Chapter 6:

Helping Others Isn't Always a Good Thing for You

I leisurely walked out of the ruined room; my soldiers knew what to do in this kind of situation. They'd treat their wounds, cut out all the valuable glands from the spider corpses, and, most importantly, calm down a bit.

It had been a truly uneven fight. The invisible bugs, though not genuinely strong melee fighters despite their E-rank, were merely scouts specialized in stealth and sabotage. But that wouldn't have stopped them from killing everyone in my squad without exception. They just shouldn't have gone into an enclosed space. The spiders were far too overconfident—something that happens even to the most experienced warriors over time.

I've seen it countless times in my day. A player gets a strong skill, and it bails them out of a tough situation once, twice, three times. After that, a deceptive feeling of absolute security and superiority sets in. But there's always a counter for any skill, and that's exactly what happened here. The arachnid was so sure that after the wall of fire, it would simply finish off its prostrate, roasted, and frightened opponents, just as it had done many times before, that it didn't expect a lightning-fast counter-strike.

Honestly, it was thanks to their overconfidence that we largely managed to survive. But I'll get back to the loot we got from the invisible arachnids. The cards that dropped from them were disappointing but not surprising: two blank E-rank skill cards. Of course, I would have liked to get the invisibility skill, but then again, who wouldn't? But skills rarely drop in the first place, let alone anything decent. The scouts' Bag of Holding was more satisfying, though. Besides the repulsive-looking spider food, there were several E-rank weapon cards. They were of little use to me personally; the weapons were too big for my height. But as a trophy, they're highly valued when calculating the SP share from a mission. Also, inside the Bag of Holding, I found a skill.

Skill Card — Eyes of Darkness (1/3)
Rank E
Description: Additional eyes appear on your body, capable of seeing in total darkness.
Learn success chance: 94%
Death chance: 7%
Saturation: 81/100 SP

I even had enough SP to learn it, but I figured it would be a painful process, so I'd put off the decision until things were more or less calm. It wouldn't be difficult to hide a couple of extra eyes on my face, since I rarely take off my heavy helmet, even while sleeping on a mission. I'd noticed that most arachnid skills were body-modification-based and didn't require any energy whatsoever. Our skills, on the other hand, were more dependent on magical affinity, useless without it.

After I finished with the loot, I went back into the half-ruined room. My fighters had already recovered a bit, whispering quietly about the battle.

"Leur, you're in charge now."

"Decurion, sir..." the mage began to say, but I cut him off.

"Listen closely," I said, already turning to leave. "Barricade yourselves in here and wait until tomorrow morning. Don't leave this room. If I don't return by then, you'll head to the main camp at the portal on your own."

My subordinates might have wanted to ask something, but there was absolutely no time. And what could they tell me that was new? I had no desire to listen to the cowardly worries of goblins. I raced back with all my strength to meet our platoon. If I was lucky, I'd be able to warn Zhurek about the ambush. It took me 15 minutes, and judging by the relaxed behavior of the scouts walking in front, I had made it. I waved to the two warriors as a greeting, slightly slowed my pace, and whispered as I came alongside them.

"Follow me, double time."

They still wanted to ask something, but my angry hiss made them stand at attention and all they could manage was, "Yes, Decurion, sir." Some experienced warriors were still among us; they understood the full extent of the coming trouble on instinct alone, just from the look in my eyes. And though they moved behind me casually as I ran on, an experienced eye would have noticed how their hands squeezed the shafts of their spears.

I ran up close to Zhurek, with only four large goblins with tower shields—his personal guard—between us. I whispered just loud enough for him to hear, "Ambush."

Zhurek the Slippery's eyes widened in fear for a moment. He didn't doubt for an instant that I wasn't talking about myself. For all his cowardice, he had learned to command perfectly over his many years of service.

"Barriers!" he shrieked, his voice not his own.

With a single breath, a translucent ripple of magical energy spread out from the magicians walking behind their commander. Four protective barriers covered nearly 50 goblins. The soldiers rushed to form a circular defense. Less than a minute later, everyone was frozen in position, staring intently into the absolutely empty streets of the ruined city.

"Fire at Decurion Irchin's target," the Lurion ordered quietly when he saw me preparing to shoot my bow, but everyone heard his command and gripped their weapons tighter.

I shot once, and 40 more arrows followed mine, but after flying a hundred paces, they hit nothing. The second volley, the third—all with the same result. The squad froze, waiting. Whispers began about Decurion Irchin's accuracy and his ability to sense the damned invisibles, and whether there were even any arachnid warriors around us at all. But the officers remained tense, and Zhurek the Slippery himself trembled slightly, expecting the worst. Ten more simultaneous volleys and nothing. That's when the other decurions couldn't take it anymore and began whispering to the Lurion.

