Novel East
Chapter 122: Phantom
Cocoons. Cocoons everywhere. Priam had nothing against cocoons per se, but their color set his nerves on edge. The faint light erased the golden sheen, leaving only white patches against a blackened world. The scene reminded him of the monochromatic zone created by Hecate's New Moon.
A shiver ran down Priam's spine as he recalled his enigmatic power.
The wind had picked up slightly, easily weaving its way through the trees. His eyes hadn't noticed, but his Domain had just alerted him: a few strands of silk danced on the breeze.
Priam stepped back to avoid them. Even if these strands were not connected to any alarms, the poison coating them could be dangerous. His own resistance to poison was formidable, but he harbored no illusions; it wouldn't provide complete immunity against Elysian creatures.
Raising his gaze, Priam spotted clusters of silk at the treetops. He was willing to bet that was where the strands originated. So close, yet so far. Aside from setting a roaring inferno, there was little he could do. Of course, the spiders must have fireproofed their silk, but Priam had more than one trick up his sleeve. Later
Opportunities to ignite a blaze that could touch the clouds didn't come around every day.
The wind picked up, agitating the threads. Sighing, Priam cloaked himself in a misty shroud and ventured into the silk labyrinth.
A hundred meters further, he encountered a new patrol. Five wolf-sized spiders advanced on the path, undoubtedly ready to hunt.
Infiltrating a wisp of mist into the heart of their formation, Priam attempted an [Identification]. He wasn't taking many risks. Even if the spiders sensed his skill, he was confident he could dispatch them in an instant. n๐v๐l๐as๐.c๐๐
[Identification]
[Mature Trichonephila Aether clavipes - Tier 0] - A spider easily recognized by its golden color and the feathery enlargements on the segments of each of its legs. Its silk is exceptionally durable and resistant to physical forces.
The presence of a Brood Mother alters its behavior. Aggressive, it now imbues its silk with a potent paralytic.
The spider didn't seem to notice the identification, and Priam moved forward with supple steps. He aimed to unlock a better upgrade for [Stealth], and for that, he needed to do something exceptional.
It was time to use his camouflage. The mist thickened around Priam and enshrouded the group before him. The absence of light made camouflage superfluous; above all, he wanted to be able to move around quickly. If the arachnids noticed any difference, they gave no indication.
Closing in, Priam struck.
The lead spider didn't notice him for an instant. Priam wasn't even sure if it sensed its demise. Promesse found its way into the brain.
Before gravity could slam the corpse to the ground, Priam leaped forward. Soaring over the body, he thrust his spear at the four remaining adversaries. Under the velocity of [Unrelenting Thrust], Promesse briefly vanished from his sight. An instant later, his quest displayed five fewer enemies.
Priam maintained a neutral expression, noting that [Stealth] still hadn't had the opportunity to evolve into a high-potential skill. Undeterred, he continued to walk. He still had seven hundred and seventy-three opportunities.
Drawing nearer to the abandoned tower where he first encountered the spiders, the forest grew darker. Silk cocoons lined the path. The trees were more massive, taller, and better concealed the faint starlight. Soon, Priam had to rely on [Broad-spectrum vision] to perceive a portion of the infrared radiation.
It was an effective way to detect his enemies, but the skill didn't highlight the trees smothered by the cocoons. After eliminating five more squads, Priam halted his advance. He could no longer distinguish where he placed his feet. It was the surest way to stumble into a trap, even with Domain.
Hesitating for a moment, Priam decided to extend his mist. Water vapor began to fill the surrounding space, conforming to the shapes of the cocoons and the path. His mist's perspective allowed him to navigate as if it were broad daylight. Satisfied, Priam resumed his march.
A few seconds later, a mass fell upon him. Recognizing a disturbance in his mist, Priam recognized the threat. A spider!
Priam dodged backward with a leap and raised his spear. He impaled the enemy before it even hit the ground. It had simply let itself drop from a tree. The corpse was a regular specimen, which was odd. Priam would have understood if a stealth-specialized spider had spotted him. Yet, that wasn't the case.
