Frankly, Magnus was itching to go on the counterattack and finally get rid of those spiders, but it seemed the System had interrupted him yet again. Even if he was getting tired from all the fighting, the spiders would surely notice their attacking force missing. He wouldn’t have much time to comb over all the options the System offered him for his first Attribute. The list was long, overwhelmingly so. So much so that Magnus probably couldn’t read over everything even if he sat there the whole day. The few options he went over very much surprised him in their diversity. For example, there were what must have been dozens of if not more options with the word Affinity in their name. All of those Attributes apparently made their elements easier to handle and generally more powerful. Such as Increased Fire Affinity improved fire magic, Increased Light Affinity light magic and so on. They apparently also made spells easier to cast. Whatever spells were. Was [Toughen] a spell? Magnus doubted so. While it didn’t seem like he stumbled upon any spells yet, he imagined if he survived and didn’t give, that eventually he would cross his path with someone who uses spells. It was probably only matter of time. As for picking any of the Improve Affinities, they looked made for someone who invested in their Mind Stats a little more heavily. Nevertheless, he promised himself to take a look at them again later.

Then there were more mundane Attributes. Making his memories better or skin tougher all seemed useful but not really it. He was looking for something with a little more oomph. Though he would also consider them when he got to pick more Attributes. After that there were some more bizarre Attributes. For example, Malleable Body as it suggested made one’s Body easier to change or transform. Why someone would want that Magnus had no idea. But he wasn’t very knowledgeable of all of the Multiverse. He certainly didn’t know what people did a few universes over.

It was only after a good half hour of skimming that he stumbled over something that really caught his eyes. The so-called Path Attributes. The Path of Endurance specifically. Seeing his favorite word made him perk up but reading over the description of the Attribute made him ecstatic. It was precisely what he was looking for. He was starting to lose his patience, but thankfully he persevered and found this.

[Path of Endurance]

Gain +1 Endurance every Level while Tier 0. Increases the Endurance threshold bonus at Level 50. After Tier 0 increases the effect of Endurance moderately.

It seemed ideal, especially for the first Attribute. When he reached Level 50, he would have gained 20 Levels worth of Endurance. Not a negligible amount by any means. Luckily, he managed to find it for his first Attribute and not any later. He wouldn’t be so excited if he found it 10 Levels later. Not hesitating in the slightest, Magnus confirmed the selection. Expecting something akin to the Skill upgrade, he was surprised to find that he couldn’t feel any changes at all. Weird. He thought something like this would have a bigger impact than upgrading a Skill. Or maybe he just didn’t have a way to see the changes. Thankfully, the System was kind enough to provide for that by showing him his Attributes when he thought about them. Unsurprisingly, the only Attribute currently there was the one he just picked. The Attribute finally selected, he decided to assign his Stat Points into Strength. Endurance could finally be pushed to the sidelines a little. With the selection finally done, he finally gave his attention to the impatient Dryad.

“What did you need Cardys?” Magnus asked the tree which was somehow pouting through their mental connection.

“Finally decided to spare your attention for little old me your Majesty?”

“I had something important to do. What do you need?”

“Well first of all, I wanted to thank you but you had better things to do,” the sassy Dryad answered.

“I am sorry it was rude of me to ignore you,” Magnus said to calm Cardys.

“As long as you realize it. As for the second issue. We may have some problems. The spiders realized that the rest of the Dryads are dead. They will not stop for anything to destroy me. Especially if I’m not corrupted. We must start a counterattack.”

“It’s not like I wasn’t planning to try and defeat the big spider. Though your help would be appreciated,” Magnus admitted.

“And I will provide it of course. Luckily, with all my sisters dead I will be able to provide much more support than just Curt.”

At the mention of Curt, Magnus frowned,” Sorry about him dying. I couldn’t save him. However, without him the window of opportunity to take the Matriarch down wouldn’t have opened itself at all.”

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Cardys giggled,” I am touched you feel so much for my spawns but it’s okay. They are all part of me as I am part of them. His mind lives on in me and my other Ents. But enough about that it’s time for you to rest. I can feel your pain.”

“Actually, I was planning on striking at the spiders right now. They will probably realize something is up once their attack team doesn’t return,” Magnus said worryingly.

“Nope, you need to rest. We can deal with some more spiders with you here. Even if you didn’t show up, we would have whittled them down eventually. Maybe few Ents would have been lost but we wouldn’t have lost with Caridus here,” Cardys pointed with one of her branches at the armored Ent brandishing the spear. He looked much less twisted and gnarly than his corrupted counterpart.

