The Dungeon Mafter Series - Days 12 to 14

Day 12 - Expedition

The next morning started with a bombshell. After I peeled the sleeping Smaragd off me (while trying to ignore that she was still naked), she told me that she was going to the lair of the White Widows to try and rescue the goblins. When I asked her why on earth she would do something as dangerous as that, she said…

“Because the chief is supposed to help the other gobbis, and Smaragd is the chief now, so Smaragd has to do it!”

“No.”

“Ugu!”

“Don’t give me the puppy eyes, the answer is still no!”

She shrunk back and sheepishly muttered about her not giving me any eyes on the first place, but then she straightened herself again.

“But Smaragd still has to do it! Otherwise the goblins are going to be eaten and then put little Manylegs inside of them!”

“It’s the wrong order, but…”

“Maaaaaafteeeeer!” She pleaded again, and the longer the conversation went on, the more obvious it became that she would not listen to me. In retrospect, I figured I could've just ordered her to stay put, since she was my familiar after all, but doing so would've probably strained our relationship, and since she was my only sorta-friend in this world, I didn’t want to do that.

So, after about an hour of back and forth, I finally gave in. To my surprise the other goblins have already prepared the food and other necessities for the journey. I've been suspicious about it for a while, but the reason why they suddenly gotten smarter was likely due to Smaragd’s [Leadership] skill. That Mind buff would've probably only made humans a little sharper, but for the goblins, who had very low scores to begin with, it was a significant boost.

In just a couple of hours, we had a small group ready for travel. It consisted of me, Smaragd and ten of the highest leveled goblins I hand-picked using observation. They weren’t particularly strong, but with Smaragd’s, lead they were a decent fighting force that could probably take down a couple of spiders without any casualties. Furthermore, they were equipped with a motley mixture of some of the best clubs, daggers, small shields, and piecemeal armor the entire village scavenged over the years.

Smaragd and I also got gifted with the finest equipment the tribe ever found, which still wasn’t particularly great, nor in mint new condition, but at least it was better than nothing. I picked a set of slightly frayed travel clothes they probably scavenged from a dead adventurer, a pair of slightly big but otherwise comfortable leather shoes and a magic staff that was in surprisingly good condition, though the gem at its tip was chipped. Still, it marginally reduced the Mana-cost of healing spells, so I wasn’t complaining.

As for Smaragd, she got a pair of mismatched leather boots and a slightly stained gambeson that we had to cut short so that it wouldn’t reach down to her ankles. At first she refused to wear it, saying that it covered up the war paintings around her boobs, but after I explained to her that showing them off was less important than actual protection against blows, she relented.

She also ditched her cracked shield and short sword for a fairly high-quality, if a little rusty, long sword. In the hands of an adult human, it was the size of a one-and-a-half-hander, with a thin blade and a round pommel, but on her, it might as well have been a zweihander.

Still, she seemed to be able to swing it surprisingly well. I would've preferred if she used a shield for extra protection, but the goblins’ "treasury" didn’t have any, and I doubted the one she used this far was going to be useful for much longer, considering it was about to fall apart. I also planned to keep her out of the action anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Finally, after we completed our preparations, our ragtag group set out on a rescue mission I still had doubts about, leaving the rest of the goblins to rebuild the village in our absence. I actually hoped to turn the place into a temporary base of sorts where I could rest after I explored the area in preparation to leave the dungeon, but that was for later.

Day 13 - Nuke it from orbit

Our little expedition wasn’t exactly a forced march, but it was obvious the goblins weren’t used to traveling large distances, so we had to take several short breaks to rest and forage. It was also a good opportunity to teach the goblins about basic squad tactics and fire. They took fairly well to the former, though I've only shown them things I've learned from games, and had no idea whether that experience would be applicable for actual combat.

As for the fire, it didn’t go nearly as well. At first they tried to run away when I summoned our portable Will-o-Wisp campfire. Then Smaragd managed to demonstrate to them that it was nothing to be afraid of by taking it in her hands. But then ‘Little Flame’ (name pending approval) hopped into the fireball, took it ove,r and then began chasing the goblins around like a mischievous kid while Smaragd was running after it going “Uguu!” and trying to convince the goblins it only wanted to play.

It was a fairly amusing spectacle, but I couldn’t help but sigh. There was just no tension in those guys, but I was different. I had no idea how I was supposed to rescue those goblins. They might've been already eaten, or egged or worse yet, egged and eaten, xenomorph style. It was sending chills down my spine.

