[Perfect Recall] was a Gold Rank Skill that needed a perfect conjunction of 17 different copper rank skills.
Luckily, 14 of them could be found in different ant species, only totaling 1,127 federal coins in trade for all 14 worker ants.
Il Ji decided to buy them. An opportunity like this could not be passed up. One of them also had [Counter Pose]. Because of Urath's postal service, he could easily use it by the time he visited Sebastian tomorrow.
The remaining three were a bit harder. If Il Ji bought them online, he would have to spend around 10,000 federal coins. Since that was NOT a good idea, he did some further looking around.
One could be found at the petting zoo, and he had a friend with a beast that could supply another. The third, however, was a much rarer skill. The only place he could get it was one of the nearby containment zones.
'I guess I'm going on a field trip soon.'
Il Ji sighed. It would have been a lot easier if he could have simply bought everything he needed.
Going back through his list, he found that 134 of the 157 skills he needed could be found in the various ant colonies. After crosschecking his list, he realized that he only needed to buy 84 different worker ants.
Minus the 14 ants he had just bought, he still needed 70 more ants.
Unfortunately, though, once he bought them he would be unable to produce more ants- since the ant queens would only breed with their own species, he would only make money off of them by passing the test.
If he failed, he would lose half of his life savings.
He decided to take the plunge. After the store's generous discount, he bought all the remaining ants he needed for 6274 federal coins.
Apparently, worker ants were really good at attaining mental skills.
He had spent close to 7500 federal coins. Between the 3000 in Jackpot's space and the 3000 he'd be receiving from Sebastian tomorrow, he should have most of it returned.
But it still felt heavy.
Thanks to Urath's postal delivery system in the Chrono Federation, his packages arrived less than 15 minutes later.
Due to the spatial time distortion of one of the Federation's greatest powers, for which it was named, even the postal delivery service cut corners with the use of space-time branching.
He carefully picked up the ant tubes and set them specifically on the counter. Then, pulling up a chair, he began to stare at ant number one. It was the one with [Counter Pose] and [Conceal Thoughts].
Il Ji stared at it. Trying to imagine linking his mind with that of the ant, he simply… did nothing. For the ant was doing nothing. For there is nothing to do without a Queen.
2 and a half hours of a "near-non-blinking" staring contest later, he felt a warmness envelop him. Checking his Soul Space, he looked and found the skill…
[Iron Skin]. While it was a useful Iron-Rank, it sapped more energy than he was expecting.
But Il Ji was prepared. Reaching into the fridge, he grabbed a nutrient drink. After a short sip, he was satisfied and ready to try again.
Not too many [Iron] rank skills existed in the different worker ants. It was actually a bit of a feat to gain one on his first try. Furthermore, they took a bit more out of him than [Copper] Rank skills. They were doable, but he could only obtain a maximum of about 5 or so before needing to fall asleep.
Seeing as it was only about ten P.M, he started another staring match.
Two hours passed, and he felt another sensation of warmth.
Checking his soul space, he was settled. 'At least I don't have to worry about getting [Counter Pose] tomorrow.' He thought to himself.
Placing the ants near the ant tank to keep their temperature controlled, he made sure each one had enough food to last until the next morning.
Then, he prepared for bed. Checking in on Laila, she appeared to already be asleep.
Taking himself to the bathroom, he brushed his teeth and through on his pajamas. Rolling into bed, he prepared for a good night's sleep. After all, he was exhausted. Today had been plenty exciting- and tomorrow, the fun was about to begin.