Limitless Path

Blood took hold of one of the left legs as it was still in the air and, as the ant righted itself, continued the movement, overextending the leg. There was a loud grinding sound before the leg tore off at the base, ichor spurting out of the wound. Blood immediately lunged for the second leg, the ant unable to turn to face her effectively with one leg already removed. Sabs had taken the second leg off the first ant by this time and moved to join Blood on ant number two.

Kim continued her attack on the first ant, spearing an eye with a quick thrust of her blade. Removing the sword from the eye of the ant, she stepped forward and to her left, taking a two-handed grip on the weapon. She lifted the blade above her head and activated Sweep as she brought it down, cleaving the ant's neck in twain. The head bounced forward, stopping just at the feet of Beth, who was observing the battle from the tunnel entrance, keeping her eyes on the third ant as well as the second tunnel opening.

Soph, meanwhile, had moved around to engage the third ant again. Standing off to the side, she kept the area around her clear with a good sight line of all three ants while charging her hands. In quick succession two cracking sounds rang out as two consecutive bolts slammed into the third ant's head. What was left after four blasts were only a few charred fragments atop a seared neck.

Kim closed in on the second ant to help finish it off but stopped as Sabs leapt atop it. The girl and the wolf had taken out four of the ant's six legs, leaving it immobile and open. Sabs finished it by plunging both her daggers deep into its eyes before tearing them back towards her, shredding the back of the head and brain. She hopped down off the ant corpse quickly, shaking her daggers free from ichor as she did so.

Beth moved into the center of the room and got their attention with a clap, motioning for them to group up. "OK, we're gonna rest again a little. Soph blew a lot of mana there and we don't want to go into the next room low," she told the group.

Everyone agreed and sat down to rest, letting Beth stand guard again. They rested for about three-quarters of an hour, giving Soph a chance to get her mana mostly topped up. Beth took care of three ants in that time, the third just before the group was ready to move again. Hopefully that would mean no ants would spawn while they finished off the final room.

Beth led them through the last tunnel to the fourth room of the third floor, stopping still just inside the tunnel. She waited for the others to Identify the room and was surprised herself when Sabs exclaimed, "What the fuck?! Two level sevens?!"

Beth quickly scanned the room herself and noticed that it was very slightly different than her first clear.

Common Ant Level 6

Common Ant Level 7

Princess Ant Level 7

The two "guard" ants for the princess were still there and marked as common ants, but one of them had now been upgraded to level seven. It was a good reminder to Beth not to become complacent, as well as showing that mana density was still rising on Earth. She imagined the nest would have more and more rapid production, as well as the level of the ants inside increasing, over the coming weeks and months.

"This is only very slightly different from last time," Beth started. "I soloed this room when I was weaker with lower-level skills. The only difference is both the common ants were level six last time I did it."

The whole group was looking at her with more respect now, except for Blood, who was panting slightly with her head tilted at an angle. Who knew what her beautiful little pup was thinking.

"OK, here's the details. I imagine the level seven is even tougher than the six. The princess is a little bit tougher and a lot faster. How would you approach this if I didn't jump in and help?" Beth asked, turning to Kim.

"Well, uh, let me think," Kim replied, running her free hand through her hair. "I guess I would have Soph blast one and try to fight the other with everyone, finishing it quickly. We'll try to deal with the princess then, keeping an eye on the one Soph blasted."

"Not a bad plan, but let's do this. The princess doesn't leave the center area until the other two are dead, or at least, she didn't last time. I would suggest having Soph blast the level seven multiple times. The level six will charge, at which point you three deal with it. Soph will move slightly into the room and finish the level seven from range while you take out the level six. Once both are dead, she can start blasting the princess from range while the other three move in. Thoughts?" Beth replied to Kim.

"It puts a lot of pressure on Soph as our main damage for the fight. Can you do it, Soph?" Kim asked her.

"I can do it. Blasting the level seven might take a while, but I should be able to kill it with plenty of mana to spare," Soph responded.

"OK, we'll go with Beth's plan. It's OK to take a little to kill the level six, that'll give Soph time to blast through the level seven. Once they're both toast, we'll take out the princess. Are you still watching, Beth?" Kim said, turning to Beth at the end.

"Yeah, but I will step in early if it looks like it's going sideways. I think Blood is the only one here who could keep up with the princess in speed right now, so keep that in mind. I beat her after taking several bad hits, not a strategy I suggest the group try," Beth expounded.

"Alright, we ready?" Kim nodded at Beth before looking to the group as a whole. Receiving confirmations all around, she gestured for Soph to lead them off. Soph charged up both hands, before blasting out two lightning strikes in quick succession against the level seven. Unlike the level sixes, the two blasts weren't enough to fully incapacitate the level seven, and it started to charge slightly behind the level six.

Soph stepped out into the room and to the side, prepping both hands with electricity again as the ants closed. When the level six was getting near, Kim stepped up to receive it, slamming her sword into its head. Soph ignored the group taking on the first ant, releasing another thunderous salvo at the second ant. This ant wasn't any faster, just much tougher, and didn't even attempt to avoid the attacks.

This proved a bad strategy, as four bolts was too much for it to handle, the ant collapsing in a twitching, writhing heap. The level seven was not yet dead, but it was certainly in no shape to continue fighting, and Soph was charging up yet another double-dealing of electric pain, eyes narrowed and frowning deeply.

