A shaft of searing light slammed down from above, striking the closest ant major square in the thorax. It was already slowed from Jill’s Ice Spear spell. Its chitin shell cracked in a flash of steam and flame as the light vaporized the frost covering it. The creature shrieked, if that buzzing roar counted as a scream, and staggered sideways, steam pouring from its cracked shell.
The people around Bob gasped. Jill stood next to him, stunned. The power of Bob’s spell was shocking. She stared at him, wide-eyed. “How did you do that?”
Bob’s legs buckled from the mana drain, catching himself with his hammer he didn’t fall. A notification flashed in his vision.
NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: MANA SURGE (RANK 0)
MAGIC ANSWERS THE CALL. BUT WHEN YOU SHOUT, THE WORLD LISTENS. UNLEASH MORE THAN THE SPELL REQUIRES—MORE POWER, MORE WILL, MORE MANA. EXCESS MANA INCREASES EFFECTIVENESS AND POWER. CONSUMES UP TO +50% ADDITIONAL MANA.
Bob glared at the ant ignoring Jill. It reeled, its feet scrambling for purchase, but Bob didn’t give it the chance to recover. Gritting his teeth, he planted his hammer against the ground more firmly to steady himself, drew a shaky breath, and lifted his hand once more.
“Smite.”
A second beam answered the call.
Not as bright and overwhelming as the first, it punched through the already-damaged shell. The Ant Major convulsed. Its limbs went stiff, mandibles flaring wide, and then it collapsed in a smoking heap, dead before it hit the ground.
LEVEL 2 ANT MAJOR KILLED
EXPERIENCE GAINED
CREDITS EARNED: +45
Bob exhaled hard, staggered, and Jill caught him on the arm.
“You can get mana exhaustion if you use too much mana too fast.” Jill said as she helped steady him.
“Doesn’t matter. We have to help them.” Bob looked determined as he focused on the other ant major.
It was already in combat with Kent, who was locked in a brutal rhythm, axe swinging, dodging to the side, then slamming the flat of his blade into the ant’s side. One mistake and the ant would be able to get at him. Without someone else to distract it Kent couldn’t get at its legs.
Jill jerked him around to face her just as he was about to cast again. “You have to care!” She shouted in his face. “If you get mana exhaustion your mana regeneration goes to -30% and if you lose all your mana you’ll pass out like Tami did!”
“You’ll be no use to anyone if you're unconscious.” Jill let go of him. “We need you to lead, not solve our problems by yourself.”
Bob looked back over the fighting. He could see that most of the fighting was going fine. The only problem areas were where the ant majors overwhelmed them. Bob nodded to Jill. “Okay. I’ll watch my mana usage.”
Turning to look at Kent, Bob shouted, “Incoming Kent!” Looking back at the spell casters. “Everyone hit that major then save your mana. If another one shows up, hit that one as well.”
As Bob watched Kent’s fight he ducked under a clawed leg, and rolled away from the major as the spells hit into it. Some did better than others but the exoskeleton seemed to be able resist most of the spells’ effects.
Bob raised his hand toward the major as it turned towards Kent.
“Smite.”
The light struck with a sound like thunder wrapped in flame. The ant screeched, lurching sideways looking for its attacker. Kent took the opening. Axe met the weak spot on the neck and the blade sank deep.
Seconds later, it collapsed.
LEVEL 2 ANT MAJOR KILLED
EXPERIENCE GAINED
CREDITS EARNED: +25
Bob used his weapon to hold himself up. Jill sent someone to get a water skin and some food.
“You need to rest,” she said. “We have set up an area for the warriors to rest and take a break. Go there. Get a drink and eat something.”
Bob didn’t argue. He walked back over to the area by the Trading Post and sank against a wall, lowering himself slowly and wincing as his leg throbbed again. The water he was given was cold and clean, and the flatbread, slightly sweet, faintly spiced, tasted like actual food. A small miracle.
Bob had no idea what grain it was made from. Definitely not wheat. But it worked.
A few minutes later Kent dropped beside him with a grunt, coated in sweat and grime. He took a long pull from his water skin, then let out a satisfied exhale. “Jill send you over here also?
Bob nodded as he chewed on the food. “I felt like I was getting sent to my room for doing something bad.”
Kent smiled and shook his head. “You did. It looked like you called down God’s wrath or something.”
“Pretty sure that was the idea,” Bob muttered, managing a weak smile.
They sat in silence for a moment, both staring out at the scorched corpses of the ant majors, the remnants of the swarm, the survivors regrouping. The quiet that followed the chaos felt oddly sacred.
