I stretched as daybreak came. The night had been very productive. I felt a lot more confident in my new spells if we had to face a dangerous monster like the alpha barbcat again. Hopefully our performance would be less dismal next time.
Vel was still sleeping soundly with a goofy smile on her face. I wanted to do something nice for her and I had just the idea.
I pulled out a skillet and lit the fire stones underneath. I put a small amount of lizard fat at the bottom and waited for it to start sizzling. I dropped bits of meat in and cracked two eggs on the side. I used psychokinesis to hold everything up and stir the eggs. I crunched a bit of salt and dried herbs onto the cooking omelet and flipped it over.
The sound, and probably smell, woke up my girlfriend. With a flourish, I partitioned the dish into two bowls and added some fresh fruits on top.
"Oh my …" she whispered as she licked her lips, "you truly are the best love."
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> Your group has defeated [Mature Sundew Devourer (Level 131, Rank 5)]
> Essence Absorption collected 10 ES
>
> Reached Level 86 (Rank 4, +1 level)
> Gained: 4 ES
Danger Sense worked in a strange way. It provided a sort of sixth sense of the level of danger. In combat, it gave me a slight advance warning of any attack. It flared up if I started to cast a spell at the wrong time. Outside of battle, it gave a vague feeling of how dangerous an area or path was. It made spotting the hostile flora, like the Sundew Devourer, much easier.
With the previous day's event in mind. Vel and I kept an eye out for danger as much as possible. The jungle had grown thicker which awarded us good cover, at the expense of making any fights more difficult. I kept a keen eye on our surroundings.
However, we didn't shy away from fights. I could afford to spend essence left and right thanks to my perks but this wasn't the case for Vel, she needed levels. Her narrower focus allowed her to mostly keep pace with me through natural training but she still needed essence to increase her attributes or purchase new skills.
> Your group has defeated [Young Barbcat (Level 90-110, Rank 4)] x 6
> Your group has defeated [Hooded Baron Viper (Level 100-115, Rank 4)] x 8
> Your group has defeated [Barbed Duke Cobra (Level 85-95, Rank 4)] x 7
> Your group has defeated [Adult Crested Gecko (Level 90-100, Rank 4)] x 3
> Your group has defeated [Mature Strangler Vines (Level 85-100, Rank 4)] x 5
> Your group has defeated [Moss Snapper (Level 90-115, Rank 4)] x 8
> Your group has defeated [Storm Tortoise (Level 112, Rank 4)]
> Your group has defeated [Mist Tortoise (Level 113, Rank 4)]
> Essence Absorption collected 312 ES
>
> Skill Multicast has reached rank 3, level 5 (+30 levels)
> Skill Swiftcast has reached rank 3, level 8 (+28 levels)
> Skill Mystic Body has reached rank 2, level 34 (+14 levels)
> Skill Mystic Mind has reached rank 2, level 38 (+18 levels)
> Skill Mystic Perception has reached rank 2, level 36 (+16 levels)
> Skill Spatial Movement has reached rank 2, level 28 (+8 levels)
>
> Reached Level 92 (Rank 4, +6 level)
> Gained: 36 ES
It took us half a day to reach the ruins. Even from afar, the structure looked much more impressive than the fort we had visited. The outer wall was mostly crumbled, the tree line had grown closer and closer to the dark bricks and taken it down through sheer inertia. Further ahead, I could see the first structures that were still mostly standing.
Alan provided a good view of the complex from above. There were three concentric squares of covered walkways that connected various buildings. The remnants of gardens were interspersed between them. It looked like a cross between a monastery and a temple, built with a style reminiscent of the Aztec back on earth with a dash of gothic architecture mixed in.
Stolen novel; please report.
"It looks to be some kind of old temple," I said, "and … ugh, more taratects."
Visible as well with aerial reconnaissance were the multiple taratect nests, and large ones at that. The silver lining was that the spiders usually kept any other monster away from their territory. I had Alan avoid flying too close to the ground, I didn't want him to get caught in a web.
"Any idea if it's one or multiple colonies?" Vel asked.
"Not from this distance," I answered, "no signs of battle but I doubt they would last long."
"Let's poke around the edges and see how they react," Vel said. "The terrain looks clear enough to make a quick retreat."
