Amelia's personality was strange, to say the least. It was hard to tell what she would say or do. From purposely sleeping on the cold floor so that I would lift her up and ask her to sleep beside me to learning to cook and clean from scratch.
She was terrible at masking her emotions. Even before last week, I saw her a few times. Whenever I went out, she was always there. At first I thought it was a coincidence but after a while it become clear that it wasn't.
She was always chasing after me when we were kids. After all these years, she was still the same.
Smiling, I slowly reached out and patted her on the head.
"It's fine, don't worry about it. And don't overwork yourself." I said.
Ideally, if I could make enough money in Vesperia, then she wouldn't have to work at all. But for that, I needed to gradually gain strength. If I rushed things, then I could easily be killed. As long as I could gradually gain strength, I should be fine.
I've heard stories of players rushing into dungeons alone in search of wealth as soon as they enter Vesperia. These players were often killed, either by monsters or hostile guilds to set an example.
Amelia nodded and smiled.
For the rest of the night, while Amelia was fast asleep beside me, I was trying to find information that could help me figure out where I was in Vesperia. Though the information available was very limited.
The spawn point after entering Vesperia was random. Some were lucky enough to be spawned in a kingdom or town. While if you're unlucky, you might spawn in a location that is teeming with monsters.
From what I've seen so far, where I was located didn't have many monsters, or maybe I just wasn't big enough to draw their attention. This was another reason to stay small for the time being.
Most monsters were judged by their size. If they were small, then they would most likely be considered weak. So being small was another of my advantages for now.
Not finding any useful information, I decided to close my eyes as I soon drifted off to sleep. The next morning, as I logged into Vesperia, my entire body felt cold, as if a chill was slowly enveloping every cell in my body.
My antennae too were shaking violently. It was the human equivalent of breaking out in a cold sweat. A predator was near. I didn't know what kind of predator or where it was, but I was certain it was nearby.
Right now, I was well secured in a small crevice of a steep rock formation. I doubted anything large could make it inside, which is why I chose this spot in the first place. I waved my antennae in the air and realized that the predator was somewhere outside.
Slowly, I crept towards the small hole I climbed in through, but just then…
KAW!
Something crashed into the crevice from the outside, sending rubble flying in. The violent collision was enough to cause the ground to tremble violently. I briefly saw what had made the impact.
Was that a crow?
For a moment, I couldn't believe what I had seen with my own eyes. Still cautious, I crept even closer into the hole and peeked outside. My eyes widened in shock when I saw what was waiting for me on the outside.
It was a mob of crows. There were roughly about 15 crows in total outside waiting for me. If there was one thing I knew about crows, it is that they never forget a grudge. If one of their members was killed, then they would find the one responsible for it and take revenge.
Somehow, they must've realized that I killed one of their members and ate its eggs. If this hole wasn't so small, then they would've gotten to me already. There was no other way out but I couldn't stay here forever. The only way through was to face them head-on.
[1 skill point has been spent to level up Venom to level 2]
[2 skill points have been spent to level up Venom to level 3]
If I'm going to face off against them, then the potency of my venom needed to be higher.
[8 biomass has been spent to increase hardness of exoskeleton by 2x]
-New Skill Acquired-
[Lv. 1 Molding: Allows you to shift the shape of your exoskeleton.]
Huh, a new skill. Activating my skill, I was able to shape whatever form my exoskeleton takes. At will, I was able to create large spikes over my exoskeleton or even make it smooth or more jagged. The obsidian shifted almost like a dark liquid before it hardened into whatever shape I chose.
[3 biomass has been spent to increase the length and sharpness of your forcipules]
[Pinch has been leveled up to level 3]
This should be good enough. With strong defense and venom that could take down creatures more than 3 times my size, I felt a bit more confident. Still, I didn't exit the crevice immediately; instead, I decided to wait.
At night, I would have the advantage since I had a Nightvision skill while crows were diurnal, meaning they are mostly active during the day. I wanted to use every advantage I had since the crows were dead set on not leaving as they started to make loud noises outside.
They even resorted to trying to force me out. They would shove small rocks inside the crevice and even bring me bait, like caterpillars, to help draw me out. This showed how exceptionally smart they were, and underestimating them could very well get me killed.
But whether they were crows, ants, or magical beasts, it was survival of the fittest, and I took it deadly seriously. No living creature wanted to die, and they would all fight until their last breath to ensure their survival. I was no different; I would hunt whatever I needed to gain power.
In this regard, my gamertag seemed fitting.
Soon, the sun disappeared from the sky, and the crimson moon dominated once again. Peeking outside, the crows were still there. Furthermore, there seemed to be more of them: 23 of them, to be exact.
With my exoskeleton merging me into the darkness seamlessly, I made my move and began my hunt.