Run, run away and save yourself!

—Spoken by David ‘The hammer’, Captain of the Explorers, to his team during the last disaster.

I fell and so did the ladies.

The erratic buzzing of their wings placed them right behind me. One was enraged and the confused. For some reason, I didn’t get to learn their language like it had always happened. The system forgot to come through with these. The ladies behind me, and the many bugs and caterpillars fighting above ground either didn’t have a language, which was impossible to imagine, considering everyone I had met in the past could talk, or there was something wrong with them, mentally. Just like the parasites; because neither the parasites nor those infected by them could speak.

However, I knew this wasn’t a case of parasitic infection. None of these bugs showed any such signs. It was a mystery I wanted to delve but had other much urgent priorities to leave—like staying alive. A green world flashed past me as I dropped a level away from the ongoing war. I can glide away. I thought, but there was no safe place. The invaders were everywhere; I wasn’t sure what good being away from my companions would bring.

I would be able to get back to them lest they needed me. Moreover, the bustling wildlife near the ground should decrease ladybugs freedom, helping me in return. Such were my thoughts as I used feather fall to stop atop a leaf jutting directly from the plants stalk, just above the ground, I glanced back and hurriedly rolled away.

The provoked bug came screaming right after and disappeared under the leaf, tearing a hole in the leaf right where I was previously situated. The tightened rope churned in its wake, pulling its companion right behind, who soon similarly fell through the hole, disappearing outside of my perception. Knowing a simple fall wouldn’t do them much damage I got ready to act.

Overdrive was out of the question, but there was overload that could pump me full of strength for a short period, but a quick look above made me reconsider. Overload was a one and done kind of skill and this wasn’t the time for that.

I checked my mana and groaned; it was filling by pitters. At that rate, it would have taken me hours to get going, but my sensitive hearing was already picking the sound of fluttering wings quickly approaching from below. I hurriedly rushed off the leaf and onto the plant's stem, as both of the ladybugs appeared tearing another two holes into the young green leaf.

I hurriedly climbed to create some distance when one of the two red-winged ladybugs lunged at me. I stuck a leg between the folds of the stalk and quickly maneuvered to the other side. My opponent wasn’t so fortunate or dexterous. She was agile for sure and pretty damn hard but couldn't turn tight corners. She had a collision, the vibrations from which freed my leg, but also made me slip. I saw her struggling to get her forelegs —which had pierced into the stalk— unstuck, as I fell. I tried to glide toward the punctured leaf, but the other ladybug saw it as a chance and knocked me back at the thick stalk. A big, bold and bloody -4 came floating in front of my eyes before fading away, telling me of my decreased health.

She came again right after, this time rolling into a ball. I marginally managed to change direction; calling on the roots dangling from a nearby leaf. She skittered past me and once again disappeared under the leaf, leaving another hole in her wake. By now I was starting to get desperate. They weren’t giving me time to think or act. I had only been dodging and dodging and dodging. I knew only dodging wasn’t going to cut it. I would have to act sooner or later, but how? Then I perceived another attack, this time by the one bug that previously had her legs stuck in the stalk. Unfortunately, she had chosen the right time to attack. I was left with no choice other than to use ghostly steps and let it pass through my body, sucking another tenth of my mana and sealing all of my mana related attacking abilities along with it. She felt a jolt of soul damage in return, but the damage done was meaningless, as she was neither paralyzed nor dazed or killed. She did shudder in pain, but that wasn’t enough.

However, I noticed something as she flew away. Her back, which was usually covered, was unarmored during flight. The armor, as it turned out, worked double as a cover for her wings, which she had to keep open during flight. I could have tried latching onto her back with a jump had I been given some time, however, the other lady appeared as this one disappeared, swirling around the stem. She sharply rose getting my full attention, and flew past me into the air, leaving behind the thunderous buzz of her wings.

