Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or So I'm a Spider, so What?
Chapter 2: Nest Invasion
Back in the cavern not long after the man in black armor left, Ichigo is laying on his back with his arms covering his eyes still trying to process everything. Ichigo groaned "Okay, I was caught in a bright light in my new school, turned into a small lizard which so happens to be a baby dragon, I can gain these powers called skills like in video games," he takes a breath and continues. "I meet my dragon parents, I can somehow understand them, then out of nowhere some guy appears scares the hell out of me...and I've been to hell dammit!" he shifts his body to the side, "To top it all off, I have another name in this world called Araba."
Rolling his body on his back again, he looks up to the ceiling of the cave. "Why do I have this name? Just a bit ago on my stats I had no other name next to my real one, so what's going on here?" The image of the being he couldn't understand with armor flashed in his mind, then he got it. "I guess he must've done something to me to have this name? Well, I'm not happy about this at all. Being named something like Araba while I already have my own name makes me feel like a pet...to heck with that." he grunted on that last part.
He gets up on all fours. "I should already be used to all this random nonsense by now. But of course, I get dragged into yet 'another' supernatural mess. No use of complaining about it more, I guess." Ichigo climbs out of the nest and starts running around it.
"The only thing I can do right now, is to get used to this new body. Wherever happens next, I've got to find a way back home!" as Ichigo runs, he sees the same crystal he headbutted before and thought of something. "Lets try this!"
Getting into position he jumps in the air and twists his body so his tail would whip the crystal. "Let's try this move!"
Whip!
"Ahhh!"
Landing hard on his back, Ichigo grabs his hurt tail and starts blowing on it.
"Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Pain Resistance LV1] has become [Pain Resistance LV2]."
"Thank you, I've learned my lesson, now buzz off lady." he mutters in irritation.
After the pain subsides some, Ichigo endures the stinging feeling of his tail and continues with his new body exercises. He might've just hatched, but he refused to be in a weak state for long. Back home in his old world, he took pride in his physical strength. He teen had too because he needed to be strong enough to protect those he wanted to protect. Now he has to start over from scratch in a small scaly body in a cave full of unknown dangers. Sooner or later he'll have to leave the dragons nest and explore what's out there.
After some time of pushing his body to the limits once more, Ichigo decided to call it a day, or night, or whatever the hell time of day it is in the outside world.
Gehre who was guarding him dropped another piece of meat from above and in front of Ichigo's tired body.
'Yeah. I'll have to leave the nest eventually soon to find my own food. Until then, I'll keep working out in this body and eat to regain some strength as much as I can before that time comes.' he thought after taking another bit of the meat. This wasn't the first time he thought intensely of being thrown into the lions den. Saving Rukia in an unknown maze like society was beyond tough and confusing. Ganju making a poor map right off the bat didn't help them at all! But here, he had no back up and sooner or later he had to go on his own.
After he ate his fill, he lay'd down next to Gehre who was now sleeping. Before drowsiness took over, Ichigo muttered a few words "Sooner or later." and he was out for the day.
Unknown Place
In a dark area where only a dim light coming from a T.V. screen lit up the room. Emerging from the shadows of the wall, a single person came forth. The humanoid figure was now sitting on a couch with a grin, as it was watching Ichigo as he was doing his training routine and is now resting next to older dragon on the T.V. When the person in the dark saw him do that stunt with his tail, it made the being giggle at the action.
"Such a silly little dragon." spoke the being with a feminine voice, but with hints of coldness in her amused tone. "That aside, he seems to be developing quite nicely. That's to be expected, given his nature of adjusting quickly. No wonder little Sosuke Aizen took an interest to this child."
She sits up from her seat. "There was also the need to send him out to that world first before I sent out the other souls as well. Pulling some strings to my own system and fixing what those two imbeciles did was tough work and a pain in the butt. But at least now that I have things back in order, I can be entertained with this one until it's time for the rest of my new toys to go out and play." she walks to her desk and to a keyboard in front of the screen.
While she was typing, her smirk of amusement never left her face, and it grew by the second. "Now, Ichigo...or should I call you Araba now?" she shrugs "Doesn't really matter. Let's make things more interesting, shall we?" she chuckled darkly on the last part. The woman satisfied with her work sat back down on her couch to enjoy what was coming next. "This will be fun to see. Don't disappoint me too soon."
Meanwhile...Kisuke's shack
Yoruichi flash stepped at full speed and was at her best friend's shop in just six seconds.
