Chapter 8: Trapped
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Chapter 8: Trapped
It had been six months.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.
Sage had turned the office area into his own personal home. He lived mainly in the outer office, and had turned the private boss office into an insect nursery. Things had been very rough at the start, adjusting to the unappetizing cuisine and having to brave many dangers in order to secure a good source of water. Now that he was at the peak of the Qi Building rank, things were relatively safe down here for him and he was almost strong enough to make the final push towards the last unexplored part of the mines. The evidence was even quite promising for there to be a way to the outside if he broke through this final bottleneck.
It hadnt always been easy though, when he first went down that big spiral ramp to descend the vertical tunnel he had nearly died a half dozen times. With no way to research the species of spider hed seen, his only hope was to take them on directly. On his first foray he was reluctant to use up his last torch so he went into battle with just the glow-torch and narrowly escaped being bit. He was lucky that the spiders were actually weaker than him physically, as that barely made them a match. The spiders had the advantage of darkness, webs, numbers, and as he learned later: poison. In the beginning he killed one and ran off, his clothing torn and bearing a cut on his upper arm. The second time he also killed a spider but he had time to pick up the corpse and drag it back with him.
His first set of experiments with the spiders corpse taught him to be wary of their bite as he found a poison sac. At that time he had no idea how strong it was so best to be safe. He also tested how strong their carapace was and after much deliberation: their taste. Thankfully they werent the worst thing hed ever tasted, but they were far from good. Spiders had from then become the main part of his diet, with small bits of Spirit Jade Beetle and Azure Moss mixed in. The beetles were edible, but their meat was even worse than the spiders and they were more work to clean and prepare. The moss on the other hand was similar to other green vegetables, it sort of reminded Sage of the most leafy part of Kale from his previous life yet it didnt seem to wilt in the same manner.
At that point, a month into his stay down here, Sage took a break from working deeper down the vertical tunnel and instead put his Insect Immortal Index to use. He used the biggest and most impressive Spirit Jade Beetle hed found so far and used the Mutate spell of the Insect Immortal Index. Each of the three main parts of the Index had allowed the Chong Clan to rise to its current position. This qi technique, Sage had started to think of them as spells, used qi to take the essence of an insect and then fertilize another insects eggs with it. This circumvented the usual rules of creatures only mating with their own species and it was also the reason that nearly 90% of Chong Clan members were always linked to females rather than males. The few exceptions were only when certain insect species ended up with extreme morphologies based on their gender. Notably some species of huge beetles where the males had huge horns of different sorts.
Sage did another round of breeding, using some of his breeding stock of the Colossal Jade Mantis and that eventually got him to where he was now. He called this breed the Fire Weaver Mantis. Its combat abilities were somewhat weaker than the Colossal Iron Mantis, as there was always losses with every use of the Mutate qi technique. It pleased him though as hed been able to keep all the features he wished for. The Fire Weaver Mantis had the body shape of a mantis, the same ability to grow large as the Colossal Iron Mantis, the spinneret of the unidentified spiders, a red spirit jade carapace, and finally the gas sacs and fire qi of the lizards. With this new Mantis it was much easier to cook food, light his way, and the webs made things far more comfortable.
His bed was upgraded from moss on desktops into a spider silk hammock, and with some training the Mantis used the webbing to set up traps and capture crickets for some variety in meals. Funny enough, when the crickets were cooked in flame they were actually the best tasting food he had access to. Hed even crafted a sling out of spider silk, throwing the many cave stones at the spiders from a distance. After hed killed a few dozen of them they now treated him as a predator and avoided him. All it took was a couple rocks in their direction and most of the spiders cleared the path for him. At least until that day a month ago.
One of the spiders was many times more ferocious than normal, its abdomen (the big round butt) was bigger than normal and when it pounced he saw eggs shimmering on the outside of it. His leading hand missed the parry and instead his forearm was bitten into. The follow up hand split the spider in half, but it was already too late. The spiders poison sunk into his body and a wave of numbness spread through him. Wasting no time, he tried to slow his pulse as he immediately turned around and went back towards the office. When he entered the office he had to have his Mantis help keep him from stumbling as he immediately started drinking water.
Sage drank as much water as possible to help dilute the poison. He fought through the numbness of his body and sank into meditation. Following the Mantis Heart Manual and breathing qi from the world in, and bad qi from his body outwards. It was the best he could do before passing out. Luckily he kept qi breathing while unconscious and when he awoke, two days later, the poison was completely expelled. Eating some of the dried rations hed brought down with him five months previous he then carefully trekked down to the second level and refilled all his water containers. The hollowed out spider abdomens serving adequately, but given the size of the spiders each of them only held about a quart of water. He had rigged spider silk slings for them and carried a dozen with him. Submerging himself in the water he cleaned off his body, the poison having been expelled not just in his qi but mostly through the pores of his skin leaving him quite filthy.
Six whole months and Im finally reaching the most promising place.
