Chapter 376: Shoe Fish

Along the way, Jyorta noticed numerous outgrowths in the walls of the path. They were shaped into hexagons, with one side attached to the walls, situated at heights at least five metres above the ground.

Each hexagon was at least 10 metres long, poking out by a metre into the path. Nested above each was the Frenzy Beast, Recrow. The Recrows had a smaller stature, with the Tier 1 beings barely reaching a metre in height. Their Tier 2 counterpart was similar in size, only sporting a greater quantity of feathers, making them seem more ballooned.

A Tier 2 Recrow flapped its wings and took off to the sky, reaching the ceiling that it tapped once with its claw. Using the rebound, it made a reverse dive towards a sand dune, retracting its wings. When it neared the sand, it made a single, instantaneous flap with its wings, unleashing a powerful gust of wind that blew off all the sand grains in the dune.

It revealed the Steel Porcupine lying within in wait, flustered at its protective base getting obliterated. Without losing any momentum from its attack, the Recrow made a beeline, forming a steep arc as it flew past.

The severed body of the Steel Porcupine was left behind while a couple of gashes were created on its body, drawing out some blood. The Tier 2 Recrow changed directions and made another beeline towards the Steel Porcupine, its speeds accelerating further when it was nearer, having activated its Tier 2 Skill.

The Steel Porcupine was unable to retaliate, getting shredded into numerous pieces. There were tiny parts of its body that wriggled even after that, the final death throes of its Frenzy Parasite. The Tier 2 Recrow scooped all the shredded bits with a dextrous swipe of its wings and landed on its nest, feeding some hatchlings.

Jyorta had observed the entire scene, taking a second glance at the shredded bits containing the Frenzy Parasite, 'I have to research them further if I wish to live in this world longer.'

He then thought about the hatchlings, 'So, after they give birth, will the hatchlings be left to live here? Or will the staff pick them up to nurture in a different location, give them Frenzy Parasites when they have reached maturity, and put the Tier 1 beings back in the labyrinth? Seems like it would consume a lot of time and resources.'

He then thought about the Floating Spiders, recalling their population that surpassed even humanity. Just the number of Warriors and Espers they possessed numbered thrice Marble City's. And, as an insect race possessing every advantageous trait of insects, their birth rate was staggeringly high.

With such a massive population, controlling them was harder. They all couldn't be placed in the domain of Rhachis Ancestor Puppet, their sole Esper Ancestor. So, they usually lived in the various Web Worlds that littered the Floating Spider territory.

This lack of defensive means made them vulnerable against attacks, especially against the strategy and means of Marble City's soldiers. This was why Marble City kept something like the Labyrinth of Frenzy in every military academy. Because it was easy to capture Frenzy Beasts.

And, in societies like the Frenzy Beasts that had a tremendous number of lower Tiered beings, the disappearance of a couple thousand every month made zero difference. Only the Elites at Tier 4 and Tier 5 mattered in their societies. Below that, the loss of any number of Warriors and Espers wouldn't damage them in the least.

After all, as long as they had enough food, they could replenish half their population within a decade. And, the oceans were the territory of the Swarm, creating an unending stream of food for Frenzy Beast races like the Floating Spiders and the Spindle Bees that had a majority of their territory on water.

Jyorta recalled every information he had learned, linking them to the conjectures he had thought now, 'It is more efficient to just capture them. If we want to nurture them, then we need to shoulder their food costs, create a breeding and growing environment for them within the city, etc. Even then, as they hadn't been exposed to the Wilds, they would be no different from strong pets. And that is something unnecessary for our training and other needs.'

Jyorta watched the sand cover half the vision of his right eye. After being dragged for a while, he had turned to his right as he gazed at the hunts of the other Frenzy Beasts. In the meantime, his face was dragged partway into the sand.

Whenever a Frenzy Beast moved closer to hunt the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine pulling him, Jyorta would create a hallucination and make a blind target for them in a different location, diverting their attention. This way, he prevented a battle from ensuing.

