I can’t help but sigh and shake my head as I look back on this. Why did I think being on top of something would hide me from ants? Sure, they were pretty big, but why would that stop them from climbing the wall? They’ve already broken the square cube law, what’s a little gravity? I should have been thankful they didn’t have flying ants with them.

As it was, at least the ants mostly passed by before some of the group took to the walls. The bad news was that it was a few of the larger warrior types and they easily spotted me. Oh, and did you know? Ants can jump!

So yeah, they were on me before I could even register what was happening. It was just three of them, but they individually outweighed me and that was after the added mass from my transformation. Oh, and one of them jammed a front leg through my stomach, putting me at even more of a disadvantage.

Good thing the strike was well off center to the right as they didn’t seem to want to lift their foot. Why was it good? Because my solution was to rip myself off the leg. The force from this was enough to send me rolling off the mushroom and onto the next.

With my right arm gripping my side to keep as much gel in as possible, I scramble to my feet right as the three ants jump the short distance down to me. This time though, I have the jump on them! Err, they were still the ones jumping, but while I did need to get to my feet, I could still get into position.

So this time, instead of me getting a new hole, the first ant that jumped down gets one. Legs braced, left arm extended, and my claw held together in a sort of spear hand strike. As the ant lands on me, there is a squelch and a blaze of pain. My hand goes entirely through the ant.

This isn’t enough to instantly kill it, insects being tough like that, so the ant tries to bite me. Good thing it can’t quite reach where I am and the legs are less than responsive. The other two ants however are more than able to take a bite out of me and more than willing to go through the ant on top of me to do so.

And of course my arm is now a wee bit stuck. So, with very few options, I swing my legs up and straddle the dying ant from underneath. While the other ants are fine with a bit of kin slaying, they aren’t quite capable of going through the body in the same way they can the legs. This wouldn’t last though and I needed a way out.

Said way ended up being through. My arm was already stuck, so I would have to break more of the ant’s shell already. Plus, I needed to eat something and there was a ton of meat right on top of me.

As I look back on this, I do have to wonder. When did I lose my yuck reaction to all this nonsense? Like, I was an average human with normal tastes for my region which very much was against eating bugs. Yet here I was, clawing my way through an ant’s thorax and chowing down on its innards as I went.

Eh, probably some kind of survival instinct or the fact that I had just recently scrambled what was left of my human brain. Whatever the case may be, the other two ants weren’t expecting me to pop out of their friend’s back. The exit wound from my spear hand strike provided an excellent weak point for said popping.

There wasn’t as much gore, though I came out steaming. I’d managed to suck down an absurd amount of the ant’s insides and my body went into overdrive to process it all. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could cook an egg on me with the way my temperature was spiking upwards.

Good thing I don’t have delicate internals anymore to worry about cooking. This was like the mother of all fevers. Though instead of fighting bacteria, it was turbocharging my stomach such that it could start cracking proteins and molecules. All to make more aqua gel.

Gel that was put to work right away, repairing the accumulated damage I had from my trip in the water and having been starving. Oh, yeah, I was starving as well. Not as in, “Oh, I’m a bit peckish”, but rather, “My body is eating itself to stay alive”. It seems I had simply gone so far that my body didn’t bother to express the seriousness of the matter.

Though now that I did manage to cram down some food? I became ravenous. Which wasn’t exactly safe for me as it certainly stripped away a few things from my mind. Stuff like caution and the ability to retreat.

So yeah, as I burst out of the one ant, I dove towards another. Not the smartest plan, but I wasn’t exactly running at full capacity. Anyway, the ant I wasn’t diving at snipped off my one feet, nice as you please. You would expect a rougher cut from an ant’s jaw, but these were magically sharp or some such.

Then the ant I was targeted took a chunk out of my side as I landed on the things back. Not being quite there, I ignored such trivialities and dug in. My claws gleamed with an unnatural sharpness, so hey, got an upgrade to my ability, and that let me get at the gooey insides. In fact, I stuck my entire upper body into the ant’s back so I could eat quicker.

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That was when the other ant tried to bite me again. Except, such an action would get in-between me and my meal and so on pure instincts, I kicked back with my remaining foot, rending the ants face and slicing off a jaw. An interesting result as it meant my sharpness effect was actually stronger than the ants. Otherwise, my attempt would have just resulted in either my foot being stopped or part of my foot being chopped off.

