Aaron eyed the ant for a moment as it dug through the old camp. It was very thorough, sniffing around and giving particular attention to any spot where they or their belongings had been.

  After its short investigation, it seemed to activate a Skill that puffed something into their air, and then continued to follow their trail.

  It was too… organized. Eerily so, and while it wasn’t strong, the little ant gave him the creeps.

  But a single ant wasn’t worth changing directions over. He needed to keep going and see what its buddies were like.

  Gliding through the jungle, he continued down the path they had previously walked, figuring that if there was one ant following it, there were probably more.

  There was another thought playing on his mind. Ahead, there were three clearly defined D-grade beast territories. But there hadn’t been behind them. At least not from what they had seen.

  Sure, there were a few somewhat strong beats, like the huge toad and owlbear, but they wouldn’t have stood a chance against the D-grades. And so what was stopping them from expanding their territories in this direction?

  Aaron got a sinking feeling as he felt like he already knew the answer.

  It didn’t take long before he spotted more drones. Like the first one, they were mostly marching along the tracks he and his group had left. But not mindlessly. It was a careful investigation. They were stopping to sniff about, antennae twitching all the while. They shoved their faces into things and sifted through what the group had left behind.

  Again, it was the methodical nature of them that gave him the creeps. He even spotted one of the drones investigating a tree he remembered peeing on, and then turned back to the group and continued its careful march down the path.

  I have a feeling there’s no escaping these little guys. Not for long, at least.

  But Aaron didn’t turn back. Not yet, at least. He still lacked information on the little guys and continued in the direction they were swarming from.

  And soon, what had been a trickle of ants turned into a wave. Thick lines, three or four abreast, filled the jungle corridors beneath the massive trees, looking like rivers of ants scuttling along.

  Furthermore, it wasn’t just drones he spotted. Formic Soldiers were dotted about the place, as if on sentry duty. And they were not just ten to twenty levels higher than the drones, but had hard, prickly shells and mean, sharp-looking mandibles.

  Still, he decided to travel further. His spirit link with his body was starting to weaken, but he still had some distance left in him.

  By this point, he had already traveled further than the cave he met Marko and Zach in, and the further he went, the more the landscape began to change.

  It was obvious that these ants weren’t simple beasts. Trees, even massive ones, had been felled, and land cleared. Paths weaved through the barren land like roads, carrying hundreds, maybe thousands of the industrial little guys, and beyond it all, he spotted a mound.

  Armored and winged ants guarded the peak of the mound, and they looked even meaner than the soldiers, and some were even at the peak of E-grade.

  But that wasn’t the worst of it. He could feel something far worse. Something within the mound, likely burrowed beneath the earth. It was strong and certainly D-grade.

  I’m guessing the queen is in there.

  This was all the evidence he needed. Facing off against the ants was a bad idea, and their territory seemed to stretch on in all directions. If they attempted to go around them, they would be forced to leave the cover of the jungle and march across the cleared lands of the ants.

  Yeah, I have a feeling that isn’t going to work.

  Even if individually, the ants weren't as strong as the other D-grades, there were thousands of them. And there was no guarantee that they weren’t as strong as the other D-grades, after all, from what he could see, their territory was by far the largest.

  He started heading back to his body, but paused when he noticed a giant lizard facing off against an ant. He floated towards the fight, wanting to see what would happen. Calling it a fight was a stretch because the lizard had 40 levels on the ant, but they were still having a bit of a standoff, because even with the level difference, the ant clearly made the lizard nervous.

  After a few seconds, the lizard finally dashed forward, and after a brief, one-sided struggle, the ant was dead. However, when it died, it released a burst of mana into the air, which rapidly traveled back through the jungle. It moved too quickly for Aaron to track, but it was obvious that it was heading back to the main ant force.

  He flew back in the direction it had gone for a bit until he saw a group of ants rapidly moving toward where the one had died. There were dozens of drones and a half dozen soldiers this time. Aaron was tempted to watch the fight because even with the numbers advantage, he still thought the lizard had good odds, given its level, but instead, he grimaced and turned away. He didn’t have time to sit around watching like this.

  Shaking his head, he glided back through the jungle and flew straight into his body, animating it and coming to life in an instant.

  “He’s back!” Marko exclaimed, and Treg and the others gathered around, feverish for news.

  Panting, Aaron slowed himself down and then explained what he had seen.

  “Giant ants? Troubling,” Marko scratched his chin. “Their levels are low… but if there really are that many.”

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  “No, no, no,” Treg whined. “This is no good! Thousands? I just want to be out of this damnable jungle already!”

  “I know,” Aaron said. “But let’s calm down and think this through.”

  “Agreed,” Marko nodded. “If we’re calm, I’m sure we can work this out.”

  Leaves rustled, and a moment later, Zach dropped down beside them. “I’ve been scouting the area a little. I think we might be able to cut between the D-grade territories if we’re careful. If I’m not mistaken, there is some kind of no-man’s land between each territory. There are no marks there, no corpses or bones, et cetera. Leaving me to believe they stay clear of those areas.”

  “Hmm, perhaps,” Aaron murmured.

  He honestly didn’t like the idea. Sounded riskier than just taking the wolves on. If either the simian or the wendigo spotted them or sensed them, death was highly probable.

  But he also didn’t want to just go ordering people around. He decided to help these people, not dictate to them. If he demanded that they go through the wolves, he had a strong feeling that they would do it. After all, without him, they wouldn’t have survived this situation.

  But he didn’t want to do it like that.

