The Antventure Begins

85. Voluntary Beating

The effect of the Gravity Bomb is far beyond my expectations. That was only forty percent of the gland being charged! What would one hundred percent look like? I shudder to imagine. To be honest, I’m not even sure if I’d be able to control that much energy. The Gravity Bomb I just fired had almost escaped my grasp, even with my upgraded mental capacity.

Just goes to show how difficult magic is to perform in this world. With the heavy investment to upgrade my mental capacity, it isn’t necessarily going to be enough to take me all the way to the end of the magic road. In future evolutions I may need to keep pouring energy into expanding my sub-brain and increasing my Will stat.

For now, the results are certainly good enough.

[You have gained XP.]

[You have gained XP.]

The voice of Gandalf continues to echo like a chorus in my mind dozens of times, announcing the same message.

[You have reached Level 2. One Skill Point awarded.]

Even after smashing all of those of Claw Centipedes, I only gained enough experience for one Level. The penalty for defeating creatures a whole two evolutions below me has made itself known.

In the aftermath of the Gravity Bomb, an eerie silence descends. Tiny and I make our way down the tree to survey the damage. As we grow closer to the mound, several centipedes crawl out from deep within their nest, having been protected from the blast by their position below the ground level.

These guys are seriously mad. Claws snatching at the air and mandibles viciously chomping in a clear display of rage. Tiny and I are quite delighted to see them and happily hurl ourselves upon the foe, ready to do battle.

I’m especially glad to see these centipedes survive as they are perfect for training a new skill I’ve wanted to Level up for some time.

My Exo-Skeleton Defence!

This purchase was part of my effort to tank up, buffing my defense to the point I wouldn’t have to fear little beasties like these guys. There hasn’t been a good opportunity to test it and gain experience in it yet.

This handy skill doesn’t improve my carapace in any physical way. What it does do is give me insights and instincts to help make best use out of my external skeleton. I can feel the skill at work in my mind as I close in on the Claw Centipedes and deliberately allow them to strike my body. Seeing the angle of the attack, I almost subconsciously shift to present a greater slope to the enemy, blunting the impact and reducing the surface the clawed beastie can grab hold of.

Gwehehehe. Behold my skillful maneuvers!

Ouch!

Another Claw Centipede approached from the side and bit me! Damn thing. Clearly my skills need improving…

In this way I allow several of the skittering monsters to attack while I stand there and take it like an ant! I try to react as fast as I can, adjusting my position with all the speed and precision I can to reduce any damage taken.

To be honest, very little has gotten through. My Diamond Carapace and improved Toughness is showing itself to be more than capable of blunting the attacks of these monsters. My double, core boosted evolutions are in full effect now! These unevolved centipedes are simply no threat!

[Exo-Skeleton Defence has reached Level 2.]

Haha! The perfect way to improve one’s defensive skills? Taking blows from weak enemies. This is the ultimate wisdom of humanity on display, you foolish centipedes!

Four of the ugly monsters have me surrounded now, battering me on all sides as I continue to make small adjustments in my stance and posture.

[Exo-Skeleton Defence has reached Level 3.]

Bwahahaha—Wait, Tiny, nooo!

Having finished off his own opponents, my ape companion has gleefully rushed over, impressive fists crackling with blue electricity. In only a few short moments he has pounded my training centipedes into paste.

As I stand stunned and staring, Tiny turns his bat face towards me, beaming with pride.

Well done, buddy… Well done.

Tiny flaps his little bat ears and leaps into eating, scooping up handfuls of monster and cramming it into his face.

Gross.

Ok, fine then. I hunt around the mound, curiously prodding here and there to see what I can find. After searching the outside I manage to find a small, tennis ball sized lump which I cannot really describe. When I try to pick it up, I find it’s seriously heavy.

Is this the compressed remains of the Gravity Bomb? Did it really manage to squish all that dirt and Biomass into this little ball!

That is a truly terrifying level of compression. It’s like having a car crusher launched from my mouth.

Kind of a shame I can’t really eat this ball. It would appear to be a rather disgusting cocktail, three parts dirt, one part crushed centipede. There’s probably a couple of points of Biomass mashed into here. What a waste… but a stomach full of dirt wasn’t really what I had in mind for a snack

Tiny will probably eat it.

Now where were those cores?

I detected two monster cores, as well as that strange convergence of energy at the deepest recesses of this nest. I’m very keen to discover just what on Pangera that was.

Quickly activating Magic Sensing, it seems as if one of the cores has simply vanished, perhaps crushed by the Gravity Bomb. The second is deep in the mound, close to that strange energy.

Climbing over the edge, I get my first glimpse of the inside of the centipede’s home. It appears as if the outer layer of the mound covers a large hollow space on the inside. A space that extends several meters underground. These mounds contain even more space than I’d assumed! No wonder so many centipedes can fit in one of these things.

Right at the bottom of the mound, the open space converges again into a narrow hole that extends deeper still. There’s an extremely bright source of concentrated Mana down there. The energy is so thick I can visibly see it swirling in place, leaking out of the dirt and hovering like smoke in the air.

What the heck is this?

There’s also a centipede attempting to hide itself by curling its body beneath the Mana. This centipede appears to have a slight blue tinge to its carapace and is slightly smaller than the normal Claw Centipede. This must be an evolved specimen!

Attempting to hide, eh? Perhaps you were smart enough to realise you couldn’t win in a fight against something that could obliterate the nest in one hit? Thought your only chance to survive was to conceal yourself down here, eh?

Tough luck, buddy. Nobody slips past this ant!

Before the monster can discover it’s been found, I present the commercial harbour to the foe and blast it with acid!

POW!

A horrified screech can be heard. The monster writhes in a vain attempt to charge out of its hidey hole towards me in one last desperate charge.

CHOMP!

[You have defeated a Level 3 Nobiles Iuuenes Scolopendra.]

One snap of the mandibles is enough to fatally wound my smaller opponent. Weak! This is an evolved monster?

Better grab a bite.

[You have consumed a new source of Biomass: Nobiles iuuenes scolopendra. You are awarded one Biomass.]

[Basic profile of the Nobiles iuuenes scolopendra unlocked.]

[Nobiles iuuenes scolopendra: Noble Centipede Young. This evolution of the Claw Centipede is weaker than the base monster in terms of raw fighting strength, but instead gains intelligence and the ability to coordinate its more primitive brethren.]

Interesting. This evolution is like a leader caste? It appears as if the centipedes who successfully evolve into the Adult Claw Centipede have to leave the nest of their kind. They could hardly fit after all. Whereas this evolution stays in the mound and helps coordinate their fellow kind.

Also, young? That word leads me to believe there are quite a few evolutions ahead of this Noble Centipede, increasing its Cunning and becoming a more capable leader.

Interesting indeed…

I rummage through the Biomass until I manage to locate the monster core which I quickly absorb, taking my maximum Mana up to 52.

It’ll be a long road to 100.

I then start to consume the food, watching the bizarre Mana phenomenon below me. What on earth is going on down there?

By the time I finish my meal, gaining another two Biomass for my trouble, I get an answer.