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Chapter 6 - Luck
When it noticed him clinging to the ground, Kyrios felt its frenzy through its odious eye veins. Its mouth gaped open, emitting a shrill hiss as its wings started to flap again. Without legs, it had no choice but to take aerial combat.
The mantis lifted itself up, hovering above Kyrios' head. Then, like an arrow, it shot down. Kyrios rolled to the side, but the insect still managed to slice him diagonally across his abdomen.
"Gahhh Aa-aghh!"
His voice trailed into a strangled groan as he clutched at his wound. Pain seared through his flesh, and he fell on his knees. With each second that passed, he felt his life steadily draining away from him, threatening to cease his existence entirely.
The insect hovered above him, staring down with a bloodshot gaze. Kyrios could feel the intense heat of its breath as it lowered its head. Nothing was left to do; even if he thought of a plan, his body couldn't move accordingly. And as Kyrios lay poised to accept death, the insect launched at him once more, driven by blind fury.
But fate had other plans.
With a stroke of luck, the creature's attack veered off course, missing its mark by a hair's breadth. It soared past Kyrios, a discord of uncontrolled flight. The creature's lack of mastery over its movement became evident as it struggled to regain stability. Its wings flapped erratically, and its trajectory was disrupted by its own unruly nature.
Squelch!
With a resounding thud, the insect slammed against the crystals growing from the wall. They pierced the insect's head, impaling it right through its skull. The creature shuddered as its legs crumpled underneath its weight, its body convulsing as if it had lost all its strength. A bloodstream dripped from its wounds, trickling down onto the ground.
Kyrios stared at it for a while. His breath trembled, and his hand, still clutching the sharp crystal shard, began to bleed. He wasn't sure how long he remained there, but eventually, he managed to collect his thoughts and assess the situation.
- [ Notice ] -
< You've defeated a Scythera>
< You've gained 54 EXP>
Kyrios E. Lamina
[ Level ] - 1 + 2 —> 3
[ Class ] - None
[ Species ] - Whisperleaf (Human Host)
Stats:
— Vitality: 10 + 6 —> 16
— Might: 10 + 5 —> 15
— Sorcery: 10 + 7 —> 17
— Aegis: 10 + 2 —> 12
— Swiftness: 10 + 5 —> 15
— Unlock Elite Stats at level 30
Skills:
— Whisperleaf Metamorphosis: Lvl. 1
— Drakewood's Disease: Lvl. 1
"I won," he whispered. His voice was raspy with dryness. "I actually won."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He had gotten back on his knees, dropping the shard as he stared at the mantis' corpse.
"It's dead..."
He had killed it. The monster, which had nearly slain him, had fallen to his own hands. As his adrenaline-fueled body calmed down, the wounds overtook his mind. Not to mention, the multiple-hour-long walk and the exhausting fight resulted in a pang of extreme hunger. He looked around for anything to eat before finally laying eyes on the impaled insect corpse.
"I'm not eating that. No way in hell I'm eating that!" he gagged as another wave of starvation hit him like a punch in the face. "Never mind; tonight, I'm feasting."
Swallowing his pride, he poked the insect around, hoping to find a slightly more appetizing body part. Or at least something that wasn't overflowing with stench and filth. The claws and wings were too thin and inedible, like metal. Anywhere near the head was hopeless, too, and he certainly wanted to avoid the intestines. Eventually, he settled for the legs, which had a somewhat chewier consistency and strong fibers that mimicked edible meat. Still, he could have been more enthusiastic about it.
He stood on his toes, pulling it out of the crystal spike, and hesitantly chewed on it slowly, trying not to overthink the taste. It had a bitter taste from the first chew, reminding him of a strong medicine he used to take, except years past its expiration date. The second chew made him gag a little, and the third one had him choking. By the fourth chew, he was sure he had eaten the worst food of his life. The taste lingered in his mouth as a gelatinous paste clung to his tongue like a malevolent parasite.
