“Well, either we over-prepared or these things were really weak” Keith was the first to speak after they regrouped to plan the next step. They looked around for another passage, but this seemed to be the end of the cave system. The only things they found were the broken eggs and thick webbing coating the walls.
Jack had pulled one of the eggs off the wall and was inspecting it. If not for the webs sticking to it and the fact that it was round, it was just like a chicken egg. The shell was hard but easily broken, and it was smooth on the inside. It was fascinating.
Emily indicated towards a crushed manaweaver “Well they were only level one with a single level two, I honestly think they aren't meant to be tough. Horrifying but not tough.”
Jack held up one of the eggs, “I think they might have been babies. When spiders first hatch they are usually pale until their first proper molting. That would explain why they were so easy.”
“Still, I thought finishing a quest would at least be a little hard.” Jay was speaking, but his face showed that he was more thinking out loud than trying to make a point. “maybe it’s like a tutorial of some kind? To get people used to the system. Letting them know that monsters exist now.” he shook his head and wiped off his pensive look. “Ok so the quest said to clear the first level, that implies there is a second. Did anyone get another quest to clear level two?”
They looked to each other expectantly but no one seemed to have gotten one. Keith seemed to perk up “Well at least we got a level out of it, even a new skill for all of us. Right?”
Jay moved his light along the walls “I don’t know, I just expected something more, I kinda feel like we’ve been blue balled” when he said blue Jack noticed something on the wall.
“Jay, shine your light on that spot again!” he moved the light back, within the red-tinted webbing there was the faintest hint of blue the same shade as the female manaweaver. “The webbing is different there” They all scrambled back into formation. Once they were ready, Jay extended his pole and poked at the wall. It took a surprising amount of pressure but the pole went through. Emily went up to the wall sword ready and sliced slowly down where Jay had made a hole, revealing a pathway descending into the mountain.
Jay laughed “See that's more like it, a hidden passage, onwards to level two”
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They stood in the opening to a large cavern, Jay had turned off the light when they got close to not alert anything. From what they could tell, the manaweavers didn’t like the light.
When they saw a glow coming from the entrance, it looked like they weren't going to need it. The cavern was about the length and width of a soccer field and about fifteen feet high. The floor, walls, and ceiling were covered in the red webbing, this webbing though was glowing bright enough to cast the entire area in an unsettling crimson light.
Laughing to himself, he thought the size was appropriate. Because scattered all around the area were slowly walking soccer ball-sized manaweavers. Their bodies were a dark red with crimson glowing lines; their legs were two to three feet long.
**Skill up** Identify Level: 2
Male ManaWeaver Level: 2
A manaweaver in the second stage of development.
Party Chat:
Emily: That is a fuck-ton of nope from me guys, lets leave.
Keith: I second that those are huge.
Jay: Come on they are not that much bigger. Look, they are only level 2, they probably are just as weak.
Emily: FIRE! KILL THEM WITH FIRE!
Jack put his hand on Emily’s back and rubbed it gently, he could feel her calm a little, but she was still tense.
Jack: Look we can test the waters with one, they don’t seem to be going much faster than the babies, Jay can hit it with his ten-foot pole. If it doesn’t affect it, or it starts moving as fast as the female baby, we can book it. Ok?
Emily: Fine.
Seven feet away, a lone weaver was walking by. Jay extended his pole and brought it down with a sickening crunch. His aim was slightly off and instead of hitting its main body, he crushed three of its legs.
The weaver let out a horrifying screech, as it tried to move closer to them. The three crushed legs prevented it from making any progress. Nearby weavers started advancing at the sound of the screech. The speed they were traveling at, made Jack think of classic cartoons where a tortoise was trying to sprint. They were making progress but not the kind that threatened any one of them. Jay stepped forward and started tapping the webbing along the ground with his foot.
Jay: See, they can’t move fast and the webs are not sticky at all. We can go in and clear out small sections, taking turns killing them. If too many get close we can just circle around them.
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Over the next hour, they developed a pretty efficient pattern. Three of them would approach a weaver, one would attack the left legs with a sword, then back off. The next one would attack the right legs, and the last one would stab its head.
