Goblins. I hate goblins, and they hate me. It’s why I got the Title Goblin Bane. On our second day of monster hunting, we ran into a goblin den. Because of my Goblin Bane title, they were enraged and attacked us immediately. They came screaming out of their den at us. There were 15 of them and all 3 or below. It wasn’t enough. Rodof, Medirre, and I waded into them with our blades swinging. Sharon stayed behind protecting Rhonda. The goblins tried their best to kill me, almost completely ignoring everyone else. Between the three of us, they didn’t have a chance. I flared my title (something I didn’t know I could do until now) to infuriate them even further, causing them to hurl themselves against us even more frantically. It worked. None even tried to run away. They were all dead and we didn’t suffer any injuries.

  We searched their den, which was yet another abandoned building. It was filthy. There was shit almost everywhere. Goblins were definitely not sanitary creatures. Apparently, they just defecated when they felt the mood, no matter where they were. I was almost ready to quit because of the filth, then Rodof heard a noise from a closet. What we found shocked us. Survivors. There were three humans tied up and locked in the closet. We pulled them out and untied them. I cast Heaven’s Heal, Cure All, and Cleanse on each. I brought out some food and gave it to them. After their initial shock at being rescued was over, we decided to take them back to our base.

  We got back to the house around lunch time. I put out more food for our survivors, Joan, Rafael, and John. During our lunch conversation, I discovered the survivors had been searching for a safe zone near American Airpower Museum, when they got captured by the goblins. There were initially 6 of them, but the goblins would take one every day. They don’t know what happened, but the person never came back. They had been tied up for three days and were resigned to their fate. Then we showed up.

  After lunch, I decided to head out solo. The survivors were too afraid to be left alone, but I needed to start clearing a path toward my family. I headed west out of the house. I went maybe a mile, while trying draw out any monsters. Nothing. It seems we clearing the goblin den was the last stronghold of monsters in this area. At least the pack monsters. I am sure there are some solo monsters out there. I diverted south to an area we hadn’t visited.

  I was near a Papa John’s pizza store when I saw them. A group of five humans carrying rifles and pistols. They were dressed in blue jeans and tactical vests, but they weren’t police. I watch them for a while as they moved closer. They almost looked like they knew what they were doing, moving casually through the street. Then one saw me and started shouting to the others and pointing at me. I wasn’t trying to hide, so I don’t know what the shouting was all about.

  “Hey, you. What are you doing here? This is our territory; you can’t be here” the apparent leader said.

  Identification showed them as level 6 through 9. Nothing special in my mind. “I am hunting monsters.” I shouted back.

  Then without warning, one of the jackasses shot at me. Arem’s Defense stopped the bullet, but still. This must be one of the gangs the survivors were talking about at lunch. Gangs that killed anyone in their territory or for whatever reason. They were tyrants and kept people as workers and slaves. The only thing they respected was power and the monster invasion let them release their worst vices.

  After the first shot was fired, the others joined in. I just walked toward them, and then pulled out my sword. “Bad call, jackass.” I said, then activated Slow-Time. Time slowed so much that I could see the bullets as they flew by me. Man, these guys were bad shots. I rushed toward the first guy and before he could react, I stabbed him through his heart. Then, before he even fell to the ground, I was on the next person. Then unexpected Slow-Time stopped working. Time resumed its normal pace. It didn’t matter to the next guy because I was already swinging at his neck. My blade went straight through and his head fell to the ground. Two down, three to go.

  Point blank range. The leader shot his pistol at me at point blank range, but it couldn’t overcome my armor. The armor stopped the bullet and it fell to the ground. I’m not saying it didn’t hurt or that I won’t have a bruise, but it wasn’t incapacitating. I swung my sword at his arm holding the pistol. The guy never even reacted. He just watched as I cut his arm off. Like he couldn’t believe I would do it. Then when his arm flew through the arm, he dropped to his knees and started to scream. Déjà vu. It reminded me of the rogue back in Forest Glen. The next person, I just grabbed and threw as hard as I could. I could hear his bone break as he hit a brick wall face first. The last person dropped his gun and said “I surrender, I surrender.” In the background, I could hear the leader screaming about his arm.

  “I don’t really take prisoners because I like to travel light. Why shouldn’t I just kill you here and save me the trouble?”

  “Ohmygod, ohmygod. I will do anything you want, just don’t kill me” he pleaded.

  “Okay, let’s see. First, where is your base? How many of your people are there? What weapons do they have?”

  “It’s in Al Gusto’s Restaurant. There are 11 other members and 7 workers. They have the same type of weapons, pistols and rifles. I think there may be hand grenades too.”

  “Where is this restaurant? Point”

  He pointed southwest and said “About two blocks that way”.

