Chapter 36 – Angry Ant.

“You’re so shiny gleam… way more than me…”

“ ( •̀ ᴗ •́ ) “

Rusty was a bit jealous after witnessing the new form of his companion. With a flash of light, Gleam’s transformation was complete. She emerged from the glow, her once pale white exoskeleton was now covered in shimmering silver metal. Her antennae sparkled with magical energy, and her eyes gleamed with newfound power.

Gleam had decided to become a Lesser Silvery Magical Gleaming Ant and had just undergone the transformation. It was a rather quick change that only took no longer than a minute. Her body seemed like it was made from metal now but it was some type of biological armor that didn’t constrain her movements. Rusty couldn’t help but marvel at her shiny form that reflected the light from the crystals around them.

Gleam danced around, her movements causing light to reflect off her new shiny exoskeleton. The gleaming light cast shimmering reflections across the walls of their crystal cave lair, producing a dazzling display that filled the space with an enchanting glow. Rusty watched with admiration as Gleam’s radiant presence illuminated their surroundings, feeling slightly jealous of the sheen she could produce but his body couldn’t.

“The silver suits you well.”

Rusty exclaimed while noting that his partner ant still had a somewhat white appearance, with a silvery undertone. Once there was no light, she wouldn’t be this radiant. The other changes to her body weren’t that extensive, she didn’t really look different and her size didn’t increase either. After it was all done, he was able to glance through her status screen that had been enhanced.

Rusty observed that Gleam had only evolved into a regular F-rank monster, while he had advanced to an F-plus rank on his second evolution. However, Rusty recalled that he had been imbued with a strange force in the form of the Hero’s and Demon King’s energies, which resulted in his transformation into a Twilight variant. He wasn’t entirely certain what this meant, but it seemed plausible that Gleam might need to evolve one more time than him to reach E-rank.

Gleam had acquired a few new skills, one of which concerned her new body. This skill not only increased her defenses but also seemed to enhance her mana. Rusty surmised that this explained why her MP was higher than his when he evolved into the corroded twilight armor form. But it could also be because of the higher Wisdom stat, which seemingly affected the MP count.

That was about it for the upgrades and now with more mana and an even better attacking spell which Gleam was excited to use. Rusty was of the same mind, testing out new abilities outside of battle was the key to victory so he made a proposition.

“Gleam, how about you try your new spell and other spells, and see how your new form can handle the loss of MP?”

“ \( •̀ ᗜ •́ )/ “

“Yeah, that’s the spirit! How about you aim it at that sturdy wall there?”

With an excited nod, Gleam focused her magical energy, summoning forth a shimmering arrow of mana. The arrow took shape, crackling with magical power as it hovered in front of her. Rusty watched intently, curious to see the full extent of Gleam’s newfound spell. Already from the onset, this spell seemed to be more sizable than the other.

The mana bolt spell was more similar in size to a crossbow bolt but also lacked a fully condensed form. It wasn’t fully straight and wavered slightly in the air. In contrast, the mana arrow shone with a steady brilliance, its form straight and true. With a flick of her antennae, Gleam launched the arrow toward the designated wall and the difference in penetrative power was obvious.

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The mana arrow soared through the air, leaving behind a trail of sparkling energy as it raced toward its target. Upon impact, the arrow struck the wall with a resounding crack, embedding itself deeply into the stone. Rusty was impressed by the spell’s power and it was probably just as powerful as a power thrust attack from a spear.

“That was amazing, Gleam! Your new spell seems really potent!”

“ (•̀ᴗ•́ )و “

“But… it does take a while longer to cast than that mana bolt spell, how about we do a few more tests first?”

“ (╹ -╹) “

Gleam seemed a bit surprised by the change in Rusty’s demeanor but quickly agreed to some further tests. The ant just like the metal armor could recover their MP instantly from having a mana crystal crushed. Thus they could quickly figure out the advantages and disadvantages of the newly gained ability. Rusty and Gleam spent the next few hours experimenting with Gleam’s new spells and came to a few conclusions.

The casting time of the previous attacking spell, mana bolt had decreased. While it had become more powerful and still utilized the same amount of MP as before, its cost was half that of the mana arrow spell. However, the damage output was also lowered to about half of the mana arrow spell. It appeared that the new spell was better suited for stronger foes and served as a finishing blow, while the old one could now serve as a more frequent ability, as she would no longer pass out after even using it several times.

As they continued their experiments, Rusty noticed that Gleam’s physical attacks had also improved slightly. Her new exoskeleton seemed to enhance her durability and also sharpen her mandibles to an extent. She couldn’t match his bronze body that was true metal but she was probably just as robust as monsters primed for defense. It was clear that Gleam was following the path of a spellcaster, a role typically associated with being a glass cannon – potent in offense but fragile in defense. However, with her new silver body, she could likely withstand a few powerful hits before sustaining serious injury.

“ (•̀ᴗ•́ )و “

“What’s that? You want to test out your new spells on the remaining beetle monsters?”