Then Bob turned. “Hey… you said you picked Warrior. But never said what skill you got.”
“I picked the Bolster skill in the void.” Kent looked proud. “It allows me to increase someone’s strength for a short time.”
Shock showed on Bob’s face. “I was offered that skill also. I wouldn’t have thought that classes shared skills.”
“Who knows. Maybe it is a pretty generic skill.” Kent shrugged. “I like it.” Pausing for a second Kent looked at Bob. “I also picked Taunting Roar.”
Bob sat there for a moment before he understood what that meant. “Your level 2!”
Smiling Kent nodded. “Yup. It happened mid-fight against that first major.”
“Yeah, that was difficult. Wish I had remembered my skills. It would have made that fight a lot easier.”
They both lapsed into silence as they reviewed their gains from the battle. Both wondered how long they needed to stay so Jill wouldn’t yell at them for heading back out.
Bob looked through his notifications:
SMITE RANK +1
MANA SURGE RANK +1
Not a lot of increases with this last fight. Bob was still unsure if increasing the rank of his skills did anything. He hadn’t seen a noticeable difference yet.
Bob noticed that Kent was still reading his notices as Kent's eyes moved back and forth as he read through them.
Kent had ignored his notifications during the chaos, but now, with the adrenaline fading, he finally let himself look. His eyes scanned rapidly, flicking between glowing lines only he could see.
They sat in silence until Jill came back by giving them some more food and water. Shinji and a couple of others were with her.
Shinji came over to Bob. “Not very many people have been injured and my mana is full again. Let me heal you again.”
Bob looked at him. “My leg is fine. If there are people injured, help them.”
“I have enough mana.” Shinji said, squatting down to look closer at Bob’s leg. “This may tingle.”
Soon a warm itching feeling had encompassed Bob’s leg.
Bob stretched his leg, amazed at how easily it moved. The wound was nothing more than a faded ache. He’d never really believed in miracles. But this? This felt close.
“Thanks. I feel much better.”
Shinji stood back up and gave a slight bow. Jill told them to rest a while longer before they went back out to deal with the ants. Then they went to check on some others.
Kent and Bob sat just long enough for Jill to get to another group and then they both stood and headed back to the defensive line.
Bob and Kent jogged the last few steps back to the defensive line, weapons ready, breath still ragged from their short rest. The ground was scattered with twitching ant corpses, some crushed, some burned, some cleaved clean through. The air buzzed with residual heat, smoke, and the coppery stench of insect blood.
Behind them, a few spellcasters threw off half-hearted projectiles toward the edge of the forest. As most of the ants had been killed while only a few were still coming out of the forest.
“Any more majors?” Bob asked.
“Not yet,” Kent said, scanning the treeline. “But they’re still out there. I can feel it.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
They braced. Waited. But the return of the swarm didn’t come.
The trees rustled faintly. An ant darted forward—and then stopped just shy of the clearing. Its antennae twitched wildly. Then it backed up, retreating into the brush.
Seconds passed. Then minutes.
Kent exchanged a glance with Bob. “Did we win?”
He shook his head slowly. “They stopped coming, but that’s not the same.”
Jill approached from the far side of the line, wiping grime from her brow. “It’s like they’re... holding position. Watching.”
More defenders crept forward, makeshift spears and weapons at the ready, but nothing stirred beyond the treeline. The constant sound of skittering legs, so overwhelming minutes ago, was gone. Replaced by the distant calls of birds and the soft whistle of wind through leaves.
Bob looked around, breathing heavily. “They’re not gone. They’re just done for now.”
Kent stepped forward, gripping his axe in a white knuckled grip. “Or we killed enough to make them think twice.”
“Not think,” Shinji said, walking up behind them. “React. Insects don’t retreat unless something in their instincts tells them they can’t win.”
“That... or the queen pulled them back,” Claire said quietly from beside Shinji. “If these ants have a command structure like real ones, maybe she sensed too many losses.”
“Or maybe she’s calling for something worse,” Jill muttered.
Silence followed that suggestion.
Bob’s muscles ached, his leg still throbbing with phantom pain despite the healing. But he forced himself to raise his voice, firm and steady. “Hold the line. No one leaves position. Not until we’re sure.”
Minutes passed. Then ten. Still nothing. But a new System message.
MEMORIAL OF THE FALLEN BUFF ACTIVE
- ALL STATS +10%
Seeing the message Bob exhaled. “Alright. I think with that notification the defence is over. Start rotating people out to rest. Kent—send scouts, pairs only, into the tree line. No more than twenty yards out. I want to know what is going on.”