"Blegh! Eurgh," Kyrios groaned, sinking the remnants of the leg he had just chewed. Wiping his mouth with his wrist, he continued to eat the other leg in a daze. He couldn't really understand why he was so hungry when he wasn't even aware of his body's need for energy. He should at least be able to go a day or two without eating, but he ended up devouring the entire leg in mere minutes.
With a sigh, he slumped over and reached for his back to wipe the sweat off. His fingers traced the ugly scar on his back, and he could feel a tingle running through his body. It wasn't fully recovered, but it had already stopped bleeding.
"It's getting better." He murmured as he wiped his face.
He didn't fully understand the stat point distributions, but it didn't matter right now. There were more pressing matters to attend to, such as searching for a source of sustenance and securing a place to rest for the night.
But then, like a bolt from the blue, his stomach began aching, and his breath caught in his throat. The vivid senses within his guts stirred, alerting him of a change. The flesh of the insect reacted with his own by tearing them apart and recombining them to assemble something new.
Kyrios sat there, his hands cupped over his stomach, waiting for it all to finish. His heart was pounding like a drum; his teeth and eyes clenched tight with apprehension. He could feel the searing heat of his innards as they gradually morphed in size and shape. It was surreal, like a nightmare that kept playing in his mind.
- [ Notice ] -
< You've absorbed the essence of a Riftborn. As a result, you've gained its abilities>
— [ Revitalizing Claws ] Obtained
— [ Web Creation ] Obtained but incompatible
— [ Insect Wings ] Obtained but incompatible
Kyrios' eyebrow furrowed as he heard the system notification. "I got its skills?" he mused aloud.
It was a pain that the system provided no detailed descriptions of the abilities, but he supposed the name made it self-explanatory; the claws were probably the same as the creature's own. Of course, the notion of possessing insect-like wings seemed obvious, too, but he couldn't wrap his head around web creation. He first thought back to the moss he had followed, remembering how it beat to his heart and led him here. But constructing something as intricate as that moss seemed beyond the capabilities of that insect. Maybe it just didn't use it in that fight.
Kyrios sighed, "I guess that's all I can do for now," he murmured as he rubbed his temples. He had a lot to process, and the lack of sleep was weighing on him. He needed to find a safer spot to rest for the night. Or day? It could be dawn by now; he wasn't sure.
Though limping, his body had recovered so he could walk again. Although his legs weren't injured much by the mantis, the acrobatic jumping and tumbling gave him a few bruises here and there. If he weren't mindful of the tender wounds scratching his back, they'd burst open, and he would even struggle to crawl.
He looked around at his surroundings again, wondering where the best spot to rest was. Although the place seemed devoid of monsters, a part of his brain screamed at him that it wasn't the safest place. Another insect─a Scythera, if that was the name the system gave it─could still be lurking around. He had somehow defeated one, but a second one meant immediate death. In the end, luck saved him.
An enclosed chamber would be perfect for hiding, even if it would cut off any escape routes. Not that it mattered because he was dead if anything spotted him in his current condition.
As he hobbled along, he noticed he had trodden on a vine. He looked around the expansive cavern, but there weren't any traces of foliage at all. "Maybe I brought it with me from above? Well, it doesn't matter now." With a shrug, he dismissed the thought.
Eventually, he retraced his steps, making his way back to the narrow path he walked. He remembered a couple of diverging paths, mainly becoming dead-ends along the way, so he figured he could hide somewhere in one of them.
The moss stood resolved just as he remembered it, shining with a faint violet hue as he approached it. He placed his palm on the moss, confirming that he wasn't hallucinating previously. It really did pulsate to his heartbeat. Could it sense him? Was it alive? He desperately wanted to know. As if in response to his silent inquiries, he leaned in closer, mesmerized by the pulsating moss.
Then, an eerie sudden surge of energy coursed through the moss, jolting Kyrios. He swore he heard an intrusive voice echoing in his mind just then.
"Follow me."