If Ackster didn't kill the ant queen and all the other inhabitants of the nest, he would sooner or later drown in the ants or be buried alive. That was why he was taking a break from Nold's secret technique and why he had studied the ant general's movements and habits furiously during their spars. Even if the ant general had held back and was probably a notch above him in terms of stats, especially in agility, there was no way for it to avoid following the same patterns as it did when it wasn't going all-out.
Now, he just had to find the right timing.
The ant queen's state fluctuated between being sluggish, almost sick, and surpassing her prime. And there was no fixed interval. Sometimes, she slept for half an hour like she was on her deathbed before coming back stronger than ever. Other times, she was out for several hours, if not entire days.
Ackster didn't have a way to measure the time, so he wasn't sure. But it did feel like the trend leaned toward her rests becoming shorter, but with the occasional extended sleep. Not that there was any obvious pattern to it. The ant queen slept when she needed to, and when she didn't, she ate pieces of Ackster.
But Ackster had to try and go for it during one of the ant queen's random naps. Not only because the ant queen, one of the strongest beings in the nest, was asleep but also because, along with her, the rest of the nest's activity sank.
When the ant queen was sluggish, her mental connection with the other ants also entered an energy-saving mode, so the ant lieutenants, ant soldiers, and worker ants also grew sluggish and only did their routine business. They didn't change their movements or behavior. They were like mindless machines when the ant queen slept.
So, if Ackster made his move when the queen napped, he wouldn't have to worry about the countless ants in the nest swarming him and burying him with their bodies or with a cave-in.
But there was one problem, one exception.
The ant general was unaffected by the queen's sleep. If anything, it grew more vigilant to make up for the otherwise lacking security.
But the ant general's heightened sense of caution wasn't that much of a problem since Ackster would put him in a state of high alert at once by attacking him. Well, first, he was going to engage the ant general in a spar and then go from sparring to fighting to the death.
Ackster quickly grew restless as he waited for his bones to heal and the ant queen to go to sleep. But when things finally aligned, and he was ready to go out of his room and challenge the ant general to a spar, the ant queen decided that a minute-long nap was enough, and she woke up right as Ackster left his room.
To not rouse any suspicions, Ackster invited the general to a quick spar before giving the queen some extra food that would hopefully keep her out cold long enough.
And, when he finally recovered, thanks to Strong Body and Stubborn Well-Being, less than ten minutes had passed. The skin, flesh, and blood he had given the queen was all from relatively shallow wounds, and they recovered so quickly that Ackster would have almost gotten scared if it hadn't been a gradual increase over the last couple of weeks.
He felt that he was closing in on that endlessly regenerating, even in combat, ideal he had dreamed up when he realized Strong Body's healing capabilities. Of course, his internal organs and bones didn't recover quickly enough just yet, so severe injuries would still incapacitate him for longer periods.
But the relatively shallow cuts weren't even enough to put a dent in Ackster's combat performance once ten minutes had passed. And it looked like the ant queen was still out cold, so he left his room again. Since he was planning on eating his full during or once he was done with what he was about to do, he didn't waste time propping himself full of ants before the fight.
Besides, he had two delicious meals lined up right in front of him.
Since the soldier ants were a little better than the worker ants in terms of food quality, the odds that the ants at the top of the hierarchy, the queen and the general, were at least decent in taste and texture were pretty high. After only eating bland ant for several weeks, Ackster was craving something more fulfilling.
"Spar?"
He looked at the ant general, only barely managing to contain the hunger in his eyes.
The ant general wasn't surprised at Ackster's request for spar since it wasn't the first time he asked for one almost immediately after the previous. He usually did it after or when he was about to have a realization, which happened enviously often. So, after giving a slight nod, the ant general charged forward, chitin-wrapped fists raised and wings fluttering.
Ackster stood his ground with Iron Wall and stopped the ant general's fist dead in its tracks with the help of Block. He held onto the ant general's fist with one hand while he used his free arm to block the next fist.
However, he had to let go of the first to block the third, and he had to let go of the second to block the fourth. Fighting an opponent with four arms while he only had two was difficult. But not impossible. Although it wasn't the same, it was almost like fighting an opponent who could punch with an extreme frequency.
If he thought about it like that, Ackster realized that he wasn't at a disadvantage because he had fewer arms. It was because he was worse. He was weaker and slower. It was as simple as that, which meant the solution was also just as simple. He just had to become better, stronger, faster.
Ackster could already feel his brain heating up as his eyes flickered around, almost unfocused, to catch up to the ant general and its four arms and two legs. But he was far from reaching his limit.