Chapter 18: The Ant Nest.
I could barely see. The only sources of light that we have is a torch, and my [Firelight] spell. That foul smell still remained, and Bloodlust could be sensed from far away.
"Man... This place is huge..! Are you sure there aren't any treasures here? We could dig the ground for something..."
Lare says as he looks around. The roof wasn't visible, due to the lack of light. This place is probably bigger than we thought it was. even a dragon could fly here without any problems.
"Hey look! What's that?"
"Treasure..? No... It looks like a hole... A shortcut perhaps? It's big enough for us to crawl in. Rintan, what do you think?"
Liand asks. Rintan was inspecting a strange trail on the ground before looking at the hole.
"Hmmm... It seems like there's an ant nest nearby. There're multiple smaller tunnels around here, and this is probably one of them."
Ant nest? Is it Giant Ants? They're medium-levelled monsters that lives inside caves like this, it's common for them to make tunnels, and they're not that dangerous, at least for someone like me.
"Ants? Do we have to be extra careful now..? What if the Void Trilobite wiped them out already?"
"Sure, it must've eaten some of them by now. But we still have to be careful, there're also other monsters that lives in caves."
"Well. Whatever they are... We will eliminate them!"
"Yeah. I'm well suited with fighting inside places like this, so there shouldn't be much to worry about."
The only thing we should be careful with, is the Void Trilobite... We still don't know much about it after all.
We continued walking for a while, eventually, stopping for a rest. It was dangerous to go without knowing what time it was. Sleep and Food were important, especially when you're underground.
"Uhh... I'm hungry... Why didn't we bring food with us..?"
"Sigh... I'm sorry.... Well. Even if you did bring food, I usually eat luxurious meals so I won't even know how to eat the same food that you guys eat."
"We already know about that..."
Luckily, I had potatoes in my bag. It was needed for the [Drone Prop Attack] and [Heaven's Model] combination, but it wouldn't be too bad if I shared it with everyone.
Later, Crowler and Den cooked the potatoes. Looks like they actually know how to cook, it doesn't taste bad, but it's not that good either.
While eating, I write down on paper.
"Rintan, what was that system that you've mentioned at the back of our house?"
"System? I don't know. Only Sushi knows about it. We don't share the same memories after all."
"I see. Can you switch back to Sushi then? I think I know something about that system."
"Switch back..? Are you sure? Sushi isn't that powerful, you know? If we were attacked while Sushi is still awake, I'd definitely get hurt. There's also a chance that she'll attack everyone. You know that she only remembers sleeping a few days ago, right?"
"Well. I can talk to her. And besides, if we got attacked, we have the Hero on our team. She also used a lot of spells the first time I met her, so she's not really defenseless."
"Fine... But you only have 10 minutes, okay?"
"Okay."
Suddenly, Rintan falls down. Is she asleep? Has Sushi taken over? Her eyes spring open as she gets up, not even using her arms. She looks at us without expression. Hands raised to the sides. Is this really the same person I've met that night?
"A group of assassins? Heh. Even a hundred of you guys won't stand a chance against me..!"
This doesn't look too good. I sense an attack coming. It hits the wall behind me as I dodge it reflectively. Isn't it rude to attack first without even listening to us? But I guess that's a good reaction for her, waking up without knowing the situation.
"What the?! Rintan?! What are you guys doing?!"
"Step back! Has she betrayed us?!"
Everyone didn't hear our conversation? I wouldn't want to start a huge fight. I need to end this quickly.
"Vampire... You brought your friends along huh? I guess-"
I use [Rushing Dropkick]. She is thrown onto a nearby wall as I break through her barrier.
"Cough cough..!! Using the same move-"
I show her a paper that I quickly wrote on.
"Calm down, Sushi Sand. We're Rintan's allies."
"H-huh..?! You..? Ms. Not-Vampire..? Oh... I-I'm sorry then!!"
"Don't worry. I've expected this."
After a quick explanation to everyone, we all calmed down and went back to what we were doing.
"W-well then..! Why did you bring me out? For Rintan to trust you... You must be good allies huh... You guys are the Heroes right?"
"Yes. I've took you out from Rintan to ask you something. We only have little time left, so try not to waste more time."
"I-I see... Okay then! What do you want to ask?"
She adapts quickly to the situation huh... I wonder what she thinks about Rintan... Her second self? Or an enemy that took over her body? Seems like she doesn't have full control of her own physical form.
"What was that system that you've mentioned before?"
"System? Oh. I thought you forgot about it..! Well... If you really want to know... Then please tell Rintan to give more time for me to use this body!"
"Sure. I need more time to talk to you anyways."
"R-really..? Okay so... Ahem ahem. The system is a special ability that only I can use. It allows me to see things better. And know things with perfect detail! For example. I can see..... Wow..! You have a ton of abilities, Ms. Not-Vampire!"
My abilities? Well. I do have many, too many actually, I don't even know most of them. And also..... That System that she's talking about... Isn't that the same type of System used in videogames back in the old world?!!
