Once, we started talking, the time passed like minutes weren’t bigger than seconds and seconds had no place between us. The hate and craziness which had filled the room with anger and depression left the room; leaving behind a cool breeze and calm atmosphere. And before I knew it, we were cruising through the tunnels- going toward this one place called the pit.

“So what is this place called pit?”

“Oh, it’s the only source of worthwhile entertainment in our colony for us unranked ants where rankers come to challenge each other. But because most of the ranked ants are out in the world completing their missions, there are only unranked ants in the pit most of the times.”

To tell the truth, I was enticed to roam the colony and see how the ants of this world lived. The racial and even general skills had already given me a hunch that maybe their world was not as simple as I was assuming it to be. Maybe, they were not just puppets of the higher order, following orders, and living to protect the colony; maybe they had feeling and ambitions of their own too, and my hunch was somewhat strengthened when my new friend told me it wanted to become a hunter after ranking up.

I didn’t know what it meant to rank up, or being a hunter, and I asked him about it. But he only gave me a mischievous look like I should know these kinds of things. I didn’t know it at this point, but I should have asked him more about this look of his because he was going to give me this look a lot of times in the future. Anyways, my map expanded right at this moment and my memory leveled up; and as the music was still ringing in my head, and I was distracted, we came across an ant almost three times my size. It was big and obnoxious. I had to raise my head to look at it- it was that huge. It was the guard guarding the exit.

{Map has expanded.}

{Memory has become lv 2}

I greeted him and walked outside, but the ant pulled me back as if disallowing me from leaving. I tilted my head -to give him a questioning look- but it ignored me and kept its eyes on the tunnel. The skills gained were nice, but being stopped from leaving was a bit puzzling to be true. And I remembered something important; this guard wasn't present while I was running away from teh mob.

{Balance has become lv 2}

[Skill: Pull resistance gained.]

[Allows you to resist some of the force used to pull your body.]

[Lv-1/25; +0.04Const/lv]

-That’s it? – T2, training doll.

While I was still thinking about what to do now, the silver ant called out to the Guardian, “You should let him go. He’s him you know, the one who survived the outside.”

“Oh!” The Guardian said before he let me pass. He stepped aside, but I noticed curiosity in his eyes. I seemed to have become an object of attention by returning back alive.

“Let’s go.” The ant told me and I followed behind it.

“What was that about?” I asked him and I heard a chuckle in my mind. It still impresses me how heavens system was changing the lives of the smallest of creatures. They could now talk and have ambitions. It was an amazing thing to understand and observe from so up close.

“You know, everyone knows about you ‘the one who survived the outside.’ You are the first newborn to have ever stepped outside the colony and come back alive. Even though you were dragged back by the gatherers but it still counts alright.”

His words and his tone put me in shame, but it was understandable; after all, my odds to survive outside were slim to none, and I had only survived thanks to my blessings. If I hadn’t gained the skills I had then only heavens know where I could have ended up.

{Charm has leveled up to2.}

Soon we were on our way toward the pit. And while we were walking he decided to tell me about what it meant to rank up.

“You see, currently we are rank 0 ants and are not strong enough to handle life when it gets tough. So we are only allowed to visit certain areas in the colony. We can only go to the pit, the training facility, maybe the den if you get permission and that’s all. Only after we evolve and become ranked warriors, or soldiers, or carriers, or something out of the hundreds of types out there, do we get to become a part of the larger world of ants and struggle for the colony. Until then everything is just a progression.”

I remembered the first time I had evoked the system. It had explained to me how I would evolve once my level reaches its current maximum potential. I felt embarrassed and confused at the same time after remembering this- Confused because if I was right then he was also a newborn like me, maybe a bit higher leveled, but he was somehow able to [Talk] and fluently at that which was only possible for someone with an impossibly high level of intelligence and wisdom, which, he shouldn’t have had at this point in time.

I didn’t voice out my thoughts though. Everyone has secrets. I had a massive secret which allowed me to survive the outside and he probably had one too which was allowing him to [Talk] like a high ranker. And I didn’t want to lose the one single ant in the whole colony that was helping me out of kindness. But when I further thought about his unusually different appearance, I became sure that probably not everyone had the same starting point. Maybe not every ant out there received only .1 endurance and vitality every other level up. Maybe…

But the system chimed in before I could wrap up my thoughts bringing with it another skill and another question.

[Skill: Interrogation gained.][Active/Passive][Tier-1]

[The skill allows you to elicit useful information from your target without warning them. The chance of the skill failing against someone of higher charm is absolute.]

[Lv-1/10; +0.1charm/lv]

-I don’t have to ask you anything, you will tell me everything yourself. –Haka, The disciplinary officer, ???.

