Chapter 30: Time To Evolve
On the seventh floor of the new zombie blood ant nest, Ethan silently sat on his throne. Its design was primitive, completely made out of dirt.
Still, due to its ample size, he found it comfortable. Clearly, Eris had meticulously considered every last bit of detail to cater to his comfort.
Placing his right elbow on the armrest, he rested the side of his head on top of his fist. His left foot was placed on the seat of his throne while the other dangled freely.
"The ant colony has begun to stabilize." He said, his voice barely audible.
It had been a day since he last interacted with Eris. Giving away a few high-rank blood stones eventually became beneficial for him. All of the zombie blood ants returned to their peak and were able to work more efficiently.
As per his instructions, nearly four hundred zombie blood ants were dispatched at once to gather food. Spreading far in all directions, they were easily able to avoid going towards the forest or the ravine.
In no time, they created a small network and discovered several small caves and a hill. Because of this, the zombies were able to catch many small prey such as fawns, bats, and rodents.
While their sizes may have been small, thanks to their ideal environments, they managed to catch sufficient ’food’.
"Now that I think about it, Eris did a good job at dividing the floors." He closed his eyes, thinking.
The current zombie blood ant colony consisted of seven different floors. The first floor—entrance—was heavily guarded with nearly a hundred zombies all the time.
The second floor was a resting area for the ants. The third floor was a command center, used to convey important missions, commands, or announcements.
The fourth floor was a storage area where all the gathered food was collected safely. The fifth floor was reserved for future use, to become the safe environment for the eggs that would hatch into new workers for Ethan.
The sixth floor was the dwelling of Eris, spacious and comfortable. The seventh and the last floor, naturally, belonged to their king—Ethan.
Opening his eyes, Ethan’s eyes landed on the two blood ants before him. These were the same ants that the system had alerted him about.
With everyone residing on different floors, Ethan too needed to have a form of communication. Thus, under the pretense of choosing personal servants and guards, he chose these two ants.
This way, he could watch and nurture them as their latent potential awakens.
"One of you," he called out, standing up from his seat. "Go inform Eris that I’ll now be entering seclusion to evolve."
***
"C-Captain, we’ve secured an escape route!" A masked subordinate gasped anxiously.
He was holding onto his severed left arm, blood pouring out of his wounds nonstop, trailing down his robe and the floor.
The other subordinates were in a worse condition. Some of them had already died a cruel death. While others barely clung to their lives.
Jake, on the other hand, was gasping heavily. With every uneven breath, a hoarse grunt escaped his lungs.
Traces of fresh blood could be seen on his face, tracing down his skin.
His young and resilient body was full of wounds, scratches, and missing bits of his flesh.
"This damned snake..." He grinned, revealing his blood-coated teeth. "It has become way stronger than before..."
An extremely weak yellow energy crackled near his eyes.
"C-Captain!" His subordinate desperately called out once again.
A few moments ago, two of Jake’s subordinates had sensed the white serpent approaching them with great speed.
Naturally, the whole group was alerted, considering whether to run away or risk fighting head-on. However, Jake’s battle-thirsty nature couldn’t let this chance slip by.
"We’ll fight it, of course!" He said, channeling lightning through his fists as he excitedly waited to face the serpent once again.
Years after his unfortunate defeat, he was being offered the chance of fighting his biggest regret. How could Jake let that chance pass?
From his memory, the white serpent was mid-sized, specializing in blood-type attacks. It was crafty by nature and often used the terrain to its advantage if given enough time to familiarize itself with it.
But now, years had passed. Jake had grown extraordinarily strong. Now, he even had a group of competent subordinates!
What he failed to understand was that he wasn’t the only one growing in silence.
At a distance, a small glimpse of its scales came into Jake’s sight. Instantly, his pupils shrank to the size of a needle.
Its size had grown exponentially! Previously, its height barely reached six meters.
Now? The serpent was clearly more than twenty meters long!
Although Jake couldn’t know its exact height, he could tell that it had grown several times in size.
"Captain, we should retreat!"
"Yes, Captain, your safety is the most important to us."
"Please, Captain, just this once!"
For a moment, he hesitated. "Should I truly risk it?"
But then, he heard his heart beating fast. His hand traced its way to his chest as he felt his heart’s excitement.
"Right, I live to fight."
Ignoring all the concerned voices of his subordinates, he let go of his restraints on his body. To not affect others, most awakaners often restrained their powers.
But at this moment, a bright light enveloped Jake’s body. Crackling into the air like lightning, his robes began to tatter under its might.
His short yellow hair remained still, a faint blue hue emerging at the end of his hair.
Storm General.
A C-rank class that he awakened, one specialized for fights. Being able to channel and control lightning, he was someone who fought stronger opponents vigorously.
Yet, merely moments into the battle...
He was left gravely injured.
The serpent, on the other hand, hadn’t even started fighting seriously.