And just then, the right moment came. I felt an invisible arachnid's intent gaze, probably with a touch of malice. I sharply turned my bow ninety degrees to the right. The goblins reacted to my shot too late, but that actually worked to my advantage. The arrow struck its target at a height of a couple of elbows from the ground. Only the fletching's end, a palm's length, was visible. But that was enough. A simultaneous volley of forty archers knocked the invisibility spell off. Yet only twenty goblins hit the target at most.

An E-rank, Level 4 Arachnid Scout collapsed sideways fifteen paces from us. It was still alive, but the combined impact knocked it off its feet. Another volley. Everyone shot at the wounded spider, this time aiming for its vital organs. I turned my bow again and shot at the second invisible. To be honest, I didn't even hope to hit, but luck must have worked and the arrow hung in the air, having hit its body somewhere. Though everyone was surprised by the appearance of the arachnid scouts, they didn't miss the second target. Even its attempt to flee didn't help it. After two more massive volleys of arrows, it was finished. An E-rank, Level 3 Arachnid Scout fell to the ground like a sack full of arrows, decorating it with its white, foul-smelling blood. Silence. Eyes were wide open as everyone tried to spot danger in the still-empty streets. I whispered to Zhurek.

"I'm going out to provoke the main group of attackers. Do not, under any circumstances, lower the barrier. There must be at least a hundred worker spiders in the surrounding mansions, and someone more serious must be in command of them."

I calmly passed through the barrier and, thanks to my enhanced perception, heard the soldiers' whispers.

"Old Decurion Irchin has gone completely mad, leaving the barrier during a battle."

I picked up an invisible arachnid's spear and finished off the one closest to me.

[Notice] You've gained 170 SP. (216/160)

[Notice] You've reached Level 17 (56/170)

You have 5 additional free attribute points.

The sheer amount of energy that passed through my body at once made my hands cramp a bit, as if the spear had momentarily gotten stuck in the large spider's body, but that was all. I immediately picked up the Bag of Holding lying next to the mangled body and slung it over my shoulder, and also put the skill card that appeared from the corpse inside.

In the upcoming chaos, small bugs could very well snatch my loot. And it was mine. At that moment, I clearly understood what it was like to have personal trophies. Trophies that I wouldn't have to share with others later. Or turn over to greedy quartermasters for inventory and wait for a miserable percentage of what you earned at the tip of your blade. Yes, I felt greed growing inside me every day. I needed to be more reserved and attentive to details. I shouldn't rush; haste has never led to anything good. While the main mass of bugs hadn't yet appeared, I lunged at the second arachnid scout and struck its bleeding body with my spear.

[Notice] You've gained 30 SP. (86/170)

This arachnid really was level 3; the previous one's level had been distorted and was 17, not 4. This one didn't even produce a skill card, and there was no Bag of Holding. The spear, in fact, was only F-rank. At that moment, I felt a gaze from the wall of the nearest mansion. It didn't get closer, and there was a kind of sweet anticipation in it, perhaps. I didn't have time to consider the thought. Spiders climbed over the fence in a solid wave. There were no less than a hundred of them: worker arachnids.

Maybe they would have impressed someone, and apparently Zhurek was one of those cowards. The Lurion didn't hold back, and one of the mages used his E-rank system skill Fireball. A crimson flower of flame blossomed in the center of the pile of bugs; it even practically demolished part of the old stone fence they were climbing over.

The spell might have lacked killing power—only the spiders at the epicenter of the explosion died—but the fire scorched more than half of them. The eyes and other sense organs of lower-rank arachnids are very vulnerable to such elemental manifestations. The speed of most of them was cut in half. But their numbers were still too great, especially for me, who was outside the magical barrier. I needed to leave; this was definitely only the first wave, and the second one could pinch me and cut off my retreat. I sprinted toward the edge of the protective dome.

"There's one more invisible left, on the third platform on the wall to the right of the gate. He's coordinating the attack," I shouted to the Lurion, and then abruptly moved away, perpendicular to the wave of bugs. I needed to put as much distance as possible between myself and my pursuers before they realized I was at my most vulnerable.

