Chapter 17: Insectile war

That monster is like me, someone who came from the lesser universes. A one in six chance that they are a human.

I peel away from the rock and trail it deeper into the Depths. I need to be careful, this monster can easily kill me if it notices me. And even with us being the same, it still might be hostile.

Further in the cave, it encounters another set of guards. With a single snap of its blue mandibles, it bisects the guards and moves on.

The beetle skitters through the caves taking on any Cave crawler with ease. Only when it enters the next room, the monster uses a skill for the first time. Mandibles glow with energy and snap shut louder than before, making me think that it has more force behind each bite. It must be a boosting skill, exactly like the one I have.

The room is a bit larger and contains over twenty Cave crawlers. Most of them are peak (I) grade but there are also a good amount of (H) grades strewn in.

It doesn’t matter for the blue beetle. With each snap of its mandibles, another Cave crawler falls. After the 24th snap, it’s the only living monster in the chamber.

I keep observing as it scuttles into a corner and rests recovering the resources it must have spent over the fight.

After what feels like a dozen minutes a group of five guards show up. They too get torn to bits. Then the monster decides to continue on its hunt, entering the cave where the guards came from and moves deeper into the nest.

I follow after it from a good distance. I stop before entering the next cave, noticing that this one slopes downwards more than all the others. I shouldn’t go this deep into the Depths. Monsters this far down are too strong for me. However, the prospect of meeting a second-lifer is just too tempting.

Deeper in the cave, the beetle keeps chomping apart anything and everything in its path. I really, really don’t want to get seen by it.

The cave continues to slope downwards with the only noticeable change that the green moss has been fully harvested off the wall here by the Cave crawlers. The patches of blue moss are also more sparse, showing that they will go for that if there is no green moss.

Cave crawlers become stronger as I trail the other second-lifer deeper into the next. The blue beetle takes down seven Cave crawlers that are close to the peak of (H) grade at once.

And then, unexpectedly, the caves open up in the largest room yet. It must be a hundred metres across and a good fifty metres high at least. In the middle of it sits a large white sphere with dozens of holes in it. The Cave crawlers stream through it as blood does with a heart. One side enters with the cargo and from the other side they exit, having dropped it off.

The lines slow as they notice the blue beetle making its way into the large chamber, their pace is as lazy as before, though, its mandibles glow with a far brighter light than any time before this.

The Cave crawlers halt as they see the beetle. It takes them a second as if they are surprised that somehow a monster managed to make it to the heart of the colony. The next second they drop their goods and flood towards the blue beetle, their face-hands stretched out menacingly.

A fierce brawl erupts, every monster hacking into the beetle that sticks to the same rhythm of one snap of its mandibles each second. I’m tempted to throw myself into the fight too. But I don’t. I’m not stupid. Unlike the coleptera, I don’t have an exoskeleton to protect my squishy insides.

I keep watching the battle unfold until the white sphere starts to shake and bulge in strange ways. A new Cave crawler, this one far bigger than any other bursts out of the top. The monster is the size of a car and it looks mad.

[Juvenile Cave crawler egg layer lvl ?/20 (G)

Hell no.

I turn around and meet eyes with a (H) grade guard that was trying to sneak up on me. The monster’s mandibles almost touch me. In shock, I take a step back, tumble down the incline, and straight into the Insectile war.

I curse myself again while I tumble down the slope. Below me, Cave crawlers raise their heads and open their mandibles for my arrival.

The beetle draws their attention with a warcry, making all the heads snap their way, giving me enough space to land.

Did it do that on purpose?

I have no time for thoughts or questions. I file it away for later.

My body hits the ground and I scramble to stand up, clawing at anything around me. I barely use Claw Slash, not wanting to spend the extra Stamina on it.

I back up against the wall, dodge a set of mandibles, move out of the way of another set, lower myself to the ground and cut the legs off a Cave crawler.

Claws rake over carapace and parry mandibles. Kill notifications start to drone in the background, distracting me so I turn them off, not that I’m getting that many kills. With all of these monsters trying to pile up on me, I just slash out at the closest one, giving me just that tiny bit of space to use. But I need to finish some of them off. I need the levels and the extra stats for this all to work. Too bad they drag their wounded away and towards their nest.

Higher levelled guards appear around me.

I slash out at the weaker monster, pushing mandibles away with one hand while I go for the head with the other. Before I can land the finishing blow, Something tugs on me.

I whirl around and meet eyes with a bigger Cave crawler. It doesn’t have the standard build of a guard. This monster is something else.

Its mandibles glow and get picked off the ground by telekinetic powers? I fly through the air towards the mandibles of the monster that are eager to snap shut around my neck.

I flip in the sky, throwing off the momentum. With the sudden movement, I manage to touch one of the mandibles and push away from it, making me float over the monster and land on the creature’s back.

