HC:Pacifist | Ch. 140 - Wool Over One's Eyes

Despite the total darkness, every ant seemed to know exactly where they were going. The same couldn’t be said for Roth. At first, he started exploring while keeping his flashlight on. But even with the bonuses of [Inner Light] and badger form, he couldn’t keep it on indefinitely. The first couple of times this happened, he just stood still and let his energy bar recover. Once he realized how big this underground city was and how many times he would have to make stops at this rate, he tried a new approach.

He decided to navigate the tunnels and the city with only his mind. He opened it to the presence of the other ants, and since he could see them as motes of light, he just followed after them. This way, he didn’t need to keep making stops, and he cut down the time he was spending traveling.

Soon, he got used to just walking by relying on his mind and following the rest of the ants. If he could sense ants taking a left turn, that meant that he could too. If he could not feel any ants ahead, that meant that there was a wall or some other obstacle. Roth smiled at the thought of learning to see the colony through the ants’ eyes. It helped that there were ants everywhere. There wasn't one single place that wasn't filled with them.

The more he walked, the more impressed he became. The tunnels and chambers were all massive to his miniature form. This city was a wonder of engineering. How long had it taken this workforce to produce such a feat? On top of that, everything was kept neatly organized. Despite the many checkpoints where turtle ants closed the gates to tunnels at specific intervals, there were no traffic jams. All was kept running smoothly by the colony.

As Roth got used to traveling using his mind, he became more sensitive to the variations between the different ants. At first, the motes of light had felt all the same, but he was beginning to see how they all had slight differences, just like Leia and Gilberta had. The feeling he got from honing in on every specific ant was unique.

Leaf-cutters were brisk and sharp-minded. Turtle ants felt more solid and patient. Carpenter ants had a meeker, rounder mind. As he kept traveling the tunnels, he felt more and more of the slight differences between each species. It was as if, at first, he had only seen in black and white with his mind, but now he was starting to see in color.

It was also becoming easier to identify the different types of ants. Rather than seeing only workers, he was now identifying the soldiers. Workers had a busier mind, with many tasks and thoughts going through them. Soldiers had a more focused, single-minded purpose about them.

After walking for roughly 30 minutes, he heard the ring of a notification. He opened his eyes to find the floating window with the information.

You have shut down all other senses, relying solely on your mind.

+1 insight.

Roth paused. Was he being rewarded for not relying on his eyes? He got goosebumps as he recognized the pattern. He had run into it many times before. He had felt this before when he had unlocked [Marathonist] and [Telepathy]. There was some sort of title waiting for him if he persisted in this course of action.

He took a few pieces of raw wool that he had sheared from the sheep outside and twisted them until he could fashion it into a blindfold. Before he did so, he opened the game’s menu. In order to read notifications, he had to have his eyes open. If he were going to cover his eyes, he would be unable to read any notifications he got.

After fumbling around with the menu, he found it. It was under ‘accessibility.’

Would you like to activate the system narrator? [Y/N]

Despite how far along humanity had come, it still hadn’t managed to do one simple thing: teaching everyone how to read. This option was there for such players or those visually impaired. If it wasn’t neurological, the system could circumvent a poor sight, but if it was something deeper, not even the pods could get around that.

Now sure that he could get notifications and read different system windows even with his eyes closed, he tied the blindfold around his eyes and put the flashlight in his belt. This way, he could ensure he resisted the urge to open his eyes. Roth started dreaming of what title was waiting for him here and how many more stats he would unlock by doing this. Happy with the adjustment, Roth pressed on.

*

Mud Tsunami!

Even as the massive wave of earth hit the barrier, it just dissipated, like a raindrop hitting a metal sheet. This shield was way too powerful for Xerxes to get through it. After killing the target’s old acquaintances several times near the shield, it was obvious that this Pax fellow wasn’t coming out of his own volition. He had to find a way around it.

“Killian!”

His faithful subordinate hadn’t stopped swinging his broadsword at the shield from the moment he came here. He was one of the players that had come along with him from the Chimera guild. He didn’t trust him with more sensitive tasks. After all, if he had betrayed his superiors once, chances were that he would do so again. In fact, he was one of the likeliest moles in his crew that reported what he did to Loki.

Since he didn’t fully trust him, he was one of his favorite choices for errands that kept him away from him.

“You called, sir?”

“Yes. The three traitors that Loki has sent are not doing anything. I want you to send them down to the permafrost unit. Have them join the other girl who’s their friend as per Loki’s instructions.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” He logged off.

“Jasper!”

“His faithful hound came running as soon as Xerxes called.”

“Any news on the team we deployed to ask the NPCs in the Green Woods about this place? Any clues about how to enter here?”

“I’ll ask them right away, sir.”

Xerxes knew he could have done these tasks himself, but he enjoyed ordering people around.

