"What did you find on the necromancer?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Strangely, he didn't have anything." She picked up his icy wand and studied it. "This is a higher level than I can use, but if you don't mind I'll tuck it away and study it and see if I can't learn how to use it for later." She looked at me. "How close are you to level 7, anyway?"
That was a good question. I hadn't even noticed. I brought up my HUD and saw that I was only a few thousand xp away from the next level. "Less than 5000. Unless we need to go back to town now to heal up your wounds, I think I can level in this dungeon. What do you think?"
She arched an eyebrow. "If you're that close, let's continue on."
"You sure you'll be okay?"
She nodded. After a few minutes, we were both ready to move on. We cautiously crept through the torch lit mineshaft, all of our senses on high alert.
She stopped me and knelt down. "Look!" She pointed to some tracks on the floor.
I knelt down beside her and studied what she was looking at.
"Giant spiders!" We both said at the same time.
"Yes, and from the looks of it there are several of them." She observed.
I gripped my bow tighter and nocked a couple of arrows. "Hope you're cooldowns are ready."
She nodded and smiled. "Let's go!"
Slowly, we crept upon the room filled with spiders. I wondered if we would see any goblins in there. We heard them long before we saw them. The sickening skittering of dozens of spiders reached our ears and caused me nearly to retch. It was an awful sound and I knew that I was going to have nightmares just from this.
She stopped me right before the entrance to the room. "We're not going to be able to take on all of these all at once." She studied me for my reaction, then continued. "I suggest that we picked them off one or two at a time."
"Yes, I agree. What's our fall-back plan if we attract more than we can handle?"
She thought about that for a moment. "We're just going to have to kite them as we back up to the next room."
"Sounds like a plan. Let me pull one to us out here and we’ll finish them off before pulling the next one." I suggested.
"Go for it!"
I chose the closest spider, but I couldn't help seeing that there were at least 20 of them in the room. Honestly, that scared me a little. How in the hell were we going to face down 20 of them at the same time? I hoped that we could pull them one or two at a time. Otherwise, we might not make it out of the dungeon alive.
Slowly, carefully I aimed my bow. I only activated the double arrow as I didn't want him frozen in the middle of the room where he could aggro the others.
Just before I released the arrows, I saw that in the back there was a much larger and more menacing-looking spider. I couldn't read her nameplate, but I assumed it was some kind of spider queen.
I shivered, released my two arrows and prayed to the devs that we wouldn't attract the entire room.
Before I could blink, the arrow pierced the arachnid's hide. She instantly turned in my direction, made a chattering sound that caused my blood to run cold and skittered toward me, her red eyes flashing angrily.
"Two incoming!" Esmeralda hissed.
I waited until the spider was at the entrance before activating my freezing arrow. Once I had frozen the first spider, Esmeralda and I backed up and kited the second one. I unleashed a volley of arrows as fast as I could at the frozen, helpless spider as Esmeralda used her fire spells on it.
The spider crumpled to the ground just as the first one thawed out.
"Those fire spells look like fun!" I said, wistfully wishing that I had chosen a different class.
"Oh, they are. But one advantage you have over me is that you can take a few blows from them. I can't."
I activated my flaming arrow spell and aimed for the spider's head. When I saw the crit float above it, I knew that it was going to be a simple fight.
I was right. Esmeralda finished it off with a couple of quick spells and it lay next to its sister.
"Let's wait for our cooldowns to finish." Esmeralda suggested.
I thought that was a grand idea. We each searched a spider, looking for pristine legs and/or loot.
2/5 Pristine Spider Legs Collected
250 (x2) xp gained
"Nice!" Esmeralda must have found one. However, there were no pristine spider legs on mine. There was however, a bag of gems. Since we were in no danger of being spotted, we divvied them up.
I ended up with three rubies, two emeralds and a diamond.
"That's the best haul I've found!" Esmeralda exclaimed. "It's a good thing, too, because I was running out of money."
There was also 20 cp, which we divvied up.
Slowly and methodically, we worked our way through the spiders. We never pulled more than two at a time, thank goodness. One of the spiders was able to capture me in its web and bite me for 5 hp.
I really liked working with Esmeralda. It seemed that our abilities complemented each other. I would pull them and she would destroy them. With my double xp boost chip, I was leveling up extra fast. And I knew that before I left this dungeon, I would be level 7.
The two of us got into a rhythm and before we knew it, only the queen was still standing.
I scrolled back through my HUD and smiled at all the xp that I had gained.
In fact, something I had completely missed was that I was now level 7! Holy shit! How in the hell had I missed that! I also had 13 more hp that put me up to 98.
Congratulations, you have reached level 7!
You have acquired a new spell:
Root Trap 1 – you can now cast a snare that immobilizes the target in place for 10 seconds.
I pumped my fist in the air and brought the spell down to my hot bar. I already knew that I was going to use the fuck out of that spell. Now I had another spell to add to my rotation. In fact, I wanted to try it out as soon as I possibly could.
When I pointed out my new level, Esmeralda threw her arms around me and lifted up her shirt. "Here is your leveling present, big boy!" She said as she pressed her breasts to me.
