Unexpected Ascension Chapter 19

Adrian slowed to a halt as he reached the bottom of the tunnel, arriving at the second floor of the Silk Mines. There, he found himself in the middle of a large hall, splitting into various tunnels heading in different directions.

His brows snapped together as he surveyed his surroundings. Listening carefully, he waited for any indication as to where the sound of fighting was coming from. And that was when he heard a blast, followed by the ground beneath his feet trembling.

Adrian’s gaze snapped to the right, before he sprinted down the tunnel. As he ran, he marked the walls so he would be able to easily find his way back, instead of getting lost further down here. 

And as he waded his way forward, he eventually found the remains of some burnt spiderwebs littered across the ground. Up ahead, he spotted an opening in the tunnel that led to a cavern, where a group of dwarves were faced off with a giant spider.

[Dwarf - Level 36]

[Dwarf - Level 33]

[Dwarf - Level 32]

[Sapphire Spider - Level 41]

Adrian immediately ducked low, sneaking his way up to the edge of the cavern. He hid in the shadows, surveying the situation before even thinking of jumping in. After all, even though he was stronger and faster now, he lacked the acid from the giant worms he had used to help him defeat the sapphire spider from earlier.

Certainly, Adrian still had a single venomous fang and a single paralyzing fang— the other one ran out of use— but they would barely help affect the tides of battle beyond serving as minor distractions. 

So if the situation looked unsalvageable, Adrian might not have intervened right now. Even if he wanted to.

His eyes narrowed as he saw one of the dwarves lying on the ground with a dagger by his side, bleeding with his eyes closed. Another dwarf stood over him, her staff raised— a [Healer] of sorts, perhaps. And the third dwarf, the highest-leveled of them all, stood before the sapphire spider, holding up a giant axe.

“What do we do, Kabir? Sath isn’t breathing!” the [Healer] exclaimed as she tightly held onto her bleeding friend.

In response, Kabir glanced back and gritted his teeth. “There’s nothing we can do, Malin. You just have to get out of here. I’ll hold off this monster.”

Malin, the [Healer], blinked as she raised her head. “Kabir, you can’t be serious—”

But as she opened her mouth, the sapphire spider swung down at Kabir. He parried the attack with his axe, only to be knocked back by a follow-up strike. However, he still remained standing, thanks to his durability.

The sapphire spider noticed this and immediately backed up warily, instead of just charging in at him.

“I’m… too slow,” Kabir mustered out as he raised his axe again. “If I can just land a good hit on it— but I can’t. You need to go while you still can, Malin.”

“But—” Malin protested.

And the sapphire spider struck out again as Kabir barely blocked the attack. Adrian watched the battle continue to unfold with a frown. From his own fight with a sapphire spider, he knew that they weren’t the most durable monsters. So even though it was higher-leveled than him, he could hurt it.

So I shall strike while it’s distracted, Adrian thought as he crept forward, waiting for the right time to strike. And as the sapphire spider raised its scything legs once again, he lashed out. Now!

Leaping out of the darkness with a [Double Jump], Adrian landed a [Fatal Backstab] on the sapphire spider’s neck. It recoiled from his sudden attack. Even Kabir flinched in surprise from Adrian’s ambush. Malin blinked, taking a full moment to process what just happened.

Adrian dug deep into the carapace of the sapphire spider, making it stumble back in pain. But he wasn’t finished. Before the monster could try to throw him off or swing at him, he immediately swung out with twelve more strikes.

[A Dozen Strikes].

And he cut the sapphire spider across its neck and head. Its blue blood sputtered out as it finally reacted to Adrian standing on its back. But right as it swung up at him, he punched down.

[Hammer Punch]. Adrian struck hard. The full force of his punch slamming the monster against the ground. But as he made contact with it, so did its scything legs strike him.

Adrian was thrown off the monster’s back as he coughed up some blood. He barely reacted by blocking the attack with his dagger, and it still managed to break a rib just from the impact. He flipped through the air, landing on the ground as he looked up at the sapphire spider.

It picked itself back up with a hiss as he cursed, “That wasn’t enough, huh? Then I need to—”

But before Adrian could finish his train of thought, Kabir yelled and charged at the injured sapphire spider.

“You can’t escape now, you ugly spider!” 