“Alright, I will rest,” Magnus didn’t need much convincing,” One more thing though. I believe I have found the source of the corruption. It’s a drop of blood sealed under the lake. Do you know anything about that?”

“A drop of blood?” Cardys scratched her trunk with her branches, “Nope. Doesn’t ring a bell. Whoever left it there must have done so long before we arrived here,” She pointed with one of her branches into the shade made by her host tree,” Stop worrying and rest. Now.”

Snorting, Magnus went to lie down in the shade. Not a minute later he was out. After a few hours of sleep, he was good to go. His wounds were looking much better already. Sleeping must help Vitality or something. He doubted the wounds would heal so fast if he was awake. That was something to look out for in the future. It was a good idea to rest after all. Though he was getting quite hungry. All that healing wasn’t for free, it seemed like. With the fruits he ate before so far and the time slowly running out, he dreaded what he would have to do now. Taking out the knife, he crouched near the corpse of the armored spider. He already knew how the smaller ones tasted. It was worth a try. Cutting out a piece of the spider’s meat where the leg met its main body. Bringing it up to his nose, Magnus nearly cried out of happiness. The smell wasn’t nearly as putrid as the smaller spiders. Still, it was raw flesh so he didn’t have high expectations. If he had the time, he would have started the fire but sustenance was a lot more important than his comfort right now. With [Poison Resistance] being a passive Skill, he wasn’t worried about diseases such as salmonella at all. What he was worried about, however, was the taste of the meat. Steeling his resolve, Magnus finally took a small bite. Yep. Raw meat. It tasted a little like chicken surprisingly. Miles better than the acidic taste of the smaller spiders.

With his hunger taken care of, Magnus and the Ents marched out. After he got up, he had some time to discuss the plan with Cardys in more detail. She would send eight of her Ents including Caridus with him and two of the higher-levelled ones would stay with her in case some spiders slipped by. Also, as soon as the cooldown ran out, she would empower one of the Mages with him, not insignificantly increasing the power of their small attack team. They were to attack the spiders’ nest Magnus already saw when he spotted the Broodmother. Speaking of the Broodmother. It was the second Boss of the Rotten Grove and hopefully also the last. Though with Magnus’ luck. Who could say? It wasn’t like he could just pack his things and leave. The dungeon had to be cleared before he could leave as Cardys so kindly explained.

The journey to spiders’ side of the forest was short but stressful. Thankfully, the only time they met a patrol of spiders, they quickly fell beneath Magnus’ rage at the spiders for picking on him from the time he appeared in this cave. Oh, and the Ents also helped a little. The patrol was only made up of less than dozen spiders but if Magnus stumbled upon them when he just entered the underground forest, he would probably be dead already. Luckily, he wasn’t alone and he was a lot stronger. He even managed to kill four of the pesky spiders before the fight ended.

Things were starting to get a little more hectic as they started nearing the crevice in the ground which contained the entrance to the nest. They must be fighting groups of spiders every two minutes. Still, every bad thing has a good side. It was better to fight more groups of fewer spiders than all of them at once. After fighting with a few of the bigger spiders, Magnus found one issue. His weapon. What chance does a small dagger have against a spider as tall as a bike and as wide as a car. Unless he managed to somehow ambush it, he had next to zero chance of hitting a soft spot with the dagger due to his Agility. A blunt weapon would do him much better in this situation. But for now, a dagger would have to do. It served him well enough and everything was better than going in unarmed.

All in all, it took Magnus and the Ents more than two hours of cutting down spiders until they reached the crevice where the Broodmother awaited. The waterfall still flowed, loud as ever pooling into a pond at the bottom of the crevice. Suspiciously, the cave entrance was unguarded, almost as if giving them an invitation. There should have been at least a few armored spiders guarding the entrance. He wasn’t sure that the Broodmother was smart enough to lay traps but he would rather not risk it. From experience he knew that the big spider at least sometimes went to get a drink at the pond in front of its cave. It would be wise to set an ambush for the Broodmother instead of walking into her wide-open jaws, so to say. Only if she wasn’t coming out after some time would they resort to entering the scary cave. But to be frank Magnus really hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Just in time, one of the Ent mages started spasming and growing a little. That must be it. They had one more empowered Ent on their side. A plan was starting to brew in Magnus’ head. It would mean Magnus would have to take a familiar but unpleasant role, but it seemed like a good plan.