The former stealth commander rushed in. "Kisuke! Kisuke, where are you?!" she shouted as she was searching for him all over the shop. Before reaching one of the last rooms, she ran into Tessai who was standing in front of a closed room door.
"Tessai! Where is Kisuke? Something happened at the Heishin highschool!" she says with tears in her eyes, "And Ichigo was, Ichigo was-" she was stopped when Tessai put his hands on her shoulders.
The former kido captain gave her a serious and solemn look. "He knows, Yoruichi. The boss knows what happened when the young man's presence disappeared and what we saw on the news. Right now as we speak he's frantically looking for Ichigo's spirit signature. He's been in his room for the past two hours trying to find clues. You can hear him typing hard on his keyboards in his lab, can you?" he says while looking back at the door. The only noises that can be heard were indeed the sounds of multiple buttons being pushed from inside the room.
Just the sound of this broke Yoruichi's heart even more. Knowing her oldest friends as she did, never once has she heard the sounds of intensity coming from Kisuke. It was clear to her that they were not the sounds of him being excited for a new project or making new candies for his sweet-tooth. It was completely different. They were the sounds of a broken man in despair.
Yoruichi took a step back and fell on her knees with her head down. "Tessai." she says with sadness in her voice while looking at the floor. "Does Isshin know what happened yet?"
The atmosphere grew intense with a minute of silence until Tessai finally answered with a deep sigh. "I've...contacted Isshin first about what happened. When I told him we don't know what occurred at the school, all was silent from him and he hung up. No words need to be said of what he's going through..."
"Of course it doesn't. First his wife and now his son. We can't even begin to comprehend what he's feeling since he's a parent. Especially how he's going to tell Karin and Yuzu about what happened to their brother. I can't even imagine what he'll say to them."
Tessai slowly nodded. "Indeed. It, will not be a pleasant conversation. I haven't contacted the other children yet. I'll inform them very soon."
Picking herself back up with her purple hair covering her eyes, Yoruichi slowly heads to the front door of the shop.
"Where are you going, Miss. Shiohin?" Tessai asks clearly worried.
Without turning back in front of the shop door, she answers. "I think they've already noticed, but I'm going to tell Ichigo's friends what happened. It would be better to tell them in person than on the phone..." she flashsteps away.
Back in The Great Elroe Labyrinth...
"Okay, lets go again!" Araba encourages himself as he does some back-flips towards the wall. Right when he was next to it, he lands at the wall on all fours. He immediately jumps off and lands on the ground. Another training routine to get more used to his small body. He's even made great progress with how quickly he's adjusted so far. While doing so he discovered a few things. He found out yesterday...or a few hours ago...?
'Damn it! There's no clock to tell time in here!' he mentally shacks his head.
Anyway, his skill levels do have a limit. Their max level can be at level 10. From the mystery voice woman, he found that out when his Night Vision skill hit level 10 and that was the limit. Though, these skills were still unknown to him. At least it was a small step to something. Then there was something else...
His Fear Resistance skill was a mystery, unlike his other skills so far. His other abilities not including his Night Vision were on the physical side of things. But this resistance, was closer to the emotional side and that was strange. Why would there be something like that?
Even though it was a short exchange, it was still unnerving from his earlier encounter with the man who warped away. 'That skill showed itself after that guy came from who knows where to make me kneel to him.' Just thinking about it gave him chills. It was closely to what he felt when he fought against Kenpachi's blood-lust or when Ulquiorra pulled that second release form on him.
"Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Fear Resistance LV1] has become [Fear Resistance LV2]."
Ignoring it, Ichigo was continuing with his train of thoughts. 'Back on topic, I can gain new skills by not just fighting, but what I feel too? It sounds like it can make me stronger, in a way? But I can't expect what's going to happen next. For all I know there's probably some Prediction Skill or something dumb like that.'
"Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired Skill [Prediction LV1]."
"And my point is proven." he says clearly not amused.
As soon as he concluded his small theory, Kagna who was in charge of the nest suddenly woke up from it's nap and raised it's head, looking alarmed? This reaction surprised Ichigo. The older dragon was staring intently at the entrance where normally either him or Gehre take turns going in and out of to hunt and guard their home.
This action alone was making the young hatching's instincts rise in alarm. A familiar feeling Ichigo was well aware of...danger was coming. The sense of danger didn't feel as pressuring as the man in armor, bit it was still threatening regardless. With Kagna leaving the nest, things will not get easier for them...wait, what?!
Kagna was indeed leaving the nest and was heading out to see what it was. Leaving the home exposed in the process!
