Bloodwalk Forest, Unknown Location
Sol's eyes scanned the area unceasingly as he sensed a predator lurking around, if one looked closely, his eyes were lit up in a golden color as he focused on his surroundings. At night he used "Enhanced Vision" as actively as he could as it had saved him quite a few times, the utility of this ability showed it's worth in a dangerous area such as this.
Usually Sol did not travel at night, he preferred to bunk down in an area where he could take a mental break since he did not need to sleep. Unfortunately, he had not found a good location to take a break and decided to keep on moving as stealthily as he could.
Luckily, he had not encountered a single beast and found this was quite strange. Sol knew better, his instincts warned him that something was absolutely not right.
Suddenly he felt a cold shiver run down his back, Sol spun around as his body's body structure distorted, a few crisp cracking sounds issued out as his joints dislocated and he flew backward using "Tyrannical Illusionist".
*Shish*
The sound of the air being pierced issued out as something akin to a spear appeared where Sol's head recently stood. Looking up, Sol noticed a spider the size of a truck dangling above him, it made absolutely no sound as it dangled on a thread as thick as an arm. It's numerous red eyes and black colored carapace made it seem extremely menacing, what shocked Sol was it's stealthy capabilities as he had only sensed it after it attacked.
Sol noticed it's legs that were used as a spear, had faint liquid dropping from it's legs and seemed highly venomous. With a whiff he could tell it was a type of paralyzing toxin, there was also a faint black fog emitting from it's body showing it's affinity to the Darkness element. He could also sense a newly born God-aura from it.
'Darkness Affinity?...No wonder it could sneak up so easily. It seems this creature is several folds dangerous in the night as opposed to the day. No wonder I've never encountered it before. It seems it hunts at night only.'
'Newly born? How can it already be a God?' Sol found this to be a bit strange.
Sol took a deep breathe, as he inhaled, an orb which burned a deep green color appeared before his face as it charged-
"Infernal Beam"
A blast of emerald light shot forward which shocked the creature, using it's sharp spear like limbs it nimbly cut the thread as it fell to the ground. The thread was directly vaporized as the beam burned a hole through the massive tree it dangled on.
Upon touching the surface of the ground, it faded into the darkness; Sol couldn't feel a single presence and it made a chill crawl up his spine.
'This thing...is dangerous! I'll call it the Black Night Spider'
Sol had made mental notes of these creatures that were rather dangerous. He slowly moved his body as he focused on his surroundings, he knew for sure it had not left. He did not have to wait long, as predicted, once more a killing intent soared directly behind him!
*Swish*
The sound of piercing air once more issued out!
However, Sol pretended not to notice and only at the very last second did he shift his head to the side and dodged the attack that came at an extreme speed! This not only took courage, but a great deal of confidence.
The Black Night Spider, had only now noticed something that made it's skin crawl! Inside Sol's hair..a few thousand tiny eyes glared right back at it coldly!
*Prprprprp*
In the blink of an eye, a thousand needle like vines shot out from his hair and riddled the body of the Black Night Spider in a gruesome manner similar to armor-piercing bullets from a machine gun.
It was far too late for it to dodge, and there was too many to count! It's steel like carapace were riddled with holes as it squirmed and flipped around in pure agony!
Naturally these were the Needlespine serpents that were only as long as two fingers and were as thin as a needle. The terrifying thing about these Needlespine serpents, were that they were completely undetectable and Sol had found out that they actually possessed a strange Affinity.
These little guys possessed the Wood Affinity and could disguise themselves to seem as natural as the wildlife around them. Sol didn't know that such an Affinity had existed, and he seemed to understand that nothing was written in stone in Magnolia.
Chances are, there were other Affinities he did not know about. After thinking that; he decided to be more cautious in his assessments of beasts.
As he looked down at the squirming Black Night Spider, Sol joined his two Fanged Blades into a heavy sword with a flash and directly sunk into the spider's brain. The heavy sword became a tattoo in his right palm and a child-like feminine voice entered his mind.
