YM778.TV Chapter 104 - Shiny
Why, whenever I tried to move in a certain direction (that of bugmen), something went wrong every time? I had no landmarks this time, nothing to show me where to look for them. Because of that, I had to accept my lack of luck and leave the place and the stench of carnage.
I fervently wished to get to some stream, or a pool, that would be more than a trickle. Life in the mortal realm had spoilt me—now I felt uncomfortable running around all dirty. There was only so much I could clean by licking myself all over like a cat. As an additional downside, I was now impossible to miss with how I stank. Though, that was since I had to live through the upgrade of \'Devourer\'.
My legs and wings carried me through the caves towards places unknown. I picked the routes that led up, hoping to find an exit to the surface and, at least, reorient myself in space, but there were no straight ways underground.
Eventually, I was blessed by a stream I found. Pleasantly ice-cold, shallow and thin, it flowed among rocks and provided enough water for me to wash myself. It also provided me with a landmark I could follow.. Water, I reasoned, flowed from up and down. Therefore, where it came from was up, and surface, and the way towards it that the water made in stone.
I was right. For a day I walked against the stream, and though a few times I had to transform so be able to get through the narrow cracks, all that time I moved upwards. The hardest part was to push my bag with me. It had no things that could suffer from moisture, but there was a limit to how tight a place I can push it through.
In the end, I decided that the only thing I really needed in it was the magic stone. Without hesitation, I threw out everything I didn\'t eat yet: my clothing, my few camp supplies, and was left with only the magic stone.
That I put right into my body. But not ate—there was a difference. I pushed the crystal into my stomach, from where it began to spread its tingles through me. Its glow was visible through my skin, but it was still more convenient than to haul it around in my hands. When, after a while, the tingles didn\'t grow too strong, just like I hoped—either my \'Absolute Devourer\' ability got rid of it somehow, or I just could bear it better now, maybe because of \'Steel Soul\'—I kept going.
On the second day, I scented bugmen again. They were near the stream, and after some sniffing around, I concluded that they came here regularly. It could\'ve been the place where they drank from. Which meant that it was perfect for an ambush.
I assumed a form of a snake-like creature and submerged myself underwater up to my nostrils. I grew my stinger in my mouth, ready to attack, and waited for someone to come. The glow of the magic stone gave me out to anyone able to see normally, but bugmen were blind, and water would hide me well from smelling and hearing.
In waiting, I was patient, and needed no \'Steel Soul\' for that. I relaxed and let the chilly water fill me with strength and cool down the hot tingling of power in my belly. Or chest. In this snake-like form, it was all very vague.
The first creature to appear next to the stream wasn\'t a bugman, but a giant spider who descended to have a drink. I could\'ve jumped on it, eaten it, but instead I let it quench its thirst in peace and kept waiting. I didn\'t want to spoil my ambush and my grand prize by killing a random weak monster.
I already had plans for these bugmen. They looked very much like human—well, at least no less human than I—but had advantages compared to them. Just their extra limbs, for an instant. I could grow up more limbs now, but I found it was just easier to keep to the \'default\' form of my current species. Not to mention, I couldn\'t change my stats or volume that way.
Well, the easiest form was a puddle of slime…
The bugmen appeared a couple of hours later. There were three of them, each wearing something that looked like chitinous armour and wielding long knives that appeared to be made from the same material. On their belts, they had waterskins, which they obviously came to fill.
They didn\'t speak or made any sounds as they approached the stream. Their antennas wiggled as they seemed to taste the air, but they didn\'t spot me or any other threat and continued to the water. One stood guard; two others uncorked their waterskins and dipped them in the water.
I picked the one that looked a little frailer and struck. The bugman didn\'t have a moment to react; my body flew out of the water and my stinger pierced its throat, injecting venom and spilling blood. With a helpless gurgle, the bugman fell to the ground, while its companions, still not making a sound—were bugmen mute?—brandished their weapons and assumed combat positions.
Before they could get to me, I gathered my long, long coils together and assumed my normal humanoid form. My claws extended, and I gave the bugmen a ferocious grin. Although their comrade was helplessly grasping for his throat beneath my feet, they showed no hint of emotion—only a cool assessment. Even without eyes, their gazes seemed to dissect me in parts in search of strength and weaknesses.
They were smart. No matter what inhuman intelligence they had, there was more of it than in, say, kobolds. Already, one of them shifted his position so it and its companion would flank me.
This seemed like a welcome challenge. I had an idea to just leave the corpse of the first bugman and return to eat it when these two leave, but now I was intent on killing them dead and eating all three.