Level 12: 13141 EXP to next level

HP: 60/60

Stamina: 55/60

It attacked first, snapping it’s large mandible at my torso. Narrowly escaping death, I dodged backwards and did what any sane person would do.

I ran.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far.

Just like the other giant devil ants, it had unnaturally fast speed and it caught up with me easily.

Taking a deep breath, I looked up, past it’s huge body and dark black exterior to the profile window above it.

Animal Profile

Species Giant Devil Ant Queen Rarity Rare HP 250/250 Level 20 Gender Female Skills Stare, ??? Information This giant devil ant is the leader of the whole devil ant colony. Normally, you wouldn’t see the queen of an ant colony fighting, but with the giant devil ants, it’s quite the opposite. Their strength pale in comparison to the queen, which is close to five times stronger than a normal giant devil ant. When too many of its underlings are killed, it will come out from it’s nest and attack the enemy.

Just what I needed, a territorial, overpowered monster. Perhaps it was intelligent and I could bargain for my life?

“HI your majesty, can we talk about this?”

I tried calling out to her amidst the frantic dodging of her jaws, but unfortunately, her reply was a throaty gargle.

“Guess that’s a no.”

Unsheathing my sword, I leapt sideways to avoid getting swooped by her legs. After fighting all those other giant devil ants, I had begun to understand their attack pattern and movements.

They would first charge me, snapping their mandibles, then go for a quick swipe with their legs.

“Take this!”

I sliced my sword downwards onto the out hull of the ant, expecting it to shear straight through, but all I got out of it was a mellow clang.

“The heck?”

Frowning, I turned backed away from the monstrosity, planning my next move.

“Well my sword doesn’t work, maybe my fists will?”

I quickly equipped my knuckle dusters and smashed its shell once more.

Clang!

Well darn. Was there really no way to defeat this boss? I mean, I was 9 levels below it, so it was expected to have been difficult for me.

Pausing, I considered for a second whether or not to try and escape.

Then, Bea’s face flashed through my mind. Why? Why would I think of her of all people in this situation? Suddenly, the ant’s cry dragged me from my thoughts.

Screeee!

A black mound began to rise behind her, growing taller and bigger every second. Was it moving? Too big to continue growing, large bodies began to spill out from the sides. Then I finally knew what I was watching.

Ants.

Tens of ants.

Hundreds of ants.

Thousands of ants?

Regardless of the amount, they came as a wave and once again, I found myself running from them. Deeper into the forest I ran, yet the ants followed suit, being led by their infuriated queen.

“Hey! Hey! Surely at least some of you are intelligent? We can talk about this, I promise!”

No reply.

By this time, I was getting out of breath and could see my stamina dipping from the edge of my vision.

You have learned Running.

This wasn’t the time for notifications!

Not looking where I was going, I burst through into a familiar clearing, ants close behind me.

Huffing and puffing, I took in my surroundings and situation.

I was in a clearing, the same clearing that I had been in when I fought the imp. Scorch marks on the floor from its deadly whip was enough evidence to prove it.

The ants, for some reason, didn’t want to come any closer and stayed along the border of trees. Instead, they surrounded me, blocking off any escape routes I could see.

“Kimi, what’s going on?”

Kimi’s face in the corner of my sight pulsed as she replied.

“This clearing has light, or good, aura surrounding it because a light mythical creature was born here. This repels low leveled dark, or evil, creatures.”

No wonder why they couldn’t enter the clearing. I silently thanked the little Pegasus for potentially saving my life. However, I still had the small problem of getting out of here, alive.

By now, the ants had piled up on each other at the border, hitting against what seemed to be an invisible barrier, and completely surrounding the clearing.

Calming myself, I strode towards the centre of the clearing to put some distance between me and the monsters. The next thing I did was sit down and meditate. It would be good if I could regain some stamina before executing my next move.

Right now, the only plan I had was to edge to the border, kill a few ants with my limited supply of blow darts, then run out as fast as I could. To be honest, it didn’t feel like a very good plan to me, and I had a low chance of surviving. But it was the only plan I had-

Clink!

My foot knocked against two metallic sounding objects on the floor.

Huh?

I bent over and retrieved the two items.

They were stone like things just smaller than my palm, one black and one white. Both were inscripted with some sort of symbol?

Item Window

Name Skill Runestone - Pegasus Name Skill Runestone - Pegasus (Alpha)

Aligned Perception had only given me the name of this object. Were these drops from the Pegasi?

“Wonder what these are? This symbol looks kind of like an ‘a’-”

The stones both lit up in a white aura and a sudden warmth filled my hands. Too stunned to speak, all I could do was watch the aura float off of the stone and join mine.

An alert filled my vision and I realised I could no longer feel the warmth from the items.

Alert: Runestones used. Now processing skills.

And then I blacked out.

* * *

I woke to a bright light shining on my face. Was it morning already? How long had I been sleeping?

I tried to look around me, but my notifications list was clogging up my view.

