After five days, the Queen Ant Bee finally gave birth to her children. Alvaric, seeing that, killed some of them. Just to fill his stomach. Every day, the Queen Ant Bee could give birth to 30–50 small Ant Bees and 3–6 giant-sized Ant Bees. As time passed, their numbers kept increasing.
Alvaric couldn't eat them all, and the Ant Bees didn't attack him either. He killed half of them every day to level up. Even though he killed them repeatedly every day, they just kept growing in number.
What was strange was that the Queen Ant Bee didn't seem angry watching her children being killed by Alvaric. She only stayed silent, watching. When Alvaric slept near her, she curled up so that he could rest comfortably against her soft body.
Time passed. Without realizing it, Alvaric had been there for four months. His level was now almost 70. It was already very high, but Alvaric had no intention of leaving anytime soon. His life was too comfortable there. He could eat every day, there was plenty of water, and it wasn't hot inside. That made him feel no need to leave. It started that way, but some time later, he saw something appear in front of him.
[Mission: Kill the Giant Sandworm]
[Reward: Random Epic Skill, Legendary Item]
The mission screen appeared in front of his face. That made him feel uneasy. He wanted to ignore it. His life was peaceful now, there was no need to go through the trouble of fighting the powerful Giant Sandworm. His level was indeed higher, but the Giant Sandworm was too big. Its size was dozens or even a hundred times larger than his. The chances of dying in a fight against such a monster were very high. Especially its jagged teeth like protruding swords.
However, all that peace was suddenly shattered. An unexpected notification appeared in front of Alvaric.
[Warning!]
[Complete the mission in... 10D: 16H: 47M.]
"Huh?" Alvaric was shocked to see a countdown timer suddenly appear on the mission screen in front of him. "What happens if I don't complete the mission?"
[The mission must be completed within a time limit. When the time runs out, the player will die.]
Below the warning, a small line of text said that. Alvaric, who at first just wanted to relax, immediately stood up. He didn't have much time left. He only had 10 days, 16 hours, and 45 minutes left to defeat the Giant Sandworm.
This time, the enemy felt like a final boss to Alvaric. He couldn't go in without preparation. He had 10 days. He had to use that time to make a strategy. He couldn't be reckless this time, or he really would die. But Alvaric felt like his brain was freezing. He was struggling to think.
"Alright. No matter what it takes, I must complete this mission." He said with determination.
Without wasting any time, Alvaric immediately prepared what he needed. He took several Ant Bee hides. After that, he neatly arranged them. He tried to craft those hides into something. But after several hours of trying, the result was nothing. He stopped and filled his stomach first.
Alvaric started crafting again until he fell asleep at night.
In the morning, he woke up. But he found no results. Alvaric decided to leave the place. He just wanted to check the way out. He had been inside for four months without stepping outside. He had almost forgotten which path to take to exit the place. The way out was full of branching paths that were quite complicated.
Alvaric tried the paths one by one and began to mark them one by one until he finally managed to get out. He returned to the first place he had entered, and when he looked up, the sun looked extremely bright. His eyes squinted in the glaring light, and he turned around to return to the Queen Ant Bee's chamber.
Alvaric planned to set out the next day. Today, he would prepare his mental state first. He already had an idea to defeat the Giant Sandworm. Whether the method would be effective or not, Alvaric didn't know. He would try it first. No one would know the result unless it was done.
Time passed, and Alvaric finally completed a new weapon for himself. A weapon made from the hide and stinger of the Ant Bee. He named the weapon 'Chain Dagger'. It didn't exactly look like a dagger, but the sharp part of the Ant Bee's stinger looked like a dagger tip, and there was a handle carved by Alvaric.
He also connected several parts of the small Ant Bees' legs to form a chain. He tied the end of the chain to the armor on his arm. That way, the dagger would always return when thrown.
[Chain Dagger: +10 Attack]
"This is perfect," said Alvaric. "I already have two weapons. This should be enough to fight the Giant Sandworm."
He looked at his right hand.
[Vappers Dagger: +25 Attack (+5)]
The number in parentheses was the poison attack damage produced by the Vappers Dagger. It was constant forever until the poison was completely neutralized. Until then, the attack would continue to take effect. Not only that, when the poison reached vital organs, it could kill—just like what happened to the Prince of the Ant Bees.
Vappers Dagger was a terrifying weapon. Alvaric liked it very much because of its deadly effect.
[8D: 20H: 27M]
Alvaric stood at the entrance to the exit path, heading upward. He took a deep breath and began to walk up. As his feet stepped onto the sand above, he felt an intense heat. Alvaric's skin slightly turned red from the heat piercing his body.
He stood there for a few minutes and then started walking. He walked while marking the path he took. He didn't want to get lost.
The dry desert wind swept across Alvaric's face as he walked farther from the Ant Bee's nest. Sand particles struck his skin, feeling like tiny hot needles. Sweat poured down from his temples, but he didn't slow his pace. Alvaric kept walking and walking with no certain direction. The Giant Sandworm appeared randomly in the desert. He couldn't predict where the giant monster would appear.
After walking for an hour, Alvaric stopped behind a large rock and took a deep breath. He opened his status screen and checked all his statistics carefully. His HP was still the same, but his stamina had decreased significantly. The heat was unbearable.
He stared at the empty desert horizon. "Is that monster already dead?"
Alvaric immediately shook his head. If the Giant Sandworm were dead, then a notification would have appeared. The mission would've been instantly marked as completed.
"If it's like this, it's going to take a very long time," Alvaric complained.
He took out some water and drank. He ate the food he had brought. Before continuing, Alvaric decided to recover his stamina first. He rested for about 20 minutes. Then, he continued his journey.
However, just as he was about to start walking again, he suddenly saw the sand begin to shift. Alvaric swallowed hard.
"Its coming!"