Encounter
A heavy thud echoed through the air.
As I opened the sack, protruding horns tumbled out in a cascade.
"……!"
"No way... all of those are the protruding horns from the thief ants?"
"Insane……."
Everyone stared in wide-eyed shock.
"D-Did Trainee Aleck really take down all of these by himself?"
"Yes."
Chief Instructor Binzar stammered, visibly flustered.
It was no wonder. The amount I'd brought back surpassed the combined hauls of everyone else before me.
'Thanks to that guy's help, I was able to pull out a good number of them.'
I glanced subtly at Drvito.
Gone was his usual air of haughty arrogance. Covered head to toe in dirt, he looked no better than a beggar.
His face twisted in a sullen scowl.
"H-How in the world did you do it?"
Then, Hoover, the leader of Squad 7 from the giant hornet tribe, asked me in disbelief.
His eyes darted shakily over the pile of horns I'd dumped out.
"I just hunted diligently."
"Tch, did you use some kind of cheat? There's no way anyone could take down that many alone—not even me."
The hornet tribe.
They'd always been compared to mantises.
While smaller bee tribes were no match for bulkier clans like the king mantises or shield mantises, the giant hornets—nicknamed thugs—often devoured even king mantises with ease.
On the flip side, king and shield mantises frequently triumphed over giant hornets too.
They were true rivals, impossible to clearly rank above or below.
And that reality was the spark that ignited their pride.
Hornets were always itching to devour mantises on sight.
"If you can't believe it, ask Drvito over there. He helped me collect them right beside me."
"Is that true, Drvito?"
"……Yeah."
"Tch."
Hoover shut his mouth reluctantly once Drvito confirmed it.
"Whoa…… Aleck, you're the real deal."
Polt burst out laughing and clapped me on the shoulder upon seeing Drvito's admission.
Surprisingly, he seemed to like me.
'Well, the Caucasus giant stag beetle tribe does have a surprisingly pure side to them.'
Before my regression, they'd been dragged into continental wars and tribal conflicts by the Hercules clan, but the tribe itself wasn't inherently aggressive.
Unlike the giant hornets still grinding their teeth over there.
"No matter how I look at it, you're too talented to have been born a mantis."
Even Max from the Hercules clan muttered as much.
"Trainee Aleck takes first place."
"Not bad."
"Congrats on first."
Once Chief Instructor Binzar officially acknowledged the top score, cheers and congratulations poured in from around me.
Their gazes had shifted. No longer dismissing me as just some lesser mantis clan member.
I could feel them starting to recognize my abilities.
"The top three are Aleck, Murlan, and Max. Each will receive 3 miles by the end of the day. Congratulations."
Clap clap clap.
With applause, the outdoor foraging and hunting training came to an end.
'That leaves me with 6 miles to go.'
Including the 20 miles soon to be awarded for becoming squad leader, I'd amassed 41 miles so far.
Adding these 3 made it 44. Just 6 more, and I'd hit my goal.
The fossil fragment of the Megaera Mantis shimmered tantalizingly in my mind's eye.
* * *
"Drvito, why are your clothes so filthy?"
"You look like you rolled around in the mud. Were you digging holes or something?"
"……Shut up."
Drvito scowled at Jodru and Burdruk's questions.
'Damn it, that bastard. Making me do manual labor like that.'
It was humiliating.
'But...'
Recalling Aleck's finger sent an indescribable wave of terror crashing over him.
Brr!
Even a fleeting memory of that pain made his legs tremble.
Pain he never wanted to endure again.
Drvito hung his head low.
No thoughts of rebelling against Aleck even crossed his mind.
The fear of that finger strike was one thing.
But Grootoria.
The subservience pact sealed through that wretched Oath Tree was irreversible.
'How did I end up like this...'
Tears welled up unbidden.
"Wh-what?! Drvito, are you crying?"
"……Shut up."
* * *
The peak of the Riandri Mountains.
It had always been shrouded in storm clouds lately.
But ever since Aleck broke the seal on Titanoptera, the weather had turned clear and bright as if by magic.
Now, on sunny days, the pure blue sky was unobstructed.
Naturally, the atmosphere in Moon Paper Forest had lightened too.
"I heard the elder's been holed up in his quarters, immersed in research lately."
"Oh? Wonder what he's obsessed with this time."
In the Shinseon Hall of Moon Paper Forest, the elders showed keen interest in Parkinson's casual opener.
"……From what I heard, it's something about roundworm medicine."
"Roundworm medicine? Most roundworms are expelled by the Arvendin Pill the elder developed, aren't they? Is he working on something for fleas or horseflies maybe?"
