The Giant Cave Mosquito was putrid, even worse than her previous meals combined. Yet the blackened slurry of flesh was the tastiest thing the Rock Bugs had ever laid their mandibles on.
Their black, beady eyes glimmered with a strange light whenever they turned to her.
“Stupid bug.” She complained, poking at one and garnering a weird, disgusting head tilt. “First you steal my food, and now you steal the stars and put them in your eyes.”
Needless to say, she didn’t adore her rocky company. Vengeful Red had too much pride to be beaten by a docile bug, so she exploited their sudden show of weakness. An evil grin came across her face as she explored her hands along the boulder-sized bug’s body, searching for a pore or an opening to jam her newest weapon – the Giant Proboscis.
“There’s gotta be something on you! How do you breathe then!? You don’t even have a nose!” She scratched her head, lying to get a better look at how they fed, only to find that they didn’t have a mouth either.
And yet they consumed without a maw, wiping their faces along the mass of fluids.
Her brows furrowed.
“… I really, really need an explanation. Voice?”
< BIOLOGICAL PASSIVE SKILL: Sophisticated Permeable Membrane >
< EFFECT: Evolution has allowed this insect/bug to consume with no maw, allowing it to bottom feed for decades without the need to expend energy >
She blankly blinked, like she had just read a cryptic riddle.
“Eh? Permeable? What the… C-Can you explain?”
< Nil >
“Huh? You can tell me aaaallllllll about different parts of the world, but you can’t give me a definition? Fine then. How about the sophisticated part? What part of a rock is sophisticated? What’s a rock going to do if I roll it down a hill? Fight back?” She vented, irritated at the thought that these things were comparable to complex creatures.
When she thought of a sophisticated creature, she thought of humans! People! Her! Not some rock bug! Her coat soaked the gore like a piece of bread dipped into tomato soup as she figured that permeable meant to be able to pass through, judging from what she observed.
A prompt suddenly appeared upon understanding this.
Rock Bug
< Observation Level 1 >
< The Rock Bug is a subterranean creature with a mostly liquid diet. They boast high resistance to all forms of attack. Additionally, they have a liking to a certain red haired Corrupted. This is all to your knowledge >
< Observation Level 2 required for further information >
“What the – are you talking about me!? A liking? Hey, voice, don’t forget that they’re my prey so forget about friendship!” She puffed the prompt away, garnering the stares of several Rock Bugs. “Grrr. It’s a trick. Don’t think you’re going to fool me with those eyes!”
She began bouncing her newfound weapon atop their backs, and to her surprise, they seemed to enjoy it. Almost as if she were patting them!
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
And to her dismay, one of her Passive Skills came to light.
< (S) Bonds! >
< Now that you have made a friend, your emotional state varies depending on the condition of your Friends. Similarly, your bonded friends will experience the bends of emotion depending on your circumstance >
//// ALERT ////
< This is based on how closely bonded you are with said friend >
< Scales with Friends! >
//// CAUTION ////
< All creatures are independent entities and therefore will not all react the same way >
//// WARNING ////
< EMOTIONAL EXCESS MAY INDUCE ADVERSE EFFECTS >
< Bonded >
< Insect >
< Rock Bug | Lvl: 5 | 24x >
“I have an army of Rock Bugs at my disposal!?” She rejoiced, moving onto her feet with a small hop as her haughty demeanour suddenly turned smug. “Heh. So that’s why you’re looking up at me! But… if you’re really my friends, then –”
She stomped in a puddle of gore, trying to block the way for one of the insatiable Rock Bugs.
“– STOP EATING MY FOOD! AT LEAST HELP ME HUNT IF YOU WANT A FAIR SHARE!”
Needless to say, the Rock Bugs scurried by her and continued dining.
* * *
Vengeful Red couldn’t find a use for them even as she took a small breather to recalibrate her approach moving forward. Almost every enemy thus far were not only stronger than her, but also faster. This posed a massive problem as deeper into the caverns the space gradually became larger, with less towering stalactites to take refuge in the case of another attack.
For all she knew a hundred more Giant Cave Mosquitoes thrived deeper yet.
LEVEL : 9
???
< Hatchling Red >
< CORRUPTED > NAME: ??? HP : 430 ^3/Min
MP :620 ^3/Min
AGI : 28 RESIST : 42 AGE : 0 ATT : 50 (+80)
MAG ATT : 5
O : 8 D : 0 ORIGIN : Original ATT DEF : 52 (+15)
MAG DEF : 15
S : 1 E : 3
< ACTIVE SKILLS >
(O) Huntress’ Slash [7/10]
(O) Punch [1/10]
(S) Friends! [2/10]
(E) Appraise Object [3/10]
Her stats had nearly doubled thanks to the Giant Cave Mosquito, so there was a silver lining after all thanks to her Ability: Aspect of Amalgamation. Aspect implied that it was only a piece of something. Of course, meaning a piece of Amalgamation – but what did that really mean?
Neither she nor the ‘Voice’ knew.
As she pondered on the rest of her overlooked Abilities, she reclaimed 6 Giant Proboscis’, with one remaining impossible to unwedge. Furthermore, she began cutting off large strips of the Giant Mosquito’s membrane flesh, laying them out to dry while the soundless Voice fed her prompts.
< ABILITY: Unrealized >
< Is this the ideal you? >
< EFFECT: No known effect is derived from this Ability >
< ABILITY: Vengeful Colors >
< Wrath manifested in a kaleidoscope of colors >
< EFFECT: Gain and lose Tokens of all kinds. Their uses will be known in time. Mark your Antagonist with a Nemesis Token >
< ABILITY: Fairytale Huntress >
< Hunt, track, and create the one tale to rule them all >
< EFFECT: Awaiting… >
Once again, she lamented that the prompts were still too vague with her Abilities.