8 Expedition - Part 2
"There's two waiting on the fork," Alissa cautions me.
Not a good idea to continue. Tarantulas are very nimble, so we have to deal with one at a time.
A simple scenario, so I come up with a simple plan, "We'll lure them out. Miss Roxanne, use [Torrent] on the one on the right and make sure you don't miss. I won't be able to keep both away if you do."
"Yes, sir! Don't worry, I have perfect aim with my magic," she confidently states and puts a closed fist over her heart. Considering she uses glasses, I'm nowhere near as confident as she is.
We move forward a little bit so we can see the fork ahead. The tunnel opens into a square room with two other tunnels at the end of it, so the spiders must be just around the corner if we can't see them.
Do they sleep? Do they hibernate or something? The book didn't talk about these things. I'll have to make noise so they understand we know they are hiding, then they'll either retreat or charge depending on how smart they are.
I throw a [Fireball] to clear any remaining webs nearby, and we move to around twenty meters from the fork, then I ask Alissa to get near the wall and a few arrows the furthest she can into the corner of the room ahead.
Three arrows hit the stone ground and break near where one spider should be.
We wait a few seconds, but nobody hears anything.
"Nothing?" I whisper to Alissa.
"Nothing," she responds in the same tone.
I throw a [Fireball] where the arrows hit and we wait… but again, nothing.
I grit my teeth in anger. "Well… FUCKING STUPID SPIDERS COME OUT YOU LITTLE SHITS!" I let out an outburst.
"Oh…! That did it!" Alissa exclaims and nocks an arrow.
Seriously? Whatever…
I pull up my shield and prepare.
Two, one-meter tall spiders come out of the fork and dash towards us with frightening speed. One charges towards me, and the other towards Roxanne.
Once they're a few meters away, Roxanne fires her magic.
The spider is hit in the face with a thick jet of water that pushes it all the way down the corridor until it crashes onto the wall of the fork ahead.
That was actually a really strong spell; I'll be surprised if it's unscathed. I little more power and it would've been an instant kill.
The other spider jumps towards me, and I remain immobile, just waiting for it to come.
An arrow whistles past my right ear just as the spider readies its fangs, and an arrow sinks into its mouth.
It's mid-flight and can't stop, but it starts writhing in pain, completely giving up on the attack.
The back of the arrow hits my shield and goes deeper into the spider but doesn't kill it, then its legs hit me and it pushes itself away from me.
I try to counter with a thrust, but it's too fast and my sword hits nothing. That's okay, though, as it's part of the plan.
I cast [Constricting Vines] at the spider far away who's writhing about on the floor. It's honestly the first time I have a good opportunity to use it because it's kind of hard to time it right. Green vines burst from the ground and wrap themselves around every limb of the Tarantula, keeping it secure to the floor.
This spell can be very useful, but it takes time to get a grip on the target, so most intelligent monsters are either strong enough to ignore the vines, like the Orc Headhunter or the Young Ogres, or it's smart enough to dodge it, leaving few situations where it's worthy of trying to combo a stun with this spell.
The remaining spider backs off as it realizes I'm too hard to kill and tries to circle around me to jump on Alissa.
Like hell I'm going to let you do that.
I jump forward and slash towards it, forcing it to retreat as it hisses at me, then another arrow pierces its face, taking out one of its many eyes.
"HIIIIII," it lets out a high-pitched scream in frustration.
I retreat back to the middle of the tunnel, and now I wait.
Roxanne releases a [Fireball] at the Tarantula, but the spell is too slow, so the spider jumps backward and dodges it. When it falls, it meets another arrow that pierces its mouth again.
Shit Alissa, that was good. I didn't even tell you to combo with the [Fireball].
I cast my own [Fireball] along with Roxanne's. The spider dodges one, but its leg gets burnt by the other, then another arrow hits it, though this time it hit the hard exoskeleton, so it only penetrates shallowly.
"SHAAA!" It screams and charges forward. Now it's angry and making a suicide charge, so I start preparing a [Fireball] in response.
I take the charge head-on, and I feel its two fangs hit the shield with power. It hurts my shoulder, but I stand my ground, then I open my shield and point the [Fireball] directly at its face. It has no way of dodging point-blank.
It lets out a disgusting high-pitched scream as it pushes itself away from me and rolls backward on the floor.
I feel the vines are dissipating, so we have to finish this now.
The burned spider stands up, but it's blind and writhing in pain, making it completely defenseless. Another arrow hits its mouth, and it starts to get dizzy, losing its balance.
I jump forward with a thrust, and my sword hits its head. I crush the exoskeleton and the blade enters the flesh, sinking deep into its brain, then it immediately goes limp. It's dead.
In the distance, the other spider comes charging. Two of its right legs seem to be broken, so it's lacking in balance and its charge is slow.
Alissa immediately fires two fast arrows, and it isn't even capable of dodging, so one penetrates an eye while the other enters the mouth. Meanwhile, Roxanne is charging another strong spell.
Before the girls can attack again, the Tarantula reaches me and leaps forward.
I receive its attack with my shield, but it's weaker than the previous spider. I easily push it back, and Roxanne lets out her spell.
She swings her arm vigorously as a fire whip flares in her hand, and its tip whistles past me in the blink of an eye like an arrow.
The fire whip wraps around the body of the spider, and the sizzling sound of burning reaches our ears as the spider desperately struggles to free itself from it.
I take the opportunity and slash at its body. I miss the head, but I sever three legs on the right at the base, and now it can barely muster the strength to resist anymore.
I slash again and the last leg on the right side is gone, so it turns upside-down and struggles to right itself.
I pierce the soft head from below, then it goes limp and dies.
I sigh and start winding down, then Roxanne approaches and inspects her work as she casually comments, "That was interesting. I rarely have the opportunity to use [Fire Whip], but it's always extremely useful when the opportunity for it arrives. It's like your [Constricting Vines]: it needs to a distraction to make it work, otherwise, they can dodge it, and these Tarantulas aren't very strong, so I can hold them all by myself."
