The ant doesn't seem to be able to pull the deadbolt from the wall through the bars and hasn’t figured out that it has to lift the handle on my side of the door out of its little catch to unlock it. Not wanting to waste this opportunity or my single shotgun shell, I sheath my gun and grab my spear to begin moving towards the door and skewer me some ant. The moment I begin moving the ants see me and the one second in line begins nocking an arrow so I stay crouched behind my shield as I continue moving towards the door.

The first arrow strikes the shield low, is it trying to aim for my feet? Or is it just a bad shot? I’m about a quarter of the way there when the second arrow comes whistling through the door but it had clipped one of the iron bars and was skewed off target, hitting my copper kettle, causing it to spill over into the fire pit quenching the hot coals and sending a small plume of ash and steam into the air with a hiss. I am halfway through the room when a third arrow grazes my right shoulder since it is partially sticking out from the shield. I'm beginning to think the ant is, in fact, just a bad shot before a fourth arrow hits perfectly square between two of the wooden boards and buries itself deep enough to where I can feel its point digging into my arm bracing the shield, and soon after a negligible drip of crimson begins making its way down the boards to the stone below.

By now I am just a few steps from the doorway and the ant at the door is frantically trying to release the deadbolt but can't seem to dislodge it, I thrust my spear past it up the stairs piercing the third ant in line through the eye before it can get its shield raised then yank it forward, causing it to tumble into the ants below it. I plunge my spear into the first ant this time, squarely in the chest causing it to squirm for a moment before it goes limp, aside from a twitch in its limbs or mandibles here and there. It is at this point that the fourth and fifth ants up the stairs begin firing at me before I can stab the second ant who is now pinned under its dead companions, and is being covered in a steady stream of gore coming from the punctured eye socket above it as the ant tries to free itself. I duck to the left of the doorway, narrowly being missed by a second volley of arrows from the archers further up the stairs. I plunge my spear into the only living ant left within my reach, piercing it slightly above its mouth opening and detaching its' head when I pull my spear away with an audible snapping pop.

I send a message through the colony telling some workers to get ready to flank through the tunnel connecting the wood debris storage room to the main ant entrance and I can feel my small squad of workers lining up in the corridor behind me then quickly making their way through the tunnel before stopping at the Y intersect to await my command. There are about fifteen ants in total. I send my senses up the stairwell and the two ants have changed places with a pair of shield bearers completely blocking the pathway up, and are posted on the steps behind them with arrows at the ready. Behind the pair of archers further up, the other three shields are formed in a wall facing the top of the stairs to avoid being flanked and the final ant who has a bow is facing out into my courtyard, scanning for targets.

Shucking the head from my spear as I pull it back through the bars I lean it up against the wall and I draw my shotgun. I need to clear at least one of the shields and possibly the archer at the top for my ants to be able to flank with any effectiveness. I peek the edge of the shield out from the corner and it receives a pair of arrows. Before they can nock a new pair I lean out of cover and fire my only round, the recoil was much greater than it should have been and in an instant, the slug has shattered one of the shields in front of me and ripped off the arm of the ant carrying it then passed through the center shield bearer's lower abdomen ripping a chunk of flesh and chitin the size of my head out of it, causing it to topple over dead.

In reality, I was aiming for the leftmost shield bearer's back and I wasn’t able to aim properly but I'll take a well placed, badly aimed shot any day of the week over a properly aimed, but ineffective one. I scream in my head for my ants to charge and drop my shotgun. I scramble to open the door when an arrow hits my right shoulder and a second one plants itself in my shield, forcing through the pain I unlatch the deadbolt and swing the gate open allowing the gored pile of bodies to slump completely to the ground. Leaning back behind the door frame, this time on the right side, I try but I am unable to hold or thrust the spear properly and decide to draw my knife instead. I hadn’t intended on using it in this fight but as a last resort, it will do. I can hear chittering from the stairwell as my ants plow into the line of scouts. Sending my feelers out once more I can see the action unfolding; my ants used the shock from the shot perfectly, having already beheaded the archer and were in progress of goring one of the two shield holders. However, the third was still holding off the ants trying to maul it until one gets a bite on its leg severing it on the knee and causing it to fall down the stairs disrupting the archers and making them whirl around to fire on my ants.

