The Apprentice of Ouroboros [Monster Evo LitRPG Adventure]

The sight of her dying witch.

The manic laughter of Marikand.

The casual decapitation of a soldier's head by Felix’s toothy maw, the body crumpling lifelessly.

Neska had felt her soul scar from these horrible events, and one more scar formed as the insidious creature inside the goblin’s belly burst forth in a spray of buzzing wings.

Neska watched in morbid fascination as the spectacle played in slow motion, even as her arrow shot forward and her [Venom Bolt] crackled over her shoulder. She bared her fangs at the nearly foot-long insect that looked like a wasp…except, not.

This wasp was far more horrifying. Covered in gore, the wings flapped to life as it misted the blood coating off, The creature attempted to hover, and was armed with a massive, three-inch-long stinger extended from its black and yellow abdomen. It curled its entire lower body forward, as if bracing for a flying strike against her. Faceted black eyes stared at her, and six tiny clawed legs reached out, as if trying to grab for her.

The parasitic wasp never got the chance as Neska's arrow sliced through its thorax, and a [Venom Bolt] sheared off its head. Green ichor splattered to the ground, and the corpse came to a halt inches from her serpentine body. She still recoiled backward as time sped back up, and she whirled around, screaming out orders for the others to mutilate the corpses.

The warning came with no room for error, as Roche pulled Trevor back and presented himself as the target. The giant man braced his off-hand forward as if he were carrying a shield. To her amazement, a translucent barrier formed in front of his wrist in the rough shape of a medium-sized shield made of hardened cyan light, a small aegis symbol emblazoned in faint red highlights.

The corpse closest to Trevor burst open like the other goblin, leaving the teen screaming and sprawling backward. Roche swung his shield at the wasp that had emerged like an exterminator on a mission. The creature barely had time to flap its wings before Roche’s bulwark smashed it into a splatter on the translucent surface.

The rest of the team followed suit, stabbing or shooting at the torsos of the dead goblins. One more wasp managed to burst out of the furthest corpse, diving at Brent, currently slashing his daggers defensively.

Neska’s [Venom Bolt] and Hadley’s incendiary arrow both found their mark, bursting the creature apart. Brent flinched only slightly as bug guts splattered on him, and his dagger sliced at the predicted path.

Neska heard a buzzing and a screech behind her. She turned and was priming another [Venom Bolt] when a blast of water sliced through it, bisecting the creature. Both the abdomen and the upper half fell to the ground, twitching.

Syra surged forward, teeth gritted, and she sliced the bug in half again for good measure with her [Hydro Cutter]. "Holy shit, Cassia, we got bugs now?!"

Brent walked over to the two of them now that the danger was over, wiping bug ichor off his face. "Yep. It's official. This mission just peeled back to reveal a new, fresh layer of hell," he uttered deadpan.

Panting from the rapid exertion, Neska snapped her gaze to the other corpses. These new ones that had just emerged to watch the hobgoblins fight had been carrying the nasty surprise, and the ones blasted by the steam boiler explosion were either in pieces too small or weren’t carrying them.

Neska felt a hand on her shoulder as Hadley guided her hand down, another [Venom Bolt] ready. “I think we got them. Just saying.”

“Bleeding Divines, what the hell is going on?” Jurik shouted over the relay.

Hadley slowly reached for her lapel. “The goblins are carrying bugs. Big, nasty, ‘they want to drill a hole into my belly and do awful things’ kinds of bugs.”

“What she said,” Neska hissed over her relay. “Jurik, some of the goblins are infested with parasitic wasps. Those on the way? Make sure you damage the corpses.”

She felt icky just saying that. She felt a burst of cold rack her body, and she grabbed a small mana potion off her belt, chugging it. "Hang on, I'm going to need a minute."

"Pace yourself, Cassia," he cautioned. "There's a reason people don't use multiple abilities in succession unless you have a very high Soul attribute."

She resolved to fix that issue soon or keep a larger stack of mana potions in hand.

