《Ant in Magic World.》(B-2) (Ch-4) (The Farm)

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Under the effect of the barriers Pink hue, we saw life-threatening pieces of rubble fly past us. The millions of grains chipped at the barriers surface, creating a sound akin to falling rain. The heavy rumbling noise struck a chime of dread in our minds as the emotionless tide of sand uprooted our barrier and us along with it. The tide had already swallowed us whole. It floundered and hefted us around; splattered us inside the spherical clustered chamber and buried us deep under the sandy grave.

The sound of our barrier being crushed by the pressure was deafening in the otherwise silent chamber. No one said anything. A screech akin to a banshee’s scream busted into our silence as a big piece of gravel zoomed past us kissing the left side of the barrier.

“Do something!” David reprieved Genma as sand started seeping from the crack which that comet had left behind in its nihilistic snare.

“We are- going to- die!” It was Dark who screamed. The world outside was completely hidden from our eyes; the only thing we could see was darkness, endless darkness. My sense wasn’t working and neither were my skills. We all were disoriented. I felt useless; hopeless even. This opened a new chapter in my life which taught me the importance of control. Control over my abilities and strength. My skills were like giant pits of unfathomable depths. But this dept was also a trap. A trap in which those fallen never saw the light of happiness again.

David glared at us with scrutinizing eye. His mental condition was unreadable and our condition- grave. “Will that monster ever stop playing in the sand!?” I guessed the monster was still outside and thrashing in anger. Otherwise, the tide would have stopped a long while ago. These tense seconds were agonizing to pass and then the barrier started cracking.

“It’s going to break!” Genma screamed.

“What happened?” I nervously asked.

“I’m out of mana!” he said and I had to try and find a way to provide some of my mana to the barrier. I pondered for a method but came up with nothing. In the spur of the moment, I moved my mana inside my body in order to rush it upon the barrier, when the answer knocked upon my mind.

{Mana channel has risen to its maximum level}

[Mana channel has reached its maximum level and is providing you with these evolution options: Mana Bestowal or Mana River]

{Reveal is revealing the secrets of the evolution branches.}

[Mana Bestowal]

[Tier-2][Lv-25][Active]

[This skill allows you to actively bestow your mana to someone else or a skill.]

[Efficiency of bestowed mana increases by 4% per skill level.]

[+.2Wisdom/lv] [Mana River]

[Tier-2][Lv-25][Passive]

[The channel grows into a river of mana and increases the magical destructive ability]

[Increases your magical damage and mana consumption by 4% per level]

[+.4 wisdom/lv]

I took the decision in a split second. Although it pained me to let go of such a game-changing skill which could have further improved my destructive capacities, considering the moments need, I had to choose Mana bestowal. There was simply no other way. I had to keep the barrier alive until the tide calmed down. And it was just the skill I needed to accomplish that.

{Mana channel has evolved into mana bestowal.}

“Shit!” It was my genuine reaction as I used this new skill to provide my mana to the barrier. If the skill had evolved at any other time then I would have definitely chosen [Mana River] instead of [Mana Bestowal]. But I guess, fate plays a larger role in choosing the paths we walk. It’s our circumstances and our decisions which make us unique; otherwise, everyone is born the same. Someone else might have chosen the other skill in my circumstances. It’s just who I was and still am. I couldn’t forgo my team for my own benefits. Even though I knew I was going to regret it in the future.

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Unfortunately, because of my bestowals low proficiency, only a pitter of what I bestowed was being absorbed by the barrier. It wasn’t enough to keep the cracks from expanding.

“I’m going to kill you both. I mean it!” David screamed in terror as sand occupied half of the space inside the barrier. “Do something!” I yelled to Genma who nervously replied, saying, “I can’t. I’m already out of mana.”

But just as the sound of two of the biggest crakes touched each other ringed, another bell rung in my mind, giving us chance at life we deserved.

{Mana control also has risen to lv 10}

[Mana control has reached its maximum level. Please choose one of the options for skill evolution: Mana Extraction or Micro-management]

{Reveal is revealing the secret of the hidden branches.}

[Mana Extraction]

[Tier-2][Lv-25][Active]

[Helps the user extract mana from the atmosphere for personal use]

[Adds a secondary mana bar whose capacity increases by 4% every level]

[Increases mana regeneration by 4%/lv] [Micro management]

[Tier-2][Lv-25][Passive]

[Increases your mana control to micro level]

[Decrease mana consumption by 4%/lv and increases damage by 4%/lv]

I knew the skill I had received from mana manipulation complemented each other. But I didn’t know their complementing nature would allow them to work together to counter each other’s weaknesses and fill the gaps after evolution! This was a great find. But I had work to do.