  I searched him and found a couple of knives and another gun in his boot. I had him stand up and pointed to the North and said “Run, run until I can’t see you. Run until you can’t run anymore, because if I see you again, I will kill you, without warning, without mercy and nothing you can do will stop it. RUN.”

  He took off like a shot. I gathered up all the weapons and tactical vests from the other gang members and up them in my storage ring. The leader had quit screaming by now. I walked over to him. He eyed me warily. His arm was still bleeding profusely. He would bleed out in just a few more minutes. He was already pale from blood loss.

  “What are you gonna do asshole? Just let me bleed out? You can’t do that. You have to help me. That’s the law.”

  I stared at him. Unbelievable. This human trash tries to kill me and now wants me to help him. “Well, asshole, first, there is no law. You saw to that. Second, I don’t have to help anyone, much less you. You are the last person I would even think of helping. Third, yes, I plan on letting you bleed out.” I turned and walked away toward the Al Gusto’s Restaurant. He started yelling at me. So much profanity, truly a sign of an immature mind.

  I stood about 20 yards from the restaurant. I could see people inside moving around. There was a distinct difference between the gang members and their workforce. The gang members wore clean clothes and had flannel shirts. Everyone else wore filthy clothes or rags. Some of the gang members wore tactical vests, some didn’t. But the biggest difference, was that each gang member had a gun. At least one gun, one guy actually had two guns in holster like you see in westerns. I counted 11 gang members, like what I was told.

  I could storm the building with my sword and would probably win, but there would be civilian casualties. I wanted to avoid that. So, I laid on the ground and pulled out one of the rifles. It was a .300 Winchester Magnum. A deer hunting rifle. A nice weapon that had plenty of stopping power. The Magnum is a bolt action rifle with a scope on top. It wasn’t the fastest but it was powerful and accurate. As a Marine, I approved. I settled in and picked my target. The gang member was a large bald man. He looked to be in his mid-twenties. I picked him, because he seemed to be the leader. I carefully took aim, let out half a breath, and squeezed the trigger. BANG. The bullet flew through the front window of the restaurant and into the target’s chest. Down he went. I cycled the bolt and took aim at the next available target. It was a tall skinny man. BANG. Another bullet in their chest. I cycled the bolt again, hoping to get off a third shot, but then bullets starting hitting around me. Everybody inside had taken cover. Fortunately, the gang members would stand up to take a shot at me. This gave me the opportunity to hit two more, before they wised up. Four down, seven to go.

  With the leader gone, it was rather chaotic in the restaurant. I stopped shooting, so they could get organized. Their next move should be to rush me with everybody, so they could overpower me. Maybe get close enough to actually hit me with their guns. What they didn’t understand was that I wanted them to come out after me. They would leave the civilian behind and I could go all out. I wouldn’t be able to use Fireball, but Mana Dart and Wind Blade were sufficient. I watched them move around the store getting ready to rush out the front door. Then the door finally flew open. I waited until the last one was out and running toward me. I didn’t want anyone to get cold feet. I stood up and started casting Mana Dart at them. The first man fell from two darts, the second from three. Then I pulled out my sword and activated Stop-Time. I cast Wind Blade from my sword while closing the gap. They couldn’t react in time. Down went another one. Now it’s four on one. Stop-Time deactivates by itself again. Apparently, it only lasts for 5 seconds here, but that’s okay. I am right next to them when it ended. All they have are guns, which are useless against my armor and Arem’s Defense. I stabbed the first guy in his leg, causing him to fall over, then kicked him in the head. His eyes rolled up and he passed out. KO, three to go. The next guy continued to run at me shooting his pistol. Hell, he was only 5 feet away and he still missed most of his shots, pathetic. When he started to dry fire, I was so close that I didn’t even have to swing my sword, just push it into his stomach. Blood leaked out from the wound and his guts spilled out as I sliced to the right. He dropped to his knees and tried to put his guts back in. Two to go. The remaining two decided enough was enough and started to run away in different directions. The first back to the restaurant, the second down the road. I took careful aim and cast Mana Dart at the first one, hitting him in back. He stumbled, but didn’t go down. Another dart, this time in the leg. Now, he fell down, but he wasn’t finished. He struggled to stand up and limped toward forward. Enough was enough and I finished him off with a dart to the head. The last gang member was still running away. He was in the middle of the road, so I had no qualms about casting Fireball, and did so. I guided it straight to him and watched it explode on contact. He was dead instantly and probably didn’t feel a thing. Probably.

  I went back and grabbed the unconscious gang member. His leg was still bleeding, but I wasn’t feeling generous, so I let it bleed. I dragged him with me as I went to the restaurant. When I entered, the people scurried away trying hard not to be noticed. They were all very afraid, which was understandable.