"I prefer that you save your mana for a strong [Torrent], but let's try [Fire Wall] next. I really want to see it suicide jump into that spell," I confess with a sadistic tone.
Fuck these spiders.
[Constricting Vines] is good as a follow up for a stunned Tarantula, but we lack strong openers. [Fireball] is too slow, while [Fire Arrow] doesn't do much damage and Roxanne needs Alissa-level accuracy to be effective with it.
"Perhaps [Water Blade] could work?" Roxanne suggests.
I nod in agreement and add, "Let's try it after [Fire Wall]."
As we get near the fork, I notice the symbols on each of the tunnels. It's the system explorers developed so someone could locate themselves inside this maze of featureless tunnels. Each fork has a unique symbol, so if we get lost, we can just move to the next fork and then search for the symbol on our map.
--
After a while, we reach another fork, a circular room with six exit tunnels.
"Wait, master," Alissa stops me.
"What is it?"
She scans the tunnels ahead, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "There's a strong smell of spiders around here, but they're too far for my [Sense Presence], so let me investigate a little."
"Sure," I whisper.
She stops before each tunnel and sniffs the air with cute movements that really do remind me of a fox, making me get so distracted I almost drop my guard.
"The smell is stronger on these tunnels and lower on these others," she reports and points as she points at the respective tunnels.
"Let's take a detour and go through that one, then. Less spiders on the way," I order.
As we walk towards the tunnel, I notice something odd at the entrance. The tunnels are all half-circles and the floor is normally rough and slightly curved, but on this tunnel, the ground is completely level for about ten meters, then it becomes round again.
My spidey senses are tingling.
"What's wrong?" Roxanne when we both suddenly stop.
"The ground is suspicious," Alissa answers, reliable as ever.
"Indeed," I agree.
I crouch in front of the tunnel and hit it with my hand, and it makes a hollow sound.
I pull out a small broom from my "Items" and bush the dust away, revealing right in the middle of the tunnel a small channel. The floor is actually two slabs covering a hole almost perfectly made to look seamless.
"Oh, wait, the ground changed," Roxanne comments confusedly.
I turn around and frown at her. "What do you mean? All I did was dust it a little."
"Perhaps it was an illusion?" Alissa suggests.
I snap my finger and exclaim, "Oh! An Arachne trap."
"But it isn't their territory yet," Roxanne replies.
I shrug and point out, "They're known to be cunning."
Roxanne crosses her arms and thinks. "This tunnel is the one with the faintest smell of spiders? Perhaps the smell itself is a trap."
Goddamn mind games.
I tap my temple in thought as I consider, "We have a few options here: trigger the trap then find a way to cross it, though that could alert the monsters that we are here; try not to trigger the trap and cross, but I don't really know how to do that; go towards the next tunnel with the faintest smell, but the smell might also be a trap; or go to our original tunnel with the strongest smell of spider. Any opinions?"
"Well, aren't you the leader? Do you really need our opinion?" Roxanne asks with a teasing tone as she smirks.
I categorically state with a snobbish tone, "I take it upon myself to make the decision, but I want to hear the opinions of both of you before I act." Then I smirk at her.
She smiles and coos, "Ohh, I like that."
Alissa clears her throat and follows up in the same tone as me while smiling faintly, "Well then, Master, I prefer to risk fighting the spiders on our original path, that's where our strength lies."
Roxanne nods repeatedly. "I also prefer that. I really don't like arachnes and I don't wanna play their games. I prefer when my enemies charge into my spells," she speaks her mind.
I nod and grunt in acknowledgment. "Then it's unanimous, let's go," I order.
We enter our original tunnel and walk for ten, silent minutes before Alissa notices something.
"There's something ahead; a single monster," she reports.
"Okay, I'll try to attract it," I reply and lower the flaming spear, then I release a [Fireball] forward.
No response…
So annoying.
"COME HERE YA DICKHEAD!" I suddenly shout.
"It's coming," Alissa warns.
Do they really understand our language?
A single Giant Tarantula appears. This is going to be easy.
The Tarantula charges forward madly. It receives an arrow on one of its eyes and a [Fireball] on one of its fangs before it even reaches me.
The Tarantula loses some of its momentum, weakening the charge, and only a single fang hits my shield. The attack is solid but weak enough that it's bearable, and I even manage to cut a leg during the counter.
"SHAAA," It shouts angrily.
As it retreats a short distance, an arrow pokes another eye, then it decides that Alissa is the bigger threat and tries to go around me, but I cut another leg and it backs away.
With one way closed, it tries to charge past me towards Roxanne.
"[Fire Wall]!"
And the spider jumps through the wall without hesitation.
"HIIIIII!"
"Oh shit," I mutter.
Somehow, the spider has turned into a bonfire.
That's dangerous.
"Back off!" I yell to Roxanne.
The spider almost tramples me as it hisses and thrashes about from the pain, and I have to bash my shield onto it to keep it away.
Roxanne releases a [Torrent] and it flies away as it's partially extinguished.
The spell was hastily cast, so it isn't as too strong as the previous time. Add that to the monster's tenacity, and the spider manages to quickly get up again. This time, it charges directly at me while half of its body is still burning.
"Try the blade," I order Roxanne, and I start to feel a lot of mana gathering behind me.
Rage fuels the Tarantula's charge, allowing it to reach a higher speed, and even after losing another eye to Alissa it still doesn't slow down.
I just defend from its attack, focusing on keeping my feet on the ground, then I slashing to force it back, but it charges again immediately.
"[Water Blade]!"
An incredibly thin blade of water shoots towards the face of the spider. In it's rage, the Tarantula doesn't even notice the spell and takes the hit head-on.
The blade disappears inside its face, then its body goes limp, and it rolls on the floor. It's dead.
