Chapter 2: Exploration of the Unnamed
Skittering away, I was only focused on escaping the cannibal cave. Not only my mind, but my instincts told me so. It just didn't feel right, not right now.
While going outside, A screen showed up.
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[ Exiting Brood Cavern ]
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"*screech*"
Only those words came out of my mouth. I was now further away from the group than ever, and I just saw them move after I was already far away.
Now I wonder, what awaits me outside the cave.
...
It was another cave! A larger cave, and it was filled with mushrooms and crystals that illuminated the cavern. I tried to understand it, but I had a feeling I needed more Intellect.
So I allocated 2 points to Intellect and 1 point to Stamina since it was getting hard for me to maintain my speed.
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[ Intellect has increased by 2 points and Stamina has increased by 1 point ]
[ Intellect - 3 -> Intellect - 5 ]
[ Stamina - 2 -> Stamina - 3 ]
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My body convulsed as I placed stat points into different stats. My head was hurting from my brain getting reconstructed and my body was convulsing due to my abdomen expanding out to store more energy.
~~~~~
After what felt like a week of excruciating pain from all over my body, it was just a minute that passed by.
Still weak from the ordeal, I took a look at my stats.
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<-⟨ Stats ⟩->
Name: [N/A]
Kinfolk: [Insectiant Nymph]
Lineage: [Zenorian]
Path/Level: [N/A (Lvl 3)]
Traits:
(General Traits)
[Carapace]
(Acquired Traits)
[None]
(Negative Traits)
[None]
Stats: ( Stat Points: 0 )
[Stamina] - 3
[Vitality] - 5
[Strength] - 2
[Intellect] - 5
[Agility] - 9
Skills: ( Skill Points: 3 )
(Kinfolk Skills)
[Molting] - Tier 1
(Passive Skills)
[Curl] - Tier 1
(Active Skills)
[None]
<-⟨ Stats ⟩->
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My newly gained Intellect told me that when I hit Level 5, something special would happen. and I was filled with excitement since I was near Level 5.
My compound eyes looked at the cavern and tried to search for prey to kill. I want to Level up, I want to get stronger... to grow faster. My mandibles clacked together as I carefully skittered through the cavern.
There was moss growing on the wall and I didn't know what it was. I tried to eat it, but it tasted horrible. Then I tried spitting it out and it went far. It looked green and was very fuzzy, it can even glow when I take a bite out of it.
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My eyes sparkled from the new thing I discovered. I think this was called Throwing. But I used my mouth to fling the object away, like spitting. I was unusually curious about this... plant, yet I still try to do something to it.
Eventually, A screen prompt appeared in front of me while my mandibles were now glowing from the moss.
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[ A new skill has been unlocked from your research! ]
[ Will you learn the skill ⟨Deduce⟩? ]
( Yes )
( No )
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It didn't give me any information, but my Intellect was telling me that it was from messing with the glowing moss. I still had like 2 skills— one which I haven't even used yet— so I was more than happy enough to select yes.
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[ The skill ⟨Deduce⟩ has been added to your Active Skills ]
[ Skill: Deduce ]
( Note: It was a skill used to deduce answers from questions, very useful for investigation. )
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This made me realize that I can learn new skills by just doing dumb crap like this. However, that made me more aware of myself for some reason.
It made me disinterested in the glowing moss, I started to skitter around some more and the ground turned darker. It was now more purplish and there was now amethyst that emitted violet light. I tried to use ⟨Deduce⟩ the nearby things and the results were very disappointing.
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[ Cannot use ⟨Deduce⟩, no targets found! ]
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I used it on the new purple moss, and nothing appeared. The crystal showed no information as well. It was frustrating for me— to think that some of those items could enhance myself or at least be beneficial.
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[ Cannot use ⟨Deduce⟩, no targets found! ]
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[ Cannot use ⟨Deduce⟩, no targets found! ]
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[ Cannot use ⟨Deduce⟩, no targets found! ]
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After a few more error screens, I grew frustrated. Then a string of thoughts slipped into my mind.