'Brother, you need to be more careful! I've never seen beasts like these..Previously I was only at the Saint Rank'
Lilith relayed her worries and Sol gave a nod with a smile as affirmed her words. Lilith was afraid to talk to Sol too much and distract him as she was afraid of the dire consequences and him being fatally attacked. Besides, the two did not need to communicate much as the two could feel one another's emotions and discern what the other was thinking.
'Don't worry Lili, hehe. Indeed this place is dangerous..Strange, this is only a newborn God. Where did it come from?...Huh?' Sol relayed as he suddenly felt his skin crawl.
Quite a few red lights had suddenly appeared in the night sky, Sol knew these were not stars not only because of the color of those red lights, but because they locked on to him and he could sense a terrifying hunger burning from them. They did not even try to conceal their presence as the hunger took over their instincts.
'It...seems the earlier attack had awaken the entire nest. It would seem that this is the reason no other beasts are around here...' Sol thought as his pupils contracted.
Lili instantly came out as she became the twin Fang Blades and fell in Sol's palms.
'Brother! Run! The spider species are a strange kind! Spider nests with newborns are extremely aggressive as their hunger drives them mad and they'll attack anything! There's at least 100 of them here. What's more is these newly born are at God-Ranked which means their life-span is greatly damaged and will die in maybe a month or two. They should be disposable warriors!' Lilith warned in horror.
Although she did not know much about the current beasts in Blood Walk Forest. She was quite familiar with the spider species on a whole, some things never change; especially the nature of a beast. However, Sol had his own thoughts on the matter.
'Why? This is a good time to raise hell!' Sol laughed as his face distorted into a bloody smile.
Sol was a bit fed up and agitated as escaping was not his specialty, especially since he could not take a mental break and was already angered. Sol's smile faded as he unleashed his "Predatory State" and his blood thirst soared. His eye's became unfeeling and one could sense a feeling of indifference to life and death.
Once more a ball of green fire emerged from his lips as a low charging sound issued out-
"Infernal Acid Beam"
Sol turned his head in a 180 degree as he aimed the attack wildly at those red eyes!
A few Black Night Spiders could not dodge as there were too many! At least 10 of them were injured and a few others were instantly killed!
Sensing that Sol may have to recharge after such an attack, the Black Night Spiders lunged forward as their hunger got the better of them! They did not even try to sneak up on him as the hunger made them forget about such useless things! Seeing that he was about to be surrounded, Sol's eyes flashed as he lifted both arms outward.
Dual Fanged Heavy Blades in hand, Sol's body rotated in a freakish manner! The hyper rotation ignited the ground beneath him as a tornado made of fire enveloped his body, this fire however was emerald in color!
"Acid Blaze Storm!"
The tornado expanded and directly blew apart the charging the spiders who were roughly 20 in number! A few delayed their charge and after the fire tornado dissipated they instantly rushed forward.
However, they were met with an emerald colored serpent made of flame! An intense drilling sound rung out as this blazing serpent chose to attack the majority that were bunched together!
"Infernal Venom Fang!"
The bodies of 10 spiders were shredded into bits as some were directly set on fire and others poisoned. An emerald fog was slowly emerging in the area which constantly poisoned these spiders, yet their hunger made them push forward.
Sol was completely merciless as he rushed forward and attacked without care for his own well being! Sol didn't allow any spear-like limbs to approach his heart, his head was constantly protected by the Needlespine serpents who viciously piled their machine-gun like attacks together.
By dislocating his bones, his control over the human body allowed him to dodge attacks normal people could not. This also allowed him to exert a savage amount of force as well, his body seemed like a whip that could store a terrifying amount of energy!
Every attack was precise, every move resulted in a casualty.
The poisonous fog in the area slowly became denser and denser as screeches of agony resounded in the silent forest. The bodies of the Black Night Spiders were being eroded and incinerated!
One word to describe the scene- Catastrophe!
Black blood from the spiders would fall on Sol's body unceasingly.
"Unholy Aura!"
His body became covered in emerald colored flames that produced a golden shine. This was the aura he had created which merged with all three Affinities, however this time it was a bit different; as a skeleton wearing a black robe suddenly appeared behind Sol.
