Chapter 2:

[Beep!] A mechanical sound woke Alastair from his deep slumber. Leisurely, he opened his eyes and breathed out in relief as the monotonous voice continued.

[Evolution Successful!]

[The host's muscle density has been increased.]

[Recalculating Statistics…] Transparent text began gradually appearing in his line of sight.

[Statistics:

The following statistics are based on the average human adult, this standard can be altered in system settings.

Species: Unidentified arachnid

Status: late infancy stage, healthy

Strength: 0.001

Agility: 0.29

Intellect: 0.01 (+1.6)

Vitality: 3/8 (-3 per day, increases when the host consumes food)

Mana: 0

Mass: 1.5 grams

Skills: Mild poison, Cobweb, Regeneration, Hibernation.]

A satisfied smile crept onto the spider's distorted face as he skimmed through the information before him. 'Unexpectedly, my statistics have progressed a lot farther than I had initially predicted.' Alastair thought in amusement as he began unhurriedly crawling towards the exit of his base, 'It would be quite a shame if I don't use this to my advantage; those pesky little ants, it's just about time I pay them another visit.' An intense spark of malice flashed in his cold eyes.

Night fell. Like a curtain, darkness descended upon the vast forest as if to mark an intermission in its daily life. The sun had retreated somewhere behind the horizon and dark clouds seemed to invade the sky. Occasional glimpses of moonlight that managed to penetrate the dark masses dimly illuminated a small barren glade.

Contrasting the surrounding lush trees and vegetation, its desolate landscape resembled a wound; a scar which even time could never heal. Around was silence. Like a thick rope, it would inevitably tighten around the neck of any creature that dared to disturb its eternal slumber, slowly suffocating them to oblivion.

In the midst of this land stood a tower. Built out of tiny sticks and dried out leaves, it arrogantly reached for the skies as if to challenge the very heavens. This was the ant colony. The land around it was sparse and arid; thought mostly empty at this hour, occasionally a group of untiring ants could be seen transporting twigs and leaves towards their mighty base.

Despite being built from the simplest of material, the structure itself was imposing, giving Alastair an impression of an impregnable fortress. Even at night, it was heavily guarded by rows and rows of giant guardian ants that were evenly spread across its perimeter, making infiltration an impossible feat.

Alastair smiled wryly at the sight as he began to recall the first time that he discovered this place; it happened around two days ago, not long after he has killed his first ant. In the wake of easily defeating and devouring his prey, the spider was filled with confidence and desire for more. In his mind, these insects became an easy target.

At that time, the colony was still active, myriads of worker ants crawled all over the plain carrying different materials and even corpses of other larger insects. Together they formed some sort of a river that flowed through the colony before reversing and turning back in the direction it came from.

Alastair's eyes lit up with noticeable greed as he observed this unending source of vitality and upgrades, if he could eat even a few of these ants and steal the other dead insects, then, he believed, his power would be able to make a huge leap, bringing him closer to his ultimate goal. At the same time though, the spider was visibly cautious; the sheer amount of ants and their flawless cooperation scared him to no end, had he dared to launch a straightforward attack, his death would only be a matter of time.

With no other choice, Alastair sighed in disappointment before turning around to leave, nothing but danger awaited him here at their hostile base. Instead, he began to stealthily follow the seemingly endless stream of ants that extended into the distance, he was sure that eventually it would branch out or scatter and at that critical moment, when only a few ants would remain, he could finally strike. At that time, he still didn't realise that even the smallest of his movements was carefully monitored by two cold black eyes.

Alastair shook his head, dispelling the unpleasant memories that began flooding his mind; at that time, he had barely escaped with his life, but today, everything was different. After the evolution, Alastair's body was brimming with newfound power. He felt as if he has been completely reborn - as if he has become a completely new, superior being; his every step was unusually light, yet filled with undisputed power, his every movement was quick, yet accurate, and his every strike was swift, yet lethal. With this power, the spider believed that his goal was finally within his grasp. Today he was going to challenge the guardian ants.

Compared to the regular worker class ants, the guardian ants were superior in every way, they were like a completely different species altogether; five times larger than the spider, they towered over him like giants. Amongst the ants their power was unchallenged and a single attack was enough to crush his skull to a pulp. Even with his current stats, in a direct confrontation, the spider would have no other choice but to flee with its tail tugged between its legs. But, as they say, the greater the risk, the greater the reward and Alastair wasn't about to back down, he has come up with a plan.

