Chapter 212 - Tactical Monsters

I made Glacien use Beast’s Fury for a moment and then her body turned a bit red as she charged toward the giant stone spiders. The creatures tried to hit her with their legs and block her charge, but Glacien easily knocked the arms out and then slashed the eyes of the beasts in a quick sequence.

You received 03 experience points.

You received 03 experience points.

You received 08 experience points.

The Giant Stone Spiders were a bit stronger than the usual monsters that a person can find in the first section of a labyrinth, so it was already pretty good that Glacien could deal with two of them without using her magic. 

Using some spells would allow her to solo the place, but I decided to train her with just physical attacks for a while. Using magic was convenient, but it was too limiting.

In any case, soon enough we reached the boss chamber. I wondered if she could solo the boss if she uses all of her abilities. It should be fine. If the worst comes to the worst, I can just heal her.

“Shall I let you take the boss by yourself this time around?” 

“Awoo! Awooo!”

“At least you are looking forward to it.”

Putting my loneliness aside, I truly believed that having pets like Glacien would be useful, having more than one would make me able to focus on other things while they clear the path for me in labyrinths and… I was only thinking about the merits later. Still, I couldn’t forget the anxiety that I felt back then when she was forced to leave with Renna.

‘Well, I don’t have to do this, but if I am going to, then I should at least find an animal with a lot of potential first.’

At least I could take some necessary steps to stop making me think about that too much. In any case, I kept taking the poison of the spiders in another bag. I lost count of how many of those I had… it smelled pretty badly too. I wonder who was the genius who thought that trying to drink this was a good idea. Hopefully, they didn’t use too many people as guinea pigs to obtain that kind of knowledge.

Although Renna made Clarice give me this book and this was something that they obtained from Clarice’s parents, there was nothing that truly guarantees that they didn’t obtain that knowledge from the dark Elves… 

‘Come to think of it, they never mentioned Clarice’s parents, and that makes me think that they died in the last few decades. That would explain why this guy called Nylian decided to retire from his seat as the leader of the silver bows and Arslan took his place. Arslan probably changed with their deaths and then decided to make the silver bows into a more active force to strengthen the Aeloria Dominion.’

That didn’t involve me that much, so I wondered why I was thinking about it. In any case, we got inside the boss’ chamber and then prepared for our first gym leader in this labyrinth. We weren’t going to get any badges, but we would get some power in exchange.

The boss chamber of the giant stone spider was a vast, oppressive chamber. The space was dimly lit by an eerie, pulsating glow emanating from the chamber’s walls, which were encrusted with crystalline veins that shimmer like veins of molten stone. Jagged stalactites hang loosely from the ceiling, dripping moisture that echoes hauntingly in the silence. The air is thick and musty, carrying the faint metallic tang of ancient stone and lingering magic.

The chamber floor was uneven and treacherous, filled with deep cracks and jagged outcroppings of rock. Web-like stone formations stretch from the walls to the ground, forming natural barriers and obstacles that restrict movement and provide cover for the boss. The spider itself was enormous and terrifying, its glowing eyes reflecting the chamber’s ominous light. 

It looked like I didn’t have much tolerance for spiders… At least this place didn’t have countless eggs for the boss to make them hatch and then come to me. Glacien took a fighting position in front of me as my loyal squire and soon was forced to act when the boss fired a bunch of stone bullets at me.

“It can use magic, huh?”

Glacien jumped in the air and then blocked the stone bullets that were flying to my head. It would have been fun to grab them with my hand, but Glacien was taking things seriously as a real fight. The stone bullets fell to the ground after she blocked them and fell apart. She didn’t suffer any damage from that, so it seemed that increasing her spirit a bit made her a lot tougher.

Before long, Glacien charged at the monster to prevent the creature from using long ranged attacks and then the beast tried to stab her with its legs… Glacien jumped to the side and avoided the attacks, that had been the right call because the legs pierced the ground like real earth spears.

In the next moment, before the boss could turn, Glacien used a body slam to push the beast backward several meters. Still, it looked like she was the one who suffered most damage since the skin of the boss looked tough, like a real wall.

