Chapter Sixteen - The Chest

The clearing was empty besides the short grass and the aged wooden chest. There were a few flowers that sprouted around, but they didn’t appear to be exotic in any fashion. Dandelions, weeds, and other unremarkable vegetation.

The chest looked almost like it belonged in the forest. The wood was cracked and appeared to be rotting in a few places. Vines covered its surface, along with rusted iron-like metal along the edges.

Jaricko pointed it out to the others and they quickly started discussing what it could mean.

“It’s obviously a treasure chest created by the System!” Timothy excitedly announced. The earlier dismay about his brush with death was completely forgotten in the face of loot. Jaricko respected Timothy’s quick turnaround. It took a true gamer to value loot more than one’s life.

Jack didn’t trust it and made his opinion obvious. “It’s suspicious. No reason for a random box to be out here,” The large man said with narrowed eyes.

“It won’t hurt to see what’s inside. Besides, what if there’s something good in it?” Timothy persuaded with passion seeping into his voice. Jack still didn’t seem swayed and Jaricko was also shying away from opening the chest.

The empty clearing in the middle of the dense forest was already strange enough. Add on the fact that there was a chest, likely placed by the System? Jaricko's imagination ran wild with the thought of mimics and booby-trapped containers.

“Let's get the essence in these corpses first before we decided,” Jaricko stated and the other two agreed.

The teenager pulled open the prompts that had slowly appeared in the corner of his vision.

Absorbing Essence [51/67] - Juvenile Mountain Forest Arachnid [Tier 0]

Absorbing Essence [13/60] - Juvenile Mountain Forest Arachnid [Tier 0]

Absorbing Essence [43/59] - Juvenile Mountain Forest Arachnid [Tier 0]

Absorbing Essence [36/62] - Juvenile Mountain Forest Arachnid [Tier 0]

Jaricko was accumulating essence rapidly. He almost wished another gang of spiders would attack them. He instantly retracted that thought when he remembered that his mana wasn’t full. The energy was slowly refilling, but it would take a while to reach max capacity.

The young man wasn’t sure what determined his mana regeneration speed. If Spirit affected the strength of his fae, and Capacity affected how much mana he could hold, perhaps Mind was the missing piece?

With the influx of essence, Jaricko now had a modest pool of 279. He decided to rank up his Mind attribute and instantly noted the increase in his mana regeneration. He also felt his thoughts flow clearer, and the haze of fear was slightly brushed away. He wasn't bogged down by as much worry as before.

Jaricko had increased every attribute by at least one and he could feel the difference. He let out a satisfied sigh and turned back towards the other two. Jack and Timothy were busy splitting the leftover essence in the corpses.

When Jack had increased his Body attribute, the deadly man had become even more dangerous. It was awe-inspiring to watch him move across between the trees and strike out against the spiders. The only reason he couldn’t kill the arachnids by himself was due to their exoskeleton protecting them.

Jaricko was slightly scared of the possibility of how strong the sturdy teenager would be after another rank-up. It was obvious that the attribute increases affected each person differently. Jaricko’s rank up of his Body didn’t provide the same amount of strength as Jack’s Body increase. The teenager likened it to either latent talent or that the attributes affected what was already there.

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Jack had already been a strong individual and the rank up of his Body attribute had only increased that. Jaricko had been less physically inclined so his increase in Body didn’t provide the same results.

Timothy suddenly pointed at a flashing light on one of the corpses.

“Another fae!” He exclaimed. Jack and Jarick walked over and examined the crackling yellow lightning that was skittering across the corpse of the spider. It was probably the largest manifestation that Jaricko had seen. The light covered the entire exoskeleton with its mystical splendor.

“Are we going to activate it?” Jaricko questioned with growing enthusiasm. He hadn’t seen a yellow-colored fae before, and he was curious as to what it would signify. The teenager wasn’t sure what the colors meant and would need to see more before he settled on a concrete decision.

“Why not?” Jack said and tapped the exoskeleton with a meaty finger. The entire burnt-out husk swiftly shrunk and floated over to Jack’s extended hand. It was amazing to watch the car-sized creature be reduced to something that could fit in the palm of a human.

Jaricko examined the fae and raised an eyebrow when the light dimmed and revealed the shape.

“A suit of armor?” Timothy muttered to himself. The boy adjusted his glasses to get a better look at the mystical ability made manifest.

