Note: This chapter has not gone to my editors and events may change before final release. The below is also unedited and in a raw non-polished form.

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“Everyone ready to go?” Toaby looked at their health bars. They had all recovered up to what they could with their wounds. Sam packed away the rabbit's corpse he was skinning, Laura returned the thread of spider silk she was weaving to her inventory, and Hiro tossed the now dirty rag to the ground he was using to clean his blade with. Toaby just sat around sorting his inventory a few dozen times while their hit points recovered. I really need a downtime activity.

After the group had packed up their belongings, they headed for the first door. They tested it for traps before pushing it open. The door revealed a bunkhouse. There were four bunks on either side of the room with beds of straw. The back of the room had piles of hay covering the floor and cobwebs dawning all the walls.

Purple flames burst from lanterns hung around the room. Two Arachnokin warriors gazed back at the group. They had no armor but sported the same short swords as the ones they had defeated prior. Different from the prior warriors, these also had whips tied to their sides.

“There’s only two of them. Let’s group up and take them down!” Toaby shouted orders.

One of the Arachnokin warriors lifted a hand to his face. There appeared to be a small circular ring on one of his fingers. He blew into it, but no sound came out. The warriors did something strange, though. They take several steps backwards.

Two massive spiders fell from the ceiling to stand between the two groups. They were primarily black but had purple tribal patterns on their backs. Each spider had to be at least four feet tall. Probably closer to five if they extended their legs.

“Why did it have to be spiders? I hate spiders!” Laura tossed a pair of daggers at the closet spider. They sank into its carapace and it let out a purr of anger. “Do you need an invitation? Attack!”

Toaby charged the closest spider, attacking with his dual blades. Sam and Laura launched ranged attacks toward the injured spider while Hiro charged forward, chanting something under his breath. His sword emitted a faint white light as he lobbed off some of the spider’s limbs. The plan was simple. Have Toaby distract one target while the others grouped up on the other.

Lucky for them, the room wasn’t wide enough for the warriors to get by and join the fight. Upon seeing their pets getting slaughtered, they threw caution to the wind and began smashing their beds apart in order to join in.

“We have company!” Sam shot an arrow at one warrior.

“Don’t mind them. Focus on the spiders!” Toaby used his axes as a shield to hold back the spider’s teeth. At least he tried. The spider proved too much stronger than him and ended up forcing him to his back. He noticed a notification pending and took a glance to see what kind of damage the spiders could deal.

An Arachnokin Spiderling has bit you for 5 (7 - 2 armor) piercing damage.

You have been poisoned by Spider Venom. You will take 3 additional poison damage every second for 5 seconds.

Spider Venom has affected you for 2 (3 - 1 constitution save) poison damage.

Raising his axes, he blocked another attempt at the spider bitting into his flesh. “Kill the spider! These things really hurt!” Being pinned to the floor, Toaby couldn’t see what was happening around him. “Anytime now!”

A sword pierced the spider and narrowly missed Toaby’s chest as it crashed into the ground beside him. The spider reeled back in pain, loosing its grip on Toaby. Taking both of his axes, he plunged them deep into the spider’s underbelly and pulled downward. He sliced open its stomach and felt its hot guts spill over him as it went limp.

An arm grabbed his shoulder and helped pull him out from under the spider’s heavy body. Sam lifted him and pointed across the room. “Go help them!”

Turning, Toaby saw Hiro fighting one warrior somewhat equally while Laura was doing all she could to not get sliced apart. He made a choice and tossed an axe toward Laura’s opponent.

“Duck!” Toaby shouted as he tossed his second axe and sprinted forward.

Laura did as requested and watched on as the warrior deflected the axe. With only one weapon and the axes coming one after another, the warrior didn’t have enough time to dodge or block the other. He tried, and so the axe only penetrated his shoulder instead of his chest. That didn’t matter to Toaby, though. He was only trying to distract the warrior so he could make his move.

Toaby opened his arms wide and wrapped them around his target as he tackled the warrior. The pair went crashing backward, busting through one of the beds. As soon as they landed, he was throwing punches. It wasn’t particularly effective. The Arachnokin seemed to have particularly tough skin. His punches were actually harming his fists.

“Catch!” Laura shouted behind him.

Turning around, he caught the axe she tossed to him, but the warrior rammed his blade through him. Toaby spat out blood as his health plummeted to single digits and the major wounds debuff appeared next to his health.

Before the warrior could do much more, Laura was tossing daggers at him as she raced to stand above him. Plunging daggers into the warrior's back forced him to pull his blade free and attempt a counterattack. Toaby sank his axe in while the warrior was distracted and finished it off.

Glancing over to Hiro and Sam, he smiled when he noticed they had slain their opponent as well. Quickly checking himself over, he had only four hit points remaining and the bleeding debuff he had was going to kill him. That was until he raised from the ground and was bathed in yellow light. He allowed the next set of notifications to come up, happy to see them.

Congratulations! You have defeated an Arachnokin Warrior x2.

Congratulations! You have defeated an Arachnokin Spiderling x2.

You have been rewarded 40 experience.

Congratulations! You have leveled up!

