“Move over, your damn mucus is dripping all over me.”

  “No can-do buddy, I'm quite comfortable lying down like this.”

  Khaelen and I were currently sequestered dozens of meters underground in a small, cramped cavern. While he sat in the corner hunched over with his knees tightly drawn in, I lay at ease on a soft mattress of leaves with all my limbs spread wide.

  I sipped on a cool, fizzy drink I’d purchased from the Shop as several of my tentacles performed a full-body massage.

  Ah, this was the life.

  Khaelen grumbled as he shifted in place, saying, “Can’t believe I was the one with the closest Nemesis... being stuck down here with you and listening to your stupid jokes all day is literal hell.”

  “Hehehe, don’t pretend like you didn’t laugh at some of them. Anyways, have they gotten any closer to us?”

  “Not yet. They’re still circling the area. About a kilometer from our position, I’d say.”

  Hm, quite cautious for a Tier 4 otherworlder. I’d expected them to rush in immediately, but it had already been over a day since we hid underground.

  Nevertheless, the trap had already been set; the smoldering wreckage of trees and various craters dotted the surroundings. Large splotches of blood and the occasional limb could be found lying about as well. At a quick glance, a catastrophic battle appeared to have taken place.

  Hopefully, they’d make their move soon. Another one of the group’s Nemeses would be arriving soon as well, and things could potentially get quite messy with the addition of a third party.

  I wiggled the periscope tentacle that remained above and rotated it fully in a small circle. This tentacle was linked to an “extension cord” of sorts, created by fusing multiple appendages together to form a long rope of flesh.

  At the end of it, I attached a pair of Deinopi eyes as well as ears that fed sensory information to one of my auxiliary brains. As such, I was able to clearly observe the situation on the surface from the comfort of my cavern underground.

  The rest of the group was waiting on standby a few kilometers away, as previously planned. If I determined that I wouldn’t be able to handle the enemies alone, they’d rush over immediately.

  For this venture, I didn’t anticipate needing their help however; Khaelen’s Nemesis appeared to be of entirely average strength for a Tier 4 race, at least stat-wise.

  Of course, if there were more than a few of them the story would change.

  Khaelen and I continued to lie in wait as several more hours passed. His Nemesis gradually circled closer and closer, until finally, a faint rustling noise was heard.

  The periscope tentacle immediately turned in the direction of the sound, and soon two figures could be spotted high in the trees.

  They gingerly moved forward, until their appearances could be fully seen.

  A thick, chitinous shell covered much of their segmented bodies, as they crawled forward on three pairs of armored limbs. Their large, bulging eyes darted about rapidly while their curved mandibles clicked audibly.

  One of them wielded an obsidian greataxe, while the other carried four long, faintly glowing blades. Several pieces of equipment and accessories adorned their bodies; these were by far the wealthiest otherworlders I’d seen so far.

  Their multifaceted eyes began to narrow in confusion as they continued to approach their Nemesis marker.

  Soon, they stood directly on top of the marker, located in front of a large tree.

  One of them chittered to the other, which was picked up my ears and automatically translated.

  “Are you sure this is the spot?”

  “Yes, there’s no doubt about it... unless there’s a mistake with the System.”

  “That can’t be possible. The only other explanation is that.... damn, we need to get out of here!”

  Too late.

  My massive frame burst out of the ground in an explosion of dirt and sediment. The immovable Onisha arms tightly grasped Khaelen’s struggling Nemesis, while a second pair of hands quickly carved a thick incision in its exposed thorax.

  I swiftly inserted my poison-coated tail as well as the Void Dagger for good measure. While not working as quickly as they had on the Glathar, the various poisons soon began to exert their effects.

  In the blink of an eye, I also brutally tore off all its flailing limbs, leaving only a segmented carapace and its head behind. The disabled Nemesis was then tossed down the underground tunnel and into Khaelen’s waiting arms.

  The other Tier 4 otherworlder, who had initially fled upon my sudden ambush, returned upon seeing the merciless dismantlement of its partner.

  Chittering furiously, it swung its greataxe at a shocking speed directly at my helmet.

  As I bent my knees, preparing to dodge, I suddenly found myself unable to move. The ground had risen to my knees and hardened into an unknown metal, sealing me in.

  The greataxe continued its trajectory towards my head. Despite my abrupt immobility, I made no attempt to defend and merely stared calmly as it approached.

  With only inches remaining between us.... it swung forward and only struck thin air, eventually leaving a shallow mark on the metallic ground.

  I found myself back in the cavern underground, having activated the Rebounding Boots’ ability that I’d prepared beforehand. Khaelen was there as well, preparing to deliver the final blow to his Nemesis.

  He raised an eyebrow at my sudden appearance, asking, “Everything alright up there?”

  “Yeah I’m fine. It just took me off guard, is all. I’m heading back out.”

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  “Ok, I’ll be right behind you once I finish this up.”

  I clambered back up the tunnel and began pursuing the Tier 4 otherworlder, who had retreated after its initial attack failed.

  As it narrowly dodged an energy blast from behind, it created a massive metal barrier that temporarily blocked my progress.

