by Aleron Kong
He crossed into the cavern and saw that it was indeed about the size of a large amphitheater. Monstrous spiders that were six feet tall were stationed around the room. They were motionless except for a slight up and down movement as they tensed and relaxed their legs. They looked like larger versions of the drones except for their front legs. As opposed to simple poniard-like extremities, their front two legs were in the form of heavy doubled-edged blades. Though Richter didn’t dare get too close, from where he stood the edges of their legs looked wickedly sharp. As he crept through the room, the only sound was the off-tempo clicking of their various pincers. He Analyzed one of them.
Name: Assengai Spider Cutters Disposition: Neutral
Assengai cutters are larger, meaner, and more powerful than their drone cousins. They are normally seen only when the queen is being threatened. Their front blade limbs have been seen to bisect horses and tear through leather and chainmail armor with ease. Cutters are also able to spit a magically corrosive venom. Assengai cutters are not foes to be taken lightly.
Level: 19
Health: 510 Mana: 80 Stamina: 410
Strength: 25
Agility: 19
Dexterity: 24
Constitution: 59
Endurance: 41
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 4
Charisma: 4
Luck: 10
Richter continued to skirt around the outside of the cavern and he counted eight of the large spiders, all between levels eighteen and twenty-three. He didn’t see the queen though, so he kept edging around. Then he saw a telltale flash of red.
He had gone more than halfway around the room. As he inched closer, he saw more red spots appear on the floor, more than ten when he stopped moving. Barely breathing, he looked up, and his heart dropped. Suspended twenty feet above him and thirty feet to the side, was a monster of a spider. Twelve feet long, it had to weigh hundreds of pounds. Its forelegs looked like double-sided war axes. Unlike the cutters and drones, it had a bulbous body, and Richter could see an egg sac upon its back. He used Analyze, praying that it hadn’t seen him.
Name: Assengai Spider Queen Disposition: Unfriendly
The assengai queen is smarter than her drones. Cunning and proficient in Dark magic, the queen is not meant for the frontlines of battle, but this does not mean she is helpless. The power of her spells and traps have led many to their deaths.
Level: 36
Health: 750 Mana: 640 Stamina: 590
Strength: 39
Agility: 27
Dexterity: 20
Constitution: 75
Endurance: 59
Intelligence: 64
Wisdom: 22
Charisma: 4
Luck: 13
Well that’s all sorts of bad news, he thought to himself. He held his breath as he slowly eased away from the queen. Now that he knew what was waiting for him in the cave, he moved even slower. He gradually made his way back to the party, not dropping Stealth until he was back on the upper level. Richter dismissed Night Vision and told them what he had seen. The response was predictably cheery.
“You have got to be joking,” Beyan exclaimed. “I say we leave and come back with… everyone else!”
Terrod just puffed up his cheeks and slowly exhaled at hearing about the forces they were up against. The other guards stayed silent, waiting to do whatever Richter ordered. Krom looked at Richter and said simply, “I be with ye.” Jean looked depressed, and Sion stood by, ready to support his friend.
Richter wasn’t upset with Beyan. He had had almost exactly the same thought himself. Then he had decided that retreat wasn’t an option. The queen was a clear and present danger to his people. So he had come up with a plan.
“We aren’t leaving. We are going to kill the queen. So here is the plan and just for fun let’s skip the part where you protest and then end up doing what I say anyway. I want to get out of this fucking hole.” Richter paused, and for a moment he acutely missed being back on Earth. It would have been the perfect time for someone to say “phrasing.” “I need to know one thing though.”
Richter focused for a moment and Alma flapped into the air from where she was clinging to the wall. She stopped in front of Sion, intently gazing into the sprite’s eyes. Sion looked uncertain as the dragonling hovered in front of his face, but then his eyes widened. “I heard her! She said ‘Now.’”
Richter smiled in satisfaction, pleased that Alma was able to make a psychic connection despite Sion not having Psi Bond. Apparently her communication skills were limited, but it still meant that the war party could communicate nonverbally over distance. That would be important.
“So what is the plan?” Sion asked.
Richter reached into his Bag and held up the remaining vial of shrieke venom with a smirk. “Well, depending on your perspective, this is actually the easiest part.”
Sion groaned.
CHAPTER 27
Richter stood in the same place he had before, almost directly underneath the assengai queen. The cutters remained in their defensive stance. In his left hand he held his bow and in his right, he kept an arrow nocked on the string. The hood of his Cloak of Concealment was up and his Stealth skill was activated. Now that he was in position, he sent a signal to Alma. All he had to do now was wait… and wait… and wait.
