Beth continued onwards, hoping to maybe get to a level four ant before she returned for the night. She knew that would very likely mean fighting two or more level three ants at the same time, but with her Unarmed skill now a level higher, she was fairly confident. She continued for a couple minutes until she saw another ant. Strangely, this one was also alone. She quickly used Identify on it.

Common Ant level 3

Identify Copper[1] acquired.

Excellent. It seems hard work pays off. Beth wasn't sure what the increase in level for Identify did, so she tried again. Identify.

Common Ant level 3

Well, not super helpful here system. She thought. Maybe it has better range? She decided to back up a little and try again. At level zero the skill had let her see the basic information of something at about fifty feet or so. Beth backed up ten feet or so and tried again.

Common Ant level 3

She still seemed able to use the skill at just over sixty feet, so she tried backing away around ten feet more. This time when she tried to focus on using the skill to see the ant's stats nothing happened. It looked like she gained about ten feet or so of range for a rank of copper in the skill. Not terribly helpful, but not the worst thing she could think of to get.

She again approached this new ant and was again treated to the same routine that had become rote by now. She used the same strategy as the last ant, planting her feet and waiting for the ant to get close before stepping forward with a powerful, empowered sweep kick to the ant's head. This ant's cranium was also unable to withstand the force and collapsed inward, its left eye exploding outward in more sticky ant goo.

Common Ant level 3 slain.

Another ant, but no new skill levels, class levels, or coins. Beth checked around her to make sure that there was nothing approaching or unusual, then proceeded forward again. After about another two minutes or so of walking, she approached two ants. She assumed she had found the outer edge of what she thought of as the level three ant ring. She quickly used Identify on both the ants.

Common Ant level 3

Common Ant level 3

She confronted these two beasts head-on, with only a small modicum of caution, as was becoming her habit. It helped that when she engaged them directly like that that they charged single file, allowing her to kill the lead ant with two brutal strikes before the second ant could get to her. A one-versus-one was much easier for her, and she took care of the second ant quickly before moving on. She circled around the area, killing more level threes until she got another pleasant notification.

Common Ant level 3 slain.

Level 3 achieved. 2 free points gained.

Beth quickly checked her stats page.

Name

Elizabeth Anne Bell

Class

Brawler

Level

3

Strength

9

Dexterity

9

Endurance

9

Intelligence

8

Wisdom

7

Free Points

2

Titles

Silver Flame Empress Inheritor

Skills

Ancient World Gate[0]

Crush Copper[3]

Identify Copper[1]

Pain Tolerance Copper[4]

Unarmed Apprentice[1]

Wealth

3c

She was now quite strong, fast, and durable for a human, especially considering she was still a seventeen-year-old girl. The problem now was what to do with her free points. If she put them in DEX and END, she could partially keep up with her STR, but she didn't want her INT or WIS to fall behind. She hesitated for a little, but at last made a decision and assigned the points to WIS, bringing it up to nine.

She felt much better now than she ever had before. Her body felt stronger and more durable, while at the same time feeling lighter. She also felt that the trickle of mana refilling deep in her chest was just a little bigger. She knew that her stats would eventually get pretty crazy, even discounting getting a skill or ability that passively increased her stats, if such existed, but she was still very happy with the small increases.

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She still had a little over half her mana, so she decided to push onward. She was eager to see if there were more groups of ants or if there would be higher level ants. She set out in the same direction she had been traveling up until that point, her back to the gate and her face toward new challenges.

After about four minutes or so, she saw the next ant. It was a little bit large than the level three ants while maintaining the same darker coloring of those ants as compared to the level twos. She quickly used Identify.

Common Ant level 4

It wasn't really much to go on, but it was still something. She now knew she had hit one of her goals, getting to the level four area. The ant was larger, no longer just below knee-height but now having its head at knee level on Beth. She knew that this size could bring a lot of additional danger, as it might mean greater speed. She had only gotten one DEX when she leveled, so a big increase in speed in what she was fighting could be a lot of trouble.

After looking at the ant and looking around for a while, she decided to go for it and began cautiously approaching the new ant. It noticed her sooner, perhaps not at fifty feet yet, but definitely more than forty-five feet out. It still displayed the same behavior as the all the other ants, orientating towards her before charging right at her.

This ant, however, was faster. Much faster. It wiggle-ran at her at an impressive speed, and Beth got ready for a tough fight. As the ant approached close, Beth prepared the same standard strategy of stepping into the charge and to the side. This time it was less effective, as the ant was simply too quick to be totally outmaneuvered in this manner. It slewed its head around to its left, just tearing the left pantleg of her jeans as she hopped back. It seemed like she didn't have enough DEX or combat experience to use the same trick on the faster ants.

Beth decided to try something a little riskier. As she faced the ant head-on, she empowered her right foot and ankle with Crush. As the ant had re-orientated and proceeded to lunge at her, she stepped back with her left foot and swung her right foot up. The move was a little lacking in power compared to something like the sweeping kick she used that she stepped into, but it still had some effect. Beth heard a faint *Crack* from the ant's head and it slowed its charge for a moment, giving her time to get back in her fighting stance.

Beth could feel bruising on her right foot, but the pain was made fainter thanks to the levels she had in Pain Tolerance. She decided instantly on the same move, but advancing instead of retreating. She again charged Crush in her right foot and ankle, but this time took a slight step forward with her left foot and strongly twisted her hips as she slammed her right foot up into the bottom of the ant's head. The top of her foot crashed into the bottom of the ant's head with a resounding *Thwack* followed by a deep *Crunch* sound.

The ant was clearly hurt from the second kick, but it was not yet dead. The ant lunged at her, seemingly intending to grab her leg in its mandibles, but it was clearly hurting from the beating Beth had already dished out. She backpedaled furiously and the ant's left mandible sliced through her left pant leg and dealt a shallow cut across her knee.

