Okay.
Okay, okay, okay.
Let's do a quick recap:
I was reborn as an ant.
Not a metaphorical "busybody" ant. A literal six-legged, dirt-dwelling, smell-navigating ant.
I ate a chewed-up magical scroll like an idiot.
Now I have a magic skill I absolutely don't understand.
[Skill: Arcane Siphon Lv.1]Description: Allows the user to absorb ambient mana from surroundings.Note: Doesn't mean you know how to use it.Tip: Maybe don't explode.
Thank you, System. That's very encouraging.
Currently, I'm crouched (or... ant-squatted?) under the curved underside of a mushroom cap, trying to will some mana to move. I don't really know how, but I figured I'd feel something if I concentrated hard enough.
...
Nothing.
Maybe if I imagine it like drawing a straw full of glowing slush?
Still nothing.
[Mana Intake: 0.00002 units/sec][Error: Mana Pathways Incomplete][Proficiency: 0.03%][User Progress: Pathetic.]
All right, screw you, System.
The others are gone. This part of the foraging squad wandered too close to a collapsed tunnel and got diverted. I got left behind because I was too busy licking a glowing rock, thinking it might be magical. Spoiler alert: it was just moss.
Now, I'm alone. That's bad.
The hive doesn't particularly care if a few larvae die. That's just statistics.
It's cold. The air's thick with fungal spores. I can smell it—danger. Somewhere nearby, something's moving.
My antennae twitch.
Scrrrch.
There it is again. Something brushing against stone. I press my body flat against the dirt. My carapace is still soft in places—hatchling-tier defense. If I get caught now, it's game over.
[Instinct Skill: Pheromone Camouflage Lv.1 – Activated]
Oh? Oh ho? That's new!
Apparently, by staying perfectly still and calming my body chemistry, I can dull my scent.
I hold my breath—not that ants breathe like humans, but you get the idea—and the skittering passes by.
Just a millipede. Big, segmented, gross—but not carnivorous.
Still... that got my heart pumping. Wait, do I even have a heart? Internal monologue aside, I decide to keep moving. Carefully.
Eventually, I find something: a shattered beetle carcass lodged in a crevice.
Jackpot.
There's enough meat here to feed three squads. The fungus hasn't overtaken it yet, and there's no slime mold—yet.
Now the question is: do I go back for help? Or risk dragging a chunk of meat alone?
...
Yeah, no one's coming back for me. I'm on my own.
With a grunt-like click, I sink my mandibles into a chitin flap and start pulling.
[Skill Acquired: Bite Lv.1][Passive Strength Increase: Minor Mandibular Muscle Boost]
Finally. Something useful.
Dragging beetle meat is hard work, okay? I'm about a third its size, and this tunnel isn't flat—it's filled with roots, crumbling dirt, and random slime trails. My stubby legs are screaming.
Wait—no. My spirits are screaming. Ant legs don't scream.
Still, I'm halfway back to the hive when I hear it.
The sound of something sniffing.
Wet. Slow. Inhale. Snort.
Sniff.Sniff.Clack.
I duck behind a pile of roots. The meat is too big to hide with me. I watch, helpless, as a cave rat rounds the corner.
Monster rats. Human-sized. Covered in fungal growths and scars. Nasty teeth. Worse temper.
I'm dead. I am so dead.
[New Threat Detected: Diseased Cave Rat – Feral Grade]Estimated Danger: FatalAdvice: Run. Hide. Play dead. All at once if possible.
I stay perfectly still. The rat creeps forward and sniffs the meat I abandoned.
It starts to drag it away.
MY. MEAT.
I know I should let it go. I know that. But something in me twists, coils, burns. I need that food. I earned that kill. That was supposed to be my contribution. I'm not some weak hatchling anymore.
[Adrenal Response Detected][Primitive Rage: Initiated]Temporary Boost: +10% Speed / +15% Strength / +Pain Suppression]
Okay, cool, let's NOT think about that too hard.
I lunge.
Fight time.
My mandibles snap onto the rat's hind leg.
It shrieks, spinning around and flailing.
I'm thrown into a wall.
[HP -5%][Shell Fracture: Minor]
Ow.
I recover fast. I climb onto its back and bite again, aiming for a soft patch near its neck. The rat thrashes, but I cling like the world's angriest parasite.
It bashes into walls. Rolls. Snarls.
I bite, again and again. I use my tiny legs to dig in and hold. I see blood. I see spores. I don't know whose.
The rat claws at its own back, and one lucky hit slices into me.
[HP -18%][Critical Wound: Back Left Leg Severed][Pain Resistance Increased]
Aaaand I scream internally.
Okay, time for plan B. Which is... what exactly?
I use everything I've got.
[Skill Activated: Arcane Siphon Lv.1]…[Mana Absorbed: 0.8 Units][No spell matrix present. Nothing happened.]
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! This is not the time to be useless!!
Fine! Ant brain it is!
I scurry up the rat's face and jam my mandibles into its eye.
[Skill Acquired: Precision Strike Lv.1]
Ohohoho—NOW we're talking!
The rat screams. Blood pours. It starts slamming its head against the wall to shake me off.
I let go at the last second and land, barely upright. Legs trembling. One leg gone. I'm gasping. But I'm alive.
The rat stumbles. Bleeding. Disoriented.
I go for the leg tendons. Bite. Bite. Rip.
One final lunge—and it collapses.
Dead.
Silence.
Just... silence.
The whole tunnel stills.
I... I did it?
[XP Gained: +64][Level Up!][Level 2 Reached][Evolution Available]
...
Oh.
Oh, hell yes.
[Evolution Options Available]
🧱 Worker Ant Lv.2 — Default caste. Enhanced carrying and tunnel coordination.⚔️ Soldier Ant Lv.1 — Enhanced armor, mandible strength, territorial aggression.🔮 Mana-Ant Lv.1 (Rare) — Fragile caste. Gains bonus to Arcane Siphon and magic resistance.
Note: Once chosen, evolution path is locked unless Mutation Triggered.
Proceed?
No pressure or anything.
One option gives me strength and physical power. Another makes me better at hauling rocks. Boring.
But the third one... that's the one that makes me special.
Even if I don't get magic yet. Even if it's not combat efficient. Even if it's risky.
I click quietly to myself.
"Let's get weird."
[Mana-Ant Evolution Confirmed]Cocoon Initiation: 3… 2… 1…
Everything slows.
My vision darkens.
The last thing I see before I pass out is my mangled leg regenerating as pale webbing wraps around me.
[System Log Entry]
User: [Unnamed Ant]Evolution Path Chosen: Mana-AntStatus: CocoonedSkill Merge in Progress...Memory Fragments DetectedRecalibrating Neural Pattern...
Advisory:Subject possesses potential.Probability of Hive Integration: LowProbability of Queen Suppression Order: Increasing...
To Be Continued...