Chapter Ten - Perfectly Average Sized

Jaricko stalked toward the sudden appearance of the spider. In his right hand, he flicked on the lighter he had brought with him. The cheap gas station-bought device sparked before catching flame. He wiped a bit of the dirt off the torch and brought the fire to the charred head. It took a moment of running it across the length of the cloth before it caught fire.

He handed the torch to Timothy, who took it with apprehensive hands. His sweaty palms wrapped around the gnarled wood and he pointed it towards the spider. The beast flinched in response and let out a chilling hiss.

“I’ll distract it while you hit it, remember, you only need to tap it once and it’ll burst into flames,” Jaricko briefed Timothy. The boy gave a shaky nod.

Jaricko and Jack stepped forward. Jack raised the metal pole like a club while Jaricko fingered the small knife in his pocket. The weapon wouldn’t be enough to damage the large beast, so he didn’t bring it out. He wasn’t aiming to kill, he only had to give Timothy an opening he could use.

The teenager felt confident in his newfound prowess. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, watching the spider’s movements. The monster seemed to hesitate as if it realized that there was a reason two of its kin were smoldering corpses. Its low intelligence and the opportunity of a meal urged it to attack.

Jaricko dodged out of the way of a claw, the limb, while frightening fast, was a tad too slow. Jaricko now had experience watching the movements and body language of the arachnids. They all appeared to have identical ticks. They would reel back on their hind legs before slashing forward, and they’d throw their weight into a stab. The hints were obvious with the exaggerated gestures.

It was like learning the pattern of an enemy in a game, dodge when they twitched a certain way, watch out for their special attack, and such. Jaricko didn’t have a challenging time losing himself in fantasies, so when one came to life, it was easy to embrace it.

Easy in the way that being killed by potentially man-eating monsters was a very real possibility.

“Hurry, Timothy!” Jaricko cried out while diving out of the way of another strike. Jack was busy stabbing into the joints of the legs whenever he could. The hard shell was too durable to crack or pierce, which limited the options to hurt the insect.

Timothy gulped before lunging forward, torch held aloft. The fire swooshed through the air, scattering embers across the hair of the spider.

That was all it took.

The monster lit up in flames, in much the same way its brethren had.

Jaricko heaved a sigh of relief and bent over to catch his breath. His face was flushed due to the exertion. Being so close to the creature without a weapon had been exhilarating but also terrifying. It was like being at the top of a roller coaster, waiting for the inevitable plummet downwards. There was nothing that could stop the ride. The only choice was to hold on for dear life.

“It worked!” Timothy exclaimed before rushing over to the dagger fae. He looked back at Jack and Jaricko.

“You sure you’re both okay with this?” He asked, his expression filled with apprehension. Jaricko imagined that the boy doubted their sincerity. In stories, the gift of magic usually came with a price. A witch or wizard would offer power to a young hero in exchange for something vital. Ultimately, Jaricko and Jack wouldn’t fit into that role.

“Jack said he doesn’t think it's big enough and I’m not a fan of testing it either. By all means,” Jaricko swept his hand outwards. Timothy didn’t wait a moment longer. The fae had almost been lost and it was on its last legs. The orange energy swirled into his chest, illuminating the surroundings with a sparkling hue. It was beautiful, and Jaricko wished he had been able to witness his own absorption of the [Pocket Watch] fae as a spectator.

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While Timothy was busy examining his status sheet, Jaricko went around and collected the leftover essence in the two corpses he had slain. He left the most recent one for Jack or Timothy. He saw these two as his since he had been the one to deal the finishing blow. Jack didn’t seem to care for the essence, although Jaricko had a sense that would change soon.

He ended up getting forty-eight essence from the two corpses, which brought his available essence up to an even one hundred. The trio’s dithering around over the dagger fae had let some of the essence dissipate. Jaricko felt a twinge of frustration at the loss but pushed it out of his mind. It was his own fault he had been caught up in the rush of finding a fae and hadn’t focused on looting first.

Out of curiosity, the teenager examined the other claws and corpses. He was searching for any more colorful lights that might indicate a potential fae. After a few minutes of searching, he was forced to concede there was nothing there. Although there was no fae, Jaricko continued to run his fingers over the scorched carapace.

He gave a tentative knock against the shell, feeling the durability of the material. He idly wondered if he could harvest the exoskeleton and use it to craft a shield of some sort. It seemed wasteful to leave the entire corpse lying around for something else to take advantage of.

