Chapter 21 – Next Evolution.

‘Silly insects, you can’t defeat me!’

Rusty sliced through another creepy crawler while hearing the world system notifications. He had left his lair behind and begun his leveling spree. First, he headed to the old Ant lair to gather up more copper ores back to his base. After the third tip, he started encountering the long centipede monsters which seemed to be attracted to the bodies of the ants which for some reason were not vanishing anymore.

It was clear that the dungeon rules were different down here but his well-being was not in danger. The monsters here were also different as they liked to feast on each other’s bodies, not something Rusty was capable of as he could only absorb metallic parts from items that these creatures did not possess.

Armed with higher levels and more bronze to repair his damaged body and weapon, he started pushing back. It became a daily occurrence for him to get into multiple brawls with these creepy crawlers. Their bodies were more robust and their bites deadlier than that of the ant monsters. However, they did not work so well together as well and would also not be able to track him if he escaped.

After gathering enough raw resources he set out to the deep tunnels that led to the centipede lair. The tunnels there were surprisingly narrower than that of the ant colony, but Rusty’s armor provided him with the necessary protection against the sharp rocks and jagged edges.

The deeper he pushed in, the more the number of his enemies increased. His confidence could not be shaken and with each encounter, he became stronger and soon reached level nine. With each level gained his strength grew and he felt vindicated. His combat prowess was increasing and he felt more and more attuned with his metallic body.

Yet, as he delved deeper into the centipede lair, the challenges grew more daunting. The creatures here were larger and more aggressive, their chitinous exoskeletons started to become a problem that he could only cut with the help of his skills. However, Despite the difficulties Rusty pressed on, determined to reach his goal of reaching level ten and advancing even further.

‘This looks similar to the ant lair…’

With time he reached a more open area with a massive amount of smaller tunnels leading to it. He could hear and see a mass of crawling monsters everywhere but they were not attacking. Right in the middle there was a much larger insect that was curled around strange orb-like objects. It seemed to have the same purpose as the ant queen but there was one problem, this thing looked a lot stronger than the previous monster he faced and it also was not rooted in place.

‘If I go by the classification… this might be a bad idea… I already had trouble with the queen that was an F+ monster…’

After wandering this world he started to understand the rating system of other creatures. The ants that were of G rank were below his F rank, and this monster was an E rank. He could easily vanquish the G rank ant drones the moment he arrived at this area and would probably be able to even if he was a level one damaged armor.

‘This might call for a tactical withdrawal…’

There was no real reason for him to engage this more massive creature at this point in time. There were no tin or copper deposits that he could see in this area, and the risk of facing such a formidable opponent outweighed any potential rewards. Rusty knew that being discrete and calculative was the right way of going about things when it came to survival. There was no reason to rush and leveling further could be done through safer means.

With a cautious step backward, Rusty began to retreat from the lair of the Giant Centipede Matriarch. He made sure to move silently and avoid drawing attention to himself. The last thing he needed was to alert the massive creature to his presence and find himself in a battle he couldn’t win. However, his body was not very silent and after stepping on a crunchy piece of rock he awoke the monstrosity.

The Giant Centipede Matriarch seemed quite attuned to the noise and instantly turned to face the direction of the intruder. She rose with her elongated body that was well over ten meters long and emitted a low hiss, her numerous legs skittering across the ground as she prepared to strike. Rusty’s nonexistent heart sank as he bolted away in panic.

Rusty knew he had to act quickly if he wanted to escape from the Giant Centipede Matriarch’s wrath. With a burst of speed, he dashed down one of the smaller tunnels in hopes of her enlarged body becoming stuck. To his dismay, the creature seemed to have just fit perfectly through them.

Behind him, he could hear the sound of the Matriarch’s massive body slithering after him, her hisses echoing through the tunnels like a menacing symphony. Rusty knew that he needed to get away and luckily there were a few things that he could do. On his way out he started smacking some looser-looking rocks to block the path behind him. While it would make navigating back more difficult, it was better to block the tunnels now than be devoured by the large monster.

Even with this strategy, he could feel the monster skittering behind him. When he glanced back he could see the monster’s jaws snapping around and its legs skittering on the side of the tunnel. This monster seemed to be quite enraged by his presence but luckily he stumbled upon a small crevice.

It was barely enough for his metallic body to squeeze through. The large insect matriarch attempted to follow quickly after but was unable to. Her head was somewhat wider than the rest of the body with large vice-like mandibles on each side. While this was the perfect chance to get away, a chance presented itself.

