Alan couldn't stand the fatigue from today's battle and ended up falling into a sleep state. Iac was tasked? With finding shelter to firstly find some peace and gain some sleep as well. But also he needed to find a place to reside for however long he planned to stay out here. It was already night at this point and Iac didn't feel like sleeping in a tree for the second night in a row.
Iac had already been looking for over 3 hours and hadn't found a single place suitable enough. Well... suitable for a goblin at least. He wanted a cave. He missed his previous warm and crowded home. Iac had already considered going back home. At this point there was no going back though. Iac didn't even know where he was after all. That last raid had been his first time outside the cave.
There was no one to talk to, nothing to do except walk, and he was extremely tired. Iac needed a break. Thankfully after 15 more minutes of dreadful searching, Iac found a small cave. Throwing down the armor and food he earned, Iac grabbed a pile of leaves and laid them out in the shape of a bed. The final thing Iac did before sleeping was hide the boar behind a nearby rock to mask its scent and protect it from scavengers. It was hard to fall asleep in the cold of night but at least Iac could be content with his new temporary home.
Waking up in the morning Iac and Alan were now both awake and ready for action. And by action they meant eating breakfast. As primitive as goblins were, they knew how to produce fire almost as if it was instinct. Though their method of doing so isn't exactly fun or interesting. It more or less involves using friction with their hands. Just like a survivor would do if stranded on a deserted island. After a couple of minutes, Iac was able to get a fire going. He set up a temporary cooking setup for the boar meat. While he cooked it above the flame, Iac then started to look at the gear he got from the girl.
The first and most noticeable was the shortsword. It looked pretty average overall and Alan could tell it was made by human hands. Weapons could be earned from dungeon rewards or monsters but were always incredibly rare. The number one way to tell if a sword was forged by a human or not is if the weapon has a description. Magical weapons are from the tower and as such will have earned a similar type of windowed description as to what humans gained. Iac hung the sword on his back with a tread like rope the girl had used as a belt. Although it was a little too big for him. Iac could most likely keep it as a secondary weapon in case he loses his dagger again.
The next item he stole was a semi-full set of armor. He could only strap a couple of pieces onto himself because the armor didn't exactly fit like a glove. It was made for a grown woman after all. The chestplate was too heavy for him to even carry before, so Iac left that behind along with the helmet. Alan was a bit disappointed about it. But Iac wouldn't have been able to wear either of the pieces anyways. The only pieces he strapped on were the grieves and vambrace. It felt a bit stiff. But because it would protect his body, Iac was willing to put up with it.
The final thing Iac stole other than the money which was useless to them right now. Was The Key of Nevartan. It sure was weird looking but that wasn't what made Alan so curious about it. The key had a name attached to it along with description. That means the key belonged to the tower as an item. It's strange that a girl that was only just level five, held a magical item. Alan couldn't wrap his head around why and decided to ignore the key for now. Iac on the other hand, was done looking at his new stuff and started to eat.
The food was extremely good. Well mostly for the fact that the two of them had only eaten raw horned rabbit for an entire day. This meal was a nice palate changer. After eating the entire boar, the two of them felt stuffed. Iac put out the fire afterwards and made the decision to hide the leftover armor behind a rock.
When he moved the same large rock as he did before, Iac noticed something. There was air flow coming from underneath the rock. Using his strength Iac pushed the rock aside and found himself facing a medium sized hole. He wasn't sure if he should enter though. It was dark but with the little sunlight he had, Iac could see the bottom. It was only about a ten foot drop.
There was a slight scent Iac felt on his nose. It was a smell he knew very well. The smell of money. That decided it. Iac then rushed outside his cave and grabbed a thick stick to light. He quickly made a makeshift torch and hopped into the hole. 'What an idiot...' Alan thought as Iac licked his lips in anticipation. But when he lit up the cave with excitement, there was no money in sight. Only a dark pathway. He could climb back up, but with thoughts of riches, Iac started following the scent of money. It was really weird for Iac to be able to smell money better than everything else. The trait 'Smell for money' was +3 so it must have some strong effect to make Iac almost fall into a trance.
'This place doesn't feel right.' Alan was worried for about the threat the cave posed. Iac didn't seem to care too much as the smell of riches entered his nose. Alan could smell it as well but didn't feel any desire like Iac did. 'Maybe it's just him?' Alan concluded that maybe Iac is just a bit unique when it comes to money.
The cave was damp and cold as Iac kept following the scent. Each step echoed down the pathway. Iac felt an occasional tug on his body, but ignored it after the feeling want away each time. Nothing would stop him on his quest for treasure. They kept walking and walking and there wasn't much noise except for the occasional water droplet.
