The first fight in this chapter is completely original and doesn't exist in Kumo desu. The second fight, however, does.
Rosemary pov
It has been a few days since that fateful conversation and we've done nothing but hunt & eat. Kumoko's still processing all of the information she's gotten from Taboo Lvl 10- she told me how she got this information after she spilled everything- and I gave her some space to do so. I also brought her on some of my hunting trips to keep her mind off of everything, but I could tell that it wasn't working for her.
On one of the hunting trips, Kumoko and I encountered two earth dragons: Earth Dragon Kagna and Earth Dragon Gehre. I had appraised both of them and their highest stats are in the four thousands. From how their stats were spread, Kagna is more defense oriented while Gehre is more focused on speed.
While my lowest stats are higher than both of their lowest stats, they make up for each other's weaknesses. While one-on-one, I could defeat them- not without an insurmountable amount of effort and quick thinking on my part- but the two of them together is too much for Kumoko and I to deal with.
I defeated Fire Dragon Resnya with moderate difficulty, but that was because I was familiar with fire type wyrms attack patterns. I could reasonably predict her attacks and because she's extremely prideful, I was able to use that against her. But I can't do that here. I'm unfamiliar with how earth type wyrms & dragons attack and from what Mysterious voice (I'm still going to call her Mysterious voice even though I know of her true identity.) told me, they value honor above all else.
They're like samurai. And I can't trample upon their pride and nobility like that. If they want a one-on-one duel with me, I will comply. While Kumoko may not be as honorable as I am and use underhanded tactics, I just couldn't do that if they didn't use any underhanded tactics first.
I guess the wise thing to do is to quietly walk away from the two earth dragons.
I looked at Kumoko and it seems like she has the same idea. We quietly walked away from the two dragons and went deeper into the Lower Stratum; but unexpectedly, we encountered something else.
It was a behemothic snake reminiscent of a cobra slithering past us. Its deep purple hood and back is peppered by sprinkles of navy blue. Its exposed underhood is a light violet color and it has two horn-like structures growing just above its yellow eyes.
But suddenly, it stopped slithering and turned around. Its marigold eyes narrowed and it reared back its head. Its lavender hood flared and it screeched at us. Spittle flew everywhere and coated the rocks and the floor in front of it.
The cobra's saliva melted the rocks on contact and melted holes on the floor. An acrid smell wafted off of the rocks and I scrunched up my nose in disgust.
I appraised the giant cobra.
Elroe Baraggish: Lvl 25 Skill points: 37000
Hp: 3994/3994
Mp: 3011/3011
Sp (Yellow): 3926/3926
Sp (Red): 3958/3958
Offense: 3875
Defense: 3821
Magic: 2999
Resistance: 3295
Speed: 3827
HP Rapid Recovery: Lvl 4 | MP Rapid Recovery: Lvl 3 | MP Minimized Consumption: Lvl 3 | SP Rapid Recovery: Lvl 4 | SP Minimized Consumption: Lvl 4 | Longevity: Lvl 9 | Magic Hoard: Lvl 1 | Ultimate Movement: Lvl 2 | Fortune: Lvl 1 | Herculean Strength: Lvl 8 | Sturdy: Lvl 9 | Monk: Lvl 1 | Talisman: Lvl 8 | Skanda: Lvl 3 | Magic Power Attack: Lvl 7 | Deadly Poison Attack: Lvl 10 | Paralysis Attack: Lvl 6 | Strong Acid Attack: Lvl 8 | Heavy Super-Attack: Lvl 8 | Status Condition Super-Enhancement: Lvl 8 | Strong Acid Enhancement: Lvl 7 | Heavy Super-Enhancement: Lvl 6 | Destruction Enhancement: Lvl 9 | Piercing Super-Enhancement: Lvl 4 | Impact Super-Enhancement: Lvl 10 | Shock Super-Enhancement: Lvl 10 | Dimensional Maneuvering: Lvl 1 | Stealth: Lvl 10 | Camouflage: Lvl 8 | Silence: Lvl 10 | Magic Power Perception: Lvl 7 | Hit: Lvl 10 | Evasion: Lvl 10 | Probability Correction: Lvl 8 | Danger Perception: Lvl 10 | Presence Perception: Lvl 8 | Heat Perception: Lvl 10 | Motion Perception: Lvl 10 | Magic Power Operation: Lvl 7 | Heavy Magic: Lvl 5 | Shadow Magic: Lvl 4 | Destruction Resistance: Lvl 6 | Cutting Resistance: Lvl 9 | Piercing Resistance: Lvl 9 | Impact Resistance: Lvl 9 | Shock Resistance: Lvl 5 | Earth Resistance: Lvl 8 | Dark Resistance: Lvl 1 | Status Condition Super-Resistance: Lvl 9 | Rot Resistance: Lvl 4 | Pain Nullification | Imperial Scales: Lvl 7 | Odorless: Lvl 7 | Pain Mitigation: Lvl 9 | Vision Enhancement: Lvl 7 | Night Vision: Lvl 10 | Vision Expansion: Lvl 7 | Auditory Enhancement: Lvl 5 | Olfactory Enhancement: Lvl 5 | Taste Enhancement: Lvl 3
[Monster Slayer] [Assassin] [Monster Slaughterer] [Champion]
The Baraggish stopped its roar and narrowed its eyes. It didn't care about Kumoko at all, deeming her a non-threat, and focused its complete attention on me. Its tongue flicked in and out of its mouth and with each flick, its tongue got coated with more and more of a sharp smelling green liquid.
