> So what is EXP? Nobody knows precisely. You kill a monster and you get it. You kill another person and you get it.
>
> I've mentioned before the theory that the System is somehow related to the unknown organelle found inside all integrated species in the known Universe. The discussion about EXP always comes back to it, with System experts arguing that it helps extract some unknown substance within other creatures.
>
> All of that is irrelevant to your current position. Your job now is to kill monsters and kill as many as you can. That's the only way you can survive.
>
> - Excerpt from SYBI, Chapter 3: Leveling Up: How to Get Stronger Without Dying
The next day, I was elbow-deep in a bucket, doing my best to wash the little clothes I had, when Laura called out my name.
"What's up?"
"When do you want to go out there?", she asked.
I dunk my hands in the cold water again. Two days had passed since we saw the light coming from the forest behind the cabin. I was putting off getting out there to investigate, busying myself with the crops and making the materials for Tobi's barn.
"Dee?", Laura called out again. "Is everything alright?"
I sighed and got up from my crouch on the ground.
"Yeah, it's just... I'm worried what we will find out there.
Laura snorted.
"That's a bit strange coming from you."
"I know that I have been encouraging some rather... stupid behaviour."
"And you were right to do so. I admit that I overreacted when you first suggested that we get out there to level up."
"You were worried about Tobi."
"I was. But it had to be done. I was still stuck in the mindset from before the Integration, and having to protect him."
"Laura..."
"I will still protect him, but we have to continue to get out there and get stronger. We are barely scraping by."
"I know."
"I'm not trying to shit on your efforts, Dee, but the garden you planted will sustain us for a month. Maybe more if we stretch ourselves a bit. "
"I know," my voice sounded so small in my ears. Her words stung, but they were true. I wiped the tears had started to spill.
"Now, we haven't been just sitting at the cabin waiting to starve. I've built a few traps. Tobi had spun all the wool that Cloud had given us, and started weaving it. He even built the weaving frame himself," she said, her voice full of parental pride. "And you've made progress on the barn."
She grabbed me by the shoulder and squeezed reassuringly, making me look up. Here eyes were kind, and there was a new spark of strength in them. It made me feel better.
"Let me take the lead on this, Dee. We'll go out there, including Tobi, and we will see what's up in that fucking forest. And maybe we will kill a few monsters, who knows."
I laughed and pulled her in for a hug.
"Thanks."
----------------------------------------
We decided to treat ourselves with one of the lower-end meal packs from the Shop, setting us back 20 credits a piece. They were a far cry from those luxurious ones we got last time, but our spirits needed a hot meal.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
"I would really like to know how it comes like it is fresh from the stove," Tobi said after we dug into our dinner, which consisted of something not too dissimilar from mashed potatoes and meatballs you'd get at one particular furniture store.
"No clue," I said between bites. "Don't care."
"I have a proposal," laura said. "Let's get one of these at least two times a week.
"Agreed," Tobi and I said in unison.
----------------------------------------
The next day, the three of us woke up bright and early. We dumped our accumulated Energy into the garden and barn, and powered through a snack pack. Laura had the bright idea to try and cook it with water, making it into some kind of porrige. It made it slightly more tolerable to eat. Slightly.
Then we checked our weapons, topped up Tobi's dart reserve, and we were ready to go.
"Dee?" the kid called out.
"Yeah?" I turned to him.
"I made these for you," he said and held out two fabric objects, prompting a description box to appear.
Arm braces (common)
Arm braces made from wool of a Zerathian Skymbala. They are durable, warm, and lightweight pieces of body armour. Made by a beginner crafter.
"Tobi! They are awesome! When did you make these?"
The kid blushed. "I finished weaving the wool last night after you went to bed. I figured I may as well start making us some armour."
"You should take these for yourself first. "
"No, Dee. I want you to have them. You're the one who gets injured the most when we fight, especially on your arms."
It was my turn to blush.
"Yeah, I'm not a great fighter, " I laughed.
"Tobi, are you sure?" Laura asked. "You should take them for yourself."
"Mom, I'm sure. The two of you will protect me. Besides, I think this will probably be my worst work, so it's better for Dee to test it out."
I pretend to punch him in the arm. "You little cheeky shit."
I slid the braces on my arms, and they fit perfectly. They shone with Cloud's signature irridescent sheen. They were light as a feather but I could tell they could take some serious claws.
"This is so awesome, thanks Tobi!"
"No problem, Dee."
The tension we didn't even know we were holding faded a bit, and I turned towards the glowing forest. I could have sworn that the light had gotten brighter.
"Are we ready?" Laura asked. Tobi turned to our resident alien.
"Keep an eye out on the home, okay?"
The sheep just bleeped and rubbed his bug eyed head in Tobi's side.
The three of us left the safety of our boundary, and started walking towards the source of light. Laura took the lead, with me in the back, and Tobi in the middle. We walked as quietly as we could, keeping our weapons ready and our eyes peeled. In no time we were at the edge of the forest, and in the next moment we were in.
Some unseen pressure immediately came upon me as we stepped between the threes. I couldn't explain it. It was like an itch on your back you couldn't reach, and it slowly drove you nuts.
We were making slow progress, and nothing bothered us. We were probably 300 meters into our exploration when Laura stopped suddenly, and Tobi walked right into her.
"Holy shit!" she whispered.
"What's up?" I whispered back at her.
"Look!" Tobi said.
The forest in front of us was covered in vibrant blue spiderwebs. And when I say covered, I mean it was like someone put sheets of it all over the trees and the low brush. The slik glistened silver in the daylight, the morning dew still stuck on them. If we weren't absolutely horrified, the scene would have been beautiful.
The thing that was especially terrifying was that the strands of spidersilk were much thicker and were woven much tighter than any spiderwebs I had ever seen before.
"What the actual fuck?" I said, as my eye caught movement somewhere in the mass of web, but I couldn't tell what it was.
"What should we do?" Laura asked. There was definitely a note of panic in her voice.
"I think we should go in there," Tobi said.
"What?" his mother did her best not to scream hysterically.
"Well, I mean not really in there... I have an idea. "
"Tobi, what are you saying?"
"I think I can harvest that silk, make more armour for us."
Me and Laura took a moment to process that.
"Alright, " she said. "But I give you two minutes to get as much as you can, and then we leave, okay?"
He nodded and we slowly crept toward the wall of webs. Tobi reached out with a knife in his hand to cut it, and I grabbed him by the arm before he could disturb the silk.
"Wait, " I said and looked around. "Let me try something first."
He dropped his hand back and I extended one of my fingers to touch the web. It was cool and wasn't sticky at all. I slowly ran my finger over the surface
"Try to do it carefully, don't make it vibrate too much. I read that spiders sense if something gets caught through vibrations."
He nodded and raised his knife again, making careful cuts here and there to preserve the length of fibers. More and more spiderslik disappeared into his inventory. Laura was covered in sweat and slightly green in the face as she kept watch.
"How are you holding up?" I asked, but before she could answer a sound like the snip-snap of scissors echoed through the forest around us. I turned towards the source and saw a mind-bogglingly massive silver spider make its way towards us.
"Fuck!" Laura screamed and grabbed both of us by the hands, and the three of us started running.