Chapter 76 - Silence Before The Storm (2)

'This is not what I thought it would be...' Zok announced through the Hivemind and turned back and forth, 'How the heck could it be so different from this place?'

He was still thinking whether his eyes were playing tricks on him or not. However, in the end, he decided that wasn't the case, no matter how it looked. The source for his dumbfoundedness was the scenery in front of him.

While there was lush greenery behind him, the lands in front of him were in complete contrast as they were barren and covered in huge mountains made of sand. There were a few trees here and there but otherwise, the place was fairly empty. 

'First the land of snow and now the land of sand? The heck is going on with this planet? Can't it have forest and stuff everywhere?'

However, a moment later Zok remember what Sofina had told him. Occuna was a large place with only 15-20% of its area mapped and inhabited by people like him. While the rest of the planet was still left undiscovered by his people. Also, this undiscovered part was dominated by creatures none of them could even imagine. 

Zok had developed a habit of taking things with a grain of salt. Thus when Sofina was telling him those things, he thought she might have been exaggerating things a bit. But now that he had seen the large plains filled with sand with his own eyes, he realised that maybe Sofina was not exaggerating things after all. 

'What did she call this place again? A desert? It looks pretty intimidating, to be honest... almost makes me want to not even step a foot in here.'

Zok wasn't the only one who thought like that. The others were worried quite a bit as well. Also, the fact that Zok did not have any knowledge about this place or the creatures that lived within certainly made things a tad bit more difficult for them. 

Heading into the desert without preparing beforehand was nothing less than suicide. Even if the beasts were not able to kill them, the heat would and by what Zok could see, it was unlikely the place had enough water to offer to them either. 

With all these difficulties in his mind, he decided it was a bit too soon for them to enter the place. Cero did not seem happy with that decision, but Zok had already made up his mind.

He and Cero might have been strong enough to tackle the unknown creatures there. But it wasn't worth enough to endanger Kaira's and Shira's life. The two of them needed to get strong first, at least till they reached the early twenties of their levels. 

However, as they were about to turn around, the land beneath their feet started shaking. It was almost as if the desert had plans of its own to not let them leave without giving them a taste of what it had to offer. 

'Kaira, run towards the forest. Cero, use charge to rush forward as well!'

Both the creatures simultaneously rushed towards the glades and as they did that, a huge hole was blown away just at the place where they had been standing mere moments ago. 

'What the hell is happening here?'

Zok turned around to see who or what attacked them all of a sudden and at that moment, he saw something he did not think he would in a long time. It was the arachnid queen.

'No. it looks the same but it's different.'

Just like the Arachnid, this creature too had eight hairy legs but it was much bigger than the arachnid was. Another point worth noticing was that this beast had a pointed tail as well as two sharp claws.

As for his skin, it didn't have any. In its place, the beast was covered in a solid layer of a light blue exoskeleton. All in all, the beast looked much deadlier than the arachnid ever did, even though it did not appear to be an aberrated one. 

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Basic Information:

Species: Abyssal Stinger Scorriones 

Gender: Male 

Level: 30-35

Stats:

HP: 10000-12000

Strength: 86-100

Defence: 123-150

Stealth: 77-89

Stamina: 79-90

Knowledge: 0-20

Agility: 40-57

Accuracy: 57%-60%

Nest Location: Unknown (Kill a dozen of these beasts to discover the location of the creature's nest.)

Additional Information: An relatively dangerous desert-dwelling beast with fairly high intelligence for a beast. Often complimented on its skill to hide in the sand before suddenly revealing itself and dragging its prey back inside its hell hole to slowly feast upon them.

One of the sneakiest bastards one could encounter in any desert. It is difficult to locate them and even more difficult to dodge their sneak attack. Usually, these beasts are not used to or good at long-drawn battles. Their sole focus is on attacking and running away. 

The exoskeleton around them allows them to even survive in the harshest of weather. It also helps them to stay comfortable while they waited for a prey unaware of their trap. These creatures are also highly venomous.

Their stinger is their primary weapon and holds a venom to paralyse and kill their prey. However, sometimes the venom, after being stored for too long turns into some kind of acid. Either way, one should be aware of Scorrione's stinger.

The same goes with their pincers. Even though there are no venom glands within the pincer but they possess abnormal strength in them. Enough strength to rip their targets to shred before forcefully consuming them. 

However, they had terrible eyesight and usually have to depend on the vibration around them to locate their enemies. It is also the reason why they hide under the sand and wait for a prey to walk over them before attacking them. 

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"Exoskeleton again huh... it should be fun.." A smile popped on Zok's face as he took out the spear from his inventory, "The level difference within us isn't huge, so I should be able to slay it on my own and have Kaira gain the exp."