After they landed and stepped off the flying disk, the pair were surrounded by ants. Daniel noticed that some of these ants were larger than the others, and they emitted a strange noise. “Don’t worry; they know we’re no threat,” Shadewood reassured him, placing a comforting hand on Daniel’s shoulder.

Before Daniel could react, a deep, resonating vibration came from the ant hill and passed through his entire being, momentarily disorienting him. As the vibrations stopped, the ants parted revealing a path leading to the most prominent entrance. “We’re welcomed, Follow me,” his teacher said while stepping ahead.

Daniel’s unease grew with each step as the larger guard ants guided them down a dimly lit hallway. The only source of light came from the glow of the ant’s antennae. The air was damp and cool, in the distance he could hear rustling it sounded like thousands of tiny footsteps.

Shadewood glanced at him and spoke in a low voice. “All the ants we’ve met so far are just lower-tiered workers and soldiers. We’ll meet the queen and her guardians when we arrive at the throne room. Don’t show your nervousness in front of her. Remember what we represent.”

After a few minutes, they entered a chamber that could only be described as a throne room. The chamber was adorned with finely cut columns, their polished surface starkly contrasting to the rough walls. Daniel could still see the marks the ants made with their mandibles when they made this room. The room was lit by glowing pearls in the ceiling that cast a cold glow.

The room was split in the middle with a long red carpet lying on the ground. To the sides of the carpet were rows of humanoid ants kneeling, each with a pair of human-like legs and two pairs of arms. Daniel felt a slight push in his back and noticed Shadewood walking ahead of him. Shadewood had used his mana to give Daniel a gentle nudge forward.

When they reached the end of the carpet, they were met with a grand throne that was unusually smooth and well-crafted, much like the columns that lined the room. Beside the throne stood two hexagonal pillars adorned with strange markings. In front of the throne were four unique ants, each distinguishable from the others they had passed.

One was enormous, and if it were to stand up, it would tower over the other ants. The ant next to it was smaller and slimmer, with two dark crystal blades on its back. The third ant, roughly as tall as Daniel if it were to stand up, had three swords fastened at its hip and a spear on its back. The final ant differed from the rest, with a white exoskeleton instead of a dark one. It was about the same height as the ant with the swords and spear but had no visible weapons. Instead, its hands were unusually slim and sharp-looking.

The queen was seated on the throne. This was evident not only by the way the ants, including her four guardians, were kneeling before her but also by the dark crown that was part of her exoskeleton and glistening under the cold light. The ant queen appeared bored as her head leaned on one of her arms, her antennae twitching slightly as she regarded the newcomers.

Shadewood stepped forward and gave a slight bow. “Your Majesty,” he began, his voice respectful but confident, “we have come to discuss the recent disturbances near your territory.”

The ant queen’s compound eyes focused on Shadewood, and she raised one delicate, clawed hand so he could stop. She began making screeching sounds while she turned her head towards the white ant. In the blink of an eye, the white ant disappeared, baffling Daniel at the speed of the creature

Moments later, the white ant reappeared from a hallway to the throne’s right. It was dragging the massive corpse of a rat behind him. The corpse was as large as a bull; its fur was brown with gold stripes running down its back. When the ant reached the throne, it effortlessly tossed the corpse onto the floor before Daniel and Shadewood with a heavy thud.

Shadewood adjusted his glasses while he approached the corpse and began inspecting it. “Hmm, strange. It looks like a regular golden-striped wheat rat, but normally these don’t grow bigger than three feet,” he remarked. He looked toward the queen. “When did this creature appear?”

The queen lifted her head and began to speak in a coarse voice. “These pests invaded two weeks ago, accompanied by a swarm of their kin. They’ve been attempting to infiltrate my nest,” she explained, her antennae twitching furiously. They are resilient creatures; their fur resists the attacks of my lesser subjects. This one,” she gestured towards the rat, “is among the weaker specimens.”

Shadewood continued conversing with the queen while Daniel was lost in thought, studying the ant queen’s imposing appearance. After a few minutes, he noticed the queen’s large, purple eyes fixated on him, pulling him back to reality. A cold shiver ran down his spine as she asked, “And who is this little human you brought with you?”

Shadewood cleared his throat and replied, “This is my student, Daniel. He accompanies me while I complete this task” As Shadewood spoke, Daniel nervously adjusted his hair with his right hand.

Before Daniel could react, a sudden blast of air lifted his hair, and in an instant, the ant queen stood before him, her grip tight on his arm. Shadewood, equally swift, countered by gripping the queen’s arm, as he gripped the queen’s arm Daniel could feel her grip losing on his arm as small cracks began to form on her exoskeleton.

“Stop it, ant,” Shadewood’s voice was commanding. His red eyes began to glow slightly as he released immense pressure that washed over the room, forcing the rows of ants who had risen to kneel back down. Even the four generals, visibly shaken, prepared themselves for a potential confrontation. “Don’t think I won’t wipe out your colony if you dare to harm my student.”

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Daniel stood frozen, his heart pounding in his chest, overwhelmed by the sudden tension that filled the throne room. The queen also released an aura equally as powerful as that of his teacher she looked his teacher into his eyes but after a short moment of consideration, the queen let go of Daniel’s arm, in response Shadewood slowly let go of her arm too while keeping the pressure up, The queen went back to her throne and began to speak “Apologies Daniel, Virgil. That ring of yours bears an aura similar to a ruin I found when I was looking for a suitable place for my nest when I was younger.” she gave a short bow before she sat down “The memories are… unpleasant.”