  “I am not here to hurt anyone, except those who prey on others. These gang members are a blight on humanity. Are there any left here? If so, I give you one chance to give yourself up and I will let you leave. If you don’t. I think you can figure it out. All of your friends are dead, even those out on patrol. The only one left is bleeding out as we speak. Hell, I’ll even let you take him with you, but you only have until I count to three.” I noticed many of the people were looking in the general direction of one person. I turned to him and stared straight into his eyes.

  “One.” Nobody moved, but the man was starting to sweat.

  “Two.” I started to raise my hand towards the man.

  “Okay, okay, okay” he said as he stood up, hands raised in a gesture of surrender. “Are you really going to let me go?”

  “Yes, but sit down there first” I pointed to a booth with nobody in it. He went and sat down, keeping his hands on top of the table. Next, I pointed at two people. “You and you, go out and get the weapons and bring them inside. Both leaped up and ran outside.

  “Now, while we wait for the area to be cleaned up. Give me all your weapons, guns, knives, brass knuckles. Whatever, I want it.” Surprisingly, the man handed everything over. He didn’t try to hold anything back. Hell, he even took off the tactical jacket and just stood there in a flannel shirt and jeans.

  “What’s your name and why didn’t you rush me like all the others?”

  “My name is Joe. I didn’t rush out because it was obvious that was what you wanted. It was a fool’s play, but they were going to do it anyway. I never liked them anyway.”

  “Easy to say, now that their dead.”

  “I can see your point, but I am not like them. Ask anyone here. I intervened with the other gang members and stopped them from killing everyone.”

  I could see many people nodding their heads. “Then why were you a member?”

  “In my neighborhood, I didn’t have a choice. No, we aren’t from around here. We were just here when the shit hit the fan. As soon as the first monsters started showing up, we robbed a run store. Fought until the monsters left us alone. Then Greyman had the idea of taking over the restaurant and forcing people to work for us.” He stared at me and I believed him.

  “Does anybody disagree with what he is saying?” Nobody said anything. “Okay, sit down. I will figure out what to do with you later.”

  The two people returned with the guns and I gathered everyone else around me. There were now eight people.

  “My friends and I have created a small safe space about a mile from here. We have been clearing out monster nest and lairs. Some of the survivors we have rescued had said there is a safe zone near American Airpower Museum. I plan on taking them there tomorrow. You are all welcome to join us, or go your own way. I will be leaving in 5 minutes, so take your time to decide.” I told everyone.

  “Now for you. I believe you, but I don’t know you enough to trust you. You will have to make your own way in the world. A bit of advice. Guns won’t work on most of the stronger monsters. Magic, knives, and swords do. Maybe maces and other blunt instruments will work also. Spears are your best bet though. I can’t teach you my magic, but I will give you a really good knife. I suggest finding a sports store and get a bow and arrow to give you ranged attacks. Monsters don’t hesitate and don’t feel regret. They just like to kill. I suggest you don’t hesitate when fighting one.” I pulled out a knife. No, not Mjolnir. Another knife that had a minor strength enchantment. I handed it to him. “Become someone who others can depend on to do the right thing.”

  “Thank you.” He turned and left the restaurant, and I turned back to the others.

  I smiled and said “Who’s coming with?” Every hand shot into the air.

  *-------------------*

  The survivors and I travelled to the brick house without any incidents. As soon as we got there, I started casting Heaven’s Heal, Cure All, and Cleanse on each one. I wanted everyone ready to start our journey to the safe zone tomorrow. There were now 15 of us, with only 4 fighters, Rodof, Medirre, Sharon and myself. Sharon had more than proven herself and more importantly could be counted on.

  In the time I had been gone, Joan, Rafael, and John had picked up the Spear skill. While I was gone, Rodof and gone out to the shed and made spears out of the handles of the rakes and other gardening tools. Really, they were just pointy sticks, but better than nothing. He then gave them to the three survivors, and ran them through the Spear Forms. Sharon joined them in the Forms. She seems to have really taken to the spear.

  I figure it will take us two days for the 25 miles to my family. I could do it in one, but we can’t abandon the survivors. First step is to take the survivors to the safe zone at American Airpower Museum. It will be a slow trip with only 4 of us capable to guard everyone else. Maybe Joan, John, and Rafael will be able to help, but it still won’ go fast. Leaving at sunrise, I expect to get to the safe zone sometime in midafternoon. After that straight to in Hollis and find my family.

  With this many people, food was going to have to be rationed. I gave everyone their rationed amount for dinner. Nobody complained because it was more than they were used to. Rodof and Medirre had their own supply, if they wanted more. We set up a watch schedule between Rodof, Medirre, and myself. I would go last. We still had an hour or two of sunlight, so Rodof and Medirre went to raid other shed for garden tools to make into pointy sticks, I mean spears.

