System, is it done?
:: Optional Quest Completed: Exterminate the Exterminators. (10/10)
:: Reward: Select skill to raise by one level.
Raise Frenzy please.
:: Frenzy (3): 45 second duration (+13 St, +13 Ag, -7 Will, -5 Pre, -5 Int)
:: While active, user is immune to mental manipulation. 1 Hour cooldown.
:: Cost: 5 Vitae
Wonderful. Stronger murder mode.
He stood and pushed off the wall, boots sticking for a moment where webbing clung to the soles.
System, help me find somewhere I can clean up.
:: System: There appears to be several sources of water dripping nearby to your east.
Harry moved clear of the dead bodies, sniffed the air and caught the faint mineral smell of wet stone.
Lead the way.
The cavern dipped, the temperature dropping with each step. The passage widened into a small grotto, its floor carved smooth by time. A pool of water in one corner, fed by dripping from the stalactites above. The water was clear, dark, and cold enough that the air above it carried a crisp bite.
Harry crouched at the edge and dipped a hand in. The shock went straight up his arm. Perfect.
He cupped water and splashed it over his face. Spider gore streaked down his cheeks and dripped from his jaw. He rinsed again and again until the stinging eased and the smell faded from his skin. He scrubbed at the webbing stuck to his hair, scraping it free with his fingernails.
He rolled his shoulders, letting the cold water clear his head. The water stung as it ran over the punctures and shallow cuts along his face, neck and arms. The places where fangs and claws had gotten through. The raw burn of venom-tainted wounds eased as the cold sank in.
Harry stripped out of every piece of gear, dropping chain and cloth beside the pool. Cold water hit his skin as he washed more thoroughly this time, scrubbing away dried venom, blood, and the tacky film of webbing clinging to him.
The quiet and the cold pressed in around him. He went still for a moment, remembering his first night in this world, washing in the farmer’s yard and hoping no one walked out.
He pushed the memory aside and inspected his gear. The chainmail had several broken rings where claws had punched through. His pants were a mess of punctures and tears.
:: System: Items of your level or lower placed into the wardrobe will self-clean and self-repair over time.
Well, that’s convenient.
He splashed water onto his shield to rinse it, then used it to dip water and pour it over his armor and clothes. Dark streaks ran off until everything looked reasonably clean.
When he was satisfied, he placed each piece by hand into Outfit One in the wardrobe, including every weapon except his spear.
Finished with that, he equipped the black robe from Outfit Two. The fabric settled clean and whole around him.
I’m guessing I have a backlog of messages again?
:: System: Affirmative.
Alright, just give me the highlights.
There had been a flood of damage alerts. Bites, venom injections, and blows from the Shepherd’s claws, along with self-heals. Mostly to cleanse the boiling toxin out of his system. There was also a long list of healing from the negated effects of the venom. Each was a small amount, but at the end of the fight, it likely kept him on his feet.
Dammit, if I had ignored the pain long enough, the toxins would have cured themselves.
He slowed down to study the experience gains.
:: 3 x Mesmerize on Rattus Giganteus: 15
:: 10 x Spider Shepherds: 300
:: 26 x Chasm Spiders: 390
:: Optional Quest: 100
:: New Title, Spider Stomper: 25
:: Class: Vampire Level 1 (966/1,000)
H: 33 | V: 42 | TM: 62%
Let’s head back. I’ll try to find some rats on the way.
Harry left the narrow side passages and stepped back into the main cavern. The nearest torch flared to life, then another farther ahead, lighting a path toward the crypt. Behind him, flames dimmed and went out one by one as he walked. He stayed in the light, moving at a steady pace.
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After about an hour he stopped.
Hold on. It didn’t take this long in Korven’s tunnel, did it?
:: System: It did not. Passage through the tunnel took 27 minutes, 19 seconds from room to room.
It’s magic Harry…
He kept going until the far end of the cavern finally came into view. A faint glow leaked from the crypt door.
He stepped out where he was fully visible and started toward it.
The door eased open and Stan leaned out. “Boss?”
Harry waved. “Yeah. Everything good there?”
“All good. All of ‘em’s sleepin’. Didn’t know it were you in them robes.”
Harry looked down, he’d forgotten he’d switched outfits. He waved Stan off. “Gear is repairing in inventory. I’ll be back in a bit, just one more thing to do.”
He turned and slipped into a side tunnel to hunt for rats.
His Blood Sense picked up a nearby heartbeat almost immediately, thin pulses from the first passage.