The real question was: how could it have sensed his presence? Was he compromised?
Either Priam had made a mistake, or he had triggered a trap. Surveying his surroundings carefully, Priam swore upon discovering his error.
Lvl Up: [Trap detection] lvl 8
PERC +1
Strands of silk had been laid beneath the carpet of dead leaves and dirt. As he was walking, his own weight had broken these threads. His Domain hadn't alerted him for a simple reason: there were too many things around him. The supremacy was tied to an unconscious part of his brain that constantly analyzed his environment.
To conserve mental energy - or the equivalent of human RAM - Domain ignored certain things. Like the uniform ground beneath his feet.
If Priam had stepped on a bear trap or a hidden pit, he would have felt it. But the silk threads were too thin to be easily noticed. I've just fallen into the same trap as on the Moon, Priam swore. The thought irritated him, as he prided himself on rarely making the same mistake twice. Unfortunately, he had relied too much on his Supremacy. Power is no substitute for intelligence. Priam intended to engrave this lesson in letters of fire in his mind.
Now that he was aware, Priam scrutinized the forest floor. The result made him grumble. The spiders had carpeted the ground with their threads. The scale of the work was titanic - undoubtedly the reason they had only done so in the vicinity of the abandoned tower.
The trouble was, Priam had no miracle solution to sidestep this. Without squandering Potential to create a [Lightfoot] skill, he could only levitate, depleting his kinetic reserves.
There was, however, a simpler solution. Disregard the silk threads and forge ahead, dispatching the spiders before they could sound the alarm.
The possibility was dangerous, but the added challenge would force him to excel. It was the best method to significantly improve his skills. So, that was the path Priam chose. Engulfing his surroundings with his mist, he pressed on.
After a few minutes, he noticed the spiders were becoming predictable. Despite their ingenuity in crafting traps, the patrols were as regular as clockwork. The hidden enemies in the trees were stationed every twenty meters. A patrol was dispatched every four minutes and thirteen seconds.
After killing thirty more spiders, Priam finally glimpsed the abandoned tower. Or what was left of it. A colossal cocoon now enshrouded the structure. Priam grunted at the thought of having to infiltrate this mini-fortress.
He grunted a second time upon sensing movement behind him. One, two, three, and soon twenty spiders rushed into his mist. Patrols had finally noticed the absence of sentinels at the fortress's entrance.
Priam turned around and picked up some rocks from the ground. His mastery of [Kinetic Control] would soon allow him to manipulate the temperature of his mist with ease, but he wasn't there yet. Rather than needlessly expending Potential, Priam preferred to innovate.
He gathered about ten rocks in his left hand and directed them toward the incoming spiders. They were oblivious to his presence and didn't even attempt to evade.
Suddenly, the forest's silence was shattered. The ten rocks in Priam's hand accelerated abruptly, skirting the sound barrier without surpassing it. A supersonic bang didn't align with Priam's idea of an infiltration mission.
Lvl Up: [Kinetic Control] lvl 38
VIVA +2
DEXT +3
META (FOCUS) +4
The rocks pierced through the air and the exoskeletons of the spiders. Lodging into various vital organs, they halted the arachnid charge. About ten spiders collapsed as Priam dashed toward the rest.
Promesse claimed three lives before the survivors halted, realizing they were under attack.
Priam thrust his spear into the eyes of one before leaping backward to evade a web. He barely had time to touch the ground before a dozen nets hurtled towards him. They were incredibly swift, and Priam had to resort to [Battle Footwork] to dodge. The skill propelled him ten meters behind his adversaries. Turning around, Priam hurled Promesse, impaling a foe. Only five remained.
Like automated turrets, the survivors continued their barrage. Priam retreated further, giving himself more space to evade the attacks. Mentally, he charged Promesse with kinetic energy. The spear, still embedded in a corpse, leaped towards a new target.
