“Five years have I been working in the Shostran Royal Academy. The headmaster who welcomed me to this hallowed institution of higher learning had held his position for over forty years before retiring within the next few weeks.
Since then, I have seen eight different headmasters in charge. Eight. It took mere months before the previous headmaster was ousted alongside their supporters, and those who did not immediately swear fealty to the replacement would find themselves with reduced funding, respect, and sometimes a job.
However, the insights gained from my latest study on Dungeon Ecology Dominance Shifts put me in a position to weather these drastic changes in the realm of politics and control. Just like how a team of adventurers clearing a dungeon can allow a different species to gain dominance, a coup here ousts the previous leaders and evens out the political board.
I have observed the species that survive and keep their previous levels of control each successive slumbering, and they all have one thing in common; they don’t bite off more than they can chew. They endear themselves enough to the old guard that they’re allowed to grow, but not enough such that the new guard, who might hold a grudge, takes it out on them.
I did just that. Enough endearment and shows of fealty towards the ones in charge allowed me to keep my position, but I made sure to do all of this in private. Everyone tolerated me, nobody hated me, and I survived. Just like the most long standing species of monsters also survive.”
-Triclosium Overleve, Scholar at the Shostran Royal Academy
----------------------------------------
The silent sound of victory echoed through the hollow cavern for nobody to hear.
Click felt their legs relax as a previously unnoticed pressure seemed to instantly evaporate from their body. We made it, we’re alive!
That didn’t last long however, as the lead spider’s posture straightened in a fright as a series of far-off barks echoed throughout the cavern.
It’s not over yet, the hounds are still out there, but we have everything we need to bridge the gap.
Click focused their attention to the inner sanctum of the web fortress where the baby spiders lay waiting, and called them out with their Skill.
Within seconds, miniscule black dots began to crawl their way out of the hidden tunnels to the surface, and for the first time the newborn baby spiders were bathed in the soft blue glow of the bioluminescent mushrooms.
[Command Subordinates], you all look hungry, head over there and fill yourselves up!
Click pointed the newborns towards the back corner of the web fortress, a long stretch of webbing laid out in an arcing plane surrounding several heavily decayed [Dungeon Hounds], and the baby spiders all instinctively charged towards their first ever meal.
Instincts continued to drive them as they bit their fangs into the collection of flies and other squirming insects caught in the sticky net. Enough of them had collected in the webbing over the days the eggs were incubating that the baby spiders were able to get their fill, and on top of that…
The most eager of the newborn spiders was the first to change. After devouring its fifth meal, it began to grow in size, quickly becoming several times larger than any of the other spiders around it.
The sight felt nostalgic to Click. They’d gone through the very same transformation soon after being born, and it let them get a particularly annoying bully off their back.
Soon enough, the other baby spiders began to transform too, and the web they were all standing on began to droop several inches at the collective increase in mass that was now burdening it. The web held strong, thankfully, though Click didn’t leave its fate to chance. After all of the spiders had evolved, the [Spider Army Commander] sprang into action.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
[Command Subordinates]! All [Juvenile Spiders], begin reinforcing the web, that one and the ones above!
It took a little while for the newly evolved arachnids to get the hang of using their brand new web glands, but about half of them took to it like a fish to water. The other half, as reluctant as they were, were at least able to get a little bit of the stringy substance onto key places.
That’s how I leveled up the tribe earlier, that’s how I’ll do it again.
Click raised their mandibles in a facsimile of a smile as the [Silk Spinning] Skills of all of the new spiders began to increase. Even those who didn’t take to it would benefit by gaining general experience whenever something got caught in the web and eaten. Experience distribution was strange that way. Anyone who contributed to a web that caught prey would get a flat number of experience points that counted towards level ups. It gave the combat-oriented spiders a steady boost, while a small communal web woven by all of the web-oriented spiders used as a weapon in battle would net them combat experience.
As Click was lost in thought, the spiders continued to eat to fill their fast-growing bodies. The [Spider Army Commander] was finally snapped back to reality by a second set of transformations. The [Juvenile Dungeon Spiders] began to transform into [Juvenile Dungeon Hunter Spiders] and [Juvenile Dungeon Web Spiders], with a mix of [Juvenile Dungeon Ambush Trapper Spiders] thrown into the mix. All of them were choices Click was offered for their second evolution, but there was one missing evolution; [Juvenile Dungeon Spider Commander].
It didn’t irk Click too badly to not see another like them. They remembered what happened when someone tried bossing them around when they had that class.
Poke
Click turned to see Bored, whose presence made the lead spider’s flashback continue. Their old boss was also an [Alpha], albeit incredibly incompetent and willing to get the entire spider tribe killed just to sate its lust for battle. Even if there was another [Spider Commander] amongst the newborns, Click was confident that they would prove themselves to it, and make it a loyal follower.
Poke Poke
That broke Click out of the flashback. They looked up at the gargantuan [Alpha] with a frown, but quickly broke the intensity of their gaze.
Poke
One of the lead spider’s legs twitched, but that frustration soon vanished as a sudden inspiration had Click standing up straight.
We’re not entirely safe yet, since the hounds can grow back their numbers and attack again. But, they’re all on a wild goose chase right now, and we have a ton of newborn spiders! They still need experience, and the only good source right now are the hounds.
The [Alpha] looked at Click with a tilt to its head.
I don’t know how you aren’t satisfied from the last fight, but you’re in luck. Let’s go on a hunting trip! We’ll be bringing the fight to the [Dungeon Hounds] for once!
Bored jumped in place with a big grin.
[One Army, One Being]! Click began to call out their other commander Skill in quick succession and grouped up the newborns. The Skill allowed small groups of spiders to act as a single entity to the System, allowing Click to only use a single call to [Command Subordinates] to take control of them all. They hadn’t needed it for a long while, seeing as how there were only a few other spiders left, but now, there were hundreds!
[Skill level up! Establish Hierarchy (2)]
What the? Click thought while pausing in confusion. I’d completely forgotten about that Skill. What does it even do? The [Spider Army Commander] looked over to the newborns, and noticed that they began to form into the groups Click marked out. However, all of the spiders in each group seemed to crowd around an older spider, one of the surviving veterans. An… established leader?
Maybe it didn’t work before because everyone was the same age? Bored should’ve been the exception with their higher rank, but apparently not.
At first, the lead spider was excited to have less work, but then began to shake in apprehension as a concerning thought popped up.
If the newborns are crowded up like this, then I’ll be limited in what strategies I use. These [Juveniles] can’t swing around like [Webslinger Spiders] or blend into the darkness like [Shadow Spiders].
With a single frustrated click of their mandibles, Click mentally tested the reigns they held on the others, making sure specific groups of newborns or veterans could be specifically commanded at a moment’s notice.
Click jumped on top of Bored’s head and called out to the others with their signature Skill. The enemy is scattered and weakened after trying to eat all of us. Let’s go eat them instead!
The newborn spiders lifted their mandibles into a smile, a strangely instinctive display of happiness independent from the human gesture, and began to follow Click and several other members of the old guard off into battle.