“So, the western slope of this mountain is where the colony of the giant fire ants is located?” Magnus asked Braxt as he took a bite from the piece of roasted wolf meat. It had a smoky taste but still very bland compared to what Magnus when he was on earth. It might be because of the lack of spices used to cook the food.

“Yes… that was what the information is given to us contained.” Braxt answered trying to enjoy the meat he proudly cooked. He was certain that he did a great job. The meat was tough, but his preparation for roasting it was impeccable.

Magnus was trying to determine how accurate the information was. As he stared at Braxt who was elated with the food; Magnus was convinced that if the quality of information Braxt was satisfied with was comparable to the meet, then he must not put his hopes to the precision of the info.

“Very well”, Magnus took one last bite from the meat before placing it back on the leaves used by Braxt as plates. “I will go and look for the colony tomorrow. Just stay here, you need to recover for at least a day more.”

Braxt almost choke when he heard what Magnus said. “Teacher, my lord, are you sure? We do not know how many ants are left inside the colony.”

“Do not worry”, Magnus stood up and walked to the far side of the cave trying to find a comfortable place to sleep on. “I should be able to handle them like how I did at the crater.”

“At least let me come with you, my lord.” Braxt declared as if pleading to have a chance to be of use to Magnus.

Magnus yawned as he said to Braxt, “No… you will just be in my way… Clean up… then rest…”

Braxt had a bitter taste in his mouth. What his master said was very blunt. Still, this was also an irrefutable fact. He barely killed one giant fire ant with the help of Langdon. And he almost lost his life if not for Magnus. All he can do was hope that his master will indeed be able to come back after the fight.

Magnus closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to drift away. He had a long day fighting against the wolf and then later testing his fighting capabilities with Suzaku. He needed to rest and prepare for the raid he planned for the next day.

“you are the chosen one?”

A blurry figure was trying to talk with Magnus.

“Huh? Where am I?”

“it is somewhere you know… just look around…”

“This… was my classroom… The classroom for Grade 10 section 7… Am I back on Earth?”

“Who knows… maybe… do you want to be back?”

“I can’t, I died back then…”

“Maybe you can… I can help you if you want…”

“I am no longer the only one who will decide… Suzaku and – ”

“Suzaku decides for the both of you? No longer have a free will I see…”

“We are one now, both of us must decide…”

“You will change your mind… soon… just tell me once you decide on your own…”

Magnus opened his eyes and looked at the entrance of the cave. He saw sunlight outside. It seemed that he slept through the night.

Was that a dream? Magnus asked himself as he tried to recall his conversation with the blurry figure. He can barely remember what they talked about. He cannot deny though that being in that room was nostalgic.

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“Suzaku? Did you dream last night?”

<“How can I dream when I barely slept! You were snoring!”>

Is it even possible to snore inside my mind? Magnus said as he decided to put the topic regarding the dream for another time. But it seemed like Suzaku was not aware of that dream. This proved that there are parts of his mind his partner did not have any access to.

Braxt was now preparing breakfast. He woke up early to help his master as much as he could. He then noticed that his master was already awake.

“Good morning master… Breakfast will be ready in a moment.” He greeted Magnus cheerfully.

“Do not mind me… I will leave immediately to save time… I will come and get you later to help me clean up the colony once I get rid of all the ants.” Magnus declared as he stretched his body. This was a habit he brought with him from his previous life. He often did this before to improve blood circulation in his body.

Magnus stepped out of the cave and headed to the western slope of the mountain. He walked at first and then gradually increased his speed. He eventually ran thinking that his body already warmed up. His goal was to finish his task before noon. He will then think of a should they do next after destroying the colony.

<“Seems you are excited, Magnus…”>

“Heh, you can tell? Though you are the one fighting, I am still able to experience each fight. The feeling of exhilaration.”

<“Hahahaha… let me entertain you then… enjoy each moment until we claim victory”>

Magnus continued to run nonstop until he reached the western slope of the Mt. Magayon. He then started to look for the supposed colony of ants. But even after around thirty minutes of looking around, he still cannot find the entrance for his target.

Tsk, Braxt’s info was off… Magnus clicked his tongue as he was thinking of the details his butler shared with him. His patience was running low. When…

<“Hey Magnus… do you feel that?”>

“Slight tremors from under the ground… The ants are below us!”

Magnus readied himself as he surveyed the ground. He then noticed different mounds starting to form. From the mounds came several giant fire ants. Magnus closed his eyes, he then switched places with Suzaku in his mind.

