As Veraxia continued to murder Exapoda eggs, we ventured deeper into their nest and I noticed that there was only one type of egg. Because of soldiers existing, I thought there were at least two different kinds, one for drones and another for soldiers, but the soldier eggs had yet to appear.
Like with most things, I got curious about, I asked the accumulation of knowledge in the form of a beast at my side about it, which explained to me that Exapoda were all born as drones.
Rather than being born as soldiers, it seemed like they evolved from drones into soldiers at level 25.
Looking back on it, I never encountered a drone that was above level 25 or a higher level than a soldier. This was an interesting discovery, even if the information itself wasn’t that useful to me. However, it also confirmed that the hive would be unable to produce any more soldiers for now, since there was nothing for the drones to level up on. As we discovered more and more about the hive, it seemed that its current situation only grew worse and worse. However that only benefited us.
Veraxia kept crushing every egg we found on our way, which was directly increasing our chances of a successful battle against the Queen, however, there still was a part of me that just rejected our methods. My heart tightened each time another infant was crushed beneath my companion’s paws.
I had been advised to not fight that instinct, that it was easier to tolerate these foreign feelings and accept them. And I did or tried to, but I was by no means an empathetic person, nor did I feel any type of compassion for others—Veraxia probably being the only exception. So to accept these feelings, I would need to understand them first. As things stand now, not the easiest thing to do.
I crushed slimes back in the forest and now I even slaughtered Exapoda soldiers without too much trouble. Yet, even if just a little bit, it felt like I was watching Malik torment those weaker than him.
Their weakness was not the issue; what bothered me was they never even had the chance to experience life. They perished before ever glimpsing this world, and that simply didn’t sit right with me.
When that thought occurred to me, I realized that it was not only the foreign ‘motherly instincts’ as an Original that evoked those feelings from me. They were coming from deep within me, from the former prisoner who had been denied the right to live freely. As I witnessed the eggs getting crushed, the image of the small, broken bodies of the infant bugs aligned with my past self, creating an alternate reality in my head where I had been killed at Malik’s hand without ever getting a taste of freedom.
My head’s messed up, isn’t it?
All of those thoughts and feelings were swirling around inside of me, but it was not like I could do or would do anything against it. I felt like shit watching it, but there was no way I would try to stop Veraxia from doing it. While she did not show it regularly, she probably carried as much contempt for those bugs as I did for Malik and just imagining someone talking me out of that revenge pissed me off. There was no way of knowing what would happen if I suddenly jumped in between the two and tried to defend those who were actively trying to kill her.
Though I suppose that it was only a matter of time before the Queen learned about Veraxia’s murder spree, so I expected some sort of resistance to come and try to stop us.
My expectations came true when we ran into a pair of Exapoda that had announced themselves loudly with vicious screeching.
[Awoken Exapoda Soldier | Lvl. 57]
[Awoken Exapoda Soldier | Lvl. 54]
After everything, it was not much of a surprise to see more Awoken, however, while both Exapoda before us were Awoken, only the level 57 one looked like the last Awoken we had thought. The level 54 one on the other hand looked a little different. Its exoskeleton looked as if it was coated in a bunch of rocks to act as its armor and its body looked bulkier and heavier. Its mandibles also weren’t covered in paralyzing bristles.
“Is that one familiar to you?” I asked just in case Veraxia knew anything about it.
But she shook her head in denial. “I have never seen something like it, but it is not unexpected. Awakening is no ordinary and regal process. It is more of a coincidence to find two soldiers that transformed in similar ways.”
I clicked my tongue. The last Awoken variant we met had a new skill, and just from its appearance, it was plain obvious that the same held for this new one. And we had already stepped into their perceptive range, so they were already aware of us. This wouldn’t have been troublesome, but fighting an opponent with unknown abilities alone was already annoying, but this one had a companion at its side.
As for the other one, due to its almost identical appearance, I assumed that it also shared an—at least—similar skillset. It would mean that Veraxia either had to wear it down with a lot of attacks, or I would have to fight it with my mana to crush its barrier. However, we would not be able to use the distract and attack strategy we used last time. It was a two-against-two this time, which complicated matters.