Several shouts and a few bursts from fireball and incendiary spells later, Jurik hit the relay again. “Squad leads, we have a new hazard. Parasitic wasps are infesting the goblins. Our threat assessment needs to be raised dramatically.”

“What the actual shit? Surely you can’t be serious,” another person growled over the relay.

“I am serious. And it’s lieutenant, by the way,” Jurik said dryly, ignoring the slight level of unprofessionalism.

“Divines. The last time I dealt with these things was near an Instance. And the theme of that little cavern of horrors was insects of all shapes and nightmares.” Even Sergeant Corvin sounded rattled as the groups gathered.

Neska ignored the proficiency increase, telling her that her [Venom Bolt] went up a level, or that her [Venom Infusion] had increased, too. She didn’t think that passive could be leveled up, but here it was. She wiped her face and looked on in disgust as green bug guts were smeared on her scales.

Corvin raised an arm, signalling everyone to gather, and clicked his lapel. “Stay outside the mine; do not go in. All teams converge on the main entrance and take holding positions. I’m going to need to confer with the team leads to figure out our next move."

A few minutes later, all the students had gathered; some were nauseated by the goblin corpses, now hacked apart. Kasfew was the exception, his feathers ruffled as if this were a mere inconvenience, and he pointed at Neska.

“I can’t help but notice an uncomfortable trend: bad things happen around you all the time.”

“Zip it, richboy chicken,” Neska snapped. There was a deep-seated revulsion she bore against these insects, a fervor almost as strong as the hatred she felt against Marikand and her still-pending effort to avenge Risha. She tallied it as a previous traumatic experience her soul still remembered, even if her mind didn’t.

Who didn’t hate wasps on principle? They stung, stole food, ruined picnics, and were dangerous in numbers. “Kasfew, these are above the threat rating we initially assessed. Parasitic wasps are Tier two."

"Don't talk down to me, snake."

"I'm not talking down to you. I'm warning you of the threat you face, so you don't end up stung to death or turned into a meat puppet."

He clacked his beak, but a stern look from Noricatu, the blue and teal-feathered avian, dissuaded him, and he clenched his beak before responding. "Anything specific?"

"They're susceptible to fire, venom, and cold. Their strength is in numbers and venom incapacitation. Don't get surrounded; run their swarms ragged so they can only come from one direction."

“They’re just bugs!” one male warrior protested, tapping the haft of his axe impatiently. “They die pretty easily.”

Jurik put out a hand of caution. Everyone leaned in, now paying attention. “I’ve seen these things. They can destroy whole companies. Do not underestimate them, or it will be the last mistake you ever make.”

“Their stinger venom contains potent paralytic agents, or immense pain-inducing inflammatories, depending on the subspecies,” Sarisse said in a soft tone. The dark-haired girl had already taken a knife and cut out both the stinger and venom sac of one mangled wasp, and placed it carefully in a glass vial before twisting the canister closed. “We should gather their corpses. The alchemical ingredients are not common and can be of immense help to the Academy.”

“Way ahead of you–gods, I’m gonna throw up,” Trevor gagged before stuffing a dead wasp in one of his storage bags. Neska had to commend his bravery. He only dry heaved once more before corpse retrieval didn't affect him. As much.

Neska also took a quick look at a mutilated goblin. "They aren't hatched in this dead one. It looks like it's stuck in a membrane, and blood vessels connect it to the body's vascular network. Gruesome. They must hatch after the body is deceased, due to the lack of blood circulation."

“Just when I thought I couldn’t hate goblins more,” Juni muttered. “Now they come in bug infested versions. Listen to the Lieutenant. These things will chew a hole through your belly and puppet you around, and you’re effectively dead inside if they do so. You want armor, and you want to hit them with fire, poisons, or any scattershot ability that will take out multiple wasps. They attack in groups, and their nest is likely underground. Where we can’t easily get at it.”