There was around twenty meters of mostly flat ground between the edge of the forest and the first buildings. Vel and I could use the large piles of rubble to advance stealthily.
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'Can you hear me?' I sent to Vel.
I had used Telepathy to allow us to communicate without the need to talk or use sign language to make stealth easier.
'I can,' she replied, 'it's a weird spell to use.'
'We'll get used to it. Let's take it slow at first.'
Vel nodded.
It's your time to shine, little guy, I sent to Alan.
Yes Great Mistress, Alan will infiltrate the nest of the taratects without being detected.
He jumped down from my shoulder in his newly created spider form. Much like his raven form, it was pure black with silver lines running across the body. He was small compared to a taratect, only around ten centimeters wide and thirty long, but that would help with stealth. His spirit core also allowed him to use several stealth techniques to move about undetected in addition to his shadow step skill.
I watched through his eyes as he approached the outer structures of the temple.
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[https://i.imgur.com/Hc1JFAB.jpg]
> [Adult Taratect Worker (Level 76, Rank 3)]
> [Adult Taratect Warrior (Level 84, Rank 4)]
I watched from the shadows as two spiders crossed each other in the hallway, one was carrying a cocoon towards one of the buildings while the other was likely patrolling. The presence of workers removed any doubts as to the presence of at least one queen and the presence of a warrior caste told that she was at a high level.
The warrior caste was dedicated to protecting the area around the nest. Hunters filled this duty in smaller sized hives but some mutated into warriors when the hive became large enough and had the spare resources to feed them.
'Queen confirmed,' I sent to Vel via our telepathic link, 'worker and warrior present.'
'Do we continue or retreat?'
'Let's go for stealth and ambush,' I suggested.
With the both of us, we would be able to take care of small groups and eliminate them before a patrol stumbled on the fight. We could store the bodies and vanish. A few drops of hemolymph on the floor would not raise any pedipalps.
Despite their hive-like organization, taratects weren't true eusocial creatures. From studies down by the village, the queen and higher level members kept the hive in check through force. Infighting or defections, if they could be called that, weren't uncommon occurrences.
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A group of three warriors rounded the corner. The one in the lead was slightly bulkier than its companions, a different evolution?
> [Adult Taratect Warrior (Level 86, Rank 4)]
> [Adult Taratect Warrior (Level 83, Rank 4)]
> [Adult Taratect Warrior (Level 88, Rank 4)]
The leader stepped on the trap rune and lightning coursed through its body. The two followers barely had time to react before they were struck by arrows, the fiery explosion on impact scorched most of their heads. The two beams of sunfire fired from my left and sunk deep into their exoskeleton. At the same time, the leader was impaled by several sharpened stakes falling from the ceiling.
> Your group has defeated …
> Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group
> Essence Absorption collected 24 ES
Taking clues from the taratects, Vel had set up a web of vines near the ceiling where we were operating from. I dropped down and stored the three corpses into my necklace. Vel retracted her vines and dropped behind me. We disappeared down a hallway to our next ambush point.
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The group of four skittered under us. I cast Dominate and aimed for the first and last of the pack. Most mental or illusion spells worked better on targets with mental attributes lower than mine. From the results, it looked like the spiders hadn't put that many points there.
The first sign that anything was wrong for them was when the leader suddenly jumped on its companion. The surprise meant that it got some good hits in, the second spider tried to come to the aid of its companion but my second puppet struck from behind. The messy battle lasted for a few seconds before my side came out victorious. I had the most wounded kill its companion and I finished off the last one.
> Your group has defeated [Adult Taratect Warrior (Level 85-95, Rank 4)] x 6
> Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group
> Essence Absorption collected 48 ES
>
> Reached Level 93 (Rank 4, +1 level)
> Gained: 4 ES
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The next ambush was Vel's time to shine. I watched as the group of two walked below us and stepped on the trap she had prepared. The vines on the floor looked perfectly normal at first glance but they turned the spider's tricks against them. The sticky sap trapped their legs to the floor and slowly immobilized them.
The vines then slowly grew on them like a carnivorous plant and injected paralytic toxin with their thorns before crushing the insects to death. The sound of chitin cracking was particularly unpleasant.
> Your group has defeated [Adult Taratect Warrior (Level 85-95, Rank 4)] x 4
> Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group
> Essence Absorption collected 32 ES