Alexia Knight

I smile after killing another spider and seeing the level-up System Messages that follows it.

{Congratulations! You have leveled up to level 35! Your Species has awarded you +2 VIT, +2 DEX, +2 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN. Your Class has awarded you +1 VIT, +1 DEX, +1 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN.}

{Congratulations! Your Passive Skill ‘Quantum Infusion’ has reached Level 2!}

[*New Passive Skill* – Quantum Adaptation: Allows the user’s body to adapt to any type of environment after an extended duration of exposure to it. The adaptations made will be permanent, however they will never reach immunity to the environment. Skill is automatically slotted due to free open slots.]

Oh? That one is a lot more useful right now than the active skill I got for level thirty. Which was actually an incredibly good skill at a glance.

But considering that I can’t use it since it costs more soul than I even have just to phase out of reality for even a quarter of a second… quantum phasing is not a good early level skill. The whole being immune to physical damage and being able to pass through solid objects is nice and all, but it’s not as nice when I can’t actually use the skill yet.

One major issue with the System as a whole. The fact that it gives out skills you can’t use sometimes at low levels, even if it generally tries to keep the skills balanced to the user’s level.

Rather annoying.

I sigh at that thought before looking through the tunnel this large lesser arachnid was guarding.

Don’t think I’ve seen this tunnel yet. Probably would’ve remembered a tunnel filled to the brim with cobwebs that I’ll have to push through just to get into the tunnel.

And the thought of pushing through the cobwebs is more than a little disturbing.

So I raise my hand and blast a quantum bolt into the cobwebs, drilling a hole straight through it until the bolt eventually hits a wall, all of the cobwebs along the way glitching out and vanishing without a trace.

Convenient.

I hope this isn’t a dead end as well. Because the hundreds of dead ends I’ve found in the last few days down here are getting on my nerves.

Honestly, the next time I find a maze, I will take the easy route through it.

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Shooting through the walls.

I nod my head, determined to go through with that plan the next time as I walk through the underground maze of tunnels that have little to no walls in-between them to shoot through. Until I reach a bend in the tunnel and find even thicker cobwebs here.

Am I actually getting somewhere now?

That thought has me frowning and focusing solely on the cobweb filled tunnel as I raise my hand again and blast another bolt of quantum energy through it, only for the bolt to strike a lesser arachnid, making it let out a pained screech. I summon my polearm before pulling my arm back and throwing it straight at the creature, piercing through it head-first right when it begins to charge at me. Then I dismiss the weapon again and continue walking.

I’m so glad I figured out how to do that. It makes things so much nicer down here.

And cleaner, since I don’t have to get up close and personal with them anymore.

I hear another skittering sound, so I summon my polearm again, just for another lesser arachnid to jump out of the cobwebs that continue around another bend in the tunnel. But this time I find my eyes widening in surprise at the creature that I quickly realize isn’t actually a lesser arachnid purely due to the fact that its carapace is a deep purple this time instead of the black that the other lesser arachnids are.

{Lesser Venomous Arachnid – Level 38}

The creature snaps forward at me with its jaws, spraying a bit of purple liquid out in the process that I barely manage to dodge with a jump backwards that has me hitting my head on the tunnel’s ceiling due to using too much force.

I frown when I reach the ground again, finding the creature already moving towards me at a faster speed than the other lesser arachnids.

Better not let it bite me.

I raise a hand to send a Quantum Bolt its way, but the creature just dodges it and begins running along the wall towards me instead. So I continue blasting quantum bolts at it until it reaches me, having dodged every last one, ending up in the tunnel behind it being in a rather poor state. I’m too focused on swinging my polearm upwards to cut straight into the creature’s underside when it tries jumping at me to care though.

The creature lets out a loud screech of pain but doesn’t stop as it snaps its jaws at me despite having my polearm’s blade stuck in its underside, getting some of its venom on my armor and my arm. To my pleasant surprise though, it doesn’t burn, marking the venom as non-acidic.

While gritting my teeth, I lift the creature on the end of my polearm before slamming it onto the ground and sticking it there while letting go of my weapon with my left hand to then blast it with a Quantum Bolt. And when that doesn’t kill it, I blast it with two more until its head is a mess of clear blood and glitching purple and blue spider head.

[Level 38 Lesser Venomous Arachnid Defeated. User’s earned EXP has been increased due to killing a being whose level is higher than their own.]

[Four points have been earned for killing a creature three levels above you.]

I let out a sigh.

There are way too many bugs in this dungeon.

As I’m wiping off the poison on my armor and arm, a faint grin stretches across my face.

Good thing Astrid wasn’t the one sent here. She absolutely despises bugs.

Especially spiders.

I grimace as I find a small bit of the poison still trying to stick to my arm until I physically wipe my arm on the dirt and cobweb covered wall. And even then, it still feels sticky.

Ugh. Now if only the spiders and bugs were cleaner when killed, then things would be much nicer.

Deciding to give up on getting rid of the stickiness, I continue heading down the tunnel.

As long as this isn’t a dead end, then it’ll all be worth it.

Probably.