Marvel seemed to know a lot about the system stuff. Well, considering she had years to examine the system, and elders helped her way, it was understandable.
“I also got a quest, but it’s a different one than yours,” Marvel said, and somehow managed to show her the details of the quest, shoving the system page of the quest into her head.
[Quest: Apex Predator
You have taken the first step to upgrade your mark, Predator, by defeating an Iron...
2024-03-18 21:18:29 +0000 UTC
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The mental pressure crashed down on Shai, impaling her mind at once. She hissed in agony, as the pain racked her mind. She decided to assault the spider with more of her unbridled emotions, as she did to Serenity to flee from her grasp before. However, before she could make up her mind, the pressure subsided.
“Stop it, Elegy!” Another voice joined. Shai recognised this one to be the Spider mama, Serenity. “You are not allowed to do that. She’s still too young.”
2024-03-18 18:59:00 +0000 UTC
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[Congratulations! Mental Corrosion Resistance (D) has reached 100% of mastery. +8 to Mind, Physique, Soul.]
[Will you like to Evolve the skill Mental Corrosion Resistance (D)? A D-rank skill usually costs 8 Evolution points.]
[Accept | Decline]
Grandpa’s voice awakened Shai as her inside whirled in an unsettling sensation, as if she had eaten something wrong. The confinement of the webs, accompanied by the creepy chillines...
2024-03-14 20:10:43 +0000 UTC
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Marvel was incapable of sucking blood like the snake, however, she did manage to pin her sharp legs into the battered abomination, roaming around over its massive body to tear off its flesh. Meanwhile, Shai dug into another hole after vomiting out all the blood she had absorbed from the previous one. Since the wyrm couldn’t attack them anymore, there was no need for them to fear it.
The only thing they needed to worry about was the stones crashing into them. The blinding light constru...
2024-03-12 20:20:55 +0000 UTC
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“We’ll begin soon,“ Shai told the spider, bracing herself. Shai would have liked to eat something further to recover more, as Marvel left her alone to meditate after their alliance was formed. Unfortunately, her instinct screamed against it. It wasn’t a viable option when [Essene Eater] was preoccupied with the awful stuff she had swallowed.
Moreover, she was supposed to continue on the same path to attack again, ingesting the sinister contaminated substance. O...
2024-03-12 19:55:45 +0000 UTC
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“Are you suggesting we use the traps to kill it?” Marvel was quick to pick on the hints. “No, that’s impossible. Even I, a Low Copper, can escape the pit without any critical injuries, but this one is an Iron rank.”
“A misshapen Iron rank,” Shai corrected her, unsure how much her understanding was correct. “And you’re agile, trained to act under these circumstances, while eating is the only way this vile creature knows. It can’t even av...
2024-03-10 19:48:49 +0000 UTC
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Serenity waited patiently in the darkness, perched high on the wall. Her senses had detected the trespassers long ago, and she, along with Midnight, was ready to ambush. They had meticulously planned the attack, considering all possible contingencies.
Despite this, Serenity couldn’t shake off a hint of nervousness. An ambush was not something she had to do every day, especially against crafty iron rankers. Although she regularly fought against twisted creatures that were dull-minded d...
2024-03-10 18:20:44 +0000 UTC
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Jordan raced across the desolate wasteland, and a horde of ravenous ghosts followed. Their cries shattered the dense silence, blaring through the skeletal remnants of long-abandoned structures.
The barren expanse of this dead world stretched beyond his vision, shrouded by a perpetual sky and musky, billowing clouds. A cloak of eerie darkness enveloped everything like a mercurial veil, gripping down on all the faint signs of life that desperately clung to cracks and crevices. Even ...
2024-03-09 21:56:06 +0000 UTC
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Marvel was a little overwhelmed with everything she had experienced in the last few minutes. After all, she was but two years old, and a fourth of that time had been spent in the nursery, and the rest under the safe protection of the Web School and their dwellings.
She did have occasional field practice where she faced other creatures, fought, and won over them. But they could not be compared to this abomination.
The sheer aura it possessed made her feel nauseated. Not even Sereni...
2024-03-09 19:55:16 +0000 UTC
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[Wyrm - Cursewalker (Abomination) Lvl 54]"
Marvel stepped forward cautiously, observing the monster with a perceptive gaze. Her mandibles clattered together, expressing her lack of appreciation for the misshapen creature. Her lack of experience in dealing with this sort of circumstance was apparent to Shai.
"It reached Iron rank," Marvel expressed, "but it can never compare to Serenity or Elegy. Besides, its mind is already dull and fuzzy... Maybe I can deal with it.<...
