The card dissolved in my hand, and a monstrous cramp shot through my body. I barely remained conscious. Something alien appeared inside my body and began moving through it, causing new flashes of unbearable pain. My teeth ground against each other with such force that they began to crumble, but I couldn't scream from the pain. Chikir might hear, and then he would report it to one of the superiors. I think there are already enough unpleasant rumors about me.
This lump of fire, like a living organism, began to move up my torso, and I could feel it moving my internal organs out of its way. The pain was increasing, and with stiff fingers, I could barely unfasten my armor at the chest. The thing crawled outward, pushing my ribs apart, closer to the skin. I reflexively pressed my right hand against the growth that had appeared between my ribs, trying to keep it from tearing my skin.
At that moment, the clot recoiled from my palm and jerked toward my right shoulder and then into my arm, its movement accompanied by a searing pain. It especially burned my forearm. The pain was so intense that for a moment, my vision went dark. My right arm was still twitching in a cramp, but gradually, the pain became a dull ache and was now quite bearable. Only the blood that flowed profusely from the corners of my mouth reminded me of how pleasant it had been to learn the skill.
My right arm felt a bit strange, so I unfastened my sleeve. The forearm had become quite a bit larger, and a strange cluster of new bones and muscles, completely unnatural for goblins, was visible under the skin. I tensed my hand in a special way, as if I had been doing it my whole life.
Thankfully, the knowledge and experience had been transferred to me completely from the skill card. What's there to be surprised about, though? The System is great and incomprehensible. This is just a small fraction of its capabilities.
A bone stinger, at least half an elbow long, shot out sharply from my palm, and at the tip was a very small opening. After that, I felt a gland with poison contract near my elbow. With another effort, the tip of the stinger was covered with a transparent substance. Strangely enough, extending and retracting the hidden weapon did not cause any discomfort or pain, as if I had been born with it in my hand.
For the sake of an experiment, I decided to check the amount of poison available to me at one time. There was enough venom to coat the tips of 20 arrows. Now all that remained was to check how long the effect would last if I put them in my Bag of Holding. We'll see how long the poison retains its properties.
Before the squad arrived, I not only had time to figure out my new skills, but Chikir and I even had a bite to eat, as he had also finished his work and had run to Leur to hurry him up in my name.
"Decurion Irchin, the collection is complete. We can now head to camp to meet Lurion Zhurek," our mage said in a calmer voice, and it was clear that he had managed to get a grip on himself, unlike half an hour ago, when his eyes were filled with nothing but primal terror. He probably already said goodbye to his miserable life, imagining how fifty arachnids would tear his aristocratic little body to pieces. The rest of the squad, hearing his words, even sighed in unison. Deep down, they were afraid that today's raid might not be over.
"Marching formation around the mage, two scouts 100 paces ahead," I said, getting up from the rock with effort.
The goblins in my squad smiled happily and began to whisper merrily. Raum and Chikir, our scouts, turned toward the river and were already getting ready to rush ahead to gain distance.
"Squad, form up! Formation 10 paces behind me," I commanded and began to move toward Sector 245 and the estates we still had to clear.
"But... but... we're... you're wounded," Chikir, as the youngest, began to mumble. The faces of the others instantly turned gray. They began to understand the seriousness of the situation.
"Moresh, give Chikir three blows to the ribs for insubordination." And just like that, the young scout's legs suddenly went weak.
The experienced warrior didn't even look in my direction for confirmation of the order. He approached with confident steps and delivered a series of blows. Not with all his might, but hard enough so that I wouldn't be dissatisfied with Moresh. Chikir fell and began to thrash his legs, trying to get a gulp of air.
"Sotop and Raum, ahead! Moresh, help the wounded one so he doesn't hold up the squad," I said this while moving forward, calmly, confidently, without any emotions.
The squad moved in a deathly silence. Only Chikir's gasps could be heard. And I really had no emotions. For some, this mission, and this fight, was something outside the bounds of reason. But hundreds of battles dull the novelty, and also the sense of danger. It's just a job. And my squad, for some reason, decided that they had done enough for today.
To be honest, we used to not try to stick our necks out and get into trouble. If we came across good loot, we were happy. If not, no one was in a hurry to take a special risk, because we knew the final reward would still be minimal.
