The ants were slowly but surely cutting the bark of the devilish tree; they wanted to get the delicious core out of it. Just then, they noticed an unfamiliar red creature walk out of nowhere.
Startled, they stopped working and monitored the red person. The camouflage ants watched him, unmoving, and when they saw him getting excited and walking over with hurried steps, they became alert, ready to attack.
They were still unmoving, though. That was their strategy—the ants would let their prey get near them and then used their sharp pincers to strike it down. This idiotic red creature would be the same.
The leader ordered the other three ants, and they were ready, just like in past incidents.
"Haha," the unfamiliar red man laughed. "To think I'd find a core here."
A broad, almost foolish, smile appeared on his face. "Lucky me."
He didn't even bother looking for any trap or creature and stepped even closer. It looked easy, but the ants were still unmoving.
They knew their strength well enough, and even though their pincers were extremely sharp, their bodies were small, so they had to wait for the prey to get even closer.
The red person suddenly laughed even louder and bent over slightly; he was about to try picking up the core—that's when the ants would attack.
But then, Kai clenched his fists tight and…
[Fire Punch]
[-10 Mana]
He smashed down. His fists cloaked in fiery power hit one ant, and it couldn't even let out a cry as it burst apart, its fluid sticking to Kai's now-normal fists.
[The target lost 100 HP.]
The miro didn't give the ants a chance to react and used the skill once again.
[Fire Punch]
[-10 Mana]
He struck the second place he had noticed earlier from the tree, but the ant had already moved, which resulted in half of its body being crushed by the fire power.
"Hgggh."
It let out a weird, painful screech, and its remaining body repeatedly changed colors for a few seconds as it lived its last breath.
Kai didn't care and had no time to look at the ant's fate; he quickly moved back since he didn't know where the other two ants were, after all. It was dangerous to him.
Sure enough, just as he moved, a pincer struck from the bark, its sharpness soon evident.
A groan of pain escaped Kai's lips as his leg got a bloody wound.
[You lost 5 HP.]
'Goddamn, it didn't even hit properly, and I lost 5 health.'
He took several steps back, hoping the ants would leave the bark and charge at him. If they didn't, then he'd be at a disadvantage.
It seemed they weren't that smart, or maybe the leader was dead, as the two remaining ants charged out, their color still brown like bark, clearly making them stand out on the ground.
They were the size of an adult's palm and moved rather quickly, frenziedly charging at him.
Kai had already thought of his next move.
[Torch Tail]
[-3 Mana]
His tail got cloaked in orange flames. They looked weak, which they were, but it was enough for the current situation. The ants, like many other insect species, were weak to fire, so his seemingly weak move would damage them more.
When they were at the right distance from him, he immediately spun around, using his fiery tail to whip at them. The ants weren't heavy enough, and the result was as expected.
Their charge stopped.
[Your target lost 5 HP.]
[Your target lost 8 HP.]
[Your target has a burn.]
Kai didn't stop, didn't let them charge again, and immediately used the next move.
[Fire Claw]
[-5 Mana]
[Time Remaining: 00:04:59]
His nails seemed to elongate and be made of fire, both on his hand and foot. He immediately stepped forward and gave the ant that had a burn a fierce kick.
[Your target lost 15 HP.]
[Your target has a burn.]
[-1 HP]
As its companion was sent flying, the remaining ant was enraged further, letting out a weird cry. Its attack was the same again: a charge.
But this time, it didn't move in a single direction; instead, it zig-zagged its way towards him, as if that would stop his 'tail whip.' Unfortunately for the ant, it was useless.
[Torch Tail]
[-3 Mana]
[Your target lost 3 HP.]
[You lost 2 HP.]
'Take this,' Kai struck down his flame-covered nails and stuck them into the ant's back, which he noticed was softer than other regions. His nails dug into the fleshy folds, the ant growling in pain.
It tried to rotate its head to attack his arm, its pincers opening and closing in a flurry, but the miro was faster. With his free hand, he impaled it at the portion that seemed to be the ant's neck and applied force. The ant was torn into two halves.
The last remaining ant was charging back at the miro, but seeing the aftermath, it stopped and immediately turned around to run away.
But there was no way Kai would let that happen. He ran toward it, his blood falling down on the sparse grass, and attacked its back. The ant's end result was the same as the earlier one.
[Your target has lost 70 HP.]
After the battle was over, Kai's breathing was heavy. It wasn't really a hard battle, but he lifted his hand to look at the bloody mess on it.
'So this is how I'll be living my life now.'
He felt uncomfortable, but more than that, a sense of relief washed over him.
'Mmh, the ant color has changed back…'
[You have devoured a camouflage ant.]
[You have devoured a camouflage ant.]
[You have devoured a camouflage ant.]
[You have devoured a camouflage ant.]
In total, he used up 20-something mana and received 15 in return; that could be considered a loss. But he gained a whopping 10 skill points, and his HP was back to 100.
The miro noticed that as the health hit 100 again, the pain he was feeling because of the wound seemed to have lessened. The bleeding had also stopped.
'Nice.'
But the biggest gain was, of course, the quest completion.
[Congratulations!]
[You have completed the quest 'Kill 4 Camouflage Ants'.]
[Core(s) Plundered: Camouflage Ant Core]
[Core Rank: Brown Star]
[Unlock Requirements: 5 Skill Points]
[Analyzing power signatures on the core...]
[Searching database for a match...]
[Match found.]
[Skill(s): Vice Grip]
[Do you want to unlock the core?]
'Well, the result is a bit… disappointing. I wanted the camouflage…'
That was his first thought, until he looked at the skill description.