“It seems so. The prompt tells me that it’s a Mountain Forest Arachnid Exoskeleton Fae [Yellow - Tier 0]. I’m getting the feeling that I can absorb it too,” Jack informed them with an even voice. He didn’t appear to be too fazed by the sight and was cautious if anything.

“You should absorb it, Jack. You’ve been the one having to engage directly with the spiders. This would provide some protection,” Jaricko commented to the larger boy. Jack seemed conflicted with the statement and shook his head.

“No. One of you should. I can handle their attacks but if one hits you, then you’re done,” The man said with conviction. Jaricko had doubts about whether Jack could really tank the deadly claws of an arachnid with his bare flesh.

“I refuse. If it comes down to that then you can take the hit for us. Although I would prefer if we just didn’t get hurt,” Jaricko said with a wry smile.

“I agree. You’re more likely to be wounded with how close you get to the spiders. It would be better if you had some defense against them. We can’t afford to lose you,” Timothy added. The nerdy boy didn’t even seem sad that he was missing out on gathering a fae.

Jack was the only one without magical abilities so far in their group of three. It was high time the arguably strongest member was able to take a hit while dealing damage.

The curt man still seemed conflicted, but with Jaricko and Timothy’s words he soon absorbed the fae. He told them what it did right after.

Mountain Forest Arachnid Exoskeleton Fae [Yellow - Tier 0 [Body]

Extreme Capacity cost, instant. Conjure the exoskeleton of a Mountain Forest Arachnid to don the user’s flesh. For a total number of minutes equal to the user’s Body (2), the user is covered with the shell of the arachnid. The armor has great durability and can be adjusted to the user’s frame.

“Well, test it out!” Timothy commanded. The boy’s expression was lit up with joy at the possibility of watching the fae. Jaricko was also extremely curious as to what it would look like.

Jack shifted his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. In a split second yellow energy crackled across his body before forming into the ebony chitin that had previously belonged to the forest arachnid.

Layers of the shell were stacked on top of each other. The material reflected the sunlight, showing its slick exterior. It looked extremely similar to the armor of a medieval knight, minus any embellishments or insignia.

Jack twisted his arms and legs around, adjusting himself to the sudden weight. He fiddled with the helmet on his head, which was a simple and smooth helm. The front of his face could be seen.

“Well?” Timothy questioned.

“It’s…it’s fine. Feel’s heavy. Like I’m wearing multiple football pads,” Jack explained while engaging in a set of stretches. He could barely touch his toes and couldn’t reach all the way around to his back.

“Here, hit me with this.” The large man handed Jaricko the metal fire poker. The teenager pursued his lips and raised an eyebrow. Jack gestured to him to hurry up.

Jaricko brought the pole back like a baseball bat and swung. The pole dropped to the ground and Jaricko cursed as he held his hands. The vibration of the metal left his fingers shaking. Jack hadn’t even budged from his spot, and not a single mark had been left on the armor.

“Holy shit!” Timothy exclaimed while running a hand across where Jaricko had struck. “Didn’t even scratch it.”

A deep rumble of laughter erupted out of Jack.

“Good. This is better than I thought,” He intoned with renewed joy. “I barely even felt the strike. The only other test is to pit its durability against that of a spider’s claw.”

The large man looked at Timothy.

“Summon your dagger and strike me,” he said. Timothy looked uncertain but an orange crackle of energy formed in his hands. The light dispersed and revealed the Mountain Forest Arachnid Clawed Dagger fae.

“I’ll start slow and you tell me if you start to feel anything,” Timothy warned and pushed the tip of the dagger into the armor. The blade sunk in and slowly began to inch further and further. Jack quickly raised his hands and Timothy unsummoned the weapon.

“So it is resistant to normal weapons, but not to fae,” Jaricko commented while watching from the sidelines.

“Indeed. But it is better than nothing,” Jack admitted. His small smile had never left his face.

I wonder if a bullet could punch through?

Jaricko bit the inside of his mouth. It was likely that a gun would manage to pierce through the exoskeleton. It had only taken one shot to kill a spider, and its shell had provided no protection against the manmade innovation.

The trio experimented with the armor for a little while longer, but the fae soon dissipated and Jack was left wearing his normal clothes. Jaricko told Jack to be constantly aware of the time limit he had on the armor, so it didn’t vanish right when he needed it most.

The trio made sure to check the other corpses for any fae, but they were out of luck.

They argued back and forth for a bit before eventually deciding to see what was in the chest. Timothy and Jaricko’s experience with games eventually won out against Jack’s unsettled feelings. They assigned their leftover essence and looked at the chest.

They entered the clearing.