  Rodof and Medirre were able to arm everyone with a weapon. Either a ‘spear’ or a machete. They had found 3 machetes in one shed. A little strange for a shed to have so many machetes, but I am not complaining. Rodof also ran everyone through Spear Forms until they got the Spear Skill. Everyone’s confidence increased because of it. They weren’t ready to fight by themselves, but should be able to hold off any lesser monster until one of us could intercede.

  In the morning, we packed up and got ready to go. Then, ping. Rodof, Medirre and I got a Quest.

  Quest: Escort the survivors to the American Airpower Museum Safe Zone. At least 7 survivors must reach the Safe Zone alive. Reward dependent on number of survivors.

  Accept Reject.

  We all accepted the quest. It was a nice little bonus for something we were doing anyway.

  We got into a formation. The survivors were in the middle, with myself in the front. Rodof was on the left side, and Medirre on the right. Sharon was bringing up the rear. The beginning would easy, since we had already cleared out any packs of monsters for the first mile. We moved not quickly, but not as slow as I feared for the first mile. Then I had us slow down. At this point, Rodof went ahead to scout for trouble. Sharon moved to the left side, and Rafael took rearguard. Rafael was a big guy and I thought would make an excellent adventurer. Because he was taking the rearguard, I gave him a real spear, rather than a pointy stick. His job was to call out if something came running after us. Medirre would then handle it.

  We made it another mile before Rodof came running back. He had discovered another den of Goblins. There were about 15 -20 of them that he could see. Unfortunately, they were right in the middle of our path and we couldn’t go around. We would have to clear them out. Damn, I was hoping to get further before having to fight. All hope of making it to the Safe Zone before lunch vanished.

  We found a defensible building for everyone to wait, while Rodof, Medirre, Rafael and I went to kill the goblins. Sharon wanted to go, but someone need to stay to guard the rest. Rafael asked to go. He said he needed to get stronger. I think he just hated goblins. But I added him to the Party.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Listen up everyone. There is a den of goblins ahead. Rodof, Medirre, Rafael and I will clear them out. Sharon is staying to make sure everyone is safe. You will all need to stay here until we come back. Don’t worry, we have done this before. Just ask Joan or John. It may take us some time, so don’t worry if we aren’t back soon. Remember. Sharon is in charge while we are gone.”

  As we got close to the goblin den, we decided on a plan. I would turn on Goblin Bane and flare it. Hopefully drawing out the goblins and enraging them. Rodof and Medirre both had bows and would shoot as many as they could until the goblins closed with me. Then they would join in the melee. Rafael was only to engage when he could use his spear effectively. He had the least experience, so he needed to be careful. Everyone agreed with the plan.

  The den looked to be an old mini-mart type of store. Single floor building with a fake brick fa?ade. The interior consisted of a large open space, storage in the back, and probably an office and bathroom.

  I moved close to the den. Only 50 yards away, then turned on my Goblin Bane title. I started walking slowly towards the den. I was wasn’t exactly sure how far goblins could sense my title. At 30 yards, I saw lots of movement in the den. I stopped and cast Identification, identifying them as level 3 goblins. I flared my title. The goblins started screaming and running at me. Thirty yards it is. I started throwing Mana Darts at the goblins, cutting down their numbers. Arrows came in from my sides as Rodof and Medirre engaged. We managed to cut down six before the goblins were too close.

  The goblins were just going wild. Many were foaming at the mouth and slashing at the air. They were so angry they even attacked each other. I had never seen the goblins so enraged. My title was working overtime. I was holding off three goblins, when Rodof and Medirre entered the fray. Both were using short swords and chopping into the sea of goblins. Rafael was behind me and stabbing out with his spear.

  One of the three I had engaged with, slipped past me and attacked Rafael. It stabbed him in his leg, but Rafael was able to shove his spear into the goblin’s stomach. Rafael lifted the goblin up on his spear and then slammed him into the ground. It was enough to kill the goblin, and then Rafael fell to his knees.

  I finished off my two goblins, while Rodof and Medirre killed three each. A quick look showed the Rafael wasn’t going to bleed out, and I waded forward to kill more goblins. Hacking and slashing, Rodof, Medirre and I killed off the remaining goblins.

  When the last goblin fell, I turned back to Rafael. His would was serious and tinged with black. I cast Heaven’s Heal while trying to determine how far the damage was done. Something wasn’t right when I finished Heaven’s Heal, so I cast Cure All. Poison. The goblins had put poison on their weapons. Cure All removed the poison, and I cast Heaven’s Heal. I got a notification when I finished the heal.

