Chương 17: Colony (4)

[Mana Manipulation lvl 6 → Mana Manipulation lvl 7] [Mana Manipulation lvl 7 → Mana Manipulation lvl 8] For a moment, he stared at the floating blade. Then, he reached out and grabbed it, carefully running a finger along the edge. It wasn't close to sharp enough to split his skin at such a light touch, but Rowan thought it would've easily cut him before he'd gained so many points in toughness. And if the blade before him had some power behind it…

he closed his eyes and imagined it severing the legs or stabbing into the eyes of ants. But after a few more seconds of playing around with his newly formed weapon, he let it dissipate. It took a constant stream of energy to maintain, and while his mana was mostly topped off, he didn't want to waste—Rowan stopped. The blade before him was still there. It hadn't dissolved into the air the moment he relinquished control over it.

He watched in fascination as the blade crumbled at the edges, eroding until there was nothing left. But it had lasted. He'd counted nearly thirty seconds before it had finally faded away. Rowan couldn't help but be a little giddy at these new developments. How could he not? These would change everything! If his chains were occupied or he lost his mace, he could use a blade of mana.

And since they didn't disappear immediately, he could throw or launch them without having to worry about keeping up a constant stream of energy to the projectile. Rubbing his head, he leaned back, staring up at the cave ceiling. Creating a single blade had significantly drained his mental energy, but that didn't keep the smile from his lips. And, hopefully, with all the levels he'd received in the skill, it would get easier to make more solid items from his mana.

He wanted to go out and test his new abilities immediately, but his muscles and mind alike ached. He'd find time for that later. Now, however, he would continue resting. — Rowan strode through the stone tunnels, finally able to walk without protest from his legs. He was almost out of water. His food would last a bit longer, but it too would soon run out. The tunnels were barren, though, with only small patches of moss lining the wall.

He didn't really care about the lack of moss, since he could illuminate his own path, but what was worrying was how few insects he'd seen. He'd encountered only a single worker ant since he'd set out, and he had killed it immediately. But he still needed to defeat four more enemies before he got his next set out rations. The fight against the ant had been interesting, as he finally got to test out his new creations of mana.

He'd made just a single, small blade, but it had done wonderfully, slicing through the insect with impunity. Still, the ant had only been level 2, so Rowan had no idea how effective his mana constructs—that was what he'd decided to call them—would be against more powerful ants or even the ironclad behemoth that he'd just barely escaped from. So he had to continue his search, wandering aimlessly and praying he would encounter something. And, finally, he did. But it wasn't what he expected.

As he turned a corner, he froze, staring at the wall. Where there should've been moss, there were… fungi? They didn't look like anything he'd seen before. Wide and flat, the blood-red mold covered several feet of the wall, like disks layered on top of each other. And even more unnerving were the pulsating veins extending out from the spores. Stepping away from the wall, Rowan saw that the fungi seemed to be competing with the moss for territory and space. This text was taken from Royal Road.

Help the author by reading the original version there. And the disgusting mold was winning. Most of the moss on the wall was brown, dead, and what little was left fighting looked sickly. Raising his mace, Rowan advanced carefully down the tunnel. Every once in a while, he would encounter more small patches of mold or moss adorning the walls. With his weapon directly before his eyes, he took a good look at it for the first time in a while.

It was battered and worn, the once shining metal dulled and covered in a thin layer of dried ichor and blood. Several of the spikes were snapped at the tip or broken off entirely from being forced into and ripped out of chitin time and time again. But still, it held. It endured it all. And Rowan would do the same. He continued his advance through the tunnels, stopping only when he heard chittering far ahead. After a few moments, he caught a glimpse of a group of three soldier ants.

And, a minute later, he encountered two more, barely avoiding notice. Then, finally, he found a lone soldier. But as he moved to face it, he noticed something—it was already injured. Not letting it deter him, Rowan concentrated, condensing a small blade of mana before himself. It was still draining, but by now, he could do it in just a few seconds.

Once his blade was ready, he did something he'd learned against the worker he'd fought before: he launched the projectile with [Mana Manipulation], shooting it forward towards the ant's eye. At the last moment, however, the soldier noticed him, jerking its head aside. The blade missed, scraping against and sliding off the insect's armor. The injured ant moved to counterattack, but stumbled. Its legs were already bound by mana-infused chains. But Rowan didn't strike with his mace or command his chains to tighten.

Against an already injured ant, it was the perfect time to test his new mana weapons against an enemy that actually had some durability to it. Not giving up, he put all of his focus into manipulating the blade, launching it towards the creature's weak point between its head and thorax. Preoccupied by the chains tangled around its legs, the ant didn't even notice the mana construct until it was already buried in its flesh. As it thrashed about, Rowan clenched his teeth and held the blade still.

He couldn't stop the mana from moving entirely, but it was enough that with each jerking motion, the insect only opened the wound wider. Every once in a while, he fed it a stream of mana, sending it through the air and compressing it into the already existing blade. Once the ant realized what was happening and stopped thrashing, he withdrew the bloodied construct, directing it towards a new target: the creature's leg.

The leg in question was already sticking out at an awkward angle, steel links forcing it to bend sideways. As he moved the blade through the air, Rowan felt his mind straining. He couldn't keep it up for much longer. It wasn't the mana needed to maintain the blade; that was fine. No, it was the mental energy needed to finely control and manipulate the projectile. But he pushed further, and just as he lost control of the mana construct, a severed leg fell to the ground.

After a moment spent regrouping and mentally recovering, he moved closer to the ant and struck down with his mace. At the same time, the chains wrapped around the insect's legs constricted, causing the creature to collapse. At that point, the fight was already lost. And though the insect struggled valiantly, it was only a few blows later that it finally fell. [You have slain Soldier Ant - Level 5] And as he was once more alone in the caves, Rowan got a chance to think.

And the first thing that came to mind was why the ant was injured. Because so far, the only other creatures he'd seen were ants, and they didn't attack one another—excluding the ironclad ant trampling its smaller counterparts. So, unless two ants from the same colony had suddenly decided to fight, there was something else at play here. He just didn't know what. Rowan kept moving, and the further he got, the more soldiers he saw patrolling around.

And with the sheer quantity of them, he was bound to be noticed eventually. And he was. A trio of soldiers spotted him and tried to attack him, but he'd immediately fled. He'd escaped his pursuers, and now he stood in a small tunnel, utterly still as he watched a soldier ant in the distance. His next target. And at his feet was the body of a soldier. A soldier that he hadn't killed. Around him, the walls had no moss, only the eerie, bloodlike fungi. This was how most of the tunnels he'd passed through had been.

The deeper he delved into the caverns, the more the caves were dominated by the mold until, eventually, it was all that remained. Even more terrifying were the number of injured ants about. Sometimes, he'd stumble across one that was already dead, like the one at his feet. He'd already found and ended two more, meaning the insect before him was the last one before he would finally get his rations. His water.

The thought of the life-saving liquid nearly pushed him beyond his self-control, and, grabbing his waterskin, he brought it to his lips. Still, he managed to stop after consuming half of what remained. Which, honestly, wasn't much. He moved forward, but, halfway there, a gutteral, inhuman scream shook the air. Turning, he found the tunnel to his left led into a much larger cavern, and within it, the ants were warring.