36 – Poison sucks

  [Party Update: Gaspard is poisoned and will die in 2 minutes]

  Elanil glanced at the notification with alarm. She had to act quickly.

  “Nura, cover me!” she shouted. Even without prompting, Nura had already charged at the spider, which had even backed away, not expecting such a furious onslaught from the enraged orc.

  Without wasting a second, Elanil tore open Gaspard’s shirt to expose the wound. There it was, just above his left collarbone: two swollen, bleeding holes gaped, the bite site. Elanil immediately did what she believed was usually done for poisonous bites. She pressed her lips to one of the little holes and attempted to suck out the venom. Her tongue immediately tasted blood and something extremely bitter. So, it did work.

  Elanil spat and bent her head to the second one.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Nura’s voice rang out. “Found the time and place!”

  “I’m sucking out the venom!” Elanil explained. She’d never heard Nura so angry at her.

  “Are you nuts? What to suck? It’s a spider, burn the bite before the venom spreads through the blood,” the orc shouted at her, and immediately rained three cuts of axes on the spider who was about to jump at her.

  Nura sounded so stern that Elanil didn’t even think of disobeying. Cauterize the bite. But how?

  “Don’t be stupid!” now even her inner voice joined in Nura’s criticism of her. “[Explosive arrow]!”

  She drew an arrow, wondering how to cauterize the wound without setting everything around it on fire. The arrow glowed like a red-hot rod, crackling with fiery sparks. The tip was white-hot. Exactly! Kneeling down, holding the arrow taut, Elanil tried to carefully apply the arrowhead to Gaspard’s neck. Her hands trembled with tension, sweat streaming down her forehead and temples.

  The arrow touched the bite and hissed. It was quickly joined by the unpleasant smell of burnt skin and something else, far viler. Elanil guessed it was the poison evaporating and breaking down under the heat. It was good that Gaspard was unconscious, she thought. She could imagine the suffering he would have endured.

  [Party Update: Most of the poison is neutralized: Gaspard will die in 20 minutes]

  Not particularly reassuring, but at least it was something.

  Elanil’s muscles cramped. She could no longer hold the drawn arrow. Standing up and turning to the side, she launched the arrow at random, towards the spider. To her surprise, it hit. Probably because the arachnid was distracted by Nura’s incessant assault. The flaming projectile pierced one of the spider’s limbs and detonated with a roar, tearing it off. The spider squealed and jerked back.

  “Good shot!” Nura nodded, immediately following with a series of blows to the spider’s other leg, which it quickly pulled back. It seemed it was beginning to fear her.

  Nura glanced at Gaspard, assessing the situation. “Now slow down the blood flow,” she instructed Elanil on her next steps.

  “How?”

  “Elanil, what’s wrong with you today?” Nura grumbled. “How, how! [Ice arrow]!”

  Elanil frowned. What was wrong with her, really? It was so obvious. “Pull yourself together, Elanil!” she mentally scolded herself.

  While Elanil was gathering her courage for another medical procedure, Nura attacked the spider with increasing force and severity. She constantly thwarted its attempts to rear up and spit its web. As soon as she noticed the fangs straightening to attack, her axes would immediately hammer them.

  Elanil clenched and spread her fingers several times, rotated her wrist to relax before drawing an arrow again. Unlike ordinary arrows, when she held the arrows charged with an ability, she felt as if she wasn’t pulling the bowstring, but her own sinews. Holding an enchanted arrow ready to fly was much harder, requiring far more physical effort and mental concentration.

  Okay, she was ready, Elanil decided. Activating the [Ice Arrow] ability, she pulled one from her quiver. As soon as she drew the bowstring back to her face, she felt a cool waft of air from the fletching. The arrowhead also instantly turned white, but this time from the inner chill it exuded. The shaft instantly became coated with frost. Snowflakes began to freeze out of the humid air around the arrow.

  This was her first time using this ability, so Elanil hoped the ice arrow would behave similarly to the explosive one when charged but unfired, in terms of area of ??effect and intensity. So that the arrowhead would merely freeze the bite site rather than completely turn Gaspard into an icicle.

  With utmost concentration, Elanil brought the arrowhead to Gaspard’s long-suffering neck and touched the bite mark. Again, the arrowhead hissed. Only now, not smoke, but steam rose from the point of contact. Quickly, the entire trapezius muscle turned blue from the cold. That was enough, Elanil thought, and took the arrow away. The last thing she needed was to freeze his neck and carotid artery, thereby cutting off blood flow to his brain.

