Lvl 4 Bell Spider, Devouring Ones Own Kind
Chapter 28
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Pit. Pat.
Splish. Splash.
A savage Water Wolf Spider on one side, and a starving Jawless Fish on the other side. Astaroth had successfully gotten himself into something that he wasn't sure he could get himself out of.
"But then again, I'm not planning to run from danger," Astaroth said calmly.
With two extremely dangerous enemies on both sides of the spectrum, he faltered not a single bit. Maintaining complete composure, he suddenly closed his eyes and enhanced his other senses.
To be specific, he was relying on |Spidey Senses| to sense every little ripple in the water.
"The Water Wolf Spider is stealthy and obscure with its intentions, while the Jawless Fish is a big block of muscle; stupid and headstrong," Astaroth analyzed. "For a matchup like this one, I have to retain an almost inhuman level of focus. And luckily for me…"
Just as the Water Wolf Spider jumped out of its nest, and just as the Jawless Fish was going to devour him in one bite, Astaroth used his lightning-quick reflexes to slide to the left. Doing so just in the nick of time, the Water Wolf Spider and Jawless Fish collided head-on!
As soon as they encountered one another, they started to brawl right then and there!
"Now it's time to feast," Astaroth said calmly.
He had already found his way into the chasm in the midst of the fight between Titans.
Their scuffle caused the entire chasm to violently shake and crack off rocks of varying sizes. But for Astaroth, he treated the miniature avalanche as a minor inconvenience and continued his swinging through the deeper parts of the cavern.
And that was when he saw it…
"Nearly fifty Bell Spiders, and all in prime condition," Astaroth licked his lips. Right away and bereft of remorse, he propelled himself toward the first of his hostaged brethren, then he…
|True Energy Absorption|
Devoured them.
[Ding! You have absorbed 12 Energy from a Lvl 1 Bell Spider!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 45 Energy from a Lvl 1 Bell Spider!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 120 Energy from a Lvl 1 Bell Spider!]
[Ding! You have…]
One by one, the killer of his own kind devoured the Bell Spiders.
[Ding! You have absorbed 1,102 Energy from a Lvl 2 Bell Spider!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 1,340 Energy from a Lvl 2 Bell Spider!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 2,900 Energy from a Lvl 2 Bell Spider!]
[Ding! You have…]
After consuming all of the Lvl 1 and Lvl 2 Bell Spiders, Astaroth immediately moved onto the Lvl 3 Bell Spiders.
By the end of his buffet time, he finally came across the highest Lvl Bell Spiders.
Lvl 4, large, and scary—they were creatures that would've been able to catch up to and kill the past him.
However, after devouring dozens of Bell Spiders, his Energy value had already improved by a hundred times what it once was. Let alone right now, the Lvl 4 Bell Spiders wouldn't be a threat even if they weren't tied up into bundles.
While listening to the muffled, rabid screeches of the Bell Spiders, Astaroth crawled across the smooth water rocks. After making it face-to-face with a freaking-out Bell Spider, he put his creepy face to theirs and said, "Sorry it had to be this way, but it had to be this way."
SLASH!
Quickly and precisely, Astaroth used |Claw Slash| and ripped out the Bell Spider's throat with his new and improved claws.
During this brief feasting session, he had absorbed enough energy to go through multiple minor evolutions. And then, when he reached 1,000 Energy, he was able to undergo a major evolution, which caused his body to grow substantially larger. On top of that, his claws became sharper, his fangs longer, and his color scheme more defined.
This was his breakthrough into Lvl 2!
Of course, right after that breakthrough came the one into Lvl 3… Then Lvl 4…
After finishing up the last of the Lvl 4 Bell Spiders, Astaroth looked over the last of the system notifications before focusing on the changes to his body.
[Ding! You have absorbed 110,500 Energy from a Lvl 4 Bell Spider!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 650,000 Energy from a Lvl 4 Bell Spider!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 230,000 Energy from a Lvl 4 Bell Spider!]
[Ding! You have…]
As the system notifications finished ringing out, Astaroth propelled himself toward a body of water and looked at his spider body in the reflection.
From his originally full black color to a shadow-like black, the primary color of his body paired very well with the blood red stripes lining his entire body.
Then there were his sharp, lethal fangs and long, serrated black legs, of which he still had 8 of them.
On top of his head, there were also three pairs of curved horns, which only added to the whole demonic aesthetic that the system was obviously aiming for.
"Why… Why do I look more and more like some monstrous demon with every evolution…? Is the system trying to foreshadow something or what?"
[Ding! The system has no clue what the host is talking about! Evolution is one that includes many twists and turns, and aesthetics are merely a conduit for the power that comes with evolution!]
"...I don't believe you, system…" Astaroth said accusatively. "But regardless of the mechanisms happening in the background, can you bring up my system interface?" he asked.
[Ding! Certainly!]
BLING!
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{[Infinite Energy System]}
[Host: Astaroth]
[Evolution Stage: Bell Spider (Lvl 4)] - [975,000/1,000,000]
[Evolution Area: Pond]
[Energy Storage: 345,000/500,000]
{[Top Energy Abilities:]}
[True Energy Absorption (Lvl 4)], [Spider Grapple (Lvl 4)], [Blood Drain (Lvl 4)], [Blood Restoration (Lvl 3)]
[Venom Spit (Lvl 3)], [Speedy Regeneration (Lvl 4)], [Spidey Senses (Lvl 4)], [Claw Slash (Lvl 4), [Web Swing (Lvl 4)]
[Tadpole Flash (Lvl 1)], [Paddle (Lvl 1)], [Lunge (Lvl 1)]
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