It was the absence of anxiety that Micro noticed first. He knew he should feel anything but calm with none of his friends in sight. But he felt more like a truck than a human, completely void of any describable sensation. He was only barely aware of his existence, until a faint voice broke through the darkness.

  “This is disappointing…” Micro heard a voice mumble.

  Micro tried to reply, but he found no voice of his own to use.

  “I’ve been moving the portal all around this world for ages,” the voice continued. “Just when I think I’ve finally found a challenger or two, look at you…”

  Micro could do nothing but listen to the formless voice in the infinite dark. He strained his ears to hear its next words, but he couldn’t even be sure if he still had ears.

  “Are you lost?” the voice asked.

  Micro wasn’t sure how to reply, but he soon remembered that he couldn’t reply at all.

  “Your mind… wow…” The voice sounded shocked. Micro suddenly felt something for the first time since entering the dungeon. A dull pain entered his thoughts, as if his mind was being poked and stretched. “It’s so small that it’s hard to read properly…”

  Micro waited for the pain to subside, and eventually the voice seemed to leave his mind, like exhaust floating away on a breeze.

  “Ah, there’s a pixie among you. That’ll do…” The voice sounded relieved as the pain in Micro’s thoughts faded. A moment of silence passed. “Ah, I see. Wow, what a mess. What was the point of giving you these dungeons?! The creator would cringe at the sight of you all… Well, you’re here at least.”

  Micro heard the voice sigh, then realized he was standing beneath a tree. He looked around quickly and saw Arbur, Kolt, and Kira lying unconscious on the grassy ground, covered in burns. Trill was sitting on Kolt’s shoulder, panting and out of breath. Micro was happy to see them all breathing, but the familiar feeling of anxiety began to return to him. Blue was still flying above the group, but she also looked tense.

  “This could be bad,” Blue whispered calmly. “Even at full power, I don’t think I’d have any fun fighting her…”

  “Her?” Micro asked, looking around. “Who? Where?”

  “There,” Blue continued to look down at the grass in front of them. Micro still had no control of his energy, and he strained his eye to find any trace of the woman Blue was referring to. The sun was high in a clear blue sky, and the grass was healthy and green. However, he couldn’t find any trace of a person, dungeon guardian, or monster of any kind.

  “The grass can read minds…?” Micro mumbled. “Ruby level dungeons are different than I expected.”

  “You may be half blind, but come on…” the voice said with a sigh that sounded almost feminine, and Micro finally found its source.

  “Oh, sorry…” Micro said as his eye fell upon a swaying blade of grass, upon which sat a single, ordinary ant.

  “Strange one, you are,” the ant said, its sweet voice conflicting greatly with its appearance.

  “Your minds are like open books, but do not fear. After reading the little blue one’s memories of today, I have no interest in reading any more. What a disappointment…”

  “Is reading a hobby of yours?” Micro asked with a blank expression. “The old man’s son read a lot of novels…”

  The ant began to walk slowly down the blade of grass, disappearing from sight for a moment. Micro tried to find it again, but didn’t notice it again until it called out to him from the trunk of the tree he stood next to. Even up close, it looked like nothing more than an ant.

  “I have been entertained by countless armies who sought to further their understanding of the Ant Art, but not a single soldier has darkened my door in years,” the ant explained. “Now my long awaited guests are three broken children, two disinterested pixies, and… a farm tool…?”

  “Sorry…” Micro shrugged. “Are you the boss in here?”

  “I am Kaylero, guardian of the Ruby Air Ant Dungeon, yes, but that is no concern of yours. I do not grant Core Cards to lost children.”

  “Oh, so do you mind if we leave after the fires die down outside—”

  “But you have treated my domain as little more than a rest stop,” Kaylero the ant interrupted Micro. “Does this sacred home of mine, granted to me by my unparalleled creator, look to you like nothing more than temporary shelter? Does disrespect flow so deeply in a farm tool’s veins?!”

  “Trucks don’t have—”

  “Hey!” Blue hissed, still hovering in place. “Try not to increase our chances of dying a quick and painful death, would you?”

  “Ah, sorry about that, Kaylero,” Micro corrected himself, bowing as he had seen others do many times. “We were about to burn to death outside, and I mistook this for an amber level dungeon in the area.”

  “I am well aware,” Kaylero replied curtly. “Ah… I barely have the will to punish you for your insolence, your ignorance, your incompetence…”

  “So can we—”

  “But my purpose has not changed since those glorious days when generations of armies relied upon my blessing,” Kaylero sighed. Micro thought he could see the ant shaking its head, but it was difficult to discern any expression on its tiny face.

  “What purpose?” Micro asked.

  “You’re foolish even for a farm tool, Micro. Strange name…” Kaylero retorted. “We exist to aid humanity on the path to immortality.”

  “That’s nice of you,” Micro said. “I already have immortality though.”

  “That’s not an uncommon misunderstanding for one as uneducated as yourself,” Kaylero replied. “You have a lot more work to do before you can truly be called an immortal.”

  “How immortal am I?” Micro frowned.

