As we approach the tunnel to the next cavern, we’re forced to bend down to avoid the low ceiling, except for our four-footed friend, of course. She just pads along comfortably behind me, Belina taking her place in front with shield at the ready.
After several long moments where my aching back curses my choices, the cavern opens up in front of us and what a sight it is!
Massive stalactites and stalagmites fill the large expanse like the quills of giant porcupines, raised to strike whatever giant is dumb enough to intrude in their territory. But no giant lives here.
No, that distinction is made quite clear as we watch a fly, now about the size of a soda can due to Mana-mutation, land on a nearly invisible thread hanging between two of the rocky protrusions. The next moment, it struggles in place as it is seemingly stuck…..
I think you can guess where this is going….
A moment later, the most unfortunately sized spider I could possibly imagine, a body roughly 2 feet thick with hairy legs extending nearly 3 feet outward, scuttles along nearly unseen webs to wrap up its carry-out meal.
Or should I say, take-away?
Hmm….whichever epithet suits your fancy.
Anyway, the System helpfully, or not, identifies the creature for us as it carries off its prey:
{Acrobatic Arachnid Lv.7}
Anyway, after taking a moment to process the utter horror that the dog-sized spider has primally awoken within the recesses of our lizard brains, we cautiously tip-toe inward, eager to avoid encountering that particular Beast or any of its kin, if at all possible.
I put a finger to my lips and hunker down inside my cloak, Belina doing the same under her shield and Artemis sinking down to a near crawl to maintain our stealth.
Thankfully, we can fairly easily wind our way through the formations growing from the ground, the webs hanging a few feet above our heads, I assume meant to catch strictly flying prey.
Abruptly, we hear a rustling overhead and duck quickly, eyes peeled for an arachnid attacker only to see the most unexpected sight since the System arrived, at least to my mind.
Swinging overhead in the dimly lit cavern like the most terrifying of carnival shows, are nearly a dozen spiders! They swing from web to web, emulating a certain comic book character as they move from rock to silken thread and back again.
After a few moments of quiet, open-mouthed amazement, we realize they are simply…playing?...not hunting us.
Resuming our sneaking, snaking hike, we encounter a few smaller, but still huge for their species, bugs of the terrestrial variety, the sole survivors of the trapeze-based predators above. We shoo off most of them, only stomping one particularly persistent stink bug that Artemis wanted to play with but tried to eat us instead, clearly gone feral from Mana-saturation.
Finally, nearly an hour after entering, we exit the maze from an arachnophobe’s hell and almost eagerly march our way to the next cave, hoping for some less…terrifying monsters this time.
Our new excursion spot unfurls in front of our eyes like a giant flower, a large open area dominated by a moderately sized pool of water, a veritable black hole in the dim lighting of the fungi.
Keeping a wary eye out for a surprise attack or ambush, I approach the pool with my companions just behind me, our eyes straining to peer into its depths.
Even when we reach the very edge, we still cannot penetrate the gloom of the liquid for more than few feet, its darkness absolute.
Therefore, even vaguely expecting it, the explosion of water interrupting the pool’s calm and heralding the arrival of a truly massive crustacean sends us stumbling clumsily backwards in shock!
{Creepy Crustacean Lv.8}
A nearly palpable feeling, almost an Aura, of fear emanates from this overgrown, aquatic cockroach, only my personal willpower and my enhanced Soul attribute allowing me to remain in my right mind, Artemis sharing my clarity due to a stabilizing effect of our bond.
Belina, unfortunately, does not share our particular advantages in this area and falls to her knees with her shield held outstretched like her final lifeline in the face of doom.
Knowing I need to end this quick before it can attack her in her altered state, I have Artemis use her Arctic Claws on the Beast’s still wet joints, hoping to limit its movement or at the very least slow it down. Meanwhile, I charge up an Eco-Missile formed from the hard stone strewn haphazardly around the edges of the cavern, costing me a decent amount of Mana from my full tank, now reaching a respectable value of 30.
My missile fully forms at around 1 foot in diameter before I let it fly just as the Beast turns to swipe one of its oversized claws at my trusty pooch, the conjured rock impacting the outstretched claw at the joint and crumpling its exoskeleton with a satisfying crunch!
My strike elicits a mix of a scream and squeal that I take to mean it is in pain, so I, of course, pile on.
I hurl another quickly summoned rock at it small beady eyes but strike only its thick brow protected by a thick carapace, but the distraction costs it more than if I had hit the eye itself, as Artemis has gotten underneath it.
