The following morning, the air was thick with a sense of unease. The early light painted the sky in soft hues of orange and pink, but the tension hanging in the air was palpable. Yuki and Lirien, along with a small group of vilgers, moved out from the shelter of the vilge. The vilgers, though only armed with crude weapons—rusted pitchforks, battered shields, and makeshift spears—were determined to face the threat head-on. They had no choice. Their homes, their lives, were at risk.

  The journey was silent, the only sound was the soft crunch of footsteps against the ground as they made their way to the outskirts of the vilge. The terrain grew more barren as they walked, and soon, they arrived at the edge of a vast, desote field. The earth was scarred from past battles, deeply gouged by trenches that ran like open wounds across the ndscape. Broken weapons—shattered swords, bent spears, and fragments of armor—were scattered about like forgotten relics. The remnants of ant carapaces y among the debris, their hard exoskeletons still reflecting the harsh sunlight, a grim reminder of the battles fought here. The field had become a graveyard of warriors and fallen creatures, all of them casualties in the fight for survival against the relentless ant horde.

  “This is as far as we go,” a goblin said, his voice tremulous. His green skin, usually vibrant, appeared sickly pale, and his wide eyes darted nervously around the desote ndscape. "The nest is just beyond that ridge." He pointed a trembling finger toward the jagged rise in the distance, where the nd seemed to shift and shimmer unnaturally. There, beneath the surface, something stirred. The ground rippled as if alive, hinting at the vast numbers of ants that moved just below, waiting.

  Yuki turned her gaze toward Lirien, her golden eyes glowing faintly in the early light. The ethereal glow gave her an otherworldly appearance, as if she were somehow connected to the very forces that stirred beneath the earth. "Stay here," she said, her voice calm but carrying an unmistakable edge of resolve. "Keep watch. We’ll handle it."

  Lirien, ever vigint, gave a small nod and reached for her quiver, adjusting the arrows nestled within. The soft rustling of the feathers was the only sound in the otherwise still air. "If we don’t come back in a day," she said, her voice low but steady, "tell the others to leave this pce. It's too dangerous."

  The vilgers exchanged gnces, their faces a mixture of hope and fear. They nodded in agreement, understanding the weight of the task at hand. With a final, lingering gnce, Yuki and Lirien turned toward the ridge and began their ascent.

  The climb was slow, the ground beneath them soft and unstable. The earth had been churned and twisted by the constant movement of the ant horde, their countless legs carving paths through the soil. The hum of activity from below grew louder with each step they took, and the unnerving sound of clicking mandibles echoed through the air, a constant reminder of the danger lurking just out of sight.

  Yuki halted abruptly, raising a hand to signal for Lirien to stop. Her sharp senses, heightened by her Void Resonance, were tingling with the unmistakable presence of life forms. "They’re close," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper, but her words carried an intensity that left no room for doubt.

  Lirien crouched beside her, her emerald eyes scanning the terrain with practiced precision. The bow in her hands seemed like an extension of herself, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. "How many?" she asked, her voice calm but alert.

  Yuki’s golden eyes narrowed as she focused on the shifting ground ahead of them. "Dozens. Maybe more," she replied, her gaze never wavering. "They’re spreading out ahead of us." She tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword, feeling the familiar hum of energy beneath her fingers. The bde shimmered faintly, its dark edge reflecting the faint light as if eager for the battle to come. "We’ll draw them in and thin their numbers here," she said, her voice firm. "Ready?"

  Lirien’s lips curled into a confident smile, her fingers expertly nocking an arrow onto the string. The gleaming arrow seemed to catch the light, its tip sharp and deadly. "Always," she replied, her voice steady and unwavering.

  Barely moments after they made their preparations, the first of the ants appeared. Their glossy bck carapaces glinted in the sunlight, and their rge, glowing eyes reflected the grim determination of their kind. The ants were the size of rge dogs, their mandibles clicking menacingly as they advanced. They moved with eerie precision, each step coordinated as if they were one mind, a collective force driven by instinct and hunger. The sight of them sent a chill down Yuki’s spine, but her resolve remained unshaken.

  "They’re here," Yuki said, drawing her sword and stepping forward. Her voice was calm, but the tension in the air was thick, every movement measured as she prepared to engage. The ground beneath them seemed to tremble as the ants drew closer, their clicking mandibles growing louder with each passing second.