Everyone started exchanging nervous glances. Neska moved forward, pointing at the destroyed goblin mining rig. “Jurik, I think there’s a hive right beneath our feet. And the goblins were digging an exit.”

Everyone could hear the low buzzing now, judging by the nervous glances everyone was exchanging. “Juni? Should we attempt to excavate and…drop some alchemical explosives in?” Jurik proposed.

“I would ask the lamia, but I don’t think even she brought enough alchemical explosives for this,” Corvin said dryly. “I am worried about what we might find. If there is an Instance core active below our feet? This is a far greater risk than I planned for. We should call in the rest of the Valos forces–”

Neska slithered forward. “No. Providing targets to infest is bad. The ideal solution to this is a series of close-knit teams going underground We hit them in their own nest, where the number of angles of attack will be limited. Though I do like Jurik’s idea. Juni, could we dig a hole straight down?”

The mouse tapped the ground, shaking her head. “No. This is solid granite and hardened materials. Maybe if I were a higher Tier, I could. The rig would have helped, but it's inoperable. We probably did ourselves a favor that the goblins didn’t pop the cork of this infernal bottle of bees.”

“Vespids,” Sarisse corrected. "And this hive isn't entirely bottled up. It's likely been sealed like this on purpose, so they could grow in seclusion. Otherwise, all the goblins would be infected, most likely."

“Either way, they're yellow and black banded picnic raiders who deserve a smushing,” Roche growled. His shield came with a rather handy cleaning mechanism: all he had to do was dispel the barrier for the bug guts to drop off. “The regular military isn’t equipped to deal with an Instance. The last several examples of destroying them involved multiple elite teams navigating the hive to either destroy or capture the Instance core, and monsters protecting it."

“You know what an Instance is?” Neska asked, surprised.

“I was fleeing with my family when one instance started warping the landscape of the valley, on the Varadur's failed attempt five years ago. The plants came alive and ate people who fled too late. We were fortunate to escape alive.” He pointed to the rock formation jutting from the ground. “See that?”

Neska peered closer, as did several others. The rock was a hexagonal cut, almost as if engineered, but the rock material…wasn’t rock. It was some kind of cement. And a strange resin and honeycomb ran across the surface.

She ran her finger over it cautiously. The sticky substance smelled like something acrid. Almost like the scent of ants. “Then the core monster’s influence is spreading. We are in a remote location, but these bugs can spread and infest an entire area, and these cores can grow exponentially. We need to deal with it immediately. I’m immune to venoms, so I’m a strong candidate for the leading team. I can also produce an antivenom with my own abilities to stabilize people. Who else?”

Actually, you’re not immune to venoms. Not this one anyway.

Neska sighed and motioned for Trevor to hand him the bag. “Uh, hang on. I need to inoculate myself.”

“Uh…how?”

Several seconds later, she felt her [What Doesn’t Kill You, Makes you Weirder] Ability kick in. She’d expected pain, but she did not expect the inferno-like inflammation on the back of her hand after using the stinger to inject herself. The agonizing pain swept up her arm, and she let out a hiss of pain only once. She felt nauseous, and her head swam, before the inflammation faded.

Trevor took back the wasp corpse, looking pale. “Uh…so that happened.”

I really, really hate this ability, Neska. For your sake. Also, your Resistance to this strand of Venom rose to 75%. I suspect stronger venoms take more time to build resistance.

This was a weak venom? She tried not to think of what a strong venom could do.

“That was so not sanitary. Or sane.” Even Kasfew was perturbed by her effort. “I’d better go in and burn these nuisances before the snake gets even worse ideas on turning wasp venom into a horrifying bioweapon.”

"That's next week," Neska rebuked. "I fully plan to incorporate this venom. Anyone who gets me samples, I will provide loving snugs."

"I don't want this prize," one student complained.

"My gratitude, then."

“Uh…you’ll need my tracking, and we need to assess the situation first,” Brent volunteered while casting a frown at Kasfew. “I’ve got good spatial awareness. It’ll probably be like a maze down there.”