In the sand, he couldn't move well. So, unless he was left with no choice, Jyorta didn't wish to fight here. Soon, Jyorta adjusted his body posture and gazed at the end of the second layer. The sand had spilled through the flight of stairs, burying it completely under. The sand continued down and spilled into the third layer where it was partially hardened, preventing more sand from leaking through.

Layer 3!

Jyorta heaved a sigh, finding one layer after another whose habitats prevented him from displaying any of his advantages. Layer 1 was bereft of any light while the atmosphere was the same as outside. The land was covered with sharp rocks that created crunching sounds in the silent area, alerting their foes.

Layer 2 was covered in sand where the temperature was hot, creating an atmosphere that would quickly tire one out. Both the layers also had their exclusive traps waiting for unsuspecting prey. If he didn't have the aura personification of hallucination, he would have expended all his methods by the time he was halfway through layer 2 and would have to be pulled out by a staff.

"There are no strongest attacks, only the most optimal methods for the situation," Jyorta muttered the nurse, Vaika's second most favourite phrase, standing atop the hardened sand. Layer 3 was an area of shallow water, the depth ranging from knee-deep to a couple of metres.

Some places had underwater channels that reached a depth of 10 metres. Jyorta had explored this layer only twice before this, and not once did he manage to reach its end. After all, from this layer onwards, Tier 2 Frenzy Beasts were common. And even the Tier 1 Frenzy Beasts here were at peak Tier 1, about to attempt a breakthrough any time. Each step was riskier now.

"Of course, I cannot forget them." Jyorta gazed at the shallow waters with a frown, even though he didn't spot any Frenzy Beasts in his vicinity. The danger of the third layer was the water itself, or rather the creature living in it and dominating the region.

Frenzy Beast—Shoe Fish!

Its body was transparent like glass and similar to jelly in form. But, it had a vicious nature that made it the most dangerous of all the Frenzy Beasts Jyorta had ever encountered in the labyrinth.

The sole objective of this Frenzy Beast race, as defined by their name is to become the shoes of any living creature they come across. And, by the name of shoe, it wasn't that they became an accessory that could be worn and discarded upon use.

Once they attach to the feet, they would form a connection with the nervous system. After all, the feet was where all the nerves in the body ended. And, forming a connection at that place was akin to connecting with all the nerves in the body.

Their attack substance was similar to the Life Leech in that they would never cause pain to the target while attacking. The toxin they secrete was an anaesthetic powerful enough to make the target not even notice their limb getting ground up into juice.

The danger of the Shoe Fish lay in the fact that after they attach themselves to the feet of a being, they would compress their bodies until becoming a thin layer. This thin layer had a rigid defence, even surpassing the shells of Lava Turtles. But, this simple benefit mattered not.

For the Shoe Fishes were a parasitic Frenzy Beast race. After forming a connection, they would send impulses into the target using the nervous system, deepening the control until eventually dominating the actions of the whole body.

Once that had been established, the victim was beyond the hope of saving. Even if he hadn't progressed to such a stage, the only solution was to amputate the legs and regenerate them back. But, this would cause a massive decrease in his Sync Rate, after all, the Shoe Fish had invaded and become a significant part of the fused organ.

Moreover, this Frenzy Beast had little to no presence. So, most detection methods grandly failed against spotting their existence. This was why they were feared. They were a parasitic race that had improved its parasitic properties to the maximum using the Frenzy Parasites.

There were cases where soldiers in the Wilds had been attacked by one and failed to treat themselves on time. They either lost control or fell under its control. Moreover, even after losing control, and after the Wisdom Parasite had gained control over their body, the motion of the body was still controlled by the Shoe Fish. Such was the frightening extent to its parasitism.

If not for their practically negligent intelligence and cognition, leading to their automatic instinctual response to prey, they would have become the most feared Frenzy Beast race in the world. Because of their lack of intelligence, the highest they had reached was Tier 3, and even that numbered in the single digits, considering the entire world.

Jyorta stood on the hardened sand, making double sure that his feet were safe before fishing out the tube-shaped Relic. It was time he took action.

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Don't forget to check out my second novel, "Murim Recurve".

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