Then I turned on the last living ant. While still not fully back, I knew I didn’t have long before other ants might come to investigate. Better to eat the choice bits and flee than get stuck in a never ending battle. One that I likely would not have won. While my ability to digest food was enhanced, actually producing the gell took time. I only recovered so quickly because it has been a while and my body has stockpiled some of the needed components.

The third ant died just as quickly as the others, with the only difference being that I went through the thing’s face, what with it already being torn open. Though once I was through the head, what remained of it came off as I was forced to claw my way into the body.

After that, it was just a matter of moments before I was out and running back the way I came from. While dangerous, that very fact would likely be my saving grace. I couldn’t fight an entire ant colony and since I didn’t notice any in the darkness, they likely avoided it. Which, to be fair, one of the big threats I faced was a giant star-nosed mole. Maybe their diet is different, being that big, but I assumed they wouldn’t turn down snacking on ants like their normal cousins do.

They might even be the entire reason ants hadn’t claimed the entire dark cavern. I doubted it, but stranger things have happened.

To me.

Literally just a few days ago.

Eh, that’s life sometimes. Whatever the case may be, even if my money was on there being some nasty surprise still hidden in the dark cavern, it was my safest bet now that my mind had cleared some. Though the fact that three ants, each individually bigger than me, didn’t satiate my hunger should tell you something.

The problem was that all the food sources would likely be of the mobile sort. No easy grazing, but that just seemed to be my life at this point. At least chances are it wasn’t going to be even more bugs. Because looking back, I basically became an insectivore. Mantids and now ants? What’s next? Cockroaches?

The answer is no. I don’t mind saying that right out. I do not eat any cockroaches of any size. Even now, the thought of it sends shivers down my spine. There is just something about them. I don’t mind seeing them, but along with flies, I draw the line at eating them.

Good thing there are some giant kiwis in the darkness which also seems to be fine hunting the ants. I had barely entered the dark cavern before one came out of nowhere and attacked me. This was great because it meant that I wouldn’t have to deal with the bigger predators that live more towards the center of the room. It also meant I should probably take another dip in some water before I attempt to go deeper.

Anyway, five kiwis eaten later and I was full. Not that I killed five kiwis, no, I killed nine. It is just that four of the times ended with some other critters stealing the body from me. In particular, one time a shadow I could see even within the darkness rushed out.

Said shadow tried to pass under me, but not trusting it, I dodged to the side. Good thing too, because as soon as it was under the kiwi corpse, it became as if it was a hole in the ground and the body fell in. After that, it just rushed away from me for which I am thankful. It was likely some sort of elemental shadow creature and I wasn’t exactly packing any magical attacks to handle it.

Whatever the case may be and my nearly fifty percent failure to secure my food aside, it was time to head deeper into the darkness. That was the point of getting food in the first place. Oh, and take a bath. Smelling like ant guts was convenient for hunting giant kiwis, but I didn’t want to get blitzed by the monstrous star-nosed moles and whatever else lived deeper in.

Good thing water was actually quite easy to find. All I had to do was watch the various tunnels that led into this area and whenever the light from them was blocked, take note of it. Sure, that didn’t mean that specific tunnel led to water, however it at least indicated that extreme danger likely wasn’t in that direction. No, how I found water was by choosing the tunnel with the most traffic.

After all, this area already had food, so what else would they be leaving for? Now, I’ll readily admit that this might not have been the best method. However, it worked! Which is all that mattered to me at the time. So, after waiting a little to allow one of the moles to pass through said tunnel, I entered it as well.

Though at first I was worried. The tunnel itself was relatively small, only twice my new height, and barren of everything except the glowing mushrooms on the ceiling. There wasn’t even one of the ever present snails, munching on said shrooms.

However, I didn’t have to go far before the air became moist. My worry however did not go away, instead transitioning to something else. Because with the moistness, also came an overbearing heat. Well, I assumed it was?

I must admit, at this point my ability to tell normal temperature variances had truly been deadened. My gel just didn’t conduct heat or react to it in a way that my mind was capable of translating, at least not yet. It’s like growing up eating spicy food only to experience a numbing food. You can tell that it is doing something, but if you try and compare it to the spiciness you remember, it just doesn’t make sense.

So yeah, I guessed it was getting pretty hot because of environmental cues. Stuff like the shrooms on the ceiling taking on a more wilted appearance and the fact that any drips of water from the ceiling dried up quite fast despite the humidity. Which, thankfully? I guess? Was something I could still feel.