  Congratulation, you have learned the spell Diagnostic level 1.

  Diagnostic examines a patient and determines all injuries, curses, and other maladies wrong with the patient. This can be used as a basis for targeted healing.

  I cast Diagnostic on Rafael. It showed nothing wrong. Which was a relief.

  “How are you feeling now, Rafael?” I asked.

  “Much better thanks to you. It’s as if I never got stabbed” he said while smiling. He got up and hopped up and down. “Not even a twinge.”

  “Next move is to clear out the den. I hope they all came running out, but I wouldn’t count on it. So, be careful and keep an eye out.”

  The four of us moved into the main room of the store. Another filthy mess. We slowly moved to the office door. Rodof jerked it open and I rushed inside. No goblins, but there were humans tied up. We couldn’t untie them yet, because we haven’t cleared the store. I decided to leave Rafael here to guard them, while the rest of us cleared the store.

  The bathroom was empty also. Next, we moved to the storage area door. I could hear sounds of something moving around. But it didn’t sound like a goblin. Deep voiced grunting. Too deep for a goblin. I whispered to Rodof and Medirre “not a goblin, something worse?” Both gave me a thumbs up.

  Rodof jerked open the door, I activated Slow-Time and raced in and slammed straight into a Troll. A six-foot three inch muscled bound troll. Unlike with Zemoculus, I didn’t bounce off. Instead, the troll went flying backwards through the shelves and into the wall. I rushed after him, stabbing with my sword. I stabbed it through its heart, but it still thrashed and tried to hit me. Damned regeneration. Before Rodof or Medirre were able to engage, the troll successfully hit me and hit me hard. I fell backwards, pulling my sword out of the troll. When I stood up, I could see the troll’s cuts healing. Then Rodof and Medirre were there hacking away at it.

  Magic was the only way to actually kill the troll. Magic weapons could do it, but would take a long time. Its regeneration was overpowering.

  “We need to draw it outside, so I can Fireball it.”

  “Okay. You get ready and we will draw it outside.” Rodof yelled back at me.

  As I moved through the big open area, I told Rafael to shut the door to the office and untie everyone and not to come out until we told him to. I was at the far edge of the parking lot, when Rodof and Medirre brought the troll outside. The kept kiting it until it was in the middle of the parking lot, then simultaneously each chopped a different leg, and then ran away. The injury wouldn’t last long, but I didn’t need long. I cast Fireball. It hit the troll, but it didn’t kill it. The troll fell to the ground and tried to get up, but the next Fireball stopped it. The next one finally killed it, but I threw a fourth just to make sure. Trolls are hard to kill, so I needed to make sure it was dead.

  The Fireball blew out all the windows of the store, and glass was everywhere inside. So, we made our way carefully to the office and shouted for Rafael to come out. We cleared a path to the outside for the prisoners. There were four of them.

  “All the goblins and the troll are dead. You are free now. Rodof, Medirre, Rafael and I are escorting a group of survivors to a Safe Zone. You are welcome to join us. I expect to get there today. It’s only 10 miles or so down the road.”

  Unsurprisingly, all four wanted to come with us. I sent Rodof to get the rest of the troupe and bring them here. We sat in the parking lot until they showed up. One of the four knew one of the people we had previously rescued. A happy little reunion and hope that there would be others waiting at the Safe Zone.

  *-------------------------------*

  Webs. Webs were everywhere. Webs hanging on the front of buildings, hanging between buildings, on top of the buildings. Webs could only mean one thing. Spiders. Big hulking spiders. This was not a good sign. Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate spiders like some people. I think normal spiders are a good thing for the garden. It keeps the mosquito population down. But big hulking spiders. Those are a whole different story.

  We were about halfway to the Safe Zone when we started seeing the webs. At first, it was just one or two in the distance. As we travelled, the webs got closer and bigger. Until at last, here we are. Webs in front of us, webs to the side. The only out was back, which Rodof and I were discussing. When suddenly, a notification popped up.

  Quest: Kill the Spider Queen. Reward: Spider Silk cloak, Spider Silk Slippers, Spider Silk Jacket, Spider Claw knife, Tome of Lightning Bolt, Shield of Defense.

  Accept Reject

  Everybody in my Party received the quest. Rodof and Medirre definitely wanted to accept. Rafael and Sharon were on the fence about it. The tome did it for me. I accepted it, as did everyone else.

  Once again, we found a defensible building and put everyone in it. I explain that we had to kill the spiders before we could move on. While not thrilled, the troupe accepted it. This time Rafael (who had taken the Protector class after the troll died) would be left to protect the troupe, while the four of us would track down and kill the Spider Queen.

