Eggs.
Click had left the small contingent of spiders behind to watch the area and hopefully prevent new [Dungeon Hounds] from spawning out of nowhere, but instead they had other ideas.
Very lecherous ideas.
Getting themselves killed by their own hands definitely qualified as a failure to complete the job, and rather than reduce the number of enemies, they increased the number of allies.
But they still failed at their job. Click shook their head. Next time, I’m hitting them with a command not to mate.
At the end of the day, however, the creation of the little outpost was still just an experiment. And while Click’s original hypothesis of having scouts lowering the sudden spawn rate of [Dungeon Hounds] ending up as inconclusive, the spider learned something just as important.
The instinct to mate doesn’t require the whole tribe to get killed off. They just need a small number of them to be left alone for it to kick in.
And more importantly, the conclusion Click drew from that.
I can keep increasing the size of my tribe if I keep making these outposts. Or better yet, maybe I can command some spiders to do it?
The lead spider looked at two of the smaller arachnids part of the expeditionary force and gave them a command.
[Command Subordinates]! Uh… mate.
The spiders looked at the [Spider Army Commander] strangely before tilting their heads.
Huh, I guess I do need to be alone in an outpost for it to work. But before I can set more of those up, I need to get the eggs I already have back to the fortress.
Just as silently as the spiders came, they left. Shrouded in the shadowy embrace brought forth by the Skills of the [Umbral Shadow Spiders], Click and the others silently made their way back home, with a plan beginning to form in the leader’s mind.
The sneakiest of the spiders had a decent Body stat, but it wasn’t enough to carry all of the eggs back. Not at once, at least, but Click knew that the longer they stayed out like this, the higher the chances of them being caught and attacked. The [Spider Army Commander] didn’t benefit from the same stealth Skills as the others, so they were the easiest target for any would-be passers by.
So the only option was to go in hot.
Click rode atop Bored the Alpha as the two led a small procession of spiders towards the fortress. A show of strength would do better to deter any attacks, with the confidence of the [Dungeon Hounds] recently broken.
Well, the show of strength was actually the backup. The procession was small on purpose, which would make it easy to run away if the predators did choose to attack. [Shadow Spiders] dotted the rocks on all sides of the path between the fortress and the outpost, keeping lookout for any creature that could cause them problems. A team of [Web Spiders] even wove several nets along the path to trip up any enemies that ran towards them to buy a few more precious seconds.
But thankfully, the effort was mostly unnecessary. The trip to the outpost was rather uneventful, with the only surprise being a single armored beetle that ran a little too close to the webbing. Though Click knew that the creatures were relatively skittish when not compelled to take part in a Dungeon raid, so what had caused it to run so close to them?
The spiders carefully cut down the would-be nest and lowered it to the ground with another clever use of an impromptu pulley, this time making use of a metal web instead of a stalactite to act to thread the thick rope that held the sack of eggs through.
As the spiders tied the once-outpost to Bored’s back and the massive Alpha began to carry it along, a small glint shined from the far distance. From where the armored beetle came from.
Click turned their eyes and focused intently and could make out a few [Dungeon Hounds] watching from the distance. Though they were few in number, among them was a familiar face.
[Observation]
And a familiar Class.
Alpha Dungeon Hound (Level 2)
Name: Howl
Soul Link: Rockfort Hamlet Dungeon Core Ṁ̶̡̄̒͜o̷͚͍̊͒̃̓̿ǰ̵̧̢̭̫̪a̷͇̋̿̿̽͘ ̵̨̛̥͎͉́̋̈͘D̵̝̭͇̓̎̅ȋ̷̯͔̤̑͋̑t̴̛͉͈̟̽̑͑h̸̪̲̩̗̀̉̃͝͠ä̵͕̼̠́̊̓̕b̴̗͕̏͊̂̓̚ä̷̡̰̱͕̒̌̋
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Classes: N/A
…
Health Points
63/209
Click noticed that his health was still low from the fight, and if everyone present charged at him at once, they might be able to eke out a kill. At the cost of severe losses.
No, Click wouldn’t do that. And the scary part? Howl knew that too.
The [Alpha Dungeon Hound] stared intently at the spiders, and his gaze sharply shifted to the sack of eggs. One or two of the round orbs fell out and were quickly retrieved by one of the smaller spiders, who put it back into the bag and secured it further with a bit of silk.
