Random Portals

Steven stared at the massive zombie wrapped in the spider Queen’s webs. Each time it struggled, the webs tightened and dug deeper into the boss monster’s flesh. Black blood leaked from several wounds as boils oozed something that sizzled when it dripped to the floor.

“Do you think it was wise to send the spider out while you deal with the boss?”

Steven raised an eyebrow. “It can barely move. The webs are so tight!”

“And if it gets free and goes on a rampage?”

“It’s at nine percent remaining health and slowly dropping. Do you really think so little of me?” Steven asked.

“It’s not that! It’s just, should you really be smoking right now, I know you said it helps you focus but, I’ve noticed when you use a lot it does the opposite.” Silvia said, as her light dimmed.

Steven wondered if the Wisp knew she wore her emotions on a sleeve like that, but didn’t mention it.

“What else am I supposed to do? I’m just waiting for the poison to slowly kill it; you know as well as I do that stabbing it doesn’t truly do anything, besides the daggers are nearly out of durability. Nev is not here because she would get most of the essence, since she was the one that bound it and did most of the damage. Besides, there are drones to help if it somehow gets loose. But I don’t see Nev’s web breaking.”

“Its just I don’t trust that spider.”

“Good! It means you will keep a close eye on her. I’m sure she is up to something, but only time will tell. How sure are you of the oath?”

The Wisp grew a bit brighter at that. “I will keep a very close eye on her! And there is no way she can get out of the oath. It’s a sure thing! Well. Other than divine intervention, but that won’t happen.”

Steven glared at the wisp, wishing she wouldn’t tempt fate.

“What is it?”

“Nothing,” Steven sighed, “on another note I was meaning to ask you what was the one thing Nev wouldn’t agree too?”

“Oh that. Well, it’s not really that big of a deal.”

“Okay, but what was it?”

Steven got the sense the Wisp was blushing right before she spoke. “Mating.”

“Mating? What do you mean?”

“Well, she wants the option to mate with you,” Silvia then began to speak faster, “I did, however have her agree you had to be willing! At first she didn’t want to agree to that, but we were able to compromise.”

Steven narrowed his eyes at the wisp. “What do you mean by compromise?”

“Well, she can try to seduce you as much as she likes with in reason.”

“Wait! Is that why she is wearing that extremely revealing dress?”

“Yes! For some reason, she thought that would make you attracted to her. What a dumb spider! I tried to explain that’s not how you attracted male humans, but she just wouldn’t listen.”

Steven facepalmed.

“What’s wrong?” Silvia asked, “It’s not working, is it?” She asked, fear apparent in her voice.

“No! It’s not...” Steven said.

It was working exactly the way the spider Queen wanted, but he wasn’t going to admit that. What was wrong with him? Why was he so attracted to a monster? The monster was in human form, a form that would be considered perfection to anyone you asked, but still a monster. He would not be eaten! He would not sleep with that insanely gorgeous spider monster… He was happy she hadn’t come on to him.

“Good!” Silvia said. “spiders are weird. She even added the clause about not being able to eat you if you two did mate. Well, the oath was she wouldn’t eat you till she reached level one hundred to be clear.”

“Wait, she won’t eat me if I mate with her?” Steven asked.

“Thats what you got from that? You’re not considering it, are you? She is a monster, for crying out loud! She may eat you anyway and doom you both, including me.”

“No. Im just trying to understand what’s going on. I mean, I get why she wants to be my vassal. I don’t understand how I’m supposed to help her break through her limits by just leveling up. But I understand that’s what she wants from me.”

“Also to make hatchlings out of you!” Silvia added.

The thought made Steven shiver. Glancing back over to the boss monster, he saw its health was now at three percent. He went over and stabbed it a few more times, which did nothing to its health bar, but it did add a fresh dose of poison. The boss its self was bound so tight it could barely wiggle. Steven hated daggers. He had to get so close he would rather be at a distance and throw spells.