I feel two of mine die as the arrows pierce their heads and as the invaders nock another arrow each I charge out from around the corner, barreling up the steps and thrusting my shield into the spear of the uninjured ant ripping its haft from its hand, and impaling the fallen ant behind it through the side of the head at the base of the left mandible with the blunt end and killing it instantly, splattering a blueish green slime onto the stone stairs. I have to drop my now impaled shield and the arrowhead sticking through the boards leaves a deep gash down my arm as I rip it free of the lanyard. Jumping forward I grab the raised shield of the ant I had just disarmed and wrenched it downwards before stabbing it in the abdomen and dragging my knife upwards causing unidentifiable organs and more of the blue green slime blood to pour into the stairwell. By now my ants were on top of the archers and the last ant who I had more literally disarmed earlier with my shotgun had dropped its spear and ran into the dungeon probably looking to live slightly longer than its compatriots.

I turn around as it disappears behind the corner to the left and I follow to find it hefting my now empty shotgun and trying to point it at me. It obviously doesn’t know how to operate it, not to mention there is no ammo left but I stand there and let it try for a moment before one of my ants pops out of the tunnel to its left and knocks it to the floor before severing its neck, and ending its struggle. In total, I had lost six ants in the defense of my dungeon, or rather in defense of the queen, I don’t think they were all that interested in me, to be honest, I was just a rather large obstacle. I consume the bodies of all the dead along with their gear and suffer through the taste as I take my jacket off and cut it into strips to bandage my arm, I am beginning to get lightheaded and I would prefer not to die again so soon. After taking care of my arm I consume the arrow sticking out of my shoulder and bandage it as well, then pick up my shotgun and eject the empty brass. Allowing it to ring against the floor once before consuming it mid-bounce.I check on my ants as they come through the stairwell to get back to work and stop the ones who are injured.

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I try pushing my mana into their wounds and they scab over but it is rather expensive so I reserve it for the more grievous injuries, like puncture wounds from spears, and ripped chitin on one where an arrow had only landed a glancing blow before deflecting, leaving a ripped gash across an eye lens and part of the face. I am unfortunately unable to regrow lost limbs so two of my ants are now missing a grasper, one of which is missing an entire foreleg, and a third ant only has one antenna. I bandage the slowly oozing open wounds on those I either can't or decide not to fix with mana and order all of them to go rest for the time being.

There were a few protests about needing to continue to work but I shush them and reiterate that it was an order, not a request. They wander off and I return to my sanctum with the shield and dragging my spear since I can't properly hold it and place them in the equipment rack I also consume all the arrows in my shield before renewing the wooden planks and making a brass plate that I seat into its face to hopefully avoid this particular injury again. I then enter my ethereal form and watch as the bloodied bandages fall to the floor before I consume them and check my core.

Level 14 Unnamed Rare Dungeon Core — Aspects: Terra II, Ignis II, Vitas III, Mors II, — Mana Volume: 29 of 100 Mana Density: 133 of 150 — Attribute Aether: 2 Attributes: Avatar Form III, Mana II, Metalworking II, Metallurgy I, Gem Crafting I, Alchemy I.— Mastery: Ignis, Vitas, Mors.— Bonded Creatures: 80, Named Creatures 2.

I got much less mana than I feel I should have, however, I did spend a fair amount on healing my ants. I also only got two levels but I think that has more to do with needing more experience as I become higher level than anything else. Curious about the mana shortage I look to my spear and shield.

Iron Short Pike, Common. Average Quality.

Longer than a spear, shorter than a full pike, generally used against calvary, this pike has been shortened enough to give longer reach than a regular spear but still be usable with a shield, even if it is somewhat unwieldy. Commonly seen as an infantry support weapon, it is not recommended to be used in offensive forms, mainly seeing use in keeping horseback and warg riders away from infantry lines by using the rider's momentum to impale themselves if they get too close.

Reinforced Notched Oak Shield, Common, Average Quality.