I didn't hear a reply, and it wasn't clear if there was one. But only three breaths later, five lightning bolts tore toward the target I'd indicated. Zhurek had decided to play it safe and reinforced his mages' attack. His lightning skill was of a higher level, practically red. The Lurion rarely used it, because it was so mana-hungry, as he liked to say.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a huge bug falling from the wall. The last invisible one must have been an arachnid guard, and apparently, he was a very high level. And there it was again: my legs ran on their own, my eyes noted 12 worker spiders scurrying eagerly toward me, and my head was busy with the thought of circling around the mansion, climbing over the far wall, and taking a look at that bug guard. He must have something valuable, though the risks couldn't be ruled out.

When I reached the intersection, I turned for a moment to assess the situation. On the opposite side of the street, a new wave of bugs was bearing down on Zhurek's platoon—two hundred or more—and in that crowd, some larger figures flashed. But from a distance of nearly a verst, it was hard to get a better read on who they were. And there was no time; my pursuers had fallen behind a bit, about two hundred paces, but they weren't giving up on their goal yet.

I climbed over two walls and ran no less than 3 versts to get to the arachnid killed by lightning from a safe direction. But as I approached, I still moved cautiously, in case a large group of bugs was guarding the leader's corpse. Of course, there was a chance that the 12 spiders that had been chasing me hadn't lost my trail either.

In reality, things turned out to be completely different. Peeking out from behind a nearby fragment of a ruined house, I saw a wounded E+ rank, level 17 Arachnid Guard. He was twitching slightly. Two worker spiders scurried around him, quite successfully patching the holes in his body. Yes, the wounds were monstrous, especially one in the center of its abdomen, a cubit in size and just as deep. The charred internal organs continued to smoke and smell unbearably. The ground within a radius of five paces around the guard's body was covered in his glossy, white blood. But the guard was alive, and that changed everything fundamentally. Because there was nothing to stop him from hitting me with his skills if, of course, he could detect the danger in time.

First, I changed my position; no more than 10 paces separated us now. Of course, there was a danger of missing even from such a small distance, but if I got any closer, the worker spiders would definitely notice me. They weren't so engrossed in their work that they wouldn't notice anything around them.

Now I could clearly see the top of the guard's head. He was lying on his back, with his eight legs sticking up and twitching slightly. This was unnerving; it felt as if the spider was ready to jump up at any moment. I lunged with all my strength and capabilities, with the E-rank trophy spear. The tip bit into the protected chitin with unforgivable slowness, but the spear's weight was still enough to split the skull like a ripe fruit. The worker arachnids jumped up, as if scalded, trying to find the source of the threat. Throwing my own spear was much easier; it flew like an extension of my arm. I hit the abdomen, and a couple of the bug's legs lost mobility. I rushed at the second one, armed with my shield. I was able to handle it one-on-one surprisingly easily.

[Notice] You've received 8 SP. (94/170)

I jumped to the second one. It awkwardly tried to turn toward me; I moved in a circle, the spear in its side clearly hindering it. A shield bash. With an incomplete set of legs, it couldn't hold its balance, and the arachnid fell to the ground. A swing with my short sword, then another.

[Notice] You've received 6 SP. (100/170)

In anticipation of getting a huge amount of SP—the guard was level 17, after all—I hastily filled the Eyes of Darkness skill card (100/100). I had 81/170 SP left and had finally decided to buy an F-rank Chitinous Hide card when I returned home. Then no one would notice the strange things with my eyes, especially if I didn't blink them for all to see. I touched the trophy spear sticking out of the guardsman's head.

[Notice] You've received 204 SP. (285/170)

[Notice] You've reached Level 18 (115/180)

You have 6 additional free attribute points.

This time, my vision went dark for a moment from the energy that passed through me. I searched the body but couldn't find anything unusual. I'd hoped for a system ring or an amulet around its neck, but there was nothing. But the Bag of Holding was E-rank. I grabbed it and hastily retreated. The sounds of battle were getting quieter. The arrows had almost stopped whistling. It was getting more dangerous to stay here. After the battle was over, prize teams would definitely be assigned. So, I took a roundabout route to my squad, making sure my path didn't intersect with Zhurek's company. I decided to conserve energy, so I ran lightly, which allowed me to carefully scan the surroundings, and my steps were much quieter.

Five blocks from my squad, I climbed into a ruined mansion. I found a secluded spot from which I could monitor the entrance and all approaches, and I began the long-awaited sorting of my trophies. I definitely wouldn't be able to learn a skill in the presence of my soldiers, and I had some time to spare. If Zhurek fought them off, he wouldn't be able to abandon the loot to fate—the goblin greed inherent in everyone wouldn't allow it. And his subordinates would certainly report such negligence and irresponsibility. After all, it was no secret that the mages in the squads also acted as scribes, bookkeepers, or, simply put, informants. So I definitely had a few hours.

