Beta Life, page 19
part #1 of Digital Sorcery Series
"Hey, Hey!" Eldertits said loudly, "Ryland was the one who violated your fish daughter, not us. Though to be fair to him, your daughter is a suckerfish, and her mouth was just begging for it. Also, she gave him the herpes, so she's not as innocent as you think."
The cavern shook again, and Elaria hissed, "Quiet."
We stood there still and silent, knee deep in water until Elaria motioned for us to keep moving. She made it clear with a finger to her lips that we weren't to talk and needed to make as little noise as possible.
Silent as we could, we moved through the water and slowly made our way deeper into the cavern. It turned and twisted always following the open part of the cave, which was good for us, because if it ever went into the rock, we'd have been screwed.
As we rounded another bend, we finally had a bit of good luck. The dry part of the cave ended, and the stream took over the entire opening. Guess we'd have had to get in this thing regardless. The spiders went as far as they could go but could no longer keep up with us. I mockingly waved goodbye to them as we continued past their dead end.
The cave narrowed through here but not enough that we couldn't comfortably get by. On the side of us, the rock wall had signs of moisture dripping off of it which was weird considering the stream was shallow and probably hadn't been that high in a long time, if ever. Maybe it was condensation or something. I ignored it and pressed forward.
Elaria quickened her pace a little bit by now. The elf was probably unnerved being so far underground. I didn't like it either to be fair. This was making things a little difficult for poor Kurnoc. He struggled along behind me making the most noise out of any of us, but none of us chided him for it. He couldn't exactly change his height.
Looking back to check on him, I caught a glimpse of a huge part of the rock wall move behind him and drop into the water. It proceeded to stand up on eight large legs. The whole thing stood a bit shorter than me but was definitely taller than Kurnoc and was almost as wide as the tunnel.
"Kurnoc, look out!" I yelled as the thing charged at him.
The dwarf let out a bit of a yelp before tumbling backward and narrowly avoided being bitten by one of its giant mandibles. As if the cave spiders hadn't been bad enough, now we had a giant spider that was covered in rock. It blended in perfectly with the surrounding stone to the point that I didn't even notice it as we walked past.
I pulled Kurnoc to his feet, and we all ran like hell, abandoning any attempt at being quiet. The spider moved after us, much quicker than I would have expected for a creature covered in heavy rock.
The sound of its mandibles clicking followed us through the darkness as torchlight bounced up and down off of the rock walls. Eldertits screamed and charged forward overtaking Rondo and coming level with Elaria. She really didn't like spiders apparently, though I was starting to get less than fond of them myself.
Up ahead, the tunnel forked off into two different directions. The stream flowed through an opening to the right, while another part that was dry went off to the left. I couldn't see far enough down either way to see if they led to anything. Either Elaria or Tits decide fast, or Kurnoc and I were going to be spider food.
Dashing to the left, Elaria ran onto dry land forcing Eldertits, who was next to her, up as well. Rondo surged forward and made it easily leaving only Kurnoc and myself in the stream with the spider. It was closing the distance between us. I gave it my all, pushing hard against the water and high stepping my way out of the stream.
I looked back and saw the spider catch up and strike Kurnoc in the back. The dwarf was hurled forward and stuck to the wall where the paths split. He splashed down into the water but managed to catch himself with his hands before he went completely under water.
He had his back to the spider and was completely defenseless, so I knew I had to do something or Kurnoc was a goner. I shot several fireballs at the spider, but they bounced off the outer rock covering it, doing only minimal damage. However, it caused the spider to hesitate, and this allowed Kurnoc to get back to his feet and face the spider.
It stormed forward, splashing water as it went and tried to rip Kurnoc's head off with its giant mandibles. At the last moment, with a spurt of dexterity that I didn't know the dwarf was capable of, Kurnoc dove to the left and narrowly missed having his side torn open. Instead, the spider went past him and slammed into the wall.
Well, actually it went through the wall with an almighty tremor and disappeared leaving only a tunnel behind. Now I knew with certainty what caused the shakes earlier and what made the tunnel we used to initially enter this cave.
"Fuck me, I want out of this cave right now!" Eldertits yelled.
"I can't believe they kept a rock spider down here," Kurnoc said gasping and getting back to his feet. "They're nearly impossible to control or contain and are expert hunters in underground terrain. I wonder how they kept it from eating their own people?"
"I don't think this is the time to ask those questions," Rondo said, "We need to move, it's gonna be back any minute."
"You're right," Kurnoc said, and then added, "Get us away from here as fast as you can, Elaria."
Elaria spun and led us further along the cavern moving at close to a run. None of us complained, wanting to get as far away from the rock spider as possible. It widened through here but began to slope downhill at a not inconsiderable rate. I focused as best I could and managed to keep my footing for once which was a big improvement for me.
At this point Eldertits moved out in front of Elaria, going as far as the light would allow her to see. She was frantically looking left and right for some sign of a way out, but we were probably hundreds, if not thousands, of feet below the surface, and she was unlikely to find any sort of miracle exit.
