The weather was terrible and gloomy. It had been raining for hours, and most people and even creatures hid within their dwellings to shelter from the cold curtain of water. And yet, Aenon was in a good mood. He was finally back on the road, leaving behind the intolerable mess of civilization. He was so relieved that he hummed a soft tune as he ran along the unpaved path towards the Fire Ant dungeon. To keep himself dry—and to practice his Air Manipulation—he maintained a thin air membrane all around him as he went. His most recent SP expenditure into Mana Manipulation made it almost effortless to maintain it. The mana cost remained the same, but his cast time was near instantaneous.

As Aenon ran, he looked at his upgraded gloves fondly. They would help him in covering one more glaring weakness he had. Armored enemies, like the Fire Ants, were tough to deal with using slicing weapons. But they were more susceptible to blunt force attacks. Something he would be able to capitalize on using his unarmed combat skill while using his fists as bludgeoning weapons. Moreover, he would no longer be left weaponless when he threw his daggers to take out enemies at range.

The wolves too were excited that their Alpha finally had proper claws.

As Aenon approached the dungeon, he reduced his speed to a steady jog. He had asked a team to keep a close eye on the anthill. But no one was able to get too close since the Fire Ants were in a frenzy after their queen's death. From the reports he had gathered, they had sealed off all but one entrance. But that entrance was guarded by the former Queen's Guard now, and thus it was impossible for any low-level player to get close for a better recon mission. At least they had managed to construct a bridge over the river, making it easier to get to the new dungeon.

As Aenon got within a kilometer—0.6 miles—of the structure, he detected a lot of activity underground using his Sovereign's Eye. He immediately stopped and got down on one knee, placing both his palms to ground. He felt the subtle vibrations of the ants digging in a rush. He took a mental picture of the underground using all the souls he detected. From the looks of it, the bugs were retreating away from their former home. He wasn't sure if they had a new queen or not, but from what he knew about hive creatures like ants and bees, they could raise a new queen when the original one died or got too old.

From the books he read, and the current situation, he realized why hive monsters were so feared across the Multiverse. They were atrociously difficult to eliminate, and if left unchecked, they had the potential to overrun entire planets. The situation was both a boon and a curse to Aenon. It would no doubt help him in getting a respectable kill count for his Class evolution, provided the ants were high enough in level. But the extermination would be tedious and repetitive even if one egg survived.

He stood up and drew his daggers, formulating a plan in his head. He had three main goals to accomplish. First, he needed to practice and develop more Spells. Second, he needed to kill as many higher leveled opponents as possible. And lastly, he needed to eradicate the Fire Ants on the outside before he tackled the dungeon itself. The overflowing state of the dungeon was a cause of concern for a lot of people.

His original plan was to use the dungeon for farming, but after learning how big a threat Fire Ants were, he had no choice but to destroy the dungeon—something he didn't know was even possible. Apparently, it was a standard practice for dungeons of this type. Since although dungeons granted a lot of resources and levels, insect dungeons grew exponentially and were more trouble than they were worth. As for the process of destroying one, he simply had to find the hidden dungeon node and break it. A mission the previous raid group were trying to tackle before Aenon stepped in and upended their plans.

Aenon checked his resources and their regen rates. He had close to 16700 HP and 20700 MP. And if he factored in the regen rates of about 330 HP/min and 460 MP/min, he had a truly monstrous resource pool. But the problem was the number of enemies. This would be more of a marathon than a sprint. Since although he had taken a goblin horde earlier, he had managed to use a lot of traps and guerilla tactics to succeed. And even then, he was almost dead on his feet by the end of it.

His earlier methods though would not work on the Fire Ants since they had impressive defensive and offensive capabilities. Not to mention their ridiculous penchant to blow themselves up. The problem was harder since this time it was not an assassination mission, but an extermination instead. He could just charge in and start tackling them one by one, but if even one of them escaped with a queen egg the problem would repeat again. He needed a way to draw them all to him. As a plan coalesced in his mind, he smiled and headed for the guarded entrance to the anthill.

The view was very different from what he had seen last. There were no longer any ants milling about. Instead, all activity was restricted underground while the queen's guard stood at the new entrance. Aenon observed the place from a distance and only saw one raiding party leaving the anthill. When they got back after an hour or so, the guards inspected them thoroughly before letting them in. He waited another two hours but found no further movement on the outside. So Aenon entered the Shadow Realm and snuck closer with care.

