Jean retreated to the narrowest part of the grotto in the hope that they would give up following her. Yet those monstrosities followed her fearlessly, eager to sink their venom-filled fangs into her. Thankfully, the path was so narrow that it drastically slowed their advance, giving her some time to prepare.
This time, Jean imbued a new effect. One with which she had to concentrate much harder to conjure the glyph. There was much more at stake and mistakes were not allowed. The mana continued to flow without leaving any trace of light that betrayed its presence.
Jean could not afford to lose concentration. She needed to hold on until she released the pressure of the spell at the exact moment. She didn't have to wait long, the most reckless of all of them stepped ahead of its fellows, passing over the glyph without realizing it.
The sudden light shocked all the spiders, even though the explosion didn't engulf the grotto. The sight of their fellow spider falling and writhing on the ground with holes and cuts all over its body was enough to make them think twice about advancing.
Jean couldn't help but smile. “Come on! Are you scared because you don't know if there are more hidden ones?!”
At first they backed away slowly. They weren't stupid enough to underestimate Jean, but they weren't going to leave without food. They reached up to the spider on the verge of death and pulled it back by the legs.
“Ah, no, no! That's mine!”
Moving sideways, Jean struggled to get closer to the dying body. The two spiders dragging it noticed her boldness and were quick to confront her. She was already prepared, conjuring another explosive rune ahead. Invisible this time too.
Amid waves of shivers, she waited to the point where its maw was the only thing in sight. She had no choice if she wanted to avoid serious damage. She had not anticipated how much it would cost her to recoil, so she had no other option than to use the spider as a shield.
The explosion finished off the dying spider and caused dozens of severe incisions on the other two. They shrieked and writhed in pain before trying to retreat. The farthest spider had lost one of its fangs and several eyes. The one closest to Jean couldn't move up. Only one of its legs was intact.
Jean had not escaped unharmed either; she had several cuts on her face and arms. Her barrier overload with Wisdom and Resistance had withstood a lot of attacks, but it had a limit. Her pain resistance and toughness helped her endure the rest to the point that not even the blood trickling down her cheekbone, lips and arms was enough to wipe the smile off her face. “I said, it was MINE!”
Jean grabbed the escaping spider by one of its legs. The spider kept climbing in an attempt to leave her behind, but stopped dead in its tracks when Jean began to twist its leg. Furious, the spider turned around only to notice the light of a new glyph right below. The yellow and orange glow intensified as hysteria erupted in a desperate hiss calling for its congeners.
The spider tried to bite Jean's hand in a desperate attempt to free itself, but it was too late. A whirlwind of cuts tore through its abdomen from side to side before it fell limp.
The detonation hit Jean again, but they were superficial cuts this time. Nothing that could not be healed after combining Calm Mind and Devour. Wounded, she was always hungry.
[You have learned Poison Resistance — Basic Rank.
Allows you to neutralize the effects of all types of poisoning. The base value is 10% of your base Resistance. Additionally, it increases by 1% per player level. Current value, 10,5%.
[You have learned Adherence— Basic Rank. Unique skill.
Allows you to generate a magical magnetic field in the part of the body you want to adhere to surfaces. Can support up to 10 kilos per Strength point.]
The newly created skills made her even more eager to fight. “Alright, let's hunt!”
Jean returned to the wide part of the grotto without losing sight of the huge wounded spiders above her. If they didn't dare to come down, she would go up.
The mana flowed all the way to her hands, generating enough grip to secure herself to the wall without touching the ground. She did the same with her feet, and as soon as she made up her mind, she climbed.
It felt spectacular to be spider woman. No place would ever be inaccessible again. However, the mana to be a wall crawler was ridiculous. Even Chameleon was more benevolent. She needed multiple stops along with Calm Mind to be able to alleviate the mana fatigue.
Her climbing made her watchers climb even higher. She didn't know if they were puzzled, but they were restless; they moved their front legs menacingly.
“Are you really not coming down? ... Come on! I'll be quick so you don't have to suffer.”
She leaned her back against the wall and pushed her feet against the opposite side hard enough to avoid falling. That allowed her to refill mana her before the fight. Reserving potions was a priority.
Six new, slightly smaller spiders sneaked up from the sides. They were very fast. So much so that Jean had no choice but to jump down at the last instant, protecting herself with the shield from the invisible gift on the wall.
The bigger spiders hissed to warn them, but it was too late. The explosion killed one and seriously wounded two others. The ones that had escaped the blast recoiled instantly. The dead one fell on Jean around the same time she reached the ground.
She stored it in her inventory and devoured it before climbing back up. The MP and HP regeneration fueled her bold behavior.
