NOVEL NEXT B1 | Chapter 12 - Feeders
Alexia Knight
It takes me a few moments for my heart to calm down before I climb back to my feet and stretch. Only to catch a glimpse of something in the corner of my eye that has me reflexively ducking, following which I see a random glob of purple liquid I’m pretty sure is poison flying past where my head was.
Oh, come on!
I summon my glaive while turning to face the new threat, finding it to be some sort of flying bug that I’ve seen before. Like a giant mosquito spanning a foot in height that has shivers running down my spine just at the sight of the disgusting thing.
{Lesser Feeder – Level 14}
A monster I actually recognize. One of the most universally known pests of the world.
Great.
And for some reason it’s a higher level than me. Makes calling it a pest feel awkward now.
The creature whose wings make a constant buzzing sound zips from one spot in the air to another before sending another glob of poison at me, only for me to cut straight through it with my quantum energy enhanced glaive. Then I spin the glaive through the air while stepping forwards and extending the glaive to cut straight through the pest with ease in an upwards arc.
[Level 14 Lesser Feeder Defeated – User’s earned EXP has been increased a small amount due to killing a being whose level is higher than their own.]
[Five points have been earned for killing a creature four levels above you.]
I almost snort at the amount of points a damned pest gave me.
Those insects were quite common in very humid and dark places before this Reset, so I hope they aren’t in this dimension too. But judging by the fact that I just found one, it’s quite likely they’ll be here too.
I narrow my eyes at the corpse as it slowly floats to the ground, its wings and light weight making it almost like a feather in some ways before I glance at the river, then at the tunnel on this side of the cavern.
Feeders nest in swarms, are very territorial, and attack anything that gets into their territory while not bothering with stuff outside of it. Which means that this side of the cavern is probably part of its territory.
Not sure how that lesser scythid from earlier was able to get through this area perfectly fine though.
Wait… that’s right, these things suck blood just like a mosquito.
And a scythid, an insect, doesn’t have blood. It has whatever that bloodlike liquid insects generally have instead. Something that the feeders have no reason to feed on since they want something in blood that isn’t in the blood of bugs.
Overall means that I’ll probably be dealing with more than just these lesser feeders should I continue on.
Good thing these things are considered the very bottom of the worst Class of species in existence, Class E, hence why the thing died so easily even with a higher level than me.
Actually, come to think of it, I should stop thinking linearly in terms of level. Since all of the monsters I’ve seen here have been lower Class species than my own and therefore have fewer stats at the same level as me.
Even if that doesn’t matter as much at our low levels.
I flip my glaive to fling off the ‘blood’ from the blade before checking my soul to find it at about halfway full.
Hmm. Guess I’ll wait here for a bit to let it regenerate.
And hunt some more piranhas in the process.
[Level 14 Lesser Feeder Defeated – User’s earned EXP has been increased a small amount due to killing a being whose level is higher than their own.]
[Five points have been earned for killing a creature four levels above you.]
{Congratulations! You have leveled up to level 11! Your Species has awarded you +2 VIT, +2 DEX, +2 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN. Your Class has awarded you +1 VIT, +1 DEX, +1 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN.}
After cutting through another of the feeders that found their way to this cavern and leveling up in the process, I begin walking towards the tunnel where they’re coming from, my soul finally having fully regenerated by now.
It’s too bad a creature’s species Class also affects how much EXP they give. Otherwise these insects would be a goldmine of EXP.
Then again, can’t have things too easy for us. That’s just not how the System works.
Effort makes reward and all.
I hold onto my glaive with both hands as I walk through the tunnel rather carefully, keeping my ear open for any buzzing sounds. And not even half a minute later, I begin to hear some, following which three feeders turn a bend in the tunnel towards me.
Shit.
All three shoot out blobs of poison at me, and I manage to dodge two of them. But the third hits me on my shoulder, making a hissing sound as I myself hiss through my teeth in pain.
I don’t stand still despite that though, instead rushing forwards while ignoring the pain and using it to train pain resistance as I cut through two of the insects in one go. Then I spin around to dodge another blob before cutting through the third.
[Level 15 Lesser Feeder Defeated – User’s earned EXP has been increased a small amount due to killing a being whose level is higher than their own.]
[Level 14 Lesser Feeder Defeated – User’s earned EXP has been increased a small amount due to killing a being whose level is higher than their own.] x2
[Five points have been earned for killing a creature four levels above you.]
[Four points have been earned for killing a creature three levels above you.] x2
[The leaderboards have been updated. You are now #1 on the leaderboards.]
“Fuck,” I mutter while stopping to look at my shoulder, finding the purple poison to have burnt through some of my armor, revealing a mix of blood and purple poison on my now-partially-bare shoulder.
At this rate my armor might not last the day.
Fortunately the insects have acidic poison – at least, fortunate in terms of my health and not my armor – so after the acid runs its course, my wound begins to heal without too much trouble, simply taking up a few dozen points of soul in the process. Then I stretch my newly healed arm and continue making my way through the tunnel.
I certainly hope I can get new armor before leaving this dungeon.