The chittering symphony swelled from a handful of discordant notes into a full-blown orchestral shriek. It was a sound that didn't just assault the ears; it vibrated in the teeth and settled as a cold knot in the pit of the stomach. The hive was awake, and it was angry. From the deeper, darker recesses of the cavern, a cloud of black, darting shapes began to emerge, their multifaceted eyes catching the dim, phosphorescent light like a thousand tiny, obsidian beads.
Zero didn't hesitate. He didn't seek cover. To retreat or hide now would be a fatal mistake. The Shadow Sprites were masters of this terrain, and a protracted game of hide-and-seek would only end with him pincushioned with paralytic stingers. His only path to victory was shock and awe. He had to be so violent, so terrifyingly efficient, that he could carve a path through the swarm before their numbers could overwhelm him.
He activated `[Predator's Gait]`, the world seeming to slow slightly as his perception sharpened, and sprinted forward, directly towards the approaching swarm. It was the last thing the sprites would expect. Their tactics were based on ambushing larger, slower creatures, not being charged head-on by one.
The first wave, a dozen strong, met him near a shallow, glowing stream. They fanned out, their movements a dizzying, three-dimensional dance of death. Stingers gleamed in the gloom.
Zero's mind was a supercomputer processing trajectories and threat levels. He didn't see individual creatures. He saw a fluid geometry of attack vectors. Two from the left, three high, four low, three from the right.
He slid on the damp moss, his body low to the ground, the high attackers zipping harmlessly over his head. As he came up from the slide, his knife, held in its familiar reverse grip, lashed out in a tight, controlled arc. The blade caught two of the low-flying sprites, shearing through their delicate wings and torsos in a single, fluid motion.
`[Shadow Sprite Eliminated.]`
`[Shadow Sprite Eliminated.]`
`[Stamina consumed by 'Predator's Gait'. Life force drained from nearby flora via 'Blight' to compensate.]`
He felt the familiar, cool rush of energy from his `[Blight]` skill, the pale, luminous moss at his feet turning a dull, lifeless grey. This cavern was a self-sustaining battery for him. As long as there was life to drain, he could maintain this enhanced state for far longer than he had any right to.
A sprite darted in from his right, its stinger aimed for his neck. He didn't have time to use his knife. Instead, he swung his left arm, the back of his hand connecting with the creature. He poured his will into the impact, activating his new skill. `[Nerve-Wrack Sting]!`
A flash of sickly purple light. The sprite shrieked and began to convulse, its flight pattern becoming a chaotic spiral. It crashed into one of its brethren, taking them both out of the fight temporarily as they tumbled to the ground in a tangled, twitching mess.
Four down. Eight to go from the first wave.
The remaining sprites, momentarily confused by his aggressive, unconventional tactics, regrouped. They began to circle him, their chittering turning into a coordinated, rhythmic buzz. It was a hunting tactic, meant to disorient and distract.
Zero ignored the sound. He stood his ground, his eyes darting between the circling figures, his knife held ready. He had to break their rhythm. He spotted his target: a sprite that flew slightly higher than the others, its buzz a fraction deeper. A leader. A sub-queen or a hive captain.
He took a calculated risk. He lowered his knife and exposed his left arm, a deliberate, open invitation.
The sprites, mistaking the movement for a sign of fatigue or surrender, took the bait. Three of them shot forward simultaneously, a trident of stingers aimed at his chest, shoulder, and the offered arm.
Zero's body exploded into motion. He spun, his left arm whipping around not to block, but to guide. He deflected the stinger aimed at his chest with his leather-clad forearm, the needle scraping against the hardened material with a screech. The second stinger grazed his shoulder, and for a terrifying second, he thought it had pierced through. But his new `[Callous]` skill had done more than numb his empathy. His skin, tougher and more resilient, had deflected the very tip of the needle. It was a shallow, burning scratch, nothing more.
He ignored the pain. His focus was on the third sprite, the one targeting his offered arm. As its stinger came within inches of his flesh, his hand shot out and *grabbed* it. His grip was like iron. The sprite shrieked, struggling futilely, its wings a frantic blur.
He had his hostage.
He used the captured sprite as a living shield, shoving it into the path of another attacker. The two creatures collided with a wet crunch. Then, with a surge of his pathetic but precisely applied Strength, he *threw* the still-living sprite directly at the circling sub-queen.
