Theo looked at the message, and the next second, it felt like every single thing he had strived for had come to be true.
[Do you accept?]
[Tame the Shardjaw Ant Queen (Level 1)?]
He hesitated but still went forward. There should be trust between them now.
And Theo kept a hand on its big head without any wait.
The ant queenâs big mandibles moved slowly as if it was trying to say something, but Theo didnât understand that.
In the end, he accepted the taming process, and soon a white light flashed before he was back in the real world again.
"I did it?" Theo asked himself in bewilderment.
[Congratulations! Shardjaw Ant Queen (Level 1) tamed successfully]
[The Shardjaw Ant Queenâs (Level 1) soul has been merged with the Tamerâs]
[Soul strength increased]
[Shardjaw Ant Queenâs favorability toward the Tamer: 45% (Neutral)]
[The user can now access the Shardjaw Ant Queenâs status just like their own.]
[Configuring affinity match...]
[Evolution Affinity detected. The Shardjaw Antâs Earth affinity is resonating with the Evolution affinity.]
[New stats âEvolution Potentialâ and âEvolution Informationâ added to the Shardjaw Ant Queenâs (Level 1) status.]
Theo saw the notifications in real life, and he felt a jitter go through his whole body.
That was it, he had finally tamed his second beast. An ordeal that he didnât know he could have completed in this time frame, or not.
âItâs all because of the ant queen to begin with. If it didnât invade inside my bond with the mantis, there would have been no way of discovering the hive mind...â
When Theo realized that, he felt a lot luckier than he had imagined himself to be. That high stat of luck was finally working and not cursing him.
He made his way toward a box again and went to the ant colony to give them the food they deserved.
He opened the lid again and sent dead bodies of roaches one after another. They fell all around the ground of the colony, and when one got in control of the roach, its antennae glowed before another did it too and then another.
Just like that, they knew where each and every carcass of the roach was, as if having a GPS map inside their head.
Theo took a deep breath and finally opened the Shardjaw Ant Queenâs status.
*
*
Shardjaw Ant Queen
Grade - Ordinary
Type - Insect Type
Level - 1
EXP - 2/50
Basic Physical Attributes:
Strength: 5
Stamina: 15
Agility: 2
Vitality: 25
Intelligence: 18
Dexterity: 10
Free points - 0
Abilities:
Hive Mind Nexus: Acts as the central consciousness for the entire colony.
Level: 1 (5% progress)
Pheromone Gland (Passive): Continuously emits complex queen pheromones that regulate colony cohesion and guide the ants.
Level: 1 (10% progress)
Crunch: Allows for the efficient breaking down and consumption of hard mineral materials, and turning them into energy for the colony.
Level: 0 (23% progress)
Beast Attributes:
Affinity - Earth
Favorability - 45% (Neutral)
Evolution Potential - Not Detected
Evolution Information:
Next Evolution - N/A
Requirements - Unknown
Evolution Traits - Unknown
*
*
Theo observed it with precision; everything was out there for him to understand, and nothing was complicated.
âIts intelligence is good, which makes sense. Agility is simply trash, but we can work on that. Vitality is ridiculously high for an insect... stamina too. Everything else is just okay.â Theo thought.
Until his gaze fell on the one thing that started not to make sense.
âItâs level 1, so there should be 3 free points with it right now... at least it was with the mantis.â
Theo thought of it for a while until there was only one explanation left.
âIt used the free points on its own... Is that possible in the lower-level and intelligence beasts? But its intelligence is high...â
Theo decided to observe it at the next level up.
âNow comes the main point that I should have looked at before the taming, but it was not possible.â
It was how the leveling was going to work for the ants.
The queen in no way was going to fight on her own. So the smaller worker ants were the way to go.
But if they killed, how much EXP would go to the ant queen, or would it not? And how would Theo himself get the EXP?
Questions like this irked him, but he decided to first look at the skills.
