Gerhan sat within the confines of his narrow burrow, his mandibles clicking thoughtfully. He decided to test his mysterious [Essence Devourer] talent. Closing his eyes—or rather, concentrating his mind—he activated the skill. Yet, to his frustration, nothing happened.
Looking around, the dark, damp walls of the burrow remained unchanged, and no sudden surge of power coursed through his body. "Maybe it takes time to activate," he muttered, his antennae twitching. "Or maybe it's something I need to use regularly… Ugh, whatever."
His gaze shifted to the three worker ants, their exoskeletons dull yet sturdy from their early development. "Alright, let's try something more straightforward." Focusing on his [Control] skill, Gerhan activated it, and immediately a sharp pain pulsed through his mind. It was as if his brain was being stretched thin, overwhelmed by a torrent of new sensations.
Suddenly, his perspective fractured. His vision split into four: three unfamiliar views and one of himself, sitting in the burrow. It took him a moment to realize that he was now seeing the world through his workers' eyes.
"This… is… disorienting," Gerhan muttered, his thoughts muddled by the strange sensations. The workers' compound eyes provided fragmented, overlapping images of the burrow, all focused on him.
After some effort, Gerhan managed to stabilize his thoughts and began to test the limits of [Control]. He realized he could guide the workers as if controlling his own limbs, directing their movements with precision. "A fantastic skill for commanding," he mused. "But it's not limitless. The system mentioned [Endurance] and [Soul Power] as constraints."
Summoning the system window, he reviewed his stats:
[System Window]
[Name] None
[Race] Saturius Taturius (Red Ant)
[Strength] 1
[Agility] 1
[Mana] 1
[Intelligence] 40
[Soul Power] 10
[Endurance] 2
[Skills] Lay Eggs, Control
[Talent] Essence Devourer (SSS)
{Remarks} Ant
He fixated on the description of his talent:
[Talent - Essence Devourer - Rank SSS]
You are able to convert eaten things into power and gain abilities.
"Maybe I just need to eat more," he concluded.
Still connected to his workers through [Control], Gerhan looked at himself through their compound eyes. "This is confusing… I don't need to communicate like this all the time," he grumbled, releasing the skill with a sigh of relief.
His attention shifted to the two workers with pale, white exoskeletons. Though not fully developed, they had grown noticeably stronger, their frames more solid and capable. However, their bright coloration made them far too conspicuous for the dangers of the forest.
"I need to lay more eggs," Gerhan said to himself. "More workers mean more food, but it's going to require a lot of resources to grow them."
The solution was clear: they needed to return to the wolf carcass. The pale workers, however, would remain in the burrow for now. Their coloration was a liability in the wild, where predators lurked at every corner.
His mind raced with plans. The strong worker ant with the darker exoskeleton would lead the next mission. Food was vital not only for survival but for growth and the activation of his talent. His colony's expansion depended on it.