Chapter 17: Surprise Attack on Ants
Editor: Atlas Studios
'Jump, catch, jump, and jump again!'
In less than a second, System caught a black ant with ease and leaped off.
In terms of speed, power, and size, System was way better than ants. It would be easy for him to hunt unless he was stupid enough to choose to fight the entire ant army head-on. Although ants were alert with their surroundings, they rarely ran away.
When faced with danger, the first thing that came across an ant's mind was to attack.
The capturing process was easy for System, but he was unfamiliar with the rest.
System held the ant with four of his legs, but the ant was struggling hard. It bit at the end of one of System's legs.
In fact, even if System let the ant go, the ant would not stop biting him. Thus, they caught each other at the same time.
System could feel the sensation of the ant's formic acid as his exoskeleton was breaking slightly.
After becoming an adult insect, System's exoskeleton was much harder. With [Limb Regeneration] and [Acid Resistance], there was not much damage dealt to System.
System raised his gigantic mandibles, which were about the size of the ant's head, and beheaded the ant. However, the ant's mandibles maintained a firm grip on System's leg even though it was dead now.
System had to use [Corrosive Slime] and burn the ant's head and mandibles in order to prevent further damage from spreading on his body.
After eating the ant's crunchy head, System jumped toward the puddle of water where the ants were fighting with the tadpole.
Unlike other insect hunters, System had a more efficient way of consuming food. He would kill lots of ants first before consuming all of them together.
The ants had low intelligence and poor vision. The sudden appearance of System caused panic in the group momentarily, but none of them sensed any danger and continued fighting with the tadpole.
System managed to catch the second ant with the same method.
This time, the ants were more alert, and two of them trailed after System for half a meter.
However, just half a meter was nothing to System. He jumped, and the ants were nowhere to be seen.
System soon realized why the ants gave chase this time. His wound exuded an acidic odor. Although ants had poor vision, they had a keen sense of smell.
System was much more careful with his prey this time. He pushed the head of the ant away with his front legs. Although the ant's mandibles were scratching on System's forelegs, it only wanted to attack System's main body.
In the end, System beheaded the second ant without receiving any damage.
System was thinking about how to get rid of the smell while chewing on the ant's head. There was plenty of water in the forest, so there must be some effect in washing off the smell with water. However, System had a better idea.
His [Corrosive Slime] was a derived skill of [Fishy Slime], and some of its stinky smell remained. System felt that it was enough to cover the ants' acidic odor. Thus, he sprayed some slime on his wound and launched another attack on the ants.
…
Just like what System expected, his slime covered the smell beautifully, and the ants did not bother to chase after him.
They were alarmed for a second but went back facing the tadpole immediately.
Although System was clever enough to use the [Corrosive Slime] to cover up the smell, he made another mistake with the third ant. He accidentally let go of the ant, and his foreleg was bitten by the ant once again.
System started to get the hang of it slowly.
The ants successfully caught the tadpole by noon, while System had caught nine ants. He had not suffered any more damage after the third one and could now predict how the ants would attack.
They were only driven by instinct, and that made them predictable. They would not let go after they got to bite their target.
With these traits, System came up with his special way of hunting. During the fifth ant's capture, System had a grass straw in his mouth, which he swiftly delivered to the ant after catching it.
The ant bit on the straw firmly and was not a threat to System anymore.
System was so familiar with hunting that he did not even need to use the grass straw from the eighth ant onward.
…
System brought the ants' carcasses to a low tree trunk and started eating.
He could feel that his [Molting Growth] was absorbing some information about the ants. System's [Molting Growth] would reach Level 13 if he kept killing different insects.
Not only his [Molting Growth], but System also felt that his [Corrosive Slime] became slightly stronger after consuming the ants' secretion glands. It would probably advance by the time he reached Level 9.
Upon checking the EXP bar on [Self-Information Generation], System believed that he could gain another quarter level by eating all the dead bodies.
The nine ants and the half-eaten cricket were equivalent to the nutrients provided by a pupa, meaning that 15 ants were equivalent to an insect egg.
It was not the best spot for System, but he desperately wanted to level up his [Molting Growth]. He could camp at the pupae site, and the outcome would be better.
System planned for the next step while chewing on his food. He could hunt more ants, but that would be less effective for his [Molting Growth]. He had to kill more types of animals.
For now, he had to consume these ants swiftly.
System thought of a way to deal with a spider, one of the insects that he could not solo. He could use the wooden stick and collect the acid produced by the ants. He could then bait the ants with the acid and lure them into attacking the spider.
However, it was a very tedious job. Usually, spiders stayed at a high ground that was hard for ants to attack. Even if he managed to drop the spider into the ants' crowd, there was no guarantee that the spider would lose the fight.
Not all ant colonies had millions of soldiers ready for war at all times.
It would be a different story altogether if they kept the spider and ants in a jar—the spider would lose because it had no place to run.