The skill card that dropped from the guard was no surprise—a blank E-rank skill card. Inside the Bag of Holding, in addition to several weapon cards and a small amount of specific arachnid food, were also skill cards: Spear Mastery (F-rank), Chitinous Hide (F-rank), and Eyes of Darkness (E-rank), though this card had no saturation at all. What was especially surprising in terms of evolution and improvement was the skill:

Skill Card — Chitinous Armor (1/5)
Rank E
Description: Chitinous armor plates appear on the body. Significantly increases the body's protection, at the cost of a slight loss of mobility.
Learn success chance: 33%
Death chance: 64%
Saturation: 8/100 SP

It seemed that the guard hadn't learned this skill; apparently, he was only about to do so. It was clear why the arachnid guard had poor mobility: the chitinous armor must be thick plates located all over its body. And the death chance wasn't surprising. If chitin a palm's thickness were to grow on my body—and that's how thick it was on that bug—I wouldn't be able to move an inch, and I might not even be able to breathe; my muscles just wouldn't have enough strength. But then again, these were all just guesses and assumptions. Only practice could show what would happen to the body when learning such a skill. But with such a high chance of dying, I really didn't want to do it. Otherwise, the contents of the bag were standard: a bunch of slimy food lumps; they loved that filth.

I took the skill card out of my bag. Now it was my turn to go through another body modification. And if I didn't do it now, I'd have to turn this skill card in, along with everything else I'd gotten on this mission. It was possible that such a lucky chance might not come again.

[Notice] Learn skill Eyes of Darkness (100 SP)?

Yes/No

The card dissolved, crumbling into weightless dust, and I fell to the floor, unable to bear the monstrous pain. Thankfully, I hadn't taken off my helmet and could rub it with my hands as much as I wanted in an attempt to relieve the gnawing pain in my temples. Gradually, the pain became a dull ache, and after ten minutes, it was gone completely.

I took off my helmet and felt my head. Two more eyes had appeared just above and closer to my ears than my native ones. When I opened the lids over them, my head started to spin wildly and a lump came up into my throat. I closed the eyes I'd been given by nature, and the image stopped duplicating and it became much easier. The clarity and color reproduction were different. The objects around me were in grayer tones and seemed to gain a sharpness, but a minute passed, then another, and everything became more familiar, leaving only the overall grayness.

I closed the new ones, opened the old ones. A little discomfort, and everything was back to normal, as if I hadn't become half-arachnid. I thought I'd get used to it in the future, maybe even like it. Taking out my broadblade, I looked at my reflection. It wasn't a mirror, of course, but I could see that the new eyes, when their lids were closed, were barely noticeable against the many wrinkles on my face. If they were, I would have had to inflict wounds on my head with my blade so the bandages would look plausible.

Now was the time to raise my attributes; I didn't know when I would have free time again. I'd leave 3 points for Strength. When it increases, the body will definitely undergo drastic changes in size. So I'll raise it when I return to my native world, in a calmer environment. For now, I'll spend 1 point on the Perception attribute, increasing it to 7. A little disorientation, but compared to my previous sensations, I could even say it was pleasant.

Next, I needed to raise my Agility from 5 to 7 points. This would allow me to fight much more effectively. Not only would my reaction speed increase, which is what Perception is responsible for, but I would also have enough body speed to take advantage of the enemy's slow movements, and that's what Agility is responsible for. I put two points into the Agility attribute and for almost an hour, I was on a torture table.

Most of my fellow goblin soldiers say that the pain of increasing body attributes is unbearable, and therefore, they try to get completely drunk before the transformation. But I actually like these sensations. In my life, I get to feel it only a few times, and after that, you're a different goblin. Is it really more pleasant to torture yourself for years with the heaviest training in an attempt to raise an attribute on your own? And here it's a half-hour of pain; my joints feel like they're being twisted inside out, and I can't even inhale. But truthfully, when a frost monkey at full speed hits you with its body and breaks a good dozen bones that take more than a week to heal, I think the feeling is much worse. So this is all just the whimpering of snot-nosed little goblins. An old warrior doesn't moan from pain, he moans from pleasure. But that's just my opinion. While I still had time, I decided to spend a little more SP.

[Notice] You want to overcome the Strength attribute limit (25 SP)
Success chance: 91%
Death chance: 5%

[Notice] Limit overcome.

I think the remaining SP (90/180) will be enough to deposit into the accumulator. Of course, there was a temptation to overcome the Vitality barrier and to improve my sword mastery, which was long overdue, but I should be more restrained in my desires.

