"I win."
Do-Hyeok said from behind her, he couldnt see her face.
Then…
Drip-!
Drip-!
Drip-!
Something wet and sticky dripped onto Do-Hyeoks arm.
He didnt see what it was but he quickly deduced it.
It was blood.
What else explained it?
Being launched across the field,
Non responnsiveness
And now this liquid on his arm.
It seemed to be coming from her head.
So, Do-Hyeok gently let go and moved away from her.
"Hey… you good?"
Then he looked at his arm.
Drool?!
—
Nanami was dazed.
She was caught in a headlock. Caught. Before she even had time to react.
Luckily, neither of them sustained any serious injuries. Perks of being an insect-human!
But there was a problem.
That overwhelming scent!
At this range Nanami could barely contain herself.
Her favourite meal was currently clutching her in a headlock!
This was torture.
Before she could realise, she started salivating profusely.
She couldnt stand it.
While feed trained specimens smell other insect humans as the most delectible meals they could eat,
Those which have overcome it no longer have the urge to feed.
However,
The smell lingers…
Which is the phenomenon Nanami is and has been going through.
To put it simply.
It smells so good she could eat him any second but more figuratively than literally.
She couldnt think,
Couldnt move,
'Deliscious…'
Her mind is literally tripping from the smell.
Then…
It lessened.
She began to think a little more normally.
And then…
"Hey… you good?"
Do-Hyeok spoke from behind her.
She turned.
She looked starved, but also slightly crazed.
It was a hard face to describe.
"???"
Do-Hyeok had no clue why she looked like this. He had barely any knowledge about feed-trained insect-humans.
But, unexpectedly…
Nanami recovered quickly.
"Win my ass!"
Dropkick to the ribs!
Do-Hyeok went flying.
Fatality.
Nanami wins.
—
When he woke up, Nanami was gone.
Do-Hyeok's memory was a little blurry, he did just have the wind knocked out of him.
But oh well.
Off to the captain he went.
After standing up and dusting himself off, he went to find Carly for his complex training.
A while later he arrived in front of his door.
KNOCK-!
KNOCK-!
silence.
Then…
"Come in."
Carly voiced from behind the door.
So Do-Hyeok stepped in.
—
After a few hours of dreaded bug theory, Do-Hyeok and Carly went into the woods for the last race till he had to go back.
They lined up…
"Are you ready, Do-Hyeok?" Carly turned and asked.
Ready…
But Do-Hyeok did not respond. He was in a complete state of focus. Not a single thing could break it.
Get set…
Carly was a little startled, Do-Hyeok hadn't been like this since his first day of training, a complete state of focus, a trance that could not be broken.
But he composed himself, and got ready.
Go!!!
BOOM-!
Two figures which stood there in one moment, completely disappeared in the next.
And they were off.
Do-Hyeok had learned a lot in the past week. More than he could have alone.
Not just from Carly and Nanami.
But from the ants in his body.
One of the most important things he learned however…
Is that there were more than one species of a certain type of ant in his body.
There are 16,000 after all.
Which means…
[Saharan silver ant]
[Saharan salt pan ant]
He can stack the lesser effects onto the main complex to generate a greater ability!
Saharan salt pan ant
This species is the Saharan silver ant's larger "legged" cousin.
It can reach speeds of 620 mm/s (roughly 50 body lengths per second).
While it has longer legs, it is slower than the silver ant because it has a lower stride frequency.
However…
It is being used to support the saharan silver ant.
So its personal speed doesn't matter.
It simply adds onto Do-Hyeok's already monstrous speed.
And this is only one of them, if he wanted he could stack more, however his body cannot sustain too many complexes at once at his current level.
So, he settled for power over more speed.
[Asian weaver ant]
BOOM-!
He burst off the ground so fast his body began to face the recoil.
Skin started to tear due to the raw speed he was moving at.
Any faster and his ribs would cave in and his organs would be pierced.
Which is where his other trick came in.
While it did not completely remove the risk, it would hold his top speed to a higher ceiling before his insides destroy him.
That is…
The Field ant
When it comes to pure physical endurance, the common Field ant (Formica exsectoides) is unmatched.
Due to their robust and efficient exoskeleton, they can withstand pressure up to 5,000 times their own body weight.
If coated on a human body…
They become nearly unkillable through external means.
[Field ant]
All of a sudden, exoskeleton armour began to surround Do-Hyeok's body.
Pale greyish yet firm. That was how it could be described. His eyes could no longer be seen and two mandibles that looked like hands appeared at the jaw of the armour.