I took one of her fat nipples in my mouth and sucked on it, smiling like a fool the entire time. Now I wanted to level up even more. What would my next leveling present be?
3/5 Pristine Spider Legs Collected
4/5 Pristine Spider Legs Collected
5/5 Pristine Spider Legs Collected
Quest complete: Pristine Spider Legs
Experience gained: 2,000
New quest objective: Bring 5 Pristine Spider Legs to Patch at the Dragon’s Tale Inn.
Oh, nice! I didn't realize Patch had a quest down here. I'm not sure I wanted to know what he wanted with the spider legs.
"Remind me not to eat any of his stew." I said and Esmeralda laughed.
"Well, that's one quest out of the way."
I looked at all of the dead spiders littering the passageway and wondered what we should do with them.
"I don't think she's going to be as much of a push over as these guys." Esmeralda shook her head. "I don't know what her abilities are, but I also don't want to find out."
"I wonder how many hit points she has." I strained to look, but she was too far away. "Maybe I should sneak ahead and see if I can't find out for us."
"That's a good idea. Then we can devise a plan."
I waited until she was looking away from the entrance and slowly, carefully crept my way inside. There were several barrels to the left and as soon as she turned in my direction, I popped behind one.
It took me a good five minutes before I had inched my way close enough to see her hp bar. I blanched when I saw that she had 200 hp. My heart thundered in my chest as I realized that we were going to have a difficult fight ahead of us. I also took note that she was level 8. Which meant that I would have a bit more difficulty hitting her. And my blows would probably be a bit less.
I carefully made my way back to Esmeralda and explain to her what I saw.
> "200! Holy cow!" She gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. "I've never faced anything over 100 hp before. How are we going to do this?"
I shook my head. "We're just going to have to go all out on her. I'll freeze and trap her as much as much as I can, while you do as much damage to her as possible. I'm just glad I have my new trap spell. It looks like we're really going to need it."
Esmeralda paced up and down the hallway, her hand under her chin. Finally, she stopped and looked at me. "It's very likely that this is going to be a spell caster like the necromancer. If we fight her from back here, we can move out of her line of sight whenever she's casting a spell. If she charges us, were going to have to kite her back to the next room. It's the only way I can think of."
I kissed Esmeralda on the lips passionately.
"What was that for?" She arched her eyebrows inquisitively.
"For being such a goddamn genius!"
She giggled and grabbed my crotch seductively. "Come on, Romeo! Let's take down this filthy spider queen and own this joint."
When we got back to the room and peeked around the corner, I whispered. "Let's unload on her and I will wait until she's casting and then freeze her."
Esmeralda gave me the thumbs up sign.
"On the count of three," I whispered. "One. Two. Three." Before the spider queen could even turn around, 50 hit points had been drained from her.
The horrible-looking arachnid screamed a piercing scream that reverberated throughout the room. I shivered in fear as the queen spider quickly raced toward us.
Her fierceness and speed took me by surprise and she had scuttled halfway across the room before I was able to get off my ice arrow and freeze her into place.
"Damn, she's quick!" Esmeralda said as she began casting. I danced around the 7 foot spider, plunking her with arrows. I was getting good at speed shooting.
Unfortunately, before I could get off my root trap spell, I stumbled over something and fell flat on my back. It was at that exact second that the ice melted from the enraged spider queen. She took one look at my prone body and seized the opportunity.
"No!" Esmeralda screamed as she saw what was happening. With a great leap, she leapt upon the spider queen's back and began casting all of her spells into the enraged arachnid.
But it was too late, the vicious spider bit down with her enormous fangs. I was able to roll over and cover my belly, but she tore a chunk of flesh out of my back.
It took everything I had to drag myself out of her next attack range. When she saw that I was no longer easy prey, she turned her attention to Esmeralda on her back. She tried everything she could to shake the mage loose, but Esmeralda hung on for dear life.
I took that opportunity to grab my bow and – even though I was in great pain – start getting some shots off.
"I can’t hold on much longer!" Esmeralda shouted from atop the spider queen.
I wasn't exactly sure how it worked, but I activated my new trap spell. I was surprised when a trap appeared at the end of my arrow. What was I supposed to do with this? Did I shoot it at the creature or did I shoot it in front of the creature? I guess there was only one way to find out.
I carefully aimed the root trap arrow at the arachnid. She was spinning around and bucking so much that it was hard to get a clear shot. But when I did, roots grew up out of the ground and held her in place. I noticed that they did not touch Esmeralda.
"Let's finish her! Now!" She began casting every spell in her book. Remind me never to anger her.
With the bleeding on my back, I was starting to get a bit weak and I knew that I needed to get it bandaged up quickly. But with the spider queen, it was now or never. I literally mashed every button on my hot bar as I shot arrow after arrow into the tangled beast.
The spider queen grew red from becoming enraged and her screams echoed throughout the room. I knew that once the roots had worn off, she would probably kill us both.
I looked up at her hp bar and saw that she still had 50 left.
