Is this really a Game?!

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The steps of the party echo inside a new tunnel found at the back of the city. There were no hobgoblins to stand in their way after they had exited the building. The echoes resonate throughout the tunnel as they walk steadily.

Drip

Droplets of water fall down from the stalactites found on the ceiling of the tunnel. It was something that they didn't see in any of the previous tunnels. The occasional sound of the water hitting the ground together with their echoing footsteps made for an eerie atmosphere. Something was different here, the tunnel itself gave them a different feeling compared to the rest of the dungeon. Everyone was on alert as they walked through the tunnel, expecting enemies to pop out at any moment.

"You feel it too right Reign?" Wolf asks as he comes closer to Reign, his quiet voice unheard by the rest of the party.

"Yeah, something is observing us." Reign answers without turning himself. Reign's stats were higher than the rest of them and ever since he went through the illusion he could feel many weird things. It was as if shackles had been removed from his body and he was able to finally move naturally. Wolf explained that it was what he and many other people called the sixth sense.

Danger, opportunity, many things could be felt naturally by people that had it. It was something that couldn't be explained by words, even scientists struggled to explain the weird phenomena that many claim to experience. It was something that both did and didn't exist.

Looking around the damp tunnel they were in Reign felt bothered by the sensation he was experiencing. It was as if someone was pointing a dagger at his back, but he couldn't see it no matter what he did.

Suddenly.

Crumble.

The rocks of the tunnel next to him crumble apart as something lunges at him. With a quick swing of the sword, Reign manages to defend himself from the ambusher as sparks fly between his sword and the opponent's weapon. Both Reign and the weird creature get pushed back as he was finally able to see what attacked him.

A hexapod being with long and slender legs was standing in front of him. Two antennae twitched as the being looked straight at Reign with its eyes. Its sharp and tough mandibles open and close menacingly as Reign finally realizes what it was, an ant. A huge ant, whose length was over 1m, one of its mandibles had a small cut on it, made from Reign's sword when they clashed previously. The monster suddenly chirps as it brings itself up while swinging its abdomen forward.

"Shit!" Reign widens his eyes in realization as he quickly jumps to the side. Strong acid was suddenly sprayed from the abdomen of the ant at the place he previously stood at. The acid quickly starts working as the ground of the tunnel emits smoke as it was slowly corroded.

[ Lvl 20 Worker Ant ]

Reign quickly charges at the ant while the rest of the party fought against 3 more that joined the fight. The ant doesn't wait as it charges forward to meet Reign's attack. The sword and mandible clash again and Reign swiftly ducks as the two front legs of the ant try to grab him.

"Close, can't let it grab me." Ants are incredibly strong creatures that can carry things anywhere from 10 to 50 times heavier than them. The Asian Weaver ant for example is even more perverted, as those things can lift 100 times their own mass. Reign didn't want to even imagine what would happen to him if the ant could get a hold of him.

With a shout, he swings his sword to the left as he manages to cut off one leg. Spinning quickly Reign summons the scimitar in his left as he does a backhand attack, hitting the left leg of the ant. The scimitar cuts deeply but it doesn't manage to fully sever the leg, it wasn't an issue though, as the leg was pretty much useless now by looking at the way it simply hung from the undamaged part.

The ant stumbles a bit as the change was sudden, with a shout Reign jumps high while putting his scimitar back in the inventory. He lifts his left hand up as the newly acquired Shiverspine was summoned. Lightning erupts as the whole spear turns a bright blue color.

Lightning Spear

It was something Reign thought of at the spur of the moment. What would happen if he would to use his lightning spear skill while at the same time holding a spear in his hand?

The result?

An incredibly fast attack that left the opponent with no time to even respond. The lightning that coated the spear managed to propel it with enormous force while at the same time giving it enormous penetrating force. The speed was a tad bit slower compared to the normal lightning spear, but the drawback was neutralized by the added force and penetration of the new attack.

Before the ant could move or try to block the spear it was too late. Its head burst open as the spear pierced through it together with its body as it had lifted itself to respond to Reign. The yellow blood, otherwise known as "haemolymph" oozes out from the broken chitin of the unfortunate ant. Reign summons the spear back to the inventory before summoning it back in his hand. Lightning crackles as he uses the skill again.

"Shadow, duck!" Shadow immediately does what Reign tells him. There was no need to ask anything as he had full faith in his life-long friend.

Bzzz

The spear blitzes above Shadow's head as it embeds itself in the thorax of the ant. The enormous insect was immobilized but not yet dead as its legs were still swinging around, trying to grab at anything nearby. It was obvious that without completely destroying the body or the head the monster would still live.

Everyone leaves the ant as it was now unable to do anything. The acid was a strong weapon but the other ants were further away and it would be unable to reach that far to attack them. The other two ants were powerless to defend against all of them and quickly follow the first ant to the afterlife. Reign shoots a lightning bullet at the ant's head but it was unable to deal fatal damage, the chitin was simply too hard. Beast ends the unfortunate ant's life with his arrow before Reign summons the spear back into his inventory, it was truly good luck for him to find such a weapon right now.

"Dammit, I hate insects even when they were tiny!" Shadow curses as he cleans his hand that was covered in ant blood. His daggers were even sharper than he thought and when he channeled his mana he stabbed deeply into the body of one of them, unfortunately for him the daggers were able to easily pierce through the tough chitin with the help of the poisonous acid covering them. As such his two hands were, much to his dismay, completely covered with the "haemolymph".

"Agreed, even though there were only 4 of them at level 20 they were still much harder to deal with compared to hobgoblins, we should tread carefully from now on." Wolf nods to Shadow as he swings his greatsword, there was no blood on the sword as his flames would do quick work and make it evaporate in mere seconds.

Greenie and Tank were the most lethal in the battle as their weapons were more focused on blunt damage and simply crushing their opponents compared to the rest of them. Wolf was right behind them with his greatsword as its adjustable weight was very effective as well.

[Battle has been concluded, distributing experience...]

- Lvl 20 Worker Ant killed, 800 exp gained.

- Lvl 20 Worker Ant killed, 800 exp gained.

- Lvl 20 Worker Ant killed, 800 exp gained.

- Lvl 20 Worker Ant killed, 800 exp gained.

[The players have earner 3 200 exp and 30S coins, distributing …]

[The player has earned 602 exp and 6S coins.]

They all continued their way forward as the ants were simply not enough of a threat to them. Ronny and Cameron who were still with them were slowly getting numb towards the enemies the party fought against. Just a couple of hours ago they never thought that they would be able to witness such battles. The party had completely overturned their view of the current world as they never imagined that humans would become so strong so quickly. Compared to them, the two of them and even all the zones were not even worth mentioning. They knew full well that even if they were at the same level as them they would still be weaker as their abilities belonged to completely different tiers. Both of them look at each other while clenching their hands, they weren't discouraged, they were both looking forward to the day they would become so powerful as well.

The way to the anchor point took them 30 minutes to pass, on the way there they were ambushed 4 more times by the ants, all of them being level 20 like the first group. Finally, they were at the end of the dungeon as the anchor point was straight in front of them.