"Fuckin' spiders."
Jake stood on top of a dead spider, Broomstick 0.2 pointed at its head, smoke coming out of the barrel. He sat directly on top of it like it was his throne.
“This nest needs to be set ablaze,” Jake muttered under his ragged breathing.
After a while, Jake closed his legs and entered meditation. When he got up, he reloaded his weapon, ready for round two.
“Well, there is one good thing coming out of this. My levels are progressing at an astounding rate. I've gained 100 class levels and 10 grades levels in just this one fight. I think while I have the chance, I might use all of those free points.”
Universal Constant Interface
Name: Jake Everval
Race: Human
Grade: TG
Level: 16
Class:
Trooper Shadow Mage Class
Level: 117
Profession:
Arcane Smith Profession
Level: 13
Stats points Available: 0
Mana: 3360
Arcane: 3500
Stamina: 3200
Health: 3360
Strength: 116
Agility: 225
Intelligence: 350
Wisdom: 336
Perception: 157
Integrity: 336
“Well, that's just what I needed. Now I should be able to put up a halfway decent fight with these bloody spiders. On that note, I don't think I have used Identify on them yet. I don't know what they're called. I do know the levels must be low, as they die really quick when they're shot in the face. Oh, speak of the devil.”
Identify
Web Spider Baby
Level 5
“Oh, that kind of makes me feel bad. I've been killing babies all this time.”
Jake took off at a sprint, jumping into a flip just before he reached the baby spider and blowing its head off.
Ding!
Jake continued down the tunnel the baby spider came from, walking slowly, using his newly boosted perception to try to see in the darkness of the cave system. The ground Jake was walking on loosened as he started to fall down a tunnel, only to be caught in the grasp of a spider. Jake instantly used Identify on it.
Identify
Trapdoor Spider Guardian
Level 40
“I've got to get out of here now. I can't fight it here.”
Jake fired his weapon into the spider's front legs, using up quite a few rounds before the legs gave out and the spider fell back down in its web. Jake may have gotten free from the spider's grasp, but he still had a big problem; he was still stuck in the spider's web. Jake struggled for a bit, only to realize he was stuck firm.
“Only one thing to do about it.”
Jake stopped struggling as the spider regained its composure and headed back up its web to take its revenge on its attacker. As it got in range to strike, a flash of light filled its vision, followed by what could only be described as a catastrophe for the spiders in the cave: flames ripped through the cave with an area reaching at least 50 meters. Everything was charred black with soot. In the middle of all this was a man as black as the area around him. Groans could be heard coming from the body.
Ding! Class level increased +100 points
Ding! Grade level increased +30 points
New skill gained (Arcane Bomb, Uncommon): A bomb of arcane energy, destruction output equal to the amount of energy put in. Warning: in this form, the bomb cannot be thrown, so the same destructive force will impact the user.
“Arr, that hurt.” Jake was lying on the ground almost as naked as the day he was born, his skin burned and cracked from both the explosion and the blowback from using a skill well above the level he should be able to. It was a skill he came up with after reading about how alchemists could do a similar thing with their soul energy, but there was a big difference between the two. The one that alchemists could use did not impact the user, as it was literally part of them; it was the soul. But Jake's version was not. It was pure arcane energy that had been compressed inside his body and released in a physical form. Once it had been released, there was no turning back. It would explode the moment any external influence hit it. Jake, sadly, had not overcome this limitation, so he really didn't want to try it. If he had tried it before he upgraded his stats, he would be a dead man. Jake couldn't move. If any spiders came to see what had happened, Jake would be easy food for them. So Jake decided he would try to regain some health by doing a quick round of meditation before finding a safer location. Five hours had passed, and finally, Jake could move his body once more. He was still in pain, but at least he could move. He headed back down the shaft for about 20 meters before he found a crack just big enough for him to fit in. But Jake first had to drag out the corpse of a spider. Climbing inside, he dragged the spider corpse over the entrance and sat down. Jake had lost everything but his weapon.
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“I need to figure this out. Well, it's going to be an odd sight, but who is going to be here to see it?”
After three or four days, Jake had regained enough of his health to put his plan in motion. He remembered when he entered the cave, there were two small bags the same as the ones he had for his ammo. So he decided to sneak back there and quickly grab them before heading back to his hiding hole to make some ammo. Then his true plan would begin.
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A month had passed since Jake began his rampage through the spider's nest. In the cabin of a battleship was a lady with a white complexion, fiery red hair, and freckles on her face. She was dressed in a reversible black and red cloak with a black corset-style mini-dress with purple lacing, the same as her knee-high boots. She looked as if she was in her mid-twenties. She had a set of displays open in front of her. One display showed a playback of Jake Everval going through the first two tests, and beside that display was one showing Jake and his naked body, using his agility to outmaneuver the last of the guardian spiders. He flipped over the back of the spider, landing just behind its head, pulling out his weapon and sending round after round into its head until it stopped moving.
