In the morning, my day begins with sunbathing, also known as meditation.
No, I'm doing meditation seriously too, you know. But sunbathing is also important. I need to loosen my body, stiffened by the night's cold, with the sun's light.
Furthermore, there is a big merit to sunbathing. Surprisingly, we can photosynthesize by bathing our exoskeleton in sunlight.
Since Chimera Ants inherit the characteristics of the creatures they eat, it's not strange that we incorporated the photosynthesis ability of the red plants. The other ants probably don't understand the mechanism of photosynthesis, but they seem to realize the utility of sunbathing instinctively. Perhaps because of that, they don't like dark places much.
Since I can't cover all nutrition with just photosynthesis, I do need to eat properly. However, fuel efficiency is quite good. I ate every day because I needed to take in nutrition for egg-laying, but seen from a general soldier ant, this is quite a glutton.
However, since I end up in a teppanyaki state if I go past noon, I dare to bathe slowly in the sunlight only in the morning. While meditating in a relaxed state, I practice 'Zetsu' at the same time.
Zetsu is difficult. Neither Ren nor Zetsu succeeds yet. These are techniques to adjust the amount of aura sent out of the body by opening and closing the Aura Nodes. I don't really understand that sensation. Maybe unconsciously opening my Aura Nodes was a disaster, as my sense for that area is vague.
As I was meditating, a faint sound approached. A soldier ant is coming out of the forest. Since our Chimera Ant life is completed near the center of the forest, ordinary soldier ants do not come to this outer rim. Because both food and water are higher quality and more abundant in the center.
This soldier ant is the King's direct Royal Guard. Their job is to go outside the nest to look for the next mating partner, so sometimes I run into them like this. Given our body size, this forest is vast, so we don't meet face to face that frequently, but...
Zetsu! Zetsu!
I intended to erase my presence, but I was discovered normally. The other party, having noticed me, emits a warning sound. Our relationship is hard to call good. I don't think we are in an obvious hostile relationship. If we were, soldier ants should be coming in swarms to eliminate me, and I would have been killed when I was exiled in the first place.
However, it is certain that they treat me as a foreign existence. I am hated to the extent that warning sounds are rung at me if we meet face to face like this. I used my 'Spirit Synchronization' ability to send thought waves to the soldier ants.
It seems even the direct Royal Guards, who do not possess communication abilities, can sense thought waves. Though, we cannot exchange intentions. The soldier ants who sensed an anomaly left my presence. I use this 'Spirit Synchronization' ability solely to drive away soldier ants.
Or rather, there is no other use for it. This impossibly powerful ability of unavoidable, uncancelable, super-wide-range manipulation had a serious flaw that exceeded its performance and was too much to handle.
Simply put, the effect is weak. My domination gets rejected even by ants whose possession of a decent ego is suspicious. Since radio wave communication has characteristics similar to telepathy, that is reflected in this ability as well. First, I make my consciousness enter the opponent's mind and then dominate them, but I get bounced at that access stage.
Therefore, it can only be used for harassment to the extent of giving the opponent a slight sense of discomfort. However, it's just that it fails; it's not that the ability itself doesn't activate. I have the sensation that the manipulation of myself is succeeding. That domination is continuing in the present progressive form.
Is there some restriction I don't know about? I didn't think a 'Hatsu' created unconsciously would be this troublesome. No wonder it's called warped. Still, it is a necessary ability for me. I have no regrets.
However, putting that aside, I do have the feeling that I want to create other abilities too. This time I want an ability I thought of myself. But in the current situation where I can't even do Ren, that's a story for later. First, let's focus on performing the Four Major Principles properly.
The native species of Chimera Ants do not build nests underground, but build "anthills" on the surface by hardening mud. However, perhaps because our species likes sunlight, we do not build this type of nest. We use the hollowed-out holes of red plants directly as nests. Since the structure is very simple and basically has only one room, a single colony lives by making many holes like an apartment complex.
I am now building my own home too. I'm just repurposing the hole created as a result of eating, but everyone else does the same. It is my proud house that I worked hard to make in my own way.
First, the entrance. The sunny, south-facing entrance is always thrown open freely. There is no door, and thanks to the good view, security is perfect.
Upon entering, a spacious entrance welcomes visitors. There are no other rooms. Scratches carved every day to count the days since I was exiled spread across the entire wall, which is deeply tasteful.
The bed is made of safe and reliable stone. It has an avant-garde design where sleeping on the ground would actually be more restful. That sleeping comfort will likely teach one the importance of bedding thoroughly.
...I convince myself while acting out a one-person play like that. Well, there are no particular inconveniences. My lifestyle consists of three things: eating, training, and resting. Except for when I sleep, I am always outside.
