NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8 (Unstable Conflict) Part One
Pulling up the ant quest information again I scanned over the mission requirements, with a little more hope that I’d be able to actually complete it.
{Quest Issued "Exterminator" [Reward: 150 GP]
{Kill ten giant ants in total}
{Mission progress: 3/10}
Huh, seven more of those ants to kill. If it was me before the system's modification, I’m not sure I would have been able to survive in this place for much longer, let alone complete this quest. Now was different. I didn’t know if those ants were the only creatures in this place, still, I was confident that I wouldn’t die if I slipped up like last time. Thinking this, I wondered if I should actually try and complete the quest. I knew the "GP" would come in handy if I was going to be stuck here for a long time. I would have to complete the quest at some point, but still, fighting to the death wasn’t something I was looking to experience again. Thinking back on the events of the early battle made my hair stand on end. I had already come to the realization that death was around every corner here, and yet the fear of dying again wouldn’t leave my mind.
I had a feeling that I would end up fighting more monsters anyway, so I might as well be the one finding them instead of the other way around. Walking towards the passageway that the ants had come out of earlier, Displayed on the map were dozens of red dots further down the tunnel.
Most were split into groups of three or four.
With the system’s modification, I felt confident I could manage a group of that size. However, this feeling was quickly stolen from me, as one section of the map made my bravado disappear.
Gathered to form a massive red splotch was hundreds of dots grouped together, luckily it was far away, but the sight still gave me a bad feeling. Shivering, I wondered what would have happened if instead of being transported to a relatively barred part of this cave when I first arrived, I was sent there instead.
Crossing out that part of the map as a dead-zone, I scanned for a suitable first target to test my new skill on. I finally decided on a pair of dots not far from my part of the tunnel. Moving further into the stony passageway, the map opened in the corner of my vision. This cave really was massive. Even after only going a short distance, I had already passed a series of extensions and offshoots whose purposes were entirely unclear.
Looking around at the dug-out walls I couldn’t help wondering about how long it must have taken the ants to create this place. Sadly I didn't have the time to focus on inconsequential thoughts
as I noticed that I was closing in on the location of my targets. Shooting off to my right was a tunnel that seemed to lead deeper into the cave. Glancing a look at my map, I reassured myself that none of the nearby dots were heading in my directions, before I peered into the entrance hesitantly stepping inside.
The passageway was rougher than the ones I had been walking down before. The ground was covered in scars, and the ceiling looked unstable as clumps of dirt fell from the ceiling masking my steps as I walked.
If I had been in my original world I might have been scared of a cave-in, but at the moment, that seemed to be the least of my concerns. Without even looking at the map, I could tell that my targets were nearby from the strange scraping sounds echoing in the darkness. Inching closer to the walls of the passageway I neared the sound, getting closer I did my best to conceal my presence. As if reacting to my thoughts, the sound of a system notification confirmed my earlier assumptions about my new skill.
[System: Skill “cloak” {active} Current status {unimpaired}]
Like last time I still wasn’t confident that anything had changed or that the skill really had activated, but the now brightly lit skill icon comforted me a little Slowing my breathe I gripped my knife, as I approached. I could make out the forms of two ants they were making themselves busy in the far corner of the cramp tunnel. One of them seemed to be scraping at the bare rock wall of the cave with its mandible, while tossing the loosened debris into a heap behind it.
The second ant was a bit larger than the first; it also had a red stripe down the middle of its back. It was waiting idly behind the smaller ant; however, it soon burst into movement as a shimmering rock was thrown out of the cave wall by the digging ant.
Hitting the ground, it bounced then rolled towards my direction before coming to a stop. The rock was surprisingly easy to see through the dark. It reflected what little light there was in the tunnel into a dazzling display of rainbow light. that was made all the more apparent when compared with the rest of its surroundings. The ants appeared just as taken aback by the stone's unveiling as I was. The first one, having stopped its digging, turned and skittered towards it. In doing so, it charged directly towards me.
My breath caught in my throat as its eyes swept over my location; they only lingered on where I hid for a brief moment before they returned their focus to the rock lying on the ground, but that moment tested all of the very little trust I had in the system. I let out a small noise as it’s short lived glance returned to the stone before it joyfully, lunged towards it with its pincers, but all it gained for its effort was air, as the second, larger ant seemingly waiting for this, had in one lightning-fast movement snatched the rock up into its own pincers.
