Ashley

I quickly identify the ants as they march my way.

♢ Level 38 Destruction-Touched Antine Drone – 122 Potential Skills – X ♢

Oh? Actually, I could…

I count how many there are.

…not take that many of them on.

So without hesitation, now that I’m no longer bothering with hiding my stolen skills, I go ahead and let loose. First by activating Destruction Breath on them, making my mouth open wide before a powerful jet of deep crimson, almost black flames shoot out at the ants. Turning the closest ones to ash as I get new Skill Trees from them thanks to Assimilate still being active. Then I proceed to use Silver Spike to summon a bunch of spikes out of the air and ground to impale the ones behind them.

And after my breath attack runs out, I go ahead and summon a Silver Barrier between me and the ants to block them from reaching me.

Because the damned flood of ants didn’t even take a dent from that attack. Despite me killing what must be nearly a dozen of them with that onslaught.

Although…

{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.} x11

{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Antine Drone} x11

{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destructive Bite, is now unlocked for your usage.} – [ERROR – Destructive Bite is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Antine Drone.] x11

{Congratulations, you have now reached level 40. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}

{Congratulations, you have now reached level 41. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}

Oh, uh, wow.

These things give a lot.

Both in EXP and in Skill Points.

This place may actually be a goldmine for those two things.

But…

The ants repeatedly charge at the wall, causing one dent after another to form as the what must be hundreds of ants try to push on. With even more ants behind them.

…yeah, not worth the gold in this mine.

And looking at my current mana and Chaos Energy reserves, I won’t last much longer. Because those attacks I just did drained a good third of my mana simply to kill a dozen of the hundreds of ants.

So I quickly begin to look around for some sort of way out. Only to not find anything.

I would just break out of here, but that’ll take longer than this barrier will hold.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Instead I turn back around and begin by raising my hands and spraying ice cold water over the wall at the ants. More and more water, making the water begin to run down the other side and cause some of the ants to slip. Then I proceed to cast several lightning bolts that strike at the ants, running through the water and electrocuting all of the ants.

But I don’t get a single System Message about killing them. Which is rather disappointing.

What I do find is that they are all at least temporarily paralyzed, with occasional sparks coming off of their collapsed bodies.

Even if some of them are beginning to make attempts at standing again.

Guess their shells are too thick.

I go ahead and spew forth some more destruction flames into their numbers, killing off another dozen or so before turning around and using this extra time to dig my way out.

With Nature’s Wrath.

I use the skill to create vines and roots and the like in the soil and around it to dig through and gradually make a small entrance for me to crawl out of. A process that takes a few minutes to pull off, giving the ants time to recover by the time I start crawling through said hole.

But I manage to make it outside again. Just to find myself faced with the sight of a swarm of two dozen spiders dragging a few dracoraptors into their hive. All of which pause at the sight of me.

Then more drakes come flying down from the sky as I hear the ants marching their way through the entrance I made, clearly angry at me for more reasons than one.

Can I just go home now, please?

“Ashley!” I finally hear Chaos’s voice echoing in my head at a rather poor time.

Not now.

I quickly begin running for my life, only to turn back to find the ants colliding with the spiders that had started chasing me. Making the two change targets.

But that’s not the case for the drakes who continue chasing after me, occasionally swooping down in their attempts to catch me.

In a situation like this, I would normally go with Dark Howl or Sonic Screech. But I can see more monsters in the distance along with a fortress filled with kobolds, none of whom are currently focusing on me. And if I used those skills, it would just attract their attention and possibly their aggro.

So I do the simplest things I can do while running.

I conjure Silver Barriers to block breath attacks from the drakes, use Shadow Step to teleport away when they swoop down to grab me, and occasionally use Silver Spike to attack them when they’re least expecting it. Occasionally knocking one down from the air, but only killing two of them during the entire chase.

All the way till another loud roar echoes from the volcano, and more of those missiles fire from out of it.

Immediately making the drakes give up their chase without hesitation to go find shelter. Just like all the other monsters in the area.

But by now I’m panting in exhaustion, my sweat dripping down my still-dry clothes, my mana down to just around fifteen percent remaining, and gashes all across my wings and shoulders that are still healing from the drakes’ talons occasionally catching me. Tearing through my clothes a bit in the process.

Fortunately the clothes repair themselves, otherwise I could very much see myself ending up damn near naked in here from my clothes being destroyed.

Thank Chaos for self-repairing clothes.

Literally, since he gave them to me.

But more importantly, I try desperately to find a cover, only to end up being stuck at a little overhanging cavern with no tunnels connected to it. With a bunch of lizardmen crouching down inside of it.

Sorry fellas, but this is my cover.

Without hesitation, I use up some of my remaining mana to fire destruction flames in their way, torching a couple of them before the last two run straight towards me around the flames. But I stop them as well with Silver Spikes mixed with Silver Barrier. Blocking them from proceeding first then piercing through them after.

Then I take cover in the back of the cavern while the boss’s attacks fire down all across the Domain.

Saved by the Unique Monster.

How ironic.

I almost let out a chuckle at that thought, but I hold myself back.

Anyways, now’s as good a time as any Chaos.

“Ashley! Are you okay? Do you need any items? I can send you some basic stuff if you need anything! New clothes, maybe? I can’t send anything powerful unless you do a feat impressive enough that the System and Justicar agree, but maybe something to wash yourself with? Oh, and about the Unique Monster, you should avoid it at all costs until you’re at least the same level as it! And-” Chaos immediately lets loose a barrage of words that has my head spinning. As if he were some overprotective and worried father or something.

And his words honestly make a very faint warmth spread through me.

A warmth that is not the rather warm temperature of this Domain.

But one of compassion.

I think.

“Oh, I forgot to mention, but your twin jumped into the Domain after you,” Chaos comments after spending the entire barrage of the Unique Monster’s attacks talking away nonstop without giving me any sort of time to respond.

Wait, what?

“Yeah, Blake’s in the Domain as well,” he confirms. “Although he seems to be on the opposite side of the Domain as you.”

The fuck?