Becoming a Monster-Chapter 76: Battle against Ants

A few hours before Noah’s encounter with the Tier one zombie, the students from the cafeteria had just concluded their struggle against the ants and were now making their way toward the campus gate, their moods heavy with solemnity.

Silently, they walked, heads bowed in reflection. The group, once numbering over a hundred, had been significantly depleted, with at least 30 members lost in the skirmish with the ants. The students hadn’t anticipated the strength of the ants, creatures they had previously dismissed as mere nuisances easily dispatched with a casual step.

However, ants were always fascinating creatures, even when compared to their smaller counterparts. They could lift up to 10-50 times their body weight! More importantly, they had a group-like mentality and were very efficient.

When the trespassers unwittingly stumbled into their territory, the ants wasted no time in alerting the colony, sounding the alarm to mobilize their forces. Within moments, the initial group of 30 ants had swelled in numbers, doubling in strength as reinforcements arrived from below the surface.

Although the students outnumbered the ants, not everyone in the group was a capable fighter or even inclined to engage in combat. The formidable exoskeletons of the ants posed a significant challenge, as they provided substantial protection against conventional attacks.

The hardened shells of the ants left little room for the group to mount an effective offensive, as breaking through them quickly proved to be a daunting task. Only a select few, such as Mark, Ishii, and Bailey, possessed the means to penetrate the ants’ defenses.

For Mark, using his mana to swiftly dispatch an ant came at the cost of depleting his limited reserves, forcing him to weigh the risks of expending too much energy in a short span of time. On the other hand, Ishii possessed a unique skill that allowed him to either siphon half of an ant’s strength to bolster his own or weaken its constitution to bypass its sturdy shell.

Ishii seemed to have it easier based on his one skill alone, but every skill has its faults. To use his skill, all of his attention has to be on the monster or person he’s targeting. Even a brief lapse of concentration could undo the skill, and he has to perform his stance over to restart the skill.

And then there was Bailey, who possessed a unique ability to channel her mana into her spear, causing it to emit intense vibrations capable of drilling through the tough exoskeletons of the ants. However, her effectiveness in combat relied heavily on her mana reserves, making it crucial for her to manage her energy expenditure during prolonged engagements.

Fortunately, the group also included individuals like Paul, who could serve as frontline fighters. Standing tall and eager to showcase his newfound skill.

"Come..." He neither yelled nor whispered while he used his weapon in hand to strike at his shield, activating his new skill provoke. The ants’ attention immediately shifted towards him as their heads turned, their antennae twitching in his direction. Sensing the impending swarm, Paul activated his unique skill, transforming his body and clothing into a stone-like texture that fortified his shield. Without this enhancement, his shield would have been easily destroyed during the fight against the King Zombie.

With so many people in a group participating in earlier fights, they were able to increase their chances of obtaining valuable loot. The people that benefited the most were the group that participated in the fight against the King zombie. Most, if not all of the main contenders were able to get a skill of some kind that was exchanged with someone else. Everyone had a role to fulfill if they were to get through the fight without casualties. However not everyone was willing to put themselves in their roles.

The chaotic battlefield quickly devolved into a scramble for survival, with individuals grouping together based on familiarity and trust. Bailey and her close companions formed one group, while Mark, Jasmine, and Ailetta banded together in another. Neal and Regina, too, forged their own alliance.

But there were still tens of people who were left out. While the groups were fighting off the creatures, ants flanked from the sides to secure their unresisting food.

There was no getting away from the ants when a person still only had the stats of a level one individual. If the ant pincers didn’t outright kill them, they were either picked up and dragged away while screaming in pain and calling for help, or they died of excessive blood loss after the ant carrying them away was killed.

The battlefield was utter chaos, but hope was not lost. Throughout the scene, individuals began to shine, working to overturn the situation.

While Paul could distract up to 5 ants at a time, Bailey would use that chance to take them out one by one. While killing the ants could possibly be done by herself, she wasn’t alone. Blake tried to repeat Bailey’s stabbing motions without any results, but his squirrel provided more support than he ever could. The ants seemed not to be able to feel the squirrel digging through the head of its exoskeleton. It took close to a full minute just for the squirrel to breach their shell, and it could chew unhindered. A full minute during a life-and-death struggle was a lot of time.

Isabelle began to be more proactive during the fight. Healing wouldn’t play much of a factor until after the fight had ended, so she used her other ability that came from being a priest, an ability called soothing mind. It wasn’t necessarily a great spell, but most skills, if used as intended, could become more than useful.

