When fighting an enemy you know little about other than what you see, it’s best to take things reactively. As the scorpion rushes me at a speed two times faster than a human's sprint, I don’t try to take the enemy head on. Instead, I hop to the right. To my delight, the scorpion shares the same weakhat earth's scorpions possess; which is the ability to drift. The scorpion is forced to slow down and then turn in my dire.

  Perfect. It 't turn fast. I should be able to dodge to the side and give it a good lovetap when it slows to turn. I should be able to do it fast enough a out before the pincers grab me.

  With a pled, I take my stahe moares at me with just as many eyes as I do. As we stare at one ahe realization hits me that the monster probably see me from its sides. If it do that, then it rea some way.

  it kick me? Jump away? it actually turn rapidly in some way? No to the st o would have already. Which leaves its other ons; the three poisonous stingers.

  Staring at the length aernal structure of the tails, I clude that the left and right tails strike at their side.

  Gotta keep an eye oingers.

  Once again, the Scorpion rushes me. I dodge to the right at the st moment. The moment my feet touch the ground, I rush at the scorpion's left side while it is slowing down. My cautions bares fruit as the scorpion's left stinger rushes down to intercept me.

  I pivot rapidly and intercept the tail with my left gau. Metal and bone make tact, followed by spark as the stinger glides down my forearm.

  Using the moment of the block, I twist my body to the left while extending my right fist. Fist meets carapace, and carapace loses. I feel only a bit of resistance before the shell cracks, breaks, and my fist leaves a bloody trail through its innards.

  After my punch, I quickly hop back to avoid retaliation. But retaliatio e. The scorpion's leftmost legs cease to fun. The monster crashes on its side, followed by a loud and rapid clig sound from its mandibles.

  It attempts to stand up, but the leftmost legs sistently give way. During this eruggle, blue blood leaks from its damaged side as though I’d struck a major artery. Eventually, the Scorpios pio shift its body so that it is fag me. All three stiurn and point in my dire. The clig sound increases in tempo.

  Something isn’t right.

  I take my usual stand prepare for whatever is to happen.

  Then it happens. The right tail pulses, then the needle exits the tip like a crossbow. I react by sidestepping the first projectile. The tral tail projectile I am forced to riposte, while the leftmost tail projectile pletely misses its mark.

  Holy shit, it shoot poisonous needles.

  After the third projectile, I stand wary and ready in case more projectile y way. But they don’t. Me and the scorpion stare at each other for a long miil the monster eyes close and there is a rge pool of blue blood on the ground.

  Only after ahirty seds do I approach close enough to be able to hear a heartbeat.

  There is none.

  After several more minutes of warily tapping the monstrosity, do I allow myself to rex.

  Well, it’s dead. Now I just o know if it is edible. I don’t know how big this desert is, but I should make sure I have sustenance.

  I reato its wound arieve a handful of soft meat. I raise it up to my fad take a whiff.

  Smells like flesh. Probably not poisonous either. Generally, evolution very rarely makes a species both venomous and poisonous. These scorpions are most likely just venomous- maybe even immuo their venom too. The meat should be fio eat raw.

  I take a bite of the flesh and find it rather soft. It has a nice, liquidy texture.

  These scorpions are probably very good at retaining water.

  After eating my fill, I head outside to the sight of a setting sun.

  There’s a sun, which means I’m on a different p. Good to know.

  Looking about, I listen and look for additional threats, but there are none. , I focus on the distant structures. There are roations as well as spires reag upwards. As I stare at the spires, I get a general feeling ness.

  What is up with those spires?

  I look around me for a bit. Then I look up to find that the tower I’m outside of is actually pletely identical to the spires.

  That still doesn't expin why I feel like something is wrong.

  I tiaring in the distance even as the sun lowers and lowers. Just as the sun almost disappears, I finally realize the problem.

  The spires are moving. Slowly, but they are moving.

  Indeed. Based oone formations and my memory, the spires have moved slightly. With far too much curiosity and right before the sun is gone, I look at my surroundings and gauge my current location.

  With the sun gohe desert loses its heat and is repced by cold. Not that the cold bothers me anyway. Fenrimorph fur is pretty effective against low temperatures.

  Alright, time to sleep. Hopefully the scorpion carcass doesn’t attrawatention. Taking a er and fag the entrance, I lean with my back to the wall. My eyes close and I allow dreamnd to take me.

  ___________________________________________________

  The moment I enter dreamnd, I awaken to the world of light. I see white everywhere except for a floating replica of the Timbergrove and a floating green eyeball.

  “So that scorpion leveled me up. Nice. How many levels, Green?”

  “You have gained a single level. You have oribute avaible.”

  Damn. I was kinda hoping for more than a single level.

  “Anything else?”

  “ive.”

  “Damn. Alright, fine. Put the attribute point intth and that should be it.

  “Aowledged.”

  _________________________________________________

  Opening my eyes, I’m met with the o of sunrise. I stand and stretch from where I slept before taking a deep breath. I g the corpse to find it pletely untouched and not at all deposed.

  With sunlight avaible and the temperature rising rapidly. I head outside to the sight of distant spires and roations. Looking at the roations and my position, I say that my current spire does not move, nor do the rocks.

  So my current spire is stationary and all of the rocks are also stationary. Which means that my destination is going to be somewhere simir.

  I stare into the distand t all the spires and calcute the ges in distaraveled. I do this for every viewable spire until I find a single spire that has not moved.

  Why 't it be one of the closer spires? God dammit that spire is hundreds of miles away!

  Growling unhappily, I start walking to my destination. As I trudge on, I start panting. My body is rapidly heating up as the sun rises directly into the sky..

