CH16: Spider Hatred

Perched atop a floating tree, the king sat on a throne of wood and gold, close enough to the artificial star of the second floor to incinerate lesser creatures. It was only by his royal grace that his staff survived. Few would dare to oppose him if they knew that his power kept the tree aloft and the monsters under his command alive.

Goblins was only good at kneeling and pleading, and he worked as his staff always eyed his queen. The woman in question made the birds sing pleasantly for him and amused him often with tales of her homeland. She inspired him to construct his castle from a great tree and let it become one with the heavens.

The soil had turned golden as it soaked in his glorious power. The color was important. Gold was the color of the gods, rulers, and heroes. It was proof of his divine right that none could deny him. The king had his queen, and already life quickened inside of her. Soon, she would bear him an heir. Elves took a long time to gestate their young, a mere 555 days, numbers holy to Bael like the Agios trees, and she would give birth.

…

Exotic Skinning

1/99

Rank: F

Grilling II

1/99

Rank: F

Zack made his decisions based on the information Tom provided. He was bound to skin things of unusual sizes and shapes, so exotic Spinning was blatant. Grilling II was needed to later combine with other cooking skills into Cooking. Only three different F-grade cooking skills were needed with the II notation beside them to combine. Tom was great for letting them know things like that.

So, if he wanted a resist-all skill, he needed to get Heat Resistance and two other Resistance skills in F rank and then combine them in E rank. That wouldn’t be too hard.

Zack poured over a map of the first floor. It wasn’t large; there were only three biomes. They were in the forest; behind them was the valley, and ahead of them was the prairie, where the equine monsters came from. It was flat ground with a few spots of forest where the giraffe monsters fed. Hyenas also roamed the area in massive packs, and there were the dangers of upper-floor monsters being on the prowl for easier prey.

The next stretch was only a few miles or almost five kilometers; depending on the distance measured, it was all arbitrary. He did plan to snag a few hyenas because he liked their spots. Zack checked his Primordial World (Seed).

Primordial World (Seed)

320/99999

Rank: G

Range: 10 Cubic Kilometers

Adding so many monsters with skills, some of which increased their mana significantly increased the amount of mana he gained from them. It had only been a few days inside, but his mana income had improved considerably.

He spread the fertilizer around, tilled fields, and planted new seeds. It was growing, and some monsters had eaten the Agios fruit rotting on the ground. While most went insane, a few giraffes that ate the unripe fruit retained their sanity.

“Are you ready to leave?” Thistle asked him.

Zack stood up from his seat and stretched. Superhuman endurance could only go so far. He would need a long rest after their rescue mission. A few adventurers were fitting Thistle with new armor plates from some of the monsters slain by her while he was ranking up his skills. It was steel plates meant for centaurs, and it showed. She was weighed down until she took the heavy armor skill. Zack was sure she would max it out quickly.

He Milly paid close attention to how the men attached and strapped the armor, taking careful notes. That would be useful later when they found armor that was enchanted. Armor and weapons followed grades like everything else in the world. While a G rank could use F rank armor and weapons, they were usually too heavy or required a specific color of mana that G rank people couldn’t provide.

Dungeons were significant in the way they could provide armor for nearly anyone.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” The captain asked.

“Erie is a friend; we will do our best to save her.”

“Monsters of the 2nd floor are more intelligent than the ones on the first, but don’t let that fool you. They are still bloodthirsty slaves to the dungeon.” The captain said.

Zack knew that to be true. Even with the monsters free from the dungeon’s influence, it took time for his monster-tamer skill to bring them to heel.

They left the fort and went deeper into the forest. Zack stopped their march when he saw something glint in the moonlight. He picked up a stick and tapped it. A hatch lifted, revealing a creature with eight eyes and legs. He cringed at the sight of a giant spider.

“Why did it have to be spiders?” Zack asked.

