Title: A Centipede Wants to Live Peacefully.
Summary: I always wished to escape reality, believing in fairy tales, and immersing myself in books to distract myself from the duties of an adult. I wished to live in a cottage somewhere in a forest, free from the bustle of the city. I could never imagine that I would lose my life and then be reincarnated as a monster. Is my wish possible?
Naofumi Kogure was once my name, and I remember being in the classroom close to tears, when everything suddenly exploded. I somehow died in an explosion and ended up being reincarnated. I am now Caspian Baker, in the body of an 8-month-old baby, and I couldn't stop crying. I know my parents were getting excited with my constant crying because when I cry my tears would crystallize for some reason and they would sell them for money.
I never had any friends in class and was often bullied for being a crybaby. Now I was stuck in an unreal situation and completely defenseless to abusive parents who would rather use me for money than take care of me. Sometimes they would pinch me, hit me, shout at me, all to make me cry and I like an idiot...would cry...typical me.
I had perfectly good parents back in my old world but now I was in a horrible situation. I could guess the only saving grace was that my parents weren't stupid enough to tell others about my abilities. I was beginning to lose hope and I wouldn't be surprised if I was to die before I had a chance to grow into a teenager. What if the village was attacked by monsters?
I couldn't speak or move but my mind was already fully developed so I could hear and understand whatever my parents were saying. They were discussing something about a magic tree that produced apples that could make a human feel well satiated for a day or two.
Despite that, I still couldn't believe that I had reincarnated like the characters from those isekai novels. Not only that but I had some sort of power that involved my tears. Furthermore, there was magic, monsters, and dungeons in the world. If I was someone that was interested in these things this would've made me happy.
Most people would be glad that they came to this world but I just wanted to go back home. I missed my parents and the comfort of my house. I cried harder – enticing my parents' greediness – because I truly didn't want any of this. I fell asleep after some time and woke up to darkness. My stomach growled and it showed my neglectful mother hadn't fed me. I started to cry once more until my mother came in annoyed, lifting me from my crib and put her breast in my mouth.
"You are lucky that you're our money maker!" She snapped, holding me tightly.
I suckled on her nipple hungrily. I used to be embarrassed at first but now I didn't care because it was a matter of my survival. I consumed the milk like it was my last lifeline. When my hunger was quelled, she placed me back in the crib without even burping me. I wanted to cry again but I didn't want to give them any more crystallize tears.
I whimpered, trying to hold the tears in but once escaped. A tear slid from the corner of my eyes to my top lip. I opened my mouth accidentally and the tear crystallized and fell down my throat. I thought I was going to die by choking on my tears but suddenly my body felt stronger. I could feel the power surging in me.
"Does consuming my own tears give me power?" I thought in surprise but unfortunately, there wasn't much I could do as a baby. So I fell asleep once more, dreaming of my home and parents. I just wanted to go back to earth.
The entire village has been busy with excitement since the discovery of the Perfect Apples – the name coined by Yuno Azvelt himself – four months ago. It was said that the apples could cure world hunger and that one small bite was enough the fill you for an entire day or two. The villagers were able to get a share of two apples since it was a relatively small town with less than one hundred people.
Just as it was in the village, the guild was the same way, as they couldn't contain their excitement. The guild was constantly busy with the new schedule imposed on them. In order for the knowledge of the perfect apples to remain in the village, the guild members had taken up guard duty around the village and often did patrols through the forest.
The apple tree grove in the forest hadn't even been known by the villagers as venturing into the forest was dangerous because of the possibility of monsters. Now it was known, all of the available regular apples were taken up by the villagers, and a small pathway to the forest was built by the guild.
The tree was regarded as a treasure and the guild had completely taken control of it. They had only managed to secure ten apples but that amount was reduced to seven. The villagers were given two as assurance, and the guild had one to test its capabilities. They were as big as a basketball and could be divided up enough that it served that many.
A team of magical researchers was brought in secretly to find out what caused the massive growth of the apple tree. The apple tree sent out waves of magical power signifying that it was enhanced by magic that wasn't discovered yet. They still had to find out the origin of the magic, the growth rate, and other things before they could come to a complete conclusion.
As for Yuno Azvelt…
He was the mastermind behind the team of researchers, the new guild schedule, and the patrols. He was happier than he had ever been because such a discovery can change the world, and most importantly, it can make him more powerful. He had already bribed the Oht's Kingdom with weapons to take a hands-off approach with the village as they wouldn't let him buy the village so he decided to take matters into his own hands. Given a few more years, he would even be able to challenge a world power like the Word of God Religion.
