Jack sat in the middle of the circular room trying to understand how the cave changed so much and which way the exit was. He looked at the large X’s, that he drew, on the floor and inner walls of the tunnel he had come from. He left the marks to know what tunnel he had already gone down because of his experiences in games hallways sometimes magically rearranged. He did not want to lose his position.

The spider was wandering around, she had finally calmed down and was now exploring the chamber. Not that there was much to see just eight evenly spaced tunnels that went out ten feet then turn right. Every tunnel was practically identical, so not wanting to risk an ambush or trap, and since there was no apparent immediate danger in this room, he was going to wait the full eight hours to heal.

Taking this time to investigate Pack Bond he looked at this racial information.

Race Human Humans are one of the most common races there is, for good reason. They can and will mate with almost every sentient race, and their traits are extremely dominant. Traits Resilience Abnormally high natural healing for a sentient creature. A trait some show off by stabbing their skin repeatedly with ink-soaked needles. Adaptability Travel to the most inhospitable area, with dangerous temperatures, and no food. Do you know who you’ll find living there? Humans. Invasive Humans have almost no connection to the forces around them. As such they tend to throw off the balance of any ecosystem they populate. Pack Bond From wolves to elephants, humans seem to not know what to be afraid of. It seems whenever they see a new creature they only ask one thing. Can I pet it? Bonded: Female ManaWeaver Skill Limit 11

Hoping it would provide more information he clicked on ‘Bonded.’ This closed out his status page and opened a new one.

Name Female ManaWeaver Race ManaWeaver Age 6 Days Level 2 Health 3/3 Stamina 3/3 Experience 37/200 Strength 1 Dexterity 1 Endurance 2 Vitality 2 Perception 2 Available Attribute Points 2 Skills Hydraulic Leap Lvl 4 Hair Manipulation Lvl 3 (13) Poison Fang Mastery Lvl 2 Sneak Lvl 2 Web Weaving Lvl 1 Unlocked Skills Burrow Perks Deus Ex Machina Buffs Afflictions Broken Exoskeleton

Amazed that he could see her whole character sheet just like for his own, he expanded at her race, perks, and skills.

Race ManaWeaver A rare species of arachnid at near peak evolution. Originally designed by an ancient dungeon these spiders have made their homes in isolated areas throughout the universe. Traits Born of Mana With origins in dense mana-pockets, magic is literally in their blood. Able to sustain themselves on mana alone provided there is a dense source nearby. Hereditary instincts At different stages of development, inherited knowledge is revealed.

Skills unlocked: Hydraulic Leap, Hair Manipulation (+10 to effective level), Web weaving, Fang Mastery (Skill evolution: Poison), Burrow. Exoskeleton With a hard outer shell for protection, an arachnid can focus on offense, but when it comes time to grow it leaves them extra vulnerable. Pack Bond From wolves to elephants, humans seem to not know what to be afraid of. It seems whenever they see a new creature they only ask one thing. Can I pet it?

Bonded: Jackson Calder Skill Limit 5 Deus Ex Machina Requirement: Survive a fatal encounter due to an outside force.

Once per 100 days if an attack would bring you to 0 health it brings you to 1 instead. Broken Exoskeleton -2 Dexterity Hydraulic Leap Lvl 4 Increase the distance you can leap by pumping blood through your legs at high pressure. Hair Manipulation Lvl 3 (13) Control your hair as you would any other body part. Poison Fang Mastery Lvl 2 Increase effectiveness and potency of your poison fang attacks. Sneak Lvl 2 Decrease visibility and sound of your body. Web Weaving Lvl 1 Spin webs in various designs and patterns

First, he learned that she has an amazing perk that will help her stay alive. He closed his eyes for a few seconds then turned to the spider “Your character sheet has quite a bit to unpack.” He got three very important things from her sheet.

Second, he now knows she can gain experience and level up, he assumed she could possibly gain a class as well.

Lastly, it appears she can’t utilize her character sheet herself. He assumed that to be true because she had unused attribute points. But with his access to her sheet, he could now invest those points for her.

He looked at her injuries again and the broken exoskeleton affliction: his choice was easy. After he invested the two points her max health was now 6. “A little less fragile now eh?” Joy and safety radiated off of her.

Looking at her skills again he wondered if Hair Manipulation was what the system classified her wall climbing as. He knew that spiders can climb due to tiny hairs on their limbs that gripped surfaces at a microscopic level but Hair Manipulation seemed like an odd way to classify that.

The synergy of his Mimicry skill and Pack Bond made his gamer heart soar. Now that he knew what skills she had and what they did, it should make copying them easier. Wanting to try to learn Hair Manipulation he stood up and walked over to her. She had just started climbing up the wall. Standing very close he tried to observe the changes in her hairs.

After twenty minutes of observation, he hadn’t gotten anything out of it, except making her happy with the attention. “Ok I give up on that for now, but that does remind me you need a name. I can’t keep calling you spider, female, or … ugh baby.” He cringed saying the last one out loud.

She stopped walking up and down the walls to look at him. “So how about Arachne? She was in an old myth about a woman who turned into a spider.” That sounded a little too on the nose, it was like naming a human Sapina. “Gwen could work, but I think I’ve seen too much rule thirty-four that to be comfortable with that.” He kept running through names until he came across the one he and Emily both loved.