  Spiders use their webs to entangle their prey. A fly lands on it, and is stuck. It struggles send vibrations through the web to the center where the spider waits. The spider then goes to the stuck fly, uses a toxin to paralyze it, wraps it up in more web and then feeds on it later. The fly is alive through it all.

  My plan was to burn some webs to start. Webs don’t normally burn readily, but I think a Fireball in the center of the one in front of us may get some attention. Rodof and Medirre agree. Sharon just shrugs her shoulders. This is all new to her. Fireball it is.

  I move to the center of the street. The web in front of me is denser than the ones on the sides. What that means, I have no idea, but it makes a good target. It hangs between the buildings and is about 20 feet wide and 30 feet wide. I send the Fireball into its center and blow a ten-foot hole in it. The edges burn until the web snaps and falls away to either side.

  We wait. I expect to see a giant spider come to investigate what went wrong with its net, but after 5 minutes, nothing. We look at each other and then start to move slowly forward. Behind the burnt-out web, there is another, but his one has a tunnel. It’s a big tunnel two. I can walk through it without having to bend over. What type of spider needs to have such a tunnel. A big hulking spider, that what.

  It’s pretty obvious that we are going to have to go into the tunnel, because the spider isn’t coming out. Luckily, the spider used a different type of webbing to create the tunnel. One that isn’t sticky. I guess it doesn’t want to get stuck in its own web. I lead the way into the spider web tunnel. The web is translucent, so light isn’t an issue.

  About 10 feet into the tunnel, I see my first spider. It’s only the size of a dog, so I immediately cast Mana Dart and kill it. That wasn’t so bad. But now I hear scuttling noises. Lots of scuttling noises, and our tunnel begins to shake. We start backing up.

  Hundreds of spiders are coming toward us. They are all over the tunnel, the floor, the sides, and even the ceiling. They race toward us. I cast Fireball down the tunnel. It gets about 20 feet before it explodes, the shockwave tosses us out of the tunnel and back into the street. But it killed dozens up dozens of the spiders. Of course, this still leave more than a hundred. I stand up and cast another Fireball into the tunnel, killing everything in the mouth of the tunnel. I feel the heat from the Fireball, but no damage. A few spiders escape the tunnel in between Fireball, but my Party members take care of them.

  Five minutes of killing spiders before the wave stops. All of us draw deep breathes to gulp in that oxygen. It’s been a very tiring 5 minutes. Then we hear it. A stomp rather than a scuttling noise. Another stomp, but closer. We can see the web vibrating with each stomp. Finally, the Spider Queen has shown herself.

  Monster: Spider Queen

  Class: Spider Queen

  Level: 25

  Hit points: 2000

  Special Attack: ???

  Big Hulking Spider. The Spider Queen is a good 20-feet tall. Probably 30 feet wide and 40 feet long. She is covered in a fine mottled brown hair. Each of her eight legs end in a razor sharp claw. Her mouth was a gaping maw of gnashing pointed teeth with two vampire fangs on the side. It was obvious, she was a blood drinker. A human blood drinker. She crawled out of the tunnel and reared back. All of us raced to the side, as she spewed forth a stream of green poison liquid. The fight was on.

  A Fireball did absolutely not damage. Her hair wasn’t even singed. My main weapon was useless in this fight. At least Mana Dart did some damage, but not much.

  Rodof yelled, “Hack off her legs.”

  I raced to the Spider Queen, intent on cutting off a leg. Medirre used his Taunt skill to get the Queen’s attention. While she focused on him, I was able to hit her leg with Balmung, thinking it would cleave right through it, like it did with everything else. I was wrong. It did cut out a chunk of the leg, but stopped halfway through. Luckily Medirre still held the Queen’s attention. I reared back and slammed Balmung into the leg with all my might.

  The leg dropped to the floor and the Queen screamed. That all I can call it. It wasn’t a yell; it was a scream of pain. The Queen shuttered and started to turn toward me, then Rodof cut through another leg. Two legs were gone, one on either side. The Queen seemed confused which way to turn, so hesitated. That was a mistake. I reached the next leg and again swung Balmung with everything I had, cutting through it.

  The Queen screamed again and started to stumble. Losing her two back legs and another on one side was enough to unbalance her. I back pedaled to keep from getting stepped on, but Rodof had other ideas, and he attacked another leg. He swung once, twice, three times and another leg fell to the floor. Now the Queen’s abdomen was resting on the ground. She couldn’t lift it without her back four legs. This made her easier to maneuver around. She tried spitting out the poison stream, but since she couldn’t turn, it made no difference. Medirre and Sharon joined in the attack. Soon, the spider had no legs left.

