Published at 21st of October 2020 02:04:28 PM

225 The Abyss-Called One

For the time being, Ill take a wander around this forest. The manticore didnt die last night, which is worrying, and Id like to see if this forest has any easy-to-hunt monsters.

Foods not really a problem for now, since I have the tribute Although Im not sure whether its really ok for me to eat it. It would be nice if I could make dried meat again here.

Id like to take a look at the Lithovar settlement, but going now would be a little bad. The next time they come, I need to appear more dignified. Come to think of it, it might be best if Ive eaten the tribute before they come next. I wouldnt want them to get worried thinking It wasnt to his taste or he got angry.

In the future, I wont be treated as a tribute thief, right? Theres no way that would happen, right? After Ive eaten it, I would hate to be told thats for a different dragon, so give it back!. I suppose today Ill only hunt for edible monsters if I see plenty of them around. I want to maintain the stability of my hunting grounds, after all.

Having decided my policy, I move to leave the shrine. Hearing a clattering sound from behind me, I turn to see the wight following me.

No, it would be dangerous to bring it along but then leaving it behind would also be dangerous. I want to level it up to prevent it falling apart sooner rather than later, so I guess Ill take it along. Well be fine if we retreat as soon as I see a dangerous monster. If needed, I can throw the wight into my mouth and flee with [Rolling]. Yeah, we probably wont meet any monsters too powerful for that to work.

I start walking while maintaining [Presence Sense]. When hunting, having the initiative is essential. Before attacking or running away, seeing your opponent before being seen is more important.

Silencing the sounds of my footsteps, I slowly walk through the forest. Initiative, initiative. The wights with me, so I need to steel myself. Wight, follow close to me, ok?

The wight suddenly tackles my body. Its head rolls off its shoulders and falls to the ground. O-oi, what are you doing?

The wight pays no mind to its collapsing body and continues to tackle me. Its body continuously becomes more and more scattered.

Whats wrong? Is it confused? Partner, use [Soul AppendmentFake Life].

Gaaaaah! GaaaaAh!

Her complexion suddenly changes and she starts howling. Something has got her extremely agitated shes no longer in a state to respond to my thoughts. Shit, a status abnormality? I dont feel any monster presences, so it might be the work of a plant or something.

Im unaffected for now, but I have no way of knowing when the confusion effect will hit me. At once, I turn around while taking care not to be separated from the wight. I see a red ant-sized bug latched onto my tail.

It has a an unpleasant-looking black-based striped pattern on its body. Its eight legs are oddly long and bent in a way which emphasizes the joints. Its mouth is lined with serrated teeth. Although they dont look like teeth. Theres too many.

Its outward appearance is similar to a whip spider. Its sucking blood out of my tail, so its nature is probably rather different. Well if I were to convey its impression with a single word, its that. Gross.

GuooOOOOOOh!! GuaaaAAAAh!!

I howl in sync with my partner and slam my tail against a tree. Blue blood dribbles out of the pseudo-whip spiders mouth. Its probably mine.

Just the idea of being bitten by that thing is enough to make me shudder. Or rather I feel like Im about to throw up. Its seriously gross. Ill have to clean my tail later. Hey can we leave this forest already? Why wasnt I able to detect such a powerful monster?

GuOOOh!

I wave my arm wildly and release a [Wind Slash]. The blade of wind mows gouges into the tree, mowing it down. The pseudo-whip spider loosely bends one of its legs to neatly block my attack, then starts skittering away. Its movements seriously gross me out. If youre going to run away, then dont attack in the first place, seriously.

Gah! Gah! GaaaAh!

With my partners howl, the pseudo-whip spiders rear is enveloped in a black light. She seems to be trying to use [Death], but cant quite land the hit.

There might not be a need to hurry so much, but both of us are worked up. Theres also that I really dont want to look it in the eye.

Chasing it away would be fine, but I feel like Ill never be able to have peace of mind unless I kill it. So when I lost sight of it, I was struck by an eerie feeling.

Haa, haa, haa Its run off somewhere. I should have checked its status. Without knowing the source of these unnatural feelings of disgust or whatever, I can only react with fear. My feelings could be eased a bit if I just knew its identity.

Shit, my tails going numb. The pain is fading.

It masked its presence while sneaking up on me, then sucked my blood while numbing the pain. In its approach makes it look rather like a mosquito which targets large monsters. No, mosquitos are much nicer. Visually, too. More than a mosquito, my impression of it was more like a cockroach.

Well, Im safe for now. Thanks, wight. You broke your body in those tackles in order to alert me. You saved me.

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I look down at the scattered wights body. Its skull shakes left and right.

Hmm? What is it? Is something wrong? No, was that the wind?

The wights arm bones bend, causing its finger to point behind me. I turn my head to look that way.

The pseudo-whip spider is crawling towards me at a terrifying speed. No, to be accurate its not moving towards me all that fast. Its long legs are swinging around fast, creating the illusion that its body is moving faster than it is. For some reason, the lack of noise only amplified the illusion.

Suddenly I remembered a scene from my previous life. A cockroach I thought Id chased away suddenly jumped out at my face. Even though I cant remember the rooms layout at all, I can distinctly remember the appearance of the cockroach flying towards me.

Gaah! Gaah! GaaaaAAh!! Guoh! Guoh! GuoooOOh!!

My partner and I release volleys of [Death] and [Wind Slash] respectively. A [Death] landed, but it crawled out of the black light. Its no good, it didnt have an effect. With [Death], the size level difference really does make a big difference it seems.

But its not like I cant learn from my failures. If targeting it directly is no good, then I just need to target something else from the start.

I gouge a tree in its path with [Wind Slash], which falls and crushes the pseudo-whip spider beneath it. With a cracking sound, its back splits open and cream-colored body fluids leak out. Its eight long legs squirm madly in the air.

With this, I no longer have to worry about missing. Aiming at its head, I release a large [Wind Slash]. Its head is cleaved open vertically and its movements stop.

186 experience points have been acquired.

Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 186 experience points have been acquired.

The level of [Ouroboros] has risen from 60 to 61.

Presence erasing, bloodsucking, and numbing skills. What an unpleasant monster. Im a tiny bit reluctant to eat it. Lets just do the appraisal.

[Abyss]: C-rank monster

It sticks to the blind spots of large magic beasts, sucking their blood while simultaneously injecting its body fluids.

The [Abyss] body fluids are poisonous, and it lays its eggs in the corpses of its prey, transforming them into a nest for its young.

During its normal hunts, [Abyss] typically for monsters smaller than itself. It is capable of eating nearly anything.

Its even worse than Id thought. Its a good thing I won. If Id lost Id have become a nest for baby abysses.

Im seriously feeling worse and worse. The numbness in my tail is probably the effect of its body fluids. I wonder if I can regenerate my tail if I were to chop it off.