For the remaining fifteen days of the mission, I decided to be more aggressive. No camps, no rest stops; we'd storm every estate, clearing each building. For the first three days, we encountered small groups of up to five spiders, and we easily dispatched them with arrows. At first, my squad grumbled and was a bit timid about the new tactics, but no one wanted to repeat the mistake of Rekel, our former scout. Even the arrogant Leur stayed quiet, though he was used to a more measured and calm routine, not this constant trudging through grim arachnid tunnels.
On the fourth day, we cleared our second courtyard and were getting ready to search the basements. That's when we learned that our brazen assault tactics were extremely dangerous. First, four worker arachnids burst in from the street through the main gates.
"Everyone group up, we'll attack with bows on my command," I ordered.
It seemed simple enough, but at the same time, three more spiders climbed over the wall from the opposite direction. These were higher-level—two were Level 4 and one was Level 5. That was enough to spook my entire squad. Instead of a coordinated volley, this so-called "squad" of soldiers froze for a moment, unable to decide which way to turn. That was all the time I needed to understand the key thing: this was a trap. There was a puppeteer hiding somewhere, and we weren't getting out of here so easily.
"Leur, put up a shield and don't get distracted by anything else until I give the command! As for you, you spawn of chaos, VOLLEY!" I shouted so loudly my soldiers flinched, but they followed the order in a flash.
Only three of the spiders managed to reach the magical shield. Once they were up close, protected by the barrier, we easily took them down with our spears. Quiet chatter and nervous laughter broke out. It had all happened too unexpectedly and too fast. The entire fight didn't even last thirty heartbeats.
"Leur, hold that shield! Even if you run out of mana, if you drop it, I'll personally slit your throat. Do you understand me?" I hissed into his ear.
"Understood," the mage hissed back through clenched teeth. A moment ago, he'd been about to drop the shield. What's gotten into this malicious Decurion Irchin? he thought to himself.
"Chikir, finish off the wounded spiders with your bow, now!" I snarled.
We stood like that for a few minutes. The mage kept glancing at me with growing resentment. The rest of the fighters just looked at each other, bewildered, but thankfully they were smart enough to keep their mouths shut. We didn't have to wait long. When ten worker arachnids and three E-rank warriors burst out of the spider den at the same time, it seemed as if the green faces of my soldiers all turned white at once. This is probably the difference between experienced warriors and the pathetic lot who just think they are.
The bugs attack on pure instinct. They aren't afraid, so they just move in a straight line. We don't have a numbers disadvantage, and our levels are higher, but the terror in my fighters' eyes was so intense you would have thought we were facing ten D-rank Orcs.
The panic didn't last long. I shot once. My second shot was followed by a volley from the whole squad. I only had one thought in my head right now, and it wasn't about how to survive. Greed was consuming me from the inside. I was figuring out how to get the experience from all three of the arachnid warriors; they were all Level 4.
Because the spiders were so bunched up, since the tunnel was less than ten steps wide, almost all the arrows found their mark. Strangely, none of the enemies' personal defenses activated like they did that other time, which was a bit disappointing. Only two of the warriors made it to the barrier, and even they were stuck with arrows. They hit the barrier once, then a second time. Arrows hit more and more vulnerable spots, and I couldn't take it anymore. I leaped at the spider on the left; it seemed slower due to its wounds. I slammed my shield into its left arm and thrust my sword under its chin.
[Notice] You have gained 31 SP. (32/120)
I lunged for the next one, but stopped in time. This arachnid warrior was showing irrational toughness for a Level 4. Arrows weren't piercing its chitin everywhere, and they weren't going in deep. But the moment it turned toward me, it took several arrows to its abdomen. It thrashed back and forth, trying to attack with its spear, aiming at me, but hitting the magical barrier. I lunged, took its weakened blow on my shield, and drove my sword through its head.
