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Chapter 22 - Concept
🕑 Added 2024-02-29 18:15:58 +0000 UTCShai refused to be on her mercy. Hissing in determination, she unleashed her secret weapon—[Essence Eater]. A powerful suction force surged forth, emanating not just from her mouth but from every inch of her body. The energy within her surged, coursing through her entire being, enabling her to unleash the aspect to its full capacity.
"What? How?" the empathic spider exclaimed, utterly bewildered by Shai's unexpected actions.
Shai remained silent, allowing her insatiable hunger to consume the power that kept her glued to the spider. Gradually, the force that bound her diminished, although it took several seconds before she was finally liberated.
Seizing the opportunity, Shai leapt off the spider's back without delay. Sadly, the relieving taste of freedom was brief, as yet another web hurtled towards her, entangling her once again. She let out an exasperated groan as the sticky web covered her, pressing her against the spider's back.
"AHHH!" Shai bellowed into her mind, which reverberated in their shared connection, causing the spider to shrill wistfully.
"Don't worry," the spider reassured her. "I'm not going to eat you."
Again, that did not relieve her at all.
Even though the spider mama tried to reassure Shai with her words, the bizarre and unnatural mind waves she transmitted made her cringe in disgust. Furthermore, the sultry undertone in her voice reminded Shai of what she had previously mentioned—the empathic spiders fed on emotions like delicacies.
Shai was in grave peril if she couldn't flee. The spiders may not kill her outright, but Shai wasn't looking forward to being a living drug for the empathetic creatures to feed upon. Just the thought sent shivers down her spine.
"Let me go," Shai demanded.
"In a few minutes," the spider said, mentally fortifying herself to remain unaffected by the overwhelming emotions emanating from her captive. "Hmm, how did you manage to do that? Even Iron rankers cannot break free from my adhesional force that easily."
"Adhesional?" Shai repeated, finally understanding why breaking free had been so incredibly difficult.
"Well, it derives from Adhesion, a concept I'm cultivating to form my dao."
Shai wasn't sure if she should be impressed or horrified. How horrifying is this spider mama?
Adhesion was exactly what it sounds like. It glued stuff together. It might have minimal effect as a combat concept, but its prowess in sticking things together was unparalleled. As long as the Intent of the adhesion remained intact, there was no way to break free.
Fortunately for Shai, she possessed the quirky concept of Hunger, which could literally eat anything. Well, she sometimes felt like it. She certainly couldn't digest stones if she ate them, but that's not relevant now.
Although it was difficult, she managed to consume the spider's force using [Essence Eater]. There seemed to be no other way to confront a power that stemmed from a concept.
"What do you want?" Shai grumbled, her gaze fixed on the spiders flashing before her eyes.
The spider mama inquired, "The concept of yours, is it Hunger or Feast?"
Shai pondered the question for a moment, recognising that Feast might not be the concept welcomed by the spider. Well, considering the corruption that seemed to stem from Feast, her worry wasn't unwarranted.
"Why do you ask?" Shai replied, trying to fish out more information. This spider mama was a permanent resident of this dungeon. She was bound to know more about it.
The empathic spider remained silent for a moment before responding, "It's not Feast, I think. You're too sane and too crafty to maintain the lucidity of your mind, but I may be mistaken."
"Well, thank you very much." In her panic, Shai channelled her inner lunacy. "This young lady cannot be claimed by those filthy powers. Now that you've verified this young lady's virtue, let us part ways."
With that, Shai forced out [Essence Eater] again, but before she could even get free, Serenity covered her with another layer of webs, spending more force of Adhesion.
"Not so fast, little snake. I need to be sure about your nature. I cannot just let a dangerous creature like you roam free in our domain. Who knows, you might even be the first creature that gained sentience through corruption."
Shai groaned.
Feast and Hunger were two related concepts, as both revolved around the consumption of food.
Shai wasn't sure what was good and what was bad about them. Was eating alright, but having the pleasure was not? That didn't seem right, but how could a concept like Feast corrupt creatures?
Wait, there are subtle distinctions between them. It was basically in their name.
Feast was like an elaborate process of eating, while Hunger was a state that derived from not eating for a long time.
Hmm. If Shai was thinking along the right lines, then Feast was more like Gluttony, the insatiable desire to devour, while Hunger was akin to Greed—the ambition to not only consume but also to become something greater, someone exalted.
She could have chosen better words to describe them, but not after what she experienced. In a sense, Hunger didn't sound any better. Ultimately, if she viewed everything as mere sustenance, it wouldn't be long before she would fall prey to its intoxicating avarice.
The realisations seemed to click something on her as she found the unique power surging through her, though still far from a breakthrough.
Shai refrained from attempting to break free from the powerful adhesion force that held her captive, but she remained alert and prepared. If the opportunity presented itself, she might be able to escape at the right moment. Furthermore, with dozens of spider babies surrounding them, she sensed a potential advantage she could exploit. Serenity certainly cared a lot for the younglings. She wouldn't want them to get hurt.
"Serenity," said a three-foot-tall spider, approaching from behind. Its pure white colour contrasted with the typical brown and obsidian shades of the others. "What's with that snake on your back?"
Shai used [Golden Eyes] to find the new commer to be Level 31, a threat that far surpassed the other hundreds of spider babies, though still within her limit to deal with. Well, perhaps not in combat, but Shai had many ways to flee from it.
"Oh, Marvel," Serenity, the empathic spider mama, responded, as a couple of her pupils shifted their attention towards the white spider. Shai couldn't understand why Serenity maintained the telepathic link between them. What ulterior motives could she have? "Why aren't you sprinting with the others?"
A few other spiders were trailing behind, even smaller in size, barely reaching a couple of feet. They seemed to be the youngest members of the horde, doing their best to keep up, though their efforts fell short. Marvel, the unique white spider among them, stood out from the rest, as she seemed to be herding the rest much like Serenity.
"Don't worry," Serenity reassured Shai, anticipating her concern. Her mind waves were calming somehow. "These are the females of my clan. They won't harm you unless you aggravate them."
"Are you certain about that?" Shai questioned, noticing the white spider's all-eight eyes fixed upon her, gazing intensely, drawing closer as if attempting to catch a whiff of something marvellous.
"It talked. Serenity, it talked," Marvel screamed in the telepathic link, her interest growing with her voice.
"I know."
"What kind of snake does that? Where did you find it? Can I touch it? Or at least clash my mind against it?" Then Marvel burst into a barrage of questions, her eight eyes gleaming with excitement as she stared at Shai. "Is this the prize of the race?"
The last question from Marvel sent a chill down Shai's spine. Indeed, it was a race. Unfortunately, she might even become the grand prize of it.
