The Antventure Begins

1. Anthony Reborn

Sensation fades away as I become enveloped in a soft, white light. The illumination washed through not just my eyes, but my entire being. Floating, disembodied and without connection to the material world. I try to gather my thoughts, but they’re sluggish.

What happened? Where am I? My parents hadn’t been home… In fact, I hadn’t seen them in… I don’t remember exactly. I’d made myself dinner. Or had I? Being hungry was still clear, then there’d been… white?

Has it been ten days or ten minutes drifting in this gentle light? It surrounds me like a warm blanket. Warm enough to snuggle right into it. Get cosy. But that’s a little difficult without the capacity to move, constricted here in my own little world.

Sound begins to swell like a wave in the distance. It rushes forward, and just as it washes over me, there’s a voice.

[Welcome, Anthony.]

A personalised greeting! These are the kinds of good manners that make a person feel appreciated. At least, it’s safe to assume so. I’m not familiar with it so much.

[You have died.]

Dammit! I should have known—wait! What do you mean I died, mysterious disembodied voice? How are you speaking to me anyway? Come to think of it… how on Earth am I hearing you? Do I even have ears right now… this situation is puzzling, puzzling I say!

If I died, is this heaven? It’s comfortable enough, but I’m not sure if I want to stay here forever, you know? Being bathed in white light is nice and all, but where’s the pool, perhaps a buffet? I’m hungry. Or… I was hungry.

[Be calm, you will soon awaken to experience life again in a new world.]

There’s something about this voice that feels familiar. A deep and gruff intonation that’s comforting, yet also, kinda full of wisdom. Like that legendary bearded figure dressed all in white. The one worshipped with devotion all over the Earth…

Is that you?

Gandalf?

[You will be reborn on the world of Pangera.]

[Destiny and luck shall determine your fate.]

Hold on a moment there, Gandalf! This… this sounds kind of cool, doesn’t it? Reborn into another world with adventure, peril and opportunity around each corner? Will there be magic and elves? Girls? Oh! Elf girls!

Whoa there… gotta take a moment. Be cool, focus, and listen to Lord Gandalf!

[You will be reborn with the following status:]

Here it comes!

[Level: 1]

Soooo game-like!

[Stats:]

Might: 15

Toughness: 12

Cunning: 25

Will: 18

HP: 30

MP: 0

Oh, ho. I sound strong! MP is zero, though. Is it because my spirit is lacking? Why are you judging me like this, Gandalf?

[Skills: Digging Level 1 (I); Acid Shot Level 1 (I); Grip Level 3 (I); Bite Level 2 (I)]

Okay, skills are exciting, it’s just… Bite? Acid? Aren’t these skills a little… strange? What about destruction magic or interdimensional spirit summoning?

[Species: Hatchling Ant Worker (Formica)]

Oi… Oiii! What the heck, Gandalf? Ant? And not just an ant, but a hatchling worker ant. This isn’t the glorious rebirth I had in mind! Was I lacking in virtue during my previous life? Maybe too cruel to my friends? I didn’t even have any friends!

[You have one Skill Point and one Biomass available.]

[Go forth and forge your own path.]

An ant path?

Forge your mother, Gandalf!

At this moment, there’s a change in the light. It began to condense, shrinking and squeezing against me. Simultaneously it took form, shaping the features and details of my new body.

Sadly, those features aren’t to my liking.

Six legs, two antennae, strong mandibles and three distinct body segments. One head, one thorax and one abdomen. This is definitely the body of an ant. After only a few minutes my shape is fully formed, though still white and somewhat translucent, and thoroughly coalesced around my consciousness.

I was now a complete ant.

What the hell am I supposed to do now? I may have kept ants as pets, but that doesn’t mean I know what one’s supposed to do. Come to think of it, is that all it takes? Pet ants mean ant rebirth? That’s so tenuous!

No point having a whine about it. Never got anywhere by mulling over my problems. No longer a human; now an ant. It’s fine! Love the skin-carapace you’re in. I can do this.

Suppose I’ll try and get my bearings, except my vision is terrible. Wherever here is, it’s quite dark. There’s a faint blue glow coming from a wall in front of me, but the details are blurry. Every time I turn my head, my vision swims, as if the colours wash away before they settle again.

I’ve got a sinking feeling in my… abdomen? Most ants have very poor vision, some are even completely blind. At least I’m not that unlucky. I’ll have to make use of my other senses to compensate for my crappy vision.

And by senses, of course I mean antennae! If I recall correctly, they should be able to smell and detect air currents. I diligently start waving my feelers.

Ooo, this is a bit different.

I’m detecting a few smells I can’t identify. The air here certainly seems a bit stale, which makes sense if I’m underground.

But wait. Something’s wrong. If I’m an ant, then where are all my ant brethren? My ant family! Ants usually communicate by pheromones, right? Smells should be all around with my fellow colony mates here, ready to welcome me, their new comrade! Why can’t I find them? Might be nice to receive a warm welcome, not sure I ever have before.

