Rupegia 6 Expedition

The reward for the extermination is 40 silver. That's a lot because the Oodogloo is an incredibly annoying enemy to find, the strategy is to generally have one person at each farm waiting for it and when the monster is found a signal flare is used. This is a dangerous strategy because a single person will fight the monster for a while until more people arrive. To defeat it in a single night with just 2 people is a commendable feat and with that my fame gets annoyingly higher.

"Yoo! Ryder! Join meee, mate. There's an Orc Lord request 5 days away. With your girl we can find him in a day or two, it will be eeeasy," says Simon from the creatively named fellows.h.i.+p.

This time Targua isn't here but there's another person who is following me.

"Do you want to kill him, Mr. Simon? Orc Lord is a monster of threat level 6!" Says Dennis, a wealthy looking black robed mage from the fellows.h.i.+p Thunder Storm. His normally disheveled black hair and beard looks even more disheveled when he talks to Simon. He seems unhinged to me.

"We got enough firepower to deal with even a dragon around here, we just lack a tracker like the fox la.s.s. You don't even have to do anything mate, just order her around and we can even carry your a.s.s!" Simon laughs out loud.

"Mr. Ryder isn't a greedy person like you, he has potential and I can give him the support he needs. Mr. Ryder join me and we can grow far together!" He claims with a far away look.

Dennis came to me when he heard the tale spreading around of how I used [Electric Magic] to stun the slime and counter it immediately after its hammer attack. He has a thing for electricity.

He wants to work close to me as a duo of sword and magic, but he has an annoying sense of duty and justice. He also wants to control the party like he controls his other two tired looking companions.

"Sorry guys, I wanna work slowly on my own with Alissa. I still have my own personal reasons to not join a bigger party. One of the reasons is I wanna take it safe and slow."

"What a shame, mate," Simon frowns and shakes his head.

"Be sure, Mr. Ryder keep following the right path and we will surely meet in the future of glory," Dennis says and bows.

I think he's slightly insane. I have no idea what the h.e.l.l he means by that. Alissa was looking at the request board but I could see she was just discreetly facepalming.

"Persistent…" She mutters with a hint of anger, her tail is stiff.

I let out a wry smile.

­

For the last 2 days I did nothing but abuse Alissa after waking up and during the bath, train [Sense Mana] and [Mana Control] in the morning and spar with someone who is not Toga in the afternoon. Due to this I learned [Sense Mana] with 2 points and [Mana Control] with 3 points.

I think I learned fast because I already had a lot of contact with magic, this was just a solidification of my foundation in magic.

Spending an entire morning hugging Alissa while she practices her [Mana Control] was heavenly. I think even she was a little disappointed we didn't do this today.

I also earned points during my sparring, 2 points in [Block] (now 2+6) and 1 in [Parry] (now 1+5). But the sparring was exhausting. I think I will take a day off and maybe tomorrow look again more seriously for work.

Today we went into the guild to look at the requests just for curiosity and "coincidentally" met the annoying duo. Something tells me people like them have a second house inside the guild.

I bought a tea set and taught Alissa how to make tea. I found the not"earl grey I drunk once on a tea shop near the temple and got some cheap cookies with it so my mood has improved a lot.

"Alissa, you know about the Moon Turtles?" I ask.

"I don't know where they are found around here but I know they are easy to find inside a dungeon. They are also slow moving so I think I can blind them easily."

"What about this request, think it's doable?"

"That's gonna depend on luck. Not every turtle has the Moonlight Moss."

The request I'm interested at pays 2 gold coins. It's a gathering request where the requester is wanting an escort to a cave where these turtles can be found.

Supposedly Moonlight Moss grows on the backs of the Moon Turtles so we need to kill a considerable amount for the requester to be able to safely gather the moss. The requester is a mage so he wants to go and help kill the turtles.

The kill rewards will be spread among all members so it seems attractive to us. The pay is kinda high but I guess it's gonna depend on how long it's going to take to collect all this moss.

"I think it will be okay. As long as we avoid being surrounded no enemy inside the caves can catch us if we run. It's rare to find a monster that resists the Escape Bomb," says Alissa.

Her words are a little bit rea.s.suring but just to be thorough I will research the cave monsters around this area. I didn't look into them because I didn't think I would enter a cave on the Sea of Trees.

It's the dungeoneering library that saved my life so far. The Orc Headhunter, the goblin squad intelligence pattern, the Mandrakes, the Bush Babies, the Young Ogres, the Mossy Fangpines, and the Oodogloo. All these enemies I knew their attack patterns and their weaknesses which allowed to me create strategies that maximized my safety and guaranteed a kill.

The hunt for the Oodogloo was the prime example of that. My instant counter was possible because I knew it had a predictable heavy attack and that it was extremely vulnerable to slas.h.i.+ng weapons. Once I got hit by the hammer attack once I knew how to counter it. Even the dance around the Young Ogre was only possible because I researched first.

"Excuse me, in this request what's the time for the scheduled negotiation?" I ask the usual older brunette attendant.

On requests like these there's a "negotiation" that will happen at a predefined time and place once the requester is informed that a hunter is interested in fulfilling the request.

"Tomorrow morning. The meeting will be here at one of our rooms," she answers with a kind smile.

So it's soon, I only have one day to prepare. It's likely that the requester will ask to depart immediately.

"Alright, send the message that we are interested in this request," I say.

Then I turn to Alissa.

"I will go to the dungeoneering guild and research the monster and caves around here. What about you, you wanna do something by yourself?"

"Hm…" She murmurs and looks troubled.

Every day since I bought her she was glued at my side. Not that I dislike it since I'm the super clingy one but maybe it would be best if she could do what she wants once in a while, I learned how important this was from Lily. I may have abandonment issues…

She looks at me like an abandoned puppy.

"It's okay to work separately from me from time to time. If you don't ask for it by yourself you will never ever leave my side ever again because I'm very clingy. It's okay to stay away from me once in a while, it's good for your mental health. Believe me I have experience on this matter."

"Experience…?"

"Well it's… A matter I can't tell in detail. Sorry you will have to believe me."

I really don't wanna talk about Lily.

"Okay… But I don't know what I could do by myself," she answers shyly, then she tilts her head and like always it melts my heart.

"There's the juice that I always forget to buy, there's more tea and cookies that you could search for, there's the dress I wanted to buy for you that might be better if you just choose something for yourself, there's the bookstores where you could find a book you are interested in, there's just sightseeing or looking into the Flea Market or those crazy magic tool shops. Oh, there's the theater, I have no idea what goes there I might want to know more about it. Well two things are my requests but there's plenty that you can do."

"How about spending time in the training grounds?" She asks with an innocent smile.

"That's… Not relaxing though, find something to relax that isn't just training," I plead.

You will make me feel guilty from taking it easy if you are always training.

"But you are going to read books to prepare, isn't that considered work?"

"Just barely, I kinda enjoy the books. There's combat reports that are interesting and plenty of beautiful drawings and anatomy lessons."

"Ooh, is that so? Maybe I should also read them and help with the research!" She smiles and claps her hands, her tail is wagging.

Heh, this girl…

"Then I will at least ask you to buy cheap juice, tea, and look a bit for clothing before joining me, ok?"

"Understood, master," she smiles and nods.

The juice and tea is for me, the clothing is also for me but also for her. Which middle-ages girl dislikes shopping for clothes?

I actually wanted to go to Ciel and ask about the moon…

­

So I kinda don't want to go inside a those caves. It's not like I have a phobia or something I just f.u.c.king hate spiders…

The most common enemy you will find is the Giant Tarantula. Things start just peachy. It's extremely territorial, there's no way you won't fight one inside these caves.

They block the entrances with transparent webs and once you get caught the more you move, the more it wraps. You basically have to put fire on them and slightly burn yourself to escape.

The webs are very elastic and sticky, swinging a sword is useless. Though some people acquired success by swinging branches or disposable spears. The progress is slow but it's better than nothing. The most common strategy is just have the full plate guy walk inside with a torch in his hand. Things will get hot for sure but he won't be burned if he waits for things to cool down.

That's just to get near. The Tarantula is a heavy monster that jumps and pierces you with a fast acting venom that's difficult to dispel. The tarantula doesn't normally prey on people so the venom isn't as effective as it could be but it still paralyzes you for 5 minutes. The Tarantula preys mostly on goblins who try to settle inside caves. Caves are the most common environment for goblins and the Tarantula is their natural predator.

Once the Giant Tarantula eats enough goblins it evolves into the arachne race of monsters, a half-human woman, half-spider monster. There is a report of a demon race who looks like the arachne monster but it's only a rumor. The only reason it's mentioned in the book is so that other adventurers don't go into the demon race continent and kill those people if they ever meet them.