“Xerxes? Sir?” One of his teammates came running. He seemed nervous.

“What’s going on?”

“There are two teams from the top 10 heading here.”

“Who?”

“There’s BlueFire from the Ogres and Mel from the Krakens.”

Xerxes clicked his tongue. They were both annoying. They weren’t people he could afford to ignore. “I’ll go out to talk to them. Create a perimeter. No one comes here unless I give them permission.”

“Yes, sir.” The player left, barking Xerxes’ command to the others.

Xerxes felt a headache brewing. He had the distinct sense that Loki was using him as a diversion, an expendable scapegoat. Was really all that he was to him? Couldn’t he see how talented he was? He would show his capabilities. Taking the initiative, he made a conference call to BlueFire and Mel.

The top players of the top guilds had to fight or settle disputes more often than they cared to count. They all knew each other quite well.

“BlueFire, Mel.”

“Hey there, Xerxes,” answered BlueFire in a cheeky tone. His blue eyes seemed to read into one’s thoughts, and Xerxes deeply disliked talking to the man. He made him feel like he could read his mind.

“Yo, X!” greeted Mel in a childish tone.

“You’re about to enter an area that Pegasus has sealed off to complete a unique quest. Please retreat, and you won’t be struck down.”

“Uuuh… So this really is where you can enter the new world region, hey?” asked Mel excitedly.

“Good job, Xerxes! Pegasus did it again! Who is this Pax fellow? A new talented recruit?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

BlueFire laughed it off. “Hey, Mel. What do you say? I have a beef with Pegasus. Want to join forces and flush them out? We can then split the loot between ourselves.”

Mel and Xerxes looked surprised at BlueFire’s suggestion. It wasn’t like him to create coalitions this easily. What was up with him? Xerxes gulped. He had been in the fight for the Forest Fortress, and it didn’t come as a surprise that BlueFire was out for revenge.

“You know what, BlueFire? That sounds wonderful.”

Xerxes clenched his teeth. Now Mel was playing along? When did the top 10 guilds start creating these alliances willy-nilly? The Krakens and the Ogres weren’t even that close! It was almost like they had a collective reason to join forces against Pegasus. What was driving them? What was their game?

“Listen to me. You won’t set foot on this clearing. Leave now, or you will feel the might of our guild.”

“Cool. See you in 5.”

“Awesome. See you soon, Blue.”

They both hung up. Xerxes cracked his knuckles. He didn’t care that they wanted to join forces against them. They had their trump card to use. They could access some of Loki’s stats, making them much more powerful than the other guilds.

“Everyone! Get ready for battle. Medics and espers! Fall to the back. Deploy your shields. Rogues, disappear into the trees. Warriors, form a line!”

No one would be able to stop Pegasus from targeting their prey!

*

As a fierce battle unfolded above ground, Roth discovered all sorts of chambers and infrastructures in Antioch. When he entered the colony, he had only seen tunnels and intersections guarded by the soldier turtle ant gatekeepers. But he was finding the different constructs these roads led to. One of the types of chambers were the larders, similar to the one where Leia had dumped her cargo. These were populated by the honeypot ants. Mentally, they felt warm and cozy, like a blanket on a rainy winter day. No wonder! They were so full of food!

Roth stood in a new type of chamber he had just discovered. Judging by the ants, he could feel this chamber was impossibly wide. There was also something different about it. There was a distinct smell in the air. He felt the flashlight that he had put on his utility belt. Should he just take a peak? No. Then, he would reset the clock in whatever achievement he had to gain to unlock a title. From spreading his mental vision in all directions, he focused it more tightly on the ant closest to him.

“Hello, human.”

“Hello! Thank you for the work you do for the colony.”

“I’m so glad you noticed it.”

Roth heard a motherly voice read the notifications that he was so used to reading. She enunciated every word clearly, albeit a little artificially.

Cassilda is pleased that someone notices how hard she’s working for the colony.

+1 reputation with the treeants.

Roth smiled. Thankfully, he had thought of unlocking the narration option in the menu. “Do you mind if I admire your work as you go about it?”

“I don’t see why not.” The ant lowered its mental defenses, and Roth tried to focus on the ant’s impressions of the outside world. He tried to see what it was seeing and smell what it was smelling.

This ant was cutting something. It felt paper-light but tasted bitter as if it were greens that were too fresh to be added to a salad. Leaves. These were the workers he had seen bringing pieces of leaves from the big tree’s canopy. Excited, Roth kept focused on the ant’s senses.

It was adding the pieces strategically. Its antennae and leg sometimes rubbed off on something that felt thread-like and spongy, like melted cheese. Roth rubbed his hands. It was a farm! They were using leaves as food for some plant. Maybe a fungus.

Roth tried inspecting the mushroom. It had to be a great consumable.

Inspect!

Ch. 139 - Mind Expansion

INDEX

Ch. 141 - Glue Gun