The Way Ahead

Chapter 91b: Eightfold Strategy

Chapter 91b: Eightfold Strategy

While the attack might have gotten Edwin off-guard, his sturdy leather gear- so useful for protecting him from alchemical experiments- proved its worth once more. While many of the hairs did strike the 'armor' in weak points, hissing and sizzling for a second while they tried to burn through to his body, those that struck the thicker parts just stuck in the jacket where they hit. A few even flew towards his face, and would have burned into his head if not for the apparatite helmet he'd made for himself.

Well there goes my perfect battle, Edwin thought ruefully. Fortunately, none of the wounds he took were too severe, though they did go a fair ways into explaining the method by which the unfortunate victims of the spider had been killed. Perhaps the hairs disintegrated naturally after a short period of time? It wouldnt be the strangest thing Edwin had seen.

Still, it did put a slight damper on Edwins plan, predominantly because the spider had yet to emerge back out into the opening. Hm. He didnt actually need the spider out, did he? Not for the first part of his plan at least.

Edwin returned to his tree, hefting his sword into a two-handed grip and planting his feet on the ground and anchoring himself in place with Flight, pushing Harvesting and Athletics as much as possible as he swung the blade at its trunk.

It worked much better than Edwin had anticipated- while not quite as smooth as butter, Edwins strike did pass through the entirety of the tree in a single stroke, though the reverberations traveled up the blade and into Edwins arms, predominantly his right thanks to his grip. Surprised, he released the blade and watched his weapon fly into the woods.

Well he didnt need that anyway.

Before the tree could fall to the ground, Edwin grabbed it, holding it with only a bit of difficulty thanks to Packing. The weight and inertia was a bit of a pain, and Packing didnt help with rotational momentum so hed need to be careful, but he could manage.

The spider tried another salvo of violet hairs aimed at Edwin, but with his own personal tree to hide behind, managed to stop pretty much the entire attack.

Unusually, the spider seemed to fairly quickly realize this tactic wasnt working and reemerged onto the road with a flex of its spatial Skill. Unfortunately for it, it wasnt able to properly identify the trap waiting for it.

Edwin hefted the tree as much as he could, then dropped it right where the spider was due to arrive- thank you, Numeracy- allowing the full weight of the trunk to crash down onto the spider, pinning it against the ground and slowly crushing its abdomen. It screeched, trying to free itself, but the tree wasnt going to stop crushing the arachnids body just because it complai

Edwins thought died as the tree was eaten through by the creatures destructive magic. He readied himself for round two, but was unexpectedly relieved when the bottom half of the tree rolled off the side and onto the creatures right side. Three of the creatures legs burst immediately, revealing themselves as normal spider legs just disguised as those of a feline. The other was struck flat, and the monster splayed out, helpless and immoble as Edwin hefted the top of the tree and dropped it onto the monsters body.

Within thirty seconds, the horrible hissing had finally stopped as the spider finally died.

Edwin sighed and dropped onto the ground. That had been quite the fight, and he was glad he was still in basically one piece. It was nothing a potion and a night of sleep wouldnt fix, anyway, so he counted it as a win.

Congratulations! For slaying an Adult Titan Bear-Eater, you have unlocked the Titan Spider Hunter Path!

Level Up!

Skill Points 692697 (Average level: 40)

Bomb Throwing Level 4950

Flight Level 3738

Longstrider Level 3032

Numeracy Level 3536

Ritual Intuition Level 2526

Oh cool, another Trophy path. He idly wondered what sort of Skill it might grant as he fished out a general-purpose healing potion and downed it. The hairs stuck in his limbs had vanished at some point towards the end of the fight- he hadnt noticed when- leaving him bleeding at a steady rate. Once he took the potion, though, his bleeding began to slow and he could feel the itching of skin beginning to scab over at high speeds. The apparatite container hed kept the potion in dissolved away with just a flex of his will, and the glittering motes of light drifted to the ground.

He looked at the battlefield with unwounded eyes, coldly wondering what to do now. He should bury or burn the spiders victims, of course- it was just the polite thing to do, if nothing else- but what about the spider itself?

Inion? he asked, slightly dreading the answer, How many people have passed by us while weve been here?

Hm? she yawned, Oh, I dont know. Five or six? I was napping for a while though, dont know if I missed any there.

Well, at least he wasnt embarrassed at the time, and now he could just take and bury that thought as deeply as possible. Memory only worked with active recall, after all. It wouldnt keep reminding him of the time hed been so engrossed with dissecting a spider he outright missed a half-dozen people passing within twenty feet of him.

As tempting as it was to set up a temporary lab right there and start messing around with the spider venom and quills, Edwin knew it would objectively be better for him to work slightly closer to civilization. The massive spider carcass was bound to attract scavengers, and with the recent reminder that animals could be massive on Joriah, he didnt particularly care to meet any of them. He could have burned it, but that seemed like it could relatively easily result in a forest fire. He settled for carrying the body off the road fully and propped up against the trees, its Skill allowing it to slip between the trunks no longer active in death.

So, he carried on. Once he was out of the light forest, he could revisit the proposition. It had already been a couple days, and surely hed leave the tree cover soon, right? He liked the forewarning that the vast, open plains afforded him when it came to people approaching. Sure, the road may have been straight as ever, but the shadows and moving foliage in the distance meant that it was still tricky to see people far away.

His thoughts were, ironically, broken by the sound of light pattering on the road behind him. He spun around, expecting another attack and his hand finding its way to a firebomb. Lack of concussive force or no, most creatures would still probably run away if set on fire.

What he wasnt expecting to find was a medium-sized brown and white dog running up towards him, short and clean fur gleaming even in the low light of the forest.

Why hello there, pup. What are you doing out here? he greeted the dog, extending a hand out for the canine to sniff.

Unexpectedly, it didnt approach, instead holding its distance and looking at Edwin with keen, curious eyes.

Stalwart Defender

Hold on, was that a Class? Dogs could get classes?

Kyni! Kyni! Come on, boy! Whered you go? a young voice called out from a bit further back, and Edwin looked up to see a boy running in his direction. He was still a ways back, just barely approaching earshot, but the dog didnt react immediately. Instead Kyni stared at Edwin, not baring his teeth or growling, or even hiding his tail between his legs, just looking at him, before turning around with a bark and, with a clatter of nails on stone, dashing back to the boy, nearly bowling the kid over.

Huh.

Edwin gently pulled Bill to a stop. The boy must have been barely ten at most, and he wanted to make sure that he would be alright. Also, dog. He hadnt been able to spend nearly as much time with the objectively best kind of living creature since hed been on Joriah, and the Stalwart Defender was a riddle wrapped in a mystery.

Looking again showed there was a cloaked figure a bit of distance behind the boy and his dog, the two now walking side by side.

Okay, so they did have an adult with them. That was good, at least. As the trio reached his Identify range, Edwin caught a brief glimpse of gold from the adult, and a quick Identify confirmed his fears. With a sigh, he rubbed his forehead in preparation of a future headache.

Edwin! It is so very good to see you, my friend! It has truly been far too long! Lefi exuberantly called out.

Level Up!

Skill Points 697720 (Average level: 41)

Watchful Rest Level 2728

Improbable Arsenal Level 2630

Anatomy Level 3239

Alchemical Dismantling Level 1827

Sappers Apparatus Level 4647