A Soldier's Life - 15 - First Apex Essence

*World Sphere 231 is half done and my goal is to finish that next *** Just took a 30 minute break to edit this chapter from Book 1 of Soldier

Chapter 15: First Apex Essence

The crisscrossing bridges looked different now that I knew they were part of a spider’s network. As the chamber lit up from the low buzzing of the fire beetles, I didn’t see any spiders. I looked over the edge of the bridge. Below were shadows and more crisscrossing bridges. “How deep does it go?” I asked quietly.

Konstantin looked as well. “I am not eager to find out.” It sounded like an attempt at humor, but the situation we found ourselves in stripped it of any levity.

Delmar got everyone’s attention. “We do not know what type of spiders we are facing. Most likely, their fangs will inject paralytic poison, so don’t get bitten. Strike the eyes. They have two large eyes and six smaller ones, and damaging them will usually stun them momentarily.” That was all the prep we got. My spear had broken in the ankheg fight; I gripped my short sword tightly, on high alert.

Mage Castile was scanning the ceiling, considering her options. “Eryk, give the potions to Linus. There are three cure poison potions in the racks. I want them in his hands. I believe the spiders are underneath us, under this very bridge. They are probably waiting for us to cross. I’m going to check now.” Everyone backed away from the edges. Mage Castile closed her eyes briefly, then announced, “Five large spiders are under the bridge.” Knowing the number of spiders made it worse, and the tension rose.

“What is the plan?” Delmar asked the mage, his normally confident presence subdued.

“Someone is going to sprint across the bridge as a decoy to draw them up. If the person gets caught by the spiders, they will most likely just be paralyzed. We should be able to reach them before they are wrapped in webbing and hauled away,” Castile said without any emotion. I had a bad feeling; I was the least skilled fighter and was probably going to be chosen.

Konstantin stepped forward. “I will do it.” My heart soared in relief.

“No, it will be Eryk. Konstantin can better react to threats and is a stronger fighter,” Castile ordered. I tensed, not quite believing what I had heard.

Castile then outlined the attack strategy. “There are five spiders and five of us. The bridge spans nearly forty feet, so it’s best to lure them all out at once. We will each confront one spider as they approach to attack Eryk. Once someone finishes their fight, they can assist others.” Everyone appeared so confident that I relented and started stretching. My knee was very sore from the fall off the ankheg, and my shoulder still ached from the last battle. The good news was that the bridge was wide, and the chamber was well-lit by hundreds of fire beetles.

I lined up in front of everyone. I realized I had been sweating profusely and took a long drink of water. Delmar and Konstantin were right behind me. I was thinking of two things. The first was that my surging adrenaline had made all my aches disappear, and the second was secrecy be damned. If I needed to use my dimensional space to kill a spider, I would not hesitate. Delmar finally instructed, “Walk until you see the first one, and then run as fast as you can.”

I nodded and walked. The bridge quickly got sticky under my boots, like I was walking on dried soda in a movie theater. I surmised it was old webbing on the surface that was causing the sound. The stone bridge started vibrating—it was the spiders were moving underneath us, preparing.

I heard a clicking sound and saw the first spider legs emerging from my right. Legs as thick as my arms moved to reveal the giant hairy spider. Spiders shouldn’t be this big. I ran as I was told, my heart pounding loud in my ears. I heard Konstantin shout, “Got this one!”

I sprinted across the bridge and entered the opening on the far side of the chamber. I spun quickly and took in the scene. In the middle of the bridge, everyone was engaged with a spider. Had the plan worked? I counted five spiders...well, four, as Castile’s spider was wrapped in wispy black chains and pulled over the edge. She then produced a wand and began to fire arrows of blue light at the spider Firth was fighting. I had not liked being the bait, but the plan had worked and I remained safe.

I hesitated a moment before I decided to rush in and help. Delmar was engaged with the spider closest to me, and I hacked at the leg with my short sword. The leg cracked like a lobster shell and was severed. The spider swung around on me and tried to lunge. Instead, Delmar got his long, silvery blade into the abdomen and jerked hard. Yellow mucus flowed out of the wound, the spider twitched in pain, and the legs curled in on themselves, dropping the spider where it was. Delmar didn’t wait, turning to support the others.

The battle was over in less than a minute, and I didn’t even reach anyone else to help. Castile was already applying her essence collector to a spider. The quicker you did the extraction, the better chance you had at getting an essence. There were only four spiders, as Castile had tossed hers over the edge, but each one yielded an essence. Castile was shocked when she extracted one apex essence of dexterity and three major essences of dexterity.

