The Dungeon Mafter Series - Days 7 to 11

Day 7 - A meal of meat and fire

In the end we spent the entire last day resting while we waited for Smaragd’s Stamina to recharge. Unfortunately, even with the food, her Health was slow to recover. My mental stamina was having a hard time recovering as well, as she insisted on sleeping while clinging to me, so I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep either.

Anyways, I decided to have some breakfast before we set out, so I once again summoned the blue Will-o-Wish I used to roast the meat the day before. The moment I did so Smaragd hurriedly hid behind my back while holding onto my shoulders.

“Mafter!” she cried out with a teary voice, and I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes.

“Don’t cry. I told you, it’s safe.”

She didn’t answer, instead she only gripped me even harder while she peeked over my shoulder, but then she immediately hid herself again with an “Uguu!” sound, like she was afraid the fire was going to attack her at any moment.

It was still better than what happened the day before. Back then, she was in a total panic after I summoned the fire globe, and she was trying to protect me from it by jumping on me and nearly giving me a heart attack.

Apparently, goblins were really afraid of fire, as it was something that human adventurers used against them. In retrospect, that probably meant it was the reason behind why she was struggling during the time when the adventurers were camping in front of us was because of the same reason. She appreciated the meat roasted on it though, but she still trembled whenever she looked at the flame. I wondered if some exposure therapy could help her.

With that in mind I picked up a piece of meat and, since we didn’t have proper skewers, I carefully impaled it on a broken rat rib. Thankfully I could affect the heat of the fire-ball fairly precisely, so I could roast the meat without burning myself in the process. This time, however, I didn’t stick it into the fire, instead I looked over my shoulder and gestured for Smaragd to come forth. After some back-and-forth, I managed to get her to sit next to me and I handed her the meat. She looked at it funny for a moment and then tried to bite it, so I quickly stopped her.

“No! It’s still raw.”

“Raw?”

I pointed at the fire.

“Remember the meat I made yesterday?”

“Smaragd remembers! It was very tasty!”

“It was tasty because it was cooked in the flame.”

“Cooked?”

“Yes. You put food near the flame and wait until it roasts. It makes the meat easier to eat and tastier.” She nodded repeatedly. “Do you want to give it a try?” This time she shook her head just as vehemently.

“No! It is scary!”

“No it isn’t.” I pointed at the fire again and, after a sudden flash of genius, I gently took it into my hand. Since I had control over its temperature, I made it so that it was only slightly warm, but Smaragd still stiffened at the sight. “See? It isn’t scary.”

She looked at the fireball in my hands with an open mouth before she raised a hesitant hand and reached out towards it.

“It is warm… Why doesn’t it hurt Mafter?”

“Because it is my fire,” I told her slowly like I was explaining something to a child. Well, in some ways, I guess I was. “The fire has no ill will. The flames only hurt people when they go out of control, or when bad people use them.”

“So… this is not a bad flame?”

“No. But you have to be careful so it wouldn’t go out of control. If you can do that, fire can be a great help to you. It can cook your food and warm you during the night.”

“Um!” She nodded with a determined look. “Smaragd understands! Can Smaragd be friends with this Flame?”

“Well, befriend might not be the right word, but you can start by trying to roast this meat.”

After a loud gulp she nodded and gingerly raised the rib-skewered meat in her hand. I smiled at her encouragingly and then had the fireball float in the air in front of her. She twitched nervously at first, but then she carefully extended the hand with the meat towards the fire.

“H-Hello Little Flame. Please don't burn Smaragd. Smaragd only wants to be your friend.”

I couldn't help but smile affectionately at her timid words. Once she saw that the fireball didn’t move, she cautiously placed the meat inside the flame.

“Please make the meat yummy.”

After I was sure that Smaragd wasn’t going to accidentally burn herself and ruin all my efforts, I finally stood up and walked around a bit. My muscles felt a little cramped, probably because I've been sitting around on the cold floor for too long. Speaking of which, I really needed some clothes. While the loincloth that my goblin friend made me the first day was a start, my feet in particular were really cold. I thought about asking her to take out her sewing kit and try to make me something, but when I glanced back…

“Yay! Thank you Little Flame! The meat became really yummy! Can Smaragd make another one please?”

I chuckled to myself and decided to leave it for later.

It took Smaragd about an hour to roast all of the rat meat I prepared for breakfast, and while I didn’t need food due to Immortal Lv2, I was curious enough to try one out. Contrary to her praises, it was actually quite tough and plain due to the lack of spices, but I suppose it was a big improvement compared to eating it raw. Once she finished, Smaragd repeatedly clasped her hands and thanked the fireball for helping her cook her meat. At first I wanted to explain to her that the fireball wasn’t actually a person, but she was so earnest, I didn’t have the heart.

