“What’s over that side, Furball?” Tarrion asked once we were back at the Guardian Tree.

  “Spooky Spider Forest. Ahm… I mean, Halluspiders zone. There’s also this big spiderweb dome where a rare spider boss was,” I told him.

  “A rare spider boss? Wait, is that why you knew how to fight the Spider Queen boss on the second floor?” Tarrion asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Can we check it out?” Tarrion asked again.

  “You want to check it out?” I asked him back.

  “That’s what I just said,” Tarrion grunted, becoming annoyed with me.

  “Tss… fine,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  We didn’t have a deadline for when we had to return to Hirvant this time, so nobody was against exploring the dungeon just for the sake of exploring it. We made our way through the Monster Rabbit Garden, killing Carnabbits and collecting the meat when it dropped. In a way, it was beneficial for us to stack up on extra food. We had plenty food with us of course and we’d still have to go through the fourth and fifth floors of the dungeon where Rhakis lived. I knew we’d get some Rhaki meat as drops too. However, we had eight people in our party now, so we’d consume a lot more food compared to when I was here by myself or only with Ranalaiya and Sylfrin.

  We made our way through the Spooky Spider Forest next, dispatching Halluspiders as we progressed through it. Monsters inside the Secret Areas spawned twice as fast with twice the numbers compared to the normal dungeon floors, but we didn’t have any trouble killing monsters here. Sylfrin let her spiderling Voras go fight Halluspiders which was quite funny to watch. Voras, being a Halluspider itself, was immune to poison, so even if it got bitten, it didn’t affect it. Besides, Voras was level fourteen and was much stronger than any normal Halluspider anyway.

  “Wow, it looks just like the Spider Queen’s dome,” Ranalaiya exclaimed, noticing it in the distance.

  “Is there a boss inside of it I wonder?” Krisel asked.

  “I had killed it quite a while back,” I said.

  “Let’s go,” Tarrion added before taking the lead.

  We made our way inside the big spiderweb dome. It looked similar to the one that was on the second floor with the Spider Queen boss inside of it, but slightly smaller. It brought back some memories of the time when I was fighting it. Five broken cocoons were sitting at the edges of the room. There were also multiple spiderwebs hanging above us that the Truck Spider used as paths to crawl down from the top.

  “Heeey!” I suddenly shouted after I looked around, startling a few women as a result of it.

  “M… Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya exclaimed, pouting her lips.

  “That was… unexpected,” Krisel said, tilting her head to the side worryingly.

  “Hmph…” Tarrion frowned at me.

  “What? You wanted to check if there was a rare monster inside, didn’t you?” I said, giving him the ‘what gives’ look.

  “It doesn’t look like there’s anything here,” Alragus said, looking around.

  “Told you,” I said, speaking to Tarrion.

  “But how do you know this Secret Area so well, Master Rockin?” Lilfira asked suddenly.

  “Simple. I used to live here,” I said, adding a shrug, also not thinking it through before answering her.

  “You lived here, Master Rockin?” Sylfrin asked.

  “Well, not here inside this spiderweb dome. At the Guardian Tree that we’ve spend the night at,” I said.

  “Now I understand why you were so familiar with this Secret Area when I first met you, Rockin,” Virghel said.

  “Humph, smart. I probably would’ve done the same if I had been the first one to find this place,” Tarrion blurted before turning to go. “Ok, let’s get out of here.”

  “Yeah, sure,” I said.

  “Master Rockin, I think there’s something up at the top,” Sylfrin said right before the rest of us were to follow Tarrion. Her eyes were glowing yellow which meant she was using her Echo Sense skill

  “What? Something’s up the top?” I asked before looking up.

  “You’re telling this to us only now? Stay behind me,” Tarrion motioned with his hand before raising his shield up, Krisel rushing to get behind him.

  “No, no. It’s not a monster,” Sylfrin informed, reassuring everyone it was safe.

  “Oh… ok,” I said, letting out a sigh of relief. “What is it then?”

  “It looks like cocoon, just like the ones down here,” Sylfrin said.

  “A cocoon?” I asked.

  “Humph, must’ve been left after the fight,” Tarrion said.

  “Yeah, probably. Oh well, another damaged cocoon,” I said, adding a shrug.

  “No, it looks intact to me, Master Rockin, and I think there’s something inside of it too, but I can’t see what it is,” Sylfrin said.

  “Something inside of it?” I asked, scratching the back of my head. My thought was that it contained some rotten flesh inside of it or something.