The rest of the group was faring well against the level six, their strategy of Kim playing main focus while Sabs and Blood cut through the legs was working well against the less maneuverable opponent. By this point the ant was already down two legs, and Blood was worrying at a third. Sabs moved back instead of going after the second leg on her side, timing a jump at the ant right after Kim finished a powerful Sweep. Sabs' attack slammed into the ant's neck, causing deep wounds and knocking it off balance as Blood tore out the third leg.

Meanwhile, Soph was finishing off her ant, with blast five deeply charring its head into a massive spiderweb of burning cracks before bolt six blew it apart, smoking pieces of ant head sailing far across the room. One of the pieces hit the princess, who decided that it was time to step in, and charged Soph head-on. Beth decided this was time for her to interfere, and stepped into the path of the princess, charging up Crush in her entire right arm.

The other girls were just finishing the level six and looked over to see the princess bearing down on Beth. "Beth!" Sabs called out, fear in her voice, watching as the girl she was starting to develop a deeper level of feelings toward faced the beast without flinching.

The other girls' worries were unfounded. Beth was no longer the same person she was the first time she faced this creature, and as the ant appeared in front of her, lunging for her torso, she stepped forward into its attack. Beth planted her right foot in front of her with a stomp, driving her fist straight into the ant's face. There was a horrifying crunching noise that went on for far too long, like a steamroller running across a million walnuts. The princess' entire head was pulped and her corpse slid backwards away from Beth, spinning as it grinded across the ground.

Princess Ant Level 7 slain.

Remaining mana converted to one copper coin.

One silver gained for clearing Basic Ant Dungeon.

"Well…that was, uh, impressive," Kim stammered, the whole group, even Blood, staring at Beth with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Beth angry. Beth smash," said Beth in response, flexing her arms.

"Being a barbarian only gets you so far," Soph replied, already recovered as she stuck her nose up.

"Did we just get an entire silver for that?" Sabs asked, seemingly just noticing the silver coin reward for clearing the dungeon.

"Yeah, not really sure how valuable the coins are yet. Seems like they're somewhat hard to get; might be worth a lot," Beth replied.

"People are offering to buy a single copper coin for multiple USD online, for what it's worth," Soph put in.

"Ah yeah, I haven't really taken time the last couple days to check what's happening online. Should just hold on to them for now," Beth said before motioning everyone to follow her.

The group returned through the now empty nest, seeing the sun again for the first time in hours. Squinting and scanning the area around the nest, Beth looked to make sure there weren't any nearby threats. She hadn't encountered any birds or other flying creatures that had turned into beasts yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time.

The group descended the outer ramp in the mid-afternoon light and headed back to the development. Beth could only shake her head as they came up on the ditch, giving a small chuckle as their entire group, minus Soph, was able to not just jump the ditch but the earthen berm beyond it as well. She led the group over to one of the tables where they set their weapons down.

"Weapons first. Soph, could you go just grab a pack of drinks and bring it out, please? Doesn't matter what," Beth said, addressing the group.

"I am not your servant," Soph said haughtily, but followed with, "I guess I could grab something while you work."

She entered the house while the other girls sat down and began cleaning and sharpening their blades. Blood sat between two chairs on her haunches, tall enough already that her head rose above the level of the table while sitting. The blades of the group were a general mess, but it didn't take too long for the basic cleaning to be done, Soph returning with a supply of drinks in the meanwhile. The girls all grabbed a drink while Soph put a bowl of water down for Blood and stroked her ears as she drank.

The group got to the real work now, sharpening their blades, while Soph sat and closed her eyes, dropping into her meditation technique. The rest of the group talked quietly, focusing on the task at hand for a few minutes. As they were finishing up, Beth brought up lunch.

"We need some food. I wonder if any places are open again, I could really go for a pizza," she said.

"Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen for a while. There're monsters all over the place. Just getting food to the supermarkets seems to be taking all the resources available," Soph responded, opening her eyes as she finished meditating.

Beth sighed, saying, "I guess we'll have to cook something. What a pain." She stood up and headed in toward the house. The whole group followed, Beth and Kim leaving their swords sheathed on the table while Sabs had her daggers stashed on her person. They made their way into the kitchen, where they began raiding the fridge and freezer for things to cook.

It took a while, including some time waiting for a load of chicken to cook through in the oven, but the group made a huge late lunch, tearing through multiple pounds of food. Beth was definitely thinking about their level of consumption but didn't really know what to do about it. In the end, everything came back to needing to get to a CRA Hall and get more information. She decided she would work with the group again tomorrow and then try to get to the CRA Hall the day after, even if she had to walk.

"What now?" asked Kim as they cleared away the dishes and cleaned up.

"Now we rest. It's important to rest well when you're fighting hard. Especially as we're still low level. The more END I've gotten the better I've been rested after a decent night's sleep. We still have people with single digit END, meaning we need to rest well after a long day of fighting," Beth explained to the group.

"I will be in my room. I assume we are doing the same thing tomorrow?" Soph asked.

"Same time, same place," Beth confirmed. "You staying here?" she continued, turning to Sabs.

"No, uh, not now. I'm, uh, gonna go home for now. I'll see you tomorrow morning," Sabs stammered out. Before she could make good her escape, Beth stepped over to her and grabbed her in a hug. Sabs was surprised for a moment but quickly returned it.

"Get a damn room you two," Soph said with a sniff before walking out of the kitchen, heading to her own room to rest.

"I-I'll head out now," Sabs stammered again, blushing as Beth let go of her before she darted out of the house, heading toward her own home.

"Let's head upstairs," Beth said to Blood, who just looked at her, head tilted slightly, before following her upstairs.