There are some things I learned recently. Rather than moping around and deciding to hide from the supposed Doom I was supposed to run into tomorrow, I headed to the Burrows. The body of the girl tucked in the corner of my room creeped me out anyways. I wished Blanche inside of her good luck, then flew off quickly. To my surprise, the Spiders have created a Dungeon from the “useless” shinies the Fey gave them. It seemed that the Spider Steel Warriors became even stronger since my encounter with the humans last night.
— The Spider Queen shared her Stats and her Experience points to her subjects. In return, the Spiders offer Tribute to their Queen.
That explains the Steel Web Conjuring Skill. With my Advanced Web Conjuring Passive Skill, I was definitely becoming more Spider than human. These Spiders also seemed to split into different classes since that Dungeon was created. The first type I noticed was the Spider Feeders, who I met last night. The second class were even smaller than Blanche and were called Messenger Spiders. They were not useless, I was shocked when I saw its status appear before me while holding one. It was no larger than my thumb.
— Messenger Spider, level 1
— Class: Spider Spy [Epic]
Specializes in slipping through magic and antimagic environments. They also can carry the Queen’s voice with them. These Spiders are undetectable by level 30 entities and below and are percieved as harmless due to their Passive Skill Infiltrator.
These Spiders were possibly my most valuable subjects yet. They filed inside one of my Leather Bags of Holding, which confirmed that if the being was small enough they could live inside the bag’s portal. Perhaps I might hide a few inside my Father’s place as a gift, then? I laughed. For now, I decided to scatter several of the Messengers within the forest grounds.
The Mage Spiders marched in an infinite loop inside the ritual tunnels beneath the Burrows, but they too gained more power. The landscape itself began to change under the Protection Circle spell they casted in cooperation with the Antling Druids. The area was lush and no longer full of dirt and Spider holes. I could communicate to those Antling Druids now through my workers, though most of what they said were about strange rituals and things about the Abyssal Gaze. I guessed the God Cru’Zha had more of a hold on monsters than I thought it did, but as long as they worked with me I did not care who they worshipped!
By then, outsiders could not harm any resources within across the stars above the Spider Home and the Deep Abyss below the Burrows. This Dungeon was sure to attract the humans, I realized but I hoped getting through all of the Spider Warriors would be difficult. It was small, but as with most Dungeons, the monsters killed within this place regenerated over time. When I approached the Boss room, I sensed no hostility from it. Was it because this Dungeon was technically owned by me?
Was it possible to own a dungeon as a human?
I steeled myself and opened the door. To my surprise, the Pink Fuzzy Butt was inside. He grew much bigger than a typical Spider Steel Warrior! He was drooling as usual, but there was something more dangerous about him. He evolved? I hopped on my broom and floated up to squint at his Status.
— Nameless, level 10
— Class: Pink Arch Spider [Unique]
Danger Class: A
Buffs: Perfectly Ultimate, Unstoppable, Powerful Friends, Fire Immunity, Ice Immunity, Thunder Immunity, Darkness Infused Attacks, Acid Immunity, Giant
The Pink Arch Spider is a Unique variant of an Arch Spider, which has been enchanted by a Fey. The Arch Spider is the third strongest member in the Spider Monster race and is usually found deeper in the Abyss.
“Very good,” I patted the Pink Arch Fuzzy Butt’s head. His top eye towered over me, much like the Abyssal Gaze’s but I knew he was excited over my praise. “I don’t know what that Fey fed you but you look amazing!”
I took comfort in knowing that even if some crazy strong human slew him, he would come back to life in here. Yet, if that crazy strong human showed his face here that could mean trouble for me. He could even be the Hero, I shuddered at the thought of that man. Was he the Doom I was supposed to meet tonight? Still, if armies fail to defeat even a single spider in this dungeon, it will grow deeper and deeper. I cackled to myself, but soon rocks and cracks started shaking from this Boss Room’s ceiling. The Pink Fuzzy Butt was making an odd noise, but I could tell he was laughing with me!
After letting him live his best life down there, I departed from the dungeon. If the Hero were to come here, I would rather him face me alone instead of killing all my followers again. Right! When faced with a strong and all powerful enemy, I knew exactly what to do. I would run away!