For some reason just as we exited the tunnel and came into a cave of sorts, he stopped walking, looked at me as if there was something he had to say, which he really did indeed.

“Why don’t we play a game?”

“A game?” I asked.

“Yes. Let’s see whether you can follow orders or not.”

“Follow orders? But what for?”

“Well… you see… I want to be a team leader after I Rank up and make up my own team. I think you, who has already seen the world outside, will be the perfect first member I can have, but I want to see whether you can follow orders or not.”

“I don’t understand what you are saying,” I wasn’t sure at first, but I decided to see this little game of his through.

“Nothing much, just don’t move if I don’t tell you to, and follow me closely.”

“Alright.” I was thinking how hard can that be, but I didn’t know much.

“Then can you climb?”

“yes.”

“I knew it. Okay, follow me.” And we started walking.

We walked slowly, real slow like we were walking over a field of landmines. And while we walked, I noticed something; his feet didn’t make any sound, while mine sounded like a blacksmith was crunching his hammer. I looked to see what I was doing wrong and noticed that while I was only trying to keep my body leveled without any care of the weight I put behind my feet, his strides were perfectly balanced with as little weight put behind each moving foot as possible.

It lit a fuse in my head, and just as I copied him, I earned myself a new skill.

[Skill: Silent steps gained.][Passive][Tier-1]

[It masks the sound of your steps.]

[Lv-1/10; +0.1Dex/lv]

-They can’t hear you boy, but don’t forget, they can still see you.

This skill was an eye-opener. I understood that I was not the only one with skills. Sure, I might have high affinity to skills, but there were others who were either born with them or had learned certain skills by repeating the same actions over the course of their lives. The most important thing in this revelation that I now knew I had the ability to learn those skills too.

Practising my footstep I followed behind him, and soon we were upon a cross-section where he told me to stop.

“See, a soldier is going to come from that tunnel on our left any minute now. And he’s going to pass us by. Your first order is to hide. Climb the roof if you have to or hide in the shadows. Just don’t let him find you. Oh, oh, he’s coming! Hide now or it will be too late.”

I didn’t know what was happening there. Why did I have to hide in the colony, but then I remembered how the guardian standing at the exit of our room had stopped me from leaving. He had only let me go because of him. And it suddenly hit me- maybe I’m not supposed to be here right now.

I noticed the soldier walking toward us from the side and became nervous. I tried to look for my silver friend to get me out of this situation, but he was nowhere to be seen. I panicked. The pores on my back opened larger than ever and sucked air with unimaginable force. I shouldn’t have followed him. He’s a stranger and I’m a fool! But just as I thought I was really done for, my [Ant sense] flared up, and I felt a pull from it- telling me where he was hiding. Right next to me, where the tunnel ended, there were some pits wide enough of an ant my size to hide, and from there I felt a pull and understood that my only chance at getting away harmless was by joining him in the pits.

I moved. [Silent steps] muffled the noise I was making, and just as the soldier came upon us, I slid into the pit and curled my body with the intentions of becoming one with the wall. Maybe I made too much noise for the [Silent steps] to hide my presence because the soldier stopped right where I once was.

His antennas moved as if he was trying to sense my presence, and I felt a wave of current pass from my body. He had used some kind of skill- I was sure of it. I once again thanked my blessing, I gained just the skill i needed to hide from the soldiers experienced senses.

[Skill: Sneak gained.][Active][Tier-1]

[You affinity with skills has unlocked the degraded version of stealth.]

[It makes you somewhat difficult to perceive.]

[Uses .1mMP/sec.]

[Lv-1/10.]

-Shh! Their eyes can’t find you boy, but don’t forget, their ears still can.

The quote made me nervous. Am I going to get found? And then what will happen to me? I regretted following this ant and my body tilted slightly shifting the sand under me. The soldier’s andantes picked on this anomaly and directly pointed toward me. His face turned and our eyes meet. I didn’t know whether he could see me in the solid darkness or not, but I noticed a hint of agitation and curiosity in his eyes.

I quickly balanced my body and made myself as still as my current control allowed me too.

{Balance has leveled to lv 3}

I was tensed and delirious. I thought he was going to catch me and I was going to get demoted or whatever an ant caught without a license to wander around gets, but fortunately my fear resistance rose by a level during this moment and I calmed down, not completely, but enough to understand that I was still not caught because the soldier hadn’t found me yet. This thought not only increased my confidence but also strengthened my will and made me strong enough to not falter under pressure. Moreover, I still remembered the words of that hateful silver ant and gritting my mandibles waited for the soldier to make his move. The system clicked in right at that moment as if it was waiting for me to buckle up.

