Chapter 45: Sour
Of course, Mitch was not referring to a pet. He wanted to find a feline for his second mutation.
He was aiming for the trifecta of basic stats.
The fight against the queen had taught him something crucial.
Even if your defenses were impenetrable and even if your strength could crush any opponent, the moment you met someone fast enough, you would lose.
There were three reasons he won against the queen.
Because the ants are bigger than normal, the structure of their nest is unstable.
Because he was smarter than the queen, he was able to taunt her into throwing caution to the wind.
Because the queen was so big, it lacked the same mobility that Mitch had.
If any of these three were missing, the one buried in the ground would not be the queen—it would be Mitch.
He doubted that there would be an opponent that could outwit him in this world, and he would most likely not fight in an environment that was unfavorable to him.
However, if he met an opponent that was not only faster than him but also stronger than him, he would have a very hard time winning.
Therefore, he wanted a feline’s agility.
Of course, he couldn’t change his entire body structure to that of a cat with just one mutation.
What he could do, however, was mutate his skeletal structure to better fit sudden and extended acceleration.
Obviously, genetics was more complicated than just finding one gene and changing it to better fit one’s needs. Yet Mitch, from what he had experienced so far, was certain that his skill took all of that into account.
The changes in his muscles were proof enough.
However, Mitch would not leave yet. He had just about one week before Madeline would wake up. During that time, he would kill all the remaining queens. All except one, which would become his golden goose.
And that started with finding himself a new weapon.
He made his way over to the big pile of rocks. Through his exhaustion, he started excavating.
After breaking through, his strength had increased.
"I should probably name the different stages in Devouring, right?"
He realized that the difference between someone at 20% progress and someone at 21% was deceiving.
His system only showcased a one percent difference, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Realistically, someone at 21% should never lose that matchup. Of course, between equally skilled opponents.
"Already way ahead of you. Assuming there will be a bottleneck every 20%, what about ’Dormant’ for newbies, and then ’Sparked,’ ’Infused,’ ’Bloomed,’ ’Tempered,’ and ’Pulsed’ in that order? Additionally, if 100% is another bottleneck, you could maybe call it ’Vitalized’?"
It seemed that during the time she was quiet, Katherine had pondered a way to organize the different stages.
Mitch thought about it and found the names fitting. Going by that categorization, newborns would be Dormant, while he himself had just broken through Sparked and stepped into the Infused realm.
He had to agree; it had a ring to it.
In that case, it was time for him to get some Infused weapons.
After a while of tossing rocks and boulders aside, Mitch finally found the queen. She was still breathing, although barely.
She looked to be clinging on to life by a thread.
Even though Mitch was the one who put her in that situation, he couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her.
All she wanted to do was grow her hive and protect her children.
"You were a worthy opponent. If I had known that your kind was so vastly superior to every other organism on this planet, you might have been my choice for believers. Alas, it’s a shame."
The queen looked into his eyes, seeming to have accepted her fate. She might not be able to understand what Mitch was saying, but she could tell from his tone that he was consoling her.
She lowered her eyes and awaited her impending doom.
Mitch decided to put her out of her suffering painlessly. He put his fingers together and made a spear with his fingers.
His nails were usually not strong enough to penetrate the ants’ exoskeleton, and getting so close to his opponents was less than ideal.
But against an opponent that had no intention of fighting back, they were perfect.
Intending to reach her brain in one strike, Mitch used all of his strength and pierced forward.
Shik
His hand turned the queen’s brain to mush, hopefully killing her without any pain.
He pulled his arm, covered in blood and brain matter, out of her skull. As opposed to when he defeated the small queen, he felt no satisfaction.
This was supposed to be a great achievement, yet all it did was leave a sour taste in his mouth.
He kept pushing the rocks away until her entire head was uncovered. Gripping the mandibles with each hand, he put a foot on her forehead and pulled them out.
Still silent, he left the chamber and continued exploring the nest.
"Mitch, get it together, will you?" Katherine tried cheering him up, but to no avail.
He was stuck in his head, contemplating his goals and values.
He wouldn’t let one bad encounter discourage him from reaching his goals, but it really did put things into perspective.
How far was he willing to go for his goals? Today might have only been an ant. But what if it was a child? What if he had to choose between a village of people or furthering his agenda?
Getting called "Bloody Scientist" was not something he took pride in. Every time someone called him that, he felt like throwing a punch.
He wanted this life to be different. He wanted to live his life without any strife, naturally growing strong enough to resurrect Theodor.
"But it would seem that I cannot do that. In that case, don’t blame me for being ruthless. I don’t care what stands in my way; I will see my father again, even if I have to rewrite creation!"
With newfound motivation and re-established resolve, Mitch spent the next week slowly exploring the vast tunnel system, killing all remaining queens until only one remained.
