Chapter 8

Over the next several minutes, I encountered five more level 1 roaches. I had gotten the hang of fighting this type of enemy by that point, so defeating them posed little challenge to me.

Sure, in every battle I was injured, but after a fight was over, I let my body heal, consuming the bodies of the fallen enemies for biomatter and absorbing any nearby mana clouds. So I gained 250 more XP, bringing my current count to 500. I now needed to gain just 100 more XP to level up again. To do that, I needed to defeat two more roaches.

Sure enough, I consumed every body of a fallen foe not only for biomatter but in search of genetic fragments as well. While I had defeated five roaches in the past several minutes, only two of them yielded genetic fragments: one Chitin Plate shard and one Fang shard.

By my rough estimation, a level 1 roach had about a 50% chance of yielding a genetic fragment, or perhaps a little more. Before now, every single roach I had defeated had yielded a genetic fragment, which probably meant that I had simply been lucky.

After each fight, I quickly checked my inventory.

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Biomatter: 100 / 100

Active Fragments: 1 / 1 (Chitin Plate (Shard x7) (Rank I): +70 HP)

Stored Fragments: 1 / 3 (Fang (Shard x3) (Rank I))

Core Fragments: 0 / 1

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I needed to get three more shards of Chitin Plate to see if combining ten shards of the same genetic type would produce a complete genetic fragment.

My HP and MP were topped off, so I resumed traversing the vent ducts, looking for more enemies to defeat.

It wasn’t long before I ran into three more level 1 roaches. Having faced numerous battles where my enemies outnumbered me two, three, or even four to one, I was no longer discouraged when I had to fight several enemies at once.

I rushed toward the roaches and lashed out at the nearest one with one of my razor-sharp forelegs.

You have hit [Roach Gray Lv. 1] for 10 points of Slash damage.

The other two roaches darted at me from opposite directions, both sinking their teeth into my sides.

You have been hit for 10 points of damage. (x2)

HP: 150 / 100 (+70)

Getting injured during battle was something I was now well accustomed to, so I brushed off the injury and immediately counterattacked, barely paying attention to the pain in my sides. I continued to fight the three roaches for about a minute. It didn’t take me much time or effort to finish them.

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Multiple Enemies Killed. +150 XP  

XP: 650 / 600  

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Level up. 2 → 3  

+1 SP  

XP: 50 / 1,000  

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This time, I decided to put the newly earned SP into Body.

Body: 0 → 1

The last time, I had allocated a stat point into Magick, but it hadn’t given me any visible benefits. It was the same now. Increasing Body from 0 to 1 didn’t make any changes to my stats at all. It might have seemed reasonable that Body governed my total HP while Magick governed my total MP. However, putting one stat point into each of the two attributes hadn’t changed my HP or MP at all.

It was odd. I now knew that putting a genetic fragment into the active fragment slot could boost a particular stat of mine, depending on what kind of genetic fragment it was. But what did increasing my attributes give me?

Previously, I had assumed they provided invisible benefits. For example, when I put the previous SP into Magick, I assumed my body would manage mana usage better, consuming less mana for various actions. So perhaps with one stat point in Body, I would now take less damage in combat?

But on the other hand, I hadn’t really noticed any changes in how my body managed mana before and after allocating one point to Magick, so I wasn’t sure if having one point in Body would give me any benefits at all.

So what stat points did when they were allocated to attributes wasn’t quite clear yet, but I hoped to solve this mystery at some point.

I thought about all that as I consumed the bodies of the three roaches I had just killed. My body then used the biomatter to accelerate the healing of the injuries I had sustained. I was lucky because each of the three roaches yielded a genetic fragment shard.

You have received a genetic fragment: Chitin Plate (Shard) (Rank I). (x3)

After my body was fully healed and I stuffed myself with biomatter, I merged the three newly acquired shards with the existing ones. As soon as I did so, a system notification I had never seen before flashed before my eyes.

You have successfully assembled 10 [Chitin Plate (Shard) (Rank I)] to form the [Chitin Plate (Rank I)] genetic fragment.

Excited by this new development, which confirmed my guess that shards could be assembled into complete fragments, I checked the active slot of my inventory.

Active Fragments: 1 / 1 (Chitin Plate (Rank I): +100 HP)

Nothing really changed there, huh? [Chitin Plate (Rank I)] was a complete genetic fragment, but it didn’t really give me any new benefits other than increasing my total HP by 100, the exact amount ten shards could provide.

I then checked the Evolution Requirements tab.

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Level 5 (Current: 3)  

Biomatter: 100 / 100  

Core Genetic Fragments: 0 / 1  

Genetic Fragments: 1 / 2  

Genome Stability: above 60% (Current: no data)

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I immediately noticed that the value of Genetic Fragments had surely gone up by one, meaning I now only needed to assemble ten more shards into another complete genetic fragment.

Well, at least I was now one step closer to meeting the evolution requirements. I wondered if the second genetic fragment needed to be of a different type from the one I had just assembled, or if it could be the same type.

