OW, ow, ow, ow, why did severed legs have to hurt so much? Don’t answer, that was a redundant question.

  I flew away from the scene of carnage, landing in a nice and cozy crevice, far away from the eyes of anything that would want to eat me. After getting settled, I looked at my levels.

  “Level up, +1 to Evolution Level, gain 2 mutation points.”

  “Level up, +1 to Lunar Scale Dust Level.”

  How had I leveled? I only killed the one Ant, but the Raven did, do I share XP with them? If that were the case, then that would make things a lot easier. Then I looked at my Skill to find any changes when it leveled, while doing so I gently rubbed the aching stump of a severed legs.

  Lunar Scale Dust

  LV 1/3

  0/3

  The first thing I noticed was the Subject counter, it had a zero despite me subjecting an Ant earlier. Was it because it died or because it was too far away? Till I could confirm it, it was something I had to be wary of in the future.

  Then I looked at my overall lever, and most intently, the Mutation Points; those seemed to have opened up something new connected to my body parts listed in my Status Sheet.

  Mutation Points: 2

  Antenna: Basic, Mutations Available

  Complex Antenna, 1 Mutation Point

  Strong Antenna, 1 Mutation Point

  Wings: Basic, Mutations Available

  Quick Wings, 1 Mutation Point

  Wide Wings, 2 Mutation Points

  Tarsus: Basic, Mutations Available

  Connecting Tarsus, 2 Mutation Points

  Abdomen: Basic, Mutations Available

  Robust Silk Production, 1 Mutation Point

  Complex Silk Production, 2 Mutation Points

  Oh, ok, that was a lot. System, can you, like, tell me what these actually do? And to my surprise, it actually did, and not to my surprise, they went like.

  Complex Antenna: Makes Antenna more complex.

  Strong Antenna: Makes Antenna stronger.

  I tried to give the System my best Moth attempt at a stink eye, the descriptions were almost all like that, almost. One did grab my attention.

  Connecting Tarsus: Allows mental connection to Lunar Scale Moth slaves, through the Tarsus, also known as Bug feet.

  First thing, they’re not slaves, they're just unwilling Subjects… ok, now I just sound like my Great Uncle Jacob, who collected Confederate memorabilia, different Jacob, I was named after him. But back to the point, this somehow let me see into the minds of my Subjects, which I could see as useful, but barely.

  So, what, I could see through their eyes and stuff? But it seemed to only be through my feet, that was a big downside. If I could use it from a distance, that would have more applications.

  And all the others just didn’t seem all that useful either, the only one I could see use in was “Quick Wings”. Making a getaway easier was always a big boon, and with the remaining Mutation Point, I decided to save it for when I had a better understanding of what to.

  So I mentally clicked “Quick Wings”, and confirmed that it was all I wanted, then my vision grew dark and my Antenna felt numb.

  Wh-what.

  Then everything was black.

  OOO

  I popped out of my teal colored cocoon.

  Oh, dear God, not this again, I scrambled out of the Cocoon, barely noticing the healed legs, taking a moment for my heart to calm down. Well, I'm a bug, so just a circulatory system, why do I keep correcting myself? It doesn’t really matter? Oh well.

  After collecting myself, I looked at my Status Page,

  Antenna: Basic

  Wings: Quick

  Tarsus: Basic

  Abdomen: Basic

  Which I kinda expected, but what caught my eye was a bit under

  HP: Green

  Lv: 1

  MP: Green

  Lv: 6

  EP: Green (Days to live 6/7)

  Oh, oh no... FUCK! Had I seriously spent a whole day in that cocoon? Why did it do that! No, no, Jacob, calm down, it’s only your death we’re talking about. Yeah, let’s just find a nice mate and - Shut up, Bug Jacob, nobody loves you!... Sorry, that was too mean.

