Ren’s body slithered quickly on the path.

He could hear the clicking sound of mandibles behind him.

He turned his head around

‘Seven or Eight of them…’ He assessed. Behind seven or so ants followed him hot on his tail.

Ren let out a sigh of relief.

Only a few of them had actually followed him. It made sense. All of the ants in a colony would not go after a single prey.

That was all he was to them.

A prey… a source of sustenance.

Ren carefully observed the ants.

The ants were bulky, nothing like the scouting ant that he had seen.

 

‘Appraise.’

 

Species: Durant (Worker)

Potential: None

Level: 1/1

 

[Enemy: Durant will provide one bioenergy]

 

Although they were still the same no potential level 1 ants, Ren could feel that they were different. Not only were they called ‘hunters’ but their features resembled predators.

Their mandibles were even larger and more metallic. Their antennae were a bit smaller. The ant’s bodies were more muscular, their legs were thicker.

Ren marveled at the Ant colony.

No… it would be more accurate to say ant monster.

This whole colony was centered around a single monster.

 It was the yellow monster that he had felt before.

The Ant Pokémon that were chasing him… the scouting Pokémon that he had encountered before that…

If Ren had to guess, all of these Ants were not naturally born through eggs but rather artificially created!

It would explain everything. The small level limit… the unmarked potential.

‘What a broken skill…’

This was the power of a Yellow Pokémon!

Ren soon shook away his distracting thoughts.

He had to focus.

The screeches of the ants behind him became louder and louder.

Ren once again turned his head confirming the presence of about eight ants.

Eight muscular and terrifying ants that would not hesitate to rip him apart.

They should have scared him. They should have made him turn away and run in fear.

‘I can take them…’ Ren decided.

A strange sense of confidence filled inside of him. It was not meaningless pride.

It was an understanding.

It would definitely be dangerous… much more dangerous than anything that he had faced before.

But it was not impossible.

If it was the Yellow Ranked Pokémon Boss Ant, he would not hesitate to run.

But this was different!

Over the last few days, not only had he physically grown but his skill percentages had skyrocketed.

What battle did not have risks? In order to truly be strong… in order to achieve his goals he could not shy away from hard fights.

He had to break through his limits!

‘I can do this…’ Ren prepared himself.

A plan formed inside of his brain.

He would not be foolhardy and charge at the ants recklessly. That would be stupid and would only serve to get him killed.

‘First I need to move this battle out of here…’

If he battled the ants near the colony, he was sure the Yellow tier Boss ant would quickly identify it and send more of its ant minions after him.

Then it would truly be a meaningless fight.

He had to first move the battle far way.

‘Let’s see their limits…’

Ren concentrated red aura on his tail.

He did not use it to [accelerate] but rather as a simple muscle strengthener.

Although it was not as effective as green aura, red aura still had some muscle enhancing properties.

Ren’s slithering became stronger and more powerful. His body moved forward even faster.

Ren glanced at the ants.

‘No… they are using it…’

Just like him, the ants also began to use aura.

Their aura… was just like his own… a pure red.

‘So they use red aura too…’

Ren had hypothesized that these since these were artificial creatures they might not be able to use aura.

The ants proved him wrong.

Their red aura skillfully moved to their legs and surrounded them.

Ren continued to slither down the artificial path, further and further away from the ant colony.

*Screech* *Screech*

Loud piercing sounds interrupted Ren’s thoughts.

It was different from the normal screeches of the ants.

It was more sinister.

Ren felt a wave of energy pass over him.

He could instantly feel his muscles begin to stiffen. His speed slowed down.

[Eerie Spell]

One of the ants had activated a skill.

Ren’s movements began to slow down.

He turned his head. The ants were catching up.

This was a move designed to efficiently hunt prey.

Ren’s mind worked quickly. He needed a method to get out.

[Spirit Manipulation] circulated his energy around his body.

‘It’s definitely not an attack skill. It must be a mental skill almost like my [terrorize] but more longer lasting’

Like all mental skills, this skill used waves to target the brain. It reduced the transmission of motor information from the brain to the body’s muscles.

‘I have to protect the brain,’ Ren decided on a course of action.

He needed mental protection. A shield.

Ren moved his spirit to his brain, slowly forming a barrier around it.

His body instantly began to pick up speed.

*Screech*

Another ant activated the skill. He could feel waves of sound crashing against his brain.

This was the ant’s tactic!

They would first wait for their prey to tire out a bit. Then when they least expected it they would barrage their prey with mental attacks. This would gradually weaken their prey and allow them to easily hunt.

He strengthened his defense.

‘I have to do it now!’

Ren decided.

He could not afford to hesitate any longer. His spirit would not last for much longer against the continuous attacks of so many ants.

Ren concentrated aura of his tail.

[Acceleration]

This time he activated the skill acceleration.

His body shot off the artificial path and into the tall grass.

His body was instantly hidden.

The ant’s bodies came to a stop.

They could no longer identify the location of their target.

The ants gathered into a circle on the path.

Their antennae brushed against one another as the communicated.

The Durants tried to detect the smell of their prey but it was as if the smell had disappeared.

 

Although they were artificial creatures, they had the basic biological instincts that all creatures had.

After a few seconds of communication, the ants all split up; spreading out in the direction that Ren had gone in.

They were going to comb the surrounding fields looking for Ren.

Ren activated acceleration and jumped into the air.

His head peered over the tall grass out at the ants.

He witnessed them splitting up and spreading out into the grass field.

His body landed back onto the ground.

‘Perfect.’

It was time to hunt.

Ren’s body slithered away from the ants. He had to let them separate more first.

On occasion, Ren would accelerate, moving his body further way from the ants before waiting a few seconds and then moving again.

After a few minutes, the ants had sufficiently separated.

Ren used acceleration to shoot into the sky and survey the position of the ants.

One of them was quite close. He could not see any others close to it.

‘You’re the one…’

He landed back onto the ground and slithered after it. It would be his first victim.

He peaked at the body of the ant from behind the tall grass.

Its antenna were poised at the ground, trying to find any trace that Ren might have left behind.

Ren knew that ants on Earth had a good sense of smell. He assumed that Durants, Pokémon designed after Earth’s ants were also like this.

That was why he made sure to accelerate (leap) every so often, disrupting the scent on the ground and preventing the ants from simply following his trail.

He had forced them to split up.

Ren observed the ant quietly waiting for the opportune time to attack.

The ant’s body stopped moving.

He had to finish the ant of quickly. Red aura gathered on his tail.

‘Now!’