[You've obtained 10 Spark.]
"Only 10 Spark for that huge spider? That's a total rip-off..."
"What is Spark?" asked the old man.
"I might say some nonsensical things along the way, don't overthink it. After all, I've lost my memory, so it's natural for me to talk nonsense, isn't it?"
"I suppose... Are we going outside now?"
"No, not yet."
"What are you doing here?"
"What were you doing here?" asked Eiden.
"We came with a research team to clear the cave... but everyone... I think they died."
"So you can fight? Why didn't you help me! You coward!"
"I lost my sword, okay! I can't create fireballs out of nothing like you!"
"Have it your way... Just follow me and don't stray too far. Now let's see what this Monster Essence is all about."
Monster Essence(lesser)
Low-density magical essence formed from the remnants of monster spirits. When a creature is defeated, its rage, fear, and spark of life are concentrated in this droplet. Though it possesses weak energy, when accumulated in sufficient numbers, it can unlock great powers.
Stackable: Yes (Max: 99)
"What are its uses?"
"Pardon me?" asked the old man.
"I'm not talking to you!"
Uses:
Producing entry-level Monster Essence
Imbuing entry-level equipment with magic
Analysis material in creature research
Gather 5 Monster Essence (lesser). Visit an Arcane Node to refine them into a usable skill core.
"I don't think I can do much with it yet. Looks like I'll need plenty of these. I don't want to overthink it now."
"..."
Eiden and the old man began to advance deeper into the cave. Moisture seeping from the cave walls made the air heavy, and occasionally the sound of dripping water broke the silence.
"By the way, what's your name?" asked Eiden.
"Marvus," said the old man. "You?"
"Eiden. Do you know this place?"
"We were trying to map this cave. If my memory serves me right, if we continue walking through this tunnel, we'll reach somewhere."
As they proceeded a bit further, they turned a corner and encountered three Flesh Grubs. The monsters immediately turned toward them, as if they had caught the scent of fresh meat.
"These things again?" Eiden sighed.
This time he was more prepared. He created a Fire Bolt in his hand and quickly eliminated two Flesh Grubs. As the third Flesh Grub tried to approach him, Eiden sidestepped and launched one last Fire Bolt with a swift movement.
You have defeated 3 [Flesh Grub].
[You've obtained 6 Spark.]
"These monsters are everywhere," said Marvus. "There weren't this many when we came with our team."
"Maybe they have a nest somewhere?" Eiden suggested.
They passed through a narrow passage and arrived at a small chamber. In the center of the room were several more Flesh Grubs, all appearing to be eating something.
"Be careful," Marvus whispered. "Can you see what they're eating?"
Eiden looked carefully and noticed that the Flesh Grubs were eating another Flesh Grub. "They're eating their own kind?"
"They eat each other during resource scarcity," said Marvus. "Classic swarm behavior."
Without saying anything, Eiden advanced toward them and began launching Fire Bolts with quick movements. After a brief skirmish, four more Flesh Grubs were dead.
You have defeated 4 [Flesh Grub].
[You've obtained 8 Spark.]
"My Spark count is slowly increasing," Eiden murmured. "But I need more Monster Essence."
Eiden was carefully advancing through the cave. The humid air still reeked of rotting flesh. Mucous formations hanging from the walls occasionally twitched, almost as if they were breathing. In some areas, piles of bones, decaying skin fragments, and blackish blood clots covered the ground.
"This cave is getting more disgusting by the minute," Eiden murmured. "We'll probably encounter worse things as we go deeper."
Marvus was examining the surroundings with worried eyes. "Our team had never gone this deep before. I have no idea what's down here."
After proceeding for a few more minutes, the corridor began to widen, and they finally reached a large underground chamber. The room was dimly lit by pale beams of light seeping from the ceiling. In the center of the room was a large spherical, semi-transparent, gelatinous structure.
"What is this?" Eiden whispered as he approached the sphere.
"I don't know, but you'd better not get too close," Marvus warned. "I've never seen anything like this before."
Eiden carefully examined the sphere. Inside were hundreds of small egg-like structures, and tiny Flesh Grub embryos could be discerned within each one.
"We may have found a Flesh Grub nest," said Eiden. "All these Flesh Grubs in the cave must be coming from here."