'Little wyrm…' It hissed out. 'Not weak… But look like human.'
'I guess it's not intelligent enough to form coherent sentences.' I observed as Mind Reader revealed its inner thoughts to me. Its tongue continued to flick in and out of its mouth as its yellow eyes were shrouded with a clear membrane..
'In my territory.' It continued. 'Must KILL!'
After hearing that, I leaped to the right. The Baraggrish fired a high pressure stream of green fluid and vaporized the floor of my previous position. The Baraggrish slowly raised its head and the stream continued to gouge a trail into the floor and the ceiling.
When its head was pointed towards the ceiling, its mouth slammed shut. The toxic green acid evaporated into pungent smoke and escaped from the openings in the Baraggish's lips.
It lowered its head and its eyes trailed to my new position.
'Missed.' It thought. 'Need try again.'
Green acid started to gather in its mouth but before it could fire it, I bound its mouth shut with black tendrils made from a combination of Black and Ice magic. I had since figured out that ice created from Ice magic doesn't melt into water, but I can imbue the crystal with all of the magics in my arsenal.
The added ice crystals gave more integrity to my Dark and Black magic spells. Tendrils that would otherwise snap easily would have the tensile strength of steel. The effect would only amplify as Ice Magic levels up.
With a combination of Telekinesis and Heavy Magic, I slammed the Baraggish's head into the ground. Its skull cracked from the impact and kicked up a dense cloud of dust & debris. While the Baraggish was still on the ground, I channeled lightning through my arm and utilizing Telekinesis, I condensed the lightning into a sphere the size of a baseball and threw it at the Baraggish.
The pale blue ball of lightning arced through the air and pale blue lightning flickered across its scales when it made contact. It roared in pain and through a show of immense willpower and strength, it ripped through the Black & Ice Magic restraints and stood up in spite of the Heavy Magic and Telekinesis weighing it down. Granted, I didn't channel the full strength of Heavy magic but the fact it can stand upright- even though it had no arms and despite Heavy Magic being maxed out- right now speaks volumes of its strength.
The Baraggish is more powerful than anything I've ever fought beforehand. Its physical stats eclipses that of Fire Dragon Resnya. Even though she far outclassed it in intelligence, I was able to use it against her. I hold no such advantage here.
The Baraggish roared, anger wafting off of it in waves of red. It slammed its body to the ground and charged at me at speeds akin to a fighter jet.
"Rosemary!" Kumoko called out. "Do you think we can take it on?!"
"Maybe!" I hollered, backflipping over the Baraggish's rage-induced charge. "It's more powerful than the fire dragon I fought in the Middle Stratum but with the two of us, we may have a chance!"
"Got it!"
Kumoko activated her Inert and Repellent Evil Eye skills and the Baraggish was launched into the sky.*
Taking advantage of the opening Kumoko gave me, I skidded to a stop and charged up Abyssal Beam. When the Baraggish's head collided into the top of the passageway we're in, I fired Abyssal Beam at the Baraggish's head and neck area.
The constraint flux of force from Abyssal Beam kept the Baraggish from succumbing to the effects of gravity and allowed Kumoko to batter the colossal cobra with projectiles of Wind, Earth, and Black Magic.
But Abyssal Beam can't be used forever and the Baraggish eventually fell onto the ground. Kumoko and I leaped away from the Baraggish and prepared for its counterattack.
Rage and agony rolled off the violet snake in waves. Abyssal Breath had left severe fifth degree*2 burns over the area where Abyssal Breath had mercilessly assaulted it. Its muscles are visible and it shudders in pain whenever it moves.
'Hurt.' It thought. 'Hurt… big. Little wyrm cause hurt… Little taratect help hurt… Little Wyrm and Little Taratect must die for hurt!'
The Baraggish heaved itself off the ground and roared at us in blind rage. I appraised it.
