I stare at the spider and wait for it to make the first move. It’s not quite as tall as I am, only reaching up to my chest. But its massive abdomen and chitinous legs suggest that it’s at least as strong as I am, and probably more so. And that’s before any System-derived modifications further augment its physical might.
Without an identify skill or any sort of device that gives me a read on its capabilities, I decide defensiveness is my best course of action. Chloe likewise takes a defensive stance, positioning herself such that I’m directly between her and the spider. It doesn’t appear that my high [Mind] stat has a noticeable effect on my intelligence, nor my thinking speed, but I am willing to bet on being smarter than my foe, if not stronger.
My eyes dart to the left and right to search for signs of ambush. I see nothing.
The spider sees an opportunity while my concentration is momentarily off it and strikes. I wait until the last possible second, maintaining a defensive posture as its pedipalps bear down upon me. I throw fifteen units of [Ether] into my [Flash of Insight] skill and launch it directly toward the arachnid’s eyes. It lurches backward, but it still lands a heavy blow upon my torso as it flails about.
I’m not bleeding, but my chest stings, I’ve got scrapes from skidding against the dirt floor, and I’m going to have a hell of a bruise in the morning. Chloe can help with that. Later. Now, I have a job to do.
I rush in and aim my bat directly at the creature’s head. I score a direct hit, and then another, but the spider adapts before my third hit lands. It again lashes out at me, but this time I’m more prepared. I’m able to parry the strike with my offhand, though not without sustaining a gash just below my elbow. Chloe is right there, placing her hand on my wounds and easing my pain before the blood loss starts to affect me.
Thankfully, I seem to have earned my arachnid ‘friend’s’ ire, and it doesn’t go after Chloe as it logically should. I sustain another wound on my right shoulder, but it’s thankfully a pretty superficial one. My [Health] sits at 96. Not in critical danger, but I’m down just over a quarter of my maximum. Worse, I don’t know how the System handles blood loss, fatigue, or the effects of injury on the body. If I’m at 1 [Health], am I still able to fight as well as I am now, or am I incapacitated, unconscious, and a wrong poke from death? Probably best to avoid falling under half or so if I can avoid it.
I focus on dodging to give Chloe a chance to restore her [Ether] after that spat of healing. She has an opening to deal damage, but I call her off. I’ve got a level on her, first and foremost, and I can’t heal her. Further, I suspect higher [Vitality] also serves as resistance against physical damage, and I need to maintain our foe’s aggression. Thankfully, the spider doesn’t chase after her.
I continue that pattern, dodging and sidestepping and fighting extremely defensively until my [Ether] recharges to maximum. I’m able to regenerate one point every eighteen seconds, meaning I can use a ten [Ether] [Flash of Insight] every three minutes. I’m guessing Chloe recovers her [Ether] at a similar rate, although I suspect her healing skill doesn’t cost as much as mine.
Bit by bit, over the course of a grueling thirty minute fight, I gradually whittle away at its health until it finally collapses from the damage. I’m sweating, tired, and desperately want another shower, but we seem on the verge of victory. Though I dare not assume that we’ve won until I see the System notification; I’m well aware that some bosses have multiple health bars. Though, it would certainly suck if there’s a boss this early on. I spit and curse my lack of preparation, and I can swear I feel the System laughing and mocking my misfortune. That, or I’m in a delusional coma and I’m going to wake up from a bad dream… sooner or later, I hope.
The spider makes one last feeble attempt at me before it collapses. Partly to be certain it’s dead and partly to put it out of my misery, I smash its head in a few more times for good measure, staining my weapon green with its blood and other… I choose not to think about it further. The System confirms the death, not a moment too soon in my estimation.
[Your party has slain a Giant Spider (Level 3). You have gained 43 Experience!]
[Unique Trait [Touched by the Multiverse] increases Experience gain! Experience increased to 64!]
[You have gained enough Experience to reach Level 3. +1 [Vitality], +1 [Mind]. Please allocate remaining stat points (Remaining: 3)]
I quickly increase my [Vitality] by three, ensuring an additional six points of [Health] this level, and every level thereafter. I need to make sure I can survive at all costs. I turn to Chloe and quickly revise that statement. I need to make sure we can survive at all costs.
[Maximum [Health] increases by [Vitality] x 2 + Current Level + Random[1, 3] = 42]
[Maximum [Ether] increases by [Mind] + Current Level + Random[0, 2] = 24]
[Current Stats: [Health]: 128 / 174; [Ether]: 55 / 64; Current Experience: 85; To Next: 25]
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[Current Stats: [Strength]: 12; [Speed]: 14, [Vitality]: 19; [Mind]: 21]
I breathe a sigh of relief as Chloe finishes processing her increased levels. She wants to tell me about it in great detail, but the two of us both want to get out of this System-damned dungeon as soon as possible and back to whatever vestiges of safety remain on the surface. Another shower sounds really nice, especially since we might only have a few more days to enjoy them before the world goes further to shit.
