“We forgot to introduce ourselves. My name is John, the leader of the team. I’m a D rank healer, specializing in healing magic.”
“I’m Vince, an E rank mage. I am a wind based magician, pleased to meet you!”
He firmly shakes her hand.
“And I’m Nova, E rank archer. Welcome, I guess…”
“As you saw, I mainly use a rapier and specialize in water magic. Please take care of me.”
They nodded.
“We were planning to raid the local E rank spider dungeon. Meet us at the entrance in 3 hours.”
Dungeons were said to be remnants of bastions of the war between the good and evil.
The dungeons crawl with monsters, in the deepest levels containing a “dungeon core,” the boss monster, which supplies mana to continuously spawn more monsters.
As long as the core is not destroyed, the dungeon would be active for basically forever. That is why it is punishable by death to destroy dungeon cores. They are a valuable source of materials and experience for the kingdom. Whole settlements would be built around them, attracting merchants and adventurers who seek riches.
To prepare for the dungeon dive, Eris set out to purchase the essentials.
-Health potions
-MP recovery potions
-Antidotes
-Rations
Afterwards, she followed the map to the dungeon.
Thickly forested, adventurers loiter near the entrance, waiting for the guards to verify their identity to enter the dungeon.
She quickly meets up with her team, and soon after, they are permitted to enter the dungeon.
“Wind spirit, clear the way.”
The dungeon is filled with cobwebs, making it difficult to traverse.
There is a chilly dampness in the air that seems to seep into your bones.
For a while, they silently make their way through the cobwebs, making it to the second floor of the dungeon.
“The first few floors usually don’t have anything good,” John explained. “The other adventurers probably killed all the monsters. We have to go deeper to find anything worthwhile.”
As this is Eris’ first dungeon dive, she just nodded politely.
A few hours have passed, and they made their way further down into the dungeon.
They came across fewer and fewer adventurers, and Vince seems visibly twitchy.
Nova mainly kept to herself. Her arrows are mainly ineffective, with their vision mostly obscured by cobwebs.
[Low-quality Spider Silk acquired!]
[Low-quality Spider Silk acquired!]
Secretly, she absorbed a spider monster into her while they were not looking.
[Create Thread obtained!]
[Arachnid Communication obtained!]
jasalkdcivse
“What was that?”
“Probably just a stray spider monster, nothing to worry about.”
[Compound Vision obtained!]
-Increased accuracy on projectiles
-10% increase in field of view
“Aren’t we getting pretty deep?” Eris inquired. “I thought the dungeon only had five floors, and we are currently on floor four?”
John pulls down his collar, revealing an amulet.
This item is a holy object that repels monsters, we are going to hunt the boss.”
“Isn’t that highly illegal?”
“Think about it! The wizards from the magic tower would pay a fortune for the corpse! We would be rich!”
Nova urged Eris to proceed.
Vince looked away, unable to meet her gaze, although she’s blindfolded.
With an exasperated sigh, Eris agreed to move ahead.
Although frowned upon, the wizards of the magic tower are not under any kingdoms.
They are a group of wizards who specialize in magic research, left alone due to the value of their research, however unethical.
During the war against the demons, they made major contributions through the development of anti demon spells and support.
“Great, then let us make haste.”
Soon after, they reach the stairwell to the lowest floor.
John explained his plan.
At the stairwell, he would ignite Nova’s arrow, which Vince would cast a spell to imbed the arrow deep into the extremely flammable cobwebs, smoking out and incinerating all the spider monsters.
“You are in charge of conjuring a wall of water to protect us from the smoke,” he explained. “We will kill all the stragglers. Then after the cobwebs are cleared, we will then proceed to slay the boss.”
After a moment, Eris drops the veil of water.
Spider corpses lay upside down, charred beyond recognition.
A few appeared to twitch.
Eris stabbed her rapier into them, putting them out of their misery.
She speaks a silent prayer for the spider monsters.
‘May the goddess be with you.’
Small pieces of metal could be seen lying around.
“Unfortunately, some adventurers would die during the dungeon dive. They are brought down to the bottom to feed to the queen, who would birth more spider monsters.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The corridor exposes a huge cavern, covered with cobwebs. There is a sharp drop down.
They could see a dark mass stirring, The queen’s many eyes slowly open, seemingly blinking, glimmering in the dark, burning with a blood red glow.
The queen unleashes a chilling screech, sending chunks of stalactite falling, bouncing off its exoskeleton.
The ground seemed to shake. They could hear the clattering of spider monsters.