I also didn’t know what kind of opposition to expect. According to the goblins, as translated by Smaragd, only one big spider attacked them, the rest were small ones. However, that didn’t mean there were no other big ones where we were going. Worse yet, it was called Medium White Widow. That implied that there was a LargeWhite Widow, or even a Humongous White Widow. Taking down a big one was not impossible, especially since now we had better equipment, but an even bigger one?

Well, there was always freeform Fire Magic, thought I was a little hesitant to use it after my previous attempt nearly collapsed the labyrinth on me. It was just too dangerous.

While I was thinking, Smaragd managed to grasp the now corporeal flame and scolded it for scaring the others. In the meantime, I used the [Ring of Fountain] to give some water to the exhausted goblins, and once they stopped repeatedly bowing and thanking me for my kindness (or at least I think that’s what they tried to convey), I dismissed the Will-o-Wisp, returning the invisible flame to its original, angry crimson color, and we continued on our journey.

It took us another five hours of hiking, but we finally found our destination. I didn’t need the guidance of the goblins to tell me this was the home of the spiders. The sight alone was enough.

While the fungal trees looked the same as elsewhere, an entire section of the forest was covered in white webbing like a haphazardly constructed cocoon. It was at least five hundred meters in diameter, and it had a single, roughly five meters high and wide hole on it, where we could see several small spiders move in and out.

After some pondering, I instructed Smaragd and her goblins to stay close to me as I explained the plan.

“Our goal is the rescue of the other goblins, not to kill all the spiders. We get in, free everyone we can, have you guys carry the wounded outside, and then go home.” Ideally I wanted to do all that without the spiders ever realizing we were there. Once I was sure everyone understood, I left the coordination to Smaragd, and then we all began to slowly sneak towards the entrance.

To make sure we wouldn’t run into any nasty surprises I cautiously scouted ahead using Camouflage and backstabbed any spider I could find, then hid their bodies out of the way. Once we were in spitting distance of the hole, I instructed everyone to follow closely after me, and cast Camouflage on the group. While concealing twelve people on the move consumed my Stamina so rapidly I had to take a break every couple of minutes, we still made some progress.

The insides of the web-cocoon were as winding as the labyrinth, but darker. Fortunately, my True Sight allowed me to see properly, and Smaragd’s trusty nose told us exactly which way to go. Still, due to the breaks and the occasional shanking I had to do in order for us to progress, it took us nearly two hours to find the area that I could only call a "breeding chamber".

Unlike the rest of the cocoon-forest, where the walls were only loosely defined by the way the threads of spider-silk were strung between the trunks of the purple fungus-trees, this place was entirely isolated from the outside word by a dome of silk so thick I couldn’t see the lichen-stars above. Strangely enough, there were no spiders inside, only a single large rock in the middle of the flat grounds. Furthermore, the moment we stepped in, I was hit by a strong, sulfuric odor mixed with the stench of sweat, blood, and feces.

Then I actually looked around and I felt my heart stop for a moment. The walls weren’t just covered by web; there were things embedded in them, and True Sight let me see them in perfect, visceral detail. There were at least two hundred goblins strewn around, alongside other monsters I couldn’t recognize at glance, and couldn’t bother to [Observe], because my attention was immediately drawn to the person glued to the wall in a sitting position not too far away from the entrance. She looked human at first glance, but…

Name: Liselotte Truan Level: 9  Experience: 481

Classification: Humanoid  Race: Fae

Health: 3/20 Stamina: 1/50  Mana: 50/50

Body: Low(Mid) Mind: Low(High) Insight:Low(High)

Skills:

*Healing Magic Lv1

Traits:

*Fast Recovery Lv1

It was an elf! Well, technically the race field said "Fae", but she looked just like an elf, with slender, pointy ears and long golden hair. However, she was in a sorry state at the moment. Originally she must've been quite a beautiful young woman, but at the moment her skin was raw and her cheeks were sunken to the point I could make out the bones of her skull underneath. Her clothes were torn, her face was bruised, her left knee looked like it was dislocated and, most dreadfully, her stomach was distended like she was about five months pregnant. When I stepped closer to her she let out a pained gasp as her parched parted, her unfocused eyes darting around in shock.

“Is… there someone…” she croaked with a pained voice as she tried to look around.