"Can you tell more about my abilities? Even I don't know too much about them."
"Sure! Most people don't! It's no surprise that you don't know as well. Now.... First. I'll tell you all of the spells that you have, then, all of your skills, and lastly, your special abilities!"
Finally... I can see all of my abilities. I thought that after getting reincarnated, I would have the same system used in most of the fantasy videogames back in the old world...... Also, why is she the one to have it anyways?
"Okay so...
Blood Magic Series:
[Blood Hardening]: Allows for blood to harden around the user. Hardened Blood can take on any physical form, as long as it has the required blood.
[Blood Banishment]: Takes away nearby Blood from their sources, and moves them into one place.
[Blood Conversion]: Converts blood into Magic Energy.
[Blood Storm]: Gathers blood and turns it into energy for the body. Enhances the user overall, and puts physical strength into it's maximum output.
[Blood Reformation]: Changes blood temperature. Can turn blood into 3,000 Degrees Celsius, or absolute 0 Degrees Celsius.
Also... How much time do we have left?"
"4 minutes. Don't worry, I'll tell Rintan to give you more time later."
I already knew some of those Blood Magic spells, but the others... I haven't even heard of them before! I would've probably find out about them someday, but learning about them now...... That system really is useful huh.
"Thanks..! Now for your spells, other than Blood Magic..!
Spatial Magic Series:
[Spatial Lift]: Transports space, from one place to another. Lack of knowledge can lead to errors.
[Spatial Investigation]: Further expands vision out of its physical form. It is an option to choose what the user can see, and not see.
[Spatial Dimension]: Creates a pocket dimension. The user can choose what their dimension contains, if they have the required magic energy."
Sushi falls to the floor. Looks like her time is up. She stands back up again. This time, with the same face that Rintan had.
I wanted to know more about my abilities, but wasting more time in this place wouldn't be good. I guess I'll go to sleep for now.
"Have you gotten what you needed? It looks like none of you guys have been attacked. That's good, but how did you calm her down?"
"It's simple. She's just not an enemy."
After a long sleep, we woke up and continued to walk down this place. Seems like Rintan knows where to go. She's not even using light, she's just walking ahead of us. I wonder what spells she's using right now, is it night vision? Or [Spatial Investigation]?
Hm? What's this?! I can sense more bloodlust..! A large group of ants are heading towards us.
"Looks like they've found us. Not to worry, they're just weak little ants. They might be slightly bigger than the average ones you find on the ground, but their strength is still the same."
"Prepare your weapons!"
"Ants...? I wouldn't like to see a giant ant..."
The ants appear in front us. They're huge..!! No way that these are only slightly bigger than the average ants..! Isn't she just understating it?
"Krrr..!! Kkhhh!!"
"Hisss!!!"
"Hrrr hrrr!!"
I flip Divine Intervention and swing it at them. They're surprisingly weak. Still... Their size isn't just slightly bigger than the normal ants...
"Fireball!"
"Lare, Liand, help Crowler!"
"Bang bang bang!!"
Looks like we can fight without any problems. Rintan isn't doing anything though. She's sitting on the ground, just looking at the fight. Well, It's understandable that it would be kind of dangerous to use too much power in this place.
"Take that, overgrown ants!!"
"Pow pow pow!!"
"Flame Turbine!!"
The ants are getting taken down. Crowler uses his sword, one handed, as Liand and Lare supports him. Rayan shoots the ants with the Desert Eagle. And Den swings his sword at them. While Feradon casts fire magic spells.
After a while, the ants are finally defeated. It's a victory!
"Woohoo..!!"
"Yay..!"
"... Well... Those ants really are just bigger ants huh..."
"They were too weak... I guess they're just food for the Void Trilobite then..."
Hmmm... The ants may have been weak, but they would definitely be a huge problem if there was only one of us, against all of them. It's great to be in huge group huh.
The mine had more holes and smaller tunnels the further we go. Looks like we're heading into the ant's nests. Also, how did Rintan get past without destroying all of them?
We come to a stop as we find a larger hole. I can't sense Bloodlust coming from the tunnel. Maybe it's a shortcut?
"Where does this lead to, Rintan?"
"Hmmm... It wasn't here before... It's probably just another ant tunnel. Perhaps leading to their nest..?"
"Why don't we head inside then?"
"Great idea. It's a good way to get ambushed by the ants, who will attack from every direction."
We head down the hole. Looks like everyone's confident... The ants earlier were too weak anyways.
Light comes from the end of the tunnel. As we reach the exit, a massive cave is found, along with a huge army of ants. Looks the only way to escape is by destroying this entire place..!
"Hoh..!!? Intruders have arrived in our home!?! Get them!!!"
One of them says. I didn't even know that ants could talk. All of the giant ants rushes towards us, but we immediately crush them before they even get near.
"Four-Leaf Clover Trick!"
A Four-Leaf Clover shoots from underneath Rintan's fingertip.
"Uggkaa--!!"