The arachne is highly intelligent and cunning but it's like a deranged human who can only torture, kill, and eat. It's even more frightening than the tarantula because they toy with you. They are adept at sneaking and illusion magic. They like to slowly poison the enemy from afar with things like small traps and thrown weapons and then attack when you are weakened. I will need [Mental Resistance] for this. I think I should just tell Alissa of my skill system manipulation and also give her [Mental Resistance].

Another enemy is the Sludge. A parent of the slime"type monsters. It's a ma.s.s of living feces, mud, and blood, it's basically the janitor of the caves. It's vulnerable to fire, it will harden when heated but slow down. This makes them vulnerable to attacks, otherwise they move too fast and overwhelm you by absorbing you inside their disgusting bodies. They are much bigger than normal slimes and others like the Ooodogloo so it's difficult to kill them or escape their embrace.

Another enemy is the Giant Mole. They are the ones who kept creating and destroying the cave systems. Once they broke into a dungeon they stopped digging, it's unknown exactly why but at least the caves are mostly mapped now. They are aggressive and move by sound. It's easy to deal with one but they call more when the fight starts so the strategy is to kill one and then retreat otherwise a line of moles starts to appear. Unless if your objective is to wipe out the moles.

Through the fellows.h.i.+p I feel Alissa is on the building. I go downstairs and see she's at the lobby carrying an earthenware jar and a spare bag she had on her [Item Box] to carry things she couldn't put at the [Item Box]. She looks at me and lets a sweet smile.

"Oooh. Is that the juice? What is it from?" I ask and store it in my "Items".

"Gorgon fruit, I didn't know what fruit you liked so I got something that tastes mild."

Gorgon fruit is a small blue berry that looks like an eye.

"Ah yes, I actually forgot about it, my bad."

"Then… I also bought some clothes…" She says bashfully, her tail sways.

She pulls me closer.

"There's something for the night," she whispers into my ear.

My heart tingles. I did give her too much for a single dress so I was wondering if she was going to be bring an expensive dress or not. This option is the best one in the end.

I put the bag into my "Items" and bring her to my research station. I'm looking through multiple books like the dungeoneering advice book, the local monsters book, the local caves book, the local dungeons book, and two other monster books. One that give more in depth battle reports about the monsters and their anatomies and the second gives dismantling tips.

Then I continue my research.

The Moon Turtles live inside a dungeon that the moles dug into. They are slow but st.u.r.dy, they breathe fire and water jets as offensive means, and grow spikes on their flanks if attacked. The best way to kill them is to fire inside their mouth once they start breathing or to slowly chip away at their st.u.r.dy necks while being careful of the spikes. But now with Alissa it's gonna be eye-popping galore.

The path to get to the Moon Turtles is a pain. We will definitely have to pa.s.s a wall of tarantulas. Then there's the hunting grounds where the arachnes like to prey, which are large open s.p.a.ces where they can freely move above intruders and away from danger. Then there's the maze of mole tunnels, where even if we pa.s.s through the shortest path we will certainly have to backtrack and choose another route once we encounter and kill a mole. Then the dungeon of the Moon Turtles is a downwards spiral full of Spriggans.

The last enemy is the Spriggans. Devilish imps who like to sneak about, play pranks, and set traps. They are one and a half meter tall men-only humanoids who have green skin, thin arms, and bark that grows from a variety of spots that they use for armor. The bark that grows on the head is even cut and fas.h.i.+oned as if it's a hairstyle. An elven tale tells of the Spriggan haircut contest where the elves would hunt Spriggans to find the one with the most ridiculous "haircut".

They are not the kind that goes for the kill but they practice hit and run tactics with increasing frequency the deeper we go until we reach the floor of the turtles. They will first try to steal, then to distract and torment, then they start to hurt, and finally they fight to kill once you are tired. To deal with Spriggans you have to be always at the ready and immediately respond with deadly force. The more Spriggans you kill, the slower they increase their attacks and the less they try to torment you. With Alissa I can just increase her [Sense Presence] skill if she's having trouble detecting them.

So the expedition will likely take 3 or 4 days. Starting from the entrance it will take one day for us to cross the caves and to reach the entrance of the dungeon. After spending the night at the entrance it will take half a day to go down to the floor of the turtle and another half to do our business there, we hope. The turtles themselves will be simple we just don't know how long it will take to collect all the moss. Then on the third day we will come back all the way easily since we will have a path open. The s.h.i.+tty part is the moles, it might be safer if we just leg it when pa.s.sing their territory otherwise we could be backed into a corner with the Spriggans on one side and the enraged moles at the other.

I traced a route for us to take and copied the maps. There are multiple routes to the dungeon and multiple routes from there to the turtle floor but in the end it's just luck if the route is good or not.

"Wooah. All these anatomy drawings are so cool. Now I'm sure I can kill any tarantula and arachne that find. I'm glad I came," she smiles and sways her head sideways.

What kind of girl gets so excited when talking about killing giant spiders and a giant half-spider, half-humans? No, not even the average adventurer likes spiders.

"Well I was going to share the info with you anyway but I guess this is fine since I don't have to explain things to you," I shrug.

­

When we eat dinner at the inn Selina comes to talk to me.

"h.e.l.lo, Mr. Ryder. Father said you are going to leave on an expedition again, is that true?" She asks as she sits down on the free chair at our table.

I saw Alissa and Selina share a few words often so they seem to be friendly.

"I will meet with the employer tomorrow to negotiate the terms but we are likely to depart immediately."

"Miss Selina, we are going to the Spiral Springs at the Ant Hill. We are going to meet arachnes and Spriggans!" Says Alissa excitedly, her fox ears twitch and her tail wags a bit.

"Oh! Bring me a Spriggan head with a nice haircut, I want one for my room," And she lets out the sweetest innocent smile.

Girl, just...What in the f.u.c.k.

Alissa looks at me with expectant eyes.

"Uh… Sure, you pick the one we bring back. I will just store it on my [Item Box]."

I don't really want to be the one to gift a girl the head of a humanoid monster.

"Thank you, master. I will surely bring you a great one Selina. I heard arachne eyes are also red and s.h.i.+ny, I will bring one for you too if we find a nice pair," Alissa smiles and nods.

What is this conversation, I'm glad I already finished eating.

Selina giggles and hides her mouth with her hand.

"Thank you Miss Alissa. I will be waiting eagerly, I will prepare something sweet for you two once you come back," she says.

Alissa is uncomfortable when Selina calls her "Miss" but I told her it's okay to be treated as an equal if her master is also doing it.

Alissa tells Selina of the preparations we are doing. They are like two friends talking about toys or action movies. I just watch with a warm smile at the gruesome conversation.

Then we retire and go to our bed.

­

"You have a good relations.h.i.+p with Selina," I say to Alissa, who's in my arms.

"She's always so eager to hear our stories, she's a good girl. It's for people like her that people like me are trained to fight," her tail sways.

I guess they just have the perfectly compatible personalities. The girl who's eager to fight and protect and the girl who's eager to hear and cherish those who do.

I bring out the bag with the clothes she bought. There's a frilly, flowing yellow dress that goes to her knees. It fits her perfectly, I just need to buy her some cute boots and she's perfect. Then the other cloth she hides and tells me to look away while she changes.

When she turns around she's wearing the one piece from the slave trader shop; on her legs she's wearing a semi-transparent pair of white thigh highs; on her arms she's wearing long sleeved white gloves of the same material.

I just freeze at the sight, it's just too s.e.xy. The gloves and thigh highs are simple, they have no frills or special design, but they mix well with the simple silk one piece. It's the beauty of simplicity, it makes her look angelical. The ears and the slowly swinging tail are just the cherry on top of this cake.

I'm a starving wolf staring at a piece of roasted meat. I grab her and throw her on the bed. Tonight I'm not gentle. I kiss her and grope her, but that's not enough for tonight and I go down and put my head between her legs. She lets surprised moans that turn into even louder pleasure moans. She needs to be rewarded for bringing back such a precious gift.

With my finger I found the spot, my favorite spot on the whole body of a woman. I rub it and Alissa squirms in a way she's never squirmed before. I have to force her to stop so she doesn't run away. Thankfully our room is sound padded, I would pity the neighbors if it weren't, there's no amount of complaining that would make me stop. Her high pitched moans reached the highest level tonight.
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I play with her until she's spent. She doesn't even have the voice to ask me what I did, she just looks at me with surprised eyes. Perhaps a bit of fear.

I stop the stimulation and go back to kissing her slowly until she catches her breath again. But I'm not done yet.

"It's not over yet," I whisper, she twitches and looks at me with slightly scared eyes.

I turn her around, grab the back of her neck and press it down on the bed. Then I do her with fast, but low frequency pounds. She moans with every thrust. I pound and pound and pound and pound.

Then I change the rhythm. I pull her hair, I pull her arm, I put her on a choke hold, I put all my power, all my anger on her. When I'm near I turn her around look into her eyes, then I raise her dress and finish all over her body. This is your punishment for overly stimulating me.