He was about to irrationally shout for Sion to hurry up, when the cutters howled in rage. The clicking of their mandibles increased in speed as they rushed to attack the lone sprite that had dared to fire at one of them. Two at a time, they bottlenecked into the tunnel, chasing after Sion. Before the fifth and sixth spider could enter, an arrow shot out of the cave and struck the cutter on the left. It paused and then started lashing out wildly. It did serious damage to the spider by its side before the beleaguered assengai warrior started to defend itself. The final two approached the scene and were attacked by the maddened cutter as well. It started to fight a losing battle against three of its fellows, but it still bought the war party at the other end of the tunnel precious seconds. Alma launched from her hidden spot by the tunnel lip. Her slate grey body had gone unnoticed by the monsters passing beneath, but they did not miss her when she unleashed her Psi Blast. Her power swept over the four assengai that were fighting each other, and all fell to the ground, green ichor leaking from their mouths. Then she started winging towards the back of the cavern as quickly as her little body could move.
Richter witnessed none of this. His attention was riveted upon the queen. As soon as the first cutter cried out, he soundlessly drew his bow back to full extension and activated Focus. At a distance of less than forty feet, he felt like he was suddenly within spitting distance. He continued to prepare his attack against the bloated spider that was comfortable in its perceived safety. Seconds passed and the eight cutters became fully committed to their attack, and Richter knew his moment had come. His bow made the slightest creak as he finished his draw. It was enough to alert the queen, but there still wasn’t enough time to evade his attack. Richter released and his arrow left the string with a twang. To him, it sounded like the strong certainty of the inevitable.
The arrow crossed the distance in less than two-tenths of a second, and Richter’s aim was true. It sank deep within the queen’s bulbous eye, more than two-thirds of its three-foot length buried in the queen’s face. The shrieke venom started to do its work before the arrow had even stopped its passage, causing more than a hundred points of damage each second. The critical damage was compounded by the sneak attack, and the queen screamed in rage and pain.
Richter had already nocked another venom-coated arrow as the monster turned her gaze upon him. She summoned dark energies as he drew back and just before he could fire another arrow, she unleashed her fastest spell, Blind Madness. Her spell attacked his eyes and mind at the same time. His strong bond with Alma kept his mind from being completely fractured, but he still lost most of his sense of self. He was also immediately robbed of all sight. He released his second sh
ot blindly, but it only grazed the queen, not even breaking through her tough exoskeleton. Before he could do anything else, she activated another ability, Shadow Shift, and suddenly she was on top of him. The queen was intelligent enough to know that she was dying, but with her last hateful act she would kill the human who had killed her and her children.
With a mighty slice of her axe-like front leg, she struck Richter in the chest. His armor saved him from most of the damage, but a rib still cracked and he tumbled to the ground, the queen’s entire weight on top of him. Her pincers clacked together in quivering anticipation and she leaned down to bite Richter’s head from his body, but then she heard a diminutive shout in her mind, *NO!*
A bolt of lightning struck the queen in the face, worsening the already horrifying arrow wound. The light blinded the queen for just a moment, and though the low-level spell was not enough to stun her, it did allow Alma to latch onto the monster’s bulbous head. Alma cast another spell and then started her special attack, Brain Drain.
Maddened by pain, the queen collapsed onto Richter, trying to reach the small dragonling that was siphoning its little remaining life away. It swung its axe-like arms at its own head, gouging deep furrows in its carapace, but missing the brave dragonling, who clung to the ridge of its remaining eye. Richter’s last thought as blackness claimed him was, I’m dying with a homicidal bitch writhing around on top of me… it’s just like that old gypsy woman said…
CHAPTER 28
“Push it!”
“I am pushing it! Caulder, you pull!”
“Yer lord is dying and me and the lizard be running out of mana!”
“It’s finally shifting! Grab his arms and pull him out! Hurry!”
Richter felt someone grab him by one wrist and pull him from under the warm cover he had been sleeping under. He tried to fight off the intruder, but for some reason, he felt horribly weak. Darkness took him again.
When he came to for the second time, his head was cushioned atop something soft, but foul smelling. He tried to jerk his face away from the offending scent by sitting up. As soon he was upright, though, the blood rushed from his head and he simply passed out again. This time, he fell to the other side, where there was no soft pillow, foul smelling or otherwise, and he struck his head firmly against the stone floor, causing a lump.
Muddled voices filtered through to him. “Krom! Did you really ball up your used underclothes for Lord Richter’s pillow?”
“I didn’t see ye running out for goose down and silk pillowcases!” retorted an angry dwarven voice.
“Quiet! All of you! He’s waking up again.”
Richter slowly opened his eyes and saw Sion looking down at him in concern. Alma hovered in the air behind him and Futen floated above, casting enough light for everyone to see by. Krom and Terrod glared at each other, and the other members of the war party looked down at him.
Richter started to pick his head up, but the movement made pain shoot through his still reeling mind. “Oh god. How long was I out?” The last word was said in a half groan, half moan.
“Only a few minutes,” Sion said. “Just enough time for us to tidy the place up a bit,” the sprite said in light jest.
“Uhhh, Sion?”
“Yes, Richter?”
“Shut up, then help me up, then shut up again. I feel like a puma scratched my brain.”
Shaking his head, Sion and Terrod helped him up to his feet. “What happened?” Richter asked.