2024-03-09 18:17:17 +0000 UTC
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I just couldn’t help jinxing it, Shai cursed, barely comprehending what was at play here.
The putrid stench permeated the air, and the excruciating screeches reverberated through the empty pit. The enormous lizard wasn’t screeching at her anymore, but shrieked in its madness, as an unnatural metamorphosis was transpiring within itself. Dark twisted energy surged and swirled around the bloated lizard, causing its flesh to undulate like waves in a turbulent sea.
Evident...
2024-03-08 19:52:29 +0000 UTC
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The creature actually levelled up once during its fight, even though its advancement proved insufficient against the little snake lady.
Unfortunately, there was no easy level-up for her. She cast her sight towards the grotesque skink.
Another one to go.
The entire pit lay in ruins, with traces of shattered formations spread all around; even the jagged stone splinters had been reduced to grime. Her eyes met the prime offender for all these crimes.
The skink was...
2024-03-08 19:32:22 +0000 UTC
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Shai paid little attention to System Grandpa's voice, her gaze fixated on the mesmerizing script, suspended in mid-air, emitting a soft, ethereal glow. Finally, I have succeeded.
Overwhelmed with joy, Shai leapt into the air, hissing madly in ecstatic celebration. As the moments passed, she redirected her focus to the script, still radiating a dim glow.
The script was a whole lot smaller. Moreover, she hadn't tested it yet.
Shai inched closer to the...
2024-03-06 20:57:25 +0000 UTC
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Shai lost herself in the art of Spellforging, even if she didn't have a skill slot open to swap. Hours slipped away as Shai got busy, attempting to master the Empower script. She had tried over a couple of hundred times, and tirelessly failed all the time, but her determination remained undeterred.
Failure meant death, and death was unacceptable.
Although she didn't find success, Shai was eager to make all the swift progress she was making in the process. A surge of exhilaration c...
2024-03-05 19:22:30 +0000 UTC
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Shai collected the essence cores one after another and wiped the gore from her pristine white scales. She sighed, peering at the wreckage. It took her half a day of incessant labour to fix everything, yet it only took a little time to regress almost everything back to the old state.
Fortunately for her, there were two other pits open to be used, though she still needed to put the work into it. The creatures would ruin them no matter how much effort she put into them. It was essentially ...
2024-03-04 20:23:33 +0000 UTC
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Just as the hiss escaped her mouth, Shai detected something wrong with the overwhelming amount of emotions she was feeling. Well, it was mostly anger, fury, and rage. But they were all the emotions she felt these days. She wanted nothing more than to shred these bugs into oblivion. To dare take her things and ruin the pit that she fixed painstakingly.
She had worked relentlessly for a day, exhausting herself physically, mentally and spiritually to repair it to a workable station. Yet th...
2024-03-04 18:53:48 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER THIRTY
GRINDING BEGINS
[Would you like to learn Spellforging?]
[Aceept | Decline]
Shai stared at the notification for the third time and let out a hiss. You know, I do, Grandpa... It's just that my skill slots are limited...
Sighing inwardly, she turned her attention back to the pit... It had taken a great deal of work, but the trappings were almost complete.
Most of the necessary scripts were working, from me...
2024-03-04 07:33:02 +0000 UTC
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"Marvel," Serenity called out, her mental pulses devoid of emotion. "Aren't you supposed to be on cleaning duty right now?"
And aren't you supposed to mind your own business? Of course, Marvel didn't voice that retort aloud. She nervously chattered her mandibles together, unsure if her excuse would suffice.
"I... I just wanted to talk with Solace," her empathic pulses wrung, lacking confidence. Seeing the disapproving gaze and tone of Serenity, ...
2024-03-02 19:53:16 +0000 UTC
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Chapter Twenty-Eight
Marvel
Marvel worked every one of her eight legs to their fullest as soon as she freed herself from Serenity's cobweb. She was supposed to get another round of scolding, but the commotion caused by her siblings swarming around Serenity and the teachers presented the perfect opportunity for her to slip away.
Marvel hastened toward where Solace was expected to be. Her intention was clear—to express her complaints about Serenity to Solace and gain a deeper u...
2024-03-02 19:42:12 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
QUEST
[You have achieved a small breakthrough. Your path has grown to Favoured Hatchling Lvl 12. +1 to all Primary Attributes, +1 Unallocated Point.]
[You have achieved a small breakthrough. Your path has grown to Favoured Hatchling Lvl 13. +1 to all Primary Attributes, +1 Unallocated Point.]
Let's. Fucking. Go! Shai winced desperately, laying flat atop the corpse. This creature was over three times her level...
