Chapter 14: Nasty Victories & Floor Cleared
*Munch, munch, munch, munch*
Tons of fruits, specially ordered from mc-suspicious from the Blackmarket, are placed around the plaza in huge crates. And the inhabitants are gleefully eating them. Hope they like those fruits. It cost me all the money I got from selling the trash in the purple area. Not that I didn't have enough dough to buy a secret weapon or two~...
And on top of the pillar in the middle of the plaza, there's the crystal orb, AKA the lost treasure that beast-spider had stolen. It shined with a purple light across the whole village, and for some reason, I feel sorta uplifted from the light. A spirit-improver, huh? No wonder it's called a "treasure".
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
You have cleared the Quest: "Recovery of the Lost Spider Treasure".
You have cleared the Quest: "Sweet Fruit Delivery".
You have obtained a total of 1.0 Aether Points.
The completion rate of the Quest: "Serve the Nest" has reached 95%.
Mhm~. The Quest-clear jingle is as nice on the ears as always~. Though I'm starting to get sick of hearing it by now...
"Thanks..., white one..." said the mayor in between her bites of fruits.
"Yeah, yeah," I replied offhandedly. While it may not be so important, that fake gentleman left the place after getting a call, I think. He did leave while crying tears of blood and had a longing gaze on the spider women. Maybe I can become good friends with that guy?
Anyway, the Quest reward outside the AP is more important than him. Even if the AP's also important. *Cough*, the rewards are two skill books that grant the [Luck] and [Speed] skills. The former is from the treasure-Quest, the latter is the reward for the delivery of the fruits.
[Luck] and [Speed] boost your LUC and SPD by 1 point per skill level. Though I doubt people would have problems understanding that after seeing one example of those "Ability Skills", like [Magic] was for me. That's probably the reason it's so "easy" to get them.
Still, skill books or not, these things only improve your stats by 1 point for each skill level. It doesn't sound like something people would want to use their points on..., and you need to spend 3 AP to level them up. For each level. Oh boy...
Well, free stuff is free stuff, so let's get them all. The last Quest gives [Dexterity], another Ability Skill, so it may be the most important one I can get. Even if it's only 1 point.
I've spent 3 AP to increase [Mystical Thread]'s level to 2, and also bought two more skills that will come in handy. Meaning...
---
I'm back! Dark Cave!!
And as usual, this place is too gloomy for me. But thanks to the new additions to my skill list, I could find the bastard before it found me...whoaaaa...
What's this guy supposed to be? If the boss in the abandoned nest was a beast-spider, then this guy looks like a human spider. Its body looks like it's a deformed human's body, and its legs look like human hands. Just its eight eyes and mouth looks like a spider's. Also, like the beast-spider, this... "human-spider", its body has a black and purple coloration. This time around, it's the body that's purple and with black lines instead of vice versa.
It seems to have noticed that I entered the cave, but it's clueless about where I'm hiding. Mostly thanks to the two new skills I got.
Skill:Lesser Darkness TalentSkill Type:ElementSkill Tier:1Element:DarknessEffect:
Allows one to obtain and use Darkness element skills.
Slight improvement to all Darkness element skills.
Skill:LurkSkill Type:Active SkillSkill Tier:1Element:DarknessEffect:
While active, conceals the user from the eyes of others by consuming MP.
I finally decided on my Talent after reading the Scout threads. The best attributes for a Scout are either Wind or Darkness. And since demons have a connection to the latter, I went for it. And it had [Lurk], which is more useful for me in the Dungeon-corridors than the Wind element's movement-focused skills.
They're not without weaknesses though. Not the Talent skill, as it's a passive thing, but as mentioned, [Lurk] requires the usage of MP to be active, so I'm almost empty at the moment. I'm recharging with one of the MP Potions, leaving me with 8 left, so..., I better get this right the first time.
The human-spider hasn't noticed me yet as I'm hiding behind the boulder and observing it. Guess its eyes aren't as good as mine, even if mine only work at a 5 meters distance. Therefore, I decided to use the first secret weapon I bought from the Blackmarket. And throw~.
*BOOOOM!*
Crap, that thing had more firepower than I expected! Damn that "gentle-jerk", he gave me more for my money than I expected! Sucking up to him with some sweet-talk backfired!
But that should have killed the human-spider. The level-up notification should appear..., huh? It's not appearing...
*FLASH!*
GYAAAA!? IT HURTS, IT HURTS!! What the, that black flash again!? It hit my shoulder! And it DAMN HURTS!
The stupid critter survived that explosion!? And this sound..., it's coming this way!?
I ignored the pain in my wounded shoulder and rolled away from the place I was lying in pain. And just in time. The human-spider just landed on the place I was lying at! And now's it's glaring at me..., why are its eyes glowing black like that? ESCAPE!
A black flash struck the ground. And that would have been me if I hadn't rolled away. An evil eye? Was that an evil eye!? I WANT!!
Tch, if this is the case, I should have boosted [Evasion] instead of..., I'm such an idiot. Thread Volley, FIRE!