The Skill Points I got from leveling up— It was something I never knew about— yet my instincts know oh so well about it.
Maybe those Skill Points can do something about it. I decided to put a point into ⟨Deduce⟩.
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[ Use a Skill Point to advance ⟨Deduce⟩? ]
( Yes )
( No )
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Yes.
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[ The skill ⟨Deduce⟩, has advanced to Tier 2! ]
[ ⟨Deduce⟩ - Tier 1 -> ⟨Deduce⟩ - Tier 2 ]
[ Your Path has split! ]
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A sharp pain coursed through my mind, it felt like it was unlike me to do this. But I held on as the Skill had successfully advanced. Looking at myself, I deduced that I was still fine physically— but my mind... not so much— yet I ventured on with this new... Ambition.
I grew curious about the purple moss, I tried to understand it. Looking at how it gets its color, then I look at the glowing amethyst crystal that was emitting mystical violet light. I deduced that the moss has adapted to absorbing the light from the crystals to survive. My mind was full of theories and before I knew it, I was too immersed.
I finally snapped out of it, it felt weird trying to discover new things. I just wanted to be fast, to gain more speed, and speed I shall gain.
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[ Your Path has cut off its distractions! ]
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My mind settled on one thing, and that was what made me come to this place. I may have lost my H̸́̂̏̌̊͑́̔um̵͑ä̵̎̉̕nī̸̈͂̏͂̚ty̵͒͛̌͂̉, but that didn't stop me from my ambition.
I sighed internally as I skitter further down the purple and seemingly empty cave. It was a few minutes from the same purple cave with the amethyst and the strange moss.
Walking...
And walking...
Skittering at times...
Until I saw something new, something that caught my attention. It was a tiny white dot further down the same purple cave.
I cautiously head towards it, seemingly interested in what it could be. The bright dot was swinging back and forth, and I was entranced by it. I was getting close to it without noticing anything wrong.
As my compound eyes were focused solely on the shining dot. I heard a sound.
*Shwip*
Then I felt something sticky land on my back, suddenly pulling me back from the bright light.
"Almost got killed there buddy, you shouldn't get close to something bright in a dark cave. Unless it is the way out."
The person said with vigor after he caught me using what seemed like a thread. It was a guy— well not just a guy— since he had what seemed like a pair of antennae on top of his head, his torso was exposed with a carapace covering it and only wearing a pair of pants. The pupils in his eyes were glowing bright orange, I wasn't able to look at his other features as my vision got blurry from the sudden speed.
He shot out what looked like a thread that stuck to the wall far away and quickly pulled us further away from the light. Then the cave lightly rumbled as the light dimmed and a monster was right behind it.
*SHRIEK!*
The giant monster angrily shrieked at the man, angry at him for stealing his food— Which was me.
It looked ugly, it had a head of a lobster together with a pair of claws, but then the body was just the body of a caterpillar— a large one at that.
The man holding me nimbly threw more of the threads and pulled us away from the insect monster, at this point we were backtracking the cave that I oh so worked hard to walk through.
We were approaching the Brood Cavern— But then I saw a tunnel hidden in the corner that I hadn't seen before, the man used his thread to pull us towards the tunnel and then he threw me further down the tunnel as he spun around kicking the roof of the tunnel.
*Crack*
The kick was strong enough for the tunnel ceiling to crash down. Catching his breath, the man then turned in my direction. I was mentally sweating, thinking of what the man was gonna do to me.
But the man was still tired, he was breathing heavily. Then, after a minute or so, he started to chuckle.
"That was one of the most thrilling moments of my life!"
He enthusiastically shouted with his hands spread out.
I looked confused by this, and the man noticed it. His pupils still glowing, and he was still panting. Wiping off some beads of sweat off his forehead.
He smiled at me. And I was still confused, but now my heart was racing.
'I want to be fast just like him!'