"Jump off! I need to quaff a potion or I'm going to pass out!" I yelled at Esmeralda as I backed up to the entrance, still pelting her with my arrows.
"I'm not getting off this bitch until she's 6 feet in the ground!" Esmeralda dug her heels in.
I felt the world begin to spin around me and I knew that I had no choice. I had to get a potion in me and I had to do it now. I heard Esmeralda let out a whooping scream as she drove the beast to the ground. I was still fumbling around in my pack, trying to get my potions out.
That was when I realized I had forgotten to put them on my hot bar. As soon as I downed a potion, I rectified that immediately. I brought out a bandage and try to cover it, but because it was on my back, I was not able to.
Esmeralda saw my plight and hurried over to help me. She bandaged me up, then kissed me on the neck. "Mmm… You're so hot. You make my lady parts tingle." She whispered in my ear. Her hot breath caused my cock to jump in my pants.
"Yeah, well, you're not so bad looking yourself." I said as I turned and kissed her full on the lips.
Secret Quest complete: Kill the Spider Queen
Experience gained: 2,500 (x2)
New quest objective: Bring the spider queen's venom gland to Jacqueline Smith in Jakarth City for reward. New secret quests are now available.
"Hot damn!" Esmeralda fist pumped the air.
I turned to see what she was all excited about and saw that she had gained a level.
"Level 9, baby! Hell yeah!"
I rummaged around in the spider queen's body, looting her valuables as Esmeralda checked out her new spell.
"What is it?" I looked up and asked her.
"My new spell?"
I nodded.
"The one I've been waiting for all along." She began casting a spell, the fire in her hand growing larger and hotter and a moment later she released it against the far wall.
"Holy shit!" I stammered. "That's a fireball, isn't it?"
She nodded with a shit-eating grin on her face. "But it's unlike any I have ever seen before."
"What do you mean?" I scratched my head as I took my dagger and sawed off the spider queen's enormous poison sac.
"Watch!" She began casting the spell and let it go after only a second.
"It's small." I observed, furrowing my eyebrows.
"Precisely!" She said giddily. "I don't have to hold it for the full 3 seconds. I can cast it whenever I want."
"Oh, I see. So if you cast it before it's fully charged, you get a proportional amount of fire damage out of it?"
"Yes!" She skipped around the room, casting fireballs everywhere she could.
"Doesn't that drain your mana pool?" I finished cutting the venom sac out.
She shook her head. "No, I found a mana restoring necklace and if I ever get low, all I have to do is meditate for a few minutes."
We searched all around the room for any valuables and were just about to leave, when we found a secret, hidden trap door in the corner.
Esmeralda and I looked at each other and shrugged. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." She said and pulled open the door.
"Ladies first," I said with a grin on my face.
Checking one last time to make sure we didn't leave anything behind, she climbed down the rickety ladder. I found something to prop the door up with and followed her.
"It's dark down here, why don't you grab one of those torches from the wall." She suggested, her voice echoing weirdly off the walls.
I did as she said and handed it down to her before descending down myself. The first thing I noticed was that the place smelled. This was what I had expected to smell in the sewers underneath Patch's inn.
"Wow! This place really stinks!" Esmeralda held her nose and waved the torch in front of her. "It almost smells like something died down here."
I looked around at the moss covered stone hallway. "Something probably did." A slight chill ran through my body as I thought about what might be down here. I was certainly glad tha
t if something were to happen to us, we would be rezzed. Because this was the type of place that you could die and no one would ever find you.
"Come on, let's check this place out. The sooner we get out of here, the better." I said as I gripped my bow so tight the knuckles on my hand turned white.
As we crept forward, I could hear faint dripping of water far off in the distance. The place was definitely creepy. It had an entirely different feeling than the above ground dungeon. This reminded me of a lair. Something evil lurked down here. I could just feel it.
"This place gives me the creeps." Esmeralda shivered as she looked around cautiously. The path we were on quickly turned into another corridor.
"Oh my God! I thought it stank before." Esmeralda nearly gagged. The smell of rotting meat permeated the air. It was so thick that you could almost cut it with a sword. It was all I could do to keep my lunch down.
"Left or straight?" I asked Esmeralda as we came upon a side passage.
Once she had got over her gagging, she shrugged her shoulders. "Straight, I guess."
The flickering of the torchlight cast dancing shadows upon the stone wall. Small insects skittered and scurried from the sudden light. I wondered how long it had been since these insects had seen actual light.
Was that a rat I saw just up ahead at the edge of the light? Or a small, fat dog?
No matter how silently we tried to walk across the stone floor, the narrowness of the passageway caused our footfalls to echo down the darkened hallway. If anything was down there, they would have the advantage.
"What do you think this place is?" Esmerelda whispered nearly under her breath.
"I don't know. Maybe an ancient temple? Whatever it is, this place gives me the fucking creeps. Are you sure that it's even wise to delve down this far? What if there are creatures that are higher level than us?" I stopped, turned and looked into Esmeralda's bewitching blue eyes.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "If it's too high of level for us, we'll level up a bit and then come back down here. But I'm not leaving until I find out."
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