The tunnel stretched ahead for several minutes, winding deeper into the earth. The sound of the ants gradually faded behind him, replaced by a deep, humming silence. The air grew warr, and a faint golden glow began to appear ahead. Max felt a surge of curiosity and quickened his pace.
A few monts later, he stepped out of the narrow tunnel into an open chamber. It was vast, far larger than any passage he had seen before. The ceiling stretched upward, glowing faintly with clusters of luminescent crystals. The walls were lined with veins of gold-like mineral that shimred with soft light.
But what caught Max's attention wasn't the beauty of the place—it was the radiant object resting in the center of the chamber.
On a raised platform of dark stone lay a large glob of liquid gold, thick and luminous. It pulsed faintly, as though it were alive. The light it emitted filled the entire chamber with a soft, golden glow that flickered across the walls like sunlight filtering through water.
Max's eyes locked onto it instantly. "Is that the Holy Nectar?" he wondered aloud, his tone low but filled with a mixture of awe and disbelief.
He approached slowly, the energy radiating from the glob brushing against his skin like a wave of warmth. The closer he got, the more he could feel the power within it. It was dense, pure, and vibrant—like liquid life itself. The sll of it was faintly sweet but sharp, carrying a tang of mana that prickled at the edges of his senses.
Reaching the platform, Max knelt beside the glowing pool and extended his hand. He dipped his finger lightly into the substance. The mont his skin touched it, a surge of power burst through his arm, flooding his body. His veins glowed faintly beneath his skin as energy coursed through him.
He felt his mana core tremble and expand as if it were drinking in the nectar's strength. For a brief mont, every muscle in his body felt renewed, filled with boundless vitality. "No doubt about it," he said with a grin. "This is the Holy Nectar."
Still feeling the warm hum of power inside him, Max reached into his storage space and took out a bottle. It was a thick container made of dark, rune-etched tal, lined with silver threads that glowed faintly.
This was the vessel the giant dwarves had given him—a container specifically designed to store the volatile nectar. Chief Igris had warned him that the Holy Nectar couldn't be kept in any normal container, as its energy would either evaporate or explode on contact with unrefined material.
He held the bottle under the glob and began to fill it carefully. The nectar flowed like molten gold, swirling with faint traces of light as it poured into the container. The first level of the markings on the bottle filled up slowly, glowing faintly as it absorbed the liquid's energy. When it finally reached the line marking the first level, Max stopped.
He raised the bottle and examined it under the faint light. The runes along the surface shimred as they stabilized the energy inside. Yet, the bottle still looked mostly empty. Only the first section was filled, and nine more markings remained above it.
Max frowned slightly. "That's just the first level," he muttered to himself. "If this is all there is here, it's nowhere near enough."
He rembered Chief Igris's words clearly. The old dwarf had said that for him to have a chance of getting the highest amount of Holy Nectar, it needed to be filled to at least the sixth level. That much nectar would ensure victory for their village and provide Max with enough energy to open his Divine Veins.
Eight levels would be a great achievent. Nine or ten, however, were almost unheard of—only the most powerful geniuses throughout history had ever managed to bring that much.
He stared at the traces of golden liquid still shimring faintly in the small pool before him. "If this is only the beginning," he thought with a calm, focused expression, "then the real challenge must lie deeper inside."
He sealed the bottle tightly and placed it back into his storage space. Straightening up, he glanced around the chamber once more. The golden light reflected off his eyes, making them glow faintly. The air here was charged with energy, dense enough to make his skin tingle.
"This place is strange," Max muttered softly as he stepped into another tunnel branching from the main chamber. His footsteps echoed faintly across the rough, uneven ground. The tunnel stretched long and winding, and a faint earthy sll mixed with sothing tallic lingered in the air.
He knew he couldn't stop with only one level of nectar. If he wanted to fill the entire bottle to at least level six, or even higher, he would have to go much deeper. That ant venturing further into the heart of the Devouring Ants' nest, where the Holy Nectar was likely to be concentrated—and where danger would undoubtedly be greater.
The tunnel walls around him grew smoother as he advanced, as though carved deliberately rather than naturally ford. A faint, pulsating vibration could be felt through the stone, like the steady thrum of sothing alive within the depths. The air was heavier here, thick with a kind of pressure that made breathing slightly more difficult.
After walking for several minutes, Max arrived at another chamber. It was wide and circular, its ceiling lost in shadow. The faint blue glow of the stones embedded in the walls provided just enough light to make out the surroundings. His eyes darted across the room. There was no trace of the golden liquid anywhere—no shimr, no scent, no glow.
He activated his Three Dinsional Body to scan the chamber. Nothing. Not a single drop of Holy Nectar registered. But his senses did pick up sothing else. Movent.
At least ten Devouring Ants were crawling slowly along the far side of the chamber, their black carapaces gleaming faintly in the dim light. Their movents were steady and thodical, antennae twitching as they scraped their claws against the ground. Their bodies clicked softly as they communicated with each other, filling the air with a strange rhythm.
"So it isn't entirely empty after all," Max thought quietly, his gaze sweeping across the chamber. The ants were spread out, patrolling the area as if guarding sothing deeper within.
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