Chapter 5 Kelp Monster

The centipede watched as the kelp twisted and wound itself around the scorpion, while said arachnid tried to use its pincers to cut away at it.

The growths quickly grew back and multiplied instead. 'What is this!? That thing's regeneration is even better than the salamander's!' He cried out in his head, frustration leaking into the real world.

He swam over, but his speed had slowed down tremendously due to the water. The kelp somehow moved out of the way of his bull charge, grabbing one of his long limbs.

'uh oh…' he blurted, feeling himself being pulled back hard. His leg was ripped off, but he felt no pain. Using this chance, he swam back to the base of the kelp, spraying poison into the water.

The scorpion ate his poison once! What's a second time, right!? Almost like an ink cloud, it spread as a purple haze. The kelp practically deflated, his scorpion companion struggling out successfully.

He breathed out a sigh of relief, staring at the aquatic plant. What the shit was that? He watched it twitch in place, turning a strange brown color.

Whatever this was, it wasn't dying. He needed to get out of here. The poison is less potent underwater than above and there was a long trail of possibly mutates kelp going down the tunnel. They couldn't risk harvesting the plant and then end up in a bind.

With that thought, he grabbed the scorpion using 3 of his long limbs, heaving so they wouldn't touch anything else. From what he could observe from the earlier interaction, they only moved if they were touched.

It was slightly difficult and took longer than he would've liked, but he began to see light at the end of the tunnel. He mentally cheered, but he also began to feel doubt. What if it was like those glowing yellow eyes?

He shook the thoughts away. To hell with that! With a burst of determination, he swam faster. Immediately, he felt a slight warmth on his carapace.

What his eyes met were blurry but colorful images of coral and aquatic creatures, most of which were things that didn't move much. He glared at the kelp, staying as far away from it as possible.

Anything that did move, though, seemed to swim away once they felt their presence. Ignoring that, he moved his antennae left and right, trying to find the direction to shore.

His [Cognizance] showed him completely white images of silhouettes and most importantly, the sea floor. He carefully moved along the sand, still carrying his companion to make sure it didn't make a mistake, finally reaching dry land.

He smiled happily. They finally got out of that cave after so long!...Although, they had mostly spent that time sleeping and evolving.

He ignored the little voice in the back of his head, looking around. They needed to quickly find a burrow of some kind..or at least a place to hide. Who knew what was around?

He started in a random direction, making sure the scorpion followed. They passed the foliage and into a dense jungle. He was skeptical at first, but all he saw were fellow, larger than average insects and animals. No mutated beasts.

Most creatures ran away. Other more courageous animals hissed or growled at them for getting too close to their homes. The centipede ignored it all, taking a snack or two. They hadn't eaten for a month and although he still had an [Enhanced Obsidian Shard] and the spines(he learned the scorpion could eat those too), he needed to hunt for food himself.

A loud "CAWW!!" Startled both of them. They quickly hid under a large tree, a large shadow looming overhead. When he looked up, he found himself staring at a silhouette of a gigantic vulture that had to have a wingspan of at least 100 meters.

What made it more intimidating was the fact that it seemed to have magma dripping down its sides. They both shook in fear at the oppressive aura, but the centipede couldn't help but feel that presence felt familiar.

He only realized what then when he caught a glimpse of its large, golden orbs. It was the creature he first saw when he arrived in this world…

He survived meeting that!? He practically vibrated in terror. If it weren't for the fact he was small, they likely would've eaten him!

He wrapped himself around the scorpion like he first did when they met, unconsciously getting into a defensive stance. The bird didn't even notice them, holding a large mutated creature just as large as it in between its teeth.

An alligator carcass perhaps? He didn't care. His thoughts focused on only one thing. Hide. He ran in the other direction from the bird.

He didn't know for how long he ran, but he only stopped when he broke through the foliage and near a cliff. He skidded to a stop before he could fall over, but the scorpion who had rushed behind knocked him over the edge.

He curled up into a centipede ball, covering his head and tail, smacking into several trees on his way down. His tumble ended when he smacked into a rock wall.

He uncurled, swaying dizzily and somewhat angry, but he quickly regained his composure. It was his fault for running without warning so he couldn't blame the scorpion. That didn't mean he wasn't frustrated.

The arachnid quickly approached him in worry, tapping his carapace with concern the moment they reached him. He wanted to glare, but when they acted like this, it was hard to stay angry.

He turned away towards the rock wall…at least, that's what he thought it was. The ground trembled underneath them as something began to rise.

He could feel the soil beneath his legs sink and his antennae alerted him to a new presence. 'Is that…a turtle?' Not only was it a turtle, it was a huge one even bigger than the vulture he had seen before.

It had legs made completely of stone..its entire body was made of stone, moss and foliage along with large trees and…were those animals? There was an entire ecosystem on its back.

He wanted to observe more but the impending sense of danger made him run once more. The earth began to sink into the large hole made by the turtle.

They both nearly fell into the crater, barely leaping out of the way from the crumbling ground. The centipede breathed a mental sigh of relief.

This outside is even worse than the cave, and that's saying something. If he were to think of one positive, it was that food was more abundant here.

That also meant mutated beasts like this turtle are strewn about everywhere…though he doubted he'd encounter a creature like this turtle for at least another few months…hopefully.

To be continued…