“Are you sure,” Veraxia asked, “I haven’t even explained what I need you to do.”

You need my help with the contamination that is affecting your lair.

“Yes, but do you even know what that exactly means? What you have to do to help me?”

Oh. No, I didn’t. In my defense, if someone told you that either you help or you die, most people would probably choose to help and I was just one of them. Now, if she had threatened me, that might have looked different, but her words were more of a warning than a threat.

When I didn’t answer her, Veraxia sighed.

“Let me explain contamination first.”

I’m all ears.

Technically, I wasn’t since she was in my head and my ears had nothing to do with hearing her voice, but whatever.

“If a lair is contaminated, it means either of two things. One, the lair is being destroyed by someone or something, the system uses it to warn others from stepping into a lair that faces destruction, because most would die if they were inside a lair during its destruction.”

I gulped, instinctively looking for the exit, but it was still nowhere to be seen. I had no plans of dying any time soon. Still, the possibility that I was in a death trap right now made my body stiffen.

“Two, the lair has been invaded by an outsider force that is attempting to conquer and convert the lair into their own. Just so we are on the same page, this is the one happening in my lair.”

As she added the last part, my body relaxed again and I exhaled in relief. This was definitely good to hear, although this one did not sound very pleasant either. Because this was an invasion, the “plague” Veraxia talked about might not be an actual plague, but something else. A creature of some kind.

And who or what is the invader?

“A unique species called Exapoda. Big centipedes with way too fast reproduction rate and a ridiculous appetite. They appeared around four weeks ago and have since then reduced my lair to a lifeless husk of its former glory. In but two week, they had exterminated all of the twenty-two species that called my lair their home. For clarification, we are talking about thousands of animals, beasts and monsters.”

Veraxia’s tone changed, her voice was far colder than before, the disdain she felt for those Exapoda was almost palpable. The genocidal centipedes aside, I had a hard time believing that this lair had been home to such a big number of lifeforms.

Around the room, I could not make out any traces of current or past life, except for some plants and this cavity also was not big enough to house thousands of living beings. When I asked her about it, Veraxia gave me a quick explanation.

“My lair has more than this one room and far bigger ones. I chose to bring you into this one, because it was the farthest away from the place where all of the Exapoda are held. I keep their hive locked in the deepest part of my lair, occasionally some of their drones manage to slip through my perception and scour through my lair in an attempt to find the way out.”

That’s not good, is it?

“It is not, which is exactly why I need you to find the drones and kill them.”

Right to the point, huh?

I took a deep breath, considering her words carefully. Actually, there was not much to think about, I basically had to do it, but the real question was if I could do it. I was confident in fighting slimes, but these Exapoda sounded like they were very different from a slime and a lot more dangerous. After a short silence, I swallowed my doubts and concerns and hid them deep inside me.

And how do I find them?

“Well, the first one is on its way to this very place right now.”

“What?”

Surprised by her words, I voiced my response out loud. I wanted to demand answers, but before I had the chance to, subtle tremors reverberated through the ground. My ears picked up a distant sound of something digging through the earth, but it kept getting louder by the second. At some point, I located the source right below me, causing me to jump backwards. And just as I moved, the ground where I stood just seconds ago tore open and a creature crawled out of the ground.

It was basically a giant centipede, its long body was segmented and brown, armored plates covered its back. From its head sprouted a set of elongated and razor-sharp appendages, reminiscent of pincers. From beneath the plate encasing the top of its head grew two thin, yet long strands. After completely emerging from the ground, the creature proceeded to encircle the hole it had dug, as if standing guard.

It quickly noticed me and released a hiss that send shivers down my spine, clacking its pincers threateningly, warning me not to approach it carelessly. It was not attacking me, so I used this opportunity to use Identify.

[Exapoda Drone | Lvl. 10]

Like Veraxia had said, it was an Exapoda Drone. It was only level 10, but for some reason the aura it exuded was much more intimidating than any of the level 20 slimes I had faced before. Simply by appearance, it was clear that this drone was more dangerous than a slime and its behavior was much more aggressive. Despite that, the drone did not attack me.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Why is it not attacking?

“Because it does not want to fight. It knows that it cannot win, but it needs to live, so it can send information to the rest of the hive. If it manages to do that, the entire hive will know about you and they will not ignore a free meal.”

I glared at the hissing insect, knowing that killing it was now my only option if I did not want to be overrun by a horde of hungry insects.

You said it knows that it cannot win, so you think I am stronger than that thing?

“No, I know you can win. Drones are the weakest type of Exapoda. Not because their bodies are weak or they lack combat skills, but because they have one lethal weakness. Their antennae.”

These thin strands growing from its head?

“Yes. They are basically the drone’s only sensory organ, if you crush them, a drone loses almost all of its senses.”

I exhaled sharply and let a flicker onto my lips. I approached drone with slow steps. Energy in my body shifted, golden light surged from chest, over my arm into my right palm. The mana in my palm molded into an orb with a mere thought.

The drone reacted to my approach in an unexpected manner. Instead of keeping its body curled with little openings, it uncurled and raised its head up high, towering at least five heads over me. It screeched loudly, clacking its pincers even more aggressively, but at the same time, it was completely exposing its unprotected underside. The loud noises it was making almost broke my concentration, but my control over my mana was unwavering.

