Risel clung close to Yvlena and her summons as they braved the darkness of the Spider Forest, webs clung to the trees nearly blocking out the sun but Yvlena noticed it was still brighter than when she had first visited.
The elf reached for the web wondering if she would be able to get some of it to make silk, but as soon as she touched it, it crumbled into nothing.
‘I’m really going to have to fight them huh?’ Yvlena deadpanned.
She didn’t need a fairy-lit torch however, out of the corner of her eye, something skittered just out of view making her jump and making Risel cry out in fright.
“Ah! What is it?” The alchemist cowered, holding Kuti in her arms like a life line. The doll grunted softly at being squeezed so tightly but otherwise made no move to exit Risel’s grip.
Yvlena and Sprite exchanged looks, now this escort mission had the opposite problem, the NPC clung too close to Yvlena to let her breathe.
“Nothing, Risel, you just have to be careful of the Spiders I thought I saw one just now.”
“Where! Where!” The elf squeaked, spinning rapidly in fright. Rabbit Knight shook his head and faced Yvlena with an incredulous expression.
Yvlena held back a grimace, not realizing how jumpy the other elf would be but then again she wouldn’t willingly be traversing this forest if it weren’t for the dire quest ahead of them.
The Harvest Guardian kept on guard, for both her sake and Risel’s, scanning the area to make sure the large arachnids wouldn’t get the jump on her like they did last time. If she hadn’t made the antidote in time, the battle could have ended up a lot worse.
“Just stay close to me, Risel. Sprite, Rabbit Knight, be on alert. I have a feeling we won’t have to deal with solely spiders.” Yvlena said, commanding her summons.
The two of them nodded, keeping close to the party as they tread deeper.
“Was this forest always like this. Risel?” Yvlena asked the alchemist. While she was not a native of Bloom Haven, Risel certainly was and it would be helpful of the elf could tell her something about the way this world used to be.
“No there weren’t these many spiders, they were usually hiding in the caves past the Outpost on the way to Rosenheim.” Risel explained. “Their silk is valuable and they dwell in the dark where it’s much easier to protect themselves.”
“What?” Yvlena whispered. Then how on earth did they get here? She didn’t have time to ponder as she soon heard the subtle clicking of mandibles. Yvlena paused, holding a finger to her lips to tell Risel to quiet.
The elf nodded, looking around for the sound of the clicking when she saw something emerge from the bough of the tree behind them. Risel didn’t waste time, pointing to show Yvlena the source of their anxiety.
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[Forest Spider Cast Web Spit]
Yvlena pushed the elf away from her, watching as the white, sticky strings shot back the both of them and smacked into the tree behind them.
“Damn it!” Yvlena cursed, she ran towards it with her Sickle raised when she saw a vial collide with the spider’s head.
[Risel Cast Potion Throw!]
The explosive potion burst open, covering the arachnid’s head in flames, it shrieked in panic, mandibles clicking incessantly at it’s pain.
“I’ll cover you Yvlena!” Risel called from behind her, already with another potion in hand. Yvlena grinned, now this was some help she could get behind.
[Yvlena Cast Crescent Throw (10MP)]
She hurled the sickle at the spider, watching it fly as she ran forward. The panicked spider had no way to dodge the blade cutting it up from the side before Yvlena caught it and plunged the point of the blade into it’s head.
[Kuti cast Weaken (03MP)]
[Forest Spider afflicted with weakness -10% HP]
[Sprite cast Sting (01 MP)]
[Rabbit Knight Cast Rabbit Volley (05MP)]
Her two summons leapt into an attack formation, dashing to Yvlena’s side to render assistance. Rabbit Knight slid under the bumbling spider’s large abdomen and began stabbing ruthlessly.
“Yvlena watch out!” Risel yelled, throwing another bottle of her own. It broke open beneath the spider’s legs, bursting into a deadly red plant Yvlena had never seen before.
She grabbed Rabbit knight and jumped away as thick red vines ensnared the spider’s legs, pulling it towards the red plant.
The elves and summons watched the spider struggle as it’s HP was rapidly drained, until it fell screeching into the afternoon air.
[Yvlena Acquired
Exp: 900/2700
***
Spider Venom x2
Spider Silk x2
***
Moon Points x500]
With such a large party the spider’s defeat came easy, allowing Yvlena to breath a sigh of relief. The spider had given her some good exp too, it would be a good idea to come back here and hunt them for silk and for points.
“You were great, Risel!” Yvlena said pulling the girl and her summoned doll into her arms. “I can’t help but wonder, what was that potion though? The one that drained the Spider’s HP?”
“Grand Bloodroot, it’s pretty handy in a pinch but insanely difficult to brew. You can find the ingredients in this forest but I don’t think we have time to search.” Risel said, adjusting the pack on her shoulders.
Yvlena nodded, if the Bloom Forest and even the Bloom Meadow had hidden levels one could stumble into, then the Spider Forest would definitely be the same. Which meant the forest would have it’s own hidden bosses.
For now she was happy with the silk she had gotten off the Forest Spider.
“Let’s keep going I have a feeling we’ll reach another area soon.” Yvlena said.
“The path to the Verdant Vale shouldn’t be too far ahead, I think I remember there being a pretty safe place to rest. I could use breather from the air of this forest.” Risel said already falling into step with Yvlena.
The Harvest Guardian nodded, completely understanding where the other elf was coming from, she wouldn’t mind downing another bowl of Rabbit Meat Soup and catching her breath before they had to confront the Miasma’s beasts.
“That’s good, we’re almost done with our journey then?” Yvlena asked, could the journey really have been that short? The Outpost seemed further from Bloom Haven if so.
“Oh we still have quite a long way but I’m sure we’ll get there soon.” Risel said, “We’re basically traveling to the next town after all and there’s quite a distance between Bloom Haven and the Verdant Vale.” the blonde reminded.
Yvlena resisted the urge to gulp, if the journey took too long she would need to log out in a dangerous place like the next area after the Spider Forest. Maybe Risel bought camping supplies, Yvlena didn’t have the foresight to purchase any.
The Moon Valley forums she read always advised never logging out within a dungeon, but she reasoned she could get some more hours out of this escort mission before she had to log out and attend to her real life duties.
She hoped there was at least a rest stop nearby.
“Alright, lets go.”
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