Everyone gathered closely, on high alert, waiting for the loot to be distributed. Castile took the largest essence and placed it in my hand. I was so shocked I didn’t see who received the other essences. It was much bigger than the minor essence I had used during training. I placed the ball in my mouth and felt it dissolve as goosebumps spread over my body in response, and my limbs tingled like they were asleep for a moment. I had to keep swallowing to get rid of the aftertaste and the sticky sensation in my throat—but maybe that was my subconscious because I knew where the essence had been pulled from.

Delmar started cracking open the abdomen of a spider. It was a gooey mess and smelled horrific, even from a distance. I watched in fascination as he removed a soccer ball-sized object. He glanced at me, and explained. “Spider spinneret. Large one at that. They are worth a good three gold each. Castile said I could have them all if I carried them out myself.”

Firth had found the stone prize box again and opened it before we reached him. Inside were three potions, all of which were cure poison. There were no coins and I caught a suspicious look directed at Firth from Konstantin but no accusations were cast.

Castile took the potions. “Basic cure poison, but being dungeon-made, they are quite valuable. As long as they remain sealed, their shelf life will be centuries compared to alchemist potions that are only good for a few months.” I was once again asked to hold all the potions in my dimensional space, the new potions included.

Linus was teasing the fangs and mumbling about not bringing any empty containers for the venom. He finally reported the type of venom the spiders contained to Castile. I heard him say a generic poison, with no paralytic aspects detected. When Delmar had his spinnerets, we started to move out.

I drank the rest of my canteen while everyone else moved to the far side of the bridge. I hastened my steps to catch up to them. Konstantin slapped my back. “You did well. You got lucky, they were not fast enough to block your path. Castile was impressed with your effort. Just try to keep yourself alive long enough to make use of it.”

I nodded, falling into step beside my—mentor? I was still curious why Konstantin had softened on me. Did it have to do with the griffin nest somehow? Also, I had just consumed an apex essence. They were used to increase a person’s potential. If my manifested convergence ability let me milk essences for all they were worth, what type of benefit would I get from it? My nerves and skin were still slightly tingly, so something was happening.

It also didn't escape me that I had been told apex essences cost fifty gold or more. And Castile had casually handed it to me like a snack. I quietly asked Konstantin, “Does she hand out apex essences often?”

He looked at me seriously, “No. That was only the ninth one she had given to a legionnaire in my eight years with her. We got lucky, this dungeon has been neglected for so long. I’m guessing that’s why the baron’s son risked it. This dungeon is probably bursting with aether, and the first few runs will yield powerful essences. Even the respawns.” We were a good distance away from the others, and he whispered, “She is trying to buy your loyalty. Do not look surprised. She has bought the loyalty of most of us. You should be happy she thought you were worth the investment.”

Delmar, up ahead, shouted, “It’s a safe room!” We all crowded into the small room, about twenty feet around. More orc writing dominated the wall, and a stream of water descended from the ceiling into a hole in the floor.

Castile tested the water, nodded, and said, “Konstantin, scout ahead.” At Delmar, she questioned, “Still no sign of the seventh?” Delmar searched the room and shook his head no.

We all sat down while Konstantin headed into the next corridor. We had only fought in two short battles, but everyone looked exhausted from the life-or-death encounters. Delmar dropped his smelly spinneret backpack next to me. “Carry it for me, and I’ll give you a gold coin.”

He had told me the four spinnerets were worth twelve gold, and he was just offering me one gold. I wanted to stay on his good side, though. “Payment up front,” I said cheekily. He frowned but produced the coin he had received from the ankheg room. I sent it to my dimensional space with the other one. I was becoming wealthy—two gold coins and two large silver in less than an hour in this dungeon! The spinnerets were heavy, but I figured it would just be until we returned to the horses. I would be paid a gold for a day’s worth of heavy labor.

Castile approached me. “Eryk, give me the potion from the first room.” I instantly produced the potion. She nodded and showed me a slight smile. “You are getting good at using your space.”

She only studied the vial for a minute, looking closely at the runes before saying: “A stamina potion. Not very potent, but it has its uses. I will hang on to this.” She slipped the vial into one of her pouches.

It was a good half hour before Konstantin returned, and we all huddled around Castile as he reported. “The next dungeon room is another large chamber. It’s down a long descending corridor.” He broke into a sly grin. “And I found the baron’s son. He’s alive.”

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