“All right, let’s get going.” I told her and dismissed the fireball with a flick of my hand.

“Goodbye Little Flame!”

“Say, Smaragd?”

“Yes, Mafter?”

“Do you know the way out of this labyrinth?”

“What’s a labyrinth?”

“It’s this place, with the rock walls and the tunnels.”

“Aaaaaah!” She repeatedly nodded and pointed down a tunnel. “Mafter just have to follow the smell!”

“Smell? What smell?” She gave me a dubious look and pointed harder.

“The smell that is coming from over there? Mafter can’t smell it?”

I sniffed several times, but all I could smell was the damp odor of the walls mixed with the last traces of the roasted meat. I shook my head, and Smaragd started to excitedly jump in place.

“Yay!”

“What? What are you so happy about?”

“Smaragd finally found something that only Smaragd can do for Mafter!”

I wanted to point out that she had a lot of things like that, such as disassembling animals, or sewing, but for the time being I decided not to argue with her.

“Congratulations. So, can you lead the way?”

“Yes!” She told me with a determined look and she scampered away to gather her club and shield. Honestly speaking, while they complemented her image as a goblin, they looked pitiful in her current hands. Once she equipped herself she ran up to the tunnel she pointed at before and she gestured for me to follow after her. She was just like a puppy asking her owner to take her to a walk.

At last I limbered up my shoulders and began walking, and thus the two of us finally began our journey to the outside.

Day 10 - Size matters

“Mafter, Mafter! Look! It’s the outside!”

I involuntarily let out a relieved sigh. Three days. It took us three goddamn days just to reach the exit of the labyrinth, even with Smaragd’s guidance. To be perfectly honest, I was getting a little worried about whether she could really tell the right way, but she was so confident that I didn’t dare question her. It was a good thing I didn’t, as otherwise there was no way to tell how long it would have taken for me to bumble my way out.

I could tell we were reaching the end of the tunnels half a day before we could see the light at the end, due to the way the air got fresher the closer we came. Maybe that was the thing that Smaragd could smell from all the way back there? Either way, the important part was that we successfully made our way outside, and I could finally breathe in my first lungful of fresh air. Well, fresher air at the very least, as we still weren’t actually [outside], just out of the labyrinth. Not that I cared. The important part was that we were finally about to leave those monotonous grey-brown walls behind.

Our journey left us with a few spoils as well. Neither of us leveled up even though we must've killed at least two dozen slimes and a couple of rats on our odyssey, but we scavenged a number of things.

I, for one, was wearing a short, frayed green cape draped over me like a toga. It was probably thrown away by an adventurer because it got a large tear in it, but it didn’t bother me, and once we hit up camp, Smaragd fixed it up for me anyways. Speaking of her, she was no longer using her club, instead I gave her a short sword we found on the remains of a dead adventurer.

Whoever it was, their body and clothes were already mostly eaten by slimes, to the point where even the bones became brittle. Luckily for us, they couldn’t digest metal, so we got our hands on a number of things, including Smaragd’s short-sword, the dagger tugged into my makeshift belt, a couple of bronze coins and, most importantly, a small copper ring with a blue stone embedded in it that proved to be essential.

Name: Copper Ring of Fountain

Description: While equipped, allows the owner to cast the Water Magic [Fountain]. The amount of water that can be created per day is dependent on the Insight attribute of the owner. (Currently: 15 liters / day)

This nice utility ring, which I presumed had to be part of every adventurer’s basic kit, helped us through a crisis I didn’t even think of: Due to Immortality I not only didn’t need to eat, I also didn’t need to drink. Smaragd was a different case, and while our food source was nigh-inexhaustible, water turned out to be really scarce in the labyrinth.

When I asked what she was drinking before we met, Smaragd told me she usually either licked the damp walls, or drank her own urine. Well, we weren’t having either of those in this here household, so the free water dispenser came just in time to solve her dehydration crisis.

I expected that I would learn Water Magic once I used the ring a couple of times, but for some reason the otherwise hyperactive Enlightenment didn’t show itself. I got other stuff though.

Fire Magic Lv2 (Active): Allows the owner to cast spells aligned with the discipline of Fire. Spell Magnitude is dependent of the owner’s Insight score.

Lv2 Bonus: Reduces the Mana cost of Fire element spells and increases their magnitude. Also grants the Fire Resistance Lv1 skill.

Fire Resistance Lv1 (Passive): Grants the owner resistance to fire and heat. The resistance scales with the owner's Body and Insight score.

Healing Magic Lv2 (Active): Allows the owner to cast spells aligned with the discipline of Restoration. Spell Magnitude is dependent of the owner’s Insight score.

