Chapter 7: Survival of the fittest.

  As Lucas cautiously made his way toward the ticking sounds, his body rippled and writhed mimicking the whirlpool of emotions and the gnawing hunger he was currently feeling. With each tendriled step, he took closer to the source of the skittering and ticking, the more his form writhed and rippled in nervousness while his “vision” of what the creature was became more detailed.

  Lucas abruptly stopped at a good distance away from the sounds. With his perception, he could hear what he had been tracking these past few minutes. It was—in his opinion— a beetle, a really big one at that. It looked to be much larger than himself, this combined with its huge mandibles and the spines jotting out of its bulky-looking carapace gave it a rather intimidating presence.

  Lucas thought nervously, his tendrils subconsciously hardening and digging deeper into the wall. His rational side told him to get away from this creature as soon as possible.

  Lucas made up his mind and with the hunger that seemed to grow more pronounced every minute, it was not a difficult choice to make. He stalked closer to his would-be prey.

  It didn’t seem to have registered his presence yet as it moved across the cavern floor at a quick pace. Lucas followed behind it as quietly as he could, luckily that did not require much effort given that his movements were almost inaudible by nature.

  Lucas followed the bug for about fifteen minutes, picking up on all vibrations and sounds it made due to its movements with laser-like focus. During this period, the beetle had moved quite erratically. Going through seemingly random tunnels and crawled into crevices haphazardly.

  In some holes, other creatures and insects would be present leading to the armored bug killing them with a few swift chomps. After each kill, it would just eat a small amount of the crushed creatures. It would then buzz its wings over the carcass for a few moments before leaving it as it moved on through the wide and wet passages of the cavern.

  Lucas couldn't help but ask himself as he noticed how the bug handled its prey. He thought of eating its leftovers but the thought nauseated him.

  As he contemplated the armored insect's actions while attempting to lighten his own mood, the beetle suddenly froze like a paused video.

  Then, in an instant, it swiftly darted to a puddle that contained a mysterious liquid. When it got there, the insect clacked its huge mandibles a couple of times before it continued its journey. It never made any physical contact with the puddle once.

  When it left, Lucas made a short stop near the puddle and tried to see if he could figure out what it was. Before he could even get close to touching it, he was immediately hit by the heavy and oppressive smell of rotten flesh with a sharp acidic undertone. One thought immediately surged to the forefront of his mind when he picked up on the scent.

  Due to the fact that Lucas had almost been melted alive by one so recently, he could vividly remember the putrid odor it emitted as it attacked him.

  Lucas reasoned, trying to understand its action, but he didn't let the thought distract him as he kept following the bug's trail.

  As he silently stalked the armored bug, he began to notice more and more creatures darting about, going about their business.

  He saw what 'looked' like a millipede moving around on the side of the cavern wall. It was quite long and looked... fuzzy in his current vision though he couldn't tell exactly why that was the case.

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  He also saw three small rat-like creatures attacking a cockroach with wild ferocity but, their attempts to attack it didn't phase the bug whatsoever. It just swiftly skittered away from the trio who followed it out of Lucas' range of perception.

  These were just a few examples of the buzz of activity going on in the widening cavern, every creature he could sense was in some kind of confrontation, was getting eaten or doing the eating. Multiple paths also appeared, leading to who knows where.

  In the midst of this chaos, Lucas chose to buckle down and follow the armored bug he had been tailing all this while. For some reason, most of the creatures just ignored the beetle and those that didn't, were cleaved apart by its ferocious bite. Lucas on the other hand, just sneaked by the creatures as quietly as he could. Sticking to the walls like his life depended on it.

  Lucas thought grimly, he felt almost overwhelmed by all that was happening around him. He wasn't a human who was "above" these "lower" creatures anymore because, in the sense that mattered the most, he was one of them now.