"What the hell?! Get back here! Your supposed to be staying close to guard the nest place you idiot! Your a damn living fortress for crying out loud!" he tries to form words to the Earth Dragon, but all that came put of his mouth were small squeaks. It was strange. It felt like he was speaking Japanese, but at the same time he wasn't. It was incredibly confusing.
With the elder dragon gone, Ichigo was all alone with the wrym eggs.
"That stupid, walrus turtle of a dragon! No wonder Gehre always gets on your giant tailed ass." he says while looking at the tunnel Kagna left from and still hasn't come back.
Then after a few moments the feeling of danger returned twofold. Out of instinct, Ichigo got on all fours and started growling of the presence nearing him. Then a thought suddenly hit him. 'Wait, I'm growling? I guess I am losing my humanity?' It wasn't a pleasant thought at all to say the least. Even though he was in a small lizard body, he was hoping to keep his human spirit intact until he found a way home. But now was not the time to be thinking about that. Something was coming and he needed to be ready for it, if he could...
The sounds of footsteps can be heard closing in on the nest. Thinking quickly, Araba hid behind the eggs of the nest. Thanks to his Night Vision skill, he could make out those in the darkness who were coming into view. To his surprise, they were humans...and four of them.
The one in front of the small group had a map in one hand and a torch in the other. He was also wearing a bag of sorts with scrolls sticking out of the bag.
The second was wearing armor all over his body with a sword sheathed. He had a shield strapped to his left arm while holding onto a torch of his right.
The third was wielding a bow strongly in his hands while wearing a cloak.
The final one behind the other three was the most bizarre of the others. He had a built body with long golden hair while hardly wearing anything to protect himself with only a cap and pants. He had a large axe in hand while covering his eyes with a small white mask.
'Okay, how did these guys get around Kanga? I doubt they killed him if I didn't hear a whisper of a struggle or the ground shacking. Most likely they snuck around that giant dumbass of a dragon,' he mentally grumbles. 'I better Appraise these guys just to be safe. Lets start with the human in the front.'
"Human: Basgath."
"Human: Gordeau."
"Human: Gaikun."
"Human: Onjin."
While the information didn't help much, but at least they were just humans. But that doesn't mean the danger was still there in front of him and the group was getting closer to the nest.
Ichigo had to think calmly of his situation. 'Okay, what am I supposed to do now? Four people that look tough and apparently my 'guardian' is taking a vacation somewhere. I need to somehow get around these guys. The obvious question is how? All I got for skills is hiding and seeing in the dark. I'm supposed to be some kind of dragon that can breath fire, right? What can I do here?!' Then something happened that caused the small hybrid lizard to glare deadly at the humans.
When the humans were at the nest with Ichigo being completely still, the one named Onjin put his weapon down and picked up one of the wyrm eggs.
He spoke loudly. "**** *** *** ****!" "**** **** **** *** ** **** ***** ***** ***** **** * ****** ***!" his mouth was suddenly covered shut by the one named Basgath.
From Ichigo's perspective, the one with the axe seemed to be the idiot of the group. The humans sneaked in here and the guy yelling his mouth off was obviously a fool. But he can definitely use that. While the group were silently arguing, the dark blue wyrm sneaked around them. His next move was a big gamble. He could easily run away now and try to find the older dragon that left. But his inner instincts as a wyrm were screaming inside to protect the egg the man was holding. He was going to painfully regret this, but the reincarnation chose to fight.
Getting in position, the small wyrm waited for just a second to attack. He only had two attacks he can do, so he's going to use them. Picking up a small rock next to him in between his stubby little fingers, he was ready to put his small plan into action. As soon as the man named Basgath let go of Onjin's mouth, Ichigo threw the rock above their heads and into to the wall across from him and strikes!
Human POV
Onjin spoke arrogantly as he picked up one of the eggs while keeping a firm grip on it. "This was too easy! We're going to get a major bonus bringing back this dragon egg!" he laughed.
The guide of the labyrinth quickly pocketed the map and placed his hand on the muscle headed buffoon's mouth to keep him down. "Quiet! We just barely got around that Earth Dragon at the entrance with that bait we used. Are you trying to get us all killed?!" Basgath whispered with hints of anger in his voice. If it wasn't for the money from these high ranking adventurers of the Analeit kingdom, he wouldn't have accepted this awful job of taking an egg from an Earth Dragon and bring it back to the castle. 'Greedy bastards! Making us do something this suicidal!'
As soon as he let the axe man go, a sudden sound came from behind the group.
