The Scorpions mere presence made me shiver and shake in fear - unsure on what to do next. Should I run? But - I have nowhere to run. The exit is literally sealed off. Should I confront it and fight it? But this thing is a whole eight levels higher than me - surely that is a big difference!... right?

The monster shrieked again, before rushing at me and lifting its large pincers into the air, before smashing them against the ground where I stood - flinging me back against a wall, before suddenly rushing up to me and grabbing me in its right pincer, squeezing tightly - enough to cause me to bleed lightly - before smashing me into the wall and dragging me through it, before throwing me against a different wall, followed by firing off what I could only imagine were some kind of needles from a skill of sorts.

I hit the wall pretty hard, before quickly slithering out of the way just in time to dodge the incoming projectiles - before fleeing in fear around the room, as the massive monstrous creature chased after me.

I could feel fear just take over me at this point.
There was no way - no way - I could fight this thing. I mean - for starters, it is like ten times larger than me! How am I supposed to take on a creature that is way larger than me?! Then there is also the case of that bit of information within its stat page.

Agitated?
Fifteen percent bonus to its strength stat?

Is this some kind of a sick idea for a joke? If so, I am NOT laughing at all. No - one could say that I am PRAYING to some kind of god for someone to come and save me from this thing.

As I rushed away from the scorpion, I spotted a small crack in a wall that was in a more shadowed area of the room. I quickly slithered towards it and scurried inside of the crack, letting out a small sigh of relief. Then, the monster shattered the wall above me with its large pincers, forcing me to flee through the small tunnel inside of the crack, as the scorpion continued to tear apart the wall while trying to catch me.

It was a bloodpumping, terrifying experience - that made my entire body shudder with just pure fear and my blood to rush through my entire body like a jet engine. I felt like my blood was boiling underneath my skin - like it had become a fire that was burning inside of me that was just pushing me to keep going and not stop even for a moment if I valued my own life.

After a bit of fleeing deeper and deeper into this narrow and small tunnel, I leapt into a completely pitch black spot inside here, before curling up into a tight, tight ball - pressing my entire body against the cold and rough stone wall behind me, as the creature's destruction of the wall suddenly seized. It knocked away the dust cloud surrounding the now broken open wall, before peering inside it with its blood red eyes, looking around and searching, before it moved back and away towards the center of the room once more.

I was breathing heavily while remaining deep in my hiding spot, my eyes wide in shock and fear.

Common Skill [Presence Erase] has been learnt.

I...
I have no words to say. I managed to live... but only because the creature for some reason stopped its pursuit of me...

Why did it just walk away like that? Sure I was hiding in this pitch black spot in the strange small tunnel located just behind the wall of this dungeons room, but it wasn't like this small spot was the best hiding spot. If it looked just a little down, it would surely notice me... So why did it just stop?

Was it... Was it because of the new skill I just acquired?

Or learnt - Whatever the voice said.

"Well... Either way - it isn't like I am complaining about it leaving me alone."

I thought, exhaling heavily. While I was thankful that it stopped trying to murder me, I was technically now a sitting duck. The entrance - through which I had entered the room originally - is sealed off and I do not think there is another way to get out of this place. I had to either kill that thing or... Be killed by it.

Because I also doubt anyone is able to force that entrance to open again and enter the room.

I breathed heavily for a few moments, before coiling my body up and sinking my head into it. I had a bit to sit here and catch my breath for now... I may as well also think of a way to get out of here - because I seriously don't think I can take that scorpion down yet. I mean, put aside my genuine terror from it, I don't think my skills or bites can do anything to this thing - especially since its body looks like it is covered by some kind of armour-like scales.

No way my bites can pierce through that...
Right?

I slowly peaked my head outside of the pitch black spot, before slithering out of it and carefully making my way up onto the broken wall - using the debris from it as a staircase. Peeking over to the center of the room, I spotted the giant black scorpion there, standing menacingly - with its body in an almost resting position.

Such a creepy creature...
I looked away from it and began looking around for any potential alternative exit to this place, however was disappointed by not seeing anything at all that could even count as an exit or an escape to this place - not that I wasn't expecting that...

It looks like my only escape from here really is by killing that scorpion - there is literally no other way out of here. However - I am still very, very sceptical on whether I can even damage that thing.

Hm...

What do I do - what do I do...

I thought about my next course of action for a bit. I had to kill it somehow - but my hesitation and fear was holding me back from acting. Man, why didn't I play more RPG and MMO games back in my previous life... Maybe then I would be able to come up with some kind of a plan to tackle this situation.

After a little while of brainstorming, I eventually let out an exhale.
I think I had come up with some kind of a plan. Currently, the only skill I believe could have an effect on this thing is the 'Devourer' skill I possess. If I understand it correctly, it drains magical energy and possibly the 'soul' of other creatures and doesn't do any physical damage. If I somehow figure out how to use it, I could maybe drain this thing of its magical energy and potentially even soul.

