Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Rising Tide

There was no light whatsoever, but I knew I wasn't alone. These centipedes appeared completely unable to sit still, always wriggling and climbing over each other, so I could hear them clicking around in my vicinity. Some of them were even brushing up against me. But they weren't doing anything.

I'd been dragged out of the passage and into the space beyond, pulled for some amount of distance that I couldn't even begin to estimate in the darkness, shoved against a wall, and then sprayed with some sort of warm liquid from the neck down. It seemed odd that they'd drag me all this way just to spray me with acid or poison, and indeed there was no pain. I briefly wondered if they were giving me a wash for some reason, but then the liquid hardened, leaving me glued to the wall. The paralysing venom had worn off since, and the feeling of attention had departed as soon as my new prison had dried, but I was still stuck.

As well as sadism, did all the monsters here have a bondage fetish?! I'd have to rate this particular set of restraints above the uncomfortable murder tree roots, but below the soft, silken cocoon. Could be better, could be worse. Well, it obviously could be worse; they could be eating me!

I had no idea why they wanted me alive, but they obviously did. They'd even fed me, back when I'd first been glued to the wall; an unseen creature in the darkness shoving something into my paralysed throat and pumping a foul tasting, lumpy liquid into my stomach. Since then, I'd been ignored.

That had been maybe half an hour ago. I'd struggled for a bit, but it was obvious there was no way I could break free, so I had nothing left to do but wait for my respawn to kick in. Combined with the travel time, I had maybe ten minutes left. After the effort they put into keeping me alive, it was a shame I wouldn't get to see their faces when I suddenly dropped dead. Not that they really had anything I'd be willing to describe as a face, but the spiders had made it very clear when they were annoyed, so these centipedes could probably do the same.

The thought was almost enough to make me giggle, but right now I thought it best to not attract attention, so I held it in. I only hoped that they hadn't spread while I was stuck, and that I wasn't about to respawn into a cave filled with them.

The next ten minutes passed without incident, and I respawned into a blissfully centipede free cave. I very quickly got redressed, patching the hole the centipede had made when it bit me and wishing I had better materials. The silk threads had been great for protecting me from the spider's acid, but they didn't do much against a sharp fang. Once dressed, I rushed back towards the shrine.

There were centipedes in the tunnel leading from the wolves' cavern to the shrine. Not the endless sea that there had been back in their own territory, but enough that the sight was still creepy. A couple of dozen, perhaps. To be fair, one of them on its own would be creepy, but watching them walk over each other and tangle together only multiplied it. So they really were starting to spread... That was... problematic. My respawn ability kinda counted on my enemies not being able to camp my respawn cave, and the centipedes were plenty flat enough to fit into the narrow crevices that led there. I somehow needed to stop them here.

The facts I had in my favour were that they weren't reacting to my presence at all, and didn't appear to be acting with any intelligence. When I'd been taken by them before, there had obviously been intelligence involved, so why the difference now? Their behaviour had changed after that loud clack from their territory. What had it been?

Novice stealth advanced to level 3

Hmm? I hadn't been trying to sneak though... They had no eyes, so what did they use instead? Vibrations? Were my soft silk foot-wraps leaving me invisible to them? They weren't reacting to me because they had no idea I was here? That was something I could use. I got closer, treading as lightly as I could.

Novice stealth advanced to level 4

In their continuously moving mass, it was only a matter of time before one exposed their underbelly, giving me the opportunity to stab. One died, and a dozen more went wild, snapping their mandibles in mid-air and waving their bodies and legs around, but none directed at me. A couple of steps backwards was enough to avoid them. What these guys had in numbers, they certainly lacked in senses...

Acting carefully, I managed to take out the remainder of the group. It didn't take them long to realise they were under attack, but they seemed to have no means of actually finding me beyond touch. When one managed to tap my shield with a leg, the whole mass came at me as one, but it didn't take much dodging before they lost me again.

