The Spider Queen screeched, it locked onto the source of its pain and injury. A girl who disturbed the darkness of its lair. The monster charged once again.
Gripping her star piercer even tighter, Aria decided to meet her opponent head on. As the massive spider moved towards her, she ran towards it. Using the momentum from running, Aria slid underneath the Spider Queens stomach. She lay right under the creature.
"Dodge this!" Aria launched the star piercer directly into the underbelly of the spider. A hole is left in its wake, as blue coloured liquid poured from the gaping wound.
The body of the now deceased Spider Queen began to sway. Aria still underneath it, saw what was coming.
"Shoot," Aria quickly rolled over a few times to the side. Seconds later, the carcass of the beast collapsed to the ground where Aria once layed. Dust and debris scattered from the impact.
Aria just barely escaped, but she wasn't unscathed. "Augh, ewwww." The blue coloured blood of the Spider Queen had covered her head-to-toe.
"How in the world do I even explain this?" Aria decided to worry about that after she got out of the portal. For now she needed to find the portal crystal.
Before looking for the crystal, she wanted to check her Exp after the boss just now.
[ D-rank boss Adolescent Spider Queen has been defeated, 400 Exp earned. ]
[ Exp: 320/800 -> 720/800 ]
So close to completing that main quest!
Aria made her way down the next tunnel and arrived in a small cave like opening. Laying on the floor in the center was the portal crystal. Aria had wasted enough time here, and Ben must be getting worried so she smashed the crystal with a final stomp.
Arriving at the lobby of the apartment building, Aria looked like a mess. How can I clean up before going back to the restaurant? She looked around the lobby area and didn't find anything useful. A few minutes later, someone came through the entrance.
An older woman in a long red coat who had medium length brown hair walked into the lobby. It was the very same woman who ran away earlier after seeing the portal. "My word, what happened to the portal?" The woman asked. She then saw a blood soaked teenage girl standing in front of her. "What happened dear," she asked Aria.
"Well I uh... accidentally ended up in the portal, but an awakened came and rescued me." Aria lied through her teeth, but with her injured back and ruffed up appearance, she did tell a convincing tale.
"Oh my goodness you poor thing, I'm glad I reached out to the law enforcement right away regarding the portal. I was so frightened at first, but someone had to do something."
The woman continued, "Here come with me to my apartment, I'll give you some fresh clothes at least."
Aria followed the woman to a 2nd floor apartment in the building. Once inside, the lady found a simple black pair of pants and plain shirt which she jaded to Aria.
"Bathroom is just over there, don't worry about the clothes and just keep them." The woman then pointed to a door close by. Aria took the clothes to the bathroom where she first she washed herself. Once she was mostly clean, Aria changed into the fresh set of clothes. A little baggy but they were an improvement from her previous clothes.
Aria exited the bathroom before saying goodbye to the kind lady who aided her. Aria ran back to the Chinese restaurant where her brother was still waiting, 30 minutes later.
Aria still had to find a way to explain the change of clothes and the long time frame, but surely something will come to mind.
She entered the restaurant and sat down at the table once again. Ben was playing games on him phone, but turned it off when he noticed his sister arrived.
"That took a long time Aria, also what happened to your clothes?" Ben was thoroughly confused.
Here we go, "I went to answer that phone call and a waiter spilled a whole tray of food onto me. They felt so bad that they cleaned me up and gave me new clothes.
Ben couldn't put his finger on it, but something wasn't quite adding up for him. He didn't want to spoil his evening with his sister though, so he shut his mouth. For now at least.
The two of them finished their meals and went to see a movie at a nearby theatre. It was already getting pretty late though. Once the movie was finished, Ben went to his hotel and Aria went back to campus.
Arriving at her dorm room, Aria was exhausted. She did single handedly take down a D-rank portal and then went out for dinner and a movie. She had a long day, and the bed was calling her name. It's a good thing I did my daily quest this morning already, I'm too tired to move right now.
Aria flopped onto the bed and kicked off her now garbage sneakers. Those shoes need to be incinerated.
Opening her system, Aria wanted to view her latest progress.
[ Emergency Quest Completed - D-rank portal cleared. Reward: Instant level up and new skill unlocked. ]
[ Level: 4 -> 5 ]
[ Exp: 720/800 -> 720/1200 ]
[ New Skill Unlocked ]
[ Seismic Pulse Level 1 (Active) - By activating skill and stomping on the ground, user sends vibrations through the earth that cause the ground to shake. As skill levels up, the intensity of the vibrations will increase. Costs 5 AP to use.]
"Great, all that stomping led to a skill for stomping," Aria wasn't very impressed by this new skill but it could still be useful. Especially if it levels up more. Maybe she could even create earthquakes with this skill?
Aria also had another skill level up.
[ Skill - Light Manipulation has leveled up due to continued usage of skill increasing proficiency. Ability strength increases as well as AP costs decrease. ]
There was something else that Aria was really looking forward to. She can now choose her system class.