  Lirien was already in motion, her bow raised and an arrow flying from her hand with a swift motion. The first ant crumpled, the arrow piercing its thick carapace and sending it tumbling to the ground. "One down," Lirien said, her voice cool and collected as she nocked another arrow, her eyes already scanning the next target.

  Yuki’s sword hummed with energy as she stepped forward, ready to face the swarm. "Let's keep moving," she said, her golden eyes glinting with determination. "The rest are coming."

  "Here they come," Lirien muttered under her breath, her emerald eyes narrowing as she drew an arrow from her quiver. In a fluid motion, she notched it, aimed, and released. The shot flew with deadly accuracy, striking an ant squarely between its compound eyes. The creature crumpled immediately, colpsing onto the ground with a sickening thud. Its twitching legs sent spshes of dark ichor spilling from the wound, staining the earth beneath.

  Without missing a beat, Yuki surged forward. Her movement was a blur, the Void Resonance within her body fring to life. Her bde crackled with dark energy, the air around it charged with raw power. As she swung the bde in a wide arc, the edge of her sword met the first wave of ants. The sharp, humming bde cleaved through their tough exoskeletons with ease, slicing through three of the creatures in one devastating strike. Their bodies fell in halves, crumpling to the ground as ichor sprayed into the air.

  The ants retaliated with terrifying force, surging forward in unrelenting waves, their mandibles clicking like the sound of a death sentence. Lirien quickly darted to higher ground, her movements fluid and practiced. Her bow was already drawn again, each arrow finding its mark with lethal precision. She loosed a volley of arrows, one after another, her eyes scanning the swarm for weak points in the ants' hard armor. Each shot dropped an ant, its body colpsing in a lifeless heap as the next took its pce.

  Meanwhile, Yuki was a storm of motion. Her bde moved like a deadly extension of herself, the Void Resonance surrounding it amplifying each strike. She sliced through the swarm with brutal efficiency, her sword carving arcs of destruction. Ant after ant fell before her, their bodies piling up around her like broken toys, their once menacing movements halted by the power of her strikes. The air hummed with the energy of her bde as she moved with both grace and fury, cutting a path through the endless tide of insects.

  “They’re relentless!” Lirien called out, loosing another arrow that struck two ants in a single shot. The arrows ripped through their bodies, but more kept coming.

  Yuki's golden eyes bzed with intensity as she spun around to meet an ant that lunged toward her, its massive mandibles snapping at her. She blocked its attack with her sword, the cng of metal meeting the creature's mandibles reverberating in the air. With a burst of Void energy, Yuki sent the ant flying backward, its body crashing into its companions as they scattered.

  "Keep going!" Yuki shouted, her voice filled with determination. She was already moving again, her sword cutting through another wave of ants as they tried to encircle her.

  The battle raged on for what felt like hours, though in reality, it had only been minutes. The air was thick with the smell of ichor, the ground slick with the blood of the fallen ants. Every strike, every shot was calcuted, their movements so synchronized that it felt like a dance of death. Lirien's arrows continued to rain down, each one striking a new target, finding the smallest chink in the ant's armor. Yuki's relentless melee strikes carved through the swarm, her bde never faltering, her speed and power unmatched as she cleared the path.

  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the tide began to break. The surviving ants, battered and broken, started to retreat toward the ridge, their once-unstoppable advance now faltering. Yuki and Lirien stood amidst the chaos, panting, their bodies covered in ichor, their weapons dripping with the remains of the ants.

  “That was just the start,” Lirien said, her voice steady despite the exhaustion in her eyes. She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, gncing around at the carnage that surrounded them.

  Yuki nodded, her chest rising and falling with each breath, her golden eyes burning with a quiet fire. “We’ve forced them back. Now we follow.”

  Without further words, the two warriors turned toward the ridge, where a cavernous entrance yawned before them. The walls of the entrance were slick with a strange bioluminescent substance, faintly glowing in the dim light. The eerie glow illuminated the vast network of tunnels that y beyond, the soft echo of ant legs clicking in the distance as they scuttled about within.

  "Stay sharp," Yuki murmured, her voice low and tense. "We're in their territory now."

