The cleanup didn't take long. The last manticore was helpless, caught in the webs. Its struggles had loosened them somewhat and began to tear some of the strands, but not enough. I rammed a leg through the back of its skull in a single clean movement. I released a deep breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. I could see the drone still hovering in the air behind me. Benefits of spider-vision. Almost three hundred and sixty degrees of visual awareness. It was certainly helpful in the fight. Thinking about my vision as a spider brought me back to something I'd circled around on several times since I'd first seen it, but had never investigated deeply.

  It was a surprisingly direct explanation for what the ability did. Which was unusual from what I'd seen of system explanations so far. Unfortunately, it was a lack of tools that kept me from experimenting with my newest Bloodline Skill. The simple reality was that I didn't have any Spells to begin with. I was holding out hope the White Banner would have a way to rectify that, or I might just get lucky and find something Dungeon loot-wise that could solve this particular problem for me. Until then, it would be a source of frustration.

  Vipera slipped out of my soul, wandering around to each of the manticore corpses while I pulled up my system notifications. It was beyond helpful that she could trigger the loot notification for me.

  Well, I certainly wasn't going to turn down another level and more delicious stat points. I really was becoming a bit of a levelling addict. It brought back memories of countless hours spent on a console chasing levels and loot.

  Ah, yes, my old friend dopamine. Come to visit again?

  I dismissed those notifications. Then something new appeared.

  Now that was interesting. On multiple fronts. That simple screen provided a wealth of information. I'd dismissed the tags that followed all of my General skills; there was nothing to be gained from paying attention to them at the time. Now things were a little different. The implications of the screen in front of me were not small.

  Primarily, Skills could be upgraded in different ways, and there was a sort of level associated with the rarity tag that was attached to every skill. That meant that a Skill ranked as (Common) would be worlds apart from a skill ranked as (Rare) or (Legendary), if such a rarity existed. That was just considering the rarity. According to this new screen, I had the opportunity to evolve my base [Stealth] Skill into a completely different one. That was a significant change, and that change was based on how I used the skill. To me, that said that I could evolve different Skills in different ways based on how they were used. Did that apply to my Bloodline Skills as well? What were the limitations? Could I take a skill that wouldn't normally be useful to me and evolve it into something better suited for me over time? Once again, I had an overabundance of questions and not nearly enough answers.

  My mind screeched to a halt. I had a decision to make; there wasn't a point to running off on a tangent that wouldn't get me anywhere. I opened up screens so I could compare my base [Stealth (Common)] to its possible evolutions.

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  I read and reread both options. It wasn't a terribly complicated decision. The (Uncommon) version was a straight upgrade to everything [Stealth] already did, while [Ambush Predator] was a completely new function for the Skill. It was, however, a risk. If I took [Ambush Predator] and it didn't have the usefulness of [Stealth] built into it, that would be a problem. I relied on [Stealth] frequently, either to avoid fights altogether or to get the drop on my opponents. Losing it would hurt if [Ambush Predator] didn't work the same way. On the other hand, with the vague description the system provided, it might do everything [Stealth] already did, do it better, and offer a new function that would enhance my lethality in the opening moments of a fight.

  It was a catch-22. All I could do was roll the dice and hope for the best.

  My skin crawled for several long moments, a feeling reminiscent of my first few levels in the Soul-Sheer. Then it was over, and I was busy assimilating the information the system provided. Fortunately, it seemed that The System, providing a level of instinctual knowledge about the Skills one had, remained true with evolutions as well. I had lucked out a bit here.

  [Ambush Predator] could do everything [Stealth] had done for me, and do it better. Anytime I stalked my prey, while the Skill was active, the Skill gained a charge? Stacks? I wasn’t quite sure how to describe it.

  It built up, and then in the opening moments of combat, it would let loose with all that built-up energy. The downside was that the attack had to come while I was still hidden; if the enemy discovered my location before I was attacked, all that energy would fizzle out and be lost.

  All in all, I was quite pleased with the new Skill I’d gained. There was no reason not to be.