­

Today the wake up kiss is twice as long and she wakes up with a large smile. I wonder where she found those clothes but I will have her go there many more times. That cloth texture is just too amazing, it feels almost like the synthetic cloth of Earth but it seems like it's way weaker and it might only last a few more nights considering how aggressive it made me.

"Did you like it?" I ask with a grin.

"… Yes… But my back hurts a little."

"Oh sorry, you should tell me if it hurts," I look worriedly at her.

"I know, it's just that I wasn't paying attention to the pain at the time," she blushes.

How can you still blush after what we did?

I cast [Regeneration] on her.

"Oh, that feels better. Thank you, master. Ah… Now that I think about it, you never chant for magic, do you?"

Ah s.h.i.+t… Time for another lie.

"The way I learned magic I never chant. But it's like I said, my magic is weak because of it. Why do people chant?"

"It's to help with the mana flow, the words and the voice resonate with mana and improves magic. Casting without chanting requires a lot of familiarity with the spell and it might still be less manefficient."

Now that I think about it chanting sounds like singing. Perhaps the sound harmonizes with mana or something, I'm not too knowledgeable about sound physics.

Reluctantly we leave for breakfast. The Clothes of the Berserker are safely stored in my "Items". They will be forever with me so I can always pull them when Alissa requires a savage punishment.

Selina gives us her blessing in the expedition and Alissa looks even happier. Then we set off for the hunters guild. The attendant guides us to the meeting room, the requester isn't here yet so we wait.

The room has a large round table with multiple cus.h.i.+oned chairs. A tea set with a magical heating stone and a bunch of cookies is left to us. On one wall is a blackboard with plenty of chalk, on the opposite wall is a large comfy sofa.

I lay down on the sofa and put my head on Alissa's lap. She runs her fingers through my hair and I almost fall asleep.

­

The door opens and a woman walks in, I sit up.

Black hair on a ponytail with two side bangs. Small oval gla.s.ses. Diamond jaw, small lips and nose, upturned eyes, pale white face. Spiral black horns on temples protruding forward, long black tail swings about, it looks like there's a dagger blade at the tip. She's a demon race woman.

She wears a long black robe and silk black gloves, the robe shows a bit of her curves, it has s.h.i.+ning purple flowers embroidered all around it. I can see high heel black boots below her robe, those boots would be perfect for Alissa's yellow dress. This woman is the definition of cool and s.e.xy. Until she opens her mouth.

"Goood morning! I am Roxanne! I am your client for today!" She claps her hands in front of her chin and grins then she tilts her head and giggles.

Me and Alissa look at each other, it seems we both had a similar impression of this woman.

Then Roxanne starts walking towards me. Confident steps, a swaying body that tickles my heart, a confident smile, the cool and s.e.xy is back. This removes my dumbfounded state and I get up and shake hands with Roxanne.

"I am Wolf Ryder and this is my companion Alissa. Our fellows.h.i.+p is named Helios."

"Yes! I saw your record. Grey Berserker, Orc Headhunter, and the Oodogloo caught in a single day. That's impressive! I'm so happy you came here!" Says Roxanne with happiness br.i.m.m.i.n.g from every word.

Whenever she speaks a cool and s.e.xy voice comes out but quickly that impression is ruined as her tone gets increasingly high pitched. Her hands move constantly and her body squirms whenever she speaks.

"Uh… Well, thank you… Should we sit and talk about the request?"

"Yes, pleease!"

We move towards the table and she sits right next to me, I can smell the perfume. It's kinda awkward to talk to her like this, she's beautiful up close but her atmosphere burns my eyes with her happiness.

I tell her the route I had planned and she seems satisfied, there's not really much to complain about this since the route is based on luck anyway. She shows me the jar she wants to fill with the moss, it's basically a small 200ml bowl. Looks small but it's moss, it's something that doesn't have a lot of volume to begin with.

She a.s.sures me it's doable with a dozen or so turtles. She told me that the last report a few days ago an adventurer saw that the turtles had a large amount of moss growing on their backs. You need special care to extract it so only a few people have the knowledge to take it. Since there's no Moonlight Moss on the market yet then that means the report is still accurate.

"Then tell me about your abilities," I ask.

"I'm a fire and water mage! I have two Unique Spells that I so dearly love. The first one is [Explosion]! If you hold and enemy in place for 3 or so seconds I can blow it to pieces! Ah… But if you are going to be on the front line I'm going to have to say I'm sorry, but you will be drenched in guts and blood…

Hahahahaha, I can already feel my "Sanity" stat going down.

"Then the other one is [Melt Skin]! I can throw a ball of water so hot that their skin will melt! This spell doesn't do a lot of direct damage but I haven't seen an enemy that doesn't writhe in pain when it hits, so it's perfect for support," she says with a satisfied faced and nods repeatedly. Alissa seems impressed.

Aside from the gruesome image these are two interesting spells. Since she's a fire and water mage, is she using these two elements combined to create a steam explosion? That's actually impressive, I haven't tried manipulating two spells at the same time but it seems taxing. I understand that with high [Mana Control] you can do plenty of crazy things but to do it with two different magic schools at the same time seems a level above the rest.

"But anyway, my second ability is [Alchemy] and [Potion Making]. Since the caves are filled with enemies that use poison or venom I can easily supply us with antidotes and anti-venom. I can even make it on-site with the body of those tarantulas."

Yeah she's special, aside from the obnoxiously high level of happiness she seems useful. It's not gonna be an escort job, it's gonna be a temporary fellows.h.i.+p kind of job. We discuss battle tactics for a bit, she seems experienced in fighting with others.

"Then do you wanna leave right now?"

"Ah, yes! Just let me gather a few last things and close down my house and I will meet you at the east gate. Is that all?"

"Yes, that's all," I say.

The money was already agreed to beforehand. I don't think I can improve the situation since I think the reward is already high and the spoils will be split fairly since she's gonna be an active fighter. I'm also a terrible negotiator, I have no heart for making a deal that isn't fair or that gives me the most benefits.

Roxanne bows and leaves. Then I turn to Alissa.

"Alissa, there's something I have to tell you. It's gonna be another secret," I say. It's actually gonna be another lie.

Let's see how this lie goes, I will gauge her reactions from this.

"Oh, what is it, master?" She asks with a curious face.

"Well, on my homeland there's a tale. It says that there's a person who's born every few generations or so. This person has the ability to read the souls of people and guide them to fulfill their desires in society."

"Hmm..." Alissa looks at me and narrows her eyes.

Did she get where I'm going?

"You see… I think I'm one of those people, I think I'm what's called a 'Guider'."

"But what do you mean by 'guide them to fulfill their desires'?"

"Well, you know that skill you got, the [Enhanced Stamina]? I gave it to you, I can see you have potential to learn skills and I can give or take skills based on that potential."

Alissa opens her eyes wide and her mouth hangs. That's a little bit off from the reaction that I wanted, maybe I should have left it more vague.

"I can't give or take all skills. Because of your level you can learn a few more skills, I can only give skills based on that unused potential. I can also only take away skills that I gave," I add hurriedly.

"Th-th-that's amazing, master! Imagine the things we can do with this!" She grabs my hand and gazes into my eyes with wonder, her tail is wagging.

It's okay that you accepted it so easily but you are a little too excited about it.

"I-I can only do it to you though, so I think it only works with people close to me."

She stops and think for a second then resumes her smile.

"Still, that's a powerful ability. You really are blessed!"

"Perhaps…"

I don't feel that blessed though, more like cursed and then sent a consolation prize.

"My magic works the same way, I can move my own potential into different magic types," I continue.

"Ooh, I understand," she nods.

"So, you have 6 unused points that I can a.s.sign to skills. If I'm riding you I will put them into [Enhanced Stamina], if we are in combat you need to tell me where I should put them. But for this expedition I will put them in [Mental Resistance] so we can resist the illusions of the arachne."

"Yes yes, I concur. Then for battle I think you can put it all on [Bow Use]. There's no real skill that will benefit me as much, I need to focus on my strong points. Ah, can you put them into [Fox Transformation]?"

"No, I don't know why. Maybe because it's specific to your race."

"Hmm… That's a shame, with the transformation at a higher level I could use it to fight in melee or to easily run away. If I increase it I can absorb my weapons inside myself too so it would be even more helpful."

I feel a little uncomfortable putting you into melee range. Wait, is this the same feeling you get when I'm fighting in melee? I think I understand you a little better now.

"Well then, I think this way things are going to be fine. Keep in mind your extra points, they are a trump card for you."

"Understood, master."

"Then let us be off."

I'm glad she accepted and understood things so easily. I guess this is a matter of trust since this world is full of unknown and crazy things, me being just another unknown is okay.

