For some strange reason, I couldn’t see the tarantulas even with Mana Sight.

This should be impossible since they would need to use mana to activate whatever spell they were using.

Unless they were using a skill instead, since skills didn’t require mana to use and instead came from a person’s natural ability.

That must be it.

The best way to get them to reveal themselves is by forcing them out of hiding.

Tarantulas respond to strong vibrations of their webs. It is only then that they will act.

With that in mind, I slowly began vibrating my wings, rippling the air around me.

Slowly, I began increasing the speed until a powerful sonic attack was released in the process.

The tarantulas were relying on the vibrations of their webs to detect when a prey is caught, but the powerful vibrations released by me successfully worked to confuse the creatures.

One by one, the monsters slowly became visible. Immediately, I spotted two of the creatures hanging on a web just above our heads, and with their eyes now opened, they saw us too.

They opened their mouths wide and made a loud hissing sound before a jet of liquid shot from their mouths.

Acting instantly, I twisted my body to move out of the path of the attack. Luckily, I did, as the liquid created a deep, bullet-like hole in the sand.

Is that venom?

They can shoot their venom from their mouths!

The venom also seems to have some acidic property, maybe to melt through flesh and enter the prey’s bloodstream more effectively.

The acid would have no effect on me, but I’m not sure if the venom can break through my exoskeleton.

Seeing that the attack missed, the tarantulas fired their venom at us once again.

I quickly created an earth wall which blocked their attack just in time. I then burrowed underground while leaving Lily protected behind the earth wall.

When the tarantula shot out its venom, the mana inside its core flowed into its venom sac and mouth.

I’m certain that venom is a natural skill of the tarantula, but it used mana to enhance this skill so that it could fire its venom instead of injecting jt.

I had done something similar before with my wings, but they weren’t strong enough to handle the force. I even used mana to enhance the potency of my venom a few times.

My question is, what other things can I do if I use mana to enhance my natural skills as a centipede?

This opened up an even bigger question, like choosing different evolutions based on whether or not I could use mana to create a new technique from it. Techniques that have never existed before and could act as cheats.

It definitely seems possible.

Putting that aside for now, I exploded from the ground when the spider least expected and sprayed acid over them.

The acid hit their eyes, taking away their vision instantly. This gave me the opportunity to finish them off by injecting them with my venom, then devour them after they were killed.

[You have gained 240 biomass]

From the 2 spiders, I netted a total of 240 biomass. Lily and I moved through their territory, ambushing any tarantula we caught sight of.

She purposely crawled across their web, causing a ripple of vibration through the structure.

Immediately, 8 glowing eyes appeared in the darkness before it shot forward towards her, but just as the monster was just centimeters away from her, my sharp, pointed leg pierced through the monster’s back, killing it instantly.

At the same time, another tarantula lunged forward. Lily stayed back to devour the one that I had killed, while I rushed forward to meet the new incoming foe head-on.

The monster fired its venom out of its mouth in quick succession, similar to a sub-machine gun being fired.

Activating Serpentine Evasion, I dodged every one of the attacks and fired a web of googum which stuck over the creature’s mouth.

I then summoned an earth spike which shot from the ground and impaled the monster where it stood.

[You have slain a D-ranked Phantom Tarantula]

We then continued with the same strategy of using Lily as bait to ambush the tarantulas the moment they tried to attack her.

"We make a good team. I’m glad I can help and not get in the way," Lily commented as we slowly moved through the forest of rotting trees. "I want to protect you and Amelia both."

"I’m sure you will grow stronger. You’re my first general, after all."

"Your general?"

"General Lily has a nice ring to it."

She stopped and her body began swelling in her shell.

"Are you teasing me? Amelia said you do that a lot."

"You and Amelia seem to be getting along," I commented.

"We are! She is very kind. She told me stories and also showed me some pictures. Oops! That’s supposed to be a secret. I can’t tell you."

Amelia uses my body as her personal mannequin while I’m in the game world. I just hope she doesn’t drag poor, sweet, innocent Lily into it.

Lily and I continued our slaughter and killed another 3 tarantulas. These clusters of trees were small, so it stands to reason that their colony was also small.

As we moved, I felt this strange tingling sensation in my antennae.

We were being watched.

I didn’t know how or by whom, but I was certain it was by a powerful creature.

From my experience, this was most likely the boss monster. I quickly sent Lily back into my storage space.

With a monster stalking us from a distance, I could prove to be dangerous.

Just like I did with the others, I need to drive it out of hiding, but this time, I may need a more powerful blast.

Slowly, I began vibrating, rippling the air around. I then channeled mana to my wings as I prepared for the sonic blast, but just then, something lunged at me from the darkness.

It was a massive tarantula that stood over 30 feet tall. Mana poured out of its body, warping the air around it.

At a glance, I could tell that this beast was more powerful than anything I had ever faced before.

It was even more powerful than the Vampyric Worm.

Still, I sensed something strange about this monster.

It seemed erratic, and it was also coated in a thick golden liquid that covered its entire body.

"Is that blood?"

The monster charged at me at speeds greater than my own. Its massive figure slammed into me, sending me flying.

That single attack caused my exoskeleton to crack into several pieces, and before I could collect my thoughts, the massive tarantula lunged over me with its mouth opened wide.

I immediately sprayed acid over its face. The tarantula fought and thrashed, and that gave me the second I needed to sink my forcipules through its flesh.

My venom couldn’t kill such a powerful monster. The most I could do was slow it down so I could at least fight back.

[You have slain a D-ranked Phantom Tarantula Boss Monster!]

What!

The colossal beast’s body froze still until it finally collapsed to the ground.

How could my venom kill this monster?

Looking down at the monster, I realized that there was a massive hole in its abdomen.

It was also missing three of its legs.

There were also several claw marks on its body.

It was already injured...

With these injuries, it couldn’t have lived long.

RAWR!

Just then, monstrous snarls echoed through the darkness around me.

The eyes gleamed left and right, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from until I finally found it.

A massive beast with gem-like red scales and a jaw that could grind bones and flesh easily.

The beast’s orange predatory eyes gleamed at me as it emerged from the darkness.

"Wyvern..."