Chapter 31: Ant Nest
The team soon arrived at the clearing Sarah had picked out and set up camp. Rudith and the others had some camping gear like sleeping bags and firewood already, but Rohan and Elane were forced to choose a softer patch of grass to rest on since they didn’t exactly set out that day with plans to go camping...
They were fine with it, though.
"We should take turns every two hours to keep watch while the other sleeps. I’ll take the first watch." Rohan suggested to Elane in a low tone.
Elane agreed instantly, as it was the most basic thing all Awakened learned. It was basic camping in the Origin Realm 101. Sleeping at the same time and leaving yourselves vulnerable meant that anything could sneak up on you in the night. It was the stupidest mistake an Awakened could make.
"We already take night shifts. You two could both enjoy some rest if you’d like." Joe spoke up from his end of the campsite. There was some distance between Rudith’s group and the spot Rohan and Elane chose, but both sides viewed that as normal.
Everyone liked their privacy when sleeping, and they were still strangers to each other, so keeping some distance was almost necessary.
’And I’d be stupid to place 100% of my trust in them.’
Things had been cordial and quite friendly between both sides so far, but anything could happen in the Origin Realm.
’I don’t plan to sleep either way. There’s no way I can do that when I have something as valuable as the Firestone Skin Gene on me.’
Even if he did plan to sleep, the nerves he’d feel just from the thought of losing the gene would keep him up all night. At best he’d just close his eyes to give them some rest while pretending to sleep whenever his night watch was over.
He had a good nights sleep the previous night, so he would be good for rest until his time in the Origin Realm was over if he really wanted to push it.
The choice to camp instead of just rushing in to the Ant’s nest right away wasn’t made out of the need to reduce fatigue anyway. It was entirely due to the darkness night brought with it. Fighting in a dark environment against a horde of beasts was just asking for trouble.
***
The next day came quickly, and the morning sun blanketed the makeshift campsite. Nothing happened during the night except for a few scares from a some movements in the shrubbery nearby, but they turned out to be nothing.
Just some wind knocking a few branches against each other.
"We should hurry over! There shouldn’t be too many Ants still inside the nest right now as this is prime hunting time for them!" Rudith shout-whispered to everyone in the group.
Everyone was quick to pack up their things and be on the move in less than a minute.
"Sarah’s going ahead to check the situation near the nest, the rest of you stick with me!"
She departed before Rudith could even finish speaking, running fast ahead of the group, while everyone else rooted down in their positions and maintained silence.
Five minutes passed before her footsteps could be heard in the distance, returning back to the group.
"It’s as we suspected; only half of the Ants are present in the Nest right now, and the Soldier Ant was out checking the periphery! I couldn’t get too close of a look or else I would have alerted it to my presence."
The group set off with Sarah’s valuable intel backing them up. Everyone looked as if their confidence had reached new heights after knowing there would only be half as many enemies as anticipated.
Even Rohan and Elane were in high spirits, despite knowing it likely meant they’d earn less Origin Crystals because of this change.
’There’s less of a risk of dying, at least.’
Only three kilometres of forestry separated their group from the Ant Nest, so they reached it in no time, finally revealing its appearance to Rohan and Elane.
Ever since he found out about it from Rudith, Rohan was eager to find out just what a beast nest looked like.
And now he could.
The nest stood out like a sore thumb against the backdrop of the orange-grey forest. A deep crack broke the surface, over a kilometre long and maybe a hundred metres deep at its lowest point.
From the sky above, it might’ve looked like the earth was carved into from a sword strike of a mighty being.
Rohan was struck by its grandiosity, etching the image into his brain.
"This is the entrance to the nest. There are only two places you can enter and exit, which are the two ends of the crevasse." Sarah informed the group.
"Inside is where we’ll find the various Worker Ants and the Soldier Ant. Noa will lure the Elite over to us using his ranged attacks, before going over to join you guys."
Everyone entered the crevasse not a moment later, until they encountered their first beast.
It was a lone Worker Ant looking as if it were wondering aimlessly, and it chose Rudith as its target after noticing the intruders. Rohan and Elane remained at the back, eyes glued to the scene in front of them.
This was the first time since meeting their group that they got to see them in action!
Slash!
But there wasn’t much of a fight to be had. One swing of Rudith’s sword was all it took to sever the ant’s body in two, making quick work of it.
’Such a sharp sword!’
Rohan could tell from that one strike that Rudith’s sword wasn’t just any ordinary Genetic Armament. Although it didn’t give him any vibes of being an Elite Genetic Armament like his own, it should be on the higher end of the Normal tier at the very least.
Elane too noticed this, and she couldn’t help but compare the ease with which Rudith dealt with the ant with Rohan by her side.
’Her strikes look even more effortless than his, but for some reason he still gives me a stronger sense of danger whenever he engages a beast...’
Ever since she witnessed him taking down that Elite almost entirely on his own, she knew something was off with Rohan, but she couldn’t quite guess what.
Her current theory was that he’d actually absorbed a powerful Gene before entering the Origin Realm that significantly boosted his physical strength. But after seeing a more experienced Awakened in action who she knew absorbed a gene, she felt less certain about that theory.
If he still gave her a stronger sense of danger after seeing Rudith in action, then the real reason behind that must be even more mysterious...
"Up ahead!" Rudith whispered, catching the attention of everyone else.
When he turned a corner, Rohan caught sight of something he didn’t think he’d be seeing again so shortly until meeting Rudith’s group.
’Soldier Ant!’
It stood amongst a group of about 20-30 Worker Ants, going about doing whatever ants did in their downtime.
"Noa." Rudith called, and the lanky man stepped out front to perform his duty.
He summoned a lavish bow from thin air, unknowingly receiving a pout of jealousy from behind from another certain archer...
Fwoom!
And shot the Soldier Ant.