This time though, he studied the ability more closely. Right when activated set bonus, he sensed a very faint fluctuation in the space wisps around him. Along with the addition of something from the armor. An almost imperceptible stream of unknown mana wisps was drawn from the leather of his armor. But the feeling he got from these was very different.

While every other wisp type required him to control them directly, this unknown mana felt…familiar. It responded to his call effortlessly.

"Guess this is void mana," Aenon mused to himself.

But he had to ignore it for now. He was right next to the entrance; and he noticed several small fires that were burning at strategic locations. The flames didn't allow for any shadow to exist. Which meant his real-world shadow would stand out like a sore thumb if he snuck closer.

This was a problem on two fronts. One, he would need another way to sneak in. Which wasn't entirely impossible, since he could use Light Manipulation and go invisible. But the bigger concern was that the ants seemed to have figured out his ability, which put him on guard. Therefore, he waited in anticipation to see what they would do at night. And exactly as predicted, the moment the sun set, the fire ants created more fires around their entrance before sealing the entrance shut with their bodies. They only left a tiny hole which Aenon assumed was for air to go in.

Aenon backtracked to a spot where he felt safer and sat down to think. He doubted the ants would fall for another diversion like last time. He could try using his invisibility to get in, but that would put a strain on his mana regeneration. And if he couldn't complete his mission using stealth alone, he would be trapped behind enemy lines and would have to fight his way out. Not to mention the ants could decide to just lock him down in a fight while a smaller group escaped with the hypothetical queen egg.

Aenon pulled up his complete status to check his progress. The only update since last time was the addition of 10 all stats bonus due to his latest Title, and the equipped cooking Skill. As for his Spells, he didn't really make any progress there. Interestingly, none of his spells had crossed intermediate proficiency, telling him how hard it was to upgrade those. From his studies he had learned that anything beyond intermediate proficiency required some kind of enlightenment to breakthrough. But the books were kind of vague about how to achieve it.

Aenon/Ashryn Fenrast

Race: Ascended Human (M)

Age: 13 years

Level 32

Class: Void Stalker (Level 27)

Subclass: Abyssal Warden (Level 36)

HP: 16692

HP Regen: 333.6/min

MP: 20732

MP Regen: 463/min

Stats - Multiplier: 128 (Locked)

STR: 1669

CON: 1668

DEX: 1673

INT: 2073

WIL: 2315

PER: 1783

Titles (1747 points)

Unfettered Soul (+75 all), Alpha (+20 all), Domain Walker (Withheld), Bulwark (+5 all), Speed Runner (+10 all), Hoarder (+5 all), Landlord 2 (+25 all), Planetary Forerunner (+30 all), Ancient Killer (+20 all), Untouchable 2 (+40 all), Archivist (+5 all), Royal Assassin (+30 all), Corruption Cleanser (+5 all)

Lone Wolf (+2% Title stats)

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Prodigious Mage (+10% Title stats)

Nature's Attendant (+200 all stats when within 50 meters of sapling)

Skills (Available SP: 56)

Weapons (Unarmed, Daggers, Traps) | Savant

Stealth and Tracking (Woods, Urban) | Savant

Mana Manipulation | Savant

Cooking | Adept

Internalized Skills

Identify

Mana Sense

Soul Authority – Sovereign's Eye, Soul Beacon, Soul Purge, Soul Syphon (Unfettered Soul)

System's Grace

Considering his recent understanding of mana types, he rearranged the interface to better reflect what Spells he had based on categories. This way he could better plan his fighting style. He placed Overcharge and his Magical Barrier in the arcane category since they didn't really have an associated wisp type, and the compound spells by themselves in a separate row. He also wanted to list his Kingdom of Darkness spell, but it wasn't really his to begin with. His cloak gave him the ability and he didn't know if it fell under the Dark or Void category. Same for his shadow meld ability, which was the set bonus of his abyssal armor. He did want to study those more closely and gain those spells himself. That way he wouldn't be limited by his equipment.

