Mike had always considered himself to be a good driver. His sense of direction was decent, and he felt he rarely needed a GPS after going somewhere once. His delusion of being a good navigator was completely and utterly obliterated as he navigated through the spider caves. He didn't know how long he had been underground, but it was far, far longer than any of his other expeditions.
He had traveled hundreds of miles of caves, tunnels and caverns. He still had yet to even reach the bottom of the cave, and he was beginning to get increasingly frustrated at the sheer scale of the spider nest. In this time, thousands had fallen to his hammer, the overwhelming majority posing absolutely no challenge to him. He’d had a few fights that took marginal effort to get through, but none that had truly challenged him.
Mike ran as fast as he could without causing his stamina to drain, which turned out to be as fast as a galloping horse. He tore through the tunnels, a terror to all who laid eyes on him. It had only been a few hours into his exploration that he had alerted the entire nest. Since then, it had been constant battle, the only respites coming when he managed to find and kill a brood mother, whose body was large enough to block the tunnel for a time.
It was a horrifying sight, but the tarantulas had no reservation about eating and tearing their way through the fallen to reach him. Through this constant battle, he would have expected to grow significantly, becoming far stronger than before. He grew even more frustrated with the situation as he looked through his notifications.
*Tarantula Swarmer (level 11-26) slain x4957!*
*Tarantula Worker (level 15-32) slain x1003!*
*Tarantula Guard (level 24 - 35) slain x102!*
*Tarantula Brood mother (level 25 - 39) slain x7!*
*Class level up! Mighty Feller of Giants (level 27)*
*Race level up! Human (level 29)*
One level. One fucking level, for hundreds of hours of fighting. He had killed the population of a small town from pre system times, and he had gained a measly one level. Mike was pissed, and it showed as he began using excessive force against his enemies. He was sprinting forwards, smashing in carapace after carapace, before he began to notice that one particularly large chamber lay not far ahead, and was empty of spiders.
He picked up the pace, excited for another break after killing the broodmother inside. He blew through the wall of enemies, facing the utterly massive spider before him. He barely dodged to the side as he identified the beast that had thrown a mana bolt the size of a beach ball at him.
*Tarantula Hive Matriarch (level 45)*
“Finally.” Mike said, a tear nearly coming to his eye. He had been through hell the entire time he was in the cave, and he just wanted to be done with the damn thing. It was time to end this, and he poured the frustration and anger he had built up into his attack, or would have if he could get close to the spider. It was at least 3 times Mike's height, and at least triple that in width.
Each of its limbs glowed with mana as they swung at him repeatedly, forcing him to dodge, block, and step back as each swipe threatened to tear him apart. It didn't take long before Mike's back was against the back wall of the cavern, which was roughly the size of an Olympic stadium. He tried running to the side to get around the beast, but it sidestepped, matching his speed and not giving him the chance.
In a desperate maneuver, he attempted to dive under the spider. Mikes activated Enhance Self at its maximum potential, and his mana began dropping. It didn't drop nearly as fast as it had when he’d first gotten it, proving just how far he had come. Unfortunately, the bonus stats given to him by Enhance Self, alongside the bonus he got for fighting such a strong enemy courtesy of Man Versus Mighty, were not enough as he was caught in a web shot out by the spider when he was nearly behind it. He was pinned to the ground briefly, freeing himself as he used Freedom to burn away the webs.
The brief moment had been all the time the spider had needed to strike him with a leg, sending him flying across the room. He increased the weight of his hammer, slowing his momentum enough to not bury him in the opposite wall as he struck it. Any normal human would have become a red splatter at the speeds he had been moving, but thanks to his high fortitude and constitution, he merely took some damage, a lot of pain, and would likely be feeling it tomorrow too. Mike pondered that for a moment.
“Do I still get sore?” His externalized thoughts were interrupted as he remembered he was in the middle of a life or death situation. He dodged several mana blasts that flew at him. Each one struck the wall behind him, leaving small craters where they had blasted away chunks of stone. Lucky for Mike, no pieces large enough to do harm to him came back at him, and he rushed the matriarch.
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He had already been shown that going under the tarantula was a bad idea, as was trying to flank it, as well as trying to charge it head on. Overall, he learned that fighting this thing was just a bad idea in general. All thoughts of self preservation were cast aside as he thought of retreating into the spider filled caves, dimly lit by his mana that he used to cast light. He did the only thing he could, and kept up his attacks.
He shifted his strategy from dodging and blocking, instead parrying the limbs of the spider. The legs were blasted back, cracks appearing in the carapace each time he struck. The only downside to this strategy was that he wasn't perfect, and some attacks inevitably slipped by his defenses. Holes were punched into his body as the sharp tips pierced his armor. The armor, which was made to stand strong against slashing attacks, broke piece by piece as more attacks came. Despite not being made to defend the stabbing attacks, it was still an epic armor set, and did an admirable job protecting him.
