NOVEL NEXT LXXXVI – A Lone Headstone
Deep within the dense, dangerous forests that covered the eastern tip of the continent, a place smack-dab in the center of the belt of uninhabited territory where the wilderness had taken over so much that neither human nor demon deemed it worth the effort to attempt to tame and inhabit the land, stood a single, unmarked grave marker.
The headstone was a rough one, crudely formed out of stone to roughly resemble the sort of headstones often used to mark graves, On its flatter “front” were crude carvings that resembles letters at a close inspection, ones detailing seven names, names of people who had lost their lives to misfortune and carelessness in their attempt to cross the forest.
Around that headstone, placed in the middle of a rather large clearing, there was usually little activity. The prey animals that inhabit the region, which was the outer layer of a dungeon, mostly stayed away from the headstone due to the dense aura of death around it, which in turn meant that the arachnoid monsters that inhabit the dungeon also mostly steered clear of that area.
That day, the headstone was not alone, though, as over twenty people had set up camp in a protective way around it.
It was naturally Esperanza’s group, together with Ani and the warriors that had volunteered to join their cause from Agur-Bas. The twenty-one of them chose the clearing where they had buried the people they lost on the trip as the place where they would set their base camp for this expedition, partly because of sentiments, and partly because the Progenies had vowed that they wished to transition into their third tiers in the presence of their lost friends, as a gesture to indicate how they would never forget them.
Esperanza and Belug-ur’ani had naturally discussed about it, and Esperanza even asked Oldies whether that was a good idea or not. In the end, all the information they received, even from Oldies themselves, indicated that there should be no negative effects for doing such a thing, and that for all they knew, it might well trigger some sort of feat recognized by the system.
Ani even related an anecdote she heard from one of the aquatic residents of Agur-Bas on how someone from the underwater village near them once lost a brother to a wild beast and had hunted down said beast, turning it into a sacrifice on their brother’s gravesite, who received a rather unusual class on their next tier because of it.
In general, “unusual” classes would be more rare, and rarer classes tend to be more powerful in the world, as far as Ani knew. Esperanza herself noted such a tendency, with the more uniquely named classes generally meaning more power. As such, both of them agreed that it wouldn’t hurt to let the progenies do as they wished in this matter. After all, Oldies had not prohibited them from doing it either.
From their base camp near the headstone, the group would make forays deeper into the dungeon. Esperanza and Ani had convinced the progenies that they should aim to get their third tiers first, before making an attempt to delve even deeper and clear the dungeon. The beasts in the inner regions of the dungeon were higher in level, with some even in their fourth tiers, so while the progenies had powerful classes, they still lacked the power to tangle with those.
Instead, they confined themselves to delves into the outer regions, where the enemies were mid third tier at most. It was somewhat slow going, with Esperanza leading the Progenies – and Iryl – out to hunt every morning along with Ani and five of her warriors guarding them, in the off chance that they ran into something they couldn’t handle on their own.
Though Esperanza approved of the safety precautions, she did remember how taking down an enemy a higher tier above themselves was a very good feat in terms of the quality of classes that its recipients would have to choose from on their next tier. While the Progenies were nearly guaranteed to have options that would be good by most standards, when given the choice, they still chose to take on such a challenge.
Naturally, in their case the “challenge” in question wasn’t about taking on a monster that was a tier above themselves. They had already done that many times even in their first trip through the forest. They were going another step above that, with the intent to tackle a beast two whole tiers above them. Esperanza herself had done the same, back when she tackled a third tier beast in her first tier.
The Progenies wanted nothing less, so searching for a relatively weaker and lower leveled fourth tier monster also became part of their agenda while they were out on delves. Fortunately Legisvula, Dali, and Gordy were well-suited for such a task, as they could often scout around in relative safety. Esperanza herself could do the same, keeping herself hidden, though she lacked corresponding skills that would allow her to notice things better like Legisvula had.
Even so, the hunting was mostly a smooth one all considered. The arachnoids they ran into in the outer regions were mostly ranging from the late thirties to the low fifties, creatures of a level they had faced before. Between their now higher level, better teamwork, improved armor and weaponry, and familiarity with their opponents, the progenies generally made short work of those monsters without much fuss.
Val-Kas’j used his polearm and short spear to bully his way through most monsters in his path by brute force, his power growing to the point that he could match the physically stronger monsters in a test of strength, if only for brief periods of time. His class was clearly one that developed his physicality in the direction of power above all else.
By contrast, where Val-Kas’j charged through his enemies like a raging bull, Tiesya could be seen moving in such a way that she almost seemed to be dancing while she fought off the monsters near her. The girl moved with such grace and dexterity between attacks aimed her way, the blades in her hand parrying and deflecting those she could not avoid. Like Val-Kas’j, she also had a build that focused on the Body, though likely more towards Dexterity in her case.