­

We cross town and reach the east gate. It's closer to the n.o.ble's quarters so the landscape is much more beautiful and the buildings are way less crooked. It kinda loses the charm of the city though. The clas.h.i.+ng architectures was growing on me and I miss the small, cozy, and rustic atmosphere of the inn.

I'm in line waiting for my turn at customs when the characteristic sound of heels. .h.i.tting the floor approaches. It's the cool and s.e.xy Roxanne. She has a simple black metal staff with a flat ring on the top and a perfectly spherical pulsing gem in the middle, it changes from blue to red in color. She's carrying a small backpack with her and I can see multiple unknown plants and monster parts dangling from it. She waves vigorously by swinging her arm high in the sky.

"OOI! RYDER!"

Wh-what are you doing. I already saw you, just come here quietly.

She jogs a little and comes to me.

"Alright then! Here are 6 antidotes and 4 anti-venom. Keep the anti-venom on a chest pocket because you will not have time to use it if you store it in [Item Box]. The anti-venom is magically enhanced so it works instantly. Also here are 2 of my own recipe HP and MP potions, very valuable, only for emergencies."

She gives me and Alissa a variety of flasks. The anti-venom are the standard flat metal flasks for combat use.

We pa.s.s by customs. When the guard saw I had nothing on my [Item Box] he only glanced at me, then at Roxanne and moved on. Alissa has things on her [Item Box] so even if it's just me and her we only look like a duo of adventurers less prepared than usual. Now with Roxanne carrying a backpack he might have thought she's the servant carrying my things or something like that.

Once we get out of town the landscape turns into the exact same as the west side. Farms in one side, the gigantic trees of the Sea on the other side of the road. Except now on the horizon the road doesn't bend and I can see a brown mountain protruding from a small forest far away. It's the Ant Hill mountain.

The Ant Hill is a failed [Meteor] spell. This spell is huge flaming rock falling from the sky that is supposed to blow when it hits the ground, but this one didn't and a large brown ball of stone got stuck on the ground. Eventually nature grew around it and the Giant Moles started making a cave system on it because the environmental mana is high.

It's called "Ant Hill" because when attacked the moles would rush out like hundreds of ants. Then the lord of Rabanara at the time got tired of it and properly subjugated it so now he controls the hill as if it's a dungeon. So there's still a lot of moles inside but it's not an infestation that endangers pa.s.sersby.

When we get a good distance away from the wagons trying to enter town Roxanne turns to us.

"Alright! So it's time to test this!"

With a *poof* she pulls a large carpet out of her [Item Box]. It's dark red with lots of yellow geometric patterns, it has a large round white stone near the border with what seems to be a bike handle protruding out of it.

"A flying carpet?" I let out a question reflexively.

"Well, yes. It's made with the new super fast flying stone! I wanna test it out, it's gonna be slower than the max speed but it can certainly carry 3 people."

How rich are you? This request already pays a lot and now you pull out the new and expensive hot thing everyone is talking about so casually. But I'm really concerned about the safety of this thing. Where are the seat belts? I realize Aladdin was an incredibly irresponsible guy.

"Erm… How about this, I can ride Alissa since she can transform on a large fox. How about we do it that way, it will be faster right?"

"Yes, master. My transformation is really fast and it will be secure for all of us," Alissa says while eyeing the carpet."

Is she concerned for my safety or did this carpet hurt her pride as a runner?

"Oh, you can ride her? Well that's fine by me, we will get faster there this way," Roxanne shrugs and jumps on the floating carpet. It looked as if it was as stiff as a stone floor.

"Then let's goo! Let's race!" Roxanne jumps with joy

"Whooa, hold on, it might be dangerous."

"No master, it's perfectly safe. It will be fine," Alissa says and pats my shoulder.

I can feel a little bit of aggressiveness on her voice. So it really is a matter of pride.

I grab Alissa's equipment and mount her. Then I breath in.

"Go."

And we go. We go fast.

­

"I'm sorry, master. I got carried away," Alissa says in a sad tone while looking down at me.

Indeed, but I'm not really mad since you won. Well, I can't say anything right now, I need to hold in my breakfast.

"It's… fine…" I manage to let out a weak voice.

It takes me a few minutes but I regain my senses. I get up from the gra.s.s and see Roxanne trying to stifle a laugh. I try to be mad at her but she's such a happy-go-lucky woman I just can't.

"I'm fine now, let's keep moving."

The trip that should have taken one or two hours was done in less than half an hour. The cost was my dignity as I had to spend a few minutes sprawled on the floor so I don't puke.

When Alissa goes all out the vibration of her body rises to unbearable levels, I'm really thankful that normally she is considerate of my well-being.

The scenery changed a little, we are on a slope on the border of a normal forest, not the Sea of Trees. The road we were on deviates south a bit to go around the Ant Hill. The normal sized trees, with a normal sized canopy, with a normal atmosphere and humidity, reminds me of the parks I went to on Earth, it's really pleasant.

The Sea of Trees is a fantastical and often beautiful forest, but it's very oppressive and filled with memories of battle. I think soon this forest will also have bad memories but at least I will enjoy it while it lasts.

I put my skills like this:

­

Wolf Ryder Skill Report

Physical

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Sword Use: 6+2 Dodge: 2+4 Parry: 1+5

Block: 2+6 s.h.i.+eld Bash 0+1 Mental Resistance: 8+0

­

Magical

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Sense Mana: 0+2 Mana Control: 0+3 Mana Recovery: 3+0

ManaEfficiency: 2+0 Reduced Mana Cost 2+0 Fire Maigc: 4+0

Light Magic: 5+0 Nature Magic: 5+0 Blessing Magic: 10+0

­

Miscellaneous

Skill Name: Level Skill Name: Level

Andraste Language 10+0 Dismantling: 0+1

OBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point)

­

I cast [Wind Armor] on us all and [Sharp Blades] on myself, then I meditate to refill my mana.

"Ooh, [Blessing Magic]. I knew you were a magic swordsman but this is good," Roxanne says while lightly clapping her hands.

"Ah, Miss Roxanne, can we make a temporary fellows.h.i.+p? It will be good for us to share experience," I ask.

"Sure thing!" She says and nods.

Her hand is soft, but Alissa's feels better.

Then we start moving. The trees grow up in any direction they see fit, their trunks are thin and long and multiple trees can huddle together. A large amount of bushes and tall gra.s.s makes traversion annoying. I bring out a spare short sword and use it to cut a path forward. It's fortunate my sword skill helps in cutting gra.s.s.

The cave entrance is not far away, in a few dozen minutes we are already touching brown rock of the failed meteor. But just before we find the entrance goblins get in our way. A group of 3 barely dressed goblins with crude wooden spears appear.

"Target practice," I say.

Alissa lets arrows fly and 2 are already dead when the 3rd notices. He actually gets scared and freezes. Alissa fires a perfect arrow on his forehead.

"I can feel the difference," whispers Alissa.

I put the 6 extra points she had on [Bow Use] just to test, I will put them back on [Mental Resistance] when we reach the cave.

"Impressive," praises Roxanne.

Alissa looks away so I can't see her reaction but heir tail sways for a second.

Just a few more minutes and we reach the cave entrance. A large 10-meters wide hole. Its size is rather impressive considering the moles are normally only 1 meter tall. Perhaps it is like this so they could flood out of their caves more easily.

I bring out the spear with a torch on the point, something we prepared beforehand. Alissa lights the torch and we start moving forward while I swing the spear around.

Not even 5 meters inside the cave and fire spreads through multiple lines in the air. We hit the first transparent web. It burns for a few seconds before fizzling out, then we keep moving.

We all cast [Spirit Light], I focus on a white light and this time it comes out as I wished instead of the ghostly light blue of last time.

The progress is slow. Once in a while I or Roxanne cast a [Fireball] but the webs have quite a lot of s.p.a.ce between them so it doesn't hit every time. It can barely be called a "net" or "web", it's made to slowly catch and cling to the body and when you notice the web you are already deep inside the cave and partially wrapped.

The cave is an unending boring brown maze. Twisting and turning tunnels, up and down and over. The map is rather nightmarish to understand without 3D visualization. The tunnels end up in rooms that are either square or round, there's no logic for their shape or location. The cave was just randomly dug in in random directions and rooms were randomly added in, maybe someone could make a random number generator by a.n.a.lyzing this cave system.

We progress for half an hour when Alissa stops me.

"Something is coming."

That must be a tarantula.

I drop the spear and draw my sword. I can feel Roxanne gathering mana behind me, the [Sense Mana] skill is quite interesting.

I start to hear the sound of something scurrying about, the sound of many quick feet is coming towards us. An arrow and a fireball flies.

"HISHAAAA!" Hard to believe a spider can make a sound like that.

I see on the border of our light a many legged thing comes flying towards me. I steel myself and put my s.h.i.+eld up. I feel Roxanne let out her spell.

