Although the ant queen wasn’t all that eloquent, and it was difficult to make out what she really meant due to the way it talked, Ackster could make out that while the ant queen wanted him, it didn’t necessarily mean to kill and eat him. It was willing to compromise and only eat part of him. In that case, there was hope that by offering part of himself, both he and Karandiel could get out of the ant nest alive and well, maybe even without permanent damage.
However, Ackster wasn’t willing to give up an arm since he wasn’t sure he would regrow it, despite the amazing capacity Strong Body had shown when it came to healing injuries without leaving residual injuries or healing his body without care for its original state. He hadn’t fused any bones or joints back when he recovered or anything of the sort. But it was a different thing entirely to regenerate an entire arm.
Ackster was pretty sure he would have to get an advanced recovery skill and possibly even evolve Strong Body for that. He was determined to reach that level, at the very least. But it was a matter for the future, and he couldn’t let a missing arm hinder his progress.
“Why?”
But since the ant queen was willing to negotiate and even let Karandiel go, Ackster decided he wasn’t going to be too rude. Before outright rejecting the ant queen’s every suggestion, he would first try to figure out what it wanted.
“I mean, why do you want a piece of me?”
The ant queen hesitated for a few moments and made a few trial clicks before speaking with a voice that sounded like glass shards dropping on stones.
‘“Smell. Delicious.”’
Ackster still didn’t know to what degree the ant queen wanted him, but he could confirm that it was interested in him, and she was willing to talk.
‘That’s good.’
“Then, why don’t you kill me?”
Ackster could feel Karandiel give him an aggressively worried gaze as if she was wondering why he gave the ant queen suggestions like that. Ackster wasn’t concerned. With the intelligence it had already displayed, the ant queen was definitely smart enough to have considered that. There was a reason why it hadn’t tried to kill them or him, even after successfully luring them to the depths of the ant nest.
The ant queen thought for several moments, probably trying to gather the right words to express its wishes. It spoke after a round of trial clicking.
‘“You.”’
It pointed at Ackster.
‘“Strong. Monster? Monster. Deal? Deal. Cooperation. Long time.”’
Ackster wasn’t sure how, but the ant queen managed to raise the tone at the end of a couple of the unsteady words she said to make them questions. From that, he could gather that the ant queen didn’t think Ackster was a human, which was interesting. It also thought he was strong, probably too strong to make it worth using force.
Instead, since he was a monster and possibly not disinclined to work with the ant queen, the ant queen decided to suggest making a deal. The ant queen also decided it would be more worth keeping Ackster around for a longer time and cooperating instead of trying to kill him for one short meal.
“Alright.”
Ackster felt he could come up with a thousand reasons to reject, but they were mostly excuses, and none of them would work. Although the ant queen was cordial and proposed a deal, albeit slightly one-sided, once she decided it was worth talking to Ackster. But Ackster didn’t forget that the ant queen was a beast, possibly a monster, since it could talk and that its first attempt at getting what it wanted was to try and drown Ackster in an avalanche of worker ants.
If it couldn’t get what it wanted by talking, it would inevitably resort to violence, even if Ackster seemed strong and, for some reason, appeared to be a monster to the ant queen. His best bet at surviving was to go along with what the ant queen wanted.
“But on a couple of conditions.”
The ant queen was silent for a few moments before turning her head to its general and exchanging a short conversation.
“‘I. Listen.”’
Ackster nodded in relief. The ant queen was at least willing to hear him out.
“Good. First, I get to see her leave.”
Ackster pointed at Karandiel at his side while maintaining eye contact with the ant queen.
“Brian—”
“Second, I can give you blood and flesh but no bones. I will also need a lot of food in exchange for it. Third, I dropped a couple of things during your attack. It would be great if you could send someone to pick them up. Also, I’m thinking of, you know, training here since you probably won’t let me leave. Get me a room and maybe have your subordinate there spar with me.”
Ackster pointed at the general ant with a slightly provocative grin. Since the general ant was probably a decent sparring partner for him, Ackster stood more to gain. But if he could convince the general ant to convince the ant queen to agree, he could possibly be in a pretty good position.
He was already harming himself on the regular in order to train Strong Body’s regeneration and in the hopes of acquiring a regeneration skill. He also did it to feed Mio. What would feeding a couple of ants do to make a difference? And in exchange, he got a relatively secluded place to train, free food, and a strong sparring partner that could help him develop his combat abilities.
“Do we have a deal?”
The ant queen once again consulted her aid, the general ant, before answering.
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“‘Deal.’”
“Brian, are you sure about this?”
Without looking, Ackster answered Karandiel’s nervous whisper.
“Nope. But I don’t think we have much of a choice. At least this way, I think both of us will survive. Sorry, Karandiel, but it seems like we will have to take a rain check on that delicious meal.”
“...Alright. I’ll wait for you.”
Ackster shook his head. Although he appreciated Karandiel’s thought, it wasn’t viable. She was too weak to stick around the Cloven Grasslands. It would be better if she went off on her own for the moment and grew stronger until they reunited.
It was a shame they got separated so quickly, but maybe it could work in his favor. So far, Ackster was sure he had left a good impression. Some time apart would hopefully solidify that impression. And the guilt Karandiel most likely felt about Ackster sacrificing himself to save her would make her more inclined to help him in the future once he needed it.
“Don’t bother. We don’t know how long they’ll keep me here. Go and regain your power. And if I’m not out of here by then, come back and free me. But if I am, look for me in the south.”
Ackster looked at Karandiel and winked.
“Okay.”
Karandiel discarded some of her worry. Since Ackster seemed adamant, she would simply have to trust him. But she resolved to do her best to become strong enough to kill the ants and save Ackster as quickly as possible.