CLICK!
They all turned around to see where the noise came from, only to see a pebble falling to the ground.
"Gah!" Onjin cried in agony, gaining the men's attention back to him, but not what they were expecting. They were witnessing a small Earth Wyrm biting hard on the axe wielder's throat. This caused him to release the egg he was holding and it landed on the ground. But since it was a Wyrm egg that's said to be incredibly hard to break like a boulder. When it hit the ground, it also landed on Onjin's foot, making the wild-man fall to the ground while trying to get the creature off of him.
"Hurry and get it off of him! His screaming will bring the dragon back." Gordeau says trying to be as silent as possible while trying to get the Wyrm off of his nitwit companion. Right when he grabbed the small blue creature's sides, he was whipped in the face by it's tail. Causing him to release it and holding onto his face from the pain.
"Get it off meh! Geat it ofh offh meh!" Onjin tried to form words, but his throat was being crushed and bleeding from this monster's bites. Despite the pain when he witnessed one of his team members going down was the last straw. With all of his strength, Onijin moved from the hatching's sides to it's throat and yanked it off his neck. When he finally got it off of him with it still struggled in his hands, Gordeau used his shield and slammed it off of his hands. Causing the small dragon to land hard on the wall with the wind knocked out of it.
In a split second, the archer named Gaikun who has been keeping a sharp eye out in case the elder dragon was returning witnessed the whole thing in disbelief. He fired a quick arrow at the little monster's tail, pinning it to the wall before it could fall to the ground, causing it to squeak in pain. "I got that violent thing stuck to the wall. Let us make heist with this job at once." he tried to keep his voice down. If they failed in their task of retrieving an egg, all because of a newborn wyrm, it would be a major embarrassment to report back. They were a high ranking team in their country and were hired by high standing nobles. They have done lots of tasks against strong monsters to get where they were. For them to fail like this against an incredibly weak monster, it would be utter humiliation for this team and a blow to their reputation.
Taking a potion from his bag, Basgath poured the liquid down on Onjin's throat. It immediately took effect when the man stopped struggling and took some deep breaths.
"There, that should help with the pain. But my potion isn't strong enough to heal an injury like this," he puts the empty bottle back in his bag. "We'll need to get you back up to the surface and have someone with healing magic to-" Basgath was cut off when Onjin in a fit of rage knocked him to the side to reach for his axe.
"You...little...bastard! I'll...kill you!" he roars trying to speak with his throat still damaged. Ignoring the pain in his still hurt foot, he grabs the arrow that was keeping the baby wyrm to the wall and pulled it out of it's tail. When the small reptile landed on the ground, Onjin raised his axe above his head to make the finishing blow.
"Wait Onjin! That creature is worth a fortune!" Gordeau tries to stop Onjin, but he couldn't reach his partner in time.
However, the axe wielder didn't get a chance. When he swung his long weapon, it bounced off the wall. Also knocking the weapon out of his hands from the force of his failed attack. Which gave the wyrm a chance to recover for a second.
Without missing a beat seeing the blunder the adventurer made, the baby dragon used that small opening and headbutted Onjin in the gut, stabbing him with it's small sharp horns on it's head. The simple attack was enough to knock Onjin back to the ground.
Basgath who was picking himself off the ground from the fool's barbaric nature with Gordeau helping him on his feet while he was seeing this unbelievable struggle. 'That stupid fool! His weapon is too long to swing in this cave. He's making too much noise and he set the Earth Wyrm free. He's going to get us all killed!' He needed to do something quick for he will not die because of the axe wielding maniac. But he also couldn't ignore how strong this newborn was to give them this much trouble. He's seen tons of earth wyrms in the labyrinth before, but he felt this one was different somehow. Especially how it badly injured one of the high ranking adventurers. "I better Appraise it and see what's up with it. My skill might be level 3, but better than nothing." he whispered as he appraised it.
"Earth Wyrm: Araba LV1."
"What?! It can't be!" Basgath unintentionally raised his voice in surprised. At first he thought it was a Wrym of a higher level. But he wasn't expecting this small thing to literally have just hatched be this difficult.
Before anymore madness happened, Gordeau quickly grabbed a potato bag from his inventory and captured the wrym while it was still attacking Onjin. "I've got the little beast! Lets forget about the dragon eggs," he holds up the bag while the wyrm was moving frantically in it, "This one will do." he says with his heart pounding hard. Fearing with all the noise they made while trying to contain the hatchling, the Earth Dragon would return with an angry vengeance.
