A Soldier's Life

Chapter 15: First Apex Essence

Chapter 15 Announcement bonus chapter because this story is doing well on RoyalRoad

The crisscrossing bridges looked different now that I knew they were part of a spider’s network. As the chamber lit up from the low buzzing fire beetles, I didn’t see any spiders. I looked over the edge of the bridge. Below were shadows and more crisscrossing bridges, “How deep does it go?” I asked quietly.

Konstantin looked as well, “I don’t want to find out.” I think it was an attempt at humor, but it was lost due to the situation we found ourselves in.

Delmar got everyone’s attention, “We do not know what type of spiders we are facing. Most likely, their fangs will inject a paralytic poison. So do not get bit. Strike the eyes. They have two large eyes and six smaller eyes. Damaging the eyes will usually stun them momentarily.” And that was all the prep we got. My spear had broken in the ankheg, and I was gripping my short sword tightly and on high alert.

Mage Castille was scanning the ceiling and considering her options. “Eryk, give the potions to Linus. There are three cure poison potions in the racks. I want them in his hands. I believe the spiders are underneath us, under this very bridge. They are probably waiting for us to start to cross. I am going to check now.” Everyone suddenly got nervous and backed away from the edges. Mage Castille closed her eyes briefly, then said, “Five large spiders are under the bridge.” Knowing how many spiders made it worse, and the tension rose.

“What is the plan?” Delmar asked the mage, his normal claiming and confident presence not evident.

“Someone is going to sprint across the bridge. It will be a decoy to draw them up. If the person gets caught by the spiders, they will most likely just be paralyzed. We should be able to reach them before they are wrapped in webbing and hauled away,” Castille said without any emotion. I had a bad feeling. I was the least skilled fighter and probably going to be selected.

Konstantin stepped forward, “I will do it.” My heart soared in relief.

“No, it will be Eryk,” Castille ordered. I tensed, not quite believing what I had heard.

Castille then explained the attack plan, “There are five spiders and five of us. The bridge is almost forty feet wide, so drawing them all out at once is best. We will each engage one in combat as they come around to attack Eryk. When someone finishes theirs, they can help someone else.” Everyone seemed so confident I capitulated. I started stretching. My knee was very sore from the fall off of the ankheg, and my shoulder still ached from the last battle. The good news was the bridge was wide and the chamber well-lit by the hundreds of fire beetles.

I lined up in front of everyone. I realized I had been sweating profusely and took a long drink of water. Delmar and Konstantin were right behind me. I was thinking of two things. The first was that my surging adrenaline had made all my aches disappear, and the second was secrecy be damned. If I needed to use my dimensional space to kill a spider, I would not hesitate. Delmar finally instructed, “Walk until you see the first one, and then run as fast as you can.”

I nodded and walked. The bridge quickly got sticky under my boots, like I was walking on dried soda in a movie theater. I surmised it was old webbing on the surface that was causing the sound. The stone bridge started vibrating...the spiders were moving underneath us, preparing. I heard a clicking sound and saw the first spider legs coming from my right. Legs as thick as my arms moved to bring the giant hairy spider into view. Spiders did not need to be this size. I ran as instructed, my heart already pumping. I heard Konstantin yell, “Got this one.”

I sprinted across the bridge, maybe 250 feet, and with relief, entered the opening on the far side of the chamber. I spun quickly and took in the site. In the middle of the bridge, everyone was engaged with a spider. Had the plan worked? I counted five spiders...well, four, as Castille’s spider was wrapped in black whispy chains and pulled over the edge. She then produced a wand and began to fire arrows of blue light at the spider Firth was fighting. I had not liked being the bait, but the plan had worked.

I decided to rush in and help. Delmar was engaged to the spider closest to me, and I hacked the leg with my short sword. The leg cracked like a lobster shell and was severed. The spider swung around on me and tried to lunge. Instead, Delmar got his long blade into the abdomen and jerked hard. Yellow mucus flowed out of the wound, the spider twitched in pain, and the legs curled in on themselves, dropping the spider where it was. Delmar did not wait and turned to help the others.