Although I still felt sad for not choosing the two skills which could have increased my damage by 200%, I was happy by receiving these two skills. In my mind, our current problem was already solved. I was already thinking about the future.

{Mana control has evolved into mana Extraction.}

I was happy with receiving the secondary mana bar, but there was a catch. The moment I tried to use the mana inside it, all of it, yes, all of it was bestowed to the barrier, quickly filling the crack which had opened, stopping the sand from slipping inside the barrier.

{Mana Bestowal has risen to lv 2}, {Mana extraction has risen to lv 2}, {High mana regeneration has risen to lv 3}

And once they both increased by one level, the efficiency had a rapid increase which allowed me to keep the barrier compact, and us safe.

The tide continued for two more minutes after which our tumbling barrier came to rest and we survived our first ordeal as a team. “Let me kill you both,” David spoke as soon as we stopped, but there was not a hint of malice in his tone. Having survived the ordeal together, it brought us closer. This sense of brotherhood can only be understood by those who have survived a calamity together as there is no other emotion which comes pressing after it

The first thing we saw after coming out of the sandy grave was sand. It was everywhere. A sandy blanket sprawled over the dark and green land- burying the vegetation beneath it. I was sure we had reached the dry grass shaded land, but now the desert had expanded once again.

The creature which had brought this madness was nowhere to be seen; though its menacing aura still lingered in the air around us. The signs of its faint yet monstrous presence could still be felt from some distance. And if the shuddering antennas of the others told me anything, I found it better to bury my thoughts with the vegetation beneath. I didn’t want to disturb the calm we had worked so hard to find.

Everyone looked better than they looked inside the cramped barrier. I wasn’t expecting David to apologize, but that’s what he did after sensing the odor of life still clutching to his body.

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“I’m sorry. Sometimes I say things I shouldn’t say or even think like a leader.” He said looking at Genma and then nodded his head to me. “Thank you both for showing me that every life matters. That everyone has something they are good at.”

I could feel Genma’s happiness from his sparkling eyes. He had first saved Dark from being grinded down by the sand grains and then saved us all from the tide. Why wouldn’t he be happy? He finally could feel the pride of being a member of the greater team of our colony. And I guess, David’s apology also helped me change my opinion about him. He was not as stiff and single-minded as I thought he was. He was definitely crazy, but he had the qualities one needs from a leader.

“We can catch up with our feelings later,” he spoke gazing at the sun which had slid toward the west. “We need to see the seer before she leaves. We can’t go to the farm without meeting her.”

“Alright,” Mink said.

I rubbed Genma’s back with my antennas and we started walking. Pyro was still in daze, while Dark was once again calm and collected. Genma was happy, but I was still worried. I was worried about the monster which we could be facing in our journey to the farm, but Dark cheered me up.

“Don’t worry. We are safe for now. At least until we meet the seer.”

“Who is the seer?” I asked and he paused briefly before stammering through his words, “she’s…she’s the most beautiful being I have ever seen in my life.” It was somewhat shocking to hear those words come out of his mouth. After all, he was Dark ‘the devilish ant’ he was not Pyro, he wasn’t Mink who might say such things without thinking.

“Well, shit!” I heard Pyro say as if our conversation had earned his attention.

“Don’t tell me… you li-”

“NO.” but Pyro’s intrusive attitude was all it took for him to return back to his real nature. Well, I wasn’t sure about his nature anymore.

I didn’t ask Pyro how he was feeling. I knew he would speak up once he decided to talk. He was that kind of ant. But I had some questions of my own and now that they both were being talkative I decided to scratch my itch whilst I could.

“But why are we going to see her?” I asked.

“That’s to find out when the monthly disaster will strike.” It was pyro who answered.

“Monthly disaster, what’s-” I couldn’t finish my question. David yelled to run and Pyro stiffly started running as if on a mission. I thought we were being attacked, but it just our captain being captain. He liked to order others.

Leaving the sandy desert behind, we entered a wretched jungle of pits and falls. Wild flora with winged branches stopped natural light from naming our path. This place was wet with desires and humid with danger. I could feel movement beneath my feet, but no one looked annoyed or tensed here, washing my fear of a hidden attack.

I had grown fearful of the assassins. They were mean fuckers who attacked from the shadows and hid back in them after kidnapping their dissolving food.

