Kai sat on the edge of his bed, the cold stone frame pressing against his back as he scrolled through the interface glowing softly in front of his eyes.
Core Stats:
Host Level: 3
Parasite Level: 3
Gene Count: 3
He exhaled. One full day of nonstop training, and he'd only reached Level 3. Two levels in a day was technically fast, but still...
So it's not exponential, it's a curve.
The stronger I get, the slower I grow. Makes sense.
He swiped into a newly unlocked tab—something he hadn't seen before. The interface flickered, showing a diagram marked "Primary Traits." Only two were listed.
Primary Traits:
Devour – Devour creatures and take a random Gene from them.
Adaptive Gene Canal – Can change the looks of your mutation.
So this is what Sekh gives me directly.
These are his core traits… and maybe mine, too.
Devour was straightforward. He'd used it dozens of times already—ripping out a monster's gene and breaking it down. But the second one caught his interest. Adaptive Gene Canal, that explained why his arm could look like stone, chitin, or something in-between. He wasn't locked into one form.
Sekh's not just a parasite... he's a customizer.
No wonder the old Vogel clan survived as long as they did.
Still, there were only two traits. The others—George 1 through 5—offered mutations, not traits. That meant Sekh's influence was foundational, not situational. It gave structure.
Then the others are modules, loadouts, weapons. Sekh's the spine and the rest are limbs.
He leaned back. Tomorrow, they'd head into spider territory. The rescue of the Princess.
---
The caravan rumbled down the dirt road, wheels creaking under the weight of supplies. Kai sat near the front, flanked by the prince and two high-ranking knights.
Around them, dozens of armored soldiers marched in formation, their polished breastplates gleaming under the morning sun, their swords sharper and their expressions harder than the footmen Kai had seen before.
This wasn't a random skirmish. This was a rescue operation—organized and backed by the kingdom's best.
One of the knights handed Kai a scroll. He unrolled it and scanned the map.
On the far right was their kingdom, its cities marked with solid ink strokes.
On the far left, surrounded by jagged lines representing canyons and dead forests, sat the Spider Kingdom. It was smaller, but dense. Tight clusters of territory wrapped around a central spire—the main castle. That was their target.
"We'll cut through this ravine here," the prince said, pointing at a narrow gap. "It'll bypass two outer nests and let us approach the main castle faster. If we're lucky, we'll avoid most of their spawn."
Kai nodded. "And the princess? What kind of person is she?"
The prince glanced ahead, watching the soldiers before answering. "She's... sharp, but doesn't talk much. But when she does, people listen. She's stubborn as hell and smarter than most of my father's council." He smirked. "Honestly, she should've been born the heir, not me."
Kai narrowed his eyes slightly. "So she's a strategist."
"She was," the prince replied. "Now... I don't know. She's been in that webbed hellhole for months. She's probably not the same."
Kai folded the map and tucked it under his cloak. Great, he thought. A smart hostage means either she's alive and planning her own escape... or the Spider King's already broken her.
He looked ahead. The land started to shift—trees replaced by blackened roots and patches of web-tangled grass. The air was drier.
No one spoke. They were getting close.
The first web struck like a whip, latching onto the neck of the front horse and yanking it down.
The soldier tumbled, screaming, before the fangs silenced him. The formation broke, shields rising as twenty spiders skittered down the cliffs above them, their bodies chittering with synchronized aggression.
They were larger than usual—F-tier, but evolved. Shimmering black armor, thicker limbs, more coordination.
"Hold the line!" the prince shouted.
Kai stepped forward, his body surging as he activated George 1.
Lightning licked across his arms, veins glowing faint blue, his right hand transforming into a jagged thunderclaw. Let's see what you've got, George 1.
The first spider lunged and Kai sidestepped, letting its fang skim past his chest. He responded with a downward slash, thunder erupting as the claw connected.
The spider's carapace cracked open with a flash of white-blue light, its body twitching violently before collapsing. The shockwave arced to the spider behind it, stunning it just long enough for a soldier's spear to pierce its skull.