There! I’m detecting a whiff of something nearby. Frantically waving my antennae in this new direction, I’m sure of it. Something that smells much like myself is nearby. Making sense of what my eyes and ‘nose’ are telling me, I think I’m in a long, curving tunnel. There’s a faint blue light on the tunnel surfaces that gently pulses every few seconds. That explains how I can see anything at all here underground.

Gradually, I begin to move towards the scent of my ally, shifting my six legs, hesitantly at first and then with growing confidence. Not being the most coordinated of humans, walking with six legs is a touch intimidating, but my ant body seems to be pitching in a few instincts to help get the job done. Six-legged walking has some serious swagger once you get the hang of it!

A new sound picks up as I approach a curve in the tunnel. It’s a little hard to make out. My ears aren’t much better than my eyes. Something like a crunching noise? What is my ant family up to?

Fear not, my fellow ant buddy. Whatever your task may be, I’m here to assist, for the glory of the colony!

I figure if I’m an ant now, I may as well embrace it. Swarm life!

Antennae waving furiously, I follow the curve of the tunnel and poke my head around the corner.

There’s movement. An ant is lying flat on its back, legs waving and jerking in the air, mandibles biting weakly at nothing. And that’s not all…

Above my brethren is a long snout open wide, jagged, gleaming teeth revealed within. Two powerful hands grip the struggling ant and lift it towards those jaws, which closes with a sickening crunch. The victim writhes in silent agony, the predator snapping its jaws a few more times before lifting its head and throwing my brethren’s carcass down its gullet.

No, no, no, no. Nope. What the heck is this?

Before me stands some sort of walking crocodile beast! At the end of its body is a massive tail swishing across the ground. Two strong hands pin down the body of its prey, another fellow ant, still twitching and trying to move but has clearly reached the end of its strength.

Fortunately, the monster has its back to me…

Don’t look at me like that, ally! What do you want me to do, fight that giant croca-beast? It’s easily four or five times my size. This isn’t the colony. There aren’t any other ants here. No team, no support, no soldiers to protect us workers. What can I possibly do?

Clearly my best strategy in this situation is… to flee! Before that horrific monster finishes eating and looks for another snack. Run tiny ant feet, run!

Tripping and falling over my own legs, I scurry back down the tunnel in the direction I came. Run, run—Wait! Digging my legs into the dirt I screech to a wobbly halt, and all six legs tangle up, crashing me into a heap.

What if another of those creatures comes down the tunnel? That would be game over, man, game over!

Think, Anthony, think like an ant! There has to be options to ensure my safety. What would an ant do?

Dig!

With my feelers and front legs, I scan the walls around me as quickly as I can. Aha, there! This section of wall is soft dirt, not rock. Now dig like your life depends on it, Anthony. Because it does!

Forelegs up and scratching madly at the wall hardly does anything. My legs are still white and faintly translucent, too soft to effectively dig. But hold on a minute, ants don’t use their legs to dig… Opening my mandibles on the front of my face for the first time, the thick jaws open and snap shut within my vision.

I have to dig with my face!

Pushing my head towards the wall, jaws as wide as I can make them, I crunch them shut with all my strength. The soil gives way before the assault and soft earth trickles down the wall, revealing two grooves in the formerly smooth surface. These mandibles are yet to fully harden, but they’re still strong enough to rip into this dirt wall.

I dig without pause, without rest, until I carve out a small tunnel large enough to fit myself in and then collapse the entrance, trapping me in complete solitude.

If I’m found, I’m dead!

Shivering in the dark hidey-hole, I begin to ponder my circumstances.

This situation is too strange. A new ant should be born inside the colony, surrounded by allies and protectors, why on… Pangera, was I born alone in a tunnel with such a fearsome beast? Judging by my poor fellow ant out there, I wasn’t the only one dropped into these hopeless straights.

One thing came to mind—a raid. Something attacked the home colony and escaped carrying a few unhatched young. A juicy, defenceless food supply to snack on back in their own tunnels. That sort of thing was common enough on Earth, as I recall. Ant larvae are a tempting source of valuable protein. Some ants even get most of their food by raiding other colonies and stealing the brood. It may not have even been that giant croca-beast that conducted the raid; it may have intercepted the creatures that did the deed and stole their prize.

As a result, I was dropped, unseen, and managed to successfully hatch, leading to my current position of shaking in the dirt, hoping to not be found. Lucky me!

I can also dismiss the idea that I’m a normal ant only a few millimetres long. That bipedal crocodile-headed beast certainly didn’t exist on Earth and surely hadn’t evolved naturally. This evidence, combined with the game-like system leads me to believe it was a monster. By that logic, I too am a monster in some underground tunnel complex.

That’s scary. Is there some sort of monster core inside me that explorers will come to farm? Do I drop money when I die?

That is some ridiculous hard mode stuff, Gandalf! A little help?

Hold that thought… Did he say something about a Skill Point and Biomass?