Reincarnated As A Plant Life

Chapter 68 Arachnid Hunter (3)

The sensation quickly became a blistering heat, making it feel as if his very skin was boiling, before being replaced once again by the deathly cold chill.

The poison continued to act in this way, making him feel alternate cycles of freeze and thaw, and in this way attempting to break his psyche.

The arachnid slowly got up, still affected by all the damage that Lucius had dealt to it.

~I need to finish this now,~ Lucius thought to himself as he tried to move. However, he found that he had absolutely no control of his limbs. And at the same time, his flesh felt as if it were being petrified, its weight becoming like stone, threatening to tear off at any moment.

The arachnid regained its senses, before looking in Lucius's direction. Though Lucius was certain he was in its field of vision, it didn't seem to be looking directly at him.

~IIs it blind?~ he wondered as the arachnid approached him. Once it got closer, it locked on to him, its stinger tail thrusting towards him.

Just as it was about to gore him, his tail rushed out to meet it, wrapping around it to stop it from impaling him.

~That was close,~ he sighed in relief. However, the poisonous projections seemed to run along the arachnid's tail as well, poisoning him even further.

~Fuck this,~ he thought, his world slowly dimming. ~It's the only way...~

Lucius quickly called out his crux, casting solar cleanse the moment it was out. And with that, he felt the effects of the poison slowly being dispelled from his body. A thick black goop being excreted from his pores.

The arachnid scurried back the moment it saw the strange glow, watching Lucius's luminescent form light up the night forest. For a moment it seemed frozen in shock, choosing to observe rather than attack.

~I'm not blind?~ Lucius realized, noticing that he could see just fine. In fact, he seemed to be able to see even better than before... something had changed.

,m Paired with every image his mind was fed, an extra detail was attached as well. It was difficult for him to describe, but he could almost feel the amount of radiant heat that each image came with. A concept that was mildly confusing, but one that he was not about to delve too deeply into.

~This is good and all, but this thing is like a tank,~ Lucius thought to himself as he stared at his prey. It still had its two front legs in the air, ready to deflect any attacks to its eyes, which seemed to be its one vital spot.

Quickly running every possible viable action in his mind, Lucius came to a conclusion.

He rushed towards it, and in response it scurried back, shooting streams of poison as it created some distance. Lucius danced around every shot, able to see them clear as day.

"If I can't break through your skin, I'll just have to incinerate it," he whispered, casting solar burst as he launched himself at it.

*

"I don't think the mushroom is going to be too happy about this," Lucius whispered as he inspected his prey, recalling his crux.

Though it was still alive, patches of its rocky skin had been incinerated, its eyes had been completely vaporized, and the spell's explosive force had mangled its legs.

A green puss, which Lucius assumed was its blood oozed from hidden orifices, and its tail hung at an obscure angle, coagulating in its own latent poison.

After carefully tying a vine around its body, he began his journey back to the camp. Traveling at night was dangerous, so he had to keep his guard up. He made sure to check every little sound he heard, and would occasionally climb a tree to scout ahead.

~It's odd though. How come I can see clearly now?~ he wondered, calling out his crux as he got closer to the camp.

In that instant, his senses were overstimulated, literally blinding him. The pain came like a lightning, causing him to fall to the ground with his hands on his head.

~Is that why?~ he realized after some thought.

His vision reminded him of infrared, but a seemingly more powerful version. Sure it allowed him to gain information on the surrounding area's radiant heat, but that only amounted to a weakness outside of the Dark Forest, as it seemed that the sheer number of trees in the 'Green' forest was enough to cause overstimulation.

~Hmm, so I'm guessing all the trees in the Dark Forest were really dead, huh. That's kind of creepy...~ he figured, before taking a quick break to let the overstimulation cool down.

~But with some getting used to, I suppose I'll be able to use my 'solar' vision in the normal forest after some time,~ he thought.

After a few minutes, his vision had returned, somewhat confirming his hypothesis. As he was getting ready to leave, he noticed that the arachnid had left a trail of poison on the ground. Clearly visible even under the dim light of the moon.

~How didn't I take this into consideration?~ he thought, beating himself over the danger he had nearly caused for the camp.

He figured that many creatures would avoid a trail of poison, but for creatures like the shrooms for whom poison seemed to be a valuable resource, it might seem like a money trail. So he reluctantly backtracked, using the surrounding dirt to cover up the tracks that he had left.

~No, but this won't work,~ he realized as he was nearing the camp. The poison probably let off some sort of smell that he couldn't sense but might trigger hunter species. So he decided not to take the spider back to the camp after all.

He would hide it in a tree nearby, and come break pieced from it whenever he needed to. Until of course, he built enough safety measures around the camp to allow such a security threat inside.

**

"Lighted One, you've returned!~ Pagan shouted in joy as he saw Lucius's figure emerge from the forest. It was now early morning, and the sun was just about to rise.

Though he had healed himself, his body was filthy, and the abhorrent stench of rotting poison clung to his being.

~Did anything happen while I was gone?~ Lucius asked, already half asleep.

"Nothing," Pagan replied, choking on the smell that emanated from Lucius's body.

"Is something wrong?" Lucius asked before yawning, noticing that Pagan seemed uncomfortable.

"No, nothing. H-However Lighted One, I do think that all the liquid clinging to your body might be dangerous. Is there no way to get rid of it?" Pagan asked, trying to hold back the coughs as he stared at the green and black marks all over Lucius.

"Huh?" Lucius replied, just now noticing that he was completely covered in dried-up poison and dispelled excreta.