Centipede Extermination 4

Shit.

My current position is terrible. As much as I don't want to admit it, I'm stuck here for now, unless I can change the tides of this battle. I haven't managed to put down any of my opponents and instead have been forced into a passive role. I have to make a play.

Hup!

I burst through the ceiling. Dirt goes everywhere. Is this enough to distract the centipedes? Yes! I aim towards an assassin, infusing my mandibles and chopping down. Come on, crush!

CRUNCH!

Success! While not dead, that's one centipede down. Three more to go, and then I can upgrade. I continue back down under the dirt. Hmm, it seems they can't track me as well now. So it was the assassins' fault. Good to know.

The three remaining centipedes converge around my general position, creating a triangle formation. Well. Things just got a little harder. None of the remaining enemies have an uncovered weak spot right now. Well, who's next? I have to keep my momentum going.

Fuck it, I'll try a knight. I lunge from the center of the formation, surprising the centipedes. Using my void spike, I stab the knight, directly killing it, but not without consequence.

Shink! Puchi!

Ouch, fuck! I may have killed one, but the other two took that chance. I'm bleeding in the middle of my worm body now, but it's worth it. With only two left, I can win this fight easily now.

You know what, fuck it. I'll try something new. Hopefully, this works.

Sensing my mana pool, I gather all void particles in the area into a ball. The ball is dense, I can barely control it. This thing can easily kill, I feel it. Well, move up. Up, up, there! Have at 'em!

BOOM!

Ouch! The orb was too strong. The explosion sent my body flying backward through the loose dirt, pushing me several meters away from the battle. Holy shit that was intense.

Pulling my body above the ground, I inspect my surroundings. A huge crater has formed. I can't even sense anything in it either. The void particles are actually hindering me instead of helping me. They're just too dense. I think it's safe to say I won though. If any of those centipedes survived, they deserve to live. Will I let them? No, but that's not the point. It would be a miracle anyway.

Actually, hold on. If I can't see in the crater, I won't go in. But does that mean I lose any Life Matter? Jeremy? Please don't do this to me, I need the centipede corpses to heal. Wow, that sounds terrible.

[Host is advised to try its luck later.]

....Ok. Wow. I have no words. I may have gone low enough to eat dead centipedes, but old dead centipede corpses? That may be a whole new low. Not to mention it doesn't solve my current health issue. Hey Jeremy, what is my current health?

[HP: 40/100]

Oh, shit. So that's lower than I thought, though about how I feel right now. I really need some substance. Something, anything to eat right now. I'm starving, and I can feel my body strength seeping away, albeit very very slowly. I'm exhausted.

I start to drag myself back to my home base. How did I even end up like this? Oh yeah, I underestimated the strength of level eleven monsters. I truly never considered that the assassins would be able to track me. Not to mention the sheer penetration power of that knight, it was crazy. I guess I'll stick to the weaker squads.

Man, this journey is taking forever. What normally is a short squirm down a couple of turns is now a laborious squiggle down an infinite stretch of tunnel. It's almost too much to bear. Oh finally, my first turn, a left. Now some more squiggling.

---

Phoo. This is crazy, I'm so tired. Not to mention hungry. Do I still have to make a left up here? Fuck it, I'll just make a new tunnel. Oh! Why didn't I think of this earlier?! I may not be an earthworm anymore, but I can still gain some energy from dirt. It may be barely above what I need, but I've got an hour before I reach my custom tunnel. I should have a decent bit of energy by then!

---

Hup! Here I am, custom tunnel. Shucks. This energy suffices, but I want more. I would just dig straight back to my home base, but I already have too many paths to get there. I can ill afford to take that risk. Whatever. At least I don't have to watch out for any monsters. That is truly mentally taxing.

On another note, why did I make my custom path so squiggly? It's not like it's necessary or anything. Plus, I travel this way all the time, how is it not just straight? Truly vexing.

You know what? I wish I had someone to talk to, if only to relieve my ever-present boredom and self-criticism. Maybe I should make friends with a species? Just kidding, they're all hostile, it won't matter even if I try.

Man, just the thought of killing 89 more centipedes wears on me. I need to get stronger quicker. In fact, recently my growth has leveled off, which isn't good if I want to keep going lower. I must find what's calling me, no matter the cost. Oh, I home! I can finally sleep. Yes!

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A distance away a presence lingered, observing something. Unknown to David, he had encountered some unknown and probably unwanted attention. The presence paused, seemingly pinpointing something. A moment passed. It nodded its head, and left. The direction it headed? The exact path David had traversed not even half a day before.