The Demon’s Labyrinth was not a place to have honor, after all. I had to kill the weak to get stronger and hide away from the strong all the time! First, anonymity! I visited the Caretakers and asked for a mask and a uniform that was reminiscent of a certain sect of warriors that invaded my realm using sneaky tactics and weapons. Their uniforms were coated in enchantments and were as dark blue, and could blend in the night better.
— Clothes Identifier: Ninja Set [Epic]: A dark uniform that prioritizes the shadows. Light threaded chainmail keeps some defense, though mobility and stealth are the keys for a successful mission. (+100 Defense). Adds buff to wearer: Hidden.
I have been seeing these buffs and debuffs on various Statuses lately. I learned from Wisdom that “buffs” meant bonus benefits to an entity, whereas “debuffs” meant the opposite. A debuff was on several of the bandits from last night called "Inebriated." The Hidden buff, however, made me get bonus attack if I ambushed someone and also kept my face unrecognizable. Yes, that buff was good. After I got whirled around by the Caretakers, I was soon dressed in the wondrously light uniform. As I pulled my hood on, I was greeted by Attor staring at me oddly.
“What?” I growled at him. “It’s to help hide my identity.”
“It doesn’t seem very witch-like,” he commented, but I could tell he was taunting me.
“The Caretakers did a good job, thank you very much!” I snapped. Something suddenly interrupted me. A voice in my head? I wonder which Spider it could be, since Blanche was not with me.
“Your Majesty, we have an emergency,” came a small voice. It was a Skill the Messenger Spiders were using, like the Caretakers. They were convenient! “Humans have encroached upon our territory.”
A Status window revealing bandits have stopped on a beaten pathway appeared before me. They almost looked beaten themselves, but several Monster Spider Worker corpses were dead at their feet. Attor’s head floated around the vison with a questioning look on his face. Daylight still filtered through the holes in the ceiling and I was still nervous about finding out who the Doom was, but these trespassers would prove to be trouble if they were hunting my weaker Spider workers.
I could send a Spider Warrior to deal with them, but I also needed to get stronger. I cracked my knuckles. I will see those bandits and remove them! Attor agreed with my decision and urged me to train. I needed to get faster when I fought guns and even more importantly, against other enemies with Skills. This Ninja Set’s Hidden buff allowed me to swiftly catch up to the bandits who invaded undetected.
Strangely, it seemed that the bandits were low leveled. Well, I guessed that should have been obvious by the way they struggled to kill the level 4 Spider Workers. The group’s leader was a measly level 7, missing forty percent of his health. The rest panted behind him with one falling into the mud, succumbing to the Minor Venom Status Effect he had. My vision showered with experience points, but it still was not enough to level up to 12. Humans did not offer a good enough experience gain, hardly any Skill or Stat points and they were all so weak! Perhaps I should just talk with them and tell them to leave my Spiders alone.
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“Blast it all, where the hell is Jerric?” The level 7 swore to himself. A level 5 of the group wiped the sweat off his brow and attempted to peel off a Spider web etched into his skin. “Damn Spiders clogging up the network, why didn’t he warn us?”
I stifled a laugh. That Jerric guy was long gone. Another level 6 masked man inspected the tree I was hiding in, but he didn’t notice I was there. Should I string him up then? Most were armed with shoddy clubs and axes, while the level 7 held a pistol and a sword.
“Cargo’s lost to these bastards,” another complained. “Can’t go a few steps without tripping over these ropes. What’s causing the Spiders to act like this?”
“Bloody Starfall, I’d reckon,” a level 5 trailed behind him. “Yfren mentioned the damn thing may have landed right on their Queen.”
“Gods,” the masked man sighed. “We used to not have to worry about a horde of Spiders. Wouldn’t they be less dangerous if there’s no one left to boss them around? This damn forest gives me the creeps anyways. Feel like we’re being watched.”