It was dark. An occasional breeze of cold wind would blow, weakly tussling around rare fallen leaves. Everywhere was empty. A lone ant stood on guard as its unperturbed gaze wandered across the bland landscape. Its keen senses on high alert. Compared to the regular ant that could be seen anywhere in the close vicinity of the colony, this ant looked menacingly imposing; its exceptionally huge proportions and powerful jaws gave it an aura of danger and strength. This was a guardian ant.

Finally, its unmoving body began to tremble as it seemed to have noticed something. The ant's head turned towards the right, as the creature entered a defensive stance. Though nothing was revealed by its sight, through its strong senses, the ant knew something was amiss.

Chew chew chew… The sound of chewing reached its ears as a black shadow began to gradually appear in its line of vision. The figure wasn't large, on the other hand, it was fairly little, a few times smaller than the ant itself. To the guardian, this tiny creature didn't look dangerous, and it certainly didn't pose enough of a risk to cause the ant to leave its current position, but something about it was wrong. Something about that organism agitated the guardian to no end; it wasn't the size nor was it appearance, it was the smell. The eight-legged creature palpably reeked of danger. Instinctually, the guardian took a step forward - it was ready to fight.

As the spider neared the ant, it suddenly stopped, dropping its prey. With an audible thud, the worker ant fell out of Alastair's jaws right onto the cold hard ground. The spider looked the huge ant right in the eyes before he began to slowly retreat.

Click! Click! The ant chirped loudly as it quickly began to approach its opponent. Hostility was clearly visible on its repulsive snout. The ant didn't have a brain or, to be more specific, sufficient intellect to feel anger or remorse after seeing his dead comrade's body, no, instead, what caused its severe agitation was the scent that permeated the air around Alastair. This scent was no metaphor, it was a special pheromone that an ant would release during danger. The substance would immediately alert other ants in close vicinity and cause them to attack without a second thought, that was especially true in the case of guardian ants whose sole purpose was defending their kin. This exact pheromone was precisely the reason why Alastair almost lost his life during his first attack, and now, it was the reason why the guardian ant was so willing to leave his position and go out of its way to pursue the spider.

Rapidly, Alastair's speed began to increase as he dashed forward, leading the ant farther and farther away from its initial position. The ant clattered its fangs in anger as it eagerly chased after its prey. Now and then, the distance between them would gradually close, but as soon as the spider entered the range of the guardian's attacks, it would once again increase, leaving the chaser's mouth with nothing but air.

This chase continued for a while, none of the parties showing any signs of resignation. They had already travelled quite a long distance and the colony was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, the ant came to an abrupt stop. Annoyed rattling could be heard from its direction. Alastair also paused in his treks some distance away, a disturbingly evil smile began to surface on his inhuman face.

'Got you!' He exclaimed in his mind as he swiftly dashed in the ant's direction. The prey has suddenly become the hunter.

Meanwhile, the ant remained locked in position; it violently rocked its head back and forth in apparent anger as it desperately tried to move its legs and get away from the tight clutches of thick spiderweb that somehow surfaced beneath its feet. The web was so dense, that as soon as the guardian managed to set free one of its feet, upon trying to free another, it would inevitably get stuck in the web again, completely resetting its progress.

As the ant was fruitlessly trying to untangle itself from his web, Alastair did not waste a second of his time, no matter what, he couldn't give the guardian even the tiniest of chances to escape, not when his evolution depended on it. The spider circled its prey carefully searching for any weak spots it could exploit. Noticing this, the ant stopped recklessly spinning its head and followed his every movement as it continued to struggle free.

Pheee!

Without warning, Alastair briskly leapt onto the guardians back. His fangs ripped through the air with a swish as they tore through the ant's protective shell like a hot knife through butter. The insect screeched with power as it twitched violently, eagerly trying to set itself free and punish the sneaky attacker, but to no avail; the spot was out of reach.

Just as rapidly as he attacked, Alastair retreated to a safe distance and continued to circle his prey, not giving it time to recover. With an unprecedented wave of vigour, the injured ant shrieked and twitched in agony as it finally managed to free two of its feet from the sticky cobweb. The situation was getting heated by the minute.

Swish!

Noticing his enemy's success, the spider made another speedy jump, this time targeting the vital area between the ant's head and body, though risky, Alastair wanted to finish the fight in one move.

Reeeee! The ant screeched loudly as it spread open its monstrous fangs, its head turning to face the attacker.