The only flaw with this plan is that I have no idea on how to use 'Devourer' or if it can even be used against something that is still alive. The first time I used it, everything around me was already dead and there was only a single thing that was still technically alive, just suffering and on the verge of death.

It could be that it just straight up does not work on things that are fully healthy and alive.

I mean - who knows?
It would be nice if I had some way to gain more information on my skills overall if I now think about it. I have almost zero knowledge on what any of my skills do or how to activate them. Maybe I can use 'Erudition' on them..? But - I don't know how likely that is. Plus - where would I start? With the normal usage of it, I just have to think about the thing I want to use it on, but how do I 'think' or 'imagine' using it on something that isn't... well - physical.

As I stood there thinking, the scorpion suddenly moved - twitching before standing up and shrieking loudly, causing the entire room to shake. I quickly used my 'Erudition' skill on it again, to get an appraisal of what exactly was happening with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name; Daxina
Species; Greater King Scorpion
Level; 28

A Powerful monster that can only be found as a boss in low ranked dungeons or as a rare monster in swamps and sandy areas. Its body is made of very tough to penetrate armour like plating, which makes it almost invincible to any normal attacks. When encountered, avoiding being hit with its tail is advised.

STATUS;

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh come on - you have got to be actually making some sort of sick joke...
Why did it grow even more agitated?! I have barely moved and it doesn't seem like the thing has noticed me yet... Why is it growing angrier if there is nothing in this place that could be making it angrier?

I exhaled heavily after a bit of complaining inside my mind, before the scorpion began to suddenly rage across the room - swinging and smashing its pincers into the ground and other walls of it - as if it was attacking something I wasn't able to see. Either there was something I couldn't see or this was the result of it simply being very pissed off for some unknown reason - who knows.

However, if there was a time to fight it - I guess this was it.
If it was going to randomly grow more and more angry, then I was better off taking it on now before it could gain any more boosts to its stats through that 'Agitated' status. So, after a quick breath that was followed by a nervous gulp - I leapt off of the wall and slithered towards the scorpion.

Screw it.
If I die, I die - doesn't matter either way, does it? I mean, it isn't like I wanted to be reincarnated anyway, so if I die, I just get to fulfill my previous life's dying wishes.

As I approached the giant scorpion, it immediately took notice of me, turning around sharply, before shrieking towards me and then rushing, hitting its pincers as it ran towards me. Shedding a slight sweat, I felt the temptation to turn around and flee once again, however this time - I ignored that feeling and kept moving forward, before using my 'Venom Pellet' skill just like against the Armoured Tiger.

Small purple orbs formed around me and followed me, before firing off small pullets made of the same purple substance towards the scorpion - hitting it dead on. The scorpion blocked the initial strike of these bullets with its right pincer, before shrieking and spinning around, lifting its tail and sending it crashing down towards me. However, before it could crush me underneath it - I leapt up into the air and towards the scorpion, dodging the tail.

Then I quickly activated 'Venom Pellet' again, firing off the small venom bullets in a flurry of attacks once again towards the scorpion, which luckily for me, this time managed to connect and seemingly even damage the scorpion, as it reacted to the impact of the bullets - however at the same time, it seemed like the bullets didn't do all that much damage to the beast, as it did not look like it was in any pain at all.

I also imagine it has a resistance or an immunity to poison, so it most likely wasn't going to get poisoned by them - so the overall damage most likely wasn't too grand. After my attacks, the scorpion twirled around to look at me, before grabbing me into its left pincers and squeezing tightly again, crushing me slightly between them. I felt great pain rush through my body as blood spewed from my body, however I bore the pain and simply opened my mouth wide open, before clamping down on its pincers with it - biting as hard as I could onto it.

[Harvester] has been activated.

My bite managed to crush through the pincers, tearing them apart and causing the scorpion to drop me, shrieking in pain before backing up. As soon as I hit the ground, I felt this strange warmth inside me as a faint green light covered me.

Wounds have been healed.
Through [Harvester] you have been granted the status;

-Blood Hungry (+50% to Strength ; +25% to Health)

Woah...
So that's what 'Harvester' does? I was wondering what kind of effects it would have since it was obtained through the combination of 'Huntsman' and 'Hard Bite'. Sweet - looks like I could actually take it down with these boosts.

I smirked to myself a bit, before looking at the scorpion that let out a clearly anger filled shriek, before rushing towards me and flinging its tail towards me - trying to pierce me with the end of its tail. Seeing as the status of it warned to stay away from the tail - and I imagine the tip being the reason for that - I immediately leapt to the side, dodging it before slithering past the scorpion and activating 'Venom Pellet' again, firing it at the scorpion from the side, before propelling myself up into the air and successfully onto the scorpion.

As soon as the scorpion realised I was on top of its back, it began to thrash around, shaking its body and even trying to grab me with its pincers - well, the right pincers anyways, considering the left ones were kind of out of commission at this moment.

Despite the thrashing and constant movement, I managed to hold on and stay on its back, before slithering closer to its head and lifting my own up high, opening my mouth wide open and biting down into its... neck? Whatever connected its head to its body.