You have 3 unassigned characteristic points. Please assign these points within the next 24 hours or they will be assigned at random.

As he landed, he noticed both Laura and Sam landing from their own level ups.

“Yes! Finally!” Sam threw his arms up with excitement.

“It’s about time.” Laura grinned.

Toaby nodded. “I was going to die if it wasn’t for that.” Looking at Hiro, he asked, “How close are you?”

“One more fight and I’ll level. I’m only missing a few xp.”

“Loot and move onto the next room then?” Toaby suggested. Everyone nodded and started looting the corpses. Hiro was down to half his hit points, so Laura and Toaby were going to have to take the lead.

Upon looting everything, they found a pair of spiderling fangs, a sizeable amount of spider silk, two whips and five more mana crystals. The two warriors also dropped their short swords, but they only had a single point of durability each and were so damaged that they offered zero to one damage.

“Ok. We’re going to press on and try the next room.” Toaby turned to face Hiro. “Since you’re hurt, I want you to offer support instead of taking a primary tanking role. Laura, do you think you could take Hiro’s spot in the next fight as long as he still helped out?”

“As long as it’s not spiders.” She waved her hands defensively. “No spiders!”

They all laughed and exited the room. Before leaving, they all took a close look at the beds. If they had been even remotely functional, they would have each grabbed one, but they were nothing more than packed hay inside a wood box.

“This room's next, I guess.” Toaby gestured with his axe at the next door, moving in a clockwise direction. Checking it for traps, and finding none, he swung the door inward.

It was a much smaller room than the ones prior. It had an intact bookshelf, a desk and chair, and a small bed. There were no occupants, which is why everyone but Toaby ran for the bed. They all slammed their hands down on it and screamed at the top of their longs.

“It’s mine!” Sam shouted first.

“No! I’ve been here the longest, I deserve it.” Hiro rebutted.

Laura screamed in frustration. “You’re both going to take the only nice bed from a woman? What happened to chivalry?”

“It did when we did.” Sam argued.

Hiro took his hand off. “You are right. I withdraw myself.”

“Thanks, Hiro. At least one of you is a real gentleman.”

Hiro placed a hand on the only pillow, and it vanished. “I’m taking the pillow though.”

“Thats not fair! The beds a set. I need the…” Laura’s mouth hung open as Sam took the only blanket. That allowed her to take the thin mattress, but judging by her expression, she wasn’t happy.

The three of them started bickering with one another while Toaby explored the rest of the room. The bookcase didn’t have any books on it. It only contained some decorative items like a spider module and a pot with a dead plant. The desk, on the other hand, had some interesting items.

There was a shallow, wide, round bowl with what appeared to be runic symbols etched into it. It was made of a shimmering pearl like substance and had a matching rune etched mortar placed next to it. There was a single book sitting open next to them. It contained similar runic symbols inside. The page that it was open too had a single rune written on it, while the page next to it had a plethora of information regarding the rune.

Unable to help himself, he picked the book up.

Book of Warding Runes - Enchanting Primer

A book containing the most basic warding runes. An enchanter can study this book to add the wards to their enchanting repertoire. Since this has been written as a primer, a non-enchanter can consume the magic of this book in order to learn the enchanting skill.

845/1,000 Durability

“Woah.” Everyone turned to face Toaby.

“What did you find?” Hiro asked as he approached. Sam and Laura following close behind.

“It’s a book that can teach the enchanting skill.”

They all looked between the book and Toaby, who was flipping through its pages. His gaze told them everything he needed to know. There wasn’t anything that could pry that book out of his hands.

“I guess you can have it.” Sam commented.

“What?” He was so enthralled by the book’s contents, he didn’t understand what Sam said.

“I said, you can have the book.”

“Really? This seems really valuable.”

“Just take it. I got a mattress which you’ll find out after a few months here is worth a thousand of those books.” Laura jested.

Toaby looked at Hiro, who just nodded his acceptance.

“I’m not going to fight you too hard on this.” Toaby flipped through the pages and pondered, how do I consume a book? Do I need to eat it?

Would you like to consume, Book of Warding Runes?

Yes / No

He thought yes. Swirls of rainbow light cascading out of the book’s pages and traveled into him. The words literally flew off the pages and combined with the lights as they entered him. A fleeting migraine came on as the new knowledge took hold in the recesses of his mind. The entire process only lasted a few moments, but everyone was left stunned by the display.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill Enchanting.

Enchanting: Some learn to build, others destroy, but you have learned the ancient art of enchanting. A mystical craft capable of enhancing both and so much more. Provides a 1% enchantment success rate bonus per skill level.

Congratulations! You have learned the Fora rune of shielding.

Congratulations! You have learned the Algiz rune of protection.

Congratulations! You have learned the Mannaz rune of self.

Toaby closed the notification window, but it reappeared with its text changed.

Don’t go and think you’re all too special now, Arbiter. The higher you rise, the more joy I’ll have when you fall. ~Loki

Well, that’s not ominous. He closed the notification. Even a cryptic message from a God couldn’t bring him down from his high. A new bar appeared under his health and stamina. It was blue and was labeled ‘Mana’.

That's what I’m talking about! It’s time to enchant!