RinoZ
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Chapter 1280 - Anthony On Tour pt 21
🕑 Added 2023-12-13 04:48:49 +0000 UTCYoooooo.
Really sorry for the late notice on this, but I do need to announce I will be taking two weeks off starting on the 20th of December.
Yes, I should have mentioned it sooner. I sincerely apologise to those who've paid their subs but won't get the full month of content.
I take some time off over christmas every year, but I'm always late to say anything about it.
Once again, the strange ant, Anthony, had demonstrated insight beyond what one would expect of a monster. Eran Thouris, the lead negotiator of the Island Conglomerate, was delighted at how effective the monster had been, as well as curious, if not apprehensive, about the source of his wisdom.
As the fights continue, the giant ant revealed himself to be fast, strong, adept in a variety of mana types, as well as wielding that strange purple energy to devastating effect. Those enormous mandibles, each as large as a person, unleashed frighteningly powerful bites, filled with a dark energy that rocked the arena every time the Skill is activated.
And he was so quick. Whenever a desperate situation arises, the enormous creature moved like a dancer, with the reflexes of a spider, speeding, sliding, six legs moved in a blur to push his enormous bulk away from danger. In key moments, when a burst of speed was required, he almost appeared to vanish, disappearing from one point and reappearing in another, throwing down his opponents, or catching them up in his deadly jaws.
The Folk were entranced. Despite limiting the fights to only eighth and ninth swords, the line was dozens long. Such a rare opportunity to polish their abilities against a growing powerhouse of the Dungeon. They could not resist it.
Nor can the merchants with whom she deals.
“It is astonishing this… Colony… was able to produce a monster of this strength in such a short time,” Whiskers, the feline looking folk praised as Anthony bested yet another challenger. “If you had not shown me, I would never have believed an ant could be so strong.”
“The Colony produces many things, not only powerful individuals,” Eran smiled with the exact, correct amount of warmth. “They are fierce, and intelligent. Proud, and industrious. Their forges produce thousands of tons of ingots every day, harvested from across all of their territories. They even cracked the methods of forging fire iron by themselves.”
“Really,” the old man stroked the long whiskers that emerged from his cheeks, eyes narrowing. “I don’t suppose you have a sample?”
Without turning, Eran reached a hand over her shoulder and felt a heavy weight placed into it within seconds. She offered the metal to her fellow trader to inspect.
“This was forged less than a month ago outside the demon city of Orpule,” she said. “You can see the date and mark are stamped on it.”
It was a good thing the ants had decided to mark their products visually and not just with scent. Apparently they continued to use their pheromone glands for this purpose, but realised not everyone who lived and worked within their nests had their same sense of smell.
Whiskers turned the ingot this way and that, reading the markings, which included the date, and also a special mark which indicated the forge at which it was produced, and the ant who had acted as forgemaster when the ingot was cast. In this case, Smithant herself.
“It’s better than I expected,” Whiskers pronounced, tapping the metal with one finger. “I can tell they haven’t perfected the process, but they’ve done enough that we can reforge the metal here to refine it further. I’d be interested in buying this, and I don’t mind telling you I wouldn’t be the only one. Of course, the need for further firing drives the price down, I’m sure you understand as much.”
Eran’s smile deepened.
“Why don’t we discuss that in detail?” she purred.
~~~
“I wonder how many ants have reached such a level of evolution, there surely can’t be many.”
The trader who referred to herself, rather unfortunately, as Bilious, was a large, bear of a woman, who’s appetite more than matched her frame.
“As far as I’m aware, there is only one other,” Eran replied smoothly, leaning away slightly to give herself a little space. “Though there are many who have reached tier six.”
“The difference between six and seven is as vast as the ocean,” Bilious said, a little condescendingly, “as I’m sure you’re aware.”
“Yes,” Eran replied, no crack to be found in her pleasant exterior. “It seems your swordsman are finding quite the challenge in Anthony.”
The big ant was at ten wins in a row and didn’t appear to be flagging in the slightest, despite the numerous hits he’d taken. The last fighter had managed to encase him entirely in ice, yet he’d burned his way out, seemingly unharmed.
“The Flowing Water School has fought, as has the Jade Dancers, the Steel Avalanche, the Advancing Rhino and Lotus Bloom,” Bilious noted, “but none of the top ten schools are yet to make an appearance. I’m sure one of them can put this ant in its place.”
“You really believe a ninth sword will be able to defeat him?” Eran asked with genuine surprise. It didn’t seem to matter what techniques Anthony went up against, he broke them all the same. No individual brathian would ever claim they could beat a tier seven mythic monster single-handed, not a sane one anyway. Perhaps a blademaster might, but they were the finest duelists on the face of Pangera.
The large woman hurrumphed.
“I don’t think an ant monster is capable of surprising me,” she said with open disdain. “Not in the arena, nor in the marketplace.”
Eran nodded politely.
“Then I suppose you wouldn’t object to a cup of tea. I have a freshly brewed cup right here. Of course, the Colony has not come across the varieties the Folk prefer, but I know you yourself are partial to a good, dark tea.”
Bilious openly scoffed as Eran accepted an exquisite porcelain cup from an assistant.
“This should be interesting,” she said. “To think a monster could even approach something like an adequate understanding of the art of tea.”
Nevertheless, unwilling to be rude to one of her largest trading partners, she accepted the cup and took a deep sniff.
