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Chapter 3 : Training - Part 2

yO~ Guys,

Part 2 of the second chapter.

Thanks and Have fun.

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Chapter 3 : Training

Part - 2

Crimson soon opened up his settings and deactivated the notifications, since he didn't have to look at them. He didn't even have to assign stats, so it was not required to check the notifications.

He carried the bear over his head. He left the head behind since it was hard to carry. The bear was larger than the ant, but Crimson didn't feel any difficulty in carrying the bear while following the elder.

They started walking for a while and after a while the rain stopped. Slowly the surrounding were getting covered by fog and crimson could not see the elder before him. He concentrated to sense the presence of the elder and as he moved he sensed the path the follow and continued.

After following the path left behind by the elder, crimson was climbing a slope upwards and the stopped seeing the elder.

"Now we eat, I think you should be feeling hungry as well."

Crimson was feeling hungry, but since he didn't want to lose the path of the elder, he did not stop. The ants started to bite down on the body of the bear and ate everything except the bones and hide.

The elder stood up and urged Crimson to follow. The elder stopped near the wall of stone which Crimson thought was the side of a mountain.

"Young one since time is slim. We need to strengthen your body soon. During the fog, no creature will venture outside. I had already mapped these regions and know my place around. Now pick up this stone and follow my path."

Crimson looked around and saw no stone around him.

"Elder, I don't see any stones."

The elder showed an expression which Crimson and seen only twice and recognised as a smile. He saw the elder touching the wall before them. Crimson looked at the wall or stone before him and his eyes widened as he was not able to say where the stone started and where it ended.

"Elder, I don't think I can lift this... stone... mountain."

"I told you about the punishment. This is a small stone. We will start with bigger ones next. Let me help you lift it.", the elder said with a smile and bent down to lift the rock.

He elder ant lifted the rock and placed it on his back behind his head. Due to the fog the original size of the rock could not be seen, but it was roughly over 20 meters in diameter.

"Now, bend down and balance the stone on your back and hold it with you forelegs. Don't let it fall, then you will have to carry it back. Now just carry it and follow me.", he said and placed the stone by sliding it onto the back of the young ant.

Crimson felt a huge load placed over him and he was barely able to control his balance. He felt like tumbling and just standing with the rock drained his strength. He had played for over 7 hours and within two hours more the restricting on his strength stat would be released.

The elder looked at Crimson and confirming that he will not fall over started to moved from the way he arrived to this place and the start of the slope.

"Now follow me young one. We don't have time to lose.", he said and started to climb the slope.

Crimson slowly moved forward, step by step towards the elder and trying hard to maintain his balance. He was slowly moving while trying not to fall and he knew if he fell with the rock, he would be squashed by the weight and probably end up dead. Since he was moving slowly, he lost sight of the elder early on, but he was still able to sense the path the elder had left for him. Though he didn't know how he could sense the path, but just followed it slowly upwards.

After two hours they reached the top of the hill, but they couldn't enjoy the view since it was covered by fog. On reaching the top, Crimson felt that the stone was becoming less difficult to balance and he guessed it was due to the debuff probably being removed.

"Good work young one. I doubted if you could carry it in your first try. I was hoping to see if you would drop it and then chase after it down the slope. Since, we got used to carrying it up, why don't you carry it back down now."

"But.."

"I said, carry it back down... or do you want to waste my time again...", the elder said smiling.

"No...", said crimson

"Carry it down by yourself and when you reach down wait for me.", said the elder and disappeared into the mists.

Crimson started to carry down the rock and cursed when he almost fell down due to the slope. Carrying up he could control his balance, but now he had to resist against gravity and every step downwards felt like falling down.

Crimson reached the ground faster than it took him to climb it and waited for the elder; he was tired, hungry and sleepy. He placed the rock on the ground and lied down to rest while waiting for the elder. But he had played continuously for 10 hours and he fell asleep.

Started growth stage.

Due to recent efforts and huge stat increases in short time. The body has been modified with respect to the stats.

Crimson had slept for an hour and he was woken up by the elder.

"You amaze me young one. You grow up very fast."

He woke up to see that he had grown larger than before, his legs looked more bulkier. His body had a hard covering of scale and it had a dark varnished shine to it. The most distinct change was his abdomen, it had an extract section to it at the end, but it was not fully grown. His mandibles looked thicker and stronger than before.

The elder then pulled a pair of wolves behind him and placed it in between himself and Crimson.