  Lucas refocused, shutting down the line of thought before any distracting and depressing thoughts could rear their ugly heads. With renewed determination and a blazing hunger in his core, he ventured deeper into the cavern hot on the trial of the armored beetle.

  Eventually, the beetle finally came to a stop. It had finally met its prey—a slime. The slime had just begun crawling out of a rather large crevice in the wall. By comparing its size to the beetle's, Lucas could tell it was much larger than the one that attacked him previously.

  Lucas felt nervous 'seeing' the slime as it slid out of the crevice but the beetle seemed ready for action. It positioned itself directly in front of the slime, its mandibles opened wide and looking ready to pounce.

  Knowing they were about to clash, Lucas tensed up in anticipation, his senses heightened unbeknownst to him as he watched the slime calmly slide towards the waiting beetle, seeming oblivious to the threat.

  SNAP!

  In a sharp burst of motion, the beetle shot at the slime and bit into it with its huge and savage-looking mandibles. The impact produced a wet, sickening quelch as the slime was cut into two uneven halves.

  Before Lucas could react to the sudden assault, the slime reformed itself by the side of the armored beetle’s head and lunged at it. Its jelly-like form consumed the beetle's head and thorax.

  Almost immediately, Lucas heard a very faint hissing sound as the slime’s acidic liquids went to work on the beetle's tough carapace. The originally dark gray beetle had a much brighter head in Lucas' monochromatic vision.

  The beetle, seemingly unbothered by the slime's attack, just opened its mandibles 180 degrees wide before delivering a thunderous chomp at the empty air.

  SNAP!!

  The bite was so powerful that it generated a small shockwave which blasted away parts of the slime on the armored bug's head and shook Lucas to the core. With a few shakes of its head and the firm buzzing of its powerful wings, the slime was fully slung off.

  Lucas watched this happen in quiet awe and fear. Trying his best to follow what was going on. He watched as the slime reformed itself a little bit slower this time and attacked the beetle again only to last for a little while before being destroyed.

  This process repeated itself, with the slime reforming itself slower and slower after each devastating attack from the beetle. Lucas could tell it would not last much longer and he couldn’t help but think to himself.

  As these thoughts streaked across Lucas' mind, the slime had been destroyed by the beetle one final time. The beetle then stood over the puddle it left behind just clacking its deadly mandibles and buzzing its wings.

  In Lucas' vision, he could tell its carapace appeared slightly darker than it did before its fight with the slime—if you can even call it that.

  Before he could fully wrestle with his fears, a faint tremor rippled through the wall above the beetle. Lucas froze, his senses sharpening as the vibrations grew sharper.

  A blur of motion shot out from the cavern ceiling, landing squarely on the beetle’s back with a decisive thud. Lucas’s tendrils quivered as he “saw” the new arrival: a spider-like creature, its form faint and spindly in his monochrome perception. Without hesitation, it sank sharp fangs into the beetle’s thorax, the attack precise and lethal.

  The beetle hissed—a high-pitched, piercing sound that rattled Lucas’ mind. It spun wildly, its tough wings buzzing with such force that they smashed the spider against the wall. The predator crumpled to the ground, stunned but still alive, before attempting a desperate leap away.

  But the beetle was faster. Its mandibles opened wide and snapped shut with bone-crushing force, severing the spider in mid-air. The cavern echoed with the *SNAP* as the beetle ground its would-be assassin into a pulpy mess.

  Lucas flinched, his body instinctively curling tighter against the wall. The beetle tossed the mangled spider’s remains into its maw, its movement sluggish but deliberate. Then, it staggered forward, its steps uneven, the damage it sustained more apparent.

  Lucas’ hunger roared to life, drowning out the rational whispers of retreat. He crept forward, his tendrils gripping the wall with newfound purpose. The beetle, oblivious to its shadowy stalker, continued its slow march toward the deeper darkness of the cavern.

  Lucas readied himself, forcing his writhing form to harden and tighten like a coiled spring. This was it—there would be no second opportunity.