Lv2 Bonus: The owner’s Healing spells also restore a portion of the target’s Stamina. Also increases the owner’s Stamina regeneration rate.

The Healing Magic skill was a real fluke, as I gained it from observing Smaragd drinking a potion we recovered from the remains of the aforementioned adventurer. So yeah, I got a skill from seeing her drink a potion, but not from actually casting a water spell. Where was the logic in that?

Not that I was complaining, as Healing Magic was immediately useful, and once I got Smaragd up to full health with it, she became even more lively and cute, so it was worth every Mana point spent.

Speaking of her, to my sincerest surprise Smaragd also gained a skill.

Friend of the Flame: The owner is a friend of the Flame.

Yes, that’s the description. All of it. Seriously. Still, I should've known something was up when, on the second day, the Will-o-Wisp began to automatically adjust its own heat while Smaragd was playing with it after she finished cooking her dinner.

It didn’t seem to be a bad skill, at least it didn’t cause anything worth worrying over yet, but I could have done with a bit more explanation, you know? Just for my peace of mind.

I didn’t have much time to fume about the system though, as we finally reached the exit of the labyrinth, and I was too busy keeping my jaw from dropping to the floor. As it turned out the entrance of the labyrinth was fairly high up on the side of a mountain, allowing me to take in the hilly landscape around me. While I knew from my interrogation of Smaragd that she and her goblin tribe lived in a cavern outside the labyrinth, there was no way she could have prepared me for just how mind-numbingly huge it actually was.

Hell, when I looked up, at first I thought I was looking at the actual night sky! Of course, it was just a stone ceiling covered with dots of glowing moss, but it was so high up I didn’t even want to guess! Not only that, just from the exit of the labyrinth I could see several large meadows, a river that was at the very least a hundred meters wide and an entire forest of thin, tall fungi that nevertheless had branches like normal trees.

The thing that I didn’t see was also something that shocked me: the other end of the cavern. I was standing at a fairly elevated position, but no matter how hard I strained my eyes, I couldn’t see a single wall. Now, sure, part of it was probably because of the lack of lighting (though to be fair, pretty much everything was glowing, from the fungus-trees to the bugs flying around), but I honestly couldn’t even fathom just how huge this place had to be. Just the aforementioned river was at least a couple kilometers away from where I was standing, and there were presumably lands on its other side as well. It was crazy.

“Mafter, look, look!” My momentary stupor was interrupted by Smaragd dragging me into the open and enthusiastically pointing towards one of the mushroom-woods. “Over there is where Smaragd lives! Smaragd wants to introduce Mafter to the others!”

“Others?” Oh right. She mentioned that she lived in a tribe led by that chief Mousecatcher or Rodentchaser or something. Honestly, I wasn’t particularly taken by the idea. I've spent a lot of time pondering over what my plans should be for the future. I mean, ever since that whole character creation madness ended I was always dealing with immediate problems.

I was in a labyrinth, so I looked for a way out. I was a white freak, so I looked for an alternative form. I was naked and cold, so I looked for something to wear. I was just scratching the itches without treating the underlying problem: I had no long-term goal. Old Me might've had a dream, like slaying a dragon, or amassing a harem of cute girls, or to take over the world, but because of [Loss of Oneself], I couldn’t remember any of them. As such, I had to look for a new goal.

Well, I couldn’t decide on it just yet, but for the time being, the next milestone in the distance was getting out of the dungeon as a whole. I was curious about the level of the human civilization in this world. By the looks of the weapons and clothes, it seemed like your cookie-cutter medieval setting, but who knew? Also, I really wanted to get proper clothes and have a bath. Although, to be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure about the bath part. Maybe it was because of [Immortal], or some other skill, but my body remained remarkably clean even after all the things that I went through in the labyrinth.

But I was getting sidetracked again. The important point was that I wanted to go outside, and I didn’t want to waste any time with introducing myself to Smaragd’s old goblin tribe.

“Come on, Mafter! Come, this way!”

Or at least that was the plan, except that my eager familiar kept tugging at my hand like an excited kid in the amusement park. Oh well, I thought. We might as well show our faces. Not to mention I had about thirty kilos of meat on my back that was about to go bad. I decided I might as well share it with them, so I let Smaragd lead the way.

At first we descended from the mountainside using a fairly well-trodden footpath. It was obvious both the goblins and the adventurers have been using it quite frequently, as I could see numerous footprints, bare and booted in about equal measure. Smaragd was very excited to see her fellow goblins again, as she was a bundle of energy, constantly running around me and talking non-stop.

“… over there is where Smaragd used to hunt small Squeakies, but then the Howlies started hunting there, so Smaragd had to hunt in the bendy cave.”

