Chapter 755: The Girlfriend’s Punch (Patreon)

Ruax was running out of time. The orc general marched at the head of the army alongside the others, riding an enormous boar-like beast, all slabs of muscle and thick tusks. Taming beasts was one of his specialties, and the mount tore across the rough terrain, crushing roots and stones underfoot as if they were nothing.

Over the past few days, Ruax had investigated everything he could. He had questioned messengers, pressured trusted soldiers, and picked through every rumor moving between the camps. Even so, he knew he could not beat Kargan to the Orc Treasure. The War Wolf had his own pack and was fiercely loyal to Rokhan. He had trackers, warriors, and informants under his command.

But Ruax did not need to find the treasure first. He only needed to keep Kargan in sight. If the War Wolf found it, Ruax would ambush him and take it for himself. It was risky, but it was better than having no plan at all.

Still, watching Kargan was not enough. Ruax needed time to conduct his own search, and every new order from Rokhan threatened to drag him farther from the treasure. Ruax could not disobey. Rokhan had eyes everywhere. Any resistance would draw suspicion, and the Orc Lord was not known for his patience. If he so much as suspected Ruax knew anything about the lost treasure, he would kill him on the spot.

After leading his soldiers to a new camp, Ruax slipped away alone. Before leaving, he had ordered one of his captains to travel to the ratmen’s tribe. The ratmen were already eating out of his hand. And their sense of smell might prove useful in the search.

Damn Kargan.

Across the camp, Ruax spotted the War Wolf issuing orders to several captains. Not long after, Kargan departed with his pack, heading toward another part of the forest.

If I keep marching off to conquer cities, it’s over. I’ll be too far away from everything.

Ruax passed through an area occupied by the Butchers, orcs who specialized in preparing meat, whether it came from beasts or humans. Massive slabs of flesh were hacked apart, sorted, and stored for the day’s shipment to Rokhan’s base. Human flesh had proven especially effective for feeding the larvae under the Orc Lord’s control. They liked it.

All Ruax needed was an assignment close enough to keep watching Kargan. When the generals assembled, Rokhan’s orders were simple: each of them would take a section of the army and march on one of the cities he had chosen.

“You got lucky, Ruax,” General Gartix said. “Heard they’re sending you farther than the rest of us. Lucky bastard. You’ll have an entire city to yourself.”

Ruax smiled, hiding his irritation. “I’ll feast on their kings.”

The other generals grinned.

“Humans taste good,” one of them said. “Better when they’re scared.”

“Must be the tears,” General Truvor added. “Gives them flavor.”

The gathered orcs burst into laughter. Ruax laughed with them, though unease twisted in his gut. He was competing against Kargan, against the Orc Lord himself, and against every orc in Gurgal’s faction. No matter where he looked, someone else was closer to the treasure than he was.

“That human we caught told us about the cities,” another general said. “I was hoping for one with more people.”

He turned to Ruax.

“What about you? Which city did you get?”

Ruax held the smile until his jaw ached.

“Nyvma.”

***

After a full day inside the tree, only one threat remained. Killing the termites and spiders had not been the hard part. Finding them had. The termites were especially troublesome, burrowing underground and forcing Luke to lure them out before he could kill them.

Charlie, on the other hand, seemed happy just to spend time with him, even in a monster-infested cavern. She had been excited ever since they arrived at the castle. She had already picked out a room for the two of them, as if it had never been up for discussion.

After they killed several more monsters, Luke felt his connection to the Kingdom Core deep beneath the tree grow stronger. Part of him still saw the Core as a tool, an advantage that could help him find the meeting place. But he was beginning to enjoy solving the territory’s problems. More than that, he wanted to see what the Core could become. That same hunger for growth ran through their connection.

“I am truly grateful, Botanist,” Illyra said. “Without those creatures, I can devote more of my strength to restoring my physical form.”

From what the goddess told me, beings like you are immortal.

“We are. Time does not affect us as it does humans, but that does not make us omnipotent. We simply do not age.”

In your case, your greatest weakness is this tree we’re standing inside.

“If you mean my physical body, then yes. The tree and I are one. Why do you ask?”

“I’m considering a few possibilities,” Luke said. “It leaves you pretty vulnerable. An archer or mage could attack from a distance. Hell, someone could throw a knife and you might never see where it came from. You also told me you have zero interest in leveling through the system. I wanted to understand why.”

“When you speak of leveling, you mean killing other forms of life. I value peace and harmony, but I am not naive. I know some beings spread chaos and must be cut down like weeds. But I have no desire to seek them out. Besides, I have other ways to gain levels.”

“You do?”

“Every form of life grows differently. Physically, I am a plant.”

Luke waited.