I would have understood had it attacked, but what was the point of hurtling past in a rush? I was soon relieved of my confusion upon being head-butted from under the leaf. They got me. This time a bold -10 floated out of my body dyed in red and disappeared before my eyes as I rose into the air, dazed. Another head butt pulled me out of daze but shot pain through my torso. The one attacking me decided it wasn’t simply enough to slam into me, and snatched one of my legs during the confusion. I gurgled in despair and was struck one another time, pushing me higher into the air. I watched languidly as the calmer one among them, the one who I thought had left the fight, plummeted right toward me with its mouth open, trying to take advantage of my confusion.

They must have thought me unconscious or in a daze, but they didn’t know of my resistances. I felt jolted, but fine otherwise. Those three attacks had sipped a large 45 health from my body, but I wasn’t dying yet. I had a lot more left in store. Though low on mana, I wasn’t completely without its assistance. And if they thought me finished, they were wrong.

Feeling confident, the provoked one from below came again, this time with its jaw open, hoping to finish me with one last attack. I fulfilled her wish. Changing my abdomen into a long and strong spike, which didn’t take much mana because the skill had already reached the maximum level, I drove the spike into her mouth —used spikes special ability extension— and grew a flower of spikes inside her throat cavity. I didn’t forget to attack the one coming from above and fired three air bullets in her direction to keep her busy. The bullets derailed her away from us, giving me time to dance with her provoked friend.

As for the ladybug I was stuck with, she opened her mouth wide to scream, and the system ringed critical hit in my head. A boldly red -57 came floated out of her body, as she gurgled on her fluid. I saw the effect of provoke and mystify deepening in its eyes. She didn’t die but fell with me struck in her mouth, squirming. Had I not changed back and pushed her away she would have ended up dragging me down with her and crushed me. But I timely escaped using float. The danger wasn’t over though. Floating took mana unlike glide and at a very greedy pace at that. The red-eyed ladybug rushed toward me once again in a craze. She seemed to have lost consciousness and was being driven by her hate toward me. I could have gotten away but saw it as a chance. Deactivating float, I glide to get out of her way and then launched myself at her. I somehow managed to get my mandibles locked around her neck as she flew higher and higher. She went crazy. Shrieking and flailing her legs, she rose past the level where the ants were still fighting the caterpillars and plum carriers, and went past the plant's height, bringing me amidst the dark cloud made of close to a hundred bugs that watched the fight below carrying a few of dazed soldiers in their mandibles.

I tightened my mandibles at the sight, strangling my ride. Her eyes opened wide as my mandibles dug deeper and deeper into her neck. Eventually, my mandibles sheared though her neck and locked together. Her wings stopped fluttering, her mouth stopped shrieking, and we plummeted back down. We both fell, but I couldn’t help keep staring at the mass of bugs floating right above the farm and think of our survival chances had they all attacked along with the caterpillars.

I imagined myself dealing with them altogether as cold wind numbed my body and calmed my emotions. The system had told me of a rise in my level, thanks to the experience from the ladybug, but I was too involved in my thoughts to care about anything else at the time. I checked my attacking options and found myself very lacking.

Air bullet, my quickest and cheapest method of attack did not affect the bug I had ridden; I didn’t dare think it would work against the others. Fire demon would keep them away, burning through any that dared come close to me, but would similarly burn through my mana if I dared kept it pumping. I had two very strong skill which I knew wouldn’t fail me. One was my third tiered wind cannonball, which had proved itself time and time again; the other one I hadn’t used even once: the one called falling star, my most recent possession. Falling star could tear apart the wings of all the bugs; I did not doubt that. Though strong, it also had a glaring weakness. Its mana consumption was out of the charts. With a requirement of 100 points of mana to simply activate the skill, it was currently out of my list as a potential problem solver. As for the cannonballs, at 20 mana points each, I would have nine of them, but there were close to a hundred of these bugs — a frightening number. It would be suicidal to fight them all, but we were planning an expedition to their home. I wondered how many would desert now that we had seen our opponents in action.