Suzaku leered at the coming ants with his eagle-like eyes. The number of monsters was less than the ones they destroyed a couple of days ago. He stretched out his arms and formed two flame spears. He was ready to slice anything that will approach within his range of attack.

The giant fire ants did not attack immediately. They seemed to wait for their numbers to bolster with reinforcement. After a few more ants emerged from under the ground, they then started to slowly encircle Suzaku. They were making sure that their prey will have nowhere to run.

Suzaku slightly bent his knees. Then in an instant, he dashed towards the ants in front of him. He started slicing left and right. With each strike, the head of a giant fire ant rolled off from its body. In just a few seconds, he was able to claim the lives of more than twenty ants.

“Let us not let our guard down…Suzaku! More ants are coming up from the mounds!”

With each ant that fell to Suzaku, two more replaced it on the field. But Suzaku was unperturbed. He was thinking that all he needed to do was continue as he was doing, cutting the heads of each monster he came across.

Suzaku then jumped to higher ground, on to one of the nearby boulders. He wanted to see how many ants were left. He had lost count after the fiftieth ant he killed, but what he saw surprised him. Even more, ants are surfacing from under the ground. He clicked his tongue and then he raised his right arm. A flame shockwave will be released.

Magnus carefully observed the result of the attack Suzaku unleashed. In terms of efficiency, it seemed that amount of mana used for the attack was worth it. All the ants within the one hundred meter radius were burnt to s crisp. But he was still feeling uneasy. Something seemed off.

After the shockwave moved through its course and then gradually died off, Suzaku surveyed the area of effect and was satisfied with what he saw. But as he was looking at the burnt carcasses of the monsters, his eyes opened wide when new sets of mounds started to form. Ants started crawling out from these new holes on the ground. He further gritted his teeth when he noticed that there were also ants emerging from the old mounds from before.

The ants started to swarm towards Suzaku once more. With their numbers, they were able to force him to abandon the boulder he was using as high ground. They were unaffected with all their dead that littered the area of battle. All they want was to get to Suzaku and feast on his flesh.

Suzaku readied flame spears yet again. And then he restarted his earlier tactic to cut off the ants’ heads one at a time. He only needed one strike per monster. But it was almost as if the numbers of his foe was limitless.

“This will get us nowhere… let us go underground… find the queen and cut off its head…”

Suzaku understood the idea of Magnus. With their situation, the ants seemed coordinated and were being directed on how to attack. Clearly, they are being led by something. It was probably the queen. Killing off the queen might route the rest of the ants. And base on their previous experience during the fight on the crater when ants where uncoordinated, it seemed that a leader must be close by to give orders to all the monsters.

Killing the ants near him, Suzaku found a hole that he can fit in. Pointing two fingers inside the hole, Suzaku burned the ants inside it by unleashing a thin crimson beam. He then jumped inside the mound and found that it stretched straight down for at least twenty meters.

By the time he landed on solid ground, Suzaku found himself inside a gigantic cavern. Its ceiling seemed to be adorned by many stalactites. But the floor curiously lacked any stalagmites. It was almost as if the cavern floor was maintained to be free from any obstacle.

The light was still able to reach inside the cavern though. This was thanks to the many holes created by the ants themselves on the ceiling. It was convenient for Suzaku since he can see without relying on mana to enhance his vision further.

Still, Suzaku did not like what he saw. The entire cavern was filled with ants. Even the ceiling and the walls were occupied by these monsters.

“How many are they? These are already at least five times more than the ones in the crater. And these do not include those above ground…”

Suzaku sensed frustration from Magnus’ voice. It looked like his partner miscalculated the strength of these enemies in terms of sheer number. He readied his spears once more and rampaged against the ants, trying to make his way to the center of the cavern floor. He raised one hand again, about to release his flame shockwave.

“Suzaku! Don’t! We do not know the structural integrity of this place. Our attack may destroy the foundations as well. We might end up getting buried along with these ants.”

Annoyed, Suzaku held back. He knew no matter how frustrating the words of Magnus were; they still held weight. He did not have any choice then but to revert to the use of his spears.

Suddenly, the ants stopped attacking.

A pathway was created from four directions; the ants seemed to be getting ready to allow something to pass by.

Suzaku took a deep breath when he saw what on the paths that were created had a procession of more ants. But these new batches of enemies were different. The ants that made these new set of troops were twice as big as the giant firs ants. Their carapaces were black instead of red. Their pincers shone and looked as if they can either crush or easily slice their intended prey.

“Tsk… the ones we were fighting were the worker drones…” Magnus was able to conclude based on what he was witnessing.

“Be ready Suzaku. We are now u against the next level within their hierarchy. The soldier ants!”