Stalks of clovers covered our sight in towering pillars of green. Brown drops of dew hung underneath their flat petals. Humongous brown thistles grew expanding on our path, creating a giant maze of thorns and beautiful flowers with allure strong enough to delude any oblivious customer.

Sun rays could be seen glimpsing through the long-bearded branches of the ferns here and there. I watchfully gazed at this hidden wonder of nature, and it an unforgivable sight. Constant darkness enveloped the objects living or natural, creating this echoing sense of awe in this biological zone. The clamor of beings native to this place was wild in the air; making this place unimaginable without its presence.

My soft steps left deep marks filled with infatuation and yearning upon the wet ground we walked. In front of me was a sight mesmerizingly grand yet hidden, while behind me, a tunnel of light was all that remained of the sand buried world we had come from.

“There it is.” Pyro pointed with his antennas toward a towering plant some distance from us. The measure of its height can be taken by comparing it with the clovers and the ferns which although magnificent in their own measure remained shy in front of its breathtaking height.

I say it even though I had scaled a monolith called a ‘tree’ before because of the flower which grew atop the plant. It was saucer shaped with numerous yellow petals growing from the outer rim.

It was the only specimen of its kind which grew in the middle of this weedy parasitic sprawl. Alone, the flower had fought against the unfortunate conditions it had found itself in and then grown up to be a landmark visible even from where I stood.

Yes. The flower was far-far away from us and yet, it was almost in front of my eyes. A breaths distance away. I remember thinking about growing from these humble begging’s of mine, becoming strong enough to contend for the world against the creatures which roamed the world above the shade of our hidden sights. Like the beast which housed the bloodsuckers, I had hunted on my first mission.

“Walk faster. I want to be there before the sun completely reaches our back.” David said and we raised our speed. I had seen everything which this place had to offer and decided to check my skills while I had the time.

The moment I decided to do so, a deluge of blue screens filled my sight. But first appeared the title I had achieved for killing the pit hunter.

Title: Myth Buster [Pioneer][Unique] {You are the first ant to have ever killed an ‘E’ tier being all alone.} Reward: Skill (Reckless courage)

{Skill: Reckless courage acquired}

[Reckless courage]

[Tier-1][Lv-1/10][Passive]

[It increases your stats by 1% /lv when fighting against a being one tier above you.]

That meant I could increase my skills by a maximum of 10% while fighting against a being higher tier than me. How much was 10%? It wasn’t much for now, but every stat point was important. I wasn’t going to say no to such rewards. After this appeared the skills ready to evolve and those I had newly received.

{Dodge has risen to lv 25}

[Dodge has reached its maximum level and is giving you the option to evade or challenge]

See, the thing is, by now I had enough experience with skills to understand the core meaning behind the different options which each skill presented: Like Evade or challenge. Their meaning was clear. It was asking whether I wanted to evade -which would be a further evolution of dodge- or challenge -which would be a branch skill, much different form dodge and would increase my strength or endurance every level.

It was that simple and my choice was simple too. I wasn’t a tank who charged forward in order to meet my opponent in melee. I liked to dodge, use my agility, and attack from far. I chose to evade.

{You have acquired Skill: Phase break}

[Phase Break]

[Tier-3][Lv-1/50][Passive]

[Passively increases dodge rate by 1% per level.]

[+.2Dexterity/lv, +.2Agility/lv]

It was a considerable improvement. Unlike dodge, which only increased my chance of dodging -which depended upon luck- this skill was a permanent modifier.

Next up was confidence, a tier-1 skill.

{Confidence has risen to lv 10}

{Confidence has reached its maximum level and is evolving into tenacity.}

{Skill: Tenacity acquired.}

[Tenacity]

[Tier-2][Lv-1/25][Passive]

[You are stubborn and this is the result.]

[+.1 Endurance/lv; +.1 vitality/lv]

This was it for skills evolving. Next up were my newly acquired skills.

{Skill: Toughness acquired.}

{Skill: Swim acquired}

[Toughness]

[Tier-1][Lv-1/10][Passive]

[This skill Increases the toughness of your whole body.]

[+.1Endurance/lv] [Swim]

[Tier-1][Lv-1/10][Passive/active]

[Allows you to better move your body in more viscous mediums]

[+.1 agility/lv]

‘Was there still a chance of me progressing further?’ I used to think I had learned all the skills which I could; I was simply naïve and wet behind my antennas. My life had changed, and I had changed with it, but in the end, I had only been an ant for less than a month. I hadn’t even begun to see the real world, much less understand something transient like the system.