I didn’t hesitate for long. I raised my staff and began channeling a healing spell. Her eyes opened wide, but a blink of an eye later she let out a pained gasp as a torrent of sticky liquid gushed fort from her crotch, followed by three small, yellow eggs. I was so horrified by the sight that for a long moment I forgot to even breathe, but then her gasps suddenly turned into a pained scream as a fourth egg also burst forth from her. It was larger than the others, and it obviously caused her more pain.

The second scream finally jolted me out of my stupor, and in my hurry, I put a lot of Mana into my healing. Since I didn’t have actual spells to speak of, I had to rely on the freeform version of the magic. Even still, I was barely able to keep her health hovering around 2 while she finished pushing out the last egg, a pure white one that was about twice the size of the rest.

At last she let out a tired groan and lost consciousness, and I redoubled my efforts to save her life.

“Mafter, why are you helping the hume?” Smaragd asked innocently, apparently completely oblivious to the shock and dread I was experiencing after seeing this poor woman give birth to bloody spider eggs.

“She… she might be useful later…” I answered off-handedly while redoubling my efforts. It took me a minute and nearly 50 Mana points, but I managed to get her stabilized, and her breathing, along returned to normal. I might've even overdone it a little, as her bruises went away, and her knee returned to its original position on its own, but if anything, I was happy my magic worked.

After I made sure she was going to live, I turned back to Smaragd and whispered, “Keep her safe, I'll go and see if there were any other…”

I got that far when I was interrupted by a strange ripping sound. The four eggs on the ground began to distend and came apart. They weren’t hard, like a chicken’s egg, but more like a snake’s, and instead of cracking, the little spiders just cut themselves out with their claws and fangs. The three small ones were just tiny versions of the other spiders, but the one from the white egg made me raise a brow.

Name: Albino White Widow Level: 3  Experience: 47

Classification: Monster  Race: Arachnid

Health: 30/30 Stamina: 80/80  Mana: 20/20

Body: Low(Mid) Mind: Low(Mid) Insight: Low(High)

Skills:

*Healing Magic Lv1

*Webbing Lv1

Racial Traits:

*Chitinous Skin Lv1

*Spider Silk Lv1

*Ovipositor Lv1

Description: A rare variant of White Widow. It’s body is pure white, making the skull shaped mark on its back invisible.

The useless description notwithstanding, this was a surprising [Status Panel]. This little thing, about the size of my two fists together, had higher stats than the goblins behind me. Furthermore, it had magic! Healing magic, to boot! Did it inherit it from its mother? Can these spiders actually do that?

For a moment, I glared at the creature that was still in the process of peeling off half of the egg from its abdomen, and I wondered if I should squash it before it grew up and turned into a mid-boss or something. Then it finally finished getting rid of the eggshell and glanced up at me, and the moment our eyes met it let out a soft squeak. It surprised me a lot, as this was the first time I've ever heard one of these things make a noise, and it used my momentary hesitation to turn tail and run away.

Unfortunately, its siblings didn’t have the good sense to do the same, as they attacked Smaragd and company while they were still in the middle of freeing the elf woman and the goblins near the entrance of the chamber. They naturally didn’t stand a chance against ten plus armed goblins, but then as I was about to go and help them anyway, my attention was diverted by a small tremble.

I turned back and found that the giant rock in the far end of the chamber moved. At first it was slowly rocking back and forth, but then something I first mistook for a tree trunk rose from under it, followed by seven more.

“You've got to be kidding me…”

Name: Ancient White Widow Level: 21 Experience: 13412

Classification: Gargantuan Monster  Race: Arachnid

Health: 600/600 Stamina: 510/680 Mana:  10/10

Body: High(Low) Mind: Low(Mid) Insight: Low(Low)

Skills:

*Poison Fang Lv2

*Poison Spit Lv2

*Webbing Lv3

Racial Traits:

*Chitinous Exoskeleton Lv2

*Spider Silk Lv2

*Night Vision Lv1

*Stealth Lv1

*Ovipositor Lv2

Description: A White Widow as ancient as the Abyss, the matriarch of all other White Widows, the mistress of her domain. Many an unfortunate adventurer met their fate in her stomach, or worse. Threat: A

Level 21. Level fucking 21. It was a giant fucking spider the size of a truck. And it was level 21! With 600 fucking Health! And so many skills! Did I just stumble into the lair of a fucking boss here?!

“Retreat!” I shouted, even though my l legs refused to budge. I had to get Smaragd out of there. I was immortal, but if she was killed by this thing… No, wait.

