It was damp and humid. Humans would find breathing almost impossible in this place. The heavy scent of vinegar lingered in the air. A weak shriek rang through the air along with the sharp crunch of carapace fracturing. In one of the deepest tunnels, a lone black figure moved.
Surrounding him was over twenty Worker Ants all of which chattered aloud but trembled. Their antennas were frantically waving as if they wanted to make peace. So of them, even lowered their bodies to appear more subservient.
Yet the trail of ant blood that flowed like a river beneath their feet said it all. The man before them listened to nothing, spared nothing and left nothing. Like a calamity that walked, it butchered everything it ca across with no reason or rhy.
But they had no choice. They were ordered to delay the invader, be it their honor or death sentence, there was nothing else that mattered.
KREEEE!!! KREEEE!! KREEEE!!!
Steeling their will, the ants made their move. Only he moved faster. In an instant, the 'river' below them suddenly sprouted long needle-like spikes that nailed them in place. The pain was indescribable. They all twisted their bodies. Yet none of them could even move an inch.
Pierced all over, even their heads were not allowed to even turn. In horror they watched the black demon co closer. It approached one of their brood. Without rcy ripping the exoskeleton of a Worker while she was still alive. And then.
And then—it fed.
Roots erupted, tearing the Ant's core apart. Like a beast it gorged itself in the most primal manner. It only stopped not because it was full, but because there was nothing left.
It was a being, they never knew existed. A warrior made of tal without weakness nor flesh. And they antagonized it by mistake. Whatever brought this predator onto their colony was their biggest blunder. And now they were close to the brink of extinction because of it.
All of the ants skewered in place, felt a will gaze behind their eyes. It was the will of their queen. The greatest honor an Ant could have was to serve her. But the Worker ants felt things they couldn't comprehend.
A weight that pressed down on their chest, it hurt and made even breathing hard. Their minds grew loud like thousands began to shout all at once. Then the presence—vanished without a trace.
In the minutes that followed, the Red ants were consud one by one, their awareness fading into silence.
***
"Elian! One is running away."
"Got it"
Even without raising his hand, one of the tallic serpents raced forward. Extending several ters it flew past the ant and then doubled back. Like an anaconda the living tal appendage bound the ant and pulled it back.
The ant tried to bury its legs to the ground, but helplessly it got pulled back gouging the ground as it was dragged back before getting executed.
"You want to eat now or later?"
"Later, please, we have been doing this for days now. I will puke if I see another Red Ant core."
"Don't be like that, you need to eat. We still haven't returned the 3 points you lost."
"Elian, no one likes it when they are constantly reminded of their mistakes."
"If you apologize, then I will stop."
"No! I did nothing wrong, why should I apologize?!"
"Sigh, Nevermind then, it's a good thing that I no longer need to eat or sleep."
"Indeed. The sheer brutality of your use aside, Living tal is inherently broken. You did well in choosing it. With your unique mindset it suits you. Be it offense, defense or support, you already surpassed the average breaker. As expected of my Weapon," Bianca bead with pride.
Elian gazed behind them as his other serpents ripped apart the corpses. It was a complicated feeling, on one hand he was really pleased with Living tal's utility. But on the other, because there was so much freedom, choosing how to use it was a hard task.
"Yeah, compared to Juggernaut and Vanguard, Living tal was the most useful. But if I went up against real powerhouses I need more trump cards."
"Elian, just for reference Soldier Ants are normally A-Ranked monsters. Each of them can take out a city block in under an hour. A party of at least 6 B-Rankers or 4 A-Rankers is necessary to take just one out",Bianca explained. "You trampled three of them a while ago using nothing but brute strength."
"Yes. But it's because I fought so many of them, I already know what to expect. I am still too weak. My way of fighting is too ssy, I need to prepare tactics for mobs, armored targets, spell casters, and enemies that cannot be killed without mana."
Hearing his worries, Bianca found herself contemplating.
"I guess that is true. As the price for Forged, you cannot use mana-based attacks. But I argue that you are not alone in that regard, many Breakers supplent for such weaknesses with equipnt or consumables."
"Ho? Can you give an example?"
"The most common is a water grenade. When fighting monsters that are made of fire, like fla elentals, using water grenades to douse them with water weakens them. Conversely, If you need a fire-based attack, simply get a fire blessing, or a weapon with fire properties."
"Is that so? That is true, maybe I have been looking at this the wrong way."
When Elian's snakes finished eating, they all returned to his back. Like good soldiers they went into standby and froze like statues. Unless commanded, they remained still—like puppets without strings. So far, they have served quite well as remote limbs and semi-autonomic lapdogs.
The only problem was they were so swollen with material that each serpent was not only twice as tall as Elian but was as thick as a tree trunk. If one added the fact that there were hundreds of them, Elian looked like he was giving a forest a piggyback ride.
"These things are unsightly. My Weapon, please give yourself an appearance worthy of admiration. Having these thick logs burst out of your back makes you look like a treant of so sort. I don't like it."
"Eh? But they are really useful. Who cares what I look like?"
Bianca fud at the boy's reply, she pouted unhappily and crossed her arms.
"My foolish weapon, appearances allows one to craft and use a person's biases to your advantage. Look like a monster and people will treat you like one. Admiration, beauty even awe, all this influence how one is perceived. You are no monster, Elian. You are a weapon. The one I have chosen."
"I guess you are right. Given how breathtaking you look, if I want to stand beside you, I must either look cool or imposing without coming across as a freak. I was never handso, so I do not understand the problems of the truly beautiful. Must be tough right, Bianca?"
"W-What? How dare you say sothing that bold with a straight face?! Didn't I tell you to keep unnecessary flattery in moderation!" Bianca shouted abruptly, her lips curled upward.
Elian tilted his head and gazed at his master. Her ears were flushed, and she pouted her cheeks in protest. Yet sohow, the boy knew that his master was pleased with the admiration he quietly lavished on her.
How cute.
Sensing his gaze, Bianca flickered and reappeared behind him. Using his army of snakes like a wall, the woman addressed him from the other side of his oversized tree like appendages.
"Hmm. There is a limit to compression. But once the Living tal separates from , I slowly lose control of it. It works for quick attacks but cannot do independent action. Maybe I should just store it in so other form?"
Elian raised his hand and detached one of his snakes, he had it moved toward his hand, like a docile animal it rested on his palm as its jaw opened and closed.
"Sothing tells you plan to do sothing crazy again."
"I was just thinking. I created Air Shotgun by compressing air, if hardened air can kill a soldier ant, what could compressed tal do? I think I'm onto sothing."
"But why? Isn't spreading them out much more efficient? You cleared my icicle blizzard using that approach. If you make them too heavy, they would be nothing but overly dense rocks."
"Exactly."
"Huh?"
Elian closed his eyes and made the tal dragon fold into itself. The process repeated many tis till it turned into a black ball the size of an orange. It looked like a matte black like carbon fiber. The color of onyx.
"So you have an onyx-colored rock. Now what?"
Elian smiled then threw the ball to the ground. A loud crash echoed, the onyx ball then sank into the floor and ripped a small hole in the passage. The rumbles deepened—the fissures split wide like a crater stomped into the earth by sothing ancient and unstoppable.
The shockwave reached Bianca and Elian—and the earth gave way. The tunnel collapsed beneath their feet, and they plumted into the dark.
"ELIAN YOU IDIOT!"
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