Chương 147: Chapter One-Hundred and Forty-Three: No End in Sight
Drake heaved a long sigh as he blew past another grouping of Ants, his body beginning to truly feel the exhaustion catch up to it.
He had been at it for hours. Killing and killing Ants to no end, and had already finished the majority of the quests that he had received, but to his dismay the Ants didn't seem to be giving adequate TP or experience even with their substantial numbers.
"Fucking god damn it, they could at least give enough for me to level up, this is getting absolutely ridiculous!" Drake cursed, "If this doesn't end I'm going to be forced to run."
"I think it wise to retreat and regroup for now. You've exhausted your mana several times already and there seems to be a reason as to why the Ants have not dwindled in number," Natto said, observing from within him.
"I don't want to back down and run from a fight…. But I guess it's the best decision. I have to reevaluate how I'm going to do this if they're going to just throw endless monsters at me that are worth less than dirt," Drake spat.
Drake turned in the opposite direction of where his group was, putting Morning Glory back into his inventory as he pulled his Rings from the same place simultaneously slipping them on.
His hair shimmered to a crimson red as his tattoos flared coloring themselves in a bright red as well.
"I am the wall on which my enemies billow! Bulwark!" Drake chanted, boosting his defenses to their current limit through the skill.
"Time to make an exit!" he shouted with a grin behind his mask.
Drake dug in, bending down into a sprinter's form before roaring forward, destroying the ground below him as he shot off like a gun. He quickly plowed through the sea of Ants, kill notifications piling up as he threw ant after ant to the side, punching through hordes of thoraxes and fire sacs alike.
Finally able to exit on the other side of the large dirt hill that acted as one of the hive entrances he looked back. His entire body was covered in goo from the ants, the Fire Oil sticking to him like a hardened grease.
"Ugh… How do I get this stuff off me? I don't exactly have soap… and it.. Oh my lord! It fucking reaks!" Drake shouted, turning his head as far away from his own body as he could, his face grimacing.
"I do not know but please remedy it… I can smell you from inside you and I did not know that was even possible…" Natto whined.
Drake did his best to wash himself off using hot water but to no avail, the sticky mess he had somehow remained intact.
He sighed, reminding himself that he had to now be more careful with his fire magic unless he wanted to flambé himself. But raising his head from the momentary embarrassment he saw the other towering Hive entrances in the distance.
Drake was unable to see them before in the dark of night, but in the midday sun they were unmistakable and easily seen. He quickly counted five that he could see from his position and gave a short whistle.
"Wow, no wonder there's nothing left in this tutorial… They have to be on the level of a plague of locus at this point… I can only imagine how large the Hive is underground. This might take more than the time we have," Drake mused, putting his hand to his chin, then realizing it was covered in sticky oil, shaking it off in disgust.
"Well…." he lamented, frowning at his oil-covered hands, "Guess it's time to make it back to everyone and come up with something else.
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After a few minutes of skidding around the angry mob of ants, Drake made it back to where he had left everyone. He was embarrassed he was not returning a triumphant victor but at least he was more colorful now and not dead.
"What in the world are you covered in? Oh my god, it stinks!" Chelsea yelled, pinching her nose.
"Yeah bro, might want to take a few steps back…" Bjorn agreed, giving a chuckle.
"It's not like I planned on being covered in Ant juice… This shit won't wash off.. You got any potions that can do something about this?" Drake asked desperately.
"Naw, don't have anything like that bro. Besides I don't even think industrial soap could clean that mess," Bjorn scoffed as he took a few steps back.
"Are you alright?" Claire asked concerned, but also staying a few feet away.
"You too? You would let this rancid odor come between us?" Drake said jokingly.
"O-of course not… I just have a sensitive nose…" she replied.
"I have a sensitive heart!" Drake shouted, running towards her with his arms wide, "Come give me a hug!"
"No! Stay away!" Claire screamed, her face twisting in panic.
"Bloody weirdo…" Jacqueline mumbled.
"What was that?" Drake smiled, turning to her, "You feel left out? Awwww come here Jacqueline!" Drake shouted, running to hug her.
"AH! What the fuck is wrong with you! Stay the fuck away from me you bloody wanker!"
"Don't be like that! We've gotten so close!!" Drake shouted, laughing the entire time as he kept pace with her.
"My Lord, this one believes you have chaffed quite enough. May we ask thou how the skirmish resulted?" Theodore asked, raising his now-fixed monocle with his hand.
"Right, right.. But Theo…" Drake said turning his head to the mustached man, "Why are you so far away…?"
Theodore coughed, "This one believes this to be the correct distance to be from their lord. To show utmost respect," he said, coughing again, "Yes, respect."
Drake's eyes thinned briefly before he shrugged, having enough fun before needing to seriously address their dilemma.
"Right…" Drake said scratching the back of his head only to feel his hair sticky from before, "Ew… Anyway, it's not going as planned to say the least," Drake admitted, trying to scrape off some of the oil.
"Whatcha mean?" Hudson asked, standing next to one of his hulking Robots.
"Exactly what it sounds like," Drake scoffed, "I really underestimated how fast these things reproduce or maybe they've just had that much time since we were dealing with the Goblins, that they exploded beyond control. From what I saw while I was out there. There's a never-ending supply of the bugs… And their Hive is far more expansive than I expected."