Suddenly, Eris felt a light push, falling into the nest.
[Dispel]
The faces of John and Nova began to warp and shift, revealing two older, grizzled men.
The twins grin.
“You can’t blindly trust everyone, kekeke.”
“Sorry kid, but you were an easy mark. Obviously you are just a rich kid with no idea what you’re doing. Hand over your items and I might just grant you an easy death.”
He ran his tongue over the dagger.
Vince stood off to the side, looking away.
She remembered their faces from the wanted posters on the guild board.
They are wanted criminals, who had a suspiciously high mortality rate for new party members, claiming it as an accident. Eventually, the guild sent out wanted posters, and they disappeared in a dungeon one day.
Although marked as a cold case, the circumstances of their “deaths” were quite suspicious, so the guild decided to keep the wanted posters up.
[Wanted Poster]
Twin C rank adventurer brothers suspected of murdering novice adventurers in dungeon runs.
Here is who we are looking for :
IF YOU ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON,
PLEASE CONTACT THE NEAREST GUILD BRANCH
He shot a barrage of arrows at Eris.
She conjured a wall of earth to block arrows.
“Tsk.”
“Brother, let’s just leave. After the queen eats her fill, we can come back and collect the equipment.”
“Yeah yeah lets g-”
She noticed molecules of wind mana begin to gather, and a loud thud.
Eris looks up.
“I’m sorry,” Vince mouthed, and he ran away.
“We are so gonna kill ya.”
One unsheathes his longsword.
Suddenly, she hears a voice in her head.
‘Hello? Can you hear me?’
‘Yes…?’
‘Oh my goddess it has been a long time since I’ve met one of my kin!’
‘....?’
“Is this brat communicating with the queen??”
“??”
‘Can you help me please?’
‘Of course.’
“!!!”
The queen slams her legs towards the twins, severing their legs.
‘Icicle blast.’
The bodies turn into a bloody mess.
Eris coughed up blood.
She hadn’t had time to replenish her mana for several hours, causing her to suffer from mana backlash for overexerting her mana organ.
Normally, the spider queen would be considered a C rank monster.
However, because of the amount of time that has passed, the queen grew to a tremendous size, similar to a 3 story building.
That’s why her threat level is closer to C+ or B rank.
Although it can’t use magic, in exchange, it is extremely agile, combined with high stamina
and power, while most people would be hindered by the viscous cobwebs.
‘I’ve caught the rat escaping.’
A few spider monsters could be seen carrying the tied up and gagged Vince.
‘Let him go.’
‘As a favor to my guest.’
“Gah.”
He starts panting heavily.
“Thank you, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, they paid me with a tome, I didn’t realize they were murderers…”
[Intermediate Wind Mastery Tome]
As your understanding of the tome increases, you will unlock more wind spells.
Single use
Authored by the great wind mage Zephyr
Normally, tomes are an extremely rare magic item. Restricted and highly sought after by nobles, they can easily teach someone magic.
Due to the limited nature of these tomes, usually only royalty and greater nobles have access to them.
“Now go, before I change my mind.”
Vince scrambled away, casting [Levitate] to escape the cavern, thanking her.
‘Now then, where were we? Oh yes I forgot to say, I’m the last apostle of Anansi. Most of my kin were wiped out during the war, and I found refuge in this dungeon.’
She seemed to nod.
‘My children aren’t the most intelligent, and I am bored out of my mind, having nobody to speak to… Your visit was a nice surprise.’
“...”
‘Anyways, I know adventurers are busy, but be sure to visit me soon!’
[Queen Spider Silk acquired!]
[Queen Spider Silk acquired!]
Eris walked over to the bodies of her former party members.
‘Mana drain.’
The bodies seem to shrivel up, then go limp.
Eris absorbed the tome, flooding her brain with the contents of the tome.
[Intermediate Wind Magic Mastery obtained!]
She lifts “John’s” head, and swiftly takes off the amulet.
[Amulet of Protection]
Blessed by a senior member of the church, it causes the fear status effect to monsters of a lower level compared to you.
Lower level monsters will unconditionally avoid you
High level monsters may resist this effect
“May the goddess be with you” - Unknown
Scrummaging through “Nova’s” satchel, she found their adventurer’s cards, and multiple others, of their victims.
She guts John’s abdomen, consuming the mana organ.
[Basic Illusion Magic obtained!]
By consuming the part of the body where their skill is associated with, she can use her inherent racial trait to absorb the skill.
She wipes her mouth, and gets rid of the blood through water magic.