The first ant's head shot up to meet the gaze of the second ant. Letting out a menacing cry, it grabbed the pincers of the larger ant, attempting to pry them open. Watching this scene, I was left dumbfounded. Were these ants really going to duke it out for some shiny rock? I had the feeling in that moment that even if my skill wasn’t active, the two wouldn’t pay any attention to me. I considered if I should use this opportunity to attack the pair but ultimately decided against it. After all, it wasn’t really a bad thing if they ended up fighting each other first.
Unfortunately for my hopes of third-partying them, the larger ant, unfazed by the attempt, reached one of its front legs up before slamming it down on the head of the ant in front of it. The smaller creature immediately lost its grip, its head bent down towards the ground by the continued pressure of the larger ant's leg. It let out a series of muffled croaks, this action seemingly reaching an understanding between the two. As the larger ant relaxed its leg before turning in my direction and walking forward, its head held high in triumph. On the other hand, the first ant still had its head low but had resumed its original work with more vigor than before.
The larger ant still didn’t take any note of my presence despite it coming closer with each step. The fact that I had yet to be detected would have left me feeling more confident if the power exerted by the ant heading in my direction wasn’t so far outside of my expectation. It was probably best if I let it pass and just stuck to dealing with the smaller ants.
My mind having been made up, I decided to do my best impression of a statue. It wasn’t until the ant had begun to pass directly beside me that I could fully appreciate its body. Its dirt-red carapace was covered in snow-white gashes that resembled scars. Its size was also much more intimidating up close. Despite being only a size or two larger than the other ants I had seen so far, in the cramped confines of the tunnel, it felt like it would fit right in as the monster in some B movie. Once again reassured in my decision, I was just letting out an internal sigh of relief as the back half of the ant's body crested my location when a frantic scream from the other end of the tunnel where the first ant had been busily working away. Now it too held a stone in its grasp, this one even more radiant than the first. Unfortunately, the larger ant, decided it would go back to investigate, turned its body in the cramped corridor. Its back leg sweeping in my direction. I tried to avoid the incoming object, but the suddenness of the change left me helpless. Nothing's ever simply huh? Leaping out of the shadows past the large ant's head, I heard the faint sound of a system notification filling my ears.
System:
Skill “cloak” {off}
Current status {unimpaired}
Thrusting my weapon outwards from my body as I flew, I could feel it grip into the hardened shell of the ant before it gave way to the blade's point. The cycle continued, only ending when my legs brought me to a sliding halt in front of my foe. A deafening silence filled the chamber for a brief moment, only broken by the continuing excitement from the smaller ant at the end of the tunnel, before it was broken by a monstrous roar. The larger ant, who seemed to have recovered from its state of bewilderment, dropped the stone from its mandible and whipped its head back around to face me. The green blood from the wound on its side had coated the wall of the cave and now reflected the light from the stone, creating a surreal scene. Not that I had much time to consider that, as a pair of large mandibles appeared in my vision.
Acting on instinct, I dropped towards the floor, my feet falling behind as I came to rest just on the tip of my toes. My free hand faced palm down on the ground to stabilize my stance before using all three limbs to push my knife hand upwards into the path of the head passing over me. The movement of the massive head nearly wrenched the knife from my hand as it bore itself into the blade before wrenching back. After this exacting movement, I rolled backward, managing to avoid the same lightning-fast strike that surprised the other ant earlier. The ant rushed towards me once more, excited, but this time it just used the pointed tip of its pincers instead of its whole mass.
Continuing to dodge backward, I brought the blunt side of the blade around against the attack, and the mangled remains of the ant's jaw swung back in yet another attack, which, likely due to the continued injuries, had neither the ferocity nor power of the first attacks, allowing me to easily back away from the blow, which unsteadily impacted the side of the cave wall, causing a cloud of dust to form between me and the ant as a boulder was loosened from the ceiling, bringing with it a pile of loose earth.