And apparently, giant crustaceans don’t enjoy being disemboweled any more than any other being, as Artemis pierces through its shell and rips into its fleshy inside bits with a frenzy reminiscent of my own from earlier, blood flying wildly from claw and maw as she makes quick work of the poor Beast’s vitals.
The crab, mortally wounded now, attempts to scuttle back to its watery home, but a newly clear-minded, and understandably enraged, Belina puts a stop to that notion quite rapidly.
She comes charging at the retreating Beast, nearly slipping in its trail of viscera, before hammering it with several consecutive Shield Bash attacks that crumple the insectoid-like head and put it out of its misery.
Congratulations! You have killed a {Creepy Crustacean Lv. 8} for 2000 XP!
“Wow! That bad boy gave a ton of XP, even at level 8. Your mind okay? That was a pretty dangerous fear aura it emitted but you definitely made it pay for it.” I say to Belina with a good-natured, and hopefully reassuring, smile.
“Yes, it did! I’m okay now, it was only a temporary terror, thankfully. Too bad it’s such a long haul to level up now though. I’m sure it will only get harder, too.” She replies with a tight, forced smile of her own, clearly a little thrown off but battling through it admirably.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
As my internal clock let’s me know dinner time has come and gone, we decide to settle in for the night, although leaving plenty of room between us and the pool of water, in case our crabby friend wasn’t alone.
Due to our confines we have to forgo a fire but a handy use of Belina’s Flaming Spear ensures we get at least the comfort of a warm meal of roasted Beast meat before turning in for the evening.
I awake to the oh so pleasant sensation of moist sand paper swiping along my face, Artemis making the most unique of alarm clocks, and the cutest, naturally.
After wiping off my slobbered face, I see that Belina has awoken as well and after a short breakfast and a quick stretch, we’re once more ready to attack the day and most importantly, any enemies.
After we edge around the pool, giving it as much distance as possible, we exit the crabs cave and walk the short few hundred yards to the next one which just so happens to be the last before the System obfuscated one, to my recollection.
As we walk into this fresh cave, we are nearly blinded by multicolored light reflecting off of the walls around us, walls inset with some form of crystal. The light, we realize as our eyes adjust, is generated by an untold number of jellyfish bobbing gently in the very air, their translucent skin luminescent as well.
For a moment, we just gape, impressed despite ourselves.
Not at the terror or power or sheer magical insanity of the System and its new version of our world.
No, this time, our mouths drop open due to a very different emotion indeed:
Beauty.
There’s no other word for it, the rainbow of light forming a kaleidoscope of reflecting ribbons of color bouncing from crystal facets to gem-like contours embedded in the surrounding walls.
At least, we’re mesmerized as such until one of those shining jellyfish floats over without our noticing and drops down on my dog, its identification tag popping up as it does.
{Jubilant Jellyfish Lv.8}
Artemis lets out a soft-pitched whine, pawing at the obstruction covering her snout and eyes, the formless body about the size of her enlarged head with its dangling tendrils painfully emitting shocks every few seconds.
A bit panicked, I try and yank the thing off only to get shocked myself!
I look over to see if Belina can help only to see her trying to scrape an offending Beast of her own off of her shield without much luck.
I watch as Artemis slowly loses health in front of my very eyes too afraid of hurting her to use my hatchet and her own claws completely ineffectual at doing any damage to the creature.
At that point, I may have lost my temper a bit….
Casting Natural Reinforcement and drawing from her sharp claws, my fingers grow two-inch long protrusions of hardened keratin with an edge sharpened to a near sheen by my nifty skill.
And then, I go into something of a frenzy as my poor girl’s health drops well below half…
My claws rip in and out of the Beast, scooping great handfuls of Jello-like gunk out of the body of it until all that is left is its shiny outer skin, glistening in the light.
Checking on Artemis with concern, I wipe off some offending jelly viscera from her eyelids so she can open them and I can look into her pain-filled, and yet still so very bright and loving, blue orbs.
Hearing a curse from Belina, I take a moment to look deep into my companion’s eyes as we have done since long before the System, utilizing something deeper than our System bond, something primal from the very dawn of man.
Something that speaks of a connection powerful enough to transcend time and space.
A love shared between two of the best of friends, who have lived and struggled and fought together against all odds.
And then the moment ends and we are rearing to go, those jellyfish about to pay!
My roving gaze takes in Belina struggling against two of the Beasts, so I send Artemis to even those odds a bit.
Next, I begin chain casting my new Spell with a vengeance.
Rock orbs beginning pelting the creatures, knocking them to the ground over and over again and allowing my now freed up and jelly-spattered companions to attack with their full force.