His giant axe shone with a red light, before he cleaved the sapphire spider’s injured head off in a single swing. Adrian blinked as he saw a blue box flash before him.

Ding!

You have killed a [Sapphire Spider - Level 41] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!

Ding!

Your Class [Savage Hermit] has reached Level 32! — You have gained +1 to all Essences, and you have gained 1 Essence Points!

Ding!

Your Class [Savage Hermit] has reached Level 33! — You have gained +1 to all Essences, and you have gained 1 Essence Points!

Two level ups, and I didn’t even deal the finishing blow… Adrian found himself being mildly annoyed at the fact that Kabir had stolen his kill. He knew that he would have probably gained another level from defeating the sapphire spider if he brought it down on his own. But he decided against complaining about it for now. 

Instead, he dusted himself off as he approached the three dwarves. Kabir continued hacking apart the dead sapphire spider as he spat and cursed.

“Stupid. Fucking. Monster—” The dwarven [Warrior] paused as Adrian stopped before him. “You’re… a human? What are you doing down here?”

“Is that how you thank someone who just saved your life?” Adrian asked with a raised brow.

“I…” Kabir caught himself, then shook his head. “Thank you. We would all be dead without you. How can we repay you?”

“It’s fine.” Adrian waved a hand dismissively, before glancing towards the sapphire spider’s corpse. I just need you to leave me at the dead monster alone for a minute, so I can collect and sell its parts.

But before Adrian could find a way to achieve this, Malin called out, “Kabir—” 

She drew Kabir’s attention to her as she clutched onto their injured friend. Cursing, Kabir rushed to her side.

“How is Sath?” Kabir asked with a worried look.

Malin shook her head. “I can’t save him. I don’t even know if he’ll survive the hour…”

Adrian pursed his lips as he glanced between the two dwarves. He felt like he had to do something to help them.

“How did this happen?” Adrian asked as he stepped forward to their sides. “Your friend… he looks like a [Rogue]. How could he get injured this badly from the sapphire spider?”

Kabir and Malin exchanged a glance, before the former lowered his head.

“You’re right,” Kabir explained. “Sath is our scout— he’s the fastest of us all. So he should have been able to keep up with the sapphire spider. But he was already exhausted today. So he was caught by surprise when we were struck by this ambush.”

“He was exhausted? But why?” Adrian crossed his arms across his chest.

Kabir balled his hands into fists. “We sent him down to the lower levels of the Dungeon— to investigate what has been going on here for the last few days. To figure out what’s going on with the influx of monsters. And when he came back, he was in a hurry to leave because of what he saw.” 

Adrian cocked a brow. “What did he see?”

Kabir shivered, before closing his eyes. He tried to steel himself. And it was Malin who ended up speaking. She glanced back at Adrian as she bit her lower lip.

“Sath saw a swarm of jewel spiders. All of them made out of a different gem. Whether it be sapphire spiders, ruby spiders, gold spiders, or platinum spiders. And he saw one that dwarfed the rest of them, diamonds spiking out of its back, carrying an egg sac deeper into its nest.”

“The broodmother,” Adrian said as his eyes went wide.

“I’m surprised a human like you knows about that,” Malin said as she sighed. “Not even most inhabitants of the City of Dornn have heard of a jewel spider before— beyond in passing. How did you hear about it?”

Adrian shook his head. “That doesn’t matter right now. Your friend is dying, and he’s the only one who has seen the broodmother in the bottom of the Silk Mines. If I bring him to a high-leveled [Healer], can he be saved?”

It was a simple question. One which confused Malin somehow. “Uh, yes? But how are you going to do that?”

“I’ll bring him out of the Dungeon,” Adrian said simply as he strode forward. He picked up the injured dwarf, before drawing back. “I think I can get him to a high-leveled [Healer] in under an hour if I travel at my top speed.”

Adrian could very easily retrace his steps to the exit, since he had left markings across the various tunnels in the Dungeon. The only potential setback was if Luxe wasn’t at the barracks. She definitely would be able to save Sath. But if she wasn’t there…

“I’ll get going now,” Adrian said as Kabir and Malin blinked.

They opened their mouths to protest. But Adrian simply raised a hand, placing it on the sapphire spider. Since he was in a rush, there was no use hiding his [Spatial Inventory] any longer. So he made the monster’s corpse vanish in an instant.

