-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Basic analysis Complete]

Species Profile: "Great maw Beetle" LV.23

Vitae: 257/257

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*gulp*

Im not sure which is worse, having my home ripped out from over my head, being chased out in the middle of the night or the fact this bastard has ruined the all night build planning session I was planning…

"Sigh"

Turning to look at the invader whose still looking for me around the stump I cant help but wonder if this is karma for killing that beetle earlier.

The beast is the size of a small horse and built like a tank with chitinous plates at least half an inch thick. It really earns its name to the front half of the creature is a part of its mouth opening up to for a nearly 180* beartrap like maw with 2 inch chitinous "teeth" that look like they could grind bones to dust.

Escaping it was surprisingly easy as its painfully slow and dumb as a rock, by the time it turned its focus from dropping the stump to attacking me I was already well out of the area climbing my way up nearby root not stopping till I'm roughly 4 meters off the ground.

Once the dumb creature realized its meal has easily gotten away it let out a massive terrifying cry I can only compare to tires peeling out briefly turned my burning hate for it to fear.

"SCREEEEEEEEEECH"

There's nothing I can do at this point but sear this image into my mind as I swear to get revenge on this bastard when I get stronger, what happens next eases the frustration.

[task created]

Task: [Kill the apex of this sub-region "great-maw beetle]]

Reward:[Undetermined]

Undetermined? Maybe it depends on how long it takes me or how I kill it?

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Whatever I have bigger issues at the moment, while I'm sure I can find a new temporary shelter easy enough during the day the night gets way to active. I'm torn between trying to brave the night or, as much as the thought disgust me, hanging around here and hoping the giant bug keeps some of the nighttime rabble away.

*CRUNCH**CRUNCH**CRUNCH*

As if to add insult to injury the bug decides the chew up and eat the entire uprooted stump,

I can't look at this anymore. I'll take my chances with the night.

With that I angrily scamper back into the familiar briars and set my sights on the best chance for shelter I can hope for with the ever worsening darkness, one of the many tunnels leading in and out the canyon's walls.

While I would ideally like to climb up to a higher up opening that's just not gonna happen in the dark so I'm forced to check any opening near the ground as I pass through.

I specifically look for a tunnel that's small enough to keep most things that may be predators to me out but small enough I can safely turn around. Just as I feel like I'll go mad from the increasingly bizarre sounds that begin to echo across the night, I find one that perfectly suits my needs.

Settled half a meter over the ground and exactly the right size for me to hide out at night. Best of all I can see some of the same fuzzy glowing fungus on the walls that I saw when I first woke up in this world, a huge bonus.

YES! This is perfect, I might even be able to get some things done if there's enough light further in…

Not wanting to waste another second outside I bolt inside with the same urgency as a kid running back to their bed after turning out the lights at night, man its creepy out their.

The tunnel only seems to get better as I make my way further in following its slightly downward sloped path which gradually becomes even better illuminated as the fungus thinly coats most of the tunnel walls.

Ultimately I can't help myself from wandering further in with my logic being as long as I stop

before any forks in the path I should not get lost. The atmosphere slowly shifts the further I go as the tunnel becomes more diverse and lively.

Strange outcroppings of bright purple shelf fungus dot the wall slowly pulsing with light while patches of brilliant white grass like growths begin to intermingle with the existing growth only to dim and retract into the wall as I near it and re-emerge after I pass it.

It's not just the fungus either as several very small critters creep and crawl among them, I tried squishing a few but they never awarded xp or anima so I soon decided to just leave them be and appreciate the sense of life they bring to the otherwise still path.

With no reason to kill them and without the fear of them trying to do the same to me I'm free to admire the critters and finally satisfy the childish curiosity to study the weird life forms in this world.

Perhaps the most numerous are small translucent slug-like creatures, each one the same brilliant color as one of the many fungal growths nearby, letting them blend in with them fairly well while also giving them an appearance almost like candies.

A pair of strange drooping stalks emerge from where the "head" should be, though these don't seem to contain anything that could be eyes. Infact each of the creatures had no visible organs and seemed to simply be composed of the same colorful gel-like substance.

I was immediately enamored by their strange eye-catching appearance and found myself spending some minutes watching them go about their days seemingly oblivious or indifferent to my presence.

Their weird behaviors help me to forget my current situation for just a moment to watch them move around constantly tapping everything they approach with the stalks on their heads. Once Ieve had my fill of examining the strange critters I move on albeit in much better spirits than before.

This enjoyable tour of the tunnel continues for another several dozen meters like this before finally I reach the end of this stretch of tunnel as it opens up into an area similar to the one I woke up in when I first arrived in this world albeit filled with dozens of different glowing fungi making the whole space a tiny forest of shrooms.

While the view is jaw-dropping I can't help but be drawn to a certain spot where a single glowing blue orb hums softly floating just off the ground….