It's time to finish off this stupid ant!

It took a while, but we finally managed to knock it down!

Now, before it gets back up, attack!

We quickly jump over to the fallen ant, with the swarm of weaker ants right behind us.

Right as we're about to crush it's head, it summons another one of it's projectiles and shoots it at us point blank.

[We can't dodge!]

The liquid hits us right in the face, getting one of our eyes.

!?

I don't think I've ever felt this much pain before. It feels like our face is melting.

It probably is, actually, based on what happened to the ground when it got hit.

Unfortunately, we don't have to time to cry about any amount of pain right now, so we push through it and bring our claws down swiftly on the ant's face.

I want to be happy about leveling up three times, but we still have multiple things to focus on.

One, our face is still currently melting from that stupid ant's acid.

Two, there's still a huge swarm of ants that wants us dead.

I honestly don't know if we can beat them. We've never fought a group of ants that size before, and we also have a handicap now because half of our vision was just melted away.

{Gloria, do you have a plan for the rest of them?}

[My plan is to try my best.]

Ah, great.

Well, I guess I don't exactly have any ideas either...

[Back me up with the shield.]

{Will do. Though, I might have to stop early, since we're already low on energy.}

[Fine by me.]

The ants come flooding toward us, undeterred by the death of their boss.

Geez, so persistent.

The first few run towards us, and instantly get cut down by Gloria.

A few more run around, trying to flank us, but I manage to stop them before they can reach us.

How much energy do we have left?

Shit!

I knew that acid attack did a lot of damage to us, but we're at four hp?!

{Gloria, don't get hit a single time. We'll die from the slightest tap.}

[I'll try my best.]

How are we gonna survive this?

We won't be able to make it to an exit before the ants can make it there to block us.

But just staying here and fighting it out isn't a good option either. Gloria is good at fighting, but she won't be able to kill this many ants without getting hit.

...

{Gloria, I might have an idea. When I say go, just focus on killing the ants as fast as possible without worrying about getting hit.}

[What? Isn't that kinda stupid?]

{Just trust me.}

Soul manifestation works well as a shield. Up until now, I've been using it to deflect attacks rather than block them, because I feel like something bad would happen if I let it get hit.

But I don't think I have the luxury of worrying about that anymore.

As it is now, a small shield is useless due to the sheer volume of enemies we're up against.

So, we need a bigger shield. A shield that will cover our whole body.

So, I'll push myself to the limit, and use soul manifestation to wrap our body in a suit of armor made of my soul.

I am scared of what might happen if it's hit dead on by the huge amount of ants we're against, but...

I don't think I have a choice. Even if it kills me.

It's either this, which very well might kill me, or a one hundred percent chance of death along side Gloria.

It's either one or both of us.

So the choice is obvious.

I focus on the shape of the shield, bending it and expanding it, bringing it close to our body and wrapping it tightly around it.

As I continue stretching it thinner and thinner, my head begins to pound.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Yeah, this isn't safe. But I gotta keep going.

It's almost there, there's just a small opening left.

But I can't... I can't do anymore.

I should be fine if I just move the opening to our stomach, and hope none of the ants manage to get a lucky hit in.

{Now! Go!}

[If you say so!]

Gloria takes off, rushing into the largest crowd of ants and begins wildly attacking in every direction.

Luckily the shield seems to be working, since we aren't dead yet.

But...

Every time we get hit, a surging pain shoots through my mind.

But I have to keep going, or we'll both die.

I just need to hold out until Gloria kills all the ants.

Just... a little longer.

With each second, more and more ants fall to the ground, dead.

A large mound of bodies grows rapidly in the small chamber, and a thick stench of death fills every inch.

Gloria keeps killing and killing, and the ants keep coming.

My head is beginning to feel faint. If I don't focus intently on what I'm doing, I'll slip up immediately.

I need to keep going.

Just a... little longer...

The overwhelming smell pulls my attention, but I stay focused on maintaining the armor.

[Just a few more!]

So we're almost done, huh?

I want to respond to Gloria, tell her she's doing great, but... I can't seem to find the energy to communicate.

It's fine... I can tell her... afterwards.

We just need to get through this, then... I'll take a bit of a nap... then I'll tell her how awesome she was.

Yeah... That's what... I'll do...

[Last one!]

Ah, it's all over now. That's... good. I can't wait any longer, I'm... going right to sleep... My head hurts too much... to keep going.

Just a short rest.

Yeah...

----------------------------------------

[Fir? Fir? Fiiiir?]

Dammit.

