Cornflower Witch

Chapter 205 The Insects That Weave Webs and Build Nests
The firewood crackled and burned as Hilti sat by the fire, turning over the roasted meat.

Smelling the aroma of the roasted meat, she sprinkled on a little more salt and spices, waiting for the meat slices to cook through.

In the darkness, a shadow slowly approached the girl, and the silver-haired figure in her field of vision grew closer and closer until it was only a few meters away. Suddenly, it leaped out, its sharp fangs stabbing down.

"Click!"

A crisp snapping sound came from the air, indicating that it hadn't bitten anything, but rather its own fangs colliding with each other, making a startled sound.

On the other side of the camp, Hilti leaped from the air and landed on the ground with a slightly surprised expression.

Even before she was stationed there, she had changed her gender to 'alien' so that it would be easier to fight and escape in case of emergencies. She didn't expect it to come in handy so soon.

By the light of the fire, Hiltiya could see the creature in front of her clearly. It looked like a 'white stink bug spider' magnified several times, but it was much more ferocious. It had white downy hairs all over its body, and a pair of exceptionally large fangs with dark red tips.

However, what is most eye-catching are the eight blood-red eyes. When the giant spider missed its target, the eight eyes moved around and quickly locked onto Hiltiah, who appeared not far from the camp.

Having identified its target, it acted again, lunging at Hiltiah with astonishing speed.

In the blink of an eye, the spider's body swayed and appeared in front of her. Alarm bells rang in Hilti's mind, and she had no choice but to once again use the ability of her 'alien' nature to briefly travel through the gap in time and space.

After dodging again, before she could even stand still, the opponent continued to pounce. However, this time, Hiltiya no longer dodged. She took a deep breath, her blood circulation suddenly accelerated, and she gripped the hilt of her sword, instantly drawing out the long blade.

A graceful arc of blade flashed in the air, slicing through the spider's forelimbs and tearing several gashes. After a brief exchange, Hilti flipped and leaped into the air, using her toes to brace herself against the tree trunk, and nimbly maneuvered to avoid the spider's subsequent attacks.

The sharp fangs gnawed into the tree trunk and then pulled out, while the once healthy tree withered rapidly, its leaves turning yellow and black.

In the following minutes, Hilti and the spider continued to fight in the forest. With the help of the 'Moonlight Breathing Technique', Hilti barely kept up with the spider's speed and used the sharpness of her weapon to continuously inflict wounds on it.

If this drags on, the giant spider on the other side will inevitably be defeated due to exhaustion.

As if realizing something was wrong, the spider suddenly stopped its pursuit and began to flee in the opposite direction.

Sigh, is it running away again? Siltia couldn't remember how many times she had encountered monsters that would run away.

Considering the purpose of this adventure, Hilti had to change direction and chase after the spider. But just as she got close, the spider suddenly shot out white silk threads from the tip of its abdomen. In a moment of emergency, Hilti dodged the unknown silk thread attack. In the few seconds that were wasted, the spider ran further and further away, and she could no longer catch up.

The first encounter ended in a draw.

Stopping in her tracks, Hilti looked at the dark end of the forest, shook her head, and returned to her encampment.

She needed to find a new way to fight the opponent. Fortunately, she had also analyzed the spider's information during their previous exchange.

Race: Spider (Variant)

Status: Sub-healthy (limb injury)

talent:

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

Fate Card: [White Velvet Giant Spider] [Tier 3 - Insect/Moth]
A giant spider lurking deep in the forest, silent, cunning, and ferocious.
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Effect: [Silent Steps Lv.6], an innate talent that allows you to move silently and greatly increases your speed.
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Effect: [Blood Eye Lv.5], allows direct observation of blood flow in living beings, immune to the limitations of dark environments; invisibility and concealment of presence are ineffective against it. Core Card: [Web-Weaving Insect] [Insect Moth]
'You lay in ambush in the forest, relying on your woven webs and nests to attack and devour many rivals, making you the local nesting insect.'
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Effect: [Nest-Building Insect], when in a nest, gains a significant boost to perception, speed, reaction, and stealth abilities.

Ability Cards:
【Trembling Venomous Fangs Lv.7】(Insect Moth): You have a pair of dangerous black venomous fangs. When you bite an enemy, you can inject a venom that makes their limbs tremble, causing them to die quickly.

【Poisonous Silk Lv.5】(Insect Moth): You can spray out highly sticky silk to build nests and paralyze your opponents.

【Cocoon Melting Technique Lv.6】(Insect/Moth): Wraps a dead opponent in silk to form a cocoon, then injects digestive fluid to melt it, making it easier to digest and absorb. (Nutrition +3, Sex Absorption +2)

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"It's a Nesting Insect?" Hilti was slightly intrigued. She had seen a description of this advancement method in a book, which required a creature to stay in the area for five years and defeat a large number of opponents during that time in order to condense the core card.

This is an advanced ritual that many living things instinctively perform. Although the conditions required are time-consuming, they are not demanding.

Nest-building insects, nest-building beasts, and nest-building dragons all embody this method of advancement. Once they successfully advance, as long as they stay inside their nest, their strength will greatly increase, making it difficult for external enemies to invade.

While it has many advantages and is not very difficult, the disadvantage of this method of advancement is also obvious: it cannot stray too far from the nest, which naturally limits its range of activity.

Powerful empires once took advantage of this, specifically breeding such monsters in tombs to guard them and prevent tomb raiding and intrusion. Because of the existence of the nests, the guardian monsters would stay there for a long time, and even after advancing in rank, they would not leave.

When it fought me just now, it wasn't inside its nest, and its strength was inferior to other third-tier creatures, making it practically useless.

Having understood this, Hilti temporarily abandoned her plans to pursue and began to think about how to deal with the situation.

If the battle takes place in the enemy's lair, the outcome won't be as smooth as before.

After sorting through the intelligence, Hiltiya realized that the meat on the fire had been charred and burnt.

'Ah, my dinner.'

Left with no other choice, Hiltiya took out another portion of roasted meat, grilled it again, and cooked a little wheat porridge as her main dish to supplement her nutrition.

The night passed quietly.

The next day, upon waking, Hiltiya led her horse onward to investigate the location of the giant spider's lair.

She took out the 'Emerald Eye' potion, dripped it into her eye, and one eye turned emerald green before gazing into the distance again.

Countless plant spectra appeared in her field of vision. With her keen perception, she analyzed them continuously and finally found a clue in one of the directions.

found it

That must be the giant spider's lair.

She stopped and stood gazing into the distance. Her heterochromatic eyes, one blue and one green, appeared exceptionally mysterious and possessed a strange and alluring charm.

(End of this chapter)