Approaching the possible location of my soldiers, I moved as stealthily as possible; in my absence, they could very well have gotten themselves into trouble. My surprise was even greater when I found the passage to the room tightly blocked and, farther down the corridor, two gutted spider bodies. Peeking through a small crack, I found bored goblins.

"Leur, clear the blockage," I commanded. There was a stir in the room, and then large fragments flew to the sides.

"Yes, Decurion, sir," half a dozen voices shouted joyfully.

Entering the room, I realized that the dead had already been put into Bags of Holding. We always try to return our brothers in arms to our home world. Everyone wants to hope that their body won't be left behind in a foreign land. After all, the arachnids here would just eat them; to them, they're nothing more than food. As a result, my squad was ready to go.

"Decurion, sir, a question, if I may," the restless Chikir began quietly. Apparently, even punishment couldn't change him.

"Ask," I said reluctantly, lining up in marching order.

"What about Sir Zhurek and the rest of our platoon?" Chikir asked, but everyone pricked up their ears; they'd probably made up all sorts of things.

"They're fine; they're moving without losses. There was a small attack, but they easily fought it off, so they're delayed," I said in a cold tone, no longer paying him any attention, and then louder, "We were ordered to get to the camp with Centurion Otsev as fast as possible."

We moved well; the squad's rest paid off. Noticing the sentries from afar, we slowed our pace and exchanged signals that everything was fine. My goblins clearly cheered up, seeing so many soldiers around. It was as if they were unaware that soon there would be tens of thousands, or maybe hundreds of thousands, of arachnids here. And time was running out.

Our whole squad approached the center of the camp. It was more fortified than our forward one, where Lurion Zhurek was located. Here, the goblins had even restored part of the mansion's gate to make a possible attack more difficult, and sentries were stationed all along the perimeter of the walls. As we approached the central tent, the quartermaster of our company came out of the entrance and waved to me.

"Come in, Decurion, Sir Otsev is waiting for you." And though the words were the most ordinary, they were spoken with such a dismissive tone, and that nasal voice, that it immediately caused irritation. In short, he was an unpleasant hobgoblin, and I think the animosity between us was mutual.

"Leave us, Kheshov, and close the flap behind you," Centurion Otsev told his quartermaster, spitting out the words maliciously.

Kheshov scurried out of the tent as if his heels were on fire, but he still managed to look down at me like an insect. Well, how could it be otherwise? He was, after all, an officer of aristocratic blood. I suppose all this misunderstanding between us arose when he was first assigned to our company. In terms of rank, we were on the same level, both junior officers. Even Zhurek was considered a more significant figure than Kheshov. But the position of company quartermaster was more protected, for what could be safer than being in close proximity to the strongest warrior, namely Otsev? He really wanted to show off his combat skills and prove what he was worth in a fight. And during general training at the fortress, he asked the Centurion to set up a duel for him with one of the decurions. Of course, it was stupid, a goblin against a hobgoblin, but he wanted to indulge his ego. With a stone face, Otsev called me out and quietly added then, "Decurion, be gentle with him." To which Kheshov laughed loudly and said that he would be gentler with old Irchin. So the guts that were spilled on the training ground sand had to be put back in by all four mages, and then they had to cast healing spells more than twenty times. The rumor was that it hadn't healed properly, but I thought it was just malicious gossip. Because if healing magic can't fix such a small thing, how do they sometimes manage to heal damaged brains?

"Centurion, sir, may I report," I said, standing at full attention.

"First, deposit the experience. Don't carry it around. Then tell me why your squad is here 3 days early," he said, dropping the words heavily but in a completely neutral tone.

I placed my hand on the accumulator and transferred all the experience, and looking into the Centurion's eyes, I said, "The platoon is approaching the camp, but they're heading to the central one, to the portal. We don't have much time left either."

He smiled. It was clear that the old hobgoblin was very pleased about something.

"How many invisible arachnids are in my camp right now?" he said, looking at me with interest.

"Three. Two on the gate towers, one is keeping a short distance near the central tent, on a small platform on the second floor of the mansion, at 2 o'clock from here."

"Three," the Centurion mused. "That's interesting. So they're ready to attack and have brought their squads into position. It's even good that Zhurek is moving straight to the center; they won't spook the bugs prematurely. So how much time do we have, in your opinion?" Centurion Otsev asked me pointedly.

"I think tomorrow morning, at the latest tomorrow evening, the bugs will come for us."

"Very interesting," the Centurion mused again. "And I thought it was just a small bit of arrogance on the spiders' part, a large squad that didn't go deep enough. Well then, Decurion Irchin, you may be dismissed. Go rest; I still need to think."

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