But besides another genetic fragment, I also needed to collect something called a core genetic fragment. What it was, how to get one, and how it even differed from a regular genetic fragment, I had no clue, but I hoped to figure it out soon enough.

After that, I continued to traverse the vent ducts. For the next several minutes, I simply moved along one metal tunnel after another without encountering any more enemies, which was a bit disappointing. Now that I was no longer afraid of roaches, I wanted to defeat as many of them as possible to get experience and genetic fragments. As for the former, now that I was level 3, I would likely be getting even less XP for defeating level 1 roaches, or maybe none at all.

My train of thought came to a stop when I suddenly stepped onto some sticky substance. I looked below me and saw the point-tipped end of my foreleg ensnared by a white, semi-transparent glob of something that suspiciously resembled spider silk. Not without some effort but I managed to pull my leg free of the tacky substance.

After that, I continued on, but this time I moved more slowly, watching where I stepped. The deeper into the tunnel I went, the more often I came across lumps of similar-looking material. They clung not only to the floor, but to the walls and ceiling as well. Here and there, silver threads also dangled from above, swaying slightly as I passed by. It was now clear that it was indeed webbing.

I kept moving in the same direction for another moment, and then I saw a four-way intersection up ahead. The closer I got, the slower I went. I could see that there were several cocoons attached to the walls, each containing either a roach or a similar-looking insect.

Some were so heavily wrapped in silk that I couldn’t tell what was inside.

I slowly reached the middle of the intersection, cautiously looking around for whoever had constructed this silk-covered lair. Then instinct made me look up. As I did, I saw a vertical vent duct right above me, stretching into the darkness. And there, I immediately spotted numerous evil red eyes glowing in the dark and staring down at me.

As soon as my eyes met the creature’s, it lunged down from the darkness toward me. I saw at once that it was a spider-like creature with eight legs. Its body was roughly the same size as my own. I immediately darted aside, preparing to fight this new type of enemy.

I immediately jumped to the side, and the spider landed in the center of the four-way junction at the exact spot where he’d been a split second earlier.

From this close, the spider seemed even larger. It’s body was definitely no smaller than my own, perhaps even somewhat bigger. Its eight long, segmented legs made the arachnid seem larger, but as I took another look at my opponent, I figured we were about the same size after all.

To my surprise, the spider didn’t immediately lurch toward me, so I used the opportunity to assess my foe, summoning its stats with a thought.

Name: Black Spider (Elite)

Level: 2

HP: 100 / 100

Special Ability: Sticky Shot

It was only level 2, but it had 100 HP, which was quite a large amount of health points, especially considering that level 1 roaches had only 30 HP each. Sure, the spider was one level above the roaches, but the difference still seemed too great.

The reason for that was likely because the spider was elite. Apparently, there were two types of enemies, regular and elite, and the latter were undoubtedly more dangerous than the former.

As I already knew, the description of an enemy didn’t tell me its damage output, so I had no way of knowing how much damage the black spider could deal. But since it was elite, I had to assume its damage would be much higher than that of a roach.

In addition to increased health and presumably increased damage output, the spider had a special ability to boot. From its name alone, it probably allowed the spider to shoot sticky projectiles to trap its prey.

All those thoughts flashed through my mind in a matter of moments.

I also wanted to come up with some kind of strategy against this new type of foe, but before I could give the matter any more thought, the spider angled its spinneret toward me, and in the next instant, a white glob of sticky substance, likely webbing, shot from its tip.

I was ready, so I immediately darted aside, and the sticky projectile splattered across the metal floor with a wet smack where I had just been. The spider didn’t employ this ability again immediately, which suggested the skill had at least a short cooldown. Instead, the creature then lurched toward me.

I darted aside to avoid its two large fangs. But as I dodged its bite, the spider slashed at me with one of its forelegs. Since its legs were quite long, they gave the creature ridiculous reach. I wasn’t able to dodge the slashing strike and felt the razor-sharp edge of the spider’s leg carve a long gash across my body.

You have been hit for 25 points of damage.

Yep. Definitely stronger than a regular roach.

Also, even though I had put one stat point into Body, it didn’t seem to have any positive effect. Though since I had no way of knowing whether the damage the spider had just dealt to me had been somewhat reduced thanks to that one point in Body, I had a feeling that wasn’t the case due to how specific the number was.

The spider attempted to catch me with another glancing blow from one of its legs, but this time I managed to dodge it. As I did so, I quickly checked my health.

HP: 175 / 100 (+100)

Having [Chitin Plate (Rank I)] in the active fragment slot was definitely beneficial, as it boosted my overall hit points by one hundred. In battles against a powerful enemy like this black spider, it definitely made a difference.

The arachnid swung another bladed leg at me in a diagonal sweep. I dodged it and attempted to get within striking range of the enemy, but the spider immediately lashed out at me again with another leg. I mentally cursed as I felt the rush of air when the leg passed just over my head.

