Hatchery(3)

"Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet."

The words of mother lingered in my mind. She always had a way of being frustratingly cryptic with her advice. Of course, I never paid those words much attention. Hey! don't judge me! I mean, how can you be patient when you got an 8-foot beast coming straight at you to ram your guts into paste!

I felt through a small pouch at the top of my shirt. A cold and smooth surface, my fingers glided easily as I gently rubbed my thumb over it. It was a piece of my mothers' gravestone. I snagged a good piece before I left to look for papa.

'I've been dealing with those spiders all day, I kinda forgot about it' I smiled as I felt the cool hard stone in my hands.

Perhaps it's because of this I was able to remember mom's words now. I rubbed the stone on my cheek. I could still feel a bit of her aura on it as if she never left. When I have this, I can always push through no matter what. A bright feeling uplifted in me as I recalled her teachings.

'Now her words make so much more sense.'

Because noooooooow:

I ran at full speed into the darkened cave, I even managed to climb the walls and do various tricks and flips without bumping or slamming into walls. Hehe yep. I MASTERED MY DIRECTIONAL ISSUE!!! WHOOHOOO!!!!

I tucked the piece gently into the small pouch of my shirt and patted it 3 times for good luck.

Man, it was a long journey, but I kept going and didn't rush my progress, instead, I took my time getting used to it. Now, I no longer have to rely on my magic to see, and I can practically go down these dark tunnels quite efficiently. Heck, I can probably bash those big spidey boys to dust if they come at me.

That wasn't all. I stopped and focused on my senses. I took a deep soft breath. Through the darkness of my closed eyes. Suddenly, a mass of various colors could be seen. It is not to be mistaken that I can actually see, I still couldn't see the structure of the cave nor any rocks, instead, I simply see big blobs of color….I think I just got a super mega Upgrade!!!

'Haha! guess her mystic teachings finally cracked through my old crappy noggin huh!'

In my quest for another source of muck, I've been experimenting with my Illusory sense. I was trying out new things. I may block other smells entirely and smell one thing at a time, or I might let all the smells rush at me.

I was trying to simply get used to being bombarded with different pheromones at once. I never know when I might come into a situation where I no longer have the use of my eyes. Considering if this entire cave is like that, then upgrading my nose is the best way to go. GAME STYLE!!

But I noticed some odd things. Firstly, the tunnels themselves. The tunnels don't all have the same smells. Weird right?

At first, I thought that because of the Arachans that patrol the area, and even myself who is sneaking around in here, the smells would shift due to the clashing of pheromones. But that's not entirely the case.

It's more like the smells..are shifting. Though I'm several hundred meters below ground, and there's not an ounce of wind blowing down here, the smells are actually moving. How did I notice it? weeeell...

When I use illusory sense, it's not just my nose that is heightened, but my entire body. From my nose to my ears, and even my skin is all enhanced. It's kinda similar to when I entered the endzone, It felt as if I passed through an elaborate film. When it's activated, it's like I'm able to kinda feel the atmosphere around me, though not that well.

However, it made me think that if the actual smells shift, there has to be a course they take right?

So I simply walked around and tested and it turns out, it actually is true. The smells shift periodically through different sections of tunnels. Added with the fact that no other outside forces intervened, This overall made me come to one conclusion, the tunnels are indeed connected.

I decided to smell every inch of these tunnels. Any new smell I come across I will commit it to memory. Then at one point where I was diligently doing that, I suddenly started to see colors. Red, Purple, brown, even yellow and blue! Although pretty faint.

At first, I panicked and thought ' WHAT THE HECK, AM I DRUNK, BUT I'M UNDERAGED!!!' but then the fact that I haven't drunk a single thing sort of gave me a great big reality check.

When I turned my "Illusory Sense" off, the colors instantly disappeared. I turned it on and the colors returned. It's like flicking a switch on and off, of course without the bright light source, well in this case it would be colors now….huh.

(I even tested on mom's stone, it had a super faint almost colorless blue aura, but I had to focus really hard to see it!)

Talk about the shock of the century! Mom's journal never said anything about this! I wonder why she never mentioned it though?

Though I was confused, it proved to be super helpful. With this, I was able to create a map for myself as I walked around.

I observed more and noticed the more potent the smell, the bolder the colors are, and the less potent the fainter it is.

Firstly the colors;

Red: The red color is essentially the decaying stench, This smell is the most potent. it's pretty much everywhere, but the weird thing is, I can't pinpoint the source. I could even see it seeping from the ground. That lets me know that this isn't the only section of this hole.

Purple: The smell of the arachnas. they leave about pheromones that a normal person wouldn't even be able to smell, let alone see. However, Since I'm able to see them, the color is pretty bold. The color potency also varies on the size of the spider. The medium is a light shade of purple, and the small ones are the faintest. It's possible that it might be the colors of how much poison they harbor.

Brown: The smell of the cave walls, it's probably the least potent and the faintest in color.

With this in mind, it made navigating through the caves easier, and I was able to avoid hitting the wall since I was able to tell what color represented for myself.

*Plink…*Plink*

'F-FINALLY!!!

After walking in circles for so long, I finally found another source. However, Just as I was about to step towards it.

"WHOA!!!"

I felt myself descending into empty space!.

Quickly, I manipulated my fingers into razor-sharp nails and dug them into the wall before I fell deeper into the hole.

*SCRRRRRRRRRRR*

*Tak* TAK* *Tak*

Broken rocks fell from where I was positioned, and cascaded heavily down the hole. I immediately tried to uplift my body upwards.

*CEEEEEERRRAAAACK*

The wall gave way to my nails and I was once again beginning to fall.

'NO NO NO!"

My nails scraped downwards making a horrible screeching noise, that I'm sure would alert the entire horde at this point.

