Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

"Replication."

Pushing the word from his lips, he called upon his doppelganger for aid as the wordless extensions of himself was manifested from shadow. He stood back-to-back with his copy, standing his ground as the eight-legged creatures began their approach.

Three of the stone-skinned spiders were in front of him, carefully moving closer. While he was confident he could fell one in a single strike, the agility of the arachnids made it difficult to do so without facing retaliation from the remaining two.

'Alright–I need a meatshield,' Finn thought, raising his hand as it momentarily was enveloped in a shroud of faint, yellow aura.

["Summon: Lost Goblin"] [Mana: -300] [650/2100]

Between himself and the approaching creatures, the expended mana gave way to a grim seal on the ground in which the greens-kinned fiend crawled its way out of. The ravenous goblin didn't waste a moment launching itself directly at the spiders while thrashing its claws and gnasing its teeth.

He watched as the summoned goblin leapt onto the foremost arachnid, stabbing its sharpened nails into the creature's head while biting into it. All the while, the berserk goblin was bitten into by the other arachnids, trading life for a life.

Finn didn't waste the opening, dashing in as he set his sights on the eight-legged creature to the left that had sunk its mandibles into the decoy's side. He brought his dagger up before plunging it into the arachnid's brain, pulling it out in the same motion.

The venom of the poisons made quick work of the goblin-turned-distraction as the helpless fiend was left with its flesh decaying rapidly, seizing up entirely as it screeched.

["Grand Widow x2 defeated."] ["Anarch Coins x300 obtained."]

[Experience points: +1000] [2600/32500]

[Assimilated ability(s) from ["Grand Widow"]: "Web Sphere" | "Produce: Widow Venom" 3 / 5]

'It managed to deal with one–that's good,' Finn acknowledged, finding that the goblin's ravenous efforts claimed one of the arachnids.

As the goblin was left as a fallen husk, the remaining of the foremost three turned its attention to the assassin as it lunged straight for him. It leapt in such a fashion that it spread all eight of its legs with its underside exposed, as if planning to completely envelop him.

He flexed his body as to invoke the skill he sought, sucking in a quick breath–

["Greater Gale Blessing"] [4:59]

With the powerful essence of wind enveloping him, he moved forward with enhanced swiftness, meeting the creature halfway amidst its lunge. He stopped just in front of it, facing it with his right shoulder forward before slashing his dagger in an upward fashion.

The bolstered wind acted as an extension of his blade's reach, carving straight up the middle of the spider.

["Grand Widow defeated."] ["Anarch Coins x150 obtained."]

[Experience points: +500] [2100/32500]

[Assimilated ability from ["Grand Widow"]: "Adhesive Grip" 4 / 5]

A single breath was emitted before he turned around, finding himself stepping on the putrid, purple blood and guts of the slain spiders. Just as he turned, he found the doppelganger of himself having finished its own number pair of the spiders.

["Grand Widow x2 defeated."] ["Anarch Coins x300 obtained."]

[Experience points: +1000] [3600/32500]

[Assimilated ability(s) from ["Grand Widow"]: "Summon: Giant Window" 5 / 5]

Still, the doppelganger was covered in bites, though still standing–THWOOM.

Finn watched as the replication of himself was snatched up by a spider that dwarfed the others, seeming to have leapt down from one of the roofs. It was at least five times larger than the rest, with black-and-red skin and legs long enough to skewer humans completely.

"Of course," he mumbled with a tired exhale.

It had completely torn apart the doppelganger, leaving Finn raising his singular dagger as the one saving grace between himself and those twitching mandibles.

He prepared for it to approach, though instead found a resounding "squelch" filling his ears. The sound met his ears before the effect of it met his vision: the colossal monster of a spider was split in half before his eyes.

"--Huh?" He audibly let out.

As the creature was bisected thoroughly with its purple guts being splashed in every direction, he saw what was responsible, or rather who–

"Like I said," that familiar, apathetic voice spoke. "Can't run, can't hide. All you can do is die."

Standing amidst the split corpse of the spider was the cleaver-wielding hunter, who didn't care as the vile blood rained down atop his head of snow-white hair.

"You look surprised," Crow said, stepping forward as the remnants of the spider were squashed beneath his boots.

All Finn could do was take slow steps back, maintaining the distance as he laced his fingers around his dagger. It was the last thing he wanted to see, but he wasn't surprised to find himself pursued by the hunter.

"Did you think I'd give up on you that easily? Oh, Finn, don't underestimate my urge to kill you," Crow said, raising the flat blade close to his face as it dripped with the gunk of the arachnid.

There wasn't anywhere to take cover within the scope of the parking lot, only cobweb-infested trees that were rooted into the concrete.

'Shit…Guess there's nothing to do but fight,' Finn readied himself.

SHEEEEN

A light pierced through the sky; a radiant, sapphire glow that passed right by Finn, watching as it flashed across the lot, straight for the hunter.

Crow was caught off guard as well, only able to use his cleaver to block it, "Oh?--I didn't invite anybody else!--"

The force of the inexplicable arc of light caused Crow to be pushed back while defending against it, before eventually being knocked off his feet while deflecting the energy.

'What the hell was that…?' Finn questioned, looking back in the direction it came from.

Only one possibility came to mind, likening the slash of sapphire force to be a spellblade ability, expecting the sight of his feminine companion. However, who arrived was not any such skirted, young woman, but instead an oddly-dressed figure.

A man not imposing in height, likely an entire head shorter than Finn. While they wore the silver helmet of a medieval knight with gauntlets to match, the stranger matched that armor attire with a baby-blue hoodie, jeans, and sports shoes.

It was definitely a questionable outfit, though at that moment, all Finn questioned was if the mysterious figure was a friend or foe.

["Sleuth Status"]

[...Assessing information about [???]...]

[Name: Jasper]

[Age: 22]

[Designated Class: Knight]

[Level: 30]

"You…Thanks for the help," Finn said, watching as the peculiarly-dressed knight arrived beside him in the web-infested parking lot.

The stranger responded, "Not here for you. That one there is a problem. I'm after him." Jasper clarified, speaking with an accent that stood out to the assassin.

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