Salazar was laughing inside as he was pulled along , rejoicing.
Although he still felt some resentment about his miscalculation , the fact that the original course of action was proceeding accordingly pleased him. Still , there was a tight knot in his stomach when he thought about the Centipede queen. If her subordinates were like this , then how was she.
'We'll focus on that when the time comes. ' The only thing that concerned him was the crab he'd eaten. From what he could infer from the monsters conversation, he could tell that that crab had a superior status because of its parent. He just hopes that it's death wouldn't affect his plans too much.
He pondered for a moment as he was being dragged along.
'Status screen'
Name: Salazar Midagard.
Race : Mudman
Class: None
Level: 5
Title :-
Hp: 85/85
Mp: 15/15
Agility : 4(+3)
Strength : 5(+2)
Intelligence 9(+1)
Defense:3(+4)
Stamina: 14(+2)
Rank : F
Skills
Racial skills : Reformation , universal translator
Unique skills : Assimilation, All seeing eye.
Acquired skills : -
Evolution points : 24/100
Salazar nodded. Nice , very nice.
He'd leveled up twice and received , well , an increase in all his stats if anything, though the increase wasn't very much, it was still better than nothing.
And he was excited. Just eating one crab monster had given him evolution points equivalent to two or so rabbit monsters. Maybe he should switch his target and focus more on them than the rabbits , that way he'd be able to level up faster and gain more evolution points.
He'd like to evolve beyond this lowly life form, thank you very much.
[ Response : With each successive use of assimilation, the evolution points gained from eating monster types of that level becomes less and less until eating them become useless. ]
'Curse you voice of the world. Why do have to go rain on my parade like that. You have no sympathy. Ahhhh'
His head bumped on a rock was he was being dragged along , pulling him out of his thoughts. 'Ugh, his is going to be one long and bumpy ride.
The Three Eyed Centipede Queens base of operations was underground , beside a flowing creek. The fact that they lived at damp places like normal centipedes did was a huge surprise for Salazar , but he got over it.
He was sure that over the coming years , many things would surprise him, none of them as normal as this one.
The centipedes had dug underground caves and caverns close to the body of water , the entrance to which was under a small, inconspicuous tree.
Following twisting , confusing turns , Salazar was dragged through the caverns towards the center where the centipede queen was most probably residing. The path was so confusing that even with an advanced human mind like his own , he wasn't able to memorize the path. Maybe it had something to do with his low intelligence.
Finally, he was brought to what could only be queens chambers, a large rotunda* room. At the edge of the room, directly facing the entrance was a large centipede. Seeing it's size, Salazar started to doubt himself. It was massive , so large that he was like an ant before it.
The centipede queens exoskeleton was a bright blue black , her pincers and claws a dull red , as though painted with the blood of the monsters she'd killed.
Her pebble like eyes were filled with malicious intent , causing chills to run down the backs of anyone who saw them. She was curled in on herself , like a rubber twisted in on itself.
At her right hand side was a large red black crab , much like the one he'd eaten , but three times it's size. To her right was a gigantic tarantulas, it's eight eyes watching them carefully, it's jaws dripping with poison that sizzles and left tiny holes on the ground where they fell.
As they walked in, the Centipede queen raised her head to regard them, her curious eyes regarding their every move , especially when she noticed what they were hauling.
The crab was the first to speak, " Where's Carmel, " he demanded when he saw that it's son wasn't with them.
The scorpion twitched awkwardly and threw a glance at the black needle spider. Glancing at its mother, Nasuae nodded and stepped forward, pulling Salazar into the lime light.
"My Queen, Master Clawnneck, mother, " she began, and glancing at her companions , she narrated everything that had transpired while they were out.
While she was talking , the Centipede queen slowly uncurled to fix him with a discerning gaze.
When Nasuae was done , she stepped back. The crab- Master Clawneck- was silent go a moment before letting out an angry roar. " You lying bastards. You tricked my son to leave with you so you could kill him isn't that right? Don't try to lie to me, does it look like I was born yesterday. "
It tried to charge at them, but the giant tarantula spat out dense spider webs that trapped him. As he roared, struggling as hard as he could to free himself , the tarantula sighed. " You don't have the right to kill them. Even if what you say is true, our queen is the one who should make the final decision. "
Only at her reminder did Master Clawneck calm down. He fixed the young monsters in front of him with a withering look before glancing at the Centipede queen.
Now the queen was surveying this scene with dark amusement. Salazar shivered. If she were human, he had a feeling that someone like her would be a sadist. Maybe she was. Who said monsters couldn't be sadists.
"Do you say that this mud man is a variant monster ," the way she said mudman was laced with distaste.
He didn't know what a variant monster was , but from the context he guessed it was a special kind of monster.
If that was the case, things just got a whole lot more complicated.