Note: I have changed some in-game mechanics for the players in the form of how I write item text. I wanted to add a quality and rarity system. I will be going back and changing the text of previous chapters to reflect this. It also makes reading item text quite a bit easier.
Note: This chapter has not gone to my editors and events may change before final release. The below is also unedited and in a raw non-polished form.
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“What have we done?” Laura fell against a wall.
“If this text is true, we killed the last few Dusk Elves.” Toaby stated coldly.
Sam looked at everyone, chipper as ever. “Really? Guys, it's a game. The Dusk Elves aren’t real. They’re just a bit of computer code. They’re not actual people.”
“But can’t the same be said of us?” Hiro countered. “What makes us different? Are we not just a bit of computer code? Are we not part of this ‘game’?”
“Yeah, but its different.”
“That isn’t a valid counterargument.”
“Well, we came from Earth. We were born there, raised and have… souls.”
“All of that is subjective. Being born and raised just form memories. I’m sure the Dusk Elves remember their ‘virtual’ parents and being raised.”
Sam raised a finger. “But that doesn’t dispute my claim of souls.”
“What is a soul, though? I,” Hiro placed a hand on his chest, “believe it's a collection of those memories. Memories and experience form our personalities and what makes us unique. I believe that is comprises a soul and if that is the case, the Dusk Elves are no different.”
“Yeah, but then you could say the same thing about the spiders.”
Hiro nodded. “Yes, you could.”
“So you’re saying were all mass murders then?” Laura rejoined the conversation.
Shaking his head, Hiro replied. “No. I believe to become a murder, you need ill intent. I defeated beings that wished me harm.”
“But we invaded their home.” She rebutted.
“That may be true, but they also attacked us first. I would have been happy to have a discord with them.”
“And us taking all their stuff, like the enchanting book or their bed?”
“If they were deceased, their belongings were free to take. Are they not?”
“Ok. Now you’re just nitpicking.”
Hiro sighed. “To be fair, I would like to move on from this conversation. It is making me feel uncomfortable. I will carry the stains of their deaths on my soul. We have to move on and do what we can to improve ourselves and do better next time.”
Laura opened her mouth to continue arguing, but Toaby raised a hand for her to stop. “We should just move on. I think that's best.” Toaby headed for the door. He was feeling sick inside at what they had done. Was this all a game? Did that make the Dusk Elves' lives less important than theirs? Did he just become a murdered? As he entered the main hall, he said a silent prayer. He waited for the system to work its magic and soothe his feelings of what they had done.
All eyes went to the large door with the spider sculpture as they entered the main hall. All eight of its legs were glowing. It started slowly at first, but rapidly increased in intensity.
Sam pointed at one of its legs. “Did… did it just move?”
Dust fell off the twelve foot long spider sculpture as it twitched and cracked. It’s eight spider eyes ignited with purple flames right before it launched itself from the door. Landing a few feet from the party, it let out a screech of anger. Purple flames covered all the doors leading out of the room as a large, rectangular, golden bar appeared in top of everyone's vision. There were golden gargoyles on either end of the large bar that was filling from left to right with red. The name ‘Spider Guardian’ appeared above the bar.
“BOSS FIGHT!” Yelled Sam as he launched a few crude arrows at it.
Because of the creature’s size and their proximity to it, it was near impossible for him to miss. The arrows sunk into the back of the spider’s body, which was comprised of wood. The face of the spider was mas a mixture of clay and wood, but its legs were all stone. Everyone tensed up when the large bar at the top of the screen barely registered the hunter’s attack.
“UNLEASH ON IT!” Toaby tossed and axe at it. It stuck into the spider’s large wooden body. “Shit! Someone distract it for me.” He darted around the massive creature.
“Over here, you eight-legged abomination!” Hiro dashed forward and slashed downward with his blade.
It scraped against the spider's stone legs, emitted a noise similar to nails over a chalkboard. The monster’s health bar dropped ever so slightly. Laura tossed some daggers at its flaming eyes. The creature reeled back in pain as if it had eyes made of flesh.
The monster was done getting attacked and was ready to go on the offensive. It smashed down with its massive legs to smash Hiro. Every time its legs impacted the cobblestone ground, it cracked and sent rubble into the air. Hiro did his best to run in-between the massive pillar sized appendages, counterattacking when he found the opportunity. He was doing fairly well until the spider swept wide with a pair of its legs.