It wore a crown made of bone, jeweled black rings on all of it's fingers. With arms opened wide, it seemed to welcome the Black Night Spiders; a terrifying grin on it's face which made the spiders shudder in their tracks as they trembled at the mere sight of it!
Taking a breathe, Sol did not let this opportunity slip by as a flame orb appeared before him. This time he only merged Poison and Fire Affinity!
"Acidic Blast!"
Acidic Blast had a much wider range than Infernal Acid Beam which was a concentrated attack. Acidic Blast could be maintained as long as Sol had energy and was deployed much faster than his Infernal Acid Beam which was merged with all three affinities and required a charge.
The 120 degree attack enveloped over 30 spiders before they came to their senses and hastily retreated. The smell of roasted hair and meat filled the air as half of them were already killed.
The Black Night Spiders however, kept their distance as the flame died down still hesitating to rush forward as they finally came to understand how dangerous this human was. They noticed that their initial numbers were already down by 70% and almost all of them were already dead.
This brutal fact cleared the hunger madness as their cloudy eyes noticeably regained an intelligent look. God-Beasts were extremely intelligent and as they noticed that this human was not a prey, it was in fact a predator.
The wretched smile on his face that was an exact replica of the skeleton standing behind him was testament to this. The Black Night Spiders begun clicking their mandibles together as if communicating to one another, before a horrifying noise echoed from atop the enormous tree they all came from-
"Screeech"
Sol noticed on top the tree, 8 red lights locked onto him! The screech was aimed at him as whatever it was seemed to hate him to no end.
'The Queen huh...Mid-Ranked God..'
Sol thought to himself, however he wasn't surprised. He had encountered lots of the spider species and knew there was always a Queen in the nests. He wasn't scared of Mid-Ranked Gods as he had already slaughtered quite a few.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Evidence of this could be seen in the palm of his hand, which gathered all of the poisonous fog around him and begun forming a spear.
Suddenly the Skeleton King behind Sol expanded as it's arms which were now opened wide suddenly pointed at those noticeably larger 8 red eyes!
"Death Grip!"
The Skeleton flew upward toward the trees and toward the 8 red lights! The Queen begun shaking as it tried to fight off the suppressed pressure on it's body, however it fell from the trees despite it's struggling to remain hanging. The fear the God of Death induced was not at all something anyone could just shrug off.
Taking advantage of the stunned and helpless creature, the fog in Sol's armed solidified into a spear which carried a deathly aura! The top of the spear was different to it's original color or emerald and instead was white, it shone with an eerie color that leaked of poison.
Sol took a step backward, as he seemed to transfer all the strength through his body; from his legs, to his waist and hips, and then to his shoulders. If someone from Earth saw this posture, it would remind them of an Olympian throwing a javelin as the form was perfected.
"Acidic Illuminus Spear!"
The spear cut through the air as it flew like a shining star!
*Slish*
It pierced straight through the Queen spider with ease!
The most frightening thing about this spear, was that it turned to liquid when half of it's body successfully pierced through the Queen and showered the wound in a dark green color. Smoke begun rising from the Queen's body as it ate away at her flesh inciting another terrible howl.
Sol did not let it off as he directly leapt into the air to meet it, A long and heavy curved sword appeared in his hands-
*Slish*
The Queen was separated in two as two parts fell opposite Sol's body, his hair flowing with the night breeze.
'..This Queen..was too weak, was it because it gave birth to these defective young?..' Sol silently pondered.
Sol was quite certain on the strength of the creatures he fought, as such he became quite good at judging the ability of their leader or Familia head.
Seeing their Queen die, the remaining Black Night Spiders shuddered before turning around and fleeing. Sol didn't chase as he was sure he could not wipe them out once they started running; their stealth capabilities were just that good.
Sol climbed up the tree, and decided to rest in the Queen's nest. It was not daytime so he could not absorb sunlight to fight indefinitely. Also, ever since his body had gotten to the Saint-Rank the amount of mana it absorbed had stopped.
Sol believed the absorption effect would not come back until his Dantian had advanced to the 3rd Order as he believed the two were connected and needed to raise them in conjunction with one another.
