Chapter 7:

End of the reign of centipedes

Class: Train Summoner

Today was the day!

Three weeks since I came to this world, two weeks since I last talked to a person, and with only four packs of ready meals left, it was today or never. Well, I had a wagon-full of chicken meat, but as I’d discovered, the meat would disappear if I un-summoned the wagon, and having the wagon itself in the upcoming fight against the centipedes was a severe disadvantage.

I’d levelled up all the way to level 31 by hunting the chickens, using them to lure in scorpions, and then squashing the scorpions with my train before repeating. Rinse and repeat; quite literally in the case of my locomotive’s wheels.

I’d discovered other kinds of monsters in the desert as well. Most were giant versions of crawling insects, with a handful looking straight out of fantasy games.

My best theory as to why the centipedes were chasing me was that they saw me as some threat to their territory or mating. What I knew for sure was that they were most active around dusk and dawn.

I stopped my train on the edge where the larger dunes transitioned into shallower mounts of very fine sand.

I checked my stats.

<Name: Chiyo Hara>

<Level: 31>

<MP: 1800/1800>

<EXP: 560/3100>

< Strength: 10/10.>

< Dexterity: 10/10.>

< Perception: 8/10.>

< Magical affinity: 18/10.>

After testing it with a single talent point, I realised improving strength really gave me an edge over the monsters. Once I got my magical affinity to a place where I could summon, remove, and summon my train again, I started maxing out the other stats. The sensation was a bit strange; it was similar to how I became more and more aware throughout the morning, as I fully woke up. Except, this was happening over days, and now I could no longer unsee, from almost any distance, the shift in the yellow hues of the sand, and the individual strokes of dust in the rings around the larger moon.

With everything in order, I hopped out of the locomotive. I jogged a few meters to the side and punched the ground.

My gauntlet permanently lived around my right hand now, mostly as a result of my having to defend myself at any time with little to no notice. I had to trade the other glove for a leather work glove so I could still operate the machinery in the train.

Sand splashed all around the impact of my fist, revealing dry brown soil underneath.

“Perfect!” I exclaimed.

This meant the centipedes wouldn’t be able to burrow, but the 30 or so centimetres of sand would still reduce their speed.

The only thing left to do now was to wait.

I climbed back onto my locomotive and leaned over the railing that ran on its outer edge. A fresh, faintly brine-scented wind picked up. Sand formed streams that ran from the dunes over and in between the elevated mounts. The wind pushed locks of my hair into my eyes and blew the double collar of my shirt up into my face.

I shoved the triangular tips of the collar into the top of the plate armour that my conductor jacket had become.

The conductor's trousers had morphed into shorts that, through some magical means, kept me cool during the day and warm at night. The boots, much like the gauntlet, had taken on a permanent form of plate armour shoes, and shin and knee guards.

I’d also accumulated a fair few extra resistances over these weeks, and I was confident that at the very least I would teach the centipedes a lesson about stalking young girls in the desert.

I sighed and glanced down at the railing and rails under it.

What am I?

I had a life… Why am I fighting giant centipedes in the desert?

A tear fell onto the gauntlet.

Then another.

I knew there was no point to this, that no one would see or hear - or help - me, but I simply couldn’t stop.

I gasped for air as what was only a few tears at first turned into full weeping.

It’s just too unfair! I want my parents … I want my mum to hold me and tell me that I’ll figure it all out! Not -

Sure enough, just as I was at my lowest, a very familiar rumbling came from within the dunes.

I wiped my eyes with a corner of my shirt, brushing away all those thoughts and grief. This place was pushing me to my limits, but for now, I could still push back. I rushed inside the locomotive and pulled onto the throttle, luring the two centipedes that’d emerged from the dunes into the shallow sand. I let one of them catch up before letting go of the throttle.

Purple carapace sped past me just a metre or so above the level of the floor of the cab. The centipede on my right was much larger, almost fully blocking the light coming into the cab.

I took a step back, then jumped onto the back of the smaller centipede. It slowed and let the slowing locomotive overtake it.

The larger centipede circled around the locomotive, readying itself to slam-attack it from the front.

I planted my left hand into the centipede’s carapace, creating a deep dent before punching straight through it. Unlike the scorpion, the grey flesh on its insides did not stink of anything other than faint, bitter ammonia.

The centipede shook and stopped running before rolling onto its side.

I leapt into the sand and watched as it continued to roll and spasm, trying to get whatever had harmed it off its back.

