Now I know what you're thinking
"oh great and powerful Keera, oh lord of the Mantis, oh king bug boi… HAVE YOU GONE MAD!?
Well yes…but no
See I was thinking during my month of training that there are two realistic of getting to Class 3
One is that I spend an unknown amount of time slowly and methodically collecting and eating the cores of Class 1 and 2 nonhumans
And the other is two take a risk and fight a Class 3 for its spiritual core
Past that it's just a calculation of risk, is it riskier to do one battle of unknown outcome or is it riskier to spend another month or so collecting the cores and risking encountering multiple Demon Classes.
Yeah, I'm choosing the first option because at least it doesn't involve the risk of instant death
As it stands, I may be only a Class two but I'm both a variant and I would be around stage five if you know nonhumans even had stages.
If I can ambush a Class 3, I should be able to hand it at least one free injury before having to fight it head on and with the results of my training, I now have a few tricks up my sleeves.
Let's just say I found a few practical applications for Hidden Intent and Chi
I started to fly around the forest a few hours ago searching for the feeling of third-Class spiritual pressure or tracks and as I near the river where I had previously been near traumatized after being just about crushed from the spiritual pressure alone of those two Class 4s I noticed a set of large footprints near the tree line on the other side of the forest
Getting closer I saw that the tracks were lupine like in shape and heading east
What? I hunted back on earth, so what? (don't tell PETA)
After I followed the tracks for a few hours I began to feel an itching on my skin on unlike the feeling of sprinkling rain when it lightly hits your skin and is I kept moving it slowly increased until I was outside a cave, and I felt like I was standing under a thunderstorm
I should probably mention how weird this spiritual pressure is, normally no matter how weak it is every creature with a spiritual core release spiritual pressure. Even if they have it under control it still exists
But this?
This is unlike any spiritual pressure I have ever felt
Not because it was particularly strong but because it felt… broken
Like instead of being hit by a wave I get rain
Unconcentrated and in pieces
Slowly creeping toward the cave entrance, I began to make my way inside
I knew I was going in the direction because the pressure grew and grew until I felt like I was standing in a monsoon, and I could see a faint outline of the creature
And as the sunlight shone into the cave from a whole in the ceiling, I was able to finally see what I was facing
"Now the pressure makes sense"
Because I wasn't feeling the pressure of one nonhuman but instead two
[from now on I will be calling them beasts]
You see when I was given the rough skeleton of this worlds data and the memories of the body I was inhabiting certain information combined and gave me little details, like how I was given information on the Blood Forest by Barry but actually visuals by the Mantis. And as such there were a few Beasts that the mantis had encountered that Barry also gave me info on.
And one of those said beasts was in front of me
A Corpse Parasite
Nasty little creatures, they kind of resemble a mixture of cockroach and centipede, they are native to the Blood Forest and have two distinct features. They are one of the few "Unclassable" beast due and this is due to their main ability, Corpse Takeover.
They find a dead animal or in some cases a beast and dig into the stomach and latch onto the spiritual core, they then inject their own spiritual pressure which sort of jump starts the previously inactive care and by extension the dead body, with them in full control of course.
This is not a perfect procedure of course due to them never being able to bring forth the corpse's original strength as well as the inability to use Chi or intent. However, they never lose more than a class in strength, so they are still dangerous opponents due to them not feeling pain or hunger.
Now you may wonder how do I know I'm facing a Corpse Parasite if they are inside the beast they host and therefore hidden?
Simple deduction really
Between the purple glowing stomach and the fact that the corpse was literally zombified I think we can assume it's a corpse parasite
Who would have guessed the memories of a Mantis would help but a name to a face huh?
You may also be wondering what beast it was inhabiting considering this would largely shape the fight ahead right?
Kekeke
IT THE FUCKING HELLHOUND FROM THE LAKE!!