I reached the surface and almost immediately, my attention was locked on some kind of beetle.

It had a black carapace and red limbs. It didn’t appear to have anything that would be dangerous to me.

I sneaked up behind it until it was about ten times my size away. I made a jump for it and landed on the beetle’s back.

Instead of trying to run, the creature stood still. I quickly injected it with venom behind its head, but soon after, I felt a spray of something hot being showered all over my body.

I let go as the sudden pain enveloped my entire body. Some of the hot liquid landed in one of my eyes and sent massive amounts of pain through my body.

I did the only thing I could think of with my body burning up everywhere and ran down the tunnel that I had just exited as quickly as I could.

If I could scream, I would have.

The liquid that this beetle had sprayed over me started to slowly sizzle out, but the pain remained.

What the fuck was that thing?

I didn’t know how to feel about that message. I was still in too much pain to feel any joy at all at having killed the beetle.

I was not going to try to kill one again.

Not after that…

I patched up the web that covered the entrance with the utmost effort before I decided to try to sleep away the pain. Hopefully, my regeneration would heal my body enough for the pain to disappear in the meantime. 

It was easier said than done. Sleep seemed to be hard, especially in this state. It took a long time before sleep came to me and relieved me of this world’s problems.

____________________________________________________________________________

When I woke up and my wide vision returned, I noticed that all the pain had disappeared. I was glad that could be fixed by my regeneration skill. Still, though, I would avoid those awful beetles at all cost.

I ate some of the dead mouse but noticed I wasn’t that hungry. After that, I removed part of the webs and made my way back to the surface.

Once arrived, I noticed it was night. This was the first time I had been out at night which made me wonder what exactly could be active in the forest at this time. I decided it would be a smart idea to observe before making dangerous moves.

I stayed next to the entrance to the burrow beneath the tree’s roots and kept looking for possible prey.

I waited for about ten minutes before the first possible target showed up.

I was currently eying a moth that fluttered from tree to tree. I wasn’t sure what it was doing, but eventually, it made its way down to where I was waiting. I waited until it was in range and jumped.

My jumping skills never ceased to amaze me. I snatched the creature right out of the air and pinned my legs into it as we landed. I then used my legs to bash onto its head until it snapped off of its body with three hits.

That was a large amount of experience.

It was quite simple too.

An idea popped into my head.

If this moth was vampiric…

I discarded its body some distance away from the burrow before entering my new hideout once more. Once I arrived at the back of the large room, I took an unscathed mouse and dragged it with me to the surface.

I used my teeth to create an opening in its hide and pressed on its body, next to the wound in order to force some blood out.

With some luck, my plan would work.

It didn’t take long for another moth to show up, attracted to the blood.

Like flies to honey, it fluttered in a straight line to the dead mouse, unaware of my presence behind one of the roots.

As soon as it landed, I ambushed it.

Was I a bad person for somewhat enjoying this?

I mean, it was pretty much like fishing, right? There was nothing wrong with fishing, was there? 

I dragged the body away and went back to waiting.

Over the course of the night, I managed to kill five more moths before another predator showed up. From above, I could see a large bird appear.

As soon as it had appeared in my sight, I scurried inside the tunnels to safety. I turned around once I knew I was safe and saw the mouse corpse being gripped by large claws before being lifted up into the sky.

Well, damn it.

I hesitated for a moment if I should continue trying to bait moths with a second mouse but decided against it. For all I knew that bird, whatever it was, was still around. I would lose my precious bait, and moreover, risk getting eaten myself.

I had no choice but to wait…

What was up with my terrible luck lately?

I waited…

And I waited…

I’ll admit, I was bored out of my mind. Times like these really made me wish I had someone I could talk to…

And I had never been a talker…

I looked at my enhancement options and I simply stared.

More strength, or better regeneration…

Now that I had the time to think I actually allowed my mind to go back and forth between the two.

If I could get these moths during the night, I wouldn’t quite need the strength.

Then again, regeneration would not be of help either.

Ah, who was I kidding? I had already made up my mind.

I chose to enhance my leg and pedipalp strength.

As I confirmed my decision, I felt energy flow from my core into my limbs. I felt them grow stronger as my own weight became easier to lift. Moving around hadn’t been an issue before, but right now, I felt as if I could fly. My body just felt so… light.

I reckoned I could jump further now, too. 

My excitement quickly dimmed when I got back to waiting…

I waited until dawn arrived. I made sure to eat as much as I could (which wasn’t much) before heading out again. As I exited the tunnel, I got lost in the forest’s beauty for a second time.

It was just… perfect.

I would love to live here once I’d completed my quest.

It took me far too much effort to push my emotions aside and get back to hunting. Images of how my life could have... should have been... kept popping up in my head.

I saw another stag beetle appear from the grass as it made its way across the dirt that surrounded the tree. It skittered without a care in the world and I was quick to use its obliviousness to my advantage. I crept up on it from behind to avoid the mandibles and jumped.

I tried out my new limbs and severed its head from its abdomen with ease as I brought my front two legs down upon it with force.

It was a good start to the day. There were only three more levels to go to my evolution. I wondered if I would be able to pick the green option again.

I let go of the beetle’s corpse. I had no interest in it.

I was about to continue my hunt for more prey when I felt a sharp pain shooting through my body. I saw a projectile exit my vision on the other end of where it had struck.

I didn’t have time to think. I had to get to safety, now!

I started making my way over to the burrow entrance when I noticed my movements had become wobbly. It was then I noticed that one of my legs had been severed from where it was connected to my body.

It was completely gone.

Screw my luck!

I moved as fast as I could with seven legs when another jolt of pain shot through my body.

A blue projectile flew away from me.

I was being attacked with magic.

And this attack had removed the last segment of one of my legs on my other side.

Fear overwhelmed me when I reached the tunnel entrance. Then, right before I could enter, Something swooped out of the air and lifted me up…

Faragi

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