And the two Awoken were not nice enough to give us any time to devise a counter-strategy. Surprisingly, it was not the new variant that acted first, but the bulky one that, unlike its predecessor, did not patiently wait for us to attack, but took the initiative at charging towards us, catching both off guard. Still, for its massive defenses, it was slow enough to give us more than enough time to react.
Veraxia jumped in front, intercepting its charge with her massive body, but she was unable to fully stop it and was pushed back. I dodged to the side to avoid getting crushed by the two giants and conjured a mana spear as I approached the Awoken from the side, preparing to strike.
However, just as I wanted to thrust my spear forward, a small rumble in the ground below me caught my attention. Looking down, I discovered that the patch of bark was starting to crack and I quickly jumped to the side. A spike made of rock pierced through the bark, so fast that it still cut my arm despite my effort to dodge.
Retreating a step, I watched as blood-drenched the cloth around the wound, coloring it darker than before. The wound hurt, but it was not affecting me besides that, so I did not heal it, keeping the mana just in case.
This attack was sudden and it was unlikely that it was the bulky one that did it, since it was focused on Veraxia. That only left one option.
“Guess it was you, huh?” I mumbled to myself, looking at the Awoken with the rocky scales.
I turned for Veraxia, she was far away than before, but her green eyes met mine as she slammed the Awoken into the ground, the orange barrier around it flaring up. “That was magic! Simple Earth Magic, keep tabs on the ground!” Was all she said before resuming her fight with the bulky Awoken.
Magic was troublesome to fight against since there was so little I knew about it, but Veraxia called it simple, also adding to being cautious of the ground. While it would be foolish to trust my assumptions, it was highly likely that the second Awoken could only attack from the ground. Although this would make the fight no less troublesome.
The earth beneath me rumbled again, this time, I already knew what was coming and could dodge in time. However, even before setting my foot down again, a second and third spike followed. It forced me to keep dodging. That itself was not too difficult after understanding its attack, but this continued dodging was starting to gnaw at my stamina. I just wasn’t built for this type of combat.
After taking a dozen or so steps back, the attacks stopped and gave me a chance to take a breath. At least that is what I thought until the Awoken moved forward and the attacks started again. Once again, I dodged until I built some distance, and the attacks stopped—only until the Awoken got closer again.
“I understand,” I said, breathing heavily. “Your reach is limited.” I scoffed. I glanced at my status.
Stamina: 2/5
Alright. Time to do something stupid.
I took a deep breath and rushed forward. Almost immediately, the ground beneath me rumbled, but I was running faster than the spikes could shoot out of the ground, my stamina would not endure this, so I had to hurry and finish this fight as quickly as possible.
Luckily, the bug was not smart enough to fire its attack ahead of me or attack in a more complex pattern than just aiming at me from below, and I had to end the fight before it came up with some new types of attacks.
As I was approaching the Awoken, I poured more mana into my spear, almost overloading it. While everything was going according to plan right now, my success solely depended on whether I could finish it off in one attack.
I was within striking distance when I noticed that no new spike was forming below me. That was when I took another step forward, just for a spike to rush out of the ground and impale my foot, tearing most of it off in the process.
I screamed, losing balance and tumbling over in agony. Pain messed up my thoughts, but I managed to activate Regeneration. Mana in my body twisted and turned and rushed down into my right leg, fixing the damage.
However, I lay on the ground, immobilized and completely defenseless. My enemy did not let this opportunity slide as the ground beneath me quaked a spike shot right through my shoulder, blowing it off and disconnecting my right arm from my body.
I tried to scream, but another spike pierced through my stomach. For just a moment, I could feel my consciousness slipping, but I held on to it, gritting my teeth and gasping.
My body was unable to heal due to the spikes still being inside, so I made a mana sword and tried to cut them, but I was too weak, and even before I could get the first one out, the shadow of the Awoken was already looming over me.
The Awoken lowered its had, it's mouth-watering saliva dropping onto me as it was about to finish me off and devour me. Not that I would let it. Gritting my teeth, I gathered all of my remaining strength. I grabbed it by the mandibles, then pulled its head toward me. The spike poking out of my body clashed with its exoskeleton, cracked, but shattered before penetrating flesh. Ignoring the pain that was slowly eating up my sanity, I activated Aggravating Touch to make the bug recoil in pain. Unfortunately, it moved so fast and with so much force that it tore me right. I screamed as the spike tore through my flesh, but in the same instant, I activated Regeneration to fix whatever damage my body was suffering.
