The spider's eight legs pressed into the soil above us, making the tunnel tremble. Each step was deliberate, predatory. Its fangs glistened with venom. One strike could wipe out half my tiny force.
My antennae flicked out, tasting its scent — hunger, aggression, patience. It had sensed us when we raided the seed cache. Now it had followed.
The old me — the worker ant who only carried crumbs — would have frozen. But I wasn't the same. The system inside me thrummed like a heartbeat. Every drop of effort yielded a return. Every action mattered.
> [Quest: Defend Your First Followers — Active]
Failure: All followers lost. Return to worker status.
Reward: Skill Evolution (Unknown)
The spider began spinning threads across the crack, sealing our escape. My ants huddled close, mandibles clacking nervously. I pushed out a sharp pulse of pheromones — not fear, but command.
"Scatter," it said. "Distract."
Half my force darted left, zig-zagging up the walls. The spider lunged at them, fangs snapping. I sent another pulse. "Strike legs."
Two of my braver soldiers darted beneath the spider's belly, biting at the soft joints where leg met body. It hissed and jerked back, losing its rhythm. The web sagged.
> [Tactical Command +1]
[100% Drop: Weak Spot Identified]
I moved in myself. My mandibles were nothing compared to its fangs, but I aimed for the same joint, biting hard. The spider convulsed. My followers piled in, biting, stinging, pulling at the silk.
Venom splattered the tunnel walls. One of my ants fell, twitching. Another was snared in silk. Still, we pressed on. Every sacrifice bought a moment. Every moment was another opening.
The spider reared back to crush me. Instinct screamed run. But the system hummed louder than instinct now.
> [Threshold Reached. Skill Evolution Triggered.]
[New Skill: Pheromone Surge — Temporarily increases allies' speed and coordination]
I unleashed it.
A wave of sharp, burning pheromone flooded the tunnel. My ants moved as one, faster, sharper. They darted under its legs, biting deep, retreating before the fangs could strike. The spider hissed and staggered.
Then it collapsed, legs curling inward, its body shuddering once before going still. The tunnel went silent except for the frantic clicking of my surviving followers.
We had won.
> [Quest Complete: Defend Your First Followers]
[Reward Gained: Skill Evolution — Pheromone Surge]
[Follower Loyalty +5]
[Leadership Instinct +2]
I climbed onto the spider's corpse. To the colony, I was still only a worker. But to these few ants, I was something else — a leader. A lord in the making.
For the first time, I looked beyond the tunnels. If we could bring down a spider together, what else could we do? The world above was vast, and full of stronger creatures. But I had a system, a growing force, and a vision.
Even an ant could become a lord.