"Eat, we should continue with the training."

While eating he didn't seem to mind the blood and raw flesh, all he could think about was checking his stats and skills, if he had something new.

They finished eating and Crimson was completely energised for his next task and the elder told him to follow and led him up the hill they climbed down. As they reached the top the fog started to clear up and bright light was shone all around them. Crimson was dazzled with the scenery before him. The top of the mountain was a mountain path across the mountain and as the fog cleared he could see many packs of animals all around.

As the fog covering the ground of the mountain started to clear up, they were surrounded by a horde of wolfs : White, grey and black - in all different sizes and lengths.

"Young one, for your next task. You will fight continuously until the fog starts up again and only then will you rest. Until it starts again. Do you understand..."

Crimson had only one thing to say in all his bewilderment.

"You bloody Old ANT... I'm gonna kill you for this.. "

The Elder stepped back and the wolves started to circle around them. The Elder was chuckling at Crimsons reply.

"I will cover your back. But I will not kill them, just deflect them. These are all your to take care of."

The Elder then released the pressure surrounding him and suddenly the wolves moved for the attack.

Crimson was having a hard time with the wolves, for the first hour or so he could barely touch them. He was continuously evading them. But later he thought to leave it and started using kicks and tried to smash with his abdomen. Crimson was a martial arts fanatic and was a master at Karate. He had learned various moves through mimicking them from videos and books he read.

The occasional kicks and abdomen smash started to work, but he couldn't focus on a particular wolf to take down because the wolves were very organised. When they attacked, they made sure to cover each other's blind spots and also when one was injured another took him place.

Currently Crimson was faced with twenty wolves, more would have joined if they could get behind him, but the elder was taking care of that.

Crimson was getting tired, but he couldn't rest and the light started to dim and rain had started. Crimson lost the sense of time trying to stay alive. But when the rain started, he was at an advantage. The wolves were slipping and being an ant, Crimson always kept his balance.

The wolves that were fighting were also not backing down. Since these were trespassers into their territory and they wouldn't stop unless the trespassers were chased away or killed.

Crimson taking the advantage saw a wolf fall down while jumping back when he kicked. He lunged at the wolf and in order to end it quickly he snapped the wolf's neck with his mouth. The wolf died instantly with its throat crushed and the body went limp. This rattled up the wolves and they jumped in to get revenge. Crimson taking the body of the wolf flung it at the wolves coming towards him with open fangs and they tried to move away but fell down.

Crimson moved towards them in great speed and did an Axe kick on the fallen wolves aiming their necks. All the wolves struck were dead instantly and he was happy with the outcome.

Hours passed in the rain and Crimson had a few scratches and bruises if you can call them on his scales. The wolfs bite was not able to penetrate his thick scales but they left an impression and he felt shocking pain which was like being stuck with a needle.

The body count of the wolves were piling up and the rain stopped. As the fog started to rise up the mountain the number of wolves dwindled down and finally when the fog had set in there was none in sight.

Crimson was tired, but more than being tired he was famished. He saw that the elder was near him and he didn't have a scratch on him.

"Good, you have performed better than I expected. I never thought you would find a way to fight with your body unless I taught you, but I'm impressed. Now, eat and then we'll head down.", saying that the elder grouped the bodies of the wolves and they counted around 35 wolves.

I would have killed more if I knew how to fight properly with this body.

He looked at the blood around him and he was disgusted, but he knew it was necessary. He knew it was only a game, but before he could ponder more into his mind. The elder pulled up two bodies of wolves near him and said, "Eat. We don't have time."

Crimson didn't have the strength to question or fight with the Elder for the situation he was in earlier and down at the food set before him. He felt better after having eaten both the wolves before him. The elder had also ate one of the wolves from the pile and after having eaten the food, he rose up and went down.

Crimson stayed still for a while and tried to get up, but wasn't able to and he lied down and slept.

*THUD*

"AAaahh.. what.. "

Crimson woke up and saw the elder standing over him.

"Wake up!! If you sleep here you will be dead soon."

Crimson got up with great difficulty and saw that the fog was still visible, so he didn't sleep for more than few minutes. He didn't feel rested, but was better than before.

Observing the pile of wolves, they were on a big rectangular rock and it looked artificial and not naturally formed. Then he looked at the elder and understood that it was his work.

The elder picked up the huge rectangular rock and before Crimson can raise his objection placed it on his back.

