Between a Rock and a Carapace

32. The Deep

The monster thrashes this way and that as I pursue it with my flamethrower. Ha! This is awesome! I didn’t realise how cold I was until I had enormous flames right next to my face.

Whoops! Need to be careful not to singe the antennae.

I snatch my two sense organs back before they dip dangerously low into the jet of flame. Mana flows out of my core at a fast pace, but I’m absorbing plenty of energy through my feet. Interestingly, the dark attributed Mana of the strata is what’s sucked through my legs, but when it arrives at my core, it’s changed back to pure, unattributed Mana. My suspicion is that the core is unable to accept any type of Mana other than clean, untainted energy.

Luckily, my reserves are being replenished just as fast as they’re expended, which means, thanks to the hard work of my two sub-brains, I can keep this flamethrower going forever! Gwehehehehe!

Burn, baby, burn!

I leap left and right, blasting the monster all around with the jet of flame as its shrieks and cries pierce our ears. The creature shudders as the fire incinerates its strange body. Roast, you uppity monster! Be burned by the flames of your own gumption! Also, by me. I don’t want you to think I’m not part of this situation, I absolutely am. And I’m taking a great deal of joy in it.

Fire does appear to be the creature’s Achilles heel. The body we struggled to effectively damage before has now become kindling—quite literally ash in the wind. Everywhere the fire touches, the monster melts away, the air filling with a scent of burning flesh.

After ten more seconds, the monster has had enough. The blobs shift away from us, revealing the stone and soil of the tunnel. Far more sprightly than it was when it first awoke, the creature still isn’t very quick. Luckily for us.

[Don’t let it go, guys! We need to destroy it, seize its core and feast on its Biomass!]

[Agreed!]

[Harrr!]

Still fired up—heh—my pets are eager to chase down the usurper before it can flee. Gleefully keeping my flamethrower active, we chase one half of the monster down the tunnel in the direction we came from.

After roasting it all to pieces, we turn around and race to catch up with the other half, still busily glooping its way down the tunnel.

Burn, sucka!

[You have defeated a Level 41 Venator Atramento.]

[You have gained XP.]

[You have reached Level 15. One Skill Point awarded.]

Take that! You want to ambush us? Want to feast on this incredible diamond hide? No chance! MUHAHAHAA!

There isn’t much left of the monster after I’m done burning it to a crisp, and it doesn’t look particularly appetising either. What had originally appeared to be tiny specks of dust are actually little bloblets, more fluid than dirt. Each individual piece is a tiny drop of shadow flesh that the creature is able to spread out and control, even if there is no connection to its main body.

This is something I’ve not seen before and was certainly creepy as heck. All that remains is a gloopy, wet-looking mess of Biomass that we reluctantly chow down on.

[Venator Atremento: Ink Hunter (V). This monster uses its ability to disperse its body to prey upon unsuspecting victims. Extremely difficult to defeat through physical violence, the creature has a fearsome ability to prey on those weaker than itself.]

Oh, I’m sure. When it picks on someone stronger, it gets cooked and eaten! The Biomass proves to be quite rich as well. There isn’t as much as we’d like, but it’s enough to share. The final surprise comes when we get to the end of our meal.

[Compatible rare core detected. Would you like to absorb it or reconstitute the monster?]

Hmm. I think we can hold onto this for later. I let Tiny keep the core, and he stashes it somewhere in his fur. I’m not sure exactly how. One moment, it’s in his giant hand, then he reaches up to an armpit and the core is gone. Whatever, I’ll take it. The creature was actually tier five? Interesting. I guess that explains how weird it was. If it had been tier two or three, I’d be terrified of what it would look like after a few more evolutions.

After resting briefly, we continue our journey through this branch of tunnel. Funnily enough, there aren’t many other monsters around, probably preyed upon by our friend, the hunter. In short order, we make our way back to the main tunnel and I decide to stick to one side and follow it.

The tunnel continues to shift downward, but at the same time we descend, we’re also trending in the direction of the colony. Once we get back to underneath it, I plan to rise up through the tunnels, scout out the lay of the land, and reconnect with my family. This way, I can hunt out any threats and do the heavy lifting for the colony as they start to take on the second stratum.

After a few tough fights and a whole heap of easy ones, I think we’re ready to see what this stratum really has to offer. I want to get into an Expanse, see what we can see.

We continue our journey for another day, having to shift off to a side tunnel and carve out a space in order to rest. The sweet embrace of torpor is most welcome, and I rest secure in the knowledge that Crinis is watching over me.

Naturally, I have to top Tiny off before I can rest, and then again the moment I awaken. The invasive Mana is still rampaging through his body, constantly causing damage. My healing Skills have improved thanks to the constant exertion, but not yet enough to increase the rank of the Skill, the only thing I can think might help me remove it.

Refreshed and ready, we continue our travels, fighting when we need to and carefully avoiding the many forms of venomous plants that are becoming more and more common.

After another six hours of delving, there’s a notable change to the feel of the Mana in the air. Our tunnel has curved this way and that, always sloping downward. I’ve noticed a few tunnels coming together, and I suspect the reason why.

Carefully, with all senses attuned, we advance. It isn’t long before the tunnel floor drops away, the ceiling rises impossibly high, and a vast, open space of incredibly dense, dark Mana yawns before us like an underwater ocean.

This… is not what I expected.