Chapter 17: Ants

 

I held onto my ‘Ashen Gladius’ as the Sand Setting Ant pulled us into the pit. I kept trying to get it to release it, but its grip was mighty. I stamped my boots on its face as I tugged. We were starting to fall faster, and as the tunnel spiraled down, I could make it safely to the other side. I pondered whether I should let it fall to the depth with the beast. Then…

 

[System Notice: You gained 200 EXP.]

 

It finally lost its death enduring ability. I felt the grip from its mandible loosen, and I pushed off its corpse, blade in hand, as I jumped towards the wall. I landed safely, my body rolling into the wall. The sound coming from below was ever closer, almost resounding in my ears. I took out a ‘Hellfire Flask’, tossing it down a bit, but far enough to hit the wall as the tunnel spiraled down.

 

The tunnel immediately lit up as the flask smashed into the wall. Fire spread out over 10 meters, some spilling down into the pit I had been falling down. Below, I could finally see what had been making the booming sound of marching. More ants. An army of ants similar, if not the same, were marching up the slope.

 

The fire reflected in my eyes as the experience points waltzed its way up towards the fire. Level 10, as long as none of them are titled or named, perhaps three flasks will start taking care of them. I tossed some flasks down, though it took more than three as I missed a couple of times. The ants began dying off as the flasks exploded, and each death sent me 200 experience points. The sound of the marching faded as the ants dwindled down.

 

I gained 5600 experience points. Everything seemed quite easy now. Even though this is Hardcore, I gained so much so far, outweighing the effects of this hardest difficulty.

 

I looked down the pit, into the deep hole which a couple of flasks had been misfired. The fire they created blazed far away as I continued walking down this tunnel. The fire eventually dissipating as I relied on my fire-infused ‘Ashen Gladius’ for light, the only sound I could hear were my own footsteps crunching on the uneven surface of rock and sand.

I didn’t know how far from the bottom I was now. I decided to take a break as I sat and leaned up against the wall. I looked over what I had, while also making sure I was familiar with the abilities at my disposal. I didn’t get that death enduring ability from any of the ants. I didn’t know if it would have kept me alive anyway as the ant eventually died.

 

As I continued sitting there, my mind trailed off. How long... have I been here now?I began thinking of the past. Will I really go back home if I reach the end? Finish this tower? How has nobody done it yet?

 

Some of the players who joined this game were definitely pros in this field. I only ever played games leisurely, and always tried sticking to the normal difficulty. That’s why I started that way here, in ‘Tethralin’. But—do I really want to return to that place?

 

I got up. I had to stop thinking about that. I am here. This is where I am. I once again began the descent. “Remaining mobs!”

 

[System Notice: There are 25 Mobs remaining. Mobs cleared: 43/68]

 

Still 25 left. The desert was vast, and now I’m in this tunnel. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to conquer this floor. I still had two upgrade jewels as well as two transfiguration jewels. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to utilize them just yet. I didn’t know how often I would be able to conquer any future floors, or if by luck, come across a fantastic piece of equipment that would be worth using them on.

 

I could upgrade my ‘Ashen Gladius’, but it was really unnecessary right now. I’d also have to be able to handle the new requirements for wielding a higher ranked equipment. I also thought about using it on my ‘Kite of Biding Eruption’, which would make it rank ‘B’. I wasn’t sure how exactly the jewel worked, but I didn’t want to chance losing my exempted restrictions from {Spin!} by upgrading my shield.

 

I made it to the bottom of the pit, and underneath the spiraling pathway down were two more tunnels. Separated as they split from each other, I couldn’t see where they led. I started playing ‘Eeny Meeny Miny Moe’ to decide which path to go, and ended up choosing the path on the left.

 

Taking soft steps as I traveled through this new tunnel, eggs started entering my vision. They were decently large, though many of them were already broken. I think—I may have went down the wrong path. I steeled on anyway, and through the dark tunnel, after following along the windy nature of it, I finally saw some light.

 

I picked up my pace, running towards the light now visible to me. I shielded my eyes from the light as I approached closer. It was an open area, with nothing preventing the sun to touch the sandy floor. I could see more eggs at this exit, and out in the area was a small oasis. This hidden oasis would have been a wonderful sight to behold, but there were creatures out here. There were large ant-like creatures, different than the Sand Setting Ants from before. These were similar in fashion to centaurs, using their two back legs to move along with as they were carrying weapons in their hands.

 

My perception increased the range of my {Area Scan} to 132 meters. I used it to get a report of the area as I hugged the wall, trying to stay out of sight of these mobs.

 

[Report Received, 23 presences]

 

Taurant Knight, Lv11	Taurant Knight, Lv11	Taurant Stalker, Lv11
Taurant Knight, Lv11	Taurant Knight, Lv11	Taurant Empress, Lv12
Taurant Stalker, Lv11	Taurant Knight, Lv11	Taurant Stalker, Lv11

 

There were many of these mobs, apparently ‘Taurants’, out within the open area. They held various weapons, which looked to have been created from the carapace of the bugs found in the desert. Many of them were knights, a few were stalkers which held bows. There was one Empress, who wasn’t within my sight.

 

23 mobs. I’m still missing two others to count towards conquering the floor. These should also be a bit tougher, but as long as I’m careful, it won’t be too bad.

 

Ants in general are pretty sensitive to one another. If I were to attract one, I would most likely end up attracting them all. Though, there might be one exception: the Empress.