I dug my feet into the wall, and with that as a footing propelled my body upwards.

*Bang*

Large chunks of rocks fell down like an avalanche from where I once was. I gripped harder until finally, I was able to get a decent footing.

'OH MARBLES, I SERIOUSLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE THIS TIME' My heart was pounding, and it felt like I was out of breath. I breathed a huge sigh...

Gripping the wall as tightly as I could with my sharpened nails, I climbed upwards until I was out of the hole and onto solid ground.

'WAAAH Who knew solid ground could be so wonderful'

Man, I haven't had such a heart-dropping moment since I fell into this cave ya know. Well, added with the feeding ground incidents, and the failed experiments.

I turned around and felt the space, my hand touched nothing but air.

'A hole?'

I almost fell down there just now. I placed my hand and felt the surrounding walls. The hole felt conal and slippery as if you could slide down there.

'There's seriously another area descending down here!'

This was seriously bad. if I was to go down here, who's not to say that there are more of Charlotte's children! (Well at least she was nice! these guys have issues ya know!') Or worse, outright death!

Ok, it's settled, this area is a biiiig no! I turned away from the hole

Mono 5: What if Papa's down there though…

I winced. That could be true. I mean I came down here(well fell down) to find papa in the first place. It could be possible that these spiders probably kidnapped him and are holding him hostage for a meal.

Mono 3: What if he's already been eaten?….

A firm sense of dread pierced through me...

'C-calm down Yuiji haha…. P-papa is pretty strong! I mean he was a hunter and traveled all over the continent hunting monsters before settling down here, so I'm sure it could just be my imagination…. He should be fine until I can find him! Yep super-duper, more super than all the dupers out there haha...'

But that sense of dread wouldn't leave me. 'Hrrng... Gah!!!! I have to check just to make sure, I'm sure it's nothing really but…'

Seriously, there are some things that you don't want to do but have no choice but to do them. Mom would say that all the time when she dragged me out to the hel-erm train. If I go down there, there's a 50-50 chance I might either die outright or find papa.

As I turned back to the hole, I picked up on something odd.

'Hm?'

A thin yellow color seeped upwards and floated around. It must have been coming from the descending hole, but it was weird, it didn't feel dangerous. Instead, it felt very soothing. I found myself leaning towards it to get a better sense of it.

'It almost feels like hea-'

Then, my body tensed up.

Immediately, I bolted backward until I was at a good distance from the hole. I crouched my body to the ground and stood stock-still. A thin dark purple string wafted around me, it was coming directly from the hole I almost fell in.

It was an Arahcna.

The waft of purple emboldened, gradually encompassing the entirety of my senses in a sea of dark purple. I felt my chest constrict. It was one of the bigger ones, it had to be.

The surrounding purple aura of the spider extended far into the ceiling, I remembered the large one I encountered was that large. If I had to compare it to anything on earth, it'd be about the size of a bear standing on its legs, maybe just a tad bit bigger.

The blob of dark purple moved, First to my left and then to my right. Not a sound could be heard, nor could I feel its presence but I knew it was there. It was as if it was checking its surroundings for something.

I steeled myself and calmed my breathing.

'I-its ok Yuiji, more than likely it's like the others, if I don't move it will probably go away eventually'

I know I've dealt with these guys before, I've been dealing with them for a while now, but never have I ever dealt with the bigger ones.

Even the one I encountered before was pretty brief so I lacked any info on these guys. My only best bet was to wait until it gauges that the coast was clear.

A while passed, but my bets didn't pay off at all.

'Why isn't it moving, it's just standing there'

The large Arachna stood stock still. Could it have known I was here? But how?

'Come on, take a hike already, it's just your imagination is all' seriously why wasn't this guy moving?

Was it trying to bait me into making my move first? Like heck, I will! I'm a human at heart ya know! I'd never attack anyone else for my own gain unless they attack first. Mom always said to never use mindless violence with my gifts. I mean It's a moral code of mine. Besides, it's not like the guy is actually attacking me now so maybe these guys are the more reasonable ones.

However, contrary to my "morally obligated" beliefs, the large Arachna did not share my principles. The guy lunged right at me super quick.

I felt a large prickling sensation on my skin like something super dangerous was coming towards me. my body moved unconsciously

"WHA-"

Barely, till the point where I felt a graze of the thing, I dodged it.

"W-what the heck, c-can it actually see me?"

Crap, I thought they were blind!?

No, I'm sure they were blind honest!. I may have given up the use of my eyes but not my previous observations. Perhaps these guys can see and the smaller ones couldn't? But that wouldn't explain why it didn't attack me immediately when It first came up here though?

Once again, another sensation ran across my skin. Quickly, I maneuvered my body to where I was hunched towards the ground, I immediately felt a sharp gust of wind, as if something sharp had swiveled over my head.

"G-GEH THAT WAS CLOSE!" However, I can't afford to be relieved now. I felt another sense of foreboding. I backed quickly towards the wall.

*SWISH*

*RIIP*

another swipe, this time cutting the fabric of my shirt.

'I don't even have time to think!"

I quickly jumped backward, my feet skidded and I could feel the entrance of the hole that descended downwards, my body flailed ungainly.

"A-AHH"

I gripped the cold floor with my nails, immediately keeping myself stabilized.

I turned my gaze back towards my front, the Arachna stalking me slowly.

I was trapped.

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Authors note

Sup guys SM here. I'm back feeling a lot better now. Kinda like to apologize regarding this chapter. When I looked over it, I realized I gave you all the wrong chapter version. I have various versions of chapters before finalizing the best one. (I have no editor so I'm doing all of this on my own) I do apologize for that. Anyway here's the correct version, and I decided to add more to it so it's longer now.