This time, I had a level 16 dire spider to deal with.
I took a deep breath and sprinted at the beast, feeling the strength in my limbs multiply as adrenaline surged through them. The level 16’s eight eyes glared at me as it lunged toward my direction with a speed that made the previous monster feel lethargic. It was stronger, faster, and more aggressive.
Sand flew up as we collided. I swung my Kingsfang, tapping into my mana pool again for another [Burning Slash] attack, and chopped at those sturdy legs that held the monster’s enormous mass. Unlike its predecessor, this one was sharper and more accurate with its dodge and counter-attacks.
Raising a spiked leg high, it swiped down at me, forcing me to slide under it and reappear on the other side before rolling to my feet. My Kingsfang was still pouring out heat, igniting the sand with flickering embers that raced around down my trail. The spider wasn’t afraid of heat, as it clearly showed, charging at me as it hissed angrily.
“You can do it, Lu!” Tanvi continued her cheerleading from afar. “Exploit its weak points!”
I was trying, but this eight-eyed freak wasn’t budging any. So far, I hadn’t been able to land a hit on it.
With a quick side-step, I managed to avoid the spider’s webbing string and lunged forward with my fiery blade. I was finally able to slice a leg off, but not without consequences. The spider executed a retaliatory swipe with its foreleg, catching my shoulder. My armor took the brunt of the blow, but the force behind it was enough to send me reeling back. I stumbled backward, managing to keep my footing as I noticed I’d finally shaved off some HP on the ugly bastard.
[HP: 90%]
“Lucien!” The excitement in Tanvi’s voice dipped, and then she addressed Starr. “No, stay back here!”
Of course, she didn’t listen. After I gave Tanvi a quick nod of reassurance, I rolled my shoulder back and ordered Starr to sit. She felt the depth of my voice and did as she was told. She didn’t have anything to worry about—the armor had absorbed the impact adequately, leaving only pressure behind. My HP was still intact, so I wasn’t sweating that. What did alarm me though was how pain had little effect on this higher leveled dire spider.
Here I thought it was safe enough to take a little breather, but the spider was relentless.
The spider launched itself at me again, spittle flying in every direction. It was harder catching my rhythm with this one. Its movements weren’t as easy to read. Again I found myself side-stepping its strike.
It came at me stronger this time, shooting its web. Unfortunately, I failed to dodge it completely. The jetted web splattered across my side and bolted me to the ground. The monster spat venom at me next, and I instantly triggered [Crystalline Ice Shield]. A blue diamond-shaped sigil formed in the air in front of me, followed by the formation of a towering crystal shield. The barricade I created intercepted the venom, and the monster, who crashed right into it.
A bit antsy, though the results were in my favor.
Its overzealousness gave me enough time for my blade to slice through its sticky web.
“A short moment to recollect, but a moment nevertheless,” I muttered to myself as I backed away from my crescent shield. I fanned the rest of the web off of me and then looked up to the monster. I quickly realized that it wasn’t moving, and when I distanced myself and turned to the right to see it, I saw that it was stuck on my shield.
[HP: 87%]
[HP: 84%]
[HP: 80%]
The flame from my [Burning Slash] was eating away at its HP, too.
This was the break that I needed.
With its furry forward limbs stuck on ice, its mobility was severely limited and it could no longer lunge at me with unrestrained fury. The eight-eyed beast writhed and struggled, the furious clicking of its fangs sounding more and more desperate as I brought my blade high to finish it off.
[HP: 79%]
[HP: 78%]
The flame, combined with the freezing temperatures of the ice shield, was a devastating combination for the dire spider, but the residual effect of my [Burning Slash] was slowly tapering off. I had another serving of it ready for it. Luckily for me, with every level up, my mana bar replenished itself. So I charged in and began hacking off body parts to make sure it stayed immobile.
The spider shrieked and reeled back, but the loss of three limbs did not deter it from the conflict, if anything, it only seemed to enrage the beast further.
Its anger only fueled its desperation, and with blind fury it whipped around, attempting to catch me with one of its remaining legs. But its erratic movements were sloppy, making it easier for me to anticipate its next attack.
[HP: 55%]
[HP: 48%]
[HP: 40%]
I step-dodged another leg as it lunged toward me, countering with my Kingsfang which effortlessly sliced through the thick carapace. Although formidable, the dire spider was faltering under my barrage. I watched on as its remaining HP continued to plummet.
“Almost there, Lucien!” Tanvi cheered. Her encouragement spiked my adrenaline. The dire spider, in its wounded state, attempted a last-ditch attack, charging headfirst in my direction. I wasn’t going to let it take me down with it. So I borrowed the fuel from my adrenaline and aimed for its head, and with one final empowered lunge, I plunged Kingsfang deep into the spider’s skull. Right between its eyes, I got to taste the sweet aftermath of a critical hit. Guts and glory—the crisp sound of the beast’s screeching cry echoed in the wind. The spider slumped onto the ground, its vision glazing over as its remaining life force ebbed away.
