Erik, standing atop the fallen titan, had barely a moment to catch his breath before the remaining terrapedes approached. Drawn by the potent pheromones released by their slain kin, they surged towards him in a wave of blind rage and vengeance.
The creatures, undeterred by the fate of their colossal brethren, scuttled over the titan's lifeless body.
It became a grotesque bridge, leading them straight to Erik. Their many legs skittered and clicked against the hardened exoskeleton of the fallen giant, creating a chilling cacophony in the otherwise silent desert.
Erik watched as they swarmed over the titan, their eyes glinting with a primal, unyielding determination. They clambered atop one another, forming a living, writhing mass of chitin and fury.
"Ah… Fuck… This is annoying."
Erik steeled himself for the next wave of combat. He knew he could not afford even a moment's hesitation.
As the Terrapedes drew nearer, the air around Erik thrummed with an unnerving symphony of their approach. The sound, an escalating buzz, filled the desert, becoming the dominant sound all around the young man.
The beasts were so many that the very air itself trembled because of their skittering.
For Erik, even though he did not fear the creatures themselves, the sound they produced was unsettling.
It seemed to penetrate his very being, an assault that was impossible to ignore or escape. It was as if the sound itself was a living entity encircling him.
In that moment, amidst the desert's isolation, the sound of the approaching terrapedes took on a surreal quality, a discordant melody that underscored the savage dance of survival about to unfold.
The sight of the Terrapedes, using their fallen comrade to reach their target, was also equally unsettling. These were very savage beasts.
They possessed no sense of individuality, no fear of death, only a collective drive that pushed them forward in a relentless tide of aggression.
As the first of the swarm closed in, Erik readied himself for another fierce round.
Ready to spring into action, his muscles tightened, his body poised for the impending fight.
The desert, its sands still scarred from the previous display of force, prepared for another wave of violent upheaval as Erik prepared for his next move.
The young man leaped and spun as the creatures surrounded him once more. The Flyssa sang as it sliced through exoskeletons and sinews.
Mandibles snapped shut just shy of Erik's limbs as he contorted his body to avoid injury.
The creatures were in a maddened state, impervious to pain or injury. They would fight to the death to avenge their fallen leader.
SWOOOOOOSH
Erik stood his ground. With a swift gesture, he summoned a blade of wind. It materialized as a swirling vortex and sliced through the atmosphere with a fierce howl.
The blade spun wildly, but aimed at a target, cutting a swath through the horde of terrapedes at his left. The air crackled and hummed with its power, as three dozen foes fell victim to its razor-sharp edge.
[LEVEL UP.]
"Ahahahahahahahahahahhaha It's Christmas time!"
Simultaneously, Erik shifted his focus to his right, where the same number of monsters was coming.
With his stamina still strong, Erik did not waver. He allowed the endless waves of terrapedes to use their fury against him, only to meet his blade.
The weapon was devoted to kill, to hack them apart as they dared to approach the human. Soon the titan's corpse was piled high with dismembered corpses.
The sand grew thick with blood as the battle raged on. Erik's absurdly high physical statistics allowed him to fight on indefinitely against such small fries. He entered the flow state, mind empty of distractions as he focused only on the next kill.
Erik could sense the Thaids tiring. Their attacks came slower, the frenzy fading as their numbers dwindled. He remained focused, conserving his mana as he eliminated the creatures one by one.
With their titan leader dead and the swarm decimated, the last remaining Terrapedes tried to flee back underground.
But Erik would not let any escape to fight another day. With lightning speed, he cut off their escape routes, herding them back to their doom.
The Flyssa lashed out in all directions, severing legs and piercing bodies. The Terrapedes could only screech and snap impotently as Erik's blade found every vital area. Now fighting for survival, they tried to overwhelm him through sheer numbers.
His blade work sped up, movements so fast they blurred. No matter how the creatures tried to elude him, the Flyssa was there first.
Erik weaved his way through the writhing mass of creatures, a merciless cyclone of death. In his wake, only mutilated and lifeless bodies remained, bearing witness to the unparalleled brutality of his technique.
With one last flurry of lethal strikes, the last Thaid collapsed into the blood-soaked sand. Erik flicked the gore from his blade and scanned the area for any more signs of life.
All around him lay the broken bodies of the defeated creatures. The swarm was no more. His expression was devoid of emotion - this had simply been his function.
[TERRAPEDES KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[0%...1%....5%...30%...70%...100%]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]
[3...2...1...0]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 54281 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]
[LEVEL UP.]
"I got a lot of levels today," a smirk appeared on the young man's face.
As the last echoes of battle subsided, Erik pulled a worn cloth from his pack and meticulously cleaned each inch of the Flyssa's blade.
The dark metal re-emerged from beneath the violet gore as he worked. Once the sword was pristine again, he slid it home in the sheath with a ring of metal.
Erik stood amidst a surreal landscape, a spectacle of death that contrasted with the normally pristine desert. The surrounding sands were now marred by a macabre collage of red and black.
Scattered across the dunes lay remnants of the monstrous insects he had vanquished. Chitinous limbs, severed and twisted in bizarre angles, were strewn about, their dark exoskeletons glistening under the sun.
Pools of ichor, thick and dark like tar, seeped into the sand, creating inky blotches against the lighter background. T
Guts and entrails, once housed within the armored bodies of the insectoid foes, now lay exposed to the desert elements, baking under the blazing sun.
"Not bad for just an hour of work…"
Erik had single-handedly eradicated a terrapede's colony, and he did so while battling against the full swarm of Thaid. If someone shared what he just did, they would think he would be rambling.
However, that was a feat he could do only because the monsters had defensive powers and they attacked with their bodies.
If they had offensive brain crystal powers, especially if they allowed distant attacks, Erik couldn't escape a group of almost 300 terrapedes.
Erik looked at his surroundings again. For him, this was merely routine - he felt neither pride nor remorse for the lives he had taken.
"You beasts should have fled when you had the chance," he said while wiping away the last viscous flecks from his body.
Now for the true spoils. Erik retrieved his harvesting knife and approached the nearest terrapede body.
He inserted the blade beneath the creature's armored skull plates and popped them open one by one to reveal the alien anatomy within.
Nestled amid purple tendrils made of the creature's innards, sat the crystal - the real prize he had come for. With this, he could strengthen his clones.
Erik teased the tendrils back to grasp the crystal with his calloused fingers. He held it up, admiring how the light fractured into prismatic shards within the translucent gem.
Flawless. Erik placed the ichor-slicked crystal into a padded leather pouch on his belt for safekeeping.
Next he produced a small plastic bottle, holding it to the Terrapede's exposed body where it still oozed violet and black.
With care, Erik filled the bottle and watched the viscous liquid rise. When it reached the perfect level, he slid the stopper in place and stowed the filled vial in a separate pouch.
This would be enough for him to get the brain crystal power and give it to his clones to morph into a terrapede.
Having something that could crawl into the ground and hunt would be useful, especially considering they would be stronger than the average terrapede.
"Let us hope this haul will lure other Thaids here." Erik rose, surveying the scene one last time.
With the crystal and blood harvested, it was time to continue his quest across the desert.
While sheathing the harvesting knife, Erik gathered up his traveling pack and checked his remaining supplies. The desert wind echoed with the screams and cries of the defeated swarm.
Erik turned toward the desert innards and the open wastes beyond. Leaving the broken bodies behind without a second glance, he set off once more across the sands, while paying attention not to lose the giant tree in the distance.
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