[Skill: Strong willed gained.][Passive][Tier-1]

[It helps you to make calm and solid decisions.]

[Lv-1/10; +.05Wisdom/lv, +.05Constitution/lv]

As I got ready to get found out, another soldier came into the tunnel. He then talked with the curious soldier about shifts and then they both left together. I didn’t take my eyes off them and only when they really moved out of my sight did I take a breath of relief.

I slowly walked out of the pit looking stunned. That silver devilish ant soon followed behind me and the first thing it said after coming out was, “You have what it takes to become a hunter. Join my team once you level up. I’ll surely take you.” He said and stared at me as if he wanted me to answer him, but I didn’t. I simply started walking again. I was confused and lost in thoughts when he told me it was enough playing around for today. I was thankful for that.

“You know, I was sure you would get caught standing like a statue in the middle of the tunnel, but you did great. For someone to understand that they could hide in the pit on their first time is an exceptional thing. Anyways, I got scared for real when the soldier stopped right in front of you. You are one lucky ant. They don’t ever miss you know. Okay, enough talk, let’s walk. We need to move fast because the show is starting soon probably.”

“What show?” I asked.

“Oh, you’ll know once we get there. Now, come, follow me.”

And we started running. My sneak and silent steps leveled up once while we were still in the tunnels, which we soon left behind and entered a dark open cave where the roof was so high above us heads, its existence was almost meaningless. In this cave, we were not alone anymore. Hundreds of ants: big and small, black and colorful, all walked toward the same destination, toward this huge pit in the ground. I had run continuously to this pit for who knows how long and surprised my partner with my stamina during our journey. He had no endurance. Maybe this is the flaw of having high intelligence and wisdom in the lower ranks. It was a well thought out observation and I was right too.

Anyways, Breathe, Movement, stamina regeneration and stamina preservation all leveled up, but that aside, I have to say, the pit was more astonishing than I could have ever thought of. It was not the place itself which was crazy, but the mood, the excitement, and the sheer number of ants which were present.

{Breathe has become lv 5}

{Stamina regeneration, preservation has become lv 4}

{Movement has become lv 4}

It was a pit full of ants, by the ants, and for the ants. The pit was about half a meter deep and similarly wide. It looked so big from the eyes of an ant that once I sat down in the middle; it was like being in the middle of a storm- thunder overhead, destruction in front of me, and excitement everywhere around me.

There were probably five thousand ants present on the scene. I looked down, and just as I did, the others started shouting. Because I wasn’t prepared for this, the collective wavelengths from over five thousand ants slammed directly into me. It was overwhelming. If it wasn’t for my blessing –once again- and I hadn’t gotten another resistance, I would have passed out from the rush alone; like the other ants who were probably first timers like me and were being taken back outside by their friends.

“You know, I thought you wouldn’t be able to handle it at all and pass out too. But you held on. No wonder you survived the outside.” His last words were a whisper. I could feel a sense of respect in them and longing too; like he wanted to see how the world outside looked. I wanted to tell him how dangerous that colorful and bright world outside is, but he started speaking before I could and I soon forgot about it.

“So, how is it?” he asked, and I only had one word for him, “Amazing,”

[Skill: Overwhelm resistance gained.]

[Life can be overwhelming sometimes. This skill helps you remain rational during these moments.]

[Lv-1/25; +.04 wisdom/lv]

-If a single murder overwhelms you, then how will you survive on the frontlines, soldier? –captain, 5th battalion, ???

Slowly everyone settled down and an ant entered the bottom of the pit from the audience. It had a big head in proportions to its body which was slim and short.

“Is everyone ready!?” he asked with a so loud voice, it reached reached even my mind. The whole pit boomed with excitement and the sudden rush took me by surprise.

{Overwhelm resistance has become lv 2}

“Now, let me introduce our last contender of the day. He is mean, he is vicious, and he is someone who holds the intentions of becoming the new legend. Ladies and gentleman please welcome, the black death…”

“Booooo!!”

A jet black ant stood up from the audience and jumped into the pit. It had a spear-shaped head and pointed legs. I definitely saw a layer of protection over its eyes. It was quite similar to the officer I saw on the tree. It’s just that this ‘black death’ was somewhat smaller than him.

“Now, now, no need to curse someone for their naming sense. Okay, everyone stand up, and welcome, the one who no longer needs any introductions, the one who is as old as the pit itself, the one who created the word legend… The…”

And the whole pit shouted collectively, “The juggernaut!!!”