  Right as I managed to climb over it, I was greeted by a surging wave of metal that sprouted from the ground. I hastily activated the Wanderer’s Ward and lashed out with all my might.

  The temporary shield along with my counterattack allowed me to remain relatively unscathed, but I was now trapped in a cocoon of metal. The walls strained and creaked as they pressed against the shield in an attempt to crush me. Outside, I could vaguely sense the otherworlder continuing to reinforce and expand its cage.

  Think you’ve got me, do you?

  I withdrew several sets of Talpiderys claws and grafted them onto my body. As the claws smoothly cut through the earth, I escaped the enclosure with great ease.

  I continued to tunnel for several meters before finally reemerging. With all my artillery already charged, they immediately fired as the backside of the otherworlder came into view.

  Several beams of light shot forth and were deflected off its armored shell, with only one managing to penetrate a chink in its defenses.

  Hm, that shell was sturdier than I’d thought.

  The smell of burning flesh filled the air as it hissed in pain and turned around, preparing to activate its ability once more.

  Suddenly, a massive swarm of shurikens pierced through the air and struck it from every direction, creating icy explosions.

  It struggled to break free as a layer of frost steadily formed and encased it in a frozen prison. A taste of its own medicine, so to speak.

  With its movements now effectively sealed, I dashed forward and swung Storm Caller in a wide arc.

  Crunch!

  The armored invertebrate collapsed to the floor, its chest cavity completely caved in and leaking green juices. Its segmented limbs thrashed about erratically while it seemingly lost control of its ability, causing metal formations to sprout randomly.

  I raised Storm Caller and prepared to deliver the finishing blow but hurriedly caught myself. No need to cause any unnecessary damage to my precious parts.

  Instead, I ignored its flailing forearms and with one smooth movement, reached deep into its shattered chest. A slippery mass was soon felt and subsequently ripped out, causing it to spray jets of blood as it continued to strongly beat in my hand.

  I stowed the heart away in my Inventory and watched as the light in its eyes quickly faded away.

  Ding!

  Ding!

  Another world, turned to dust. The second of many more to come.

  A heavy feeling settled upon my chest but I carried no regrets. The moment they entered this area, their lives had been forfeit.

  Soft footsteps echoed behind me as Khaelen approached.

  “Any injuries?”

  “Nope. It was a clean kill. But what was that just now? I’ve never seen you throw that many shurikens out at once before.”

  Khaelen smirked as he said, “Did you like it? I might be able to give even you some trouble now. The ability I got from my Nemesis lets me create temporary copies of my weapons. Even the frost ability that I infuse into them gets duplicated as well, so I’ve got some serious firepower now. If I could use mana, I’d be able to make even more.”

  “Alright, don’t get cocky now. I can still squash you anytime, you little punk.”

  Still, he hadn’t been entirely wrong. Given the right circumstances and some luck, he might have been able to defeat that Tier 4 otherworlder even without my intervention. Receiving an additional ability that even slightly synergized with your original could cause your combat ability to skyrocket.

  I then turned my attention to the best part of winning a battle; the loot!

  According to the agreement we’d settled on beforehand, I’d have the first pick of any piece of equipment per body. In addition, I’d keep all the points from any enemies that I killed myself, and half of all points from any that I didn’t.

  The remaining equipment and points would split up amongst the rest of the group according to need and contribution levels.

  I’d already profited a cool 30,000 points from this battle alone, but I suspected the real rewards remained on their bodies.

  I first inspected the otherworlder I’d just killed and removed a pair of gloves, three accessories, and its greataxe.

  Quite the jackpot, even for a Tier 4 otherworlder. Every single item would be worth a small fortune on the Shop, and there had clearly been some thought put into its selection of equipment. Seems like it’d gotten rich off the deaths of its companions.

  I wanted it all. Yet I could only pick one... the ultimate dilemma.

  As I knelt on the floor and moaned while shedding fat tears, like an obese child who’d been denied entry to a buffet, Khaelen finally interjected.

  “Alright alright, stop pretending to cry. I know you put in an extra tear gland just so you could do that. Just take two things from this one and leave everything else on the other body.”

  Instantly, the waterworks vanished as I perked back up with a broad smile.

  “Really? You’re sure? No going back, ok?”

  “Yes, it’s fine. I already asked Xandros and the others, and they don’t mind. Check the stuff from my Nemesis before you do though, in case there’s something you like more.”

  I rifled through the small assortment of goods that he presented me with. There were a couple interesting items within them, but nothing better than what I already wanted.

  After some careful deliberation, I decided to take the [Gloves of Deflection] and [Unga Bunga’s Blessing]. The greataxe wasn’t a high priority since I already had Storm Caller, and I could stack [Unga Bunga’s Blessing] quite quickly with all my additional limbs even without the reduced weight.

  I set aside the corpses of the Tier 4 otherworlders for careful investigation later, and called in the next member with the closest Nemesis. The ability grinder must go on!

  Hm, it’s just a pity we couldn’t get that metal manipulation ability. It was quite powerful, and I could think of a variety of ways we could have utilized it.

  As I began to burrow back down to the cavern below and prepare for the next wave, an idea popped into my head.

  We might not be able to get the extra abilities but.... there was a business opportunity here.