The weight was crushing him, but he held firm to the ground. The stone was smaller than the earlier one, but it was heavier. Crimson thought it probably was a large piece of ore.

"Now follow me and be quick. You can rest when he get back to the colony."

Hearing colony, Crimson was more motivated to get out of here and he followed the elder relentlessly.

They walked for hours and through Crimson was tired, he was only a few feet behind the elder.

Finally having the reached the colony. Crimson laid the large stone on the ground and literally fell on top of the rock and slept.

A group of five workers came out from the opening of the colony and carried the rock into the colony. They moved slow and placed the rock with the wolves and Crimson into a chamber and left as per the Elders order.

Growth stage started.

Growth has completed. Making modifications to body based on previous actions and stats.

Generating new skills based on previous actions.

Created a new stat : Fighting Spirit

Created a new stat : Reflex

Created a rare stat : Gluttony

Created a rare stat : Strength multiplier

Pre-requisites : Must have Gluttony and Strength stat.

Crimson woke up feeling different. He knew he felt different, earlier when he was in his avatar's body he felt constrained, but even while waking up he felt... different.

His vision adjusted to the dark room he was in and as hunger took over him, he found the pile of wolves he had killed before him. He devoured it completely and which amazed him. He ate 32 wolves all by himself, though he was full it didn't stop him from eating. After all the flesh of the wolves were consumed, he couldn't stop himself and started to bite down on the bone. It was a difficult to consumed at first, but Crimson just kept on and nothing of the wolves were left other than the hides.

Crimson was confused, but something made sense. He was completely refreshed and even in the darkness of the room everything felt clear to him.

He looked around himself and saw that he was much larger than before. If he tried to stand on just him hind and mid legs his head would hit the ceiling of the room he was in.

He observed himself and saw that he was over 2metres in height. His mouth/mandibles were larger and stronger. All his legs were thicker and his abdomen had the most bizarre change of all. Earlier during his growth it had a new section and it protruded outwards a bit, but now it had over seven segments and the final was pointing out into a sharp stinger. Another significant change he could see was that his scale colour which was black with a hint of orange near the abdomen changed to a dark blood red colour throughout and it got thicker with yellow lines towards his abdomen. And his scales were shining even in the darkness like they were reflecting the darkness back to its corners.

Crimson was tempted to look at the notification which were blinking since he woke up, but he needed to find the elder and soon. He didn't know why, but he felt it.

Crimson got out of the room and started to follow the path towards the elder. He was now able to sense the elder even in his sleep, but he was also able to identify a couple of other paths as well which he ignored.

After having followed the path for a while, he reached lower and lower into the colony and finally reached a chamber. He saw the Elder was lying down and he approached him.

"Ah, I am happy we met young Crimson. The name suits you, you look like the break of light on the mountains after the fog."

"Elder... Are you..?"

"Yes, My time is up and I can rest since my task is done. Now it's your turn young one. Listen well, Train as you did these days until there is only fog during all cycles and then follow the sound. You will be tested, but never falter in your path and reach the destination. You will find a way to proceed in this life as I did mine.", said the Elder as lowered his head down.

"Elder...Elder... "

"I'm not dead yet young one, do not shout. I have a final warning to give you. NEVER GO NEAR THE QUEEN.... You will die if you do...."

Crimson was greatly confused, didn't the Queen control the nest.

"But, don't I need permission to leave the nest and train? Isn't she in command?"

"No one commands the colony, not yet at least. The colony knows what it needs and they work towards it. Everyone knows their purpose in this colony and they live to accomplish it. I believe you too now have a purpose, to be strong and understand our true purpose in this land."

The elder continued in a slow voice and the shine in his eyes were fading now,

"Remember, never go to the queens chambers. Even if a path guides you to resist and be stronger against temptations... Don't.... go.. near.."

The elder went limp and the previously pitch black eyes of the elder were now pale and greyish white. Crimson did not know how to react, he had never seen anyone die before him, but he also didn't know how to feel at this moment. He only kept saying to himself, This is not real, it's a game, but why am I sad....

Crimson stayed in the chamber a while longer and left, as he left two workers entered the chamber and picked up the elder. They removed him and went even lower into the colony, Crimson seeing this followed them and he finally reached a largest chamber he had ever seen in the colony. And he noticed multiple wholes on the ground, he thought they were passages to lesser chambers he went close to inspect, but found they were filled with dead ants and other wastes : decayed meat, wood, fruits and even larvae which had lost its white and pale shine.

