Chapter 10 Cursed Eyes
It didn't take us long to actually get out of the forest since you can just follow the river... or at least that's what Kumo told me. It took us the entire day to actually reach the forest, apparently, Kumo's sense of direction is absolute ass. It was already dark when we arrived so I wasn't able to actually see what my surroundings looked like but all I noticed was the significant decrease in trees.
"We should find a place to stay sleep master," said Kumo.
"Yeah, lets-"
While we were checking for a place to stay right next to the river I trip on a rock and fall in. Kumo jumps in to try and save me but then realizes she can't expand her body anymore like her pre-evolution. We get washed away in the river struggling to keep our heads above the water.
Aren't spiders supposed to be buoyant why is it possible for her to start drowning?
I noticed that at night the river is stronger so that explains why we weren't able to reach out to land. Not even a minute passes by when I feel a sink in my stomach and feel a dropping sensation. I look down to see us falling from a waterfall unable to see the bottom because of the lack of light.
"AHHHHHH!" We both scream.
*Thud*... I pass out.
[Day 9]
Uh, my head is killing me.
"Am I behind the waterfall... also wheres Kumo?"
As I look around frantically I see Kumo tending to what looks like a light blue fox with vines that were hanging from the inside of the cave. When I saw the fox's wound I feel sharp pains all over my body with vines wrapped around them.
Damn, Kumos too nice.
"Good morning master," Kumo greets while turning around towards me.
I don't reply to her and walk towards the fox laying on the ground. I'm guessing I shouldn't eat otherwise Kumo would be sad and that would probably make her lose loyalty to me. Instead, I look around and see ants crawling on the ground that start to get my mouth-watering.
[Virus Ant]
[An ant that is famous for spreading disease and known for wiping out kingdoms. Each ant can have different levels of potency.]
I ignore the explanation and leap towards the ants, scooping them up with my mouth. I haven't even eaten at least 10 ants yet my headache has become worse and my stomach hurts so much I start to empty it via throwing up. My skin turns from extremely hot to icy cold making me ak out in a sweat from the pain. This might be even worse than when I was forced to stay awake during my evolution.
"Master!" Kumo calls out to me.
[Gained the following skills]
[Disease Resistance]
[Virus]
[Disease Resistance has leveled up (x5)]
[Disease Resistance has evolved to Disease Immunity]
I lay sprawled out on the ground breathing heavily while sweating profusely. I quickly check my status to see if I was dying.
『Status』
[Name: Arpious]
[Race: Cursed Raptor (Lightning)]
[Status: Frightened]
[Servant: 1]
[Level: 16/20]
[HP: 4/25 MP: 10/10 SP: 6/10]
[Strength: 8]
[Defense: 6]
[Magic: 5]
[Speed: 8]
[Luck: 1]
[Charisma: 3]
[Skills: [******] [Thunderbolt] [Boost (2/5)] [Scratch (3/10)] [Mind Control (2/3)] [Shadow Control (2/5)] [Beserk] [Swipe (2/10)] [Posion Resistance (2/5)] [Poison Secretion (4/5)] [Disease Immunity] [Virus]
[Body Modification: [Fangs]
[Titles: [Blessed by ********* ****** of *************] [Savage Assassin]
Kumo is sitting down right next to me with a worried face. If her face could get any whiter she would have gone completely clear.
"KUMO, DO NOT EAT THESE FUCKING ANTS!" I yell which resonates throughout the cave.
"Y-yes master," Kumo says frightened.
I turn my head towards the ants that are still crawling around on the ground. I start to grimace at how innocent they looked. These ants looked like nothing but on the inside they are demons, DEMONS I SAY! I swear in my head that I will devour these ants until extinction.
I immediately stalk the ants and trace them back to their nest. It was right in the corner of the cave which wasn't that far since this cave wasn't that big. I use [Poison Secretion] into the nest killing most of the ants while some escaped through the top. I show them no mercy for their achievement and swallow them whole letting them burn in my stomach acid.
[3200 XP gained]
[You leveled up (x3)]
[You gained the following skills]
[Commanders Presence]
[Army Control]
[Body Modification: Cursed Eyes]
[Gained the following title]
[Heartless]
Wow, that's a lot of things, also that body modification is kind of... how do I describe it... chunni is that the word. Anyway, I should probably use it now before Kumo sees me struggling in pain again. She is currently calming down a crying fox that has just woken up, probably from my screaming and shouting from earlier.
I use [Body Modification: Cursed Eyes] and tried to accept the pain and itchiness in my eyes but couldn't handle it. I start rolling around on the ground covering my mouth so Kumo doesn't hear because she will probably die from a heart attack if she saw me like this again. Soon the pain and itchiness went away leaving me with a notification.
[Select Cursed Eyes]
...
[Diamond Eyes]
[X Eyes]
[Star Eyes]
...
Let's inspect them to see if they do anything special.
[Diamond Eyes]
[Your eyes get a diamond shape around your pupil, granting you the skill [Petrifaction].]
[X Eyes]
[Your eyes get an X that runs through your pupil, granting you the skill [Fire Control].]
[Star Eyes]
[Your eyes get a star shape around your pupil, granting you the skill [Moonlight Control].]
I guess I'll choose the [X Eyes] since it seems the most useful because I don't have anything related to fire.
[X Eyes Selected]
[Would you like to use this eye on the left, right, or both?]
What... I guess left. Let's see what happens when I select left.
[Select Right Eye]
...
[Diamond Eyes]
[Star Eyes]
...
[Diamond Eyes] Definitely since Kumo can already use [Moonlight Control].
[Diamond Eyes Selected]
[Would you like to use this eye on the left, right, or both?]
Right eye...
After selecting what my eyes would do I feel pain and itchiness in both of my eyes again but worse than before. I scratch my eyelids and feel the temptation to remove my eyes from my head but somehow restrain myself. The itchiness and pain finally dissipate and I lay on the ground panting.
『Status』
[Name: Arpious]
[Race: Cursed Raptor (Lightning)]
[Status: Exhausted]
[Servant: 1]
[Level: 19/20]
[HP: 7/25 MP: 10/10 SP: 2/10]
[Strength: 8]
[Defense: 6]
[Magic: 5]
[Speed: 8]
[Luck: 1]
[Charisma: 3]
[Skills: [******] [Thunderbolt] [Boost (2/5)] [Scratch (3/10)] [Mind Control (2/3)] [Shadow Control (2/5)] [Beserk] [Swipe (2/10)] [Posion Resistance (2/5)] [Poison Secretion (4/5)] [Disease Immunity] [Virus] [Commanders Presence] [Army Control] [Fire Control] [Petrification]
[Body Modification: [Fangs] [Cursed Eyes]
[Titles: [Blessed by ********* ****** of *************] [Savage Assassin] [Heartless]
After checking my status I turn my head in the direction of Kumo and see her and the fox running towards me. I turn my head away from them to show that I wasn't in pain, especially Kumo.
"Master... what have you been doing," Kumo said.
"n-nothing just laying down and resting," I stutter.
I feel 2 eyes glaring at me from behind which makes me stutter, I'm assuming they're Kumo's since she's annoyed and worried about me. She seems less nervous when talking to me now from the amount of time we've spent together.
This kind of loosens up the atmosphere which lets her express more of her emotions and opinions but most of the time they are not always positive.
"Hello Miss Arpious, my name is Flame the last Whisp Fox of the Whisp Fox race," says the blue fox.