They would repeat the pattern switching out people to try and balance the experience and give rests. In an attempt to preserve stamina Jay’s pack was being traded around most often with Jack who was the one who needed resting most often.
Jay, having just struck the killing blow, “guys I’m seven experience away from leveling up. Can I kill the next one alone?” With only a few left they all excitedly agreed, the reports online said that at level three you get the perk ‘Genesis Wave’ and they all wanted to know what it did.
Your party has slain 37 Male ManaWeavers Level: 2
Your contribution 16%
You are awarded 60 Experience
While Jay got ready to kill one solo, Jack pulled up his experience.
Experience 123/200
He was honestly surprised how far behind he was. He knew he took a bunch of breaks, didn’t realize it was enough that Jay could get almost twice his experience. Having low endurance really hurts when melee fighting. He hoped it wouldn’t be an issue if he could learn magic. Losing himself in musings of being a wizard, he didn’t even notice when Jay killed his weaver and started walking back.
Jay looked at his screen reading his notifications and he made a sour face. “So I am level three, but it's asking if I would like to continue utilizing the system, why would I not?”
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Jack pointed out “If it allows you to choose to stop using it, wouldn’t that mean there is some cost to it? None of the reports talked about that, wouldn't someone try to point out a risk if there was one?”
“It says if I say no, I won’t be able to level anymore. There’s nothing about a cost. I know I said this before. Whoever or whatever Mesith is, if they wanted to hurt or kill us, they would have done it already.” With a confident look on his face, he pressed a finger forward. As he read, his face transformed into a huge grin. “Guys I unlocked a class,” his grin fell again “but I only have three options: Foot Soldier, Scout, and Exterminator.” He looked like he was rapidly reading, so everyone gave him some time.
A now familiar hiss could be heard as a weaver got within three feet. Emily’s eyes filled with rage. “I am so fucking sick of these god damned spiders, I just want to listen to Jay without the fear that one of these assholes are going to sneak up behind me if I’m not paying attention.”
She pulled out her sword and started walking to the weaver, but she stopped turning to Keith and Jack asking “Do you mind if I take care of them” in a frustrated tone.
Keith recoiling from her intensity held up his hands “Be my guest. Have fun” Jack nodded to her and she took off screaming profanities as she began her slaughter of the four remaining weavers.
While Emily was going full barbarian, Jay cleared his throat to get their attention “Okay, so I think I’ve figured this out. Each one of my options has a list of prerequisites. For example, foot soldier requires eight or more strength, and to have killed ten or more foes while in a formation. I think I can only select a class I’ve already met the requirements for.”
Keith asked him “So put some points into strength and see if you can get more options”
“Yeah I tried to test that out, but I can’t go past this screen. I have to choose a class before I can open anything else up.” He looked upset. “It doesn’t even tell me what the actual bonuses are, just the requirements I’ve met, and a brief description.”
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Foot Soldier Requirements:
Strength 8 or more
Defeat 10 or more foes while in a formation
A foot soldier is one of many. Much like ants, they complete their work collectively. They may be weak by themselves, but as a unit, they are efficient and effective.
Scout Requirements
Dexterity 10 or more
Search the wilderness and find a hidden structure or hostile camp
Gauge the strengths of an enemy, and report the findings to your allies
A scout is the first to be sent into the unknown. Like a canary they let their team know if it's safe to proceed. Searching and gathering knowledge is their bread and butter. If you want to stay hidden from an army, always watch out for their scouts.
Exterminator Requirements
Strength 10 or more
Vitality 15 or more
Perception 10 or more
Own 10 or more Items to kill specific creatures
Clear an area of a magical Insect infestation
Pioneer Dungeoneer Perk
Who do you call when your crops are being devoured by 10-foot locust, the Exterminator.
The Exterminator roots out any pest and makes sure they don’t come back. They shrug off the poisonous bites of their targets. Pests scatter when they see the Exterminator not knowing they are already dead.
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After stabbing through the last manawearver Emily let out a primal roar. To her, it felt very cathartic killing them all. For years she was always afraid of spiders sneaking in to kill her but now it was her turn and she would not rest until all of these bastards were dead. After doing a quick breathing exercise, she looked around and realized she might have gone a little overboard with the rage and all. The manaweavers left in her wake were nothing but piles of goo.