Clap! With an audible thud, the spider collided with the insect's body, making the latter become a little caved in. Sheee! With force, his fangs tore open the ant's had back and sunk deep into its soft delicate flesh. The guardian roared in pain as its head began violently attacking the spider.

Kee! Alastair groaned uncontrollably in agony as he felt two of his legs being mercilessly ripped right out of his body by the guardian's sharp fangs. As the limbs detached from the spider, they drew a perfect parabolic arc in the air before landing somewhere onto the web below. Alastair was furious. With newfound strength that seemed to have suddenly surged from within, he dashed forward with force, his fangs brutally colliding with the ant's beady eyes.

Kreeee! Forgetting about the web, the ant jerked as it tried freeing itself from the spider's tight grasp.

Clank! Clank! Its denticles clashed together with power as he continued to spin its head violently, trying to get the spider to fall, but Alastair held on; with every swing of its head, the spider was ruthlessly pounced from side to side, not even having the slightest chance to launch a counter-attack or readjust its grip, it was left at the mercy of luck. Fortunately, with every new swing, the guardian was evidently growing weaker, its movements were becoming slower and its body was relaxing; the injuries, at last, began taking effect.

Finally, the ant's heavy head dropped to the ground with a loud clap. With the last bits of its power, the guardian looked Alastair straight in the eyes, even in its last moments, clear malice was visible on its face. Slowly its eyes lost all life and its body completely relaxed; the mighty creature has died.

Alastair sighed in relief as his body, too, began to relax; this was a difficult battle. He lost three of his limbs and one of his fangs was broken. With every move, Alastair felt excruciating pain permeate through his entire body, evidently, he has sustained serious internal injuries and if not for his resilience and vitality, he would end no better than the ant he just killed, but, in the end, he believed, it was all worth it.

Unhurriedly, as if not wanting to let the pleasure end, the spider began his meal. One bite followed another, and with every second, energy and delight seemed to slowly seep into every cell of his body. Alastair felt exhilarated.

[Beep!]

[The host has successfully consumed the flesh of an unidentified insectoid species.]

[A new DNA sequence has been successfully registered, analysing…]

[Analysis successful! The host is now able to undergo partial evolution to gain the following features:

— Protective shell: It was found that the consumed insectoid possess a protective layer above its skin. Upon evolution, the host will be able to develop a similar shell; the durability of the shell will depend on the host's strength and vitality. Requires 8 points of vitality, time of evolution: 10 hours.

— Chemosense: It was found that the consumed insectoid possess chemosense. Upon evolution, the host will be capable of sensing chemicals and pheromones within a specific range, the host's detection will drastically increase. Requires 7 points of vitality, time of evolution: 9 hours.

— Wallcrawling: It was found that the consumed insectoid possess the ability to crawl up vertical surfaces. Upon evolution, the host develops dedicated glands of his feet that will allow for wallcrawling. Requires 7 points of vitality, time of evolution: 9 hours.]

As he read through the text that appeared before him, Alastair's face darkened. 'That's it?' He thought in dismay, 'Is this shit seriously all I get for risking my life?!'

'Fuck!' He spat out, 'Statistics!'

[Statistics:

The following statistics are based on the average human adult, this standard can be altered in system settings.

Species: Unidentified arachnid

Status: late infancy stage, heavily injured, hibernation advised

Strength: 0.001

Agility: 0.29

Intellect: 0.01 (+1.6)

Vitality: 2/8 (-3 per day, increases when the host consumes food)

Mana: 0

Mass: 1.5 grams

Skills: Mild poison, Cobweb, Regeneration, Hibernation.]

After checking his stats, Alastair's face became even darker. 'Fuck!' He swore again, 'I almost go myself killed! Judging by the vitality, I won't survive till tomorrow…' The spider began frantically thinking, 'Returning to the base is out of the question - too far away… I will need to finish this ant now to replenish some vitality and enter hibernation somewhere nearby, otherwise, I'm as good as dead.'

He looked around but the area was empty, even grass was nowhere to be seen.

'Shit! Nothing!' He exclaimed in fear as he frantically continued to search, 'If I stay on the ground, I will be asking to get killed!'

'Fuck…' He finally decided, 'I have no choice but to risk it.' Alastair began rapidly moving as he carefully inspected the ground, evidently searching for something. After some time, he nodded in satisfaction, 'This is as good as it gets.' His fangs dunk into the soft soil.