“What’s an Ant King? Ants don’t have kings?!” Mikayla spluttered.

  “Yeah they do?” Keldryn sounded so baffled by her statement that she could only conclude that Ant Kings were normal around here. “It’s the defender, the only dedicated fighter. The rest are just workers!”

  “Those were ‘just workers’?!”

  “Well, you know, still Kaijus,”

  The Ant King roared and flung its arm blades out towards them again. They ran out of the way, and another big chunk of the ship’s deck was crushed by the blow. “It’s Goliath time! Mana Assistance -“ Mikayla started, but Keldryn clapped a paw over her mouth.

  “No! No going Goliath! That’s what the Ants want!”

  “What? Why?”

  “If we go big to fight the King, the small ones will crawl all over us and drag us down! That’s why Ants are so dangerous! They’re the natural predator of Goliaths!”

  “You could have mentioned that before!”

  Keldryn jumped towards the window, scanned their surroundings outside, then retreated before the Ant King could land an opportunistic blow. “We need to slip past it, now, before the swarm starts coming in again. Follow me!” he commanded, feinting to the right. The Ant King followed and struck, but only cut a few hairs from his tail as he reversed direction and shoulder-checked one of the remaining windows. It gave way under his Strength and he burst out into the open air.

  Consciously burying her fear of heights under her Willpower, Mikayla leapt outwards after him.

  Keldryn’s Dexterity proved its worth as he landed neatly on the roof of a shipping container that had remained within the container ship’s hull. Mikayla didn’t manage to jump quite as far, scrabbling at the edge of the ship, and he lunged back to take her hand and hoist her up.

  The Ant King was already turning to face them, and behind it they could see a tide of black bodies spilling down the hill and into the hull of the ship. Keldryn kept going, gesturing her onwards as they jumped over to the walkway that ran around the edge of the ship and ran towards the prow.

  Peering downwards, for a moment, Mikayla considered jumping and using the size-up/size-down trick that had gotten her down from Astralia’s Spear, but then she saw the spreading carpet of black bodies growing across the maze of storage containers that they’d been picking through a scant couple of hours before. “Where did this many ants even come from?”

  “Couldn’t tell you. Underground probably. Kaijus don’t make sense sometimes,” Keldryn brushed it off.

  The Ant King drove its scythe-like arm into the deck before them, trying to block their path. Keldryn launched himself into the air above it, the secondary knees in his Armour Core working overtime to give him rabbit-like agility. He drove his weight into the massive blade and forced it further down, causing it to get stuck fast and leave only a gap for Mikayla to jump across. “Come on, quick!” he yelled back at her.

  Mikayla glanced at the Ant King, who was already trying to rip its arm free. “Hang on!” she grinned, red sparks flowing from her skin into her Core Controller. Her sword flashed into existence and swelled, stabilising at four times its usual size - just barely still small enough that she could run with it. Mikayla changed direction, going for the joint of the segmented limb where it emerged from beneath the walkway.

  She leapt across and span in mid-air as she went, bringing her blade around with her whole body weight behind it, and slashed into the Ant King’s arm.

  In her mind’s eye, she’d pictured the sword cleaving through the chitin, the Ant King screaming with pain as its limb was severed, and continuing to run like an action movie heroine.

  Instead, unfortunately, the sword got stuck. It lodged in place deep into the Ant King’s flesh, and the hilt suddenly slammed into her groin, winding her and leaving her stuck in place above the gash in the walkway. The Ant King did scream in pain, though, so that was something.

  “What are you doing?” Keldryn shouted back at her.

  “Retaliation!” she hollered, cutting the flow of Mana to her Ruby and throwing herself forwards in the same motion. The sword blipped back out of existence and she barely managed to plant both feet on the walkway. She didn’t waste any time, regaining her balance and throwing herself forward, because more ants were approaching in her peripheral vision.

  “You are way too reckless, you know that?” Keldryn huffed at her as she caught up and they kept running.

  “Well, I’m still alive so clearly I’m doing something right,” she retorted. They reached a ladder and scrambled upwards, emerging into the triangular deck at the prow of the ship. Mercifully, it was clear of ants for the time being.

  The Ant King lumbered towards them, bellowing furiously and cradling its injured arm to its chest.

  Keldryn looked around. “Okay, now! Kill this thing quick and then we’ll get out of here!” His armour was already ballooning upwards and outwards.

  She checked her Mana, and was relieved to see it was holding out. The Black Knight really didn’t cost that much to run at size one.