Just then, there was a vibration on the surface of the sphere. The jelly-like structure rippled and formed several small bubbles. Then one of the embryos inside the sphere began to move, developing more rapidly than the others.
"Step back!" Marvus called out, pulling Eiden by the arm. "Something's happening!"
The movement inside the sphere intensified. The embryo grew, swelled, and suddenly became larger than the rest of the mass. The vibrations on the surface of the sphere intensified.
"This doesn't look like a normal Flesh Grub hatching," Marvus said worriedly. "Something's wrong here."
Eiden prepared a Fire Bolt in his hand, his eyes not leaving the sphere. "Be ready, we don't know what's going to happen."
Within a few seconds, a portion of the sphere split open, and a creature much larger than a normal Flesh Grub, with thicker limbs and a more robust body, began to emerge. Its teeth were longer and sharper, and its eyes burned with a bright red light.
[Flesh Grub Queen] has appeared!
"Queen!" Marvus shouted. "It's a Flesh Grub Queen! Our team talked about this, but no one had ever seen one!"
The queen stood at full height beside the nest. It was almost five times the size of normal Flesh Grubs, and yellow fluid dripped from its body to the ground. It sniffed the air and then turned directly toward Eiden and Marvus.
"So, a queen..." said Eiden, pointing his Fire Bolt at the queen. "If we destroy you, we'll destroy the source of the Flesh Grubs, won't we?" he said and smiled. "I think we're going to have some fun here."
The Flesh Grub Queen forcefully spewed a saliva-like liquid from her mouth toward Eiden. Eiden managed to dodge the attack by quickly throwing himself to the side. The liquid that fell to the ground began to erode the stone, creating small pits.
"Acid!" shouted Marvus, stepping back a bit. "Be careful, the queen's acid is much stronger than that of normal Flesh Grubs!"
Eiden quickly stood up and created a Fire Bolt in his hand. "I need to hit it from a distance, it seems. Getting close wouldn't be wise at all."
The queen, despite her heavy body, lunged toward Eiden with surprising speed. Her thick, sticky legs made a disgusting sound as they stuck to the ground and pulled away with each step. Eiden fired two Fire Bolts in quick succession, but the queen's thick skin seemed more resistant to fire than expected.
"Damn it, this one doesn't cook as easily as normal Flesh Grubs!"
Marvus grabbed a large rock from where he stood and threw it at the queen. The rock hit the monster's head, momentarily stunning it.
"Your attacks aren't effective enough!" Marvus shouted. "You need something stronger!"
Eiden paused his Fire Bolts for a moment and looked around. The stalactites on the cave ceiling were directly above the queen. A plan began to form in his mind.
"Marvus, lure her under the stalactites! Distract her!"
The old man nodded and stepped into the queen's field of vision. "Hey, ugly bug! I'm over here!"
The queen turned toward her new prey and lunged at Marvus. As Marvus ran back, Eiden carefully positioned himself.
The queen was pursuing Marvus with obvious anger. When she was directly under the stalactites, Eiden made his move and fired a Fire Bolt. But when the Fire Bolt hit the stalactite, it simply dissipated, and the stalactite didn't fall.
"My destructive power is insufficient! I need more power!" he said, and placed his hand on his chin to think while the old man was running.
"Instead of creating one in a single hand..."
The old man was running.
"With both hands..."
The old man was almost out of breath.
"What if I create a single, larger Fire Bolt?"
"Whatever you're going to do, do it now! I'm going to die here!"
Eiden closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "With both hands... at a single point... a stronger fire..." he muttered to himself.
He brought his hands close together at chest level. First, a small spark formed in his right palm, then in his left. Unlike his usual Fire Bolt spell, he didn't extinguish the sparks. Instead, he slowly began to bring the flickering Fire Bolts in both hands closer together.
"Come on... merge..." he whispered with intense concentration.
When the two Fire Bolts touched, a crackling sound was heard. After a brief moment of resistance, the two flames began to mix and intertwine. Between Eiden's two hands, there was now a single Fire Bolt — but almost twice the size of his normal Fire Bolts and much brighter.
As the Fire Bolt grew, the air around it began to ripple. The damp air of the cave was evaporating around the fire, creating small clouds of mist. Eiden's face and hands were reddening from the intense heat emanating from the ball.
