Beth locked the door to her room once they were inside and turned to Blood. "Don't freak out or anything. Watch this," she said before turning to the center of her bedroom and bringing up the menu for the Ancient World Gate skill.
Ancient World Gate[0]
{A legacy of a Transcendent Ruler from before the Age of Dreaming. This skill allows the wielder to create a gate linked to a temporal space full of battle. The higher the skill level, the more one has control over the temporal space and the gate itself.
Current Gates: Ant, Wolf.
Current Modifier: 2x, 3x}
It looked like her skill had changed or improved without even leveling up. She was now able to create an area that contained wolves? Or both wolves and ants? And the modifier had a new entry with 3X being in the list. She decided to try selecting Ant as well as 3X and see if the gate had just ants in. She assumed, and would check by keeping track with her phone, that the 3X was just an improvement over the 2X and gave the zone triple time compression.
The dirt arch arose in the middle of her room like it had the previous times, Blood tilting her head quite far to the right as she observed the strange phenomenon. After the arch rose fully and contained its matte black sheet, Blood merely looked up at Beth, her large eyes slightly squinted.
"Now I know what you're thinking," Beth began, Blood immediately barking in response, "but I assure you it's perfectly safe."
Blood looked over at the arch and then back up at Beth, before repeating the action another time. Beth was surprised to learn that a wolf's face was quite capable of displaying extreme doubt. With a quick shake of her head, she walked forward and into the portal. She found herself again in the large open field under a bright, warm blue sky. A moment later Blood appeared next to her, looking around with tepid interest.
"Come on, we're gonna farm," Beth said to her.
Blood simply gave her a look.
"Don't give me a look."
Blood continued to give her a look.
Moving forward they soon encountered the first ant. It was level six, matching what Beth remembered about the second time she used the gate, the nearby enemies starting at her level and increasing as they moved outward. She hoped she would get a little more control in the future, allowing her to bring lower leveled people in, or to ramp up the challenge higher right from the start.
Beth wanted to have Blood fight them but was concerned about her going solo. Deciding on the same role as earlier in the day, she signaled to Blood to take the first solo ant in front of them, again assuming the role of guard. Blood performed admirably, but the level difference showed itself here. It took her a few minutes of pulling legs off the first ant one-by-one before she was able to get a safe opportunity to grab its neck and rip out its throat.
"I wonder how much experience you'd get if you took off two legs and then I smashed its head," Beth said, starting to tap her chin. "We have a decent amount of time, so I don't know what's more efficient. If we work together, you get less experience, but we kill way faster."
Blood just barked at her in response, trotting over to her and poking her nose in the bottom of Beth's chest. Beth absentmindedly stroked Blood's forehead as she thought, trying to figure out how they should fight. Eventually she gave up and signaled to Blood to lead the way.
They proceeded deeper into the field, Blood killing another two level six ants as Beth stood guard. When they encountered the first group of level sixes, Beth stepped up to kill one while Blood savaged the other. Afterwards they continued on to the next ant, a level seven. Beth again signaled for Blood to fight it, but stuck much closer this time around.
Blood had much more difficulty here, her speed being just barely enough to outmaneuver the ant, but her STR not really being what it needed to damage it. She first tried grabbing a leg, but the ant quickly began sliding her across the ground as it readjusted itself. Blood let the leg go and activated Swift, dashing around the ant to attack it from the rear. She leapt into it, slashing with both front paws as she brought her torso down rapidly. Her claws dug into the chitin of the abdomen of the ant but didn't fully penetrate, leaving long, thick gashes.
Beth signaled for Blood to grab a leg, then stepped in herself. The ant was distracted by Blood fully at this point and only noticed Beth as her right fist was whistling toward its head. It had no time to react and most of its brain was pulped by a simple Crush infused right straight punch. Blood barked excitedly as the ant expired.
Companion Blood Level acquired.
"Nice! Good job girl!" Beth exclaimed, swiftly walking over to Blood and hugging her neck. She noticed she barely had to bend now to hug her, Blood another several inches taller. She quickly pulled up Blood's stat page and assigned her points.