The generals remained vigilant while holding their weapons until the queen screeched sharply and raised her hand. Reluctantly, they sheathed their weapons and moved to stand on either side of the throne, and Shadewood released the pressure, allowing Daniel to breathe easily again.

“Sorry for the inconvenience, Daniel. I hope you accept my apology. As a token of my goodwill,” the queen spoke in her gravelly voice, gesturing to a humanoid ant that appeared with a bag. After the ant handed the bag to Daniel, he opened it and saw it was filled with large mana stones and some strange rocks. “In the bag, you’ll find some High-grade mana stones and some dark steel ore we mined from a vein we found recently.”

Daniel, still feeling uneasy, swallowed before speaking up. “It’s okay, ma’am. I accept your apolo–”

Before he could finish his sentence, Shadewood coughed and interjected. “Do you think this is enough after attempting to harm my student?”

The queen’s antennae twitched and Daniel could hear her click her tongue. “What more do you ask for?”

Shadewood’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Fair compensation”

The queen pondered this momentarily, then nodded to the humanoid ant. The ant scurried away briefly before returning with additional sacks. “Here are some more High-grade mana stones, along with Purple Silver ore and Moonstones”, the queen declared, gesturing to the new bags. “May this settle our debt?”

Shadewood examined the contents of the sacks briefly before nodding in satisfaction. “Yes, Your Majesty. This is acceptable.”

Daniel looked at the bags in front of him, wondering how he could store the items since he didn’t have enough space in his ring to store everything. He looked at Shadewood, who guessed his predicament, waved his hands, and the bags disappeared.

The queen’s compound eyes glittered thoughtfully as she turned her attention back to Shadewood. “I am interested in discussing a trade of our Dark Steel ore for materials with your academy.”

….

After finalizing the deal, Shadewood and Daniel were escorted towards the exit by Xenonia, one of the generals introduced by the queen. Xenonia was the general with the two blades strapped to his back; he was tasked with leading them towards the rat nest.

Stepping outside, Shadewood summoned the flying disc once more. Xenonia, however, didn’t join them on the disc. Instead, he retrieved his two blades from his back and strapped them to his hips. Large insect wings unfolded from his back, shimmering in the sunlight, as he prepared to take flight into the sky.

Daniel watched in awe as Xenonia’s wings beat powerfully, lifting him gracefully into the air. The general circled once above them.

Meanwhile, Shadewood gestured for Daniel to step onto the disc. With a deep breath, Daniel followed suit. After the dome reappeared around the disk, they ascended slowly into the sky, following Xenonia’s path.

Daniel stood beside Shadewood and couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer. “How powerful is the ant queen?”

Shadewood’s voice echoed in Daniel’s mind. “She’s at the middle ranks of the fourth tier. Her individual strength is moderate as her power primarily stems from her subjects. The generals you saw are pinnacle third tier, and the soldiers in the throne room were mostly middle second tier.”

Daniel paused, absorbing this information. “How did you manage to speak directly into my mind?” he blurted out, his voice laced with astonishment.

Shadewood chuckled softly. “Every wizard, mage or anyone that mainly uses mana with sufficient power learns telepathy,” he explained. “It’s a fundamental skill.”

After a short silence, Shadewood’s voice rang once more in his head: “The queen is quite young for her species at only a few decennia old. I estimate that she will become stronger over the next few years.”

After a while, they approached some hills, Shadewood adjusted their course slightly after Xenonia pointed towards a hill with multiple large holes on its surface.

Shadewood guided the disk towards a clearing not too far from the hill. After they stepped off the disk, Shadewood began casting multiple barriers around Daniel. Some were meant to hide his presence, while others were designed to protect him in case of an attack.

Daniel watched as shimmering barriers formed around him, blending into the surroundings with a faint shimmer.

After they arrived at the foot of the hill, Shadewood began to chant quietly. As he finished his chant, Daniel noticed his eyes were veiled in a swirling black haze and began to move rapidly.

Eventually, Shadewood let out a soft hum, and the haze dissipated from his eyes. He turned towards Xenonia with a focused expression. “The estimations were of a few hundred, correct?” Shadewood asked, his voice unwavering.

Xenonia nodded in response, emitting a soft screech that confirmed Shadewood’s question.

“Hmm, most, if not all of them, should be deeply burrowed into this hill,” Shadewood mused, eyeing the mound with a calculating gaze.

After a brief pause, Shadewood began chanting softly, his voice gradually growing louder. Daniel recognized some of the words as those used to cast a fire bolt. As Shadewood completed the incantation, six fire wyrms materialized around him, their forms twisting and flickering in the air, awaiting his command.

Daniel watched in awe as the fire wyrms took shape. They seemed almost real for a moment until he noticed the absence of intelligence behind their fiery eyes. He glanced at Xenonia, who stood composed, though his twitching antennae betrayed a hint of nervousness.

Turning to Xenonia with determination, Shadewood said, " Your queen mentioned they are resistant to physical attacks. Let’s see if they can withstand magical ones as well.”