The name gave obvious information about what was inside it. I wasn’t a fan of ants in general, and the possibility of meeting monstrous ants made me shiver.
Exhaling deeply, doubts resurfaced in my mind as I contemplated if I should enter the cave.
That doubt vanished when I saw a ray of light bleeding into the entrance, revealing what seemed to be a normal cave built from the dirt below. So far, there were no noises or any type of movement from inside the cave, which gave me the courage to push further. The danger was always present in this new world, and I have to get any opportunity I could to get stronger, even if it meant taking a few risks here and there.
Steeling myself, my feet stepped into the cave, the darkness dissipating as I went inside.
[You are now in the Cave of the Maddened Ant Queen]
I totally needed to know that.
The narrow path inside the entrance was tolerable, especially so because I was traveling alone. There was enough room for me to perform the most basic of evasive maneuvers, shall the need for that ever arise.
It wasn’t long before the narrow path widened, revealing a small circular area in which I could freely walk in. The ceiling of the cave had a massive hole in the top of it, which, to my relief, was short enough for me to climb out of if I needed to do so.
I can go deeper.
My optimism was cut short when I felt short tremors pulsating on the ground. Crouching down, I steadied my stance to prevent myself from losing my balance, which ended a few seconds later when the tremors stopped. Only things of a certain strength or size could produce such an effect.
That has to be the ant queen.
From the tremors it caused alone, I’d assume that the ants here were indeed super-sized. It was no longer a question about whether they were big or small now, only how much bigger they were compared to an average human.
Does that mean that there were thousands of those giant ants below? If they behaved the same way ants did back in the earth, then I would be looking at the prospect of dealing with an insurmountable amount of giant insects. That just sounded like a nightmare.
With a defeated sigh, I decided to leave this cave.
But well, the system had other plans for me.
The ground below me collapsed. It wasn’t one of those slow cave-ins, no; it was sudden and almost instant.
The sudden loss of footing caught me off guard, the effects of gravity fully taking effect as I fell into the hole that replaced the floor. The sudden drop shocked me and my hands lost their grip I had on my spear, and combined with our different weights and momentum, the spear fell further and further away from me as I stretched my arms with futility.
I can’t lose it! Not now!
The fall felt like it lasted for minutes before my left shoulder smashed itself into pieces as I hit the solid ground, ending the fall with a painful crack. I shouted my soul off after the fall, biting my lips to shut myself up right after. My lips bled as I tried to feel my left arm, but the lack of response and feeling meant that it was as good as gone.
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Tears began dripping as I tried to get up, but the force of the impact had shattered my spine waist down too, which meant that I lost any use of my legs and my left arm.
I laid bare on the dark floor underground, holding my tears from the pain and losing the ability to use my legs and left arm.
[Warning, you have 14 health remaining!]
I stared at the system message, the gravity of my situation quickly dawning on me.
This wasn’t like the escape from the stalker or the fight with the wolves. There were no feints or clever ideas that I could use to snake my way out of this. I lost my only weapon and 3 of my 4 limbs were now gone…
“Not yet.” My lips trembled as I whispered to myself. “I have to hide…”
Crawling away from my spot with my only usable limb left, I hid from the light from above in case there were any predators up there looking for easy prey. However, that plan was thrown out the window when I felt the walls of the ground next to me shaking violently. Something was burrowing its way into this hole.
I had to come up with a plan before it arrived. If there was a way to heal my-
My backpack. It’s still here.
I used my healthy arm to release the strap of my backpack and let go. Ransacking the contents of my back, I felt the glass exterior of a bottle and pulled it out, swallowing the entire content of the potion in a single gulp.
A fresh surge of healing pulsed its way through my entire body. The back of my spine cracked and snapped in place with my left shoulder, healing and restoring the bone structure to their original condition. I felt the cold air resting against my left arm and legs once more, which meant that I had regained the feel of my limbs as I hurried myself up away from the incoming danger.
I still don’t have a weapon.
The walls of the hole burst open, particles of dirt and dust floated in the air for a few seconds before revealing an ant the size of a sedan charging its way in.
My body tensed as I gasped for air, staring at the ant in pure disbelief.
[Lvl 9. Red Ant worker]
It watched me with both the dark beads of its eyes with a sense of curiosity. Once it recognized that I wasn’t even close to being another one of its kind, it jumped me with its giant mandibles, which could cut me down into 2 if it landed on me.
Jumping backwards, I slipped past the attack, but my legs buckled when I landed, a clear sign that I’ve not healed fully just yet. The momentary pause allowed me to search the pit for my spear, that being the only solution to my current ant problem. There was no way I could kill this thing without a weapon.
The dark carapace of the ant reflected the dim sunlight from above, the darkness of the put compounded the sinister vibes it puts out. Its antennae twirled about as it turned its massive head towards me, the hairy legs skittering about the dirt floor as it did so.
I paused, weighing in my options from where I stood, but I couldn’t come up with anything before it twitched.
It didn’t slow down its assault and rushed at me again. This time, its mandibles almost chewed my stomach off as I rolled to the side. The ant continued its advance right after I recovered, eventually pinning me down from all my potential escape routes with my back against the wall.
I could clim-
In my moment of panic and confusion, the massive head of the ant crashed into my ribs, sending me flying towards the dirt wall on my back. The force was tremendous. I felt the rattles from my ribcage as I desperately got back up.
Its attacks were relentless, each stroke of its head was clearly aimed to end my life. I rolled and dashed to its sides, avoiding all of its manic attempts to bite and crush me. My back was on the corner before the ant did something I never expected.
A foam bubbled from its mouth. Even from a distance, I could tell that it was some type of sticky substance, similiar to those produced by spiders. The ant then released the substance on the air, forming a blanket of webbing the width of a sedan, rapidly closing on my location.
Can ants even do that?
By the time I realized what type of attack it was, there was no longer any space and time for me to dodge.
The sticky substance enveloped me, restricting my movements to such a degree that I could barely move. The last thing I saw was the ant’s head charging toward me, and I felt a radiating pain from the cracking of my ribs before my vision went completely dark.