บท 5: Rock Boned Forest

A/N - I was supposed to add the days passed by in the story and forgot to do it. Thankfully I remembered pretty early. Otherwise, it would've been a pain to go through them again and fix it. You don't have to re-read it since it's just minor adjustments.

*******

Wait... what.

Why does it feel like this one name controls my entire existence? Also, Arpious doesn't really sound feminine or masculine... I guess it's fine. They could have chosen a cooler name, but I'm not going to complain because it might not be possible for monsters even to have names.

『Status』

[Name: Arpious]

[Race: Cursed Raptor (Lightning)]

[Status: Content]

[Level: 1/20]

[HP: 25/25 MP: 10/10 SP: 10/10]

[Strength: 8]

[Defense: 6]

[Magic: 5]

[Speed: 8]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 3]

[Skills: [******] [Shock] [Boost] [Scratch] [Mind Control] [Shadow Control] [Beserk] [Swipe]

[Titles: [Blessed by ********* ****** of *************]

...

It seems that my name got added to my status, but it's just for show. I thought I would get a power-up or something from getting a name... I guess not.

After checking my status, I enter the forest with small trees and start inspecting many things before something caught my eye.

[Rock Boned Forest]

[A forest on the [Great Mountain of Twilight]. This forest houses multiple species of monsters that are always in a constant state of beserk.]

Even though there isn't much info, these parts are still important. First of all, I know what this forest I'm in is called and what the giant mountain that contains all these forests is on... I should try to explore more places before I conclude that thought first.

Since I got so many new skills, I've wanted to test them out, so I start traveling deeper into the forest. After wandering around inspecting everything I can, I finally come across another creature.

It's around 5 feet tall and has a black body with purple stripes all over it. Coming out from its body is 8 legs, 4 on each side that end with a singular claw that is completely purple. Its head is black with 8 eyes that move in separate directions. Its eyes are bloodshot, just like the wolf but seem much creepier because of how each eye moves by itself.

There is no doubt about it; even though it looks pretty different and much bigger, it's still... a spider! But there is no way this is just a regular spider. It's fucking huge!

[Beserk Crawler]

[An uncommon species of crawler. These crawlers are in a constant state of beserk, but due to this, they can only live up to 2 weeks at most.]

So it's not a spider, but a monster called a Crawler? I want to try and hunt it down, but there are too many presents. Even though its headcount is only 4, I don't think those wolves from earlier could compare to these monstrosities. I will have to hunt at night and try and ambush a Crawler that strays off from its group.

I stalk the crawlers for half a day until I notice the sun going down. I'm going to try and pick off one just for now because I only want to test them. The crawlers seem to start communicating with each other through some method which I can't figure out.

Three crawlers lay down on the soft soil under a tree that seems to curve in a U shape, slightly protecting the three crawlers' sides. The last crawler didn't go to lie down but was guarding the sleeping Crawlers.

Okay, if I want to keep this quiet and stealthy, I'm going to have to go straight for the head so the Crawler can't signal to its comrades. I should try out [Shadow Control] since there are many shadows from the sun setting. I have to do this before all of the shadows go away, or maybe nighttime is basically just one big shadow. I don't want to risk it right now, though, because these things are dangerous.

[Shadow Control]

[You obtain the ability to manipulate up to 1 foot of shadow within your eyesight.]

That's pretty simple to use, alright let's do this!

I sneak behind a tree parallel to the one with the sleeping Crawlers and wait for the crawler to look in the opposite direction. Once I see it turns its head away from my direction I immediately activate [Shadow Control]. I control the shadow right below the spider and what looks to be a tentacle starts to stretch its way out from the shadow.

I form the tentacle into a blade and have it close in on the Crawler's ankles. While I prepared the shadow blade to cut the Crawler, I slowly raise my claws in preparation to use [Scratch].

The Crawler turns its head in my direction, and I put my plan into action. I cut the crawler's ankles so it couldn't dodge or run away and then charge in, lifting my claws. The crawler falls onto the ground, chest against the soil.

It hisses and ready its fangs, but it's too late. By the time it lifted its head back up, I had severed it with [Scratch], only allowing it to hiss a little more before the head plops to the floor and making little to no sound.

I immediately grab hold of it and let it down softly.

[1200 XP gained]

[You leveled up (x2)]

I have to be careful right now and drag the body away from here without waking up the other Crawlers.

First moving the head, I drag it behind a tree while the shadow cuts the Crawler's body into pieces I can move. Dragging the body parts and manipulating the shadow at the same time was extremely hard. It was so hard that I just stopped trying to cut the body while dragging the head away.

I'm going to have to practice this later, so it is easier to use in the future. Also, I hope his body isn't poisonous because it most definitely looks poisonous.

After moving all the body parts safely away, I cut them up even further so it is easier to eat. Before I dug in, I wanted to test something first.

5 minutes go by... 10 minutes go by... 20 minutes go by... 30 minutes go by.

I knew it... I didn't get any skills after killing it, so I probably got the skills from eating the creature itself, and I assume this also works with its blood. I noticed I've been getting skills related to the creatures I slaughtered and ate. This is another clue to figuring out that censored skill.

After confirming my suspicion, I bit into it and started to chew. The taste was kind of like fish with a hint of spiciness. The texture was pretty bad though, it was slimy and had a lot of hard bits in it. I've avoided its blood because it might be poisonous, and I don't want to try it unless I get resistance or immunity to it.

Actually, now that I think about it, the inside of my mouth has been getting itchier the more I ate the carcass.

[Gained the following skills]

[Poison Resistance]

[Poison Secretion]

Speak of the devil, and there is the [Poison Resistance] that I wanted. After eating all of this food, I've become quite thirsty, but the only option I have right now would be... this thing's blood.

I lower my head to the pool of blood that formed on the ground beneath the dead Crawler and start slurping it up. The blood was warm as it ran down my throat, quenching my thirst just a little bit.

Once I stopped drinking, I felt a burning and extreme itchy feeling in my esophagus. I wasn't feeling any pain. It was just like warming your hands over a fire, but the warmness enhanced the itch making it unbearable.

I writhed on the ground, scratching at my throat until it completely stopped, almost like it was never there.

[Poison Resistance has leveled up]

Wait... so even my skills can level up... let me check my status.

『Status』

[Name: Arpious]

[Race: Cursed Raptor (Lightning)]

[Status: Reckless]

[Level: 2/20]

[HP: 25/25 MP: 10/10 SP: 10/10]

[Strength: 8]

[Defense: 6]

[Magic: 5]

[Speed: 8]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 3]

[Skills: [******] [Shock] [Boost] [Scratch] [Mind Control] [Shadow Control] [Beserk] [Swipe] [Posion Resistance (2/5)] [Poison Secretion]]

[Titles: [Blessed by ********* ****** of *************]]

So the 2/5, I'm assuming, is the skill level that relieves one of my worries. I was worried that skills could only evolve under certain circumstances, such as evolving, but it looks like they can evolve if I level them up.

After checking my status and looking at my skills, my eyelids start to grow heavy. I haven't slept yet in this world, only passing out.

Sleeping right next to the crawlers was a dumb idea, so dashed away, trying to find a suitable sleeping spot.