Knowing what is going to happen next, Stamina flows into my claws and I parry the pincers that lunge for me.

I jump off the creature and use all my skills to make my claws cut through the chitin on its side. I’m rewarded by green ichor that splashes out of the creature, covering me.

The monster turns towards me and I roll under it and slice my claws over its noticeably softer belly.

I smile as I hear the system chime that I have gained a level. I throw two of my free points into Agility since I need that stat the most. The remaining point is spent on Endurance since this fight might be going on for a while.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see that the blue beetle is doing fine as it happily tangles with the (G) grade and all her guards at once, happily chomping down on one of the guards when it gets the chance.

I need to leave. Even with more levels, there is no way I can survive this. There are just too many monsters around. I evade another Cave crawler and parry the next set of mandibles while I look for the cave I came from. They all seem so familiar. Fuck.

I guess I have two options now. One, flee into a random tunnel and hope that it is the right one. Two, survive and hold out until the beetle wins and that it understands me after the fight.

Option one seems to be safer in the short run, however, finding a way to the surface might as well become impossible. Sairal said that I shouldn’t explore the caves until I reached the next grade. Why didn’t I listen to him?

I pull a Cave crawler closer to me and push the mandibles of the monster away. Stamina pulses in my claws as I push them through one of the monster’s eyes, instantly killing it.

I move back to the wall, somehow having moved further into the chamber. There are too many of them and they keep streaming out of all the other tunnels now that the message that their queen is under attack has spread.

Option one is off the table, I guess.

A set of mandibles come for my neck. I move further back and stumble over another Cave crawler.

One grazes my left leg, cutting a few roots away. I hiss in pain as I take them on, finally managing to kill another one by pushing the mandibles of another Cave crawler into the eyes of the first one.

My Stamina trickles down too fast. I evade anything that comes my way. This can’t last.

The beetle on the other side of the chamber is tearing the monsters apart at an amazing rate. However, they just keep flowing out of all the adjoining caves making every kill be in vain when there always is another one that replaces the fallen guard.

With a swipe of my claws, I behead a (I) grade that tried to sneak up on me. More of the small fry floods the room, signifying that the distress signal has reached the outer edges of the territory where the weakest of them harvest the moss.

I move on to the ones that I can kill while evading the ones in my grade. Skill levels begin to ring in the background and I shut them off too.

A weak Cave crawler is bisected by my claws. In response another of the monsters attacks my back, snapping apart some of the roots. I jump forwards, looking for my next target. Slowly the monsters in the room are lessening between my and the beetle's efforts.

I smile as I feel Mandrake Screech build up in my throat. I swallow it down for the right moment. Using it now will just draw everyone’s ire. The queen doesn’t know that there are two intruders, yet.

My claws slice into the eyes of an (H) grade. By some miracle, the monster doesn’t immediately die and I’m forced to twist my claws around and push my arm further into its face before the monster dies.

The extra time it took was taken advantage of as I feel a set of mandibles close around my shoulder. I twist out of the way, hissing slightly as more roots are torn away and as my Health drops.

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I behead another guard. You know, when you get on the back of a Cave crawler, they can’t do that much against you. Also, their very weak necks are exposed which are easily snappable.

I get the second notification of a new level and grin. The extra points are spread like before.

My body speeds up, getting used to the new points in Agility, making me just a tiny bit faster.

I dance around the room. I move between mandibles that snap shut like traps. I dance between the monsters as I flow like water. I take advantage of every opening and tear monsters apart piece by piece.

My mind enters some kind of trance where I preserve every point of Stamina and Health as much as I can. The pain of bleeding roots fades into the background as a cold determination floods my veins.

The dance continues. Claws tear, Mandibles rend. Ichor and golden sap leak onto the ground in puddles. Innards litter everything as if the wolf-blooded alligator came to visit.

Monsters slip on their own insides and I take advantage of it. I twist myself out of the way of a set of pincers and pierce another eye, making it leak like an overripe tomato and killing the creature.

Soon enough all the (I) grades are dead. I keep up my dance of death with the (H) grades. Sadly, I’m outmatched. Having depleted most of my Stamina, I stop attacking entirely and put all my hope on the blue beetle.

Time flows in odd ways in the Depths as I focus on only moving out of the way of the attacking. There is some simplicity to them. Mandibles can only attack in so many ways. And it doesn’t seem like these monsters have special or unique skills. Maybe they rely more on passive skills?

My body aches with pain as I move out of the way of yet another blow. The blue beetle on the other side of the room has taken care of all the queen’s guards. The remaining Cave crawlers crowd around it, only delaying the inevitable.

The elegant dance resumes, slowing in its pace. Carnage is around me from the broken pieces of shell to torn-off mandibles and punctured eyes. I pay it no mind outside of stepping over the puddles of gore so that I don’t slip.