There is no inconvenience, but there was just a little dissatisfaction. Is it because I have human memories? I feel like the desire to try living a human-like life is appearing little by little. Even though it is meaningless for me, an ant, to wish for such things...
Let's not think about unnecessary things and devote myself to training today too. I went outside the house. And then, my eyes met with something that was in front of my house.
"Ah, eh? ...Why here..."
It was the King Ant. This is the first time seeing his figure since that day I was exiled. Why did he appear before me now? Unconsciously, my body retreated. I return back inside the house.
As if chasing that, the King steps into my house. Terror welled up. The source of my fear is right before my eyes. I didn't know why, but I felt like the root of everything was there.
Kichik-kichik
Intimidation sounds are made at me. He is approaching me. My body freezes and cannot move. What is he trying to do? Will I be hurt again? What for?
Certainly, I defied him. As a Chimera Ant, I went against the mission of the colony's leader. But I should have received the punishment for that. I was inflicted with wounds serious enough that it wouldn't have been strange if I died. And yet I was kept alive, only to be hurt again like some game?
'No.'
Remember. What did I seek power for? To live alone, to resist unreasonableness, to know the vastness of the world. Then, what's the use of cowering in a place like this? What kind of Nen training is it if I can't even overcome this level of fear? Are you just going to yield again without being able to do anything?
'Different! I am...'
I clothe myself in aura. As if to brush away the fear, I circulate the Qi throughout my whole body.
I didn't intend to cause any more trouble for everyone in the colony. If they had just overlooked me living quietly in a corner of this forest, that would have been fine. But if he is going to resort to force like this, allow me to offer the minimum resistance.
Before the King Ant who approaches leisurely, I shrank my body. I didn't wither away. Rather the opposite. I compress the springs of my legs to the limit, accumulating power for the next move.
I only have three legs. Since walking became inconvenient, I came up with another method of movement. That is jumping. By jumping like a grasshopper, I move quickly over long distances. Originally, our legs are not structured to perform such maneuvers, but I realize it forcibly through the power of Nen.
I do not jump to escape. With that leg strength, I will leap and deliver a body slam to the enemy with full power. A body slam from me, whose whole body is covered in an armor-like exoskeleton, will be an attack with considerable power.
The opponent is clad in the same armor, but I don't intend to lose in strength. Until now, I have eaten only the harder dark red stones. Speaking of brightness, my armor is darker than the King Ant's. If my deduction is correct, mine should be sturdier.
Furthermore, I add the power of Nen there. Increasing defense with 'Ten', making it harder, stronger. I pour everything into this one blow. With that, I will make the opponent understand. Who he is trying to make an enemy of.
The King Ant lunged at my body. He thrusts his fangs. At that moment, memories I didn't want to recall burst out all at once. The flashback of trauma stimulates my aura just like a flash of light.
My Aura Nodes opened. I realize that sensation for the first time. The explosively rising aura of 'Ten'. No, this is 'Ren'. At the same time as awakening to Ren in an extreme state, I release the elastic energy stored in my legs.
Explosion, collision. I can't even realize what happened myself. But I can understand. My grasshopper jump exploded, blowing the King Ant away and slamming him into the wall.
A dull sound echoes inside the nest. The King Ant recovered his crumbled posture. Slowly, he walks towards me as if to intimidate me.
Gichi... Gichi...
Even though I landed a full-force body slam using even aura, it looks like it had absolutely no effect. There wasn't a single scratch on his exoskeleton.
But I cannot back down here. I'll challenge him as many times as it takes until he recognizes my strength. I drew my legs tight again.
The King Ant stood still as if telling me to shoot. Without dodging, without defending, acting as if that level of attack was no problem. Apparently, it was me who was overconfident in my own power. I was conceited that I was stronger because I could use Nen.
I 'Refine (Ren)' my aura. Stronger, looking beyond my own limits. The enemy doesn't move; I won't miss the target. I take time to concentrate. More, more, more...
'...?'
However, the drawn springs slowly returned to their original state. Something is wrong. The intimidation I felt until just a moment ago has vanished from the King Ant before my eyes. Only silence was left.
I activated 'Spirit Synchronization'. The thought waves "passed through" the King Ant's body. They cannot catch hold. It wasn't that access was rejected; "nothing was there."
The King Ant was dead.
After the death of the King Ant, many soldier ants gathered at my nest. The King's direct Royal Guards. Until now, we only warily watched each other with no direct contact, but this time a peaceful conclusion could not be expected.
The soldier ants recognized me as an enemy and attacked. I killed them. I killed every single ant that came at me.