“This is the squad lead decision,” Hadley huffed. “Still, you two make good arguments. We need to send a few dedicated teams, those with the most experience or the best Abilities for the task. The rest of us will camp out here, make sure the bugs don’t come out of any other holes, and ensure the Varadur don’t wisen up to our presence.”

In the end, it was Neska, Brent, Hadley, Roche, and Trevor’s team that would be on point. Juni and Jurik formed the other team, while Corvin chose a few students…including Kasfew.

She hated the idea that the hothead would be using his powers in close quarters. It was exceedingly dangerous. But it was also very effective at dealing with the wasps. Jurik gave a briefing on expected monsters, such as guard wasps armed with deadly talons. They grew far larger than the parasitic variants, up to two feet long, sometimes three. Some might even have ranged attacks, such as stingers ejected with force.

The Instance core would be the main target. Either they needed to destroy it, or capture it alive. The rest of the teams unloaded their gear, and Sarisse began working with Neska to produce more pyropowder, with the base ingredients they had.

The alchemist was fascinated by the pyrovine extract and had never used it as an additive in this way. They were able to make a few more satchels of the material while Hadley and the others let the Academy know the situation.

"Is it stable?" she asked.

"Stable enough. Any incendiary or fire-based ability will trigger it," Neska instructed. "Do not be anywhere near it when you do."

Neska knew what they were up against. She’d seen these monsters sketched in Risha’s journals. She remembered the linework of the illustrations was jagged, hasty. Drawn by an angry, shaking hand. Not just the guard variants of the wasps, but the ones with stingers that shot out like pneumatic weapons or crossbow bolts, delivering venom at range. The worker drones weren’t as big a problem, but these things could control the goblins, and goblins were already highly unpredictable.

She didn’t even want to think about the queen wasp. That one…would be challenging. If she was unlucky, it was also the Instance core, or guarding it.

Brent and Roche took the front of the formation, with Hadley in the rear next to Trevor, and Neska taking center point. “They are susceptible to fire, water, and venom attacks. They use overwhelming numbers to take down bigger foes, but individually they are fragile,” Neska instructed them. “If you use any area of effect attacks, check your targets first.”

Hadley had an incendiary arrow in hand and smiled grimly. “Always stepping into one perilous encounter after another, huh, Cassia? You know the nickname ‘Danger Noodle’ might stick someday.”

“Good. It’s memorable. Hopefully for our foes as well.” She kept a mana bolt primed and ready as they descended into the mine, with the two other squads close behind. She slapped a satchel of her pyropowder on a fractured rock formation and motioned to it. “All else fails? We light the fuse and run the hell away.”

“Cassia, you know the legend of the jinx? You’re gonna rival him,” Brent grunted, padding forward and slinking from cover to cover. He poked at the resin-like material that was patchy along the rocky walls. “It’s turning the whole damn mine into a hive.”

“All the more reason to burn it to the ground,” Roche whispered. “If I get them focused on me, I have a damage-reflecting ability. It's a moderate duration, but I have limited mana.”

“Everyone conserve mana,” Hadley instructed. “Keep some on reserve for big abilities if this gets ugly.”

As the darkness grew and the glow lanterns turned on, Neska knew there was danger ever-present here. The heat that shouldn’t be associated with a cavern. The taint of moisture tasted wrong. Sour.

And the buzzing, the constant, ominous buzzing below their feet, where more dangers lurked.

---

Neska had hoped that the danger would be greater down.

Not five minutes in, they ran into a pack of goblins, their gaits all twitchy. Hobgoblins directed them as they chipped out unusual hexagonal slots into the walls and took buckets of a viscous liquid, splashing them all over the place.

“Listen, drones, work smarter, not harder!” One hobgoblin growled. “At least you wasp goblins are a hair smarter than the goblin shitheels you’re–”

His insults were cut short by an arrow piercing his throat, courtesy of Hadley. Brent closed on two of the goblins with his [Aero Step], slicing throats and stabbing into their bellies to make sure they weren’t carrying any hitchhikers, all in a span of a second.

