บท 21: Spider Den
At first, Klaus Park did not believe Rise Online had the unrestricted freedom it promised. After all, he had heard the same speech in advertisements for countless MMORPGs as a child.
Some games promised a free class system, where the player could play with any weapon or armor, learn to do anything, and also mentioned a totally living open world, which was not very common in any game of this genre. In the end, these advertisements were always in hyperbolic language and did not deliver half of what was promised.
In fact, any MMORPG game always seemed to have a ready-made script from start to finish, no matter how great the game was.
However, Klaus didn't feel that way when he first entered Rise Online, because there were no points on the map directing him where to go or a list of things he was supposed to do, step by step.
This lack of a direct event path created an instant sense of freedom he had only felt when he created his first world in a certain game where everything was made of cubes. The feeling of playing this cube game was lonely at first, scary at times, but, above all, always gave an amazing free will feeling.
Thanks to all of this, Klaus Park's whole first impression of Rise Online changed for the better after he was able to create the item he wanted with completely improvised materials, but had a logic behind them.
Granted, the Rotten Flaming Arrow was worse than the arrows Klaus got as a freebie for buying the bow, but, because he was able to do this, this rotten arrow was the biggest proof to Klaus that the people who developed Rise Online actually love this game and that they were hundreds of steps ahead of the players.
"Come on. We have to take this chance." Klaus said and started running toward the giant door after seeing the five Scorpion-Spiders, who were guarding the entrance, between the woods chased by the Fire Stone.
"Yes!" Therkara replied and followed him.
The two of them speeded across the open field littered with spider webs between the woods and the large wooden door. Luckily, the webs of Scorpion Spiders are usually weaker than those of Giant Spiders, so they were able to destroy the webs with their bare hands without difficulty.
As soon as they approached the door, Klaus Park stopped to look back, letting Therkara pass ahead of him. Seeing that nothing had chased them, he went through the monumental doorway as well, finally entering the Smiths' Village.
"Apparently, the spiders haven't returned yet. Let's move on before they come back. I already have an idea how we can get out of here on the way back." Klaus said.
The blacksmith woman stood static in front of her home and, ignoring Klaus' statement, she muttered:
"Finally... I'm finally back home."
The scene ahead was a long hallway lined with stone on the floor and on the wall. This stone on the ground was similar to the flooring easily found lining the floors of the squares in Holinda City. The space of this corridor was almost claustrophobic, considering that this was supposed to be a village, not a mine.
In this corridor, there were a few doors, open and ajar, but everything was so silent that there didn't seem to be anyone there. Between a wooden door on one side of the hall and, on the other, there were only three meters of distance, so the normal population would squeeze through a place like this.
A cold aura hung over the partially dark place, lit only by the luminescent blue crystals on the walls.
Klaus could sense that something was wrong as, despite the place's ramshackle appearance, the smell of rot was permeating the place, making it hard to breathe normally.
"What a smell..." Klaus was about to complain to Therkara, but at the same time, he looked up at the ceiling and had to hold his breath.
Above them, where the lamps that illuminated the village normally stood, was a sea of oval objects hung by thick strands of webbing. There was no doubt about it; the rotten smell that was plaguing Klaus' breathing was coming from these things.
'Are those monster eggs?' he wondered, although the answer was very clear.
These eggs were strange, as if there were dozens of pearls together forming a single egg, but Klaus had seen something like that in his past when Rhyzer and their father cleaned out the attic of their house. That time, his father had to burn a spider nest, and in that nest, each of the eggs consisted of up to twenty spider ferns or twenty little balls.
'Shit, there are hundreds, no... maybe thousands of spiders about to be born here.' Klaus concluded.
[You have entered the Spider Den of the Misty Woods].
[Please note: The recommended minimum level to explore this lair is Level 10.]
The two messages appearing in front of Klaus Park made it clear to him why Therkara Ironstone had the level she had and still needed help.
Klaus, determined to finish the mission and get out of that village before the eggs hatched, began to walk forward, stealthily.
After he overtook the strong lady, however, he did not turn his face to look at her but whispered:
"You said you wanted to check if there are people here, right? Then show me the way."
Therkara Ironstone looked at Klaus' back, smiled sadly, and put on her hood, hiding her brown hair. Then she also walked calmly, so as not to make noise, to his side and pointed to the end of the corridor.
Where that slender entrance hall ended, there were two directions to follow: a stairway up and a stairway down.
In this case, Therkara pointed to the right stairway, indicating that the right way to go was down.
Together, they walked lightly down that long corridor, enduring the slimy, glutinous noises the eggs made only a meter from touching their heads.
The eggs moved and twitched as if each creature inside was struggling to hatch. Each of the little pearls in the oval conglomerates was the size of a fist, so it wouldn't matter if the monsters that came out weren't adults like the ones they saw at the entrance because thousands of little spiders could easily eat them alive.
Even when they reached the end of the hall, there were still eggs on their heads.
Therkara decided to take the lead and headed for the stairs in front of Klaus, but as soon as she stepped onto the first step and looked down, she got a surprise that would make her recoil.
Klaus Park, who was right behind her, raised his eyebrows at the blacksmith's sudden stop and looked down as well, curious.
In the middle of the long staircase was a hexagon woven thread by thread with spider webs. The design that this made was indeed splendid and impressive, but seeing the Scorpion-Spider sleeping comfortably on this thing was not much pleasant.
...
Edited by: DrHitsuji
If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com/NandoFalske
More character images in:
https://discord.gg/bpqq9u4gS8
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