My mandibles glow with two shades, one a frosty blue (I regretted it as I thought it) and the other a midnight black.

[Is it staying stable?]

There's a long silence from Joule as I try to maintain both the Frost Bite and the Void Bite at the same time.

[...Yes. I think? It's honestly kind of hard to tell for sure, but until I know for sure it isn't, yes, it's stable.]

I drop the Bites and relax slightly.

I had decided that gaining a new ability was too good of a chance to miss, and naturally I was excited about the prospect of using magic other than void.

[Are you ready to go hunting?]

I start climbing up my entrance hole. Once again, I've had to remodel.

[Actually...]

As my head broke the surface, I heard a voice.

"Hey, ant, how're you doing?"

I turned, sighing internally. [Noah, I don't-]

I froze.

[What is that?]

A massive dog of some unknown origin was sitting next to him. No - dog was the wrong word. It was the single fattest creature I had ever seen, and even while sitting (at least it looked like it was sitting) it was as wide as it was tall, and was still taller than Noah. A gold dog collar was around its neck, the leash firmly in Noah's hand.

"This? Oh, this is King Kapoof. He's Izzy's dog. She wanted me to take him on a walk, so I figured I'd just bring him here when I wanted to see how you were doing."

[King...]

[Kapoof?]

Joule and I are in complete agreement that this is the weirdest thing to happen so far.

The dog sees me, and its ears perked up.

"Woof?"

The ground shakes as it barks curiously.

What in the world do the Cosmics feed their pets?

"Yeah, I think he likes you. Anyway, I just wanted to check up on you guys and see what was going on, you know what I mean?"

[I... suppose?]

"Of course you do, you're an ant with human-grade intelligence!"

He laughed. It wasn't an especially funny joke.

Wiping a nonexistent tear from his eyes, he continued, "But in all seriousness, I'm here to give you a name."

A name?

[What's the point of it?]

"Well, it lets people know that they're not just facing a creature that's a bit smarter than most. A name is like an identifier for anything and anyone that meets you!"

[...I've never even seen anyone except you.]

Noah's excitement crumbled a little.

"Well... that might be the case, but I have a name for you either way!"

He stood up, letting King Kapoof roll over. At least we're not on a hill.

"Ant with powers, I henceforth grant you the name..."

He paused dramatically.

"LEROY!"

There's an extremely long silence before Joule politely says, [That's... a good...]

I interrupt. [Your name is awful. I'd rather just stick with being nameless.]

Noah panics slightly. "Wait, no, hang on a sec!"

He disappears instantly, and King Kapoof bounces to its tiny, chubby feet. Its head slowly turns towards me and I see something in its eyes that I don't like at all. I instinctively activate Frost Bite.

It lunges as much as a creature the size of a boulder can and its mouth opens. Dodging, I lunge for its backside and bite down.

What the heck is this dog made of?!

It feels like I just bit down on a mountain!

[Retreat! This thing has been in the Cosmic's house for who knows how long, it could any kind of powers!]

[You don't need to tell me twice!]

The frost slowly spreads over the dog's colossal rump, and it yowls in pain.

Noah steps back into existence holding a small black rectangle.

"Okay, I checked the comment section and they really only had one suggesti - WHAT HAPPENED?"

[Well, at least he recognizes how crazy this is.]

He rushes over to the enormous dog and hugs it tightly. "You used ice magic on it? What the heck, man?!"

[It attacked me!]

"He was just saying hi! Izzy's going to kill me..."

Distressed, he started mashing his fingers on the black rectangle, so he misses the murderous look that the dog shoots me. I feel a shiver crawl up my carapace.

[Er, Noah! Weren't you going to - ]

"Oh, yeah! Name. Anyway I checked, and there was really one option."

[What do you mean, one option? Checking what?]

"Your new name is..."

He pauses dramatically again, and I can feel Joule flinch. I didn't know she could do that.

"Null!"