  [Party Update: the spread of the poison has slowed down significantly: Gaspard will die in 78 minutes]

  She deflected to the side and relaxed her fingers on the bowstring. The [Ice Arrow] whistled on the flight. But this time, the spider managed to dodge the ice bolt’s direct hit. The arrow struck the cap of a large mushroom behind the arachnid. Frost immediately spread across the mushroom, turning it into an ice sculpture.

  As the quest card said, the spider indeed possessed extraordinary agility, but what happened next, it could not foresee. As if Nura had been waiting for this exact opportunity. Taking a deep breath, she shook the cavern with her battle cry.

  [Intimidation]

  Echoed and amplified, her cry sounded even more intimidating. It seemed as if the entire cave shook from the force of her vocalization. And to her delight, it had an effect on the spider. Finally, she had encountered an enemy that this ability worked on.

  The spider jumped back, as if from a very painful sting, and struck a partially frozen large mushroom behind. The glowing green trunk, covered in hoarfrost, trembled. The next moment, the icy cap collapsed under its own weight, turning into a hail of ice shards rushing on the spider. One particularly large chunk hit the spider directly in the head, temporarily concussing it.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  That was just what Nura needed. [Boomerangs] were the finishing touch. Upgraded to level three, they were now a serious threat even against a shell-protected opponent, much less against a wounded monster with partially damaged chitin.

  However, the spider had no intention of giving up so easily. Drawing back slightly, the creature prepared to leap at Nura. Elanil feared the orc wouldn’t have time to parry the attack, so she acted as fast as she could…

  [Protective Shield]

  But Nura noticed the danger and managed to avoid it. She tilted left just a little and the spider’s jaw slid past her. Yes, she now was within reach, but so was the spider.

  One of the axes returned from its [Boomerang] flight just in time. Nura caught it, swung it hard and unleashed all her might on the spider’s head. The blade whistled through the air and slammed between the eyes with a crash. The axe lodged itself in the spider’s head like in a large log. The spider squealed wildly and disgustingly and started frantically shaking its head back and forth. And with it, the axe, and with the axe, Nura, who had clutched the handle with a death grip.

  At the highest point of the arc, Nura managed to leap onto the spider’s back. Her left hand already held the second axe. Meanwhile, she used the axe in her right palm as a lever. Pulling it to the side, she stretched the arthropod’s head away. It screeched desperately and tried to throw off the annoying orc with a final lunge. But it was too late. Nura exposed the head joint with the main body, previously covered by tough dorsal and frontal chitin. Without a second’s hesitation, she slashed at the soft spot.

  The spider’s screeching reached almost ultrasonic frequencies. A second strike. The entire body and its remaining six legs convulsed. A third strike, and the legs parted. The body went limp and collapsed onto the floor. The head rolled aside.

  Nura jumped off the fallen enemy’s back. A satisfied, victorious smile played on her face.

  “Phew, that was... intense,” she remarked and nodded at Gaspard. “How’s our venomous bard?”

  “Not good. He’ll die of poisoning in a little over an hour.”

  “Damn it!” Nura growled. “And as luck would have it, we don’t have any antidote potion with us.”

  Quest: Abandoned cave: warm welcome

  Status: Completed

  Description: Successful assassination of a cave fauna representative. For the record, violence is not always the best solution.

  Reward:

  +200 XP

  [Level Up] Elanil

  Level: 9 → 10

  4 Stat points gained.

  [System Notification]

  {Nura: Skill upgrade} Crushing: low-high

  [System Notification]

  {Elanil: New Skill acquired} First aid: low

  Description: Sometimes it does not take a healer to heal, neither a killer to kill. Elanil can now master giving first aid by using available means and self-control in stressful situations.

  “Bummer!” Nura grumbled. “Again, not enough experience for next level. But lucky you, now you can use all your silver—”

  “Exactly!” Elanil cried.

  [Ability acquired: Regeneration]

  “Right!” Nura exclaimed. “Hurry up! I hope it will help our wounded fella.”

  Elanil wasn’t sure the gesture was necessary, but just in case, she placed her palms on Gaspard’s shoulder. His darkened skin there resembled a large hematoma. Above his collarbone, two purple, swollen holes gaped.

  [Regeneration]

  A golden glow briefly glimmered beneath her palms, then faded. She removed her hands and widened her eyes at the striking change: where the two wounds had just been, there were now two small dots, like mosquito bites.

  [Party Update: Gaspard’s poisoning has been neutralized]

  “Why isn’t he regaining consciousness?” Nura said, worried.

  “The ability needs time to restore his health. He was probably poisoned very badly.”