He was fully covered.
The burden he felt a moment ago subsided.
'With this I can win!'
So Do-Hyeok spurted even faster than he ever could before.
—
Carly was on his way back as fast as he could.
He upped the difficulty as it was Do-Hyeok's last session before he had to return to Nest.
So honestly, he never expected Do-Hyeok to catch up.
But then…
THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD-!
Fast and powerful thuds began to sound behind Carly.
And they were only getting louder.
"Wha-"
Before he could turn fully to see what it was,
A greyish blur blasted by him.
'?!'
It was too fast for Carly to register.
He quickly turned to chase after this blur.
But by the time he turned…
The blur disappeared; all that was left was its footprints.
And looking at them Carly realised who it was.
"DO-HYEOK?!?!"
And with that, Carly launched full speed toward the schoolhouse.
—
Seconds later, in front of the schoolhouse.
Do-Hyeok arrived first.
Stopping in front of a wall before he went splat, he shed the exoskeleton and stood waiting for Carly to catch up.
'Finally…'
Needless to say, Do-Hyeok was ecstatic.
"I…I DID IT!!!" he shouted.
And that caught everyone's attention in the schoolhouse.
Out came Bom, Woochang, Haemin and Hansung.
Nanami was catching up on the sleep she missed early in the morning.
"What happened hyung?" Woochang asked first.
"Why are you shouting so damn loud this time of night?" Then came Bom.
The other two remained silent.
Do-Hyeok responded by raising his finger in the direction of the forest and saying, "take a look."
Then they all looked toward the forest and saw someone coming toward them.
It was their Captain.
Then they turned back to Do-Hyeok and shuddered.
They knew what he and the captain were doing for the past week. And they also knew just how fast their captain was.
So how could Do-Hyeok be here before the captain and barely look tired at all…
And with that cynical smile on his face.
This amount of progress in a week?
What the hell is he?!
—
Carly made it over and stopped in front of the group, slightly in shock.
"How…?" He asked Do-Hyeok.
"This level of progress is impossible in such a short time. Unless you have a high sync rate or insane talent."
Then Do-Hyeok looked to him to respond,
"Im built different." He said semi-jokingly.
But Carly took it more seriously than Do-Hyeok thought he would.
Although he didn't notice.
After all of this they all went back into the schoolhouse and turned in for the night.
—
The next morning, Do-Hyeok got up and packed lightly.
He wouldn't take the camping supplies he had.
Seeing as he could probably sprint back to the city in less than 10 minutes at full speed.
All he took was the can of jungle juice he found from the site and the bag he brought with him.
"Phew~ it's over… kinda sucks that I couldn't learn more."
"Is that so~"
"?!"
Do-Hyeok turned around quickly,
It was Nanami.
How did she sneak up on him?
Do-Hyeok could, as stated earlier, sense vibrations.
So how did he not notice her?
Simple.
She wasn't seen as a threat.
They spent a lot of time together in the past week.
Do-Hyeok grew comfortable around Nanami so he had subconsciously stopped registering her as a hostile.
"Oh. It's just you."
"Just me? How mean~ I thought we got a little closer over the week."
Do-Hyeok moved in closer, "is that right?"
Nanami moved back, flustered.
"Heh. What happened to being closer?"
"N-not so close!"
'Cute.'
Do-Hyeok got up and got ready to leave.
"You're leaving already?" Nanami asked, sounding a little sad.
"If I don't get back to the campus to turn in my assignment I'll get a failing grade. And that means no university for me."
"I see…" Nanami seemed down.
And Do-Hyeok felt somewhat responsible.
"Tell you what. If the captain allows it, I'll come over to train whenever I'm free."
And then the straightforward Nanami did something a little unexpected.
"Hmph! W-who cares… just go!" She said but the curve on her lips betrayed her.
And with a lazy wave, Do-Hyeok left for Carly's office.
—
"So you're leaving now?"
Carly sat across from Do-Hyeok.
"That's right captain, but I have a question to ask before I go."
"Oh? What is it?" Carly responded
"Is it okay if I come back when I'm free for more training?"
"Hm? Of course, in fact I was going to say you could come visit whenever you want, just let me know beforehand."
And Do-Hyeok lit up.
"Thanks Captain! Tell the others I said I'll see them soon!"
And like that, Do-Hyeok was finally on his way back to Nest.
—
END OF CHAPTER
A/N: something about this chapter feels off…
Whatever.
This is the end of the "Group" assignment arc.
Next is angel orphanage, you know what that means. (If you've read jungle juice)