Eran was looking for it, and was gratified to see Bilious' eyes widen as the rich aroma penetrated her snout. With careful movements, she brought the cup to her lips, and took a sip.
There was silence for a long… long moment.
“Do you still believe an ant can’t surprise you?” Eran asked, the picture of innocence.
Bilious swallowed. Then frowned.
Comments
kingoff00ls
Tbf its a tough sell to write a MC that is lazy AND likable.
alt31415
Nobody's forgetting them, it's just that the thought experiment is "Anthony vs the other powerful ants"
Zizawah
I am thinking both Anthony and Tyron are reflections of you -- in working hard, being inspiring, and just all around being most excellent! Just as both Anthony and Tyron need their much needed breaks (definitely an absolute must for Tyron as he pushed himself way too much), glad you will take time off to enjoy the holidays better! Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
DeadSlime
Enjoy Christmas and have a nice break.
Nathan Quitugua
You all forget his pet powerhouses that will defend him to the death in any fight and his 20 ninja bodyguards.
CentaureHeart
Enjoy your holidays! You work crazy hard! :)
Gonvas
Enjoy the holidays RinoZ 🎅🥳
Edgar Delibo Jr.
You've been working hard each year man so take that rest and have fun with the fam bro I'm just happy to have been able to read your amazing work for this and many years to come. God bless
Joshua Gagnon
Enjoy the time off with your family. Happy Holidays. ⛄
Nathan Quitugua
Have a good holiday Rino. As for the chapter...I honestly can't wait to see a time skip beginning filler paragraph thing where they talk about how the colony has unlocked some very interesting evolutions on the weirdest things with one of them being tea. Like imagine theres an adventurer group trying to possibly snag one of the ants since they have huge bounties for higher tiers and they see a single lone ant. They strike thinking it'll be an easy target and it's carapace looked somewhat sun weathered and it's antennae had turned grey at the tips and drooped down. Only to find they had found one of the rarest ant evolution branches and one of the most feared...a tea master.
Preston Murphy
the reflexes of a spider. Best not let Anthony hear these blasphemous words on comparing the perfect 6 legs of the ant to the disgusting 8 legs of a spider 🤣
Spirit Stones
I support this author in taking breaks to churn out more content
Gonvas
They aren't a match for a T6 Anthony, much less his OP T7 evolution.
Callum Macmillan
Realistically, if Anthony is anywhere near the rest of the Colony he ends up being nigh invincible against anything on his tier and can compete against those a tier up as we saw with his fight against the 3 tier 8 demons (albeit with some help, though he still managed a 2v1). If we were to say he didn’t have access to his altar then I think he could find it slightly strenuous with some of those you mentioned however, he likely is so highly mutated with his carapace reset and healing gland that he can likely heal through most of what would be thrown at him, with gravity magic being the great equaliser as well
xXChrisdogXx
Maybe if they worked together but like what was mentioned the difference between 6 and 7 is huge and everyone except vibrant is tier 6 and I dont think vibrant can out damage Anthony's healing. I agree they are all very powerful with their individual strengths and maybe a few could prove a challenge to him but I cant see a world where any of them best Anthony
Grey Knight Lord
Leeroy can’t outmatch his strength on just the sheer amount of unique evolutions he has had. Vibrant is fast, but Anthony has proven to be able to react to her. The queen is tier 6 and Anthony has gone up against tier 8s.
alt31415
Nope. Remember, it's not just tier, but it's Core strength. Anthony has the Call. That means the Ancients recognize he's not just strong, but strong above his tier, strong enough to maybe become an Ancient. None of those others have it.
Roombot
Nope, I never get tired of it. So satisfying to see them eat their words every time. Or drink them, in this case
Kieran S.
Even if it said rival not match tiers if Anthony is near a large portion of his siblings he’s instantly on another level from all of them (even once they do tier up I would bet) because of the Altar, guy can empower all his abilities with the Colony’s will and fight for months straight no problem. Also the five you mentioned are super strong in their niches but none of them have demonstrated anything like the WMD level of deterrence Anthony has with his empowered gravity bombs 💣💣💣
Rahsheem Reid
Wrong about vibrant and most everything you said. No one really has any comprehension on his gravitational magic. Vibrant relies on speed gravity can change that as well as with anyone in the colony
pink playz
Okay they meant just how many ants have raeched the seventh tier, my mistake.
pink playz
I would think there would be 5 ants that can rival the eldest, the first is the queen, I believe her battle form could give Anthony a run for his money. Next would be brilliant, her use of dimensional mana could possible kill the eldest. Theoretically, if not kill then at least stun, and hinder. Next would be vibrant who could out speed the eldest, and pick them apart piece by piece without ever being touched. Then Leroy who with their defense could tank a solid beating and with the phoenix organ could probably stay in the game a lot longer than anyone else. (I do think though that Leroy is the most susceptible to gravity mana. Lastly Solant could probably start giving the eldest some trouble, if they had some ants to accompany, but if it is only one on one, then only the queen, vibrant, and brilliant could "handle" the eldest.
alt31415
Have a good time off! Looking forward to the chapters until then.
Koala Man
Everyone needs a holiday :) enjoy
Sebin Paul
At some point I should get tired of people underestimating the colony… right? I’m loving the barathians, and seeing the industrial power of colony in action.
Rahsheem Reid
You always come back with triple chaps and some serious heat