  That wasn't the only new thing that had appeared, either.

  Once again, I was staring at a screen in mild bewilderment. In the end, I had shrugged and accepted. There was no reason I could think of not to at least try it out. The worst I figured could happen was that I would go without a few pieces of loot. Less loot would suck, but it really wasn't a big deal considering there was a Dungeon Boss to kill still. I was certain I'd pick up something interesting there; failing that, there was still experience to be gained.

  I felt a large chunk of my mana drain away into the Skill; exhaustion surged through me, leaving me gasping for several moments. I didn't yet have a good sense for my mana capacity, but it felt like I'd just lost somewhere between a quarter and a third of my mana to the Skill. Information flooded my mind as I stared off into space with unseeing eyes. I had options before me, and I could sense that much as I tried to navigate the flood of information, wrestling for space in my mind.

  The best sense I could get was that I could choose between looting as normal or destroying that loot to gain a material I could shape to my will at a later time. There was a sense that there were options that lay somewhere between the two, but it was like trying to grip a greased marble. Every time I got close to grasping something, it slipped through my proverbial fingers. I pushed my will onto my Skill, directing it towards the second option.

  Four streams of golden energy, interwoven with streaks of red, flew through the air towards me. I watched curiously as the tiredness from using a large amount of mana all at once slowly seeped away. The streams of energy wove together, one stream from each manticore corpse. I held up a fore leg on instinct as the streams coalesced into a glowing golden orb, ran through with bolts of red, and hints of a brownish haze. The moment the orb formed, it dragged in the remains of the energy, and all was still once again. Light show over. The Orb landed gently on top of my fore limb; its glow was already growing dimmer by the second. A moment later, the glow went out completely, and I was left with a metallic orb balanced on my fore limb. It was only a few inches in diameter, and it didn't feel very heavy, less than a pound. The orb's surface was smooth as well-made glass. I could feel that there was still power within the orb. Something about it called to my [Spirit Forge] Skill. That would need to be investigated later. I tucked the orb away into my [Inventory]. I could dig out all of its secrets and [Analyze] it to my heart's content later, when I wasn't dealing with a time limit. For now, I still had a Boss to slay.

  I turned my attention back to the task at hand. The drone was still hovering nearby, the gem mounted to one side glowing softly in the dim light. I wondered briefly what David and Uncle Wolf were thinking, seeing my change in form and some of the Skills I hadn't revealed during the matches back at the White Banner facility. No doubt David would have some analysts poring over the footage later, analyzing every detail.

  "Alright, Vipera, let'sss get moving," I said, my voice coming out as a low hiss in this form. I still couldn't shake those long hissing sss sounds, much to my annoyance. I had the distinct feeling there would be much more practice involved before I finally got rid of the spidery lisp.

  My serpentine familiar slithered over, her electric blue energy pulsing softly. She coiled around one of my legs, slipping back into my soul, in a way that still amazed me. The fantasy nerd in me appreciated it very much. I could feel her presence in my mind, alert and ready.

  I activated [Ambush Predator], feeling the skill settle over me like a second skin. The world seemed to shift slightly, edges becoming sharper, shadows deeper. My senses improved, and I found myself slipping in and out of the shadows cast by the great redwood trees with ease. I slipped from shadow to shadow as naturally as breathing. [Ambush Predator] took something I had to think consciously about while using [Stealth] and made it second nature. It was a strange reminder about the sort of muscle memory, Skills, and things associated with the system came with. It made me wonder about my Class. I hadn't felt any strange changes when I had finally gotten it after leaving the Soul-Sheer. Another thing on the pile of things to research when I have more time and access to information. I moved forward silently, each of my eight legs finding purchase without a sound.

  Fortunately, it turned out that this redwood forest area was much smaller than the previous chamber of the dungeon. All told, it only took a bit more than an hour to track down the entrance to the next chamber. What I suspected would be the boss room. My aura senses were a huge boon for mapping out spaces like this. Anyone else would likely have to search high and low, every nook and cranny, eating away hours of time.

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