Elroe Baraggish: Lvl 25 Skill points: 37000
Hp: 1892/3994
Mp: 2107/3011
Sp (Yellow): 2375/3926
Sp (Red): 3958/3958
Offense: 3875
Defense: 3821
Magic: 2999
Resistance: 3295
Speed: 3827
HP Rapid Recovery: Lvl 4 | MP Rapid Recovery: Lvl 3 | MP Minimized Consumption: Lvl 3 | SP Rapid Recovery: Lvl 4 | SP Minimized Consumption: Lvl 4 | Longevity: Lvl 9 | Magic Hoard: Lvl 1 | Ultimate Movement: Lvl 2 | Fortune: Lvl 1 | Herculean Strength: Lvl 8 | Sturdy: Lvl 9 | Monk: Lvl 1 | Talisman: Lvl 8 | Skanda: Lvl 3 | Magic Power Attack: Lvl 7 | Deadly Poison Attack: Lvl 10 | Paralysis Attack: Lvl 6 | Strong Acid Attack: Lvl 8 | Heavy Super-Attack: Lvl 8 | Status Condition Super-Enhancement: Lvl 8 | Strong Acid Enhancement: Lvl 7 | Heavy Super-Enhancement: Lvl 6 | Destruction Enhancement: Lvl 9 | Piercing Super-Enhancement: Lvl 4 | Impact Super-Enhancement: Lvl 10 | Shock Super-Enhancement: Lvl 10 | Dimensional Maneuvering: Lvl 1 | Stealth: Lvl 10 | Camouflage: Lvl 8 | Silence: Lvl 10 | Magic Power Perception: Lvl 7 | Hit: Lvl 10 | Evasion: Lvl 10 | Probability Correction: Lvl 8 | Danger Perception: Lvl 10 | Presence Perception: Lvl 8 | Heat Perception: Lvl 10 | Motion Perception: Lvl 10 | Magic Power Operation: Lvl 7 | Heavy Magic: Lvl 5 | Shadow Magic: Lvl 4 | Destruction Resistance: Lvl 6 | Cutting Resistance: Lvl 9 | Piercing Super-Resistance: Lvl 1 | Impact Resistance: Lvl 9 | Shock Resistance: Lvl 5 | Earth Resistance: Lvl 8 | Dark Resistance: Lvl 2 | Fire Resistance: Lvl 1 | Status Condition Super-Resistance: Lvl 9 | Rot Resistance: Lvl 4 | Pain Nullification | Imperial Scales: Lvl 7 | Odorless: Lvl 7 | Pain Super-Mitigation: Lvl 1 | Vision Enhancement: Lvl 7 | Night Vision: Lvl 10 | Vision Expansion: Lvl 7 | Auditory Enhancement: Lvl 5 | Olfactory Enhancement: Lvl 5 | Taste Enhancement: Lvl 3
[Monster Slayer] [Assassin] [Monster Slaughterer] [Champion]
Our combination attack had depleted a vast majority of the Baraggish's total health. Even though that attack had cost me a good portion of my Mp, with Kumoko here, I have more than enough to end this.
The Baraggish used its Camouflage to disappear into the shadows and its other stealth skills evaporated its presence to me and Kumoko.
Kumoko and I stepped closer to each other until our backs (or in her case, her behind) were nearly touching. We stood in silence with our senses on high alert, our eyes scanned the darkness and our ears peeled for any sound of movement.
Its Odorless skill is messing with my nose so I can't rely on my olfactory senses. They're too inaccurate to be of any use right now. Simularily, its Silence skill suppressed the sounds it made from movement, but subtle vibrations could be felt with my enhanced sense of touch.
After a few seconds, I felt a tremor and caught a glimpse of a puff of dust being kicked up to my left.
"TO YOUR RIGHT, KUMOKO!" I shouted in warning.
Kumoko and I leaped into the air with our Spatial/Dimensional Maneuvering skills and dodged the Baraggish's rage induced charge.
The lavender cobra crashed into a stone pillar, the collision dazing it, and left it open for an attack.
Taking this opportunity, I stomped my right foot onto the ground and a trail of ice disseminated from my boot. The ice trail advanced towards the Baraggish and when it made contact with the Baraggish, the crystal blue ice coated the mauve cobra and exposed its position to Kumoko.
Using most of my remaining Mp, I restrained the Baraggish with a combination of Black Magic tendrils, Heavy Magic, and Telekinesis. The force and weight of the restraints caused the cobra to sink into the floor. With a nod, Kumoko barreled towards the Baraggish and used her enhanced scythe-like front claws to slice the cobra into pieces.
"Experience threshold has been reached. Individual Rosemary Whites has reached level 19." Mysterious voice reported. "You have obtained skill points. All basic attributes have increased. Proficiency has risen… Experience threshold has been reached. Individual Rosemary Whites has reached level 20. You have obtained skill points. All basic attributes have increased."
'That's interesting.' I thought to myself. 'Even though I didn't score the final hit, I still gained some levels from that. Is there some sort of party system?'
I appraised myself.