  The Queen could only wriggle around, and not very much at that. But we hadn’t landed a killing blow. I instinctively knew its legs would regrow given time. But we weren’t about to give it time. Medirre climbed on top of the spider and started hacking at its neck. The connection between the head and the abdomen. While Sharon, Rodof and I cut into the abdomen itself. The Queen just screamed because it couldn’t do anything else.

  By the time the Queen died, we were all covered in Spider blood and other fluids. I cast Cleanse on myself, then the rest of the Party.

  A chest appeared in front of us, and we received a notification from the System.

  Congratulation. You have defeated the Spider Queen and completed the quest. You have each earned 20,000 exp. Your renown has increased by 5. Other rewards are in the chest.

  Rodof opened the chest. Inside were the Spider Silk cloak, Spider Silk Slippers, Spider Silk Jacket, Spider Claw knife, Tome of Lightning Bolt, Shield of Defense.

  The Spider Silk items were a set. It gave the wearer excellent armor protection and poison immunity. The Spider Claw knife added poison damage to every hit, but it couldn’t be used against spiders. The Shield of Defense had a built-in bash skill and added 10 to your defense. Neither Rodof nor Medirre wanted the Spider Silk set, so that went to Sharon. Medirre got the shield and Rodof got the knife. I offered the Tome to Rodof, but he didn’t want it, so I took it.

  Rodof and Medirre wanted to go explore the tunnel. They thought there might be more treasure. Sharon wanted to go with them. I told them that Sharon had to assign her new stats first. She wasn’t like us, overpowered in stats. Sharon and Rodof discussed the various benefits and then she assigned them. While they went off treasure hunting, I went back to the troupe.

  When I reached the troupe, I saw a few spider bodies. They were small, about the size of a cat, but most definitely dead. I called out to Rafael and he came outside.

  “What happened here?”

  “These spiders attacked us. I tried to fight them off but was getting overwhelmed when help showed up.”

  “What help?” I asked.

  “You’re not gonna like it.” Rafael said.

  That is when Joe stepped out. Empty hands raised above his head. I just stared at him. Waiting for him to explain why I shouldn’t kill him.

  “You said to prove I would do the right thing. Well, the right thing was to help Rafael out when the spiders attacked. If I hadn’t some people might have died. I just couldn’t let that happen.”

  Hmmmm. He was right. I did tell him to prove he would do the right thing. And he did.

  “Okay. We are headed to a Safe Zone. You can come if you want.”

  Joe smiled, then dropped to the floor, unconscious. I cast Diagnostic. He was poisoned. Apparently, he was bitten by a spider. I cast Cure All, and Heaven’s Heal. He would be fine.

  “He’ll be fine. Let him rest for 5 minutes then we need to move. The others should be waiting for us.

  *-------------*

  Rodof, Medirre and Sharon moved into the tunnel. They kept a watch out for more spiders while they moved deeper and deeper. A couple minutes later, they reached the Queen’s chamber.

  The Queen’s chamber was a large circular spider hole covered in silken spider webs. It was 50 feet high and wide. There were cocoons wriggling all around. Rodof moved toward one. He could barely make out a human body inside. He called over Sharon and Medirre to help him open the cocoon. Between the three of them, they were able to pry it open. Inside was an elf. Barely alive, but still breathing.

  “I didn’t know you had Elves on Earth.” Medirre said to Sharon.

  Sharon was shocked and uttered “We don’t.”

  “I think we are going to need to open the rest of these cocoons” Rodof said.

  The trio opened the rest of the cocoons. They found a total of 8 humans, 2 elves, and 2 dwarves. All were unconscious but breathing.

  “I think we need Lord Trevor” Medirre said.

  “I will go and wait for him by the tunnel’s entrance” Sharon said.

  “Are you sure?” Rodof asked.

  “It’s okay. But if you find any treasure while I’m waiting, I want a piece” she said.

  Medirre laughed and said, “Spoken like a true adventurer.”

  Sharon led me to the Queens chamber. Standing there Rodof and Medirre, surrounded by what looked to be bodies on the floor.

  “Look what we found,” called out Rodof.

  I came over and looked at the bodies. They were all breathing, which was good. I called up Diagnostic. Paralytic poison. Each one had it. It was what was keeping them from moving. Which one first was the question. I also wondered if they could hear me. The poison may only affect their ability to move.

  I decided to address them all. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I am going to assume so. First, the Spider Queen is dead. It won’t be coming back. Next, I am going to cure you all. It will be one at a time, but I will cure everyone. Please don’t get anxious. Everyone will get cured.”

  I bent down over the nearest one. A human male. I cast Cure All and their eyes popped open. “Hold on, I don’t know how long you’ve been paralyzed. It may take a minute, but don’t worry, you’ll be able to move about shortly. Just try moving your fingers or toes.”

