You know, I've done a lot of dumb things in my life. I got caught up with the mob scene for a while, which was pretty bad; I wasn't a huge fan of breaking kneecaps. Investing in that shoddy cryptocurrency was definitely up there in terms of stupid. But I think taking on two giant centipedes in a confined space takes the cake.
Ducking down, I dodge a bite aimed at my neck and deliver one of my own, sinking my teeth into the hard carapace of the monster. With a sickening crack, I rip a chunk out of the centipede's side, taking a couple of legs along with it. A hiss escapes the monster as it retreats behind its ally, putting it just out of striking range.
Son of a bitch, these centipedes are getting on my nerves! They keep doing this! Why are they even in a pack? Aren't these things supposed to be solitary hunters? And why are they smart enough to realize that I'm stronger than they are? This fight would be so much easier if they just came at me one at a time in blind ignorance! Maybe then I could rip their eyes out or something. Or...I could try this!
Mentally admonishing the creatures for having more friends than me, I stab at the defending centipede, aiming for its eye with my stinger, my tail whipping toward it like lightning. Before it can hit the monster, however, it changes the angle of its body, and my stinger bounces off harmlessly, leaving a small dent where it hits.
Damnit. That has to be a skill of some kind. I refuse to believe this monster's intuition is that good, even if it has instincts to protect its eyes—stupid bug.
[Tail Attack is now Level 3!]
Well, at least that raises my spirits a bit.
Since this battle started, I haven't been able to get any damage in with my venom, and it's begun to grate on my already frazzled nerves. I've relied on the strange substance for defense since I got here, and I've learned a few things about it.
Predominantly, unless allowed to "feed" on blood and organic tissue, it's fairly useless. The liquid is like tar, and while it is slightly acidic, it's almost entirely inert. However, if it does have an ample food supply, it quickly devours everything it can and then seeks to escape its host. It shares some similarities with a parasite or pathogen, honestly, just on a much more violent scale. It also doesn't work on bones, so these centipedes have the perfect kryptonite to my venom.
However, they aren't indomitable. Like many arthropods, their shell is weakest on their underbelly, and If I can get one good stab at it, I'll probably be able to get in just enough venom to weaken them. Then I can go in for the kill.
Pain flairs on my shoulder as I fail to dodge a bite from mandibles, a deep gouge now pouring blood. I snap at the monster, but it's already out of range, and it almost seems to mock me as it chitters to its ally. Checking my status, I can see I'm down 11 points in Health since the battle started. The centipedes don't seem to be doing much better, thankfully. They sport cuts and have chunks of carapace missing all over. I would try and shoot my stinger into one of their open wounds, but I don't want to use it all up in one go. No, my plan will have to be up close and personal. Once I kill these two invaders, I can finally eat. My mouth is salivating just thinking about it.
Damnit, Aria, focus! You need to kill these things first.
Pushing away the thoughts of dinner, I observe the enemies before me. One of the centipedes is significantly injured. Clear ichor drips from cuts and wounds all over, and it looks like it'll go into shock at any minute. I don't think I need to worry about that one. The second one, however, is more experienced. It could dodge many of my attacks and spare itself from fatal damage. It has to be at least my level. That's the one.
Locking my eyes with my target, I growl, trying to taunt the monster. I wasn't sure it would work, but with a screech, the centipede takes the bait and charges. In seconds, it's on me, mandibles and tail barb trying to cut and pierce me as I defend myself with claws and teeth. I deftly protect myself from its barb, but its mandibles are too fast, and I'm quickly overwhelmed—my body sports fresh cuts, forcing me to dodge back to avoid being cornered. As I land, one of my legs gives out, and I collapse to the ground, unable to move. Victorious, the centipede postures to loom over me, ready to deal the final blow. That is until it finds my stinger embedded in its underbelly, releasing the venom.
Ha! Got you, you fucker! You couldn't take me out with your buddy, but you thought you managed it alone? Nope! I'm smarter than a damn bug. Haha! Is it wrong to gloat about tricking a monster as dumb as bricks? Maybe, but let me have this, okay? I took a lot of hits from this bastard, and it even hurt my leg enough to give out for real! But still, I'm victorious!
I laugh triumphantly as the centipede collapses to the ground and begins to tie itself into knots. I injected a little too much venom that time, but I think it was worth it to see this spectacle. Dark veins and cracks appear all over its exoskeleton as the decay begins to do its job. Instead of the reoccurring boils, a tar-like black liquid begins to seep out of every crack, cut, wound, and orifice it can, coating the floor in the now highly acidic concoction.
[You have slain Level 5 Vitiosum Spiculum Scolopendra!]
[You have gained experience! Warning! You are already at the maximum allowed level for your species.]
It was level five, just like I thought. No wonder it was so tough. And that was quite an interesting reaction. Did it not make any boils because there was no skin to use? Oh well, I can do tests later. I need to take out the other centipede before I eat.
After limping over and looking down at my hated enemy, I feel kind of bad. The monster can't even stand, letting out a pained hiss as I approach it and trying to raise its barbed tail in defense. I won't need to do much to kill it, but how I do it is the question. I debated using my stinger to end it, but that would be a waste of venom and would be overkill to use it on such a weak enemy. Instead, I punctured its eye with my claw, piercing its brain and killing it instantly.
