NOVEL NEXT Book Two - Chapter Six - Spiders!
Our first day of what I was unhealthily calling “freedom” was spent stretching our legs, so to speak. After our sprint and my unceremonial finish, we took it a little easier. While neither of us were in any way skilled with the blade, we clashed for hours, Naea using the Chibizashi, her size-changing katana, and me with my Alternating Armament in different forms.
As long as I wasn’t using its staff form, and the accompanying Weapon Mastery skill, the battles were even enough. Naea’s speed and higher level meant she kept up with me, her more continued use of the sword allowing her to reach a journeyman level of skill compared to my complete novice. Once we added skills, it became less fun for the fairy.
“I get the next guidance stone,” she grumbled when we stopped for the night. I conceded that, considering I had already claimed the one sitting in my inventory. It wasn’t like I was hoarding it, I had offered it to Naea, but just like my instincts told me the stone was better with me, Naea said the same. “You’re the big, loud, smashy one, not me.”
Using her full strength, leaning on Battle Bond to give her access to my larger mana pool, the fairy was able to stay in the fight against a single level of Infusion but any more than that was a step too far. In fact, the amount which I had to hold myself back when we went all out was eye-opening and I firmly agreed that Naea was getting whatever next upgrade we could find her. I had multiple ways to hit hard, but Naea relied mostly on speed and her weapon.
My heart hurt as I remembered the beautiful Yo Staff and its devastating effect. The Chibizashi had served Naea well, but it likely wouldn’t last forever. I added some new tasks to my personal checklist, all aimed at making Naea more capable on her own. Still, there was no rush. I would need to find something to gauge my strength soon, but I would put all of those weird Xaverion coins on the idea that nothing around was stronger than we were.
With thoughts of the future, full of confidence, I found sleep for the night.
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“Fucking HELP me!” I screamed in terror. Hubris, that’s what it was. Pure, unabashed hubris. My confidence had got not just myself killed, but Naea as well, for certain. I was awash with dread, long after the actual danger had been dealt with. I managed to stop screaming and cracked my eye open to see Naea giving me the stink eye.
“They’re just spiders, Grant.” Her gaze, withering, her voice tired, Naea sighed and kicked a few of the dead bodies away from me. I flinched. She had used Harmony of the Storm and Sparkstep together to try the nasty bastards, which is something I absolutely could have done if I was not a whimpering mess. Even my Dao seemed to snort at me from within.
“Fuck off,” I told them both, “those things are horrible. Like… couldn’t the universe just not have made giant spiders?” Naea helped nothing by saying that apparently they were as common as anything in the greater multiverse. There were even intelligent spiders out there with solar-system-spanning web-systems. I didn’t want to know any more about space after that.
“It wasn’t even level 10!” Naea continued her bullying.
“That probably makes it as strong as a tank from the old world.” I just really didn’t like spiders. Once you could hear their goddamn footsteps? No thank you.
Naea flitted in front of my face, genuine curiosity clear. “You didn’t have a problem with the scorpions? They have the same amount of legs, and they actually were like a tank.”
“It’s just different. Are you eating them or what?” I found the idea a bit rank, and luckily, if a bit surprisingly, so did Naea.
“Ew, no, that thing’s disgusting.” I was going to continue, but decided to just leave the point in the air. Her attention had wandered, and I’d let it. “There’s that noise again…” I didn’t bother telling her I couldn’t hear whatever she could, she knew. I also wasn’t going to assume she was wrong, either. If anything, I was happy to follow - until we went into the tunnels.
Whatever the noise was, Naea couldn’t describe it. “Somewhere between a song and a scream,” she had said. Given we were wandering mostly without aim, I wasn’t wholly against following a random siren cell to begin with. As we descended ever deeper into the bowels of the planet, I was becoming less confident. Memories of the nightmare broodmother Shub-Naggorath came to mind.
“Let’s just get this done, Nae?” I picked up my pace slightly, and she obliged. She had only been slow because I was being a baby about the cobwebs and spiders. Seriously, nasty shits. Still, they couldn’t even hurt me. They were so light that I barely felt them when they crawled on me and next time, I wouldn’t panic.
A sliver of my pants, torn in the panic, repaired itself against my leg and I shrieked again.
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“Dirty, horrible, nasty, disgusting things.” Each word was punctuated with a blast of pure mana which swept the filthy things from the land. At some point during our delve, I had realised there was a purpose to be found here. While I knew that spiders were ultimately a positive for an ecosystem, so was fertilisation. By turning the spiders to ash, I was giving back to the planet.
There was no actual difficulty to speak of, nor was there anything worth stopping for. So, in quick order we ploughed through the thinning mass of spiders. I had tried blasting out my Dao as a way to scare them off but there was no intelligence in these arachnids, so it was pointless. Once I began using my Mana Bolts the clearance sped up massively.
The tight tunnels opened into a wider space. It wasn’t much bigger than a small house, but compared to the claustrophobic walls around, it was a breath of fresh air. “There you are, you little beautiful thing,” Naea crooned, crossing the room. Before I could say anything, she plucked a familiar looking orb from the ground. I was just about to tell her to be careful when I was rudely interrupted by a horrible whirring noise from above.
