Chapter 8 – Ants (1)

Chapter 8 – Ants (1)

Rowan leaped forward, bringing the mace down on the ant’s head. The insect only reached up to his knees, forcing him to bend his back into the strike.

At the same time as he attacked, the ant lunged. Eyes widening in panic, Rowan pulled his leg back, barely avoiding the creature’s clacking mandibles. The sudden movement caused his aim to shift, and the mace only struck the side of the insect’s thorax.

The steel of the mace broke through the ant’s thick chitin, but it wasn’t enough to cause any real damage.

As the creature lunged once more, Rowan stumbled back, putting distance between them. The ant was durable, but he was sure he could wear it down, especially with strikes to its head.

But it was also surprisingly quick. Not quite as fast as he was, but still, he would’ve expected an ant of that size to be slow and lumbering. He shook his head. It must’ve been the System’s work.

Still, he had a natural range advantage that was only extended by the mace. If he could just fend the insect off, keeping it at range, he’d—hopefully—be able to take the ant down before it could even get a strike in on him.

He was drawn out of his thoughts as the ant closed in at an unnatural pace. In just a few seconds, it was upon him, barely affected by the shallow wound on its side.

Gritting his teeth, Rowan swung the mace again, focusing less on doing serious damage to the creature and more on keeping it from reaching him. And, thankfully, the ant didn’t make any attempts to dodge, just charging at him with relentless aggression.

Slowly, the damage began to add up.

As Rowan stepped away from yet another lunge from the ant, he sensed an opportunity and truly committed to a strike. He’d meant to land a blow directly atop the insect’s head, but his aim was slightly off, striking its eye instead.

He let out a grunt, driving the head of the mace into the ant’s multi-faceted eye, stabbing into and crushing it. Yellow ichor spewed forth as he pulled the mace back out of the creature’s destroyed eye.

If anything, the strike was more effective than it would’ve been if he’d struck the ant where he’d intended to. The insect kept fighting, but it was a losing battle. One strike at a time, Rowan brought the creature down.

Then, one last time, he brought the mace down on its head.

[You have slain Worker Ant – Level 3]

Rowan let out a shuddering breath. The fight hadn’t been that strenuous, at least not physically. Still, the constant fear that the massive insect might have been able to latch onto his leg had taken a toll on his mind.

He was a bit surprised that he’d gotten a notification from killing the ant, but knowing that he would get a notification would be invaluable if he wasn’t sure his opponent was dead.

After resting for a few moments, he forced himself to keep moving. He still hadn’t checked several of the side tunnels attaching to the cavern. As he made his way to the first of the tunnels, he took a moment to think.

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He’d gained two skills from his class. [Bind] and [Mana Manipulation]. Rowan had no idea what [Bind] was, but he assumed it had something to do with the chains wrapped around him.

As for the other skill, it seemed pretty straightforward. Except that he didn’t even know what mana was.