It was a perfect shot. The sub-queen, caught completely by surprise, tried to dodge but was too slow. The projectile sprite slammed into it, and both went down in a tangle of limbs and wings.
The swarm's coordinated buzzing faltered. Their rhythm was broken. Their leader was down.
Zero gave them no time to recover. He was a whirlwind of death, a ghost flitting between the pale, luminous trees. A flash of his knife here. A disabling touch of his `[Nerve-Wrack Sting]` there. He moved through the remnants of the first wave like a plague, each movement economical, each strike fatal.
Within thirty seconds, the first wave was annihilated. The cavern floor was littered with the small, dark bodies of the dead and the twitching forms of the incapacitated.
Zero stood in the center of the carnage, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. The scratch on his shoulder burned, but it was a distant, unimportant sensation. He looked at his System window.
`[Combatants Eliminated: 15.]`
`[Experience Gained. User Level Up! Level 2 -> Level 3.]`
`[Stat Points Awarded: 5.]`
`[Skill 'Nerve-Wrack Sting (Lvl 1)' has gained proficiency through repeated use.]`
`[Skill 'Predator's Gait (Passive)' has gained proficiency.]`
The familiar, satisfying chime of a level-up, a sound he hadn't heard in years, echoed only in his mind. In his first life, leveling up had been a slow, arduous process. Now, with his ruthless efficiency, it was happening at a blistering pace.
He didn't hesitate. He immediately allocated the stat points. His priority wasn't Strength or Endurance. It was Agility. He needed speed and reflexes above all else.
`[Name: Zero]`
`[Level: 3]`
`[Class: Porter (Corrupted)]`
`[Strength: 5]`
`[Agility: 7 -> 12]`
`[Endurance: 6]`
The change was immediate. He felt lighter, faster. The world seemed to move a fraction slower. The burning sensation in his shoulder faded into the background, his body's processes accelerating.
The respite was short-lived. A new sound reached him. Deeper. Heavier. A low, guttural chittering that was to the sprites' shrieks what a bass drum is to a cymbal. From the largest, darkest cave entrance at the far end of the grove, something was emerging.
It was massive. At least four feet tall, built not with the spindly grace of its kin, but with the brutish, chitinous bulk of a beetle. It had six powerful, jointed legs that clicked against the stone, and two heavily armored arms that ended in scythe-like claws. Its wings were thick and leathery, more for intimidation than for flight. And its eyes… where the normal sprites had multifaceted black eyes, this creature had two large, glowing, crimson orbs that pulsed with malevolent intelligence.
A Hive Guardian. He remembered reading about them. They were the last line of defense for a sprite nest, a genetically engineered super-soldier. His old party had fought one once. It had taken all four of them—a Hero, a Saintess, an Assassin, and a Porter—ten grueling minutes to bring it down.
And he was going to face it alone.
The Guardian let out a deafening roar, a mix of insectile clicks and bestial fury. It fixed its glowing red eyes on Zero, ignoring the dead and dying sprites at his feet. It recognized him as the sole threat.
Zero's mind, colder and clearer than ever thanks to his `[Callous]` skill, analyzed the situation. His knife would be useless against that thick, black chitin. A direct confrontation was suicide. `[Nerve-Wrack Sting]` would likely have little effect on a creature of that size.
This wasn't a fight he could win with brute force. This had to be a battle of wits. An assassination.
He looked around the cavern, his eyes cataloging every detail. The glowing stream. The pale, brittle trees. The clusters of phosphorescent fungi. And high above, on the cavern ceiling, were dozens of large, crystalline stalactites, each as long and sharp as a spear.
A plan began to form. A risky, insane, and utterly audacious plan.
He met the Guardian's hateful, crimson gaze and gave it a mocking smirk. Then he turned and ran, not away from the cave, but deeper into it, towards the Queen's nest. He ran past the Guardian, his new Agility score making him a fleeting shadow.
The Guardian roared in fury at the blatant disrespect. It lumbered after him, its heavy, scythe-like claws gouging deep furrows in the soft, mossy ground. It was surprisingly fast for its size, its six legs churning powerfully. But it wasn't agile. It was a battering ram, not a rapier.
Zero weaved between the pale trees, his destination a specific spot he had noted earlier: a large, open area directly beneath the densest cluster of stalactites. He just needed to lure the beast there. And then, he needed to find a way to bring the ceiling down upon it.
The chase was on. The monster versus the ghost. And in the silent, luminous depths of the Sunken Grove, only one of them would be walking away.