The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 79: The Insects That Weave Webs and Build Nests

Vol 2 Chapter 79 The Insects That Weave Webs and Build Nests

The firewood crackled as it burned. Sylutia sat by the fire, turning the roasting meat over the flames.

Sniffing the fragrant aroma of the meat, she sprinkled on a few more grains of salt and spices, waiting for the slices to cook through.

In the darkness, a shadow slowly approached the young girl. The silver-haired back in its vision drew closer and closer until, when only a few meters apart, it suddenly lunged out, its sharp venomous fangs stabbing down fiercely.

"Click!"

A crisp cracking sound echoed through the air, indicating it hadn't bitten into anything solid. Instead, its own venomous fangs had collided with each other, producing a bewildered clatter.

On the other side of the campsite, Sylutia leaped out from the air, landing on the ground with slight surprise.

Long before setting up camp, she had already shifted her Aspect to 'alien star'. This made fighting more convenient and allowed for escape in emergencies. She hadn't expected it to be useful so quickly.

Now, by the firelight, Sylutia could clearly see the creature before her. It resembled a 'White Stink Spider' enlarged several times over, but its appearance was even more ferocious. It had intimidating white fur all over its body, and its pair of venomous fangs were exceptionally large, their tips tinged with a dark red hue.

However, the most eye-catching feature was its eight blood-red eyes. After this giant spider's pounce missed, these eight eyes swiveled and roamed, quickly locking onto Sylutia, who had reappeared not far from the campsite.Once the target was confirmed, it moved again, lunging towards Sylutia with astonishing speed.

In the blink of an eye, the spider's form blurred, arriving right in front of her. Alarm bells rang loudly in Sylutia's mind, forcing her to once again utilize the ability of the 'alien star' Aspect, briefly slipping through a gap in space-time.

After dodging again, before she could even steady her footing, the opponent continued its assault. This time, however, Sylutia didn't dodge. She took a deep breath, the blood circulation within her body suddenly accelerating. With one hand gripping the hilt, she drew her long blade in an instant.

A clear, beautiful arc of the blade flashed through the air, slashing into the spider's forelimbs and tearing open several gashes. After the brief exchange, Sylutia flipped backwards, leaping up. Using her toes to push off a tree trunk for leverage, she leaped and twisted, evading the spider's follow-up attack.

The sharp venomous fangs bit into the tree trunk, then pulled out. The originally healthy, growing tree rapidly withered, its leaves turning yellow and black.

For the next several minutes, Sylutia and this spider continuously clashed within the forest. Relying on the boost from the 'Lunar Radiance Breathing Technique', Sylutia barely managed to keep up with the spider's speed. Using the sharpness advantage of her weapon, she continuously inflicted wounds on her opponent.

If things dragged on like this, this giant spider would inevitably be defeated due to exhaustion of stamina.

As if realizing the situation was unfavorable, the spider suddenly stopped its pursuit. It began fleeing in the opposite direction.

Sigh, running away again? Sylutia couldn't remember how many times she'd encountered monsters that fled.

Considering the purpose of this expedition, Sylutia had no choice but to change direction and chase after the spider. But just as she got close, the end of its abdomen suddenly sprayed out white silk threads. In the emergency, Sylutia's figure flickered, dodging this unknown silk attack. However, in the few seconds this delay caused, the opponent ran farther and farther away, making it difficult for her to catch up.

The first encounter ended in a draw.

Stopping her steps, Sylutia looked towards the dark edge of the forest, shook her head, and returned to the camp.

She needed to think of a new way to fight it. Fortunately, during the earlier clash, she had also finished analyzing the spider's information.

Race: Spider (Mutant)

Status: Sub-healthy (Limb injuries)

Talents:

Silent Fur [Excellent Grade]: The fur growing on the body surface can absorb sound, making its movements completely silent.

Fate Card: [White-Furred Giant Spider] [Third Tier · Insect Moth]

'A giant spider lurking deep in the forest, moving silently, cunning and fierce.'

- Effect: [Silent Steps Lv.6], an innate talent in the bloodline, makes your movements completely silent and grants a significant increase in speed.

- Effect: [Blood Eyes Lv.5], can directly observe the blood flow of living creatures, immune to the limitations of dark environments. Invisibility and concealment of aura are ineffective in its eyes.

Core Card: [Web-Weaving Nesting Insect] [Insect Moth]

'You lie in ambush in the forest, relying on the silk webs and nests you weave to attack and devour numerous opponents. This has made you the local nesting insect.'

- Effect: [Nesting Insect], when within the nest, gains a significant increase in perception, speed, reaction, and stealth abilities.

Ability Cards:

[Trembling Venom Fangs Lv.7] (Insect Moth): You possess a pair of dangerous black venomous fangs. When biting an enemy, you can inject a toxin that causes limbs to tremble, leading to rapid death.

[Toxic Drool Silk Lv.5] (Insect Moth): You can spray silk threads with powerful adhesive properties to construct nests and paralyze opponents.

[Cocoon Dissolution Method Lv.6] (Insect Moth): Can wrap dead opponents with silk threads to form silk cocoons, then inject digestive fluids to melt them, making them easier to digest and absorb. (Nutrition +3, Aspect Absorption +2)

—

So it's actually a nesting insect? Sylutia felt a slight sense of novelty. She had read descriptions of this advancement method in books. It required a creature to stay in a location for over five years and defeat a large number of opponents during that period to condense this Core Card.

This was an advancement ritual many creatures instinctively performed. Although the required conditions were time-consuming, they weren't particularly harsh.

Nesting insects, nesting beasts, nesting dragons—all were manifestations of this advancement method. Once advancement succeeded, as long as one remained within the nest, their own strength would increase significantly, making it difficult for external enemies to invade.

Although there were many benefits and the difficulty wasn't high, the drawback of this advancement method was also very obvious: one couldn't stray too far from the nest, naturally limiting the range of activity.

In the past, powerful imperial dynasties had even exploited this point, specifically cultivating such monsters within tombs to guard the mausoleums, preventing tomb robbery and invasion. Because of the nest's existence, the tomb-guarding monsters would stay there for a long time, and even after further advancement, they wouldn't leave.

When it fought me earlier, it wasn't within its nest, so its strength was inferior to other Third Tier creatures, almost like a blank slate.

After analyzing this point, Sylutia temporarily set aside her pursuit plans and began pondering how to deal with it.

If they fought within the opponent's nest, the outcome wouldn't be as smooth as before.

After sorting through the intelligence, Sylutia finally noticed the meat roasting over the fire had already charred and burnt to a crisp.

'Ah, my dinner.'

Reluctantly, Sylutia took out another portion of meat to roast and cooked a small amount of wheat porridge as a staple to replenish nutrients.

The rest of the night passed quietly.

Waking up the next day, Sylutia led her horse forward, continuing to investigate the location of that giant spider's nest.

She took out the 'Verdant Eye' potion, dripped it into her eyes, staining one eye emerald green, then gazed into the distance once more.

Countless plant spectrums appeared in her vision. Relying on her keen perception, she continuously analyzed them, finally discovering traces in one particular direction.

Found it.

That must be the giant spider's nest.

She stopped walking, standing in place to gaze into the distance. At this moment, her heterochromatic eyes—one blue, one green—appeared exceptionally mysterious, possessing a strange, alluring charm.