He could only hope that the shard he sent Nev to get gave him that awesome spider web ability. Although where would the webs come from? The Queen had turned back into her spider form when she wrapped the boss up for him. Would he have to shoot webs from his butt?

Steven pushed those thoughts from his mind. It was more likely it would come from his hands like Spiderman. Looking back at the boss zombie he shook his head in disbelief, Nev had stabbed the boss a couple times to weaken its health after she wrapped it up. She had done it so effortlessly that had really drove home how powerful the Queen was. He couldn’t even hardly pierce the zombie’s skin.

Steven could only hope that he could stop her from eating him when the time came. As slow as it was leveling it would be awhile before he had to worry about it. Maybe he could eventually come to some sort of compromise with her.

+1897

Steven was surprised at the amount of essence he had expected maybe a thousand at the most. But that was a nice bit and just enough to meet the requirements to use the spear.

Opening up his stat page, he spent the required three thousand and forty-one essence and reached level eighteen. He now only had sixty-four essence remaining and to reach level nineteen required three thousand three hundred and eighteen.

“Dam, it gets harder and harder to level.” Steven mumbled.

“Are you insane? You reached level eighteen in record time. When you entered this dungeon, you were a level one!”

“You think I’m leveling quickly?” Steven asked.

“Yes, you are leveling quickly though it will continue to get harder the higher level you get.”

Steven nodded. That was the nature of things, and he understood that. Get stronger, face stronger monsters. It was going to be an ongoing struggle. Though when he thought about it, he was on easy mode. An absurd inventory power that worked surprisingly perfectly for the Dungeon he was in. And now a maxed level spider Queen as his servant. Honestly, things were going so well that it almost seemed fishy, like there was some divine intervention. He couldn’t help but wonder if Chaos had anything to do with his situation.

Steven turned to a drone. “Go fetch the Queen.”

“Yes, my King at once.”

Steven turned back to the Wisp. “Silvia, have you noticed how some drones refer to me as king? What is up with that?”

“I’m actually unsure. There has never been a spider King that I’m aware of. If there ever was, the Queen would have eaten him after mating. Though I think there was an old legend about a spider King.”

“Hmmm, whatever the case, it’s a bit odd. I’ll ask Nev about it when she gets here back.”

“Actually, I wouldn’t mention it. They don’t seem to call you that if she is around, they may get in trouble. Let’s just see how it plays out.”

Steven glanced at the Spider-kin drones standing next to the wall. “Hey, could one of you go get me a bed?”

“At once, my lord!”

“I like them soft, also a pillow and blanket! Thanks.” Steven shouted after the drone as he left.

“Really?” Silvia asked.

“What I’m trapped in here, I might as well make the best of it. I think I’m going to have Nev kill the mimics and then set up a bedroom in there. I’m tired of being surrounded by traps. It’s also nice to know Sorin can’t watch me in here. I could also really go for a nap,” Steven said while yawning. “I may just take a nap now.”

“What about your attribute points and the shard the Queen is getting for you?”

“Oh, yea I suppose I should deal with that first. I wonder how long it will take the drones to bring me a bed?”

Steven didn't have to wait much longer before Nev came back.

“Master, I have returned. I have also brought you some new equipment.”

Steven turned to see the spider Queen walking in front of three drones, each holding a small red pillow with black stitching. On top of each of these ornately crafted pillows was an item. The drones approached him and each knelt down, head bowed, looking at the floor. He nearly told them to stand, but one look at Nev and he decided against it. He wasn’t about to do something to irritate the spider Queen and she looked quite determined, which was somehow attractive.

“Uhh, what’s all this?” Steven asked. He also wondered what was with the pillows. The Naga did the same thing with the ring.

“As I was getting the shard for you, I was thinking. I have these treasures that have been in my cluster for generations and they are just sitting there, without being used. I assumed they could help, Master.” Nevateb said with a wide grin.

“I don’t want to take treasures that have been in your family for generations. Don’t they have sentimental value or something?” Steven asked. He was afraid her being his vassal was affecting her judgment and didn’t want her daughters to come collecting.