And during a fight where young adults had to fight for their life, her spell was much needed for Bailey and others, where their nervousness could cause them to make a mistake that couldn’t be forgiven.

There was no use for her to attack the ants unless she wanted to be a distraction. She had learned through experience, the hardship and trauma that comes with not knowing your place. The heavy thuds of metal colliding with an indistinctive hard surface repeated in the distance, confirming her decision that this battle isn’t a place for her to play hero. Not many could penetrate or even make a dent through their hard shells, the sense of helplessness would’ve proven to be catastrophic without Isabelle’s ability.

Mark and Ishii continued to provide significant relief against the ants’ numbers. The ants were at least level four or higher, posing a much more dangerous threat than even the first stage of running zombies if the risk of infections were not in play. With just a few kills, they were able to level up, and since they were in large groups, it wasn’t hard for them to retreat and immediately apply their stats.

This scene of leveling up in battle was happening sporadically in the midst of the chaos.

Mark was finally able to showcase his worth, the first attribute he prioritized was increasing his magic. Not only did enhancing the attribute increase the amount of mana he had, but also subtly amplified the effects of his aura. The aura that cloaked his sword that was used as an extra layer grew sharper than what it once was, and with the priest that continued to follow him enchanting Mark’s sword with his skill, the lethality of the sword rose. Using all of his strength, he hacked barbarically on the incoming ants. With a few heavy focus swings, he was able to take them down.

He didn’t have to worry about the danger around him while Jasmine continued to support. She was constantly consuming her mana to restrict the ants as much as possible. Luckily, the setting played in her favor as she drew from the surrounding plant life to conserve her mana. Although she considered trying to use the ability in the past, where she was able to crush the zombie’s under the pressure of nature, she doubted its effectiveness against the ants resilience, which were far tougher than zombies. Not to mention, the skill drained her of all her mana, leaving her useless until her mana reserves recovered.

Yet, surprisingly, on the battlefield, someone else was contributing just as much as Mark and Ishii. Ailetta was giving her all in this fight, making sure not to hold anything back. This battle meant more to her than just fighting to stay alive. She knew her faults, and her main one was that she was weak. She had thought hard about what she could do to help herself grow, and her answer was to follow Jas’s example and try to come up with her own spells.

Creating an entirely different spell was almost impossible, at least at this stage where people still weren’t sure what mana was. However changing and adapting from an already created skill wasn’t too far fetched. She had already learned when she interacted with Fenrir that she could control the output of mana concerning her spell that could make the spell stronger.

What she put into action now was almost the same. She had seen the corpses in the area, and her eyes focused on just one in particular. Summoning the dark glob that resembled a slime, the scene played out differently than before. There was a frown showing on Ailetta’s face as she concentrated with an intensity unlike before, soon, the slime began to separate into two separate entities. And after separating, Ailetta furrowed her brow even more, injecting the slimes with enough mana to make both the original size as before.

She used one of the slimes to reanimate the giant rat that took Ishii so much time and effort to bring down. Thankfully the rat only died from blood lost so it had all of its limbs still intact. Though deceased and stripped of any skills it once possessed, the rat retained its formidable strength, now under Ailetta’s control.

The reanimated rat proved to be a formidable ally on the battlefield, its thick and deadly teeth, that were more lethal than Blakes squirrel, repeatedly gnawed into the ants’ heads, regardless of any retaliation. Being deceased, it remained impervious to the ants’ attacks, allowing it to wreak havoc without fear.

While the rat was rampaging, she used the chance to inject the other half of the slime into one of the bigger ants that had fallen, wreaking havoc on the battlefield with those two alone. There was really no way for the ant she controlled to kill another one without much difficulty, so she used the ant to bite the legs of the surrounding ants. Even if she didn’t secure the kill, she would still get the experience from it. Noah was slowly rubbing off on her.

The entire fight was a bitter battle, but the chest at the end and the notifications of them leveling up were a huge reminder that struggling to survive reaps rewards. Ailetta herself was able to advance by three levels from this one altercation, catching up with Mark who grew to level seven from the fight. The excitement in her eyes conflicted with the many lives lost during the altercation. She felt that she was becoming closer to becoming someone that could stand by Noah’s side.

As night approached, fatigue weighed heavily on the group, yet they pressed on, determined to leave the campus before seeking shelter. Little did they know, the true terror awaited them at the main gate.

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