“My growth has no natural limit.”

That got his attention.

“As long as I am properly cared for, I will continue to grow stronger with time,” Illyra continued. “Your body will eventually reach its natural limit. Mine will not. That is why humanoids depend so heavily on Classes and Professions.”

That’s interesting, Illyra. So if I took care of you the way I’d care for a plant, you would theoretically grow stronger?

“I have no interest in struggles for power, and I am bound to this territory.”

“I’m only curious.”

He was definitely not only curious.

“In a sense, yes. Another botanist’s care can accelerate my growth. Not my Spirit self, but my Tree self. Mother Freya did not earn the friendship of spirits by accident. Care for a plant, and its spirit will grow along with it.”

Charlie stepped directly into Luke’s path.

“Master Luke, you stopped listening again.”

“I did? Sorry, Charlie. I stayed connected to Illyra for too long and got distracted.”

“Hmm...”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“What were you saying?” Luke asked.

“I was talking about our room. It needs furniture, but I couldn’t find anywhere in town that sells any.”

“You’re not going to find furniture stores in a town like that, Charlie. Everything there caters to travelers. We’d have to order some or go to a bigger city.”

They continued until they reached an area choked with thick webs. Strands as wide as ropes stretched between trunks, rocks, and roots. Luke also spotted tracks on the ground. They were far larger than those left by any spider they had killed so far.

“There’s only one threat left, Charlie. I think we’re getting close to its territory.”

“I recommend that you rest, Botanist,” Illyra said. “Observe the monster from a distance before deciding whether you can fight it. Opening the entrance to this place required a great deal of effort, and in my current condition, I will not be able to close it again. It would benefit neither me nor my children if you died and that creature escaped into the forest.”

Luke backed away with Charlie. Illyra was right about one thing: there was no reason to approach blindly. They would scout the web-covered forest from the back of the Spectral Beast.

“How long has that monster been trapped down here?”

“Several generations of my children have come and gone since then.”

“What does that mean, exactly? More than ten years?”

“I do not know how to describe time in terms you would understand. It was during the lifetime of the great-great-grandfather of the current leader of the goblin tribe by the river. A great change occurred in the world, and the spiders emerged. They simply appeared, much as you did when you came to these lands.”

Somewhere deeper in the cavern, a strand of web trembled. Luke watched it for a moment.

Then it went still.

You’re saying there was a system integration?

“Yes. A Great Spider appeared within this cavern. I sealed the entrance and the path leading to the Underworld. I could not allow it to reach the forest or the Underworld.”

Luke and Charlie climbed onto the spectral spider, which began leaping between trunks and roots while keeping clear of the thicker, more deliberate strands.

Charlie, from now on, we only speak through our minds. Okay?

Okay, Master Luke.

The Spectral Beast advanced slowly, careful not to touch any of the alarm threads.

"Botanist, the enemy is near the entrance to the Underworld, at the deepest point in the cavern," Illyra warned. "Turn back."

The sharpness of the command surprised him.

"Recover, then return," she continued. "Or bring the other two you claimed were your servants."

One of them is literally a child. The other is guarding the Core and handling a dozen other problems. I brought the one with the most raw power. Even I’d be in trouble if she punched me.

When they reached the area, thick webs smothered everything. Luke dismissed the Spectral Beast.

Charlie, do you sense anything?

She focused her senses. Without warning, every web around them began to vibrate like the strings of a harp, releasing a sharp, piercing shriek that made Charlie clap her hands over her ears.

Something moved in the darkness beyond the webbing. It had too many legs and was moving impossibly fast. A massive spider launched itself at Charlie, but Luke propelled himself forward with the power of his cloak and struck the creature in midair before it could reach her.

The spider screamed as it crashed onto its back, its legs thrashing wildly. It was already beginning to rise when the system identified it.

[Norn, the Weaver Spider - Lvl 144]

The creature was a gigantic black tarantula. Its body sprawled across the ground like a living mass of hair, fangs, and hatred.

Level 144.

A genuinely powerful monster. Now Luke understood why Illyra had imprisoned it. Charlie activated [Flame Aura], setting her body ablaze, and charged with [Flame Fist]. Her punch slammed into the spider and scorched its carapace.

“Burns! Burns!”

The voice came from the spider itself, warped by pain. Luke and Charlie were caught off guard when they realized the monster could speak, and that brief hesitation was all it needed.

One of Norn’s legs slammed into Charlie, sending her flying through a curtain of webs and into a tree trunk hard enough to crack the wood. As the spider struggled to right itself, Luke hurled his knives at it.

“Hurts! Hurts! That hurts!”