  “I could go up to take a look, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya volunteered. “I can cut through it and see what’s inside.”

  “Right, ok,” I agreed. There was no harm in checking it, I thought. “Oh, wait. Virghel, can you go together with Ranalaiya, just in case? And be careful when cutting it open, just in case there’s poison gas inside of it.”

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  “Yes, ok,” said Virghel, both Ranalaiya and Virghel running to the side of the wall where the spiderweb leading up was closest to the ground. The two of them jumped on it, running to the other side before reaching another spiderweb that led higher up, and then another one, and another one, until they reached the very top.

  “Master Rockin, there’s a treasure chest inside of the cocoon!” Ranalaiya shouted down after a short while, her voice sounding very excited.

  “Wow, a treasure chest,” Krisel gasped.

  “Really? That’s amazing,” Lilfira added joyfully.

  “Cool,” I said, a grin entering my mouth.

  “The treasure chest is stuck to the bottom of the cocoon! We can’t get it out!” Virghel announced next.

  “That’s ok! Just open it and take whatever is inside of it!” I shouted back.

  “Ok!” Virghel let me know she heard me. In a short moment, Ranalaiya and Virghel were coming down the spiderwebs, Ranalaiya carrying something in her hand.

  “Look at this, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said, extending a pair of shoes to me.

  “Shoes?” I said, picking them up. They looked like ladies’ dress shoes. Black in color, with a small green ribbon resembling ornament at the front.

  - “Oh my. A gift for me? You surely know how to surprise a woman, darling? They look absolutely gorgeous too. I am sure my feet will appreciate the comfort these shoes will provide. You’re so sweet, my love. Thank you so much. Webbed Slippers acquired. It has an Equip Level of five and is of a blue rarity. It also adds one to Stamina, one to Spell Power and three to Magic Energy.” – Lavita was very happy about ‘her’ gift from me.

  “Yes, you’re… welcome,” I said, making a cringy grimace. Thanks to Lavita announcing it, I didn’t need to tell people what the item actually was.

  “So, she also tells us about the items, huh?” Alragus commented, rubbing his beard.

  “Humph,” Tarrion smirked and I knew why. I didn’t think it was worth our time coming here, but now that we’ve found a rare item, Tarrion knew his willingness to come here was justified.

  “Krisel, do you mind if Sylfrin gets these slippers?” I asked. Sylfrin and Krisel were the only ones who’d benefit from the stat bonuses offered by the Webbed Slipppers, but Sylfrin already had a few Webbed Armor set items already, so I thought she’d benefit from it even more.

  “Not at all, Rockin. I have shoes that offer additional stats already,” Krisel said, showing a smile.

  “Great, thanks,” I said before turning to Sylfrin. “Here you go, Sylfrin.”

  “Thank you, Master Rockin,” Sylfrin said, taking the shoes from my hands before putting them on without any additional fuss. “Wow, Lavita was right. They are extremely comfortable, Master Rockin.” She added after putting them on.

  “I’m… glad to hear that,” I said, offering a smile before opening Sylfrin’s Status Window to check her stats. “Oh, nice. Your Webbed Armor set bonus has increased as well thanks to those Webbed Slippers.”

  “Do you mind showing Sylfrin’s stats to us as well, Rockin?” Krisel asked, being curious.

  “Sure, of course,” I didn’t mind. We were in a party and I knew I could trust everyone here anyway.

  ***

  Sylfrin Frostwing (Slave). Level 16.

  Master: Rockin Starling.

  Class: Frost Battle Sorceress.

  Character stats:

  Stamina – 22+5

  Strength – 2

  Agility – 6

  Spell Power – 32+9

  Magic Energy – 31+23

  Luck – 30

  ***

  “Oh wow, your Spell Power is over forty and Magic Energy is over fifty, Sylfrin,” Krisel commented.

  “It’s all thanks to Master Rockin,” Sylfrin said.

  “May I ask something about Sylfrin’s stats, Rockin?” Krisel asked, turning to face me.

  “Sure,” I said.

  “Sylfrin’s base Spell Power stat is impressive, but her base Magic Energy is basically the same as her Spell Power. I understand the Spell Power stat makes one’s spells more powerful, but you need higher Magic Energy to be ablet to cast more spells before getting tired and Sylfrin has multiple attack spells she uses all the time. Is there a reason why you don’t put more points into Sylfrin’s Magic Energy, Rockin?” Krisel wondered.