A battered (H) grade snaps at me. I trade blows with it after having seen the perfect chance. I turn and twist away after the monster has died.

I don’t know how much time has passed. It’s hard to mark in the depths. What I do know is that there now are only three Cave crawlers surrounding me instead of the dozen it used to be. Most of them have peeled off and moved to aid the queen, clearly having decided that I’m the lesser threat compared to the beetle.

My stamina is still terribly low, but it should be enough to finish them all off.

My claws meet mandibles. I backpedal before the second Cave crawler attacks. The third keeps lurking at the edges of my vision waiting for an opening.

I focus on surviving and not killing and finally, one of the Cave crawlers peels off to aid the queen.

The two remaining Cave crawlers decide that they have had enough of me and rush at me at the same time. One comes for my back and the other comes from the front, making it impossible to dodge.

My face stretches into a grin as I let my body collapse to the floor. Two sets of mandibles clack together painfully above me. I take my chance and crawl under one of the Cave crawlers. Claws infused with stamina, I cut the legs away one by one.

Off balance, the monster has trouble standing up. Sensing what is going to happen, I raise my claws to the air and wait.

The remaining legs of the monster give out as they can’t support its weight. The monster collapses onto me, all the force of it, driving my claws deep into its belly. The monster twitches twice and it dies.

One remains.

I’m stuck. With effort I push the monster off me, lamenting that I put most of my points into Agility and not Strength. With a painful heave, the dead Cave crawler rolls off me, slowly freeing me from my fleshy prison.

Then with a snap the remaining Cave crawler finds one of my exposed legs and does something with it. Pain rockets through me, breaking the flow of battle.

I feel Mandrake Screech build up again, louder than before. My lungs hurt from the pressure as I force it back for a couple of seconds.

I stare at what the monster did with my leg. I stare at where my leg used to be, only seeing a stump leaking golden sap. Oh, you are gonna pay for that stupid bug.

I stand up with new difficulty. The monster spares no time and makes its way towards me with hatred in its four eyes.

I let the scream blast out as it rushes for me. The air trembles and everything in the room freezes. It gives me the time to see that the blue beetle has finished off the queen and is watching me. I hope that they don’t see this as an attack.

The Cave crawler in front of me is stunned. Its limbs quake and try to break my skill but with it having spent so much time to build up before being released, it won’t be that easily broken.

With my hand, like I did many times before, I stab into its eyes. I feel the cold hatred in its eyes and the leaky insides roll down my fingers. I pull it out and puncture the three other eyes. It might be a bit cruel but it took my leg.

With it blinded I finish it off.

The beetle looks at me. It must sense or realise that I am the same as it. Still, it’s cautious just like me. We both fought against a common enemy but with them gone that just leaves the two of us. I don’t know what to do. How can I tell that I don’t want to fight?

My body aches all over, the roots clearly having some sort of muscle cramps. I look down at my leg which is just gone, golden sap still leaking from it.

I look back at the creature. I need a gesture that is understood by everyone, no matter where they come from.

My knees buckle as I bow in front of it. Humans bow to each other but so do animals on earth. Maybe it is the same here or wherever this second-lifer came from? With a one in six chance of them being a human, I don’t want to bet on it.

I bow as low as I can, showing respect and thanks in equal parts.

They seem to be taken aback by it. Then they too dip their head in acknowledgement. With that settled we stare at each other again, not knowing how to take it from here.

I want to go back to the forest and leave these cursed caves filled with acidic snails and Cave crawlers for days. I want to stand in the sun and regenerate as fast as I can.

With effort I reach up above me and point my finger to the ceiling, hoping for them to understand.

They bob their head up and down. It looks around at all the caves around us. It moves into one and I follow it, jumping to get forwards. It is tiring to move, however, I don’t want to be here for a second longer in these wretched depths.

The Valeroal moss is said to light the first trek of the Depths. Seeing it grow on the walls all around, we are still on the very first trek. This colony of monsters, hundreds maybe even thousands strong is something that lives in the very upper reaches of the world below the ground. No wonder that this is a dangerous place. But with great danger comes great rewards.

I pull up my status and look over all the notifications.

*You have slain 76 […Juvenile Cave crawler…] X/5 (I).

*You have slain 12 […Cave crawler…] X/10 (H).

That is more than I expected to have killed.

*Congratulations. You have gained a level. You are now level 6.

+6 HP +3 SP +1 Strength +2 Constitution +3 Unallocated stat points.

*Mandrake Screech (C) lvl 4/20 -> Mandrake Screech (C) lvl 6/20.

*Identify (C) lvl 3/20 -> Identify (C) lvl 5/20.

*Claw Slash (B) lvl 5/20 -> Claw Slash (B) lvl 9/20.