2024-03-02 19:15:08 +0000 UTC
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[? - Empathic Spider - ? Lvl ???]
Her [Identification] failed to find anything worthwhile, but that only heightened Isla's apprehension. This creature was easily over a hundred levels higher than her. Possibly more, considering it gave off a similar aura of power as her mother.
Then another thought crawled up in her weary mind... If this creature was already at the same standing as her mother... how terrifying was the All-mother, the matriarch she was to meet?
...
2024-03-02 17:53:15 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
DEAD END
In the gloomy dark atmosphere of the dungeon, Shai couldn't determine how long she had slept, but she sensed a significant part of her strength returning. And hunger. Well, mostly hunger.
Her entire body convulsed, growling with an instinctual need as she awoke. Hunger.
Shai hissed and ejected a good chunk of copper-ranked creature's flesh and the Bloodcudding Mushrooms to satiate her ravenous stomach. With her growing body, her hu...
2024-03-01 18:57:57 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
NO ORDINARY SNAKE
Shai's channels seethed in a fiery intensity as if she was set on fire. She had to channel excessive primal essence, far surpassing her limits to escape from the spiders. Even though Serenity didn't give chase, Shai didn't stop until she was miles away, hidden in some small crack that led nowhere.
It would take hours for her channels to calm down from the burning anguish. Nevertheless, she could not afford to rest just yet.
Despite be...
2024-03-01 18:42:22 +0000 UTC
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Marvel grew closer to her, causing Shai to hiss threateningly.
Serenity didn't want Marvel to get any closer either. "The snake was lurking nearby. And no, you must not even come near it. This creature is dangerous."
"But it doesn't look dangerous," Marvel argued. She forced her empathic mind into Shai's tiny brain, but Serenity blocked her path, four pairs of eyes glaring dangerously.
"It is not a thing," the spider mama declared. "Nor a prize... Be ob...
2024-02-29 18:44:32 +0000 UTC
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Shai refused to be on her mercy. Hissing in determination, she unleashed her secret weapon—[Essence Eater]. A powerful suction force surged forth, emanating not just from her mouth but from every inch of her body. The energy within her surged, coursing through her entire being, enabling her to unleash the aspect to its full capacity.
"What? How?" the empathic spider exclaimed, utterly bewildered by Shai's unexpected actions.
Shai remained silent, allowing her insatiable hunger t...
2024-02-29 18:15:58 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE GRAND SPIDER MARATHON
Did they discover I stole their mushrooms already? That was the first thought that came to Shai after discovering it was a swarm of spiders. But that can't be. I took notice of my surroundings.
Even if they did notice her stealing, why would they send a legion to capture a cute little snake like her? There were literally thousands of those eight-legged creatures, swarming in a wave as if participating in some grand ...
2024-02-29 17:41:32 +0000 UTC
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Considering Shai had been skulking around since day one, it was no surprise that she managed to learn Stealth (E). The problem was that all her skill slots were currently in use.
[No Skill slots available.]
I'm aware, Grandpa, Shai complained. Give me a solution... pretty please!
[Would you like to swap a skill for Stealth (E)]
[Accept | Decline]
So there is a way! Shai was delighted and thanked...
2024-02-28 20:07:50 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER NINETEEN
HIGHER POWER
Oh, boy! Am I a magnet or what? Somehow she kept attracting too many higher-ranking entities towards herself. It was too abnormal. Or was she just being narcissistic?
Well, that must be it. After all, the mercenary didn't even notice her presence, and that spider even told her to leave in a condescending tone. Yup, it's all in my head.
Should I just leave the dungeon?
It would take her days to navigate through...
2024-02-28 12:10:26 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Murdery
Bewildered, Shai remained in her secluded hole for hours. Her [Golden Eyes] wasn't as omniscient, far from it, considering she lacked a vital part of its power. The point was that higher-ranked spirit creatures could bypass her detection wittingly or unwittingly, leaving her to question whether the spider had truly left.
It felt inappropriate to refer to the intelligent creature as an "it". The spider was a female, evident by her mention of the male kin...
2024-02-27 19:15:54 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
SERENITY
Serenity's eight legs moved in perfect synchronisation as she swiftly crossed the terrain. Shooting multiple strands of webs onto the wall, she used them to ascend from the deep pit, swinging through the air with grace and precision.
The pit was too high to be scaled with just one or two shots of her cobwebs. It required over half a dozen attempts to successfully climb up. Midnight, with her superior speed and abilities, might have managed it in just ...
2024-02-27 17:50:26 +0000 UTC
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