Spiders
Hours after claiming this place as my shelter, I fell asleep. When I awoke, I began renovating the shelter. If I was going to make a change then my first step was to be proactive.
A few old desks kept the shelter from collapsing. I'd worked to add to the desks and raise the ceiling a little. Then I found a half-broken door and attached it to the entrance. There was a mail slot in the door that made a good peep hole.
From the safety of my shelter, I spied on the outside world. Out on another hill a small band of younglings ranked were prowling around on a nearby hill. They scaled a hill covered in white doors. Compared to his random needle and corpse covered hill the neighboring hill could be called tidy.
The band of younglings had quickly crossed across the sea of doors and began poking around. Each had armed themselves with metal spears made from metal table legs. They prowled like red skinned weapon wielding raptors. Worst, they were just out of system range.
350 meters to 400 yards away, I saw them with my darkling eyes enhanced by the perception stat. By squeezing my eyes with muscles in my head my vision zoomed. I counted seven of them. They looked like little red dinosaurs with human hands, and some had human hair. Raptor people would be an apt description.
They were watchful for predators from the sky, neighboring hills, and one even eyed my hill. Then one poked at a door. Something happened the youngling was gone. I blinked once then twice. It was too fast, if my perception hadn't been upgraded, I'd have missed it.
Large spider legs had wrapped around the creature before dragging it behind one of the white doors. The door was resealed before the others turned around. They searched for him until one poked another door on the hill. It was too fast. The creature took two before my eyes.
They were down to four and it was too late to flee. The doors around the creatures peaked open. Large spider like creatures with human faces leapt from their trapdoors and captured the hunters.
It was one sided. The spears bounded off of hardened carapace uselessly. One of the spiders flipped on her back and sprayed their prey with sticky webbing. It was over after that.
Afterwards the spiders lazily cocooned the younglings and dragged them beneath the doors.
It had ended too quickly. My system overclocked my body and I could barely keep up. Every point in perception increased my natural perception beyond normal limits. 1 perception was a 10% increase to all of his senses.
From my shelter, I began to really look at the hill. There were doors all over the hill. One had been peaked up and staring in my direction the entire time. I closed the latch to my shelter and moved back to the inner most depths of my haven.
In the dark, I counseled myself. Warning the hunting party wouldn't have made a difference. The spiders had allowed them to reach the middle of the hill. That took planning and cunning. They let the hunters enter the heart of their territory before killing them. That didn't help me at all. I was alone and very vulnerable.
How safe was I in my shelter?
They knew where I was, so not safe at all and that I was alone. I hadn't had to deal with this part of the process. I'd been the system. No pain, or emotions to cloud my judgement. I gave quests the the adventurer caried them out. I was separated above the hosts I lead. Maybe that's why so many died.
I measured the difficulty of wiping out the spider hill. At my current state, it was worth 100 of any point I desired. I could even give myself an item drop. Unfortunately, I could only give drops of items I've identified. A pride shard was something I've never come into contact with. I needed a weapon to close the gap. If they were cunning, then I'd be tactful.
Ping!
Quest: Craft A Weapon
Reward: +1 STR, +1 DEX, +2 INT
Fortunately, I was in a junk yard. Specifically, I was under a research lab. There were a lot of old metal tables, leather straps, and synthetic materials. My claws could make excellent screw drivers in a pinch. I still remembered the methods some of my hosts used to craft weapons.
With old table legs, screws, and leather straps; I was able to make an approximation of a bow. My first thought was to make a sling but, I didn't have the time to practice enough with such a weapon. With my supplies in hand, I skuttled back into my shelter to make my weapon of choice. Supplies for arrows were easier to get than I'd expected.
There were an endless number of small rods used to turn blinds dumped down here. After stabbing into the center of a plastic rod with a needle, I poured scavenged glue in the hole before setting the needle inside. With my claws, I tightened screws. I held up my bow and pulled back my first arrow and fired the weapon.
The screw stripped and the the arrows fell off. My second attempt snapped the leather straps I used as string. I found some nylon wire and cut an indention in the arrows with my claws. After more tinkering the bow began to come together.
Perhaps, a club would have been easier. I could have used the glue I'd found to make a glass covered club. It would satisfy the quest but not the spirit of the quest. I assigned it because it was difficult. Giving myself points for making a club invited disaster.
I ventured out into the unknown again to look for better henges. After the last massacre, I kept my eyes on the spider hill always. Just when I picked up a promising set of henges with hardly any rust, I saw something on the spider peak out from its door.
Another youngling invited doom. It walked across the hill under the watchful gazes of the spiders.
They were far away but my perception was good. The spiders were hesitant to reach out and grab this youngling. I changed out the henges and picked up my bow. It felt different than before. To my arms it felt sturdier.
Ping!
Quest Completed: Craft A Weapon
Rewarded: +1STR, +1DEX, +2INT
Strength 4
Dexterity 3
Intelligence 6
Ping!
Quest: Impossible Shot!
Slay A Spider Mid Attack
Reward 10LUK
Ping!
Quest: Safe Passage!
Reward: 1 Ally
Could my bow send a hard piece of plastic nearly 350 meters to the next hill? Would it survive the draw to give it the strength to reach the hill? Did my nylon bow string have the strength to survive? Was the shot even possible?
I had no fletching on my arrows. I've never practiced. Everything was reliant on stats. It was a one in a million shot.
I thought out my problem with an AI's speed. Before I'd never factored in my own self-preservation.
The attack could cause the spiders to attack. They might be happy to ignore me for much longer if I don't attack. Doing this might lead to my death. I'm alone on this hill with no one to help me. Even if I kill the spider before it grabs her, what about the next one? The chances of her getting out of there alive was slim to none.
