Hadorix bolted awake. He was feeling a great sense of Déjà vu. His senses were running overtime. You see he had fallen asleep in the Mystic Orchard with Tree Slayer in hand. Now he lay in the middle of a damp dimly lit stone cell surrounded by iron bars. Nothing looked familiar. He began to examine the cell. The bars were solid, he could not break them, there was no chance of escape. He then began to think back to the night before. He had made plans to travel to the world tree, he was inside the Mystic Orchard, nothing stood out.
Hadorix began to yell for a guard, he wanted to explain that there was some misunderstanding. He did not belong here. He had done nothing to deserve to be here. He deserved to be freed. He deserved justice.
Upon hearing his yelling, a voice began to speak across the hallway. It said, "O my God human, can you shut up already? No one is coming to help you. You do not want the guards. You have been brought here to fight in the pit. If you're lucky, you have today off. If not, you may die today." The creature then stepped into the dim light. Hadorix could see from its pale green skin and large protruding tusks that it was an orc. This brought a bit of clarity to his mind, the only orc he knew was Obcha.
Hadorix figured it could not get worse, he might as well respond. "Who are you? Where are we?"
The creature laughed and replied. "Been here for 10 days already. That makes me a veteran. Most die within a week. The names Zed. I hail from Thronmar on the planet Pax. No clue where we are now. Creatures have come in from different planets. Don't know how the masters do it. We move from the cells to the pit and back again every day. Most go out and never come back. That is what happened to the last 6 humans. You might stand a chance, your what 5 foot 7 inches? You look like you're in shape, I am guessing 150 pounds. With that bald head of yours your opponent will have one less thing to grab and humiliate you with. If you don't get pitted against a vampire or werewolf, you may live. I'll be routing for ya from back here in the cells... When you do fight though, keep it simple. Your there to survive, not make a song and dance. The other guy will be doing everything they can to kill you. Fight dirty, whatever it takes. Just kill them. You keep the gear from your first kills. It's never much, but it will help you survive your next match."
Hadorix could suddenly feel a chill in his bones. The chill grew stronger and stronger. It felt like the cold had penetrated every fiber of his body. Then he saw the figure of death itself approach his cell. With each step the guard made was covered in frost. His eyes glowed with a deep blue fire. His jet-black sword and shield had clearly seen great use in his hands. His jet-black plate armor bore a single spider in the center. He emanated an aura of utter cold and death. Hadorix fell to the floor shivering uncontrollably. The guard let out a maniacal laugh and told Hadorix, "You best get up boy. If I must pick you up, your body parts will begin to freeze and break off. You will still fight in the pit. They aren't takin your price out of my pay."
Hadorix mustered all of his strength and got up. He was shivering uncontrollably. Now he understood why Zed said he did not want the guards. He also realized it would be wise to refrain from using any of his druid spells or powers. Hadorix was alone and surrounded by undead, that would be a surefire way to end up dead. This was true torture. The guard led him down the hallway. Everywhere he looked he could see nothing but cells. The damp air freezing in place as he and the guard passed by. While it was truly only moments since they left the cell (Hadorix was only 5 cells down the hallway) it felt like an eternity for him. Each step was torture, each moment spent with the guard felt as though he would freeze to death.
At the end of the hallway, the guard opened a door and forced Hadorix to enter. Hadorix could hear the loud echo of it being closed and then the clanging of the key as it was locked behind him. As soon as the door was shut, Hadorix began to feel warmer. The chill was rapidly leaving his body and he began to be able to function again. He began to move along the wall slowly, feeling everything as he went. He had no weapons, and he assumed that he was about to enter the pit. The room was pitch black. With Hadorix human eyes, he could see nothing. The wall felt slimy, while others had clearly taken this path, the wall felt like it had not been touched in centuries. Hadorix hands were coated in goo and strings of slime, yet he continued to move his hands along the wall. Knowing it was there provided him a sense of comfort in the dark. He may not be able to see where he was going, but at least he knew he was following a path.
As Hadorix continued to move along the wall, one of the bricks he placed his hand on moved into the wall, startling Hadorix. When it did, the wall beside him began to open. A torch in the end of the room lit up what appeared to be a small closet with a chest in the center. Hadorix entered. Even if he were to die here, at least he had a bit of light. The closet was tiny, in three steps Hadorix had already made it to the chest. He opened it and hit the floor convulsing. A bright light emitted from the chest and entered his body.
Hadorix thought he was dying. It felt like he had been struck by a lightning storm. When he was finally able to stand, he carefully looked in the chest. Inside he found a belt with two daggers, a backpack, and a book. This was no time to read, so he put the book in the backpack and put on the belt with the daggers. Surprisingly, none of the goop from the wall managed to stay on the book, however everything else he picked up had the imprints from his hands. Hadorix doubted he would ever get all the goop off him. Hadorix pulled out one of the daggers in his left hand. He then made his way to the torch. He removed it from the bracket it was placed in. As soon as the torch left the bracket, Hadorix heard a loud clang, and the bracket fell, opening an alcove underneath. A fist sized wolf spider rushed out and dove at Hadorix.