  “Hm, right,” Nura nodded. “That piece of crap injected him with so much poison, probably a whole pint! It’s surprising he didn’t die right away. For a human, he’s tougher than I thought.”

  “Perhaps our venomous bard is not as fragile as he seems,” Elanil giggled.

  Inside though, she exhaled. What a relief, she thought.

  “Nura, thanks for yelling at me,” she hesitated, unsure how to phrase it. “I mean, when Gaspard was bitten by that spider, I think I was at a loss. If it weren’t for you, then—”

  “Ah, forget it,” Nura waved her hand dismissively. “That’s what parties are for. Today I yelled at you, tomorrow you’ll yell at me. I just dealt with spiders before, back in the Steppe. True, they were much smaller and less harmful. But they were also venomous. I wasn’t bitten, my friends were, and I had to cure them. So, now I have some hands-on experience. Anyway, don’t worry about it.”

  “Still, thanks for taking matters into your own hands,” Elanil insisted. “And you mostly defeated the spider yourself.”

  “Nah,” Nura smirked, putting down one axe and slinging the other over her shoulder. “Consider it 1:1 for the teddy bear. When Gaspard and I screwed up and you beat the crap out of it alone.”

  She nodded toward the corpse of the spider. “I’ll go check for loot. Wonder what good we can get from it.”

  Approaching the corpse, she carefully lifted its chelicerae with her axe. Poison was oozing from them.

  “Hmm, I bet this might be useful for the apothecaries,” she remarked. “Not sure though if I have an empty vial.”

  “I do.” Elanil opened her inventory. After Hamselton, it had become filled with a variety of trinkets for all occasions. For example, there was a shovel, a fishing rod, and a rope—perhaps could be useful for their dungeon crawl. Empty potion vials were also there.

  Nura carefully filled two flasks from each fang.

  Item Acquired: Big black cave spider poison

  Quality: Rare

  Description: Raw material for various antidotes, as well as other potions, ointments, and poultices. Highly valued by apothecaries, herbalists, and alchemists; Hazardous Material Warning Issued

  “By the way, what made you angry this time?” Nura asked, tightly corking the full vials of cloudy yellow-green liquid.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Well, when we were sitting behind the rock. You swore at something.”

  “Ahh… I cursed the menu for giving us away to the spider."

  “What are you talking about?” Nura blinked in surprise.

  Now Elanil couldn’t understand what precisely Nura couldn’t understand.

  “Well, it did glow, right?” She began to explain, looking for understanding in Nura’s eyes. “And that’s probably why the spider spotted us in this darkness. I was no better, of course, for yelling out loud. I thought it was all in my head. It just pissed me off—exposing us at the most inopportune moment.”

  “Elanil, what are you even talking about?” Nura looked genuinely astonished by her explanation. “Non-members of your party can’t see your menu. How could the spider detect us because of it?”

  Elanil’s mouth dropped open.

  “And they don’t see light either. Have you ever noticed how the menu glows in the dark, but doesn’t illuminate anything?”

  “I... uh,” Elanil scratched her head.

  “You’ve been acting strange lately.” She handed the vials to Elanil and secured the axes to her belt. “Maybe today isn’t your best day. Or maybe descending into a dungeon is depressing for you."

  “A bit.” Elanil decided to grasp at Nura’s hypothesis like a straw. “I’m a little afraid of confined spaces.”

  “I see,” Nura nodded. “You are a Wood Elf, after all. What kind of confined spaces could there be in the forests, right? Actually, my first foray into a dungeon was difficult for me too, for someone who’d spent her whole life in the Steppe’s vastness.”

  Elanil exhaled with relief. It was a good thing Gaspard was still unconscious. She wouldn’t have gotten rid of him that easily.

  “How’s our recovering man?” Nura nodded at the bard, who looked as if he were in deep sleep.

  “Better—”

  “Quiet!” Nura cut her off immediately, grabbing her axe and listening intently into the darkness, to the cavern’s far end, where Gaspard’s [Illumination] couldn’t reach.

  Elanil focused her ears, too, and at first she thought she imagined it, but then realized: a rustling sound of many paws on the stones was approaching, like a tide of ominous whispers.

  And then the menu appeared.

  Quest: Rustles in the dark

  Status: Acquired

  Description: The choice to fight had its consequences. The noise of the skirmish echoed throughout the cave and attracted the swarm’s attention.

  Additional Information:

  Big black cave spider x horde

  Type: Creature

  Threat Level: Very High (High risk of death of the squad)

  Notable Traits: Venomous bite, Hunting web, Increased agility, Group tactics

  Reward:

  XP (conditional)

  Loot (conditional)