33 ‘The Exterminator’
Ten minutes passed and the group had killed many more Ants to the point of clogging up the entire path with Ant carcasses and yet, the Ant horde was not reducing.
Their Ant Queen kept clacking her large princess and with the organization, the Ants gained after that, it was clear it was giving them instructions.
"This is never-ending," Vincel said as he kicked an Ant away.
He would have gone in for the kill after that but a Pincer stabbed him in the stomach and the Ant used it to push him back.
[-6 HP]
[HP: 68/75]
"Nggh"
With a groan of pain mixed with struggle, Vincel dug his feet into the ground to push back against the Ant before he stabbed and killed it.
[One Arcane Shard recovered]
Vincel pulled the pincer out of his stomach but with how many Ants were already clamoring to get closer and stab him, he could only place his left hand over the wound while he continued to brandish his Dagger.
"Hngh, It's the Ant Queen" Yvette said.
With the Ants so close to her, she was now using her dart more like a dagger. She had a nasty cut to her cheek and blood was streaming down the side of her face.
She also had bleeding pincer cuts on her thighs but she wasn't letting that stop her from fighting.
Vincel heard her and he gave her as much attention as he could without leaving himself open to attack.
"What?" he asked her.
"The Ant Queen is 'birthing' reinforcements. If we don't take her down, this will never end." Yvette explained.
Vincel's eyes quickly scanned around and he found Delphyne and Alessia. It wasn't an easy task because they had killed so many Ants that there were heaps not only blocking Vincel's line of sight to them but also making it hard for the two ladies to fight.
Delphyne and Alessia were not far from the Ant Queen but they were too closed in with so many Ants around to even try to turn their weapon at the monstrosity that was birthing them.
'Okay, so we need to take the Ant Queen down. But I won't survive that fight as I am now.
Activate Arcane Augmentation!'
[Arcane Augmentation Activated]
[-50 Arcane Mana Reserves]
As per usual, Vincel instantly felt the increment of Arcane Augmentation and he instantly tested it out with a swift and strong kick that burst the head of the closest Ant to him.
[One Arcane Shard recovered]
"Hmm, overkill" Vincel mumbled before kicking his way towards where Yvette was.
He cleared a path toward her with many barbaric Ant head-bursting and once he was with her, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his body.
Yvette was caught by surprise and flushed. Her words rolled out in a stammer,
"W-w-what are you...?"
Vincel interrupted her with an urgent command.
"Hold on!"
Vincel jumped up, out of the encirclement of Burrowing Ants they were in, and dashed towards the Ant Queen with the heads of her minions, dead or alive, as a walkway.
They were close to the Ant Queen when the ceiling of the path opened up and a massive clump of Ants, all banded together began to fall. It was raining dirt and pincers.
Vincel brought his running to a stop, sidestepped the clump, and found somewhere else to land. At least to catch his breath.
He let strength course through his legs and landed on top of a Burrowing Ant so that he squashed it against the ground.
'Repel!'
The Arcane Spell circle appeared as he stretched his palm forward and he used it to clear space for him to place Yvette on.
When she stepped out of his arms, Yvette started looking at him with wonder.
The speed...
The strength...
"Where have you been hiding all that? Better still, WHY have you been hiding it?" she asked.
"I haven't been hiding it," Vincel said as they were quickly getting surrounded again.
Not too far away from them, Alessia, covered with cut wounds, swung her Axe and then yelled out in annoyance.
"Curses!"
Delphyne gritted her teeth.
"Alessia, cover me! I'm going for the Queen"
"I'd love to do that but these Ants keep blocking my path. They're coming out from everywhere. Unpredictable, infernal things.
I hate you!"
She roared the last sentence and her already impressive physique swelled before she tossed herself into a spin.
She spun fast and hard and cut down the immediate circle of Ants around her.
It looked impressive and it was definitely effective, unfortunately, many more Ants arrived to make up for the loss.
As they quickly surrounded her again, Alessia shook with anger but got right back to swinging her Axe.
Vincel and Yvette took care of every Ant that got close to them.
Thanks to Arcane Augmentation, Vincel was faster and stronger than any of the E-rank Ants and his strong kicks were enough to take care of them.
He had not even used his dagger since he activated Arcane Augmentation. Instead, he punched with his weapon-free left hand.
His goal, which was the same as Yvette's, was to clear a path toward Delphyne and Alessia.
Vincel was sure he couldn't handle the Ant Queen on his own.
He was only two stats higher than he was when he faces the Dog-head Bat and he needed help then.
Better safe than sorry.
As they were clearing a path, Vincel lost count of the amount of kills he had made but he was quickly informed by notifications he received from the System after his most recent kill.
[One Arcane Shard recovered]
[200/200 Arcane Shards]
[Congratulations! You have leveled up to Arcane Initiate Lv.3]
[HP Limit increased]
[Arcane Mana Reserve Limit increased]
[User has received 8 Stat points to distribute]
-
Leveling up was good news and Vincel was happy about it but he felt only his Arcane Mana reserve Limit increase deserved attention.
Stat points would require time and deliberation to decide how to allocate them while the increase of his Arcane Mana reserve limit meant his reserves had been instantly refilled.
He could already feel the increase in the pit of his stomach but he still called to the System for confirmation.
'Update'
[Arcane Mana Reserves: 150/150]
'Nice!' Vincel thought as he killed another Ant with a punch.
[One Arcane Shard recovered]
[User has killed a Hundred Burrowing Ants and seized their Arcane Shards.
You now qualify for the title; The Bane of Ants]
[Congratulations on Your First title.
As 'The Bane of Ants', User has acquired the passive skill: Exterminant Aura]
"What the-?"
Vincel didn't understand the notifications he was receiving and but he saw the effects of the Externinant Aura almost immediately as the Ants around him began to shake and rattle before stepping away from him.
"Well- how about that?"
As a passive skill, the Exterminant Aura was immediately active and was already proving its worth.
Not knowing how long it would last, Vincel finally got to Delphyne.
The moment he was close to her, the Ants she was battling all scurried away. Delphyne stopped swinging her weapon with a look of confusion.
She looked over at Vincel and he just met her with a smile.
"Are you doing this?" she asked.
Vincel raised his brow to feign confusion.
"I- I'm not sure. Maybe I am" he said.
Delphyne's brows furrowed.
"How are you doing it?"
"I honestly don't know"
Delphyne eyed him for a few seconds and then shrugged.
"Alright. Whatever you're doing, keep it up till we get to the Queen"
Vincel nodded.
"Alright."
His time with Arcane Augmentation was running out.
He could reactivate it of course but he felt it would save him more resources to take down the Queen before that.
"Let's go," Delphyne said and started running towards the large head of the Ant Queen. The only part of its massive body that was visible so far.
Vincel ran by her side and with his 'Exterminant Aura' to provide protection from the horde of Ants, the path to the Queen was clear.
