Monster

by Sergey Belsky

Having covered the remnants with small stones, I thanked the bug and set off farther. It took about fifteen minutes of wandering among the crashes before I found the passage to the opposite side.

  After moving the small stones aside, I finally clambered over the debris. An enormous passage leading somewhere far away was sparking my curiosity. Carefully walking along the passage and watching for signs of any movement and the outlines of centipedes, I reached my destination.

  All the walls of the cave were covered with beautiful drawings of different bugs, people, and some other unknown creatures with wings. Staring at the unbelievable beauty, I forgot that the world around me was full of danger.

  Stepping on a plate, I fell and the metal spikes stuck through my body, making me yell with pain. After a minute filled with suffering, I died once again.

  What‘s going on? Everywhere I go, I end up dead. I got up and headed to that place again. After walking back to where I’d died, I saw the unnoticed plate I’d been unlucky enough to step on.

  It appeared to be one of the traps of the ancients that Khha had mentioned earlier. The plate was in its place, but I couldn’t see the hole I had fallen into. It appeared that the traps could reset themselves.

  I walked around the device and set off farther afield cautiously. Things were going well so far, but I doubted there had been only one trap. It simply couldn’t be true, and soon I had the evidence confirming that I was right. Having walked ten more steps, I heard a strange buzzing followed by a deafening whistle.

  “Sw-i-i-sh” came the piercing sound, and I fell forward, banging my forehead painfully.

  What happened? I didn’t understand at first, but when I looked back my heart shrank in fear. One half of my body was lying beside me, the ground flooded with scarlet blood starkly contrasting with the total gray backdrop of the cave. The light began fading before my eyes and moments later I found myself back at respawn.

  Chapter 10

  The development. The brain’s work. Things, awaiting after the traps.

  “G-r-r-r” I groaned, trying to express my emotions.

  Why on earth are there so many traps? What are they guarding here? Why don’t they let anyone get closer? All I had were questions and not a single answer.

  Besides, I didn’t even understand what had killed me. Whatever it was, it moved incredibly fast. I would’ve made great use of developed legs if I’d had them, but I had insufficient points to upgrade everything at once.

  Well, having died several times, I could try to remember the places where that had happened and avoid them. It was a good idea, especially as I didn’t have any others, but I wasn’t going to die.

  In the meantime, it was hard for me to memorize anything, which is why I decided to use points on my brain again. I was going to use fifty points of experience to increase the number of mind points to a hundred. Maybe that would help me.

  Your brain is evolving!

  Stats: Mind +6, Evolution +1, Structure +1.

  20 points of experience received!

  Level up! Current Level: 7.

  Aha, I’ve also been given +1 to Evolution and +1 to Structure. Not bad, but I still didn’t understand what I need this structure for, and the description was too short to make it clear.

  I might need a better brain and enough experience to make the stats comprehendible to me. However, my brain was good enough to think a reasonable thought that came right in time.

  I filled all the remaining holes with small stones and set off toward where I’d last died. Having approached the first trap, I threw a stone at the plate and an empty space immediately opened behind it. I checked it and saw the bloody, metallic spikes there.

  I started throwing stones all around me, carefully picking them up and throwing them repeatedly. Soon, I heard a furious growl and could see something heading my way. A shining, flat creature with sharp teeth was making its way along the edge.

  Its teeth were so sharp that they sliced the stones I threw in two, just as quickly as they had sliced through me last time. Having thrown stones for a while, I could see the trajectory and was able to get past the creature with ease.

  Coming across some new traps, I was nearly crushed by huge stones tumbling toward me, which would definitely smash my shell like an egg’s. The spikes began jumping out of the ground without waiting for anyone to fall into the hole. However, the stones became more ineffective the farther I went.

  The next time I threw a stone at a seemingly safe distance, nothing happened. But as I moved forward, I was peppered with arrows, several of them piercing into the shell. One of them struck me in the eye, and before I died, I felt the sharp pain of it. I kept squirming from the phantom pain for a minute after my rebirth.

  I didn’t like these traps at all. I didn’t know how to get by them or how long I might have to wait. There were arrows, spikes, stakes, and stones. I was hit by them only once, after which I learned to keep away from them.

  I had the feeling that the builders of this place gradually increased the complexity and variety of the traps as one got farther in. Once again, I threw a stone, waited a while, and went ahead before the plate where the stone had landed sunk down and the ceiling smashed me into the floor.

  It was unpleasant as hell and extremely painful. However, I was determined to get past all the traps. It was one thing to be defeated by level 130 centipedes, but quite another to be beaten by the brainless traps of the ancients.

  I managed to get by the new type of traps only by increasing the number of stones, which noticeably decreased my walking speed. After a while, I came across some new things.

  After throwing a big stone and waiting, I headed over to get it back when something happened. Lightning hit me with a deafening crash and blinding light.

  Cracking my jaws, I started thinking about ways to bypass this trap and couldn’t think of anything. I didn’t understand what activated it. It didn’t react to the stones, regardless of their size. All in all, it looked as if this type of trap activated only when I was in the area.