"I can see my path to power becoming more evident." Yuno thought as he pushes through the paperwork on his desk.
Ever since the discovery of the tree, he had a lot more paperwork to do than usual but he didn't mind the workload as it was a means to further increase his power. He continued busying away at his desk for another hour before a knock at the door interrupted him.
"Come in," Yuno said without looking up.
"Reporting, Master," Hayate said, bowing his head slightly.
"Report."
"We have removed all of the other apple trees from the vicinity and all the remains is the Perfect Tree," Hayate reported.
His lips formed a devious smile that didn't match his handsome face. "Excellent work, in ten days we proceed with phase two, Hayate."
"Are you sure, Master?" Hayate says with a complicated expression, "If we do this we can harm the forest animals, and hurt the land even further."
"This is the perfect time to expand our guild from the village. Who cares about some forest animals when I can build my own village or city? We move forward with the deforestation, and never question me again."
"Y-yes sir," Hayate replied, quietly leaving the office.
When he left, Yuno finished up his paperwork in record time, making sure to have everything filed away in his magically locked safe. He got up from his seat and went to the window where he had a good visual of the village. They were all so happy right now but what he had planned would soon destroy their happiness. It was either join him or be left behind.
The Perfect Tree belonged to him.
Trapped in his delusions of grandeur, he failed to notice the red eyes that gleamed in the dark from a small hole in the ceiling of his room. The ferect crawled through the ceiling after repeating the conversation that had transpired to his mother.
He crawled through a hole he had made in the ceiling and crawled down the guild quickly and into some bush. Beneath the bush was a hole that leads back to his nest and where his mother resided. He scurries through the hole, to reunite back with his mother.
"Mother, I did well. I am returning!"
I lay leisurely in my burrow – which was expanded once again – as the conversation was just repeated to me thanks to my child. I never expected that in four months everything would go to shit and humans would be patrolling the forest. They wanted to monopolize the apple tree I grew without my consent.
I watch my children crawl all over me and around the burrow, working to expand it further to accommodate for the 500 eggs I lay days ago. It had been peaceful for me ever since I made the forest my home but now it was over because of the nearby village and its guild. I had been living peacefully, building my kingdom, raising my skills, and training my children by letting them spy on the village. I had discovered the village long before they discovered the tree, and been using nightfall as a reason to spy on them using my children.
I had no evil intentions, I promise. I just enjoy hearing about humans because I miss my human body. I couldn't actually see them but hearing the conversations being transmitted back to me, really made me happy. That small amount of pleasure I had was now gone thanks to my stupidity.
Still, that guild master reminded me a lot of my old boss and I shuddered at the thought of him even being reincarnated. I can't begin to imagine the chaos he would cause. I knew him better than most because we were close and I know how greedy, possessive, and narcissistic he can get. Little did I know that I was a lot closer to the truth than I knew.
In conclusion, I couldn't allow deforestation to happen at all. I had managed to heal the poisoned area where the Queen and I battled using my Pure Water Magic and I was now existing in the forest where the animals could approach me freely. I could even command the animals to spy for me but that would mean putting them in danger.
This was is why I also had my children get used to the forest terrain because it was better for us to know our own terrain in case of an attack. Unfortunately, it looks like those skills would be soon put to test. Even sadder was that I hadn't been able to raise my level at all and could only raise a lot of my skills to high levels by making my children use some of them through some unconventional means and others through repetition.
Strength LV7 was now Herculean Strength LV1 by making my children lift heavy boulders I dug out from the place of my great battle with the queen every morning. I felt bad making them do the hard work but it benefited us both in the long run.
Poison Attack LV1 and Enhanced Paralysis Attack LV1 had both reached level 6 because I created a little Battle Arena for my entertainment where they would fight each other but not kill each other using their skills. It was a nice replacement for television and I still had a tinge of guilt for doing it but it was a means to end. However, they seem to enjoy it and would often compete on their own sometimes.
Poison Enhancement LV1, Paralysis Enhancement LV1, and Piercing Enhancement LV1 leveled up as a result of the Battle Arena I created and were now at level 5 each.
Expel LV2 had reached the maximum level and was now Expel LV10 because I made my children use it on the boulders that were used to build up my strength skill.
Egg-Laying LV1 had seen a good increase in level and now stands at LV5. The most interesting was that with each level the number of eggs I can lay increased. At level 5, I can lay 500 eggs at once now but to do that again meant depleting my MP and SP bar to almost nothing due to the sheer amount needed. The total children now stood at 1,500 and when the last batch hatches it will be at 2,000.