What is it doing?

“Trying to intimidate you, I would guess. Young species like the Exapoda oftentimes share similar behavior patterns among the different types within the species. This one is trying to imitate soldiers by displaying its weapons and feigning vulnerability, trying to lure you in.”

Huh, it must have never encountered a ranged fighter, I mentally replied before grabbing the golden orb. Naturally, I wasn’t fooled by the bug and approached close enough to ensure that my attack was going to hit, while remaining well out of its reach.

I stopped putting more mana into the orb and pulled my arm back, before swinging it forward and releasing my grip on the orb. The bug slightly tilted its head at my movements, but it did not seem to care for the golden light closing in on it. That was, until my attack hit it right in the head, where its small mouth was located, causing its head to jerk back and its body to topple. My mana burst in its face and the centipede screeched in either pain or anger, maybe both. Its antennae were flailing around wildly, probably searching for whatever hit it.

On the other hand, my eyes were wide open. My attack had done far more than I had anticipated. A lot more. Still my shock was quickly replaced with confidence.

The centipede quickly regained its footing, now with all its legs back on the ground, I could not longer hit its stomach, but that was not a problem, as now I had clear view on its antennae. It furiously shook its head, before charging at me.

“Shit,” I cursed as I jumped to the side, avoiding its sharp appendages.

While the bug turned around, I once again called on my mana and another orb formed in my hand. Now that we were interlocked in combat, I was losing the upper hand. Not only did I need enough time and focus to form my attacks, but I’d also need to aim and hit, while the drone only needed to do one thing, charge at me until I ran out of stamina or mana.

I threw another mana orb, but missed and was forced to dodge again as the centipede charged before I could prepare another attack. In my attempt to dodge, I lost my balance and fell. Seeing the drone advanced again and that I would not be able to stand up in time, I conjured another mana orb and when the drone closed in, I threw it directly at its head, blowing off its right antenna. Its charge did not stop and I had to roll aside to not get impaled.

Quickly getting back on my feet, I watched as the drone crashed into the ground and its body twitched and convulsed in agony. Then the bug raised its head slightly, opening its pincers wide and emitted a screech louder than any of the prior ones. The sound made my hair stand up, and a chill run down my spine. It forced me to cover my ears, and the headache it caused me made me close my eyes. As its screech continued, hot liquid started to flow out of my ears, blood, I figured.

“Open you eyes!” Veraxia shouted and I quickly obeyed, only to see the screeching bug right in front of me. And I was right between its pincers. I instantly went for both pincers and grabbed them, keeping them from slicing me in half, but the drone continued to put pressure, making their sharp edges cut into my hands. I screamed, contesting against the drone in strength, but I knew that if this went on, I would die.

At the realization, something in me snapped. As if all the fear, hesitation and doubt had vanished, replaced by the sole resolve of keeping myself alive. I let go of its right pincer, while pulling my arm out of the way, to let it pierce into my flesh. It dug into my flank, making me cry out in pain. Gritting my teeth, I grabbed both of its antennae at the same time and pulled them back with all my strength, ripping them out of the bug’s head, along with a fountain of blue blood. It screeched in pain, only putting more pressure on its pincers. It sliced through my hand, but I paid it no mind, raising my halved hand instead. Channeling mana into my one hand and a half, I formed two mana orbs simultaneously, all while its pincers were in the middle of bisecting me. Without restrain, I poured half my mana into each of the orbs respectively.

“Die.”

I slammed both orbs right into its head. Its armor did little against my attack as its head was blown to pieces, covering me in blue blood and gore.

You have defeated [Exapoda Drone | Lvl. 10]. Experience will be awarded. Bonus experience for defeating a foe above your level will be awarded.

[Species: Unregistered] level has increased from 9 to 10.

Notice! The initiation phase has been completed. Unlocking system aspects… New Aspects have been unlocked. Class Aspect unlocked. Title Aspect unlocked.

I ignored the notifications for now and instead pulled out the pincers still stuck in my flesh.

“Heh, won,” I smirked.

Feeling all the strength in my body leaving me, I let myself fall to the ground. The pain returned, and I groaned, telling myself not to scream.

“In Mother’s name, are you good, girl?”

What do you think?

“Well, since you can reply, I guess fine. You are bleeding, are you going to be fine?”

Most likely.

My last attack had wasted around ninety percent of my mana and I was now left with fifty-six. That was barely enough to let regeneration do any work, but it was enough to make my flank wound stop bleeding. The wound was far from healed, but right now, I just needed to prevent more blood loss.

You know… It would have been really nice if you could tell me earlier next time something comes to kill me.

“It did not come to kill you. You started the fight.”

Yeah, only because you basically told me I had to.

“You would have died otherwise. Now you live.”

Barely.

“Is that not enough?”

I sighed.

I guess you are right.

“By the way, your level has increased to 10, this means you have unlocked new aspects. This will definitely come in handy.”

While she spoke, I looked at my system notifications. She was right, I was level 10, and I unlocked my class. Huh, it felt like I should have known that was going to happen, but why did I? Had someone taught me about classes before?

“What are you thinking about?”

Nothing. Can you tell me what aspects are?

“It’d be my pleasure.”