Using predation, Eris absorbed the satchel, bow and arrow, longsword, and amulet into herself.
While the amulet could be useful, her level is far too low to properly utilize its effects.
Using wind magic, she got out of the cavern.
The spider queen appears to lift and wave one of her front legs.
‘Come visit soon….’
Later, when questioned by the guards about where her party is, she presents the adventurers cards. Being thanked for solving the case, she is directed to visit the guild to pick up her reward.
“Here are 10 gold coins for your reward,” said Mina. “We can finally give closure to the families of the missing adventurers.”
“...”
“Oh and another thing! For solving the case and apprehending 2 dangerous criminals 2 ranks above you, you may take the promotion test to D rank soon. I would love to promote you to C rank, but we are not allowed to, due to guild rules unfortunately…
Eris collected her reward and left for the blacksmith.
“What high quality spider silk! Not everyday that I could work with these materials!”
Baern looked at Eris up and down.
“When are you going to get new footwear? It’s already winter, how about I make ya some boots?”
“How much would the commission cost?”
“1 gold coin. You’ve provided the materials, it is still difficult to work with, and it will take 4 days to complete.”
He caught the gold coin she tossed him.
“You mind if I stay and watch?”
“Whattaya sayin’, ya don’t trust me?”
“...”
Snow gently blanketed the ground outside.
They both look down at her wooden sandals.
“Fine, only because ya my favorite customer.”
“Only customer.”
“...”
“Fine, you can stay.”
Eris sat down in the corner of the smithy, and began meditating.
Over the next few days, it was relatively quiet.
They didn’t talk much, and mostly kept to themselves.
[Aura lvl 2 -> lvl 3!]
You have cleansed some impurities from your mana organ. You can store slightly more mana.
Clank clank.
Yer boots are done.”
[Luxurious Spider Queen Boots]
High quality sleek black boots made from the reinforced silk of the Spider Queen. Crafted by Baern, it is durable, yet flexible.
+10% dexterity
+5% stealth in dark environments
+10% dexterity in caves
+10 defense
Engraved
“Thank you so much!”
She left 2 silver coins on the counter.
“For letting me stay, and as a tip.”
Eris quickly slipped into her new boots, admiring the fine craftsmanship.
The weather got a bit better.
She leaves for the forest, remembering that she has been slacking on hunting.
A gentle breeze blew off her hood, ruffling her hair.
As the seasons change, new monsters appear.
[Snow hare has appeared!]
[Rabbit pelt acquired!]
[Snow Glider obtained!]
Immunity to movement speed debuffs in the snow. Doesn’t sink nor leave tracks.
[Insulation]
10% resistance to cold effects.
Eris began to glide over the snowy landscape, using wind spells to boost herself.
She felt an inexplicable happiness doing so.
During the winter, the war between humans and elves die down, due to it being too cold for any significant troop mobilization.
Sometimes, she spots an elf or two on her nightly hunts, but now she could not find any trace of them.
The adventurers guild doesn’t take sides as they contain adventurers of all nationalities, so adventurers are forbidden targets.
However, any adventurer caught breaking this rule is blacklisted and sentenced to death on sight. If they want to participate in a war, they may temporarily leave the guild and enlist as a mercenary, losing the guild’s protections.
Smelling the fresh, winter air, she laid down in the snow.
‘How serene,’ she thought.
She closed her eyes, and started to make a snow angel.
Snowflakes slowly drifted down, Eris catching one with her tongue, feeling the chill spread throughout her mouth.
Suddenly, her eyes shot open.
[Empathy : Active ]
Your perception of people in danger or distress sharpens. You feel a strong attraction to assist.
Eris pushed herself off the ground, and started sprinting.
Not sure of where she is going, but she continued to run without stopping.
“[Life Leech].”
The tree instantly drained of color and grew gray, as she is invigorated by its life essence.
Eris felt the attraction grow even stronger.
The trail opened up to a clearing.
Splotches of red dye the snow.
The small beastchild clung to their mom’s still, lifeless form.
Her small arms trembling, with tears slowly streaking down her face.
“Wake up,” she whispered. “Wake up!!”
She started to bawl, with her tiny voice cracking.
Momentarily stopping, she tugged at her mom’s dress, then resumed crying.
Eris felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.
She wanted to empathize, but doesn’t know how.
‘Can I even cry? Do I even have someone that I would cry for??’
Eris watched on silently.
Snow started to lazily fall.
The world seemed to hold its breath, time itself seeming to pause.