Fate Weaver's convergence

V2 C98

"That's disconcerting..."

I mumbled whatever expletives came to mind at the sight before me. Spider-tortoises weren't exactly known, as far as I could research, for being an easy prey item.

"What in the grody-Florida-swampy-fuck happened?"

I was looming over the loose pile of rocks, staring down at what was, clearly, a dead arachnid. Inspecting the corpse, it looked as if its insides were sucked from its exoskeleton. Loose bits of sinew and flesh hung within the exposed openings to the monster, with some off-color bile settling in a small pool around the openings.

What the hell could do this?

I thought as I slowly moved closer. Nothing could be heard around us, nor was there any flow of air around the entrance of the small burrow.

Ughuhuh-

I shivered. Something about the scene gave me a foreboding sense of dread.

"Nuh uh, gotta get the nephrite!"

I shook my head, fighting off the feeling of wanting to abandon the search. Lingering selective arachnophobia or not, I needed to follow through on the fetch quest.

"Okay, so-"

I stood at full height, looking around the small arrangement of stone surrounding the mouth of the burrow.

It's exposed rock that's been passed over who knows how often, maybe some of the surfaces have been polished?

I sighed in resignation, pulling Wyrmstooth from its sheath. Being as I lacked a torch, the sword would have to serve as a glorified light source. Channeling mana through the blade, the traditional message filled my eyes for a moment.

Mana break active

Gods, this is gonna wreak-

With the blade's glow bringing dim but usable light to the darkness of the burrow's mouth, I used the buckler in one of the most disgusting first uses I could find.

KRNCH-PLSHP

With a sickeningly wet crunch, followed by the sudden overwhelming scent of spoiled innards and the splatter of whatever moisture was left inside the shell. Flowing down the shield's face, some small bits of fur and sinew adhered to the spikes. It was an odd feeling to see gore that actually made me want to toss the piece of metal as trash.

"Ugh."

I shook my left arm, trying vainly to shake off the viscera.

"Well fuck."

With the obstruction that was the Spider-tortoise's exoskeleton now partially collapsed, I got a better look into the now dimly lit burrow. It was polished, glistening with web fibers and a strange, wet sheen to the interior. A loose web crackled from contact with Wyrmstooth as I reached forward, cutting loose strands and partially burning them away.

Anything in here? Wonder if the shitstain managed to dig- thank fucking-

I sighed, leaning against the roof opening of the burrow once obstructed by the upper half of the monster's abdomen. Moving around the sword enabled light to glisten just effectively enough to show a green sheen on the rock. My job had been made relatively simple by whatever predator managed to leave its mark, though I wasn't going to waste time and recreate my last solo trip to the pass.

Though, it could just be some type of quartz... I don't have much to go on besides "jade is green."

I gave the rock another once over, debating the gamble whether to call it here and now. With just a split second of deliberation, I yelled out.