  Lirien nodded, her eyes scanning every shadow, her senses alert to every movement. "I’ll cover our rear. Let’s move."

  The tunnels twisted and branched, each path marked by cw marks that scraped deep into the stone walls, as well as the faint scent of pheromones that lingered in the air, guiding the ants. Yuki’s Void Resonance fred once more, guiding her deeper into the heart of the nest. She could feel the dense concentration of life forms, and they were growing nearer with each step.

  More ants appeared as they advanced, but these were different—rger, more vicious, and more organized. The very air seemed to thrum with their presence. Lirien’s Predator’s Instinct kicked in, her sharp eyes anticipating their movements before they even had a chance to react. Her arrows flew with deadly precision, striking the massive ants before they could close in on them. Each arrow sank into the creatures' soft underbellies, piercing through the armor with ease, causing them to colpse with a sickening thud.

  Yuki, undeterred, pressed forward, her sword cleaving through the rger ants that tried to block their path. She moved with brutal efficiency, cutting down any that got too close. The bde hummed with power, the Void energy around it crackling as she used her strength and speed to hack through the oncoming swarm.

  At one point, they entered a vast chamber, its size unimaginable, filled with hundreds of worker ants. They scuttled about, tending to massive egg clusters that y scattered across the floor. The sight of it filled Yuki with cold resolve.

  "Destroy them," Yuki commanded, her voice steely. Her bde fred with Void energy, and she surged forward. She swung the sword in a wide arc, cutting through the egg clusters with brutal force. Ichor and yolk spttered across the chamber, staining the walls and floor. The air was thick with the stench of decay as the eggs were shattered, ensuring that no reinforcements would hatch.

  Lirien quickly followed suit, releasing arrows into the remaining egg clusters, ensuring that no ants would be able to rise from the remains.

  As they pushed deeper into the nest, the tunnels finally opened into an immense cavern. The heat inside was oppressive, the air thick with the smell of decay and rot. At the center of the cavern sat the queen, a grotesque, bloated creature that was twice the size of the soldier ants. Her massive body glistened with a sickly sheen, her many eyes burning with an intelligence that was both horrifying and calcuting. Around her, a ring of massive soldier ants stood guard, their mandibles clicking menacingly, sharp enough to cleave through stone.

  "This is it," Lirien whispered, her grip tightening on her bow, the tension in her body palpable.

  Yuki nodded, her golden eyes narrowing with cold determination. "Take out the guards. I’ll handle the queen."

  The final battle was upon them.

  The air was thick with tension, a suffocating weight that pressed against them as Lirien and Yuki faced down the swarm of ants that flooded into the cavern. The walls of the underground ir seemed to pulse with an eerie energy, the faint glow of bioluminescence casting twisted shadows across the battle-scarred terrain. The queen loomed ahead, a massive and grotesque creature that dominated the chamber, fnked by towering soldier ants ready to rip them apart.

  Lirien didn’t hesitate. She pulled her bow taut, her sharp eyes calcuting. “Arrow Flurry!” she called, releasing a flurry of arrows that rained down upon the soldier ants. Each shot found its mark, sending ants crashing to the ground in a shower of ichor. Her arrows tore through the ranks with surgical precision, crippling and killing the soldiers before they could even react.

  The ants charged forward, relentless in their assault, but Lirien’s Wind Step activated in a fsh. She moved like a phantom, leaving behind nothing but afterimages as she swiftly repositioned. Her next volley of arrows struck even faster than the st, each one embedding deep into the bodies of her enemies. Ant after ant crumpled beneath the deadly barrage, their attempts to retaliate failing before they could even reach her.

  Meanwhile, Yuki was already in motion, her Void Resonance fring with an intensity that shook the very air around her. She dashed forward with terrifying speed, her bde crackling with dark energy. As she closed in on the queen, the monstrous creature reared back, emitting a shrill, deafening screech that shook the walls of the cavern and sent tremors through the ground. The sheer force of the sound caused Yuki to stagger for a moment, but she recovered quickly, her golden eyes narrowing with cold determination.

  The queen lunged, her massive mandibles snapping with lethal intent. Yuki’s reaction was instantaneous. She dodged to the side, rolling beneath the queen’s gnashing mandibles, and swung her bde upward in a vicious arc. The Void-infused bde carved through the queen’s tough carapace, leaving a deep gouge and spilling bck ichor onto the ground. The queen howled in rage, thrashing wildly. One of her enormous legs swept through the air, and despite Yuki’s quick reflexes, the strike nded with bone-crushing force, sending her skidding across the chamber.