Notifications

You have used Pegasus Runestone. Deducting stamina and EXP You have used Pegasus (Alpha) Runestone. Deducting stamina and EXP. Skill: Burnt Out was activated. Due to insufficient stamina, you have fallen unconscious. Due to insufficient EXP, the skills extracted from the runestones will be their basic forms. Acquired skill Lightning Zap (Thunderbolt base form). Acquired skill Light Ray (Light Beam base form). Your current EXP lies at 0 after deducting EXP from using the runestone. You have dropped a level (x12). Because you have dropped five levels, all current statistics will decrease by one. Because you have dropped five levels, all current statistics will decrease by one. You have recieved Rata's Blessing for gaining a skill from a legendary beast of Heaven. Title Rata's Blessing has been applied.

Well that was a lot of notifications. So many, that I had to reread it in order to fully understand what had just happened to me.

“Oh no. This can’t be true.”

I quickly pulled up my profile, skill windows and statistics.

Profile

Name Ikite Level 0 (100 EXP to next level) Titles Pegasus' Blessing, Rata's Blessing Class Scavenger/Diplomat Status Ex-soldier of Hell Age 18 (+2) Strengths Diplomacy, Running, Fast Reflexes, Curiosity

Statistics

Strength 11 Intelligence 2 Dexterity 10 Constitution 10 Sense 5 Charisma 7 Comeliness 1 Adaptability 8 Unspent Base Stat Points 0

Skills - Ikite Dorau

Name Light Ray Rarity Legendary Type Designated Move

Power Level 5 Activity Level Active Cooldown 30 seconds (10 stamina cost per 3 seconds used) Mastery 0%

Information

A skill that, when used, shoots a small beam of light from the palm of the user into a target.This ray can penetrate most materials, including flesh. Every three seconds it is used for, ten stamina is deducted. As mastery increases, the beam may grow larger, thicker and more powerful.

Name Lightning Zap Rarity Legendary Type Designated Move

Power Level 8 Activity Level Active Cooldown 3 minutes (35 stamina cost) Mastery 0%

Information

A powerful skill that, when used, summons a single, small bolt of lightning onto the designated person or place. This attack will give the victim the electrocuted effect and may stun them. Very effective in water. As mastery increases, damage, size and strength of the bolt may increase. Legend has it that this skill can even crack the ground.

So basically, there were good things and bad things. The good things were - OH MY GOD I FINALLY HAVE AN ATTACK SKILL. And the bad things were that all my stats had dropped by two. I didn’t actually feel any change to my body, but that must have because I didn’t consult Kimi on that properly before actually adding - or in this case subtracting - stat points.

However, dropping back to level 0 could actually have been a boon, because now I could get four extra stat points whenever I levelled up, which was much easier and needed less EXP because I was such a low level.

Another thing that concerned me were all these title things. What were these titles? I made a mental note to ask Kimi about this later. For now, I wanted to try out some of my new skills.

And yes, the nasty ants were still there, smacking their heads against an invisible barrier that protected me from them.

“Hmm, now which one should I try out first?”

Light Ray seemed like the obvious answer, because there were so many of them and it was a multi-target skill. Pointing my palm out towards a cluster of ants in front of me, I called out my first ever attack skill.

“Light Ray!”

I felt a sudden drain of energy and the next thing I knew, a pure, fluorescent white light about the thickness of my arm shot out of my palm, racing towards the targets. It seemed to pass straight through the ants without any resistance, racing off to who knows how far.

An ant dropped dead and I received a notification, which I ignored.

You have killed Giant Devil Ant (lvl 10).

Slowly, I moved the beam around me, burning holes through ants which killed or dismembered them. After a few seconds, I felt more energy drain out of me and I nearly dropped my hand. Gritting my teeth, I continued the action and moved once more, yet again killing more ants.

Three seconds later, I felt my hand grow heavier. A quick check to my stamina bar told me that out of 60 stamina, I only had 40 left. More ants fell down and more notifications filled my screen. I felt strangely like a mass murderer which was weird because they had been the ones to kill me.

One more, I told myself quietly as yet another three seconds past. At this point, I was panting heavily and sweat dripped down from my forehead. I could see more ants had already begun to fill in the sections of the ring which I had destroyed. Just how many ants were there?

Finally, after the last three seconds, I dropped my hand down and flopped onto the floor. Phew, I was exhausted, however, I was happy. It may not have been fireballs that I threw, but at least it was something. Looking over my notifications, I saw I had already leveled up thrice from all the ants I had killed, probably about twenty or so by this time, which was quite well done. Maybe this would be a good EXP grind after all. But this wasn’t all fun and games, because I had promised Bea and Erina that I would be back in town by the next day, which it already was.

After adding all my unspent base stat points into constitution, I meditated and thought about the long day ahead of me.

The real grind had just begun.

* * *

(6 hours later)

After killing possibly one million ants, their numbers began thinning out and the ring they formed around me began to have holes. I wondered why these ants were so stupidly suicidal. They could have just chosen to return back to their nest and I wouldn’t have bothered them again - for now at least. Instead, they had stood in front of the barrier, patiently waiting for me to massacre them all.

During this time, the queen had been standing in the line, seething at me and snapping its jaws more than once in anger.