He was right, glancing upwards at me. I froze, but he continued walking. The leader smacked him and told him to get moving. My Hidden buff was still there, so I guessed he could not actually see me. I crept along the treetops as they crossed deeper. They might be on the retreat and are headed to their hideout. I’ll be able to score more kills! There were open spots in this forest, ailing patches and glades amidst the twisting trees. The bandits marched into one off the road where smaller caves hid from the Spiders. There were a lot of them in my area, built around kidnapping people from the unprotected villages and having the victims work for them the rest of their lives. I assumed the Goblins kept them busy so they never visited the Tower.
And now they shall have the Spiders to worry about now, I thought with a grin. I scanned the hideout that the weakened bandits joined. Two men held rifles near the entrance and another group were arguing with the bandits over their supposed delay. The area was open, but sneaking was not my thing anyways! I’ll just have a word with them, though I doubt they would listen to me anyways.
“Yoohoo!” I called for them, though that only caused them all to stare at me. I forgot how short I am!
“D-Don’t come any closer!” The level 7 man jumped, but realized he was much larger than I was. “Who in the Realm is you supposed to be?”
“Uh, c-can we talk for a moment?” I stammered. Immediately, the bandit lunged at me. “Skill: Advanced Web Conjuring!”
Immediately, the strands of web shot from my hands. I spent the last night practicing this! You all stand no chance! I laughed maniacally as the others charged at me. They were slow and this armor set let me move quickly, I dodged even the dirt kicking up as the bodies were wrapped in white neatly like the snowy region in the Demon Realm.
“It’s a Spider attack!” One cried out. He was not wrong, but I let the webs and my Martial Arts Skill take over.
“One web! Two web! Three!” I targeted the riflemen, but they hesitated to shoot at me among all their friends. They all fell, but someone was missing. Before I could find out who, something sharp plunged itself into my shoulder from behind. I cursed and lept as far as I could. It was the masked man! “You got lucky!”
— Debuff: Stamina Drain has been added!
— HP: 70%
Ouch! The Debuff was not an element I had any immunity against. Why was this guy stronger than the level 7? The masked man simply grunted as he regarded me. I peered at his Status while we maintained distance from each other.
— Class: Human Rogue [Rare]
HP: 80%
A evolved class from Thief that relies on speed, dexterity and cunning tactics to defeat foes.
— Wisdom’s Intervention activated. Defeating a Human Rogue can grant the Skill: Quick Reflexes [Rare].
How convenient! I sighed. Now if only I could get near him! That explained why he was more powerful than the usual crowd. This challenging opponent and the bloody wound he gave me only proved I would not stand a chance at all against the Doom sign the Stars warned me about. The Rogue spat as he looked at me.
“What are you?” His eyes narrowed on me. Blood dripped from my lips as I activated more webs at my feet as traps. “Are you a Spider or a Human? You’re threatening my lazy life!”
“Heh,” I pulled out a Potion of Minor Healing and splashed myself with it. The Debuff still remained there but at least my health was full again. It must be connected to his dagger somehow. “I’m not so sure myself! We can talk it out, though.”
“I don’t believe you,” he grinned. “Besides, this fight has proven I’ve gotten soft. I couldn’t even get a little girl first try!”
“I’m not a little…” I trailed off, staring up at his ugly face. I guess he was right.
His eyes changed directions, glowing as he prepared a Skill. I looked at where his target was and noticed it was the pistol the level 7 dropped! He could see through my traps and decided to fight me by range. Ah! I rushed over my traps and activated my Martial Arts Skill to intercept him, but he was waiting with his dagger! A trap! The Debuff intensified as the blade tore into my arm and a kick overpowered my punch! My world went upside down as I crashed into the dirt.
I should have just used my magic, I spat up blood. Why was a tough guy like this guy even here in the first place? Is a lazy life in a dirt hole truly what you want? I saw him flourishing his dagger, his gaze fixated on me. I hated to do this, but I had to summon my Familiar. If I die and lose all these experience points I’ll never hear the end of it from Attor. I shivered as the green spiritual energy slipped out along the webs from my chest. A boot slammed in front of me. I stared up at him defiantly as he lowered his mask and spat on me through a toothy mouth.
“Pitiful your brood isn’t here to save you. You’re not even worth using for the human trade! Any last words, you foul creature?”
