CRACK
The sound of carapace breaking echoed through the cluster of mushroom stems surrounding Lucius as he swiftly drove his blade through the cracked armor, ending the creature's life with a single, fluid combo.
You have defeated Formica Sub Terra, level 19.
"Nice! That was a big one! Eat up, little buddy."
With a wave of his hand, Lucius collected the body and dashed away from the area in a practiced motion, doing his best to stay on the move and avoid drawing unwanted attention. He headed north, skirting the territory of the hive while remaining hypervigilant for any powerful threats that might escape Sense Danger. From his current position, he could ambush individual ants without much risk of alerting the entire hive. Even if the other ants somehow became aware, he felt confident he could disappear into the mushroom forest before the creatures could surround him.
As Lucius closed in on his next target, he pulled up his status to check his progress.
Strength 40(45)
Vitality 33(38) Dexterity 40(45)
Intelligence 5(15) Creativity 6(16) Luck 1(6)
Stamina 23(26) Magic Power 12(17) Magic Resist 6(11) ... ... Free Attributes 0
He had slain five more ants since his meeting with the centipede, raising his Vitality from twenty-seven to thirty-three. Each time Whisper began to consume a body, Lucius would cross his fingers, hoping his Vitality would continue to rise with each delivery of blood to his mythical companion—and so far, he had not been disappointed. At some point the rapid increase in Vitality from the blood of comparatively weak creatures would surely diminish, forcing him to find stronger foes in order to continue gaining a benefit from the blood, but Lucius was determined to continue until he reached that point.
"What do you think, Whisper? Which will we achieve first... level twenty-five or forty points of Vitality?"
The blanket of shadows covering the newest ant victim receded as Whisper finished his meal and assumed his usual form, popping out of the storage ring and landing on Lucius' shoulder before rubbing his furry chin with a wingtip.
"We require seven more victories in order to raise our Vitality to forty points. I believe the probability of reaching level twenty-five before defeating seven more foes is higher."
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Lucius shifted course slightly as he spotted his next target, replying to Whisper's statement as he approached the unsuspecting ant.
"Let's find out!"
When he reached the area in the direct path of the ant, he reached his hand toward the sky—the agreed-upon signal for Whisper to pull him onto the mushroom caps. Once he reached the top, he sprinted across the spongy surface of the mushroom before launching himself into the air directly toward the ant.
Lucius felt like he just jumped off a four-story building, and even though he was absolutely certain he would be fine, the fall from such height still filled him with anxious excitement as his heart beat rapidly against the inside of his chest.
Two large, black shadows sprouted from his back as he fell, rapidly forming into bat-like wings, each larger than his entire body. Whisper expertly navigated past the obstacle course of mushroom stalks as the duo approached their target.
Gliding worked surprisingly well, and since Whisper could sense the intentions in Lucius' mind, it almost felt to Lucius as though he was controlling the wings himself. He arched upward at the last moment before diving straight down toward the ant.
Fwoooosh... BAM!
You have defeated Formica Sub Terra, level 18.
Lucius flipped through the air as a net of shadows rose up to prevent him from hitting the ground as he tumbled down out of control. He had been moving so fast when he redirected all his momentum into Sundering Strike that, after the ant’s body was crushed into the floor, his own body was shot off sideways and spun through the air like a ball bouncing off a hard surface.
"Holy crap! That worked way better than I expected!"
As the net of shadows gently tilted forward to place his feet against the ground, Lucius stumbled to the side for a few steps, eyes opened wide as his arms stretched out to steady himself.
"Your landing was... less than graceful, Father."
Lucius grinned as he waved his arm arm back and forth in dismissal of Whisper's comment, and collecting the slain ant into his storage ring as he responded.
"I’ll take victory over grace any day. But you're right—I need to be more prepared for the rapid shift in momentum that happens when I deliver an attack like that from the air. Now hurry up and go eat."
As Whisper got to work on his bloody task, Lucius glanced down at the shallow gash that had opened over the knuckles of his right hand from the massive impact of the last attack. Sundering Strike was powerful, but using his own body as a weapon against armored opponents was not without consequences. He casually pressed his knuckles against his pants to soak up the blood, and a wide grin spread across his face as he noticed that the laceration was very slowly healing before his eyes.
"I guess all this Vitality is having an effect. Not only are my fists taking less and less damage each time I use them to attack, but now my regeneration rate is high enough that I can see my body healing in real time."
The rate of regeneration was still fairly slow. If Lucius wanted to sit and watch the entire healing process, it would take around half an hour—and that was just for the small wound on his hand. Anything more serious would take much longer to heal.
"Six more to go before forty points. Let’s get back to work!"
Lucius focused on Sense Danger while he moved along the outskirts of the hive, quickly selecting his next target as he weaved through the massive mushroom stalks with impressive agility. When he made it into position along the path of the chosen ant, his attention was drawn by a familiar blue glow that began to creep into the corner of his vision. His brows furrowed as he looked up towards the light, barely having enough time to lift his gaze before the remainder of the mushrooms followed suit, their light rapidly spreading out to fill the world around him.
The light itself was not an issue, it was what it might bring with it that Lucius was worried about.
Warning! C-Class threat detected!
"Crap!"
Lucius leapt onto the nearest mushroom stalk as the chest-numbing hum of wings appeared out of nowhere right above him. The damned hornet must have dropped down rapidly from very high up in the cavern in order to appear so suddenly without the sound of it's loud wings giving it away, now it made sense why it had created such a large cloud of dust when he first saw it. For a few seconds, he feared the worst, afraid the massive hornet had somehow seen through his aspect and chosen him for its next meal.
But that was not to be, and he let out a sigh of relief when he saw the C-Class hornet dive-bombing the lone ant that Lucius had been hunting only moments ago. From such a close vantage point, he got a clear view of the powerful creature even through all the dust it's wings had kicked up. From the tips of its four transparent wings to the ends of its six long, thin legs, it was the length of a city bus. Its oversized round eyes rested at the top of its triangle shaped head, a pair of razor sharp mandibles sprouting out of the front of it's face just below. The hornet's body was covered in a blanket of smooth and thin red fur, with dark yellow stripes running down its thick thorax and abdomen.
The ant had no time to react as the much larger hornet ambushed it from the sky. Lucius' grip on the mushroom stem tightened as the impossibly fast beating of the hornet’s wings sent gusts of dust and air shooting in all directions.
With an audible crunch, the hornet lifted the ant into the air by its back as the smaller creature’s legs flailed desperately. The hornet bit down hard with its long mandibles, which reached across the ant’s entire body, ending the fight with a single, powerful crunch.
The hornet wasted no time, taking off into the air with its meal. Lucius remained still, breathing softly while he listened to the awful hum of the monsters wings growing fainter as it flew away. Just as he began to feel the relief of surviving the encounter with the deadly creature, his eyes shot wide open at a sudden realization.
Lucius hastily pulled himself to the top of the mushroom cap with Whisper’s help, quickly casting his gaze toward the hive.
"That's not good!"
Sure enough, a massive swarm of ants, many of which much larger than the smaller workers he had been hunting, was pouring out of the hive like an enemy army, flooding in his direction. Worse yet, the ants already nearby were beginning to surround the area, furiously searching every nook and cranny for a foe that was no longer there.
"Father! Run!"