Cooperation LV2 and Leadership LV2 were now at LV4 respectively due to me giving orders to my children and making them do tasks that involved working together. However, I often give them incentives like apples as payment.
Detection LV3 and Appraisal LV7 were now at LV8 and LV9 respectively because my children got into a habit of using appraisal on things they couldn't understand like a house or a human. I was sure they couldn't understand the information they would see but they always repeated the information back to me. Since our eyesight was horrible we often used detection as a way to get around the forest during the night times.
Arithmetic Processing LV1 was now LV7 due to the calculations I made in my head for our training and the food amount. I was already good at math in my old world so I would often do mathematics problems in my mind which also helped raise the skill level to LV3. Furthermore, my children began to imitate me so the skill level was raised even higher.
Magic Power Operation LV1 was now LV7 because of how much magic we used in order to raise the levels. So, Shadow Magic LV1 became LV5, Heretic Magic LV2 became LV4, Poison Magic LV2 became LV6, Pure Water Magic LV1 became LV5 due to me purifying poisoned areas in the forest.
Overeating LV3 had become Satiation LV2 and it was all because of the apples that filled me for one day while filling my children for two days almost three due to how much smaller their bodies were compared to me. However, now it was at this level, whatever I eat would replenish my HP, MP, and SP. Plus, the surplus of the food would be added to my SP.
Burrow LV1 was my most used skill and it was no surprise that it maximized in level. Burrow LV1 had become Shelter LV1. This meant that I could now dig much faster, but it also meant that I could build an earthen shelter above ground that looked more like a mound with windows than anything. However, it didn't have much use for me….only if I was human.
The only skills I wasn't able to increase were my resistances which probably required me to actually go into battle. Secondly, I didn't focus on my Harvest Magic not because I didn't want to but because I don't know how to raise its level. I was only able to gain the abilities of the first level but afterward….
[Harvest Magic LV1: The highest form of harvest magic. LV1: Agriculture Intuition – The user gains immense knowledge of plants, agriculture farming techniques, and skills with farming tools.]
I sighed inwardly, knowing that focusing on it won't get me anywhere. I only had ten days to prepare for the deforestation. Despite raising my skill levels, my actual level was still low. I had no choice but to venture back into the labyrinth, and by venture back in the labyrinth, I meant my children. I felt bad just a bit but I didn't want to risk the possibility of me running into the queen again and where I might actually die this time.
So thus begin, the children of a tired mother, journey into the labyrinth for the first time, while their forlorn mother awaits their valiant return.
There was a time skip here but I was able to focus more on the story and introduce a character that died very early in the novel/anime. Noafumi Kogure will be a companion to our centipede witch queen. There will be some build-up towards the final battle between Mai and the Village/Guild.
Name: Mai Yumehiro
Type: Insect/Poison
Species: Queen Ferect
Level: 1
HP:3025/3025
MP:3015/3015
SP:3015/3015 (3015/3015)
Offense: 6705
Defense: 3800
Magic Power: 3004
Resistance: 3004
Speed: 7090
Stat Skills:
Skanda LV10, Herculean Strength LV1, HP Auto-Recovery LV1
Attack Skills:
Poison Attack LV6, Enhanced Paralysis Attack LV6
Enhancement Skills:
Poison Enhancement LV5, Paralysis Enhancement LV5, Piercing Enhancement LV5
Active Skills:
Expel LV10, Herbalism LV1
Leadership Skills:
Fartalk LV10, Egg-Laying LV5, Cooperation LV4, Leadership LV4
Perception Skills:
Detection LV8, Arithmetic Processing LV7
Magic Skills:
Magic Power Operation LV7, Shadow Magic LV5, Heretic Magic LV4, Poison Magic LV6, Harvest Magic LV1, Pure Water Magic LV6
Evil Eyes Skills:
Paralyzing Evil Eye LV1
Resistance Skills:
Status Condition Nullification, Acid Resistance LV3, Heresy Nullification, Rot Resistance LV2, Fear Resistance LV2, Fire Resistance LV8, Cutting Resistance LV1, Pain Resistance LV6, Faint Resistance LV6, Destruction Resistance LV5, Pain Mitigation LV5, Piercing Resistance LV1
Passive Skills:
Stealth LV10, Shell LV8, Concealment LV1,
Other Skills:
Taboo LV6, n% I = W, As One, Appraisal LV9, Toxic Brew, Fertile Nature, Satiation LV2, Shelter LV1
Titles:
Foul Feeder, Assassin, Kin Eater, Hedge Witch, Poison Technique User, Commander