He stepped over the trip wire and stomped closer to the monster. It lowered its trap door, ready to lunge at him. Zack barreled into it and struck with a hammering blow. It shrieked as he beat on it and screamed. Green blood splashed at his feet, and he wrecked the monster. Then he grabbed one of its struggling legs, tore it up from its hiding place, and tossed it aside. The twitching cut-up thing tried to escape as Zack roared and punched it.

“I hate spiders,” Zack yelled, kicking the 50-pound arachnid deeper into the woods.

“You never seemed to mind them before,” Thistle said.

“The cute jumpers are okay, but if I catch one in my home or on my way, it's over for them,” Zack said.

Waking up bitten by one a few too many times had made a mark on him. Spiders were not allowed in his home or in his way.

Cocoons of monsters littered the forest's upper canopy, and some spiders the size of small dogs lowered themselves on an excellent web and stared at their passing.

“Milly, burn them with fire,” Zack said.

“No, they aren’t bothering us. We can go right past them without having to fight. Erie doesn’t have much time, so we must remember that. That stunt you pulled earlier cost us a good couple of minutes,” Milly said.

“I don’t think we’re leaving this forest without a fight,” Jason said.

“Yes, so Milly, burn them while we can,” Zack said.

“We might not have to fight them. What if they cleared the path for us or are keeping something else in check,” Thistle said.

“I can handle something else. I hate spiders. These aren’t cute little jumpers in the grass or spiders off in distant webs hurting no one.” Zack said.

“You’re wrong. They aren’t hurting anyone. We only need to watch where we step, and we can get out of this forest without a fight.” Milly said.

“If we get ambushed, then I’m going to shout. I told you so.” Zack said.

Milly growled, and the air grew warmer. Then she sniffed the air. “Did you learn heat resistance?”

“Milly, focus,” Zack said.

A cocoon fell, and he heard dry bones splinter inside it. Zack raised his hand and cut through it, revealing human bones. Zack turned to Milly, who shrugged.

“This is a dungeon. Of course, the giant spiders will hunt adventurers in their territory. That doesn’t mean we should get distracted by them.”

Webs started covering entire portions of the forests with small cat-sized spiders. Zack felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of them. It was so strange seeing spiders so large. A part of him recoiled at the sight of something so bizarre. Their delicate, spindly legs and fangs dripping with venom had his fight-or-flight instincts raging.

He wanted to rip them apart at the joints and maybe grill them up. He imagined they probably tasted like crabs. Zack was starting to feel hungry and afraid. Zack ate more fish to refresh his buffs, but how long before it wouldn’t be enough? He was constantly fueling his Plow skill, Monster Tamer, Monster Husbandry, Primordial World (seed), and Strong Fist skills, and it took a certain amount of fuel to keep going. Zack had overclocked his regen with buffs, and with the additional Death March Skill and Heat Resistance, the strain had noticeably ticked up.

Then, there were the obvious signs that the forest needed to be burned to the ground to end the spider threat permanently. Milly wasn’t thinking straight. More spiders watched them as they passed through spider territory down a narrow road, barely allowing Thistle passage.

Zack showed his teeth as they traveled through in a grim smile. One of the spiders would attack, and then Milly would have no choice but to crush the ones that were too big while the little ones burned up.

The moonlight vanished overhead as they entered the deepest depths of the forest, where the land dipped into a vast interconnected web. Still, there was an untouched path. The only thing blocking the way was a truly massive spider with a human torso where its head should have been.

Cynthia

Rank: F

“Fuck,” Zack said.

She gave him the weirdest feeling between sexual arousal and terror-fueled wrath. Her body was wrapped in a black silk dress that showed off her massive breasts and opened to reveal her flat chest. Just below where her dress was covered was a long camel toe that clenched when her eyes locked on him. His mouth went dry as two separate skills went to work, and he couldn’t do a thing to stop the information she provided. She was aroused, interested in strapping him down if he was willing, and she wanted to use him to breed.

Zack could see her letting him free so long as she did what she liked. The woman’s long black hair looked well cared for. She loved it and wanted it to draw attention. His eyes locked on it, and he imagined running his hands through it. His eyes never dipped down to her spider body because that would have caused something to lock in, and he couldn’t let that happen. If not for his skills giving him hints, he might have screwed him over with his roaming eyes.