'Wait... water droplet?' Alan's fear spiked as Iac was overcome with a sense of panic. They looked around the cave but couldn't find anything around them....except for above. Aiming the torch above his head, Iac found a large spider drooling with venom. It watched them with it's terrifyingly huge red eyes. As soon as it knew it was spotted the spider attacked, jumping at them from above. Iac rolled to the side barely escaping it's jaws.
"SCRAAAHH" The spider shrieked at Iac. He felt a shiver run down his spine. Iac's hands started to shake and feel numb. It was a fear skill. Alan indeed knew the skill, but had no idea on how the effects could be reversed. Iac's palms started to sweat as his panic and nervousness grew.
The skill affected your mental state so now even Alan was affected by it as well. The spider saw its chance with their hesitation to fight. Leaping with all eight of it's legs, the spider went to eat Iac whole. It was definitely large enough to the point of being twice Iac's size. One whole bite would be all it would take for Iac to go down. Iac was scared, he bite his tongue to stay sane. Although Iac felt like the sight of the spider was terrifying. He knew in his heart that there were beings that held more power and induced more fear than just a mere spider. The mental strength and will of the both of them together allowed Iac to move his body with better control.
Throwing his body towards the nearby wall, Iac dodged the spider before it's venomous fangs could reach him. Thankfully his agility was his highest stat. The spider didn't have a high agility stat, but most definitely had a high attack power. One thing that Alan knew the most common trait about spiders was their low defensive properties. Unlike most top ranked monsters, spiders were known for having a poor defense. It was how they hunted. They captured their prey and venomized them before eating the person whole.
The spider then backed off into the darkness. It's main strength was stealth attacks. But Iac had already been in the same position as the spider before. He knew the one big weakness to stealth attacks lied in if you were found. And thankfully Iac had a source of light. He aimed his torch everywhere and prepared for the spider's attack. Finally again, Iac found the spider on the ceiling and it pounced towards him with it's fangs at the ready.
With a dodge roll, Iac was able to dodge the spider's attack. In the process of dodging though. Iac lost grip of the torch and it fell to the floor. There was a slight hesitation in the spider as the light fell. Iac noticed this and took all the strength in his legs and leaped right in the face of danger. Iac drew the short sword from his back and crudely slashed downwards. It cleaved through the spider's face.
Iac let go of his sword to fall back. He drew his dagger and prepared for a closer battle. But as Alan expected, the one attack to the spider's skull was enough to finish it off.
[You have slayed an Opal Cave Arachne LV 4]
[You have earned 56 experience points]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have earned 3 TP]
"Gii! Gii!" Iac was happy as the notification window rang out. Alan was glad to be rewarded as we'll. But he noticed something else as the windows appeared. The spider's name looked quite unique for an Arachne. The thing that Alan finally found out about was their location. The Opal Cave. A beginner dungeon that his father visited many times early on in his career. He wasn't sure what floor and where exactly he was. But now Alan had confirmation on that he and Iac were on the 1st or 2nd floors of the tower. The Opal cave was easier at the entrance and then increased in difficulty as you traveled higher. It was called the Opal Cave by the tower, but it really was just an extremely large mountain. Although his father never mentioned it, Alan was sure that at least one group of slayers should have reached the end of the cave.
Now that Alan knew which floor he was on. He could finally try and figure out some type of method to leave Iac's body and find Finn. Although he was getting more and more attached to Iac as time passed. Alan would need to find Finn before he sets out on some crazy journey and kills himself. With their new level up, Iac and Alan got another step closer to getting stronger.
'Don't worry Finn, I promise to save you.' Alan thought as Iac picked up the nearby torch. It thankfully hadn't lost its light in the last fight which allowed Iac to continue his treasure hunt. While on their journey following the scent of money. Alan took another look at his soul level and the amount of points he gained. It wasn't random for how many he would gain, but Alan still had a weird feeling of anxiety when they leveled up. The process was like shedding their skin and felt like a whole new them. There were 10 points total to spend from the level up and Alan decided to spend it on strength. As agility was already a high stat and Iac had now picked up a new short sword. Their new fighting style was a mix of a rouge and a warrior. But Alan could tell how awkward Iac was with wielding the sword. It's weight made his swings clumsy when fighting. They were going to need it in the future to fight stronger humans and monsters. With that, the decision was made and Alan spent all his points into strength. Iac paused for a moment and looked down at his hands, only to shake his head and keep walking again.