He closed in, focused on the thread, and pushed Mesmerize.
H: 33 | V: 37 | TM: 66%
The rat froze. He knelt down, bit the neck and used Sip.
The moment the blood touched his tongue, hunger slammed through him, sharp and hot.
:: System: [Willpower Check] failed.
His vision went red. A growl slipped out, and the rush hit hard, the familiar pull toward ecstasy.
Without thought he switched to Drain. A few minutes later the heartbeat slowed, stuttered, and finally stopped.
H: 93 | V: 97 | TM: 12%
When it ended, Harry slumped back, the rat cradled in his arms.
Dammit. Was that because my vitae was so low?
:: System: Affirmative. A high thirst meter increases the difficulty of the willpower save when attempting to use Skill [Sip].
He laid the rat down gently and patted its shoulder.
Sorry, Mickey.
He found another one a few minutes later, mesmerized it, and managed a clean Sip this time.
H: 102 | V: 101 | TM: 8%
He searched for a third, waited, listened. Nothing.
That’ll do for now, I guess.
:: System: You are on the cusp of leveling. Draining two more Rattus Giganteus or sipping from four will provide enough experience to achieve level two.
Then how far to level three?
:: System: Four thousand experience is needed to go from level two to level three.
Four thousand? Damn…
Harry crossed to the far side of the passage and kept hunting. He found two more rats and managed clean Sips from both.
V: 109 | TM: 1%
Oh well, I’ll try again later.
:: System: I hesitate to point out that you could reach level two by draining one of those two.
Nah… I’ve killed enough today.
Back with the others, Harry told them about the magic tunnel that cut straight to the end of the cavern and what lay beyond outside. Cedric very strongly advised they leave soon before Korven sent more men.
Cedric, Jo, and Stan continued to take turns on watch. Harry stayed awake with them. He tried lying down once. The moment he closed his eyes he saw spiders swarming over him, legs brushing his face, mandibles snapping. He sat up fast and didn’t try again.
Toby woke several times through the night, usually when someone changed the IV. Each time Harry sat beside him and talked him through the rules of baseball until he drifted off. The last couple times Harry was almost certain the kid was faking.
When they’d all rested, they sorted their gear again. Jo handed Harry her original bow and the wand to carry in his inventory.
That day, Harry refused to allow Toby to be moved.
“He needs a least a full day.”
They spent the rest of that day sorting through all the gear they found in the level one cache. Deciding what to take and what to leave.
Cedric fidgeted the whole time. Insisting that Harry make several trips through Korven’s tunnel to see if anyone was coming. On one trip Harry took Jo to see the lands outside the cavern.
They spent another restless night with the intention of leaving in the morning. Harry had gone out a few times on his rat hunts to maintain his vitae and get the last points needed to level up.
But when they were ready to go, Toby sat up to get to his feet, went pale and started to sweat. Harry had him lie back down.
“He’s not ready. We can’t ask him to walk out of here.”
Stan looked at Harry's robe. "We could use that for a litter. Run a pair o' spears through it, carry 'im that way."
Jo threw one arm around Stan’s shoulders, “I love this guy.”
Harry grinned and used his inventory to switch back into his armor and weapons, resisting the urge to change back and forth a few times, and handed the robe to Stan.
Stan unraveled a section of a rope into thin cords and showed Harry the knot he planned to use. Harry tried once and made a mess of it.
Stan grunted, took the cord back, and handled the rest himself, quickly assembling a stretcher from the robe, two spears and pieces of the wooden crate for the crossbars.
They got Toby settled on the stretcher, covered him with a blanket, and set out. Stan and Nick carrying Toby, Harry in front followed by Jo and Cedric guarding the rear.
They moved back up into the crypt, into Korven’s secret room, then through the tunnel to the dusty bedroom.
“Wait here.” Harry crossed to the ladder. “Let me check outside.”
He pulled the lever. With a grinding of stone, the trapdoor swung open. Harry climbed up and looked around. Full daylight flooded in from the cavern entrance. Early morning. Perfect for travel if you weren’t a vampire.
Also perfect for seeing that Nick’s estimate for how long it would take Korven to return was wrong by one day.
There was a large group heading straight for them across the plain.
Maybe two miles out, about twenty men marched in formation. Two riders on horseback led them. A wagon trailed behind a team of horses. And walking beside it were two shapes at least eight feet tall, fat rounded masses with arms, legs, and heads jutting out at random angles.
Dead Wardens.
***
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