The Antventure Begins

38. Rudely Interrupted

Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to fight and eat here, directly on the path the entire centipede nest takes to get to the lake.

Before my despairing eyes, another five centipedes are approaching, wriggling along in single file through the forest on their way to the lake.

When they see me, mouth full of dead centipede, they don’t even break stride and immediately charge.

Hey! Let’s take it easy fellas. Any chance we can discuss this? A peaceful resolution is always the best way forward, yes? We can agree that I have eaten those of your kind, those are the facts. But can’t we also agree that we are part of the circle of life? That all things are both predator and prey?

Didn’t think so.

Run!

I turn and fire off a quick Acid Shot, spraying the leading centipede’s hideous maw before I bolt into the forest. How the heck am I going to deal with five centipedes? I’ve only recovered about half my HP! This isn’t good, not good at all!

Any help, Gandalf?

Damn you and your incredible pipe smoking skills, you stupid wizard. I’ll say it, you’re late! Way late!

I could potentially make a break for the lake. It’s possible they wouldn’t fight me there, but being as injured as I am there isn’t any guarantee that I’d be able to outpace them.

I’ll have to fight this one out and there is no way I can fight fair.

As I run, I search frantically for something to use. And right there is a large tree with a wide trunk.

Before my opponents can gain on me, I run around to the back of the trunk, breaking their line of sight and haul myself up the tree as fast as I can.

Go, go, go, Anthony, pump those little ant legs!

Not far behind, the five centipedes arrive at the tree, the one I’d hit with acid lagging a little behind. They immediately start to climb after me.

I climb as fast as I can and out onto the thickest branch I see that’s still low to the ground. Having secured this tenuous safety, I turn to spy on the movements of my enemies.

When the centipedes see where I am they continue to charge out onto the branch, one of them crawling along the bottom of the bough and the other on the top.

Just before they reach me, I let go, throwing myself to the ground.

Landing with a thud, I push myself back up and check on their response.

Unwilling to jump after me they start to backtrack and climb down.

The centipede closest to the ground, far behind his allies, is the one I’ve hit with acid. As soon as his head is in reach I dash forward and Bite!

[You have defeated a Level 3 Claw Centipede.]

[You have gained XP.]

One down.

Now run!

As the rest of the centipedes make their way down the tree, I flee, trying to obscure my retreating form by running through foliage and behind trees.

When I find a particularly dense area of vegetation, I dive in and remain perfectly still. My best chance now is to let my Advanced Stealth do some work.

The rest of the centipedes aren’t far behind, but they haven’t been able to see where I went. Perhaps their eyesight is as bad as mine was when I hatched? I hope so!

The four of them move past me in a group, their own antennae patting about on the ground and claws snapping angrily.

A centipede has drawn within five metres of me, but I don’t dare move. I barely breathe. If they spot me, I’ll get ripped to shreds. Please centipedes… stay stupid!

Without any sign of me they split up and scout around. One scurries off to my left, another to my right and one heads back towards the tree. One centipede remains here, scratching around to get my scent or some sign of my passage.

In a one-on-one battle I don’t fear these monsters at all!

The clueless creature continues to search the area, turning this way and that as it attempts to locate that flighty ant.

Once it turns its back to me, I start to creep out of my hiding place.

Moving closer.

And closer.

And then I strike! Leaping forward, I deliver a ferocious Bite to the tail. I have to remove the chance of getting stung with this damn thing!

The centipede reacts slowly and I deliver a second Bite, shattering the carapace and rendering it useless.

[Chomp has reached Level 3.]

Holding onto the tail I drag the centipede toward me, keeping away from its claws to deliver another Bite behind the head, finishing it off.

[You have defeated a Level 1 Claw Centipede.]

[You have gained XP.]

Still not Level five? Argh!

At least I’ve knocked it from five centipedes to three!

Desperate to regenerate my Health I start eating as quickly as I can. Rather than worrying about being weighed down with Biomass, my precipitously low HP is a far greater concern.

Thankfully I’m not interrupted before finishing off the meal.

[You have gained one Biomass.]

Checking my stats, Health has recovered to sixteen. Better than nothing!

With the centipedes split up and their numbers diminishing my confidence is growing. If possible, I want to finish them all off. I might gain enough XP to reach Level five and finally evolve!

I’ve managed to regenerate possibly two Acid Shots, increasing my options. You want to try and hunt me? You foolish centipedes… you will all become my prey!

Chuckling to myself I head towards the left of my previous hiding place. It isn’t long before I encounter the monster who headed that way, returning after a fruitless search.

Looking for me, pal? I was here all along!

As soon as the beast gains sight of me it hisses, clacking its claws in rage before it charges, directly into my b-zone!

BAM!

Acid to the face!

The creature releases a horrible shriek of pain but I won’t let it off and pounce directly into its claws to deliver the finishing bites.

[You have defeated a Level 4 Claw Centipede.]

[You have gained XP.]

The voice of Gandalf is still ringing in my head when I pause for a moment.

Did I see somethi—

Oh heck! In a very un-antlike move, I hurl myself to the side and roll as a vicious tail spike plunges through the air where I’d just been. Another of the centipedes returned while I tangled with my previous foe!

With its surprise attack having failed though, there is no hope for this monster. Regaining my feet I charge directly forward, not giving it a chance to position its tail for another strike. Leveraging my larger mandibles I go directly for the head, chomping down twice to finish it off.

[You have defeated a Level 2 Claw Centipede.]

[You have gained XP.]

[You have reached Level 5. One Skill Point awarded.]

[You have reached the Level cap. Evolution menu available.]

Oh yessss! It’s finally here!

Once again, I do the best happy dance an ant can manage. Mind you, with six legs I can really get some moves going.

Calm down, Anthony! Get your head back in the game, you’re not in the clear yet. Celebrate once you make it into a safe nest and not before. This is the way of the ant!

There’s no sign of the final centipede. Not wanting to waste the resource I chow down on the monster.

[You have gained one Biomass.]

All this fighting has really greased my digestive process. Now that I have four Biomass, I really want one more so I can improve my Acid Gland to +5. I’ll have to go back to the tree I jumped out of, hopefully the centipede I defeated there is still available.

I sneak through the forest back to the large tree. There still isn’t any sign of the last surviving centipede, but the remains of the one I defeated are still here.

Thank goodness!

[You have gained one Biomass.]

Let me just say this. If I never have to eat one of these disgusting bugs again, I’ll be a happy ant. After stuffing myself with the horrible things multiple times, I am completely sick of them.

I don’t even bother going back to look for the last two bodies. I’m completely stuffed anyway. It looks like that last centipede has successfully made an escape. Lucky thing!

I move back to the lake, making sure to stay on the titan-croc side of the water and scout around to locate my old hiding chamber. I’m so excited to evolve I’m practically shaking! I’m pumped for this. It really feels amazing to have finally achieved this goal.

When I find my old hidey-hole, I widen the opening and expand the chamber a little bit. It’s possible I may be larger after I’ve evolved and I don’t want to squish myself to death underground during the process.

Renovations complete, I hop down into the chamber and seal the entrance.

Time to make some serious changes.