"Well…… I think it's horsehair worms."
"H-Horsehair worms?"
The Shinseon Butterfly elders' eyes bulged.
Horsehair worm infections were considered a death sentence.
The only escape was when the worm left the host's body for water—but by then, it had devoured all the organs, leaving only death.
There was one other method.
A special ritual to extract it before full takeover—but even top-tier shamans succeeding only half the time at best.
Hence, infection meant certain doom.
"Ha! As expected of the elder. If he develops a horsehair worm cure, it'll revolutionize the entire continent."
Many avoided water out of fear, and infested primal species were inedible.
A cure would make them harmless.
It would change the Abian Continent forever.
"As expected of the elder!"
Everyone gazed excitedly toward where Kun was.
And a few days later.
"How have you all been?"
"M-Master!"
"Elder!"
"Heh heh, fine weather today, isn't it?"
Everyone looked up at the sky.
It had been good lately, but not exceptionally so today.
Just lightly overcast...
"It's cloudy, though?"
One tactless elder voiced his honest thought.
Thwack!
Hose elbowed him while chuckling.
"Haha, this guy's been under the weather lately……."
"Hey! Tsk tsk, back in the day you'd agree with everything I said, but now you straight-up roast me! That's why they say you should die when you get old."
"N-No, Elder! I must've lost my mind for a moment!"
The mistaken elder apologized sheepishly.
"Tsk tsk, no need to kowtow. Here, take these."
Kun tossed out blue pills the size of his thumb and index finger pinched together.
"These are……."
"You all heard roughly from Parkinson, right? My new deworming medicine."
"……!"
"Y-You really developed a horsehair worm cure?"
"Indeed."
Their eyes widened, bodies trembling.
"As expected, Elder! This is historic."
"Wow…… incredible."
Exclamations erupted among the elders.
"Heh heh, even I think it's impressive. But this isn't solely my achievement."
"Then……?"
"That kid Aleck sketched the blueprint that made it possible. You could say he contributed more than half."
"……!"
They blinked at each other in shock.
Kun wasn't one for empty flattery.
"That kid really is……."
Parkinson chuckled wryly, glancing toward Chung Hak Gwan.
'Whatever he does next, it'll be monumental.'
He seemed capable of tilling fields into something extraordinary.
"Ahem, I knew from the first glance that boy was no ordinary talent."
The elder who'd gotten an earful for mentioning the clouds chimed in.
Hose tilted his head.
"Didn't you say at first that Aleck had the fate of a short life?"
"D-Did I? N-No way……."
"I remember too…… Shamefully, I agreed with you."
"Ahem, just stay quiet. If you do like me, you might split the difference……."
"I-I must really lack vision…… Couldn't recognize talent right in front of me…… Sniff."
The elder's face flushed red.
Everyone snickered.
They knew his personality: clueless, terrible memory.
But his honesty in admitting faults kept his reputation decent.
"Anyway, I'll head to Chung Hak Gwan for the first time in ages. Let everyone know."
They blinked at Kun's words but nodded soon after.
'He's going to see Aleck.'
The same thought crossed all their minds.
'He's truly earned Master's recognition. Considering what he's shown...'
Even Hose, who'd acknowledged him early, reaffirmed it.
* * *
After the foraging and hunting outdoor training ended.
I was busier than ever, barely catching a breath.
First, I retrieved the iron weights buried in the ant nest, melted them down, and forged new ones, adding 10 kilograms each.
Now each weighed over 70 kilograms.
Totaling nearly 300 kilograms strapped to my body.
'Training the body with iron weights is genuinely effective.'
Especially from Infant to Growth Stage.
Now, I could steam and eat most Maturity Stage 1 opponents effortlessly.
'Setting aside innate talent, the impact of this training method is undeniable.'
I felt viscerally why Norton was so proud of it.
'Good. I'll squeeze every bit of efficiency out of it during Growth Stage.'
Goal: Limit Break all physical stats before molting.
Strength and Speed already broken.
Only Endurance left.
These breakthroughs would raise my ceiling far higher in future stages.
'Once I get the Megaera Mantis fossil fragment, I'll be close to molting... but breaking Endurance first would be ideal.'
Call it intuition.
So lately, I'd focused on Endurance training.
But the fragment was within reach.
After training, I'd racked up another 3 miles from minor requests and tasks.
Just 3 more for 50.
'Give it my all.'
If needed, break Endurance first, then grab the fragment.
Then—
Beep!
The communicator in my dorm blared.
All new trainees, assemble in the auditorium immediately.
'……?'
I tilted my head at the sudden summons.
They'd never called trainees during rest time before.