I aggressively eat the spider, finishing it off in just a few bites.

[Next!]

[There's a mouse to your left about sixty feet away.]

[Got it!]

I now had an objective - get so powerful that I can join the Lymphadra ant colony. That means that I will have to get powerful at a significantly accelerated pace. Solution? Hunt absolutely everything.

I sprint through the grass, my thin legs producing a minimal amount of sound. I see the mouse and jump into the air. The mouse turns and sees me, eyes widening in surprise.

[Use Extended Bite!]

I focus my willpower and my void, and a pair of shadowy mandibles appear behind the mouse, catching it as it turned.

It took longer than I expected, but I've finally gotten the hang of this particular ability (I'm still not touching the other one).

The mouse skids to a stop an inch away from the Bite, and spins around. Too late - I'm already there!

SNAP!

I eat as fast as I can.

[How are the reserves looking, Joule?]

[Currently, if we invested all of what we've gained so far into pure size and strength, you'd increase to the frankly incredible size of a foot long.]

I freeze in shock, a piece of the mouse falling out of my mouth. From what Joule tells me, I'd started my life out as an ant a millimeter long. To go from that to a foot was incredible, to say the least.

[Then let's keep going!]

I redouble my efforts, devouring what's left and sprinting back to home.

As I slide down the entrance to my hill, I tell Joule, [Go ahead and start the process!]

[You got it!]

As the familiar pain starts approaching, I sprint full speed into my storage room and ram my head directly into a stone wall.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As I wake up, I notice a difference (and a mild headache). The inside of my hill is much, much smaller than it used to feel.

[Did it work?]

[It sure did! Knocking yourself out worked pretty well!]

[Good to hear it! Let's get hunting!]

We've been repeating this process for almost three days straight. My legs are getting tired, but every time I start getting tired I remind myself of the colony I'm working towards.

[I think you can start hunting bigger animals now!]

[Great! What's on the menu?]

[There's a wild boar to the right two hundred and sixty feet away!]

[Got it!]

I'm sprinting through the grass, admiring the strength and shine of my lovely improved abilities, when I find the pig. It's bigger than I am, but I'm starting to realize that that doesn't mean as much as it used to. Its hide looks mildly tough, but it's nothing that my Void Bite can't handle.

I sprint into the clearing, the void at the edge of my mandibles sucking at the air, and unleash a huge bite.

[Become my food, stupid... what?]

The pig had dodged. It looked at me with a strange mix of fear and anger, then lowered its tusks and charged.

As I prepare to use my Bite again, the boar's tusks suddenly dull with frost, fog drifting slightly off of them.

[It's a monster! Dodge!]

I sidestep, my legs working quickly. Unfortunately, I do it too early, and the boar hooks my underside with the tusks, and then hurls me away.

It hurts.

It's the first time since I became a Void Ant that anything has injured me, and it's terrifying.

[Joule! That thing can hurt me!]

[I know! You're a lot tougher than you used to be, but I guess magic can penetrate the defenses you've got!]

[What do I do?]

[Play it safe!]

With Joule instructing me, I right myself. The frost on my stomach is slowly spreading, making it harder to move by the second. The boar turns and sees me standing.

Squealing in fury, the boar tucks its head down and charges. I wait until the last second possible, then open my mandibles, spreading void on them as I do.

SNAP!

...

The frost stopped spreading. Time to eat.

As I start devouring the boar, I shiver, and not from the receding frost. I'd been walking around with some amount of confidence, doubting that very much could hurt me, but I was proved very wrong. It can't possibly be Noah's fault this time - he's demonstrated his power quite thoroughly. What if...

[Joule?]

[Yes?]

[Do you think any other creatures would have been better suited to receive Noah's essence?]

She sighs.

[I can't really answer that question. Are there other creatures that would use it to get more powerful? Yeah, definitely. The problem is that Noah went through I don't even know how many creatures trying to find one that could support the power he was giving out, and you're the only one that survived. And before you ask, I'm pretty sure his sister brought the others back to life.]

[I wasn't going to ask, but...]

I was the only one?

Me?