The two wounded spiders climbed with difficulty. Neither dared to face her, they just fled. That made Jean drunk with power and encouraged her to climb even faster.
“I have an idea! I want to buy some rocks from the bazaar. If they can be the size of a tennis ball better!”
Whispers nodded as they searched for the closest thing to that. Meanwhile, she managed to climb up to 10 meters high, to an area where the cobweb threads were much thicker. An area where countless small hollows covered with spider webs could be seen, probably where they nested. However, that was not what worried her the most. Much higher up, on the ceiling, Jean distinguished a gigantic creature protected by cobwebs. It was so large that it couldn't even move. It had grown to the point of encasing inside the huge crevice in which she resided.
At first glance she appeared to be dead. It had a visibly resistant exoskeleton and her appearance resembled the combination of a spider and a hermit crab. Predominantly light on most of her sturdy body and black on the softer, more flexible parts.
At the second glance, she realized that she was eating the wounded spiders. They seemed to crawl of their own volition all the way into her mouth, only to be devoured.
»Hermit Cave Spider«
Level ???
Name: ????
Marks: [Gluttony], [Fratricide], [Filicide] , …
Details: This creature’s attributes make her a deadly opponent for you.
“What madness am I seeing?”
“[They are born from her, but only she eats. When her childs are about to die, they voluntarily return to her to restart the cycle.]”
“That's fucking macabre!”
The creature set her eyes on Jean and hissed. Dozens of spiders of all sizes descended in swarms from everywhere.
She conjured an explosive rune right where she stood. However, as she descended, a tiny spider leapt at her, sinking its fangs into her left hand. The effect was immediate. Her arm went numb and she fell uncontrollably.
The glyph detonated due to the distance, taking many spiders down. The bad thing was that the ground was vertiginously getting closer as she desperately tried to adhere to the wall. It wasn't until she nearly lost consciousness after multiple bruises and scrapes all over that she managed to stop. Her left arm was swollen and paralyzed.
She concentrated much more mana into a new glyph, this time without concealment. The spiders circled the yellow and orange light, but the sharp projectiles reached them just the same.
The darkness was preceded by a shower of wounded spiders. There were so many that Jean avoided descending at all costs; she would be bitten to death there. Many were still writhing and trying to climb, as if reaching their mother was the most important thing in their miserable lives in the dark.
Adhering to the wall with only her feet, Jean picked up one of the new stones in the inventory. It was the perfect size for her hand. That made it easier to circulate mana into it before throwing it where more arthropods descended. An orange and yellow trail illuminated the grotto while Jean shielded herself imbued with brown and purple.
The explosion was so powerful that the stone exploded into pieces that hurt Jean.
She had almost no mana and was wounded, so she had no choice but to cast Calm Mind to heal just enough to flee. Or so she thought; the spiders were frightened because they didn't understand the concept of magic.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
In the end, she had plenty of time to heal and regain feeling in her left arm, allowing her to throw explosive rocks with both hands towards the spider-covered ground.
The massacre sapped the morale of those above while a pile of them agonized below. Jean descended to finish off the few that remained alive. Of course, without taking her eyes off the ones above.
[You have learned Poison— Advanced Rank.
Allows you to convert your mana into a powerful poison. Can be added to certain skills as if it were an effect.]
[Devourer Vision has increased to Advanced Rank.
Consumes negligible amounts of mana to amplify the reception of light photons. It now also allows the detection of heat and energy sources.]
[Poison Resistance has increased to Expert Rank.
Allows you to neutralize the effects of all types of poisoning. The base value is 30% of your base Resistance. Additionally, it increases by 1% per player level. Current value, 13,5%.
[Adherence has increased to Advanced Rank.
Allows you to generate a magical magnetic field in the part of the body you want to adhere to surfaces. Can support up to 15 kilos per Strength point.]
The announcement of the upgrade came before she finished devouring them all. However, she wasn't going to get much more out of them. That gigantic creature ate all the spiders that escaped from her. Although the strategy of weakening her by killing her offspring was an option. After all, they were born from her and her power was finite.
“How long will it take for them to be born?”
“[Around one week.]”
“Shit!” That shattered her plans. Her only option for now was to leave and focus on her level. Of course, without losing sight of her rearguard. She didn't want to be blindsided again.
Contrary to her thoughts, she didn't encounter any setbacks along the way to the lake, but she did encounter problems. The spirit was nowhere to be seen. “Where are you? ...? ... Shit! I don't even know your fucking name.”
Another that showed no signs of life was Narhad. “You have had enough of me? ... Okay!”
