Chapter 41. Stone "What is this?" I looked down a giant hole, enough to fit two people at the same. And it was deep, you weren't able to see the bottom even though the sun was high up. The hole was in a shady area, to begin with, maybe that's why it went unnoticed during my trip earlier. This was probably where the ant went back to after chewing that man's arm. The horn was loud and everybody returned after hearing it, so I did not have to go save someone later. This meant that I could investigate this hole at my own convenience. I was not going to go down without knowing what was actually in there. Hence, I decided to be a little annoying. I stomped around the hole trying to create a disturbance and to make the ants come out if they were in there. If this did not work, my next option was to throw stuff in there. Or seal it completely. I was going to force them out one way or another but looks like they didn't have much patience. I knew my job was done when I heard a muffled screech from the hole. I backed away and waited for the ants to come out and expected they did come out. Three of them. It was their size that was unexpected. Honestly, you couldn't even call them ants anymore because the things in front of me were as big as dogs. Their fangs or teeth, whatever they were called, extended enough to be the same length as my forearm. They were entirely black, and their skin glistened like a new polished armor. The ants didn't waste time and marched towards me, screeching. Thorn came forward and was thrust, as I tried to pierce one of the hands and to my surprise, a ding resounded and nothing else happened. Thorn was unable to pierce, but it was a weapon that specialized in slashing the one that was best at hacking into stuff was, "Thirst," I called out and it took form in my right hand. The ant attacked me with its teeth but Thorn blocked it. I swung my axe from below and it hit, lifting the ant and launching it into the air. I spun around and hit the second one right on its face. Their shell cracked as blood and some other bits scattered due to my attack. The last ant wasn't even able to comprehend what was going on before cleave was used and the ant was split in two. "Skills really are powerful," normal attacks were just able to crush their outer shell while [Cleave] divide the ant in two. Continuously using skills and the general skill [Mana Control] was really useful here. Previously it was hard to stay conscious after using an active skill, but now it felt like I was just out of breath, that exhaustion too recovered in a few minutes. If I wanted I could still use [Cleave] a couple more times. Blood mage leveled up twice, and I kept on distributing my stats according to my regular pattern. These monsters really were stronger than goblin chiefs. Goblin chiefs were easy as they fell after a few good hits at vital points but these ants were hard to damage. I needed a good amount of strength, an outstanding weapon, and a heavy-hitting skill. That was to one-shot them but the first two were important. "Should we power level a little?" I said and jumped down the hole. A stupid decision, as most would say. The ground was hard, and it was dark inside but there were these small rocks that illuminated the inside. They resembled string lights, those that are used to decorate places during festivals, but when you touched the source, it was hard. This was an actual rock and when I used Identify on the small pebble, I was left speechless. [Mana Crystals(F-grade)] [Small crystals that contain mana.] The description was simple and short, but this was huge. Mana was slowly becoming the center of, almost everything. It didn't look like much but mana was a source of energy in a way. My skills worked on mana, my body was becoming stronger due to mana. If we could use mana while simultaneously combining it with our technology. The possibilities were endless. "I need to bring Garry here." I continued moving inwards, following the tunnel to where it led me. There were some occasions where an ant or a couple would appear but Thirst was able to cut everything in his way. The tunnel branched into two ways at one point, I marked the left one and followed it. The path kept on branching, I kept marking one and following it. There were a few dead ends in which case I had to walk back to the last division and continue on from there. The ants kept on coming and the deeper I went the more their numbers increased. After killing a few of them and by pure coincidence, I noticed there was a slight gap at some intervals that were present on the shell. So, thinking like any other sane person, I let Thirst flow back into my body and Thorn made its appearance. Thirst was an axe, a weapon used for hacking, brute-forcing your way through. A weapon that the Vikings used. Thorn was a sword, a weapon that was common but has a grace to it, you make your enemies dance with precision. A weapon used by Kings. I wanted to learn the precision part of using a weapon, and I wouldn't find a better opponent for it. The fights got harder after as I continued to use Thorn. Most of the time I would miss by a millimeter but as I kept on fighting my instincts got sharper. The sphere around got clear. I didn't know when an army of ants had surrounded me but nothing entered my sight as I focused on my current prey. A single normal ant. Every gap in its shell was visible, the gap being three millimeters wider than that of Thorn. [Focus] activated and my sword moved, taking me along with it. There was a flow, a grace to how I moved. A hit. [Sword mastery (novice) becomes Sword mastery (competent)]