Some Ants were tall and armored, almost like humanoid tanks—clearly warriors—while others, smaller and more agile, worked as traders and craftsmen. Their chittering language mixed with broken Common as they interacted with outlanders like Leon's group.
"This is amazing," Millim said, her eyes wide as she ran up to a stall filled with hovering crystal insects—tame "Echo Beetles" that recorded sound and could replay it in song or speech. "Weird, but cute!"
Naval was already deep in discussion with a merchant about the structural design of a floating blackstone cube that levitated and rotated using pure body-force resonance—an invention that had nothing to do with mana.
"These guys really evolved their bodies instead of relying on magic," she muttered, impressed. "It's a completely different cultivation paradigm…"