Kent nodded and moved to talk with some of the others.
Bob turned back to the rest area. People were slumping to the ground. Not from despair but from exhaustion. They hadn’t been overrun. They were still standing. Barely. But standing.
“We’re alive,” Bob whispered it like a prayer. Not to the system. Not to the gods. Just to himself. Then louder: “We’re still here.”
The defenders didn’t cheer. But some nodded. Some smiled faintly. Some wept.
It wasn’t a victory, not exactly. But it was survival. And that, for now, was enough.
Soon the scouts came back. The ants had retreated to the rock out cropping. It was covered in ants and a couple Majors standing guard. It was as Bob had feared. There were still a lot more ants. This fight wasn’t done.
Bob gathered everyone. “The ants have retreated to their nest but as close as the nest is to the cabin I think we need to end this now before they can regroup.”
Kent stepped beside Bob, eyes narrowed. “Then we hit them. Now.”
Jill folded her arms. “We’ve already lost blood. We’re still stretched thin. Some of our low on Mana. What if more majors are in there? What if there’s something worse?”
Kent looked out at the forest, his gaze intense. “We have to hit them. If we wait, they’ll rebuild. Come at us stronger. This is the only time we’ll catch them vulnerable.”
Bob turned toward the tree line. The clearing was quiet again, deceptively so. The defenders were resting, healing, and eating. The victory, if it could be called that, was fragile.
“We don’t know how deep that nest goes,” Bob said. “We’re not prepared to go into tunnels.”
“We don’t have to go deep. We kill what’s up top. Secure the entrance.” Kent turned to look at Bob. “If nothing else, we’ll cut their numbers down for good.”
Bob hesitated. His leg still ached. His mana was barely over half. But the thought of waiting, of giving the ants time to grow again, festered in his mind like rot.
“Alright,” Bob finally said. “We take the fight to them. Surface only. No one enters the tunnels.”
Kent grinned. “Works for me.”
***
An hour later, the group approached the nest.
The ground was torn, the dirt heaped into strange mounds. Chitin glinted between shadows as ants poured from a massive tunnel entrance carved into a shallow hill. They hissed and clacked, alert and ready.
Bob raised a hand. “Casters focus on the Majors. Once they're down, help where you can.”
Kent shouted, “Let’s finish this!” and charged, letting out a roar.
The others surged behind him. With spells arcing over their heads hitting the two Majors on the surface. Bob hoped that they were the only ones that they would have to deal with.
The fight was fast and brutal. The Majors went down quickly with the castors focused on them. Without the support of majors, the remaining ants fell quickly. Bob used Smite sparingly, reserving mana. Jill's Ice Spears froze clusters in place. Claire and Shinji moved like anchors behind the line, healing and keeping everyone alive.
By the time it was over, the ground was littered with corpses. No more ants emerged.
Bob stood before the gaping mouth of the nest. Blackness stretched deep inside. The air reeked of acid, rot, and something sweet, like mold and nectar.
“We could collapse the entrance,” Jill offered, panting.
Kent shook his head. “That won’t kill them. Won’t stop them.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Bob asked.
Kent slung his axe over his shoulder. “We make torches. Build fire bombs. Smoke them out. Burn them from below.”
“What would you use to burn them?” Jürgen asked walking to look down the tunnel.
“I don’t know. What else can we do?” Kent threw his hand in the air and stomped off.
Bob knelt near the entrance, narrowing his eyes. The ground sloped subtly downhill. The tunnel was wide, maybe a meter across. “Jürgen, do you have any ideas?”
“We don’t need to burn them,” Jürgen said. “We drown them.”
Bob blinked. “Flood the nest?”
Jürgen nodded.
Bob stood and called for Kent. When Kent walked back over Jürgen and Bob explained what they wanted to do.
“Water won’t kill them all,” Kent warned.
“No,” Bob said. “But it’ll drown the lower chambers. Destroy eggs. Drench their scent trails. And if there’s a queen down there, she’ll most likely be the deepest target.”
Kent frowned, but nodded slowly. “How do we get the water here?”
The three men stood side by side, staring into the dark mouth of the ant nest.
***
It took hours.
At first, they weren’t sure it was working. Kent had organized a steady relay of water buckets and jugs passed down a human chain from the fountain at the Memorial to the rock outcropping, where they dumped everything into the gaping tunnel mouth. Bob stood near the top, watching with growing frustration as the flow vanished into darkness.