Through an imperceptible small slit, blood pours out of its exoskeleton, and a few twinkles of moisture in the air show where the blade passed through.
"Wow, that spell is deadly," I remark in amazement.
"I think we were just lucky because it was completely enraged, so it didn't even try to dodge," Roxanne rebuts with a face full of skepticism.
I rub my chin in thought, the rough texture of my gloves making this act not very pleasant. "Hmm… then let's try one more time. At least we know it pierces without a problem."
Alissa suddenly voices her doubt, "Master, one thing: are my arrows helpful? I keep hitting their eyes, but I'm not sure if that's a very effective target."
"Yes, they are. The ones in the mouth make them hesitate when they charge. The ones in the eyes make them slower to react, it's subtle but I can notice the difference."
"Oh, I see…" She hums, a little content, but I can't see her tail right now.
Then I turn to the half-burnt corpse that smells rather awful. "But now I want to know why it burned so much like this. Was its hair so flammable?"
Alissa tilts her head cutely and asks, "Flammable?"
I hold myself from gushing and nod. "Yeah, it means something that catches fire easily."
"We'll have to examine the corpse," Roxanne points out.
I shudder. I don't want to touch the spider.
"Any volunteers?" I ask with a guilty smile.
"I'll do it," Alissa immediately responds without hesitation.
No, you're too pure. I have to do it myself…
"But this corpse is all charred, let's find another one," Roxanne suggests, looking like she's pitying her a bit, and I agree with her.
--
We walk for a short while and find another corpse. Five corpses, actually.
"What is this?" I blurt out, bewildered
The Giant Tarantula corpses are brutalized. Their legs are bent and broken, their sternum is open and dripping, their abdomen is crushed, and their fangs have been ripped and scattered about. They're all hanging in the air by thick white webs like some sick modern art display.
Roxanne wrinkles her nose in disgust and questions, "Ugh… what would do something like this?"
"Arachnes?" Alissa suggests.
I snap my fingers and exclaim, "Yes! That's it. It's part of the trap to make us not come here. Arachnes are very violent and prey upon tarantulas occasionally, so maybe this is their handiwork."
"Can we never fight an Arachne, please? This is way too brutal for me," Roxanne pleads, her pale face even paler from disgust.
I agree wholeheartedly, "Yeah, I'll try to steer us away from them. Now, let's continue for a short while and then rest a little."
--
We find a nice large room a good distance away from the massacre and sit down for some tea.
I bring out the small broom from before and clean the dust around us, then I bring out a large picnic blanket. With multiple *poofs* I pull out sandwiches and a few berries Alissa brought along with the juice. She pulls out a tea seat, the cheap cookies, and starts warming the teapot with a small [Fireball] she holds at the tip of her finger.
"This is adorable," Roxanne comments with a smile.
"Master gets grumpy when there's no tea," Alissa shyly teases.
It's kind of true, though.
Alissa seems to love making tea for me, and she took it upon herself to always carry the tea set with her. I like coffee with chocolate more, but I'll take what I can get.
Roxanne follows up with the teasing, "If you told me that you were a noble, I wouldn't be surprised."
I simply shrug. I know I can be a bit snobbish sometimes.
Roxanne pulls out a small red crystal and offers it to Alissa, "Here, use this magic stone."
"Oh, thank you, Miss Roxanne, this is more efficient," Alissa gracefully accepts.
Then we share our food with Roxanne. She only had a simple sandwich, so she enjoys our cookies quite a lot.
She finishes her tea and exhales loudly, "Ah~! This is nice…"
My heart warms up as it feels quite nice to share a nice meal with someone. "It can get even better if I find something high-quality though," I comment.
She raises her eyebrows and smirks. "Oh? Now I'm interested."
I look at my cup as I articulate, "Well, first I need to find it. I don't know where, but I know it exists. I've tasted it once, and I'll keep looking until I find it again."
I still remember the tea and cookies at the Golden Necklace, those were as good as the ones on Earth.
"Please share with me when you find it, then." And she lets out a cut giggle.
The sandwiches are our lunch. Though we don't know the time since we're underground, we can still follow our stomachs.
--
We move on and meet another lone spider.
"[Water Blade] this time," I order.
We keep walking until Alissa tells us it's moving, then we get ready for battle.
It comes straight at me like the previous fights and loses an eye to Alissa before it even reaches me. Meanwhile, Roxanne gathers her mana.
I receive the charge with practiced ease, then I counter and cut the tip of a leg. Since I didn't cast [Fireball], the spider is less cautious, and it immediately starts another charge, but Roxanne releases her spell before it hits me again.
The Tarantula immediately stops in its tracks once it senses the spell flying, then it nearly falls over as its legs scramble, desperately trying to dodge, but the spell still hits.
The blade opens its thorax and blood splashes all over the floor, but it isn't dead yet.
This is so annoying; just fucking die!
The spider stumbles, struggling to maintain itself upright, and Alissa takes the chance to pop two other eyes.
The Tarantula switches to the defensive and becomes cautious, so I charge forward and slash. It doesn't react in time, and I manage to sever a fang.
I feel Roxanne gather her mana again, so I just threaten the spider and then back off. Roxanne releases another [Water Blade], and the Tarantula's reduced vision causes it to fail to dodge in time.
The spell enters its head and its body instantly goes limp. It's dead.
I clean my sword with a piece of cloth, then I walk to the Tarantula to inspect it. "Well, I guess [Water Blade] really is the most effective way to kill these things," I note.
"[Fireball] makes them wary, so they slow down their attack, but [Water Blade] does the most damage," Roxanne elaborates further.
Without hesitation, Alissa walks to the spider's body and touches it.
I squeak in surprise and pity, "Ah! You didn't have to do this."
Alissa shakes her head energetically. "I don't mind it, Master. I told you before to depend on me."