"Damn! That stings!" Beth hissed. Luckily, her Pain Tolerance took what could be a slightly stunning injury and made the pain bearable.

Beth stopped and planted her feet, angry at the stupid ant that gave her a second scratch. She pumped her left foot and ankle with Crush while stepping forward, kicking up and through with her left leg. There was a satisfying *Crunch*, and the ant flopped down.

Common ant level 4 slain.

For all that, no coin, no skill up, nothing. It did feel like a real let-down, getting hurt again without any payoff. Beth knew that this was the extent of what she could do for now and turned back to retrace her steps. Concerned about her leg, she fast walked back to the gate, and arrived after a little under ten minutes. She quickly exited through the gate and hobbled over to her bathroom.

She stripped out of her pants and used a cloth to wash off the blood from her leg. She got out the little medical kit she had in the cabinet and used the rubbing alcohol to clean out the cut. After grunting at the pain, she applied a bandage over the wound and went out to sit at her desk for a minute.

It was clear the level four ants were a bit much for her at this point. She would need to improve a lot before she could confidently kill them. She supposed it would be a few days of farming the level three ants, trying to improve her skill levels as well.

She also felt tired. Not just tired from all the energy she expended, but a deeper weariness. She wasn't entirely sure what it was, but she had a strange feeling it was the gate. She had a vague sense from the locked memories that using the gate often would tax her, at least, while she was still quite weak. She had some vague concept that it had something to do with her soul, a thing that she was pretty sure was made up until today.

Getting her soul damaged seemed like a big problem, but it actually wasn't terribly bad. As long as she rested without overextending herself, her stressed soul would recover and be an almost infinitesimally bit stronger. Over decades or centuries, it would lead to her soul being reinforced a decent amount, giving her several benefits.

After sitting and resting for a little, Beth dragged her tired body and soul up and into the bathroom. She turned the shower on and then stripped out of her remaining clothes and hopped in, being careful to try to keep her bandages from getting soaked. After she was done and got out, she dried off before going out into her bedroom and throwing on some underwear and a loose shirt as pajamas.

She checked her cell phone and saw the time was 10:01 PM. She must have been in the gate for a little under two hours, which would be an hour in "real" time. She was totally exhausted, and climbed into bed, setting her cell phone on her nightstand. She passed out as her head hit the pillow.

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"Beth," she woke up the next morning to a knock on her door and her mother calling her name.

"Ungh," Beth groaned out coherently.

"I'm up!" she continued with a shout.

The first thing she did was stagger into her bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. After that was finished up, she stepped out into her room to dress. Finished with throwing on some clothes and grabbing her phone, she headed out and downstairs to the kitchen. Food was definitely the next objective, and Beth entered the kitchen right after her mother, with Kim's help today, finished laying out a huge breakfast spread on the island.

Beth took a big plate and piled it high with pancakes and fruit, while at the same time filling a big bowl with oatmeal and more fruit pieces. She grabbed a huge glass of orange juice and dug into the food, absolutely tearing through it. Her vehement attack on the big pile of food left even her parents a little shocked.

"It's not going to run away, Beth. Don't choke," her mother admonished her.

"Hmph umph," Beth responded with a full mouth as she continued her spree of destruction.

"Better get some before there is none left," her father added, his plate already full as he much more slowly worked through his food.

For a few minutes there was nothing but the sound of cutlery and eating. After the first few minutes had passed, Beth had finished her oatmeal and was working through the last of her pancakes. As she chewed through a huge mouthful of pancakes, she worked on refilling her oatmeal bowl to the brim.

"Good lord, Beth. I know you like food, but where is this appetite coming from?" her mother questioned.

Beth finished what she was chewing on and responded, "I fought a lot yesterday and had a bunch of stat and skill increases. Even with magic in the air, my body needs fuel to make up for all of that. I always liked to eat, the new level of exercise every day needs more food, and plus I'm a teenager. Aren't we supposed to eat everything in the house?"

"Looks like we'll have to see about making a trip to the grocery store today. Who knows what is happening with that. They might be out of everything," her mother replied with a sigh.

"We'll figure something out. There may be chaos for a little while, but I'm sure things will be working again after people adapt. Worst comes to worst we could try hunting, if there are aggressive ants, maybe there are aggressive deer or some such we could kill," her father answered.

The family continued with their breakfast, working through all the food that Rachel and Kim had prepared, thanks in no small part to Beth. When they were all done, Beth helped clear the dishes and rinse them while Kim put them in the dishwasher. After everything was cleared away, Beth turned to their father and asked, "Do we have any knives or, like, anything that would work as a weapon?"

"Hm, I don't really think so," he replied. "We do have kitchen knives, but if you are talking about fighting ants or other 'beasts,' as they are being called, then they wouldn't work for that. They could do in a pinch, but they would dull very quickly and likely break too easily."

"We really need to get some weapons. I can fight with just my body fine, at least for now, but many other people will need a weapon. Kim's class sounds like it would do well with a sword or some other kind of weapon, for example," Beth continued, the chin tapping in full effect.

"I, uh, I don't really know…about this whole fighting thing," Kim responded hesitantly.

"Well, I can't force you, but it's a good idea. If you level up you get stronger, which means you can stay safer easier, just for a start," Beth explained.

"If you think it's alright, uh, maybe I can," Kim still didn't really seem sold on the idea.

"I could try asking Mr. Jones, he knows all kinds of things and all kinds of people," Beth continued. "Maybe he could get some weapons quickly."

"I was going to talk to him about our idea of building some simple walls or reinforced fencing," their father responded. "Why don't we go see if he's up and about this early on a Sunday?"

"OK, let's go." Beth answered eagerly.