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Chapter 8: Trapped
It had been six months.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.
Sage had turned the office area into his own personal home. He lived mainly in the outer office, and had turned the private boss office into an insect nursery. Things had been very rough at the start, adjusting to the unappetizing cuisine and having to brave many dangers in order to secure a good source of water. Now that he was at the peak of the Qi Building rank, things were relatively safe down here for him and he was almost strong enough to make the final push towards the last unexplored part of the mines. The evidence was even quite promising for there to be a way to the outside if he broke through this final bottleneck.
It hadnt always been easy though, when he first went down that big spiral ramp to descend the vertical tunnel he had nearly died a half dozen times. With no way to research the species of spider hed seen, his only hope was to take them on directly. On his first foray he was reluctant to use up his last torch so he went into battle with just the glow-torch and narrowly escaped being bit. He was lucky that the spiders were actually weaker than him physically, as that barely made them a match. The spiders had the advantage of darkness, webs, numbers, and as he learned later: poison. In the beginning he killed one and ran off, his clothing torn and bearing a cut on his upper arm. The second time he also killed a spider but he had time to pick up the corpse and drag it back with him.
His first set of experiments with the spiders corpse taught him to be wary of their bite as he found a poison sac. At that time he had no idea how strong it was so best to be safe. He also tested how strong their carapace was and after much deliberation: their taste. Thankfully they werent the worst thing hed ever tasted, but they were far from good. Spiders had from then become the main part of his diet, with small bits of Spirit Jade Beetle and Azure Moss mixed in. The beetles were edible, but their meat was even worse than the spiders and they were more work to clean and prepare. The moss on the other hand was similar to other green vegetables, it sort of reminded Sage of the most leafy part of Kale from his previous life yet it didnt seem to wilt in the same manner.
At that point, a month into his stay down here, Sage took a break from working deeper down the vertical tunnel and instead put his Insect Immortal Index to use. He used the biggest and most impressive Spirit Jade Beetle hed found so far and used the Mutate spell of the Insect Immortal Index. Each of the three main parts of the Index had allowed the Chong Clan to rise to its current position. This qi technique, Sage had started to think of them as spells, used qi to take the essence of an insect and then fertilize another insects eggs with it. This circumvented the usual rules of creatures only mating with their own species and it was also the reason that nearly 90% of Chong Clan members were always linked to females rather than males. The few exceptions were only when certain insect species ended up with extreme morphologies based on their gender. Notably some species of huge beetles where the males had huge horns of different sorts.
Sage did another round of breeding, using some of his breeding stock of the Colossal Jade Mantis and that eventually got him to where he was now. He called this breed the Fire Weaver Mantis. Its combat abilities were somewhat weaker than the Colossal Iron Mantis, as there was always losses with every use of the Mutate qi technique. It pleased him though as hed been able to keep all the features he wished for. The Fire Weaver Mantis had the body shape of a mantis, the same ability to grow large as the Colossal Iron Mantis, the spinneret of the unidentified spiders, a red spirit jade carapace, and finally the gas sacs and fire qi of the lizards. With this new Mantis it was much easier to cook food, light his way, and the webs made things far more comfortable.
His bed was upgraded from moss on desktops into a spider silk hammock, and with some training the Mantis used the webbing to set up traps and capture crickets for some variety in meals. Funny enough, when the crickets were cooked in flame they were actually the best tasting food he had access to. Hed even crafted a sling out of spider silk, throwing the many cave stones at the spiders from a distance. After hed killed a few dozen of them they now treated him as a predator and avoided him. All it took was a couple rocks in their direction and most of the spiders cleared the path for him. At least until that day a month ago.
One of the spiders was many times more ferocious than normal, its abdomen (the big round butt) was bigger than normal and when it pounced he saw eggs shimmering on the outside of it. His leading hand missed the parry and instead his forearm was bitten into. The follow up hand split the spider in half, but it was already too late. The spiders poison sunk into his body and a wave of numbness spread through him. Wasting no time, he tried to slow his pulse as he immediately turned around and went back towards the office. When he entered the office he had to have his Mantis help keep him from stumbling as he immediately started drinking water.
Sage drank as much water as possible to help dilute the poison. He fought through the numbness of his body and sank into meditation. Following the Mantis Heart Manual and breathing qi from the world in, and bad qi from his body outwards. It was the best he could do before passing out. Luckily he kept qi breathing while unconscious and when he awoke, two days later, the poison was completely expelled. Eating some of the dried rations hed brought down with him five months previous he then carefully trekked down to the second level and refilled all his water containers. The hollowed out spider abdomens serving adequately, but given the size of the spiders each of them only held about a quart of water. He had rigged spider silk slings for them and carried a dozen with him. Submerging himself in the water he cleaned off his body, the poison having been expelled not just in his qi but mostly through the pores of his skin leaving him quite filthy.
Six whole months and Im finally reaching the most promising place.