  About a third of the way there, I get close enough to see one of the nearer spires. The spire is identical to the stationary spire in both looks and color. But, at my current distance, I tell that the spire I’m looking at is not a spire at all but a massive shell. Below the shell is a mostly submerged crab.

  Staring at it, the crab moves extremely slowly, maybe a single foot a minute. Slow enough that you couldn’t tell if it was moving from far away.

  Man, if that crab wasn't rger than a whale, I’d try to kill a it.

  I tinue my traversal over sand unabated except for the stant wind areme heat. The wind, though violent and kicks up sand, is a wele reprieve to the heat. Sure, the sas into the fur and makes me unfortable, but I’d rather be unfortable than dead.

  As the sun is starting to set, the realization hits me that the Scorpions are actually noal. The realization also hits me that they are ambush predators.

  The sand near me violently explodes to reveal a scorpion as rge as the st one.

  Well, this will be annoying.

  I turn towards the scorpion and take a stand.

  Then I hear a sed explosion of sand.

  Then a third.

  Without breaking stance, I gnce around to find three more scorpions, all of which are staring at me.

  I better work fast.

  Instead of waiting for them to engage, I rush at the first scorpion to reveal itself. The monster, seeing me rushing it, rushes back towards me.

  I pivot out of the way, slide several feet, and then bst forward before it turn. Uhe one before, my fist impacts its side before the scorpion eves tail. I shatter its carapad leave a lethal wound. Then I hop back to avoid the stinger.

  Like before, I hear the sound of loud clig, that seems to echo louder across the desert.

  As I turn towards the wo scorpions, I ’t help but notice several distant scorpions crawling out of the sand and rushing towards my location.

  Oh, this is very bad.

  The other two scorpions start rushi which point I am forced to dodge while keeping an eye on the clig one. With speed and positioning, I create an opportunity to lethally strike ahe sound of clig grows louder and somehow even in sync.

  In the distance, more scorpions rise out of the ground.

  Shit. I’m going to be swarmed. Where the hell were all these scorpions when I killed the first one?

  From one of my eyes, I notice that the first scorpion has just realized it’s going to die. All three stingers point in my dire. I roll just in time to avoid the first two and block the third. Then I’m forced to jump directly upwards and over the third charging scorpion.

  Taking the opportunity on nding. Rush behind the third scorpion with enough force to shatter its backside and send it careening into sand.

  When I turn, my arm automatically blocks a stinger, riposes another, and I matrix dodge a third.

  Damn, that was close. Two down and one more to… Shit.

  Five scorpions arrive with arguably several dozen more ining.

  e on! Why are they swarming now and not at the spire? Was there only one present in that area? What do they have to be afraid… oh.

  I blink as I remember that nearly every spire has a weird crab u.

  Of course. Those crabs must be predators to the scorpions! The reason none swarmed my first kill was because they avoid the spires.

  I gnce around and find the spire. This one is a good forty miles away.

  With a growl, I bend my knees and rush towards the spire.

  As I start running, so too do the scorpion. They rush after me with pincers spread and mouths clig.

  As I run, the scorpions rush after me with pincers ready and stingers armed. To my surprise, I’m actually slightly faster thao my detriment, the clig of several dozen scorpions is loud enough to awaken scorpions on my path. Weaving, dodging, jumping, blog. My run towards the spire is met with immense danger. For nearly an hour, I am pushed to my absolute limit up until the crab es into view. Then, all at ohe clig sound ceases to exist.

  Without stopping, I gnce back to several hundred scorpions running after me. A small army of venomous carapaced monstrosities.

  Then, as I he spire, the scorpions begin slowing down.

  As they slow down, the crab rises up from the sand o massive legs. It’s mouth opens in my dire.

  Instinct takes over as I hop to the side.

  From its mouth, a getinous tongue breaks the sound barrier and narrowly misses me. The tongue passes my location and impacts a scorpion.

  Theoracts with the scorpion stuck to the tohe scorpioers the crabs mouth, and then the mouth begins chewing.

  At this moment, every scorpion has stopped moving.

  Taking the opportunity, I rush close to the crab and then hop on top of its spiral shell where it is big enough to allow me to stand.

  Under me, I feel the vibrations of powerful jaws g down on the scorpion. When I gnce back at the hundreds of scorpions, I am met with an arming amount of intelligence.

  Every scorpion stinger points in my dire.

  OH SHIT!

  Like a line of crossbowmen, hundreds of needles fly in my dire. Limited in my mobility, I raise my arms and block what I . Three storms of needles impact my location, and only my head and chest are unpunctured.

  When I finally lower my arms, the scorpio of ammo and have started retreating.

  I look at my body to find that I’ve bee a pincushion.

  Remembering that the needles are venomous, I quickly remove them from my body. As I remove the needles, my natural ability to rapidly coagute blood stops any bleeding.

  With the st of the needles removed, I quickly find my energy pletely spent. I fall on my but and y my back to the spire.

  I survived!

  I g all my wounds.

  Barely Survived. This is going to take awhile tee. I’m going to be very hungry ter.

  The crab, finishing its meal and finding no more prey, rests back down into the sand.

  Looks like the pn is ged. During the night I o sleep on a spire, and during the day I o travel to my destination. sidering how much distance I cover, I should be able to reach my destination in two da-

  “Gruaaahhhhhh.” I growl loudly. Pain thrashes through me as every nerve bee infmed.

  I look at my puncture wounds to find that they are all swelling a glowing purple.

  I feel mana shuffling into my body, massive amounts of it. Rivers of mana.

  Panig, I attempt to activate [Shift], but my mana is no longer under my trol. My ears pop and adrenaline once again fuels my body. My heartbeat increases further and further as my growls bee louder and louder.

  Then I hear it.

  A single word.

  A single demand.

  SUBMIT!