12

Turns out, the mysterious hole is an anthill. The problem is its size.

Perhaps because there used to be an ice wolf den here, the ants rarely came around. They only investigate when there are no adult wolves nearby, and this might be the right time for them.

Though depending on the size of the anthill, I'm not sure if about eight large wolves could conquer it, but there might be a specific reason.

"Ant monsters... troublesome. What should we do, Boss?"

Though asked what to do, Rare already had the answer in his heart. They would tame the ants.

With the ants' abilities and hard work, expanding the cave would become easier. If the ant ecology here is similar to what Rare generally knows, if he can tame the ant queen, then his goal will be achieved.

So, they need to go to the deepest part of the anthill.

"Is there a way to reach the deepest part of the anthill?"

If they can tame worker ants or even regular ants they encounter, they can convert them into followers and clean the anthill one by one.

However, to do that, they need to interact with the ants first, but the ants they saw before are gone.

They have no access to the anthill except through the existing hole, so ultimately, they have to go inside. But that means Rare has to go alone into an area that could be very dangerous.

"Throwing ourselves into an area only accessible by us alone isn't smart..."

Even so, Rare lacks direct attack capabilities in his skillset. Though he's confident in his fighting abilities independent of skills or parameters, it's only effective in one-on-one combat. He's not sure if he can fight six-legged creatures as tall as his knees.

So, whether he can move in the hole or not won't significantly affect his strategy. In an emergency, using "mental magic" and going alone is a sensible option.

"And if I can get out to a larger area in there, I can call my followers."

But the question now is whether "mental magic" can influence ants or not.

"Can you come back, ants?"

"Do you want me to catch one?"

Marion suggested that. Being the smallest among them, she might be able to enter without being noticed too much.

"Maybe Marion can move better than Kelly, but..."

"Wait, something's wrong."

Currently, their combat strength tends towards physical attacks. Although ice wolves can use ice attribute attacks or "ice magic" in some ways, they can't enter the hole at the moment.

Perhaps now is the time to consider magical abilities to respond to this situation. It seems that physical attacks are difficult to apply to ants, so even though they won't fight directly this time, they might face such enemies in the future.

They do rely on battle stability through numbers. So diversifying tactics is a top priority.

With the addition of the ice wolves, they now have a total of 200 experience points. Although it's not convincing enough for eleven people, it's sufficient if used for one person. Moreover, if they only capture or attract one animal, with good consideration, they could do it with less consumption.

"Marion, I want you to capture an animal like you said before, but before that, I want to give you magical power."

"Magic? ... Magic! Can I use magic too?"

"Do you know about magic?"

"In the past, the priests in the village where I lived could use it. I want to be able to use magic too, because it can get me nice clothes and delicious food."

Because Beastmen tend not to have suitable initial parameters for wizards, having an NPC who can naturally use magic might be quite rare. Depending on the magical attributes that can be used, there are some spells that can be useful for village life in the mountains.

Although Kelly's village is near monster territory, they might be able to do that because they have special powers in the form of magic.

"That's true. I plan for everyone in Kelly's village to learn magical abilities, but first is Marion. However, the issue now is choosing which magic to give."

Currently, they want to select a magical attribute that's effective for use against ants as much as possible.

Although fire might be a logical choice because most insects dislike it, it could be dangerous to use in a cave. They don't know if their cave is equipped with a magical ventilation system.

Alternatively, they could also consider targeting oxygen deficiency.

Though the difference between ants in the real world and their world isn't clear, since they're insects, they should have many spiracles on their bodies. Insects need oxygen to be active, and most insects will move slower when oxygen levels drop.

However, if this cave is equipped with a magical ventilation system, it could be a huge advantage for the ants.

Verifying it would be futile.

Additionally, insects of such size surely require a sufficient concentration of oxygen to be active, even compared to real-world insects. The ability to function smoothly in limited oxygen conditions may indicate the existence of magical biological functions that enable it in this game world. Moreover, it's uncertain whether the fire produced by magic consumes oxygen and burns. I'm somewhat curious and would like to verify, but it requires adequate facilities to prove it.

"Having too many enemies with magical properties could be a problem... Maybe we should also rely on magical attacks."

If using fire with magic is challenging, what's the next best attribute? However, it's not certain if fire is the best choice.

For now, I think we should stop thinking about real-world ants and consider what we know about them from the available data.

The things we know about these ants are not too extensive at the moment. First, their size is as big as a dog indoors. However, they move fast enough not to be too conspicuous as ants.

Second, they have the ability to dig neat and round holes in the walls of hard-looking caves. Although it's not certain that ants made those holes, at least they don't appear to be natural. Therefore, we should be cautious about this enemy's ability as one of its strengths.

That might be all we know for now. There's no information pointing to their weaknesses.

"The wolves might be afraid of something unknown, Boss."

"Yes, you're right, Riley. The term 'visual reinforcement' might not just be about enhancing physical sight but also have a deeper meaning."

"Yeah, that's true. We need to consider that possibility."

"If so, what does it mean if insects are afraid of wolves?"

"The current situation makes it difficult to bring the ice wolves with us. Moreover, if we were to truly fight, chances are we'd be outnumbered by the ants. However, if we really want to confront the enemy, we need to find another solution."

"Perhaps because of the difference in body size, we can't defeat the ants directly. So, if the reason ants fear wolves is because of that, I can understand. But if we have to fight, we can overpower the ants with our greater numbers."

"But, are there any specific magical reasons in this world?"

"Yes, there might be something specific in this world that makes ants afraid of wolves, such as their limited abilities or certain magical elements."

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