[Notice] You have gained 80 SP. (112/120)
A jolt of energy ran through my body, but I don't think anyone noticed it in the heat of battle. It can't be... it was Level 10! No wonder it resisted for so long. And it was practically the same size as its Level 4 kin.
As I went for the third arachnid warrior, I was conflicted. It was scary to level up without permission, but if that third arachnid also used the skill to falsify system information and someone found out about it, it would be my end.
The arachnid warrior was lying on its side. An arrow, which had hit perfectly between its large chitin plates, stuck out of its head. Pale blood continued to flow profusely onto the dirty ground. It could have been any level—it just got unlucky. An inch to the left or right, and it would have been a ricochet. Doubts are doubts, but there was nothing I could do now. I stepped up and struck its head with my sword. I guess I knew that things had already gone too far and there was no way to justify it.
[Notice] You have gained 88 SP. (200/120)
[Notice] You have reached Level 13. (80/120)
You have 3 free attribute points available.
This time, I was ready for the massive rush of energy and pressed my sword even harder, piercing its head. Luckily, no card dropped from this arachnid warrior, and I yelled to the others.
"Leur, drop the shield! The rest of you, finish off the wounded and start gathering the arrows; we might need them soon. And Leur, collect all the cards."
No one answered me. Many of them had trembling knees. They still hadn't fully believed they were alive. And they were right to be worried. If the mage had dropped the shield to save mana, he wouldn't have been able to raise it again immediately. So the arachnids' plan wasn't bad; it was just unlucky.
From the E-rank cards, we got Chitinous Armor and one blank. From the F-rank, we got five blanks and two Chitinous Hide cards. The cards were interesting, but the goblins were afraid to use them on themselves. The scales of chitin that would cover their skin looked pretty creepy. While the positive effect of the extra armor was there, a goblin who used it could forget about ever getting a wife in his old age. As for weapons, only two E-rank spears were noteworthy, which was also pretty good. It was a shame that only senior officers were allowed to use such weapons. Although, these particular ones were too big for an average-sized goblin.
We took an hour-long break, and then my squad descended into the basements of the estate. After searching three underground levels and not finding anything of value for such a large squad on the surface, I was extremely disappointed. You can't really call a few ancient jugs or a rusty arachnid heavy armor "valuable." Of course, all of it was placed into our Bags of Holding, because even rusty junk has a price.
I decided to go even deeper, into the crudely dug tunnels. These weren't the ancient underground floors, decorated with stone and patterns. Here, the walls were carved with primitive tools, and it was obvious that they had been built only a few decades ago.
After going not even a hundred paces, the nervous whispers among my goblins could no longer be ignored. Fear was taking hold. A deep-seated fear that was slowly but surely growing into an uncontrollable terror, one that lurks in the instincts and could result in a complete loss of control. But this fear was still balanced by their fear of dying at the hands of their Decurion. The mage was the first one to crack, knowing for sure that the Decurion wouldn't kill him, but the arachnids in such a confined space could.
"Decurion Irchin, it's too dangerous here, we need to go back," he said it quietly, but tried to make his voice sound confident. But when the Decurion turned his head toward him and the light from the spell above their heads fell on his face, Leur instantly regretted it. He regretted it a thousand times.
From the darkness of the tunnel, the deathly cold eyes of the malicious Decurion Irchin stared at him, his face devoid of emotion. It lasted only a moment, and then the Decurion turned away and moved deeper into the tunnel. But in that moment, cold sweat broke out on the mage's back. Most importantly, the entire squad somehow felt the threat from the Decurion and moved on in complete silence. Only the small stones crunching under their feet broke the oppressive quiet.
The tunnel branched several times, and we even encountered two worker spiders along the way. But in less than half an hour, we came out into a large cave, at the bottom of which we found an arachnid clutch. This was a stroke of great luck—over 500 eggs, and that was just from a quick look. All the joy of finding this treasure was ruined by thirty worker arachnids. It was a little comforting that they were all Level 1.