Of course, long ago, I tried to keep track of the team, supported their morale, and was afraid that they would scatter at the most inopportune moment in a fight or ask for a transfer to other squads. After all, it was quite realistic to achieve that. Although in my squad, discipline and punishments were always among the cruelest in our entire company. But as practice has shown, that doesn't stop them from leaving their commander alone, again and again, in difficult situations, without any support.
Perhaps such thoughts come to me from fatigue after a fight. I wonder what it's like to have 10 points in the Stamina attribute. I'm sure I wouldn't have even lost my breath from all this running around.
The decision to move on was made for two main reasons. First, the bugs were moving in a fairly large group and left a clear trail. We could definitely try to find their nest by following it. Second, it was simply my greed. I had hope of finding something valuable. After all, the group of arachnids was large and prepared, which is extremely strange during the egg-laying period and their migration underground. And all this was definitely not for nothing.
The tracks of the spider squad led me to a large estate. In this area, the architecture of the buildings was slightly different, and the main building was larger than the ones we had seen in the last search sector—it had square walls, about 50 paces long.
But that was before the fall of their world. Now, the larger the building, the more it was destroyed. Here, probably not a single room on the surface survived. After all, the arachnids lived mostly underground, and their above-ground floors were less durable.
Without stopping, I led the squad in a combat formation to the underground levels. The magical light filled the space around us. Leur, however, didn't say a word about wasting magical power on such worthless tricks, as he used to say, asking what we needed torches for.
After descending to the fifth underground level, panicked whispers began, and the nervousness was visible from the trembling shadows of my goblins on the stone walls. Fear seemed to shackle the cowardly soldiers, and no matter what level anyone was, a goblin always remains a goblin. We came to a sinkhole that went even deeper.
"Get ready for a fight! Form up in two rows! Bows at the ready! Leur, get a Light Orb as far ahead as possible!"
My soldiers nervously began to stir. It took them a couple of breaths to regroup. I saw out of the corner of my eye that our mage's hands were trembling.
"Scouts, 100 paces ahead! One shot at the bugs, then back to our positions! No, Sotop, you stay. Chikir and Raum, go!" I gave the commands, still not turning to face the squad. All my attention was focused on the pitch darkness ahead. The Light Orb slowly floated along the ceiling of the man-made tunnel.
When they were next to me, the scouts turned their heads and were about to say something, but they didn't have time. A spear flew out of the darkness. I took a sharp step to the side and took the blow on my shield at a slight angle, and the projectile ricocheted off the wall. My right arm was slightly shot through with pain from the force with which the spear was thrown.
The scouts spun their heads in confusion, but at least they had the sense to rush back into formation. Meanwhile, a silhouette emerged from the darkness. A huge spider, more than 5 elbows tall. Its carapace had a dull sheen in the dim light, but even so, it was clear that its durability was very high. It was walking slowly. In a very languid and confident manner.
"My favorite goblins," the arachnid said in a gurgling voice in the system language. "Your meat is always like a delicacy. Soft, juicy, it literally melts in your mouth."
"Archers, volley!" I shouted. At that very moment, 12 arrows flew toward the bug. No matter how self-confident it was, it flinched to the side, which means it was at least a little afraid. Apparently, its defense wasn't that strong. Three hits on the silhouette, but a film of magical defense flashed around its body. I hope my squad didn't notice that in the darkness of the tunnel. Panic-stricken flight was the last thing I needed right now. There were 70 paces between us. The enemy lunged toward us. It was clearly some kind of skill. In an instant, it was a full ten paces closer.
"Leur, hit it with all your might on my command!" I shouted.
Another lunge, and I could clearly see that we were facing an E+ rank arachnid guard, Level 7. Another volley of arrows. A dozen hits. The magical defense was exhausted and burst into tiny fragments, dissolving in the air.
"Leur, hit it! I said hit it!" I screamed, my voice cracking. I couldn't turn away from the arachnid at this moment. I was almost a dozen paces closer to the enemy.
The overgrown spider slightly tucked its legs, preparing to make what was probably its final lunge, and it would be in our ranks.
Time seemed to stretch like wax. Goblins were nocking arrows. I could hear the bowstrings twang, but the mage was still hesitating. A strike. Thank the Great Anteros, this arrogant mage struck with lightning. The arachnid took the charge to its chest, but its body was already in a lunge, and it moved, ending up a little to my left, behind my back.
The arachnid guard was shaking a little, and residual lightning sparks ran across its body, but apparently the blow did not inflict mortal damage. Arrows shot from the nocked bows, but now almost point blank. Some ricocheted off the tough chitinous plates of its head, but my more experienced soldiers shot at the elbow and knee joints. And six arrows hit very well, damaging the joints.