Woah. That are a lot of levels and skill levels. I almost want to fling myself into a fight with an entire hive once again. But for now, I’ve had enough of fighting. I pull up my menu and look over it.

Mandrake of nature lvl 6/10 (H)

HP: 26/61

SP: 8/33

Strength: 13

Agility: 10

Perception: 5

Constitution: 18

Endurance: 7

Mind: 4

Unallocated stat points: 3

Skill points: 6

Some good improvements here too. For my next evolution, I need to get something with a new stat distribution. My Constitution is almost five times as high as my Mind. That can’t be any good. I need to shore up my weaknesses.

The beetle occasionally stops, giving me time to hop through the tunnel. Before too long we enter the next chamber where more remains of Cave crawlers lays. Slowly we make our way out of Cave crawler territory.

With nothing to do, I open my skill window and search for any new skills that I might have unlocked.

*Congratulations. Thanks to your feats you can now gain the skill Depth Meter (O).

*Congratulations. Thanks to your feats you can now gain the skill Depth Sense (O).

*Congratulations. Thanks to your feats you can now gain the skill Hide (B).

*Congratulations. Thanks to your feats you can now gain the skill Dodge (O).

*Congratulations. Thanks to your feats you can now gain the skill Efficient Killing (B).

*Congratulations. Thanks to your feats you can now gain the skill Dance of Death (C).

Is it just me or do all the skills offered through this always have a terribly low rarity?

Some of the skills are just bad. Depth Meter does exactly what the name implies and nothing more. The description even says that it isn’t completely accurate sometimes.

Others are more interesting.

My eyes fall on two skills.

Hide (B) lvl 0/20: Blend in with the surroundings to stand out less at the expense of stamina.

This is weird. Unlike the description of Claw Slash, it doesn’t say that I can expend more stamina. Besides this skill will let me blend in with my surroundings. Not plainly hide. So if I want to blend in with, let's say these caves. Will the skill have a weaker effect since I’ll have a lot of trouble blending in?

It seems like that is the case. The system doesn’t say much on skills but it always says the most important stuff.

With a shrug, I add the skill to my list and wince a skill slot disappears.

I scroll through the list and click on Dance of Death. It is the first Common skill that I unlocked so it must be something good right?

Dance of Death (C) lvl 0/20: Enter a special kind of meditation, increasing your focus to a pinpoint while making things such as pain and emotional distress fade into the background at a small expense of stamina and health.

Warning: This skill can only be activated when the being is in large-scale fights.

I’m slightly disappointed. Sure, it is an amazing skill that will allow me to fight through conflicts such as these, but it is a bit lacking. Or I’m not reading enough on the part where it says that focus will be increased to a pinpoint.

I also don’t really like skills to drain my health pool, but it can’t be helped. Empty skill slots won’t do anything for me. So it is best to just fill them with decent skills and throw them away later if they are bad or if I just don’t use them that much.

I add the skill to my list and nod at myself. My status page is getting long.

I keep musing to myself, seeing myself use that skill in another war, this one with hundreds of humans that all want a piece of me. I dance between them, cutting their limbs off so that they can never chase me again.

I don’t think I can kill humans, not with me being one in my previous life. Sure, angry birds, baby deer and evil insects are one thing. But killing a human, a being that I know has thoughts, a life, and a family. I don’t think I can do that.

The sunlight that shines from the sky evaporates my thoughts. I take in a deep breath and feel the richness of the forest fill my lungs.

The beetle and I stand outside, still looking at each other. Once again I bow in thanks and back away from it, not turning my back to it.

They just keep staring at me as I back further away into the distance. I don’t immediately travel to my home, instead opting to take a longer confusing route that might throw the beetle off if it’s trailing me. A second-lifer it might be, it still might want to stab me in the back when it gets the perfect chance.

After walking for a while in the quiet forest, I nod to myself and head home, certain that the beetle isn’t following me.

I look down at the stump of my foot. Luckily, it’s showing signs that it is beginning to grow back, albeit slowly. Guess that being a mandrake comes with a few upsides too.

Today certainly was exciting. A bit too exciting. I can’t count how many times I almost died in that cave. It still somehow worked out and I profited from it immensely, but I won’t do that again anytime soon.

How deep was that nest anyway? It can’t be that deep considering that I made it out relatively quickly. Maybe a bit deeper than a kilometre? Now that I think about it, what lies in the depths after the Valeroal moss ends? And what lies beyond that?

What lies at the centre of the world? Something that keeps this entire place together? The heart of magic? Maybe some weird eldritch entity that has been eating the world from the inside out?

Who cares anyway? Maybe far, very far in the future, I will go down there if the birds, snails, and scorpions in the forest aren’t enough.

But for now, I will enjoy the sun and level my skills bit by bit.