  Finally collecting myself, I concocted a plan, I started enacting it immediately, there was no time for a Dead man after all. It started with figuring out how to fly with these new wings. It didn’t take long, just a few wranglings of Bug Jacob to make him keep it in his pants.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  First, I got two Rain Ravens, rather simply, just flying over them undetected and letting my Lunar Scale Dust do the job. Then I named them Dark Lord Huginn, and Demon King Muninn…

  Don’t you dare question my naming scheme, they’re cool names, ok.

  Then I went around looking for a third and different creature to round out my Posse, my Antenna soon sniffing out a Giant Salamander lying in a bog. Bug Jacob scratched at the mental door I put him behind, and ignored them. I flew over it like I did the ravens, releasing my dust, waiting for it to take effect… and waiting… and waiting.

  Then a system message popped up.

  “Too High Level to Enslave.”

  First of all, System, we talked about this, Subjugate, not Enslave, Subjugate. Second, what is moving below me? I looked down and saw the Salamander jumping into the air straight towards me.

  I narrowly dodged it, even with my quick wings.

  Then I felt a faint smugness from Bug Jacob; I gave him the mental equivalent of sticking my tongue out at him. And I ran away, but I saw the Salamander spit a glob of opaque white slime that looked like it belonged in a different genre of story.

  I was able to dodge it, but another glob of slime was hurtling towards me right behind it, this time clipping my right wing. It didn’t damage it, but it stuck and weighed me down, forcing me to fall onto the marshy land.

  The Salamander was swimming straight for me on the land. I called Huginn and Muninn. Having them peck at it, as I found a hiding spot in the vegetation. The Salamander went onto land, sliding its belly on the ground, pushing aside the tall stalks of grass as it did.

  One of them being mine, and I stood still as it passed by, chasing the Ravens that were now running away so that the Salamander didn’t accidentally squish me while fighting them. Then it gave up, turning around, making the stalks of grass I was on sway wildly again, but I kept still as it slinked into the water.

  I let out a mental sigh, finally flying away, getting a ding from the system.

  “Level up, +1 to Stealth Level.”

  At least there’s one upside to that, I thought as I followed my Ravens.

  OOO

  I prepaid for the siege I had planned, settling with a third Raven, since I couldn’t find any other species to round out my team well, naming her Expendable 1. Oh, and I figured out that I could leave notes for the species in a little section below in my Core Skills. I mostly just left abilities descriptions in case I forgot it in the future.

  But that didn’t matter now, we were perched on top of a small valley where the Giant Leaf Cutter Ants were crawling through. Bigger Solder Ants with mean looking jaws and thicker chitin armor, stationed on the side to guard the workers.

  Then I gave the Ravens my go ahead, and soon they were dropping rocks on the Ants below, blocking the exits. The Ants quickly triangulated the threat and started climbing the valley walls, but they were pushed off by blades of water from the Rain Ravens.

  Then I heard the sweet, melodious, magical, glorious, ok, I’ll stop, the system dinged.

  “Level up, +1 to Evolution Level, gain 2 Mutation Points.”

  I felt giddy at it, my monkey brain activating at the reward. Then I noticed something troubling below, the ants weren’t trying to run. They just kept trying to kill the flying Ravens, while notably not being able to fly. And they weren’t climbing over the small rocks blocking the exits either. I hadn’t found a way to completely stop their escape, so I just did a half measure.

  But I suppose if they were going full force, I would too, they were practically just giving me sweet, sweet XP. I looked at my subjects' stats, two Yellow mana, one Red, deciding to use what would’ve been my last resort plan if something had gone wrong.

  Expendable 1, time to live up to your name! I had her, yes, it was her, her throat bill was much higher up while Huginn and Muninn, well, it doesn’t matter.

  She dived into the pile of ants, slamming into every one she could, the Ants now preoccupied with the Kamikaze. And while the Ants were distracted, I had Huginn and Muninn attack them with water magic, occasionally picking one up and crushing them to conserve mana, and having run out of rocks.