  “There are simply a few less things that can kill you now,” Kaylero explained impatiently. “But I can assure you, farm tool, that I am not one of those things!”

  “Well, thanks for not killing us yet,” Micro replied. “You dungeon guardians really are nice. It must be a nice job!”

  “It isn’t always so nice for us,” the ant grumbled. “It’s exhausting! It was fun at first, and we saw some potential, but humans just started getting weaker one day. Now look at you, barely able to stand up on your own.”

  “Standing on two feet is trickier than it looks. I guess you wouldn’t know, since you have six…” Micro replied slowly. “But I’m trying to get stronger now. My own purpose is to figure out how to travel through space and time.”

  “Such a trivial task is what vexes you?” Kaylero gasped. “How weak can a race be? After all these years with dungeons around, you all—”

  “Huh?” Arbur suddenly stirred. In a daze, he massaged his sore head while frowning up at Micro and Kaylero. “Why is that girly ant talking down to us…?”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Kaylero is the guardian,” Micro replied.

  “Guardian of what?”

  “The Ruby Air Ant Art Dungeon.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “That’s where we are right now,” Micro gestured to the field around them.

  “Ah… Ruby…” Arbur mumbled, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes once more. He was unconscious before his head hit the ground.

  “Many cultivators have died proudly in this dungeon,” Kaylero continued. “The world may be better off without the likes of you, as discourteous as you are weak.”

  “Is your trial very difficult?” Micro asked.

  “Unbelievable…” the ant cringed at his question. “Am I a babysitter to this species’ outcasts? Have I outlived my glorious purpose in this realm?!”

  “I really just—” Micro began to speak, but the ant cut him off.

  “Fine, you can leave!” Kaylero shouted, and a portal opened behind them.

  “But we’ll die if we leave now…” Micro replied.

  “You’re bound to die sooner or later anyway with cores like that,” Kaylero scoffed. “Better to get it over with. Go on now. Go die.”

  “We can’t leave yet,” Micro argued.

  “But you will!” Kaylero shouted.

  “I don’t think we will,” Micro argued, standing firmly on the ground.

  “The other option is the trial of this dungeon,” Kaylero spat back. “You are not even worthy to die here. It would dishonour those who already have.”

  “So we aren’t allowed to do the trial?” Micro asked.

  “Allowed—” The ant fell silent, and Micro could sense the frustration radiating from her tiny body. “I can not deny your right to challenge the trial…”

  “We’ll do that then,” Micro said with a smile. “When do we start?”

  “But you are few in number, and you are terribly weak…” Kaylero grumbled. “There would be little point.”

  “How many people should we have?” Micro asked.

  “An army is typically required, recommended, realistic… though a handful of cultivators have been successful on their own…” the ant explained, looking around at the group of injured and anxious cultivators. “There is precedent, but still…”

  “Do we have to fight you?” Blue asked timidly.

  “Your ignorance is grating,” Kaylero groaned. “You master the mind, body, and soul in the lower dungeons. In the emerald level dungeons you face all sorts of enemies. You’re in a ruby level dungeon now.”

  “So?” Blue asked, her snarky attitude only partially audible in her strained voice. “If you’re going to talk, say something we can understand.”

  “The jade, amber, sapphire, and emerald dungeons are meant to prepare you for what you’ll face in ruby dungeons,” Kaylero continued, paying attention to the look on Micro’s face as he tried to keep up with the explanation. “Here, your enemy is nature in all its forms. Erasing you all from existence would be a trivial matter to me, but such an act would be wasteful in my creator’s eyes.”

  “So we can do the trial!” Micro clapped his hands.

  “Ah, that’s a relief,” Blue said with a loud sigh. “I can battle nature all day. I don’t think nature as beat me once!”

  “If this were the Pixie Art Dungeon, your confidence might be justified,” Kaylero said.

  “The Pixie Art what—”

  “But not here!” Kaylero scoffed.

  “Now wait a moment you—” Blue shouted, but she was soon reminded of the difference in power between her and the ant.

  “Enough!” Kaylero roared, emitting an angry aura that seemed to fill the entire world in an instant. “I will give you a fighting chance.”

  The unconscious Kolt, Kira, and Arbur suddenly disappeared without a sound. They were gone before Micro could even react, but his panic turned to surprise when they reappeared, Kolt and Kira standing in clean robes and free of injury, while Arbur’s own robes were clean, but still tattered.

  “What just happened?” Kira asked first.

  “They were dirty…” Kaylero shrugged. “I don’t like when my dungeon is dirty.”

  “Thanks, Kaylero,” Micro said. “Cleaning would be a useful skill.”

  “Well, if you’re not leaving going to leave, you will face the trial,” Kaylero declared. “You will know the material struggles of the noble ant.”

  “Are there ants which aren’t noble?” Micro asked.

  “Have you met any that aren’t?”

  “I don’t think so…”

  “Then stop asking so many questions, farm tool. You’re annoying me,” Kaylero grumbled. “Are you ready or not?”