Two things. .h.i.t the s.h.i.+eld and my view is covered by 8 furry legs wiggling about. I push back and immediately slash as a counter. My sword breaks something and then cuts through something fleshy like b.u.t.ter. I feel something wet and hot hit me.

The Giant Tarantula is split into two and I'm bathed in it's inner fluids. Something transparent and sticky and red blood splashes into me. It's f.u.c.king disgusting, disgusting, disgusting, disgusting, disgusting, disgusting, disgus-...

"[Clean]."

Oh this feels nice… The sticky fluid is gone, the blood didn't soak into my clothes so it's all going away. I'm better now.

"Thanks Alissa…" I say.

She pats my shoulder.

"Are you okay now, master?"

"Yeah… I just f.u.c.king hate spiders…"

"Sorry Mr. Ryder, I understand your situation," says Roxanne with a frown.

You don't really need to apologize but it made me feel a little better so it's okay.

This one was half a meter tall, looks to be younger, which means it's dumber. That's why it didn't even stop the charge even after receiving an arrow and a [Fireball] on its face.

I cut a fang as proof of extermination, pick up the flaming spear and we continue.

­

"There's two waiting on the fork," says Alissa.

Not a good idea to continue. They are very nimble, we have to deal with one at a time.

"We will lure them out. Miss Roxanne, use [Torrent] on the one on the right and don't miss, I won't be able to keep both away if you do."

"Yessir! Don't worry, I have perfect aim with my magic," she says and puts a closed fist on over her heart.

We move a little forward and we can see the fork ahead. The tunnel opens into a square room with 2 other tunnels at the end of the room. The spiders must be just around the corner.

Do they sleep? Do they hibernate or something? The book didn't talk about this. I will have to make noise so they understand we know they are hiding, then they will either retreat or charge depending on how smart they are.

I throw a [Fireball] to clear any remaining web nearby and move to around 20 meters from the fork. Then I ask Alissa to get into the corner and throw a few arrows the furthest she can into that corner. 3 arrows. .h.i.t the stone ground and break near where one spider should be.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing," Alissa answers.

I throw a [Fireball] where the arrows. .h.i.t… We wait. Nothing again.

"Well… f.u.c.kING STUPID SPIDERS COME OUT YOU LITTLE s.h.i.+TS!" I scream.

"Oh... That did it."

Seriously? Whatever, I pull my s.h.i.+eld up and prepare.

At the same time two 1-meter tall spiders appear in the tunnel and come towards us with frightening speed. One charges towards me, the other towards Roxanne. Once they are a few meters away Roxanne fires her magic.

The spider is. .h.i.t in the face with a thick jet of water and falls into the wall of the fork ahead. That was actually really strong, more power and it's an instant kill. I'll be surprised if it's unscathed.

The other spider jumps towards me and I remain immobile. On my right ear I hear an arrow flying pa.s.sing by. In front of me the spider opens its fangs and an arrow hits its mouth.

Its mid flight and can't stop, it writhes in mid-air and it's fangs don't even touch my s.h.i.+eld. The back of the arrow hits my s.h.i.+eld and goes deeper in the spider but doesn't kill it. I try to counter slash but it jumps away. That's okay, it's part of the plan.

I cast [Constricting Vines], it's honestly the first time I have the real opportunity to use it because it's kinda hard to time it. I cast it on the spider far away who's writhing about on the floor. Green vines burst from the ground and hold every limb of the spider.

The spell is strong 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 Headhunter Orc or the Young Ogres or it's smart enough to dodge it and not worthy of trying to combo a stun with this spell.

Now the remaining spider realizes I'm too hard to kill and tries to circle around me to jump on Alissa. Like h.e.l.l I'm going to let you do that, I jump forward and slash towards it, forcing it to retreat. Then another arrow pierces it's face, it took out one of its many eyes.

"HIIIIII," it lets out a scream in frustration.

I retreat back to the middle of the tunnel. Now I wait.

A [Fireball] flies towards it but the spell is too slow, the spider jumps backwards and dodges it. When it falls it meets another arrow who pierces its mouth again. s.h.i.+t Alissa, that was good. I didn't even tell you to combo with the [Fireball].

I let out my own [Fireball] along with Roxanne's. The spider dodges one but it's leg gets burnt by another. Then another arrow hits it, this time it hit the hard body so it only penetrated shallowly.

"SHAAA!" It screams and charges forward. Now it's angry and suicide charging. I charge a [Fireball].

I take the charge, I feel two fangs. .h.i.t the s.h.i.+eld with power. It hurts my arm and I have to move back a little. Then I open my s.h.i.+eld and point the [Fireball] towards its body, it has no time to escape and takes the spell on the face. It lets out a disgusting high pitched scream.

I feel the vines are dissipating, we have to finish this.

The face of the spider is burned, it must be blind now. Another arrow hits the mouth, it gets dizzy and start to lose balance. I jump forward and thrust, I hit the head. I crush the exoskeleton and cut the head. It goes limp, it's dead.

On the distance the other spider comes charging. It broke two legs on the right, it's lacking in balance and the charge is slow. Alissa immediately fires two fast arrows towards it, it isn't capable of dodging and one penetrates an eye and the other the mouth. Roxanne is charging another strong spell.

The spider jumps and I receive the attack, it was weak. I push it back and Roxanne lets out her spell. A fire whip touches and curls around the body of the spider, it desperately tries to run as the whip burns it.

I take the opportunity and slash at its body. I miss the head but I sever 3 legs. It can barely muster strength to resist anymore.

I slash again and the last leg on the right side is gone, it turns upside"down and can't turn back. I pierce the soft head from below, it goes limp and dies.

"That was interesting. [Fire Whip] could be useful but it's like your [Constricting Vines], it needs to combo with something otherwise they will just dodge it. They are not so strong that I can't hold them by myself, too," says Roxanne.

"I prefer if you save your mana for a strong [Torrent]. Let's try [Fire Wall] next. I really wanna see it suicide jump into that spell," I say.

[Constricting Vines] is enough as a follow up for a stunned spider but we lack strong openers. [Fireball] is too slow and [Fire Arrow] doesn't do that much damage, you need Alisslevel accuracy to be effective with it.

"Perhaps [Water Blade] could work?" Asks Roxanne.

"Let's try it after [Fire Wall]," I answer.

I get near the fork and notice the symbol on top. It's the system explorers developed so you can navigate these tunnels who all look similar to one another. Each fork has a unique symbol, so if you get lost you just move to the next fork and then search for the symbol on your map.

­­

After a while we reach a circular room, in total there's 6 tunnels.

"Wait, master," Alissa stops me.

"What is it?"

"There's a strong smell of spiders around here but they are too far for my [Sense Presence], let me investigate a little.

"Sure."

Alissa moves towards each tunnel at sniffs at the air a little. Then she comes back to us.

"The smell is stronger on these tunnels and lower on these others," she points at the tunnels.

"Let's take a detour and go through that one then, less spiders on the way."

As we walk towards the tunnel I notice something odd on the entrance. The tunnels are all half-circles and the floor is normally rough and slightly curved. But this tunnel the ground is completely level for about 10 meters then it becomes round again. My spidey senses are tingling.

"What's wrong?" Asks Roxanne.

"The ground is suspicious," says Alissa, reliable as ever.

"Indeed."

I crouch near it and hit it with my hand. It's hollow. I bring a small broom I had on my "Items" and remove the dust from the ground. Right in the middle there's a small channel, it seems to be the place where the ground connects. It was almost perfect.

"Oh, wait, the ground changed," says Roxanne.

"What you mean? All I did was dust it a little."

"Perhaps it was an illusion?" Asks Alissa.

"Oh! An arachne trap," I say.

"But it isn't their territory yet," says Roxanne.

I shrug.

"They are known to be cunning," I say.

Roxanne crosses her arms and thinks.

"This is the one with the faintest spider smell? Perhaps the smell itself is a trap," she says.

"We have a few options here. Trigger the trap and cross after, but that could alert monsters we are here. Try not to trigger the trap and cross, but I don't really know how. Go towards the next tunnel with the faintest smell, but the smell might be a trap. Go to our original tunnel with a strong spider smell. Any opinions?" I say.

"Well, aren't you the leader? Do you really need our opinion?" Asks Roxanne.

"I take it upon myself to make the decision but I want to hear the opinions of both of you and then make the decision."

"Ohh, I like that," Roxanne smiles.

"Well then. Master, I prefer to risk fighting the spiders on our original path, that's where our strength lies."

"I also prefer that, I don't really like arachnes. I don't wanna play their game, I like when my enemy charges into my spells," Roxanne says.

"Then it's unanimous, let's go," I say.

We enter our original tunnel and walk for 10 minutes.

"There's something ahead, only one," says Alissa.

"Okay, I will try to attract it," I say and lower the flaming spear.