Novice stealth advanced to level 5
Novice dodger advanced to level 8

That had been well worth it for the levels, but why were they so wimpy compared to before? Now that I considered it, they hadn't given any sign of being able to detect me last time, either. The one that dropped from the ceiling hadn't been deliberately targeting me; it simply fell off due to the sheer number of them climbing over each other. When the others caught up, they didn't take action until they'd literally bumped into me. So their hunting strategy, at least for me, required sufficient numbers to saturate the area and ensure one of them was in contact with me. As long as I didn't get a flood of them coming at me, I should be able to cope.

I hit two more groups on my way to the shrine, each a dozen strong and no more perceptive than the first, earning me another level of novice stealth. At the shrine chamber, I could see why they were struggling; the same effect that kept the spiders away was having an even larger effect on them. In the passage that led to their territory was a literal wall of centipedes, covering wall to wall and floor to ceiling, writhing madly, but no individual centipede wanted to move forward.

Occasionally the random flow would result in one or two of them getting pushed far enough forward that they ended up inside the chamber, at which point they scrambled around clinging to the wall until they found another exit, as if they were being pushed away from the room. The ones that turned left hit mine while the ones that turned right headed towards the silver barrier.

Since I could move freely and they couldn't, it wouldn't be hard to start stabbing again, but I could hardly kill all of them. I'd be here for years. But if I didn't do something, my own area would end up getting flooded. Even the murder tree couldn't eat all this; they wouldn't physically fit in its pond. The webs were useless; the pure mass of centipede had obliterated them. The shrine barrier was doing a decent job of keeping them at bay, but wasn't perfect. Maybe if I killed enough of them, their own corpses would plug the passage.

I spent the next few hours in combat, maxing out novice dodger and dagger dabbler, and even getting five levels of novice blocker, but not triggering evolutions for anything, or gaining any class levels. My hopes of a plug of corpses were quickly dispelled; as soon as they started getting in the way, the centipedes behind dragged them back into the mass, followed by crunching noises that sounded suspiciously like cannibalism. I'd killed hundreds of them, yet the appearance of the corridor hadn't changed at all from when I started.

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None of the centipedes used their glue-spray. Was it something they didn't consider a weapon? Could they only use it when directly ordered by whatever was controlling them last time? Was it not these centipedes that had glued me to the wall in the first place? Whatever the reason, I was glad of it; it meant they had no ranged attacks, and left me able to step back towards the shrine whenever I needed a rest from the slaughter.

Some three to four hours in, there was a change. I once again had the impression of attention, and the movement in the tunnel ceased as abruptly as if someone had hit a pause button. Then it surged backwards. There was no further movement for a few seconds, leaving me wondering if they were trying to goad me into leaving the safety of the shrine, but then a dozen of the centipedes moved forwards along the floor. Not the usual writhing mass, but all in a neat line, marching together. They hesitated at the archway.

New side quest: Defend the weakened shrine
A chilopoda sagacitas is attempting to invade the protected space around a weakened shrine, and the diminished barrier is insufficient to hold it back. Defend the shrine from desecration.
Clear conditions: Force the chilopoda sagacitas to withdraw
Reward: Gain one class level

Well, this wasn't good... The fact that the quest referred to an individual monster was another point of evidence that these centipedes were being controlled. The way they were acting, both this time and the last, suggested that the controller was intelligent. I saw one of the centipedes lift a leg, struggling to step forward, as if it was trying to walk head on into a gale-force wind. While the class level from the quest was a nice reward, especially since I hadn't levelled it any other way so far, the biggest reward would be not letting the damn centipedes into what was supposed to be my safe area.

It would be easy to kick myself for triggering this, but pragmatically they'd already been slowly working the way up their corridor, and would have got here at some point regardless. I'd simply accelerated matters. And since I had, I needed to take responsibility. Taking up my spear, I attacked the centipedes trying to force their way through the barrier.

It didn't go as smoothly as the previous few hours. These controlled centipedes remained low on the floor, not exposing any of their soft underside. Stabbing at various points on their head didn't achieve anything. Jabbing my spear at full force in between their first and second segment did, eliciting a snap and instantly killing them, but trying to hit the small spot while keeping out of range of their mandibles was tough. I managed to kill six before one seemed to have a breakthrough, running freely into the shrine. It stopped once more before reaching the statue, at the distance of the earlier spiders, but it was fully inside the room. Then the floodgates opened, and the entire mass pulled forward once more.