Immediately after I finished killing those stupid ants, Fir's barrier went away and he stopped talking.

I knew he was doing something stupid... Dammit!

That idiot! I should have known something was wrong with how much I kept hearing that stupid voice saying "Soul defense has reached blah blah blah".

...That idiot...

He could have at least told me I should avoid taking hits... Why did he tell me to take as many as I want?

Self sacrificing bastard... He could have told me...

It's been a while now, and there's still no sign of Fir.

I wanna keep holding out hope, but... Agh, dammit!

I can't just sit here doing nothing while waiting. I need to keep moving.

I'm really gonna have to pick up the pace without Fir though... He always handled a lot of stuff, so I'm gonna have to work overtime on learning how to do jobs that were always his.

First of all, insight.

>

Ugh, so annoying.

I always just tuned it out whenever he used it, because it was obnoxious.

Other than that, Fir would always use soul manipulation, but...

Well, to put it bluntly, I can't.

A while ago, we decided to swap roles, so he would do the walking while I worked on trying to get levels for soul manipulation.

So, I tried it... and it didn't work.

So I tried again, and it didn't work.

No matter what I tried, I couldn't figure it out.

It just didn't click with me.

So, I won't be doing anything related to that.

I don't really want to anyway, since using soul manifestation is why Fir is... gone now.

It really really sucks, since soul manifestation seemed like it would be a really useful asset to us.

I'm gonna have to train like hell to make up for it.

Another thing he wa- no, is good at is magic. He told me it'd be really useful, and worked hard to get levels in the skills related to it.

I think he was just starting to figure it out, but me on the other hand...

I don't know anything about it!

So, seven of our skills are effectively useless now.

That... that definitely hurts.

Anyway, that's enough thinking. It's time for action.

Fir told me something once. I immediately laughed it off and ignored it, but I might as well try now.

He said that since this world operates similarly to a video game, trying to exploit the system that levels our skills could be worth it.

One particular idea he had was to drag my feet as I walked over dirt, in an attempt to gain levels in digging without much effort.

Like I said, I laughed off the idea and never tried, but I might as well try now.

If it works, I'll try more 'exploits', if it doesn't, oh well.

Seriously?

It actually worked?

It hasn't even been that long either...

I feel bad for laughing off his idea now...

I... I'll apologize when he comes back. Yeah.

Well, might as well just keep going now.

Ah, another useless skill to add to the rest. Greeeat.

Well, at least digging should be better now.

Let's test this shit out!

I walk up to the nearest wall and strike it with all my strength.

To my surprise, it's very effective, leaving a sizeable hole in the wall once the chunks of rock have all fallen away.

Nice!

Maybe I'll be able to actually dig a little shelter now. Woulda helped earlier when all those ants ambushed us.

Could help with traps, too. Can't really think of any that'd work in this place though. Nothing but sand to work with.

Now, what skills should I work on next?

Wait, now that I think about it, why do I have to keep moving?

Why shouldn't I head back to where all those dead ants are, block up the exits, and just train non-stop?

Yeah, I'll do that!

This way, I won't have to worry about another one of those monstrous ants showing up and killing me!

Hehehe, I'm so smart!

----------------------------------------

What happened...

Where...

Where is this?

I can't... can't feel anything.

I can't see anything either...

Can't open my eyes...

Am I de...

No, there's no way, right?

Right...?

But... if not that, then... what is this?

All of the sudden, my senses are assaulted by a foul odor and taste.

This-!

No, no way!

Is this hell?!

Please, say it isn't so!

What did I ever do to deserve this?!

----------------------------------------

Yum!~

Gotta love a great big meal after a workout!

Man, I was already proud of my plan, but it's even better than I expected!

I can spend all the time I want getting stronger, and if I get hungry I just have to grab an ant and eat.

The ants kinda took up a lotta room though, so I dug a nice big pit and shoved 'em all in there.

I'm a bit worried about what'll happen when they start rotting...

Eh, it's fine. A little old food never hurt anyone!

But really, this plan is super duper perfect.

I was worried about living without Fir, because as much as I'd hate to admit it (even more so to his face), he's really helpful.

I'm a little reckless, so having him around to tell me if what I'm doing is stupid is nice. Of course, I usually don't listen to him!

But anyway, as long as I'm in here, I don't need to worry, because there's nothing dangerous enough to kill me!

I can just leisurely train here and wait for him to come back!

Once he does, he'll look at the results of my training and go "woah, this is super impressive Gloria! I'm proud of you!"

It'll be sooo great!

Ahh, that's enough rest I think. Time to get back to training!