Suddenly a chill ran down my spine as I looked around once again. I was immortal, yes, but I was also in a female body. This monster might not have been able to just outright kill me, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t capture me.

“I could end up like that elf woman…” I muttered in a daze as the humongous spider began to walk towards us.

I admit, I was scared a few times since I came to this world. I've seen some scary things in the labyrinth and outside, but I was never really afraid. I was immortal. What was the worst thing that could happen to me? Well, guess what? I just saw it, and it terrified me to the very bone, shutting my brain down with a mental scream of boundless horror.

“Mafter!” Smaragd cried out as she grabbed hold of my shoulder from behind, but it took her several seconds to gain my attention, during which time the giant spider spat a veritable torrent of sticky white liquid in our direction. The webbing solidified mid-air and covered everyone except for Smaragd and I, as we were suddenly enveloped in a protective aura of fire that burned away all the spider silk.

The sudden heat and smoke finally woke me up and I glanced up at the source of it all, the deep crimson fireball hovering in front of us protectively. The sight finally jolted me to the point where I let out an angry cry and raised my hand with a small ember defiantly blowing above my palm. The fire spirit, or whatever, must've realized my intention, as it excitedly flew around my hand and it abruptly jumped into the ember.

I looked at the spider still lazily advancing towards me and grit my teeth. I didn’t want to do this. I wanted to avoid collateral damage, but fuck this! This thing needed to die! I'm not going to fall prey to anything down here, and especially not to some fucking oversized pest!

As my resolution hardened, the ember in my hand also burst forth with a brilliant crimson flame. I pointed it at the incoming spider, and it stopped for a moment, but then it quickly rushed forwards, its previous deliberate motions completely gone.

I yelled from the top of my lungs and poured every last drop of my Mana into the fire, but it didn’t seem enough, so I continued to pour my Stamina into it until I felt nauseous. Only when my vision started to narrow into a tunnel did I actually give form of the flame, and it burst forth like a torrent out of a broken dam.

At that point it didn’t even feel like fire. It was more like I was firing a beam of pure destruction out of my hand. The blinding light, the roaring sound, the smell of burning and evaporating flesh and trees and ground filling my nose seemed to last for an eternity to me.

It was only about five seconds though before it ran out of juice and I staggered, only staying on my feet because Smaragd was still holding onto me. I shook my head and once my eyes readjusted for the darkness, I let out an astounded gasp. There was no spider in front of me. In fact, there was no dome, or forest, in front of me either. In a forty degrees cone, the cocoon, the mushroom trees, even the hills behind it all were shaved off and erased from existence.

I heaved hard from the exertion, and to be perfectly honest, I was a little surprised this actually worked. I was still expecting the spider to just pop out of the ground at any moment when I got a pop-up panel in my face instead. I let out a sigh.

“Well, at least the system remains predictable,” I muttered as I opened the level up panel… except it wasn’t that.

You are being summoned by the Sovereign of the Abyss. Departure in 5… 4… 3…”

“Wait wha—?”

And then there was a blinding light, and I simultaneously lost consciousness.

Day 14 Morning - Job interview

I woke up with a horrible, pulsating headache. I groggily opened my eye, only to blink in surprise and then muffle a terrified scream.

“Ah, you are awake.” A loud, rumbling and altogether too deep voice stated, and I jumped to my feet and took several steps back. No one could blame me for overreaction though, as I was face to face with a goddamn dragon!

Name: Shorkuz of the West   Level: 47   Experience: 11682524

Classification: Gargantuan Fiend     Race: Dragon

Health: 840/840    Stamina: 2000/2040    Mana: 261/560

Body: High(Mid)    Mind: High(Low)    Insight: High(Low)

Skills:

*Dragon Breath Lv4

*Fire Magic Lv4

*Wind Magic Lv3

*Dark Magic Lv2

Traits:

+

Racial Traits:

*Dragon Scales Lv4

*Dragon Blood Lv2

*True Sight

*Immortal Lv1

Description: One of the Four Great Dragons.

Goddamit [Observation]! Why is it that you talk pages about rats, yet can only say this much about a goddamn dragon! Also, what is this plus sign—hooooly shit it expands! It expands the Trait list! Fuck me, that’s a lot of Traits!

“Are you quite done gawping?” the loud voice asked in a surprisingly polite manner.

“Just a moment,” I answered while still skimming through the skills. It would've taken an hour just to read the descriptions of each one, so I didn’t even try, and instead just concluded that this guy in front of me was the real deal, a bona fide dragon that made the giant spider from before look like a joke.

