Cyrus was normally the kind of person who you would go to when you wanted a thoroughly thought-out plan with plenty of forward thinking and back up plans. Since coming to this crazy world, it would seem that he has had a lapse in judgement. If he didn’t have Peluna so she could use her light magic in order to brighten up the immediate area, he would have been beyond screwed. The tunnels were pitch black to the point where he couldn’t even see his hand in front of his face without light. Though he was never going to tell Peluna how thankful he really was.
That would be absurd thinking.
His mind hadn’t had the time to truly focus during the time when he had been running and avoiding the lovely denizens that inhabited the dungeon. They were less than welcoming, as such Cyrus was constantly on guard and the strain on his mind was beginning to become a nuisance. He felt that maybe he needed to raise his intelligence even more when he received more free points, the mental strain from the past were crawling up his back. The shadow below him was becoming greater and more deceitful. It wasn’t exactly a problem yet, still well within his ability to bottle up. Eventually, there was little chance of him holding back what he could only describe as bloodlust.
This bloodlust wasn’t directed towards everyone though, mainly towards those who had chosen to willingly hurt or wrong him. There was a strong sense of paranoia hidden in that fury, telling him he could trust no one, not even poor Peluna. His thoughts drifted to the loyal beast woman by his side, she had been nothing but helpful during their journey thus far and secretly he was grateful towards her in that way. That didn’t mean he would dare tell her everything though, they’re relationship was still short.
His internal dialogue was interrupted when he heard the sound of mandibles clicking nearby, the internal tunnels were beginning to widen and open up more like a small cave would. This would at least leave some basic room for fighting, on the other hand this also meant he could be attacked from all sides. The source of the ants was quickly uncovered as Peluna extended her lights forward to brighten up the cave they were in.
*Black Warrior Ant – Level 25*
*Black Warrior Ant – Level 29*
*Black Shaman Ant – Level 33*
It almost felt like they were stepping in on a private conversation, seeing as the ants froze as if they were shocked to see anyone stepping in. Then again, they had used the back entrance, certainly not on purpose either. The Shaman quickly retreated behind its two compatriots, not wasting anytime to begin casting a spell. Ant magic wasn’t something Cyrus was familiar with yet besides the aura ball the warrior ants had been able to cast. From his left, a large cast of sand shot towards him like a fist. Utilizing the movements taught to him by Albus, he danced around the magic with ease.
Clearly the monsters had been expecting this and let Cyrus play right into their hands… well mandibles he supposed. Nonetheless, his face was met with two aura balls on course for a preemptive strike. Between Peluna and Cyrus, at least one of them had been thinking ahead and the person holding the rapier was not the strategist. Rather than being hit by the aura ball, a translucent barrier appeared and absorbed the attack like it was nothing. Compared to the fist strikes of a level 200, those aura balls were likely the same as getting hit by a cat’s paw. The Shaman was unable to hide its own shock despite being an ant as it backed up towards the edge of the cave.
After all his training, Cyrus knew far better than to hesitate when facing any enemies, no matter how weak or strong they seemed. His rapier became coated with a familiar dark aura, his [Void Aura] giving him more strength than he probably needed. Peluna was also a step ahead as she graced him with a dexterity boost, allowing him to launch from his position with frightening speed. The first warrior had not yet recovered from its initial shock and quickly became the victim of his first attack. His rapier cut through the ant cleanly, sending its blood smearing across the wall.
Using his speed, the second warrior didn’t even have the time to turn before the flash of a sword ripped through its core, splitting the overgrown insect in half. The Shaman had not been sitting still during the encounter and was making a run for it towards the exit of the cave, only to be met with a barrier. It seemed Peluna also knew that the Shaman would try to run, having blocked off the tunnel to the hive in advance. Knowing it had little chance except to fight, two spikes shot out from the walls and headed towards Cyrus. He dodged and weaved between the two points, making sure not to cut himself on the hardened sand pieces.
The Shaman began casting another spell when he came to close proximity. Rather than letting the ant get away with another spell, his eyes pierced the monster as he activated [Grip of Death]. The Shaman cut off its casting, the paralysis taking effect with instant success and pausing its chant for just a moment. That moment was all he needed, as he stabbed the skull of the Shaman and cut the other half of its head off. The Shaman clearly had less health than the warriors, having exchanged health for magic.
Cyrus let out a small sight of relief as he accepted all the experience gained from killing the ants, there were no levels gained from the fight but the experience he received felt good nonetheless. Peluna also walked over, looking quite satisfied with herself after the battle.
She raised an eyebrow glancing at him. “You look pretty satisfied with yourself, feeling good after killing a few small fries?”
Cyrus shook his head, crossing his arms as he looked towards the deeper tunnels. “Not really, between the two of us these three were pretty simple opponents. Even though we didn’t know their powers it wasn’t much of a challenge.”
“Normally people are happy when defeating monsters is easy, you should get yourself checked out.” She twirled her finger around her head, indicating that he was nuts.