They are not opponents one can talk to. For them, the survival of the colony is the primary reason for existence, and they do not mind death if it is to defeat the colony's enemy. They do not possess choices like self-preservation or retreat from the beginning. The attacks wouldn't stop until the last one, and I had no choice but to kill until the last one.
Our exoskeletons are hard. Even with my body slam, breaking them in one blow is not granted. However, what is packed inside are muscles and internal organs. If I deliver an shock that cannot be escaped, it is possible to destroy the insides. There were no ants who could endure the attacks of me who learned Ren.
To be precise, there are more who do not die even after receiving an attack. The tough vitality of Chimera Ants seems to not allow death even if internal organs are pulped. While bearing fatal wounds where they only await death, they are kept alive until their life runs out. Is that a correct way of evolution for life? I continued attacking until the opponent was completely dead.
Thus, the King Ant and the direct Royal Guards were annihilated. Fortunately, it seems not the entire Chimera Ant colony recognized me as an enemy. The King Ant's faction is independent from the organization of the original nest. The causality of the battle was interrupted here for the time being.
I made graves. A mother's grave, and a father's grave.
I ended up killing my own father, but I have no regrets about that. No conflict either. This isn't because I held a grudge against him, but really because no emotion wells up. It is certain that he was a symbol of terror for me, but conversely, it was nothing more than that.
Making a grave for my mother was also just on a whim. Considering the ecology of Chimera Ants, I am an existence equivalent to being born by sacrificing my mother's life. It can also be said that I killed my mother. We can leave it at that. But even so, I don't feel guilt about it either.
I didn't understand the feeling of mourning a person. There are many other discrepancies like that. I possess human memories, but they are merely information. Behind that information, there must be common sense and ethics that humans possess naturally as humans.
Sensations that anyone would possess if they were human, without needing to put them into words. I feel like those are lacking in me here and there.
The reason I made graves was also because I wanted to know that sensation. I thought if I took human-like actions, I might be able to derive an answer. I still don't know that answer.
I didn't make graves for the direct Royal Guards because it was troublesome, but should I have made them for them too?
Three months passed.
Ten, Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu. I became able to perform the 'Four Major Principles' generally. The stage of training advanced, but I am an amateur regarding Nen. I only possess fragmentary knowledge, and I have no confidence whether what I am doing is the correct training method.
Anyway, I kept in mind to consume aura. I continued the state of Ten constantly, and from there I trained every day to extend the duration of Ren. I think this is the practice for the advanced technique 'Ken', but it is unclear if I am really doing it, or how close I am to completion.
The applied techniques of the Four Major Principles include 'Gyo', 'In', 'En', 'Shu', 'Ken', 'Ko', and 'Ryu'. In addition to training towards mastering these, category-specific training for 'Hatsu' becomes necessary. Especially, I don't know what I should do for this category-specific training.
In the first place, it hasn't actually been determined what my category is. Even if I want to do the Water Divination, there is no water here. Assuming I am likely a Manipulation type, I am using 'Spirit Synchronization' consciously. However, since the only target to use it on is myself, I don't know how much I'm improving, or if there is any progress at all.
I also started training for Emission, which has good compatibility with Manipulation. I am testing if I can extend my jump distance by jetting aura in time with my grasshopper jump. So far, just covering my legs with aura normally makes me jump further than emitting it.
It's asking for the impossible, but I really want a Nen ability instructor. There is a limit to searching for training methods by groping in the dark. There is also the fear that I wouldn't notice even if I was doing some decisively wrong training. It seems there is a school of Nen combat called Shingen-ryu, but if I go to the human world, would I be able to learn it too? Impossible for an ant, I guess...
Sometimes I harbor doubts about my training methods, but I decided to continue without giving up. Before I knew it, training was no longer painful. If you took training away from the current me, I'd have nothing to do but eat and sleep. This training is the only thing that can be called my human action. I didn't feel the slightest inclination to be lazy.
Then, bordering on a certain day, changes began to appear in my body. The total aura amount which was growing slowly rose rapidly.
It is common for the total amount of aura one possesses to increase through Nen training that handles aura. When I started training, the total amount increased steadily too. And once passing the growth period, the increase amount gradually shifts to a gentle plateau. I had entered this stage too.
That began to stretch as if ignoring limits. If I say that nearly four times the aura increased in three days of training, you will understand how abnormal it is.
And what was even more strange was that I could not intentionally use this increased portion of aura. It remains inside my body and cannot be drawn out. What I can use is only the aura amount I possessed before the increase.
At first, I couldn't understand what had happened, but as I continued meditating, I somehow came to understand the true identity of the cause. The newly increased aura is concentrating in my abdomen. The eggs I am manipulating inside my stomach had each begun to carry aura.