The size of the centipede sent a cold shiver running down my spine. The grey scales on its belly were about half a meter long and three meters wide each, and its insectoid multi-jointed legs were about a metre when fully extended. Its whole body must have been at least three train carriages long, about fifty meters or so. But I didn’t have time to study it.

A crack came from the train. The wooden wagon that shattered under purple legs and scales, spreading chicken jerky all around it.

“Stop-”

I lunged at the centipede before me, punching through its belly plates.

“Following -”

It curled around on itself, opening its mandibles to try to pull me off it. I could see the dunes through the hole I’d just made in it, and I was surprised it was still moving.

“Me!”

I jumped up, grabbing its mandible. I flicked myself up on its head before punching through it.

“Me…” I repeated again.

Tears had formed at the corner of my eyes again as I’d realised that there was indeed no one but me for the monsters to follow.

All alone…

“Huh.”

This sweetens the deal. Yes. This … sweetens the deal.

The larger centipede rushed towards me. I ran from it, still atop the purple scales of the one I’d just defeated.

The centipede rose up, ready to slam-attack me. I snapped around and ran at it.

It fell down, aiming its mandibles at me. And I continued running, readying my right fist.

Just as it covered me with its body, I anchored my feet and twisted my hips, putting as much momentum as I could into the punch.

This one tore the centipede’s body in half, and its head rolled uselessly in the sand.

I jumped back onto the sand. With my heightened perception, I could hear two more centipedes approaching. I wasn’t sure if I should run back to my train to get the same advantage as before, or if I should spend the two points I’d just gained.

The new arrivals burst through the dunes. They were even larger than the one I’d disposed of.

Those talent points quickly went to my ‘strength’ as that was what I was using the most of right now.

I quickly leapt onto the larger centipede’s body to try and get at least some height advantage. The centipedes were originally running towards the train, but as soon as they saw me, they changed course.

I backed away, then ran to get momentum and jumped. The centipede I was aiming for dodged out of the way.

I landed in the sand, much, much lower than I initially expected. I winced as my knees took the portion of the impact my shoes could not absorb.

< Faulty equipment detected ->

I didn’t finish reading as I dodged the mandibles of the second centipede. It scraped the sand where I was just a moment prior.

I frantically glanced around, looking for an opening. My heart rate was starting to rise, and I worried I had taken on more than I could handle.

Then, my heart sank, and time seemed to stop when my back pressed into a hard carapace. It was just me, in the dark, surrounded… The centipede shifted its body, grabbing me with its long legs.

There were many things that flashed through my mind in that moment. How I could summon my train and run away, how I could just let the centipede eat me, how all of this was my fault for initiating this fight and how the god had been such a terrible person for sending me here in the first place.

One of the talons on the secondary row of legs pierced my armour and dug into my stomach.

I yelled in pain, not even looking at the text that stated the lacking nature of the ‘conductor jacket’.

My name is Chiyo Hara, I like trains, photography, and sweet rice cakes, -

… and I’m not letting this giant centipede eat me!

I raised my knee up, pushing against the carapace encircling me. The armour had reformed around the wound, eliminating the need to compress it, but I still needed to get to a healing potion quickly.

I was going to repeat the phrase I’d just said in my mind out loud, just like my counsellor had told me, but what came out of my mouth instead was a loud scream. Fear was too rightly intertwined with anger at the situation and grief over my past life.

It fuelled the punch and the three that followed.

I turned towards the second centipede, which was already readying a slam attack. I yelled at it at the top of my lungs, letting out the remainder of my emotions. It stopped its attack and dodged several of my punches, easily moving out of my limited reach.

I climbed over one of the fallen centipedes, struggling through the pain in my side, then leapt over it. I punched it through the back, and even though it almost shook me off, eventually I took it down the same way I had the first centipede.

There was no time to rejoice, however, as I saw the edge of a purple carapace towering over the dunes, still some distance away.

I ran to the locomotive and hastily chugged a potion, tying my best to ignore the literal mountain that’d caught up to the train.

The locomotive shook before getting flicked off the ground and into the air.

I made it vanish from around me.

As I floated mid-air, I came face-to-face with a ginormous centipede. This one had spotted patterns of turquoise on its head and along its body, and spikes growing from its forehead and flanks. It rose its head, opening its mouth to swallow me as I fell, and I readied a punch.

The world turned dark as it closed its toothless mouth around me.