"I agree. We're out of time. I can feel the ground shacking." Gaikun said while the ground under his feet were indeed shacking and it was getting stronger by the second. Signaling that the parent of the nest was coming back. He swiftly gets Onjin to his feet while putting the man's arm around him for support, despite the axe wielder's throat a bit torn.
As the group quickly made it out of the dragons nest, they left the large axe behind...
Karakura Town;
Tatsuki's apartment
Inside the apartment room, Yoruichi gave Ichigo's very first friend the hurting news. The former assassin already made her way to all of the others, Tatsuki being the last one.
The short black-haired young woman who grew her hair out some, her skin was pale white. Her eyes were wide with tears. "No! I just saw the news of a classroom being attacked. But this has to be a mistake! Ichigos fine, right?!" She grabs Yoruichi by her shoulders to look at her in the eyes with shaky arms, struggling not to lose herself. "He was really kidnapped by this spiritual stuff and your going to get him back. That's what really happened to him just like Orihime, r-right?! T-tell m-me that, that's t-the truth! Please!" she screams with her voice starting to break up. Her heart starting to shatter with more tears running down her cheeks.
Slowly and gently, Yoruichi moved the young girl's arms off her shoulders. She looked to the girl with sorrowful eyes. "I'm sorry. I...wish that was what really happened myself. If it was, then I would've already been to where he is in a flash. But, this is different. I don't know how this happened. But...because this is not related to the spiritual realms at present. Ichigo is truly..." She didn't need to say anymore. With no trail to follow or any clues, there was nothing she could do to find out what happened to one of her cherished students.
Hearing this made the short-haired girl drop to her knees from losing strength in her legs. Her arms being the only thing keeping her off the floor. Her body shook from the inner turmoil that stormed her mind. She starts to remeber the small orange-haired crybaby she first met when they were kids. Leading up to the times they fought together against punks through their early elementary and middle school days. Bringing her memories to the present of how strong Ichigo became as a person and still protected what mattered to him when it was necessary, with or without powers. And now, hearing her childhood friend being killed, her heart felt like it was ripped in two. She regains a bit of her focus outside her head to speak again to the woman who was still standing in front of her. "P-Please leave. I-I want to be alone." she says as more tears fell heavily on the carpet floor. She couldn't restrain them anymore and just let them all out.
The older woman was going to what the young girl asked, but first, she needed to do something important for her. She wrapped her arms around Tatsuki, giving her a gentle hug, almost making the tomboy jump from the sudden action.
"I'll leave when you can't cry anymore. Let everything out, Tatsuki." Yoruichi said smoothly. Leaving the teenager to embrace the werecat tightly and didn't hold back her sorrow. The only thing Yoruichi could do with her decades of experience, was to smoothly rub the girl's back.
Back in the Labyrinth...
Upper Stratum
The group of human adventures continued through the caverns of the Great Elroe Labyrinth with their prized wyrm in tow.
With Basgath leading the way of being the only hope for the group to make it out of the underground hell alive. The guide came very close to death back at the dragons nest three days ago. In fact, it's the closet he's ever been to at death's door. He's never had to deal with a tremendous fool of an adventurer before either. He's still wary of what that axe wielder's actions almost cost him and the others...their very lives! Basgath always knew being a guide to the largest and most dangerous labyrinth in the world would someday get him killed. But he had to because other countries had to cross this place to make important deliveries or messages in times of crisis. Other times is when something threatens the labyrinth's balance and high ranking adventurers have to come here to resolve the threat and restore that balance. That way, the monsters who live here would stay within the great labyrinth and not go out to the outside world and attack nearby towns and villages. However, this time was different...
The high royals of the Analeit Kingdom including the king himself made a specific request. They wanted to obtain a rare wyrm egg within the labyrinth and raise the creature. After it hatched it would then most likely imprint and become the new Hero's loyal pet. The importance of this job was shown when the kingdom sent a team of high ranking adventurers with lots of money and he himself of being very knowledgeable of the labyrinth's pathways and monsters. Put all this sheer might together with high stealth skills, the job to most people would think it would go smoothly. The job was indeed completed of retrieving the creature, but not accurately correct.
Basgath looked behind him to see the condition of this quest, the adventurers were roughed up pretty badly from exhaustion and encountering some monsters along the way. Gordeau was holding the bag that had the wrym inside of it. Even now since capturing it, he could see the bag kept moving, showing obvious signs the small wyrm was still struggling to escape.
