Chapter Three, Insect Civilization.


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    Autumar had no trouble leaving the store and returning home.


    Rather quickly, he found himself opening the door to the outhouse once more, entering the workshop.


    His eyes were not closed, but his mind was in a different place.


    He took a seat at a stool, putting his hands on the central wooden table.


    His elbows placed themselves on the counter, his head finding its way to his palms.


    His eyes closed, and everything darkened.


    He let his entire mind be consumed.


    And he appeared within the darkness.


    Floating in front of him were bags of soil, an apple, and two tanks of insects.


    One held countless ants, all of them moving strangely. While the other contained innumerable dead spiders.


    Autumar tilted his head in confusion.


    The ants seemed to be moving at an incredibly fast pace.


    “An anomaly. Likely the result of your bloodline mixing with the original Deva blood. You’re rather gifted to be able to alter… and perhaps improve upon the Deva’s base abilities.” The voice spoke.


    ”One hundred-twenty years to one day—and some change—I have calculated.”


    Autumar squinted.


    Human blood improving upon an ancient entities DNA?


    That didn’t sound right…


    “I never brought living creatures into this space as the ancient hero. You’re pioneering new grounds…” It commended, still monotonously of course.


    Autumar listened to its words, but focused more on the sight before him.


    Before he even had the chance to mess with the insects, they had already died and undergone countless generations.


    The spiders aged, and without nutrients to keep them alive, they died out.


    As for the ants, they cannibalized themselves. Eating their own kin to maintain life.


    In just minutes, generations succumbed to time, and new ones were born.


    Under this dilation of time, even one hour in the outside world was equivalent to five years. here…


    He could stay here for five years, and only an hour would have changed in reality?Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Wouldn’t that be prolonging his life?


    His real body wouldn’t be inside this dimension unless he wishes for it to be, or if he touched the old Hero’s body…


    But, maybe his mind wouldn’t be able to handle living for so long. Over a century in just one day…


    It made him wonder if it was really possible.


    His vision focused back on thr ant colony. They continued to grow, feasting on each other, and living strangely.


    With an intent gaze, Autumar leaned in, watching the small civilization.


    He could feel the energy running around in their bodies. He could even feel the energy from dead generations floating within the air.


    Already, just from this small ant colony, he was gaining the same amount of energies he was producing when he first entered this place.


    When he was in emotional distress, asking himself countless questions.


    Slowly, a smirk appeared on his face.


    “This is genuinely amazing…” He chuckled.


    His hand touched the glass, the ants scurrying away like lightning for a split moment, before they resumed their activities.


    “Let’s see what more speed will do…” He manipulated the Bluelight that was still passively accumulating in the distance.


    He moved it, pushing it into the terrarium.


    The light washed over the entire area, every individual ant.


    There was a great change.


    Some ants keeled over and died, rotting in an instant.


    Some wriggled, spewing extra legs and screeching.


    He wasn’t even sure ants were able to make noise.


    They grew in size, changing form.


    Their bodies grew more stable, gaining far more maneuverability. Their exoskeletons grew more resilient, and their strength increased.


    More importantly...


    Their intelligence increased to a notable degree.


    Autumar had used droves of energy to speed time up to 200 years in one hour.


    It took all he had gathered so far, but considering the space was barely four square feet, he was capable of doing it.


    Of course, that was a surprise to him, he didn’t think he would be able to do it.


    In just a few minutes, ants were standing upright in a way. Their form had changed, and they were moving around like gorillas.


    Their forearms were longer than their legs, their backlegs had grown more joints.


    Out of their mid section came two more legs, while an additional two sprouted from their back.


    Autumar smirked.


    He couldn’t help but realize


    He was watching evolution in real time.


    Evolution happened over generations, countless years.


    These ants were living hundreds of generations in minutes!


    Swiftly, Autumar found himself uncovering the lid on the other terrarium, fishing out aged spider carcasses.


    With his free hand, he opened up the ant lid, using energy to create a film to prevent any ant from escaping.


    With little effort, he dropped multiple spider corpses into the box, watching as ants dodged each one.


    In an instant, the ants flocked to the bodies.


    They were carved out and devoured in one blink.


    The energy Autumar had provided them with, along side the spider bodies…


    The period of evolution did not slow.


    Some ants that consumed the spiders grew in grotesque ways.


    The energy was still enhancing their intelligence, growth speed, and all else.


    It was slowly coming to a halt, but the brief half hour of heaven was all they needed.


    He watched as the energy dissipated, examining the ant civilization.


    It was a real civilization.


    There was a queen ant. A queen ant that enslaved lesser workers, forcing them to do her bidding.


    There were guardian ants, protecting her, letting her leisurely lay around.


    His gaze hardened, honing in on the ants. He watched as they scurried around the soil, building structures and slaughtering each other.


    There were groups, warring tribes. Those that belonged to the queen, and then the rebel states.


    Autumar held his smile, examining the form of the ants for a moment.


    Most had taken on a similar build.


    Quadrupedal, moving on two legs and two arms. With two extra arms sprouting from their back. Multiple eyes on their face, and countless pinchers on their mandible.


    They looked like nightmare spawn.


    Worst of all… you could see the intelligence hidden in their eyes…


    …


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