The scene frightened Crimson and he walked back understanding these holes were landfills. He blocked his thoughts from his mind and went back to the chamber where he was in and checked his notifications. He had over 50 notifications.

You have gained a level, stats are automatically allocated. x 4

This is probably for the first bear I killed. Wow, four levels from just killing it. I wonder what level it was.

Weight has increased by 100x, stamina will reduce 10x times faster than normal. Due to having a race which does not lose stamina easily, stamina will reduce by 2x times.

Probably the huge rock the elder made me carry.

Spoiler :

A new skill has been generated, but cannot be used due to some requisites. Skills will be unlocked but can only be used after resting ( sleeping). x 5

Carrying a load heavier than yourself by 100x times has unlocked a secret stat.

Carrying a load heavier than yourself by 100x , strength has increased by 1.

Vitality has increased by 1

Strength has increased by 1 x 15

Vitality has increased by 1 x 15

Your satiety levels are at cautionary levels. Please eat to avoid death.

Physical resistance to Crushing is Increased by 5% x 5

For having eaten at critical movement before death. You have unlocked a new stat, Satiation.

You are exhausted, you need to rest or the body will be stunned for 60 minutes.

I remember falling asleep here...

You have fallen asleep due to exhaustion. Recovery is 2x times at this time. But you are vulnerable to attacks in this state .

You have woken up before complete recovery from exhaustion. Your movement will be slow for an hour by 10%

No wonder I felt like I had stones tied to my legs...

Due to having avoided continuous attacks from multiple enemies for a longer duration has unlocked a new skill, Instinct

The continuous result of evading the enemy attack has improved the level of the skill, Instinct

The continuous result of doing unknown forms of attacks has unlocked a new skill, Formless Attack Mastery - Passive : The skill is at an advanced level due to repetitive action to generate the skill.

Wow.. random kicking and abdomen slams created this skill...

Continuous evasion has increased Agility by 2 x 30

You have killed an enemy 10 levels greater than you - You have leveled up by 2 x 5

I got two levels per kill. But the bear before I got 4 levels, was it much stronger than these wolves?

Being in the presence of high killing intent from multiple enemies for long duration has unlocked a new skill, Reverse Killing Intent.

mm..I don't think it was the Wolves's killing intent that got me the skill..

You have killed an enemy 10 levels greater than you - You have leveled up by 2 x 5

Your satiety is at low levels. Due to having a high satiation stat, your satiety will reduce is half the rate.

Physical resistance to piercing has increased by 5% x 10

I don't want to remember this...

You have killed an enemy 10 levels greater than you - You have leveled up by 2 x 10

Strength and Vitality has increased by 2 X 10

You have killed an enemy 10 levels greater than you - You have leveled up by 2 x 10

Continuous evasion and quick attacks has increased Agility and strength by 2 x 10

You have killed an enemy 10 levels greater than you - You have leveled up by 2 x 5

Having fought multiple enemies under unfavorable instances has generated a new skill, Survival Instinct . Having already unlocked the skill, Instinct - this skill has merged with the skill Instinct and has been renamed as Primal Instinct.

Need to check this skill.

You have replenished your satiety.

You are eating more than required to refill the satiety and has unlocked a secret stat. Because of having a related stat, Satiation, it is replaced by the secret stat.

Having the secret stat has unlocked a secret stat and it has been modified by the already obtained secret stat.

Your weight has increased by 130x and stamina is reduced by 2.5x speed. Since already exhausted your stamina is reduced by 4x speed.

No wonder I dropped after reaching the colony...

Physical resistance to crushing has increased by 10% x 5

Agility and Strength has increased by 10 x 3

Stamina is at zero, but since your are focused on a goal you have unlocked a new skill, Final Burst.

Final Burst though not available is being used at the moment.

You have fallen asleep due to exhaustion. Recovery is 2x times at this time. But you are vulnerable to attacks in this state.

You have reached your goal. Final Burst is deactivated.

So this skill was the reason I made it to the colony...Cool..

He then saw the already read notifications.

Growth stage started.

Growth has completed. Making modifications to body based on previous actions and stats.

Generating new skills based on previous actions.

Created a new stat : Fighting Spirit

Created a new stat : Reflex

Created a rare stat : Gluttony

Created a rare stat : Strength multiplier

Pre-requisites : Must have Gluttony and Strength stat.