Does she mean what she told me after we killed the Young Ogre? Is this her way of taking care of my mental well being? Well, I'm just being a pussy, so I don't think she really needed to do this, but I don't have the willpower to stop her now.
She turns to the Tarantula again, then pokes and prods it as she inspects it. "Hmm… the hair is stiff and rough, and it seems oily and damp, but it doesn't seem to be something 'flammable.' What's this…? It's sticky…" -She raises her head and shows me her hand as her eyebrows rise high in surprise- "Is this the transparent web?"
I get closer to her and grab her cute hand. I can't see very well, so I grab the [Spirit Light] floating above my head and bring it closer to her hand.
After taking a very close look, I notice a slight shine. It's the ultra-thin and nearly transparent web of the Tarantulas that we have been burning up until now.
"Hmm… why is there a web on its body?" I wonder.
Alissa turns to the Tarantula again and starts to feel its body. "It's not everywhere; only some parts of it are sticky like this," she notes.
Roxanne scratches her horn in thought as she wonders, "Why did nobody know about this? It's kind of hard to believe that nobody used [Fire Wall] to stop their charge."
"Yeah, that's very odd," I mumble.
Nobody has anything more to contribute, so reach an impasse in our reasoning.
I shake my head dismissively and suggest, "Let's just go. We can still inspect more spider bodies and look for anything different."
"Let me burn this web on my hand first," Alissa says and starts to chant a [Fireball].
I forgot the web is super sticky. "Hold on," I stop her and grab her hand.
With subtle movements, I quickly remove her [Mental Resistance] and put it all on [Pain Resistance].
"It's all good," I whisper.
Alissa's ears twitch, then she turns to me and smiles. It seems she noticed what I did. And Roxanne just watches us with a confused face.
Alissa casts [Fireball], creating a flame above her finger, and moves it closer to her sticky hand until the web catches fire.
It burns for a few seconds, then I approach her and cast [Regeneration] as I return her [Mental Resistance].
Once she's fully healed, I give her hand a kiss, and she returns a sweet smile, then we move on.
--
We meet five spiders in succession, but only two had the web on their bodies. This time, I give Alissa a small piece of cloth for her to check the bodies.
"Could it be a difference between the sexes?" I propose.
Alissa tilts her head cutely. "I don't understand, Master."
I adjust my non-existent glasses and start the lecture, "The male spider coats his body in the web because it's sticky, then uses the stickiness to help hold down the female for mating. I know there are quite a lot of animal species that basically rape their partner during mating, so they use whatever they can to help tie up their mate."
Roxanne hums in wonder, "Hmm, that's interesting, but I don't know much about animals… are you perhaps a scholar?"
Alissa nods earnestly, then shares some of her knowledge, "I also don't know much about this, Master. Though it's known that the spiders reproduce, adventurer knowledge doesn't go much further than that since it doesn't help in killing them faster." Then she smiles wryly.
I just casually respond, "I'm not a scholar, just a curious person who reads a lot of books."
"To me, that's a scholar," Roxanne retorts with a cheeky grin.
I shrug, then we move again.
--
Alissa suddenly tells us to stop and reports, "This one is bigger than normal."
"Arachne?" I question.
"I don't know, I don't recognize the signature." She looks ahead with a serious look on her face and her tail hanging low. Her ears twitch from side-to-side, trying to catch any small sound, but she hears nothing.
The [Sense Presence] skill is like a radar. It tells the distance, size, and direction with a certain amount of precision depending on the level of the skill. Each type of living being has a "signature," so it's possible to differentiate the types of monsters by their signatures, but if the tracker hasn't sensed a certain signature before, then it's nearly impossible to know what it is.
I start giving out orders, "Okay, standard formation. No need to worry too much because it's either a bigger spider or an Arachne. It's certainly not a Sludge because there's no disgusting smell." And they both nod in acknowledgment.
We carefully move forward because we could still sneak past it or enrage even before we meet if we make too much noise. Most monsters are more cautious during the first meeting, but if they know there are humanoids close, they can work themselves into a bloodlusting rage just by themselves.
We keep moving while still using the flaming spear and we slowly inch closer until we see an outline being revealed by our light.
It's a two meters tall spider with a red bulge growing out of its head that twitches and pulses creepily. It's so enthralled in eating the corpse of another spider that it doesn't even notice us approaching.
I give a signal and start to charge a [Fireball] while Roxanne charges her own spell, then the spider turns to us, attracted to the mana.
As it turns, an arrow pierces one of its eyes.
"SHIA!" It shouts in anger and pain.
It scrambles to retreat a few meters in surprise, but it still manages to dodge all the following arrows as they hit its tough exoskeleton and don't penetrate. This one is seemingly smarter and tougher.
Then it suddenly charges.
I release my [Fireball] before it reaches me, and it hits the right side of the spider's face, burning one eye. Roxanne doesn't release hers yet, so it's a stronger spell than normal, which is good since this enemy will need more firepower to bring down.
Then the huge spider hits me, and I'm pushed back a little. I try to counter, but my sword simply slides ineffectively along its legs, simply cutting hair as I struggle to find a fleshy opening to strike.
I get an idea, then I brace myself and wait for the second charge. The moment it starts dashing forward again, I charge my mana and point towards the spider as if I'm going to cast [Fireball]. The spider falls for the bluff and dodges to the side, so the charge slows and its attack doesn't have the same strength, but I still cast something.
I jump backward as it hits and cast [Constricting Vines] on the spot I was just at. The spider stops on it, then vines burst out of the ground and grab its multiple legs.
It remains stuck there for a short while, which is enough of an opening for Alissa to put an arrow in its mouth, but it's also the perfect moment for Roxanne to end it all.
"[Water Blade]!"
A long and wide blade of transparent water erupts out of her staff and flies towards the monsters in the blink of an eye.
The spider tries to dodge it, but it's still stuck in place, so the blade sinks into its flesh and exoskeleton in a diagonal, severing the red bulge and all its right legs.