“My lady, Aaliyah LaFlame, it's time. The fleet is ready.”
The man stood there, staring at the naked man on the screen before commenting.
“Does he not have shame? What kind of person would just walk around in the nude like that? If he was here, I would slap him so hard he would never walk again, so shameful.”
Aaliyah looked directly at the man.
“And I suppose I am shameless as well, as I am watching it. Is that what you meant?”
“No, no, my lady. I would never imply that,” the man said, shaking from fear.
“Well, enough of this. Let's show these foolish divine-level gods why you should not mess with the Wandering Imperium.”
She strolled up to the bridge of the battleship, looking over the enemy fleet. The bridge was crowded with people sitting at consoles. She looked over at the weapons officer.
“Aron, how are the fleet's weapon systems?”
“All operating at 100%, my lady.”
“Well, tell the fleet to start the battle with a bang.”
The bridge's activity increased as the weapons officer began to give orders to the fleet. Outside of the ship, the enemy fleet had sent out fighters, and behind the battleships, there were slaver fleets and a transport fleet.
In the bridge of the enemy flagship, the commander was red with anger. The men and women on the bridge were in shock.
“The audacity of those slaves to rise up and follow the order of that bitch. They deserve what is coming for them. For fuck's sake, we have nine divine-level gods here in this fleet, and what does she have? None, not a single one.”
“Sir, something's happening with the enemy fleet.”
“Ha, you call that a fleet? That's nothing but a bunch of rubbish transport ships. The only one that is any good is that one in the middle, which I recommend you start firing at.”
A moment later, as the commander of the flagship was still pointing at Aaliyah's ship, the space in front of him turned into a cloud of debris. As this was going on, Aaliyah's fleet had split, half of the fleet heading to one side, while half were on a collision course straight into their enemy's fleet. With nobody having any time to maneuver out of the way, the ships collided together, debris going everywhere.
“To the heroes!” all the people in Aaliyah's fleet chanted.
“It's time to beat the dogs,” Aaliyah said.
As she said this, her ship started to glow brighter until she said one word, “fire,” and then everything and everyone was absolutely silent. The only noise was haunting laughter that was transmitted out of Aaliyah's ship, followed by a statement.
“Now you know what it's like to face a real smith, and soon there will be two of us.”
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Jake stood at the entrance to the mother spider's nest. She was the only one left, and she knew it. She was waiting for him to come in. Jake, on the other hand, had one or two things to do before he started that fight. One of the things he had to do was have a good, solid nap. The other was to fix his stats; he now had a lot more points to deal with.
Universal Constant Interface
Name: Jake Everval
Race: Human
Grade: TG
Level: 49
Class:
Trooper Shadow Mage Class
Level: 427
Profession:
Arcane Smith Profession
Level: 13
Stats points Available: 130
Mana: 6360
Arcane: 13500
Stamina: 13200
Health: 13360
Strength: 616
Agility: 725
Intelligence: 1350
Wisdom: 936
Perception: 457
Integrity: 1336
Jake got up from his nap and checked his supply of ammo. Knowing he had a rough fight ahead, Jake made as much as he could. Starting off down the walkway to the mother spider, Jake looked at his companion.
“You're not looking too good, Broomstick, my old mate. I don't think you've got much more in you. I'm sorry it's come to this after what we've been through, but can you give me just one more kill?”
In a large cavern, there was an eight-legged monster, not a human and not a spider. It had the body of a spider, but where the head would be was the top half of a human from the waist up. Her head was mostly human, all except the eyes, as there were eight of them.
“Why does the human come and kill my offspring? I don't believe that the treaty with the Hunters Guild has been broken. So, who sent you, human?”
“I was sent here as a test, a test I intend to win.”
Jake launched himself forward, firing his weapon as he dodged a spear strike.
“You can't win this fight, human. You're not strong enough to put me down like you did those weaklings.”
“So, you think I can't kill you. Well, I guess I will just have to test that.”
Jake rounded on one of the spider's legs, firing five rounds into her leg, only to have them bounce off, not even leaving a scratch.
“Ha ha ha, you really thought that a peashooter could harm me? You really don't know what you're up against. Go on, Identify me. I will let you.”
Jake was about to say something back, only to stop as he just realized he really did forget to Identify the spider.
Identify
Funnel-web Spider Queen Evolved
Level 105
“Oh fuck,” Jake thought.
“You now know the folly of fighting me. So just surrender and become a slave.”