It seems night was becoming his best friend rather quickly, even with his small army of spiders waiting for nightfall was the safe option. It made sense that he got a harbinger evolution based on shadows. Sitting in a tree overlooking the clearing he and his army waited patiently.
Having a non-human body came with lots of benefits, he didn’t exactly have muscles that could get stiff and the cold of night wasn’t bothering him at all. It also was a lot more interesting to see the world in a different perspective. Like right now, hanging upside down on a tree trunk, looking down on the five humans sitting around a fire. He could feel the tension between them, James best guess was they’re worried about the absence of the spider king and their dead comrades.
While waiting he continued his experiments, he wanted to know if [ Swarm Consciousness I ] needed complex thoughts or if it would work with the flow of his consciousness. So instead of forming sentences in his mind he used feelings and intentions. With this approach he could command them faster and streamlined. As an example he thought about surrounding the clearing and getting in a good position for attack, thinking about tactics he could use. Who he would kill first and how. His swarm responded naturally, getting in position and more spiders gathered near the wizard because his intention was to kill him first.
If he needed to describe it, the swarm felt like an extension of his body and soul. He felt more complete with the swarm, the silence of his mind filled with the thoughts of his kin. He could feel their loyalty towards him. But now it was time to strike.
The humans went to sleep, everybody except the mage. She sat down on a fallen tree, casting a ball of light over her hand that lazily drifted through the air. The swarm moved closer, slowly and with purpose. Avoiding shrubs and tall grass that could make a sound. But the vibration sense still painted a picture for him, the young woman outlined in red. He directed the swarm, some spiders already in position behind the fallen tree, their small bodies climbing around the trunk. Even if they couldn’t see, James saw everything. Making them retreat if the caster looked their way and advance when not. But he couldn’t continue this dance forever. When she took a book from her pouch he knew his time to strike was now. Around twenty spiders sit on or behind the fallen trunk, with one little mental push they rush up their body. The mage didn’t react for a second but quickly jumped up. Her mouth opened to scream only for a spider to crawl into that opening, fangs penetrating her robes while the one spider ripped her apart from the insides.
Still it wasn’t enough, close to death from venom and internal damage her fingers moved in a complicated sequence and light exploded from her body, killing some spiders with the heat alone, but the worst thing? She woke up the others. What the four humans saw was their companion still standing, the light fading slowly to reveal spiders on and around her. Black blood dripped from multiple wounds on her body while a spider crawled from her mouth and fell to the ground, dying on the spot. Her body swayed before dropping to the ground with a wet thud. Her head split open on the fallen tree, spilling her brain on the forest ground.
The humans looked shocked, the archer woman couldn’t watch and pukes on the ground behind her. Still they’re trained, the swordsman getting into position. Their shields raised and swords drawn. In front of them around fifty spiders, all gathered in a loose staggered formation so no area of effect attacks could kill them all at once. But they didn’t look behind them where thirty more spiders waited patiently. It was the right choice to max out his control limit, James thought and waited for the humans to make the first move.
He didn’t need to wait long, a swordsman screamed and charged forward, his sword raised high for a downwards chop only to miss the nimble spiders completely. The other one stayed back, protecting his companions that started to pick off spiders with their bows. James saw their lights vanish in his shared mind. But he couldn’t protect everybody. While the humans got into a rhythm of the swordsmen switching places and the archers firing he finally gave his command to the spiders waiting behind their enemies.
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They rushed forward, some of them even jumping as soon as they reached the archers. Their nimble bodies easily climb up the leather armor. Instead of going for their mouth or eyes the spiders attacked the exposed skin on their neck. Pumping their venom directly into the bloodstream and destroying their throat. Black veins forming on their body, the venom seemed to be buffed by James own venom skill, something he needs to test in the future.
If he was honest with himself, it felt too easy killing the archers. Of course he overwhelmed them with spiders but still it was easy, he was sure the humans aren’t used to monsters using tactics. Maybe intelligent monsters but not simple spiders. They couldn’t know about the commander behind them, the human turned monster.
After the archers death the swordsmen stayed close, swiping at the spiders and killing them quickly. His numbers dwindled quicker than expected and his kin couldn’t penetrate the armor protecting them. James ordered them to stay back and made his way down the tree. He wanted to engage in combat and try to upgrade two skills. It was ambitious but he felt like he could do it. Entering the clearing he could see the humans tensing up, their eyes going round when spotting him. He hissed and charged at the man, their sword striking his carapace but only cutting shallow lines in his diamond carapace. He barreled into one of them, the human stumbled back nearly losing his footing. James turned around and a thick strand of spider silk shot from his abdomen. Hitting the human in the chest and covering him in the sticky substance, he tried to get off but only managed to stick his hand to his chest, tangling himself up until he hit the ground. His spiders crawled over him, fangs ready and dripping with venom but they didn’t kill him.
The lone swordsmen standing tried to reach his companion but James moved in the way, his fangs ready to strike, his last spiders formed a loose circle around the two. Human versus beast. They slowly moved around each other. Sword and shield on one side, sharp legs and fangs on the other, they attacked a few times, but neither James nor the human committed to a serious attack. This continued for some time until James directed a wounded spider towards the man, in a comedic way he slipped on the bloodied body of his wounded kin and fell to the ground. James and the spiders around him shot their silk towards him, pinning his body to the ground.
With both humans contained James moved to the first one, his fangs dripping venom as he concentrated on the skill. Trying to infuse biomass into his attack as he thrusted them into the man’s chest, penetrating his armor, skin and bones. Venom pumping into the man, overloaded with biomass it wasn’t killing him slowly but dissolving his body like a fast acting acid. He could see the flesh turning black and sliding into his open chest, revealing muscles and bone only for them to turn into a foul smelling liquid. The man screamed and thrashed around until the venom turned acid destroyed his heart. He ordered his spiders to save as much flesh as possible while turning towards the other human. He soon heard the wet sound of flesh getting ripped away from bone.
Looking down on the second man he thought about what to do, using his venom was possible but instead he turned around and shot his silk into his face, covering mouth and nose. The man’s eyes widened as he tried to breath but he couldn’t even reach for his face with his arms covered in silk. He slowly died while tears streamed down his face. Suffocating while his last view of this world was a big spider looking down at him, hearing how his companion got ripped apart just a few feet away. Slowly the world got dark, the burning pain in his lungs vanished as he died.
James was happy, overall this turned out great. Most of his kin died but he had enough biomass to summon new ones. He looked over the clearing and ordered his minions to bring the bodies back to the dungeon while eating the flesh of the first swordsman, spawning new minions and putting them to work immediately. It seems he could finally continue but first it was time to summon his lieutenants. His eyes focused on the two female bodies.
Sounds like they needed to visit the human town. After all, he was finished with being weak. Time to level in earnest.