Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Sneak Attacks

New skill gained: Corrosion tolerance
Though not as common as poisons, some creatures or adventurers choose to use strong acids or alkalis, digestive enzymes, other corrosive agents or even rare decay magic. Just another danger of this world that any adventurer needs to be prepared for if they wish to survive. This skill offers a small amount of aid in holding yourself together in the face of any sort of corrosive attack, as well as helping to purge corrosive agents from your body.
Pain tolerance advanced to level 4
Pain tolerance advanced to level 5

I shuddered as I woke up back in my cave. Thinking that the process of a spider eating its prey sounded unpleasant had been one of the larger understatements of my life. It had been even more painful than I'd been expecting, and the only blessings were that it had ended quickly and the respawn left me with no lingering effects. Having my insides liquidised while I was still alive was not a nice way to go, and though I hated to admit it, the spider had managed to extract some amount of screaming from me after all, no matter how hard I had tried to keep quiet.

I shook my head, trying to dislodge the bad memory. It was over now. Anyway, what sort of wake-up call was jabbing fangs into my neck? I'd been enjoying my nice nap in my comfy cocoon, only to be awakened by a stabbing! I don't think I shall be engaging that spider's services again. Zero out of ten. Not at all recommended.

The tree was a far superior host. I'd give it a solid eight out of ten. Might even increase it to nine, if only its roots were as comfortable as that soft silk. Could I loot my own cocoon and bring it back here?

Still, I was at least thankful that the spider had gone straight for my neck. Given its apparent predisposition to play with its food, it could presumably have drawn things out for longer by going for my extremities... Yeah, I really didn't want to get caught by one of those again.

Well, now that I was free, two could play at the stabbing game. I grabbed my spare horn spear, glad that I'd had the foresight to stash it here, and set off for some revenge. Ten minutes later, I was squeezing myself through the crevice towards the spider's lair, wishing I'd taken the detour to make myself some fresh moss sandals. While nothing on the ground was sharp enough to cut me, some sort of protection would still have been appreciated.

What sort of senses did spiders have? Eyes, obviously, and lots thereof, but from what I remembered about arachnids, they couldn't actually see very well. Didn't they mostly sense vibrations? Not that it mattered; I didn't know enough to change the way I was sneaking. Treading as lightly as I could, and being careful not to alarm any munchers, I made my way back to the spider's lair.

The bastard was sitting on my cocoon! Was it still eating previous-me? I suppose I was larger than it; I doubted it could have managed all of me in one sitting. Anyway, it was facing away, and didn't seem to have noticed me. It was the other side of the repaired web, but the gaps between threads were plenty big enough to fit my horn through. Creeping up as quietly as I could, and doing my best not to think about how anticlimactic this was going to be if I succeeded, I approached within stabbing range and thrust my spear.

Spear dabbler advanced to level 6
New skill gained: Novice stealth
Why let your enemies know you're coming? Honour is a pointless weight worn only by soon-to-be-dead fools, or the precious few strong enough to bear it. Many a mighty warrior has been brought down by an unseen dagger from behind. This skill will aid you in remaining unseen and unheard, whether that's for the purposes of wielding the dagger or hiding from one.

A fountain of blue sprayed out of the spider where I'd driven the horn deep into its bloated body. With it facing away from me, I hadn't been able to go for a head-shot, but I'd still given it a pretty significant wound.

The spider vanished, leaving me holding the horn out into mid-air and probably looking like a bit of an idiot. It could still teleport with that injury? Where did it go? I caught sight of the pulse of light higher up on the web, just as the spider materialised on the ceiling. It seemed to sway a bit, a couple of legs detaching and flailing around in the air, so I must have done some damage, but it quite evidently wasn't dead.

It stared at me a bit, then at the cocoon, then back at me. I guess whatever intelligence it had wasn't sufficient to work that one out, although it did seem sufficient to recognise my face, which was pretty darn scary. Combined with its previous behaviour, I should assume this thing was every bit as intelligent as I was. "What's that look for? I tried to tell you I'd be back. It's not my fault you gagged me before I could finish my sentence."

The spider vanished again, and I watched the pulse of light flowing through the webs deeper into the tunnel. It had fled, injured but alive. Hopefully, our next meeting would go as well as my reunion with the last wolf that had fled me while injured. First though, I needed to retrieve my armour. I jabbed my spear-tip into the cocoon and dragged it downwards, hoping to tear it, but the thick layers of silk were too tough and the spear just got stuck.

