Not that it mattered to Jason whether the wound itself was fatal or even all that successful. Just the fact that the hit had caused visible damage was enough. The centipede was not having it however, and while Jason dodged out of the way of the mandibles themselves, some of the acidic venom sprayed out and landed on him.

Jason however fought through the pain and bashed the mandibles away. This was not how the fight was supposed to go. He was supposed to constantly be plagued by the centipede and forced to dodge around like never before. Then finally, after managing to wear the centipede down, he would deliver a mighty final blow, shattering the monster’s armor for the final time.

Instead, here he is, nearly getting covered in the venom as he tries to adjust to the surroundings once again. That just won’t do. So if before he had focused on the fight, now he bent his will towards it. Jason danced around the bug, ducking in to take a swing. Back and forth he weaves around the centipede. Venom flies less than a finger’s width from his face but he doesn’t back down.

While part of this bravery comes from there not being any true consequences if he died, even Lily could be brought back if the true worst outcome happened. Though it wasn’t that which let him dance with death so closely. He had made up his mind and in doing so, entered the zone.

His movement was art in motion as his mind meditated on all that happened around him. While Jason wouldn’t ever claim that he had been able to keep track of all the limbs and such during this time, he was keeping track of much more than a normal person even twice his level could.

From his newfound confidence, Jason knew he could lash out and eventually beat the centipede, but that wasn’t what he wanted. There were already two weak spots on the creature. The place he hit underneath that was weakened and the plate on top that was cracked.

Jason wasn’t going to hit those places. After all, it would have been a shame to pass up such a perfect practice partner. He needed to work on his hard hitters and this centipede was able to at least partially keep up.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Elbow after elbow rains down on the monster. Jason punches and jabs at the sides and underbelly, sharing the trauma. Not that the centipede was out of the fight. Any one piece of its exoskeleton being blasted into shards was near meaningless as it continued to fight and slowly recover and Jason was quite far from destroying the segments that thoroughly.

So the monster, in its own mindless and cornered fashion kept slashing out well after the poison glands had dried up. Still, it fought with Jason as he started to methodically break the joints and more important bits of the body. After all, hands-on biology is an excellent way to learn, even if it tends to be messier.

By the time the centipede expired, there wasn’t much left to recognize it as a centipede. Every single leg had ended up broken off and the mandibles were more inline with mandiwonts. The System thought this was all grand and rewarded Jason appropriately.

{Smashing Victory: +2 Strength, +1 Agility}

Jason groans as he reads the pun it had decided on. Still, though, his hopes had been realized. While the monstrous centipede didn’t exactly give him all that much experience, the stats boost was divine. A near perfect sparring partner to fuel his growth.

So of course there aren’t any more of them around. Jason tries to track the one for a while and does find where it had been watching for prey. The little hidey hole was only a few hundred paces away from the road. Quite the advantageous location for a lair if it had been able to stay hidden from the powerful. Though going by the amount of remains inside the lair, it was quite proficient at that.

At least because of the acidic nature of the venom, there wasn’t anything left to putrefy. Though it also meant that the quality of left behind loot is quite low. None of what were presumably packs and bed rolls had survived. In fact, about the only thing that did survive was stuff like gold.

So while anything of true value was destroyed he was left with a bunch of jewelry and coins. Of which the coins were the easiest as all 54 gold coins go into his pouch and are basically the same as his other coins. The jewelry, however, is more of a problem.

Each piece is a work of art. Maybe a bit scratched up or dinged, but not something he can just unload at auction. Well, he could, but he didn’t want to because of the potential problems. There might be relatives looking for the lost family member. Someone else might try and claim it from them. There are just so many for things to go wrong.

At least Jason has something of a plan for it. This wouldn’t be the first odd thing the two had had to deal with and it wouldn’t be the last. So, after a quick burial of the victims, Jason and Lily head back out onto the road.