This is a common wooden shield that someone has reinforced with a metal plate to aid in puncture resistance and carved a notch in one of the corners to allow the placement of a spear or if its user is a battlemage, the placement of a staff.

Curious, that entails the existence of battlemages but all I can think of is a guy in a robe and pointy hat pointing a staff like a spear while charging into battle. I shake the strange image out of my head and then return to my avatar. The gash in my arm is still present and begins bleeding immediately along with my shoulder. It is annoying to have to re-bandage myself, but it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as earlier, and they seem a little smaller. I conjure up a few hemp bandages and re-wrap my wounds. Then pull out my knife to use discern on it.

Ka-Bar Military Combat knife, Rare, Mastercraft Quality.

The concept of a fighting and utility knife is not present in this world yet, the roles it would normally hold are covered by daggers and other similar double-edged short-bladed weapons.

Note: the technology used to manufacture this gear does not exist in this world. All experience and mana gained from using this tool or weapon will be halved.

I groan as I take in the information. That means that my shotgun will likely be the same way. I sheath my knife and pull out my shotgun, but before checking its information I open the bolt. There was a single shell in the magazine. Well, that is comforting at least, I have one shell I don't need to make each time I need it. Hopefully, I will be able to carry more ammunition in the future. I conjure a shell and try placing it through the loops of my ammo carrier but the moment my fingers leave it the thing just phases through the loop and clatters to the floor. Unfortunately for me, the propellant I am using must be MUCH more volatile than gunpowder because It explodes the moment it contacts the ground, sending brass shrapnel into my right leg.

I crumple to the ground in agony as the searing pain radiates through me, giving me momentary flashbacks of the mortar fire that had mangled my face in my previous life. Onyx rushes into my sanctum jaws wide along with a few workers, one of which taps on my face with its antenna which pulls me back to the present. Pushing myself into a sitting position while clutching my right thigh I can feel a gentle, warm trickle from my right ear and find I can't hear anything from it. Leaving my avatar I watch as six mangled pieces of brass clink lightly against the floor and I decide to not attempt to place anything in my ammo carrier until I can figure out how to expand my ammo capacity. It's probably an attribute I have to purchase, if I would dare to hazard a guess. After calming my ants and ensuring them that there aren’t any intruders or any other danger in my sanctum I reform my avatar with a lot more bandages than last time. After patching myself up for the third and now completely deaf in my right ear I clean the mess I had just created and pull my shotgun back out to finally examine it.

12 gauge Breaching Tool/Combat shotgun, Mystical, Mastercraft Quality

The concept of a “Shotgun” is not present in this world. The roles of ranged combat and room entry that this tool is used for are filled by specialized magics, crossbows, bows, and casting staves. That being said, the kinetic energy provided by this tool while used as a weapon is on par with the kinetic force expected from a mounted ballista at point blank ranges only in a much more compact package.

Note: the technology used to manufacture this gear does not exist in this world. All experience and mana gained from using this tool or weapon will be halved.

"Well, that's unfortunate" is all I can think as I re-read the passage. That can't be right, aren't mounted ballistae huge, and fire javelins? Maybe the tolerances in this world are different, or perhaps I used a very hot load with all that Ignis powder I had added to the propellant mix while I was in a hurry earlier. If the latter is the case then I'm sure I should have had a breach failure and the thing should have exploded in my hands like a glorified pipebomb. I need to get more information on how the quality and rareness levels affect my things, if they even affect them at all. I am snapped out of my thoughts as my deaf ear pops loudly and I can hear out of it once more. Thankfully my injuries don't seem to be permanent, at least from what I can tell.

The healing process is too slow to be useful in a fight so that makes sense, and I'm fairly sure it's not fast enough to save me from most mortal injuries. I am also unable to speed up the process by forcing mana into myself, which is unfortunate but at least I'm healing at all let alone at a marginally accelerated rate. I leave my avatar once again and consume the bandages before they can hit the floor. I need to regenerate some mana before sunrise so I can keep building, maybe a nice patio or a gazebo while I wait for my ants to tunnel deeper into the mountain. I resign myself to floating about through my domain and playing chess against myself as I wait out the rest of the night.