Free Web NovelChapter 27: Hunting praying mantises with a scythe [3]
Watching the leg approach, I raised my scythe quickly and blocked the attack, the force sending me stumbling back a couple of steps.
Another came from my left, slicing at my thigh with one of its front legs. I spun the scythe’s blade to block it, but the mantis redirected the strike at the last second, aiming for my stomach instead.
I pulled back, but not fast enough. Two shallow cuts opened across my stomach, drawing a little blood. My body was mana-enhanced so the wounds were nothing serious, but they still stung.
It wouldn’t be pleasant having my insides spilled out, that’s for sure.
I took a stance, my dominant hand gripping the scythe near the rear, my left hand bracing the middle of the shaft, the way I had learned online for how to hold one properly.
The mantises went still, watching me.
Since they weren’t advancing, I went on the offensive instead, charging the one on my right. When I got close, I swung the scythe at its head, carving a black arc through the air.
It snapped its front legs forward and parried the attack, and before I registered what was happening, one of its scythe-legs had hooked around behind me, the serrated edge biting into my back and dragging me toward its open, fanged mouth.
"Shit—"
Black tentacles burst from my back and slapped the limb away, just in time for me to jump clear before its jaws closed on my head.
"Caught me off guard." I said, touching my bleeding back as it began to heal.
I hadn’t realized praying mantises could use their scythe-legs to hook and reel in prey like that.
It had nearly bitten my head clean off.
’Praying mantises are known for eating their prey’s head while it’s still alive. Don’t let them grab you.’ Ezio said.
I really did not want to be eaten alive. I imagine it’s not a pleasant experience.
Watching the mantises, I felt a chill crawl under my skin. I had never been a fan of bugs even at their normal size, and now I was facing ones the size of a grown man. Not funny in the slightest.
And you know what’s worse than them being that big?
They can fucking fly! That’s just unfair!
Curse whoever created them, oh wait, that was me. Yeah, fuck me, I guess.
Okay, that came out weird.
Two of the mantises lunged at once, one going for my legs, the other aiming to take my head off.
I raised the scythe horizontally and absorbed the first attack on the shaft, the impact driving my feet slightly into the dirt.
At the same time, tentacles rose from behind my shoulders and intercepted the second.
I caught sight of a third closing in from behind, so I let go of the shaft with my left hand and drove a punch into the thorax of the one in front of me, sending it flying back with a loud screech.
My tentacles wrapped around the legs of the mantis above me, and twisting my torso, I hurled it straight into the one approaching from behind. The two collided in midair.
When I looked around, the remaining two were gone, already blended back into the foliage.
I was about to slam the scythe into the ground to kick up dust and expose them, but I didn’t get the chance before a fourth mantis dropped down on me from above.
Crash!
My back hit the ground as I raised the scythe over my head, just barely stopping its strike from skewering my chest.
"These hideous bastards keep popping in and out like it’s nothing!" The mantis lunged forward, jaws snapping toward my face... my precious beautiful face.
I turned my head and it bit nothing but dirt and sand. It tried again, and I dodged again, the beast missing a second time.
Hieek! Srrk!
It hissed and coughed up sand.
"What does sand even taste like?" I smiled and kicked it off me.
When I looked up again, more legs were already thrusting at my face, so I rolled clear and used the scythe as a cane to push myself back to my feet.
The moment I was up, the rest of the mantises closed in around me again, and this time they looked even more ferocious, especially the one that had eaten sand.
From what I’d been observing, the mantises never got too close or stayed too far. They kept their distance right at the edge of their striking range, and the moment I stepped into it, they struck.
They also never let me get too close to them, unless it was to drag me in themselves.
That told me how important reach was. A scythe wasn’t a swordsman’s weapon. It was a weapon of spacing.
A scythe was meant to kill before the enemy could even close the distance.
So I copied their approach, dropping into a low stance with the scythe ready to strike the moment one of them entered my range.
I stayed perfectly still and waited, which clearly confused them, since I had simply stopped moving.
When one finally drifted into range by mistake, my scythe flashed forward, tearing through the air and slicing off one of its back legs.
Shrieeeekk! freёweɓnovel.com
It shrieked in pain as the severed leg hit the dirt, staining the ground with its nasty green blood.
Enraged, it charged straight into my range, and my scythe was already cutting through the air, the blade slicing clean through its thorax, leaving a white line across the wound before the upper half slid off and hit the ground, green blood splattering everywhere.
[You have slain a Mid Common Beast, Bamboo praying mantis.]
"Two down." I said, bracing the shaft with both hands to block another incoming strike.
The remaining mantises, having watched another of their own die, pulled back to a distance and hissed instead of attacking.
"Not going to attack?" I said, spinning the scythe in my hands. "I’m actually learning a lot about this thing thanks to you guys—"
Suddenly the wings on their abdomens snapped open and the colour drained from my face.
Shit, those disgusting things were going to fly!
They lifted off the ground and came at me fast, mouths shrieking.
As they closed in, I decided to try something I had no idea would work, but screw it, let’s roll the dice.
I infused mana into the scythe and, with everything I had, swung it back and hurled it forward. It tore through the air, spinning like a boomerang, sailing right past the flying mantises.
Damn it, I’d missed. freewebnσvel.cѳm
But just before they reached me, the scythe came spinning back and sliced clean through all three, splitting each body neatly in half.
Their severed corpses and entrails came hurtling toward me, so I threw up a cocoon of darkness, shielding myself from the mess.
"Phew, almost got hit by those disgusting things." I sighed in relief.
[You have slain a Mid Common Beast, Bamboo praying mantis.]
[You have slain a Mid Common Beast, Bamboo praying mantis.]
[You have slain a Mid Common Beast, Bamboo praying mantis.] The system confirmed the kills.
When the cocoon of darkness dissolved, a nasty smell hit my nose instantly.
"Fuck, why does it smell so bad? Is that you, Ezio?" I said in disgust.
’What...?’