They had been together for seven years and had talked a lot about the future. Always making sure they were on the same page. They talked about if they wanted kids, when they wanted kids, and what they would name said kids. Jack had always loved the name Lucy and when he first told Emily that, she almost screamed with joy. They both had odd senses of humor Emily being on the more bizarre side, Jack on the morbid side. So when Emily heard the name Lucy she instantly said “Yes! That sounds amazing, but it has to be short for Lucifer.”

While Jack acknowledged it was funny he didn’t know about it. While he wasn’t religious he didn’t know if he wanted to deal with how others would react to it. She wouldn’t budge though she loved the name, so they had always planned to name their future daughter Lucy.

“How about Lucifer? Lucy?” The spider seemed to understand the emotions behind the choice and sent back small waves of joy. Up in the party screen her name changed first to Lucifer than to Lucy, he even looked at her sheet and it said Lucifer too.

“Ok, Lucy, come here.” She gave him a confused look, he tried calling her a few more times before she seemed to understand. She jumped to him landing right on his sternum, knocking the wind out of him. She quickly crawled up to his shoulder and sent out signs of concern. Taking a deep breath in “I’m ok, we just need to work on that.”

Over the next few hours, while waiting for his health to fully recover, Jack attempted to teach Lucy some basic commands and tricks. Go, come, stay, jump, he was even able to get her to speak and shake. She was a very quick learner.

Once he got her to understand how to shake, he spent a while telling her to stay and shake at the same time until he got her to grip onto his hand. It felt extremely odd, like running your hand over micro-velcro. He couldn’t fully grasp how complete and tiny the hairs were but he had a more complete view of what was happening.

**Skill Unlocked** Through observation, you have unlocked Hair Manipulation with Mimicry. Would you like to learn this skill? Yes No **Skill Acquired** Hair Manipulation Level 1 Control your hair as you would any other body part. **Skill Up** Mimicry Level: 3

Excited Jack jumped up and ran to the wall, Lucy not understanding why but trying to match his excitement followed. Thinking back to every spiderman movie he ever saw he placed his hand on the wall and tried to pull himself up. The result was very disappointing. Not only did it not give him any extra grip, but he also couldn’t even figure out how to activate the skill.

Like a smack to the face, he realized how dumb he was being. The skill is Hair Manipulation, he doesn’t have hair on his palm. Grabbing a single strand of hair and holding it in front of him he tried to move it.

He imagined this strand of hair was one of his fingers, pointing straight out. Once he had a clear image of the finger he tried to bend it. He was concentrating so hard his head began to ache. Finally, after a minute his hair slowly curled inward into a spiral. “This is going to take a lot of work.”

After a total of eight hours, his health was full. Removing his bandages, he saw his wound was completely healed. Six long wide scars circled his leg from just below the kneecap to the bottom of his calf.

“Ok Lucy, come.” he patted his shoulder and she ran up his leg just as he taught her, settling on his shoulder. He gave her a quick soft pet and started down the hall opposite the one he came in. He had marked the walls with a large ‘2’ on the floor and each side of the wall.

Still using the pole as a walking stick he cautiously made his way down the tunnel. It was getting steadily steeper going down, leading him to believe this might not be the way out. His thought was to find the next chamber and scout out each one before making his next move. Unfortunately, an odd tapping sound interrupted his plans.

Jack froze when a large centipede crawled out of a hole at the base of the wall. Its hard legs tapping on the stone sent echoes through the quiet tunnel. Three feet long and four inches thick with mandibles as big as his fingers, Jack was definitely intimidated. Its body was broken into sections, a hard rounded plate with two legs on the left and right side followed by another plate, and so on. It had two large antennae each half as long as its body.

Cavernous Giant Centipede Level: 3 Current mood: Hungry.

Though their common name means 100, centipedes can have significantly more or less than 100 legs, but never 100 exactly.

Surprisingly these centipedes have strong maternal connections with their offspring, protecting them as eggs, bringing them easy prey when they are young, and even taking some to train on hunting trips.

Aggressive and nocturnal, these hunters tend to sneak up on their prey while they sleep.

Age: 25 Days.

Highest attribute: Strength

Highest skill: Grapple.

Jack, taking the initiative to strike first, slammed his pole in the center of its body hitting with a satisfying crack of steel against shell. The centipede, not seeming to care about a single cracked segment, rushed at him, letting out a loud hiss.

Back peddling to avoid it, Jack swung the rod to knock it to the side. Hitting it near the center, instead of being flung into the wall it curled around the rod and started to climb up. Panicking he let go of the rod, it fell to the side with the centipede still wrapped around it. Literally jumping at this chance, Jack hopped up and spread his legs landing on top of the rod. With Jack’s full weight the rod crushed the centipede.

Your party has slain a Cavernous Giant Centipede Level: 3

Your contribution 100%

You are awarded 15 Experience

Jack went to collect the body when he heard another loud hiss.

Cavernous Giant Centipede Level: 6 Current mood: Angry.

A six-foot-long centipede emerged from the same hole. “Oh, you must be mommy.”