We make it back to the house without more than a couple of tiny critters poking at our feet. Once we get there, we decide to barricade the door to the basement. Privately, I don’t expect it to keep the worst of those creatures out. But it’ll buy us a few seconds and make a lot of noise, and that’s the difference between being killed in our sleep and waking up in time to fight off the threat.
It’s getting late by the time we make it up. Electricity is still working— a major miracle, considering everything. Chloe and I both get our phones plugged in and charging as we each take another quick shower. She volunteers to make us some pasta, while I sit at the dining room table and play around with the Ether canister I found earlier.
I trace my hands along the outside, finding tiny ridges on the surface. Considering their smoothness and uniformity, I assume they’re relevant, but they’re too small to see.
“Do you have a magnifying glass, by chance?” I ask. I realize what she’s going to say before she actually says it.
“Why don’t you just use your phone? I’m sure the camera app can do something like that.”
Yep, I was right. “Can I borrow yours? Mine’s suffering from a case of ‘being from the early 2010’s and having a scratched up lens.”
“You better put it back when you’re done. And don’t even think about having it on the table at dinner; I–”
“You eat with your phone out all the time, Chloe! That’s your choice, but don’t try and tell me–”
She flips me the bird for the second time today. I reciprocate. The two of us laugh at each other.
Once she unlocks her phone, she hands it back and I take a few pictures, at both low and high magnification. Once I see the pictures and start to zoom in, I’m utterly astounded. The markings seem to be some sort of coded message, or perhaps the language of magic, or [Ether], or the System’s own language, in the sense of a computer’s code. It’s all so fascinating and I want to spend weeks diving into the inner workings of even this simple canister, but the smell of freshly grated parmesan cheese mixed with oregano snaps my attention back to the present.
She hands me my plate and oh goodness, it smells so heavenly. I take a bite and it’s just as good as it smells. She smiles at me before handing me a pair of concert tickets to one of my favorite artists.
“So, I was going to give you these when we got here as an early birthday present since I know that’s coming up next week. That was part of why I wanted you to come over after school. I’d planned out a big trip for us to drive up to Kansas City next Thursday, go see the concert, then come back just in time to ride through the last two months of our summer break! I was going to come back to the worst case of senioritis but we were going to have a great time. Of course, now all this had to happen.”
“Well, let’s wait and see,” I say. “Maybe everything will work out and we can still go, even if the concert is cancelled. In either case, I really appreciate it though!”
It’s exceedingly unlikely that the concert is still happening, but it’s not technically impossible either. Hopefully people don’t speedrun the most apocalyptic outcome for System integration, but considering the assholes on the internet and the dipshits who represent us, I’m not holding my breath that a bunch of people with superpowers are going to use them for the greater good of humanity.
We make some smalltalk over dinner. Chloe mentions that she got an [Antidote] skill, and I invite her to try it on me. I never got stung, but I can imagine other parts of that spider’s body being venomous, and I bled more than a few times. She does, and then confirms that the skill found no purchase. I breathe a small sigh of relief.
“Have you heard anything from your mother?” I ask.
“She always works late on Fridays. She has her meetings with the board of directors for the company. I have no idea why the bigwigs schedule their meetings on Friday afternoons, though.”
“I guess they’re a bunch of workaholics who work their regular day jobs, then fly out here to have more meetings because they have no life and no friends and don’t want to spend any time with their families. So they make it inconvenient for everyone else, to try to make them just as miserable as they are.”
Chloe giggles. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Even when the literal end of the world as we know it is upon us, they’re still going to be all ‘good to know about the apocalypse, but that’s no excuse not to be in at 8:00 AM sharp!’” She speaks the last part in the caricatured mocking tone of an out-of-touch corporate bigwig with more dollars than sense.
I laugh as well, and the two of us laugh some more as we continue to make increasingly outlandish caricatures to pass the time. I offer to help Chloe put dinner away, but she waves me off, telling me that I’m a guest and that I should focus on my new projects instead. And I can’t help but smile and thank whatever lucky stars I have that I have a thoughtful and considerate best friend to have my back.
The sun goes down over the course of our antics. Soon after we finish, Chloe yawns loudly.
“I know it’s still early, but after everything, I’m pretty tired and want to go to sleep early. I texted my mom and let her know that the hunk of junk in the driveway is you, so that way she won’t have a panic attack when she gets back.”
“Sounds like a plan. Do you mind if I stay upstairs in the game room area while I work? That way I can keep an ear out while you sleep while hopefully not disturbing you too much.”
“Just make sure you come to bed at some point rather than staying awake all night.”
I nod. “I promise I’ll stop before midnight.”
She smiles. “Good night, Sera!”