Priam smiled as he felt his partner claim another life. I can't let it do all the work, he thought.
Riding the mist, he reappeared beside Promesse and dislodged it from a fresh corpse. A thrust annihilated one of the spiders. As Priam turned, one of the arachnids pounced on him. Promesse mowed down the suicidal creature. The corpse stiffened instantly, clamping down on the spear.
Priam kicked to dislodge the body when he felt his instinct tremble. According to his mist, one of his enemies was moving away, and the other was motionless. Priam understood why an instant later.
Within a radius of twenty meters, the ground upheaved. Like a carnivorous flower closing, a silk cocoon formed with Priam at its center and attempted to ensnare him. Cursing, he finished off the nearby spider before trying to escape. He cursed a second time upon realizing the silk blocked his teleportation.
The cocoon compressed, decreasing the available space for Priam with each passing moment. He leaped towards a wall and attempted an [Unrelenting Thrust]. Promesse tore through a few strands before hitting a second layer. Like an onion, the cocoon refused to release him easily.
[Tribulation Piercing Spear]. The skill managed to penetrate the cocoon, and Priam slipped a filament of mist inside. Connecting to the external fog, he escaped before the cocoon closed entirely.
Priam looked up, spotting the last enemy sprinting towards the abandoned tower. [Spear Throw] finished the job.
Behind him, the cocoon now formed a small sphere of silk dripping with poison. Priam shuddered at the thought of what could have transpired. Immobilized, with no chance to build momentum and cut off from his mist, he would likely have suffocated to death.
In this realm of silk, every spider could be lethal.
Priam then looked around him, surveying the carnage. Twenty corpses surrounded him. Even if he stored the corpses in his internal world, the signs of the battle were evident. His swift steps and attacks had turned the ground in multiple places. The cats out of the bag.
The essence now was to move swiftly. The alarm had certainly already been raised.
One thing truly concerned Priam. His quest indicated just under seven hundred spiders still alive. There might be around fifty in the forest and on patrol. Maybe a hundred.
But the remaining six hundred must be in the tower.
"I suppose there must be extensive subterranean passages," he murmured.
Before continuing, Priam decided to wait. If more patrols were to return or leave, he preferred to intercept them here. If he were to infiltrate a base filled with traps and giant spiders, he might as well reduce their numbers as much as possible.
Priam pushed the corpses against the trees and then took up Promesse. Since he had to wait, he might as well train. He wanted to see how much his spear would modify his [Unrelenting Thrust].
In the dead of night and amidst a forest blanketed in cocoons, Priam resumed his training.
Level Up: [Unrelenting Thrust] Lvl 2,3
STR +6
A few hours later, the night remained as dark as ever. With a natural movement, Priam stored Promesse in his mist. No patrols had disturbed him for a while. Perhaps the spiders had realized a predator was lurking, as none ventured out anymore.
Most importantly, he had become familiar with his new thrust. The difference between Promesse and a simple wooden spear was now evident.
His bonded weapon was babysitting him. It tried to do things for him, unconsciously correcting his position. The result was a more powerful attack but one that belonged less to Priam.
Fortunately, the weapon was semi-intelligent. Priam had easily persuaded it to disable that auto-aim feature. The intention was commendable, but Kazuki was right - it inhibited his development.
Satisfied with his discovery, he cast a final glance at the hundred additional corpses he had created.
The last five hundred eighty-two spiders were now in their fortress. It was time to flush them out.
Priam resumed his journey with ease. A few meters ahead, he emerged from the forest and entered the clearing that housed a massive cocoon. In a month, the abandoned tower had been completely enveloped.
His mist infiltrated the structure, informing him about the interior.
There was only one main entrance. The rest of the openings had been sealed with silk. Priam shrouded himself in a dense mist cloak and approached. A thick web blocked the entrance. [Tribulation Piercing Spear] could undoubtedly destroy it, but Priam hadn't given up on the idea of being discreet. The spiders were aware of a threat, but had no specific details about him.