“Squeakies? Howlies?”

“Ah, Squeakies are like the Big Squeakies that Mafter and Smaragd hunted in the bendy cave, except smaller. Howlies are bigger than Big Squeakies, and they are always angry and try to bite Smaragd. They also taste bad, so Smaragd and the others went into the bendy cave to hunt.”

“By bendy cave I presume you mean the labyrinth.”

She nodded twice.

I was curious, so I asked Smaragd about the other inhabitants of the cavern, and she was happy to oblige.

“There are the Squeakies and the Howlies…” She began while adorably counting on her fingers with a serious expression. “Then there are the Leatherwings.”

“Leatherwings? You mean bats?”

“What is a bat?”

“It’s like a rat… I mean, it’s like a squeaky, but has wings and big ears.”

“Yes, yes! That’s a Leatherwing!” She nodded repeatedly with a grin. “They usually just go ‘whoosh’ over our heads, but other times they hunt the Chirpies and they bite us if we are there.”

“Chirpies? What are those?”

“They are this big. They are round, and glow, and make chirping sound when you not crush them and a crunchy sound when you do crush them. They only make the crunchy sound once though. They are tasty.”

“So they are bugs.”

“Bugs?”

“It’s a creature that is hard on the outside and hase thin, spindly legs than end in tiny claws.” When I described them, Smaragd visibly paled and shook her head. “What’s the matter.”

“Those are the Manylegs!” she spoke with a slightly trembling voice.

“Really? And what are those?”

“They are big, and nasty, and they have long legs and big butts and they spit sticky stuff and they kidnap gobbis and humes and stick their butt into their butts and put little round Manylegs into them, and then after the little Manylegs come out, they eat the them! They are scary!”

“There, there…” I patted the trembling little thing on the head to calm her down. “They are not actually here, so it’s all right. Even if they show up, master will protect you.”

She looked at me with teary eyes and asked, “Really?”

“Of course I will. Even if I have to stop them with my own body,” I told her reassuringly. I wasn’t lying, mind you. Her dying could have been the same as my death, and while I had a bunch of safety nets and a ton of regeneration, she didn’t.

“No Mafter! If Mafter is in danger, Smaragd is the one who has to defend Mafter!”

“Please don’t do that.”

“But Mafter!”

“Just trust me, okay? If I'm in danger, don’t try to be a hero. I'll be fine.”

“What is a hero?”

“Oh, that… It’s a kind of person who goes out of their way to help others, even if they have to risk their lives in the process.”

“Then Smaragd wants to be a hero!”

“I just told you not to do that!”

“But Smaragd really wants to!”

We looked each other in the eye, and I lost the staring contest in a second. You cannot blame me. You try staring down a cute, teary-eyed girl with puffed up cheeks and one of those adorable little frowns between her brows!

Anyways, I lightly cleared my throat and decided to change the subject.

“Let’s discuss this later. You were telling me about the monsters in the area.”

“Oh, right,” She nodded, the pout disappearing from her face in an instant. “There are also the Blackies, and the Hissers, and the Green Glowy Things, and the Rollies and the…”

“Whoa, whoa… Slow down, one at a time,” I exclaimed with a smile, and she returned the gesture more brilliantly than I ever expected.

Day 11 - Spiders. Why did it have to be spiders?

“Mafter, wake up!” I woke from my shallow slumber by my familiar shaking me like I was an apple tree in the harvest season. I let out a big yawn and peeked out from under my rat-pelt blankets, startled by the wide open area around me.

“What is it?”

“Smaragd heard fighting over there, Mafter! There's a battle!”

I sat up, and once my brain started to function, I finally figured out where I was. I got so used to the labyrinth that not having a ceiling over my head and brown walls around me felt weird when I woke up. Anyways, I could remember that the previous night Smaragd and I decided to camp out, because she was still low on Stamina. Since I had no concept of getting physically tired, I accidentally dictated a tempo she couldn’t comfortably keep up with, and she was too timid to ask me to slow down. Because of that, she ran out of strength, and we decided to set up camp and have a full night’s rest before we continued on.

But back to the current situation.

“Battle? Where?” I stood up and cocked my ears for a moment, and just as she said, there were a series of battle-cries and clanking noises on the wind. They didn’t seem to be nearby, but when I tried to listen closer and figure out where they came from, I finally understood why my familiar was so frantic. “Your tribe is that way, right?”

She nodded and gazed at me eagerly, awaiting my command. Honestly, I didn’t want to get tangled in this, as it sounded dangerous. On the other hand, I was afraid that if I just marched down the opposite direction Smaragd might just go by herself and then get poked with a pointy stick or something, and that would be even more dangerous.

As such I dropped my shoulders in resignation and picked up the meat-sack with one hand.