It was one of the most irritating experiences of his life. Why couldn’t it have been something like snakes? He would have loved to meet Lamia. Instead, he had the bondage-loving drider with a massive vagina that wanted attention. She would blush if he looked at it too long, then she would use her forces to end their rescue mission. The others would be captured and bound, and he would be given a full viewing of all of Cynthia’s assets. Erie would be left to her fate.

He hated that it was tempting to add her to his demi-plane. Yes, he hated spiders, but this would put her fully under his power.

Powerful creatures could resist his mana F grade with their mana color, which would instantly shatter his portals.

“Why have you come to my nest?” Milly moved to speak. “Not you, dog. I’m speaking with the one in charge. You the one with blood coating your body from an endless slaughter.” Her cheeks lightly blushed. “Tell me your business for coming here.”

“Our friend has gotten herself kidnapped by a powerful being on the second floor. We are only passing through and seek no fight with you.” Zack faced her fully with his muscles bulged under his restraint. The desire to kill and tear was tipping over. “Would you grant us passage?”

“How admirable to face danger and my endless numbers for friendship. What will you do if I decline your request?”

Zack stepped forward. “I have ways of forcing compliance.” His shorts were too tight, and she saw what he was working with.

A cough interrupted their peaceful discussion as a male drider climbed down from his web armed with two lances. His white hair fell around his shoulders, and his red eyes were out for blood.

“You dare try and proposition my mate.”

“Buck,” Thistle said.

Rancor

Rank: G+

“It's been too long since I’ve had two virile young men fight over me.” He had misread the woman. She wanted a show and attention. “There will be no interference. Fight to your heart's content. The winner will earn the right to mate with me.”

There was grass on the ground poking up along the trail and some old vines still holding onto life.

“With pleasure, my queen, you shall dine on his liquified flesh tonight.”

Vines wrapped around the drider’s legs and dragged him toward the tree.

“Milly, use fireball.” 

“Fine,”

A fireball the size of a basketball crashed into Rancor just as a shield formed around him. The explosion caught nearby webs aflame as the spiders rushed them. Zack dashed forward and turned just in time to avoid a lance as the Drider shot forward on eight legs.

Zack’s fist impacted the driver’s front leg, taking it at the joint. Rancor returned his other lance to pierce Zack, and a portal opened behind him. Berserk bears attacked, barely under Zack’s control, bit Rancor’s back legs, and began dragging him into the portal. Another portal opened in front of the queen, and a bear shot out, claws raised as 4 tons of berserk bear impacted the spider queen.

Two was his limit; he couldn’t bring something like a spider queen into his demi-plane. Fortunately, he had a small army of bears breeding like rabbits and completely berserk. The spider queen threw the bear off of her after it had mauled her face and breasts. Zack sent it back through a portal, where it got its bearings and went back to raging before he launched it behind her.

The bear bit the back of her head, and she shrieked as Rancor raised his lance and thrust aimed at Zack’s heart. He stepped away from the attack as one of the bears dragged it several feet away. Zack had taken to adding bears to his demi-plan wherever he found them. They were, after all, nature’s perfect killing machine. After eating the agios fruits, they grew larger and magically powerful. Their berserk state made it easy to direct them. They weren’t under his control, but guiding their direction before unleashing them wasn't too hard.

Zack opened a portal, and the bear biting the back of Cynthia’s head began dragging her body into it. It was rather hard for her to resist.

Once she was inside, Zack directed his bear to let her go and attack a squirrel on its favorite shitting tree. He unleashed his murder hawks upon the charging spiders while the fires raged before hitting breaks between the webs. The hawks tore through the spiders and avoided the webs, slowly fanning out and killing the spiders in great numbers. Zack snatched a few colorful ones because he might be able to do something with their silk.

Jason pointed at him in shock. “You’re a summoner. You weren’t a warrior build at all.”

Zack covered his lips. “Don’t spread that around. I’m still weak and need time to get going,” Zack said.