Chapter 317 Giant Killer Ants Colony
As their conversation continued, Saahira shared more about herself. She revealed that she was the only child, with her mother being a housewife and her father employed as an Aircraft Maintenance Technician at a government-operated aircraft repair center.
Saahira also told Alex how she had recently completed her bachelor's degree and was taking a break to calm things in the real world before continuing to pursue her dream of being a doctor.
She also expressed how, after becoming a member of the organization, she was seriously reconsidering going with her previous plan because her motivation for becoming a doctor was to help people in need, and with her current earnings, she could help such people much better and on a greater scale.
Alex didn't even need to use his eyes of the ancient to know she was telling the truth because she needed such a selfless mindset to complete her legacy trial and acquire the legacy.
In Alex's previous life, Saahira had acquired her legacy from a legacy tomb that she and her team discovered by accident while roaming the underground labyrinthine passages of the giant killer ants.
The team was lucky enough to find a hidden dungeon, a unique one at that, as only those who met the talent requirement set by whoever built it could pass, and Saahira was the only one to pass through the protective barrier.
The other team members and even the Ugly merchant guild higher-ups expected the hidden dungeon to be just a unique dungeon, so they asked Saahira, who was the only one able to enter, to go in as far as she could and gather intel before one of the guild main team arrives.
Little did anyone anticipate that concealed behind the facade of the hidden dungeon lay a legacy tomb. Unaware of the true nature of the dungeon, Saahira cleared the only trail, which took her only a few hours, and acquired one of the most highly Ranked SSS Rank Legacies.
There was only one that started the moment one stepped into the first empty chamber, an extremely realistic illusion where the trial taker has altered memories.
The trial taker lives the life of an outcast and isn't treated well by the villagers for no reason other than him having been born during an event that was believed ill-fated by the villagers, making him a cursed child.
Three days into this new life, the village is attacked by bandits, and the trial taker has the chance to escape, but the trial taker also has knowledge of a summoning spell that could save the villagers.
However, using the spell would cost the user his life, so for any individual, the most logical choice would be to run away and let those who treated him like an animal die, but the only way to pass trial was to use the summoning spell and die.
The Ugly Merchant Guild published all the trial information, hoping that if someone found a similar hidden dungeon, they would make a public auction, and in turn, they would have a chance to buy the dungeon as money was the least of their issues.
After roughly twenty minutes of flying, they arrived at the outer edge of the core area of the endless forest, where they were met with the ceaseless roars of both ground and aerial creatures.
Before they could set foot on the land, they came under attack from a group of early fifth-stage Fire neck Eagles.
Ruth swiftly dispatched all four eagles, preventing them from closing in, as she shredded them with a barrage of wind-based attacks, and with the threat eliminated, she landed gracefully on the forest floor.
The land was mostly hidden when viewed from the sky because of the dense canopy of trees, but after they landed, a sight that would send chills down anyone's spine greeted them.
The landscape was covered in small volcanos, with them numbering in the hundreds, and in every direction stretching to as far as eyes could see were mounds made from hardened dark earth, a few feet in diameter with a wide opening.
These numerous mounds were teeming with life as thousands of small ants, each less than a foot in length and standing about half a foot tall, swarmed across the forest floor, moving in intricately coordinated formations.
They were currently at the location of one of the largest giant killer ant colonies in the endless forest, and these creatures were aptly named for they were a formidable force.
Despite their individual strengths ranging from the early third Rank to the peak of the fourth Rank and occasionally even into the early fifth Rank, their collective might was staggering as they could easily take down peak Fifth Rank creatures and even Sixth Rank if they found an unfortunate one with just sheer numbers.
A single food-hunting party of giant killer ants consisted of at least a million ants, and it could extend to numbers close to five million or more. Facing their relentless and coordinated assault of acid and physical attacks was a daunting challenge.
Though Alex stood calm and collected, and the same was true for Ruth, Saahira was visibly shaken as she couldn't hide her fear as she tightened her grip on Ruth's wings.
"Sir, we aren't planning to enter the ant nest, are we?" Saahira asked, her gaze shifting nervously to the hundreds of dark ants with their menacing visages and formidable pincers surrounding them.
"Don't Worry, I wouldn't ask you to fight," Alex said with a soft chuckle as he landed on the ground.
'Human, I can sense that you are strong, but kill too many, and you will have a target on your back, and these little monsters will swarm you to death or force you to flee their domain,' n.)o-(V..E--l--b-.1()n
'So, I hope you know what you are doing,' A feminine voice resonated within Alex's mind.
"Saahira, Let's get going. We don't want to overstay our welcome here." Alex said with a smile.
Saahira half-heartedly managed to nod as she stepped down, and with her steps trembling slightly, she moved closer to his side.
Alex tossed a night vision potion to Saahira, ensuring she could see clearly in the dimly lit tunnels, and then he approached one of the mounds, and as he drew closer, the nearby ants sensed his presence.
The ants began clashing their pincers together, creating an irritating noise that served as a distress call, attracting more ants from the vicinity. They moved aggressively toward him, driven by a collective desire to rip him apart.
In response, Alex spread his mana sense and conjured three dark spears out of thin air through his sheer mental strength using his darkness manipulation. He wasted no time launching the spears at the approaching ants, targeting their heads.
He obliterated the leading trio of ants with precision and efficiency, their lifeless bodies falling to the ground, and without a moment of delay, repeated the process tens of times in rapid succession, eliminating close to a hundred ants and clearing the area of immediate threats.
Alex proceeded forward and descended into the nearest mound opening, landing on the earthen floor within, and instantly, the ants, sensing the intruders, began to make a cacophony of clicking and clattering sounds with their pincers, creating an unsettling symphony of noise.
Alex used the same trick to kill the ants, and as Saahira descended into the mound, she saw him leisurely walking forward while effortlessly killing the approaching ants.
Witnessing this scene allowed her to regain some semblance of emotional composure, and she started to follow him in silence.