The tired youth let out a yawn as he found a hole in the enormous tree which probably was the Queens nest. Sol looked at the hole for a bit, it didn't seem to be made by the spider as he was quite clear on it's capabilities and seemed too accurate.
After climbing in, he created a fireball in his palms as he looked around and was surprised at what he noticed.
Among the eggs of yet to be born spiders, there was also hair, fur and scales and many types of evidence which proved the Queen had quite a few victims. There was also a few cocoons that were absolutely still. Some moved and so Sol killed them all and threw them out of the nest, aside from one he could feel a familiar aura from.
He cut it open, and noticed a serpent which seemed to be drained of energy. A tiny barb was lodged in it's stomach which seemed to be filled with paralytic poison. It's eyes looked at Sol with fear as it could not move, Sol smiled and removed the barb placing his hands on it's wound and stimulated his Light Affinity.
The little serpent, was a breed Sol had never seen before. It was only as big as a common dog, and had fish-like scales; Sol Suddenly thought about the Flood Dragon from Serpent Falls.
Sol did not sense any Poison Affinity from it and it seemed to be of the Water Affinity. The Light Affinity worked in conjunction with the Water Affinity and soon the little serpent was completely healed aside from it's tiredness which showed in it's eyes.
"Hydreas, go get me half of the body of that Queen outside"
With a flash of light appeared the troublesome twin, who shot a curious gaze at the tiny serpent before disappearing through the entrance of the nest; shortly after it returned with an already roasted spider corpse.
Sol gave the little Water-Serpent the roasted meat, and left it alone as he could sense it was only at the Saint-Rank and seemed quite scared. He had no idea where the Queen fished this little guy from, however Sol was sure it was from a powerful Familia.
He noticed tiny details that were also noticed in the King-Type species on this little Water-Serpent's body; he had noticed similar details on the ones he raised in Serpent Falls and was quite sure it was being protected by either a powerful beast or a powerful Familia.
The Water-Serpent had gradually lost it's fear as Hydreas gazed at it with ridicule inciting it's pride. The two seemed to have bonded as Hydreas, who made sure to compress it's size knocked it over in a friendly manner as they playfully exchanged a few blows.
Sol seeing this couldn't help but laugh, as Sol gazed at them a smell he had not noticed before suddenly made him freeze. He turned his head around and was shocked by what he noticed.
Sitting quietly in the corner was a human skeleton sitting cross-legged, it seemed untouched though the passage of time and it seemed as though the Queen herself didn't go near it. The aura emitting from the skeleton-like corpse was so powerful it made Sol feel a sense of fear.
Around the corpse was a circle that was made of a type of colorless liquid, one had to focus using their senses and only then they would see an outline of a circle; what made it noticeable was a colorless gas that floated and lingered around it.
However, the strangest thing was a wooden jar that seemed quite ordinary quietly nestled in the legs of the human-skeleton.
"Hydreas! Take this little one out immediately!" Sol screamed in horror.
Hydreas upon hearing the tone in Sol's voice immediately grabbed the little serpent in it's mouth while taking care not to burn it and flew out of the hole. She perched her head as she gazed at the hole, concern flashed in her eyes.
Sol would never use such a tone to her unless something was extremely dangerous. Although Hydreas wanted to enter and see if Sol was alright, remembering the tone her master used made her stiff as she rested the little blue serpent on the branch.
**
"Vritra, can you sense it?" Sol asked cautiously as he took a few steps back, away from the gas-like fog.
A tiny emerald serpent emerged from his chest and slithered in his palm as it stared at the circle around the human-skeleton. Vritra's pupils contracted as it stared at this strange phenomenon and when it was about to go closer to have a better look, Sol violently grabbed him and held him in his palms.
"Don't go closer *cough*"
Sol's tone sounded a bit weak which caught Vritra's attention. Vritra looked up in horror as it noticed veins bulging all over Sol's face.
"What a dreadful yet marvelous poison...No wonder the Queen Black Night Spider was so weak. It probably did not even realize it was being poisoned just being near it" Sol was shocked a human could create such a thing.