Following my mental contemplations appeared a slew of notifications about my skills rising by some levels.

Spoiler Air bullet has risen to lv 15 3-D maneuver has risen to lv 2 Acceleration has risen to lv 4 Glide has risen to lv 12 Dodge has risen to lv 25 High mana regeneration has risen to lv 2 Skill: Swim acquired Swim has risen to lv 2 Stable mind has climbed to lv 11 You have survived through a calamity- longevity (2) has risen to lv 2 Stable mind has climbed to lv 12 Swim has risen to lv 3 Skill: Toughness acquired Willpower has risen to lv 4 Push resistance has risen to lv 19 Toughness has risen to lv 2 Blunt resistance has risen to lv 24 Reveal has risen to lv 2 Stable mind has climbed to lv 13 Willpower has risen to lv 5 Stable mind has climbed to lv 14 Excavate has risen to lv 2 Excavate has risen to lv 3 Sight has risen to lv 4

After which I concentrated back into the world and saw the green stalk rising toward the tower.

“We are here,” David said, happily nodding his head, possibly because we had arrived on time. It almost seemed to pillar the wild blue sky. It was that tall. There was flora the shape of white solidified explosions under the plant. Their name according to my appraisal was ‘wild mushrooms’. Their shape though was horrifyingly similar to the parasitic antennae which had infested our colony. But unlike those wormy crawlers, these mushrooms neither reacted to our presence nor did they raise my pathogen resistance. Hence, I didn’t try to stop the others with unaccredited suspicion.

Though I stayed vigilant to any kind of suspicious activity and even activated [mana vision], we quietly went past them without a hitch and started climbing the stalk. It was mind-bogglingly tall. Though it was not as big as the tree I had climbed once, but still, the ground appeared almost distorted from us here, like the horizon which you can see but can’t distinguish from the land and the sky. A gust of wind once again intruded between our file and tried to pry some of us off the stalk. Fortunately, everyone was strong enough to resist its frustrated drawl and no one became a jumper.

It took us a few minutes to climb all the way up to the very top where a forest of yellow pollen covered tentacles stood growing from the base of the flower. Behind this jungle was a floor of yellowish-green pokers protruding from the surface. I appraised this flower too –following my recent addiction for skill growth- and it named the plant a ‘sun’ flower- reason unknown. ‘Maybe because the flower follows the sun… I don’t know.’ I thought and fixed my sight on the middle of this flower.

The flower itself was a dangerous beast with a mindless jumble of weapons, and in the middle of its saucer-shaped capacity stood a being five times the size of our biggest companions. A set of folded wings of prismatic quality adorned her back. Her head housed big oval eyes which seemed to stare right through me as she lifted her head and looked at us.

Our arrival didn’t seem to faze her. She simply continued quenching her thirst. If there was one thing about her which made me frown mentally, it was that she had no aura to her. It was as if she had lost all strength and was nearing the end of her life.

Our captain moved forward and was about to speak when she retrieved her probosci form the flower and spoke up.

“No, need to say anything.” A sharp sound she created. It penetrated our minds and echoed inside. “I haven’t seen it around. It has probably left the area.”

“Are you sure? You know how important it is that you tell us exactly when it left and in which direction.”

“The when I can tell, but where I can’t. It left this region about a week ago.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I am. Anything else?”

In the middle of their conversation, I gained another skill. Not a very useful one, as I could already understand her words, but it still brought me a little closer to the hilariously late evolution I had been waiting to receive forever.

{Butterfly language has been acquired.}

Hearing the creature getting stern, David stopped talking and nodded his head.

“I will send some people from the colony to help you grow again.”

“Don’t.” She said. “I have decided to leave this place.”

“Don’t! It’s dangerous outside. Let us help you this time!” She looked at the captain for some time before agreeing. “I’ll keep your proposition in mind. Anything else you want to ask?”

Captain gave her a last hard look before shaking his antennas. “No.”

“Then leave. The earth clocked beetles will be arriving soon. You are already late. Leave now. Go on.”

“Alright, thank you.” The captain said respectfully and turned around.

“Wait. Another thing; your journey to the farm won’t be fruitful.”

He stared deeply at the seer and said, “It doesn’t matter.” He then turned toward us and ordered us to follow him.

“Let’s hope the tunnel is not flooded already.” I heard him say.

“What happens if the tunnel is flooded?” I asked Pyro and he said almost frightened.”Then we have to go through the hoppers territory.”

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