Next to me, Kurnoc actually seemed at home moving down this rocky slope, but then again, this was probably pretty normal for the dwarf. Going downhill in an underground cave, not being chased by a giant spider.
"Rondo," I called up to the man in front of me, "would this be exciting enough for your grandkids?"
"Probably a little too damn exciting," he yelled back without turning his head. "It's too damn exciting for me, that's for sure."
That makes two of us. Ever since I got to this world, I've been chased and attacked almost nonstop. Nowhere in the brochure did it say how hostile everything was towards you, that or I just ended up in the worst part of Alderoth. Where was the place where you could sit back on a boat with a fishing line in the water and enjoy a beer without worrying about anything?
Up ahead the cavern turned sharply to the right, and Eldertits disappeared out of my line of sight as she ran ahead, followed by Elaria. The cave around us immediately dimmed to the faintest of glows, and I cursed silently. Wait for us guys, we can't see in the dark.
Turning the corner, I sprinted after them. The cave here got even wider and taller, and at the other end, I could see Elaria and Eldertits standing near a solid rock wall. Dread filled my thoughts. This was a dead end, and we were going to have to go back and walk right past where the spider tunneled through the wall.
"Ah, God damn it!" Eldertits yelled smashing her fist into the solid rock wall in front of her. It actually made a few cracks where her hand struck. The barbarian had some serious strength.
"I don't think there's anything to be done but to turn around and head back for the stream," I said.
"Oh, joy. Right past where we last saw that monster," Tits responded sarcastically.
"There's nothing to be done about it," Rondo said coming to my defense. "This is a dead end, and we can't stay here."
"I know, okay, I know," Eldertits said, "I just really fucking hate spiders."
"That much has been obvious for a while," Elaria said before making for the side of the cavern we entered."
"Rock spiders are weak on their underside," Kurnoc said as Eldertits followed sulkily after Elaria. "It's the only effective place you can damage them, though good luck figuring out how to get a shot in there."
"Oh, thanks for the great advice, Kurnoc," Eldertits started sarcastically before yelling "Elaria, on your left!"
The rock spider, like a ninja, suddenly appeared just to the left of Elaria and was poised to strike her. Tits seeing this, had screamed running towards the other elf and pushed her out of the way. Its clawed front leg slammed down and tore into Eldertits' abdomen ripping both flesh and blood from her.
Our barbarian crumpled to the ground with a grunt of pain, and her health bar immediately appeared above her head and began to decline at a rapid rate.
"Tits!" the rest of us shouted, running over to where the spider was hovering above her about to go in for the coup de grace and finish her off.
I stopped just outside of the area where the spider could reach me and began casting cure on Tits.
You do not have enough mana to cast this spell.
Fuck you, mana, I screamed in my head and instead, drew out my two new daggers putting one in each hand.
You are attempting to dual wield. At your current skill level of 0 dual wielding has the following effects.
-20% attack in both hands
-20% accuracy in main hand
-50% accuracy in offhand
Cool, I don't care. I've just got to save Tits from quite possibly her worst nightmare. Kurnoc, who must have been thinking something similar, slid down next to her and summoned a shield right as the creature struck again with its claw. The claw skidded off of the shield but managed to knock it out of Kurnoc's hand.
This didn't even cause Kurnoc to hesitate. The dwarf summoned his halberd and thrust it upwards straight into the meaty underbelly of the spider. The rock spider screamed as the speared end sunk in deep, and the dwarf twisted it around.
Elaria, who finally got back to her feet, ran over to where they were laying and summoned a bottle full of red liquid and poured it down Eldertits' throat. Tits coughed but managed to get most of the liquid down, and her health began to recharge just a tiny amount.
"You foolish woman," Elaira said to her, "You threw yourself in front of it to protect me. Why did you do something so stupid?"
Eldertits didn't respond at first but just continued laying there with Kurnoc over the top of her holding a halberd into the rock spider and Elaria on the ground near her face. Slowly she turned her head and looked Elaria in the eyes and smiled in her usual mischievous way.
"For our baby," Eldertits said reaching back and placing her hand on Elaria's stomach.
Kurnoc looked down at the two elves with a mixture of shock and horror on his face. This lapse in focus was all the rock spider needed. It pulled back and knocked the halberd away from itself and charged forward bowling over Kurnoc with its rocky exterior.
Having passed Kurnoc, it was now headed straight for me, and I was not ready for it at all. I had two tiny daggers, no mana, and almost no armor. This was going to end poorly. As it got close, I swung at it with my right hand and missed horrendously slamming my forearm against the rocky area above its head. This did nothing, and a moment later, the force of the spider hit me, and I flew backward eventually hitting the wall a few paces behind me.
My back screamed at me, but I didn't have any time to think about it, because the spider was approaching swiftly. It clearly saw me as easier prey than Eldertits now, because I was off on my own, and she had two other people around her. Well, if it's going to kill me I'm at least going to do some damage I thought, gripping the daggers tightly.
It lunged down at my head with its mandibles, and I leaned my body to the right in a poor dodge attempt. At the same moment, I took both daggers and plunged them deeply into its upper belly. It missed my head, but it caught the area between my left shoulder and neck and took a large chunk out of me. I instantly began to feel a large amount of blood flow down the left side of my chest.