Name
Blood
Race
Red Wolf Queen
Level
4
Strength
14
Dexterity
20
Endurance
12
Intelligence
10
Wisdom
10
Free Points
0
Titles
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
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Skills
Meditation Copper[1]
Swift Copper[1]
Wealth
1s
Looking closely, she was quite happy with Blood's progress. She was rather strong and very fast, with good durability and stamina for her level. She also had gotten a level in Swift at some point, and it seemed that she now had a wealth tab, for some reason. Not thinking too hard about it, Beth dismissed the screen and ruffled Blood's ears before moving further into the field.
They encountered another level seven ant shortly thereafter and Beth signaled Blood to step forward again. This time was a whole different ballgame, as the saying went, as Beth watched Blood tear the ant apart. It wasn't super quick or easy, but Blood had gone from not really being able to kill a level seven to being able to slowly dismantle one with her new STR and sharper claws and fangs.
Beth wasn't really too concerned about the experience she could be getting at this point, knowing they were heading towards level eight and even level nine ants at a good pace. She also wanted to see just how big Blood would get with another few levels. Already at this point she was approaching Beth's height and, being an animal that walked on all fours, this meant her overall size and her weight were both above Beth's.
The two moved forward again, Blood taking out two more ants by crushing or ripping off their legs before tearing their necks apart. It didn't take very long for them to hit the point where they fought the first group of level sevens, a pair of them. They split the enemy, Beth easily being able to pulverize the head of the lead ant when they charged her, while Blood ran around to the tailing ant and began to worry it to death. Beth let Blood take her time and fight her way, hoping to push her through at least one more level fairly quickly.
They chewed through ants at a rapid pace, getting both her and Blood a level. They continued fighting after fifteen minutes of rest, slaughtering every ant and group of ants they came across. That netted them both another level, bringing Beth to level eight and Blood to level six. They rested again before moving a little further out, this time encountering something a little unique, Beth checking the new threat with Identify:
Soldier Ant Level 10
The new ant was fully black in color, larger than the other ants, with longer mandibles. The spikes on its legs were definitely more pronounced and sharper, giving its legs a wicked-looking air. The thorax of the beast seemed to be thicker with even heavier plating, while the abdomen was actually smaller and sleeker than a level nine common ant's would be. It looked like this ant would be a very discernable jump in every aspect; the much-improved mandibles for greater offense, the thicker and harder shell for greater defense, and the sleeker, narrower body allowing for greater speed and agility.
Beth gave Blood a questioning glance, which the wolf returned with a slight bark and a nod. They moved forward and engaged the ant, finding that it was better in every aspect than anything they had fought so far. The biggest difference, though its strength and speed were higher, was its toughness. It took the two of them fighting in tandem, with Beth drawing the aggro and Blood tearing at legs, to begin to dish out some serious damage. The fight was the longest and most difficult they had experienced, taking them nearly ten minutes to kill just a single enemy.
Soldier Ant Level 10 slain.
Remaining mana converted to one copper coin.
Level 9 acquired.
Unarmed Apprentice[4] acquired.
Apparently, the higher tiered level ten was worth a lot of experience, as Beth had felt it would take a decent few more level nines for the next level. She also vaguely remembered something about level ten pluses always dropping at least one copper coin; quite a difficult way to increase her wealth. She moved aside with Blood, both sitting down to meditate, Beth leaning her back against Blood's before closing her eyes. She focused on healing the cuts, slices, and bruises she had received from the battle first, spending some time to rest and recover mana afterwards. She then looked to her stats page, distributing her points before examining her progress.
Name
Elizabeth Anne Bell
Class
Brawler
Level
9
Strength
24
Dexterity
16
Endurance
16
Intelligence
12
Wisdom
12
Free Points
0
Titles
Silver Flame Empress Inheritor
Skills
Ancient World Gate[0]
Crush Copper[9]
Focused Meditation Copper[5]
Identify Copper[4]
Lordly Reconstruction Copper[4]
Pain Tolerance Copper[7]
Swords Apprentice[1]
Unarmed Apprentice[4]
Wealth
11s 10c
Emblems
CRA Copper Badge
Bonds
Blood
She sighed, getting up and stretching, feeling her spine pop. When she turned to Blood, she found she was again looking her directly in the eye, seeming to have gained another inch or so in height. She grabbed her companion in a deep hug, leaning against her and stroking her fur for a while before pulling back and giving her a kiss on the snout. "What do you say girl? More ants or back home?"