I fire a [Fireball] forward. Nothing...

"COME HERE YA d.i.c.kHEAD!"

"It's coming," says Alissa.

Do they really understand our language?

A single Giant Tarantula appears. Alone it's gonna be easy.

The tarantula charges madly. It receives an arrow on one of its eyes and a [Fireball] on one of its fangs before it even reaches me. The charge isn't as good and only a single fang is thrown at me. The hit is strong but bearable. I manage to cut a leg during the counter.

"SHAAA."

It's already angry.

Another arrow pokes another eye. It decides Alissa is the bigger threat and tries to pa.s.s by me, but I cut another leg and it backs away. Then when it tries to charge again Roxanne comes closer to me.

"[Fire Wall]!"

And the spider jumps through the wall without hesitation.

"Oh s.h.i.+t," I mutter.

Somehow the spider turned into a bonfire and starts thras.h.i.+ng about. That's dangerous.

"Back off!" I yell to Roxanne.

The spider is completely aimless and almost tramples me, I have to s.h.i.+eld bash it to keep it away. Roxanne fires a [Torrent] and it flies away, partially extinguished.

The spell was hasted so it wasn't too strong, add that to the monster's tenacity and the spider gets up and charges again even while half its body is still burning.

"Try the blade," I tell Roxanne and immediately I feel mana gathering behind me.

The anger of the spider makes it fast. It loses another eye to Alissa but still manages to charge at me again. I just defend and it does two consecutive charges, then I bash and slash, and it jumps away.

"[Water Blade]!"

An incredibly thin blade of water dashes towards the face of the spider. In it's rage it didn't even notice and takes the full hit. It freezes and goes limp, it's dead.

Through an imperceptible small slit, blood pours out of its exoskeleton. A few twinkles of moisture in the air can be seen where the blade pa.s.sed through.

"Wow, it didn't even notice," I say.

"I think it was luck because it was completely enraged," says Roxanne, with a face full of doubt.

"Hmm… Then let's try one more time. At least we know it pierces without problem."

"Master, one thing. Are my arrows helpful? I keep hitting their eyes but I'm not noticing too much change," Alissa asks.

"Yeah they are. The ones on the mouth makes them hesitate when they charge. The ones on the eyes makes them slower to react, it's subtle but I can notice the difference.

"Oh, I see…" Alissa seems a little content, I can't see her tail right now.

"But now I wanna know why it burned so much like this. Was its hair so flammable?"

"Flammable?" Asks Alissa.

"Yeah, it means something that catches fire easily," I answer.

"We will have to examine the corpse," says Roxanne.

I shudder, I don't wanna touch the spider.

"Any volunteers?" I ask.

"I'll do it," says Alissa.

No, you are too pure. I have to do it myself…

"But this corpse is all charred let's find another one," says Roxanne.

We walk a little and find another corpse, 5 corpses actually.

"What is this?" I ask.

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 are scattered about. They are all floating in the air being hanged by a white web.

"Ugh… Who would do something like this?" Asks Roxanne.

"Arachnes?" Questions Alissa.

"Yes! That's it, it's the trap to make us not come here. Arachnes are very violent and prey upon tarantulas occasionally. So maybe this is their handiwork," I say.

"Can we never fight an arachne please? This is way too brutal for me," says Roxanne, she looks sick.

I agree.

"Let's cross this quickly and rest a little," I say.

­

We find a nice large room a good distance away from the ma.s.sacre and sit down for some tea. I bring out the small broom from before and clean the dust in an area, 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. Alissa pulls out a tea seat, the cheap cookies and starts warming the teapot with a small [Fireball] on the tip of her finger.

"This is adorable," says Roxanne with a smile.

"Master gets grumpy when there's no tea," says Alissa.

It's kinda true, Alissa loved the idea of making me tea and she took upon herself to always carry the tea set with her. I like coffee with chocolate more but I'll take what I can get.

"If you tell me you are a n.o.ble I won't be surprised," says Roxanne with a wry smile.

I shrug.

"Here, use this magic stone," Roxanne pulls out a small red crystal and hands it to Alissa.

"Oh, thank you Miss Roxanne, this is more efficient."

I share our food with Roxanne.

"This is nice," she says while drinking the tea and eating the cookies.

"It can get even better if I find something high-quality though."

"Oh? Now I'm interested."

"Well, it's gonna take some time. I don't know where the good tea around here is but I know it exists. I tasted it once and I will 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 Roxanne laughs.

The sandwiches were our lunch, we don't know the time here but we can still follow our stomachs.

­

We move on and meet another single spider.

"[Water Blade] this time," I say.

We keep walking until Alissa tells us it's moving. It comes straight at me like always and loses an eye to Alissa. Roxanne concentrates magic behind me.

I receive the charge and it hurts my arm, I counter and cut the tip of a leg. No [Fireball] so the spider is less cautious. The spider starts another charge and Roxanne releases her spell.

It immediately stops and nearly falls over trying to dodge. The blade pierces its thorax and blood splashes all over, not dead yet. I'm getting frustrated with this, just f.u.c.king die!

The spider struggles a bit to maintain itself upright and Alissa takes the chance to pop two other eyes. After seeing the spider get cautious I charge forward and slash. It barely reacted in time and a fang was sliced off.

I feel Roxanne charge mana again so I just threaten the spider and then back off. Roxanne releases another [Water Blade], its reduced vision causes it to fail to dodge in time. It pierces the head of the spider and it goes limp, it's dead.

"Well I guess blade is the most effective way."

"[Fireball] is good at slowing their attacks but the blade does the most damage," says Roxanne.

Without hesitation Alissa goes to the spider's body and touches.

"Ah! You don't have to do this," I say hurriedly.

"I don't mind, master. I told you before to depend on me."

Does she mean what she told me after the Young Ogre? Is this her way of taking care of my mental well being? Well I don't think this was necessary, I was just being a p.u.s.s.y this time but I don't have the willpower to stop her now.

"Hmm… The hair is stiff and rough, seems oily and damp, not really something easy to catch fire… What's this, it's sticky…? Is this the transparent web?"

I get closer to Alisa and grab her cute hand. I grab the floating [Spirit Light] on the top of my head and bring it closer to her hand. Looking very close there's a slight s.h.i.+ne, it's the ultra thin and nearly transparent web that we have been burning up until now.

"Hmm… Why is there web on its body?" I ask.

"It's not everywhere, only some parts of it are sticky like this."

"Why would n.o.body know about this? Kinda hard to believe no spider caught fire like that, did n.o.body ever think to use the [Fire Wall] to stop a charge?" Questions Roxanne.

"Unlikely," I answer.

We seem to have reached an impa.s.se in our reasoning.

"Let's just go, we could keep looking at more spider bodies and see if there's anything else different," I say.

"Let me burn this web on my hand first," says Alissa.

"Hold on."

I forgot the web is super sticky. With subtle movements I quickly remove her [Mental Resistance] and put it all on [Pain Resistance].

"It's good."

Alissa twitches, then she looks at me and smiles, she noticed. Roxanne watches us with a confused face. Alissa casts [Fireball] on one of her fingers and touches her sticky hand, it burns for a few seconds. I approach her and cast [Regeneration] then I return her [Mental Resistance].

We meet 5 other spiders, 2 had web on the body. This time I make Alissa check for the web with a small piece of cloth.

"Could it be it's a difference between s.e.xes?" I ask.

"I don't understand, master."

"The male spider coats his body in the web because it's sticky and then uses the stickiness to help hold down the female and impregnate her or something. I know there's quite a lot of animal species that basically **** their partner during mating and use things to help keep them tied down."

"Wow, that's interesting but I don't know much about animals. Are you a scholar?" Asks Roxanne.

"I also don't know much about this, master. Though it is known the spiders reproduce, adventurer knowledge doesn't go much further than that since I think it doesn't help in killing them faster," says Alissa with a wry smile.

"I'm not a scholar, just a curious person who read a lot of books," I say.

"To me that's a scholar," Roxanne says and grins.

I shrug. We move again.

­

"This one is bigger than normal," says Alissa.

"Arachne?" I ask.

"I don't know, I don't recognize the signature."

The [Sense Presence] skill is like a radar, you know the distance, size and direction with a certain amount of precision. Each type of living being has a "signature" so it's possible to differentiate two different types of monsters by their signature but if you haven't ever met that signature before you don't know what it is.

"Okay, standard formation. No need to worry too much, it's either a bigger spider or an arachne. It's not a Sludge because there's no disgusting smell," I say. They both nod.

We carefully move forward, we don't wanna waste attacks or enrage it before knowing what it is. Most monsters are more cautious during the first meeting, even the ones who just suicide charge can get enraged if you hurt them. It's just that they are stupid and only know how to charge so you can easily kill them in one strike.

We keep moving while still using the flaming spear. Slowly we inch closer until we see it at the border of our light.

