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Ren’s body dashed between ants, his aura congealed into different shapes, which were then propelled towards the charging ants. 

Blood flowed out like fireworks. 

‘Tch… my aim is still bad…’ 

The Red needles had only piercing into their sides and not into their necks. 

They were not incapacitated yet.

Ren regretted not practicing his aim. He should have explored different methods of attack using spirit before going out to clean himself. 

‘This is no time for Regrets! Pull yourself together. You have a job to do.’  

He soon dispatched of the next two ants. 

His muscles ached. 

Blood dripped out of the ant’s corpses. 

‘I have to eat…’ 

He had to restore at least some of his stamina. 

Midway through consuming the second Durant’s corpse, more shrieks emerged from the clearing. 

‘What the hell… is there no end to these little shits?’ Ren questioned. 

It was if these little buggers were on a mission to kill him.

‘I know that I killed your siblings… or clones or whatever. But is this really necessary.’ 

The shrieks of the ants responded. 

‘I guess that’s a yes.’ 

Ren sighed. 

*** 

The fight continued. 

Blood continued to flow out, attacks were exchanged. 

Ren’s skills constantly activated.

From [terrorize] to [acceleration]. 

His spirit manipulation continued to be used to the limit. 

His spirit was used quickly used up. 

He restored it through eating the corpses of the ants that he killed. 

It was a perpetual cycle of spirit exhaustion and spirit recovery (through consuming the flesh of the ants).

[Ding! You have gained one bioenergy]

Only the rings of the system accompanied him.

He was truly dancing on the line between life and death.

Ren grit his teeth. 

The pain from his would continued to amplify, as his wounds reopened under the stress of battle. 

Still Ren kept on fighting. 

He had no choice if he wanted to survive. 

***

Although he was carefully, more and more wounds inevitably began to appear on his body. 

‘SCCCreEAACH…’ 

The shrieks of dying ants filled his ears.

His body was bruised and wounded, as he faced the onslaught of enemies.

‘Keep going…’ 

One phrase remained within his mind. 

Never had he been pushed this hard since he had come to this world. The constant onslaught of enemies… the numerous injuries. 

Ren was going crazy.

His body was covered in wounds that continued to sting him. His mind was in agony.

He did not have enough time to recharge anymore under the waves of Durants. 

Still, he did not give up. 

He continued moving, albeit much slower between enemies. His acceleration had limited power, imposed on him by his wounds. 

***

A pool of blood extended out from a mound. 

It was small yet large enough that any onlooker would be able to clearly point out a difference in the elevation. 

If one looked closely, they would notice that this was not a small mound but in fact a pile. 

A pile of corpses.

Ren’s body lay on top of the corpses. 

His lungs constantly breathe in. 

His [Breathing technique] circulated, calming down his mind. 

[Ding! You have gained .1 wisdom] 

[Ding! Your stat points have increased. Your skill percentages have increased!] 

The voice of the system rang out.

‘Finally… it’s finished.’ 

The shrieks of the ants had stopped.

The waves of death had been exterminated. 

‘I have to eat them quickly…’ 

Ren fangs pierced deep into the corpse of one of the ants. 

[Ding! You have gained one bioenergy!] 

[Ding! You have gained one bioenergy!] 

[Ding! You have gained one bioenergy!] 

[Ding! You have gained one bioenergy!] 

The constant messages of the system rang out in his mind. 

Ren consumed one corpse after the other. His stomach became bloated before compressing. 

Sharp stints of pain hit him, as his body continued to elongate. 

His blood pumped hard through his body facilitating his new growth.

After a few minutes, the corpses of the ants had all but disappeared. 

Only a puddle of blood remained on the riverbank. 

‘How much have I grown?’ 

Ren had not paid attention to his growth during the battle. It was time to find out.

‘Status’ 

 

Host Name: Ren

Species: Draconic Ekans (Adolescent)

Element: Poison

Level: 2 [Limit: 5]

Bio-Energy: 27/50

Length: 128 cm

Spirit: 11.4

Power: 9.1

Wisdom: 5.3

Agility: 8.7

Defense: 9.0

Skills: Breathless Breathing Technique [11%], Poison sting [9%], Terrorize [37%], Acceleration [48%] Tier 2 - Limit breaker [14%] Pokémon Appraisal [35%] 

Passive Skills: Spirit Manipulation [93%], 

Racial Skills: Shedding [20%], Draconic body [4%]

 

’27 Bioenergy!’ 

Red did the math. 

This meant that he had fought against nine blue tier ants. 

A sense of urgency hit Ren. 

He was injured and exhausted. 

Spirit and Injury recovery through eating the corpses of pokemon was limited. 

Ren’s wounds had healed a bit but they were still open and flowing. His spirit was still depleted.

He was extremely vulnerable.

Red had to find a good place to recover. 

His body slithered away into the tick undergrowth. 

His mind raced. 

Why did he encounter the ants? The ants were definitely encroaching on the forest, but the forest was a large place. They should not have been able to reach the stream in only 4 days. 

A scary possibility struck him. 

‘Could they be after me…?’ 

Ren had never seen these hunter ants before. He had only seen normal worker ants moving in and out of the ant nest. 

Why had 9 Blue tier Hunter ants come after him? 

As Ren ruminated over the possibility, he became more and more sure. 

The Ant’s had put a hit on him! 

‘It was the yellow Ant…’ 

Ren had a hunch that it was that Yellow Ant he had felt that had ‘put a bounty’ on a his head. 

‘Still… this reminds me of those movies.’ 

Ren remembered the movies where the police officers chased after the criminals. 

In this case, the police officers were bloodthirsty ants and the criminal was Ren. 

‘All I did was kill a few of you. Is this really necessary?’ Ren thought jokingly, trying to cheer himself up. 

No wonder the Ants had begun to target him. 

He had killed tens of ants in the previous battle. Now he had killed more than 9 of their most prized fighters. 

Ren kept this in mind as he slithered away. 

The ants were close. That meant that he had to go far, far away. 

He was not confident in competing against a large barrage of ants. 

Ren decided to move upstream. 

Moving upstream would put him further away from the ant colony. That should reduce his interactions with the ants.

As he slithered, blood continued to flow onto he hard ground. 

His depleted aura worked as hard as possible to contain the blood flow, yet blood still spilled. 

‘I have to find some safe area…’ 

Ren continued to slither forward. He slowed down his breathing and minimized his body’s presence. 

He had to avoid detection from other pokemon, especially more high tier pokemon. 

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Authors Note: 

Ants that Ren faced in Ant nest = worker ants 

Ants that Ren is facing now are stronger ‘hunter ants’