A massive stone leg came crashing into Hiro’s stomach, instantly knocking the wind out of him and draining him for almost all of his health. Not only did it damage him, it sent him soaring across the room. He landed hard and lost another chunk of hit points.
“Crap. If you’re going to do something, nows the time!” Sam called out as he launched his last arrow. Adding his bow back into his inventory, he waited the few seconds it took to draw his spear out and charged into melee range.
Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t as quick footed as the swordsman and almost instantly took a sweeping strike from the spider guardian. When he was sent flying, his body vanished in a kaleidoscope of colors before it ever reached the other side of the room. The light show beginning when his hit points reached zero.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Lives remaining: 3
“Oh, no. Toaby! Do something!” Laura tossed another couple daggers at the creature who still had roughly eighty percent of its remaining health.
The spider moved to hover over her. Pulling back several of his legs to launch an all out attack on her, Laura held a pair of stone daggers up defensively. Her jaw dropped at the sight of Toaby crawling up the guardian’s backside.
“Take this!” With all of his might, Toaby slashed furiously at the spider.
The guardian jumped back in an attempt to dislodge the unwelcome passenger. Toaby held his ground and gripped the axe that had gotten stuck in its back. The weapon came loose, so Toaby slammed the butt of his off-hand at it to help secure it. He slammed down on it several times until it burrowed deep, releasing a bit of purple light.
“Hey, guys!” Toaby screamed frantically. “I think there’s something inside this thing.” Looking through the hole his axe was making, he saw that the inside of the spider was hollow with a glowing purple gem floating in its center. “I think I can…”
The spider launched itself into the air, smashing into the ceiling and sending rubble crashing downward. Toaby lost thirty-five of his hit points in an instant. The attack, if you could call it that, staggered both him and the creature. As they landed back on the ground, he slid off its back.
Recovering first, the spider made its move. Lifting a leg high into the air, he smashed downward at Toaby. Out of nowhere, Hiro slid and knocked Toaby out of the way. It crushed the swordsman in Toaby’s place, disappearing in what was becoming a familiar dungeon light show.
Lives remaining: 2
“HIRO!” Laura panicked. “End this thing, Toaby!”
No pressure. Toaby sprinted forward, his stamina dropping to nearly zero as he leapt into the air. Laura lashed out with fury to distract the guardian. It was effective, allowing Toaby to get back to his weapons that were both stuck in its back.
Kneeling down and gripping his weapons for balance, he pulled one of them out to get a better look inside. The crystal, about a foot long and a few inches wide, was spinning slowly. The purple light cascading outward filled the spider’s insides. Thin purple lines were carved next to various runes in the wood. As the spider moved its legs, the runes closest to the appendage would glow.
This has to be its power source or something. But the hole… The small hole in its back wasn’t large. Only a few inches wide with cracks around its edge. All or nothing time. Pulling his other axe free, he attacked. His goal wasn’t to damage the spider but widen the hole he created so he chopped near its edges. The spider bent low, readying itself to leap into the air again. Shit, shit, shit! Toaby intensified his chopping.
“Not this time!” The spider was low to the ground, giving Laura the vantage point she needed. Leaping up onto its face, she sunk her daggers into two of its flaming eye sockets. Both she and her foe screamed in pain. The magical flames were licking at her forearms, but she refused to give in.
The spider’s back was riddled in cracks now. All splintering outward from the hole. Toaby grabbed either side of it and pulled. Ripping chunks of wood away, he got his opening.
I really hope this works. Taking aim, he tossed a francisca at the gem. The axe slammed against it, hard, but it didn’t break. A large cracked formed from the site of impact and Toaby noticed the spider's health plummet by thirty percent. One more time! He tossed his second weapon, aiming for the same spot.
Success! The crystal shattered into pieces and the guardian's health dropped to zero. It stumbled backward with uneasy footing. Large pieces of his body were falling to the ground. After just a few steps, it collapsed and broke apart entirely.
Toaby looked at his party screen. Sam and Hiro’s names were grayed out, and Laura was down to almost no health. He wasn’t in much better shape, suffering a minor wound and being reduced to only ten points. He silently thanked his group for pointing out his high hit point multiplier. If it wasn’t for that conversation, he wouldn’t have pumped up his constitution and would be dead right now.
“You still alive, lawman?” Laura winced as she pushed herself to her feet. Her hands and forearms completely charred.