Nalihimatu, with his heavy armor and large shield, completed the trio, as like them he too had a path that focused on the body, albeit one based on his Constitution instead. He served as the defender of the group, relying on both his armor and his natural durability – those of his race were always more naturally durable – to block blows that would have sent others reeling behind their force.
Unlike the three, Legisvula, while having high dexterity as well, also spread his build somewhat towards the Mind aspect, as his stealth and scouting skills somewhat relied on them. He was nowhere as powerful as the three, but was far harder to locate or catch, which made him a great scout and a decent assassin who could target the more important foes first.
Ilavakide had a more balanced Body-focused build, with an emphasis on strength – unlike what most modern media in Esperanza’s former world often suggested, one needed strength in order to wield a bow properly – as she was focused wholly on the bow. Her archery had grown better as the young girl never stopped training even when they were relaxing in Agur-Bas.
Resitia had a more unusual build, as she seemed to split her stats between Body – which gained more – and Soul. Apparently a lot of her skills were based off her Soul stat, but since she wielded a spear, she also needed a good Body stat in order to be able to fight well in melee. Without her skills in play, she was a weaker fighter compared to Val or Tiesya, but with them, she could deliver the most damage in one blow out of all the progenies.
As for Dai’Vasy, she focused more on the Mind, as was common for mages, apparently. Mages were pretty rare in the world they were in, and while some of the elders in Agur-Bas had classes related to it, there wasn’t a combat class mage around that could help teach the young girl about her gifts, so she mostly had to find her path going forward on her own. Fortunately, a couple of the warriors under Belug-ur’ani had skills that relate to the Mind stat and could serve as examples for her to learn from, in a way.
Mel-Ivas had a build that was heavy on the Soul, which was also apparently common for healers. The girl was an effective healer, but at times, she felt like she was a burden for the others, as she had to be protected due to her lacking fighting abilities. If those frustrations kept happening, Ani said that it was likely for the girl to receive a class that was more like a combat medic on her later tiers. Esperanza herself was a bit torn, as on one hand, it would be safer for the girl to stay at the back, yet on the other hand, if she could defend herself she would by default be safer when she was under attack.
Over the first week and a half of their return to the arachnoid dungeon, the group spent every day hunting and slaughtering arachnoids to increase their levels. Unlike their previous experience, they slept soundly at night this time around, as some of Ani’s warriors took up the watch, and the experienced warriors were more than capable enough of dealing with what few beasts bothered them at night.
The progenies started rotating and helping those who were less capable of fighting on their own like Mel-Ivas and Iryl to get more kills when the ones who fought directly found themselves straying ahead of the pack. Their efforts allowed them to keep their leveling at a roughly even pace, even if it made them have to fight harder, as disabling a monster was often harder than outright killing it. With some help from Esperanza where needed, they managed to keep it up, regardless.
Eventually, everyone in the group hit their nineteenth level. They then slowly leveled further over the rest of the second week until everyone could feel that they were close to their twentieth level, as in the start of the third tier, and they enacted the plan they had in mind, one feat and challenge they wished to tackle before they become third tiers.
Namely to find and hunt down a fourth tier monster on their own.
Esperanza and Legisvula had already scouted out a target for that purpose several days before that point, an [Immature Arachnoid Queen Lv61] that led a small swarm of its fellow arachnoids, which roamed its territory a few hours away further into the forest than where the group camped up. Their plan was to have Ani and her warriors help out a bit by drawing away some of the creature’s swarm, before the progenies, Esperanza, and Iryl would go in and take on the creature itself.
They cautiously made their way towards the monster’s territory on the morning of the day, until they stopped just a short distance outside the region the creature claimed. Esperanza, Iryl, the progenies, and even her dogs hid themselves atop some trees near the bend of a small river, while Ani led four of her fellows into the monster’s territory, where they then proceeded to make noise to lure the creature in.
Sure enough, before too long the angry buzzing noise of the creatures became audible as they rushed towards the disturbance they felt in their territory. Ani and her warriors lured the swarm out, towards where Esperanza and the rest were hidden, before the fourth tier warrior made her move.
Belug-ur’ani slammed the butt end of her spear against the ground, and a deluge of water suddenly flowed out from the nearby river, forming a wall that cut off most of the swarm from the [Immature Arachnoid Queen Lv61], which was left with only five arachnoids. Ani and her warriors immediately went to work and started cutting down the trapped arachnoids, while Esperanza and the others descended from their hiding spot and started to engage the queen.