“Let’s go!”

“Mm!” she answered with a fierce nod and we began running towards trouble.

This time, we didn’t follow the footpath. Instead, we directly cut through the mushroom forest on our right. It was only at this point that I realized that I forgot to put on my makeshift ratskin moccasins. Since the mushroom trees didn’t have leaves, there was no dead ones on the ground either. Instead of duff, it was covered with a thick layer of damp, spongy blue lichen that not only felt gross between my toes, but was quite slippery as well.

Still, we managed to reach the hill near Smaragd’s old home in about twenty minutes. She was heaving by the time we arrived, and her stamina was getting in the red again, so I told her to stay behind and catch her breath.

By this point most of the combat noise had already died down. Once I made over the hilltop, I quickly found the nearby clearing in the forest, and observed the makeshift huts made of dried weeds and animal pelts. There were about thirty of them, though about half of them had already collapsed by now. The reason behind their destruction was also clear by just one glace.

Smaragd let out a strained gasp and pointed at the creature in the middle of the small settlement. “It’s a Manylegs!”

I let out a conflicted groan at the sight. It was a spider the size of a family car, though the long legs made it look even bigger. It was a mottled dark grey except for a large, white spot on its black, and it was a curious mix-and-match of a tarantula’s hairy head and legs and a black widow’s bulbous abdomen. Speaking of widows…

Name: Medium White Widow Level: 9 Experience: 501

Classification: Monster  Race: Arachnid

Health: 79/160 Stamina: 155/235 Mana: 20/20

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

Racial Traits:

Poison Fang Lv1

Chitinous Skin Lv1

Spider Silk Lv1

Ovipositor Lv1

Description: A monstrous giant spider. White Widows are infamous for the white, skull-shaped spot on their backs, the paralyzing venom they secrete ,and their dreadful habit of capturing their prey alive and using their bodies as incubators for their eggs, only to devour them once they gave birth to the next generation. Small White Widows hunt in packs, however they do not coordinate well, and thus only have a threat rating of D. The larger variants are extremely dangerous, especially towards female explorers. It is recommended to avoid them unless accompanied by a well-prepared subjugation party. Threat level C-.

Poison Fang Lv1 (Active): An offensive skill used with biting attacks. Upon successful attack, it poisons the target. (Current poison type: Paralytic)

Chitinous Skin Lv1 (Passive): Grants the owner a significant damage reduction from physical attacks and their Health and Stamina by 50 points.

Spider Silk Lv1 (Active): Allows the owner to generate spider silk. The skill consumes a large amount of Stamina unless the owner belongs to the Arachnid race. Allows the owner to change the strength, consistency and stickiness of the silk upon creation.

Ovipositor Lv1 (Active): Allows reproduction. The owner may lay eggs inside the body cavities of warm blooded creatures. The maximum number of stored eggs and their generation speed is dependent of the total size and weight of the owner (currently: 4/12, +1 per month). Once the egg storage is full, the owner will automatically enter heat and must search for a host for the eggs.

Holy shit, that is a level 9 monster! And what’s this? Oviposition?! Ew! Eeeeeew! No one told old me it is going to be this kind of world! I call fraud!

I swiftly shook my head and took a calming breath. Right, one thing at a time. First let’s deal with the huge monster rampaging in the goblin village, then I'll voice my disapproval of the world that has spider-monsters laying eggs into people’s nether regions.

On closer look, I could only see a couple of goblins running around the place. According to Smaragd’s description there was supposed to be nearly a hundred of them (a bit of detail I had a hard time getting out of her, because I first needed to teach her how to count and do simple arithmetic), but I could only see about twenty of them scattered around the buildings.

Once I took a second look, I finally figured out why. There were small versions of the big spider chasing them, though [small] in this case meant they were only the size of a Doberman instead of a car. When one was caught, they were bitten and then quickly rolled in web before the spiders started dragging them away. In fact I could see a number of similar drag-marks all leading in the same direction. I barely had any time to digest this information though, as my attention was grabbed by a light-green blur running down the hillside.

“Mafter! We have to help them! Come quick!”

“I told you not to rush ahead!” My complains fell on deaf ears, as my familiar continued to run towards the closest spider. I muttered, “That girl is going to be the death of me. Literally!” before I broke into a run as well.

Smaragd was having a fairly even fight with the spider she engaged, and her presence seemed to bolster the mindlessly running goblins to pick up whatever makeshift weapon they could get their hands on and gather around her.

Her description said something about goblins automatically following the strongest one in the area, but I didn’t think it was this literal. She also had [Leadership Lv1] due to the familiar contract, so while the goblins were confused at first, after a few moments, they naturally congregated into a fighting force around her.

