Arad grabbed Aella's arrow in his fist, closing his eyes as magic flowed from his wrist. "The book said the effects of gravity magic won't interfere with the already locked object to not kill the user," Arad said with a smile.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Jack and Aella looked at Arad, confused.
"Simply put, I can make the arrows heavier without slowing them down. If I cast my magic after you fired them and had them locked beforehand." Arad explained, but the two didn't seem to understand a word of what he said.
"Take this and give me another arrow," Arad gave Aella her arrow and took another from her. "Let's test it first,"
Aella pulled her bow and pulled the string, "Hold up," Arad said, "I will make the arrow heavier before you fire it," His eyes flashed purple, and an aura covered the arrow.
"Heh?" Aella felt the arrow's weight increase. It slipped from her hand, falling to the ground. "I can't shoot that!" she lifted the arrow and attempted again.
Aella managed to fire the arrow, but it fell just two meters ahead. "Unusable at this weight!" She sighed.
Arad smiled, "Try this now," He handed her another arrow, "Like the first one, it's locked. But I will increase the weight after you fire it,"
Aella pulled her bowstring and fired the arrow. It flew and started glowing just before hitting the wall. CRACK! The arrow crashed into the wall, tearing a big chunk of the stone and shattering it. "What is that?" Aella gasped, unable to believe how much power the arrow got.
"With your high-weight bow, and me making those arrows heavier, you should be able to take the ants down." Arad looked at her with a smile.
Aella and Jack looked at each other, "But the arrow broke. We can't reuse it," Aella said, inspecting the shattered remains.
"We are exchanging power to make the arrows one use only. That's will make her shots count." Jack looked at Arad, "How many arrows do we have?"
Arad shook his head, "I don't know,"
"I stuffed ten quivers in his stomach. That's two hundred and forty arrows. I have another quiver on me with twenty-four arrows, but we lost one," Aella counted, looking at Arad and Jack, "Two hundred and sixty-three arrows is all we have,"
"You have them counted?" Arad stared at her.
"And sharpened as well," Aella stared at them, tilting her head, "I'm an archer. I need to keep a good eye on what I have on me. Swordmen also have to sharpen and clean their swords. Don't they?"
"That's a big number. We should be fine," Arad looked at them, smiling.
Aella shook her head, "If I can't re-use my arrows, I won't be comfortable with double what we have going into a dungeon."
"I can't ever see you using all of that," Jack stared at her.
"I would use them all," Aella pointed at the broken arrow, "Even with regular arrows, they break in two or three uses, and don't forget the times when I can't retrieve them."
"Ok," Arad nodded, "Let's clear the ant layer first, and then we can buy more arrows. How much do they cost?" He looked at Aella with a smile.
"Two or three copper coins per head. The one I have, I got a fifty-pack for one silver coin."
"Fine. Let's spend a gold coin on arrows so we won't have to buy them for a while," Arad said with a smile.
"A whole gold coin?" Jack gasped.
"Won't that be five thousand arrows?" Aella stared at Arad, "We don't need that much,"
"For now. Having that much will only mean we won't need to buy them for a while," Arad only saw it as a future investment. Arrows are a resource that they use regularly.
"Let's keep the talk for later," Jack looked down the hole, "I can hear the ants moving down there. They might start climbing out at any moment."
"Let's go then," Arad jumped down first, while Aella and Jack dropped down with ropes after him.
Aella opened her eyes, staring into the cave before her. Large, black mandibles crackled, and multiple limps crawled on the ground and ceiling. It was like staring into a bee's nest, filled to the brim.
"Don't move," Jack signaled to Arad, "They might swarm us,"
Arad steps forward, smiling as he approached one of the larger ants, "Mom, now this a good reason."
SCREETCH! The ant rushed fromward, dragging its but on the ground and opening its mandibles. Arad stood still, waiting for it to attack him.