Priam rode the mist, reappearing within the structure itself. Without wasting a moment, he remained vigilant, surveying his new surroundings.
The interior of the structure was dark but not entirely pitch black. Special silk covered certain portions, diffusing a kind of weak yellow light. The silence was so intense that Priam could hear his hearts pounding. The air was slightly humid, and not just because of his mist.
At the top of the structure, an enormous spider was hanging from the silken ceiling.
Priam's mouth twisted in disgust. Summoning Promesse, he teleported directly to the creature's back. At the last moment, he held back his strike.
The tip of his spear was mere centimeters from the horror's abdomen, but Priam waited. Obviously, [Stealth] was expecting a particular action from him to evolve into something rare.
Priam wanted an assassination skill. In his imagination, an assassin was both capable of infiltrating anywhere silently and without notice, but also of taking the life of his enemy when necessary. A surprise attack wasn't enough.
The perfect assassin could extinguish a victim's life whenever he pleased. Before that moment, he could stand a centimeter from the future corpse without it noticing anything.
Seconds passed as Priam remained motionless in the air. [Kinetic Control] kept him in levitation, and the combined action of [Stealth] and his mist made him undetectable.
Priam observed the spider for five minutes, his spear poised to strike.
Finally, the reaper's moment arrived. Promesse infiltrated the spider's body, extinguishing its life like blowing out a candle.
[Stealth] has reached level 20, its maximum level as a common skill. Depending on your background, three upgrades are available:
[Greater Stealth - Rare] - General upgrade. No future upgrade possible. Potential Cost: 5
[Softpaws - Rare] - Your velvet steps raise no alarm. Future upgrades possible. Potential Cost: 10
NEW - [Phantom - Rare] - Your enemies do not feel you coming. You are a deadly surprise. High upgrade potential. Potential Cost: 20
Priam smiled, selecting the last option. He'd been right, all it took was finding the right prerequisite to get a better skill.
You have selected the skill [Phantom - Rare].
[Phantom] - As silent as a shadow, as invisible as a breeze, and as sharp as the truth, the Phantom takes a life.
Your enemies are at your mercy, and their lives depend on it.
Your targets have a harder time spotting you.
Be the shadow of your enemies, not of yourself.
AGI +3
Once dead, the spider's body lost its reflexes and detached from the silk ceiling. Its fall pulled Priam from his notifications, and he leaped after the corpse. A second before the body touched the ground and shook the structure, Priam opened a portal a centimeter above the ground. The spider passed through it and fell into the void beneath his floating island before crashing against the boundary of his world. I hope it didn't scare Mirscella.
Priam sighed in relief and closed the portal.
Glancing around quickly, Priam spotted and then entered a hole in the ground. A shaft descended about ten meters before opening into an enormous cavern.
Observing this new environment, Priam wasn't surprised to find it filled with cocoons of various sizes. Hundreds of spiders were present. The light was dim, but bright enough for Priam to detect the Boss in the center. Half spider, half worm, the creature was a vision of horror.
On a throne of silk, the Brood Mother was laying eggs.
[Identification]
[Brood Mother - Tier 1 - Baron] - The mother of a spider colony. If her daughters are dumb, her rank-up has allowed her to gain intelligence.
And perception.
As he finished reading the monster's description, Priam's stomach twisted. Eight big eyes turned toward him.
Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0)
PHYSICAL:
Strength 339 (+9)
Constitution 477
Agility 317 (+4)
Vitality 469
Perception 550 (+2)
MENTAL:
Vivacity 296 (+2)
Dexterity 370 (+3)
Memory 99
Willpower 557
Charisma 414
META:
Meta-affinity 288
Meta-focus 217 (+4)
Meta-endurance 165
Meta-perception 81
Meta-chance 213
Meta-authority 12
Potential: 1011 (+10)
Tier 0
[He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED.
[Tribulation]: Two Tribulations pending.
Future Tribulations delayed until:
Time: 178 days 9 hours 57 minutes 38 seconds.
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