They successfully ganged up on some of the small spiders, and managed to defeat them before they caught the big spider’s attention. The monster didn’t let out any noise or anything, but I could tell from the way its movements changed that it was annoyed by them. It turned its eight-eyed gaze at the small group of goblins and began to move. It didn’t actually run, it just walked towards them like the struggles of the prey didn’t mean anything to it. It probably couldn’t think in those terms, being a big-ass spider and all, but it still seemed arrogant.

Well, that facsimile-arrogance only lasted a few seconds. You might've wondered where I've been all this time and why didn’t help Smaragd in her fight. To put it bluntly, after seeing the stats of the small spiders, it became obvious that this battle was entirely going to boil down to whether we can take down the big spider, so I was preparing for just that. Though, to be perfectly honest, I was just using the same battle-tactics we used all the time in the labyrinth. I used Camouflage, Smaragd got the enemy’s attention while I sneaked behind them, and then… bam! Knife to the abdomen!

I admit it was pretty scary to run up to the spider to shank it, to the point my legs were shaking beforehand, but once I was moving the rest was as routine as tying my nonexistent shoelaces. I dashed out from my hiding place behind one of the huts, and silently closed the distance with Camouflage still on. It ate my stamina like crazy, but since a spider had a lot of eyes, I didn’t want it to notice me on the edge of its vision. Anyways, I closed in with weapon raised. While I realized how silly it looked to attack the vehicle-sized monster with a rusty knife, I had perfect confidence in Sneak Attack, and I wasn’t betrayed.

The knife cut through the chitinous outer skin of the spider like it was made of butter. The creature only shuddered from the strike, lacking any means of yelling out in pain, but my attack still delivered a solid 30 damage to its Health. It wasn’t enough to kill it though, so I continued stabbing the same spot, while trying to stay out of the way of its flailing legs and occasional jets of sticky spider silk, and while each additional strike only shaved off two or three of its Health points at best, so long as I stayed in Camouflage, I could slowly but surely whittle it down.

…

And then my Stamina ran out.

…

In retrospect that was a really, outrageously dumb oversight, but in my defense, I wasn’t really used to straight up combat yet, so I never bothered to keep track of the actual values. The moment it got under 10%, my vision suddenly blurred, and a moment later my Camouflage also disappeared. Before I could even comprehend what was going on, I was abruptly hit by a tremendous impact and was sent flying through one of the huts. Literally. In through one wall, out the other.

While technically that wasn’t as bad as it sounded, since the huts were only made of dried fungus-tree branches, weeds, and pelts, it still wasn’t particularly pleasant. Furthermore, once I landed the spider also trampled through the remains of the hut and brandished a pair of jet black fangs at me.

“Shit!” I exclaimed as I tried to get on my feet and raise my dagger to defend myself, only to realize than my right arm was broken and my left ankle was bending in the wrong direction. As if to punctuate my recognition, the pain suddenly registered in my brain, prompting me to let out another “Shit!” That one leg-swipe took off more than two thirds of my Health, and since my stamina was low, I wasn’t regenerating.

Then, just as I was about to panic, another voice entered the frame.

“Mafter!”

With the aforementioned battle-cry Smaragd lunged at the spider and hacked at its hind leg from behind. The monster buckled and let out a small jet of webbing in her direction, but to my surprise, the web burst into flames before it reached her, startling everyone in the area, including her.

I made a mental note saying <Aaaaaah! So that’s what Friend of the Flame does!> before I returned to the situation at hand and yelled, “Hit it in the back, where I wounded it!”

I used [Supreme Command] to make sure it was followed, and to my surprise not only Smaragd, but all the remaining goblins rushed the spider at once, hammering at its wounded abdomen like a green tide. In the meantime, my leg returned to its previous shape with a soft yet painful crunching sound, so I also switched my dagger to my unbroken hand and lunged forth as well join the fray. It took some effort and some further [Supreme Commands], but at last, Smaragd delivered the last blow, and so the White Widow finally stopped moving.

Just as it did, a series of popups appeared, and I suddenly felt weak in the knees and nearly collapsed. While I struggled to stay on my feet, my familiar dashed to my side in panic.

“Mafter, please don’t die! Look Mafter, we beat the big Manylegs, so please don’t die!”

I let out a soft chuckle as I wiped the tears from her spider-ichor stained face.

“You are such a crybaby.”

“Smaragd doesn’t know what a baby is, but Smaragd doesn’t care as long as Mafter doesn’t die!”

“I’m all right, I’m all right. I am just a little tired, that’s all.”

Speaking of which, I was surprised to find out that her Stamina was actually higher that before we got to the village. Did Supreme Command really recover so much?