That made the two dwarves stare with wide eyes.

“Wait, what was that—” Kabir started.

“How—” Malin tried to work her jaw.

“No time to talk. Try not to die while I’m gone.” And with that, Adrian took off, running faster than ever. 

After all, when he leveled up, he spent all his Essence Points onto his Agility.

As usual.

Status:

Adrian Zenith

Rank: D

Class: [Savage Hermit - Level 33]

Titles: [Outworlder Champion]

Skills: [Passive - Agile Body], [Active - A Dozen Strikes], [Active - Double Jump], [Active - Fatal Backstab], [Active - Stealth Step], [Passive - Spatial Inventory], [Active - Basic Identification], [Passive - Basic Weapon Mastery], [Passive - Critical Precision], [Passive - Inferior Sneak], [Passive - Poison Resistance], [Passive - Venom Resistance], [Passive - Savage Instincts], [Active - Hammer Punch], [Passive - Hardened Skin], [Passive - Lesser Acid Resistance]

Essences:

Strength: 56

Agility: 109

Dexterity: 49

Magic: 40

Vitality: 50

Essence Points: 0

***

It had been about a week since Luxe had given Adrian his deadline to pay back his debt. Which meant he should be returning with his payment of 50 silver coins soon. Otherwise, Luxe was going to be very angry.

“He really isn’t going to pay me back, is he?” the fairy sighed.

It made sense. After all, it was not going to be easy earning 50 silver coins from nothing in only a week. Perhaps Luxe had been too harsh. Except— Adrian still had to pay for using the fairy’s services.

As a Level 83 [Healer], Luxe’s services were wanted all across the City of Dorn. But the fairy decided to work for the city itself to guarantee payment. After all, if someone didn’t pay for the healing service… a patrol of guards would be sent to chase down the offending party.

For free.

“Maybe I should let that human off the hook,” Luxe muttered. “It’s not like he asked to be saved, anyway. If he knew he would have to pay 50 silver coins for my services, he might have turned me down and just asked to die.”

Luxe paused, remembering what happened two days before.

“...or maybe he caught wind of what happened back then. And he fled the city.”

The fairy couldn’t blame Adrian if he chose to run. Especially if they started taking action against him. 

Sighing, Luxe flitted back down to the small desk on top of the normal-sized desk in her office. “Well, I guess I just have to accept that Adrian isn’t paying me back—”

But right as those words left the fairy’s mouth, the door slammed open. And a familiar figure stumbled in, carrying an injured dwarf.

“Adrian?” Luxe blinked, staring at the human drenched in sweat. “Why are you… what is going on—”

“Luxe— there’s no time to explain, but I need your help,” he said as he set the injured dwarf to the ground. 

Luxe blinked, looking down in confusion.

Adrian continued, “Please, save him.”

And after taking a moment to process what was going on, the fairy moved.

***

Adrian watched with bated breath as Luxe labored over the unconscious dwarf. Half an hour had already passed since arriving, which according to Malin, meant that Sath should have died by now, since he had an hour at most to live. 

After all, it took nearly an hour for Adrian to get the injured dwarf to Luxe. Except, Sath was still breathing. So that was a good sign. 

Fifteen more minutes passed, before Luxe finally drew back to Adrian. She left Sath’s body lying on top of a glowing spell circle that exuded a soft warmth. 

“He’ll make it,” she said, nodding at Adrian. “If you had gotten here any later…”

“It’s a good thing I didn’t,” Adrian replied simply.

Luxe rolled her eyes, before flitting down onto the table. She sat there as she shook her head. “As blunt as ever, aren’t you? Well, now that’s been dealt with, I’m surprised to see you back here.”

Adrian raised a brow at that. “Why not? Did you think I wasn’t going to pay you back?”

“That, yes.” Luxe nodded, then shrugged. “But also, I thought you’d have fled the city after what happened two days ago.”

“What happened two days ago?” Adrian blinked.

“You didn’t hear?” Luxe asked with round eyes.

“I did not,” Adrian said, frowning. “What happened?”

“Well…” Luxe scratched the back of her head.

And she began to explain.

“Two days ago, an elf, a Flower Hunter, arrived at the City of Dorn...”