Liam Luo crouched low as he approached the mantis nest, a pulsating mass of eggs nestled in the rocky hillside. With no guards in sight, he lobbed a stone into the cavernous entrance. A shrill screech echoed, and a violet-scaled mantis the size of a grown man burst forth, blade-like arms slashing the air.
[Name: Mantis Matriarch (Lord-tier Creature)]
[Level: Lv.5]
[Warning: Target exceeds player level! Immediate retreat advised!]
Liam ignored the alert. At Lv.0, he knew this beast’s true weakness: its dependency on unhatched offspring. His right arm morphed into a crystalline blade—[Blade Arms (Silver-tier)]—while ?**[Brute Force]** and ?**[Swiftness]** amplified his strength.
"Come at me, you overgrown bug," he taunted, pelting the matriarch with rocks.
Enraged, the mantis lunged. Liam dropped into a slide, his blade slicing upward through its abdomen. The creature staggered, but before it could retreat, he decapitated it with a flourish.
[Global Achievement Unlocked: First Lord-tier Kill!]
[Reward: Pioneer’s Chest ×1 (Claim with announcement? Y/N)]
Liam chose ?**[Delay]**. Glory could wait.
He extracted a crimson ?**[Tier-2 Monster Core]** from the carcass—worth 10 XP—but pocketed it instead of absorbing it. ?**[Soul Devourer]** activated:
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[Devoured Lv.5 Monster Soul: Divine Soul Points +10]
[Stolen Abilities: Blade Arms (Silver), Swarm Intimidation (Gold-tier)]
[Blade Arms Advancement Quest: Kill 100 Mantis Drones in 24 hours (0/100)]
"Impossible on Day One," Liam muttered. He’d reclaim the ability later. For now, the nest’s unhatched eggs beckoned—each a trickle of ?**[Divine Soul Points]**.
But as he stepped toward the cave, a second matriarch—larger, fiercer—exploded from the shadows! Its scythe-like arm grazed his chest.
"Shit, two matriarchs?!" Liam rolled clear, narrowly avoiding decapitation.
"Liam! Over here!"
Sophia Xu’s voice cut through the chaos. The ponytailed girl stood with two allies: Kevin Wang, his skin hardened like stone, and Martin Ma, wielding a flaming bow.
"Why are you here?" Liam demanded, retreating toward them.
"To save your stubborn ass!" Sophia snapped. Her hands glowed as ?**[Amplification Aura]** enveloped the group, boosting their abilities to Platinum-tier.
"Kevin, pin it! Martin, aim for the neck!" she commanded.
Kevin charged, tanking the matriarch’s blows while Martin’s arrows went wild. Liam covertly triggered ?**[Swarm Intimidation]**, freezing the monster mid-lunge.
"Now!"
Martin’s flaming arrow struck the exposed neck. The matriarch collapsed.
Sophia stared at Liam. "How’d you know its weak spot?"
"[Scouting]," Liam lied, eyeing her aura. So this is how she built her team last life.
He devoured the second matriarch’s soul:
[Divine Soul Points +15]
[Blade Arms (Gold-tier)]
[Swarm Intimidation Advancement Quest: ???]
"Let’s clear the eggs," Liam said, ignoring Sophia’s probing gaze. The nest’s secrets—and his own—would wait.