 

I really needed a reliable ranged method to pull mobs. I could throw a flask, but I didn’t know whether it would be able get them to do what I wanted. I stepped outside the tunnel, my intentions to draw them toward me and fight them within the tunnel. It would best allow me to use my flasks, while also providing side cover from the Taurant Stalkers.

 

A Taurant Knight was by itself, holding a blunt mace. It noticed me approaching and let out a weird, guttural noise. The speed it moved at was fantastic, the sand not impeding its movement whatsoever. I steeled myself to prepare for its attack. Dust began getting kicked up as a few others reacted to the invasion of their territory. I tossed a ‘Hellfire Flask’ in attempt of preventing them from gathering too quickly as I decided I needed to move back. I underestimated their speed. They have passed the barrier of level 10, being quite strong.

 

Arrows came flying out, their bows capable of handling two notched at the same time. I felt them coming at me, so I used {Shrouded Blink}. I used that in effort of getting me closer to the tunnel as I burst into a sprint. My current distance available to me through blinking was four meters, so I still had awhile to go. But, I still had two blinks available for when I get attacked.

 

The Taurant Knight I first attracted had caught up to me, swinging its mace during its charge. I activated my second blink as it passed through, and I again moved toward the tunnel. Due to it having charged, it was also moving toward the tunnel, so as I finished my blink, I hit it.

 

[Taurant Knight, Lv11 takes 527 damage.]

 

My ‘Ashen Gladius’ lost a charge of fire, but it dealt half the damage from the charge it had been infused with, as well as an extra twenty-five percent of increased fire damage.

 

[System Notice: You gained 300 EXP.]

 

More arrows came as the Taurant Knight lost its life, and so I used my last blink, completing my return to the tunnel. I instantly turned around, shield up and ready to intercept any attack from the oncoming twenty or so enemies, taking slow steps back. I sheathed my flame infused gladius, grabbing a couple flasks, waiting for the experience points to come to me. And I waited.

 

And waited.

 

They weren’t coming. As soon as I had entered the tunnel, they stopped their approach. I guess I have to do this the hard way.

 

I activated {Goblin’s Recovery Hymn} as I exited the tunnel, and was met with a pair of arrows. My {Shrouded Blink} now had a cooldown of one minute and 40 seconds, but I didn’t need to wait for it as I dodged the pair myself. I threw two flasks at a group of three knights who began trotting over, but they were both sniped out of the air, exploding there and doing nothing to those crossing the sand. I pulled my ‘Ashen Gladius’ from its sheath as I was met with the attack of three knights. I took two hits to my shield, and blocked one with my sword.

 

[Biding Hellfire Rupture power at 260/260. Please discharge within 30 seconds.]

 

[Shield unable to absorb damage due to fully charged power. You took 80 damage from Taurant Knight, Lv11.]

 

Their damage was reasonable, but my health was now sitting at 55, quite a dangerous number with my stats down. I didn’t quite have time to switch the fire from my shield to my blade, but I used the remaining fire within my gladius to fire at them. It wasn’t enough, and two more had appeared behind these three knights.

 

[Taurant Knight, Lv11, takes 206 damage.]

 

The five Taurant Knights took 206 damage, and were still standing strong, just temporarily disoriented from the fiery blast. I quickly chugged two healing potions, returning me to my max health of 135, and finished the fight with my fully charged {Biding Hellfire Rupture}.

 

[System Notice: You continued learning a new Ability through {Assimilation}: ???. Status: (9/50)]

 

My {Biding Hellfire Rupture} was unaffected by the +25% Fire Damage from my sword, a good thing to know for the future, now informing me it only works for the sword itself. Each of the knights took 390 damage, killing them off, and netting me 1500 more experience points. The damage I took from backlash was gladly lower, as my {Wield Element: Fire} provided that additional +25% resistance, totaling 75%.

 

I ran back towards the tunnel as it was quite a close call. I breathed in heavily. There are still 10 Taurant Knights left, 6 Taurant Stalkers, and then the Taurant Empress, who still hasn’t moved.

Also, that system notification; I figured out how to learn that ability—but it will take a long time.

 

I continued fighting, making sure to stay near the tunnel to heighten my survival chances. I drew the energy from within a few flasks over the course of the fights into my sword. I did so due to the flasks continuously getting shot by these ants. The 10 Taurant Knights fell, the six Taurant Stalkers fell, and all that remained was the lone Taurant Empress, who sat near the oasis.

 

I drew closer to it as the Empress let out guttural cries. It spit an acid towards my direction, though I avoided it using my {Shrouded Blink}, resulting in me finishing it off.

 

[System Notice: You learned a new Ability through {Assimilation}. You learned {Rally Allies}.]

 

I quickly looked over my new ability, but disregarded it just as quickly. It would do nothing for me as it required 10 Charisma to bolster the abilities of allied members. I had neither the Charisma nor allies.

 

The body began disappearing, and a bag of loot appeared. I stared at it. It had been so long since I had any. The bag contained ‘Taurant Empress’s Carapace’. I looked around, and on the other side of the oasis, I saw a treasure chest.

 

I walked over to it, opening it up. Inside was a beautiful gem, one that I was familiar with.

 

[System Notice: Congratulations! You found the hidden treasure of Floor 6. You gained a ‘Transfiguration Jewel’.]

 

I searched the area a bit more, finding nothing else in the open area outside the tunnel. I had but one choice left, to search the other tunnel. I was also still missing two mobs so I could conquer the floor.