It's a two meters tall spider, it's eating the corpse of another spider. There's a red bulge growing out of its head, it's pulsating and twitching a little.

It didn't care about us yet so I start to charge a [Fireball], at the same time Roxanne charges something too. Then the spider turns to us, it likely senses mana. When it turns an arrow hits its eye.

"s.h.i.+A!"

It seems surprised and it thrashes about for a second but manages to dodge all other arrows, they hit its armored body and don't penetrate. This one is smarter and tougher. Then it charges.

I let out my [Fireball] before it reaches me, the spell hits the side of the face and burns one eye. Roxanne is charging a stronger spell than normal, this is good since this enemy is also stronger than normal. Then the huge spider hits me and I'm pushed back a little. I can't counter like this and it's too fast for Alissa to hit it.

I get an idea. I brace myself and wait for the second charge, 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, the charge slows and the hit is lighter. But I still cast something.

When it hit I jumped backwards, on the spot where I was I cast [Constricting Vines]. The spider falls on it and its multiple legs start to be grabbed. It's enough of an opening for Alissa to put an arrow on its mouth but the one who had the most profit was Roxanne.

"[Water Blade]!"

A long and thick water blade flies and cuts in diagonal, the spider tries to dodge but its too slow due to the vines. The red bulge and all its right legs are severed. The spider writhes in pain and desperation but it's over, I pierce the head and it goes limp.

The red bulge was holding something. Transparent liquid flows out of it and a small and skinless top body of a woman can be seen. It was cut in diagonal all along its chest. I'm starting to feel sick.

Alissa grabs the flaming spear with one hand and my s.h.i.+eld hand with the other and silently pushes me forward.

"That was an arachne being born," I say after a few minutes walking.

"Yes," Alissa answers.

That's all we said about it.

­

We walk for another 1 hour without any other encounters, it seems the previous almost"arachne cleared the area for us. Then we reach a fork.

"Master, there's a disgusting stench coming from that way," says Alissa.

"That's probably the sludge, let's not go there."

This is one enemy I will avoid with all my power. After reading the battle reports of this monster I think it will be a miracle if I don't puke when I meet it.

­

We only meet one lone spider. We must be deep in arachne territory now. We start seeing suspicious mists and Alissa catches unknown smells. The webs are almost non"existent so progress is much faster.

We found 2 bear traps and 2 other suspicious looking floor designs. We just avoid anything out of the ordinary, it's obvious it's an arachne, there's nothing worthy in there to make us explore those dangerous tunnels. There's also no need to rush, we can just take another route.

"It's the third time you sighed," Alissa says to me.

"Uh? Why are you counting?"

"To understand your mood."

"Well… Is that really necessary?" I sigh again.

"Yes, master," -she grabs my hand- "I will protect your mind and body," she whispers to me, her tail sways a bit.

Girl, you are too good to me. I don't deserve this, I'm feeling really guilty now. I feel like sighing again.

No, wait, even for me this is too much.

"I'm starting to feel like this is not normal. The sighing, I mean."

"That's what I thought," says Alissa with a small smile.

"Let's just take a break, I'm also feeling really tired," says Roxanne with drooped shoulders.

This is suspicious, even Roxanne is downcast. We all sit down on the dirty floor.

I put 20 points on a skill called [Diagnosis]. I put a little mana on it and cast it on myself, Roxanne looks at me with curiosity.

Through the standard floating black screen the skill tells me that I'm feeling [Lethargy (small)]. I turn my points back to normal.

"Miss Roxanne, do you know of a pacifying poison or something that removes energy or stamina?" I ask Roxanne.

"Uhh..." She mutters, she looks sleepy.

After a few seconds her eyes widen.

"Yes! There's a pacifying poison, it lowers the use of stamina and makes the person not want to fight. I think we are poisoned with it."

"Is it a 'want' or a simply 'can't' fight because the person is exhausted?"

"'Want', it's a mental poison."

"Now that I think about it, did you bring something for [Mental Resistance], Miss Roxanne?" I ask.

This was an oversight. I should have asked her countermeasures for the arachne, but I couldn't tell her my countermeasure was "I will just learn a rare skill whenever I want".

"Yes. It's just a small blessed amulet, it was blessed by the G.o.d of Endurance."

That's interesting. So the G.o.ds can also enchant objects, I wonder if he will be mad if Roxanne ever sells it.

"I got an idea, there's something I want to test. I will need your help Alissa," I say. I smirk and stand up.

"Anything, master," she obediently comes to me.

"Also, sorry if this looks inappropriate to you Roxanne but this is in the name of science… Or rather, in the name of the G.o.ddess of Knowledge," I say and grab Alissa by the waist. Roxanne looks confused.

I put my hand in Alissa's cheek and kiss her. Slowly, at first. Alissa stiffens in surprise but then receives me and our tongues entwine. I increase the intensity, I pull her very close to me, I can feel her warmth. She hugs me back.

My heart starts to fill up. I get anxious, I want more, I want to be warmer, I want to hug Alissa harder, I want to undress her here and take her. I remember her wearing the Clothes of the Berserker, her body being caressed by that silk one piece. This fills my body with energy, it warms my muscles and I feel excited again. I slow down the kissing and then slowly break away.

Alissa is blus.h.i.+ng and her breath is quick, her tail sways a lot, she's also in the mood. She just stares into my eyes with expectancy. What have I done, this is torture.

"I feel like this confirms it, we can break a mind poison by stimulating each other," I say and smile.

"Eh? Oh, ah, yes, I feel much better now, I was definitely poisoned before," says Alissa, she looks away embarra.s.sed.

"Hm…" Roxanne lets out a mindless sound, she seems stunned with a blank face.

"Miss Roxanne, you should slap your face. You are still under the mind poison," I say.

"Not fair…" She mutters, dejected.

Then she repeatedly slaps her own face. This is the standard way of breaking spells that affect the mind.

I feel a little bad for her.

­

Here's a quick complaint. No hero story ever tells you how stressful and embarra.s.sing it is to answer the call of nature in a dangerous place while in a group. You can't go too far so you don't endanger yourself but you can't do it too close otherwise it's embarra.s.sing if you 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 Giant Moles territory. I know this because the traps and mists stop then we meet our first Giant Mole.

We managed to avoid all adult arachnes. It's quite a feat, all thanks to Alissa's nose.

"If I use [Quiet Steps] and [Quiet Action] then it's possible for me to a.s.sa.s.sinate it," says Alissa.

I thought about the possibility of her becoming an a.s.sa.s.sin with her skills. But I'm just uneasy about putting her in direct danger, she's my only companion and I admit I'm rather possessive.

I cross my arms and think.

"Be happy that at least he cares about you," says Roxanne seeing my hesitation.

"I know master is very reasonable, he only needs time to accept this."

I'm uncomfortable with how easy I'm being seen through. It's also true I'm just stalling, I don't want to let Alissa go and have to wait here and twiddle my thumbs in the dark but it will be so convenient if she kills it.

The mole is a burly enemy with a weak skull. The best way to kill it is a single precise strike but if we attract it and fight it head on I will certainly have to take a few hits with my s.h.i.+eld which will hurt a lot. Finally, if we kill it without noise no other moles will come, that's the biggest advantage, it will save us a lot of time.

I sigh.

"I surrender, go kill it, Alissa."

They smile at each other and Alissa leaves silently.

"You two are very close," Roxanne says a minute after Alissa leaves.

"We don't know each other very long, I'm just clingy."

Roxanne shrugs.

"Still, your relations.h.i.+p is enviable."

"Even though she's a slave?"

"Does it matter if she's happy?"

"You can tell she's happy even though you met today?"

"She's been smiling during most of the time we have been walking except when you are under attack. You are always in front so you don't see it much."

"... What does she even see in me to be so happy?"

"You should ask her that yourself," Roxanne looks at me troubled.

"She's young and naive, she might 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 considered two idiot teenagers in heat if we consider this-world-age as my real age?

"I don't know what is on your mind but you should at least accept her feelings," Roxanne continues.

"It's that... I'm from a far away place. In my homeland we would be called idiot teenagers who don't know what love is. Slavery is not even legal so our relations.h.i.+p is even more absurd, what kind of thing is love between a master and slave?"

"Slavery is not legal? I would like to visit that place one day. But still, I say it again, at least accept her feelings. It's not like I saw anything wrong with the way you both act. You don't need to be so harsh on yourself, 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 you are not thinking with your d.i.c.k.

"Perhaps…" I say.

During this talk Roxanne had a cool atmosphere around her. Why can't you be like this normally?

I think I understand what makes me worry. If I don't change then I will suffer and keep my humanity like Alissa asked but I might hurt her feelings. If I do change then I won't suffer but Alissa might lose her hope in me, it might hurt her anyway. Now that's a great situation.