It jerked, clearly unhappy with the blades that I plunged into it, but I refused to let go. There was no way I was letting this bastard kill me without doing as much harm to him as possible. The spider jerked again, and my grip tightened. Frustrated, it slammed against the wall in front of me which only loosened my grip slightly before I regained it and pushed the daggers in harder.
This caused the spider to press harder into the wall which seemed to push back against it until a moment later, there was a tremble of earth, and I was suddenly being dragged along the ground underneath its large mass. I held onto the daggers for dear life, as I knew if I let go of them, I would most likely be trampled to death by this things incredibly powerful legs.
The ground underneath tore at me and caused no small amount of pain in my already sore back. I gritted my teeth clutching at my lifelines as they began to slide slowly down the spider's stomach every time it's tunneling caused us to jerk.
Its stomach was being cut open in two places, but that didn't seem to slow it down at all. If anything, it actually seemed to speed it up. A jagged rock caught me from underneath and sliced open a section of my back. I screamed in agony and fear. I hurt all over, but I really didn't want to go back to that place. I did not want to respawn!
Suddenly, the resistance in front of us was gone, and I jerked down in response causing the daggers to slide further along its stomach and fall out. I fell to the ground still clutching them in my hands. Two of its legs caught me, one in my chest and one in my abdomen, and all of the air seemed to go out of me in that instant.
Light was coming from somewhere around me, but I couldn't tell where as I gasped trying to breathe but failing. With pain overwhelming me, I twisted my neck to look for the spider and saw that it looked like it collapsed a couple feet in front of me. Ha, took you with me, I thought grinning and then lost consciousness.
Chapter Fourteen: The Road Under the Mountains
I awoke sometime later, sore and stiff all over. A bedroll had been placed underneath me, and I had a blanket on top of me. I felt the area between my neck and shoulder, and there was a bandage over the wound. Glancing at my health gauge, I saw that it filled up about halfway, though, I still had the mystery status effect and a new one called physical trauma. I opened up the properties to further inspect it.
Physical Trauma
"Your body has gone through a traumatic experience such as multiple serious wounds or a grave illness. It is still in the process of recovering from the damage that has been done to it."
Effect: Dexterity halved, Strength halved, movement speed halved. In addition to this, you will feel sore, stiff, and grow tired easily.
Duration: 48 hours or until this status effect is removed by other means.
So, I survived but was now practically crippled for the next forty-eight hours. Still, I couldn't complain that I hadn't gone back through respawn, and it seemed like my companions treated my injuries as best they could. I'd have to thank them for that later. I noticed for the first time that I had a couple of notifications blinking at the bottom of my vision.
Congratulations you have killed level 1 Cave Spider! You have gained 5 XP.
Congratulations you have killed level 1 Cave Spider! You have gained 5 XP.
Congratulations you have killed level 14 Rock Spider! You have gained 213 XP.
Congratulations you have reached level 1 in the skill small blades! You are now more effective at using small blades such as knives, daggers, and short swords and have gained the following when using them:
+5% bonus to damage
+5% bonus to accuracy
-2 Constitution (Temporary)
You have gained the status effect: Bleeding.
Your status effect: Bleeding has been upgraded to Greater Bleeding.
Your status effect: Greater Bleeding has been removed.
Well, at least I knew for sure that that damn spider was dead. If I never ran into another rock spider again, I would be just fine with that. I wonder if everyone else survived. Tits had a pretty grievous looking injury, but I don't think the other three were in any real danger the last time I saw them.
Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself onto my elbows. My body seemed to fight me as a dull pain pushed back against what I was doing.
"Look who decided to get up," Rondo's voice came from my left.
Turning my head, I saw that he was sitting there on the ground next to Elaria. Both of them looked exhausted but otherwise perfectly healthy.
"Where's Tits and Kurnoc?" I asked not seeing them.
"I be right here," Kurnoc's voice came from my right.
My neck screamed at me as I turned to the right and saw Kurnoc sitting there. Next to him, Eldertits was lying under a blanket completely passed out. She looked paler than usual, although, she was pretty pale to begin with. The health bar above her head was flickering and nearly empty.
"Is she alright?" I asked concerned.
"She'll survive, this one has a fierce toughness about her," Kurnoc said with a hint of pride coming into his voice.
"We did what we could for both of you, but I'm out of health potions, and we can only do so much with the resources we had available," Elaria said, and then added with fondness, "You both are incredibly stupid and incredibly lucky."
"I didn't have much of a choice, that thing came right at me," I said not bothering to turn my head back towards her. It just hurt too much to move it.
"What's the old saying, better to be lucky than good, right?" Rondo said with a small chortle.
"No kidding," I responded, and then added, "I could cast Cure on her if you think that would help."
"Of course it would help," Elaria said quickly, "why didn't you mention you could do it before?"
"I was still trying to gain my bearings," I said.
I began casting Cure on Eldertits and added, "Where are we anyway?"