‘What if I…’

Rusty’s battle sense was telling him that perhaps it was time to go on the offensive. His sword glowed in red as he plunged it into the monster’s mouth. Then quickly after he twisted it around while also activating his light elemental skill. The inside of the monster’s gullet started glowing and the creature started thrashing about.

‘Hah, take that!’

The monster seemed to be injured but then it did something unexpected. Instead of trying to push itself and get stuck in the narrow passage, it started to retreat. To Rusty’s surprise, he could not pull back his weapon anymore and instead was getting yanked along with it. Even though his strength stat was at an F+ rating, it wasn’t enough to go against the E-rank monster.

‘No, my sword… Give it back!’

Rusty struggled to maintain his grip on his sword as the Giant Centipede Matriarch began to retreat, dragging him along with it. The narrow passage provided little room for maneuvering, and Rusty’s metallic body scraped against the jagged walls which caused sparks to fly around.

The creature’s strength was just far too great for him to win and holding on would only make things worse. He made a quick decision to let go of his weapon as he was not going to relinquish his arm that was beginning to leave his body. Instantly, he tumbled back and the monster retreated with his still-glowing sword back into the darkened corridor.

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‘Did it just leave?’

Rusty lay there for a moment, gathering his thoughts about the loss of his beloved sword. Luckily, he still had enough resources to produce a new one but eventually, his tin reserves would run out. Slowly, he pushed his scratched-up body off the ground and decided to leave this place. The Matriarch would be a great target to test his future body out but for now, it was better to keep himself safe.

‘What should I do now… should I try those slugs or should I just wait and take things slowly?’

After returning to the main watering hole he resumed his journey. The centipedes weren’t the only monster type here as strange slow-moving slugs and large beetles were also an option. The centipedes weren’t a difficult foe but with their matriarch wandering the tunnels, it would perhaps be better to target some of the slugs. He knew their behavior to some extent and had already decided on a tactic to defeat them.

‘Slugs it is then.’

With a determined stride, Rusty set off in the direction of the slug lair, a place he hadn’t truly explored yet. It seemed that these creatures all gathered around one larger monster that produced offspring. These would probably be similar but he wouldn’t be sure until he explored their tunnels like the others. Once inside he encountered a few of them quite quickly.

‘These guys are a lot slower than the others but they all stick around each other for some reason…’

Rusty picked up a rock from the ground and threw it in the direction of the monsters. His projectile traveled in a nice arc in the direction of one of the slow-moving monsters. Yet, right before it was about to collide with this strange creature it was intercepted. The creature expanded its mouth as if it were some sort of fleshy harmonica and gobbled up the rock.

It was a strange sight to behold, these monsters had similar bodies to worms but they could elongate their mouths. These shot out at fast speeds, quite a stark contrast to their slow-moving bodies. They seemed to have a symbiotic relationship, working together to defend themselves against potential threats. They were similar to the ants in that regard but they would not be able to chase them down with their slow speeds.

‘There is always an easy way… now, these guys have one weakness!’

Just like any other creature, it seemed that everyone had a weak point that could be exploited. Even Rusty who was a living armor made from metal had his drawbacks, one of them was his hollow body that was susceptible to blunt forces and tipping over. These slugs had one deficiency when it came to their attacking patterns. At first, it seemed that those mouths would make short work of anyone who would approach them but there was something that he could exploit about them.

His first enemies would be a quartet of slugs and to defeat them he just needed a handful of large rocks. After flinging them all at the group he grabbed his restored blade and began to approach. The strange mouths launched forward at the projectiles and chomped them down. At the ends of these appendages, there were razor-sharp teeth that would quickly embed themselves into anything they could grab. However, once the attack was initiated there was a window of opportunity that an attacker like Rusty could abuse.

The slugs had an easy attack pattern and a reason why they stayed so close to each other. Their attacks were strong and fast but they could not be used multiple times. If one of them missed then they needed others to continue the battle for them. However, if he managed to set them off all at once, then victory was assured.

Rusty maneuvered around the prolonged mouths that launched themselves at the rocks that he threw. As soon as they extended their appendages to grab the rocks, he darted in close, slashing at the exposed bodies of the slugs. His sword cut through their soft flesh with ease, causing them to recoil in pain. He counted in his head and after exactly eight seconds he started to retreat. At this point, the mouths would have retracted themselves and were ready to lounge at him again.

‘Got one, just three left.’