Speaking of which, it was a huge creature with hard, black scales, a pair of large, leathery wings folded on its back, a bulky torso, a long tapered tail, and a fairly short, thick neck topped by a horned reptilian head. I had no idea whether it was male or female, but based on the voice, I guessed the former. It looked at me with curious eyes.

“You are a strange one,” he stated with a strangely soft expression, at least as much as I could read his face. “Other goblins would've started to prostrate themselves before me by now.”

“Really?” I looked at him and the wheels in my head began to turn. He thought I was a goblin. I also didn’t see [Observation] or any similar skills on him, so he probably couldn’t see my stats. As such, I decided to play into the misunderstanding. “Well, I am not like other goblins.”

“I can see that. What is your name?”

“Mafter,” I answered by reflex. Damn you Smaragd and repeating the word Mafter two thousand times every day!

“Mafter, huh? That’s a strange name.”

“I didn’t pick it,” I answered indignantly. “And where I'm from, Shorkuz would be just as weird.”

“Oh?” The dragon raised an eyebrow, which was weird to see on a draconic face, and mused, “I don’t remember introducing myself. I see you are well informed.” I remained silent, which he must've taken for agreement, as he continued, “This makes things easier. I presume you are aware that you are in my territory.”

As I thought about it, I could remember the message panel saying that I was summoned by the big boss, so I nodded.

“You are the dungeon master of this place.” The dragon raised his eyebrows once again, and it made a bead of cold sweat roll down my back. “Erm… I mean… the sovereign, right?”

“Correct. I don’t know where you came from, but you do not emit any Lux. Nor do you consume any either, so normally I would have left you alone, but then you had to destroy the Second Area Guardian. Why did you do that?”

“Self-defense,” I blurted out in a hurry.

“Really?”

“Yes. It attacked me, I defended myself.”

“Do elaborate, please.”

I took a deep breath and gave the dragon a quick overview of what happened, from the attack on the goblins till I cast the spell.

“And that was self-defense?”

“Yes,” I asserted. “It spit web at me, I considered that a threat, so I retaliated.”

“I see.” The dragon nodded, apparently feeling that what I said made sense. “I understand. However, this still leaves us with two problems.”

“Which are?”

“First, you have killed one of my Area Guardians, just before she was getting ripe. Furthermore, you did so by causing structural damage to the floor.” The dragon paused for a moment, like a parent lecturing a kid letting their mistake sink in. “The lack of an Area Guardian is a serious problem. Summoning another high level monster to fill the role should take thousands of Credits, and as for the restoration of the landscape… It will take months at the very least.”

“That’s… unfortunate,” I spoke cautiously. I could smell a "but" coming from a mile away.

“But, as luck would have it, there is a way to fix the damage.” The dragon looked at me and its mouth twisted in a facsimile of a smile. “While I cannot see your exact statistics, since you are not part of the Abyss’s infrastructure, based on the fact that you killed an Area Guardian in a single strike, I believe you are a fitting replacement.”

“Wait, was that the reason you brought me here?”

Shorkuz the dragon answered me with a toothy smile that was simultaneously mischievous and terrifying.

“Of course. Why else do you think I haven’t eaten you yet?”

I silently gupled and then muttered, “… Point taken.”

“Good. So, here’s my mandate: You are to become the new Area Guardian of the Second Segment of the First Floor of the Abyss. I give you… Hm… How long do you goblins live?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”

“Ahaha! Fine then. I give you ten years. In that ten years, your job is to oversee the operation of the Second Segment and collect enough Lux and Credits to repair the damage you have caused. Do well, and I may be able to provide you with future opportunities.”

On the last word a new, black panel popped up in front of me.

Do you wish to join the ranks of the Grand Vargebernos Abyss as [Area Guardian 1-B]?

* Yes * No *

“Do I even have a choice in the matter?”

“You can always chose to become a light snack.”

“All right, all right. Understood. Geez.”

Saying so I picked [Yes], and the panel immediately disappeared.

“Ahahaha! This is so refreshing! It’s been so long since I have been able to talk with someone who wasn’t shaking in their boots.”

“I'm glad to hear that at least one of us has fun.”

“Good luck with your task, Area Guardian Mafter. I hope you won’t give me an excuse to eat you.”

Saying so the dragon waved one of its front paws and I was once again engulfed in a bright light, transporting me out of the weirdest job interview in the history of ever…