  “I know that sounds safer, but it’s also riskier,” he said. “We might be able to sneak by, but if we don’t, we’ll have not one but two D-grades on us with the ant army coming from behind. I can’t beat the Reaver, and honestly, I’m even more terrified of the wendigo, so I don’t want to risk running into either of them. But I know we can beat the wolves. The D-grades won’t enter each other’s territory, so we’ll only have to deal with them, and if we take them out, we’ll be home free.”

  “I dunno…” said Zach, clearly not quite buying into it.

  “Absolutely not!” exclaimed Treg. “You want to get my people killed!”

  “I don’t,” said Aaron. “But mate, if we try anything else, and it goes wrong, all of us are going to die. If we get caught between three forces, we’re dead. If we try to fight our way through the ants, we’re dead. If we challenge the Reaver, we’re dead. If we challenge the Wendigo, we’re dead. The only way everyone survives without being in much danger is if we get lucky, and I don’t like relying on luck.”

  “And I don’t like relying on an overconfident human I just met a few days ago,” countered Treg. “You say you can beat the D-grade wolf, but what if you’re wrong? We’re just as dead as if we took any of the other paths, but in this case, there’s no chance we survive. I’d trust luck over a stranger’s confidence any day.”

  “Dude, you’ve seen me fight,” said Aaron. “You saw me survive the Reaver.”

  “Survive, yes,” said Treg. “But I don’t know how. Maybe you had some ultimate escape item. You’re strong, but the difference between an E grade and a D grade isn’t something you can overcome so easily.”

  “I can do it,” said Aaron.

  “So you say,” said Treg.

  Aaron was stone-faced in his frustration. He had a really bad feeling about trying to squeeze between two of the D grades. They had already tried it before with the reaver and ended up almost dead. There was a possibility that Aaron could hold it off while the others ran by, but he would most certainly die doing that, and he knew that the weaker goblins couldn’t move quickly enough to outrun the reaver once it killed him.

  And as for the wendigo… Aaron didn’t even want to try it. It was the kind of monster that Yendal had warned about. One of the very few that could exploit his only true weakness. He had no idea what was in store if he went that route, and in the worst-case scenario, he would die instantly and wouldn’t be able to protect the others at all.

  It was only the wolves that he felt confident against, but he needed the goblins on this side if he wanted a chance. He felt certain he could beat the D-grade alpha, but only if the others occupied the weaker wolves, and Marko and Zach weren’t strong enough to do that on their own.

  But he couldn’t think of a way to convince Treg. As frustrating as it was, Treg had a point. They had only known each other for a few days, and Aaron was a level 48 claiming he could defeat a D-grade. Even if he had done some impressive things in the past, gambling an entire tribe on Aaron’s claims was extreme. If Aaron were in Treg’s position, he might feel the same way.

  But this wasn’t the time for empathy. The ants were constantly getting closer, and the longer they waited, the less time they would have to prepare for battle. He hadn’t wanted to order people around, but it looked like he didn’t have a choice. He took a moment to swap out the Titles displayed on his namecard so that they showed his Blessings, then spoke.

  “Treg,” he said sternly. “I am not making empty claims. I am the holder of the True Blessing of the Martial God herself. I have the Greater Blessing of the God of Cooking and Gluttony. I survived the Shadow Trials as a level one. As a level 46, I placed in the Shadow Trials Hall of Fame. I am not just some guy talking big. I can beat the Alpha wolf. I can get us out of this jungle. But I can’t do it without you. I need you and your people. I can’t guarantee that everyone will survive, but I can guarantee that most of us will make it, and that’s not something I can say about any of the other paths. We are going to fight the wolves, and we are going to win. Understand?”

  As Aaron spoke, something odd happened. The moment he invoked Yendal’s title, something in the air seemed to shift. The air became heavier, and his words seemed to become louder and carry more weight. The effect was increased when he mentioned Oozagh’s title, and it carried through the rest of his speech. The originally defiant goblin shrank back, and Aaron noticed more than a bit of fear in his eyes.

  Treg hesitated, glancing first at Aaron, then back at the other goblins. Then, he gulped. Then, he nodded.

  “Good,” said Aaron. “Everyone, get ready to move.”

  Aaron turned and walked away from the group, not sure what else to do. As he did, he heard Marko mutter behind him.

  “Damn… That was cool as fuck.”

  Aaron felt a little embarrassed, but at the same time, he was glad it had worked. He was also curious as to exactly what had happened. It didn’t take long for him to figure it out. The description of his Blessing from Yendal called him a herald. By invoking her name, he was invoking the power contained within her Blessing as well, which allowed the others to catch a glimpse of exactly who was backing him. Invoking Oozagh’s title had a similar effect, though somewhat lesser, as it was a Greater Blessing instead of a True Blessing.

  Still, it was good to know he had that kind of power. He didn’t expect to go around announcing himself as Yendal’s chosen, but the fact that he could make his presence and identity seem more powerful so that others would take him more seriously was good. He could see a few situations where such an ability might be useful.

  He waited by a tree, using [ Soul Vortex ] to keep an eye on their surroundings until a minute or so later when Zach and Marko arrived. He noticed that they were both a little more nervous than they had been before.

  “We’re all ready,” said Marko.

  “Good,” said Aaron. “Let’s get moving.”

  “Do you have a plan for beating the wolves?” asked Zach as they started walking.

  “Nothing specific,” said Aaron, shaking his head. “But I have a few ideas. We can discuss as we walk.”

  “Sounds good,” replied Zach. “I’ll go grab Treg then.”

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