[You have slain Level 2 Vitiosum Spiculum Scolopendra!]
[You have gained experience! Warning! You are already at the maximum allowed level for your species.]
[Rake has reached Level 3!]
Oh, the sweet taste of a skill up. How lovely. I hope I'm right about skills and mutations being able to upgrade after a certain point. With this system being so game-like in so many ways, it would be almost sacrilege not to have it follow that pattern. Anyway, back to the joy of eating!
My mouth waters as I drag the bodies of the centipedes and the Wolf Dragon Cub into my den. This is a lot of food, and while I don't think I can eat all of it before it disappears, I'm going to try my hardest. Plus, dragging them into my den means I can close off the entrance and eat in peace. The tunnel has largely calmed down, most monsters having been killed with only a few stragglers left, stuffing their faces. But with how damaged they are, I doubt they'll bother me much. Many of them are missing limbs, which probably take a while to regenerate, so I have time to eat and maybe take a nap before getting into a scuffle with them. I may need to settle down and evolve, too. This fight was too close of a call for my tastes. If the centipedes weren't so stupid, I wouldn't have survived that trick I pulled, so I need to at least look over the menu.
I pull all three corpses into my den after three minutes of pained dragging. It took me much longer because of my leg. That bastard did a number on me. Though, I guess it makes sense in a way. For many animals, legs are a weak spot. If they can't move, they can't fight, which equals less risk of death. Still, it doesn't make it hurt any less. Grumbling, I close off the entrance and shut myself back into darkness. Or what would normally be darkness? The blue veins have expanded again into my little abode, giving the entire room a dim blue glow. I really don't like this invasion of privacy, you damn labyrinth! Find your own stretch of tunnel.
Huffing at the indignant veins, I tear into the bodies around me, going for the stronger centipede first.
[You have consumed a new source of Biomass! One point of Biomass gained. Basic profile of the Vitiosum Spiculum Scolopendra unlocked.]
[Profiles:]
• Vitiosum Spiculum Scolopendra; Vicious Barb Centipede: A subspecies of the successful Claw Centipede, this monster trades in its claws for a more significant Toughness stat and a serrated barb coated in potent neurotoxin. Watch out for the tail!
Another subspecies, huh? Just like the Strangle Mouse. And just who is writing these profiles? I get it's considered basic, but come on! Couldn't you give me something better to work with? Oh well, it's dead now, and my intuition was right about that nasty-looking barb, so let's be thankful for that. I doubt it would be fun to struggle with a neurotoxin, that is, if I even survived being stabbed. That barb was about as long as my head.
I mull over my thoughts as I chew my meal, savoring the flavor. It has an oddly enjoyable smoked shrimp taste with the texture of grilled beef. Quite tasty. I'll be adding these guys to the hunting list. Though, with how resistant their exoskeletons are, they might be a delicacy. Oh well, c'est la vie.
By the time I've finished eating all the bodies, my stomach is bulging, and I look like a scaled bread loaf. But a bread loaf who just earned a ton of bank! With the added new biomass bonus, I made a whopping 13 Biomass! The stronger centipede must have done something right because it gave me six Biomass. The other two gave three and four, respectively, but the small centipede did contain something...interesting.
Yanked from the chest, if a middle segment counts as a chest, is a small blue...orb. About the size of a ping-pong ball, I ran into it while eating, almost swallowing it in my food rampage. Luckily I didn't, and I was even delicate enough to push it out with my tongue and not hack it up like a hairball, and I'll fight anyone do says otherwise. I only noticed it because of the notification that rang while it was in my mouth.
[Compaitible monster core detected. Would you like to reinforce your core or reconstitute a monster?]
So this thing is a monster core, huh? It's a common trope when it comes to games, so I'm not too surprised that it's here; I'm just wondering if this explains the weird behavior of the centipede. Before I got my hits in, it seemed unusually intelligent. Even though it wasn't as fast or as strong as its counterpart, it used the tunnel to its advantage and seemed to be calling the shots for the big guy. The system said it was the same species, but why did it behave so differently? Ugh, more and more questions I don't have answers to. I guess I'll try to reinforce my core. I don't feel very core-y, but I doubt the system would give me the option if I didn't have one. So yeah, let's reinforce my core.
[Warning! You have not yet condensed a core and are thus unable to reinforce it. The monster core will instead be reconstituted.]
Wait, wha-
My den immediately fills with a blinding light that chases away the shadows, forcing me to squint my eyes to watch the changes taking place with the core. Slowly, the orb seems to melt, pooling in white light on the ground before solidifying into a small spiral. Details are gradually filled in as the spiral becomes more monster-like, just on a smaller scale. Two small antennae stick out of the head, and the body stretches until being tipped by a tiny serrated barb. Gradually the light fades, and all that is left of the monster core is a little centipede who stares up at me.
The little bug stares me down, sweeping the air with its antennae as it smells its surroundings. Abruptly, it unfurls from its position and scurries toward me. I'm so stunned by the development that I can't even stop it before it runs up my leg and onto my back, tapping all over my body with its tiny antennae. I brace myself for a bite that never comes as my tail looms over the little arthropod. I feel the little taps of legs as it makes themselves comfortable and lays down on my back. It takes a bit before I realize this, though, my brain having froze with the amount of fuckery that just happened.