[Sapphire Spider - Level 40]
It was a sapphire spider. A kind of jewel spider. A monster that, according to Neel, hadn’t been seen populating the Silk Mines in a century.
And it was standing right before Adrian, facing down a group of crystal rats on its own.
[Crystal Rat - Level 35]
[Crystal Rat - Level 31]
[Crystal Rat - Level 37]
[Crystal Rat - Level 33]
The crystal rats were lowered-leveled than the sapphire spider. But they had the numbers advantage, and they were quite durable. So Adrian expected them to win this fight.
However, he watched as the first crystal rat leapt forward, only to be easily knocked aside by the sapphire spider. The crystal rat crashed into the rock wall as its glass-like back was cracked open, and its three companions immediately rushed forward next.
They flanked the sapphire spider, attacking it from all directions whether it was with their whipping tails or their snapping jaws. But the sapphire spider was fast. Their attacks missed their mark, only for them to be easily countered by the sapphire spider.
With each strike from the sapphire spider, a crystal rat was sent flying, a large chunk of its body broken. It was almost too easy. Two crystal rats were already killed after a short minute of struggling. Despite their durability, they were broken into pieces just like that.
And the remaining two crystal rats tried to flee. However, the sapphire spider gave chase, cutting them down as it disappeared down the corridor after them.
“So that is the power of a jewel spider,” a voice remarked, coming from behind Adrian.
He spun around, startled. Blinking a few times, Adrian saw Neel standing there with hands behind his back in parade rest.
“Why are you…?” Adrian asked, staring at the elderly dwarf.
Neel shook his head as he drew forward. “You took so long to return. So I thought what you were watching must have been worth seeing. And I was right.”
Adrian pursed his lips, looking in the direction where the sapphire spider disappeared to. He could still hear the sounds of fighting from the remaining crystal rats echoing for a moment longer. Before there was silence.
“We need to keep moving,” Adrian said as he glanced back towards Neel. “If we run into that sapphire spider, we’re dead.”
“Indeed.” Neel nodded, running a hand through his wispy white beard. “We are fortunate that those crystal rats were here to distract that jewel spider. But if it comes back—”
And he was interrupted by a voice piping up from behind.
“What’s a jewel spider?” Chavi asked as she approached the two of them, evidently eavesdropping in.
Neel just sighed when he heard that as Adrian scratched the back of his head.
***
After another hour of traversing the Dungeon, the group of five eventually found a small alcove to rest for the night— if it was even night anymore. Adrian didn’t know. So they set up camp and ate as little of their rations as possible to preserve it as much as they could.
“So you’re telling me that these jewel spiders have always inhabited the bottom floor of the Silk Mines. But they disappeared for the last hundred years? And for some reason, nobody has seen them… until now?” Chavi said as she peered into Adrian.
Because of her incessant pestering, he finally decided to explain the whole situation to her. At least, to the best of his knowledge. Adrian only knew what Neel had told him just earlier today. But—
“I’m surprised you’ve never heard of a jewel spider before.” Adrian shook his head, before glancing over at Neel who had already gone off to sleep.
“I’m only twenty years old. I just turned into an adult, alright? I don’t know much about the world.” Chavi crossed her arms and scowled.
Next to her, Kavi piped up. “Also, you must keep in mind, there are a myriad of monster species’ lurking down here in the Silk Mines. We only know what’s listed in the Delvers Headquarters.”
Aarush had also gone off to sleep due to his injuries.
Shaking his head, Adrian looked up. “I would’ve thought these monsters would be ingrained into your city’s history.”
“Well, the City of Dorn is young so there isn’t much history to even be had,” Chavi said as she looked down at herself. “And my papa did tell me about how when it was founded, that General Rhavin Dorn the First had to bring his army to exterminate a horde of terrible monsters lurking down here. But… that was five hundred years ago.”
“That’s not that long ago for a dwarf, is it?” Adrian asked with a raised brow.
“What do you mean by that?” She crossed her arms. “We only live fifty years longer than you humans do— at most. My grandpa died relatively young, shortly after his hundredth birthday. And you humans live to a hundred all the time.”
Hearing that surprised Adrian. Normally, in books or movies, dwarves could live much longer than humans. However, this was the world of Naxia, not some fantasy story. So it made sense that things were different.
“Regardless, the return of these jewel spiders must be the reason why there was that stampede of monsters.” Adrian placed a hand on his chin, voicing his thoughts aloud. “They must have reclaimed the bottom floors of the Silk Mines, chasing out the crystal rats and the other monsters to the top.”