Falling to the ground after destroying the crystal, Toaby followed suit and stood. Brushing himself off he frowned. “I’m ok but your hands. Is there anything I can do?”
“Not unless you have a healing potion hidden somewhere.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t.”
“Didn’t think so.” She looked around, locating one of the few chairs not destroyed by the fight. Turning it right side up, she plopped down. “I just need to rest for a bit. Wake me up tomorrow, ok?”
Toaby chuckled. “We should wait for the others before moving on.”
“No shit, sherlock.” Toaby gave Laura a concerning look. Her expression went soft. “I’m sorry. I get a bit cranky when I’m in a lot of pain.” She chuckled. “My first husband hated it.”
“First husband?”
“Ohh no. Don’t even go there. Why don’t you go loot the body and find your axes? Go,” she gestured her head toward the heaping mess that was once the spider guardian, “make yourself useful.”
Toaby completely forgot about his weapons. They were inside the creature when it fell apart. Strolling over, he placed a hand on a chunk of stone that used to be part of one of its legs and thought the word ‘loot’. The loot window appeared, but to his surprise, it was a golden window instead of the normal blueish gray.
“Hey.” He called back to Laura. “Do you see this?”
“Yeah. Is that…” She hesitated. Afraid to say it aloud in fear it would somehow curse it. “Customized magical loot?”
Sitting in the loot window were five items. A pair of purple gloves, a scabbard, a bow, a dagger, and twenty mana crystals. Each of the items, excluding the mana crystals, were contained in their own purple loot box. Toaby inspected each one in order to pull up their information.
He looked at the gloves first. They were purple with a black spider on the back side of the hand. The spider had a red gem sitting in the center of its back.
Gloves of Mana Webs
Slot: Hands
Rarity: Rare
Armor: 0
Condition: Exceptional (+15%)
Durability: 1,150/1,150
Soulbound: Currently not bound
Description: These gloves are each able to bind their mana webs to a single weapon or shield via the wielder’s mana. It links the item that is bound to the glove through an invisible thread of mana webbing. The wielder can spend their mana to recall the item to the glove by tugging on this thread. Consumes 1 mana per foot per item recalled.
This has to be customized loot! Excited, he looked at the next item. The scabbard was long and thin. It was primarily purple but had a subtle white spider web pattern running down each side.
Scabbard of Slowing
Slot: Accessory
Cost: 10 Zeal per use
Rarity: Rare
Condition: Exceptional (+15%)
Durability: 1,150/1,150
Soulbound: Currently not bound
Description: This scabbard imbues whatever blade is placed inside it with the slowing power of a spider’s web. Anything cut by the blade held within will be inflicted by a minor slowing effect. Reducing their attack speed by 5% for 10 minutes. This effect does not stack but can be applied to multiple targets. The wielder must choose to activate this ability per each use.
He moved onto the bow. It was carved from an ebony colored wood. Small etchings of spiders were carved into it. A spool of spider web sat at each end of the bow.
Bow of Webbing
Slot: Main Hand
Rarity: Rare
Condition: Exceptional (+15%)
Durability: 1,150/1,150
Soulbound: Currently not bound
Description: This bow has been carved from the ancient darkwood trees of the Dusk Elves. A mana enriched supply of Arachnoid webbing has been placed on either end. The wielder may attach the webbing to his next arrow and upon impact, the webbing will explode outward and immobilize up to 5 targets for up to 10 seconds. Each sac of webbing has a 24 hour cooldown independent of each other.
Last, but certainly not least, was the lone dagger. It has a purple handle that was carved out of wood to resemble a spider's head. It had every detail you could image, including spiders eight eyes. The two most front eyes had small circular green gems inside them. The blade protruded out of the carving where a spider’s fangs would normally be, giving it a natural appearance. The blade itself had a green hue to it.
Spider Fang Dagger
Slot: Either hand
Damage: 4-6 Slashing
Cost: 1 Stamina per attack
Rarity: Rare
Condition: Exceptional (+15%)
Durability: 1,150/1,150
Soulbound: Currently not bound
Description: This dagger contains two gems of weak poison. Upon cutting an opponent, you can spend a gem’s charge to inflect a weak poison on them. Each gem has a 24 hour cooldown independent of each other.
“Well.” Toaby exhaled. “I don’t think the guys will be upset about dieing after they see all of this.”
“I’m certainly not upset anymore!” Shouted Laura as she cast her lot for the dagger.