"Everyone, wait for my command. Leur, prepare a shield. The rest of you, get your bows ready. Aim for the closest creatures."
Attacking from a higher position is always easier. So the spiders climbing the steep cave walls were perfect targets. After dealing with most of the arachnids with bows while they were still approaching, Leur's shield held back the rest. The magical barrier was thankfully able to withstand the blows of about ten bugs that had reached us, whom we finished off with spears. But the main danger, in my opinion, was a new potential attack, because my mage had almost no mana left. And if we split up to search for valuables in the fairly large cave, we could easily be caught by surprise.
After standing in a defensive position for almost half an hour until Leur's reserve was replenished a little, the squad began loading the arachnid eggs from the clutch into their Bags of Holding. There was a danger we might not have enough space, since besides the eggs, the spiders had dragged all their prey here—food, which meant corpses, and sometimes those corpses had parts of equipment or even weapons. Of course, all of it was very old, but even metal has a decent price in our time. And since naturally no one in my squad had the Appraisal skill, we couldn't be absolutely sure that what was in front of us wasn't some hidden ancient treasure.
The return to Zhurek the Slippery's camp was difficult. My four Bags of Holding were filled to the brim, or so it seemed. Each one weighed more than the person carrying it. But it was very difficult to describe the joy of the returning soldiers. They were acting like they'd come back from the front after heavy, bloody battles. They swung their arms and grinned foolishly. Heroes? My whole squad, with a support mage? How much brains does it take to kill bugs from behind a magical barrier? But Zhurek was the happiest of all. I'd never seen such a sickeningly sweet smile from him in all my years of serving under him. A smile that spoke a thousand words.
This is my lucky ticket to Level 18, was written all over his face.
I, myself, was more focused than ever. While submitting SP, I had to change the displayed attributes (80/120 SP). I was only going to submit 64 SP for the two Level 4 arachnid warriors. In the end, I should have (16/130 SP) left over. As I stepped away from the accumulator, Zhurek swept a fleeting glance over me, activating his Appraisal skill. A practically unnoticeable wave of energy passed through my body, but Zhurek's expression didn't show any concern. He made sure that my attributes and skills hadn't changed and kindly wished me well.
"Just a couple more outings like this, and I promise I'll get you a new level out of turn," he said, and his eyes gleamed so brightly a torch probably wouldn't have been needed at night.
"I'll do my best, it's in my interest too; no one's canceled the officer's percentage of the loot," I said indifferently, at the same time trying to calm my heart, which was beating wildly in my chest. To be honest, I was very worried that Lurion Zhurek would be able to see my increased level. After all, it's impossible to be completely sure about a skill you've never used before. But thank the Gods, he didn't detect anything.
"Of course, of course, Decurion Irchin. 2% of the resources your squad gets on this mission will be significant, so start thinking now about where you'll spend so much SP."
**************
"Decurion Irchin has lost his mind. Did you see how he charged those arachnid warriors? No sane goblin would ever get into a melee with such a strong enemy."
"Yeah, ever since that explosion, he's just gone off the rails. It's like the last bit of brains he had got knocked loose. And Zhurek the Slippery doesn't give a damn as long as this lunatic brings back unheard-of loot. He doesn't even notice how the Decurion himself has changed, and even his voice has gotten way too sinister."
"And that terrifying look. He looks at us like he doesn't even see us, like we're already dead. Even Leur. And Leur would like to put Decurion Irchin in his place, but he's probably too scared to even look him in the eye, let alone talk."
"These arrogant mages always call us country bumpkins. Well, let's see if our noble Leur can try to voice his opinion to the Decurion now, if he has the guts."
"And they say that in terms of loot, our Decurion, Irchin the Malicious, has already surpassed the entire 4th company of Perek the Scarred. And he's clearly not planning on stopping. This could end badly, for us for sure," Chikir finished quietly.
"Don't jinx it, you cursed idiot! How many times have I told you, Chikir? Don't talk about things like that on a campaign!"