The spider falls to the side, then writhes in pain and desperation, but it's over. I lunge and pierce its head, killing it instantly.
Then we all frown in disgust as the red bulge splashes on the floor, releasing a gush of a transparent liquid, then revealing the skinless top body of a woman
I'm starting to feel sick.
Alissa grabs the flaming spear and assertively hands it to me, her face completely serious. I sheathe my sword and grab it, then she silently pushes me forward, and we quickly pass the dead monster.
After a few minutes, the disgust passes away, and I finally realize the obvious. "That was an Arachne being born," I blurt out.
"Yes," Alissa answers tersely.
And that's all we say about it. Even Roxanne has no jokes to tell.
--
We walk for a whole hour without any other encounters. It seems that the previous almost-Arachne cleared the area for us. Then we reach a fork.
"Master, there's a disgusting stench coming from that way," Alissa reports.
I frown as I detect a faint smell of shit. "That's probably the sludge, let's not go there."
This enemy I'll avoid with all my power. After reading the battle reports of this monster, I think it'd be a miracle if we don't puke when we get near.
After that, we only meet one lone spider, so we must be deep in Arachne territory now.
We start seeing suspicious mists, and Alissa catches unknown smells, then the occurrence of the invisible webs drops drastically, allowing us to greatly increase our pace.
We find two bear traps and two other suspicious-looking floor designs that we avoid at all cost. We just avoid anything out of the ordinary, really. It's not confirmed that it's an Arachne trap, but why risk it? There's also no need to rush, we can just take another route if our path is blocked.
--
"This is the third time you've sighed in just a short time," Alissa suddenly whispers, her voice showing some concern.
I look back at her and raise an eyebrow questioningly. "Uh? Why are you counting?"
"To understand your mood," she answers matter-of-factly.
I facepalm and sigh again. "Is that… really necessary?"
"Yes, Master," -she suddenly grabs my hand- "I'll protect your mind and body," she confidently whispers as her tail wags gently.
Girl, you're too good to me, I don't deserve this. You're actually making me feel guilty, and I also want to sigh again.
No, wait, even for me, this is too much.
I stop walking and look at the other girls. "I'm starting to feel like this is not normal. The sighing, I mean."
Alissa lets out a small smile and nods. "That's what I thought," she agrees.
"Let's just take a break. I'm feeling really tired," Roxanne pleads, her shoulders drooped in drowsiness.
This is suspicious; even Roxanne is downcast.
We all immediately sit down on the dirty floor without much care to dust it first.
I put twenty points in a skill called [Diagnosis]. It takes a token amount of mana to activate it, and I use it on myself.
Roxanne notices me staring at my hand intensely and gives me a curious look.
A floating black screen appears before my eyes, and it tells me that I'm suffering from [Lethargy (small)].
So, we got poisoned or something like that?
I turn my points back to normal and turn to Roxanne. "Miss Roxanne, do you know of a pacifying poison or something similar that saps energy or stamina?" I politely ask her, trying not to sound too suspicious.
"Uhh..." She mumbles absentmindedly with a sleepy look. It takes a few seconds for her to process my words, then her eyes suddenly go wide. "Yes! There is a pacifying poison! It gradually lowers one's energy, reducing their will to fight. I believe we might be poisoned with it."
I've read something about poisons, so I need to make a distinction, "Is it a 'want' or a simple 'can't' fight because the person is exhausted?"
"'Want', it's a mental poison," she states confidently.
A-ha!
Then I remember something important that slipped my mind, so I question Roxanne, "Now that I think about it, did you bring something for [Mental Resistance], Miss Roxanne?"
This was an oversight. I should've asked what her countermeasures for the Arachne were, but I couldn't tell her my countermeasure was "I will just learn a rare skill whenever I want," so I think it was best that I forgot about it.
She nods happily and pulls a necklace hidden below her robes. "Yes. This is a small amulet blessed by the God of Endurance."
So the Gods can also enchant objects; that's quite interesting. I wonder if he'd be mad if Roxanne ever sold it.
I turn to Alissa and smirk. "I have an idea, so I want to test something, and I'll need your help, Alissa." Then I stand up and offer her my hand.
"Anything, Master," she obediently responds and takes it.
I pull her closer and hug her waist, then I turn to Roxanne and smile apologetically. "Also, I'm sorry if this looks inappropriate to you, Roxanne, but this is in the name of science… or rather, in the name of the Goddess of Knowledge."
Roxanne looks at me confusedly, then I turn to Alissa and look her in the eye lovingly as I cup her cheek. She relaxes in my arms and smiles faintly as she realizes what's to come.
I pull her face, then give her a deep kiss, and she immediately hugs me back. I start slow, but then our tongues entwine, and we start kissing passionately.
Energy starts to fill my heart and I get anxious. I want more, more! I want to be warmer, I want to hug Alissa harder, I want to undress her right here and take her. I reminisce about her beautiful body being adorned by the Clothes of the Berserker, her body being caressed by its silky texture.
My heart beats madly with love and excitement, then my muscles warm up and itch for action as I feel the poison being cleansed from my mind.
I slow down the kissing, then we, unfortunately, break away.
Alissa is blushing, her breath is quicked, her tail is wagging rapidly, and her eyes stare into mine with expectancy. What have I done, she's in the mood, but we can't do it right now. This is torture, I say.
I clear my throat and smile as I report, "I feel like this confirms it, we can break a mind poison by stimulating each other."
"Eh…?" Alissa suddenly makes a funny noise then immediately clears her throat and assumes a forced composed tone, "Oh, ah, yes. I feel much better now, which means the kiss really did counteract the poison." Then she looks away embarrassedly.
"Hmm…" Roxanne lets out a mindless sound as she stares at us blankly.
I smile guiltily at her and suggest, "Miss Roxanne, you're still under the mind poison, so perhaps you should try to stimulate yourself, like slapping your face."