At the same time that she searched for a safe place to level up, she consulted the notebook looking for the next grotto. However, as she passed near the two rune-covered pillars where she had seen the other individuals disappear, she couldn't help but feel curious. Perhaps with her current Linguistic level she would discover something.
As she got closer and the engraved runes became legible, their meaning became clear in her mind. She smiled with the hope of discovering something worthwhile, but realized that most of the runes were repeated. Nine words and a phrase that repeated sequentially until they reached the end at the top.
“These are the nine precepts that every Guardian must respect: Truth, Honor, Duty, Courage, Justice, Retribution, Protection, Mercy and Pursuit.”
Jean looked for more clues in the portal as high as two floors of a house. Was it a portal exclusively for Guardians or did it need a Guardian to be activated? What were the Guardians and what did they guard?
Curiosity got the better of her and she moved even closer. However, when she was only a meter away from the pillars, the necklace and earring began to glow and vibrate. Some of the runes even lit up. The whispers didn't alert her of any danger, so she moved her hand closer. Seconds later, a ripple began to form between the runic pillars. The accessories resonated with the portal, yet nothing in the description mentioned that. “I guess with my Identify rank the information is limited.”
If the activation method involved the accessories, did that mean that the individuals she had seen crossing before also had them? Or was there another way she didn't know about?
“[Step away from the portal!]”
Narhad emerged abruptly from the lake. That prompted Jean to take a couple of steps back. She didn't sound particularly threatening, although she didn't seem friendly either.
“[I see you brought me a souvenir.]”
Puzzled, Jean looked at herself to see if she had anything clinging to her. She raised her half-healed left hand; she still had 6 phalanges to regenerate.
“More like, I lost something! The toll for traversing Mr Krabs' grotto was a bit high and I couldn't bring you anything. Sorry! Maybe next time.”
Narhad pointed to her ear. “[I meant that earring!]”
“Sorry! I don't have the habit of giving away what people give me.”
Jean moved further away from the portal and looked for a place to sit. She didn't want to spend another remedy to level up, but she didn’t have no other option.
“[And who gave it to you? A thief?]”
“I’m not sure. She was a bit rude and she didn't even introduce herself before her friend Auruth tried to kill me with a very nasty poison, but... something tells me you know her better than I do.”
“[They were just testing you.]”
“Then it's true! You know her much better than I do... Tell me more about her! I’m sure we could all be friends!”
“[Fuck you!]”
“I notice it's very common around here being a bastard with no manners!”
“[Be thankful I didn't kill you!]”
“That's what I wanted to talk to you about! Why didn't you kill me when I fell into your waters? Just for the earring? How did you know I had it?”
Narhad turned around abruptly and dove in. Something was moving in the distance. Infected, perhaps? Jean ran to check it out.
Narhad emerged in a blink on the opposite side of the lake. A tendril of water shot out a jet of water at high speed. The severed head of the intruder fell to the ground several meters away seconds later.
Jean held her breath and thanked that the tabaxi had given her the earring before she fell.
It didn't take long for Narhad to emerge again next to where Jean was walking to. Both advanced evenly except for the 8 meters that separated them.
“A visit from the neighbors?”
“[No! Rats! They have a nest in the northwest part.]”
The crabs rushed out of the mud to eat the remains of the intruder. The largest of them attacked two others, trying to monopolize the corpse. Narhad did not like what she was witnessing and rushed over to the little scuffle. In the blink of an eye, a tendril of water brutally pierced the belligerent crab.
“[What did I tell you? ... Don’t fight with your brothers!]”
The crab writhed in pain as she held it impassively. Then she plunged it into the lake and left it on the shore with a gentleness that had nothing to do with the brutality with which she scolded it.
Jean made her way around the lake toward the intruder, but stopped along the way to look at the crab. The terrible wound had disappeared in little more than a few seconds. At that distance. she also caught a glimpse of the intruder's corpse. It was like a rat-man. A very thin one.
»Cave Rat-Man«.
Level 63
Name: Single eye
Marks: [Human Eater], [Elf Eater], [Tabaxi Eater], [Gnome Eater] , …
Details: This creature’s attributes made him a deadly opponent for you, but not anymore.
Jean abruptly halted. “Holy cow! 63!!” If she had made the mistake of approaching that part of the lake, she would have been food for the ninja turtle master.
“What's wrong, monster? You look pale.]”
Narhad seemed to be amused, in contrast to the false concern. Jean quickly realized it and averted her gaze to a spot that happened to activate Identify.
»Ancient Soul«
Level 12
Name: Kham
Marks: [Traitor], [Killer]
Details: You need Identify and Linguist in Expert, and find one more Yusthor accessory to be able to travel through the Guardian of the Nine portal.
“WHAT! Since when does Identify provide this type of information?”