“We’ll have to inform HQ about this when we get out of here,” Kavi said as he pursed his lips. “Otherwise, the monsters could spill out of the Dungeon, endangering innocent lives. I’m certain they’ll send a team of C-rankers to deal with the jewel spiders.”
“For now, let’s sleep. I’m tired.” Chavi yawned as she went to lie down.
Kavi went to sleep next to Aarush. But Adrian stayed up, having been given the duty of keeping first watch. The first few hours went by completely uneventfully. However, right before it was time to swap shifts, a group of crustwalkers drew close to the alcove.
There were over a dozen of them. But Adrian dealt with them quietly on his own, instead of waking up the others. With his paralyzing fang, he slowed their movements, before cutting them down easily with his new platinum fangdagger. And because he was faster than they were, he didn’t even suffer a single cut from that encounter.
*Ding!*
You have killed a [Crustcrawler - Level 16] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!
*Ding!*
You have killed a [Crustcrawler - Level 15] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
…
*Ding!*
Your Class [Rogue] has reached Level 21! — You have gained +1 to all Essences, and you have gained 1 Essence Points!
***
When Adrian woke up the next day, the group was already packed up and ready to venture out of the alcove. He took a quick swig of water, before following after the others as they made their way through the various tunnels.
“Sleeping on rocks sucked,” Chavi groaned, rubbing her shoulder. “Aarush, can you give me a back massage? I think I pulled a muscle…”
“I would, but I think I need a massage myself,” Aarush said as he looked down at himself. Thanks to the healing ointment they had, the most grievous wounds he had suffered had been healed. However, he was still hurt, and his movement was impeded.
Chavi blinked, then raised a hand. “Do you? I can help!”
“Wait, seriously?” Aarush stared at her in shock.
Kavi perked up next to him. “I think I need a massage too!”
“Hey, I said it first!”
“Well, I stayed up for Chavi’s shift last night too, so I deserved it more!”
“Oh, of course, I can give both of you a massage—” Chavi started as she glanced between them.
“Let’s save it for later,” Adrian interrupted them. “Keep it down, we don’t want to attract attention to us.”
“Right,” the three dwarves said sheepishly.
Adrian felt like he was a teacher at school, taking care of a bunch of children. But supposedly, all three of them were young for dwarves. Which was why Neel didn’t like them.
Walking up next to the elderly dwarf, Adrian asked, “What do you think?”
“About those children?” Neel replied as he glanced back. He closed his eyes for a moment and whispered, “I was young like them too once…” And then his eyes snapped open as he glared in Chavi’s direction. “But I was never as foolish as them.”
“Oh.” Adrian paused, before shaking his head. “That’s not what I meant. I was talking about the jewel spiders. What do you think happened that caused them to return?”
“Hmph, simply put?” Neel raised a brow knowingly. “They never went away, is my guess. But they have always been lurking deep in the Silk Mines, biding their time and regrowing their numbers, all just to take back what they lost.”
Adrian furrowed his brows. “You think they want to reclaim the Silk Mines?”
Neel lowered his head as the group turned a corner. “When I was a child, I was told a fable— about how the Silk Mines was the nest of a species of spiders called the giant aranea. A monster that is native to the Coryz Mountains. But when the falling star crashed upon them, they changed. They transformed into what they are today.
“In particular, a broodmother was born. A diamond spider that was said to be the size of a castle. It claimed the entirety of the crash site as its own, commanding a hode of thousands of its own kin. When General Rhavin Dorn the First arrived there with his army, they were attacked as soon as they reached a mile from the crater. It was a deadly battle. Much blood was shed that day. And I believe the same will happen now.”
Neel looked up, his right eye glinting as he faced Adrian.
“You mean you believe they’ll attack the surface,” Adrian said as he tapped a finger on his chin.
“That is right.” Neel nodded as he wore a grim look on his face. “Depending on if a new broodmother has come into existence, a calamity could befall the City of Dorn, and there may not be anything we could do about it. But if there is no broodmother leading the jewel spiders, then we could eradicate the problem before it spirals out of control.”
“I see…” Adrian’s brows snapped together as he considered what he just heard.
There were two main things for him to consider. The fact that if the City of Dorn was destroyed, then the elves that were hunting him down would be given free rein to find him. That was purely a logical analysis of the situation.
However, a part of him was truly grateful to War King Rhavin Dorn the Third for giving him refuge. And Luxe for saving his life, even if he incurred quite some debt for it too. So Adrian felt like he needed to help investigate the lower floors of the Silk Mines.