I watched helplessly as the solid mass of centipedes flowed into the room, wrapping around the invisible second wall, then flowing down each corridor. The webs that still protected three corridors held back the flood for mere seconds before it crashed through them. I resumed my stabbing, the centipedes displaying their soft underbellies to me once more, but with their numbers I'd need to keep up my efforts for days at least. The height of the mass was no longer up to the ceiling, but it was already up to my waist and still growing. Maybe there was no end to them, and the chilopoda sagacitas, whatever that was, was able to produce an unlimited supply.

A few minutes later, I saw a red light glowing in one of the three unexplored corridors, followed by a distant but growing roar. What the heck? Was something down there taking exception to the centipede invasion? Then I saw the lick of flame, and ducked behind the statue just in time for a lance of fire to erupt from the corridor.

I stared at the charred remains lining the passage and the floor of the shrine, wondering once more where my fire magic was. Alas, even that wasn't enough to significantly dent their numbers, and the dead were soon replaced by the endless tide flowing in from their territory. I continued my stabbing, doing what damage I could. The feeling of attention on me lessened, and another group flooded the flaming corridor, despite the stone still glowing a dull red from the heat. Their effort was rewarded only by another lance of flame. After that equally disastrous second attempt, the centipedes left that passage alone.

I continued fighting on, while centipedes continued to flood the four corridors. The flow towards the upwards sloping one soon ceased, presumably because it was full. A half hour later, the centipedes around another passage started acting strangely, not ceasing but seemingly irritated. Looking over, I caught a brief glimpse of a wolf through the writhing mass, before it once again disappeared beneath it. They were trying to bring prey back, but they couldn't pull it past the barrier?

The feeling of attention on me strengthened once more.

New skill gained: Sense presence
All beings possess mana, and even an unskilled child would be able to notice the attention of a sufficiently powerful being from the mana they unconsciously emit. Of course, should an unskilled child ever attract attention from such a powerful being, they had best pray it is not hostile, because neither running nor fighting would be an option. This skill heightens your awareness of this leaking mana, allowing you to detect it even when you aren't the focus of attention, and to detect it from monsters with a slightly lower mana density.

And there's the sense presence skill that I was trying to get earlier. The description didn't bode well. I may not be completely unskilled, but I'm pretty darn sure this being is hostile. Probably... I mean, I did start killing the centipedes before they did anything to me, and didn't make any effort to communicate. No, I was fairly confident they would have attacked, regardless of what I did.

Interestingly, with the extra clarity provided by the skill, I realised there were two distinct sources of attention on me. The original, but also a second, far larger presence from along the flaming corridor. Whatever was down there had apparently noticed me. Well, as long as it didn't try to torch me, I could ignore it for now. I had more important problems.

The centipedes stilled again, backing off from the second barrier, before a group of a dozen once again stepped forwards. This time I didn't hesitate, and went for the weak spot I'd discovered, killing all twelve before they managed to penetrate the barrier. Then two dozen stepped up, and I only managed to get fifteen of them. The tide rose once more, and this time I had no sanctuary.

Side quest failed: Defend the weakened shrine
Penalty applied: Class skills locked for twenty-four hours

A failure penalty?! Oi! That was never mentioned! Not to mention completely unfair; the quest had been impossible to start with! My detached sense of fear was now telling me that I was utterly panic stricken, a fact my racing heart strongly agreed with. I hadn't had the safety blanket of my trigger respawn skill for long, but it still felt like something vital had been ripped out now that I'd lost it. I couldn't even pull a claw from my item box to slash my throat.

The swarm of creepy-crawlies rose over me, and not content with one dose of venom, I felt four separate bites. Given how much damage I'd just done to them, I suppose they weren't taking chances. With my skills locked, I couldn't stash my equipment, instead managing to toss my spear and shield in the general direction of the statue before my muscles locked up.

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