I tried it out right then and there as I instructed Smaragd to mop up the remaining spiders. It recovered about 15% of her max Stamina. That was nice to know.

I let her follow my instructions and in the meantime I used my Healing Magic to first get my arm fixed. As a side-effect, it also recovered some of my Stamina, so that helped me to stay on my feet. Afterwards, I proceeded to run around, healing paralyzed goblins, rescuing some more from under the collapsed huts and just generally being a living saint… until my Mana ran out, at least.

All things told, it took about three hours in total to kill the last of the spiders and rescue everyone from under the rubble. In the end, there was a little less than fifty survivors. As the entire village gathered, there were three new surprises waiting for me.

Number one was the fact that there was not a single male goblin in sight. They looked different, had different shades of skin color and facial features, but since they were dressed in the same kind of loincloths that Smaragd was wearing when I first met her, I could immediately tell that they were all females. When I asked Smaragd about this, she told me she didn’t even understand the concept of [male] and [female].

“So what would you call that adventurer we saw a while back?” I asked, hoping to come to the same terms. “The one with the sword and shield?”

“Hume?” She asked back like I was asking something dumb.

“But what kind of human. I presume you could tell the difference between him and the healer girl.”

“Healer girl?”

“The second adventurer, the one with the long staff.”

“Ah!” Suddenly her eyes lit up like she realized something profound and she cupped her own, still uncovered breasts. “That human had chest thingies like mine!”

“Yes, so you can tell the difference between the two.”

“Our chest thingies?”

“No, the male and the female adventurer!”

It took me some effort, but I finally managed to determine that the goblins, as race, had no concept of the sexes, as all of them were female. When I asked how baby goblins were made, she told me she still didn’t understand what a baby was, but that new goblins just emerged from the forest sometimes when no one was looking, and they just took them into the tribe. Accordingly, she told me how her first memory was waking up in the forest, and then she heard others nearby, so she naturally joined them on a hunt. I wondered how that worked, but I had other things to worry about, such as point number two.

After some grunting and hand waving that Smaragd insisted was the equivalent of a cordial conversation between goblins, we finally learned the story behind the spider attack. The first wave of small spiders came out of the forest about an hour before we arrived at the scene. At first the goblins tried to hold them back under the leadership of the chief, but then the big spider showed up and she got defeated and kidnapped by the smaller spiders. The fight turned into a rout, and by the time we got there more than half of the village was kidnapped or killed in the battle. As for what they wanted to do with the kidnapped goblins, I had a good (albeit gruesome) guess.

And that lead us to surprise number three: since the chief was gone for the time being, and Smaragd was the strongest goblin in the village, the others have unanimously elected her as their new chief. Why didn’t they pick me if it was only a question of strength? Well, according to Smaragd, it was because they were convinced I was a goddess.

This made it official: goblins were really easy to impress. Furthermore, they started giving me the same sparkly puppy eyes Smaragd did whenever I told her something new. Not only that, whenever it happened, my familiar went around with her chest puffed out and giggling like a kid showing off her cool older sibling.

It didn’t take me long to get fed up with their stares, so after I made sure they were no one else in need of healing I excused myself, told Smaragd to take care of things, and then holed up in an empty hut to get some sleep. However, before I could get around to that, I had to get rid of the annoying flashing panels in the corner of my vision. As such, I found a comfortable-looking pile of pelts and lied down before I opened the first one.

Congratulations, you have reached Level 6!

Your Attributeshave risen!

You gained 40 Health Points!

You gained 60 Stamina Points!

You gained 20 Mana Points!

Your Insight attempts to reach the Supreme level.

Attempt failed. The Insight you gained crystallizes into Enlightenment!

Congratulations! You are granted the Trait Third Eye Lv1.

The what now? I failed an attempt at what? And got a new trait instead? And why did the room suddenly get brighter?

Third Eye (Passive) A Mystic Eye that grants you the following skill effects:

*Veil Piercer: Able to see through illusions and concealment skills.

*Spirit Vision: Able to see incorporeal beings.

*True Vision: Able to see perfectly even in the absence of light or while blinded.

I hastily touched my forehead, but fortunately it wasn’t a real third eye. I let out a relieved sigh. In this weird world, one could never know.

Still, this third eye looked really neat on paper; basically three skills in one. I was going to experiment with it later. That said, I couldn't help but wonder how big of a deal Supreme Insight had to be if thiswas the consolation price for failing to achieve it.

I closed my panels and opened the next set.

Congratulations. Your Familiar, Smaragd, has reached Level 6!

Right, we shared the same Experience pool, so she would level up with me. I was about to wonder what kind of boon she got this time when I noticed some kind of commotion outside. Just as I was about to grudgingly get up and look, my familiar burst into the tent with an expression vacillating between excited and worried.

