You might be thinking, why don't you just fly away from there? Well, the thing is, after just a few exchanges, I didn't realize that it was cornering me by blocking the exit, now it's just standing there, waiting for me to strike or escape, an unnervingly clever monster.
When I realized what had happened, my heart beat rapidly in my chest, 'I got outsmarted by a fucking Arthropod?' Is this why the System exists to help me? Is it because even monsters at the lower tier are this intelligent? No, I just underestimated it, that's all it was'.
I prepared another Plasma blast, I chose the [Rapid Shot Variant] to try and take potshots to whittle down it's HP, maybe even making it move away from the exit hole, and so I kept on moving away from it's agile attacks but also making sure to keep it in my line of vision so that I don't get blindsi-
*TSSHRRNK*
"Aggh!!"
{-134 HP}
"What the?!!" I looked behind me to see another [Patchwork Centipede] but this time, it was white, and noticeably larger, its legs were also a lot thicker.
It bit me from behind, I could feel its mandibles puncturing on my back, and unluckily, not only did it cause me to bleed but also rip through the tucked wings that were sitting on my back.
'How did this-? Oh—' I realized that when I was trying to dodge the other one I was currently battling, I unknowingly had moved to the hole where they came from, fuck, impeccable spatial awareness my guy.
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[You have been debuffed: {Envenom I}×10]
[Venom type: Neurotoxin]
[Venom debuff: Pain]
[{Envenom I} causes a -10 hp dmg/×1]
[Higher tiers and venom type result in bigger damage and more debilitating debuffs]
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'For gods sakes, why can't this place just give me some breathing space, I'm fucking Jet lagged dammit!!, and now my wings and my way to freedom is destroyed!' I grit my teeth in as frustration boiled up inside me, unnatural rage flowed through my brain.
I used [Analysis Skill] to the one that just bit me.
___________________________________
[Patchwork Centipede Queen (II)]
___________________________________
My eyes widened at the name
'A Queen?, Why would their Queen be out he-'.
___________________________________
[
___________________________________
"Not now system" Thinking that I was incapacitated by their Queen since I was being held like a puppy by the neck, but in this case, my neck is my back.
The black centipede, the one I was just fighting a few seconds ago, started to close and open its mouth wide, it was crawling slowly while also facing me, as if to mock me that I was done for, clacking its mandibles in a threat display but that extended time frame was all I needed
'Eat this you fucking bitch'
*Pew*
When I fired the rapid shot at its open mouth, it was forced down its throat, making it explode inside its body.
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[Critical Hit!]
[You have successfully landed a {Critical Hit} for the first time! +1 {Shot Limit}.]
[Maximum Shot Limit has been raised by +1]
Shot Limit: (2.75/5)»»»(3.75/6)
[First time Shot Limit Increase! {+3 Shot Limit}]
Shot Limit: (3.75/6)»»»(6.75/9)
[Gained 195XP]
Lvl 4 (258/100)
[You have leveled up! +1 to All Attributes, +2 AP, +1 Shot Limit]
Shot Limit: (6.75/9)»»»(7.75/10)
Lvl 5 (158/100)
[You have leveled up! +1 to All Attributes, +2 AP]
Lvl 6 (58/100)
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'Ooh, that's cool'
(Envenom I +10) 'Fuck another stack of ten?! Not cool'
"Gaacck!!" The pain seared throughout the bitten area, It was a Neurotoxin alright, the bite area feels a bit numb, but the nerves it was almost unbearable, almost like it was aggressively killing my nerves around the bite wound
{-10 HP venom} {Envenom × 19}
"Woah!!" The Queen threw me at the side of the cave "Aaaaaa!" prompting me to instinctively open my damaged wings and slow down my-
*SLAM* {-25HP}
Tiny rock debris fell onto me when I landed on the ground after being slammed on the cave walls, luckily it wasn't a hard slam.
(-10 HP venom) {Envenom × 18}
"Grrrrrnnngg" 'That is not a pleasant feeling'
*Shhaaaa!!!!!* Oh, she was mad, but I had other more perilous things to watch out for, considering that this was a Queen, more will probably start coming out of that hole.
I looked at my Shot Limit: [7.75/10]
I can't just waste my Shots when there are possibly hundreds if not thousands more inside there, I'm gonna have to go Melee on this one and end this quickly cause I do not want to get swarmed in here.
"Fuck I actually need to leave now" My eyes bore through the Queen in rage, I couldn't kill this bitch yet, if i pushed myself, more might start backing her up, but i'll remember this moment, when i get bigger, I'll come get your entire colony.
I look towards the exit, my plan was to just make a dash for it when the Centi-Queen was far from the exit hole and-
[Why are you leaving?] The system asked me, Why? What do you mean why?