"Any trouble with the monster's themself?" Bjorn asked.
"With killing them? Not yet. I've basically been able to one-shot all of them, but the problem is there's so many that large area of effect magic would just exhaust me faster. Honestly? I've been having to fight in a way I really don't like the last couple hours," Drake sighed.
"Oh? How's that, Mr. Shot?" Harley asked.
"Well… Correctly..?" Drake scoffed.
"What do you mean correctly?" Tom asked, his face painted in confusion.
Drake moved his mask reluctantly, so he could smirk wryly.
"It means I have to use more standard spells and tactics. It's really very regretful I spent so much time learning to fight, just to have to fight hordes of monsters where it's essentially useless…" Drake lamented, "But that means no large area spells, and I have to properly fight while weaving my spells… And close-range fighting might be out altogether depending on how strong the monsters get later on deeper in the hive. There's so many right now I can easily get surrounded," Drake sighed.
"Which brings me to the next point," Drake continued, "I don't think I'll be able to bring anyone inside unless we can get to the bottom of why they keep sending endless monsters at me or how they are replenishing their ranks so quickly. Oh…. wait, I might have a solution, actually!"
"No… Did you not just finish saying you could not do that anymore!?" Natto shrieked.
I did, but that was past Drake. Present Drake has a more fun and better overall plan. Drake thought.
"It is not better!" Natto protested.
"Whan eggsagly are you planning?" Claire asked coming back somewhat close to Drake. But her hand pinched her nose, making her speak in an awkward tone.
"Well," Drake smiled, "I have two ways of going about it. One I push through into the Hive alone, and figure out what's going on by hoping I find the Queen or whatever is birthing these things so quickly," Drake said.
"I'm voting no on that one," Chelsea said, raising her hand.
"Same, seems like a good plan to get yourself dead pup," Hudson echoed, raising his hand.
The rest of the group began raising their hands as well, silently voicing their rejection of the first plan.
"Ok, since I'm apparently outvoted… " Drake scoffed, "The second idea I had was, big boom," he said tersely.
"What?" everyone said in unison.
"Ya know, big boom. Like Kaplow, boom, large explosion," Drake said again, then explaining with his hands and some sound effects.
"Oh!" Bjorn said, raising a brow, "That's your plan?" he asked.
Drake pointed to Bjorn smiling, "Yep! I knew you would get it! Know me so well, look at you!" Drake laughed.
"I don't get it," Jacqueline questioned shifting her weight to one side.
"He plans on blowing up all the entrances to the Ant Hive but one, so they don't have as many ways to reinforce their force outside," Bjorn explained.
Drake shook his fist, "He gets it."
"Are you a Shot interpreter or something?" Chelsea scoffed.
Bjorn shrugged.
"Well, that's the plan," Drake nodded.
Amir raised his hand, "What about just waiting until they all go back to the Hive? Didn't you and Bear say that they were not active at night?" he asked.
"Good question," Tom said, agreeing, "Why don't we just wait?"
"We want to whittle their numbers down as much as possible while also cutting off their reinforcements," Drake explained, "And we can't do that if they're all inside. By the way," Drake interrupted his thought to look at Amir, "Everyone was able to get the notifications from here?"
Amir nodded, "We all got the quests and everything but no one has leveled yet, it would seem the Ants don't give much experience, Sir," he reported.
"Yeah, I must have killed thousands by now… And haven't leveled myself, even with the experience penalty I would have expected one level by now," Drake lamented, "What about the stones, I assume since everyone got experience the stones were obtainable as well?" Drake asked.
Amir nodded once again pulling up a screen as his eyes went distant for a moment, "You've almost filled my bags with them, Sir, if it continues at this rate I don't believe I can hold them all. Everyone will have to start carrying some as well," Amir said smiling wryly.
"Well, at least the Ants are good for one thing then. Let's start giving a majority to Hudson," Drake instructed turning to the surly young old man, "How are you on materials for sentries?" he asked.
"After emptying that damned mine? You'd have to give me a few more lifetimes to get to the bottom of my bag pup," Hudson smiled.
"Good, that's what I like to hear," Drake replied, "Start moving forward when I tell you then," Drake said throwing Hudson one of the communication crystals he had, "I'll let you know when I've blown up the entrances and have gotten enough ground for you to start."
Hudson nodded holding up the crystal to his eyes, then tested it.
"Can ya hear me, ya damned idjit."
Drake scoffed, and gave a wry chuckle, "Yes, Sire, I can hear you loud and clear, it's like you're right here with me," Drake replied.
"Really like makin' it weird don't ya?" Hudson answered back, stuffing the crystal into his pocket.
"It's one of my greatest skills, just ask all my high school girlfriends," Drake laughed.
"You had girlfriends in high school?" Claire asked, her eyes thinning.
"Yeah at least kind of, it's complicated."
"Why is it complicated," Claire pressed.
"Don't fucking worry about it," Drake smirked.
Claire puffed out her cheeks while crossing her arms before Drake laughed and turned going toward the end of the treeline.
Before he dashed off to the Ants again, he had a few things to prepare.
[5000 of 5000 Tyrant Ant Workers [F Rank] have been Subjugated. Quest Complete]
[Accept Rewards?]
[Yes/No]
"Yes, Please!" Drake smiled, looking at the pending quests, "Always love new shit!"
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