"Not fair…" She mutters dejectedly, then follows my suggestions and slaps herself, hard. This is the standard way of breaking spells that affect the mind, which really isn't pleasant, so I feel some pity for her.
--
Here's a quick complaint. No hero story ever tells you how stressful and embarrassing it is to answer the call of nature in a dangerous place while in a group. You can't go too far too so you don't endanger yourself, but you can't do it too close, otherwise, it's embarrassing if your comrades can smell or hear you. Even if we have incredible conveniences like [Clean] and a portable bidet with [Conjure Water], it's still a horrible experience.
--
We avoid another Sludge and a few more traps, then we finally reach the territory of the Giant Moles. We just passed the most dangerous part of the trip, successfully avoiding all adult Arachnes. It's quite a feat, and it's all thanks to Alissa's nose.
We're sure we've passed the Arachne territory because the traps and mists suddenly stop, and soon after we meet our first Giant Mole.
"If I use [Quiet Steps] and [Quiet Action], then it's possible for me to assassinate it," Alissa proposes.
I thought before about the possibility of her becoming an assassin with her skills, but it makes me uneasy to put her in direct danger. She's my only companion, and I must admit that I'm rather possessive.
I cross my arms and think.
"Be happy that at least he cares about you," Roxanne comments with a kind smile after seeing my hesitation.
Alissa nods and states confidently, "I know Master is very reasonable, so I know he'll accept it, eventually."
I'm uncomfortable with how easy I'm being seen through, and it's also true I'm just stalling. I don't want to let Alissa go while I'm forced to wait here and twiddle my thumbs in the dark, but it will be so convenient if she kills it by herself.
The Mole is a burly enemy with a weak skull, so Alissa should be able to kill it with a single arrow, but I'm a bit scared of being mauled by its huge, heavy claws. If Alissa can kill it before it can even call for backup, then it'll save us so much time while also being much safer. I just have to trust she won't get herself killed.
I let out a sigh of tiredness and relent, "I surrender. Go kill it, Alissa."
They give each other a brief smile, then Alissa walks away without making a single sound.
I stare at the tunnel anxiously, my body too restless for me to sit down and rest.
After a minute in silence, Roxanne suddenly comments, "You two are very close."
I feel something off about her statement. "We don't know each other very long; I'm just clingy," I deny.
Roxanne shrugs. "Still, your relationship is enviable."
I turn and raise an eyebrow at her. "Even though she's a slave?"
"Does it matter if she's happy?" She retorts with a cheeky smile.
I knit my eyebrows in skepticism. "You can tell she's happy even though you've just met her today?"
Roxanne nods happily. "She's been smiling most of the time, except when you're under attack. You're always in the front, so I guess this is why you don't see it."
I suddenly start to feel insecure as I look back to the short time we've been together. I sit down beside Roxanne and facepalm with both hands. "What does she even see in me to be so happy?"
"You should ask her that yourself," Roxanne responds with a troubled tone.
I release my face and lean against the wall. "She's young and naive, so she might really be in love with me, but…"
"'But'?"
How do I say to her that in my world I would be called a pedophile in certain countries, a creep in others, arrested for slavery in most of the world, or be seen as two idiot teenagers in heat if we consider this-world-age as my real age?
Seeing my hesitation, Roxanne gives me a piece of advice, "I don't know what is on your mind but you should at least accept her feelings."
I cringe and try to put my feelings into words, "It's that... I'm from a faraway place. In my homeland, we'd be called idiot teenagers who don't know what love is. Slavery also isn't legal, so our relationship is even more absurd. What kind of thing is love between a master and a slave, anyway?"
She raises her eyebrows high and adjusts her glasses. "Slavery isn't legal? I'd like to visit that place, one day. But still, I say it again: at least accept her feelings. It's not like there's anything wrong with either of you, so you don't need to be so harsh on yourself, and just enjoy what you have."
I'm being harsh on myself? Heh, I said I was going to abandon what held me down, but it's harder to do it when I'm not thinking with my dick.
"Perhaps��" I mutter as I reflect on her words.
I like this cool, older-sister-like Roxanne, though. Why can't you be like this normally?
Anyway, I think I've understood what's making me worry. If I don't change who I am, then I'll suffer, but I'll keep my humanity like Alissa pleaded, though it might hurt her, too, seeing me suffer. If I do change, then I won't suffer, but Alissa might lose her hope in me, so it might hurt her anyway. Now that's a dilemma.
While I think, Alissa comes back silently like a ghost, scaring us both.
"Ah-...!" Roxanne squeaks, but she immediately covers her mouth, muffling the sound.
Alissa's ears go flat as she apologizes cutely, "I'm sorry, Master and Miss Roxanne, I forgot to stop using [Quiet Steps]. Anyway, the mole is dead."
I quickly recollect myself, then I calmly question so she doesn't think I'm criticizing her, "Took you some time."
Her ears shoot up and she becomes serious again. "It was wary, so I had to move very slowly or else it would've heard me."
Even though these are weak monsters, they're still blind moles that rely on hearing, so it takes quite some skill to sneak up on one.
I grab her hand and give her a kind look as I plead, "I know skills like these make you stressed, so please tell me if you get tired. There's no rush, so we'll rest as much as we need."
She smiles sweetly and nods, making her ears sway. "Thank you for your consideration, Master."
--
Alissa kills five more Moles without a hitch. She's my own little assassin.
"You are now level twelve," says the soothing female voice.
Finally, it took some time. The spiders and moles are annoying, but they don't give much experience. The only real good source of experience was the almost-Arachne.
I put my new four points in [Sword Use] (now 16+2).
--
Alissa assassinates two more Moles, and we finally reach one of the entrances to the Spiral Springs dungeon.