  Another message popped up from the System telling me about Expendable 1's death, but I wasn't paying attention to that. The Soldier Ants were starting to get smart, they had started carrying Worker Ants in their jaws to block the Water Blade. Then try to bite the Ravens when they get close.

  Should I keep going? I looked at the Rain Ravens' Status, they were in the Orange for MP, and from my aerial view I could see ants starting to come toward us to support their colony. Probably from the Ants' death Pheromones, soon we’d be surrounded, well, we could fly and they couldn’t, so that wouldn’t be an issue.

  This was an issue of endurance, so how could I extend our energy, hmm… Pheromones… oh Pheromones! I had done this before, I spread my wings, letting my Lunar Scale Dust float onto a Soldier Ant, filling up my freed up spot after Expendable 1 died.

  Making the Ant go crazy, killing members of its own colony, and sending contradictory Pheromone messages. Confusing the Ant forces, letting pressure off the Ravens as they picked off enemies.

  But it was just one Ant, that wouldn’t do much, so I mentally tried to push a button on the system to release them. But nothing happened, and I heard Bug Jacob clawing at the door of the mental closet I put him in.

  Ok, fine, I’ll let you out, but only this once. And when I did, I felt a sensation from my pheromone glands, like taking a deep breath in and holding it. Then I looked at my skill and found that the Ant I’d subjugated wasn’t there anymore. Oh, ho ho, good Bug Jacob, good boy. Wait, did I just call myself a good boy… never mind that.

  After figuring out how to do that, I went around the battlefield, sowing chaos all over, my Ravens now picking off ants much easier. Then I heard the sweet ding of the System.

  “Level up, +1 to Evolution Level, gain 2 Mutation Points.”

  I had reached my highest expectation for this stunt, I should leave… but could I go for a third level? I looked at the approaching forces and the condition of Huginn and Muninn; their MP was gone, but their EP was still in the yellow, and a new force of sacrifices were arriving… Perfect.

  I looked at the Ant forces arriving for my sweeties to kill, and I noticed a new kind of ant, they looked like the Soldiers, but smaller and sleeker. And they had a bulbous chitinous structure on their back.

  I didn’t pay much attention to them until the bulbous structures lifted, revealing wings… Shit.

  They flew towards me and the birds. The Ravens could deal with the individual Flying Soldier easily enough, but we’re dealing with a few dozen. They got Muninn first, ripping and tearing at his wings till he hit the ground, where he was torn apart by the army below.

  And they seemed to have clocked me as a threat, having started chasing me. I could keep up with them, but half a dozen working together got the better of me rather quickly. One grabbed me by the thorax in its fierce jaws. I flailed around wildly, my bug instincts kicking in.

  And I activated my silk production for some reason, shooting a thin teal strand of silk at Huggin, connecting us. And not just physically, I could feel something else too, and I instinctively pulled at it, something entering me before Huginn was torn apart mid-air.

  Then I activated whatever had entered me, a blade of water burst out from me, breaking the jaws grinding me in half. But it was only one Flying Soldier, the others converging on me.

  I covered one in Lunar Dust, but before I could control it, the other Soldier killed it. The Soldiers seemed to be smarter than the average ant.

  The ones below had used shields and predicted my Ravens attacks, these could easily get wise to my Subjection.

  I tried to use the water blade again, but it just wasn’t there anymore. I shot out another strand of Moon Silk and tried to pull power into me, but nothing happened. Why? What was the difference? Oh, Slavery - I mean subjugation. Then I heard another ding from the system, this time not that pleasant.

  “Warning, MP in the Red.”

  I ignored it and released my Dust again, successfully pulling the pheromone capabilities out of the Ant the slik was connected to before the others killed it. And I exuded the Pheromones of a friendly Flying Soldier Ant, making them look visibly confused for a moment before they flew past me.

  And I made my great escape from the battlefield, finding another dark crevasse far away from the fight. The moment my legs hit the ground, all the exhaustion hit me at once, and before I knew it, I was asleep.