đź“– CHAPTER 2
The First Spark of Power
The pain faded.
But the memory of it remained.
I stood motionless beneath the shadow of the leaf, my body trembling from the aftereffects of the transformation. Every part of me felt sharper, more defined, as if my existence had been carved into something slightly more refined than before.
The world had changed.
No.
I had.
The grass around me was no longer just towering green walls. Each blade carried a faint presence. Tiny fluctuations brushed against my perception like ripples in still water.
Living things.
Energy.
I did not know what this force was, but my instincts screamed its importance.
The droplet of blood on the leaf had given me more than simple biological improvement. It had opened a new sense.
And that sense was priceless.
I closed my eyes—or rather, reduced the flow of visual input—and focused.
There.
Nearby.
A small creature moved beneath the soil. Its presence was faint but clear.
Without hesitation, I descended back underground.
The colony tunnels were alive with movement. Workers rushed to repair the damage caused by the earlier tremors. Alarm pheromones still lingered in the air.
Chaos.
Opportunity.
I followed the sensation.
A worm.
It burrowed through the earth slowly, unaware of the danger closing in.
I attacked.
My mandibles pierced its soft body, and it struggled violently, but I held firm. The fight lasted longer than expected. The worm was larger than me and powerful.
But my structure had already evolved.
Eventually, it stopped moving.
I devoured it.
Warmth spread through my body.
Muscle density increased.
Internal nutrient absorption improved.
But more importantly—
The energy sense sharpened.
I could now detect living organisms more clearly within a short radius.
"…Good."
For the first time since awakening, something close to satisfaction filled my mind.
This world was dangerous.
But it was also full of resources.
If I continued like this, I would grow exponentially.
The key was efficiency.
I needed a plan.
Random hunting was inefficient and risky. The colony provided safety, but it also limited growth. Competition would increase as I became stronger.
Eventually, the colony would become my resource.
But not yet.
Patience.
Evolution was a long game.
Days passed.
Or perhaps weeks.
I hunted constantly.
Small insects.
Larvae.
Occasional rivals.
Each meal refined my body further.
My exoskeleton darkened and hardened.
My reaction speed surpassed normal ants by several times.
My perception expanded.
Most importantly, my internal structure began changing.
I noticed it during one hunt.
A beetle larva ambushed me from behind.
Normally, such an attack would have been fatal.
But I sensed it before contact.
My body moved automatically.
And in that moment, something within me pulsed.
Energy gathered.
For a fraction of a second, my body became lighter.
Faster.
I dodged.
The sensation faded immediately.
I froze.
"…What was that?"
It was not instinct.
It was control.
Primitive.
Unstable.
But real.
The energy sense was no longer passive.
I could influence it.
Excitement surged.
This was a turning point.
If I could learn to control this force, my growth would no longer be limited to biology.
I began experimenting.
At first, nothing happened.
Hours of focus produced no result.
But I did not stop.
Eventually, I felt it again.
A spark.
Tiny.
Like a dying ember.
I concentrated.
The energy moved.
Slowly.
Clumsily.
But it obeyed.
The first time I enhanced my body intentionally, the effect lasted only a heartbeat.
But it was enough.
From that day onward, my growth accelerated.
With energy reinforcement, I could hunt larger prey.
Spiders.
Centipedes.
Even small lizards.
Each victory brought massive improvement.
My ability continued to refine my body automatically.
Venom resistance.
Enhanced digestion.
Structural reinforcement.
Neural processing.
But the most important change came unexpectedly.
One night, while exploring near the surface, I sensed something unusual.
Multiple large presences.
Powerful.
Far stronger than any animal.
They moved on two legs.
Their energy was chaotic but structured.
Intelligent.
I hid instantly.
Through the roots and soil, I observed.
Giant beings stood nearby.
They spoke.
The vibrations carried meaning, but I could not yet understand the language.
However, their behavior revealed intelligence.
They wore strange coverings.
Carried tools.
Weapons.
One of them was injured.
Blood dripped onto the ground.
The scent was intoxicating.
Similar to the earlier droplet.
But stronger.
Much stronger.
My instincts screamed to consume it.
But I did not move.
Risk outweighed reward.
For now.
Instead, I observed.
The injured giant groaned while another treated the wound.
Eventually, they left.
I waited.
Minutes.
Then longer.
Only when their presence vanished did I emerge.
The blood remained.
Fresh.
Powerful.
I approached cautiously.
Every instinct warned me this could change everything.
I consumed a small portion.
This time, the pain was worse.
My body convulsed violently.
Cells ruptured.
Reformed.
My mind nearly fractured.
Yet the ability protected me.
Selective assimilation.
Optimization.
Stabilization.
When it ended, I collapsed.
For a long time, I could not move.
But when I finally stood, the world had transformed again.
My perception expanded dramatically.
The energy sense grew several times stronger.
But something else had changed.
The giants no longer felt entirely alien.
Their structure.
Their biology.
My mind could interpret patterns.
I could now understand fragments of their physical motion.
Communication.
Emotion.
This was the beginning of something extraordinary.
A path toward intelligence far beyond an insect.
Toward something greater.
I looked toward the direction the giants had gone.
One day, I would stand among them.
Not as prey.
Not as an insect.
But as something superior.
Something inevitable.
For now, I returned underground.
The colony was still useful.
Still safe.
Still expendable.
But the path forward was clear.
Biology.
Energy.
Intelligence.
One day, I would master all three.
And when that day came—
Nothing in this world would be beyond my reach.
The first spark had been lit.
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