Metal Eaters. Insects that evolved from tiny ants. The only difference was that they were much bigger and more dangerous.

When most people think of ants, think of the small bugs that were the size of dots and could easily be stepped on. Metal Eaters on the other hand were completely different as they have evolved to be the size of medium size dogs. A regular ant wasn’t deadly, but these were ants that had the height an average human waist and mandibles that could easily tear through bone. Not to mention a regular ant could carry thing several times their weight. Evolution decided that it was worthwhile trait for Metal Eaters to keep. Compared to their tiny cousins, these large insects were a complete different kind of story.

Metal Eaters diet consist of mostly....well, metal. As if it wasn’t obvious enough by the name. The metal these bugs consume would give their carapaces metallic features, making an armor of sort. They were known to burry and create colonies in earth veins that consist of different metal properties. On its own, a individual Metal Eater would be a Class 2 threat. However, a colony of them could consist of thousands of Metal Eaters with their own specialized breeds would be a Class 4 threat. If the colony ever grew too large, the Metal Eaters would relocated to look for new source of food and the city Seth currently lived in would be the next target. That why the mercenaries or Federations troops would be occasionally sent to cut down the numbers so an overflow would never occur.

The only good thing about these insects was that they were territorial and killed other creatures that intruded upon their domain. That was why the city tolerated these ants instead completely eliminating them outright.

That was what Seth was facing now. An individual Metal Eater scout, the weakest of them all, unless you counted the larvae and those could only be found deep in their colonies. Seth had broke off from the squad and walked toward the ant, analyzing the insect as he went. It carapace was showing just the splotches of metal on it. Seth wasn’t an expert, so he could not tell of what kind. A carapace made of metal would have made the bug a tough opponent to cut.

As Seth walk closer to the Metal Eater, the insect had noticed him when the distance was 50 feet apart.

***

A Metal Eater life was simple. Follow orders of the queen and try its best for the colony.

As a scout, it duties were to patrol for threats and search for potential food sources. If there was a threat, then there were two actions it would take. First would judge the size of the threat. Anything that was smaller or about the same size as the ant, it would then proceed to eliminate and then bring it back to the colony as a food source. Anything larger than itself, it would report back to the colony and report for further orders. Most organisms tend to run away before they could be classified as a threat.

Today started like most days ,with the Metal Eater going around its normal patrol route.

It had noticed the organism walking towards it right away.

It recognizes the organism walking towards it was a human. It had seen them before, but they were always in groups. It had had seen others of its kind being killed by something that flew from the human’s hands. What it was, the Metal Eater had no idea. The only thing the Metal Eater knew was to avoid human groups.

A human on its own? With nothing flying out towards the ant?

That would make this human prey.

However it remained cautious as the human edged closer and closer. The Metal Eater even gave the human a chance to run away as it continue to walk on it’s patrol route. If the human ran away from the insect’s set path, then it wouldn’t chase. If the human decided to continue to deter the ant from its patrol then the human being would be considered an obstacle and all obstacles would be removed. Once removed, if determined as food, then it would be brought back to the colony once the Metal Eater had finished it patrol.

When the human got closer enough for the Metal Eater to see it’s eyes, the ant decided it was time to strike. Enough mercy had been given to the foolish organism and it still had not run away. It charged with all it’s might, wanting to crush the human in between it’s mandibles.

Just as the Metal Eater closed in and prepare to snap this soft flesh being in two, the human moved to its left and-

That was the last thing the Metal Eater ever saw.

***

Sheathing the knife in his hand, Seth walked back to the squad. Getting rid of the Metal eater had been quite simple. Let the insect get close and then lop off its head. The only thing to watch out was the mandibles and legs. Seth had made himself look weak and then slid his knife right under the head and sliced through the neck. Even if the carapace of the ant wasn’t metal, it was still quite tough. The neck was one of the weak points and that was exactly what he aimed for.

As he trudged back to the rest point, he could see the rest of the squad waiting there for him. Kong was already there, his arm and head covered in green goo. It wasn’t goo Seth suddenly realized; it was the Metal Eater’s blood. Kong must have just charged straight at his target and punched it to death.

Dan was clapping his hands, congratulating them. “Good job boys. Clean and efficient Seth. I don’t think you were using any internal energy or special techniques right? And Kong. I can see you’re the type for brute force all the way. If I saw correctly you’re awaken ability is to boost your strength? And with that strength you killed the Metal Eater?”

Seth was impressed at Dan’s judgement and nodded his head to confirm it. While Seth hadn’t seen Kong’s fight, Dan was mostly right about how Seth has killed the insect. The only thing Dan got wrong was that Seth had used his chi to reinforce the knife just as he sliced off the Metal Eater’s head. Even if the neck was weak point, reinforcing with chi made the job much easier while also protecting the knife from chipping.

Kong didn’t see to be as impressed as he merely grunted in agreement.

“I can see that you guys are trying to keep quiet about what you can do, but don’t try too hard. It is basic courtesy among the Awaken to keep quiet about their powers, but it’s not a big secret when you have to use those powers to fight. When you been out on the field for so long like we have, you can guess what kind of powers an Awaken has. I don’t know the exact details or the limits of the awaken ability that you guys have and those should be kept secret, but giving out the general idea of what you’re capable of is fine.” Dan said, mistakenly taking their silence as judgement about their abilities.

“Yeah, makes no sense to keep you powers a secret when you show them off!” Bertha said in agreement. “Let me tell you that what you guys can do aint special. There a lot of people who have similar powers. Now it’s the funny ones you have to be wary of. There was this one guy I knew, all he could do was make the floor slippery. Not a strong awaken power, but this guy was a thief. When he started running, well, no one could catch him and it became a mess since everywhere you walked was slippery. There was another time....”

Seth listened to Bertha as she droned on about the eccentric people she had met on the field, but then something caught his eye. He stared at it just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, rubbed his eyes twice and began staring again.

A small crack in space existed right above the fortress Tortoise. Seth hadn’t noticed it when he got back. The crack slowly grew and began form like small spiderweb. That was when Seth realizedwhat he a staring at.

A rift.