Cyrus had every intention to retort, but he was halted by a poorly timed System message instead. One that also went to Peluna.
*System Update: Having chosen to intrude on his home and slay his kind, the Ant Prince: #%#^& has sworn to designate all adventurers in his home as enemies to kill. You may escape or choose to kill the prince before he gets to you. Escape: Unforeseen consequences. Kill the Prince: Mandibles of the prince, unforeseen consequences*
Peluna’s flat look was all Cyrus needed to know that this counted as finding trouble and that she would blame it all on him. Regardless of who’s fault it really was, she clearly made up her mind to pin it on him. At this point, who was he to argue with her? The prompt itself was something to behold, he assumed since he had no idea how to speak ant, the name of the Prince was unidentifiable. On top of that, no matter what they chose to do there would be some sort of unforeseen consequence, whatever that meant. This had to be partially due to luck, there was really no other way to explain something you couldn’t explain.
If they killed the Prince, on the bright side if there were going to be consequences anyways, he may as well get a reward out of it. Besides, leaving without a souvenir just didn’t sit well with him. Once again, the sword became heavy in his hand, it was the key to accomplishing his next goal. If he was being honest, Cyrus really wanted to go after the Prince. The idea of slaying a higher ranked enemy was much more enticing than he was letting on. This was the same feeling he had when he began to take the fight with Cyrus more seriously, the feeling of an ambition.
Surprisingly, it was Peluna who voiced her support first. “I get the feeling that leaving without killing the Prince would prove to be more trouble than it’s worth, we should kill it.”
“I was hoping you were going to say that I just hope that we’re going to be able to handle this with just us two. This is the first System based quest I’ve seen.”
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“I never thought I’d see the day; you’re thinking this through instead of just pushing in. Maybe there’s some hope for you after all.” Peluna smiled, moving to stand up by his side. Cyrus couldn’t help but let his lips turn slightly upwards, her smile was practically contagious. He really hadn’t smiled at all these past couple months, not even her courage and cheerfulness was going to bring him back down to earth. It’s not that he was denying the idea of being happy, it just felt wrong to be anything except for angry. Even when something good happened to him, the flames of anger would remind him of who he was, what he was trying to accomplish. To stay focused.
He nudged his head in the direction of the tunnel that led deeper into the nest, his face set back on the task at hand. Peluna exhaled softly next to him, clearly finding something amusing that he didn’t notice but now wasn’t the time for any distractions. Cyrus began marching further into the tunnel, the temperature seemed to fluctuate as the pair descended down what seemed to be a spiral stair tunnel and back up another. They encountered nothing more than a couple wandering low leveled worker ants, hardly anything to brag about.
Peluna did point out how concerning that was, there should have been far more resistance and guards while they made their way further into the core of the anthill. This brought about the likely possibility that there were leaders amongst the ants, able to organize the bulk of their force in an organized fashion. This would indicate that the primary number of their force would be waiting for them somewhere inside. The prayer was that hopefully the ants wouldn’t be capable of performing an ambush, but at this point anything was possible.
It didn’t take more than a half an hour before the pair reached the end of the narrow tunnel, opening up to what could only be described as ant metropolis. Over a dozen warrior ants littered the surface down below with an influx of workers going in and out of the tunnel on the other side. Thankfully, the warrior ants were all of little concern, being between levels 20-30 like all that had been previously encountered. There were two Shamans at the far end of the cavern. Both of them were flanking a much larger and more intelligent looking ant, it was covered in armor along its exoskeleton and possessed an aura as well. A quick status checked revealed the reason for that right away.
*Black General Ant – Level 45*
The General looked as if it was giving orders to many of the warriors, spreading them out along the cavern walls. Higher leveled monsters seemed to be capable of higher thinking and strategy, this wouldn’t bode well for monsters that were over level 100 and so on. The General was 3 levels higher than he was at the moment, giving him a good chance to get some of those wonderful experience points.
Peluna could sense his anticipation of the coming battle and nudged his side with her staff. “Guess you’ll have your work cut out for you. If you beg I might just decide to help you.”
Her mischievous smile was impossible to ignore this time and he let out a small chuckle at her banter. While his smile didn’t reach his eyes, he felt slightly more elated at the feeling of familiarity between the two of them. It no longer felt forced and the conversation that sparked was more casual whenever it came long. It almost felt like… having Trinity around once again. Though nothing would ever match those experiences, so he pushed those memories deep down where he hoped they would never rise again.
“I’m not much of a beggar, so I guess you’ll just have to settle on that dinner I promised you. I hope that’ll be enough to satisfy your whims.” He say with a mock bow, as if he were naught but a servant.
Taking full advantage of his acting, her expression turned haughty and turned her nose upward. “It might, perhaps you’ll owe me several meals for all this favor I’ve given you. Now go fight for me servant!”
Shaking his head, Cyrus drew his rapier after deciding that he had enough. Peluna as it seemed, was never finished as she started pushing him from behind towards the entrance. “Get in there! I haven’t seen the sun in far too long so there’s no time to waste.”