Charlie rushed back with her sword in hand and launched into another attack. Her blade cut. Her flames burned. The spider fought back with sweeping strikes of its legs, trying to crush her beneath its weight.

“Charlie, get back.”

Luke threw a knife that exploded against the creature. The blast would have torn apart any of the spiders they had fought before. Norn wrenched the mangled limb back into place and charged again as if the injury had already healed.

Time to even the odds. Luke summoned the Spectral Beast in its spider form, and they rushed forward.

Should I use [Spectral Fusion]?

Before they could reach her, Norn spun around.

All eight of her eyes locked onto Luke.

The hatred in them vanished.

Her legs went still.

Every eye widened at once.

“I FOUND A MALE!”

Luke’s reaction was entirely sincere.

“What?”

Norn charged toward him, drool spilling from her mouth.

“Male! Male! Male! Mate! Mate!”

For a moment, Luke was too confused to react. He only snapped back to attention when the gigantic monster came rushing at him with an enthusiasm far more disturbing than hatred.

He dodged. Norn rushed past without even trying to strike him.

“COME BACK, MALE!”

Luke and the Spectral Beast fled through the underground forest, leaping between trunks while Norn chased after them. They cleared a gap in the terrain, and Norn followed.

What the hell is happening?!

Luke threw explosive knives over his shoulder. Each blast struck Norn squarely. None of them slowed her down.

Is it just me, or did she get stronger?

“LET’S MATE!”

Luke conjured another knife and threw it. The blade exploded against the spider’s face. At the same instant, he launched himself downward, dismissed the Spectral Beast, and slipped into a tree’s shadow. Norn landed hard, shaking her head and wiping her face with her legs. She did not seem to care about her wounds.

“I FOUND YOU!”

She turned directly toward the shadow.

She found me?

A massive web shot through the air. Luke slid through the shadow, but Norn drove one leg into the exact spot he was passing. The force knocked him back into the physical world.

He tried to run, but a thick blanket of sticky webbing had already dropped over everything.

“MALE!”

“No, he’s over there,” Luke said, pointing into the darkness. “The male spider went that way.”

The Spectral Beast did not even exist anymore.

“LIAR! YOU’RE A MALE BEAST!”

“Me? No, I’m not. You got confused. I’m human. The male spider went that way.”

Norn continued to drool. She pointed one leg at Luke’s stomach, directly at his beast core.

“You can’t fool me, male!”

What?! She can sense the Spectral Beast inside me?

“LET’S MATE!”

Charlie slammed into Norn’s side, driving her into a tree.

“He’s already my male!” Charlie snarled, her eyes glowing red.

Luke decided this was not the time to correct her.

The spider rolled across the ground, then sprang back upright.

“NO! HE’S MY MALE NOW!”

What kind of fucked-up fight is this?!

The two charged each other.

“My fangs are bigger!” Norn taunted, laughing as she pointed at Charlie’s canines.

Charlie answered with another blow. They traded brutal strikes, shaking the ground and making the surrounding webs tremble.

“HE AND I ARE GOING TO BREED! STOP INTERRUPTING!”

Luke had absolutely no interest in doing anything of the sort with a spider. He conjured a black knife and took aim while Norn was distracted.

"Wait!"

The small green orb descended from the branches toward him.

"Wait, Botanist!"

Wait for what?

"The spider spoke!"

So? What does that have to do with me?

Illyra stopped directly in front of his eyes. "She has never spoken before. You cannot kill her."

Why not?

"Because I swore to protect beings who had gained true awareness. And you promised not to harm my children."

You’re joking, right? That spider has been making you sick for at least half a century.

"I will try to reason with her. For now, only you can hear me, but there may still be a way to avoid killing her."

Reason with that?

“I WANT TO MATE!”

Illyra remained resolute. He had promised not to harm Illyra’s children. Apparently, that promise now included a deranged, level-144 spider trying to mate with him.

Luke lowered the knife. Damn it... fine. What am I supposed to do? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the one she’s after.

"I do not know. Buy time until I recover enough to speak with her. Are you not supposed to be a tyrannical demon? Tie her up. Restrain her."

"Yeah, Luke. Why are these things always attracted to you?" Artemis asked.

“Damn it...” Luke turned toward the spider. “Norn, can we talk?”

The spider whirled toward him, practically radiating joy.

“MY MALE SAID MY NAME! HE WANTS TO MATE!”

Charlie went still. Then she leaped into the air and brought a fully charged [Arcane Power Punch] down on Norn.

The impact drove the spider deep into the ground. The surrounding webs shuddered, crystals cracked, and dust erupted into a dense cloud. When the dust finally settled, Norn lay motionless at the bottom of the crater.

Luke stared down at her.

“Yeah... I think the spider’s dead.”

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