'Just what in the world is this thing? I've seen my fair share of Wryms in my life, but this one is a real monster,' The guide continues to move forward, but another disturbing thought crossed his mind. 'If we let this hatchling grow, I fear it would bring disaster to the labyrinth and the surface. Will the royals still accept it even thought it now has a reason to not trust humans?' he sweats at the thought, not liking to whats comes after they leave the underground caverns. Then another thought occurred to him. For some odd reason they kept stepping into small mud puddles? The ground wasn't moist enough for there to be any. It was strange, but he'd rather it be mud than monster droppings.
After another hour of traveling from his pocket watch, he finds a safe spot that looked decent enough. "Okay everyone. We're stopping here for the day." Basgath says as he puts his traveling bag down. He started taking firewood out of his bag to start a campfire.
Onjin, who was still on death's door from his wounds spoke up. "No! We need to keep moving. The sooner we leave this miserable cave the better."
Basgath glared fiercely at him. "We will stay put here, Onjin. We're too exhausted to move right now and we need to regain our strength. Besides, are you fellas aware of Labyrinth Sickness?"
While still holding the bag containing the wyrm, Gordeau sat down on a rock near Basgath. "Yeah we've heard about it. Some stories from the bars say that some poor adventures went deep into this labyrinth and went crazy until another group found them. They were lucky to have survived for days against weak monsters."
"Yeah. They were rookies trying to act brave pulling that foolish stunt. Soon right after that they gave up being adventurers and retired. Word is that they now work as farmers in the empire." Basgath cleared his throat for getting of the subject. "But back to the main topic. If you stay in this labyrinth for too long you'll lose your sense of time while struggling to keep up with the ongoing attacks of the monsters who live here while trying to find a way out, your mind and body will become exhausted to the point of insanity. Just like what happened to those adventures. That's Labyrinth Sickness." he let out a heavy breath. "We're already too tired to continue and we need to keep our heads clear. We'll camp here to get our strength back, then we head out." he speaks seriously in his tone, making the men nod with no complaints and they all sat down to rest.
RIP!
Then they heard something rip. Gordeau felt the weight of the bag he was holding suddenly vanish. Looking at the bag which contained their treasure, the newborn wyrm was gone?! The others wide-eyed noticed this too and frantically looked back towards the tunnel they came from. With their torches being the only light in the darkness, they just barely missed the small one's tail going back into the cavern's darkness.
"Oh no, you don't! Get back here you little shit!" Onjin got up with his torch in hand and races after their catch they came close to death for.
"Stop you fool! Don't go back after it!" the brown-haired guide tried to warn the wildman.
"Wait Onjin!" Gaikun speaks out as he and the others got up to follow after their foolish comrade. Grabbing their touches while leaving some of their bags behind, they went back through the same pathway they came from. But they weren't fast enough due to them struggling from exhaustion, however that wasn't the only problem. There was a very good reason why it was called the Great Elroe Labyrinth, because there are multiple tunnels wherever you looked! The group lost sight of Onjin.
"Dammit! We lost Onjin and our capture too!" Goreau turned towards Basgath while breathing heavily from running. "Can we, can we track him down?" he asks, earning a head shacking from the said man.
"I'm afraid that's impossible. This part of the labyrinth is too dry to leave footprints and we're too drained to go back to the lower stratum's." He sighs, clearly tired as well. "I would rather not leave someone behind here, but that man should've already realized by going on your own in this place is the last thing you should ever do. Especially right after that story I just explained."
The three tired men could do nothing else but to head back to their temporary rest stop to regain their stamina. They were not looking forward to the aftermath coming back up to the surface only to deliver bad news to the kingdom.
With Ichigo/Araba...
Running away, it was all the reincarnated teenager could do to survive in a newborn dragon body. Ichigo is beyond exhausted. It took longer than he thought, but he finally managed to escape that torturing sack. Not only was the bag thick, but it was painfully rough in there. It was hard to describe, but from his perspective, it felt like sharp pieces of glass were rubbing against his skin! His Pain Resistance skill went up some levels, which was one of the few good things to happen in his kidnapped torture. But he wished that still hadn't happened. Obviously enduring all the pain for who knows how long was beyond fun. True he's endured battle wounds in his Soul Reaper days from rescuing Rukia, but he was lucky to have Hanaturo treat him. Also for having Orihime to heal him from his more severe wounds in Hueco Mundo.
But this was completely different from those good old days. He was some newborn reptile who hasn't developed thick skin yet. So being bounced around while hitting repeatedly against the carrier's hard armor with the bag's roughness...was another level of enduring from what he was used to!