Blood barked tiredly in response, and Beth laughed before stepping to the side and hopping up on Blood's back. With a yip, Blood took off, tracing their path of carnage back to the gate, making use of Swift the whole way, drastically reducing the time it took them to return. Before they stepped through the gate, Beth took out her phone and checked the time. It showed that it was 5:00 A.M., meaning they had been in the gate for twelve hours. They walked through the portal, and as Beth dismissed the spell and it sunk back into her bedroom floor behind them, she watched her phone update to say 9:00 P.M. They had only been in the gate for four real-time hours, the gate really compressing time in a three-to-one ratio.
Beth led Blood into the bathroom, where she turned on the shower and stripped out of her dirty clothes. She hopped in and washed thoroughly before stepping out and to the side a little, letting Blood in. Luckily, Beth had a showerhead that was on a flexible hose, meaning she could take it off the clamp and move it around. Doubly luckily, her shower wasn't in a tub but an extra-large stall, like a little room within the bathroom. It wasn't really big enough for her and Blood to be fully inside, but she could stand partially in with the door open and help wash Blood off, who took up the whole stall herself.
"I think we might need to get a bigger shower somehow. Or move to a new place. Maybe we can get an apartment at the CRA hall or something," Beth grumbled, helping Blood thoroughly wash all the grime away.
When they were done, Beth had to pull out practically every towel she had in the tall cabinet in the bathroom to dry them, even after Blood shook herself out in the shower stall with the door closed. Once they were fully dried, they moved back into the bedroom where Beth threw on some underwear, a T-shirt, and some loose long pajama pants before leading Blood out of the room. They made their way down to the kitchen, not seeing anybody else until they arrived in the room.
Both her parents were in the room along with Kim, her parents working on their laptops at the island while Kim was making some food. Beth silently joined her, pulling more and more food out as Kim watched, eyes widening at the quantity. Beth started up the oven, intending to cook a load of chicken and turkey, before filling a pot and putting it on the stove to make pasta.
"The rest of us have eaten, you know? I'm just making a snack," Kim said, recovering from the food-pile shock.
"Oh yeah, don't worry, I wasn't going to share. This is all for Blood and me," she responded.
"And how is your new friend doing?" her father asked, looking up from his laptop at Blood. Blood responded by tilting her head a little to the right and narrowing her eyes.
"I don't know what that means," he continued after seeing her reaction.
"She's doing great. Really damn strong, too," Beth replied, continuing with the food prep.
"I think Soph's right, you are turning into a gorilla," Kim said. Beth elbowed her as she passed, causing Kim to slide back with a grunt. "Damn Beth, the hell was that?"
"Need to level up a little, you're weak," Beth replied, chuckling as she filled a big bowl with water for Blood.
"Let's refrain from violence in the house," her mother commented, still working on something on her laptop.
"I hear you girls had an adventure today," said her father. "Though I haven't heard all the details."
"Alright, I can talk while I watch this stuff," Beth responded. She proceeded to spend the next ten plus minutes discussing the day's outing through the ant nest with the other girls while the pasta cooked. She made a huge amount and dished it into two huge bowls when it was done, giving one to Blood. She spent some time devouring the pasta before checking on the meat, washing the bowls they had used for the pasta in the meantime.
Kim retreated to her room with her food while Beth was still ransacking the kitchen, her parents discussing the notes they were making and some other work-related business. Beth pulled two trays of meat out of the oven and set them on the stovetop to cool while pulling some salad mix out of the fridge. She made two salads while the meat cooled down, putting no dressing on the one for Blood. After the salads, they turned to the meat, Beth sitting on the floor by Blood while they tore through both trays. Her mother cast a disapproving eye over them several times but made no comment, continuing on with her work.