Once again, I wished I had a proper knife. Would the wolf claws work, perhaps? I'd abandoned the wolf materials after discovering the horned beetle stuff was better, but the claws were kinda bladed. It would be worth a try, so I turned around and left previous-me hanging.

I'd made it all of two steps before I felt the impact on my back, followed quickly by searing pain.

Corrosion tolerance advanced to level 2

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I spun back, just in time to dodge the second ball of yellow liquid that had been heading straight for my face. I had a glimpse of the spider behind it, standing on my side of the web, before it vanished again. It had returned after fleeing, the second I turned my back? Was it watching me from the distance somehow? Could it perceive through the webs, rather than just teleport? I'd lost about a third of my health bar from that surprise attack, and it was still burning. I needed to get back to the brook and wash it off immediately, or else I'd be looking at another visit to the murder tree. Edging backwards, I started to make my way back out of the passageway while keeping my eyes on the web.

Corrosion tolerance advanced to level 3
Pain tolerance advanced to level 6

AARGH!!! I spun around once more, only to find that the fucking spider had got behind me again! Didn't it need webs to teleport?! This time the pain was far, far worse, the second dose impacting what was presumably already broken and half melted skin, dropping me to one knee. The spider didn't immediately teleport again, instead restarting its irritating clicking laughter. It probably thought I was disabled already, and it was mostly right. My health bar was at least three quarters gone.

I'd neglected to account for just how much it had been toying with me the first time around. It hadn't used most of the weapons it had it its disposal, so how was I supposed to know that it could spit acid? Or, apparently, teleport arbitrarily rather than along its threads? Should I toss my spear at it? The spider would no doubt dodge, but it would let me pick my spear back up when I returned for round three. But given the spider's intelligence, it would likely realise that there would be a round three, and prepare even worse traps. I really wanted it dead. Now.

With my lowered point of view, I spotted a narrow groove in one wall, running horizontally a little above the ground. Maybe it did need threads? Just how many traps had this spider laid? A horned beetle had pierced into a wall during our fight... I wouldn't have the momentum of a charging beetle, but as long as the channel wasn't too deep, I wouldn't need it. I grabbed my spear in both hands and thrust it as hard as I could into the groove, leaning into the attack to get as much of my weight behind it as possible.

When the spider realised what I was doing, it abruptly vanished. I saw no pulse of light, but from the spider's behaviour, it seemed my guess was correct. The question was whether I would be able to sever the thread before it had moved past me.

The next fraction of a second passed in slow motion, my spear penetrating a shallow distance into the wall. For a moment I had no idea whether I'd severed the hidden thread at all, let alone in time, but then the spider reappeared on the wall, right in front of my spear. I instinctively let go of the spear and punched at the spider, hitting it in the face and causing it to lose its grip on the wall, clattering to the floor.

Unarmed dabbler advanced to level 5

There was no more clicking laughter. The spider clacked angrily as it tried to right itself, while I tried to rip my spear back out from the wall. I was faster. I thrust at the spider again and again, not stopping even when it has ceased all movement.

Spear dabbler advanced to level 7

Not stopping even when the skill prompt appeared. I had a lot of anger and frustration to work out. Plus, I wouldn't put it past the thing to be faking, and I wanted to make very sure it was really dead.

Once I'd recovered a bit of presence of mind, I once again pondered my next move. My back was in agony, and it felt like it was still spreading. It was probably a fatal wound, but even if not, was at least a debilitating one. The second hit had ended any chances of me washing off the acid and healing on my own. It would need a session in the healing pool to take care of, but I could spare a few minutes here first. I couldn't wear my armour, not now, when it would dig into my raw back, but I should at least retrieve it and drag it away from spider territory. I had no guarantee there was only one of the things, after all.

I'd been planning on grabbing a claw from a wolf, but now I had something better. I'd already seen how easily the spider could snap its own threads using the claws on its forelegs, so I retrieved both of those instead, using one of them to rip open my cocoon. A burst of fetid me-juice sprayed out, showering me and pooling all over the floor, resulting in me adding a dose of my own vomit to the scenery. Right... I should have expected that. I knew that was how spiders fed. Retrieve my cocoon to make a bed out of? Forget that idea. With spider blood on the outside and me-soup on the inside, that thing was condemned, and in need of a healthy dose of cleansing fire...

I dragged my armour out of the mess, unsurprised to find that while the chitin plates were intact, the less durable plant matter bindings were not. At least that would make it easier to wash. I piled up the plates in the narrow part of the passageway, then made my lonely journey back to visit the murderous tree for another full-heal, dropping off my horn and new pair of knives on the way.

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