‘I guess she paid attention when I said that she used too much mana when fighting. In any case, she can afford to take some risks since I am here to support her.’

I made Glacien activate Beast’s Fury and since the skill had leveled up a few times, she got a bit stronger than before. When the monster approached to stab her with its legs, Glacien used her claws to slash them away.

When she confirmed that she had enough strength to block them, Glacien summoned her Frostbite Claws… her original claws became longer and covered in ice. Sparks began to spread around the area as she blocked all the attacks in the area. In the end, two legs of the monster fell apart and then Glacien went for the kill, jumping to the head of the monster and then slashing her claws at it viciously.

‘... This isn’t a sight for those faint of heart.’

I made Glacien use Beast’s Fury once again when it wore down, and then she was able to finish things off in no time. She was a bit tired since using Beast’s Fury several times in a row was quite training, but at least her skills leveled up. 

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Acolyte (Dark Acolyte), Venom Agent, and Venom Mage (Toxic Sage)

You obtained the Toxic Sage class.

You improved the Magic parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Toxic Wisdom.

You unlocked the skill: Corrosive Mist.

You unlocked the skill: Noxious Wave.

Venomous Wisdom: Gain 1 point of experience per second for maintaining poison-based effects on enemies. You gain fifty percent more experience when a target is killed by poison effects.

Corrosive Mist: Release a cloud of toxic gas in a small area, dealing poison damage equal to your magic power every second for 5 seconds. It also reduces enemy physical and magic resistance by 20% while inside the mist. Cost: 100 Mana.

Noxious Wave: Emit a pulse of venomous energy that damages all enemies within a medium radius for poison damage equal to your magic power. Applies a slow effect, reducing movement speed by 30% for 3 seconds after leaving the wave. Cost: 150 Mana.

While looking at the class, I couldn’t help but wonder… wasn’t it because of my own decision making that I was in a bind? If I hadn’t chosen those dark versions of the classes, they wouldn’t show up more often. At least that was my theory. If my theory was right, it would reach a point where all my options would be the same options of a vampire.

‘I already didn’t want to become like them because of their blood sucking nature, similar to parasites, but after learning and seeing how they treated those who they captured as guinea pigs, I got even less interested in joining their side. Still, it doesn’t look like this is a real option for me.’

The more time passed, the more I felt like someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes, or at least someone was trying to make me follow that kind of path… I also thought that I was just trying to find an excuse for myself with that way of thinking. All these problems could be just consequences of my own decision making…

In a world like this, at least when it comes to the media that I consume, there should be gods, but I never heard of anything like that. I thought that such entities could be trying to control my fate, but it looked like it could be just my imagination and overthinking nature.

‘Ugh, the more I think, the more this annoys me and the more my own thoughts make my head spin in circles…’

I decided to store the body of the boss away and then dismantle it later… Glacien was a bit tired, but she could rest as we walked. I just needed to keep my mind busy with fighting the monsters and then deal with whatever happens afterwards once they happen instead of before and inside my head.

We headed to the next floor, and I was ready to use my bow… usually, when those feelings start to bother me, I get rid of them by grinding a bit. That should have the same effect here. I immediately frowned when I reached the next section. There weren’t many differences in the walls, ceiling and ground, aside from wooden barricades and some obvious traps on the ground.

From one of those barricades, a pair of kobolds emerged… armed with crude crossbows at that. Kobolds were small, reptilian humanoids with a scrappy, wiry build that hid their surprising agility. Standing around 4 feet tall, they were covered in tough, scaly skin that was brown and red. Their slender tails sway behind them for balance, tipped with small, jagged spikes.

Their faces were sharp and angular, with elongated snouts filled with small but jagged teeth. Large, expressive eyes glint with cunning intelligence and mischief. Many kobolds sport small, curved horns atop their heads, adding a draconic touch to their appearance.

Their appearance fit what I read about them, but I didn’t hear anything about them using bows. In any case, they fired their arrows at my head and my first instinct was to grab them, but if they could have weapons like that, they probably could poison too, so I changed my mind and just moved to the side, making the arrows just cross the air.