Sion smiled broadly. “Your plan worked. The dart traps you set in the tunnel struck the cutters that were coming for us. Setting the trip wires at four feet was a brilliant move. I was able to run back quickly, but they triggered every one. The shrieke venom on the darts weakened them enough for us to finish taking them down. I will admit that I didn’t think that Arrow of Confusion you had would work, but it slowed down the last four. With Alma having blasted them, we were able to rush forward on two of the last four while they were still recovering. Between us, we were able to take down another one, then Alma came out of nowhere and did that mind suck thing she does to take out the last one. After that we saw that you were trapped under your girlfriend here,” Sion said, kicking the queen, “and we got you out.”
Richter smiled to himself. He had honestly thought the plan was a Hail Mary. His only real point was to kill the queen. To do that, he had needed the cutters to be distracted. It had only been a slim chance in his mind that he would actually escape afterwards. He had been seriously doubtful about how effective the arrowhead he had bought from Hafiz so long ago would be. If the arrow’s special confusion power hadn’t worked, his group might have been overwhelmed. Still, everything had gone better than he could have hoped. Alma flew up and rested on his shoulders. Her neck snaked around and she licked his cheek.
*You saved me, little one.*
*Of course I did, Master. Who knows what trouble you would get into if I wasn’t around?* Alma definitely had a sassy tone to her thoughts.
Despite the pain still racking his body, Richter smiled. He was relatively unscathed, though he did have an icon showing a broken rib. It hurt and caused a 2% reduction in his max health, but it wasn’t enough to distract him from the wonder that his familiar was evolving into. It was amazing witnessing the progression of her personality. It was like raising a child all at once and being able to see them turn into first a loving teen and then a worthwhile adult. He positively shone with pride.
“What else is happening?” Richter asked. “I’m assuming they’re all dead since you’re just standing there looking at me?”
“No! We decided to leave one alive to dramatically attack us later,” Sion said sarcastically.
“Ha ha,” Richter said loudly. Then he leaned in and whispered to Sion, “You did make sure they’re all dead, right?”
Sion leaned in too and whispered back, “Yes. I stabbed each one of them again just to be sure. I hate it when they pop up afterwards.”
Richter pursed his lips and closed his eyes before giving Sion a vigorous nod of approval. “Well search around, guys. I don’t want to leave anything that could be useful. Remember not to go any further into the cavern than this though. I can still see the traps, and I don’t know what they do. I’ll get you some help with the heavy lifting.” He focused his power and, with a series of particular gestures and words of Power, summoned three mist workers. He told them to follow the instructions of anyone in the war party. With a parting quip to “share their toys,” his eyes unfocused and he addressed the notifications blinking in the corner of his vision.
You have trapped the soul of a Assengai Spider Drone! Soul level: Common. x 27
You have trapped the soul of a Assengai Spider Cutter! Soul level: Higher. x 6
You have trapped the soul of a Assengai Spider Queen! Soul level: Brilliant.
Many other prompts were awaiting his perusal, but he stopped reading in shock. He knew that they had reaped quite a crop of souls from the drones, but he hadn’t known they had been able to trap any of the cutters, let alone the queen!
*Did you do this, my love? Did you capture all of these souls?*
*I captured the queen before she died, Master. I also trapped one of the big spiders. The others were caught by the stinky one with the beard.* Alma had a decidedly feminine tone of distaste and disapproval as she thought about Krom. The fact that Richter was sure that she knew Krom’s name, but chose instead to just call him “stinky,” just made him chuckle as he marveled at her increased intellect. He told her she was amazing, and she happily trilled as she flew through the air.
“Krom,” he called out.
“Yes, yer lordship?” the dwarf called back as he trotted over.
“Alma tells me that you are the reason we captured most of the cutter souls.”
“It seemed a shame to let them go to waste,” Krom said with a smile. He lovingly rubbed the head of his ebony hammer as he spoke.
“Well, then you’re entitled to a bonus.” Richter reached into his Bag
and pulled out six silver, four for the cutters and the other two to round out his contribution in capturing the drone souls. He put them in the dwarf’s hands. Krom opened his mouth, looking like he was about to argue, but then seemed to remember that he was a dwarf. Instead he just thanked Richter and continued to search the chamber, biting one of the silver to test its veracity. Shaking his head slightly at the compatriots he had found himself since coming to The Land, Richter went back to his prompts.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 14 in Stealth. +1 to concealment.
Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 5 in Focus. Zoom increased by 0.1x.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 10 in Small Blades. +2% attack speed. +2% bonus to damage.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 9 in Dual Casting… total spell power increased by 236%… mana drain decreased to 264%…
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 7 in Earth Magic. New spells are now available.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 8 in Earth Magic. New spells are now available.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 8 in Fire Magic. New spells are now available.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 6 in War Leader. +1% effective distance. +1% attack and defense for all allies.
…
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 8 in War Leader. +1% effective distance. +1% attack and defense for all allies.
You have received 2,500 (base 2,000) bonus experience for reaching level 10 in the skill: Small Blades.
Congratulations! You have advanced from Novice to Initiate in: Small Blades. You now enjoy a -5% penalty for each hand while dual wielding (this benefit is cumulative with increasing ranks).