Smaller Dark Wyrm: Rosemary Whites Lvl 20 (+4) Skill points: 1500 (+1500)
Hp: 2843+ 810/2843 (+535)
Mp: 3161/3161 (+564)
Sp (Yellow): 3023/3023 (+522)
Sp (Red): 3112+357/3112 (+518)
Offense: 3067 (+531)
Defense: 2956 (+553)
Magic: 2031 (+536)
Resistance: 2909 (+540)
Speed: 3344 (+542)
Appraisal: Lvl 10 | Steel Teeth: Lvl 3 | Tungsten Grip: Lvl 2 | Chromium Staff: Lvl 2 | Abyssal Breath: Lvl 10 | Abyssal Beam: Lvl 10 | Void Breath: Lvl 2 Fossilizing Gaze: Lvl 2 | Death Gate Lost Memories: Lvl 10 | Deadly Doors Libary of Souls: Lvl 4 | Mind Reading: Lvl 10 | Fartalk: Lvl 8 | Imperial Scales: Lvl 7 | Rage: Lvl 5 | Hp Rapid Recovery: Lvl 9 | | Mp Minimalized Consumption: Lvl 6 | Mp Rapid Recovery: Lvl 7 | Sp Recovery Speed: Lvl 6 | Iron Defense: Lvl 8 | Sp Lessened Consumption: Lvl 7 | Dark Wyrm: Lvl 5 | High-Speed Flight: Lvl 10 | Night Vision: Lvl 10 | Five Senses Super-Enhancement: Lvl 8 | Stealth: Lvl 10 | Fortitude: Lvl 2 | Stronghold: Lvl 3 | High-Speed Processing: Lvl 8 | Thought Accelloration: Lvl 6 | Skanda: Lvl 3 | Detection: Lvl 10 | Probability Super-Correction: Lvl 7 | Evasion: Lvl 10 | Hit: Lvl 10 | Martial Arts Mastery: Lvl 7 | Sword mastery: Lvl 7 | Shieldsmanship: Lvl 10 | Satiation: Lvl 8 | Ultimate Life: Lvl 7 | Tyrant: Lvl 5 | Scale Weaving | Dragon Power: Lvl 7 | Dragon Barrier: Lvl 2| Shadow Magic: Lvl 10 | Dark Magic: Lvl 10 | Black Magic: Lvl 10 | Abyss Magic: Lvl 1| Heretic Magic: Lvl 10 | Bolt Magic: Lvl 7 | Heavy Magic: Lvl 10 | Ice Magic: Lvl 6 | Healing Magic: Lvl 6 | Spatial Magic: Lvl 6 | Fear Super-Resistance: Lvl 7 | Heat Nullfication | Heresy Super-Resistance: Lvl 8 | Blasphemous attack: Lvl 5 | Lightning Attack: Lvl 6 | Heavy Attack: Lvl 6 | Dark Attack: Lvl 6 | Ice Attack: Lvl 6 | Rot Super-Resistance: Lvl 9 | Poison Super-Resistance: Lvl 9 | Pain Nullification | Pain Super-Mitigation: Lvl 8 | Bolt Resistance: Lvl 8 | Heavy Super-Resistance: Lvl 8 | Impact Super-Resistance: lvl 10 | Exhaustion Nullification | Ice Resistance: Lvl 6 | Impact Super-Enhancement: Lvl 7 | | Cutting Super-Enhancement: Lvl 7 | | Shock Super-Enhancement: Lvl 7 | | Bolt Enhancement: Lvl 6 | | Heavy Enhancement: Lvl 7 | | Black Enhancement: Lvl 6 | Ice Enhancement: Lvl 6 |Humanification | Divinity Expansion: Lvl 3 |Language Master | Height of Occultism | High-Speed Swimming: Lvl 4 | Spatial Maneuvering: Lvl 6 | Ultimate Magic: Lvl 1 | Last Stand | Sloth | Telekinesis: Lvl 7 | Taboo: Lvl 5| Corruption | n=W
[Foul Feeder] [Merciless] [Fearbringer] [Monster Slayer] [Monster Slaughterer] [Wyrm Slayer] [Wyrm Slaughterer] [Dragon Slayer] [Ruler of Sloth] [Guardian]
It looks like I didn't evolve when I hit level twenty. Well, that was a shame. It looks like I'll just have to kill a lot more monsters to gain the EXP I need to level up. Say, Mysterious voice, what level would I evolve?
"Individual: Small Dark Wyrm Rosemary Whites would evolve into Dark Wyrm at level 30." She answered.
I can actually ask that? Why didn't I ask earlier? Well whatever. The Baraggish has been freshly killed and Kumoko and I just need to eat it. Can't have such a kill go to waste.
As I walked towards the Baraggish corpse, I sensed something big moving in the shadows. A feeling of dread sunk into my stomach and I whirled around to see a familiar assortment of blue and red scales in the darkness.
It's Araba and after all this time, he finally showed up. He's just some three-quarters of a hundred yards right in front of me and he's not doing anything, just merely scrutinizing Kumoko and I. Kumoko hasn't noticed yet, but I wouldn't count on her not noticing my absence from the Baraggish carcass.
"What do you want?" I demanded.
The staring contest continued for some time before Arabra huffed and disappeared into the darkness. When he disappeared, the dense feeling of dread in my stomach vanished along with him.
I took a deep breath and walked to where Kumoko was waiting for me to cook the snake.
Timeskip
It had been a few days since our confrontation with the Baraggish. Kumoko and I had been killing monsters to level up. I hadn't killed enough to level up just yet, but I think I'm quite close.
We're currently residing in Kumoko's home in the Upper Stratum. She's thinking of strategies to defeat Araba after I divulged what happened and was quite distraught over the fact that Araba was that close to us at the time.
I still don't have an answer for why Araba left us alone. Kumoko knows why but won't tell me. She confessed that it had something to do with the knowledge from Taboo so I left the subject alone. I had offered to help her with defeating Araba several times already, but she adamantly refused every time I brought it up. She was quite resolute about it being something she had to do alone, and I understand why.
