"Okay... Let's start with something safe."
I spotted a patch of glowing moss on a rock. It pulsed softly, almost like it was breathing.
"Will this even count as a food?"
Well, only one way to know.
I floated down and gently bit the corner of the moss.
At first, nothing happened.
Then-
[Eclipse Gluttony Activated]
Glowing Moss Consumed
+1 Mana
Absorption Complete
"Oh! It works!"
But my excitment immediately dropped.
"That tiny moss gave me only ONE mana point...?"
At this rate I'd need to eat an entire field just to refill my mana. That wasn't practical and worse-
My stomach stll felt empty.
"I need better food..."
I looked around again.
The cave was full of glowing puddles, moss, rocks, and strange-sizex insects crawling in corners.
"No, No way. I'm not eating bugs."
I said that, but deep inside, I knew I might need to eat anything... Everything... To survive.
"I'll... I"ll try moss for now..."
I continued chewing on different patches, slowing collecting mana while keeping an eye out for danger.
Every few seconds, I flinched at small sounds. A crack. A drip. A distant squeak.
But my instincts were clear:
Keep moving while eating. Staying in one place is asking to die.
As I moved deeper, more knowledge clicked in my mind like the system was quietly feeding me information.
According to the system. The Undercity Maze was the lowest level of the Tower of Night. Monsters born here were usually: Small, weak, poorly developed, hunted by stronger monsters above.
That meant anything below the maze must be deadly. And anything above the Maze was stronger thatn the creatures down here.
Why?
Because even if the monster were weak, the maze shifted so often that people could get lost forever. Most explorers avoided the undercity unless they had a death wish.
For me, born here as a tiny moth, it meant one thing:
Every corner could hide something that wanted to eat me. And the system wasn't joking when it gave me 3% survival rate.
"Alright... I have to be smart. Careful. Quiet." I fluttered onward.
After maybe an hour of slow flight, I stopped. There it was again. A scraping sound.
Skrrr.... Skrrrr...
My wings stiffened. A chilly fear crawled down my back. "Not the rat again..." I carefully hid behind a stalagmite, peeking out. What I saw wasn't a rat.
Somthing worse.
A crawler spider.
It was about half the size of the rat, but still hude compared to me. Its legs were thin but fast, scratching the ground as it moved. Its body was dark, with faint blue patterns like moss and crystals.
If the rat was a brute, this spider was an assassin. Silent. Precise. Sneaky.
I froze.
The spider paused too. Its many eyes scanned the cave slowly. "Please don't see me. Please don't see me" My mana sense felt sharp like the air got colder around the spider.
then-
The spider moved away. Quiet. Smooth. Almost graceful. Only when I could no longer hear its legs did I breathe again. "That thing would kill me in one bite.."
I didn't even want to imagine how painful it would be. But as I flew away carefully, I noticed something odd. The glowing moss in the spider's path had been eaten.
"Even spiders eat mana? Or maybe that one was hungry..."
Either was, I needed to avoid that thing at all costs.
-
My wings were getting tired, so I searched for a safe place. After a long time navigating twisting tunnels, I found something beautiful.
A small open area lit by large mana crystal stuck in the ceiling. Beneath it was a shimmering pool, glowing bright blue, surrounded by thick moss. It looked almost like a tiny garden.
"This feels too safe."
That usually meant danger. But I needed rest, I needed mana, and I needed FOOD.
I hovered down, the glowing pool refected my tiny body. I looked ridiculous, but I didn't care. Slowly, I lowered my mouth to the water and took a sip. Immediately-
[Eclipse Gluttony Activated]
Mana Water (Pure) Consumed
+10 mana
+1 Essence
Absorption complete
My whole body tingled with warm energy.
"Ohhhh... Nice..."
It didn't remove the hunger, but my wings felt ligther. Stronger. I took another sip. Again, warm energy flowed through me.
I felt alive. For a moment, everything felt peaceful.
Too peaceful.
-
Drip.
A sound echoed in the still garden, my antennae twitched, I turned around slowly. My heart, or what so organ moths had-dropped, from the dark tunnel mouth, something slithered out.
A Shadow Serpent.
Long, smooth, darker than the cave around it. Its glowing yellow eyes locked onto me instatly. Thuis creature was on another level. A predator meant to hunt small monster like me.
My instticnt screamed louder than any alarm.
RUIN. FLY. NOW.
I shot upward as the serpent lunged-
SWOOOSH!
It jaws snapped shut where I was just a second ago.
I flapped my wings as fast as I could. I couldn't thinl, I could only move.
"FLY FLY FLY FLYFLY-!"
The serpent twisted and struck again. I dodged-barely
It whipped its tail, nearly craking the rock beside me.
"STOPTRYING TO EAT ME-!"
My stamina dropped. My wings burned. I couldn't keep this up. I darted behind the large mana cyrstal in the ceiling. The serpent rammed into it sending vibrations across the cave.
Cracks formed.
The crystal began to fall.
Right in top of me.
"OH COME ON-!"
I darted away a split second before the crystal crashed into the ground.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Dust clouded the cave
The entire garden shook...
The serpent recoiled, stunned. This was my chance. I flew through a small hole in the wall, so small that only something as tine as me could pass through,
The serpent stuck, but its head couldn't fit in.
I escaped by centimeters.
The serpent hissed angrily, but I was safe...
For now...
To be continued...