…
The sun would set in another two hours and System had just finished his meal.
System encountered more ants on his way again…
Chapter 18: The Free Method
Editor: Atlas Studios
System spotted thousands of ants under some viny plants. They looked exactly like the ants that he had eaten in the morning. They were probably from the same ant nest.
It seemed like the storm a few days earlier had not done significant damage to those ants.
System closed in so that he could see clearer with his compound eyes. The ants were dismembering a lizard's body lying in a patch of dry leaves.
The lizard had most likely drowned due to the heavy rain. Its body was slowly torn in tiny pieces and transported back to the ant nest.
A brilliant idea popped up in System's mind. He would get food for free with that method!
System had a very keen sense of observation due to his [Information Reading], but his sense of smell was nowhere near the ants.
The ants could easily spot food that was hidden in mud and leaves after the heavy rain. As long as he kept track of the ants' movements, he could snatch the food they found.
If the food was just a small piece, he could lure the ants away first and scudded away with the food. If the food was big, like the body of a lizard, System could snatch the food from the worker ants!
…
After much consideration, System executed his plan. He picked an ant on the edge of the group and leaped forward.
It was not the first time he was attacking ants, and he was very familiar with it. System realized that grasshoppers had much better reflexes compared to humans. He could even predict the next movement of the ant!
He snatched the food easily from the worker ant and kicked it away with his hind legs before quickly jumping away.
Although ants were powerful and could lift items that were multiple times heavier than themselves, they seldom did it.
The food System robbed was slightly smaller than the size of the ant, so he started eating quickly.
The meat tasted like a milk cookie. It was not bad, but its taste was a far cry from a pupa.
However, System noted that the piece he was eating increased the EXP bar two times more than a pupa!
After a few more bites, he realized the reason behind the abnormal EXP gain. He could maximize his level before his life ended if he kept eating this food.
"Could reptiles have a higher maxed level? Damn, I should have snatched some tadpoles in the morning and analyzed this hypothesis."
System ate another bite of the meat and observed the EXP bar's change. Although the EXP increase was high, he threw the food away after seeing that his [Molting Growth] was not increasing further.
System's priority was to increase his [Moulting Growth]!
He tailed after the ants and found a tiny sand hill about half a meter in height. It was the black ants' nest!
It was a huge nest and could easily hold a few hundred thousands of ants, but they might have suffered from the heavy rain a few days ago.
The ants were very busy, and System spotted some large, about 4cm long, ants. They were most likely the soldier ants guarding the nest.
These soldier ants had gigantic heads that were about half of their body. Their mandibles were so huge that System believed they could easily tear his stomach open and break his hind legs.
Not only that, but those soldier ants also had a special abdomen. System noticed that there was a stinger on them. It produced some liquid that would guide the movement of the regular worker ants.
System had no intention to fight with these huge mandibles and stingers. If he fell in the crowd of ants, System would be instakilled.
System continued to follow the ants' path and observed the movement area and range of their hunting grounds.
In a short while, System managed to snatch the body of a small tadpole.
Although the heavy rain had damaged the forest, there was plenty of food like tadpoles when the rainwater level subsided.
Normally, the tadpoles would be hidden under mud, and it was challenging for System to spot them with his eyes. Thus, snatching them from the ants was much easier.
The tadpole's taste was similar to the lizard meat. Both of them tasted like creamy cookies.
Unlike the lizard meat, the tadpole gave more logical EXP that was lower than the pupa.
Lizards were reptiles, and tadpoles were amphibians. They were very similar in terms of genetics, so the hypothesis he had just now was wrong.
System was right about the growth provided from the food being proportional to its taste. There must be something special about the lizard he had consumed previously.
System decided to focus on the food for now.
Tadpoles could not evolve like insects, but their meat was very effective in boosting his [Molting Growth]. It was even better than ants and lizards.
The natural world was really filled with many wonders.
…
System scouted around the ant nest. He found a place to rest for the night and checked on the ants to see if he could snatch more food.
System found a tree hole in a dried tree trunk not far from the nest. In the end, he passed on this location because it was too near to the nest, and ants were wandering outside the hole.
System could not find a suitable location for before the sun set, but he did manage to snatch a few more tadpoles. They would be his night snacks.
By dusk, System had made some new discoveries.
The ants had found the dead body of a 20cm scorpion hidden under the rocks. It was beneficial for System!
The scorpion was black and slightly decolorized by the rainwater. Its body was trapped between the rocks and covered in dirt.
The ants had yet to identify the scorpion fully. Dozens of them were looking around and checking on the scorpion. If it could be eaten, they would leave a scent, and thousands of ants would gather to bring the food back to the nest.
Soon, an idea popped in System's mind, and he found a way to have the scorpion all to himself.
He lured the ants away and used his [Corrosive Slime] to draw a circle around them.
The ants were trapped!
-- Gift
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