He took out his small pocketknife and wedge it into one of the gaps in the joints of the leg. He levered the blade into the green flesh and felt his gut tighten as a wave of gas escaped from the confines. The meat had been cooked at a high temperature, extremely quickly, and essentially been grilled inside.

It smelled like a carcass that had been left to fester under the heat of the sun. Jaricko felt his breakfast attempt to escape, but he forced it back down. A bit of bile rose to his throat. He spat the acidic liquid out and wiped the corners of his mouth. He needed a drink of water.

The teenager left the spider to the scavengers of the forest, but he doubted even they would consider it a meal.

Not worth dealing with that stench just for some chitin. The gas is probably toxic.

With no desire to brave the stink, Jaricko returned back to Timothy, who at some point had summoned the fae.

The dagger fae looked exactly as if someone had decided to wedge the spider’s claw onto a bone wrapped in webbing. It was primitive in design and gave off a fearsome shine in the sparse light. Timothy wielded it with joy evident on his face. His eyes were wide behind his glasses and he swung the weapon with child-like glee.

The boy noticed Jaricko and started talking. He recounted the description of the fae.

Mountain Forest Arachnid Clawed Dagger Fae [Orange - Tier 0] [Mind]

Medium Capacity Cost, instant. Conjure a dagger made from the claw of a Mountain Forest Arachnid. The user can lash out with a sudden strike up to a number of times equal to the user's Mind (1) every five minutes.

Jaricko hummed in contemplation. Fae were starting to be very interesting finds. The ability to summon a dagger didn’t seem super useful, but Jaricko had a few guesses that it might be upgradeable. The teenager was glad he hadn’t put it in one of his fae slots. But, the special ability to lash out seemed unusual at least.

“Not so little now, huh, Jack?” Timothy goaded the large man. He made a few quick jabs in the direction of a sturdy tree, pretending that he was stabbing some unmoving enemy.

“You are still small,” Jack guffawed, his voice was filled with mirth. Timothy gaped and gave a dramatic act of raising his hand and resting it upon his forehead.

“You dishonor me, my good sir. I must challenge you to a duel to regain my good name!” Timothy stepped back and rose the dagger. Jack smirked and took a single step forward.

“Ah! I yield!” Timothy cried out while smiling. Jaricko couldn’t help the small grin that tugged on his lips. He was amazed that these two could still laugh and joke even after engaging in the fight with the spiders.

They didn’t know they had been seconds away from death. It was only thanks to Jaricko that they were both alive, yet they had no clue. Jaricko felt a wave of fatigue fall on his shoulders.

Would he be forced to live futures over and over again? Was that such a bad thing? The power of the [Pocket Watch] fae was tremendously powerful, even if he had to relive the moments ago. He would experience an existence that no one else would. The realization left Jaricko giddy.

The urge to keep the power a secret only intensified. The ability was worth killing for, Jaricko had no doubt about it. While the teenager didn’t believe the camp had descended to that level yet, it was only a matter of time before the restraints of society gradually loosened their hold.

The trio roamed around for a few more minutes before agreeing to head back to camp. They followed the markers tied to trees by Jack and were back in no time. They deposited the makeshift torch near the rear of the cabin before making their way to the front.

They got a few funny looks as they walked by, and Jaricko realized that the trio’s clothes were covered in dirt and grass. Jaricko especially so, from all the dodging around he had done. Luckily, or more of a relief, no one stopped them on their way back into cabin number four.

The teenagers entered the building and Jaricko noted that no one else was inside. He wasn’t sure where Blake, Tatum, or Briar was, but he didn’t particularly care. It was a bit callous, but he realized that the more members in their ‘party’ the less essence he would get. He couldn’t afford to slow down progress.

Jaricko took off his sweatshirt and tossed it onto his bed, desperately wishing for a shower. He took an inquisitive sniff of himself and reeled back. He contemplated washing off but then realized that the trio would just be going back out into the forest again. It would be better to simply wait until they were done.

They had been out in the forest for an hour or so, wandering around for most of it. The combat portions had been deceptively quick, taking no longer than a few minutes. It was amazing how seconds could stretch for hours. The feeling left Jaricko wanting to take a nap, but he realized that resting would only delay escaping from this forest.

I need to get back home.

He vowed to himself that he would make it out of this place alive.