While we both felt paralyzing fear when we saw Araba for the first time, it was far worse for Kumoko than it was for me. After a few weeks, (I think. Time is a perplexing thing when you can't see the sun.) I had almost stopped thinking of him almost entirely. The only time I thought about him was when I compared Fire Dragon Resnya's aura to his.
Simply put, while Kumoko and I were both traumatized by Araba, our reactions to seeing -almost seeing for Kumoko- him again were extremely dissimilar.
"Rosemary," Kumoko announced, "There's a group of monsters heading directly this way."
"That's strange." I commented. "Monsters in the Upper Stratum would usually run away from us the moment we get anywhere close to them. Do you know why?"
That's a stupid question. Of course she doesn't know w-
"Yes." She answered. "I know why they're attacking me."
Eh? Wait what?
"Come again?" I asked.
"I may or may not be trying to kill my mom right now." She said bashfully. "I found out that the feeling of irritation I felt from the dragon and Administrator Güli-Güli was from her manipulating my thoughts. Of course, I can't let that slide. So I sent all of my Parallel Minds to attack her soul."
"So that's why I've only been hearing only one voice lately." I said as realization dawned on me. "So, are we going to meet our little welcome party?"
Kumoko and I stepped outside and we're met with an entourage of taratects. Leading the company was a mammoth spider around fifty feet long. It's appearance was eerily similar to the behemothic spider that carved out a section of the middle stratum, except for the fact that it's almost completely chalk white instead of basalt brown.
I appraised it.
Arch Taratect: Lvl 31 Skill points: 34500
Hp: 4466/4466
Mp: 3182/3182
Sp (Yellow): 4267/4267
Sp (Red): 4262/4262
Offense: 4399
Defense: 4315
Magic: 3004
Resistance: 3101
Speed: 4237
HP Rapid Recovery: Lvl 5 | MP Recovery Speed: Lvl 7 | MP Lessened Consumption: Lvl 7 | SP Rapid Recovery: Lvl 2 | SP Minimized Consumption: Lvl 2 | Ultimate Life: Lvl 2 | Magic Hoard: Lvl 8 | Ultimate Movement: Lvl 1 | Fortune: Lvl 1 | Fortitude: Lvl 2 | Stronghold: Lvl 2 | Monk: Lvl 7 | Talisman: Lvl 8 | Skanda: Lvl 1 | Magic Power Attack: Lvl 6 | Deadly Poison Attack: Lvl 10 | Status Condition Super-Enhancement: Lvl 3 | Destruction Super-Enhancement: Lvl 2 | Cutting Super-Enhancement: Lvl 4 | Piercing Super-Enhancement: Lvl 8 | Impact Super-Enhancement: Lvl 3 | Shock Super-Enhancement: Lvl 1 | Magic Warfare: Lvl 4 | Mental Warfare: Lvl 7 | Poison Synthesis: Lvl 5 | Utility Thread: Lvl 3 | Thread Control: Lvl 10 | Telekinesis: Lvl 2 | Dimensional Maneuvering: Lvl 8 | Clairvoyance: Lvl 2 | Magic Power Perception: Lvl 7 | Danger Perception: Lvl 10 | Presence Perception: Lvl 10 | Motion Perception: Lvl 10 | Magic Power Operation: Lvl 7 | Heretic Magic: Lvl 10 | Poison Magic: Lvl 10 | Healing Magic: Lvl 4 | Destruction Super-Resistance: Lvl 1 | Cutting Super-Resistance: Lvl 2 | Piercing Super-Resistance: Lvl 2 | Impact Super-Resistance: Lvl 4 | Shock Resistance: Lvl 9 | Status Condition Super-Resistance: Lvl 8 | Rot Resistance: Lvl 6 | Heresy Resistance: Lvl 5 | Pain Nullification | Pain Super-Mitigation: Lvl 2 | Threadsmanship: Lvl 5 | Hit: Lvl 10 | Evasion: Lvl 10 | Probability Super-Correction: Lvl 2 | Vision Enhancement: Lvl 10 | Night Vision: Lvl 10 | Vision Expansion: Lvl 7 | Auditory Enhancement: Lvl 7 | Olfactory Enhancement: Lvl 2 | Tactile Enhancement: Lvl 7 | Satiation: Lvl 4 | Taboo: Lvl 7 |
[Foul Feeder] [Kin Eater] [Monster Slayer] [Poison Technique User] [Monster Slaughterer] [Thread User] [Monster Calamity] [Human Slayer] [Champion]
I craned my head to my left and looked behind the Arch Taratect to see three smaller and weaker taratects behind it. They're smaller, at around twenty feet long, and weaker. They also have chocolate brown exoskeletons instead of a chalk white one like the Arch Taratect in front of them.
I appraised one of the brown taratects.