Order Category Spells

Emergence – None

Light – Light Manipulation (Intermediate) | Cost: 200 + 150 /min

Life – None

Water – Water Manipulation (Intermediate) | Cost: 300 + 200/min

Earth – Earth Manipulation (Intermediate) | Cost: 300 + 200/min

Chaos Category Spells

Void – None

Dark – None

Death – None

Fire – Fire Manipulation (Basic) | Cost: 300 + 200/min

Air – Air Manipulation (Intermediate) | Cost: 300 + 200/min

Neutral Category Spells

Space – Physical Barrier (Minor) | Cost: 400 + 200/min

Time – None

Gravity – Gravity Well (Basic) | Cost: 200 + 400/min, Feather Foot (Intermediate) | Cost: 400 + 500/min

Energy – None

Arcane – Magical Barrier (Basic) | Cost: 400 + 200/min

Hybrid Spells

Blooming Earth (EM Proficiency + 1) | Overcharge + Earth Manipulation | Cost: 1500/min

Ice Manipulation (Lesser of AM and WM) | Air Manipulation + Water Manipulation | Cost: 600 + 400/min

Gravity Bomb (GW Proficiency +1) | Overcharge + Gravity Well | Cost: 1400/min

He still didn't have any spells in seven of the categories, and to be honest he wasn't sure if he ever would. But he at least wanted to try to get some basic spells in those categories using his Abyssal Warden class. Especially a healing spell. He had seen Velastra's control of fire, and he would surely lose to her in terms of raw power. But he wanted to make up for it in terms of pure versatility.

He also went over his gear list to see if everything was in order.

Gear

Main Hand: Void Stalker's Wrath (Unique/Growth, Soulbound)

Off Hand: Void Stalker's Gluttony (Unique/Growth, Soulbound)

Head: Gaze of the Abyss (Legendary)

Chest: Abyssal Shirt (Epic)

Legs: Abyssal Pants (Epic)

Hands: Reinforced Abyssal Gloves (Ancient)

Feet: Abyssal Boots (Epic)

Cloak: Veil of the Abyss (Mythic)

Trinkets: Wristband (Common)

Armor Set Effect

Shadow Meld | Mana cost: Variable | Allows the ability to enter the Shadow Realm, leaving the plane of existence. User's shadow will still appear in the real world. Can traverse freely within the parallel dimension, but the user will be forced out if the real-world shadow is attacked. Mana is consumed when traversing areas under light, and the expenditure is based on light intensity.

Armor Abilities

Abyssal Gaze | Mana cost: 200/sec | Anyone making eye contact with the wielder will have their WIL further reduced by 25% and if their WIL is below the wielder's, it inflicts fear and paralysis debuff for up to 15 seconds.

Kingdom of Darkness | Mana cost: 3000 | Create absolute darkness in a 100-foot radius around the caster, dispelling all light and light wisps. The effect lasts for 10 minutes under a direct light source and 30 minutes in low light conditions. No light Spell can be used while inside the area of effect (AoE).

Satisfied, he did a thorough survey of the surrounding areas to see if he could find any side entrances the ants might have missed. But they hadn't, so he moved on to figuring out other ways to break in. If he could sneak in some other way, it would make his next move so much easier. Unfortunately, he came up completely empty, thus making him return to the sole entrance. The mana expense for Shadow Meld was higher due to the scattered fires, therefore he used Light Manipulation to make himself invisible while his cloak did the job of suppressing his mana signature.

Even so, he proceeded with extreme caution as he made his way towards the gigantic Queen's Guard. He stood right next to the biggest of the bunch and waited. There wasn't enough room for him to squeeze through, but that wasn't the point of this test run. He wanted to see if they would notice his presence while under this Spell, and fortunately they did not. He spent the next hour walking back and forth in front of them but got no reaction whatsoever.

Satisfied, he returned to his earlier hiding spot and settled down for the night. He had a busy day tomorrow, so he wanted to rest as much as possible. He drifted off to sleep but kept his Sovereign's Eye active. When he awoke the next morning, he didn't find any change in his environment. He quickly relieved himself and ate some System rations in preparation for his covert assault.

He activated his invisibility and went for the entrance with his daggers on the ready. The anticipation for what came next excited him, making his heartbeat faster for a moment before he forced it to calm down. He tread softly towards the entrance while looking out for any patrols but found none. The thought that this was a trap came to mind, but he shook his head to dispel the errant feeling. He had contingency plans if things went wrong, and if nothing else he was confident in his ability to escape.