However despite that, he had to bear it and tried to think of ways of escaping these people. His options were extremely limited, but that didn't mean he couldn't make some. His meaning was the new skills he recently obtained. But even obtaining a few new skills weren't going to get him out at his current level. After realizing that fact, he had to think of another plan. It didn't him take long at all to find another solution. Using the small horns on his head, Ichigo used them to make cuts against his prison. It was a slow progress, but he finally broke through and he didn't hesitate of running on all fours. However he wasn't moving very well as he wanted. His vision was blurry and tired from hunger. Being in a sack for too long made his body sluggish, as well as the wounds from his earlier struggle and his rough bag marks. Finally having some fresh air out of the prison bag was helping him regaining his sight. However, there was another problem with his new found freedom...an angry man he was familiar with...
With enough focus he could see the wild-haired man was after him, strangely enough the human didn't have his axe? That was all that was going for Ichigo's favor, despite the pain of having a small hole in your tail from an earlier arrow shot! Looking back to what's in front of him, he chose a random tunnel and ran into the passage. Going further in, he could still hear his chaser closing in. The small Earth Wrym had one trick he could do, but he didn't think he had enough strength to pull it off.
Then the unexpected happened at the worst time, he tripped on a rock in his path and his stubby legs fell as well. Ichigo with his heart pounding fast while struggling to lift himself up, he hears his kidnapper coming closer.
'Come on! Get up! I can't die here!' Digging deep, he forced his body up to stand and continue to run, but he didn't get a step...
"Gotcha!" Onjin lifted him up by his neck. Then he slammed Ichigo hard to the ground.
"Ark!" Ichigo let out a chock from the impact. He felt his throat being squeezed and saw the man with his hands on his neck.
A dark chuckle escaped Onjin's mouth. "Now to pay you back for humiliating me in front of the others!" He put more force in strangling the young worm. "I'll take my time in ending your miserable little life. I don't care about the request anymore! I'll just have to tell my team that an Arch Taratect got a hold of you or something? Yeah! That's what I'll do! This story will get that annoying guide to make us go up to the surface faster. He wouldn't dare question me, a high ranking adventurer of the Analeit Kingdom! Me and the others would have to run from this spider monster as fast a we can, right? A perfect excuse for the Kingdom!" he gloated with an arrogant smirk. He looks back to his prey. "All that's left is to kill you. My disgrace will end with your short life. So die you little bas-" he was cut off by a sudden pain in his throat.
'What?!' He coughed up blood. Looking down with wide eyes, he saw a small spear made of earth from the ground to his neck. Focusing his attention back to the half-dead Wrym, he could swear it was looking at him with a vengeful glare.
With Ichigo, his body was failing him while being strangled, despite that he refused to give in to this loser. He may not have understood what the crazy barbarian was saying, but it sounded like he was bragging? While the reincarnation was glad it gave him some time to think, it still ticked him off how this guy was going on and on while trying to kill him.
'Guess there's no better time to test out this trick? I've have to focus!' he thought intensely.
Unknown to the human adventurers, Ichigo enduring the torture bag was practicing a new skill he bought with his skill points. Earth Magic was what that voice lady called it. It didn't take long for him to figure out what he could do with it. Making a small eye hole in the bag before he escaped through it, he was testing it outside where he could see and concentrate. He only got to making mud puddles for the magic being level 1. But he won't deny he got some satisfaction from seeing the adventurers trip into them. He got it to level 2 after a few more tries, but knew that wouldn't be enough. Ichigo also discovered with enough Skill Points, he can raise up his skill levels. But he only needed to bring up his magic by a couple more levels. Also to keep some points in persevere just in case he needed some extra strength.
Again while Onjin was bragging with his head held high, Ichigo used this to form a small yellow circle next to him. With a wave of his small hand, he made a thin spear made from the ground and strikes the man's neck. The same exact spot he bit into earlier that hasn't recovered yet. If he was going to cut someone's air supply, then he would respond in kind to the adventurer.
Feeling the tight hand grip on his neck loosening, Ichigo struggled out of the hold to gain some distance. Not wanting to take any chances while the man was trying to stand up to attack him again, Ichigo made another spear of earth, but this time it impaled his foe's bare chest. Working at the family clinic in his old life and being familiar of the human body, his real target was the proud man's heart. After the attack, the used to be axe wielder fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
Seeing his enemy fall, Ichigo felt all his strength leave his body and dropped alongside the human.