If I didn't help it would be none. There was a chance that the youngling would take what I had. How would I know if my kindness would be returned? Solo grinding without an ally always ended in my failure. Survival is a team effort.
"Run," I yelled the words and fired when one trap door raised higher than the others. The youngling raised her large black eyes to me and burst into movement. She dodged the incoming spider's legs before my arrow slammed into it.
Ping!
Quest Completed: Impossible Shot!
Slay A Spider Mid Attack
Rewarded: 10LUK
Luck 13
Ping!
Level Up
Ping!
Level Up
Ping!
Level Up
…
Ping!
Jacob lvl8
+60HP +6 to all stats
She glowed purple and charged towards me. The spiders leapt from their trap doors. I fired my arrows hitting spiders in their soft human faces. Long used hypodermic needles slammed into them. I pulled arrow after arrows from my makeshift quiver.
The tentacled youngling with the large black eyes leapt across the distance between the hills. She floated across the passageway before dropping heavy in a pile of junk gasping for breath. How did I know she was female? Neither of us wore clothes.
The spiders left their trap doors and stared at me. One grasped the arrow stuck in her face and pulled the needle out. Blood sprayed out for a moment before the wound closed over. After a moment they turned and skuttled back into their trapdoors.
My body shook as the zone slowly edged out of my system. I'd focused only on keeping them off of my future ally. I heard a snap. My bow string hadn't survived the stress. I'd need to find some strips of nylon and wrap them together. Then I needed better arrows. My bow's range was impressive but not enough.
I leaned down and picked up my new ally. Well a possible ally if everything worked out. I sucked in a deep breath and double checked that she was female. Her scent screamed female. I raised my hand and ran my digits through her tentacled head fringes. They wrapped around my fingers and squirmed. It was oddly satisfying.
With her in one arm and my bow in the other, I opened my shelter with my foot and placed her on an old mattress I scavenged looking for screws. While she rested, I took a few strips of nylon and wrapped them together. Winding was a long process.
She pushed herself up before collapsing against the mattress. The girl sucked in a deep breath before letting out a ragged cough. "Where am I?"
I wound the nylon to completion and tied off an end. "You're in my shelter. My name's Jacob what's yours?" I asked.
She opened her mouth before shutting it and turning away. "I don't have name. My name betrayed me so, I got rid of it. That's all you need to know." The nameless youngling said.
After a moment of scanning, some of her data came through.
Ping!
??? lvl19 Illithid
Stage: Youngling
Next Stage: Plebe
Forms:
Common: Mind Flayer
Uncommon: High Illithid, White Illithid
Rare: Oracle
Very Rare: Psion Lord
A loud gurgle echoed from her stomach before I could ask another question. She turned her head away. "It would be better if you left. I'm sure you know what my kind eat." She said.
"Not a clue. I'm quite partial to flesh, blood, and dark matter myself. What can I call you if you're old name betrayed you?" I asked.
"Call me whatever you want. If you aren't leaving, then you'll die soon. When I get hungry enough, I can only think about food. And my food can only think about becoming my food." She said.
I tied the second knot and set the bowstring. Once that was settled, I waited for clarification.
I sighed and started loading arrows in my quiver. "I get it. What do you eat?" I asked. Her tentacles wiggled in a way that reminded me of an eye roll.
Her tentacles settled down around the nape of her neck and before she released a sigh of her own. "Brains, I eat the grey matter between your ears. Are you happy?"
"Ok, I needed to go hunting anyway." She opened her mouth and closed it. The words had never come from her mouth to begin with. They echoed from her thoughts. Why did she bother with those mannerisms?
"My father hates the mannerisms of lesser creatures. So, I made it a point to learn and incorporate them." She said.
Ah, she was a rebellious teenager that can read minds. That explained everything. The real question was, why was she here to begin with. This place seemed pretty remote for a level 19. She was roughly 11 levels above me. The spiders were too far out of range to detect their levels. It was probably pretty high.
She turned over on her side. "Head left, down, and you should run into a small tribe of goblings. I need my food to be alive. Please hurry, and don't find someone too innocent." She said.
"You still need a name." I called out to her.
"Call me whatever you want. I don't care. Any name is better than the one he gave me." I smile spread across my face.
"Ok, whatever you say Gwen." Her face tentacles scrubbed against each other. She opened her mouth to show off a ring of teeth designed to puncture skulls slide out of a cavity in her maw.
"Hungry!" The words made his brain rattle in his skull. He turned to leave the shelter. "Gwen is ok." The words were a whisper compared to the roar before.
Ping!
SYSTEM ALERT: -3HP
As the door shut behind me, I gripped my head. Blood oozed from my nose and a felt a dampness at my ears. That was vicious.
Ping!
Quest Completed: Safe Passage
Rewarded: 1Ally
Ping!
Quest Completed: Find Allies
Rewarded: +1INT +1Per
Intelligence 13
Perception 13
Ping!
Quest: Bring Someone Back Alive
Reward: +2DEX +3LUK
Ping!
Quest: Find the Source Of Daddy Issues
Reward: +3PER +4INT
Ping!
Quest: Locate Gobling Tribe
Reward: +1PER +1AGL
I closed the windows after they appeared. They were quests I generated. Doing things without a quest behind them were useless. The whole Daddy issues received was rated for a higher reward. It felt like either a main quest or at least an important side quest. That meant, I could issue multi part quests if it activated. Those type of quests allowed far more wiggle room for drops. Normally, quest item drops had to be random if physical objects were involved. As the system, I could fix the randomization more than normal.