I turned and threw my spear into the back of this arrogant bug. But out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a vague movement in the darkness of the tunnel, from where the spider had come. So, it was so self-confident not only because of its personal abilities, but also because it expected quick support to arrive.
From five paces, my weapon went right into the joint between the chitinous plates of its back and its huge abdomen, half an elbow deep. For a moment of disorientation, the arachnid took serious damage, and it wouldn't be able to pull the spear out of its back on its own, but it certainly had combat skills from the System, and that could be very dangerous. And this situation was perfect for their use. The Guardian was already in our ranks and had sustained dangerous injuries. If not now, when else would it use its hidden trump card?
"Shields up!" I yelled. The goblins hurriedly put away their bows and tried to pull their shields and melee weapons out of their cards. But they clearly lacked speed. At the same time, the arachnid guard bared its teeth viciously and used a magical skill.
A wave of compressed air spread around it, and the blast knocked almost all of us to the ground. A couple of goblins were even lifted off the ground and slammed hard against the tunnel walls, after which they slid to the floor, unconscious. Some of my soldiers even let go of their weapons, which is unforgivable for a true warrior. And their weapons flew a good twenty paces away.
I and Moresh remained on our feet. He seemed to have also known about the attack and was able to brace himself and take the blast on his shield. But it would have been better if he hadn't. The Guardian, despite a good dozen arrows stuck in its limbs and a spear in its back, suddenly jumped up with a sharp movement and struck directly at the center of Moresh's shield.
At that moment, for a brief moment, the edge of the arachnid guard's spear was lightly covered with flames. The weapon ignored both the shield and the goblin's arm, piercing straight through them. The arachnid pulled the spear out, knocking Moresh to the ground. And it rushed to the bodies lying on the ground, who were only just trying to get to their feet.
All this time, I was behind the arachnid's back. Moresh fell as if cut down, a scream of pain echoing throughout the area. The wound was serious, of course, but the arachnid guard didn't finish him off. After all, they are not carrion eaters and like to eat their victims while they are still alive.
I threw my second spear with all my might, and it hit the back of the creature's head. Of course, my attributes weren't enough to pierce the carapace, but the weight and speed of the spear were enough to make the wounded spider lose its balance and fall.
"Leur, hit it in the head!" I yelled to the mage, who had just gotten to his feet. I rushed toward the enemy. "Don't you dare hesitate, by Anteros," I roared, my voice breaking.
A flash. A charge shot from the mage's hand and hit the top of the arachnid's head. Its attempt to stand up immediately ceased. I pulled my axe from its weapon card. With the spike on the back side, I brought it down with a full swing and pierced its skull.
[Notice] You have gained 115 SP. (135/150)
"Leur, heal Moresh! The rest of you, form up! Four shields, the rest bows! On the double!" I roared, sounding no less than a monster.
I put away my axe and spear. I took the card that appeared over the corpse.
"Uler, drag the wounded one back about twenty paces. Mage, cast a healing spell. You won't need mana after this." He looked at me with fear, then behind me. "How long am I supposed to wait?"
A flash of healing, and the wound on Moresh's arm stopped bleeding. I turned to the new enemy, but the dozen worker spiders had already slowed down and practically stopped about 50 paces from us. While they were not within the Light Orb's range, their movements in the shadows caused uncontrolled fear and horror, but as soon as the effect of the unknown disappeared and their small numbers became visible, you could literally feel a surge of enthusiasm in my soldiers.
In another situation, ten arachnids would have been enough for panic, but after a Guardian that was five elbows tall, these bugs looked practically harmless. The spiders themselves were also stunned by the swift death of their leader and were moving more by inertia than with a personal desire to attack us.
"Volley!" I ordered, seeing the confusion on my squad's faces.
Arrows flew one after another. The first hits, and the arachnids could no longer ignore it. We had to take on only four who were already pierced by arrows on our shields, but even so, they managed to wound the experienced Uler in the leg and almost bite through the foot of the young Chikir. He got too close to the shield-bearers with his bow at the ready, and he paid the price.