“Is there anything I can do for you? Anyone I can tell about your predicament.”
Ackster was silent for a moment as he considered guiding Karandiel to Wilma but decided against it. The Guild was probably already aware of what was going on but not interfering due to their policy and to see if he really was special force material. If they wanted to contact Karandiel, they would do so. Otherwise, he would risk exposing the special force’s existence.
“Yeah. If you have the opportunity, can you look for something called Denebre’s Necklace and Erbened’s Bracelet? Oh, and Tunder’s Boots.”
“You got it.”
‘“Done?”’
The ant queen had waited for Ackster and Karandiel to finish up their conversation, but they could tell it wouldn’t wait anymore. So, they obeyed as an ant lieutenant, and the ant general guided them through a set of winding tunnels back to the surface. They had already agreed to the deal and bade their farewells.
Since there were only two ants next to them, Ackster briefly wondered how successful they would be if they tried to flee, but he discarded that thought as he could feel the general’s heavy eyes on him. Although they could only see the two ants next to them, they were still right above the ant nest.
Ants would swarm out and overwhelm them in moments if they tried anything. And that was if the general didn’t take them down first.
Ackster felt he could almost put up a fight against the general if he went all-out. But he had no confidence in securing victory. And that was without taking the rest of the colony or Karandiel into account.
Ackster, the lieutenant, and the general watched Karandiel trek through the tall grass with hasty steps. Ackster kept watching until he could no longer see her grey hair bob over the grass nor hear her body rustle against it as she walked. Even then, he kept watching in the direction she left for as long as possible to make sure ants didn’t spill out from the ground and attack her.
Of course, they could have dug out the ground below her and gotten rid of her that way. But with the ant general next to him, Ackster didn’t think they could do that before she screamed. And while he couldn’t hear her walk, he was sure that in the vast, almost deathly silent field of shoulder-high grass, he would her if she shouted. He was sure she also trusted him to be capable of that, so if the ants broke their end of the deal, Karandiel would cry out as loudly as possible.
But once the sun was at its zenith, the general wouldn’t indulge Ackster anymore and urged him back into the tunnels. This time Ackster didn’t consider running. He felt trepidation, but he was also excited.
He was in a perilous situation—no doubt about it. But if he survived, he would once again come out on the other side a stronger person, both mentally and physically. He was also curious about the ant nest, the ant queen’s intelligence, and what the ant queen wanted with him.
If the ant queen had been an ordinary ant before, something had to have induced its evolution. If not, he wanted to find out what kind of monster it was and how tasty Monster Muncher would find it.
Ackster might have peacefully accepted staying, but he had no intentions of leaving the same way.
The ant queen wasted no time as soon as Ackster returned to the hall with white stones in the ceiling. It had a soldier ant deliver the remains of his bag and its contents, the ironwood box containing Nold’s secret technique and the tools, as well as his Nomi, which he hadn’t gotten the opportunity to look at in what felt like quite a while. But now wasn’t the time to do that.
The queen was impatiently looking at Ackster and the soldier ant in front of him. It didn’t say anything, but it didn’t need to for him to know what she wanted. It had already fulfilled half of its side of the deal. It was time for Ackster to show some sincerity.
Ackster grabbed his sword, which caught the general’s attention. But the ant queen held back the general with a click as she watched Ackster put the sword to his arm and draw a line in his skin with it.
As soon as blood spilled out of the injury, the soldier ant was there with its mouth gaping wide and swallowing the blood like it was its sole life purpose.
“I’ll give you some of my flesh once I’ve eaten.”
The ant queen nodded distractedly as its gaze was trained on the crimson blood streaming out of Ackster’s arm and into her soldier. The blood sparkled in the white light with a radiant gloss that almost made Ackster understand why the ant queen wanted it.
He hadn’t thought about it much since he didn’t think he was at that level yet. But just as certain strong monster’s and beast’s bodies were excellent tonics and nourishments for humans, it wouldn’t be weird if strong human bodies nourished beasts.
Ackster had thought about it a little while eating, but he hadn’t noticed any differences in the monsters he had eaten recently compared to the first ones he ate. Though, he hoped that would change in the future since that would help Monster Muncher rank up and become more effective.
However, it came as a surprise that he, who was between C and B in general ranks, had a body that could drive up the ant queen’s desire to such a degree that it was willing to negotiate with a human, even if it didn’t think he was one. His only explanation was Strong Body.
It made him stronger and all that, but it also possessed a seemingly endless vitality as long as he ate. It also kept healing him without pause, and it did it in a way that made sure his body was fine and without sequelae.
If he had gotten past his first toe with Nold’s secret technique, that could possibly have been an alternative as well, but Ackster didn’t think it was. And the only thing that made him unique was Strong Body. Others were stronger than him and had gotten further with the secret technique. But no one else had Strong Body.
Ackster was beginning to think the name was deceptively simple, especially since it had already healed the wound on his arm and stopped the bleeding. The skill hadn’t evolved yet, but it was certainly better at healing him than it had been after he first transmigrated.
He looked at the soldier ant walking over to the ant queen, who was too transfixed by the blood to care about him cutting the supply. At the excited gleam he could sense in the ant queen’s eyes, Ackster almost got a little worried that she would renege on her deal once she got a proper taste.
However, his worries were temporarily put on standby as the ant queen grabbed the soldier ant with its front legs.
He hadn’t really noticed how much bigger the ant queen was than all the other ants until it easily shoved the entire ant inside her mouth and bit down with a powerful crunch as it crushed the ant to mush and squeezed Ackster’s blood out of it.
‘Let’s hope that won’t be me.’