Wasting no time from her order to get in the fight, she cast several barriers that could be used as steppingstones to descend him safely down the valley, allowing him to get just above several of the warrior ants. Brandishing his rapier and coating it in his magic, he extended the length of his sword with aura and slammed in the midst of two unsuspecting ants. Both of them perished on impact, but this action also brought with it the attention of all the ants in the valley, including the General.
The General let out a deafening shriek sound, like it was perpetually screaming in pain. Without the toughened skin he had gained, Cyrus was sure that his eardrums would’ve been bleeding from how high pitched the sound was. Peluna was enough of a distance back that she would remain relatively unaffected at least, alleviating some of his concern. The shriek seemed to be for far more than just a show much to his dismay. All of this warrior ants under its command emitted a red aura and their status changed.
*Black Warrior Ant [Frenzied] – Level 28 (33)*
All the warrior gained a higher status along with an increase in levels. At the same time, it seemed to have turned them straight up bloodthirsty as many of them charged where Cyrus stood without abandon for reason or strategy. The sudden charge on all sides caught him off guard. Thankfully, Peluna was thinking of him and he felt the [Embrace] wash over him, this granted 5 seconds of shield around him so long as the enemy couldn’t destroy it. 6 different frenzied warriors hit the barrier with their charge, stopping them in their tracks. They kept clawing at the barrier as if it were just another obstacle, but this delay was all the time Cyrus needed.
He extended the aura on his rapier as far as he could, timing his swing with the exact moment the bubble around him disappeared. The 4 ants in front of him were decimated by the strength behind his attack. Whirling around, his gaze paralyzed on of the frenzied ants while he struck down its brother. The last warrior was just becoming unparalyzed as his sword came swinging down on its neck, smashing the head into the ground and effectively smushing it.
During the encounter, Peluna had been fending off any stray magic aura balls from the two Shaman standing by the General but her magic was fading. The light of each barrier that absorbed the attacks was gradually becoming lighter and less potent, signifying the end of her well. The workers and the rest of the warrior ants had retreated into the tunnel farther down the cave after realizing their fight was meaningless. The two Shaman finally stepped forward with their General in tow, his size was far more massive than it looked from above.
Rather than just mandibles, several shadowed claws extended from the sides of the General, giving it a much farther reach away from its body. The Shaman charged up their ranged magical attacks while the General rushed him, extending its magic in order to impale Cyrus right away. The attack may have been fast for the human eye, but for Cyrus it just felt slow. Albus’ magic sword came at him with much more speed and fierceness. He ducked under the first claw and took off with his left foot, evading the second claw by dancing around it and getting behind the General.
He was side by side with the center of the General’s body and swung down at the center of its body. For the first time since fighting an ant, his sword didn’t cut the body down as normal. The armor on the General cracked visibly along the body but little damage was actually done. It turned to face him with frightening speed, making Cyrus have to change his tactics. Instead of continuing the frontal assault, he kept running past the General and made for the two Shamans he had now left unguarded. Both of the shadow claws were drawing in on him from behind and several spikes began to impede his path in front of him.
As if saved by grace, two barriers appeared horizontally in front of him, allowing Cyrus to jump up higher and soar over the spikes blocking his path to the Shaman. Unlike him, the General was not halted by mere spikes and opted to instead charge straight though them, shattering the spikes on impact. How unfair, Cyrus thought to himself. The Shaman were caught off guard by the sudden act of teamwork and had no time to prepare further spells as he cut them down. Separating the heads from their bodies in one fell swoop.
The General was just seconds behind his carnage, thrashing the spot where the dead ants now lay. The field felt far more even now, there was no threat of some stray aura ball hitting him in the back while he focused on the General in front of him. Two more tendrils extended from the core of the General’s body, now 4 of them were whisking around like out-of-control waves. The speed was nothing too much that Cyrus couldn’t handle though, if anything, he felt as if he could see through the movements clearly. The tendrils lashed out with lethal force as the General moved in on him, each attack hitting the ground and cracking the spots where he once stood.
Each time the tendrils struck out; Cyrus made a move to dance around the oversized brute but to little avail. The face was well protected by the tendrils, ensuring that he couldn’t get close without getting burned at least a little. Peluna’s barriers would do little to stop these things, each one could simply curve around whatever barrier she chose to put up, rendering them useless. While he had no issue dodging the shadows, there was little reason to let this go on much longer. Cyrus felt a rush of speed once again, the blessing from Peluna proving to be a great boon as he burst to the side of the General in three swift movements. The ant had little time to react and protect its side as Cyrus stabbed the same spot he had before. Wedging the rapier between the cracked armor pieces and finding its mark inside its body.
The aura on his sword burned the inside of the General inside out, making it thrash with pain and fury. His sword was buried far too deep though, each movement slashes through the armor on its body and cut down the large General. After a few moments, it collapsed on the ground with a heavy thud.