"This is it!"
[-10 Mana]
"So this ability consumes mana."
The screams of the Flesh Grub Queen and Marvus's panic-filled voice brought him back to reality. Then, with all his might, he hurled the enormous Fire Bolt he was holding with both hands toward the stalactites on the ceiling.
The thin limestone formations holding the ceiling cracked and began to break when they came into contact with the high temperature. Large rock fragments began to rain down on the queen.
The Flesh Grub Queen let out a pain-filled scream as the stalactites pierced through her thick skin, and a greenish-yellow fluid splattered around. However, the monster wasn't completely defeated. She angrily straightened up, shook off the rock fragments from her body, and now even more furiously headed toward Eiden.
"It didn't work!" Eiden shouted as he retreated backward.
The queen suddenly stopped and began to inflate her abdomen. The sacs in the lower part of her body became more pronounced and began to vibrate.
"Watch out!" Marvus warned. "She's preparing to lay eggs!"
Indeed, dozens of small, translucent eggs began to cover the ground from the queen's rear. Tiny Flesh Grubs started to emerge from each egg, not yet fully mature but looking dangerous.
"She's calling her offspring! We need to deal with all of them!" said Eiden and began to rapidly fire Fire Bolts one after another, trying to destroy the baby Flesh Grubs before they grew.
Marvus was also trying to crush the young ones with a long stick he had picked up from the ground, but their numbers were increasing.
"We need to focus on the queen!" Marvus shouted. "If we kill her, maybe the offspring will die too!"
Eiden nodded as he crushed the mini Flesh Grubs. "But how? Fire Bolts aren't effective enough!"
His eye caught a large jelly mass on the other side of the cave — the queen's nest. Perhaps the solution was there.
"Marvus, deal with the offspring! I'll lure the queen toward the nest!"
Eiden quickly ran toward the nest, crushing any mini Flesh Grubs in his path. The queen, her attention drawn by his movement, began to follow Eiden.
When he reached the nest, Eiden stopped and waited for the queen to come toward him. As the monster approached rapidly, Eiden gathered all his concentration. He tried to create the Big Fire Bolt again using all his focus.
His hands were burning, his arms were trembling, but he continued to concentrate. As the power of the spell increased, the Fire Bolt in his hands grew larger, with bright orange-red flames jumping around.
"A little... more..." he muttered through gritted teeth.
[-10 Mana]
Just as the queen was about to reach him, Eiden hurled the enormous Fire Bolt directly into the center of the nest. The translucent jelly mass first swelled when it came into contact with the fire, then scattered around with a violent explosion.
The explosion knocked the queen to the ground. Hundreds of embryos inside the nest were engulfed in flames, and scream-like sounds filled the cave.
The queen began to writhe with a pain-filled scream. Her body was convulsing, trembling, and changing shape in response to the destruction of her nest. Eiden didn't miss this opportunity.
"Now, Marvus!"
They both attacked the queen. As Eiden fired Fire Bolts in rapid succession, Marvus struck at the monster's eyes and mouth with a sharp rock fragment he had found.
The queen's body weakened with each blow. Her skin cracked, and her internal organs became visible. With a final scream, the queen collapsed where she stood.
You have defeated [Flesh Grub Queen]!
[You've obtained 20 Spark.]
[You've obtained Queen Flesh Grub Heart (Rare Material).]
[You've obtained Acidic Bile Sac (Uncommon Material).]
[You've obtained 3 Monster Essence (lesser).]
[New Skill Unlocked: Big Fire Bolt- A more powerful version of Fire Bolt that affects a larger area and deals more Damage.]
Eiden collapsed to the ground, taking a deep breath. His hands were still burning, his body trembling from exhaustion. "We did it..."
Marvus came to his side, he too was out of breath. "Good job, young man."
Eiden smiled as he looked at the rewards he received.
With the death of the queen, the baby Flesh Grubs in the cave had also become motionless. It was as if they had lost their life force when their connection with their mother was severed.
"I think we've solved this cave's Flesh Grub problem," said Marvus, looking around. "But we need to go deeper. I need to find the rest of my team."
Eiden nodded and would examine the materials he obtained from the queen later. "My mission isn't over yet either, let's continue."