“No way this is enough to matter,” someone muttered.
Bob agreed but they kept going.
The sun had begun to dip toward the horizon when the first sign of movement came. A scatter of pebbles clinked from the edge of the tunnel mouth, and then six small ants crawled out, dazed and slow-moving. Kent and Bob dispatched them easily with a few swift blows. They left streaks of fluid and crushed carapace, but no sense of victory. It was just the warm-up act.
They resumed the water runs. Again and again. Slosh. Dump. Repeat. The water disappeared down the tunnel like it had never existed.
Then it happened.
It started as a vibration. A rhythmic pulse in the stone underfoot.
While looking down into the opening they were able to see right when another ant major rounded the bend and headed for the opening.
Not feeling up for another close up fight with it, Bob cast Smite.
The fiery light felt like it was right above them. Bob felt the air move as the light slammed down into the opening and smacked the oncoming major. The ground shook from the impact and dust rose from the opening.
When the dust cleared they could see that the major was still climbing towards the opening.
Bob worried that he had missed cast Smite again.
Once again the light rushed past to hit the major.
This time the major was down.
Bob hadn’t gotten a notification so it must still be alive but it didn’t look like it was going to be getting back up.
Kent looked down at the major. “Next time warn a guy. I thought you were targeting me.”
Shrugging. “I’ll pick a divine precision skill next time.” Bob looked over at Kent. “What do we do now?”
“Just continue with the water. It must finally be doing something.” Bob turned and helped pour the next buckets down the hole.
They didn’t have to wait long before more ants started up the tunnel entrance.
Bob shuffled back preparing his sledgehammer. “Get ready everyone. Here comes a bigger group.”
“Identify,” Kent whispered, still looking down the tunnel mouth. He had seen a large ant appear right before he moved back.
- CREATURE: ANT QUEEN
- LEVEL: ???
- STATUS: BROOD MATRIARCH
- LOOT: ???
- NOTES: CONTROLS NEST. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. MOBILITY LIMITED BY SIZE. PROTECTS BROOD AT ALL COSTS. CAUTION: MAY SUMMON REMAINING COLONY FOR DEFENSE.
Kent’s mouth went dry. “It’s the queen,” he said, stepping back. “She’s coming up the tunnel.”
Jürgen cursed under his breath. “Ready another Smite.”
Bob didn’t hesitate. He stepped back up to the tunnel and looked down.
“Smite,” he intoned, channeling the last reserve of his mana. The tunnel flashed like the inside of a furnace. A beam of divine light erupted from the sky, slamming straight into the tunnel’s mouth just as a glint of chitin appeared.
The impact shook the rocks surrounding them. Dust billowed upward in a choking cloud. When it cleared, they could see it, an enormous silhouette hunched against the tunnel wall. It still moved. Barely but it moved.
Bob staggered from the rapid mana usage. “I don’t think that killed her.”
The queen shook off the attack and emerged like a freight train built from flesh and armor. Her mandibles opened and scraped the sides of the tunnel with metallic shrieks.
Kent and Bob must have had the same thought, because the moment the monstrous head cleared the rim, they moved. No signal. No call. Just instinct.
Kent’s axe came down with a roar, aimed right between the creature’s antennae.
The blade struck, a clean hit, but instead of sinking deep, it rebounded with a jarring clunk. It left a shallow dent, nothing more.
Then Bob’s sledgehammer followed. The hammer head slammed directly onto the back of Kent’s rebounding axe driving it forward again. They couldn’t have planned it even if they’d tried.
The two axe impacts hit in perfect sequence hitting the same spot. A crack rippled out from the point of contact, webbing across the queen’s armored skull like lightning on glass.
The queen reared back, shrieking. Her massive head yanked away from the tunnel mouth, instinctively retreating.
But the damage was done. The cracks remained. The group wasn’t finished. Jill’s ice spear hit the Queen. The impact not doing anything but the area effect covered the queen in frost slowing her movements.
Soon other spells were falling and it seemed that they would overwhelm the Queen before she even fully left the tunnel.
Another ice spear hit the Queen, frosting the ground around the entrance and the Queen slipped falling back down the tunnel.
Bob and Kent stepped forward in unison, weapons raised, breath heavy, resolve like steel. Behind them, the others watched in silence, no one moved, no one spoke.
For a moment, the forest held its breath. Then the queen let out a guttural, vibrating roar that shook the earth beneath their feet.
The ground around the tunnel exploded outward, sending Bob and Kent flying.
The real fight had just begun.