Still airborne, I pulled back my right hand and conjured a mana sword in it. Using the momentum from my fall, I slammed it right into the already aggravated wound. The bug screeched, throwing its head around in an attempt to shake me off, but I held on and kept driving the sword in deeper and deeper until the screeching, and with it, the Awoken died.
You have slain [Awoken Exapoda Soldier | Lvl. 54]. Experience will be awarded. Bonus Experience for slaying a higher-leveled enemy will be awarded.
[Unregistered] has leveled up! Stat points have been allocated! 3 Free Stat Point acquired!
[Unregistered] is now Level 40.
[Novice Witch] has leveled up! Stat points have been allocated! 1 Free Stat Point was acquired!
[Novice Witch] is now Level 50.
You have unlocked the first Class Advancement. You will not be able to earn experience for your class until the Class Advancement has been completed.
Even though the bug was dead, it was far from over. My body was on the verge of collapsing and I was holding on to the last bits of consciousness that threatened to slip from my grasp any second now, but I still had much to do so I healed every last part of my body while watching Veraxia fight against the other Awoken.
My mana situation looked dire and with just enough mana available to fill my original pool, I did not have a lot to spare.
However, my intervention was entirely unnecessary as the orange barrier of the Awoken cracked after another strike of Veraxia’s claw. With an opening created, she opened her jaws and bit right where the defense was weak and tore into the Awoken. Once her teeth were lodged deep in its flesh, she jerked her head back and slammed the Awoken into the ground repeatedly until its pained screeches ceased to reverberate.
this chap already released a few hours ago on royalroad, completely forgot about scribble. A month of not uploading made me incompetent it seems.
Anyway, sorry for the delay, here's the chap.
P.S. This arc will definitely be finished, even if the story beyond it will continue in the rewrite.
As Veraxia continued to murder Exapoda eggs, we ventured deeper into their nest and I noticed that there was only one type of egg. Because of soldiers existing, I thought there were at least two different kinds, one for drones and another for soldiers, but the soldier eggs had yet to appear.
Like with most things, I got curious about, I asked the accumulation of knowledge in the form of a beast at my side about it, which explained to me that Exapoda were all born as drones.
Rather than being born as soldiers, it seemed like they evolved from drones into soldiers at level 25.
Looking back on it, I never encountered a drone that was above level 25 or a higher level than a soldier. This was an interesting discovery, even if the information itself wasn’t that useful to me. However, it also confirmed that the hive would be unable to produce any more soldiers for now, since there was nothing for the drones to level up on. As we discovered more and more about the hive, it seemed that its current situation only grew worse and worse. However that only benefited us.
Veraxia kept crushing every egg we found on our way, which was directly increasing our chances of a successful battle against the Queen, however, there still was a part of me that just rejected our methods. My heart tightened each time another infant was crushed beneath my companion’s paws.
I had been advised to not fight that instinct, that it was easier to tolerate these foreign feelings and accept them. And I did or tried to, but I was by no means an empathetic person, nor did I feel any type of compassion for others—Veraxia probably being the only exception. So to accept these feelings, I would need to understand them first. As things stand now, not the easiest thing to do.
I crushed slimes back in the forest and now I even slaughtered Exapoda soldiers without too much trouble. Yet, even if just a little bit, it felt like I was watching Malik torment those weaker than him.
Their weakness was not the issue; what bothered me was they never even had the chance to experience life. They perished before ever glimpsing this world, and that simply didn’t sit right with me.
When that thought occurred to me, I realized that it was not only the foreign ‘motherly instincts’ as an Original that evoked those feelings from me. They were coming from deep within me, from the former prisoner who had been denied the right to live freely. As I witnessed the eggs getting crushed, the image of the small, broken bodies of the infant bugs aligned with my past self, creating an alternate reality in my head where I had been killed at Malik’s hand without ever getting a taste of freedom.