“Not really,” I muttered with disdain, slowly wiping off the dirt and the disgusting glob of spit on my cheek. As the man raised his Skill empowered dagger I screamed. “Except: Come to me, O Familiar!”
The Skill activated and I heard a loud roar. I’ve never heard him so angry! Go Attor, yeah! The Rogue’s mask nearly became undone again as he looked behind himself in fear, only to see the maw of a jade green dragon descending upon his head. A slick, but satisfying crunch filled my ears as I struggled to get back up. Great, I was now covered in blood and brains instead of just spit and dirt.
“Thank you, Attor!” I hugged him. “Wait, I can move again!”
I twisted around to look at my shoulder and saw that the wound was gone. I leveled up finally! I checked Attor, who seemed to be growing as well. He leveled up, too!
— Attor, level 2
— Class: Young Dragon [Legendary]
— Skill Points: 1100
“Humans taste gross,” the dragon’s bloody maw belched out bone shards. I nervously glanced at all the men I strung up in webs. “I refuse to eat those.”
“What if I eat them?” I wondered, but shook myself out of it. In the Demon Realms, whenever I ate another demon a curse would fall upon me. It probably applied here. “Kidding. I guess the Spiders can clean these guys up.”
“I thought you were going to talk to them,” Attor looked at them. “But I’m guessing you changed your mind.”
I nodded, pulling my broom out and preparing to lift off.
“Oh, and,” I stopped. The words were on the tip of my tongue and I did not know why it was so hard to say all of a sudden. I turned to the dragon. “Thank you. Erm, for saving me.”
The dragon chuckled, but said nothing and vanished into my chest again. This warmth was enough for me to get high up and consult where the rest of the bandits were as well as my Level up. I changed my mind about sparing the bandits since I noticed while they don’t hand out a lot of experience points, they do grant a lot of Skill and Stat points. Thus, these human dregs shall be the perfect harvest for those! I held two Status windows up. The first window had the locations of those other bandits my Messenger Spiders found and the second displayed all the new features of my Status since I leveled up after slaying that Rogue.
— Charlotte has leveled up to 12!
— Human Tag has been removed.
Charlotte is now a Witch. Debuffs and buffs that affect Humans no longer apply. Divine Equalizer, however, is still in effect.
— Focus Compatibility Unlocked.
Wielding a Magical Focus has unlocked. A Focus is a macabre item that Witch use to draw their hexes to inflict upon the Mortals.
— S+ Stat Prestige Unlocked.
When Stat points exceed the maximum 1200/1200 for S Rank, Charlotte can reset it back to 0 and unlock Stat Prestige Rank S+ at 1500 points total granting an immediate advantage over individuals with S rank status. Warning: The Stat undergoing Prestige will be reset to F rank.
— Skills: Hexes [Class Unique] unlocked.
Use a Focus to inflict a Hex upon an entity. See Spellbook to see available Hexes.
— Passive Skills: Coven Commune “Fey” [Class Unique]
As Charlotte’s power as a Witch has won over the attention of the Fae Coven. This unlocks the unique “Life Exchange” Tier 3 Hex.
— Passive Skill: Quick Reflex [Rare] added. Rogue defeated: 1/1
Adds Reflex Stat to Charlotte and adds bonus 300 Stat Points to it.
Huh, so Stats could be added to this window. The numbers meant little to me, but the letters made it easier to compare my Stats against another’s faster. I knew that my new Reflex Stat could eventually make me quick enough to dodge the pesky rifles, since my defense was not high enough. The bonus 300 Stats to it made it Rank D and I already could move a lot quicker! Speedy and compact, but packs a punch! I decided that would the name of my game; I pressed my hand on the broom, pointing it towards the ground and banked downward in a rapid spiral. I lifted the broom just in time before crashing to the ground.
Thanks, masked man, I grinned. I knew I wouldn’t have quick enough to save myself from crashing that time.
I should promote my Reflexes, Attack and Magic Attack after I clear out all these bandits. Prestiging all three would take a lot of work, so I guessed I will start with these guys. I noticed the unsuspecting guards patrolling their camps. It was time to get to work and train up these new features in order to face my Doom.