Several magic circles appeared and released magic threads at the human-spider en masse. This is my ultimate attack, the Thread Volley! Thanks to [Mystical Thread]'s level going up, the number and quality of the threads I can release at the same time has increased! And for no higher cost than normal! And..., who the f*ck am I talking to? Did the evil eye do something to me?
In any case, the human-spider..., has turned into a pincushion. That gotta hurt...
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
Your level has increased by 2. You have reached Lv.10.
You have obtained 0.8 Aether Points.
Class: [Scout] has reached Lv.10.
You have obtained 0.3 Aether Points.
Hmm, it was weaker than I excepted. Well, strong enough to survive the bomb, but it wasn't like the boss which needed enough stabs that I felt my arm hurt even when I logged off...?
WAIT A SEC!! Classes can give you AP as well? AWESOME!
Okay, I'm motivated about getting more Scout skills! But before that...
---
"*Horrifying screams of suffering*." - Chest Mimic
I gotta defeat this guy first!
I watched as the Chest Mimic trashed about in its room after it had swallowed the special bottle I'd ordered from the Blackmarket. An extremely potent poison that could kill even a D-rank creature! It may be considered a waste for the people outside, but I wanna clear this floor before starting exploring the center of this map!
Ah, and regarding the "clearing this floor" thing, I'm not counting the populated nests as part of that. I'd need an army or two to clear those places...
Still, this Mimic is holding out. Did that so-called gentleman give me a failed product?
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
Your level has increased by 6. You have reached Lv.16.
You have obtained 2.4 Aether Points.
Your Karma Value has fallen.
Guess he didn't. But only 6 levels..., I wanted to evolve one more time to fix this broken body of mine. Guess I can farm EXP as I explore the floor.
I watched as the Chest Mimic evaporated into black smoke. That's proof that it's not only the spiders that have such a constitution, I guess..., oh? Something is remaining after the smoke cleared. A drop item!? My first one ever!
I hurried into the secluded room and grabbed the item dropped by the Mimic. This is..., a coin? It looks like the same kind as the coin I found in the old storage room/ruined office, just shabbier. Is this a "nickel" compared to the first coins?
And there's something else here. A medallion...? Wait, this is half of a medallion! Just like the one I got for beating the boss in the purple nest! I wonder...
Nope! Didn't work! I tried to force the two halves together, but it seems that despite being the same medallion broken into two halves, they're not designed to be merged again. At least, it's not that simple. Maybe I need some help from a Crafter player?
The medallions aside, I'm starting to become a decent player after all this time. I got decent skills, better stats, and even better equipment.
The black leather armor that was the 100%-clear reward from the Nest of Sloth Quest is way better than the rags I used before. It takes the shape of leather armor that consists of a corset-like tanktop, shorts, greaves, and boots. All parts are made with either black leather or black cloth. It feels sorta erotic with these spiderweb stockings and gloves...
I even got a handy Item Belt and the Iron Dagger~. Though, the latter is sorta busted up after I kept on attacking the hard exoskeleton of the beast-spider...
Eh, whatever! As for my stats at the moment...
Name: Garami | [Giant Killer]Race:Unstable Djinn | Player Gender:FemaleLevel:16/20Traits:2Karma Value:-102Main Class:Scout Lv.11
Skills:15Titles:6Aether Points:8.2HP: 39/37 [+2]MP: 102/100 [+2]SP: 61/59 [+2]STR: 12 [+2]VIT: 37 [+2]MAG: 60 [+2]RES: 59 [+2]SPD: 106 [+2]DEX: 135 [+2]INT: 34 [+2]LUC: 135 [+2]
Skill List:Ability Skills:
[Magic Lv.1] [Speed Lv.1] NEW[Dexterity Lv.1] NEW[Luck Lv.1] NEW
Magic Skills:
[Mystical Threads Lv.2] UP1
Crafting Skills:
[Create Traps Lv.1]
Active Skills:
[Lurk Lv.1] NEW
Passive Skills:
[Throwing Lv.1] [Evasion Lv.1] [Auto-Map Lv.1]
Perception Skills:
[Detect Monsters Lv.1] NEW[Detect Treasure Lv.1] [Identification Lv.1]
Elements:
[Lesser Darkness Talent Lv.1] NEW
Monster Skills:
[Sleep Demon's Touch Lv.1]
Title List:Achievement Titles:
[First Quest Cleared] [Emergency Quest Clearer] [Giant Killer][Merciless] NEW[First Boss Kill] NEW
Hunting Titles:
[First Kill: Arachnid]
Hmm, pretty well. Let's ignore the dead stat known as STR. I've decided to make a build that doesn't use it anyway. And let's also ignore that my Karma Value has fallen to such deep depths.
Anyhow, I got over 8 AP now! Yahoo! Let's boost [Lurk] and [Detect Monster]...ah! Evolution! It requires AP as well! And I haven't figured out about those papers from before!
*Grr*, there's no other way. I'll keep from spending more AP for now. Let's try to get to the center of the map without any new skills. At worst I'll return to my Player Room..., with my pride wounded. *Sigh*...