  “Oh, that… Yes, a person would usually need higher Magic Energy to be able to cast more spells in a row, but Sylfrin also has Focused Spellcasting skill. It’s a passive skill which makes it easier for Sylfrin to cast her spells and improves her Magic Energy recovery by fifty percent. Besides, all the items that add bonus to Spell Power stat also add bonus to Magic Energy stats and the bonus to Magic Energy is much higher than to Spell Power stat. It’s probably the same for your items as well,” I explained my reasoning.

  “Yes, that’s true. So, do you think I should focus on increasing my base Spell Power stat over my Magic Energy stat as well?” Krisel asked.

  “Well…” I made a pause to think about it. “I don’t think so. I mean… Sylfrin is essentially a damage dealer. She has a Frost Battle Sorceress class while you’re an Enchantress which is essentially a support class. Most of your spells are support spells that don’t deal damage and have fixed effects that don’t say they are dependent on your Spell Power stat, except your Lightning Bolt spell. I think you being able to cast more spells for longer periods of time would be more beneficial to you, especially during longer fights. Of course, that’s only my opinion. You are free to assign your stat points however you want.”

  “Wow, I see. Thank you so much, Rockin,” Krisel said, a bright smile showing on her face.

  “Congratulations, Sylfrin,” in the meantime, the other women were congratulating Sylfrin on acquiring a new item.

  “Hey, thanks for insisting on coming here,” I turned to Tarrion after finishing talking to Krisel who went to congratulate Sylfrin on getting new shoes.

  “Yeah, well… Sylfrin was the one who noticed something was up there,” Tarrion said.

  “Still… I would’ve never thought there’d be a treasure chest hidden inside a cocoon up there,” I said, making a curious grimace. “Now that I think about it, I had killed the rare spider here without letting it climb up. It would’ve probably eaten it before releasing the swarm of Halluspiders.”

  “Right, yeah. Just like…” Tarrion was about to say something before turning his head to look directly at me, me doing the same thing.

  “Fuck! Shit!” We both yelled out at the same time, startling our other party members.

  “Damn it, Furball!” Tarrion cursed, throwing his hands to the side and looking frustrated.

  “I know, daaamn. Such a dumbass…” I threw my head back before slapping my forehead with my right hand.

  “Is… something the matter, dear?” Krisel asked Tarrion, a look of concern showing on her face.

  “Ah, ghmm…” Tarrion grunted before swallowing hard which helped him restrain from cursing out loud again. “The… Spider Queen boss.” He mumbled.

  “The Spider Queen boss?” Krisel asked, looking confused.

  “Master Rockin?” Sylfrin asked, Ranalaiya, Lilfira and Virghel looking at me worryingly.

  “What’s going on?” Alragus asked, his eyes jumping from me to Tarrion and back.

  “Huh? Hey, don’t worry. We’re not fighting or anything. We’ve just… realized how stupid we are… we were…” I said, making a dumb grimace.

  “What do you mean, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya asked.

  “Baah…” I let out a depressed sigh, giving a look at Tarrion before turning to face Ranalaiya again. “Remember when we were fighting the Spider Queen boss, Ranalaiya?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “And remember how we stopped it from climbing up the ceiling to prevent it from releasing the swarm of the Halluspiders?” I asked again.

  “Yes,” Ranalaiya admitted again.

  “Well…” I paused, trying to restrain from rolling my eyes. “Since the Spider Queen never climbed up, there could’ve been another cocoon left up there that might’ve had a treasure chest inside of it too.”

  “Oh… yes…” Ranalaiya gasped, covering her mouth with one hand, also realizing it was too late to do anything about it now. The spiderweb dome on the second floor had vanished not long after the Spider Queen was killed.

  “Right…” Virghel added before clicking her tongue. She was there with us as well, but none of us had an inkling of common sense to try and check if there was anything left on the spiderwebs above us back then. Even if we hadn’t found anything, not even thinking about checking it was what slapped us good.

  “Well… nothing can be done about it now,” I finally said. I knew that, Tarrion knew that and everyone else knew that, but I still felt like stupid donkey right now. Tarrion probably felt the same way too or at least I hoped he did.

  “Will need to remember for the next time,” Tarrion added before turning towards the exit leading outside. “There’s probably nothing else left in here, so how about we get going?”

  “Agreed. Let’s go… kill something,” I said, stretching my shoulders. Most of the ladies knew that they wouldn’t need to do any fighting once we were outside in the forest again for a while.

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