Neska’s [Venom Bolts] ripped through two more. The venom had a drastic impact, with the goblins spasming as the wasps died inside them. They only lasted a few seconds before Roche smashed the incapacitated goblins with his barrier shield, ending their torment.

Neska kept her aim trained on the hobgoblin. It never moved, except for the slight twitch of its foot as it died.

She lowered her bow and let her [Venom Bolt] dissipate. “Huh. I guess only the goblins are infested, and not even all of them. Why would they do that?”

“Because they’re expendable?” Brent cleaned his dagger on a ragged shirt on one of the goblins before securing it. “Just when I thought I couldn’t feel sympathy for the damn things, here I am, feeling that even they are getting a raw deal.”

“We’re here to kill every single one of them. Enemy combatant rules apply,” Hadly said sharply. Neska couldn’t disagree–these things were vile, even before being infested by wasps.

Trevor coughed softly. “We should probably open them up to see what the wasps are doing in them. I have worked with cleaning monster carapace before, so…”

“I am not making leather armor out of a damn goblin,” Brent growled.

“Easy, easy. Knowledge about the wasps could give us an edge. What better way to study them but now?”

“Make it quick,” Neska instructed. “Trevor, show him where to cut.”

A minute later, Brent reeled backward, waving a hand in front of his muzzle. “Divines damn it, they stink even worse on the inside.”

“That’s just the microorganisms producing byproducts as they coexist within the gut of the creatures,” Neska assured him. He didn’t look assured and flattened his ears. “Yes, I suppose it’s somewhat repulsive.”

“I think I’m starting to envy your dulled senses a bit, Cassia,” he grumbled.

“Oh no, it’s worse. I can taste it.” Her tongue went in and out for emphasis. Trevor dissected the goblin in more detail and confirmed the unhatched wasps in these, too, were undisturbed, though even he was repulsed by the field autopsy of the goblin. While the others knelt to observe, she examined the rocky terrain of the mine tunnels, trying to map out how large an area they might be dealing with that was contaminated by the Instance.

Four entryways branched from here. All leading down. There were rail cart tracks to two of them, with the rusted transports sitting unattended. Yet, they were also laden with rocks and even a few shards of mana crystal. Neska grabbed one to examine it later.

“Jurik, how are things on your end?” Hadley called over her relay.

Nothing but a slight crackle responded over the lapel. She repeated her message, but was again met with a crackle of dead air. “Damn, we need an upgrade on these things,” she sighed.

“Uh, don’t look at me. My father’s done a lot of work on them, but warped reality and hundreds of yards of solid rock are two things they struggle with,” Trevor said while extracting the dead wasp. He grabbed it by the wings, and it showed no movement. “Cassia, your magical bolt corroded it. I think it’s very susceptible to venoms. Even toxifying the goblin might have killed it before we…you know, stabbed it to death.”

“Anything else of interest?” Hadley asked.

Neska heard Trevor mention something about them, the wasps looking like they weren't even fully formed when unhatched, sort of a gooey mess--they likely evolved rapidly in response to the host's death. Meanwhile, her focus was on the walls, and she slithered closer, placing one ear to the wall.

She heard something else, hidden within the dull buzzing sound. Machinery. Very far away, and making a dull, clanking sound.

The buzzing grew louder, and now, she heard the shrill screeches of goblins. A group of four of them rose from one of the tunnels past a bend at the bottom, screaming out a warning. Except, these four were wearing hard hats–poorly, if she might point out–and carrying several cylindrical devices in a bandolier. The lead goblin grabbed one and pulled a cord coming from one end, and the wick ignited.

Oh. The goblins have alchemical explosives. That scared her more than the damn wasps as the goblin reeled back his arm, the wick of the explosive already approaching imminent detonation.