A winged ant began heading for the tunnels, but the sheer scale of the cavern meant that it’d take half a minute even with its wings. So far, aside from her, the only ants that had escaped were those with wings. This one had been preying on those that were climbing out of the pit, and so it was a bit late compared to most of the winged ants that had, for the most part, all either died or escaped by now.

If she was going to catch this one, she’d need to catch it by surprise. To do that, she would need to use her damaged Springlegs. With a bit of reluctance, she determined that it would probably be fine as long as she didn’t charge them any more than was absolutely necessary.

The winged ant in question was headed right in her direction, and she got ready. Seven seconds before it was set to arrive, she pressed down on her Springlegs, carefully adjusted them until they were perfectly set. They would throw her fifty feet forward and about ten feet high, which should be enough to hit it directly. The damage her Springlegs would take in turn was just barely within the acceptable limits.

When it got within fifty feet of the tunnels, she ever-so-slightly adjusted her aim and shot out of the tunnels, barreling directly for the winged ant. The shock made it so that it only tried to swerve in the air at the very last second, failing miserably.

They fell from the air, striking the ground rapidly, since the ant hadn’t been flying very high above the ground. She didn’t manage to land on her Springlegs this time, but was able to avoid any damage by pushing the flying ant beneath her.

Its relatively fragile wings broke, and its legs struggled to push her off. Before they could, though, she snapped her mandibles down on the sides of the ant’s head and locked them, making it impossible for the other ant to push her off. After that, a gland in her thorax contracted, and she spat acid all over its face.

The ant she had spat acid on last time hadn’t shown much of a reaction, but she hadn’t spat very much and it was also an ant that had invested entirely into its foundational strength, durability and size.

This ant was entirely different; its wings alone must have taken up a large amount of its growth time.

Slowly but surely, the acid melted through its face. She mentally grimaced at the pheromones of agony that it put out, but did not stop. She wanted to live. After a solid ten seconds of waiting, the chitin guarding its head had weakened enough that her lockjaw mandibles pierced straight through, ending the ant’s life.

You have slain a Lower Myrmeke Pupae, stage 1. Greater path: Soldier. Lower path: Venomous Flyer. Consume its biomass to gain information on it and anything it has the biomass of.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘So that’s what the other feature it mentioned was.’

So… now she had to eat the winged ant- ah, the Venomous Flyer? She clacked her mandibles with annoyance. Its pheromones of agony were still clear in her mind and antennae, but she clung to the idea of having no choice and just wanting to live.

She dragged the Venomous Flyer’s body into the tunnels and hesitantly began eating. It was only after she took the first bite that she realized how hungry she had been, and the pheromones of intense hunger and the ruthless, suicidal attacks in the shallow pit suddenly made a bit more sense.

Guiltily but ravenously, she consumed the majority of the Venomous Flyer, but when she looked at her Evolutionary Status, she was shocked to find that her Biomass counter hadn’t gone up at all.

Her confusion seemed to prompt the Myrmidon Control System.

You must consume the Core.

Oh. She had been subconsciously curious about the sphere in her chest for a while now, and it appeared that she got her answer. She could feel its glass-like surface rubbing against her muscles and flesh frequently, and it was mildly distracting.

Apparently, it was the Core, and it stored Biomass. The System’s - what she decided to shorten ‘Myrmidon Control System’ to- translation to abstract thought function alluded to the possibility that it did other things, but that wasn’t relevant to her at the moment.

Going off of where the Core was located in her body, she dug into the back of its thorax. As expected, it was right there. She consumed the Core, and the System piped up once more. She almost regretted that Lower Queen Andromeda had ‘upgraded’ it, as it felt like the very intimidating thing was constantly talking to her now. At least it was helpful.

You have obtained knowledge of the Lower Myrmidon Lower Path: Venomous Flyer. It can be found using the Kill Declaration feature.

You have obtained knowledge of the Lower Myrmidon Lower Path: Featureless Myrmeke.

So the Venomous Flyer had killed another ant- ah, myrmeke. That made her feel a little less bad about killing it. She mentally recited the name of the feature as she had done with the Evolutionary Status feature, and a pair of huge documents- that was truly the best way to describe them- manifested within her mind’s eye.

Almost all of the knowledge on the two creatures was useless, but there were a few things that were useful to know about the two subtypes; for example, how to identify them. She hadn’t known that the Venomous Flyer was, well, venomous until she had killed it and received a Kill Declaration that told her its name. Aside from that, it also made her aware of their cons and strengths.

The way to identify a venomous ant was simple; there would be a slight bulge at the base of the stinger where the venom gland was stored. The way to spot wings was listed as well, which was amusing to her.

It was the first time she’d experienced amusement, so the feeling was strange. She willed the two documents away and instead looked at her Evolutionary Status. None of it had changed, as she expected, except for the Biomass counter.

Biomass: 38 (Venomous Flyer), (Featureless Myrmeke).

She clacked her mandibles contentedly, standing up and moving away from the Venomous Flyer she had killed, trying not to think about its pheromones of agony.

After a while of walking through the tunnels, she stopped, suddenly coming to a realization.

If Lower Queen Andromeda had rewarded her for being one of the first to escape into the tunnels… would she be rewarded if she was one of the first to evolve?