Mantis stood victorious, his scythes still trembling from the force of his last strike. But the triumph was short-lived.
A chill ran down his spine as he realized something. His gaze flicked upward, and there it was—a massive figure looming over him. The giant mantis.
His heart skipped a beat.
I kinda forgot about that!
Panic gripped Mantis's chest. Slowly, he turned his head, eyes widening in terror. The creature's colossal form towered over him, its massive scythes gleaming ominously under the light.
No way... is this really happening? Mantis's mind raced. I just beat all those mantises... and now this? What am I supposed to do against something this big?
For a brief moment, he imagined a scenario where the queen of the mantises would look down at him and say, "Well done, my chosen one." Maybe she'd praise him for his strength, reward him for surviving... but no. Instead, he was sure the mantis queen would attempt to cleave him in half with those deadly blades.
Panic overwhelmed him.
But then, as if hearing his inner thoughts, SOL's calm voice cut through the chaos. "Wait, don't worry. That's the queen of the mantises. She's here to acknowledge you as the chosen one, I think"
Mantis's mind struggled to catch up. You think? He stared at the queen, still trembling. Yeah, sure. Like that's supposed to make me feel better.
SOL, as calm as ever, continued. "Notice, becoming the chosen mantis will help you evolve your true abilities. This is your chance to grow stronger, Renji."
Oh, great. Just what I needed to hear. His anxiety was far from eased, but the words carried a certain weight. Maybe there was a glimmer of hope, somewhere.
He braced himself, preparing for whatever came next.
Mantis blinked, feeling a little less panicked but now more perplexed. Wait, so I don't have to fight the queen?
Before he could ponder further, SOL announced, "Notice, BETA skill: Adrenaline acquired."
Mantis froze, staring at the words in disbelief. "What? Adrenaline? Did I just get this from nearly dying?"
SOL's voice seemed mildly calm. "Something like that."
Mantis sighed. Looking back up at the queen, he felt a knot tighten in his stomach. What now? What do I do next?
Before he could answer his own question, SOL chimed in again. "Notice: You have now become the chosen mantis. You will evolve when necessary conditions are met."
Mantis eyes widened. What… What condition?
He stared at the queen, its towering figure casting a shadow over him. There was something... uncertain about the situation. Is evolving just some metaphorical thing? Or am I about to get into an actual battle with the queen in order to meet the conditions?
Mantis's heart pounded in his chest. Whatever was about to happen, he had no idea what it would mean for him. Would he truly evolve? Would he become strong enough to survive whatever came next?
All he knew for sure was that he was facing the unknown—and the only way out was through a fight.
As Mantis stared up at the towering form of the giant mantis queen, his mandibles clicked in frustration. The very thought of confronting it sent a shiver through his exoskeleton. Before he could commit to action, a familiar voice chimed in—calm, analytical, and somehow annoying.
"Wait!" SOL interjected, the voice resonating in Mantis's mind. "You're about to evolved. Running away is totally an option, you know? If you escape now, maybe you'll grow stronger in time, and when you're ready, you can face her. But fighting her now? That's basically signing up for an early death."
Mantis's rage boils in frustration. "Seriously? After everything, you want me to run? I still have a score to settle with her! Why am I the only one who was born small and weak?"
SOL's tone shifted, becoming more explanatory. "Notice, female mantises are much stronger and larger than male mantises. It's, like, a biological thing."
Mantis blinked, his compound eyes narrowing. "Wait. Are you saying I'm the only male mantis that hatched from all those eggs?"
SOL confirmed. "Exactly"
Mantis's mandibles quivered in horror. "So… I've just been bullying a bunch of girls this whole time? How pathetic can I get?" He shook his head, his resolve hardening. "No way. I'll prove them wrong. Male mantises can be just as strong—no, stronger! I'll become the strongest male mantis that ever lived!"
SOL's voice took on a teasing edge. "Sounds great! But first, maybe let's focus on not dying?"
Mantis's scythes twitched in irritation, but he sighed in agreement. "Fine. What's the plan?"
"Let me dig through your skillset," SOL replied, a moment of silence following as if sifting through data. Suddenly, its voice perked up. "Notice: the skill Circle is still intact!"
Mantis tilted his head. "Circle? What's that supposed to do?"
"Notice: it's an ability you Posses through your ability 'Teleport'," SOL explained, its tone smug as if stating the obvious. "The moment you obtain a skill, you automatically know how to use it. Pretty convenient, huh?"
"Alright," Mantis said, his antennae twitching with interest. "Then let's try it."
"Simple!" SOL chirped. "All you have to do is draw a circle, make some kind of weird pattern on it, stand in the center, and activate it by pouring a bit of your Metra into it."
Mantis's eyes narrowed. "Metra? What even is that?"
"Now's not the time for a lesson!" SOL snapped, its usually calm tone now urgent. "Just do it, unless you want to become mantis queen chow!"
With a reluctant nod, Mantis moved quickly. Using his sharp forelegs—his "scythes," as he had come to call them—he carved a circle into the dirt. He etched strange patterns inside, guided by some primal instinct, though he couldn't explain how he knew what to draw.
As the ground trembled beneath the massive queen's steps, Mantis muttered to himself, "I guess this is goodbye… supposed mother." The word dripped with bitter sarcasm as he cast one final glance at her enormous form.
Taking a deep breath, Mantis tapped into an unfamiliar well of energy within him. "Metra," he whispered, pouring just a sliver of it into the circle.