As he approached his quarry, he cast Identify on the biggest ant. It had gained a few levels since he saw it last.

<Fire Ant Queen's Guard | Level 59>

Aenon also noticed severe scarring on their backs, possibly from his Gravity Bomb from earlier, but they were imposing, nonetheless. He scanned the surroundings using his Mana Sense one last time and was glad he did. There were hidden traps two steps in, which was a new threat he had to be prepared for. He became more cautious as he finally entered his enemy's lair.

The inside was the same as before, albeit with fewer soul signatures milling about. The traps too got more frequent the deeper he went, and the way forward was unclear since he noticed a lot of false trails of fire wisps. After backtracking from a dead end for the tenth time, Aenon began to get frustrated.

The ingenuity of these things far surpassed his expectations yet again, and he was at a loss on how to navigate this maze in a timely manner. He could still backtrack, but that would defeat the whole purpose of coming this far. Therefore, he pressed on while making a map of the foreign labyrinth.

It took him eight hours to finally create a rudimentary map that showed the overall layout of the place. It was like trying to solve a three-dimensional puzzle, as he navigated the tunnels one by one. But finally, he sensed the Fire Ants clustered together at two separate locations. Based on the activity he guessed one of them was the tunneling group, while the other must have been guarding the remaining eggs.

He quickly navigated his way towards the smaller gathering—dodging a dozen or so traps in the last fifty feet of his destination—and what he found was disconcerting. The tunnel he came through opened into a large artificially dug cavern. And the place was a mess of littered body parts from a wide range of creatures. But the most prevalent corpse type were the ants themselves. And the reason soon became apparent.

There were a few dozen Soldiers spread out in a circle around a much smaller group of Workers who were busy tending to a Juvenile Fire Ant in the center. The Juvenile in question was scarfing down huge quantities of bodies the other ants delivered one by one. The Workers were stumbling around in exhaustion but continued to push themselves. And should one of them fall, the other Workers tore it apart in seconds and continued the food train without pause. The Soldiers on the other hand just kept a close watch for any outside threats.

Aenon finally figured that no eggs had survived his last raid. But the colony was trying to raise one of the Juveniles into their new Queen. A process that no doubt required very large quantities of food. Aenon observed the scene and planned of his next move. The colony was reduced to just a fraction of its former size, but the ants were desperately attempting to finish something that would be a new headache. This also explained why the group had split into two. Should an enemy manage to take down this paltry group, the other one could escape and start their colony anew. This was in essence a decoy.

Aenon had to reevaluate his plan. He originally wanted to hold any remaining egg hostage, forcing the ants to converge on him. But if they could raise a queen by this method, he was sure the other tunneling group would hasten their escape, rather than facing him. By all accounts, it was a good plan designed to counter most raiding parties. Any raid group would need two essential components to successfully accomplish this mission. High damage dealers to quickly cull one group of ants, and effective scouts to locate the escaping group. But the moment one of the groups was eliminated, the Queen's Guard would lock them in combat. Thus, allowing the other splintered group to escape.

But unfortunately for the Fire Ants, Aenon wasn't in a party. He was a solo player with exceptional tracking and stealth. He could eliminate one group and stealth his way to the other without the Queen's Guard catching up to him. But he needed to be fast and precise to succeed. By the look of things, Aenon had less than two days before the other group got outside his sensing range. The same time frame the Juvenile needed to transform into a queen.

Aenon backed up a few tunnels over and started preparing for his assault. He prepared traps of his own and even hijacked many of the enemy's traps using his knowledge of spell forms. It took him hours, but he converted the tunnels around the chamber into a deadly minefield of earth spike traps and other more unstable versions of his Gravity Bomb Spell. Once satisfied, he made a beeline for the tunneling group and caught up to them in about thirty minutes. He further placed a dozen or so traps for any stragglers who would try to follow in his footsteps.

With preparations done, he stood a few dozen feet behind the oblivious Workers who were desperately digging ahead, unaware of the predator stalking them.

"Well, let's begin phase one, shall we?" Aenon said loudly as he dropped his stealth and unleashed his Aura with a vicious smile on his mask.

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