“I told you, this time it would work.” Miles rose from his bed and looked at the screen. Milosh raised his head and looked at Miles. His eyes were red, obviously, he hadn't slept while Miles was undergoing the procedure.

“Ultimate caused it?” Milosh asked?

“I don’t know. Maybe whatever blocking my energy also stopped me from using the serum. Now that I created the ultimate, the limits are no longer.” Miles said.

“Alright. Don’t forget to pay for two serums.” Milosh said and the screen turned black.

“I was going to anyway.” Miles collapsed on the bed. “Stronger again.”

————

A week later.

Miles got used to the new serum and was already improving his strength. He tested his energy, and it was improving as he predicted. His ultimate was also working great. But as it was not real armor, Miles was lacking one.

He heard from Alex that there was a monster dropping armor not far from the stronghold, but it was pretty sensitive to lightning. Thus, he couldn’t sneak upon them. He gladly passed the information to Miles.

Miles approached with Veil covering his body. He was overly cautious, as he was open to attacks now. When in Veil, energy would hide deep inside the body, making it open to attacks. Although Miles's body was strong, a pinnacle-tier monster could still kill him with one attack.

“This is the place Alex described, but I can’t see any hill,” Miles muttered silently. Coin was connected to his mind, so he could hear him. “Miles?”

“Yeah, buddy?” Miles answered as he looked around.

“Is it possible for you to be on top of the anthill?” Coin asked.

“What do you mean—” Miles started but realized that the mound he climbed wasn’t a natural earth mass, but an ant hill. “This 20 meters high mound is an anthill?”

Coin didn’t have to answer Miles's question, as vibrations started to rock the hill while he was close to the peak. Not long after, a head protruded from the peak. It was purple in color and had two antennas at the top of its head. Its two rows of teeth looked like fishbones.

Its eyes were looking around in curiosity. It seemed like it was smelling the air, but it couldn’t find anything. Miles hid his presence, so couldn't be found by the sense of smell alone. He on the other hand looked lethargic. ‘Damned Alex forgot to mention the ants were more than 2 meters in size, has he?’

Miles stood frozen where he was standing. The reason why Alex didn’t come was that these ants were too sensitive. If he were to move, the whole anthill of ants would descend upon him with a single signal of this ant.

He stood still as he waited for the ant to move. He couldn’t make a move while two giant antennas were ready to sense him. But to his surprise, the ant didn’t go back to the nest but started to walk away. He waited for it to walk away before following from far behind.

The ant moved without any care in the world. Its antennas would release lightning every so often as he kept on moving. After about a few kilometers, it stopped near a giant tree. Miles looked at the treetop and saw a bird nest.

“It is after the eggs. Their mother shouldn’t be away from them.” Miles pondered. Monsters were protective against their descendants. When Miles took Makwa hostage, he was able to trick his mother easily thanks to that. No mother would leave their eggs if she wasn’t dead already.

“Oh.” Miles looked at the tree in surprise. When the ant was not far from the bird's nest where it should be, an invisible force descended on the surrounding area, creating a strong wind. The wind was blowing downward without affecting the nest at all. In no time, the ant pummeled to the ground.

On Earth, ants could survive any fall thanks to their light bodies, and strong bodies can absorb the impact. But this ant was larger than a human. It was also heavier than a car. It hit the ground with great impact, but its carapace still protected its body to a certain extent. But Miles could see it was shaken.

Miles didn’t leave and kept on watching. Monster ant shook its head and climbed again but the wind threw it off once again.

Miles thought the ant would give up but it tried over and over again, to be thrown off every time. Miles looked at the tree and realized there were small markings on the tree. Every time the ant climbed, it triggered a rune. Miles focused on the tree and counted, there were more than 100 of such markings.

After fifty rune were triggered, the ant fell to the ground fifty times consecutively. The ant looked pretty injured. Its eyes look empty, and as if it was following its instinct only.

“Can it be that the ant is under a charm?” Miles questioned.

“What charm?” Coin asked, “I don’t think mother bird would want to waste away its drawings by luring the ant. Drawing Rune is not easy. Not many monsters can do it.

“Maybe the queen ant.” Miles thought. “It wants to gather food for the queen.” Ant’s actions proved Miles's idea. Although it looked like it was about to die, the ant was still climbing vigorously.

Miles left where he was hiding and started to approach the tree. Ant was beaten up, and Miles could kill it now. He drew the dagger from his belt. He developed a habit to charge his weapons in the stronghold and leave afterward. It would give him time to replenish his energy and would prevent him from being found out.

When Miles reached, the ant was still falling from the sky with a strong wind current. Miles felt the ground vibrating, and looked at the wind. “Although it doesn’t feel that strong, the wind can even shake the ground, huh?” He asked as he placed the dagger over the ant's head. With a stab, it made a hole in its brain. Miles looked at its head and found the core.

“Not an armor orb.” Miles sighed helplessly. “I doubt I can find another ant as stupid as this.” Miles shook his head and looked at the tree. “Why does the ground still tremble even after the wind has stopped?”

The next second, Miles got his answer. A hole appeared in the ground and ants, as big as cows, started to pour out from it. All of them were moving around the tree and looking at Miles with a bloody core in his hand. Their eyes were shining with a dangerous hue.