And finally, Howl’s eyes locked onto the figure that stood atop Bored, one of the smallest and unassuming spiders in the crowd, save for their strange, colorful markings.
Click’s eight eyes met the lead hound’s and they stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. They both saw something familiar in each other, something each thought they would never see in anyone but themselves. A sharpness in gaze, a light of desire beyond mere instinct, it was… intelligence.
At that moment, both monsters knew just what the other was capable of.
Click continued looking ahead as they gave a small Skill-assisted push to the other spiders to motivate them to move a little faster.
Howl slowly slinked back into the shadows with the rest of his small posse, never breaking eye contact before the group disappeared into the darkness.
He knows. I saw where he was looking, I know what he was thinking. He knows that these eggs are important. He knows that I need to keep them and the other spiders guarded. I need to get them hatched soon and make more.
----------------------------------------
The rest of the trip back to the fortress was miraculously uneventful, with not even a single potential enemy bothering the spiders.
The miracle, according to Click, came from the fact that despite Howl knowing that they were in a vulnerable state, chose to hold off on his own attack of the spiders’ forces and their important cargo. Maybe it was because he didn’t want to take any risks after the recently hard-fought battle? The rest of the hounds were hit with many area-of-effect magics by the three spiders, and could have all been dealing with lowered health. Or maybe the mental attack the third magic spider used still lingered? Howl’s own [Command Subordinates] might have been enough to override it, but maybe the lead [Dungeon Hound] was also suffering from its after-effects?
Whatever the reason was, Click was more than happy to accept the blessing as they directed the other spiders to carry the sack of eggs into the innermost sanctum of the web fortress. Click themselves went inside through the front alcove and passed by a strange, spider-shaped figurine that glittered in the dim bioluminescence.
Before the [Spider Army Commander] could give the strange statue much more thought, an alarm rang through the webs.
And then quickly stopped.
Click didn’t take things to chance and demanded a report from the [Web Spider] watching the security lines.
It waved its legs around wildly, before settling into the format Click had taught it.
[Dungeon Hound]. One. Juvenile. It spelled out.
The alarm hit again.
[Dungeon Hound]. One. Adolescent.
Click looked out towards the fortress’ outskirts, barely making out the running form of a quadruped. Whatever it was, it peeked out from behind a rock before charging towards another one and looking back up.
Scouts. Howl is keeping tabs on us, no doubt to figure out what the eggs are for. Or, if he already knows, then to wait until I leave so he can come in and smash them. No… if he tried that, it would go the same way as his last raid did. As far as he knows, at least. It’s more likely, now that I think about it, that he just wants to assassinate me as soon as I leave the fortress. Yeah, that makes the most sense. I just have to be ready for him.
Click let out a sigh and called forth the magical spiders.
Two of them appeared before their leader and waved their legs around animatedly.
That’s the spirit! Click said to them via [Command Subordinates]. And I know that it’s only been a few hours, but I want to know if you’ve recharged enough to do the same trick again? I want to check often so I know how often you can do it. But where’s the third one?
The spiders began to wave around and point towards a corner of the alcove. A corner that was completely empty, save for one feature; the statue.
Huh, this thing? I thought it was a nice rock someone found and brought here, even though it doesn’t really look like me. What are you saying?
They continued to wave.
Click knew. They knew as soon as they saw the statue, but buried the thought deep down inside them, not daring for it to ever reach the light of day. But it was being dragged up to the lead spider’s consciousness whether they wanted it to or not.
The [Spider Army Commander] was perfectly content at first, but an old friend wormed its way into their mind alongside their doubts and made a terrible demand. It wanted the truth. And its name was curiosity.
Click slowly angled their head towards the statue, trying to fight the urge every step of the way, but in the end, they lost.
[Observation]
Adult Dungeon Spider (Level 1)
Name: N/A
Soul Link: Rockfort Hamlet Dungeon Core Ṁ̶̡̄̒͜o̷͚͍̊͒̃̓̿ǰ̵̧̢̭̫̪a̷͇̋̿̿̽͘ ̵̨̛̥͎͉́̋̈͘D̵̝̭͇̓̎̅ȋ̷̯͔̤̑͋̑t̴̛͉͈̟̽̑͑h̸̪̲̩̗̀̉̃͝͠ä̵͕̼̠́̊̓̕b̴̗͕̏͊̂̓̚ä̷̡̰̱͕̒̌̋
Classes: N/A
My strongest weapon! What happened?!