Each skill of the queen seemed more passive than a normal beast. It had nothing to attack, at least not yet.
âWell, letâs check the antsâ leveling process, shall we?â Theo thought before moving closer to the ant queen, who was crunching on some glass pieces.
âGet ready to fight,â Theo said as a mental command, and the ant queen looked up.
Soon, its antennae flashed bright, and every other antâs antennae did the same.
Every single ant went to the top and stayed in a formation that made Theo think they did it intentionally â which they of course did.
For some reason, Theo checked the status of one of the worker ants too, making his eyes widen in shock.
âWait...â
*
*
Shardjaw Ant Worker (Partially tamed)
Grade - Ordinary
Type - Insect Type
Level - 0
EXP - 0.98/10
Basic Physical Attributes:
Strength: 4
Stamina: 10
Agility: 12
Vitality: 5
Intelligence: 6
Dexterity: 10
Free points - 0
Abilities:
Mandible Crunch: Powerful mandibles to attack enemies and decapitate them; it is also used to efficiently break down minerals for consumption.
Level 0 (1% progress)
Antennae Pulse: Central communication and coordination method for the colony. When one worker antâs antenna glows, all nearby ants, and even the queen underground, instantly receive a signal.
Level: 1 (3% progress)
Rock Mimicry: The worker antâs greyish body with bumps all over allows it to blend seamlessly with rocky terrain, making it difficult to distinguish from a small stone unless specifically being sought out.
Level: 0 (72% progress)
Beast Attributes:
Affinity - Earth
Favorability - 10% (Extremely Low)
Evolution Potential: Not detected
Evolution Information:
Next Evolution - N/A
Requirements - Unknown
Evolution Traits - Unknown
*
*
âHave I partially tamed each and every ant here?â Theo thought while horrified. âThere is an evolution option for all of them too...â Theo got so many ideas and theories that he couldnât control himself.
He saw that, and he couldnât help but feel a shiver all around his body. It felt too good to be true.
The only problem with the ants was their size, but in the example of the mantis, he had seen that with time and evolution, he would be able to increase their size.
âAll the stats are better than what I would have thought ants as small as these ones would have... And their skill... at least one of them is an attack one.â Theo thought with a sigh of relief.
Just when Theo was thinking that, a stream of emotion came through the bond between him and the ant queen.
Theo was surprised. The ant queen was showing urgency of information, as if wanting to know what the threat to the colony was and how to deal with it.
He quickly threw five live roaches inside the opposite corner of the land where the ants had made a formation at.
âStraightforward, 5 enemies,â Theo gave mental information to know what the ant queen would do with it.
The ant queenâs head kept moving until the antennae flashed white.
All the ants that had been halted for two minutes were now marching forward with synchronized steps.
Theo was so, so engrossed in looking at this situation, he didnât realize the mantis was already out of his beast space and at his shoulder to look at the situation too.
The roaches kept moving slowly everywhere as if analyzing the new rocky terrain until the army of 15 ants came across the first one.
The ant queen did something in the link; Theo could feel it but not understand it. He found this complex level of command giving from the ant queen that made him feel proud of it.
The ants quickly moved from the corners of the formation and went in circles until the ants had the roach inside the circle they made.
At this point, Theo wanted to have popcorn with him. This was just too entertaining.
Until finally, they started moving inward, making the circle smaller until there was no more space for the roach inside it.
The things that happened after it, Theo didnât want to watch anymore.
He had seen the mantis eat its insect prey alive before, but this time with the ants? It was a live butchery.
He saw the leg of the roach being decapitated until there was nothing left, its antennae were pulled out. Its hard exoskeleton body parts were pulled out until nothing was left.
Still, the roach was alive until a few ants grabbed the head with their mandibles and pulled it out with their small bodies.
It was at that moment that he realized that not all things did or will go well.
Theo was bombarded with so many notification screens, it felt like his eyes would start bleeding.
The day he tamed the ants finally came, but the costs that would come with it were not yet known.