That reach advantage was going to be a problem.

As I made another attempt to get within striking range of the spider, it shot another glob of sticky substance at me. It hit one of my front legs, gluing it to the metal floor. I tried pulling my leg free, but the substance turned out to be quite strong.

I was stuck!

The spider used my misfortune to its full advantage. It lunged at me, and while I attempted to dodge the blow, I wasn’t able to fully avoid being injured due to my predicament. A pang of pain shot through my body as the sharp tip of the spider’s leg carved a furrow into my chitinous body.

You have been hit for 25 points of damage.

HP: 150 / 100 (+100)

Pain and the loss of a chunk of health made me angry, invigorating me. Exerting all my strength, I pulled my leg as hard as I could, and the sticky substance that was gluing me to the metal floor finally tore apart.

Encouraged, I lurched toward the enemy, getting within striking range. I stabbed at the spider with both front legs at the same time, plunging them as deep into its body as I could.

You have hit [Black Spider (Elite)] for 15 points of Stab damage. (x2)

The spider didn’t like that. It immediately tried to dart away from me, but as it retreated, I managed to slash at it with one leg, dealing an additional ten points of damage and reducing its HP to 60.

Hell yeah! That felt good. 

For the next several moments, the spider moved away from me, trying to keep its distance and shooting globs of webbing and trying to trap me. But I was careful to dodge every single sticky projectile.

At one point, the arachnid finally switched tactics, going on the offensive again. It managed to catch me with a couple more glancing blows. While they reduced my health further, I got lucky and gained [Battle Rage].

That gave me an edge I needed so much. So while the spider had the advantage of reach, I was able to partially cancel that out with a buff that increased my movement speed, letting me dodge more attacks.

Thanks to the buff, my attack speed and damage output were temporarily increased, so I used it to my full advantage.

Slash. Stab. Slash again.

I violently attacked my opponent, unleashing a flurry of slashes and stabs. While the spider managed to dodge some, most got through.

The battle didn’t last long after I received [Battle Rage]. Finally, I delivered the killing blow to the arachnid, and the fight was over.

Enemy Killed. +75 XP

XP: 125 / 1,000

Considering the black spider was elite, the experience reward felt a bit underwhelming. Anyway, the spider was finally defeated. Its body lay on the metal floor, green ichor oozing from the numerous gashes and ragged holes I had inflicted on it.

For a moment, I remained where I was, resting. Not physically, though, as my body didn’t seem to get physically tired, but mentally.

Then I took stock of my wounds. I couldn’t see them, but I could certainly sense them, feeling both the stinging pain from them and the flow of mana, which freely escaped from the ragged breaches in my chitinous exterior. Luckily, the regenerative abilities of my body were already hard at work, processing biomass and using it to seal the injuries.

I approached the fallen foe and began to consume it. I was pleasantly surprised to receive not one but three genetic fragments. Apparently, while regular enemies had about a fifty-percent chance of producing a genetic fragment, elite foes could yield more than one, and the odds of getting one were probably higher as well.

You have received a genetic fragment: Sticky Glob (Shard x3) (Rank I).

It was a genetic fragment he’d never come across before, which wasn’t surprising considering it was the very first spider I had ever encountered and defeated. I continued to consume the spider’s body, and halfway through it, I received another system notification.

You have received an ability: Nest Creation (Rank I) (Uncommon).

What a pleasant surprise! That was definitely intriguing.

So from elite enemies, I could gain not only experience, biomatter, and genetic fragments, but abilities as well. Intrigued, I continued to consume the spider’s body and disgorge the excess matter, wondering what else I might find. However, I soon finished, and no more abilities or genetic fragments were produced.

For a moment, I just looked at the piles of biomatter scattered around my feet that the spider’s body had been reduced to. Since the black spider had been quite large, the amount of biomatter harvested from it was substantial. But my internal storage was now completely full, so I couldn’t store any more.

Each fight with roaches had been similar. While some of the biomatter was used to heal my injuries, there were always globs of biomatter left behind.

At first, it seemed wasteful to leave resources behind. But on the other hand, biomatter seemed to be abundant, so there didn’t seem to be much reason to collect all the lumps and pile them together in one specific place.

Anyway, I checked my stats, and sure enough, the ability I had just gained was listed there. With a thought, I summoned its description.

Nest Creation: This ability allows you to build a nest where you can store your resources, combine genetic fragments, develop your own creatures, and more. At Rank I, the ability allows you to construct an evolution chamber that you can use to evolve to the subsequent form.

This was definitely an exciting development. It seemed that I could now gradually develop my own nest, which should provide me with plenty of benefits. And I was definitely now one step closer to evolving to the next form.

I wanted to check how the ability worked right away. But it was definitely a better idea to build a nest in a secluded place rather than out in the open area where any roaches or spiders could easily stumble upon it.

So before constructing an evolution chamber, I needed to locate such a spot. Excited, I set out to find one.