Without it, the limbs would likely skewer him like a kebab. Instead, they merely penetrated until they reached bone. Mike's “tactics”, if you could call trading blows that, paid off as the first leg crumbled, having taken too many attacks. Several more fell quickly after, leaving the spider barley mobile. He hopped on the back of the spider, which now lay on the floor, and began striking at its back.
Mana blast after mana blast assaulted him, destroying what was left of his chest piece. He tanked the hits as he swung repeatedly at the same spot, cracks forming and expanding with every strike. Mike noticed the mana blasts were weaker than they had been when he had been far from the spider. He smiled as he remembered the new effect of his trait.
Indomitable
Effect 2: Passively Erode mana within your aura
As for what an aura was, and what it meant to “erode” mana, Mike had a few guesses. All he knew now was that it made the magic of the spider weaker, and it seemed to make it weaker and weaker over time. The carapace of the spider finally caved as he struck down, releasing every bit of anger and impatience that had built within him. His desire to win seemingly threw his hammer with even more force than he had thought possible.
The attack didn't kill the spider, but it had sealed its fate. Mike tore apart its insides, completely and thoroughly destroying his enemy. He was covered in the fluids of the spider, the blood thankfully less acidic than its poison would have been if he had gotten bit. The blood gave his skin a light tingly feeling, which caused his skin to turn red. He ignored the sensation as he opened his notifications, finally reaping the rewards of the hell he had conquered.
*Tarantula Hive Matriarch (level 45) slain!*
*Class level up x3! Mighty Feller of Giants (level 30)*
*Race level up! Human (level 30)*
*Monster Lair Defeated (Tarantula Hive). As you have a contribution score of over 90% for this lair, you may choose to disable, destroy, or conquer this lair. If you disable it, monsters will cease spawning, but the lair may be reactivated at a later date. If you destroy this lair, monsters will cease spawning, and will be permanently disabled. If you conquer the lair, you may control the spawn rate of this lair, level of its inhabitants (up to 80% of your level), and whether this lair can overflow with time. [Disable, Destroy, Conquer]*
*[Planet Notification] Earth's first major monster lair has been defeated. As this is a major accomplishment for humanity, all classes increase by one level, up to a maximum of 25.*
That was, to put it lightly, a shit load of new information. He cringed at seeing so many people would be gaining a level, remembering the trouble that had come up last time this occurred. Mike read through the notification about the lair several times, before he finally began to comprehend the meaning behind the words.
“Why, in god's name, would I not conquer this thing?” He said, before immediately selecting to conquer. He expected something grandiose to happen, maybe for the walls to quake, but instead, he was greeted by a notification, and a new menu in his status that simply read, “lairs”.
*You have conquered a monster lair (Tarantula Hive) and gained the title Dungeon Conqueror (Epic). For this feat, you may change your profession to Dungeonsmith. The Dungeonsmith profession gives various bonuses and options in how you control your lair. [Switch Profession: Y/N]*
Mike immediately selected no. While it seemed like an interesting profession, he was content with being a crafter. Frankly, it seemed like a large responsibility, handling something so massive. Mike then opened the new menu he had been given, quickly being overwhelmed at the abundance of information presented to him. He read through the many options, learning the level of control he now had.
He could select the reproduction rate of the monster, up to 5 times the base value, and all the way down to a rate of 0. He could also select who they were hostile towards, having the option to blacklist and white list particular people. He quickly white listed himself, not wanting to deal with getting snuck up upon by his new underlings. He could also select a manager for the dungeon, which would give them limited access to the menu he was looking through now.
He looked through for a bit longer, eventually finding a map of the nest. Mike looked through the map, his brain short circuiting at trying to find the path out. It was like a maze puzzle on the back of those old newspapers people would buy, but 3d, and vastly larger and more complicated.
After what had to have been 30 minutes by Mike's estimate, he found a path that led out, and committed it to memory. In that time, his constitution worked to repair his beaten and broken body, sealing up the holes the spider had left in his body. While he wasn't going to die, he would still take some time to fully recover. Frankly, it had been a gift from above that he had found the large chamber when he had, as he guessed he hadn't even explored half of the massive nest.
He looked longingly at the cave entrance to leave, but then looked at the corpse of the spider, greed overcoming his desire to lay in his own bed for once. His armor had been reduced to shards in the fight, having not lasted very long. It had served its purpose, and that was enough for Mike. Now, it was time for a whole new set, and he had all the materials he needed.