  His fingers moved, and he raised his head to see it. A sigh escaped his lips.

  “Can you talk?”

  “yes” he croaked.

  “What’s your name and what planet are you from?”

  “Michael and Earth” he whispered.

  “Could you hear me when I spoke earlier?”

  “Yes” his voice was a little stronger.

  “Good to know. Just rest, while I cure the rest.”

  Both elves were female, so I cast Cure All on the nearest one. Her eyes popped open.

  “I assumed you hear my conversation.”

  The elf spoke in words, I didn’t understand at first, but with my Linguistic title, I caught on. I repeated the same thing I told the human but in the common tongue she used.

  “I understand” she said quietly.

  “Good, now you know you will recover movement quickly. You need to be patient. Can you tell me your name and which planet you are from?”

  “Batella and Veridia”

  “That’s a new one to me. But you should know that you are on the planet Earth. Things may be confusing, but we are heading to a Safe Zone. We can answer all your questions there. Is the other elf with you?”

  “Yes, please help her.”

  “Doing that now.” I cast Cure All on the other one.

  “Hi. Can you tell me your name?”

  “Blade and Veridia”

  “Your friend is also awake, so you two can talk while I help the others.”

  The dwarves turned out to be from Veridia also. Surprisingly, so were two humans. The rest were from Earth. When they had recovered enough to stand, I cast Cleanse on them. I handed out a small amount of food to each. I didn’t know how long they were without and didn’t want to over feed them. They would probably vomit if I did. The food also helped to speed up their recovery.

  “Everyone, listen up. Earth has undergone a transition to the System. We are leading a group of survivors to a Safe Zone. It’s a few hours away and you are welcome to join us. When you get to the Safe Zone, I will answer your questions as best as I can, but until then, I need to keep this group moving. Those that want to come with us, please follow me.” I repeated the same in the Common Tongue of Veridia, then I turned and walked out of the Queen’s chamber. Everyone followed.

  There was some surprise when we got to the troupe. Nobody had ever seen an elf or dwarf before. I calmed everyone down and told them they had been captured by the Spider Queen and were going with us to the Safe Zone. Then I started everyone moving. If you were moving, you didn’t have time to make trouble was my thought.

  Blade and Batella were speaking to each other in elvish. Apparently, they didn’t know about my Linguistics Gift. Why should they, it’s not like I advertise it. They were worried because they didn’t have any weapons and were outnumbered by the humans. When they started talking about taking Sharon’s spear, I turned around and said “Don’t even think about it” in perfect elvish.

  They were shocked to say the least.

  “You don’t have to worry about the humans. I will protect you until we get to the Safe Zone, unless you hurt any of my people or steal from them. When we get there, we can talk about weapons. Understand?”

  I activated Identification. Both were level 1 Rangers. I guess the System reset their levels also. “You also might want to check your stats and levels, since you are in a new System.”

  And of course, the dwarves were next. However rather than whisper with each other, they marched up to me and demanded weapons. Great, now I know dwarfish. I gave them the same answer as I did the elves. Get to the Safe Zone and then we can talk about it. Again, they were both level 1. One had the Bodyguard class and the other was a Miner.

  What was frustrating was that no one else in our troupe could speak to them. The common language of Veridia wasn’t the same as on Tellus, nor was it English. The dwarves and elves could speak to each other though. Of course, they had a thousand questions, but I was too busy to answer them.

  We marched on toward the Safe Zone. People started relaxing and talking, sometimes loudly. I constantly had to remind people to lower their voices. I was becoming more and more irritated, but soon enough a monster appeared. It was a small monster. Identification made it to be a Slime Pig. Just like the ones we saw when we first got there. I cast a Mana Blade and killed. But it reminded people that there were still monsters about, and the loud voices stopped.

  The last battle before the Safe Zone was against a group of low level Shamblers. Shamblers looked like vaguely human shaped organic garbage piled onto itself. They moved slowly but carried almost every disease imaginable. They didn’t do much damage, but they infected you with their hits and you would turn into them if you died. There were about a dozen of them, and my Party went to defend the group, when I noticed the elves and dwarves joined us.

  “We will assist you. Even without weapons we will fight.” Blade said.

  “Rodof, give them the pointy stick spears” I said.

  My party attacked the Shamblers as a group. Covering and defending each other. The elves and dwarves were more independent fighters. Luckily, they still had their armor, probably because spiders don’t know how clothes work. Still by the time we were done, we all stank of decayed vegetables and sweat. Cleanse spell all around. I also cast Diagnostic on everyone, just to see if they had picked up a disease. No one did.

  We travelled on and finally reached the Safe Zone.