Chapter 14 The express lane (1/2)

[You have consumed a new source of Bioma.s.s: Puer Aranea, you are awarded one Bioma.s.s]

[Basic profile of the Puer Aranea unlocked]

[You have gained one Bioma.s.s]

[Puer Aranea: Child Spider. A newly born spider monster, relies on its web to secure prey.]

I feel great shame.

Clearly the rage I directed at this spider, the contempt I felt for it growing fat on bioma.s.s behind its cozy web was very misplaced.

This is a level one baby spider monster. It's possible it never managed to consume any bioma.s.s at all.

How pitiful.

Your existence is so pitiful!

We won't talk about your end…

I'm sorry young spider!

After my first two blasts of acid the spider was already heavily wounded, without any way to recover the damage caused by my acid, its pitifully small health pool had shrunk to almost nothing.

When I entered the nest to continue the battle it was already on the edge of death, my last shot was enough to defeat it. Being only level one, I'm sure the experience I've gained isn't much, but by consuming it (the taste was as you could imagine), I have gained two more bioma.s.s.

Once again, eyes +3 is within my reach!

With my vision finally in a non-life threateningly sucky state I'll be able to concentrate on other aspects of my body.

Maybe then I'll be able to actually fight something.

Wishful thinking! I suck!

I have to find out how I can grow into at least an adult ant. Perhaps I need to achieve more levels? Before that can happen I need to locate a place I can hunt.

Having consumed the unfortunate arachnid I have at least secured a path forward, so I've little choice but to continue on my journey.

I use broken rocks and dust in order to break through the web on the other side of the nest and squeeze myself between the threads once more.

Enter stealth mode!

Scrabbling back to the ceiling I move cautiously down the tunnel once more.

It isn't long before I find something new.

A shaft plunging straight down into the dark.

Directly in the middle of the tunnel the floor drops away instantly and before me is a hole, four metres in diameter that I cannot see the bottom of, despite the winding light threads that twist through the rock walls.

How far down does this thing go?!

The tunnel I'm in keeps continuing forward so once again I am left with a choice.

If I a.s.sume that deeper means more dangerous then I should leave my exploration of this shaft for later. I still take time to sniff the edge of the hole carefully with my antennae, seeking any sign of the trail.

Nothing.

I'm a little disappointed but at the same time a little relieved. I'd rather not have to pursue the trail deeper into these tunnels if I could avoid it, but since going higher in the tunnels isn't safe either (due to the threat of painful death by human), going deeper may be the smarter option...

Gah! My head hurts!

I will have to explore all options in the end probably. No need to keep thinking about it. Onward!

Pa.s.sing over the shaft opening I proceed further down the tunnel, warily scanning as I do so.

After twenty minutes I encounter another development.

It turns out my small tunnel connects to a much larger one, similar to the cavern I was in before. This large pa.s.sage is at least thirty metres wide and twenty metres high. Sitting at the opening to my small tunnel I can already see other small tunnel openings breaking off from this main pa.s.sage.