[Harvester] has been activated.

The Scorpion let out a loud, loud and horrifying shriek, which eventually I guess just went outside of my hearing range as it fell silent. Guess there are benefits to being a snake huh? I don't have to listen to these dying shrieks as I kill the thing.

After the shriek, the monster managed to fling me off of its back, before grabbing me with its right pincers and smashing me into the ground, before lifting me up and smashing me into the wall, dragging me through it again before throwing me away and towards the wall which the Scorpion had destroyed earlier.

While midair, I recuperated a bit, before looking at it and activating 'Venom Pellet' one more time, with the purple orbs forming around me before firing off the venom bullets directly at the creature's head, managing to hit it dead in its eyes, causing it to close them and shriek as it continued to rush after me.

After I hit the rough stone behind the broken wall, I leapt out of the way as the scorpion crashed into there, kicking up such a large dust cloud, I couldn't help but cough a little.

"Surely it's not dead yet..."

I thought.
Immediately, my thoughts were proven right, as the creature pushed through the dust cloud with a very pissed off sounding shriek, before trying to smash me with its pincer - with me only managing to barely react in time and leap out of the way as the pincer hit the ground.

The creature looked very mad. Its eyes were shining bright blood-red, as it glared across and around the room, very clearly searching for me. However, it also seemed quite damaged - not counting the left pincer that I had destroyed using my 'Harvester' skill, its body overall looked damaged, with the armour-like scales having fallen off, revealing the exposed 'meat' of the creature underneath, looking torn apart or just straight up broken and cracked. If I was to take a guess - based on its appearance and super mad look...

This thing was nearing the end of its health.
The scorpion locked onto me again, shrieking before being enveloped in a dark, dark aura - which basically hid its entire body under a pitch black colour, leaving only its shining blood-red eyes visible through the black aura.

WARNING
Daxina has activated the Individual Skill [Kings Wrath].

All stats have been lowered by 15%.

You little shit bug - how fucking dare you.
I was very salty when I heard this warning play in my head. I mean, this thing already had a thirty percent and a fifteen percent boost to its Strength and Stamina stats and now it has lowered my stats by fifteen percent?!

What an annoying parasite!

After the warning, I landed onto the ground, with the scorpion just appearing at my left side in an instant, before smashing its tail down towards me, flinging me towards the center of the room, before shrieking - causing these pitch black circles with symbols on them to form in the air around it.

"What the hell are those..?!"

I thought, as I landed onto the ground, slowing my momentum using my tail before rapidly slithering towards the creature. From the pitch black circles then came out small black needle like spikes - before firing towards me.

My expression changed to a shocked one - projectiles?! This thing has more than one projectile attack?! Before the spikes managed to hit me, I leapt to the side, using the debris around the room as cover as the pitch black spikes continued to come my way - leaving these dark spots everywhere they hit. Eventually, after leaping out from behind my cover and quickly moving towards the Scorpion, I managed to remove the distance between us and leapt in to try and bite it on its 'neck' again - however, the scorpion suddenly slid backwards at a rapid pace - leaving behind these afterimages of it. I grew shocked as I looked at it, before more spikes were fired out from the black circles in the air around the monster.

I unfortunately was unable to react in time and was hit dead on by this barrage of spikes, sending me flying back while also leaving behind the same dark spots on my body.

Dark Poison resisted.
Dark Poison resisted.
Dark Poison resisted.
Dark Poison resisted.

Those spikes are poison? I should have expected that... Of course this thing has a projectile similar to my 'Venom Pellets' - only this poison is called 'Dark Poison'. I wonder what the difference between it and the one I shoot is...

Well, it doesn't matter right now - I have to continue pushing. Even if I can't get poisoned by those dark spikes, they still do regular damage to me - they're spikes after all. I bore the pain again, before dashing towards the scorpion, dodging the next barrage of the black spikes, before leaping forward as a large spike was fired off towards me. The spike collided with the ground in front of me - however it did not hit me.

I had vanished.
The scorpion looked around confused, before the shadow underneath it bubbled up and almost 'lifted' up. Then, I leapt out of the shadow and towards the 'neck' of the monster, biting into it and squeezing as hard as I could.

[Harvester] has been activated.

As soon as that was announced, I felt my bite completely shatter through the bottom of the scorpions neck, causing blood to spew out like a fountain, before the scorpion shrieked, before its voice went to silence - probably due to its neck being filled with blood as it coughed it up.

After I landed onto the ground, I immediately slithered around it before leaping back onto it and then leaping towards its head - opening my mouth wide open again.

"Die!" {Primal Language Translation; 'Horten!'}

I shouted basically, before biting down into its head, 'Harvester' activating instantly and allowing me to easily pierce through the top of its head, causing so much blood to spew out from the top of its head, as the creature lifted its head up - seemingly about to shriek, before its entire body froze and then a moment later, collapsed.

The black aura around it and the black circles in the air then vanished, with the black circles shattering into what looked like dust as the creature fell against the ground lifeless - its tail hitting the