“Mafter! Mafter!”

“What is it?” Muttered awkwardly. Currently Smaragd was entirely naked and her chest and legs were covered in some kind of weird painted markings that brought extra attention to her breasts and her naughty zone. Furthermore, because of the True Sight effect of Third Eye, I could see every bit of her in high definition.

I forcefully tore away my gaze and focused on where she was pointing at. From the direction of the hut’s entrance came a lazily floating bundle of fire. It was just like a Will-o-Wisp I could make, except a deep crimson, and floating in the air on its own, gently swaying left and right like it was dancing to some inaudible beat.

“Mafter, look! Little Flame is following me around!”

“Little Flame?” I looked at the fireball and used [Observe], but to my surprise I only got this:

Name: Little Flame  Level: -1  Experience: -1

Classification: ????? Race: ?????

Description: The Flame.

… I'm not the only one who finds that incredibly ominous, right?

“Can you see him, Mafter?”

“Yes, of course I can. Why?”

“Smaragd was painted by the other gobbis to become the new chief, and then Little Flame showed up, and Smaragd asked everyone why they were not afraid of Little Flame, but nobody could see Little Flame, so Smaragd ran over to ask Mafter if Mafter can see Little Flame.”

“Whoa, slow down. So you say only you and me can see this… erm… Little Flame?” Smaragd nodded not once, not twice, but three times in a row. I rubbed my chin and considered why that could be. “If we take the timing into account…”

I opened Smaragd’s [Status Panel], and as I suspected, the answer was right there.

Traits:

True Familiar (Mafter)

*Shapeshifting Lv2 (Fair Goblin),

* Leadership Lv2,

*Stealth Lv1

*Spirit Vision

Friend of the Flame

Yep, right there! She got a new skill from True Familiar, and of course it's the one that lets her see the ominous fireball following her instead of healing magic or whatever. I'm not even surprised anymore.

Putting my grumbling about the logic behind familiar skill-granting aside, at least that explained why only we could see it; it was probably a spirit. It didn’t explain why I couldn’t see its details though. I considered a number of possibilities, such as it not being covered by the System, or my Insight being too low, or my Observation skill being too low, et cetera.

“Mafteeeeeer!” Smaragd suddenly called out to me with a pleading voice, jolting me out of my train of thought, and when I glanced over I found her slightly bent over, the small ball of fire held to her chest by her crossed arms like it was a pet bunny. It was kind of cute. Also, on a side note, goddamit girl, stop bringing my attention to your perky bits! Or at least be a little embarrassed about being nude! I hate being the only person embarrassed in the room!

That aside, I decided to focus on her face and responded, “Yes?”

“Can I keep Little Flame?”

“… It's not a lost pet.”

“But I like Little Flame!”

“I know, but we don’t know where it is from. It might be dangerous.”

“But you said Little Flame is not a bad fire.”

“Yes, but…”

“You are a good fire, right Little Flame?” She raised her hands with the fire resting on top of her palms like she was giving me an offering, and the ball of fire actually rapidly bowed back and forth. “You see Mafter! He is a good fire!”

“Yes, but…” I was about to argue further, but then I realized that whatever this thing might have been, it could actually communicate. As such, I decided to ask it a few question. “Hey, Flame? Are you dangerous?” This time it shook left and right. “Are you Smaragd’s friend?” Nod. “Would you do her any harm?” Shake. “Would you do me any harm?” Shake. “Do you want to stay with us:” Nod nod nod. “I see…”

I paused for a moment while under the scrutiny of Smaragd and her Will-o-Wisp. I couldn’t take the pressure for long, so in the end I just shrugged in resignation and told them, “Fine. Little Flame can stay with us for the time being.”

“Yaaaaay!” Smaragd threw her hands into the air in celebration, accidentally throwing the fireball as well. It stayed in the air for a moment, then it slowly descended upon my shoulder and began rubbing itself against my cheek like it was a cat.

“All right, that’s about enough of that,” I spoke wearily as I gingerly picked up the fireball. It was pleasantly warm to the touch and surprisingly soft, but I was too grumpy at the moment to stop and pet it. I handed it back to my familiar and inquired, “By the way, are they done with the painting?”

“Oh, right!” she exclaimed while once again holding her pet fireball to her chest. “They must be waiting for Smaragd! Smaragd has to go!”

“Take care,” I waved after her as she left, then looked down to close the [Status Panel]s that were still open when something caught my eyes.

Name: Little Flame  Level: -1  Experience: -1

Classification: Spirit? Race: Fire?

Description: The Flame that is the friend of the unique named goblin [Smaragd]. It is completely, one hundred percent harmless.

Ah, right… Because insisting like that isn’t super ominous at all…!