Hadorix slashed at the spider with the dagger in his left hand slicing it cleanly in half. All that time in the kitchen may prove useful. It might not look like a carrot, but it did cut much easier. These daggers were clearly sharp. Hadorix felt rather proud of himself. He had managed to kill the giant spider. As he began to relax his guard, another spider jumped at him from the left side of the wall, Hadorix managed to slice it as well. Hadorix then dropped the torch and pulled out his other dagger. He began to back up towards the door. Spiders were leaving the alcove at an alarming rate. They began to dive at Hadorix. He slashed left, he slashed right, his arms looked like a whirlwind of movement. It was not pretty, but it was rather effective. He managed to kill every spider before it could land on him. It was an incredibly good thing too, as these wolf spiders carried a rather potent venom. Once they were all dead, a bright light left the bodies of each of the spiders and entered Hadorix body. He again began to convulse on the floor.
When Hadorix was again able to move, he found that he could see much better. In looking around he also discovered that all the bodies of the spiders had disappeared. Hadorix found this rather odd, though considering the things that had happened so far this morning. It did not even surprise him, perhaps the floor had a self-cleaning mechanism. Hadorix continued to look around the room. He suspected there may be more items in the alcove that the spiders had resided in. Looking at the alcove, Hadorix realized he no longer needed to grab the torch. He could see the lone spider inside rather well. The spider began to move out of the alcove. Hadorix quickly grabbed his daggers.
To his surprise the spider did not jump at him as the others had. The spider stepped to the exit to the alcove and stared at Hadorix. It then spoke into Hadorix's head. "Welcome master, it has been so long since any has dared to venture in here. I am the queen of this nest. You have slain my children and proven yourself worthy of the treasure of the alcove. If you allow it, I will aid you in your travels. I have been trapped here for far to long. I will soon lay more eggs, each of my spawn will belong to you. Reach out your hand and I will climb on."
Hadorix could hardly believe the word of a spider, heck, Hadorix could hardly believe words came from a spider. Yet he still reached his hand over. The spider climbed on and crawled up his arm to stand on his shoulder. Hadorix reached into the alcove and rummaged around. He began to bring out items one at a time. First, he grabbed a ring with a small ruby, then a pendant with a large emerald, and finally a golden crown. Once he had the three items the spider spoke again, "This may appear to be mere baubles, yet that is the beauty of them. You are the only one that has earned the right to the master's treasure. Put it on, you will see the benefits."
Hadorix smirked and put on the ring. When he did, he could feel a surge of strength enter his body. He then put on the pendant. The results of wearing it were not immediately visible. Finally, he placed the crown on his head. When he did, his vision completely changed, and he blacked out. When he awoke, he could see an image like a computer screen in his vision. It had several notifications. Hadorix decided to review them. They said:
· Special ability Absorption granted. "You have managed to gather a new ability from the hidden chest of a mythical being. At your level you will be unable to control what you absorb and will thus absorb any being you slay. You will then be granted 10% of the beings total stats."
· Obtained tome of the spider.
· Equipped fangs of the spider. Attack speed and damage increased.
· Absorbed wolf spider nest, poison resistance increased +30.
· Strength + 5
· Intellect + 2
· Wisdom +10
· Dexterity +20
· Constitution + 5
· Charisma + 2
· Luck + 2
· Absorbed wolf spider nest, gained immunity to venom.
· Absorbed wolf spider nest, gained ability wolf spider venom.
· Absorbed wolf spider nest, gained ability dark vision.
· Gained familiar, wolf spider queen.
· Equipped spider ring of strength. Your strength doubles.
· Equipped spider pendant of defense. Your defense doubles.
· Equipped crown of the spider. Spider command granted. The crown of the spider possesses its own system. Merge your system with its system? Yes or No?
· Quest received, read the tome of the spider.
· Quest reward, shapeshift wolf spider.
· · Quest received, find the tomb of the spider. "You found a large quantity of the Spiders items. What secrets does this being hold? Find the tomb to unlock more."
· Quest reward, unknown.
Hadorix chose not to merge the systems at this point.
· Upload data from the crown of the spider? Yes or No?
Hadorix chose to upload the data into his own system. Knowledge is always beneficial after all.
· Secondary Class added Assassin. "The spider was a master level assassin. By uploading his data, you have acquired his primary class."
· Assassin level increased to level 3.
· Druid level increased to level 3.
· Strength +5
· Intellect + 5
· Wisdom + 15
· Dexterity + 20
· Constitution + 10
· Charisma + 25
· Luck + 25
· Power level exceeds requirements for Grade F super.
· Energy gain increased to 150 per level. This is retroactive.
· HP gain increased to 25 per level. This is retroactive.
Hadorix did not know what to make of any of this. From what he had been told, a druid could have only one familiar. He supposed this was due to the crown of the spider and the strange update to his system that it created. After some contemplation, he chose to ask the spider queen about the tomb of the spider. She replied, "The master called me Inky. You may do the same. I do not know where the masters tomb is. He ruled this entire area. It could be anywhere. If you were to find his tome, you would find his secrets and perhaps get the answer to your questions."
Hadorix already had the tome. He pulled it out of his backpack and began to read it. As he read, he realized that each word that Hadorix read disappeared out of the book. He also had a new icon on his computer screen, Hadorix thought about it, and it was as if he had scrolled over it with a mouse. It said tomes. He then opened it and the only thing listed was spider tome. Upon opening it, it contained all the words he had read thus far. Hadorix continued to read. The book gave him a great many insights into the world of spiders and of the spider master. It told of a great lair that he had made under the dungeons. This lair would only be accessible to one that wore the spider set that he hid away with the spider queen. Now all the pages were blank. Hadorix decided he could find a use for it in the future, after all a book that magically became empty had to have some value.
· Quest complete, shapeshift wolf spider granted.