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If the ants here see how the ice wolves use ice while doing reconnaissance or anything else.

Ice wolves were not originally creatures that inhabited this area. They were people who lost in the competition for life and moved south with their families. If ants are the native species inhabiting this area, then it's hard to imagine effective tactics suddenly taken against the unknown magical creatures called ice wolves. Climate-wise, there shouldn't be any creatures using ice around here.

Nevertheless, there should still be a chance if they gain the advantage in numbers, but ants might be vulnerable to temperature drops. Yes, common insects are indeed vulnerable to temperature drops, but maybe the ants in this world don't have magical support against temperature drops.

Or, speaking of magic, the reason why those ants are vulnerable to ice attributes could also be considered due to magical reasons. ".... Let's try first and then think. Right now, there's no material to think further."

Marion will be given ice magic abilities.

First, 'Magic Affinity: Ice' and 'Cooling'. Although it would be nice to have 'Ice Bullet' for attacks too, what's important this time is not the attack but the temperature.

「Level reduction, the goal is not to kill but to capture.

Magic attacks generally use INT to determine damage. Since Marion is a wolf-human, her INT is very low so the effect of her magic is not so expected. Even before that, she hasn't reached the minimum value required to acquire magic, so generally, she can't acquire it. First, we need to increase her INT by gaining experience.

Since it's impossible to use everything, we'll stop strengthening at a certain point. Nevertheless, Marion should have INT at least as strong as an Elf's magic specialized build when starting the game. Considering she's already skilled as a Ranger, if we can give her at least one attacking magic, she could play as a new player deadly to other players. Currently, I don't intend to actively engage in PvP.

"Marion, how do you feel? Now you should be able to use 'Ice Magic' well."

"Wow... that's amazing... I understand... even how to use the magic... is this the boss's power?"

"Yes, that's her power. Are you happy?"

Although it's not a rare power but just a system function, it's still a result of rare actions.

"If the others work well for you too, I'll give you more magic and other powers. Although Marion gets rewarded first, I'm sure she'll work hard, right?"

「Okay, I'll capture it and bring it back!」

"All right. We'll wait here. We're counting on you." They send Marion to the nest and wait for the result. Because it's not too far, they can estimate Marion's health condition. If it looks dangerous, they can call Marion back to this place to escape.

While waiting for Marion to return, they consider strengthening the remaining team members with the remaining experience they have.

Although they don't intend to give magic to the others, Marion's INT increase might make a difference in the NPC's thinking ability. Because Kelly and the others have low INT, they decide to slightly increase their INT.

I will do the upload. With this, Leah's INT is higher than Kelly's. It doesn't have any specific deep meaning. However, Marion's is higher. But there's no more experience left. Although not regretful.

"Boss, Marion's back."

Leah halted her thoughts at Remy's report.

Marion seems to have succeeded.

"But she also brought Ali. I hear Ali's steps."

Maybe Marion is being chased. She might be able to escape, but there's no need to take unnecessary risks.

"Summon: [Marion]"

The ground in front of Leah glowed, and shortly after, Marion appeared in the light, holding the frozen Ali.

"Oh, is that Boss's magic? Thank you, you saved me."

Before Leah could explain, Marion expressed her gratitude based on the situation at hand. Whether it's the effect of the increased INT or Marion's original quality, it's unclear, but it made communication more efficient.

"Alright, she's done her job well. Great. Alright, leave it on the floor."

Ali that Marion held wasn't completely frozen or dead, but hardly moved at all. This is quite ideal.

"Remy, are you following Ali?"

"Maybe he's wandering around where Marion disappeared."

"Could it be because the reconnaissance target suddenly disappeared...? Do you think they'll come back to investigate again?"

"I'm not sure... Oh, he's back. Maybe he'll report to the nest?"

Remy also began to provide his report with personal insight. Inserting assumptions or hopes into the report is undesirable, but it can be overcome by paying more attention to it.

It's a good sign that they're starting to think for themselves and express the results of their thinking. If they have the opportunity, it would be good to further increase INT. Maybe the previous silence was because they couldn't follow the situation.

"First, we should thaw Ali. We should already have 'fire magic'... Unfortunately, we've used up all the experience. We can only wait for natural recovery..."

"Boss, may I speak?"

"Sure, Kelly. What is it?"

"Boss, can we 'use' Ali, whether he's frozen or thawed, we can try it, right?"

Wow, Kelly gave the right opinion. Surely this is the influence of her increased INT. Although Leah has higher INT at the moment, Kelly feels smarter. The fact that a player's intelligence is not entirely dependent on parameter values becomes clear.

But having smart subordinates is a good thing. Like Remy's case earlier, we have to teach them to separate facts that need to be reported from their own hypotheses. If we can do that, it will strengthen them even though it's not visible in numbers.

"So, Kelly, that's right. Let's try it now."

Leah used 'Possession' on Ali. Since Ali hardly moved, it's hard to see if it worked or not. With no significant resistance, it's even difficult to determine if the magic is active. Magic with unseen effects like 'Mental Magic' indeed has such drawbacks.

Then she tried 'Fear'. Normally, she would use 'Charm', but she decided to test 'Fear' as she hadn't tried it before. Although Ali showed enough resistance, eventually the effect worked. Maybe Ali has a higher tolerance for fear than resistance to charm against ice wolves. It's hard to imagine a situation where insects would feel fear. Or maybe Leah is superior in 'Charm' compared to 'Fear', but systematically, there's no clear difference.

"Oh, right, there's a feature called 'Beautiful Appearance'. The feature provides "positive adjustment to the impression given by NPCs".

Does that feature also affect the success of charm? Come to think of it, it makes sense.

Perhaps Kelly and the others' desire to tame ants within their first 5 hours of meeting was also influenced by this feature. In the future, if possible, it's better to use 'Charm' as much as possible when the situation permits.

In this case, 'Fear' succeeded. All that's left is 'Command'. If that succeeds, the chance of failure in 'Use' is almost non-existent.

"'Command'... Alright. Now, 'Use'... what?"

"『Use』cannot be executed. This infantry ant has already been subdued by another character."

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