Oh god.
My eyes moved upwards just as a large mass of fur and chitin dropped to the floor of the cavern, only feet away. Despite my bravado, a phobia is a phobia, and seeing a truly spider the size of a horse suddenly baring down was a lot. My mana shivered and slipped from my grasp. I tried to reach for my Dao and I heard as the dragon within snorted at me, pulling away.
Boss Monster - Giant Great Fox Spider - Level 42
I wouldn’t call it great, I thought absently. It should have been a complete pushover fight, not even worth the use of an Infusion. Instead, I slipped to the floor and found myself blocking fangs dripping with venom. My armament was a shield, and the massive pincers were trying to rip it from around my arm and get at my juicy bits. “Literally whenever you’re ready, Nae?!”
The massive thing was smashed in the side and I turned the shield into a staff, letting the monster slip away into the cave way. “I can’t get any speed in here! It’s tough, too!” With an uncomfortable level of speed, the spider scuttled upwards. A set of horrible pitch black eyes never left the pair of us. “I think maybe it’s got a lair buff.”
Reacting to Naea’s words, the huge grey spider launched at her. I intercepted, less than happy with my lot in life. A heavy staff smack changed the spider’s direction, and confirmed Naea right. Damn thing is tough. “What the hell is a lair buff, Naea?” I couldn’t help noticing how far away her voice sounded when she responded. “Are you back in the tunnel?!”
“No…” Her chastised voice sounded from the tunnel entrance, while I batted away the spider. Liar. “A lair buff can be anything, but we’re way more scared than we should be.”
“You’re sca-”
“Shut up, Grant. Living here while it grew stronger, the spider basically made this place its domain. Whatever effects it's getting is making it more powerful here, and us more scared.” I grunted that she should continue while I kept the damn thing busy. “Either you overpower its Dao or kill it.”
Easy choice. Dao was not as simple as mana, it didn’t exist as a power source contained in a battery. Mana could be described as such, but Dao was more like having a good flow while working or crafting. Actions that aligned with the Dao made one feel closer to its power, and therefore more powerful themself. I hadn’t noticed the fear effect of the spider’s lair until too late, and the Dao of the Dragon had given me its answer. It wouldn’t help me be brave. So, I dove into the Dao of the Tempest.
I am the storm. Enter my range and feel my wrath.
The staff in my hand became a conduit for the force, reacting to movement with blinding speeds. Each time the spider tried to lash out or move past me, it found the strike of lightning stopping its progress. With a sound like crashing thunder, the Alternating Armament smashed against the hard exoskeleton of the spider. I had absolutely no idea what went on inside a spider’s shell, but I hoped it was taking some lasting damage.
I had neglected my newest Aspect somewhat, as I already embodied many of the ideals of the tempest without intentional thought. It had evolved from Aspect to Dao Pool nearly immediately, and found its place in my inner world already waiting for it as one of three sub-aspects to my main power. All of this did not make it lesser, however, and I coursed with its power.
When a violent storm passes, the correct choice is to hide and hope it misses you. The spider didn’t get such a chance. My style changed, no more the overpowering dragon, but an inexorable storm. Every move it made was met with pain. I swatted it again and again, pushing it further back into a corner. If it tried to go to my right, it would be stopped. My left? Another smack. If it began to turn, to go higher on the walls, it was bashed down.
It roared in frustration, and I felt something twitch inside. I had overcome whatever fear was being forced upon me, and the dragon was watching. My more potent Dao itched, but I pushed it down. Ironically, that was a move more in keeping with the Dao, but I ignored the dragon for the tempest.
A storm didn’t rush, or focus, or get scared. It simply was. The world was forced to exist alongside it until the storm was spent. I kept the pressure up, increasing my speed of reaction until the spider couldn’t even twitch without getting a reaction. Something clicked, and I smiled. I ignored the System ping and brought down the lightning strike.
Infused Strike had become Strike of the Ruler, but that was more of a System-given name for the same technique. Instead of the Dao of the Dragon filling my body and staff, it was the Tempest which bore down. The ability wasn’t fit for purpose and had become something slightly different. Not that it mattered to the spider. The cavern shook as a thunderous impact ripped through all defence, destroying the brain and most of the torso with a crunching smash.
I was breathing heavily, but satisfied with the outcome. It was good to be reminded that I didn’t know everything, and if I hadn’t had Naea to explain, I would never have calmed down enough to rely on the Dao of the Tempest. I flicked open the System message now the fight was over and a packet of information flooded in, as I unlocked a new skill.
Skill Upgrade - Infused Strike has upgraded to Tempest Strike (Tempest)
Erratic, but unstoppable. Arbitrary but all-powerful.
I left Naea to loot everything and got myself out of those godforsaken tunnels as quickly as possible. My body, still burning with the power of the tempest, delighted in the fresh air once I found it. I could only chastise myself and breathe in the new flavour of the world, looking at it through a new lens.
Magic is damn cool, I confirmed in satisfaction.