Re:Ant Lord-Chapter 41: Two Star Rank

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She glanced down at Kai’s limp form, lips pursing. "Yes," she murmured. "I see. Place him on the bed. Then leave us."

The cloaked ant did not argue. He strode forward, stepping carefully across the thick plush rug, and laid Kai gently among the pile of pillows. A single droplet of healing gel dripped from the tip of Kai’s antenna and splashed onto the blanket. The cloaked ant bowed again.

"I will take my leave," he said, turning sharply and exiting the chamber. The heavy door closed with a solid clunk, leaving Princess Mia alone with the unconscious worker ant.

She sighed, stepping closer to the bed. Her gaze traveled over Kai’s battered but healing body: the cracks in his chitin, the partial bruises that still dotted his arms, and the faint hiss of breath escaping from parted mandibles.

She could see the slight signs of evolution even in his unconscious shape—perhaps an unusual thickness to his exoskeleton, maybe an unexpected aura swirling faintly around him. She reached over to a small table near the bed, grabbing a ceramic bowl of steaming liquid with one hand and a wooden spoon with the other.

"Kai..." she whispered as she spooned a thin, milky mixture. "If you can hear me, open your mouth. This should speed your recovery."

But Kai was not in the realm of awareness. In his mind, everything remained a swirling haze of half-formed dreams. Memories of the cliff fall, the raging water, Roddick’s mocking laughter, the desperate attempts to breathe, the faint sense of being carried... It all churned in the blackness of unconsciousness. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

He did not stir, but his parted mandibles allowed a little bit of the warm liquid to slip inside. Mia carefully fed him a few spoonfuls, the herbal brew trailing down his throat. Its taste was bitter, with a faint aftertaste of sweet mint. She suspected that if he were awake, he would probably wince.

A small, wry smile flickered over her lips. "Please survive, you foolish ant," she murmured. "I have...high hopes for you."

Deep within Kai’s mind, Where darkness reigned, flickers of colored light danced. Suddenly, an alert sound chimed:

[DING! System Notification: Rank Upgrade Complete.

Congratulations! You have evolved to Two-Star Rank!

Title: Elite Worker Ant (2-Star).

All injuries fully healed. Aura capacity increased.

Additional reward unlocked- Unique Skill: ’Lustres Mark.’]

In that mental, dreamlike dimension, Kai’s consciousness vaguely perceived the floating words. Flickers of random lights formed as a half-real, half-imagined system screen. The letters hovered, rearranging themselves.

[Skill Description: Lustres Mark, a skill automatically triggered upon evolution to 2-star.

The host can place a Mark upon a female with a ’beauty score’ ≥ 80.

Once Marked, it cannot be removed.

Host must accumulate ’impression points’ with the Marked female.

If that impression points surpasses 80, the female becomes permanently loyal to the host.

(Warning: Minimum impression starts at 0-??? if the host has not directly interacted. It’s all about how much the opposite genders are impressed by the host.)

Kai’s drifting mind vaguely recognized that the system was explaining something new. The words sounded so bizarre. A mark? Something to do with the opposite sex? The dream swirl shifted once more. Although Kai is fully healed, he couldn’t open his eyes. It’s all because of the milky liquid which was fed to him by princess Mia.

[Notification: A suitable subject for Lustres Mark is in direct contact.

Name: Mia. (An ant princess.)

Sex: Female.

Beauty Score: 90.

Do you wish to apply Lustre’s Mark?

YES / NO.

Note: If the host does not respond, the system will automatically apply the Mark in 05:00 minutes.]

A faint countdown flickered in the dark corners of Kai’s dream. Five minutes. Four minutes, fifty-nine seconds. Four minutes, fifty-eight seconds. But Kai was so far gone in unconsciousness he could not move or speak. He did not have any sense of the question, let alone an ability to respond.

Real-world time marched on. Mia continued carefully spooning the milky herbal mixture into Kai’s mouth. Each drop carried medicinal power, saturating his battered cells.

She admired his newly forming exoskeleton pattern. Some subtle lines of swirl-like ridges that had not been present on an ordinary worker ant’s plating. He had come a long way, that much was clear. A faint flush of curiosity lit her eyes. She could not guess how or why he was evolving so swiftly, only that it defied the usual norms.

00:10... 00:09... 00:08...

Kai’s dormant consciousness drifted through swirling illusions.

00:03... 00:02... 00:01...

[Ding! No response detected from the host.

System proceeding with automatic application...

LUSTRES MARK applied to target: Princess Mia.

Name: Mia – Rank: Six star.

Beauty Score: 90.

Impression Score: 05.

Mark established.

Note: Imprint won’t be discovered by any target. No matter what rank or species they are.

Next milestone: 80 impression points required to ensure loyalty.]

Click. The swirl in Kai’s mind gave way to blackness again. Mia got affected by the Lustre’s mark.

In her reverie, she barely noticed that her breathing was growing heavy, that her eyelids drooped. Perhaps the day had been too long; perhaps her own aura expenditures left her drained. She set the spoon aside and pressed a delicate hand to her temple. "I feel... so sleepy," she whispered, stifling a yawn. (Because of the mark.)

The room was warm, half-lit by the silver crystal lights overhead. A gentle hush of night time lingered. No wind, no footsteps, no intrusions. In the absence of any immediate crisis, her body signaled that rest was long overdue. She parted the bed’s drape with a free hand and turned back to look at Kai. Part of her wanted to keep watch to see if he stirred. But the heavy wave of exhaustion overcame her.

She lay down, shifting close to him, presumably to keep an eye on his condition. Her side pressed lightly against his forearm. Soon, her eyelids fluttered shut. Her breathing turned slow, rhythmic. Mia drifted into a doze, her body leaning inadvertently toward him.