[HP: 0%]
For a moment, I basked in the victory before exhaling deeply, feeling the slight fatigue from the fight beginning to set in. But I relished in it, savoring every bit of the fight as I often did back at home. Sparring made me feel alive. The invigorating sensation was like a high, and raiding a dungeon was going to be the best high I’d gotten in a while.
You’ve leveled up:
Level 10
New Skill Slot Unlocked
[current skill slots open: 1]
-Free Points Accumulated: 10-
I smirked at the notion of jumping two additional levels and obtained an additional skill slot. But I was so swept up in dopamine that I didn’t realize I wasn’t done fighting yet.
Unfortunately, my spidey sense didn’t work for regular monsters. I realized a moment too late that the last spider was over me when my eyes fell on the shadow growing bigger and bigger from under my feet. Though fortunate for me, I had a fast leopard girl in my party that was more than ready to save my ass.
All I felt was a spray of spider guts hit my back as Tanvi blurred past, landing to the right of me with a smooth slide. When I turned around, I flinched, the ground shaking as the spider that was about to end me fell lifelessly on the ground without its head.
“Admiring your stats, Lucien?” She teased good-naturedly, shaking her blood-covered blades clean before sheathing them. “You’re lucky I was around to watch your back!”
I chuckled nervously and thanked her with a nod, while swiping the spider innards off of my face. “You killed that thing with one strike,” I said, the sight of her strength a sure turn on for me.
“And you will too once you reach my l-le-le-leeeveeeel?!?!” she squeaked and her cute ears perked up. I took from her reaction that she’d just [Inspect] me. “You were just at level 5! How did fighting two low-leveled creatures double it?!”
“Heh, yeah, one of the perks of being part god.”
She giggled. “Oh, you almost said that with a sprinkle of ego, Lu.”
I laughed. “I promise, I am anything but. Thanks for not stepping in for the second one.”
“Only because I believed in you!” She beamed, and without warning, I felt a little dragon tackle me from behind. She gave me plenty of snuggles, the poor girl worried about me. But I was proud of her. She was getting better at listening to my instructions.
“Well go on then! Assign your points!” Tanvi insisted. “And get yourself a new skill while you’re at it!”
“How about this time I get your input?”
“Huh? Me? Help build your stats?”
I chuckled. “Yeah. Is that so implausible?”
“Oh no! It’s just… I’ve never done that for a man before. And usually men tend to take care of that stuff on their own. That whole manful pride persona and whatnot.”
“Well Tanvi, I’d like to think that I’m out of the ordinary,” I replied, shooting her a teasing grin. She clasped her hands together delightfully before guiding me back over to the fallen spider she’d just killed.
“Think about what you need most right now,” she began, her eyes serious as she shifted from playful mode to mentor mode. “You’ve leveled up quite a bit within a matter of just one day. And not even a full day, mind you! That’s insane progress, but with great power comes great challenges, right? You need stability and symmetry to wield this power effectively without letting it blindside you.”
“So, what you’re saying is... I need to balance my stat allocation?”
“Exactly!” Tanvi’s eyes lit up, clearly pleased that I had understood her message. “Strength isn’t everything, Lu. Imagine being all muscle and no brains in a battlefield. You’ll be like a bull in a butcher shop!”
My eyebrows furrowed as I contemplated her metaphor. “So then, focus more on building my defenses and not just my offenses.”
“Yup!”
“Alright. Then I’ll feed my perception, fortitude, and stamina.”
“Great choices!”
“As for my new skill—”
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“I was thinking along the lines of a projectile for range,” she intercepted, looking up her lashes as she grinned at me. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
“So you were studying my fight as well, huh?”
“Sure was!”
I smiled. “Great minds think alike. I do need a good defensive range skill. Let’s go with [Volatile Missiles].”
“I see you’re a man of great taste, Lu! But remember, that skill launches only two projectiles in its lower levels. And the mana requirement is pretty steep for a level 1 skill.”
“Yeah, but its higher levels dish out better rewards for bigger damage. I’d say it’s worth leveling it up for the long term benefits.”
“So fire, ice, and now lightning.”
“I don’t like that look in your eyes. Think mixing elements is a bad idea?”
“Oh no, I like the creativity behind the process, but I’m not sure if anyone really explained to you the benefits of mastering one or two elements.”
“No, so tell me.”
“Well, when you get really good at an element, I mean really good, you can start merging scrolls!”
“Huh?”