Greater Taratect: Lvl 29 Skill points: 34500
Hp: 2845/2845
Mp: 2101/2101
Sp (Yellow): 2833/2833
Sp (Red): 2839/2839
Offense: 1766
Defense: 2710
Magic: 2099
Resistance: 2102
Speed: 2744
HP Rapid Recovery: Lvl 1 | MP Recovery Speed: Lvl 2 | MP Lessened Consumption: Lvl 1 | SP Rapid Recovery: Lvl 1 | SP Minimized Consumption: Lvl 1 | Longevity: Lvl 6 | Magic Hoard: Lvl 2 | Instant Body: Lvl 6 | Endurance: Lvl 6 | Herculean Strength: Lvl 6 | Sturdy: Lvl 6 | Monk: Lvl 1 | Talisman: Lvl 2 | Acceleration: Lvl 6 | Deadly Poison Attack: Lvl 5 | Destruction Enhancement: Lvl 8 | Cutting Enhancement: Lvl 8 | Piercing Super-Enhancement: Lvl 8 | Impact Enhancement: Lvl 5 | Status Condition Enhancement: Lvl 9 | Mental Warfare: Lvl 4 | Spider Thread: Lvl 9 | Thread Control: Lvl 5 | Cutting Thread: Lvl 5 | Poison Synthesis: Lvl 2 | Dimensional Maneuvering: Lvl 2 | Telescopic Sight: Lvl 7 | Magic Power Perception: Lvl 6 | Hit: Lvl 10 | Evasion: Lvl 10 | Probability Correction: Lvl 5 | Danger Perception: Lvl 10 | Presence Perception: Lvl 10 | Motion Perception: Lvl 10 | Magic Power Operation: Lvl 5 | Heretic Magic: Lvl 10 | Poison Magic: Lvl 8 | Destruction Resistance: Lvl 6 | Cutting Resistance: Lvl 6 | Piercing Resistance: Lvl 8 | Impact Resistance: Lvl 9 | Shock Resistance: Lvl 5 | Status Condition Resistance: Lvl 8 | Rot Resistance: Lvl 3 | Heresy Resistance: Lvl 1 | Pain Nullification | Pain Mitigation: Lvl 8 | Threadsmanship: Lvl 2 | Vision Enhancement: Lvl 10 | Night Vision: Lvl 10 | Vision Expansion: Lvl 5 | Auditory Enhancement: Lvl 4 | Olfactory Enhancement: Lvl 4 | Overeating: Lvl 9 | Taboo: Lvl 4
[Foul Feeder] [Kin Eater] [Monster Slayer] [Poison Technique User] [Thread User] [Monster Slaughterer]
Behind the three Greater Taratects are more taratects, but I didn't bother to appraise any of them.
"Well, may I ask what your purpose your visit entails?" I said as my left hand rested on Yamato's sheath, my thumb on the handguard. "It isn't everyday that we have guests."
"Move aside Wyrm." The Arch Taratect growled out. "Our business isn't with you. If you choose to align yourself with the traitor, your life will be forfeit. Move, now."
"Now, now, there's no need to be nasty." I said, holding my right hand up in mock surrender. "I would hate to have to use violence on our visitors."
"Move aside." The Arch Taratect threatened, its voice bearing more hostility. "That is your final warning, Wyrm."
"And here I was, trying to be pleasant." I said with a sigh and shook my head. "By the way, do you even want to do this? Knowing you're sent on a suicide mission must not be pleasant. Even I would be hesitant to accept such a mission."
"Our feelings do not matter." The Arch Taratect replied almost robotically, its tone completely different to the aggressive one it had before. "Whatever our Queen desires, we shall too desire it. She wants the traitor dead, and we shall carry out her will to our last breath."
"I see. You were not given a choice." I mused. "That's a sad life you lead. You're born to serve someone who wouldn't give a Greym's tail about you. No wonder why Kumoko wants to rebel."
The Arch Taratect charged at Kumoko, covering the distance of around fifty yards (45.7 meters) in the blink of an eye and tackled Kumoko away from me.
As soon as the Arch Taratect moved, the Greater Taratects leaped in the air and surrounded me in a triangle formation on my left, my right, and right behind me.
I flicked Yamato out of its sheath, its blade barely peeking out of the (wood?) scabbard, and held the sword's grip with my right hand. I'm certain Kumoko will be fine with the Arch Taratect. From what I could tell, Taratects are particularly weak to fire.
After a few seconds, the Greater Taratect behind me charged straight at me. I whirled around, fully withdrew Yanato from its sheath, and blocked its attack. Yamato's sharp blade sank into the Greater Taratect's claws.*3
The Greater Taratect screeched in pain and pulled its claws up, making me unable to pull the blade out for a few seconds. Its two allies dashed towards me while I was preoccupied with their ally.
I raised my right foot and kicked the one to my right, launching the brown spider a couple of yards away from me, but I wasn't able to avoid the incoming attack from the one to my left.
Its claws sliced into my back and I bit back a pained grunt. I sliced off the claws of the Greater Taratect in front of me and leaped backwards to give myself some space.
The three Greater Taratects formed a straight line and simultaneously charged towards me.
From their attack patterns, the Greater Taratects aren't super intelligent and relied on their superior numbers to overwhelm me. I could deal with one, maybe two, with relative ease but with three of them, the fight exponentially increased in difficulty.
To remedy that, I need a way to separate them. And I have what was necessary to do just that.
I stomped on the ground and ice formed near my boot and spread all around me. I used my wings to lift myself around two inches off of the ground so as to not slip on the ice.
The moment the Greater Taratects' feet made contact with the ice, they- unable to keep their balance- slipped and slid across the frozen ground.