Chapter 8: TrappedIt had been six months.The roots of this story extend from novell bin origin.Sage had turned the office area into his own personal home. He lived mainly in the outer office, and had turned the private boss office into an insect nursery. Things had been very rough at the start, adjusting to the unappetizing cuisine and having to brave many dangers in order to secure a good source of water. Now that he was at the peak of the Qi Building rank, things were relatively safe down here for him and he was almost strong enough to make the final push towards the last unexplored part of the mines. The evidence was even quite promising for there to be a way to the outside if he broke through this final bottleneck. It hadnt always been easy though, when he first went down that big spiral ramp to descend the vertical tunnel he had nearly died a half dozen times. With no way to research the species of spider hed seen, his only hope was to take them on directly. On his first foray he was reluctant to use up his last torch so he went into battle with just the glow-torch and narrowly escaped being bit. He was lucky that the spiders were actually weaker than him physically, as that barely made them a match. The spiders had the advantage of darkness, webs, numbers, and as he learned later: poison. In the beginning he killed one and ran off, his clothing torn and bearing a cut on his upper arm. The second time he also killed a spider but he had time to pick up the corpse and drag it back with him. His first set of experiments with the spiders corpse taught him to be wary of their bite as he found a poison sac. At that time he had no idea how strong it was so best to be safe. He also tested how strong their carapace was and after much deliberation: their taste. Thankfully they werent the worst thing hed ever tasted, but they were far from good. Spiders had from then become the main part of his diet, with small bits of Spirit Jade Beetle and Azure Moss mixed in. The beetles were edible, but their meat was even worse than the spiders and they were more work to clean and prepare. The moss on the other hand was similar to other green vegetables, it sort of reminded Sage of the most leafy part of Kale from his previous life yet it didnt seem to wilt in the same manner. At that point, a month into his stay down here, Sage took a break from working deeper down the vertical tunnel and instead put his Insect Immortal Index to use. He used the biggest and most impressive Spirit Jade Beetle hed found so far and used the Mutate spell of the Insect Immortal Index. Each of the three main parts of the Index had allowed the Chong Clan to rise to its current position. This qi technique, Sage had started to think of them as spells, used qi to take the essence of an insect and then fertilize another insects eggs with it. This circumvented the usual rules of creatures only mating with their own species and it was also the reason that nearly 90% of Chong Clan members were always linked to females rather than males. The few exceptions were only when certain insect species ended up with extreme morphologies based on their gender. Notably some species of huge beetles where the males had huge horns of different sorts. Sage did another round of breeding, using some of his breeding stock of the Colossal Jade Mantis and that eventually got him to where he was now. He called this breed the Fire Weaver Mantis. Its combat abilities were somewhat weaker than the Colossal Iron Mantis, as there was always losses with every use of the Mutate qi technique. It pleased him though as hed been able to keep all the features he wished for. The Fire Weaver Mantis had the body shape of a mantis, the same ability to grow large as the Colossal Iron Mantis, the spinneret of the unidentified spiders, a red spirit jade carapace, and finally the gas sacs and fire qi of the lizards. With this new Mantis it was much easier to cook food, light his way, and the webs made things far more comfortable. His bed was upgraded from moss on desktops into a spider silk hammock, and with some training the Mantis used the webbing to set up traps and capture crickets for some variety in meals. Funny enough, when the crickets were cooked in flame they were actually the best tasting food he had access to. Hed even crafted a sling out of spider silk, throwing the many cave stones at the spiders from a distance. After hed killed a few dozen of them they now treated him as a predator and avoided him. All it took was a couple rocks in their direction and most of the spiders cleared the path for him. At least until that day a month ago.One of the spiders was many times more ferocious than normal, its abdomen the big round butt was bigger than normal and when it pounced he saw eggs shimmering on the outside of it. His leading hand missed the parry and instead his forearm was bitten into. The follow up hand split the spider in half, but it was already too late. The spiders poison sunk into his body and a wave of numbness spread through him. Wasting no time, he tried to slow his pulse as he immediately turned around and went back towards the office. When he entered the office he had to have his Mantis help keep him from stumbling as he immediately started drinking water. Sage drank as much water as possible to help dilute the poison. He fought through the numbness of his body and sank into meditation. Following the Mantis Heart Manual and breathing qi from the world in, and bad qi from his body outwards. It was the best he could do before passing out. Luckily he kept qi breathing while unconscious and when he awoke, two days later, the poison was completely expelled. Eating some of the dried rations hed brought down with him five months previous he then carefully trekked down to the second level and refilled all his water containers. The hollowed out spider abdomens serving adequately, but given the size of the spiders each of them only held about a quart of water. He had rigged spider silk slings for them and carried a dozen with him. Submerging himself in the water he cleaned off his body, the poison having been expelled not just in his qi but mostly through the pores of his skin leaving him quite filthy. Six whole months and Im finally reaching the most promising place.