“Do not worry Master. I will retrieve these treasures when I eat you.”

The Spider Queen said it so casually, it gave Steven the chills. “But that is a long time in the future, and I need you to be safe till that day,” Nevateb said in a loving manner.

“Okay, yea sure, what are the items?” He couldn’t say no to that logic. Hopefully, he would get strong enough she wouldn’t be a threat.

Nevateb smiled cutely before continuing. “The Amulet has a harden carapace ability, as you don’t have carapace a phantom version will appear before you take actual damage. It will also greatly increases your poison resistance and poise.”

“So it’s like bark skin, or stone skin with poison resistance?” Steven asked.

Nev looked confused, but Silvia was more than happy to jump in and explain. “Yes, it is very similar to what you refer to as stone skin. And it’s really just immunity to most poisons.”

“Well, that’s useful! I could definitely use more defense and it would be nice to get my poise up from zero.” Steven’s hand then shot up to the Amulet of the Forsaken plunge. “Though I’m not sure I can part with this Amulet.”

Both Silvia and Nevateb looked at him like he was insane. “What, you have to be kidding me?” The Wisp asked, “there is no way you want to keep that Amulet over this one? This Amulet!” The wisp pointed at the one on the pillow. “That Is a national treasure to all spiders! It’s Shard forged, for crying out loud! I don’t believe you understand the significance of...”

“This Amulet,” Steven butted in, “has saved my life more times than I can count! Or do you not remember that I fell into a pit just days ago?”

“Well, you do have a point there. You are clumsy for a Domain Holder. However, if the carapace Amulet is strong as I think it is then you would have survived the fall, though it would have hurt.”

“Master, if I may,” Nev said sweetly, while glaring at Silvia.

Steven was not used to someone treating him like some sort of King. If he was being honest with himself, he enjoyed it, but he would never admit it. In fact, he would have told the spider Queen to stop, but she was planning on eating him some day. So he would just play along and be the Queen’s Master till he had to put her down, if he could put her down, that is.

“Master?” Nevateb asked again.

“Oh, yeah, sorry, go ahead.” Steven said.

“If falling is your biggest concern then the ring I brought for you can help with that as well. It allows you to conjure spider web. The webs won’t be maxed level like my webs, but it would still be capable of restraining that boss you had me web up earlier.”

Steven’s eyes widened at that. “yes please!” Steven pulled up his equipment to see which ring he should replace. He already had a good idea, but wanted to take a look over his actual equipment page since it had been a while.

{Stats} {Equipment*} {Shards} {Inventory}

Head- None

Rarity-None

~ Effect]- None

Chest- Hydra leather chest piece

Rarity- Rare

~ Effect]- Self repair. Small pocket dimension.

Hands- None

Rarity-None

~ Effect]- None

Legs- Hydra leather pants

Rarity- Rare

~ Effect]- Self repair.

Feet- Hydra leather boot

Rarity- Rare

~ Effect]- Self repair. Noise reduction.

Neck- Amulet of the Forsaken plunge.

Rarity- Uncommon

~ Effect]- While falling wearer will be transported to previous location before impact.

Ring 1- Minor ring of barrier

Rarity- Common

~Effect]- Repel some liquids for 30-minute intervals.

Ring 2- Ring of language

Rarity- Uncommon

~Effect]- Understand and speak common languages.

Ring 3- Ring of summons

Rarity- Unique

~Effect]- Once per day summon a being from Nembulia to aid you in battle for five mins.

Note- level of summon can vary.

Weapon 1- Crudely enchanted Daggers

Rarity- Uncommon

~ Effect]- Deals Poison damage. Damage is determined by targets vitality, high enough vitality can void all poison damage.

~Cost]- None

~ Requirement]- 2 Strength 3 Dexterity

Durability 18 of 80

Weapon 2- None

Rarity-None

~ Effect]- None

It would definitely be the Minor ring of barrier. It was useful, but there wasn’t any of that swamp water in here and he could always swap back and forth. Right?