  “That’s interesting…” Kira spoke up, apparently unaffected by the talking ant. “What’s going on right now, master?”

  “The field we were walking across exploded, so we jumped into the Ruby Air Ant Art Dungeon to escape. Now we have to do the trial, or that ant will kick us out, and we’ll die,” Micro explained. “There’s a chance we’ll die in here too, but the dungeon guardian seems pretty fair.”

  “Oh, okay then…” Kira replied, rubbing her eyes sleepily. “That sounds reasonable…”

  “Enough drivel!” Kaylero barked. “In instances where less than a hundred cultivators enter this dungeon as a group, they are to face the trial separately. Not that it is likely to help your chances of survival, but I’ll warn you in advance.”

  “Thanks, Kayle—”

  “Please, stop talking!” Kaylero shouted. The ant cleared her throat before continuing with a more serious tone. “You will find yourself in a harsh environment, surrounded by a hundred replicas of yourself. If one of you survives, you are free to leave this dungeon at your leisure. If half of your number survive, you will receive the rewards of this dungeon. If all of you survive… well, don’t mind that.”

  “So the six of us will face the trial alone?” Micro asked, but Kaylero walked down the tree, ignoring his question.

  “Disappointing…” The ant sighed. “But I shall not be cruel, for it is not my design. Take cover beneath the surface, and luck may see you to the end of the trial.”

  “Underground—” Micro began to ask, but the scenery around him suddenly transformed. He braced himself for the pressure of an advanced dungeon, but was pleasantly surprised to find the atmosphere felt ordinary. He was standing in a grassy meadow, where only several trees grew. The trees appeared to have a sparkling fruit hanging from their branches, making them look festive. “This is actually pretty nice…”

  Next, he realized that he had regained control of his energy. With a deep breath, he expanded his senses, and immediately confirmed that the ant’s words had been quite literally true. Behind him, he found around a hundred copies of himself, an army of young men in white robes, all with the same blank expression. Every one of them appeared to be going through the same process of assessing the situation.

  “Hello,” Micro said, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of every other Micro saying the same thing at the same time. A vague memory of being parked outside the factory where he was assembled came to mind. All of the Micros stopped talking, frowned, and then turned to the nearest Micro. “Hmm…”

  “I’m the real Micro, right?” They asked each other in unison, but they soon understood that the answer wouldn’t be found in such a way. They all paused for another moment, then spoke again in unison.

  “License plates!” They declared, nodded at each other, then began to move. After lining up in no particular order, the Micros looked to their right, and the Micro at the rightmost end of the line held his hand up and announced his number.

  “I’ll be one,” Micro said, and the other Micro’s nodded in agreement.

  “Two!” the next Micro in line shouted, and the rest of the Micros nodded.

  “Ah!” All of the Micro’s suddenly cried out in unison in unison, then scratched their heads. The sound of every Micro scratching their heads made a strange sound, but they continued to think deeply. As the idea had come to all of them simultaneously, the first two Micros in line looked around, then focused on their index fingers. The first two Micros nodded to each other, then summoned a very small sword of energy. Without hesitating, they made a small cut on each of their finger tips.

  “Turn around,” the second Micro said to the First.

  “Okay,” the first Micro replied, though he had anticipated the order.

  “One…” the second Micro said as he drew a large, red number one on the back of the First Micro’s robe. It took some time for the blood to soak into the fabric, but the second Micro eventually completed the task. “There, that should do.”

  “Thanks, Micro,” the first Micro said.

  The second Micro then turned around, and the first Micro wrote the number two on the second Micro’s back. One by one, the rest of the Micros walked up to the first, turned around, and had their numbers assigned. After the final Micro, the hundred and thirteenth, was numbered, they approached the nearest fruit-bearing tree.

  With Spirit Vision, it became clear that the sparkling, gem-like fruits on the trees were full of energy, specifically energy of the air element. Micro wondered why such a fruit would be growing on a tree in a dungeon, but the next thing he noticed was that he couldn’t sense energy from any other part of the dungeon.

  The sky was bright, but he felt no energy there. The meadow was covered with long grass which waved in the wind, but he felt no energy at all in the grass or the ground beneath it. He tried rooting himself in the ground, but he only succeeded in expending some of his own energy, gaining nothing from the ground.

  Though he hadn’t felt hungry since gaining the ability to fuel himself with the energy all around him, every Micro soon began to feel fatigued and lethargic. A deep hunger grew from within him, and every Micro made their way over to the tree and took a bite of one of its fruits. Soon, there were no fruits left on the tree, but every Micro felt refreshed.

  “It doesn’t really taste like anything…” the Micros noted, but they all felt so satisfied by the surge of energy that they grew relaxed for a moment. There were still plenty of trees in the distance from which they could take more fruit, so their collective sense of urgency dissipated.

  “What’s that?” Micro number nine suddenly spoke. He pointed up at the sky, where he happened to be looking. The rest of the Micros looked up, and with Spirit Vision they all confirmed together. In unison, and with a heavy voice, they all declared their conclusion.

  “That’s a dragon.”