I was his Queen.

“I don’t make young,” I protested. King turned slowly and tilted his head.

I got a sort of an odd static noise and the impression of a broken crown.

“No. I’m not defective,” I said sourly. The ant came up and nudged me with affection. His intent clear. Instead of young, King now saw me in a throne room with many ants he had ‘found’.

“I’m not sure I’m ready for kids!” I argued. This threw King for a moment.

He tentatively offered an image of a grand series of chambers with me and himself just enjoying the security. I nodded, a little more into that.

“Sure! That’s fine. Just no kids or finding me kids,” I said quickly. King nodded eagerly and dug into his work with renewed energy.

System will send flowers for ant babies of Russels. Please name one after System.

“Bite me,” I scowled.

System does not wish to know what happens between Russel and his many ant concubines.

I felt my headache throb a little and wondered if I could just go back to sleep but decided I owed Director Mori a favour before that.

It was time to see if I could help his brat of a son move on.