  [MANA: 1098/1400]

  “Mana Assistance, size five!” Mikayla braced herself, holding herself steady against a large box as Keldryn occupied the Ant King’s attention.

  There was barely enough room on the deck for the both of them, which meant growing further was untenable. Nonetheless, Mikayla made the most of it, flinging her sword outwards as she grew.

  The Ant King stopped it cold with its uninjured blade, and the recoil pushed her backwards and made her stagger. It capitalised, seeking revenge for its injury by lunging forward and headbutting the Black Knight.

  Mikayla shrieked as she lost her balance and fell backwards over the edge of the deck.

  Before she could panic, a hand grabbed hers. Keldryn groaned, leveraging all his strength, and she realised that he’d stabbed the overextended Ant King in the gut and was using it at leverage to hoist her back upwards. She let her sword vanish, using her freed hand to grab the lip of the deck and drag herself upwards.

  The Ant King hadn’t wasted the moments it took them to recover, scrambling away and nursing its injuries. It reared up and wound up another attack, shrieking furiously.

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  Something strange suddenly populated in Mikayla’s field of vision.

  [THREAT TO THE ANTHILL: The Ant King has marked you for death. You will take increased damage from all Ants. Estimated time to recover: 48 hours.]

  “The hell is that?”

  “Oho! It is taking us seriously! Glorious!” Nocturnus cackled.

  “Hah, fine! You want me? Come and get me!” Fuelled by her fury, her mana mixed and suffused the left gauntlet of the Black Knight, causing it to catch on fire. Leveraging the practice she’d been doing, her sword deflected the Ant King’s strike and left it open for a burning punch that sent it staggering backwards.

  Mikayla groaned, seeing her Mana Bar dip and feeling the strain on her veins. [MANA: 973/1400] “That did not feel good,”

  “We need to clear an exit path! Keep that thing busy!” Keldryn side-stepped, shrinking and searching for an exit strategy.

  “Right,” Controlling her breathing, Mikayla’s eyes slid shut for a moment, then flew open again. There needed to be nothing else in her mind. Only the fight. She had to rely on her instincts, trust her body. That state of perfect synchronisation she’d achieved for a moment while fighting the baby Rocs, she needed to be able to do that at will and there was no better time to try it.

  “Step left. Right foot across. Lean to the side and swing!” Like a drill instructor, Nocturnus directed her, lending his expertise to guide her body. Mikayla let the instructions flow over her, having learned better than to spare the seconds it would take to question and confirm them. The Ant King lunged, and she avoided its strike, bringing her sword down.

  It sank and rolled out of the way, giving up its balance to avoid the hit, its uninjured front leg slicing across to catch her in the ankles. The strike landed, and Mikayla stifled a scream, instinctively bringing her sword down on its arm and howling, “You’re gonna pay for that!”

  [HEALTH: 561/1200]

  [MANA ASSISTANCE DISABLED]

  Her legs lengthened and swelled as she yanked her foot out of the way.

  “It’s watching your sword. Do a feint, then kick!” Nocturnus commanded.

  Nodding with a savage smile, Mikayla raised her sword as though she were about to bring it down, then instead swung her raised foot at the hunched-over Ant King’s face as it shifted to defend itself.

  It caught her boot in its mandibles, and she expected the swing to send it flying - but all six of its feet were dug into the hulk’s metal plating, and its grip was sufficient to stop her strike dead. The Ant King shrieked gleefully and started trying to gnaw her foot off.

  [HEALTH: 457/1200]

  The Black Knight collapsed in on itself, Mikayla’s will directing it to shrink just enough to be out of harm’s way. She didn’t even look at her Health Bar, bringing her sword around and going to impale the Ant King as it chased after her.

  A tried and tested technique, that. Stab the Kaiju in the mouth. It never failed.

  Until this time. The Ant King had predicted her move. Its lunge was a feint, its legs locking it in place and instead a stream of viscous liquid erupted from its mouth.

  A green blur tackled Mikayla out of the way before the no-doubt toxic liquid could coat her. “Be careful!” Keldryn barked.

  “I’m fine, I’m -“ Mikayla trailed off as she belatedly noticed how low her Health had gotten. “Crap. I’m not fine. Cover me, I need to drink a potion,”

  “Easier said than done,” Keldryn hissed as the Ant King advanced again. He flicked his wrist and a spray of razor-sharp leaves were conjured, causing the giant insect to flinch.