Alissa comes back silently like a ghost and scares us both.

"I'm sorry, master and Miss Roxanne, I forgot to stop [Quiet Steps]. The mole is dead."

"Took you some time."

"It was wary, I had to move very slowly or else it would hear me."

Even though these are weak monsters they are still blind moles that rely on hearing, it takes quite some skill to sneak up on one.

"I know skills like these make you stressed so please tell me if you get tired. We have no rush, we will rests as much as we need."

"Thank you for your consideration, master," and she lets out a small smile.

­

Alissa kills 5 more moles without a hitch. My own little a.s.sa.s.sin.

"You are now level 12," says that soothing female voice.

Finally, it took some time. Those spiders and moles are annoying but they don't give much experience. The last burst of experience was the almost-arachne. I put all my points in [Sword Use] (now 16+2).

­

Two more moles and we finally reach an entrance to the dungeon, the Spiral Springs.

The dungeon is a completely different atmosphere than 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 shape of the walls is irregular, full of curves. The ground is made of soft moss over raw stone and would be nice to lay down on if it wasn't damp, you will end up with wet clothes after sitting on it for a while.

There's a weak blue-green light coming from mana crystals, they are cheap crystals that s.h.i.+ne when they are near mana. Since the dungeon is a solidification of a mana storm the mana crystals s.h.i.+ne faintly forever. It's against the etiquette to take or sell these crystals.

The top floor is where we are. Like the other dungeons the top floor is ma.s.sive in length, possibly to the size of a town. It's made of multiple large rooms with shallow water pools on all of them. The top floor is safe so we are going to sleep here.

The stairs are what give it the name. They are merely slopes with faded steps where a channel runs and water trickles through, it has a nice and constant sound of falling water. The slopes are in a spiral and there's no railing so the middle of it is open, that's where Spriggans like to put traps there so you lose your footing and fall through the hole in the middle. Each stair goes down around 20 meters so each drop could be fatal. We have 15 sets of stairs to go down through.

I point to a corner and Roxanne burns a large patch of moss. We sweep the ashes and finally we have a proper stone floor to sleep on. I bring out my tent and Roxanne pulls hers.

Behind the tents she conjures water, heats it with a spell and takes a bath by herself. Once she's done we stop our guard, then Alissa conjures the water and I heat it. A nice way to heat water perfectly is to cast a [Fireball], hold it into your hand and put that hand into the water. It wastes mana but it lets you heat it to perfection since you feel it as it heats.

Then I get to wash Alissa and she washes me, unfortunately we can't make too much noise so she uses her mouth and I put some cloth on her mouth and use my fingers. There's no way I'm going to spend a night without touching her so we have to do it this way.

Then we bring out dinner. Fried chicken! I mean, fried Dragolite. I finally remembered that Dragolite reminds me of chicken with rosemary. Then we eat our hot vegetable soup with toasted bread. Thank you "Items".

Finally I have my first taste of juice in this world, Gorgon fruit tastes and looks a bit like blueberries.

"Ah juice, thank you. No alcohol though?" Asks Roxanne.

"I don't drink. Besides, we shouldn't drink in an expedition like this.

"Alright, alright..." Roxanne lets out a wry smile, "Honestly I'm envious of how big your [Item Box] is, Mr. Ryder."

Well here we go, insert d.i.c.k joke here. I can't really spend points on an actual [Item Box] and training with Alissa to get this spell is hard.

"It's a natural gift, I learned it super fast," I lie.

"It's like you were born to be an adventurer."

"That's true," says Alissa.

I give a painful wry smile.

"Well I'm envious of your [Mana Control] Miss Roxanne. Explosion magic is the mix of water and [Fire Magic] at the same time, right?"

Roxanne opens her eyes wide.

"My secret! How could you…"

"Knowledge from my homeland."

"Unfair!" She pouts.

"But I can't use two magic schools at the same time so you still have one secret, right?"

"It's not like explosion magic, it's something every expert magician would one day learn."

That's interesting. Maybe one day I will control all elements at will and become a demi-G.o.d? Well anyway, gotta change topic, I'm also curious about Roxanne.

"Say, Miss Roxanne, can you tell me about your race or your continent?"

"Gladly! I like to talk my race but first I wanna talk about the misconceptions a lot of people have about us."

"Oh? What are these?"

"Well the first is that since I'm from the succubus type people think we are promiscuous. That's not true, we choose our partners carefully we just have a higher libido than other races. Also we are more carefree and open minded than the other races, that doesn't mean we are dumb and unreliable."

Just by looking at her I can certainly see how the last one happens. Curiously the demon race seems to be the most common adventurer race on Rabanara aside from humans.

"The second is that our horns and tails are s.e.xual organs. Some have feelings when you touch those parts, but it varies from person to person and type from type."

I can see that causing some misunderstandings.

"The third is more general but some people think we are descendants from monsters. It's not true. The G.o.d of Creation made us this way, he used the monsters as basis but we do not have a single drop of monster blood."

Being lumped together with your biggest enemy might hurt their pride.

"These are the 3 things I always tell other people. Now, you wanna hear something specific?"

"What about your birth place?"

"Ohh. That's far away from here, I was born at the Maoka continent, the west coast, on a small village inside our sacred territory near the Death Valley."

"Sacred territory? Death Valley?"

"Well, the sacred territory is land that no outsider can enter. It's not a large piece of land but it's the place that our first ancestors were given after being created by the G.o.d of Creation so it's a sacred land for us. The Death Valley is a large piece of desert that's named like this because it's so hot and dry no one ever managed to cross it."

I think there's a place like that on Earth too.

"So do you have kingdoms too?"

"No, it's just a council of elders. We do it the same as the elves so we always had a good relations.h.i.+p with them. Human and dwarven n.o.bility drama books are famously complex, n.o.body wants any of that for our race."

I laugh with her. I watched Game of Thrones and House of Cards, I don't want any of that drama either. I'm way too straightforward to survive on that backstabbing nightmare.

"What about the wereanimals? How do you govern yourselves Alissa?"

"Depends on the type. We have a council of elders too but they pick a leader that everyone obeys. 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. Though it could vary among different clans."

"The chieftress you mentioned was that leader?" I ask.

"Yes and no. She and the chief were the two candidates for this generation, they decided to marry and share the t.i.tle."

"Hohoh, how romantic," said Roxanne while clapping the tip of her hands.

"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 among the clan to the embarra.s.sment of the chiefs.

"You think it will come to Rabanara? I wanna see that," Roxanne let out a wide smile.

"I don't know about that, you might have more luck if you just go towards my clan."

"Oh, they accept foreigners?"

"Only adventurers and merchants. They do not allow those who are not fox wereanimals to settle on the land."

"Ah, then it will be okay, I will visit one day. Where is it?"

"West, beyond the mountain range, it's called the Misty Low Forest."

"I saw it on a map once. It's not far so I will definitely go."

I think for a moment. Her homeland is actually really close. I think it would take only a few days to cross the mountain range in her fox form. Would it be too cruel to make this question?

"Alissa… Would you like to go visit your homeland one day?"

She thinks for a while.

"Not yet. I'm not worthy of returning, I need to work more. But… I'm really grateful you offered, master."

I guess that wasn't a bad choice.

"Ah, Mr. Ryder. I see you are reserved, but do you mind to tell us more about your homeland?"

Ah s.h.i.+t, now that I asked about her homeland she might ask about mine. There's no way I'm telling. I haven't prepared a proper lie for it yet so I'm just gonna avoid this. Even Alissa seems interested in this.

"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 shrugs, she understands. Roxanne raises an eyebrow.

"Well then, if you don't wanna talk about your homeland let's talk about mine!" She claims 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, they also like to party a lot.

I'm getting tired so we go to sleep and start the watch cycle. We will do 3 hour cycles, starting by me, Roxanne and then Alissa. Roxanne drew the worse one, she will have to sleep, wake, and then sleep again, this is bad for your body. I could put out a summoned guard dog but I don't want to show that magic to Roxanne.

Now that I'm alone outside the tent I feel a little bit lonely.

h.e.l.lo, G.o.ddess of Knowledge. How do you feel about today? I think it was pretty interesting, we found how a Giant Tarantula turns into a 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 will need to make some sort of autopsy if I want to be able to find what's the difference between the spider s.e.xes. We also found that love or perhaps just plain s.e.xual thoughts are enough to break a mind poison and you don't need to slap yourself until you nearly bleed, maybe even just m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e or something might be enough to clear your head.

I feel like this world is somewhat interesting. I still keep thinking about the [Golemancy] skill, I feel that with a few levels I could put some points into it. Maybe I 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 G.o.d of Destruction but maybe I can 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?

I feel something change within me. I open my stats and see that my piety increased by 3 (now 6). The most interesting thing is that under "Status Effects" there's a new entry, "Blessing of the G.o.ddess of Knowledge".