“So, are there any penalties from switching back and forth between rings?” To Steven’s surprise, he didn’t receive an answer. Closing his equipment page, he saw both Nevateb and Silvia staring at him with shocked expressions. “What? That’s a perfectly reasonable question!” Steven said a bit defensively.

Nev blinked a few times before she spoke. “Master, to answer your question, yes. However, the only penalty is your mana regeneration is halved for twenty-four hours.”

“You seriously have an equipment page!” Silvia basically shouted, “why can’t I access it? It looked as you had a slot for every single equipment option. Including a second weapon slot, which is preposterous!”

“I’m a bit confused about what you’re going on about.” Steven said.

“Master, it is common for most of the enlightened races to have one, possibly two, ring slots and sometimes a slot for an amulet. Well, unless you are half Naga, that is. However, what I’m getting at is you have the maximum slot options. Meaning you can equip as many shard imbued items as you want without issue.”

“Oh! Well, that’s convenient. I just assumed everyone had equipment slots.”

“Convenient! It’s simply absurd!” Silvia said, “do you have any idea how over powered that is? I had assumed you had three ring slots and an Amulet slot since you had those things equipped. But…” The wisp sighed, “could you please open that page again so I may look over it properly?”

“Can you not just open it yourself? You can go into my inventory after all.”

“No! I have no idea why! But no, I cannot access it.”

Steven just opened his equipment page to stop the Wisp from yelling. Then he turned back to the spider Queen. Although it was hard to see her through all the words and numbers floating in his vision. He could just make out her staring intensely at him. Or maybe the equipment page.

“Can you see it too?” Steven asked.

“Yes, Master Odling, I can see it. It is quite wondrous indeed.”

“Can others see my stat pages when I open it? Also, is it really that big of a deal?” Steven asked.

“Only those bound to you can see your stats. Most have to go to a seeing stone to level and see their stats. I’m unsure how the Wisp can look at your inventory without you opening it for her. It must be a familiar thing I don’t know. As for if it’s a big deal, yes it is. Ive never heard of anyone having all the slots available. There are stories about a human that had nearly all the slots for equipment and that human is the reason for the humans being one of the dominant species on this planet.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not following. Are you saying that if I didn’t have a slot for pants, then I couldn’t wear pants?”

The spider Queen let out a laugh that Steven found extremely attractive.

“No. You can still wear pants even if you don’t have a slot. Most don’t have slots for that sort of thing there are some people that don’t have equipment slots at all. What I’m saying is, if you don’t have a slot, then you can’t wear equipment imbued with a shard.”

“Wait! There is equipment that is imbued with shards?”

“That is correct Master, however they are not as powerful as actual shards. The Amulet of the Armored Spider is not nearly as strong as my carapace, although with the right blacksmith and materials it could become even stronger, though I’m unsure if it could ever be as strong as my ability. However, they do grant passive abilities such as poison resistance.”

Once Silvia finished looking over Steven’s equipment page her and Nev explained several things. As they spoke, Steven started to understand what the big deal was. Just having the option of slots was not enough he would need the actual equipment imbued with shards. Which was quite rare to get ahold of. It took actual shards themselves and those were hard to find, meaning the rich had a huge edge. Steven also learned there were different kinds of enchanted equipment. The shard imbued one’s being the most powerful by far. But few could imbue a weapon with a shard. The race that was known for it was none other than Dwarves. Steven was delighted when the spider Queen said she knew of some Dwarves in the mountains not far. Steven was more than excited to go visit them after they completed the dungeon.

The Queen didn’t seem to doubt their victory over the Dungeon in the slightest. Silvia, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure. And she did have a point: the Queen was powerful, but the Elder demon on the last floor was also level seventy. Silvia said that’s why he came to work under Sorin in the first place. And explained Sorin had a deal with the Elder demon similar to what he had with the Queen, although the Elder demon was not nearly as loyal, and didn’t take a spell binding oath.