Sol noticed on the fingertips of the skeleton was dyed a black color. Much like his had been when he did not have Poison Affinity and was creating poisons.
'A like minded soul huh....this may have happened to me were it not for Vritra. I stopped making poisons as I figured that I would be able to create the most deadliest kinds using my body as a medium. It seems I was too negligent *Cough*'
Sol went outside on the branch next to Hydreas and begun inspecting the little serpent next to Hydreas in fear that it may have been poisoned. Noticing it was fine, he gave it a few drops of blood making sure the poison in his body was isolated; he had to be sure it would have some protection and sat down in a meditative posture.
He coughed and wheezed, looking at his palm, Sol noticed blood on his palm. Sol hurriedly began doing internal inspections and quickly identified this particular poison in his body. It was only a few fumes, yet it caused this much trouble. As he began to purify his body using different types of anti-bodies within his blood, it didn't take him long to realize none seemed to work.
Sol decided to let his blood flow as little as possible as he shut off most of his body's functions, he decided to wait until the sun came up so he could use it's regeneration effect to protect himself before investigating these colorless fumes.
He remained in this manner for a few hours until the sun came up, finally being aided with the regeneration effect of Light Affinity; Sol once more attempted to investigate. His coughing and wheezing had only grown worse as time had passed, much to Hydreas, Vritra and the little Water Serpent's horror.
The youth's face was pale, as he seemed to be drained of life. Finally, blue sparks begun firing inside of his body, this was precisely what he waited for. Sol's eyes flashed as the blue sparks emitted from his brain, muscles, nervous system and all of his cells begun to emit a blue liquid that savagely attacked these fumes.
'Become mine!' Sol commanded at the fumes which suddenly begun to distort as their color slowly begun to change into a blue color.
The fumes trembled as they were broken up an their initial nature seemed to be changing. Sol's eyes flashed as he controlled the now light blue fumes were sucked straight into his Dantain.
"Hydreas come!" Sol commanded as the young twin directly flew into his arm and became a golden tattoo much to the little water serpent's surprise.
Sol needed Hydreas to also acquire the anti-body for these colorless fumes. The tattoos lit up for a brief moment as Sol once more closed his eyes. Sol could feel the change in nature of his own poison as it accommodated this colorless gas.
For half a day longer Sol focused on this poison as he didn't want to be negligent any longer; he was quite sure it was already integrated. Still, remembering the feel of death lingering inside him when the poison was active was something he did not want to feel again.
After all, he was quite proud of his poison and didn't want to be killed by any other poison as it would be a bit shameful. Hydreas and Hydrian had gained the anti-bodies as Vritra gained a toxicity boost much to his pleasure.
Sol noticed his Dantian had directly entered the 3rd Order and was shocked.
'This damnable thing only advances when I'm near death' he thought to himself as he remembered being swallowed by fire and shook his head.
Sol sighed and then shifted his gaze at the little water serpent who munched on a dead Black Night Spider Sol had killed. It looked at Sol worriedly and seemed not to understand much of what happened, only that it's savior was in danger of poison.
It was only at the early Saint Rank and had very little intelligence unlike Vritra's parents who were at the peak and were much more intelligent. Sol laughed as Hydreas flew out in a minimized version of itself and tackled the little guy as they once more tusseled on the floor. What Sol didn't know, was that the little blue guy was actually a newborn!
Sol ignored them as he entered the hole once more to face this poison, upon entering the scent of the poison was much more noticeable and carried an insect-like smell. Sol gazed at the human-skeleton and couldn't help but smile.
"I bet you had no idea what you were creating..didn't you? Or maybe you did..and just underestimated it"
Sol gazed at the cross-legged skeleton that had a jar right in front of it and figured whatever he created was inside the jar. Only now could he feel the aura leaking from the jar, it carried a terrifying deathly aura and the scent smelled of several types of insects and other creatures he could not name.
Whatever was in that wooden jar, Sol didn't have confidence to survive it yet.
"Perhaps I am wrong..was this jar your life's greatest invention? Did you deem it worthy of dying for?" Sol couldn't help but speak to the skeleton as if it were a friend.