Using Telekinesis, I shoved the two Greater Taratects away from the one in the center. Since the Greater Taratects have Dimensional Maneuvering, this brought me, at most, a couple of seconds.
Using Spatial Maneuvering, I kicked off the air and sheathed Yamato. My wings assisted me as I glided through the air at the Greater Taratect. As I neared the Greater Taratect, I saw its eyes widening in fear at its impending fate.
I yanked Yamato out of its sheath and bisected the cocoa brown spider. Its head rolled across the floor and I turned around to see the other two Greater Taratects clicking their fangs.
I swung Yamato, all the blood flew off the silver sword, and sheathed the blade. The two other Greater Taratects used Dimensional Maneuvering and bypassed the ice colored floor entirely. From my perspective, they look like they're flying straight at me.
Now with only two of them, the fight became much more manageable. I lifted my hand and dark purple runes formed in a circular pattern. The runes started to spin faster and faster and when the runes were nothing more than a purple blur, a dark beam of Abyssal Beam shot out of the center. While it took more Mp to cast Abyssal Beam this way, it's faster than it up in my mouth.
Thank goodness I've done some magic practice with Kumoko. Turns out, I've been wasting Mp by improperly casting spells. But with Height of Occultism and some more practice, I've increased my efficiency by as much as a hundred-fifty percent in some cases.
The black beam discentigrated a portion of the first Greater Taratect's body, killing it almost immediately.
The second one rolled out of the way and managed to avoid the beam.
I appraised myself.
Smaller Dark Wyrm: Rosemary Whites Lvl 20 Skill points: 1500
Hp: 2843+ 583/2843
Mp: 2698/3161
Sp (Yellow): 2874/3023
Sp (Red): 3112+357/3112
Offense: 3067
Defense: 2956
Magic: 2031
Resistance: 2909
Speed: 3344
Appraisal: Lvl 10 | Steel Teeth: Lvl 3 | Tungsten Grip: Lvl 2 | Chromium Staff: Lvl 2 | Abyssal Breath: Lvl 10 | Abyssal Beam: Lvl 10 | Void Breath: Lvl 2 Fossilizing Gaze: Lvl 2 | Death Gate Lost Memories: Lvl 10 | Deadly Doors Libary of Souls: Lvl 4 | Mind Reading: Lvl 10 | Fartalk: Lvl 8 | Imperial Scales: Lvl 7 | Rage: Lvl 5 | Hp Rapid Recovery: Lvl 9 | | Mp Minimalized Consumption: Lvl 6 | Mp Rapid Recovery: Lvl 7 | Sp Recovery Speed: Lvl 6 | Iron Defense: Lvl 8 | Sp Lessened Consumption: Lvl 7 | Dark Wyrm: Lvl 5 | High-Speed Flight: Lvl 10 | Night Vision: Lvl 10 | Five Senses Super-Enhancement: Lvl 8 | Stealth: Lvl 10 | Fortitude: Lvl 2 | Stronghold: Lvl 3 | High-Speed Processing: Lvl 8 | Thought Accelloration: Lvl 6 | Skanda: Lvl 3 | Detection: Lvl 10 | Probability Super-Correction: Lvl 7 | Evasion: Lvl 10 | Hit: Lvl 10 | Martial Arts Mastery: Lvl 7 | Sword mastery: Lvl 7 | Shieldsmanship: Lvl 10 | Satiation: Lvl 8 | Ultimate Life: Lvl 7 | Tyrant: Lvl 5 | Scale Weaving | Dragon Power: Lvl 7 | Dragon Barrier: Lvl 2| Shadow Magic: Lvl 10 | Dark Magic: Lvl 10 | Black Magic: Lvl 10 | Abyss Magic: Lvl 1| Heretic Magic: Lvl 10 | Bolt Magic: Lvl 7 | Heavy Magic: Lvl 10 | Ice Magic: Lvl 6 | Healing Magic: Lvl 6 | Spatial Magic: Lvl 6 | Fear Super-Resistance: Lvl 7 | Heat Nullfication | Heresy Super-Resistance: Lvl 8 | Blasphemous attack: Lvl 5 | Lightning Attack: Lvl 6 | Heavy Attack: Lvl 6 | Dark Attack: Lvl 6 | Ice Attack: Lvl 6 | Rot Super-Resistance: Lvl 9 | Poison Super-Resistance: Lvl 9 | Pain Nullification | Pain Super-Mitigation: Lvl 8 | Bolt Resistance: Lvl 8 | Heavy Super-Resistance: Lvl 8 | Impact Super-Resistance: lvl 10 | Exhaustion Nullification | Ice Resistance: Lvl 6 | Impact Super-Enhancement: Lvl 7 | | Cutting Super-Enhancement: Lvl 7 | | Shock Super-Enhancement: Lvl 7 | | Bolt Enhancement: Lvl 6 | | Heavy Enhancement: Lvl 7 | | Black Enhancement: Lvl 6 | Ice Enhancement: Lvl 6 |Humanification | Divinity Expansion: Lvl 3 |Language Master | Height of Occultism | High-Speed Swimming: Lvl 4 | Spatial Maneuvering: Lvl 6 | Ultimate Magic: Lvl 1 | Last Stand | Sloth | Telekinesis: Lvl 7 | Taboo: Lvl 5| Corruption | n=W
[Foul Feeder] [Merciless] [Fearbringer] [Monster Slayer] [Monster Slaughterer] [Wyrm Slayer] [Wyrm Slaughterer] [Dragon Slayer] [Ruler of Sloth] [Guardian]
The last Greater Taratect didn't even flinch at the site of its comrade's mutilated body. It just continued to charge at me with reckless abandon.
