The Risky Dangling

I'm dangling from the bat's skin, my tiny mouth barely holding on. How did I even get here? My [Camouflage] skill just barely masked my presence from the other bats perched on the cave roof. Did I make a mistake?

"Shit."

I'm losing strength by the millisecond. My HP might be increasing, but my stamina is plummeting. I'm going to fall at any moment. Thankfully, the bat doesn't seem to care that I'm slowly draining its HP. I'm probably taking just a fraction of its health, not enough to be noticed. The cave roof is littered with sharp, menacing spikes, and every corner has bats either sleeping, eating, or just hanging around. If I fall from here, it's game over. My only options are to wait for the bat to move or somehow get back to the ground.

[Parasitic Attach LV I] has become [Parasitic Attach LV II]

[Parasitic Attach LV II]

Gradually saps the host's HP and STA and transfers it to the worm. The worm can also gain some of the host's abilities while attached.

Jackpot! The timing couldn't be better. With this level-up, I might just survive. My strength is slowly returning. After what feels like an eternity, the bat I've been draining starts to look fatigued. A few more minutes pass, and it finally loses its grip, plummeting from the roof toward the ground. I brace myself, ready to absorb the impact using the bat's body.

[You have earned the skill [Night Vision LV I] from the LV 5 [Lesser Cave Bat]]

Though the fall hurts, I manage to survive by landing on the bat's now-lifeless body, cushioning the impact.

As I open my eyes, the world around me becomes clearer than ever before. The darkness of the cave is no longer an impenetrable void, but a rich tapestry of shadow and light. The cave is vast and seemingly endless, its towering walls stretching upward like the ribs of a colossal beast. Stalactites hang like ancient spears from the ceiling, dripping with moisture that catches the faint glimmer of bioluminescent fungi clinging to the rock.

The floor beneath me is a mosaic of jagged rocks and patches of soft, mossy ground, interspersed with glowing veins of mineral-rich ores that pulse with an eerie, otherworldly light. These ores, embedded in the stone, cast a soft luminescence that dances across the walls, painting the cave in shades of deep blue, emerald green, and haunting violet. The air is thick with the scent of damp earth, mingled with the faint, metallic tang of the ores, and the musty aroma of decaying vegetation.

In the distance, I can see clusters of strange, luminous plants sprouting from the cave floor. Their petals glow with a soft, ethereal light, swaying gently as if moved by an unseen breeze. Among them, pools of crystal-clear water reflect the shimmering light, creating an illusion of a starlit sky on the ground.

Everything around me seems enormous, magnified by my tiny size. The once tiny droplets of water are now like shimmering pearls, and the patches of moss resemble dense forests. Even the smallest of rocks appear as towering boulders, each one a mountain in its own right.

I also gained a couple of levels from the bat, reaching level 9. As I look around, I notice other types of worms—some one, two, or even five times larger than me. They move slowly, their segmented bodies undulating as they crawl through the rich soil, searching for sustenance. This place is teeming with life, and it's all potential prey… or predators.

The plan hasn't changed: farm experience, level up, and earn more skills. But I've noticed something important. [Parasitic Attach] only seems to have a small chance of acquiring a monster's skill. The only times it worked were with the first worm I killed and the bat just now. Maybe it only works once per monster. If that's the case, this skill isn't as overpowered as I initially thought.

But that's fine. If I can only get one skill from each monster, I just have to be strategic. I'll need to find stronger monsters with better skills, ones that can really give me an edge. For now, I need to recover and plan my next move. The cave is vast, filled with mysteries and dangers, and who knows what other creatures are lurking in the shadows? My next step will be crucial.