We both fell, one lifeless and other frayed. The bug’s sight occupied my mind, my body left uncontrolled. No matter what I did the picture remained etched in front of my eyes as if there to show me something important. So I looked. I cursed my photogenic memory and closely watched every bug and the ants they carried. One, two, three, I sifted through tens of their gross shapes and then froze. One of the seer mimickers held someone I knew. They had Billy. I woke up from my dream-like state and used feather fall, glide, and float in the same sequence one after another to stop my fall, correct my posture, and stop my descent. There was a ladybug hot on my tail, but this took precedence. I couldn’t have let the worst scenario come to life. But my mana emptied right as I used float, fallingg into a dive once again. The other ladybug, whose attention I had diverted with air bullets, saw my helpless descent as a chance and looped for me, enraged by the death of her companions.

We crashed mid-air and separated. It rose away unscathed, I came out of the collision missing half of my left antennae. I fell on a leaf, disoriented and seething with both mental and soul pain. I shouldn’t have let my mana run dry. It was a mistake and it was made at the wrong time. Although soul damage resistance and stable mind helped me, even they couldn’t completely take away the negative effects of mana saturation. My stomach churned and sight revolved, dizzying me further. Thankfully, this state of vulnerability only lasted for a minute. I regenerated a point of mana after the minute. Had it lasted longer my life would have ended right there.

The first thing I thought of after gaining balance was to heal my antenna. Although I didn’t need them as much as others might, they still played a large part in keeping me stabilized. But there was no such option. I wasn’t going to play fool once again. Pain resistance helped me get up and I found the bug charging for me, the end of my antennae sticking out of its mouth.

What had I that I could use against it? I wondered ducking away uncomfortably as she zipped past me and behind the stalk. What are my options? I wondered desperately. I knew she wouldn’t let me spike her mouth. But as I was thinking I remembered the truth about its armored back. I had concluded that her ability to fly was also her biggest weakness. Flying left her back unarmored. However, to get on her back was going to be difficult. I did not doubt that.

The solution, in the end, came much easier than I could have predicted. She came again, gleefully lunging at me as if confident of her victory, and I —seeing the opportunity— jumped with the intentions of landing on her back. I miss-timed, however, and ended up being clipped in the chest by a hidden stinger when she curled mid-flight and did a front flip, leaving a shallow but painful gash. I threw myself into a roll as she passed above my head, cursing out in agony. If I had just a few more points of mana left I could have done something; either changed the shape of my legs to better grip or jump or simply attacked it with acid. I was getting furious. Nothing was working. I was tired, in pain, and irritated. Blaming myself for dragging the fight uselessly, I dropped all plans, and the next time she came around, I directly met her charge with a charge of my own.

We both collided. Her jaw gorged my face and locked around the bottom of my neck, but I didn’t miss. I was going for her face and managed to get a deep hold there. It carried me along screaming and flew erratically, while I changed the teeth of my mandibles into hollow tubes and pumped poison into her face. I didn’t have much poison stored, just a few drops worth, but my poison was very strong. So strong actually that not only did it numbed her face in seconds, which slacked her hold upon me, but also paralyzed her in under a minute. The ladybug soon fell atop the leaf and stopped moving. Her body convulsing as I neared. She didn’t die to the poison; I had to snip her head in two to end her life. The system rang again, congratulating me for leveling up, but I was running already.

Time was of the essence. I had only won the battle; the war was still going on. I had to reach the upper levels. I couldn’t waste my breath thinking about the gains, my friends were still in danger. Once again I felt the helplessness of the weak. It enraged me, inflamed me from the inside. I could only give my best and climb. I wanted to hope for the best, but to hope means to give up. Was I giving up? I wasn’t. However, I was too weak. I didn’t make it in time. I had once again failed another friend.

They took Billy.