The Antventure Begins

2. Coming to Grips

I have a Skill Point and a Biomass to spend. If this is a game-like situation, then I should be able to open some sort of menu in order to spend my points and improve myself. How do I access this menu here in my tunnel though?

Erm… Level up! No, that didn’t work.

Escape! Escape key!

…Nothing. I mean, worth a shot, right?

Status!

Name: Anthony

Level: 1

Might: 15

Toughness: 12

Cunning: 25

Will: 18

HP: 30

MP: 0

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

Species: Hatchling Ant Worker (Formica): Skill Points: 1

Biomass: 1

Whoa! This is really interesting!

The first time I saw these numbers I thought they looked high, but perhaps they’re actually really low? I can’t imagine a hatchling ant worker has an impressive status in any way. And what are these skills?

Grip? Does this mean I can hold onto things well?

[Grip: Ability to hold onto surfaces and objects without letting go. For example, walking on walls.]

The triumphant return of Lord Gandalf! My lord and saviour! Truly your beard is the most luxurious, your eyebrows the most bristly. In lieu of a better name for this praiseworthy voice, Gandalf it shall be for the time being. It feels comforting to have some aspect of this world that feels familiar.

The help system built into the status to explain the skills when I think of them is pretty amazing. Grip improves my ability to hold onto stuff with my six legs, including walking on walls and the ceiling. I totally forgot ants could do that. I’ll have to try it as soon as I get out of here. Why would you walk on the floor if you had the option to use the wall or roof!

What do my other skills do?

[Bite: Improves the ability to accurately and forcefully apply a bite using fangs, mandibles or teeth.]

[Digging: Provides sub-conscious guidance when digging to increase efficiency and effectiveness.]

[Acid Shot: Assists accuracy when attempting to attack from a distance using a natural acid from the body.]

Okaaay… There are many species of ant on Earth that were able to shoot formic acid from their rear zone. I must belong to a monstrous species of formic acid spraying ant then. Options to attack without getting too close to my opponent, a course of action I think would, at the moment, lead to my instantaneous destruction could be very helpful.

Even so… biting, crawling on the roof, digging, and shooting acid doesn’t seem like a lot of tools to survive in an environment like this.

What I’m missing most is information. Like, where the heck am I, and what kind of creatures live in this place, other than ants like me and croca-beasts. I’ve no idea where the surface is or if the surface even exists in this world. Communication is out since I’m fairly certain I don’t have vocal cords, so even if I found someone prepared to talk to a monstrous ant, dialogue would be impossible.

Which means if information is to be had, I’ll have to get it myself. Out in the tunnels. Hmmm… Yea, no, scary! Terrifying at best.

You want me to go out there with who knows how many unknown horrors as a lone little ant monster? Madness, madness I say!

Phew. Calm down, Anthony, stay cool. Panic will not help this situation in any way. Stay rational, stay chill, stay alive.

So, the final question is, what can I spend my points on and how?

[Would you like to spend your Skill Points?]

You know what, I absolutely would, oh wise and magnificent Gandalf, bringer of hope and light. May your beard be ever fluffy!

Just like with my status, a window opened within my mind.

Skill Points: 1

Biomass: 1

[You can use Skill Points to purchase new skills or upgrade existing ones.]

[Biomass can be spent to modify aspects of your physical, monstrous form.]

[Skills available to purchase:

Stealth: Cost 1 SP. Improves your ability to hide and move unseen.

Dash: Cost 1 SP. Increases speed over short distances but increases stamina drain.

Slashing Attack: Cost 1 SP. More accurate and powerful slashing attacks.

Chomp: Cost 1 SP. A passive skill where bites pierce more and are more difficult to shake off.

Tunnel Sense: Cost 1 SP. Improves sense of direction when underground.]

[Body improvements available to purchase:

Exoskeleton +1: Harden your exoskeleton to improve resistance to mundane damage.

Mandibles +1: Toughen mandibles and improve their ability to pierce.

Legs +1: Improve agility.

Eyes +1: Improve eyesight.

Antennae +1: Increase sensitivity to air current and scent.

Acid Gland +1: Thicken the concentration of internal acid.]

There are a lot of options that make it really difficult to choose. I have to think logically here.

Being able to run faster would help me escape my enemies, Tunnel Sense would make it harder for me to get lost while underground, Chomp and Acid would help me fight more effectively…

I must prioritise my survival. It’s the only way to improve and grow here. Taking abilities for fighting would only be suicide if I attack a monster I can’t defeat. Then it’ll be game over straight away. Improving my speed will be a dead end if I run into something faster. Without information, how am I supposed to know what creatures I can fight and how fast any of them are?