  “Yuki!” Lirien shouted, panic rising in her voice as she saw her companion struggle to rise. She quickly fired a Frostbite Arrow, the icy projectile striking the queen’s massive leg. The queen screeched in pain as the cold spread through her, freezing part of her leg and drastically slowing her movements.

  “I’m fine,” Yuki growled through gritted teeth, standing with a surge of Void energy that surrounded her like an aura. Her golden eyes bzed with resolve. “Keep her off bance.”

  The queen broke free from the frost with a furious roar, and Lirien responded by switching to her Phoenix Feather Bolt. The arrow ignited in mid-flight, splitting into two fiery projectiles that struck the queen’s abdomen, causing her to screech in agony as the fmes burned into her flesh.

  Yuki seized the opportunity, channeling all her Void energy into her bde. The air around her hummed with the unstable power. With a battle cry, she leaped into the air, her sword raised high. She brought it down with all her might, the bde piercing the queen’s tough exoskeleton and burying itself deep within her body. The queen’s roar of fury turned into one of agony as her body convulsed violently, her mandibles snapping wildly in the air.

  Lirien’s eyes gleamed with focus. She notched a Spectral Arrow, an ethereal projectile that bypassed the queen’s formidable armor. She released it with deadly precision, and the arrow struck the queen’s heart, causing her to convulse once more before colpsing to the ground, her massive body shaking and jerking in her final moments. Ichor poured from her wounds as her legs colpsed beneath her, and with one final, guttural screech, the queen fell silent.

  The chamber fell into a heavy silence, broken only by the bored breathing of the two warriors. Yuki stood over the queen’s body, her bde dripping with the creature’s blood. Her golden eyes were steely, unyielding in the aftermath of their victory.

  “Is it over?” Yuki asked, her voice hoarse, the exhaustion starting to creep in.

  Lirien lowered her bow, her sharp eyes scanning the room to ensure no further threats were present. “It is. For now.” Her voice was steady, though there was a note of fatigue in her words.

  They stood there for a moment, taking in the carnage around them. The queen’s lifeless body y in a pool of dark ichor, a grim testament to the battle they had just fought. Victory felt hollow in the face of such destruction. The weight of the battle—both the physical and emotional toll—pressed heavily on their shoulders. They had won, but it had come at a cost.

  “Let’s head back,” Yuki said, her voice steady, though there was a hint of weariness beneath it. She turned, her golden eyes flickering briefly with relief.

  Lirien nodded, slinging her bow over her shoulder. “We should destroy anything left on our way out. Make sure no remnants of this hive can recover.”

  The two warriors began their slow journey back, walking through the cavern with the soft echoes of their footsteps reverberating through the hollow space. Behind them, the queen’s lifeless body y in a growing pool of ichor, a grim reminder of the battle they had fought.

  As they made their way out, Yuki stopped momentarily, her eyes narrowing as she gazed at the fallen Ant Queen and the other ants around her. Yuki felt a strange pull, as the very essence of the ants was being drawn to her the same familiar feeling she associated with the usage of her [Harvest] skill.

  [System Notice; [Harvest] Has Harvested The Skill [Kin Control TI] From Brim Ant Queen First Ascension][System Notice; [Harvest] Has Harvested The Trait [Earth Affinity] From Brim Ant Queen First Ascension][System Warning; [Harvest] can not Harvest Creatures Not Killed By The User][System Notice; [Harvest] Has Harvested 75 Vigor.][System Notice; [Harvest] Has Harvested 55 Magic.][System Notice; [Harvest] Has Harvested 20 Strength.][System Notice; [Harvest] Has Harvested 40 Spirit.]huh that's weird Yuki thought when she saw the warning she hadn't had that one before. Yuki didn't have this problem when she harvested the group that the shadow bear killed? Maybe it was because she killed the bear? Yuki almost growled and cursed the system in her mind.

  "What is it Yuki?" Lirien asked when she looked over at the pissed off Yuki causing her to snap out of her anger fueled thought process. "I just found a downside of Harvest." Lirien tilted her head before speaking "That's the skill that allows you to gain skills, traits and stats from the things you kill correct?"

