CHAPTER 66: ANTS

"Right to Ludia... Left to the terrains.." I mutter to myself as I take long, confident strides on this lonely footpath.

The straight, and narrow footpath began the very moment I left K’s house.

This place is filled with mud, and the way the mud squelches under my foot is so disgusting.

Now, I’m nearing the end of the straight path, reaching the pace where the path diverges.

I’m here now. I halt my movement, taking a long breath. I turn my neck right. I see the roofs of the buildings from the city in the distance. The large buildings especially.

I turn on my mana sight. It’s been a while since I last used it.

The threads of pure mana floating around the air of Ludia in the distance are of a large amount.

But here, the mana threads in the air is almost invisible. It must be because there’re no humans here. In fact, life barely exists here. No greenery, no nothing.

It’s just a dry, desolate, mud-littered road.

Pure mana works like oxygen, and carbon dioxide. Like how oxygen is ever present because plants excrete them, and humans breathe them in, and in exchange, give plants carbon dioxide. A mutual exchange of life.

That’s how pure mana is, except, it only works between humans and other living things. Most people don’t even know that this happens because they can’t feel it, see it, and they don’t even have a circle.

Well, that’s enough moping around.

I turn left, and immediately increase my speed— running toward the beast terrains.

An area filled with high hills, caves and mountains that aren’t that high.

It looks like the best and most suitable environment for monsters to roam.

Shit, now I’m being reminded of all the E and D rank tasks I did last year.

As I run at a speed that makes cheetahs look like rats, my body feels lighter. And I feel like I can run even faster than this if I try.

The best part is, my breathing isn’t unstable. It’s well balanced. In fact, it doesn’t feel like I’m running at all.

Those days I hunted teranises at night for hours under the city’s sewers just to rank up. I swear, how do beasts even escape from the terrains to Ludia?

As I slowly arrive— the muddy, dry scene fades, giving way to the painting of rich quality stones, sands, and large towers of what seems like ant hills, or even termite hills, but larger. And they’re almost everywhere.

And one thing,

"Oh my– hell no!" I scream as I pinch my nose with my fingers. "What’s this shitty smell?"

The place smells like.. I don’t even know what this foul smell is. Is it rotten corpse? Excretion? Maybe a mixture of both? I don’t even know. How the hell does K even manage to come here every week to hunt?

That man must have an iron will or something, because, whoa!

I slow my pace down to gentle, and cautious steps. As I proceed gently— my eyes scan the steep area of lands.

"Kruunk!"

What was that sound?

I turn my neck back, in a bid to scan what made that sound, but I don’t see anything.

In between long rolls of giant hills, I move cautiously. The sun that’s somehow getting less hotter never fails to remind me that I’m unclothed. Dressed in only an underwear, walking into the unknown.

"Psssss..."

A hiss-like sound rings out just beside me.

That sounded like a snake. Yes, that was a snake right?

At this moment, I decide;

"Let me turn on my mana sight." I whisper.

The moment I turn it on, my body shudders.

All I see is threads of blood-red mana floating everywhere in the air around the terrains.

I start running immediately, heading deeper into the terrains.

I refuse to turn off the sight, because it shows me the areas where the crimson mana threads are gathered more, and those are the areas where I’ll avoid.

Brrrr!

The sky rumbles with thunder, and the sky which was perfect before suddenly becomes more dim as dark clouds surface, almost blocking the sun as I head deeper into the terrains.

Brrrrr!

The sound of the thunder increases, and lightning strikes falls from the sky to distant locations in the terrains.

I keep running, with no destination in mind.

I reach an area where the ant hills are scarce but still many.

I slump on the ground. And my butt lands first on the sandy floor.

"Where the hell am I going to find a Pirantroph?" I whisper as I look up at the sky.

It’s like the world itself is working against me, trying to make my life more miserable.

Because, how the hell would anyone explain the sudden change in temperature?

Now..

–Pitter– –Patter–

They drop on my hair first. Warm, and tender drops of water. Then they roll down from my hair to my forehead. And the water floods my entire face, blocking my vision.

The drops increase slowly.

Now the rain falls ferociously. The weight, and the pain of every single drop of rain beats on my skin is immense.

"Haaaah.." I exhale, enduring this trifling pain, and I stand up.

"So that’s what they are. Ant type monsters." I whisper to myself as my lips widen with a mischievous smirk.

I wipe out the drops of water swimming into my eyes, and the fogginess in my vision clears up.

They’re all red, and the same size as me, no, slightly larger. They’re Crawling out from the hills— down toward me.

Do they only come out when it rains?

I try to number them.

Both the ones crawling down from the hills behind me, and the hills in front of me.

And the source of that hissing sound. The one that’s been following me for a while that I try hard to ignore— they all crawl toward me.

The ants, they all have red cores. And although the cores aren’t as large as the one I saw K dig out from the pirantroph— it still means that they can feel mana, and gather it.

The cores hover above the giant ants— just untop their snapping red mandibles dripping with what I assume is acidic saliva. But this sight is a sight that only I can see, and their real cores exist in their heart.

These things will be the equivalent to B-rank monsters, right?

Now I see why K always says he had a shitty day whenever he returns from hunting Pirantrophs. Did he have to deal with all these?

"Well, it doesn’t matter.." I crouch, holding my clenched fists up— waiting for them to attack. "Because I’m not going to falter. Come, all of you."

As the rain pours and thunder cracks, more ants pour out of the hilltops, from every hill. Vast in number.

I’m sorry, K.

I outstretch my two palms forward. And the drops of rain do not quench the flames that hover above them.

But I’m a mage.