  Mikayla pulled a Health Potion from the Spear out of her belt and chugged it in three quick gulps. Vitality rushed through her aching body, flowing into the Black Knight and repairing the severe damage its foot had taken, as well as several scratches the worker Ants had inflicted on it. [HEALTH: 1200/1200]

  The Ant King reared up again, raising its blades like twin executioner’s axes. Keldryn didn’t give it a chance to strike, throwing his arms up and catching the blades on his wrist-mounted knives while the Ant King was still winding up. “Now! Uppercut!” Nocturnus commanded.

  Mikayla could see it. Her fist catching fire, the Black Knight doubling in size and launching a crippling blow that would remove the Ant King from the fight. She swung upwards, directing her energy into the Firestarting Punch.

  Her hand caught aflame, but the Black Knight didn’t obey her commands, stubbornly staying at its current size.

  Mikayla realised a moment too late that she’d lost focus. Her state of synchronisation with the Black Knight had broken down, and it wasn’t responding to her impulses anymore. Her knuckles barely grazed the Ant King’s chin.

  A second later, Keldryn’s defence collapsed, and he slid out of the way as the Ant King’s blades came down. With no other alternative, Mikayla threw herself into the monster’s chest, trying to squeeze between its torso and its arms. It didn’t quite work, she still felt the blades raking down her expanded back, but it was much less crippling than taking a direct hit would have been. [HEALTH: 983/1200]

  Her sword vanished and reappeared at a different angle, and she drove it into the Ant King’s middle leg joint, using the leverage to free herself in the process.

  The Ant regurgitated another dose of caustic liquid for her troubles, and this time she couldn’t avoid the dose. Another Status warning appeared in the corner of her vision.

  [POISONOUS PHEROMONES: You have been doused with evolved toxins from an Ant that sap your Health over time and mark you as a high-priority target for all Ants in the area to execute. Estimated time to recover: 5 minutes.]

  The Ant King chittered triumphantly, but was then blindsided by a literal battering Ram. Bluebell bleated in indignation for the moment it took Keldryn to dismiss her and put himself between the monster and Mikayla. “You’ve got the heavy armour. We should train you as a tank,”

  “I’m working on it!” she snapped, trying to shake the pheromones off. Her Health Bar was registering infinitesimal chips of damage every second. [HEALTH: 981/1200 > 979/1200 > 977/1200] “How do I deal with poison?”

  “Circulation of Stamina!” Nocturnus reminded her.

  “This is not a good time to meditate!”

  “Then don’t! Just do it while fighting!”

  Keldryn groaned in pain as the Ant King batted him aside and went for Mikayla again, forcing Mikayla to raise her blade defensively. It locked against the scythe-like arms of the Ant King, and she braced herself against it.

  She felt her heart beating. Her muscles straining. She could feel it, she realised. Her Stamina. It wasn’t just a river, that was simplifying it far too much. It was a network, one that ebbed and flowed, directing resources all over her body. She could use it, feel it, command it, as though her vital energies were themselves Ants and she was their Queen.

  And suddenly it seemed so obvious. If the problem with Circulation of Stamina was that she needed to split her focus between fighting and meditating . . then she just had to think of fighting itself as a form of meditation.

  “Circulation . . of . . Stamina!” Mikayla released an impromptu war cry, sending her Stamina flowing up her arms, burning away the poison flowing into her system as she forced the Ant King back a step. She twisted her torso to wind up a strike, rotating her Stamina like a spinning top and pushing back the toxins. As she took a step forward, the cleansing energy followed her nervous system and ran down her leg.

  Meditation didn’t have to be conscious and controlled. It could be done with every breath she took, every move she made. And the system agreed, because a notification informed her;

  [CIRCULATION OF STAMINA (Faulty) HAS IMPROVED TO: CIRCULATION OF STAMINA (Basic)!)

  CIRCULATION OF STAMINA (Basic): Expend Stamina to accelerate the natural healing process.]

  “Hahaha, brilliant work, lass! I never doubted you!” Nocturnus cackled, reading her System message.

  Mikayla grinned, and the Ant King sensed her newfound confidence, shying back.

  She was about to press the offensive, but then Keldryn shouted, “Behind you!“

  On instinct, she slid to the side, and a ball of lightning that had flown in from her blind spot instead narrowly missed the Ant King. Mistaking the attack as one that had been aimed at it, the monster chittered in fury and turned to face the newcomer.

  Mikayla risked doing the same, and her eyes widened.

  A feathery body the size of a bus. Beating wings that blocked out the sun. Eyes that glowed with trails of lightning.

  “No frigging way,” she murmured disbelievingly. “Is that the Roc?!”

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