  Maybe these mechanisms responded to living objects, which I had to check. I began wandering around the graves, thinking about my idea. Half an hour later, I had worked it out.

  I needed to use haloptiriuses. I felt sorry to waste them, they were quite tasty, but I wanted to check my hypothesis. After getting past all the traps again, I began to memorize them. I got as far as the one with the lightning.

  I threw the haloptirius in the direction of the trap. The bright flash nearly hurt my eyes as the intense roar of the discharge echoed through the cave. Great! My hypothesis proved to be true: the trap was only triggered when something alive was nearby.

  I wondered if mushrooms would be taken for living beings as well. However, I didn’t intend to waste the mushrooms as well. I headed farther away and came upon the pile of debris again, where I was sent tumbling to the ground.

  The pain was excruciating, my body jerking in terrible spasms, and I had to lay on the ground for a while before I could move again. But despite all this, I was happy, because I’d stayed alive.

  I quickly ate one of the rubitus, which I had with me just in case, and life seemed much better. My health bar was full again.

  But I didn’t have enough haloptiriuses to get past all the traps. I rolled my eyes and set off toward the place where some strange shadows that I hadn’t seen before were visible.

  I nearly died several times due to the lightning, but the rubituses helped me. I ended up with only nine to spare. I used all my senses to check the road in front of me, and after I made sure it was safe, I set off on my journey again.

  Some strange balls with spikes appeared nearby. I grabbed one immediately and threw it into the spatial pocket. The remainder exploded loudly, which killed me immediately, though the flash was so bright that the dark shapes in the distance were lit up and I managed to see ancient ruins.

  Chapter 11

  An old acquaintance. Such an interesting thing. The Troubles.

&nbs
p; No sooner had I found myself near the graves of my parents than my mood, already poor due to my numerous deaths, became even worse. My old mate, the grave beetle, was digging them up again.

  Without hesitation, I rushed over and hit him as hard as I could with the spiker’s claw. I managed to knock him down.

  Small grave beetle, Level 7

  “You’ve evolved too, as far as I can see,” I said, seeing his new level. “What part of stay away from the graves of my family didn’t you understand?”

  “The dark gods take you!” the beetle rose back up, blood leaking out of his shell where it had cracked, near his head.

  “It seems you don’t understand me, though we speak the same language.” I started approaching the bastard. This time, I was going to use my jaws for sure. I had put thirty points into them to get them to a hundred.

  Your Jaws have evolved!

  Stats: Evolution +1, Structure +1, Strength +3.

  20 points of experience gained!

  However, the grave-beetle wasn’t scared and turned to me, ready to fight back. I’m going to put him in his place. Where is his place anyway? No matter, he’s going to get it now! The enemy rushed at me first, skillfully avoiding the obstacles in its path, but unable to avoid my hit with the spiker’s claw.

  I knocked him to the ground and didn’t let him get up this time. As my jaws ripped apart his belly, his health began to decrease rapidly from the heavy bleeding, but I felt sick at the sight of his blood.

  It seemed that the image of Trirlil and Cytrilct both laying in a pool of their own blood would never stop haunting me. Before he died, the damn grave beetle managed to hit me back, after which his bleeding finished him off. The poison that had been on his claws started to damage me.

  Damn bastard. It was lucky that the poison wasn’t too strong and took only a little of my health away in the end. I recovered it by using the rubitus. Damn, how do I make this disgusting beetle leave this place alone forever?

  Maybe I can bring one of the traps here. The lightning one would be the best to use, but can I move it? I set off along the familiar route, passing all the traps swiftly, even the one with exploding balls. Hmm… what’s this? I wondered as I saw a flashing icon in the corner.

  The Spatial Pocket ability has increased! Current Level: 4!

  The Spatial Pocket ability has increased! Current Level: 5!

  Levels increase the maximum amount you can carry and the number of cells available for use.

  Available cells: 10.

  That’s great news! Now I can carry everything with me, just in case... then again, I shouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket, some of the goods ought to be left behind in the cache.

  I once again began to scatter stones in all directions in order to avoid another death, but to my great surprise, there were no new traps and I was finally able to reach the ruins.

  Large, tall columns reflected the greatness of their creators. They were decorated with incredible carvings of some plants and glorious... flowers. I remembered this word, although I had never seen flowers before.

  It seemed as if the breeze made them sway slightly but touching the cold surface of the stone with my hand I realized it was just my imagination.

  Four massive columns, like... tree trunks, propped up against a large, stone roof, fractured and collapsed in many places. Looking around, I saw everywhere else was much the same.

  These were the ruins of an ancient city, in which desolation and silence now reigned, diluted only by the clatter of my claws on the cracked, marble pavement.

  There were many houses, most of which had collapsed, but there were also those that had remained relatively intact, and I went over to explore those while sometimes throwing pebbles in front of me because I couldn’t be sure that there weren’t any more traps left. My worries proved to be unfounded, which allowed me to get to my goal without any problems.

  I found a very large passage that was only slightly damaged and went inside. Three of me, going side by side, could’ve comfortably walked through.