Cool. This hell training was worth it. I wonder if anyone else has levelled up this much by this time.

"Reveal...."

Let me change these settings first.

Crimson opened up the system options and checked for commands. Under vocal commands, he found the command to open up skill and stat windows and changed the skill window to show when said ,' Show me skill window' and to see a particular skill as, 'Show me skill information on..' and saved.

"Show me stats and skill window"

Status WindowName:CrimsonAlignment:NALevel:74Class:WarriorRace:EntomonGender:MaleLife force depleted26.73Fame:NAInfamy:NA-Health:6700Health Regen:113/ SecMana:1024Mana Regen:17/ SecStamina:980Stamina Regen:16/ Sec-Strenght:465Agility:306Vitality:222Intelligence:81Wisdom:10Leadership:1Luck:1Glutton:-10Strength Multiplier:0.01Attack:695Defense:110Physical ResistancesSlashing:0.1Piercing:0.65Crushing:0.8Elemental ResistancesFire:5Water:75Wind:0Earth:80Light:0Darkness:0Racial benefits - +15 STR, AGI and VIT for every 10 levels.

??????????

Spoiler :

I will update the skill list later. Sorry!!

This is amazing. I power leveled to 74 within a day. I wonder if everyone is having the same progress as me...

He logged out finally after over 11 hours. Before logging off he set his character to sleep.

******

He looked around and saw that his roommates were sleeping. Alex checked the time as it was 08:22AM.

I played over 11 hours. I'm mentally exhausted.

He removed the tech beanie from his head and set an alarm for 12:00PM and laid down to sleep.

Alex woke up after multiple snoozes and cleaned himself up. He kicked awake his roommates who were still sleeping. He cleaned himself up and did a few stretches.

He had lunch, dragging his roommates off bed again. Making sure they left for lunch. He logged back in.

*****

Crimson woke up in his chamber below the hive. He checked his notifications and stats - he gained 6 points in agility. He knew what he had to do. He had decided while having lunch that the best he could do now was grind his skills and stats until the quests begins.

He walked out of the chamber and traced his steps back towards the exit. He then stopped near a fungus food section and asked a worker there to pick him some food.

The worker quickly ran back into the chamber holding fungus in its walls and returned with a huge roll of fungi in his hands holding over his head and he placed it before Crimson.

"Here you are great warrior.", said the worker.

"Thank you.", said Crimson and took a piece off the fungi mass with his forelegs like a fork and eat it.

He noticed that the worker was still before him and it looked like he wanted to ask him something.

"Yes? Can I help you with anything?"

"No , no .. It is a great honour to help you warrior. I have never seen a warrior other than the soldiers here. "

"Oh, Did you know Elder Et'uan?"

"Elder Et'uan is know by everyone. He was the greatest soldier in our tribe. We regard the apprentice of the Elder Et'uan in high regards in the days to come. Please let me know if we can help you in anyway."

"I will, Thank you."

Crimson had finished the pile of food before him and left the lower levels of the colony. He traced his way back upwards and exited the colony. The ground above was completely covered by fog, but he had already decided to go back to the mountain to start training.

He looked around to find the large slab of rock he had carried back from the mountain, when he checked in the chamber he had slept it had been removed along with the hides of the wolves.

He walked around and found a rock which was not exactly a slab, but it was thick by a meter and longer than 3 meters. He found that is was no simple slab as it was a mixture of ores as it weight quite a lot and picked it up. He was instantly being crushed by the weight, but this was training and he didn't want to slack off.

He carried the rock in the fog and followed the scent towards the top of the mountain. He walked for over 4 hours and reached the top of the mountain. He placed the rock on the ledge of the hill and sat down on the rock like a human.

The exhaustion was not as much as before since his stamina regenerated quickly and the food he had before leaving the colony was filling even now. He sat and recovered his exhaustion, since he knew what he was going to face for the next twelve hours.

The fog started to clear around him and he saw the first rays of sunlight fall on the scales of body and giving off a lustrous shine. He heard footsteps behind him and felt the blood thirst in the air.

He turned to see that the wolves had surrounded him. He saw all the wolves circle around him and they all were eyeing him to make a move.

He lowered himself to a jump and shot towards the group of wolves before him. He smiled as the wolves at the end of circles started to howl to call for backup...

End of Chapter 3.

Thank you.

Previous Part : Chapter 3 : Training - Part 1

Chapter 4 : Everyone Else - Part 1