Standing there she listened as Jay explained the class descriptions. After he finished. Emily ran up and punched his arm “You dick, after what I could hear of your reaction, I thought all your options were terrible. Exterminator sounds badass“
Jay feigning offense “But how could I pick a class that doesn’t require my natural charisma or stunning good looks” Emily rolled her eyes and pointed her sword at him. Jay's eyes opened in shock before he saw her laugh and start to clean the blade. He waited until she was done. “Well obviously I’m picking Exterminator, I always liked playing characters who are self-sufficient. Tanks can generally take care of themselves, I guess scout is kind of like that, but the requirements indicate it's not as good. Plus I AIN'T NO CANARY”
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While Jay read out the details of his class and perk, Jack walked around the cave poking at the walls with Jay’s ten-foot pole. ‘Genesis Wave’ gave him an extra two stat points a level, not retroactively though. His class gave him four things, the first three were automatic.
Poison and disease resistances are increased by 50%
Damage to Insect type monsters is increased by 100%
Damage with poison is increased by 100%
He was then presented with three class skills and instructed to choose one. Of the ones provided, only one stuck out to him.
Skill
(Class) Essence of Poison Level: 1
Attacks made by you have a 10% chance of applying a poison that does 1 (2) damage a second for 5 seconds. Additional instances do not stack. Percentage decreases by 1% every foot of distance when using a ranged attack.
“That is so overpowered! You realize if you use that on any of us, it would practically be lethal.” Keith shivered at the thought.
The party wanted to stay until all of them hit level three, even though it was already almost eight pm. Emily was the closest, while Jack was the furthest.
Jack spotted a section of the wall that had the faintest blue in the webbing. Poking it with the pole it had a slight give. Jack cut a hole in the web-wall to reveal a path down, he called the others to show them.
Traveling down this time was much easier for the party. The tunnel was coated in glowing webs giving them plenty of light to see. They soon realized the trade-off, this tunnel had spiders in them. They were the babies so none of them felt threatened until they realized it had female babies here too. Keith spotted one and after that, they were on the lookout.
Trying to bring his experience closer to the rest of the party Jack asked to take care of the first female they found. They agreed to give him the first shot, it came sooner than expected.
Jack had just squashed a male baby, when Emily called out, pointing out a female a few yards away. Jack moved forward to intercept it. It sprinted up the wall like a rabid squirrel, jumping off of the wall towards Jack, landing on his shoulder. He stood dumbfounded, staring at the spider on him. Suddenly Jay’s pole slammed down on top of it killing the female and bruising Jack’s shoulder.
He hung his head in shame after realizing how badly that could have gone without Jay’s interference. “I’m sorry guys” He didn’t know why he froze like that. It's not like he was scared of spiders. He was just stunned by the beauty of the glowing blue lines.
Jay smiled “It’s ok, but you get the next one”
They found that the blue babies could hide in the webbing and turn off their glow making them hard to see.
Female ManaWeaver Level: 2
A newly hatched manaweaver.
Quicker and less aggressive than their male counterparts, but relatively harmless.
While they can still produce webbing, they can not infuse it with mana until they are more mature.
They realized the females wouldn’t attack unless a male was hurt near it. They found that out when Keith shrieked while looking to his left, he had noticed a female five inches from his face. But instead of attacking, it just scurried away before anything could be done. Keith looked very embarrassed to have screamed like that, and if the entire area wasn’t washed in red light, his face must have looked flushed.
The party came to a halt when they heard a faint dripping sound. The entire cave had almost no sounds besides them and the occasional baby, so a new sound concerned them. It also worried them that there might be water they have to go through. Jay pulled a mirror out of his pack, which was on Keith at the moment, and checked the corner.
He saw a small chamber with a tall ceiling. Attached to the ceiling was a very narrow stalactite that ended ten feet from the ground. Water was dripping off of the stalactite, into a small puddle with a baby spider at the edge. Turning the corner and walking up to kill it, they noticed it wasn’t a living spider, but a perfect replica made out of rock.