"Listen up! Gather the SP! Bandage the wounded! Leur, one healing spell on the fresh wounds, no more! Then gut the spiders! And only after that, you have an hour's rest! Execute!" I barked. I was even a little surprised myself. I was giving orders loudly, but my voice sounded lifeless, like a dead man's. It's probably my nerves acting up after the fight. Because it was truly dangerous just now. This was not a scout spider with invisibility but very weak armor. And it was not a defender arachnid that was excellently protected but quite slow. The Guardian, in principle, had no weak points by nature, and it's not for nothing that it was an E+ rank creature. Yes, this was really close to our collective demise, and that's why my calmness seems even stranger.
I stopped filling my head with rambling thoughts, picked up our enemy's only Bag of Holding, slung it over my shoulder, and walked deeper into the tunnel, while listlessly chewing on dried meat from my own supplies.
Over the years of my service, my attitude toward field rations has gone through many stages. In my youth, when I was constantly hungry, meat was perceived as a divine nectar. Now, eating such an ordinary food, I no longer even felt its disgusting taste. And the piece of meat, hard as a rock, turned from food into a mundane necessity to replenish my strength. To check the loot in peace, I had to get at least 100 paces away, and that's what I did.
Marauder's Bag
Rank E
Type: System Artifact
Description:
Steals volume. Reduces the weight of stored items by 20 times.
Slows down the spoilage of items stored inside.
Allows you to carry bags of a lower rank without absorption.
Scalable (1/49).
It is possible to increase the rank by combining identical items.
This was pleasing. They paid a good bonus for these separately. A very valuable find because it reduces the weight of stored items by 20 times. The card from the kill was not as pleasing, though what could I have expected from it? An E-rank Chitinous Armor or a skill card with its protective barrier? But to be honest, a fairly rare and interesting skill also dropped.
Skill Card - Swift Dash (1/3)
Rank E
Description: The muscles in the limbs responsible for movement change and become capable of a momentary, swift boost. The skill relies entirely on the body's physical abilities, and the frequency of use and the distance of the lunge depend entirely on the attributes.
[Notice] Your attributes are not well-suited for this change. Fatal irreversible consequences are possible.
Chance of success when learning: 13%.
Chance of death: 91%.
Saturation: 39/100 SP
It's a shame it's not clear exactly which of my attributes won't let me learn it. It could be either Stamina, Agility, or maybe Strength. On the other hand, someone from my squad might have noticed cardinal changes in my body, for example, if they were accompanied by a significant increase in muscle mass. And what's more, the pain would most likely have been monstrous. You couldn't hide that from 12 goblins in a small tunnel. Among the F-rank cards, besides the weapon cards, only this one looked interesting.
Skill Card - Arachnid Language and Script (1/1)
Rank F
Description: Allows you to understand the language and script of the arachnids from the world of Pakkot.
[Notice] Your species is not adapted to reproducing this type of sound. It is highly likely that you will not be able to speak this language.
Saturation: 10/10 SP
[Notice] Learn the skill Arachnid Language and Script (10 SP)?
Yes/No
The card dissolved, and a severe headache hit me. A huge volume of images and knowledge began to flash before my eyes. I immediately understood that I physically would not be able to replicate this language with my mouth. Hissing and chirping were the basis of this language, but now I understood what they meant, and the inscriptions on some of the walls also ceased to be a mystery to me.
But beyond understanding the language itself, the skill allowed me to gain memory of some specific terms used by this arachnid race. Moreover, I now knew not only what they called their higher beings, but I could even vividly picture their forms, as if I had seen them with my own eyes.
As far as I understand, such creatures have long perished in this world — at least, I sincerely hope so.
As have the beasts that lay eggs in unimaginably massive clutches.
Less than five minutes passed before it all stopped.
While my soldiers were busy, I had a little free time, and I decided to spend a little more SP on my skills. Of course, I wanted to improve my bow proficiency, and spear proficiency too. But you can't do that just by sitting on a rock. If I started practicing new movements and blows, they would definitely report me, and not just to Lurion Zhurek. It's more likely they would even report it to Miliurion Tarak the Bloody, hoping to watch a colorful execution. And he loved that sort of thing. He would summon a shadow wraith, and it could eat the victim's soul piece by piece for hours, causing indescribable pain, judging by the victims' screams. In view of the above, I decided to improve my new skills once each. It would be exactly 60 SP.
[Notice] Do you want to improve the skill Minor Regeneration (2/5) (40 SP)?
Yes/No
Rank increased. Skill power slightly increased.