The battle was over in less than a minute, and I didn’t even reach anyone else to help. Castille was already applying her collector shield to a spider. The quicker you did the extraction, the better chance you had at getting an essence. There were only four spiders as the Castille had tossed hers over the edge. Everyone gave an essence. Castille had extracted one apex essence of dexterity and three major essences of dexterity.

Everyone huddled around on alert, waiting for the loot to be assigned. Castille took the largest essence and put it in my hand. I was so shocked I did not see who got the other essences. It was much larger than the minor essence I had consumed back in training. I put the ball into my mouth and felt it dissolve as goosebumps spread across my body in reaction to it. I had to keep swallowing to get the aftertaste out of my mouth and the sticky feeling in my throat.

Delmar started cracking open the abdomen of a spider. It was a gooey mess and smelled horrific from where I was. I watched in fascination as he removed a soccer ball-sized object. He looked over at me, “Spider spinneret. They are worth a good three gold each. Castille said I could have them all if I carried them out myself.”

Firth had found the stone prize box again. Inside were three potions. All cure poison and no coins. They were generic cure poisons, but being dungeon made, they were quite valuable as their shelf life was generally centuries compared to alchemist potions that were only good for a few months. I was once again asked to hold all the potions in my dimensional space, the new potions included. Linus was teasing the fangs and mumbling about not bringing any empty containers for the venom. He finally reported to Castille the type of venom the spiders contained. I heard him say a generic poison, no paralytic compounds detected. When Delmar had his spinnerets, we started to move out.

I drank the rest of my canteen while everyone else moved to the far side of the bridge. I hastened my steps to catch up to them. Konstantin slapped my back, “You did well. You got lucky they did not try and block your path. She was impressed with your effort,” he indicated the apex essence. “Just try to keep yourself alive long enough to make use of it.”

I nodded, falling into step beside my—mentor? I was still curious why Konstantin had softened on me. Did it have to do with the griffin nest somehow? Also, I had just consumed an apex essence. They were used to increase a person’s affinity. If my manifested convergence ability did let me milk essences for all they were worth, what type of benefit would I get from it? My nerves and skin were still tingly, so something was happening.

It also was not lost on me that I had been told apex essences cost fifty gold or more. And Castille had casually handed it to me like a snack. I quietly asked Konstantin, “Does she hand out apex essences often?”

He looked at me seriously, “No. That was only the ninth one she had given to a legionnaire in my eight years with her. We got lucky this dungeon has been neglected for so long. I am guessing that is why the baron’s son risked it. This dungeon is probably bursting with aether, and the first few runs will yield powerful essences. Even the respawns.” We were a good distance away from the others, and he whispered, “She is trying to buy your loyalty. Do not look surprised. She has bought the loyalty of most of us. You should be happy she thought you were worth the investment.”

Delmar, up ahead, shouted, “It is a safe room!” We all crowded into the small room that was twenty feet round. More orc writing dominated the wall, and a stream of water descended from the ceiling into the floor.

Castille tested the water and said, “Konstantin, scout ahead. Still no sign of the seventh?” Delmar was searching the room and shook his head no.

We all sat down while Konstantin headed into the next corridor. We had only two short battles, but everyone looked exhausted from the life-and-death encounters. Delmar dropped his smelly spinneret backpack next to me, “Carry it for me, and I will give you a gold coin?”

He had told me the four spinnerets were worth twelve gold, and he was just offering me one gold. I wanted to stay on his good side, though. “Payment up front,” I said cheekily. He frowned but produced the coin he had received from the ankheg. I pocketed the coin and sent the gold coin to my dimensional space with the other one. I was becoming wealthy—two gold coins and two large silver! The spinnerets were heavy, but I figured it would just be till we returned to the horses. I would be paid a gold for a days worth of heavy labor.

It was a good half hour later before Konstantin returned, and we all huddled around Castille as he reported, “The next dungeon room is another large chamber. It is down a long descending corridor,” he broke into a massive grin. “And I found the baron’s son. He is alive.”