'These ants are worth a pittance of experience. I hope I at least get a level from the princess.'

After cleaning up the ant mess, I realized I was slightly on fire. It was not hot enough to cause any real damage, but the rather consistent flame was noticeable. It was nearly identical to my experimentation with creating the flammable adhesive slime.

The profile of the soldier ant revealed the source; they had a fluid gland that created the strange flammable substance. It looked like they could spray it from their rears if they developed the right trait for it, but otherwise, it was flowing throughout their body, and it would likely coat anything that killed or wounded them.

'Really brings a whole new meaning to sacrificial soldiers.'

The fluid also served as a marker, making me realize why so many ants were charging me so suddenly. I must have been like a beacon to them. A simple rotation of my slime cleaned off the residue.

Being underground, the area was likely full of Earth essence, so I swapped my own core over to Earth alignment to hopefully gain some of the new passive benefits from [Elemental Harmony]. At the same time, I wanted to see how Earth affinity affected [Mana Reinforcement] with [Elemental Adaptation]. Although I could hazard a guess it probably increased my defenses.

I continued my delve deeper into the ant nest. I had to rein in my overconfidence; my near defeat on the floating island was still relatively fresh in my mind. But it was getting hard not to when I saw ant after ant erupting with metallic spiky protrusions after being invaded by a tendril.

'It really makes it hard for me to judge these quest ranks; I'm not struggling at all here! I guess the average person might struggle against a swarm? But I think anyone with any decent amount of [Fire Resistance] could have done this.'

I watched as another ant failed to penetrate my defenses and then was swiftly torn apart by one of the [Sub-Cores] in retribution. Getting into physical contact with me was already bad enough for most enemies, but seeing jagged spikes of metal burst out in retaliation was quite a sight.

'I guess, unlike the adventurers, I don't need to worry about my body taking wounds. Although even if I did need to worry about my slime body, with [Metal Slime], I'm probably tougher than tanks like Ian and Roderick. Just as long as nothing hits my core... But once I get enough [Metal Slime] levels, I can probably create a coating around them, my own personal armor.'

All the activity in the ant tunnels meant that [Tremor Sense] was getting a workout, although I delegated the information to my [Sub-Cores] as trying to process it myself was a little too distracting.

Likewise, Alpha and Beta kept throwing rocks around, and they didn't take long to reach the next level in [Earth Magic]. As far as first-level spells went, [Rock Lob] was pretty mediocre, and it would likely have barely threatened the ants at all if not for [Erode] ruining their defense.

<[Earth Magic LV 2] spell [Rampart] learned.>

The new spell lets you pull up the earth into rough structures; the main use was clearly to make walls, as the name implied. At least that was the base intent, as with enough levels in [Mana Manipulation] and some effort, you could force more elaborate designs.

The more Mana you dumped into the spell, the more refined the result. I sealed off a tunnel behind me as an experiment, and when I threw my entire magical weight into the spell, the resulting wall closely resembled granite in terms of toughness.

Finally, unlike [Rock Lob], this spell wanted you to use existing resources, as the cost to create even the simplest earthen wall from pure Mana alone was astronomical. My self-proclaimed endless supply of Mana was put in its place. Of course, unless I was flying, I couldn't see a reason to ever need to create it from Mana alone, and I'd be far better off using many more available options in that scenario.

'When I'm forced into some non-slime downtime, I must investigate pulling apart this spell and replacing Earth with Ice. It's my only other Mana type with such a strong physical presence. You can't exactly make structures out of Fire and Lightning. Arcane is a possibility... But if maintenance cost is anything like [Aegis], then it's a no-go.'

The path I followed was likely the primary shaft, judging by its size and the number of branches it led out to. While I wasn't too worried about ant reinforcements, I still had some experiments I wanted to try out with [Nitro Slime]. One of my options was to create bombs that would trigger when stepped on, a feature clearly devised with dungeon traps in mind. Borrowing that dungeon trap inspiration, I trapped the various side tunnels with these slime mines as I progressed deeper into the nest.

The fact that I could customize each bomb's payload with different combinations of slime traits made me wonder if this was always the plan for it or if Gramps had modified it later with me in mind. I presumed I might get a first-time bonus for each different type of bomb, so I tried to give each tunnel a unique trap.

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At first, I covered the basic types: [Acid Slime], [Cryo Slime], and [Blaze Slime] were all deadly payloads entirely on their own. Then, I needed to get creative. I wasn't sure what to do with [Poison Slime] on its own, but I found a potential winning combination with vaporized Bloodrot.

[Voltaic Slime] was also tricky, as it wasn't inherently dangerous without some stored charge. It seemed like it might have been a long shot to think I could store charged slime in a primed bomb, but I was wrong, and it worked without a hitch.

'I'd almost say Gramps needs to split out the primed state as its own trait; the fact that it's baked into [Nitro Slime] almost seems too much. Even if it's only frozen and can't be manipulated, the fact that it keeps shape, form, and capability with disconnected slime has so much potential.'