Choose the direction of development:
1. Slightly increases body regeneration but increases the consumption of nutrients in the body.
2. Slightly increases skin regeneration.
3. A slight resistance to poisons appears.
4. The body's need for nutrients is slightly reduced.
(95/150)
I chose option 3. Poison resistance again. I had hoped that this combination could be improved into something truly valuable. A pleasant warmth spread throughout my body. For a brief moment, the fatigue disappeared. But these sensations faded away quite quickly. The skill improvement was unexpectedly fast.
[Notice]Do you want to improve the skill Venomous Stinger (1/5) (20 SP)?
Yes/No
Rank increased. Skill power, stinger durability, and strike speed slightly increased.
Choose the direction of development:
1. Slightly increases the poison's power.
2. Slightly increases the stinger's strike speed.
3. During a strike, a needle with poison extends from the stinger and remains in the victim's body, which leads to more severe and prolonged poisoning. The speed of needle regeneration depends on the body's attributes and regeneration level.
4. Slightly increases the stinger's durability.
(75/150)
I chose option 3. It seemed the most promising for future development at the moment. Pain twisted my right arm, but it was even pleasant. Something was changing, moving, and growing inside. However, the changes took no more than five minutes, and there was no truly severe pain. I decided to stop there. The amount of SP I had was about what I would need to turn in to the accumulator.
Zhurek the Slippery is stupid and greedy, but he knows how to count. I couldn't get away with turning in 10 SP when I was supposed to turn in 100. It would be too noticeable. But turning in 75 SP instead of 88 is quite realistic, as in my case.
Thankfully, my soldiers understood that the underground levels under this estate no longer posed a danger to us, and we were able to avoid any more cowardly attempts to run away. We wandered through the tunnels for several hours. The number of forks in the road was impressive. Many of them ended in collapsed passages or small caves, but unfortunately, they were completely empty. We came across four more worker spiders along the way, but despite the long search, we found the clutch. No less than thousands of spider eggs. A huge cave, several stories high, with all its walls covered in unhatched arachnids.
While my soldiers stood with their mouths agape, putting the loot into their Bags of Holding, I walked around the cave in search of something else valuable, hoping for a little luck in a place like this. But I couldn't find any worthy loot. Although what could I have expected? This was a clutch, not a treasury. On the other hand, such a huge clutch should be considered a treasure.
As I looted, a feeling of anxiety grew inside me. It was still vague, but that made it even more unpleasant. But judging by the expressions on my soldiers' faces, they were incredibly happy with such a rich haul. Well, at least until they had to hoist the heavy Bags of Holding onto their shoulders.
We returned to camp as quickly as we could, despite the three wounded and the full bags. I was glad that today we had found several more Bags of Holding and the total weight of the loot was distributed among almost all the soldiers. We approached the camp at dusk. It was a good thing that it wasn't too dark on the surface yet, and the bright stars in the sky provided enough light for our eyes. We didn't have to light torches, because that could attract arachnids that could fly and hunt particularly arrogant and stupid goblins. And seeing a black silhouette against a black sky is a difficult task.
Nevertheless, we returned to camp without any major incidents, except that everyone, including me, was completely exhausted. And there were no problems with submitting the loot either. Zhurek was certainly happy, but he was clearly wary of Leur's report. He obviously decided to deal with it the next morning.
After a hearty meal of hot porridge in our field canteen, I felt as if the regeneration had started to work. I hadn't been able to rest and recover my strength so well during sleep in a long time. It was as if old knots were beginning to dissolve throughout my body. Also, after weighing all the pros and cons, I decided that 5 attribute points were just lying around doing nothing, and I needed to change that. I planned to increase Agility, but knowing from experience how goblins scream for almost an hour during a body change, I decided to perform less painful metamorphoses.
I increased my Intelligence from 7 to 8. A small worm settled in my skull for five minutes, but it wasn't painful, just unpleasant.
And now I increased my Perception from 5 to 6. This was even easier. First, I lost my vision for a few minutes, then my other senses one after another. It was difficult to feel instant changes with both Intelligence and Perception. And what's there to say? Even when you increase Strength, the muscles increase over the course of an hour, but you only adjust and fully realize how to get used to the changes and increased abilities after several hours. That's what we were taught as kids: increase an attribute in the evening, and in the morning, like in a fairy tale, you feel like a new goblin.
So, in the morning, I took the start of the officers' and mages' meeting calmly and, one might say, with pleasure. My thoughts flowed in a particularly orderly manner, and my vision and hearing delighted me with a sharpness and clarity they had never had before.
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