And that was not all either…
Adrian looked down at the palm of his hand as he felt his heart racing at the prospect of remaining down here. In just a single day, he had leveled up six times. Granted, it was anomalous due to the large horde he helped fend off, and because he was lucky with running into that injured crystal rat.
But if he stayed down here, he would continue to level up down here and grow stronger. The idea excited him.
Even if it was risky.
***
After a few more hours of lurking through the tunnels, the group was about to stop to rest at midday rest, only for Chavi to notice something nobody else did.
“Wait, this is—” She sprinted forward, running ahead of the group.
Adrian gave chase after her, but she slowly came to a halt after turning a few corners.
“We’re here!” she exclaimed.
The rest of the group caught up with them, panting in exhaustion, with Aarush leading the back.
“What’s going on?” Kavi asked as he caught his breath.
Adrian narrowed his eyes, facing a familiar tunnel leading up right ahead of them. Chavi spun around and spread her arms wide.
“This is the exit! I knew this area looked familiar!”
“You did?” Kavi gaped at her.
And Aarush laughed, before groaning as he clutched at his bandaged wound. “You did it, Chavi. You’re amazing.”
“I give credit where credit is due, good job,” Neel said as he gave Chavi an approving look. He then glanced over at Adrian. “Now we can warn War King Rhavin Dorn about what’s going on in the Silk Mines.”
Adrian watched as the rest of the group drew forward. But he didn’t move. They realized he wasn’t going with them, before they glanced back at him.
“Is something wrong?” Neel asked as he wrinkled his brows.
“I won’t be returning,” Adrian said, resolving himself. “I know where the exit is now, so I’ll stay.”
Chavi blinked when she heard that. “Wait, but why?”
Adrian shook his head. “I’ll head to the lower floors and investigate the jewel spiders— see if I can find any evidence if a new broodmother is in charge of them. This is important, so don’t try to stop me.”
“I…” Chavi closed her mouth when she heard that.
“But what about your payment?” Kavi asked with a frown. “You won’t be able to collect it if you’re down there.”
“I can collect his sum of the payment for him,” Chavi piped up, raising a hand. She turned to Adrian and met his gaze. “If that’s alright with you?”
“That’s fine.” Adrian nodded at her. “Where can I find you?”
“My papa owns Dorn’s Armor And Weapons Trading Company. You can probably find me there, or ask around for me. I’ll inform his staff about you.” Chavi smiled at Adrian.
Even if she was a little bit… eccentric, he was grateful to her for her help. So Adrian returned the smile.
“Are you certain about this?” Neel asked, speaking seriously. “You could die.”
Adrian closed his eyes when he heard that. And then he looked up, nodding with a small smirk.
“I am.”
“Very well, then. I will not stop you.” Neel acquiesced as he drew back. “And you can keep the weapon I gave you. You will need it more than I.”
“Thank you.” Adrian smiled when he heard that.
The group gave Adrian whatever rations they had left. Which was quite a lot for a single person. And with that, Adrian parted ways with them, watching as they disappeared up the tunnel.
Turning back to face the Silk Mines, he steeled himself. “Alright…”
That was when he saw his first prey, lurking just around the corner. A lone crustcrawler. And he readied himself to face it. But not just it— the rest of the monsters in the Silk Mines too. So Adrian descended upon them, culling whatever monsters he knew he could deal with over the course of the rest of the day.
*Ding!*
You have killed a [Crustcrawler - Level 13] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!
*Ding!*
You have killed a [Crustcrawler - Level 18] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!
…
*Ding!*
You have killed a [Silver Mite - Level 14] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!
*Ding!*
You have killed a [Silver Mite - Level 12] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!
…
*Ding!*
Your Class [Rogue] has reached Level 22! — You have gained +1 to all Essences, and you have gained 1 Essence Points!
Status:
Adrian Zenith
Rank: E
Class: [Stinger Hermit - Level 22]
Titles: [Outworlder Champion]
Skills: [Passive - Nimble Legs], [Active - Quadruple Stab], [Active - Double Jump], [Active - Fatal Backstab], [Active - Stealth Step], [Passive - Spatial Inventory], [Active - Basic Identification], [Passive - Basic Weapon Mastery], [Passive - Critical Precision], [Passive - Inferior Sneak], [Passive - Lesser Poison Resistance], [Passive - Lesser Venom Resistance], [Passive - Savage Instincts]
Essences:
Strength: 35
Agility: 72
Dexterity: 35
Magic: 29
Vitality: 34
Essence Points: 0