My head’s messed up, isn’t it?
All of those thoughts and feelings were swirling around inside of me, but it was not like I could do or would do anything against it. I felt like shit watching it, but there was no way I would try to stop Veraxia from doing it. While she did not show it regularly, she probably carried as much contempt for those bugs as I did for Malik and just imagining someone talking me out of that revenge pissed me off. There was no way of knowing what would happen if I suddenly jumped in between the two and tried to defend those who were actively trying to kill her.
Though I suppose that it was only a matter of time before the Queen learned about Veraxia’s murder spree, so I expected some sort of resistance to come and try to stop us.
My expectations came true when we ran into a pair of Exapoda that had announced themselves loudly with vicious screeching.
[Awoken Exapoda Soldier | Lvl. 57]
[Awoken Exapoda Soldier | Lvl. 54]
After everything, it was not much of a surprise to see more Awoken, however, while both Exapoda before us were Awoken, only the level 57 one looked like the last Awoken we had thought. The level 54 one on the other hand looked a little different. Its exoskeleton looked as if it was coated in a bunch of rocks to act as its armor and its body looked bulkier and heavier. Its mandibles also weren’t covered in paralyzing bristles.
“Is that one familiar to you?” I asked just in case Veraxia knew anything about it.
But she shook her head in denial. “I have never seen something like it, but it is not unexpected. Awakening is no ordinary and regal process. It is more of a coincidence to find two soldiers that transformed in similar ways.”
I clicked my tongue. The last Awoken variant we met had a new skill, and just from its appearance, it was plain obvious that the same held for this new one. And we had already stepped into their perceptive range, so they were already aware of us. This wouldn’t have been troublesome, but fighting an opponent with unknown abilities alone was already annoying, but this one had a companion at its side.
As for the other one, due to its almost identical appearance, I assumed that it also shared an—at least—similar skillset. It would mean that Veraxia either had to wear it down with a lot of attacks, or I would have to fight it with my mana to crush its barrier. However, we would not be able to use the distract and attack strategy we used last time. It was a two-against-two this time, which complicated matters.
And the two Awoken were not nice enough to give us any time to devise a counter-strategy. Surprisingly, it was not the new variant that acted first, but the bulky one that, unlike its predecessor, did not patiently wait for us to attack, but took the initiative at charging towards us, catching both off guard. Still, for its massive defenses, it was slow enough to give us more than enough time to react.
Veraxia jumped in front, intercepting its charge with her massive body, but she was unable to fully stop it and was pushed back. I dodged to the side to avoid getting crushed by the two giants and conjured a mana spear as I approached the Awoken from the side, preparing to strike.
However, just as I wanted to thrust my spear forward, a small rumble in the ground below me caught my attention. Looking down, I discovered that the patch of bark was starting to crack and I quickly jumped to the side. A spike made of rock pierced through the bark, so fast that it still cut my arm despite my effort to dodge.
Retreating a step, I watched as blood-drenched the cloth around the wound, coloring it darker than before. The wound hurt, but it was not affecting me besides that, so I did not heal it, keeping the mana just in case.
This attack was sudden and it was unlikely that it was the bulky one that did it, since it was focused on Veraxia. That only left one option.
“Guess it was you, huh?” I mumbled to myself, looking at the Awoken with the rocky scales.
I turned for Veraxia, she was far away than before, but her green eyes met mine as she slammed the Awoken into the ground, the orange barrier around it flaring up. “That was magic! Simple Earth Magic, keep tabs on the ground!” Was all she said before resuming her fight with the bulky Awoken.
Magic was troublesome to fight against since there was so little I knew about it, but Veraxia called it simple, also adding to being cautious of the ground. While it would be foolish to trust my assumptions, it was highly likely that the second Awoken could only attack from the ground. Although this would make the fight no less troublesome.
The earth beneath me rumbled again, this time, I already knew what was coming and could dodge in time. However, even before setting my foot down again, a second and third spike followed. It forced me to keep dodging. That itself was not too difficult after understanding its attack, but this continued dodging was starting to gnaw at my stamina. I just wasn’t built for this type of combat.