  Yuki nodded "Correct"

  Lirien nodded and Yuki opened her status window;

  Updated Status

  Name: —Race: Void-Infected Human (Intermediate)Ascension: 2Status: No Job Css

  Attributes:

  Vigor: 2115/2115+75Magic: 2385+55Strength: 2060/2060+20Spirit: 1205/1205+40Skills:

  Uncommon:[Swordsmanship TI]: Increases proficiency and effectiveness with swords, enhancing speed and precision in combat.[Lancesmanship TI]: Boosts skill with polearms, improving range, thrusting speed, and accuracy.[Makeshift Weapons User TI]: Grants expertise in using improvised or unconventional weapons, making them more effective in combat.Rare: [Foreign Energy Absorption TI] Absorbs external energy sources, converting them into usable mana or ether.[Overwhelmed TI]: Increases stats by a percentage based on the difference between current and maximum energy reserves, with a 5% increase for every 10% difference.[Detection TI]: Detects entities and traps in a wide area but risks sensory overload, mana drain, and increased vulnerability.[Kin Control TI]: Allows the user to exert control over lesser kin of the species, maniputing their actions and movement to some extent through Retion to the user.Unique: [Void Resonance TI]: Grants control over void energy, amplifying void-based abilities while increasing risk of soul instability with prolonged use.[Harvest TII]: Extracts 40% of a dead target's stats and has a 30% chance to steal a skill, with a 5% chance for an additional skill, but causes soul instability from imbanced stat gains.[Survivor TI]: Boosts defensive stats by 50%, allows survival of fatal attacks every 12 hours, and restores 20% HP, but halves HP regeneration for 6 hours after activation.Legendary: [Hero TI]: Increases stats by 25% in combat, boosts allies' stats and resistance by 10% within a 30-meter radius, and amplifies group coordination, but conflicts with Infernal TI and causes fatigue, reducing stamina and health regeneration by 30% after use.[Celestial TI]: Regenerates 10% HP and MP per second, grants resistance to basic status ailments, and boosts defenses with [Celestial Armament], but reduces stat growth by 50% and inflicts [Mortal’s Burden], lowering stats by 80% for 24 hours after activation.[Infernal TI]: Increases stats by 50% in combat and boosts damage based on health lost, with additional skills like [Infernal Lord True Name Liberation State] for more damage, life steal, and an aura that reduces enemy resistance, but conflicts with Hero TI and causes confusion and stat reduction after prolonged use.Traits:

  Passive F: [Alert TI]Passive D: [Cooperation TI]Passive B: [Shadow Affinity TI], [Earth Affinity TI]Passive A: [Survivor T1], [Easily Forgotten TI], [Mana Overflow TI], [Ether Overflow TI], [Death Faded TI], [Touched by the Void TI]Passive S: [Hero’s Charm TI], [Infernal Aura TI], [Celestial Spirit TI], [Soul Damage TIII]Passive X: [Void Infection TI], [Soul Circuits Internal Break TII], [Soul Fracture TI]Titles:

  Achievement Titles: [Overcoming]Syer Titles: [Wolf Syer], [Beast Syer]Css-Based Titles: [Jobless]Curse Titles: [Touched by the Void], [Death Faded]Unique Titles: [System Survivor], [Mortal Celestial]Fate Titles: [Discarded], [Survivor]World Titles: [Summoned Hero], [Forgotten One], [Celestial], [Infernal]Yuki's eyes glowed faintly with the new power she had absorbed, though she barely acknowledged it. Kin Control? she thought. What a useless skill. Her thoughts lingered briefly on Earth Affinity. It would be interesting to see how it could work with magic, however it was still useless to her for now. According to Lirien, Yuki didn't have a skill she needed to use magic so affinities where useless to her for now.

  The two of them finally stepped out of the cavern, the bright daylight harsh against their eyes after the long, dim-lit battle. They began the slow descent down the mountain, their movements weary but purposeful. Each step was heavy with exhaustion, but the weight of the battle was no longer pressing down on them. As they walked toward the vilge, the sun hung low on the horizon, casting long shadows across the rocky terrain. They would rest soon, but for now, they were content in their silence.