  At the end of the passage, I found a large room with low pedestals. Atop one of them were stone vines, wrapped around a clear water surface that had frozen over. I thought I saw something in the water, but I couldn’t approach and check what it was because of the cold.

  It was so unfair, not even being able to approach and see something interesting because of all the frost. After wandering around the place a little, I didn’t find anything interesting and went on to explore the city itself.

  I was walking along a wide road, passing by the destroyed houses, when I suddenly spotted the only yellowish-orange flower among the gray and white ones of the surrounding area. I approached this incomprehensible phenomenon and froze in shock. It was astounding.

  A tall tree with light, yellowish-orange leaves stood among the stone slabs. The leaves quietly rustled in the gentle breeze and seemed to be almost dancing in a hypnotic way, attracting the eye. Hold on, there’s no wind. The second I realized this, the leaves broke off from the tree and killed me as efficiently as everything else had.

  Chapter 12

  The anger. The gravedigger’s fate. A hard question.

  “Damn, what’s going on here?” I exclaimed, furious. “Damned city, damned unknown trees with their yellow leaves. Hmm... wait. Trees under the ground? Something’s wrong about that.

  Warning! Your brain cannot sustain the processing and analysis of incoming data!

  Your brain sustain the workload created by your mind!

  Be careful, this can lead to your death!

  Well, here we go again. And I’d thought that I had become smarter. I shook my head a little, and my troublesome thoughts disappeared, as did the sudden headache. However, once I was able to focus again, I spotted something that made me roll my eyes in annoyance. My old friend was digging up the graves again.

  “Listen,” I sighed deeply. “Why do you keep coming back here?”

  “To fulfill my goal,” the beetle gasped. “And you keep disturbing me every time, and I can’t understand why.”

  “Upgrade your brain if you don’t understand me!” I shouted inwardly. The problem was, I wasn’t sure why I was doing it either, so I had a hard time explaining it to this other beetle.

  “Did anyone raise you?” I asked.

  “A few did, but then the spikers killed them all,” the beetle replied, becoming sad. My curiosity reared its head again.

  “What did you do then?”

  “I ate all that remained of them,” the gravedigger replied, which disturbed me. It would’ve been better not to ask. I’d guessed as much myself, but it was still one thing to guess and another to have it confirmed so blatantly.

  “Would you like to see them again?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

  After several long minutes of thought, the gravedigger said yes in a soft, low tone. It seemed to me that he had somehow become small and completely harmless.

  “That’s exactly why I covered their bodies with stones, although I’d initially wanted to bury them. Back then, my strength wasn’t high enough to dig a hole,” I said. “Now, when I feel sad and want to be closer to my family, I just come here. But where do you go?”

  This time, the gravedigger thought for a long time. As he did, he moved frantically from side to side, apparently realizing something new for himself, something he had never thought of before. Right then, he looked truly defeated. I even felt sorry for him. After some time, he answered, “I don’t know.”

  “Do you at least understand me a little?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” the beetle replied again.

  “Okay, then take me to the place where your relatives were killed,” I said, and the gravedigger just nodded, without answering anything, and after turning around, went off into the darkness. I followed him, and it was closer than I had expected.

  We had to avoid stones that were scattered everywhere as we moved toward the wall. Pretty soon, we arrived at our destination.

&n
bsp; To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. The remains of gravedigger beetle shells were everywhere. There were at least forty of them.

  “The spikers managed to kill all of them?” I asked.

  “Yes, they tried to fight back, but everyone died, and all the younger ones, except for me, were led away into their den by the spikers.

  “But why do they need gravediggers?”

  “To be food, slaves, and traps for the two-legged.”

  “And how many were there?”

  “Fifteen, but the majority were level thirty and had even developed well.” He responded, surprising me. He’d really been the youngest.

  “I don’t understand why they needed to kill everyone,” I said as I walked around, peering at the fragments of the gravediggers’ shells. On the one hand, this beetle had been annoying at first, but old Khha, as well as his relatives, had been killed by these spikers, and I wanted to get even with them, so my irritation began to fade away.

  It turned out that the trio I’d seen had the highest levels, and there was someone even stronger who commanded all the spikers. That was interesting, but how did I know this?

  Regardless, it made no difference. If the gravediggers had failed to stand up to them, I stood no chance. Who knew how many spikers there were? Maybe the group of three I’d seen was actually the weakest?

  How many such squads did they have? Maybe their leader was double their level… One thing was clear, I couldn’t defeat them as I was. Even if I reached level 60, the spikers that had killed Khha would still destroy me with ease.

  What if I found help? After all, if you cannot do something yourself, then you need to find someone who can. What are my options? The first thing that came to mind was the centipedes. Even one centipede would most likely be strong enough. Level 130 beasts would flatten them with ease.

  The second option is to make the spikers fight with the rippers. And the third one is to set traps and kill everyone myself. Damn it! I realized something unpleasant.

  “How many times have your relatives been killed?” I asked the gravedigger, who looked at me strangely.