After taking a dozen or so steps back, the attacks stopped and gave me a chance to take a breath. At least that is what I thought until the Awoken moved forward and the attacks started again. Once again, I dodged until I built some distance, and the attacks stopped—only until the Awoken got closer again.
“I understand,” I said, breathing heavily. “Your reach is limited.” I scoffed. I glanced at my status.
Stamina: 2/5
Alright. Time to do something stupid.
I took a deep breath and rushed forward. Almost immediately, the ground beneath me rumbled, but I was running faster than the spikes could shoot out of the ground, my stamina would not endure this, so I had to hurry and finish this fight as quickly as possible.
Luckily, the bug was not smart enough to fire its attack ahead of me or attack in a more complex pattern than just aiming at me from below, and I had to end the fight before it came up with some new types of attacks.
As I was approaching the Awoken, I poured more mana into my spear, almost overloading it. While everything was going according to plan right now, my success solely depended on whether I could finish it off in one attack.
I was within striking distance when I noticed that no new spike was forming below me. That was when I took another step forward, just for a spike to rush out of the ground and impale my foot, tearing most of it off in the process.
I screamed, losing balance and tumbling over in agony. Pain messed up my thoughts, but I managed to activate Regeneration. Mana in my body twisted and turned and rushed down into my right leg, fixing the damage.
However, I lay on the ground, immobilized and completely defenseless. My enemy did not let this opportunity slide as the ground beneath me quaked a spike shot right through my shoulder, blowing it off and disconnecting my right arm from my body.
I tried to scream, but another spike pierced through my stomach. For just a moment, I could feel my consciousness slipping, but I held on to it, gritting my teeth and gasping.
My body was unable to heal due to the spikes still being inside, so I made a mana sword and tried to cut them, but I was too weak, and even before I could get the first one out, the shadow of the Awoken was already looming over me.
The Awoken lowered its had, it's mouth-watering saliva dropping onto me as it was about to finish me off and devour me. Not that I would let it. Gritting my teeth, I gathered all of my remaining strength. I grabbed it by the mandibles, then pulled its head toward me. The spike poking out of my body clashed with its exoskeleton, cracked, but shattered before penetrating flesh. Ignoring the pain that was slowly eating up my sanity, I activated Aggravating Touch to make the bug recoil in pain. Unfortunately, it moved so fast and with so much force that it tore me right. I screamed as the spike tore through my flesh, but in the same instant, I activated Regeneration to fix whatever damage my body was suffering.
Still airborne, I pulled back my right hand and conjured a mana sword in it. Using the momentum from my fall, I slammed it right into the already aggravated wound. The bug screeched, throwing its head around in an attempt to shake me off, but I held on and kept driving the sword in deeper and deeper until the screeching, and with it, the Awoken died.
You have slain [Awoken Exapoda Soldier | Lvl. 54]. Experience will be awarded. Bonus Experience for slaying a higher-leveled enemy will be awarded.
[Unregistered] has leveled up! Stat points have been allocated! 3 Free Stat Point acquired!
[Unregistered] is now Level 40.
[Novice Witch] has leveled up! Stat points have been allocated! 1 Free Stat Point was acquired!
[Novice Witch] is now Level 50.
You have unlocked the first Class Advancement. You will not be able to earn experience for your class until the Class Advancement has been completed.
Even though the bug was dead, it was far from over. My body was on the verge of collapsing and I was holding on to the last bits of consciousness that threatened to slip from my grasp any second now, but I still had much to do so I healed every last part of my body while watching Veraxia fight against the other Awoken.
My mana situation looked dire and with just enough mana available to fill my original pool, I did not have a lot to spare.
However, my intervention was entirely unnecessary as the orange barrier of the Awoken cracked after another strike of Veraxia’s claw. With an opening created, she opened her jaws and bit right where the defense was weak and tore into the Awoken. Once her teeth were lodged deep in its flesh, she jerked her head back and slammed the Awoken into the ground repeatedly until its pained screeches ceased to reverberate.
this chap already released a few hours ago on royalroad, completely forgot about scribble. A month of not uploading made me incompetent it seems.
Anyway, sorry for the delay, here's the chap.
P.S. This arc will definitely be finished, even if the story beyond it will continue in the rewrite.