As a newly hatched ant worker, it’s safe to assume I’m close to the weakest creature here.

Okay, decision made.

Select, Eyes +1 and Stealth!

[Would you like to purchase Eyes +1 and the skill Stealth?]

Yes, please.

A maddening itch burst over my eyes like a thousand mosquito bites erupting at once. Gaaah! Don’t do this to me, Gandalf! I can’t even scratch this itch because I might poke my own eyes out!

Fortunately, it didn’t last for long. After a minute, the itch receded. It’s hard to tell if my sight improved here in my dark hiding place, but it definitely feels like my eyes are a bit bigger than they were before.

This is body modification, huh? One minute and bam, you’ve improved from before? Seems like cheating. How many hours of effort would a human on Earth have to put in to improve themselves just a little bit? Even then, it isn’t like they could improve their eyesight.

I have to get more of these points. With enough mutations, I may be able to overcome my natural weakness as a relatively harmless species and live with more security here in these tunnels.

Why would I select Stealth and eyesight improvement, you may ask?

Excellent question!

If we say it’s too dangerous to assume I can fight anything, while we also assume it’s too dangerous to assume I can run from everything, then the only path through which survival can be assured is to not be seen in the first place. If you’re seen, you’re dead! I have placed my hope in stealth in order to live long enough to learn more about how to survive in this environment.

As for eyesight… You know, having really terrible eyesight sucks! Being used to human vision, it’s super disorienting switching to these pathetic ant eyes. If something isn’t moving, I can barely see it at all. Remember that ants are a communal species, thousands, tens of thousands of weak individuals combine to create something strong. Each individual ant has terrible senses, but when acting together, they can be difficult to hide from.

However, I’m alone. How am I supposed to survive when I could trip over a napping dragon?

Ridiculous!

I’ll make improving my eyesight a priority and I won’t stop until I can spot a cockroach twitch through five metres of solid stone. Okay, I’ve been hiding here for about half an hour now. With my points spent there’s no longer any reason to delay.

Take courage, Anthony, advance forth and explore!

Very carefully, I scrape at the dirt I collapsed to enclose myself. Eventually, I clear a narrow opening to the tunnel I was born in and slightly poke my antennae through.

It feels clear. No smells or any detectable vibrations. Here goes nothing. Moving quickly now, I widen the opening and squeeze myself through. Turning on the spot, there’s nothing in either direction. The tunnel stretches into darkness, curving slightly at the edge of my vision.

The right path is where the beast ate my brethren. I’d rather not go that way since there are definitely threats in that direction, which leaves me with only one choice: go left.

Now to initiate the next phase of my plan.

Slowly, since coordinating my six legs is still tricky, I begin to walk towards the wall, then up the wall and onto the roof until finally, I’m hanging upside down, gripping the roof fiercely with my tiny claws.

Success! By hugging the roof and moving upside down, combined with my new Stealth skill, I may have a greater chance of remaining undetected and passing unseen.

Muahahaha!

It could just be the blood rushing to my head, but suddenly I feel more confident than before. Onward, Anthony!

Despite my newfound burning spirit, I move cautiously down the tunnel. Using my antennae and front legs helps in looking for solid footholds before gripping hard with my feet. This takes a fair bit of concentration, so progress is relatively slow, but I’m okay with that. Every moment that passes without being attacked feels like a small victory to me.

Seeing slightly better, I can make a little more sense of some of the details from before. All around the tunnel, twisting and branching like vines, are glowing blue lines, like veins running through the rock. Some thicker, some thinner, some so slender they almost can’t be seen, splitting and reforming endlessly in a random pattern.

Every few minutes, a pulse flows through the lines, momentarily brightening the entire tunnel. It feels eerily as if the tunnel were alive, and for some reason, the light is comforting, almost energising.

Just another thing to learn in order to understand life in this place.

Illuminated by the glow of the tunnel, I can see my carapace has begun to harden and turn black. Recalling memories from my ant keeping hobby, newborn ants have a soft, white exoskeleton which gradually hardens and gains colour. Seems like I was huddling in the wall longer than I thought.

After an hour of cautious movement and following the tunnel around a curve, the tunnel walls fall away into a tremendous cavern.

This is huge! You could fit a few sports fields in here, surely?

What’s more, fluttering vibrations and a myriad of scents assault my antennae all at once.

Monsters!