"Keep moving!" Kai shouted. "Don't give them a nest!"
Three came at him next, legs spread wide, trying to box him in. He ducked low, planted his foot, and surged forward in a lightning sprint—crackling through the first and uppercutting into the second.
His claw discharged on contact, blowing it apart from within. Sparks danced in the air, tracing after him like a comet trail.
One spider circled behind him, fangs ready to strike, but a sword slashed it down—one of the soldiers had caught up, covering his blind side. They nodded at each other before diving back into the chaos.
Soldiers screamed, shields clanged, and Kai leapt again. George 1's lightning synced with his movements now. The parasite pulsed in his body, not just following orders, but reacting. It's adapting…
He grabbed the leg of a spider mid-jump, twisted, and slammed it into another. Electricity chained between their twitching corpses, and Kai turned to face the rest. Eight more. Half were already wounded, some stunned, most distracted.
"Push through!" the prince yelled from the rear, cutting down one more spider.
With one final charge, Kai barreled into the cluster, electricity flooding from his arm and stunning the remaining spiders long enough for the soldiers to clean up.
The field went quiet.
Kai exhaled, standing amidst the scorched shells of their enemies, his arms flickering with residual thunder. George 1 pulsed faintly in his chest, almost proud.
Yeah, Kai thought, breathing heavy. This one's a keeper.
Inside the dim cave, torchlight flickering along the damp stone walls, Kai sat cross-legged near the back. The soldiers were sleeping or tending to wounds, but he wasn't wasting time. He opened the interface again, focusing on his parasites.
[Parasite Management]
George 1 – E- Rarity – [Thunder Mutation]
George 2 – F+ Rarity – [Acid Saliva]
George 3 – F- Rarity – [Temporary Boost]
George 4 – F- Rarity – [Bone Hardening]
He smiled faintly. Not bad, for a bunch of low-ranks. You guys are actually pulling your weight.
He converted a few weak Gene Fragments from the spiders they'd just fought, forming another set of Normalized Fragments.
Normalized Fragments: 10
[Buy New Parasite] – Cost: 10
He tapped to purchase.
[Error: Parasite Capacity Reached
"System Lock: Further expansion locked until evolutionary threshold met."]
"...What?" Kai frowned. "Sekh? You hearing this?"
Sekh's voice came through, calm and patient in his mind. "Yes. This is the system placing a limiter. If you could endlessly replicate parasites at this level, you'd be unstoppable before earning it. Balance must be maintained."
Kai leaned back, sighing. Figures. Every time I find a loophole, something slams the gate shut.
He scanned back through his list. All of them—George 1 to George 4—were still just E-Rarity max. They're not even D-Rank. Not a single rare parasite and not a single rare gene. What the hell, am I cursed or something?
Kai reopened the Gene Interface and scrolled down to check his current list of acquired Genes.
[Gene Storage]
Fertile Sac (F+ Rank) – Heloxian Reproductive Node.
Vorabone Carapace (E- Rank) – Layered bio-chitin.
Echo-Hair Filaments (F- Rank) – Thin sensory hairs.
All bottom-tier, he thought, rubbing his temple. No D-Rank, not even a solid E. I'm literally scraping garbage off the Rift floor.
He flicked through the info boxes again.
Fertile Sac is only useful because of the venom. The carapace helps in a fight, and the sensory hairs are decent for ambushes but worthless against real speed.
His eyes lingered on the carapace gene.
Maybe if I stack it... build a double layer, reinforce the outer shell... I might be able to tank better without relying on parasite support.
He tapped the option to mark it for future mutation stacking, then closed the panel with a grunt.
He tilted his head, eyes narrowing. Maybe it's the world trying to teach me something. Make me build strength the hard way. .
Still, it stung.
"I swear, just one decent parasite or gene would change everything," he muttered under his breath. But even then, he didn't give up. He saved the fragments and closed the screen.
No shortcuts then. I'll evolve the hard way.