I had tried more than once to use Light Ray on it, but it didn’t seem to be powerful enough to pierce through its shell.

One cycle of killing and resting later, all the ants were gone and only the queen was left. So far, I had leveled up 15 times, surprisingly, even though I hadn’t been extracting the ant’s auras. My Light Ray skill had reached 92% mastery and grew about as thick as my thigh, which was expected as I had been using it for the greater part of 6 hours. Meditation’s mastery had also increased quite high, up to 48%. My stats currently lay like this.

Statistics

Strength 21 Intelligence 7 Dexterity 20 Constitution 20 Sense 5 Charisma 7 Comeliness 6 Adaptability 8 Unspent Base Stat Points 0

This time, I had chosen to go with a hybrid build specialising in strength, dexterity and constitution. Those had seemed to be the most important to my survival from my little experiences, though I did spend a couple points flushing out the areas I had been seriously lacking in, such as my intelligence and comeliness.

Now, it was time for the final showdown.

The queen ant just stood there on two legs, clawing at the barrier and hissing at me.

“Lightning Zap!”

I hadn’t used this skill before, so I just tried to picture the bolt striking where the queen giant devil ant currently stood.

Kaboom!

A deafening explosion filled the air and smoke rose from the ant. Skipping around in glee, I didn’t realise that I hadn’t actually gotten the kill notification yet.

Screeeeeee!

The giant ant was still alive and hissed loudly and, to my surprise, grew even larger.

Screeeeee!

This time, a purple armoured shell sprouted from it’s back, covering its damaged head and torso. Large green wings emerged from its back and raised to the sky, buzzing ferociously. It’s abdomen bulged and a glowing green liquid could be seen sloshing about inside it. Spindly spikes protruded out of its legs, enlarging them.

Scary, but at least I was still safe-

A wicked, tearing noise ripped me from my relief and the ant queen, now double its previous size, stepped through the barrier and into the clearing.

Animal Profile

Species Giant Devil Ant Queen - Second Form Rarity Rare HP 450/450 Level 30 Gender Female Skills Intimidate, ??? Information The second form of this devil ant is just as terrifying as the first, in fact more. It turns into this form when it feel like all hope is lost for its colony. In this form, it cannot reproduce or lay eggs. This is the ant’s true attack form, with acid in its abdomen. It has the ability to fly and its skill intimidate can freeze any foe for 2 seconds.

Oh bloody hell. This thing got even more overpowered?

Lightning Zap was still on cooldown, so I had to use Light Ray, which, even in its first form, hadn’t been very effective.

“Light Ray!”

The beam shot out of my palm and hit its shell, a sizzling noise coming from the shell. Maybe it had worked since my mastery had increase? However, it was not enough to break the exterior and the ant still advanced.

I backed away slowly from the advancing creature, then attempting to burst into a sprint, activating the Running skill.

But my body didn’t move.

Frozen in place, I couldn’t do anything except scream in my head at myself.

You have been Intimidated.

Screeee!

I could hear the damn thing taking its time to stroll behind me. Just as it reached me, my body could move again and Intimidate wore off. It was just enough time for me to mutter:

“Oh shi-”

Before the queen, almost lazily, swiped its arm downwards into my body. I flew from one side of the clearing to the other, then smashed into a tree.

You have taken 50 damage.

50 damage? Only? I should have died from that hit.

The ant must have thought so too, because this time, it flew, fast, towards me, it’s mouth already opened to finish the job.

Thinking quickly, I dodged to the side and started running immediately. I didn’t know how long the cooldown for its ability Intimidate was, and I didn’t want to find out.

I ran through the forest, weaving through the trees and jumping over loot bags lying on the floor, trying to confuse it and make it lose track of me. Luckily for me, because it was so big, it couldn’t chase me and was forced to clumsily trample the trees in search of me - or so I thought.

Screeeee!

The ant’s cry sounded once again through the forest, this time followed with… nothing? I looked around me, frantically hoping the beast hadn’t found me.

Nothing.

Then it hit me from above.

Hot, burning liquid rained from the sky and I screamed in pain. The damn acid!

The devil ant must have heard my scream, because it crashed from the sky in front of me a second later.

I swore it’s ugly mouth turned into a grin as it saw me covered in the green liquid that was killing me.

Screeeee!

“Oh shut up already.” I muttered as I checked the cooldown for Lightning Zap.

Available.

Grinning, I looked up at it and smiled.

“You lose. Lightning Zap!”

A massive, jagged bolt of lightning crashed down onto the ant, letting out a ear-shattering boom.

Warning: Health is below 20%

This was it. The decider of who came out of this alive. If the ant was still standing after my attack, I had lost and my time in the Afterlife would be cut short.

As the smoke cleared, I could see the burnt form of the giant devil ant queen facing towards me, snarling.

I guess I had lost.

It trudged toward me, arm raised back, ready to deliver the final blow.

Closing my eyes, I wished that I had more time with my friends Bea, Erina, Mei, Percy, or my mother.

Thud.

The ant’s large body fell to the floor just in front of me, who was barely standing.

You have slain Giant Devil Ant Queen.