The dungeon has a completely different atmosphere from the boring and unending dark tunnels of the Ant Hill. The walls and ceiling are made of cobble with patches of raw stone or exposed mineral veins; the walls are warped and full of curves; the ground is made of soft moss over raw stone, and it'd be nice to lay down on it if it wasn't so damp. We'll end up with wet clothes if we sit on the floor without a blanket to protect our asses.
A weak blue-green light coming from mana crystals illuminates the dungeons. They're cheap crystals that shine when they absorb mana, and since the dungeon is a solidification of a mana storm, mana crystals shine faintly forever. It's against the etiquette to take or sell these crystals since they're a huge convenience to all adventurers that come here.
We're currently at the top floor, and like the other dungeons, the floor is massive in length; possibly the size of a town. It's made of multiple large rooms randomly interconnected, and with the occasional shallow water pool occupying part of them. The top floor is safe, so we're going to sleep here.
The stairs are what gives it the name. They're merely slopes with faded steps where a channel runs and water trickles through, creating a nice and continuous sound of falling water. The slopes are in a spiral, and there's no railing, so the inner part of the spiral is open. That's where Spriggans like to put traps to make adventurers lose their footing and fall down. Each stair is around twenty meters in height, so a drop could be fatal, and we have fifteen sets of stairs to go down through.
I point to a corner, and Roxanne burns a large patch of moss, drying the floor. We sweep the ashes, and now we finally have a proper stone floor to sleep on. I pull out my tent while Roxanne pulls hers.
She conjures water on a bucket and heats it by herself so she can take a bath. Once she's done, we stop our watch and switch places with her. Alissa conjures the water, then I heat it, and we take a towel bath together.
I've found that the fastest way is to cast [Fireball] on my palm, then submerge it into the bucket. It wastes a lot of mana, though.
Then I get to wash Alissa, and she washes me back, but, unfortunately, we can't make too much noise, so make her bite into a gag, and we use our mouths. There's no way I'm going to spend a night without touching her, so we have to do it this way.
Then we pull out our dinner. It's fried chicken! I mean, fried Dragolite. After a few bites, I finally remember what Dragolite reminds me of: chicken with rosemary. Then we eat our hot vegetable soup with toasted bread. Thank you, "Items." The convenience you bring is unmatched.
One of the more interesting parts of the meal, though, is that I have my first taste of juice in this world. Gorgon fruit tastes and looks a bit like blueberries mixed with a hint of lychee.
"Ah juice, thank you. No alcohol though?" Roxanne asks with a cheeky smile.
I shake my head. "I don't drink, and besides, we shouldn't drink on an expedition."
"Alright, alright..." Roxanne immediately gives up and rolls her eyes dramatically, then she gives me a curious look. "Honestly I'm envious of how big your [Item Box] is, Mr. Ryder."
Well, here we go, insert dick joke here. I can't really spend points for an actual [Item Box], though, and training with Alissa to learn this spell has been really hard.
"It's a natural gift, so I learned it super fast," I casually lie.
She snorts and remarks, "It's like you were born to be an adventurer."
"That's true," Alissa agrees wholeheartedly.
I give them a painful wry smile and deflect, "Well I'm envious of your [Mana Control], Miss Roxanne. This [Explosion] spell is the mix of Water and [Fire Magic] at the same time, right?"
Roxanne opens her eyes wide and shouts, completely astonished, "My secret! How did you…"
I smile proudly as my guess was spot-on, then I give her a smug answer, "Knowledge from my homeland."
"Unfair!" Then she pouts cutely.
Alright, I've teased her enough, now it's time to retreat a bit. "But I can't use two magic schools at the same time, so you still have one secret, right?" I politely ask.
She crosses her arms and grumbles, "It's not like [Explosion]; it's something every expert magician would have to learn one day."
That's interesting. Maybe one day I'll control all elements at will and become a demi-god? Well, anyway, it's time to change the topic. I'm curious about Roxanne's background.
"Say, Miss Roxanne, can you tell me about your race or your continent?" I gently ask, no hint of teasing in my tone anymore.
The pout fades away instantly and she brightens up. "Gladly! But first, I want to talk about the misconceptions a lot of people have about my race."
I blink blankly in surprise. I still have no idea about race dynamics in this world. "Oh? What are they about?"
She adjusts her glasses and assumes a teaching tone as she starts to recite, "Well, the first thing is that since we have 'succubus' as the name of our race, people think we're promiscuous, but that's not true! We were created based on the myth of the succubus, but we aren't actual succubi. It's just we just have a higher libido than other races, but we still choose our partners very carefully. Also, we're more carefree and open-minded than the other races, but that doesn't mean we are dumb and unreliable."
Just by looking at her, I can certainly see how the last one might've come into being. Curiously, the demon race seems to be the most common adventurer race on Rabanara aside from humans.
"The second misconception is that our horns and tails are sexual organs. Some have feelings when you touch those parts, but it varies from person to person and from type to type."
I can see that causing some misunderstandings.
"The third is less common, but some people think we're descendants from monsters. That's definitely not true. The God of Creation made us just like all other humanoids. They might've used monsters as the basis for some races, but we don't have a single drop of monster blood in our bodies."
I see. Being lumped together with their biggest enemy might hurt their pride.
Then she smiles, satisfied with our acceptance, and becomes more casual again. "These are the three things I always tell other people. Now, you do you want to hear something specific?"
"What about your birthplace?" I start.
She nods sagely and crosses her arms. "Ohh~… that's far away from here. I was born on the Maoka continent, on the west coast, in a small village inside our HolyLands. If you want a more precise location, it's at the west of the Death Valley, if you have heard of it."
Nope, I haven't.
I tilt my head like Alissa and curiously ask, "Holy Lands? Death Valley?"
Alissa smiles awkwardly while Roxanne chuckles softly and answers, "Well, the Holy Lands are a place that no outsider can enter without a permit. It's not a large piece of land, but it's the place that our first ancestors were given by the God of Creation after their birth, so it's a sacred land for us. The Death Valley is a large piece of desert that's very famous among adventurers because there're a lot of very valuable monsters there." -Then she smiles bitterly- "It's also a dreadful place, so hot and dry nobody has ever crossed it, and all the monsters there are horribly dangerous."