Onjin on the verge of death was in disbelief as he felt his life was fading away fast. Looking at the fallen Wyrm that was within arms reach. With anger in his eyes he tries to reach out for the hatchling one last time. 'This can't be the end of me! I can't be remembered as the proud warrior to lose to this newborn weakling...I...just...can't...damn...it...' he mentally cries out. However, the arm that was struggling it's to grab Araba's form dropped to the ground, as Onjin's life came to a silent end...
Ichigo who was also on deaths door, was still trying to get up, but he couldn't budge an inch. Breathing heavily while his body was worn to the bone, he couldn't think properly from mental exhaustion. He hasn't eaten in days with his entire body covered in bruises and scratch marks from the rough bag, it was getting too much for his small body to handle. He felt so weak...
'I can't move anymore. Am I going to die here?' his mind regains some thought, the thoughts of his friends and family back home. Picturing them of waiting for him to come home made a tear drop from the small wyrm's eye. 'I won't die! Get up! I will, get out of this place and see everyone again! Get...up...' even with his will still not giving in, he was still losing consciousness fast.
When he least expected it, he got his wish from the darkness.
"Experience has reached the required level. Individual Earth Wyrm has increased from LV 1 to LV 12."
"All basic attributes have increased."
'Huh?' Suddenly Ichigo's whole body was enveloped in a small blue light. As quickly as it came it disappeared, revealing a refreshed Wrym in confusion.
"Wait, what? I'm alive?" he gets up with new energy and checks himself in disbelief. His body no longer had signs of scratch marks or bruises, even his tail was as good as new with no arrow hole in it. Even his exhaustion was gone too, completely renewed. "I'm okay? But how? Did that voice lady say that I gained some levels? Is that why I recovered? I'm not complaining, but I don't understand."
"Indeed, little one." another voice spoke in power from within the cave's darkness.
Ichigo instantly put up his guard and faced forward to the voice that spoke. The only source of light between him and the one in the dark was the torch left behind by the dead adventurer. "You truly are unique to kill that human, even on the brink of death for one so young. The voice from the shadows was correct." Ichigo yellow eyes glowed with his Night Vision skill active. Within the shadows of the cave, two big glowing red eyes revealed themselves. "I came here from the Bottom Stratum to save one of my kin from man's greed. But you've shown me something grand instead, truly remarkable."
The being stepped out into the torch's field of light with heavy steps to reveal it's form. It was another dragon from it's size and shape. It's scales were dark grey with three sets of great horns. Two of them were on it's shoulder sides like they were it's wings, the other four were on it's head with lower two of them pointing forward while the other two that were higher curled upwards. Ichigo's inner dragon instincts told him right away that this one held a different kind aura from Kagna and Gehre. Just looking at it screamed authority, but somehow despite that it wasn't on the same level as the one in black armor. Ichigo didn't hesitate to Appraise the newcomer.
"Earth Dragon: Gakia."
'I figured it was another earth dragon. But, how can I understand him better than the other dragons? And whats this voice from the shadows he's talking about?' his mind was racing as he continued to stare at the giant intimidating earth dragon named Gakia in the caverns.
To be continued...
A.N.: Here you go guys, chapter 2!
Ichigo's new strengths are starting to slowly develop like a real earth dragon, but of course with some twists, plus he's leveled up big-time too! Going by this worlds logic, monsters killing humans helps them gain more EXP than them defeating other monsters. Ichigo/Araba got a decent boost from that careless adventure, but the real challenges are coming his way. And now out of nowhere he's meeting the eldest of the Earth Dragons, Gakia. I wonder what he could want with a reincarnated teenager?
And to clear a bit of confusion so I don't have to explain often, the time axis between Ichigo's world and this new one are different. Time moves faster in this new world while it's slower in the other world. Going by the LN's without spoiling anything to those who haven't read them, if a year goes by in the world Ichigo is in, a month will have passed in Karakura Town. So I hope this clears to the number of days that go by in one world, while jumping back and forth between the scenes of the Bleach world and the spider world. Please let it!
Also, to those who are wondering of where Ichigo stands in this world's timeline with the other reincarnations? He appears a year before everyone else to grow and evolve. The reason for that is, well, even with Ichigo's fast growth it will still take a bit since he's a new hatched dragon after all. Dragons normally take decades before they reach the stage where we first saw Araba making his majestic entrance. I'm also planning on something different with Araba in this story than in canon. Meaning Ichigo will be half the size when he comes across out favorite energetic spider-girl, along with more surprises along the way in that hell of a labyrinth.
Leave an epic review and see you guys next chapter!