Chapter 13

Rats, still devouring their former leader, peered around to search around for what made that sound. They saw nothing out of the ordinary and returned to their devouring. Their fur gained streaks of red colour and their bodies got a bit larger.

"What happened to them?" Stone asked as he observed the growing rats.

"That's a normal Monster thing. They level up too and can evolve their bodies by devouring others. That's why they are called monsters."

[Your intelligence had risen by 0.1]

"Partner, my intelligence got higher."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. You broke through limits. Four times in a row. Heh…"

"Queen!" Hundreds of ants arrived inside of the Stone's sight sphere and were happily dancing.

"Queen! Queen! Queen!" Silent cheering could be seen and Stone decided it felt good to be cheered on.

"Ants! Bring me back!"

"Yes, Queen!"

This time twenty-four largest and strongest ants raised him.

"Status," Stone ordered and wished to be able to smile. 'Thud'

Name: Stone

Title: Talc Anthill King

Race: Talc

Level: 5

Exp: 38.53%

Hardness: 1.05

Lifeforce: 76.3 / 105

Mana: 21 / 21 MReg: 30 / sec

Refined mana: 5.25 / 5.25 MRef: 5 / min

Strength: 0

Dexterity: 0

Intelligence: 2.1

Talents: Ageless, Sapient, Heat Accumulator, Partner

Resistances: Heat T1L3, Electrical T1L3

Expertises: Mana Point T2L3, Ambient Mana Refinement T2L5, Mana Carving T2L6, Healing Bath for stones T1L3

☁☁☁☁☁☁

In the Talc Anthill, behind the empty throne room, there lay an egg.

Translucent mana and electric arcs swirled and cracked around the shell in a chaotical, yet beautiful dance.

The evolving Should-Have-Been-Queen Ant inside was half-conscious the whole time and barely heard the notices from the Universum.

She still could not believe it… She evolved!

The egg cracked and exploded. The pieces of shell broke on the walls.

There stood a new Queen; smarter and more powerful than the one before.

Still, something was amiss; she was the Queen, but she had no swarm.

"Oh, right. Stone…" She recalled what she had done.

To save her swarm, she had to persuade the rest to promote their conqueror. It was a good idea at that time, but now she knew that younglings would not be born. At least with a piece of rock as their ruler.

She left the crevice and looked around the empty throne room. Then she remembered; Queen Stone sent her back to evolve after she slew a powerful enemy of ants, the mighty Lizard! Even though it was by accident and luck.

She attempted to conjure the same skill as before. Her mana concentrated before her into a simple stick with an arc of electricity whirling around. She felt as her mana depleted and the electric mana stick disappeared.

She became a full-blown Monster, supposedly the actual Queen of this anthill, Ant.

She set off to find the nearest ant to ask where Queen Stone was.

Royal Guards, who were in charge of the throne and moving Stone around, ran inside and stopped, looking confused. Their Queen was gone!

"Ants, where is your Queen?"

"Queen?" The ants looked at her even more bewildered; too many Queens around for their liking.

"Yes, Queen Stone," Ant danced.

"Outside. Big rat. Explosion. Orders. Run," was their answer.

Queen Ant was torn. Should she leave Stone on his own? Or help him? She was aware that he can't move without help.

"Go! Bring others!" Ant decided after a while of contemplation.

Royal guards were confused; before them was someone who smelled like the Queen, but they already had a Queen.

"GO!" Ant thundered with a mana-filled voice for the first time.

Instincts kicked in, and they proceeded to fulfil her command.

Soon, hundreds of ants form ranks before the anthill and they march for their Queen Stone under command of the Queen Ant.

☁☁☁☁☁☁

Stone commanded the ants to leave him alone so he could heal. That miserable magic rat hurt him. It took around half a day to completely regrow.

[Your spell Stone Healing Bath gained a level]

[You are fully healed]

[Your hardness increased by 0.1]

"Partner, my hardness increased again."

"That's nice," Partner was bored to hell and replied rexlexifely.

"Should we go hunting again?" Stone asked.

"We can, but those rats will move in packs now. They are not that stupid."

"Queen Stone!" Ant showed before Stone and proclaimed, "give me this Anthill!"

From Royal Guards to workers, all of the ants halted and turned towards the two Queens as the challenge was issued.

Stone was bewildered. He peered at the big ant deep-blue lightning-like stripes arched around her.

"Thought so. Stone, this is Ant. Give her the anthill. We can't stay here anyway," Partner explained.

"But I like it here."

"Just give it to her," Partner adjured. "We can't stay here anyway and they need a proper Queen; otherwise, they would go extinct. You would not want that, right?"

"That eggs and gender thingy again?"

"Yes…" he answered, yelling in his mind "Help me!"

"But it's silent here! And minions! Lots of them!"

"Just give it to her, you stubborn mineral!"

"But…"

"Oh, gods! You hear this, right? Give. It. To. Her! Or I will scream! Forever!" Partner brought up the big guns.

"Fine! Fine! Just don't yell…" Stone gave up. It was not worth it. "Hmm. What do I say?"

"I give Ant the title of Queen," Partner was satisfied.

"I give Ant the title of Queen," Stone repeated with his high-pitched voice.

[You have abdicated as Talc Anthill King in favour of the entity known as Ant]

"Thank you, Stone," Queen Ant replied and immediately issued her Royal Guards to clear her throne.

Royal Guards picked up Stone at once and put him before the throne. Queen Ant laid on her throne and proclaimed before Stone could protest, "I give Stone a title Guardian of the Talc Anthill!"

[Queen Ant appointed you as Guardian of Talc Anthill! Title gained!]

"Partner, I gained a new title."

"What does it do?"

"Titles." 'Thud'

[Guardian of Talc Anthill

When you abdicated, you were bestowed by the new Queen with this title. An ant Queen gave away such a rare title… Even though it's reserved mostly for little kids who decided to protect an anthill instead of using their boot. It can be good or bad… Hehe...

You can understand ants' language.

All ants instinctively know that you are the guardian of their brethren.]

"I can still understand them, and all of the ants instinctively know that I am the guardian of their siblings."

"Aaah, damn it!"

"Why?"

"Not today…" Partner exasperatedly sighed. "We need to get out of here soon. We should hunt more rats, but before that, we need to have a few lectures."

"Guardian Stone! You can stay here for how long you wish for!" The Queen magnanimously stated.

"Loud!"

Queen Ant ignored him, instructing her subjects to gather food, repair the entrance, and tighten patrols. After all, Stone declared war on rats.

☁☁☁☁☁☁

Encyclopaedia Stonia

Elements

Mana is truly a wondrous thing as it can change the laws of reality that we are so used to…

Nature Elements: Air, Earth, Water, Fire

Energy Elements: Positive, Negative

True Universal Elements: Gravitation, ElectroMagnetism, Weak Interaction, Strong Interaction

Unison Elements: Fire/Air - Smoke, Fire/Earth - Magma, Fire/Water - Steam, Air/Water - Ice, Earth/Water - Acid, Gravitation/Earth - Force, Air/Negative - Vacuum, Water/Negative - Salt, Earth/Negative - Dust, Negative/Positive - Void

Unique Elements: Gravitation/Nature/Negative - Destruction, Gravitation/Nature/Positive - Construction, Fire/Earth/Negative - Ash

And many more combinations.