Chapter 100: Arcia Insights

The tendrils dragged Kyle up as he struggled against the restraints, all four of his limbs wrapped tightly. They lifted him above the gap, revealing a weird large overgrown tunnel whose walls were like the interior of a tree trunk. Kyle was surprised by the scale of the ‘tree’, noticing that he could not see the end of the ‘trunk’ on either way.

Now’s not the time to be amazed. Kyle glanced at the source of the tendrils, noticing that it was a grotesque mass of flesh that seemed to be an amalgamation of the mineral ants, a weird bulbous creation that pulsated with a heartbeat of sorts. It was guarded by nearly five dozen warrior mineral ants and two dozen venom-spitting hornets, along with a legion of normal mineral ants whose beady eyes were all locked onto Kyle.

It looked something akin to a living brain, albeit it was covered in moss green along with a weird insectoid eyeball mounted on the side. Kyle was not too disgusted, having seen worse in the Galactic Era. Life has a way of... making life.

The tendrils flipped Kyle upside down, hauling him closer to the insectoid eyeball, who observed him intently, twisting and examining him from all angles.

Kyle noticed traces of arcia engravings all over the interior of the translucent ‘brain’, pulsating like neurons while a continuous stream of mineral ants carried up chunks of the crystal outcrop, feeding into the gaping maw of the ‘brain’ at the top, a greenish-gas burping out with each convulsion.

At the centre of the brain was a golden crystal that was brimming with arcia energy. Kyle assumed it served as the heart of the brain, a core of sorts. Forget about being a xenobiologist. The bigger question is, how do I get out of this mess?

Both his weapons had been left behind at the crystal outcrop, leaving only the armour on his body along with the Aero Shoes and Necklace of Healing.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE]

Item

[Aero Shoes (Basic)]

For swift feet

+4 AGI, +1 CHA

Active Skill: Sprint - Allows the wielder to move slightly faster

MP Cost per Activation: 2 MP

Duration: Fifteen seconds

Cooldown: One minute

The moment Kyle felt the jerk of the tendrils twist him around once more, he activated the aero shoes, causing the spin to be even faster than expected while he used his teeth to bite at the nearest tendril that was coiled around his right arm.

A jolt of pain arced through the nervous system of the brain, causing the maw to release an ungodly scream as one tendril involuntarily let go of Kyle’s right arm, freeing it and allowing him to wrestle the tendrils free.

Before he could get his left arm free, the tendrils suddenly slammed him to the ground, the three remaining tendrils keeping a tight grip on him as they swung him around, dragging him along the overgrown floor.

Kyle spotted a sharp wooden branch along the floor as his face was mashed against the ground. He grabbed hold of it and used it to stab at the tendrils repeatedly, the blood in his brain pumping loudly in his ears as he was flung at high speeds.

With a series of deep jabs, Kyle managed to free himself from the tendrils, prompting a dozen warrior mineral ants to rush at him in mid-air, attempting to tear him to pieces.

As Kyle fell, he twisted his body to dodge an incoming blade strike before grabbing onto the body of a warrior mineral ant and using it as a platform. Memorising where the previous groove was, he used his raw strength to dig in deep to the warrior mineral ant who flailed about in the air, unable to twist its arms enough to reach Kyle in its blind spot.

[Artificial Hive Core]

The negation field ended abruptly, allowing the warrior ants to regain flight once again and swoop in at Kyle.

Penchant for Violence! Aero Shoes!

Kyle’s figure became a blur as he immediately rushed at the nearest warrior mineral ant on the ground, channelling the arcia energy into the Artificial Hive Core. Kyle did not know how the marking system worked just yet, so he simply had the core and his hands touch the body of the ant.

A small golden streak of arcia energy lanced outwards from the hive core, the tendril snaking into the warrior mineral ant as its body violently shuddered and collapsed to the floor. Kyle had no time to figure out if it worked or not, quickly avoiding three venomous spits that were aimed right at him.

His feet squashed the remnants of the brain as he parried a few more warrior mineral ants, repeating the process on them. Even if it did not work, the golden tendril seemed to be a one-hit knockout, which was more than good enough for him. However, the MP consumption was dangerously high, with his internal arcia energy storage nearing depletion. Once I mark all twelve, that would be 60 MP.

Kyle was about to give up when the first warrior ant he marked suddenly skittered back to life, automatically attacking the nearby mineral ants and gutting them with ferocity. With his method of marking confirmed, he marked a total of eight warrior mineral ants before riding one of them up to the venom-spitting hornets, leaping onto them and marking them as well.

Soon, he had four of them marked, all of them now fighting alongside him against the remaining mineral ants who were lacking leadership and confused, the ‘brain’ no longer around to guide and control them.

The mineral ants on the crystal outcrop began to lose coordination, quickly flying back out through the gaping hole in the ceiling while Kyle continuously killed as many as he could before they could escape.

Not all of the marked ants survived, prompting Kyle to continuously replace them with those tenacious enough to remain behind or those dumb enough. Within minutes, Kyle had cleaned up the battle, with more than half of the swarm retreating down into the darkness far beyond what Kyle’s eyes could perceive.

Returning back to the crystal outcrop, which was now free of mineral ants, he rode the marked ants in, earning himself a barrage of rock spikes and energy beams. Kyle mentally commanded the ants, allowing them to quickly land on the flat top of the outcrop to avoid being exposed to all the spikes.

“Ranged, fire at the ceiling: target energy beam spiders. Warrior ants, deflect rock spikes now!” Kyle ordered as the familiar rejuvenation effect of the crystalised arcia began to surge through his body, replenishing the MP he had used.

The rapid restoration expanded his internal arcia energy storage and affinity even further, allowing him to properly visualise it and feel it with even more intimacy than ever before.

The stark contrast between his near-depleted state and his now refuelling state gave a new insight as to how much better and more efficient he could be in the management of his arcia energy. It was as though a sudden epiphany had struck him right in the head as the rock spikes and energy beams were deflected by the warrior ants who stood guard around him. His muscles felt invigorated while his senses were heightened closer to before the debilitating poison from Nox had hit him.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE]

Title Obtained

[Arcia Reinforcement – Stage 1]

Unique Title Applied from Arcian’s Passive Skill

+10 STR, +10 DEX, +10 INT, +10 VIT, +10 HP, +10 MP, +10 STA

+10% reduction in arcia activation cost

+10% improvement in duration of arcia skills

+5% affinity with arcia energy

“Time to clean up this trial.”