Runa got to work on the spider corpse while Tabitha got to thinking about making a special, spider-killing weapon. Getting a flamethrower was out of the question for the time being seeing as how she just had absolutely no idea how to go about it. Now, the spear did a good job, but that was only because she managed to drug the spider first. She might have been impaled on its legs if she tried to attack without drugging it and she was well aware of that potential outcome.

So, if the main problem was that getting close to the spider could mean getting impaled by its legs, what was the solution to that?

“Don’t I just need to make an even longer spear then?” Tabitha asked herself while pacing back and forth, her hand on her chin. “The spear I’ve got right now ain’t too long. And I’m thinkin’… why not make a spear where its main purpose is to kill giant spiders?”

Runa’s ears happily twitched along listening to Tabitha talk as she, without any hesitation, carved out some of the spider’s eyes.

“I’m thinkin’ somethin’ like a boar spear. Or a bear spear. But not just that. I’m thinkin’… now, I wonder if I could find another slime. What if I get another slime and infuse it with a poison made from those mushrooms? Infuse the slime with poison from the mushrooms, put the slime into a mold shaped like a spear head, and heat it up in the furnace until it hardens. Then I’d just have to sharpen it. I reckon if I do that, the entire blade is poisonous, so any stabbin’ or slashin’ attack should put any giant spider in its place. And as long as I make the shaft real long, I should be able to do it from a safe distance. Might be a bit unwieldy… but I think it’ll work out fine.”

“I think it’s a good idea!” Runa said, causing Tabitha to jump. “A-ah, did I say something wrong?”

Tabitha had to catch her breath after that. “No, no. Not at all. Just, I ain’t used to havin’ somebody else around when I’m brainstormin’. It was usually me walking in circles alone in my apartment talkin’ to myself. Forgot you’re here is all.”

The part about forgetting that she was even there made Runa pout, but she knew Tabitha didn’t mean anything mean by that. “Can I ask you something?”

“Go for it. We’re partners, so you can ask me whatever ya want.”

“I—I don’t mean to be rude, but… does everybody talk like you where you’re from? Your accent, I mean. It’s just… very unique! I’ve never heard anybody talk like that before. But it’s not like I’ve ever left the village, so…”

“Heh. Quite frankly, I’m surprised nobody’s complained about it sooner. Don’t usually take long for somebody to give me some bull over it.”

“So… it isn’t common?”

“Well, it is. At least, where my Gramps was from.”

“Are you from the same place?”

“Nah. I’m a city girl. Was born in the city, raised in the city, and only spent a few years out in the country with my Gramps. Then ended up back in the city.”

“Did his accent rub off on you?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“Then…”

Tabitha cleared her voice. The next time she talked, it was without any of the previous accent Runa always heard her talk with. “This is what I normally sound like. Just some plain, boring girl. Nothing special about it. But ya see,” and just like that, she switched back to her usual accent, “this is the accent of my Gramps. I always loved the way he talked. He could put me to sleep every night just by talkin’ about whatever so long as I got to hear him. Maybe it’s silly of me, but talkin’ how he used to is how I honor him now. Plenty of folk got on my case about it not bein’ proper, makin’ me sound dumb, bein’ annoyin’ to listen to, or whatever else, but why should I care about what they think? I ain’t doin’ this for them. I’m doin’ it for me and Gramps. Plus it gets some funny reactions. He used to always put his accent on extra thick whenever we went into the city together. He absolutely drove city folk up the wall makin’ them listen to him. So, whenever I know my accent gets on somebody’s nerves, I can’t help but to play it up even more. I’ll get all, ‘Well, how ‘bou’ tha’? Ain’ tha’ jus’ tha purdiest darn thang ya ever done seen?’ But I only talk like that to the folk who I know hate it. Probably pretty rude, but hey. They’re the ones gettin’ all upset over how one girl talks.”

“Ooh… so you talk like that to honor him.”

“That’s right. It ain’t my ‘real’ voice, but I sure do wish it was.”

“I think it is your real voice! If you always talk like that, does it matter if you have to force it? It might not be… natural, but it’s still real! Like hairstyles! Hair isn’t naturally put into styles. We have to do that ourselves. But they’re still real!”

“Heh. I suppose so.”

Runa nodded a couple of times before saying, “Can you tell me stories about your ‘Gramps’ sometime? I—I want to learn more about you and your world still, and I think it would be a good way to keep the memory of him alive!”

“Don’t see why not,” Tabitha answered. “I’d love to, in fact. Got plenty of stories I could tell about him. Like the time he fermented some pickles wrong and gave us both botulism. Ah, good times. Helicopter came out and airlifted us both to the hospital.” Tabitha lit up after saying that. “I just realized somethin’!”

Runa shared in her excitement. “What?!”

“I don’t gotta pay back my medical debt now! And I never even had to declare bankruptcy to clear it! Hah! Take that, lack of healthcare!”

Runa clearly had no idea what Tabitha was talking about, but she was still excited because Tabitha was excited.

Though, there was a different problem now.

Tabitha might not have had to ever worry about lacking health insurance and having impossible medical bills to pay off, but she did have to worry about the fact that she lived in a world where there probably weren’t any advanced hospitals, medical helicopters, ambulances, and so on. Not to mention that, back on Earth, all sorts of horrible things could happen to somebody’s body that would look like they should have been fatal but weren’t. She wasn’t so sure if the same would be possible in this world given the introduction of the RPG-like system and health points.

She might not have needed to worry about medical debt anymore, but she now had to worry about having a way higher chance of dying at any given time. She wasn’t so sure she would survive botulism in this world.

And while she was thinking about her new mortality, she opened up her status menu to check on what her health and other stats looked like now. It was probably a good idea to keep on top of that since she gained new attributes, she figured.

Status Card

Name

Tabitha

Achievements

20

Race

Human

Skills

2

Path

Blacksmith

Paths

2

Level

1 (13/50)

Total Level

2

Stats

Attributes

HP

155/155

STR

25

INT

11

SP

35/35

VIT

6

MND

1

AP

10/10

END

6

WIL

1

EP

230/230

DEX

35

CHA

1

LP

60/60

AGI

1

LCK

11

Well, that shot up quickly, Tabitha thought to herself. Seeing the window floating in front of her reminded her that she didn’t even check out her new achievement item yet, so she took that out from her pocket and used Analyze on it.

Item Information

Name

Tag Crystal (Challenger)

A Tag Crystal that can be used to add the [Challenger] Bonus Tag to any item. Can only be used once and will be destroyed upon transferring the Bonus Tag away from the crystal.

Rarity

S

Quality

100

Element

Soul

[Bonus Tag]

[Challenger]

“Oi, Menu. It’s that time again,” Tabitha said.

System Menu

Challenger

Increases experience gained from defeating monsters a higher level than your own total level. The bonus to experience scales with how large the gap between your total level and the monster’s level is.

“Ooh. That sounds like it’d be pretty nice. Especially if I put it onto a spider huntin’ spear and go on a little rampage. Reckon I’ll get plenty of craftin’ materials durin’ that, too.”

Runa stood up and clapped her hands, proud of her work in cleanly harvesting the spider’s corpse. “I’m done! No more items can be harvested from it.”

“Nice, good job. I’ll get those, pick some more things from this little grove here, and then we can head back.”

Now it was time to see what she got out of killing that spider and letting Runa harvest it.