With Mind Reader, I could tell. The Greater Taratect is scared. Afraid. Terrified even. But, it can't retreat because its Queen had ordered it not to. In fact, the only reason why the three Greater Taratects fought me in the first place is to stall for time. The Queen Taratect is using them as meat shields to prevent me from getting to Kumoko.
"Our feelings do not matter."
"Whatever our Queen desires, we shall too desire it."
"We shall carry out her will to our last breath."
Honestly, I pity them. They're nothing more than convenient tools for the Queen Taratect to use and their lives hold no meaning to her. It's cruel, and it's life for them. But alas, I'm no paragon. Although I do feel some pity for their fate, they're standing in my way and I will cut them down without mercy.
I shoved Yamato into its scabbard and bent down in a wide stance. My right hand on the blade ready to pull at a moment's notice and my left on the scabbard ready to assist on the unsheathing.
When the Greater Taratect was sixteen yards away from me, it leaped into the air and spewed spider thread in a web-like pattern at me.
I imbued my limbs in Heavy, Lightning, and Ice coursed through my limbs and gripped Yamato's handle & sheath harder in anticipation for the attack.
Twelve yards away…
Eight yards away…
Six yards away…
Four yards…
Two yards…
One yard…
When the Greater Taratect was around half a yard away from me, Yamato flew out of its scabbard with almost explosive force and I released a flurry of slashes & slices at the Greater Taratect and the web of thread it weaved.*4
I wiped the Greater Taratect's blood from Yamato's blade with my undershirt as the chunks of bloody flesh and whispery filaments of spiderweb rained down around me.
"Experience threshold has been reached. Individual Rosemary Whites has reached level 21." Mysterious voice reported. "You have obtained skill points. All basic attributes have increased. Proficiency has risen… Experience threshold has been reached. Individual Rosemary Whites has reached level 22. "
I sheathed Yamato with a click and gazed towards the less evolved Taratects. They were nearly frozen in fight but, nonetheless, were still preparing to fight. To stall me for as long as possible. To buy as much time as they could for their leader. But as I replenished my Hp with some Healing Magic, Kumoko teleported back with the now charred body of the Arch Taratect.
At the sight of their leader's black and smoking corpse, all the Taratects were frozen stiff in fright. The combined fear of watching me rip through three of their second-strongest members and Kumoko casually hoisting their leader's badly scorched corpse was too much for them.
Kumoko & I looked at each other and we each readied a barrage of spells. Dozens upon dozens of runes lit up in the air and glowed in a kaleidoscope of colors. We unleashed them at the group of taratects and the extremely weak Small Lesser Taratects died from the shockwave our combined might; the rest died from the fusillade of destructive magic.
Our bombardment of magic spells carved holes in the floor and kicked up enormous clouds of debris. When the dust settled, we were left with the bodies of dozens and dozens of taratects.
Kumoko cheered and leapt onto the piles upon piles of taratect bodies. She gorged herself on the flesh of her siblings without as much as a second thought.
I should be disgusted at the blatant showing of cannibalism, yet I just couldn't care less. It's not like I'm a human who was taught the concept of morality from a young age. No, I'm a wyrm now; my past life as a human shouldn't matter anymore. I'm a monster, a wild animal. And an animal doesn't care for the concept of morality. In the past few months I've been down in the Great Elroe Labyrinth, I don't think I've shown a single shred of kindness to anything and anyone that isn't Kumoko. It's kill or be killed down here, I don't really don't have much space for empathy.
Well, whatever. It's not good to think of such things: I'm only sixteen. I should worry about when my next meal would come, not ponder my own morality.
Even though the Taratect corpses smell repulsive -and that's putting it lightly-, I still want to level up Satiation. Who knows when my next meal would come with all the monsters running away from Kumoko and I the moment they felt our presence.
I picked up the carcass of a Small Lesser Taratect and bit into it like a watermelon. Red blood dribbled down my cheek and I grimaced as I chewed. It tasted just as bad as it smelled.
'This is going to suck' I thought with a sigh. 'Cooking it won't do anything.'
*Since the Baraggish was charging, Kumoko simply stopped it for a bit and redirected its momentum upwards.
*2 Yes, fifth degree burns exist. No, you don't want to search them up. Fifth degree burns when the skin is destroyed and muscle is exposed.
*3 Yamato can slice through everything, but the Greater Taratect pulled up. Since Yamato is a sword, it can not slice through anything that isn't touching its razor sharp edge.
*4 As for how Rosemary got so good with a sword, you can get really good at swinging a stick if you swing it enough. No practical experience and would probably lose to someone who was properly trained, but good enough to take care of monsters.