For the [Metal Slime] bomb, I added shrapnel and hoped for the best. With only iron, it was likely the weakest of my options. If I wasn't just curious and wanted to focus on only the best result, I probably would have coated the shrapnel in Bloodrot.

I could sense the bombs, but keeping track of when they detonated and then trying to assign the corresponding kill notifications to each bomb sounded impossible, at least alone. I assigned each bomb trap to a [Sub-Core], color-coded for my own convenience, and told them to keep track of the kills with the vague hope it was within their capabilities.

'This is probably the most ambiguous instruction I've ever given them. Let's see if they can handle it.'

It didn't take long for notifications to start coming in; I mostly ignored them and simply checked to see if I had received any level-ups. Meanwhile, the ants in front of me were getting much more desperate in attempting to halt my progress.

<9 Trait Points are now available.>

<13 Skill Points are now available.>

Before reaching the princess, I was pleasantly surprised to gain a level in my race and class. Before proceeding further, I asked the [Sub-Core] with the highest kill count to present itself.

Beta and Delta floated closer, representing [Poison Slime] and [Cryo Slime], respectively. I was overjoyed that they had somehow followed that vague order. I had no idea how they did it, but I wouldn't argue with the results. I had them arrange themselves in order from most to least kills, and I was initially surprised to see Gamma representing [Blaze Slime] at the lowest end.

'I guess the ants are fire and heat resistant... Seems a bit unfair considering I nearly boiled alive in my own slime even when I had [Fire Resistance].'

I made a few more questions and arrangements and discovered that while Beta and Delta were almost equal in kill count, there was no comparison if we compared time to kill. The [Cryo Slime] bombs were a nearly instant death for the ants.

'Good to know. If the princess gives me any trouble, I can throw around some [Ice Magic]. Also, it's kind of weird that [Voltaic Slime] performed less impressively than I thought it would. Did I not charge the slime enough, or are the ants resistant?'

I entered what I assumed was an important chamber due to its sheer size, thanks to [Tremor Sense]. Inside, I was treated to the sight of the princess flanked by two absolutely massive ants. The princess was smaller than I expected, but she did come with wings and an enlarged butt. On the other hand, her protectors were absolutely kitted out with impressive chitin, spiked mandibles, and what looked like the sprayer upgrade on their rear.

'Princess, you appear to be slacking off. Your subjects are at a higher level than yourself.'

The rest of the room seemed to be a hatchery as there were white oval-shaped egg things slightly squirming, being grabbed and taken away by some drones.

They immediately spotted me, causing the two bodyguards to snap their mandibles threateningly and flash with a red-hot glow. The princess also seemed to glow, and then I witnessed her release a glowing aura that permeated throughout the entire chamber, and a glow settled onto her two bodyguards.

'Is that a buff aura? I've never seen another besides my [Glacial Aura] and that cat's [Jinx Aura]. I hope that's a trait I can mimic.'

The uncharacteristic display of intelligence also gave me a nagging feeling in my mind, so I grabbed [Telepathy (Lesser)] and mentally reached out to the princess. A soft, bubble-like shield surrounded her mind and attempted to prevent my reaching out, but I broke through easily with a small flex of my mental might.

"Hello!" I reached out.

"INTRUDER!" The ant princess screeched out with an almost alien-like mind.

"Are you an [Experiment]?" I questioned.

"LEAVE OR DIE!" She responded and was clearly trying to shove my mental connection away.

I tried a few more times to speak with her, but she kept repeating, "Leave or die."

I broke the connection because I did not want the alien voice screeching in my head and wrote off the princess's possibility as a fellow [Experiment].

Not wanting to be outdone by the ant aura, I cast [Glacial Aura]. The icy, ethereal Mana spread out and flooded the entire room. The ants really didn't like that, and now the two guards started hastily charging at me. Meanwhile, I saw the princess sneaking towards one of the exits.

I had Alpha and Beta, my two personal earth mages, cast [Rampart] to seal the exits. At the same time, I shifted into a more bulky form by shifting into a mostly earthshaker bear body while reinforcing it with [Metal Slime]. And so, as a silvery-gray earthshaker bear, I met the royal guards in a head-on collision.

The impact was audible. The first guard I ran into was sent backward, digging in its heels, while the second guard clamped down on me with its scorching mandibles. A powerful clanging noise echoed throughout the sealed chamber as the ant repeatedly tried and failed to penetrate.

Now that I had Earth affinity, the borrowed [Earthen Carapace LV 7] trait was operating at full defensive capability, and it was reinforced with [Metal Slime] and [Mana Reinforcement]. Not to mention whatever defenses my increased density would provide. There were minor scuffs and scratches, but my metallic rocky carapace was unharmed otherwise.

'I guess I'm an ironshaker bear now!'