The carved lines began to glow, an otherworldly light flooding the area. The patterns shimmered, and the air crackled with raw energy. Mantis felt a strange sensation pull at him, like a hook tugging at his very soul.
The queen let out a piercing screech, her massive form lunging forward, but it was too late. The world blurred and twisted as the circle's power enveloped him. Mantis's form dissolved into the glowing light, leaving the dungeon and the mantis queen far behind.
Mantis thought he had finally escaped the dungeon. As he emerged from the transportation circle, he pumped his fist in triumph. "Yes! Finally, I finally left the dungeon!"
But as he looked around, his excitement quickly turned to dismay. The familiar stone walls of the dungeon stretched out before him. Mantis's eyes widened in shock.
"Wait, what? Am I still in the dungeon? Wasn't that a transportation circle? Shouldn't that have gotten me out of the dungeon? Isn't that how it usually works in novels and manga?"
SOL's voice echoed in his mind, "Oh, yeah, it is kind of... But you have never been outside the dungeon, and you don't know anywhere in the dungeon. The circle you used and the pattern you drew on it, given the amount of Metra you poured into it... it was a random circle. It's a circle that's basically transports you somewhere within the same place. Let's say, you were in the southern part of the dungeon. Now, it will send you to either the west, north, or east part of the dungeon. That's how it works."
Mantis's face fell. "Seriously? So I'm stuck in this dungeon, and I'll have to find a way out?"
SOL's voice was matter-of-fact, "Yes, Exactly."
Mantis steeled himself, determination burning in his heart. "Well, if I have to find a way out of here, then at least I'll have to fight my way out. Well, I did promise to become the strongest male mantis to ever live, so yeah, I'll have to level up and get some powers."
Mantis turned to SOL, asking, "Wait, in this world, do they level up or how is it done here?"
SOL replied, "Notice, this world is known as Epsilon, and in this world, people don't level up, they evolve. In this world, people evolve their skills and evolve their race in order to transcend in the hierarchy of their race. Well, except humans... in this world, humans don't evolve that much. They rarely do. So, it's a good thing you're a monster, which means you can evolve as a monster. It depends on the kind of battles you go through; you evolve based on the type of monsters you fight, based on the type of skills you gain or have. So, it basically depends on how you survive in this dungeon, maybe you might evolve into one of the most powerful monsters in this dungeon, or not"
Mantis's eyes widened with understanding. "Oh, I see. So, I'll have to find a way to beat the dungeon. Well, it's not like it will be that difficult, will it?"
SOL's response was nonchalant. "Try it and see it for yourself."
Mantis's frustration boiled over. "Seriously? Aren't you supposed to be helping me or something? So, why is it that you don't usually answer questions I ask?"
SOL explained, "If I'm to help you throughout everything, you'll never develop as an individual. So, I will only help you if there's a need for it. You have to figure some things out yourself, or else you'll never grow as an individual, you can't just be all brute and no brains. So, yeah, you have to evolve as an individual too."
Mantis nodded, determination burning in his heart. "Well, I guess I will just find a way to defeat the smaller monsters before I go to the big ones. Because if I just go straight for the big guns, I know I'm definitely gonna die."
Mantis turned to SOL, asking, "So, you know a lot about the dungeon, right, SOL? If so just tell me where you sense the smaller monsters I can take on, so that I can go and take them down before I get to the bigger ones. Okay?"
SOL's response was hesitant. "Wait, I'm sensing something... it's like..."
Mantis's curiosity was piqued. "Wait, what are you sensing?"
SOL's response was grave. "I'm sensing one of the most dangerous monsters in the dungeon."
Mantis's eyes widened with concern. "Wait, what do you mean most dangerous?"
SOL's voice was somber. "It is a Chimera spider."
Mantis's confusion deepened. "Wait, isn't Chimera usually, like a combination of different types of monsters? Like, is it a spider combined with different monsters?"
SOL clarified, "No, specifically, a Chimera spider is a spider made out of different types of spiders."
Mantis's curiosity was piqued. "Different types? Does it mean it has, like, different features of other spiders?"
SOL confirmed, "Exactly, and this spider specifically is one of the most dangerous in the dungeon."
Mantis's skepticism was evident. "Wait, What is so dangerous about it? I mean, a spider is just some bug you can squash. I don't see spiders being much stronger than mantises..."
SOL's voice was stern. "Well, spiders here are kind of different. It's not all of them who are weak and small. And this one, in particular, is extremely powerful. It has some of the most dangerous combinations of spiders. Seriously, it has the features of a Black Widow, a Trap-Door Spider, a Darwin's Bark Spider, a Portia Spider, and the King of the Spiders, the Goliath Birdeater... 'The Teraphosa Blondi'. Seriously, it's made of the smartest spider, the strongest spider, the most venomous spider, and the largest spider, all in one spider."
Mantis's eyes widened in shock. "Wait, you mean it has the venom of a Black Widow? The strength of a Goliath Birdeater? And the intelligence of a Portia Spider? That's insane!"
SOL's tone grew even more serious. "Exactly. And that's not all. Its speed is unmatched, it can trap its prey in a near-impossible web, and its bite is fatal to almost any creature that isn't evolved enough. It's a living nightmare, and it's right in your path." Mantis swallowed hard, his body tensing at the thought. "So, what do I do? There's no way I can just walk past that thing, right?"
SOL paused for a moment. "You can try to avoid it... But if you're not careful, you'll end up as just another prey in its web."
CHAPTER END.