CRACK! The ant closed her mandibles, attempting to behead Arad, but he caught them with his hands, "Where is your queen?" Arad growled, a purple trail of magic gushing from his eyes, "I want her,"
BAM! Arad opened his arms, shattering the ant's mandibles and smashing its head on the ground with his palm, "Move of my way if you won't guide me to her,"
"Arad! Don't go alone!" Aella rushed to him and pulled her bowstring, aiming at the other ants, "Why the queen?"
Jack approached them, "Maybe he wants to mate it,"
"Mom said that with how strong the ants are. Eating their queen might be enough for me to evolve into a young dragon," Arad looked back at them with a smile, "You two support me from the back. I will push forward,"
Arad's body turned black, twisting and morphing into his draconic form. Hair grew on his back and limbs, and with a faint red glow in his eyes, he looked far different than what Aella and Jack were used to.
"Are you okay?" Aella asked, and Arad nodded. "Fine, you take the frontline, and we're back," She pulled her bow and fired three arrows at the closest ant. One of the arrows bounced off the exoskeleton, one tore a leg, and the last one cracked the ant's head.
"I'm a rogue, damn it. Let me put some traps," Jack sighed, pulled a lantern from his waist, lighting and threw it toward the ants.
The flames illuminated the place, and Jack smiled, seeing the stalactites on the ceiling, "I like those things," He pulled a small pouch from his pocket that had a string on it.
"Aella, close your ears!" Jack shouted, igniting the string and throwing the pouch at the ceiling.
BOOM! The pouch exploded in a crimson flare, sending waves across the cave and cracking the walls. Soon, the ceiling shattered, and the stalactites started falling on the ants, scattering them.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Arad dexterously weaved between the falling stones, slashing any ants he came close to with his claws. They slowly pushed further and further until the cave opened into a large room.
"Is this the queen's room?" Aella asked, looking around.
"No," Jack said with an ominous voice, "Shit, don't go inside," He grabbed Arad by the tail tip, stopping him in place. Arad turned his neck and stared at him.
"That's a trap," Jack said, "If we go there, the ants will surround us. If I and Aella got attacked from the back, we're as good as dead,"
Aella looked inside the room, "What should we do? This is the only way forward,"
Jack pulled out his pocket and looked inside, "The same thing we did with the goblins. We need to drag them out,"
Aella stopped him, "We're inside a cave. You'll suffocate us with smoke," Hearing her, Jack stopped and started scratching his head, "What should we do?"
"Let me think for a bit," Aella looked into the room again, "I can't see a single ant there."
"I told you, the moment we walk in, they will surround us," Jack repeated himself.
Arad shifted back into his humanoid form and looked at them, "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it will work,"
"What is it?" Jack looked at Arad.
"I will go there and use my [Frightful presence]..." Arad explained his plan, and both Jack and Aella agreed.
***
Arad rushed into the room, running in his human form, "Come get me!" He shouted, and the ants emerged from the walls. Those were larger, with bigger mandibles and thicker exoskeletons.
"Fighter ants, as we expected," Jack growled, rushing with Aella behind him. Aella pulled her bow and aimed at a couple of ants in the distance, "That's the first hole. Let's plug it out!" She fired her arrows and killed the ant standing there.
Jack pulled a small bag and threw it in the hole, causing it to explode and collapse. "The next one is to the left," Aella shouted, and the two of them rushed around the room, closing the holes the ant used to enter one after the other.
Arad looked back at them, "Good, I better draw everyone," He transformed into his draconic form and opened his jaw. ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR! The moment he roared, Aella and Jack could feel the cave shaking. Their ears screamed in pain from how loud he was.
Arad's body started vibrating as the ground beneath him cracked.
Arad's voice traveled across the cave, reaching the ant queen almost immediately. As she sat in her nest, she could feel the dragon's claws creeping around her body, and she shook in terror. She screamed, sending everyone into a panic.
The colony which was only dealing with intruders in a regular manner is now panicking as if their queen was attacked. Everyone rushed to the room to eliminate the threat except for the terrified queen.
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