I saw someone enter the pit from a tunnel on the bottom left side. It was an ant bigger than any I had seen until then. It was a beast. Its clawed feet alone were bigger in size than my whole body. It was so big I could clearly see it open its mandible from the top of the pit and see its saliva dripping down on the dirt below making smoke to rise upon contact. It wasn’t black like most of the other ants but almost blood red in color and had legs which were at least three times longer than its body. It surprisingly had no antennas, and I couldn’t understand how it went around without them. Aren’t antennas the only reason ants can receive all the signals, can talk and see?

It left indentions in the dirt as it walked, and my [Ant sense] flared as it looked toward us in the stand. It was hostile toward everyone and my [Ant sense] proved it. I wanted to [Analyze] it and see what It was thinking, but its presence alone was overwhelming enough for me to sit still and not try my luck. By now I knew [Analyze] was a two-handed sword, and if my target of inspection was stronger than me, then not only was it going to fail but also notify my target of my intentions. The system which had already rung multiples times notifying me of my gains, chimed again, telling me, my senses had leveled up.

{Ant sense has become lv 4}

{Overwhelm resistance has become lv 3}

“Fight.” The host shouted and the Juggernaut who had been standing still until now moved. He moved so fast I couldn’t follow him with my eyes. Only my [Ant sense] could pick up his hostility and tell me the general direction he had gone toward. The other guy also moved at this point. Although, I didn’t see what happened, but in a split second, smoke rose from the place where he first stood at. He had obviously survived, but just as he stopped and came back into my sight, he moved again, and the dirt exploded behind him. I couldn’t see what had happened until the dirt settled, but when it did; we saw the Juggernaut standing in a deep pit. I saw the challenger moving again. He vanished from his position and when he appeared he was right next to the legend and a blue glow covered his body.

“He’s using a skill.” My neighbour yelled, and I saw the blue glow concentrate at his mandible –which was wide open- and when he closed them, a tangible blade of blue flew toward the juggernaut with the sound of the air burning behind it. The crowd which had been silent until now gasped and then yelled out loud when we saw the Juggernaut avoid the blade by jumping in the air. The blue projectile flew past his body like a storm and struck the pit wall behind him- exploding in an aftereffect of fading blue radiance; leaving behind a sharp cut on the wall.

It was his first movement which I could follow with my eyes, and it was so graceful, I almost wept. I almost thought he could fly, and was sure the juggernaut wasn’t an ant. The challenger tried to buy himself some time after this with his speed. His attacks connected a few time but they failed to penetrate his armour. In the end, he got struck by a green ball of some kind and admitted defeat.

The host declared Juggernaut the winner who stared back into the stands with the same hostility and aggression before walking back into the tunnel he had come from; whilst the challenger left the pit in a hurry. I noticed smoke rising from his skeleton and thought that his condition was probably not good. It the last fight of the night. Everyone started leaving soon after.

We too followed the mass and left the pit. On the way, I imagined myself fighting in the pit against the juggernaut and found myself lacking a hundred times more than the challenger tonight. What would I have done? Could I have dodged his attacks? I had no answer to any of these questions. Only envy and an urge to get strong remained in my heart when [Memory] gained enough experience to level up.

{Memory has become lv4}

“So, how was it?” The silver ant asked me and I answered with yet another, “Amazing.” As if I had another answer. Our conversation ranged from analyzing the challengers attack to the Juggernauts strength and the result all boiled down to the challenger being out leveled, out skilled, and out everything. He was simply not strong enough to challenge the legend.

We were still deep in our conversation and on our way back when I suddenly felt a pull from behind. It was the pull of hostility I had felt so many times before, and I understood something was up.

I looked back and surely, there stood the bully from my nursery with his goons. He glared at me as if saying, ‘You are dead’, and I glared back with the same intention to tell him, ‘You can try.’

{Glare has become level 3.}

{Anger has become level 2.}

His antennas which were waving calmly stood still upon my glare and I noticed him taking a step back. I was sure I had won this round, but maybe I shouldn’t have, because then I saw the big ant with which I had fought before, take a step forward.

“Tomorrow. Noon. Warrior camp. Come.” He barely said the words before they walked away. I was sure he had neither the intelligence nor the wisdom to back up his [Talk]. And this enlightened me.

“No, you can’t go there! You won’t survive that place!!” My silver friend urged. Upon asking, he told me it was the place where unranked ants were trained to fight and become warriors.

“Not only do they make you fight ranked warriors, but the camp also holds real-life fight against sweet carriers, bloodsuckers and longworms. It’s not a place where the soft-hearted can survive.” But I was angry and wanted to prove that although I was just a day or two old I was as strong as them -if not stronger. If I was cool headed I might have noticed the certain pull coming from him, but I was not, hence, I didn’t notice it and decided that I definitely needed to go to this camp tomorrow.