I think there's a place like that on Earth, too, minus the monsters.
"So do you have kingdoms, too?" I question further. The idea of "Holy Lands" makes me think they're religious, so maybe it's a theocracy.
She shatters my imagination with a shake of her head. "No, it's just a Council of Elders that's elected from among the aristocrats and clergy." -Oh wait, "clergy"? So they are religious, somehow?- "We do it the same as the elves, so we always had a good relationship with them. Human and dwarven nobility drama books are famously complex, and nobody wants any of that for our race."
We all share some chuckles. I watched Game of Thrones and House of Cards, and I don't want any of that drama, either. I'm way too straightforward to survive on that backstabbing nightmare.
Then I turn to Alissa and ask, "What about the wereanimals? How do you govern yourselves, Alissa?"
Her tone becomes energetic as she seems happy to talk about her people, "We have a Council of Elders, too, but they serve as advisors to the Chief of the Forest that they elect, which is the one who governs all the other clans, though the position generally stays within the same family. The Council is supposed to be composed of the wisest among us, while the leader should be the strongest man or woman of the tribe, but the clans choose their own candidates, so it varies between them."
I hum in thought. "The Chieftess you mentioned was that leader?"
She smiles a bit cheekily and giggles softly. "Yes and no. She and the current Chief were the two best candidates for this generation, so they decided to marry and share the title."
Roxanne laughs like a haughty lady and excitedly claps the tip of her fingers. "Hohoh, how romantic."
Alissa's smile turns wry. "Well, yes. I wasn't born when they married, but the Council of Elders was very amused. They even made their story into a play, to the embarrassment of the Chiefs.
"You think it could come to Rabanara? I'd watch that," Roxanne comments.
Alissa shrugs. "I don't know about that, but you might have more luck if you enter my clan's territory."
Roxanne leans forward, showing a lot of interest. "Oh, do they accept foreigners?"
Alissa stares at her cup as she recollects, "Only adventurers and merchants, but I think there are ways to get permits for other types of business. I have little idea how that works, but I know that they don't allow those who aren't werefoxes to settle on the land."
Roxanne nods in understanding. "Ah, then it'll be okay, I guess, so I might visit one day. Where is it?"
Alissa's eyes become faintly nostalgic. "West, beyond the mountain range, it's called the Misty Low Forest."
Roxanne brightens up. "I saw it on a map once. It's not far, so I'll definitely go."
I think for a moment. Her homeland is actually really close. Though we have to go a bit of a roundabout way because there are only a few spots where it's feasible to cross, I think it'd take only a few days to cross the mountain range in her fox form.
Would it be too cruel to make this question…?
I'm not able to hold myself back, so I tactfully ask her, "Alissa… would you like to go visit your homeland one day?"
Her ears go flat and her tail stops wagging as she thinks for a while, then she shakes her head in refusal. "Not yet, I'm not worthy of returning. I still need to work more, but… I'm really grateful you offered, Master." And she gives me a sweet smile.
I release my breath in relief. I guess that wasn't a bad choice to ask this.
Roxanne turns to me with a cheeky smile. "Ah, Mr. Ryder. I see you're reserved, but do you mind telling us more about your homeland?" She politely asks.
Ah, shit, now that I asked about her homeland it's obvious she might ask about mine. There's no way I'm telling, though. I haven't prepared a proper lie for it yet, so I'm just going to avoid this.
Even Alissa seems interested in knowing more, so it hurts my heart to do this.
I take a sip of my juice to stall, then I gently shake my head as I apologize and explain myself, "I'm sorry, but I don't like talking about that place. It's not that I'm a runaway or a criminal, I just don't like talking about it."
Alissa nods obediently. She respects my feelings about this.
Roxanne raises an eyebrow in confusion, then she adjusts her glasses and returns to being cheeky. "Well then, if you don't wanna talk about your homeland, then let's talk about mine!" She exclaims with pride.
Well, okay, her personality might not be that bad.
Her stories are mainly comedies about the stupid things the people of her village do. They seem to share her carefree and positive mentality, and they also like to party a lot.
We talk for a long time, and we eventually get tired, so we go to sleep and start the watch cycle. We'll do three-hour cycles, starting with me, then Roxanne, and then Alissa. Roxanne drew the worse one since she'll have to sleep, wake up in the middle of the night, and then sleep again. It can be bad for the body to interrupt sleep like that, but them's the breaks. I could put out a summoned guard dog, but I don't want to show that magic to Roxanne yet.
They all go to sleep and I sit down outside the tents. Now that I'm all alone, I start to feel a little bit lonely.
Hello, Goddess of Knowledge. How do you feel about today? I think it was pretty interesting. We found how a Giant Tarantula turns into an Arachne even though I want to forget that image; we found that the tarantulas are likely using the web as a way of mating, though I'll need to make an autopsy if I want to be able to discern their sexes and confirm this; we also found that love, or perhaps just plain sexual thoughts, or maybe even just masturbation is enough to break a mind poison, and we don't need to slap ourselves until we nearly bleed.
I feel like this world is somewhat interesting, and I'm still thinking about the [Golemancy] skill. Maybe in a few levels, I could put some points into it and try it out. Perhaps that skill could start an industrial revolution in this world?
I'm still trying to keep the balance, so I don't attract too much attention from others and from the God of Destruction, but I could leave my knowledge behind after I die or something. I do have a degree in robotics, so it's likely to be my biggest contribution to this world.
What do you think about this? Isn't this your reason of existence?
Suddenly, I feel something change within me, so I open my stats and see that my "Piety" increased by 3 (now 6), then I see that under "Status Effects" there's a new entry: "Blessing of the Goddess of Knowledge."
Oh, boy.