"Are you serious right now? I'm leaving because I don't wanna die being ripped apart by this skanks entire colony"
[But that is not possible Host, she doesn't have any soldiers left]
"Huh?, AH!!" I leaped to the side, dodging another bite from the angry Centi-Queen.
Not possible?
(-10 HP venom) {Envenom × 17}
"Guhh!, System! What do you mean by that?! You did see that they're a colony right? So there could be more down there" Multitasking with talking to the system, formulating dodge movements as well as trying to endure the pain from the venom was taking too much from me.
[Here, let me show you what I mean]
—--------------------------------------
[Patchwork Centipede Queen (II+++)]
(HP: 2210/2210
Age: 1 year and 1 month
Assessment: Young, Angry, Protective)
—--------------------------------------
[This means that its colony is not as large as you might think it is]
"But look at the size of this thing, it's huge as hell and it's only 1 year old!" Truth be told, I had hoped I could kill this one for damaging my wings, which is why I even bothered to entertain the system now.
"Ha!" I dodge another quick bite from it
"Wouldn't that mean that they can create and grow their brood extremely quickly? Woah! What's your basis for that?!!" I dodge again, this thing was relentless!
"You know what, Let me focus on not dying here System, I'll talk to you in a minute, I just hope you're not wrong" And so I focused my all into the fight, Every time I tried to charge for a blast, it would try to bite me, and based on my HP, I shouldn't take a few bites if I didn't want to get envenomed to death. And sure, I could tank it but the other thing about it is that it was painful, especially with the Venom doing its own thing. The good thing about this is that the bite wound wasn't bleeding out too much.
My main weapon, the Plasma Blast, was being hindered by the centipede's agility, but luckily I had the option for melee combat, wanna get close to me? Eat my fist!
"[Claw]!!!x2" I activated my Melee Skill twice.
*Pow*
*pak*
I hit the Queen square on its head twice in quick succession with the second hit pushing her back far from me
(-10 HP venom) {Envenom × 16} "ooofffuu"
*Shaaaaacclack-clack*
"Fucking neat!" just a few more hits and I can possibly kill this thing easily.
[You don't need to shout the skills name, you can trigger it mentally]
"I know that, just trying to vent the pain somehow" definitely didn't know that but venting out the pain is healthy.
"[Claw]!!" I spammed my claw, letting the Special Effect Stack.
*Pow*
*Pow*
"OW!" (-10 HP venom) {Envenom × 15}
*Pow*
*Pow*
"Ugghh!!" (-10 HP) {Envenom × 14}
*Pow*
*Pow*
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[Consecutive Use of
___________________________________
Every time the Queen went for an attack, I swiped at its head quickly to counter attack, like a cat fighting a snake, although some hits weren't landing which costed me to have the Damage Accumulation be reset and a few Energy points, it was still a good combo, raking in somewhere around a quarter of its total health if memory serves me correctly.
I also tried to deliver a [Chomp] and [Bite] but it never landed, the Queen was way too quick for it, so I stopped using it after I missed hitting it on three separate times.
After receiving a good beating from me, the Queen was just standing there, a little click and clack of its mandibles here and there.
It was now a lot more cautious, which earned me some time to breathe, we were just staring at each other, so with this time window, I asked the System again
"What did you mean by not being possible earlier?"
[Since the {Analysis Skill}'s proficiency has gone up, it has unlocked more features such as: Enemy HP, Age and Assessment, as well as an extended description which might randomly include their life cycle and luckily we gained that too, and from the additional information you gained from eating the corpse earlier, it has brought me to the conclusion that you don't have to worry about getting swarmed]
"Oh do tell me" and so the System recited it onto me since I wasn't gonna risk taking my eyes off of it again, and this time I was far away from the hole where they spawned from, gotta learn from the mistakes.
[She has only begun to be a Queen for 1 month]
"and that means?" I ask, a little surprised by it.
[The other centipedes you fought are more likely her own "Royal guards" so to speak, that she had gotten when she was forced to leave their Birthplace after they reach 1 years of Age, and the average time frame for an entire Centipede to fully grow like the ones you've successfully killed is 6 months. which means that-]
"Her current brood is still young" The realization made some of my worries disappear
*Ding
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[A Quest has been generated!]
< [Quest: "God Won't Save The Queen" ] >
[Objective: Eliminate The Patchwork Centipede Queen]
[Reward:
1 {Tier I} skill ticket1 {Tier II} skill ticket
Consequences of Quest Failure include the following penalties:
DeathNo Reward if you choose to escape]
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Oh yeah, I'm killing this thing.