Spirit Taming

Using ghostly shoes, Clark managed to get right at the side of the rumbling toad. It didn’t seem to care for him at all and had trained its eyes on the largest guardian ants near the Queen which was its main goal.

The black ants were more unhappy seeing how easily Clark moved past them. They reacted by focusing on him, especially since his movements were toward the Queen who was being targeted by the toad.

Without any reason to attack him, the ants watched as Clark used his speed and pushed his spear forward in the falling moon pierce. The rumbling toad had not felt a single bit of pain. It had been crushing the ants and eating them as it desired. Only the largest of the ant soldiers and the guardian ants could even make a dent in its thick earth infused skin.

But Clark’s spear was different, it was not the same as the dull mandibles that the black ants used to break apart their prey. It was a sharpened weapon that Clark carefully cleaned after every single time he used it. He had a clear understanding of how to make the weapon work for him. The system had been kind enough to leave this as a reward, so why would Clark slander it by not keeping it in pristine condition?

That being the case, the black lightning spear went through the protective layer of skin that kept the rumbling toad from feeling anything. The sudden pain caused the toad’s eyes to dilate and it to leap up with all its force.

This sudden change made the ants go wild. They saw that the toad had felt pain and even jumped in to a rough position. This meant that the toad was now in the perfect position to be attacked.

It was off balance and unable to handle the sudden rush of attacks. What was more, Maria had already pushed forward using her own techniques. She had snuck through the ants and found the weaker belly of the toad.

Three quick slashes were all she could muster before she had to jump away from the, now angry, rumbling toad as it righted itself. The additional attack had stunned it even more stopping it from being able to release any croaks that could shake the tunnel.

Maria gave Clark a wave as she backed away closer to Brad and Reese who knew they were nowhere near experienced enough to get close to the rumbling toad. But they were easily picking up rocks to toss at the toad which caused it even more stress. The annoying little attacks could still bring stress to any battle.

The rumbling toad was stuck in a stunned state for a moment. The ants it had been easily crushing before so that it could eat when it desired had suddenly hurt it. Not just once, but multiple times. Any predator would be angry over this, but even more, it felt that it would lose its food soon!

The clawed hands slapped down at the ants around it. Clark hated the sound of shattering black ant shells. It was a sound that only meant one thing, death. But that was not all, the toad was attacking without any reason other than it was angry. This was no longer about food but revenge for attacking it. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The ants had already judged the group. The queen had nowhere else to go because of her size. This passageway was the last she could get through before the others were too small. Because of this, she had watched and used the scents she could excrete to order her ants to attack no matter what.

Upon seeing that they had help, the queen used her higher intelligence to send new orders, help the humans attack their enemy. Little did Clark know, but this order changed their standing immediately. instead of invaders, they were fellow ants now.

That being said, when a larger soldier ant took a position next to Clark, he was shocked. But he didn’t feel any danger from the soldier ant. He felt that there was a plan forming. One that only came with the perfect hive mind that all ants shared. The desire to protect their young. Since he could sense this, Clark called out Crim.

The red wings and partial chest plate of slime dragon scales formed. With a carefully times leap, Clark was in the air. The wings carried him higher so that the rumbling toad wouldn’t notice him in the air of the room. This only was made possible by the distractions and anger of the rumbling toad.

Clark was able to use his falling moon pierce again but aimed for the weakest point he could manage to hit; the toad’s eyes. Normally, a spear to the eye would cause a lot more than blinding damage. The toad was tough though, it had a sense for danger and closed its eye before the spear hit the eye.

Where the spear would have pierced through the eye and in to the brain, the tougher eyelid stopped this from happening. The toad lost one eye but it was still alive. Still able to attack. But as all creatures did, with this pain came the flailing of anger and panic.

The rumbling toad had leaped again in to the air trying to slap away whatever had attacked its left eye. Clark had already retreated after tearing the black lightning spear away. He ensured that he was safe while the toad slapped the ground aimlessly. The black ants also retreated slightly as they watched for a chance.

The chance came to attack when the toad stopped to take a deep breath. Panic made things hard for any being to breathe, they would burn their oxygen and need a moment to breathe no matter what. This being said, the slashes that Maria had made were a tempting target. Many smaller black ants attacked instantly.

Some fell from the ceiling while other scurried to perfect spots. They tore at the open wounds knowing that they had an advantage now. But surprisingly, the toad did not flinch. This was all due to the numbing poison that Lit produced and Maria used in her daggers.

Since the toad was angrier, Maria knew to stay back. She knew that Clark was already working with Crim and Devi to attack and end this. The reason she knew that Devi was part of this was simple, there were bite marks appearing along the toad’s skin. Every single bite might not make much damage but it still drained the energy from the toad. It was having its life literally taken away.

The openings multiplied as the toad tried to crush ants. But they were already too many. Just as the toad had been able to cause disarray and crush the ants before, the toad was not in a weak position flipping the script. Numbers had grown as more ants reached the tunnel. They attacked endlessly to beat the enemy.

This left Clark a chance to aim for the other eye. He leaped in to the air again and found that one of the soldier ants even allowed him to take a step on to its back to get higher. The height he got from a flap of Crim’s wings was right near the ceiling. The perfect angle to step in to the last eye.

The fall was in slow motion to Clark. He half expected the toad to close the other eye out of instinct. However, he was wrong. It did not because it was too used to the rocks hitting around the eye that it ignored the danger. Brand and Reese were unable to attack the same way as Clark and Maria but they had joined the fight nonetheless.

As the black lightning spear pierced through the eyeball without the restriction of the eyelid, it also went in to the brain of the rumbling toad. The handle was further in to the toad than Clark meant it to be but the spear had done the job. The toad stumbled and fell flat. The ants began attacking it without any mercy.

Soon, the soldier ants had torn piece after piece from the toad. They would make to the food that their queen needed to replenish the colony of its warriors and workers. Meanwhile, the queen looked at the four who were trying to catch their own breath. Especially Clark who had contributed the most.

A single flick of her leg sent a pile of rags, money, assorted armors and other items spilling from the nearby scrap pile toward them. The queen seemed to be rewarding them for their work. But even more, Clark felt little ants rub up against them. They were marking them with their scent and remembering the groups’ scent.

This way the group could travel this floor safely. They could also be remembered as honorary ants. It seemed that the choice to help the black ants had been correct. Clark looked at the pile of goods that the ants had which they did not consider food. He only grabbed a few gold coins he saw since he knew that nothing else would be of value since the ants would have already eaten any beast materials. Instead, he looked at the others to give them the next order.