He had to stamp down his instinct to activate [Inferno Burst]. Burning the spider to a crisp sounded like a great idea, but it would likely take out the glowfruit tree and its fruits along with it.
If finding ripe fruits was easy, Kade would’ve been willing to do so. He couldn’t see any luminescent fruits on the trees nearby, and he didn’t want to risk gambling on being able to do so in short order.
He backed away slowly when the spider’s jaw clacked together threateningly. Considering the speed at which it tried to ambush him, he didn’t think it could catch him off guard. However, some spiders on Earth have venom. He was going to assume that this one also had that.
Kade noticed the spider’s body had spots that glowed a soft purple. Everything else was pitch black. That was why he hadn’t noticed such a massive bug living in the tree with the ripe fruits. It blended perfectly with the luminescent fruits and the dark surroundings.
He didn’t take his eyes off it as he took a last bite of the echo reeds. It was the only reason he could dodge the initial attack, and he hoped it would let him hear an attack before it happened.
Kade tensed when he heard the faint sound of liquid being squeezed into a tight space. He tightened his hand around the [Soulrend] when the spider’s jaw twitched. He had already jumped to the side when a green liquid was spat where he had been.
The ground sizzled as the moss dissolved under the corrosive acid. Kade had already made his next move. He launched his [Soulrend] at the undefended side of the spider.
The armor-like exoskeleton sparked when the [Soulrend]’s tip deflected off its tough surface. Kade had already rushed after his [Soulrend] before it even made contact. He had jumped above the spider’s body and had a daring plan in mind.
The spider wasn’t idle. Some of its long, twenty-foot spindly legs had already turned to point at him with blade-like ends.
He eyed the danger as he summoned his [Soulrend] back into his hands. He waited until the last second, right when he seemed like he was about to be skewered and activated [Ethereal Glide].
Kade felt his heart skip when four of the spider’s legs pierced through his heart and head. Even though [Ethereal Glide] made him intangible, it still felt like he was willingly allowing his death.
His eyes snapped back into focus. There were only two seconds of intangibility. He landed directly in front of the spider’s face. He ignored how it spat venom at him and tried to crush his head with its jaws.
Kade fanatically kept track of the duration of the ability.
The spider was trying to use all of its physical capabilities to turn him into much: venom, bites, leg blades, and a dash of webs that accumulated below his intangible feet—all within two seconds.
It was too fast.
Free Points: 6.5—>4.5
Dexterity: 9—>11
Kade could now perceive every attack individually.
He had tried to pierce his [Soulrend] into the spider’s head while he was intangible, but while nothing could hurt him, neither could he hurt others.
He could do no damage while intangible.
Kade tensed when he felt something.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
[Ethereal Glide] was about to end. He treated the spider as if it was intelligent. He hid any anticipation before he acted.
Right before he became tangible, Kade weaved through the slams of the spider’s legs to avoid getting skewered before thrusting his [Soulrend] towards its open jaw. [Ethereal Glide] deactivated fractions of a second before the tip of the [Soulrend] pierced through the soft flesh of the spider’s mouth.
Kade impaled its skull and winced at the high-pitched screech that emitted from its mouth. The spider’s many eyes bulged in rage, and he saw its mouth filled with green liquid.
He quickly abandoned his [Soulrend] and backed away with haste. It was a miracle that the venom hadn’t destroyed the Soulrend with the amount expelled.
Kade was about to activate [Inferno Burst]. If impaling its brain hadn’t killed it, then there was no reason to take any further risk and try to fight it with one hand tied behind his back… figuratively.
The spider let out a rage-filled screech before it stumbled. He halted his activation of [Inferno Burst] and observed to see if this was a trick.
Its legs crumbled beneath it before curling in. The spider stared at him with hate that slowly dimmed as its eyes closed. It turned into a white powder.
You have destroyed a Shadow Arachnid (Arcana Level 25)!
Kill 100 Monsters (57/100)—>(58/100)
Kade dismissed the interface with displeasure. He had thought the spider was much stronger than it actually was.
My injuries have weakened me much more than I thought.
He limped around the puddles of venom and approached the glowfruit tree again. This time, he knew what to watch out for.
Kade had run out of echo reeds but wasn’t too concerned about it. It had severely diminishing effects after the first bite. He paused. He checked the description again.
The effects are permanent… it’s too bad I extracted all I could from it. I need to take some back to Earth to share.
Kade shoved that thought aside and focused on the tree.
While the glowfruit tree was large, it wasn’t large enough to contain more than one of those massive spiders.
Climbing the tree to pick the fruits would be far too awkward in his current state. He eyed the stem connecting the fruit to the tree’s branch and carefully aimed his [Soulrend].
Kade threw it accurately, struck the branch, and broke off the entire bunch of fruits.
He summoned the [Soulrend] back into his hands as he caught the fruits at the same time. Out of the ten fruits that were bunched up, there were two that glowed a light purple.
Kade felt one of the fruits that didn’t glow with curiosity. It was as hard as a rock and looked like one, too. It was more likely to shatter his teeth than help with anything.
He plucked the two luminescent fruits from the bunch and threw the waste onto the ground. These were soft, almost as if it was too soft.
Kade bit into it without hesitation and immediately had to avoid gagging at the taste. It was like he bit into a bitter melon, except a million times worse.
He forced himself to continue to eat the fruit and choke it down. He might have doubted its effects if it hadn’t been for the immediate lessening of health loss from bleeding.
Kade shuddered as he finished the first fruit. The stump of his left arm no longer bled freely, and he could feel that his health was no longer below fifty percent.
He still needed to eat one more.
Kade grimaced as he choked down the second one. By the time he was done, he could feel his health had fully recovered. However, there was an issue.
“System,” Kade stared at his arm. “Why hasn’t my arm regrown?”
The glowfruit only heals you. It does not regenerate lost flesh.
He felt the smooth skin that now covered the area where his arm had been ripped apart. He remained calm for now, but something could easily push him over the edge. [Indomitable Will] could not help here.
“Will it regenerate after I level up?”
Yes.
Kade let out a massive sigh of relief. He could work with that.
He recovered his composure and looked deeper into the forest for the first time after he ate glowfruit. He immediately noticed his enhanced vision.
Everything seemed… lighter. The blacks didn’t appear as black, allowing him to see the monsters that would have otherwise blended into the surroundings.
Kade noticed that almost all these monsters were exclusively by the distant glowfruit trees that had luminescent fruits. In fact, he would’ve never noticed the fruits if not for the monsters that accompanied them.
This is convenient.
The most challenging part of finding monsters to kill had been the darkness. Now, he had an easy hunt ahead of him.
Kade approached the glowfruit tree with a spider similar to the one he just killed. He would keep targeting these spiders because of his familiarity with them. At least until he regenerated his arm.