Dante's voice echoed once more as he narrates the story forwards again. "The moment she saw it, she knew what it was. Even before touching it. Beatrice crouched amid the mess of melted flesh and twitching legs. The Breeder Spider's corpse had collapsed into itself, its human torso now little more than a hollow husk, steaming in the cold, metallic air of the medical ward. She brushed aside the coagulated blood and unearthed the faintly glowing object lodged in its chest cavity."
"It pulsed with light...soft red as that was the color of the core itself, it was spherical and cover in black ooze, which was the blight residue of the thing. Naturally she absorbed more residue into herself her EXP increasing as she goes along. Then her HUD came before her, new information on the drop item."
Item Acquired: Brood Core (Special Drop)
Rarity: C+
Effect: Permanently increases MP by +50.
Special: 70% chance to gain one of the Lesser Brood's innate traits, 50% for dual traits.
Beatrice stared at it for a long moment, her breath visible through the fog in her body armor's faceplate. The core shimmered faintly against the white of her fur. Its texture was like wet stone, but warm, and sticky pulsing faintly in her palm.
Dante's voice carried softly again.
"Instinct drives you forwards, again unimaginable hunger mawing at the back of your skull. You know if you eat this, you will gain more power, and you will become more stronger." Beatrice looked at the Brood Core, and it was as Dante said, her instinct was telling to devour the core now, instinct so strong she sense it before the HUD properly explained it moments ago.
Beatrice's HUD then flickered once more, as her eyes went on the information. After absorbing the Blight Residue from the now dead queen she finally level up, and reach the level needed to take defeat the butcher. However she has reached this level before, but ultimately still lost to him each time.
[Level Up!]
Level 4 → 5
HP: 120/120 | MP: 160/210 (+50)
Trait Evolution Threshold: 25%
She felt the Mundus Energy surge through her body like a rising tide, her vision sharpening, movements lighter, the air radiating with energy that danced between her fingertips. Her violet eyes pulsed faintly beneath the white fur helm. "Alright." She whispered. "Let's see what else you left behind, monster."
Her gaze turned toward the shattered remains of the spider's inner nest. There, half fused into the metal floor, was a crystalline shard, she dropped it earlier when she killed the giant spider, one of the brood children. It glowed with deep green light, faint veins of black covered it, like the core it was covered with Blight Residue, crawling across it like living vines.
Item Acquired: Blight Fragment (Lesser)
Effect: Increases MP regeneration rate during rest
Special: 15% chance to absorb or replicate residual Blight Traits from fallen creatures.
She turned the shard in her hand, the fractured crystal surface reflecting her glowing eyes "Lucky you right, both a Blight fragments, and a Brood Core in one playthrough... Mhmm yes, this is your best playthrough yet, when compare to the several other failed ones." Dante said with a teasing tone.
Beatrice smiled faintly at his words an almost human expression beneath the coldness of her armor. "You know, whenever you narrate, I can't help but wonder if you once did this yourself."
"..." Dante remained quiet but then answered. "You could say that, once or twice... Hehehe, those where simpler times." He answered with a hint of laughter.
Then her eyes caught something else, "Oh yeah, I will need to get that too, her Cleave does heavy damage to the Butcher since it is poison, and can secrete her acid almost naturally by itself." Said Beatrice as looked at the weapon.
It was stuck in the metal floor, as a blade shimmered dully. A cleaver-like weapon, thick, wide, its surface marred by dark veins of hardened chitin. The handle was wrapped in what looked disturbingly like silk thread, slick, pale, and slightly warm. She pulled it free, strands of black ichor dripping from its edge, with spiderweb stickiness it has passive grip, making a weapon that won't fall from her hand easy at all.
The HUD flickered again, as new information emerged.
Item Acquired: Mother's Fang Blade (Lesser Blight Weapon)
Type: Cleaver / One-Handed Wepaon
Rank: D (Upgradeable)
Durability: 85/120
Effect: Deals additional +15% damage to biological and corrupted entities
Passive: Slight chance to inflict Bleed or Corrosive Poison (5%). And also has symbiosis trait. All traits you naturally have can effect the blade.
"Mother's Fang Blade ha!?" Beatrice whispered the word aloud, as if naming it completed the bond.
Her fingers gripped the weapon tight, feeling its weight, a perfect balance between brutality and precision. The veins pulsing faintly across its edge responded to her Mundus energy, flaring with dark light, as the Blight Residue crawled up her hand, merge with her flesh, becoming one, and then the durability began to go up, as the blade benefitted from her regeneration.
"Cool... a wepaon that is both strong and low maintenance hahaha.... Beatrice laughed erotically and with pride, but then a horrific scent blow past her. "Ahhh that bitch acid breathe stink like hell though." Beatrice said as her breathing steadied. The air was thick with the smell of acid. Thankfully the pain from her earlier injuries had dulled, the regeneration effect from her previous level-ups all but insta heal her thankfully. "Well then, let's get going, it is about time, I face that bastard here and now."
With that she walked through the ruined ward, past overturned operating tables, rusted IV poles, and glass vials.
Every few steps, she could hear the echoes of her past deaths here. The memory of the spider's shriek. The sound of her armor cracking.
The heat of acid gnawing through flesh. But now, all of it was behind her.
Her HUD lit up, when she almost reached the place she hate most
[FLOOR DATA: 4F - MEDICAL WING | NEXT ACCESS: FLOOR 5]
"One floor left." She muttered. "Then I can get the hell out of here.... Then I can reach the Flame of the Mourn, whatever the fuck that is!?" The Blight Fragment pulsed faintly in her palm. Without another word, she held it to her mouth and bit down. The crystal shattered like sugar, dissolving into green light that seeped through her body. Her vision blurred momentarily, her veins burning with new energy.
[MP Regeneration Increased]
Her HUD flashed again.
New Item Interaction Detected.
Would you like to consume Brood Core?
[YES] / [NO]
She stared at it. Her reflection shimmered across its blood-red surface. She remembered the spider's last moments, the way its limbs flailed, the human torso screaming with distorted sound. Whatever this thing contained… it was both power and a curse... "I really hope I don't become as ugly as that bitch by eating this."
Beatrice said, and without hesitation, she swallowed it whole. It dissolved instantly, burning, spreading through her body like molten metal poured through veins. She gasped, stumbling as her armor trembled and twitched. Her vision flashed white, her body spasmed violently as new DNA flooded her body, and new information flooded her mind.
Trait Assimilation in Progress…
Success Rate: 68%... 84%... 100%!
Her back arched. Her armor rippled, the white fur along it expanding, thickening with organic sheen. Her HUD burst with lines of data.
[New Active Trait Acquired: Lesser Brood Silk | Type: Defensive / Regenerative]
[New Active Trait Acquired: Acid Spit | Type: Offensive / Elemental]
The transformation stopped... As her breathing slowed. She looked down at her left hand, fur armor glistening faintly, from her finger tips, threads, thin but durable floated upwards and move to her will...the threads now producing thin, silver webs that dripped acid when exposed to air.
"Hahaha... Beatrice laughed power flowing through her as she said. "It is time I meet Butcher, and end this damn toturial once and for all."