My movements brought me back to the entrance of the barren tunnel. Backing through it, I braced myself against the plume of dust still obscuring my vision. Cutting through the cloud of dust the large ant came tumbling after me, blood scattered the ground as it clamored into the junction.
Running to the side of its barely wounded body, I deflected a flurry of spear-like legs heading toward me. Closing the distance, it occurred to me that despite the terrifying speed of my opponent, I was keeping up remarkably well.
For a split second, I could see the back half of the ant tense up, apparently trying to launch its oversized stinger at me. In the same move that had nearly killed me in my first fight, instead of trying to avoid the attack, I rushed straight towards it. This fight had already been drawing on for far too long. It wasn’t like I hadn’t tried to end it sooner, just that the ant’s relentless attacks left no openings for me to exploit. However I had been beginning to notice a weakness in its pattern of attack, the ant had been using its stinger to balance its blows since my surprise attack.
If I could just take out the stinger, it would leave most of its body unprotected. There was only one small problem with the plan that had quickly developed in my mind. I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to take out its stinger. Not that I would have had a lot of time to think about it anyway, as the stinger was little more than a blur from my perspective.
In a heartbeat, our two forms collided. My body bent slightly to the side as my blade came up to catch the blow. From the outside, it must have looked almost comical; my knife was little more than a razor in comparison to the massive stinger it was pressing against. Yet, as I pushed my feet against the ground, mustering all the power I could into the blow, the massive stinger was thrown to the side, my blade continuing until it made contact with the bulbous mass of flesh that the stinger was attached to. Slicing into it, a jet of blood shot high into the air as the limp carried by its now unrestrained movement crashed lifelessly by the side of the ant. Coming to a stop behind the ant, my hands still shaking from the impact, I was about to charge back into another perilous attack when I noticed the true state of my opponent.
The giant ant lay askew on its uninjured side in a pool of its own greenish blood. It tried to pitifully right itself, but with all its injuries, it was proving an impossible task. Approaching the ant's head, one large eye stared up at me with apparent rage, its limbs flailing even more frantically towards me. This too would come to an end as my blade punctured the hardened skull and descended into the creature's brain. Catching my breath after the system notification filled my vision, confirming the death of the ant.
System:
Mission “exterminator” updated - calculating progress
Greater quantity of energy than . Assign name, [alpha giant ant]
Calculating progress based on new parameters
(9/10 giant ants defeated)
Just as I was evaluating this new notification, I heard the clamor of feet in the tunnel behind me. Thrusting into the open came the smaller ant with two brightly shining stones in its grip. The creature, with its head held high, apparently pleased at its conquest of the larger ant’s loot, locked its eyes on me before glancing down at the corpse in front of my body. As I turned around to face my new opponent, my knife still stained with greenish blood, it looked as if I was some kind of serial killer looking for their next victim. The smaller ant apparently also realized my intent, as instead of rushing towards me, it tossed the two stones in its mouth at my feet before scampering in the opposite direction. I half-heartedly gave chase but, seemingly in response to the relative calm of my situation, a wave of exhaustion hit me. Instead, I settled on simply taunting the ant as it left.
[Iris Sinclaire]: “That's right, you better run! Oh, and I’m taking your stones too, so how do you like that!”
Sinking to my knees, I stumbled towards the remains of the alpha ant. Picking up the stones and slipping them into an internal pocket of my dress. I placed my hand over them, I could feel my ebbing weariness replaced with newfound vigor as the dead creature somehow became even more lifeless. Feeling refreshed, I began to think just how practical this system was, although it did make me feel a bit like a vampire or some kind of parasite. I would have in all likelihood run out of energy back in the ravine and likely died there without it. Stretching my arms, I let out a sigh before flicking the remaining blood off my blade. Opening up my menu, I saw that I was only one ant away from completing the system's mission. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to fight any more of those alphas. Still, it really was a pain that they only showed as dots. It would be nice if I could find a lone ant to quickly complete the mission.
As if to answer my thoughts, I heard the familiar taps of footsteps echoing in the dark. Before the smaller ant from earlier emerged from around a corner. Letting out a breath, I spoke as I walked forwards.
[Iris Sinclaire]: “Hey there, Mr. Ant, why don’t you come this way and let me complete my ques—”