“Let me give you an example. Random combo, blood magic and water magic, right? Usually, they don’t mix. But if you master them both, you can mix spells from both. [Blood Pool] meets [Raging Storm] equals [Blood Shower]. You can say that technically blood is water but they actually fall into their own categories.”
“Wow, that’s pretty sweet, actually.”
“Or [Ice Vine] for ice and earth, [Flame Sweep] for fire and wind.”
“Well, with the way I’m leveling, I’m sure I could master a few. Right now, I’m really enjoying fire and ice. Let’s see what lightning can do.”
As I was about to purchase it, I got a rejection—I didn’t satisfy the requirements: 5 silver coins.
Ahh right, this was what déjà vu felt like, I said to myself, thinking about all the times I ended up broke.
“Not enough cash, I presume?”
I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. “How crazy is it that a demigod can’t cough up a few funds for a skill, huh?”
She giggled. “Been there, done that. Usually, we adventure types like to loot first. You never know what you can find.” A menu hovered over the headless dire spider that Tanvi killed, revealing listed rewards for slaying the beast: 3 silver coins, 1 chunk of luminous beast core, White Tier armor, and a shield rune of fortification. “See, from just one monster you can get a pretty decent haul. This one was a luck draw, providing us with a few items for one kill. It’s not always about gold and silver, Lu. A luminous beast core can fetch quite a bit at any market, not to mention how useful it is when it comes to crafting magical familiars. Though, that ability is reserved for the hunter class and some other not so friendly classes. And potions always come in handy, especially when you’re an adventurer who tends to get into fights often,” she explained, and then she scratched at her chin. “Though I guess for you, health potions wouldn’t really be necessary, huh?”
“Only 3 silver coins? I collected 10 from a level nine sabertooth tiger.”
“You got a lucky draw then!” she chuckled. “Any silver in the double digits falls under low-mid to mid leveled monsters.”
I snorted. “I guess I needed a bit of luck after the night I had.”
“Here,” Tanvi said, tossing me the three silver coins. “Take the rest of your loot.”
“My loot? But you killed it,” I reminded her.
“What’s the difference?”
“Ugh, you should have the honor of looting it.”
She looked at me funny.
“Ah, let me guess, patriarchal privilege?”
“The rules of the road, Lu!” She grinned.
“Well, we are changing those rules for the Barros Guild. New rule is that if you kill it, you claim it. Unless you say otherwise.”
“So I can really take all of this for myself?”
“Of course.”
She smirked. “I like these new set of rules. But you can keep the money. I'd rather you get another skill.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Tanvi.”
I went on and looted the other two monsters. More of the same loot, really, with the exception of one spider, the lower leveled one, giving me only a shield rune of fortification, which Tanvi said was crap compared to actual shields, only adding 1 point of defense on top of a color-tiered armor. Tanvi mentioned that not all of the same type of monsters gave equal amounts of loot. Either way, I got my 5 coins, which was the exact amount I needed to get my [Volatile Missiles].
I added my new skill to my locker and allocated my free points. My codex got a fresh new update:
Codex
Hm, even though Tanvi suggested I wouldn’t use these healing potions, I still wanted to know the differences between the standard and the grand. So I opened up a different section along my inventory for descriptions and confirmed what I thought:
-Heal Potion: recovers 50% HP-
-Grand Heal Potion: recovers 75% HP-
Basically, it was just a percentage difference, which made sense. While my codex was able to explain that about my new items, it didn’t give more context on my armor. So I turned to Tanvi and asked her, “Hey, what does this ‘activate from inventory’ mean exactly for my White Tier armor?”
“Well, most regular gear that you get requires you to physically equip them but not the tiered color armor selections from the dungeon core,” she explained. “Tiered armor are more accessible versions of their counterparts, so they come with this nifty feature called ‘Instant Equip’. You can just activate the item from your inventory and it equips itself, but you don’t see it as an actual shield on your person.”
“So it’s just a fortification boost at the end of the day?”
“Yup!”
“A layer on top of my worn gear, that’s good to know.”
“And one that protects your entire body, too! From head to toe. White is the lowest tier. You’ll get stronger ones in harder dungeons.”
“Seems like those spiders were the only creepy crawlies guarding the dungeon,” I said as I glanced over the outlook.
She giggled. “Oh don’t worry, there will be plenty waiting for us inside. Are you ready?”
I nodded. “As ready as I can be.”
Tanvi led us closer to the dungeon, and immediately, a prompt showed up:
Camtot’s Barren Wastelands
West Region
Napul’s Crypt
Tier 2 Dungeon
Treasure chest rewards:
6 gold coins, stage 1 evolution fragment, Napul’s Mask of Despair, Napul’s Cloaking Cape
Enter?
[Y] [N]