Taking the occasional moment to cast Blood-Fueled on the slimy jelly liquid allows me to recoup my Mana and further launch missiles at the floating creatures.
For what feels like days but is only a short morning, we slaughter our way through the beautiful room, splattering ooze, other bits of fluid and strange flesh over all of the crystalline walls which mutes the previously nigh on blinding light show.
As the final jellyfish crumples to the ground in a satisfyingly lifeless heap, notifications fill our respective vision.
Congratulations! You have killed a large number of {Jubilant Jellyfish Lv.8} for a total of 4500 XP!
You have leveled up!
You have 1 Skill point and 2 Attribute Points available!
Constitution +1!
Nice! That was a ton of XP for only a morning work! Although, I don’t like Artemis being in jeopardy to do it…
Pushing that thought down and steeling my resolve to protect her as best I can, I pull up my PAID to decide where to place my fresh points.
PAID
Player: Nova
Age: 27
Race: Human
Class: Wild Huntsman(R)
Class Ability: Huntsman’s Duty
Level: 8
310/12,800 XP to Lv.9
Attributes (Human range between 1 and 5):
Strength 6
Dexterity 5
Constitution 11--12
Intelligence 6
Soul 5
2 Free Attribute points available!
Mana: 30
HP: 60
Skills: Wilderness Survival(App) Lv. 15--16, Animal Companion(App) Lv.10--12, Huntsman’s Athleticism(B): Lv.3--5
Unlock next free Skill point at Lv.11
Spells: Natural Reinforcement(App) Lv.10--12, Blood-Fueled(App) Lv. 8--10!!, Eco-Missile Lv.1--3
Unlock next free Spell point at Lv.9
Items: Icy Soul Hatchet(U), Barely There Cloak
Titles: Natural Born Killer, Soul Searcher, Top Tier I, Human+
After a quick moment’s thought and an interested peek at my Skill and Spell increases, I bring my Dexterity and Soul attributes up to even with my other two non-Class assisted stats, bringing my Mana up to 36!
Next, I pull up the updated description of Blood-Fueled:
Blood-Fueled(Basic): [Active] Grants the ability to magically burn up any blood or organic life-giving material spilled from enemy during and after combat. Blood will be used as Mana, or fuel, directly for Spells or to refill Mana pool. Costs 1 Mana to activate and a 1 mana offering for every 2 mana gained in the process of burning blood, cost will reduce with level. Every 10 levels in Spell will increase tier and potentially unlock additional aspects or capabilities. Apprentice Bonus: May now use most inorganic compounds spilled from creatures formed out of other materials, such as rock, gem, or any other naturally forming element.
As I change gears to begin looking into my fresh Skill list, Artemis seems to have completed her own stat distribution, informing me with an image of her stat sheet that she placed her point into Strength this time, her first stat above her base threshold.
I give her an affectionate pat on the head as she curls up into a ball, tail covering her face, right next to me and dive into my Skills.
Skills List (Recommended by Compatibility %)
Wild Blade Mastery (96%)
Tracking (95%)
Wild Rampage (94%)
Skinning (93%)
Wilderness Conservation(App) (88%)
…
Underground Survival(78%)
Spelunking(65%)
…
Noticing my top picks have remained the same except one and catching a look at some fresh ones added lower down, no doubt due to our current circumstances, I first look into the new addition’s description really quick.
Wild Rampage(B): Burn 5 points of HP to increase next attack’s damage by 50%. Tier will increase every 10 levels and unlock additional effects.
‘Hmmm, now that could be very useful, especially with my ability to recover HP from some wild plants.’ I muse to myself before pulling up really the only other option I would want given our current circumstances:
Wild Blade Mastery(B): Grants the Player advanced knowledge on using weapons formed of natural material, including the best way to use it in different terrains and against different enemies. Tier will increase every 10 levels and unlock additional effects.
While that would certainly increase my fighting ability, the first choice would be far better to further my strength and allow me to handle higher leveled Beasts I may not be able to harm otherwise, regardless of what actual skills with weapons I have.
Choice made, I tighten every muscle in my body as the pain hits, a fresh wave of hell to stimulate my further growth. This time, I remain on my feet, so I guess I’m getting used to it….barely.
Housekeeping done, I move over near the entrance to the final stretch of tunnel before the mystery cave, Belina and Artemis following along behind a moment later.
And so, with a nod of reassurance at Belina and a flood of warmth directed through our bond to Artemis, I step into the darkness with friends at my back and the void of the unknown stretching out at my front.