The talking ant gets hit in the face by the flying Four-Leaf Clover. Wait, why does Rintan even have this as an attack?
The ants suddenly stop attacking. Did we take down their queen? The talking ant stands up, holding it's face which was hit. We stand over it, ready to attack.
"Is this the queen ant? Looks like a Demi-human..!"
"No, isn't it a Demi-beast?"
"It's not even a demon! Look! It's an ant queen!"
The talking ant tries crawling away, but we stop it from doing so, by surrounding it.
"Uuu..!!! What are you d-doing humans!!? I promise you that I'm a normal human too!!"
What an obvious lie. But it looks like a rare creature. Normally, ants can't talk, even the giant ones.
"Hmmm... Should we capture it? Rare monsters are expensive. We need more resources for the trip back to your kingdom too."
"No no. I've already carried a lot of resources on the way here. No need for carrying large items. I'll cut it down quickly."
"NOO!! WAIIT!!"
As Rintan swings her sword, the talking ant barely dodges, severing it's foot in the process.
"KAAAHHH!!! Ow ow ow!!! Noo!! Please stop it!!"
It kind of feels terrible to eliminate a giant screaming insect...
"Hmmm... Perhaps we should burn it?"
"I don't want to burn down something that looks like a human. Without it's antennae, it would look like an actual one too."
Now that I look at it, the talking ant does look like a normal human, but with ant antennae.
"Wait!! Humans!!! I'm a human!! Don't kill me for god's sake!!"
"Huh? It knows about god too? What god does it worship? Maybe one that we don't know about?"
"No no no..!! Please!! Let me live..!!"
The talking ant kneels down in front of us, it looks like it's trying to beg for mercy.
"P-please...!? Don't kill me please..?!"
What a terrible actor. I swing Divine Intervention at it, but it dodges quickly.
"Please!!! Why are you all so heartless!??"
"Well. You did just attack us suddenly."
"Wait wait! I have a deal..!! Do you accept?"
"What is it?"
"Accept first, to find out about the deal..!!"
"Why should I? But fine. If you do anything bad, I'll cut you down."
"Alright! The deal is that you won't do anything, while we attack you!"
"I'll cut you down then-"
"NOO!!! That's not the deal actually..! I'm just joking haha...! The true deal is that we won't attack you, and you won't attack us. Peace, alright?!"
"Sounds like a good deal, sure."
Rintan and the talking ant shakes hands. Looks like we have a deal.
"Heheheh...!! Come then... We'll need you to give us one of your treasures, in order for the deal to work!"
"Do we have time to waste, Rintan?"
"No we don't. But theres a possibility that these ants have a shortcut back to the other side."
"I see. Well then. Lead the way, talking ant."
"How rude! I'm the ant queen, you know!!?"
The talking ant leads us further down the ant nest. There's a lot of ants everywhere. But at least there's light now. I was tired of walking around in the dark.
What is this creature though? It's not a human... It only has ant antennae... Without it, you'd think it's a human...
"So? What do you want? We can't just give you our things."
"No no no..! We only need a few sacrifices... Not blood sacrifices or anything by the way!"
"Sacrifices? You want us to give you something that we have?"
"Yes, correct..! Did you know that a strange monster has showed up outside our home? It'd be bad if we let it roam around any longer. That's why we'll need something to defeat it with!"
The Void Trilobite? I guess we were right about them getting eaten by it. Wait, how will the ants even use weapons?
"Our weapons? Nope. We can't give you our weapons. I have 3 coins here, if you want."
"Who would take that?! Not even a beggar would!"
"Huh..? How do you know about beggars? Are there ants like that here too..? Or maybe the people on surface?"
"Our tunnels are connected to the surface of course. We even hunt down the animals up there!"
That explains the light in this place. Also, does that mean that they've hunted down a few people already? But I can't blame them, it's just nature after all.
The talking ant leads us to a large cave area with a pile of corpses and skeletons covering the entire floor. It smells really bad. Are these all the defenseless creatures that they've killed?
No...... I can see something familiar... It's a dismembered body wearing a uniform I think I've seen before...
"Ta-daaa!! Welcome! To our trophy collection!! Those worthy, are left here! Those unworthy have even their bones eaten to nothing!!"
"Hah... I guess this will be more reason to kill you guys..."
"We're animals too, you know?!! Even you guys kill animals! What about the poor cows, pigs, and chickens?!"
I point at the familiar body. It looks like the talking ant understands.
"Oh, that? Have you met them before? I think his name was... Uhh... Ummm...... Don't worry don't worry!! We never forget the names of worthy opponents!!"
The talking ant thinks for a while, until it finally gets an idea.
"Ah! That's right! His name was, General Litharin Fanine!! The strongest one we've had so far! His soldiers gave us his name. Right after we've defeated him! Haaaahahaaahaha!!!"
General Litharin...? He's dead...?
That face is too damaged to be recognized anymore. But to be defeated like this... A mere ant shouldn't even be capable of doing that..!