Energy Eater

It took very little to explain to the people of the village what happened. We basically just said that we found the spider nest and killed them all while rescuing everybody who we could. Then, we added that the witch used their resources to save those who they could save, but some didn't make it. And showed that we also brought the bodies of the ones that were already dead just so people could give them a proper burial.

Anyone who wasn't there, unfortunately, we made clear that they were not in the cave. So either they had been captured for a long time, they managed to escape and were now lost in the forest, or something else. After a quick head count, they confirmed that the number of people they lost matched with the ones we brought. Meaning that this last option that I mentioned wasn't really an issue. There was no one missing, but even then, they had lost about five people out of the 18 that were captured.

One of the villagers, the woman who kept arguing with people that were blaming Riley for this, asked about the witch and we just said that after doing what they had to do, they got too tired to move on. So they found a secluded place in the forest to sleep for the night. And that we were going back there to stay with them. Michael also felt the need to add that the witch was the one who insisted on us coming here. They didn't want to leave the villagers waiting for a response about their people for longer than they had to. Carrying a bunch of unconscious people through the forest was dangerous, and the witch insisted on having a large group going with the cart to protect everyone.

Some were still suspicious, saying that maybe the witch was doing something nefarious, and this time was my turn to add a little sprinkle of lie in the mix.

"You're not entirely wrong. She is doing something bad, but not for you or us," I said. "The witch is lacing the spider cave with a specific poison that's going to kill any spider that tries to stay there. That way, if we missed a few because they were not back in the nest, once they go back they will die. The reason why the witch told us to leave is because the poison that they are using is very dangerous and they didn't want to risk us along with themselves."

Michael gave me an approving nod as I held back a smile. I didn't really like to come up with strange stories to make someone look better and honestly, I wasn't quite sure I knew how to do that. But this particular one felt appropriate and well crafted. Maybe I was just patting myself on the back, but that's how it felt.

After that, we left the cart behind and rushed back to the Fortress to see Riley. We arrived in the middle of the night. It was very late, but thanks to our levels, no one was really tired. On our way here, Michael also mentioned he got a couple of extra skills, including one that we might talk about sharing in the future. One of the skills was called {Armor Piercer} which allowed him to fire an arrow or just attack in general. When doing so, the blow could potentially find a weak spot on the target's armor. And the more times that skill was used the more likely it was to find that weak spot. Once it did, there would be a gap in the target's defenses located on that specific weak point.

The second skill was something that I was personally trying to get for a while. It was called {Dark Sight} and allowed him to have better visibility in dark places. It wasn't full night vision, and he still required some light to be able to see, but it would make him more capable of moving around in the dark or in dim places. Which meant that forests and caves and pretty much anywhere that powerful beings should be staying were places that would be easier for us to navigate.

That only increased my anxiety. It was hard to hold on to the excitement. The knowledge that we could advance to tier two as soon as we slept. Which was something I really wanted to do right now, but it wasn't fair to leave Riley all alone in that Fortress after everything.

About an hour and a half after we relaxed, we returned to the fortress. It only took that long because we were walking in the middle of the night and that slowed us down. Not to mention that to go back to the village, we were carrying a cart full of people.

Riley was in the same place that we had left them. In that same room where their master was preparing the potions. But there was something that we didn't see before. Right now Riley carried a book, one that, as far as I could tell, wasn't previously on their pouch.

"How you doing?" I asked.

"I'm doing a bit better. And thank you, I needed that. But didn't you put a bit too much strength behind those slaps," Riley gently rubbed their cheek.

"Sorry about that," I said. "But didn't {Body Regeneration} solve that issue?"

"Yeah, it's not even hurting anymore."

"What's that?" Michael pointed to the book that was on Riley's lap.

"This is my master's journal. I noticed her back there," The witch's apprentice pointed to a hook on the wall that had a satchel on it. "And remembered that she had this book. She never let me read it, but she would note down things about potions and other stuff."

"Is there anything useful there? Or anything that we might want to know?"

"There are some tidbits of information. Like saying that after giving the Aranean the System, things started to progress much faster and that the queen was starting to get restless without any solid results. But she never mentioned which results the queen was expecting. I found a few recipes for potions. Things to help you recover from illness, from wounds and stuff like that. Although, I'm not really sure if anything is going to be better than the {Body Regeneration} skill. But the most important part is in a code."

Michael frowned, and Riley just nodded before continuing, "She taught me that good witches always write down their best spells in code so that no one else could use them."

"Spells?" Astrid asked, and I quickly followed up. "Do you mean actual spells, not just skills?"

"According to her, yes. She did say that there was a specific ability you needed to use them. And once you had that kind of thing, you could use any number of spells as long as you knew how. I am guessing that she had a skill that allowed her to use spells somehow."

I asked the System, "Is that possible? Can I have a skill that lets me control Energy in ways to create various effects?"

[Such skill is possible. As a matter of fact, user already possesses a skill that can perform something similar. {Compression} is a tool for attack, and also to change the environment. User is capable of making walls, creating doors, and removing them all with use of the same skill. If one were to have a skill that, for instance, is able to influence the growth of plants, that skill could be used to create a full grown tree in the matter of theoretical minutes or to quickly deploy a field of thorn vines or any number of applications that user could come up with. As long as the control over the particles and over the skill is enough, various effects are possible.]

"Would you look at that," I said. I glanced at Michael and Astrid, who also had a similar expression as I did, understanding that the System also gave the answer to the question I asked out loud.

"I know it's okay, and this is going to sound very insensitive, but how many levels did you get after that fight? Just technically speaking, you were the one who dealt the finishing blow and, according to what we know, that counts more than anything else."

Riley sighed and replied, "I got to level 10."

I froze. "God damn... I mean, it took a while to get Astrid there, and I was power leveling her, but this feels just... cheating."

Michael nodded. "You know what, I have to agree with that one. It feels a bit like you're cheating. I mean, I worked hard to get to level 10. Sure, it was a single day, but it happened over a number of fights. What's going to happen next time?" He turned towards me. "Next time we give the System to someone, we're just going to give them already at level 10?"

"I don't know if that's even possible but the way things are going that's probably what's going to happen," we chuckled and turned to Riley who was still with a sad expression, quickly returning to a more serious conversation.

"If you are level 10 that means you can class up, get a new class and go to tier one. I can help you with that if you have any questions. If you don't, you can do what you want. I'm not going to tell you what to do, just help you in any way I can. That's the least I can do after you helped us so much."

Michael and Astrid nodded as we gave a moment for Riley to think. The moment stretched for about 10 minutes until they spoke up.

"My master said that they were eating their previous body. I checked that room that they mentioned and yeah, the body is still there. Half eaten and somehow, not rotting away. Do you think that if I were to eat it, I would get to tier two like the three of you?"

I paused, thinking for a moment. "Honestly, maybe. Your master said that eating that body would make them get to tier 3 so I am assuming that there were a lot of particles in the body. But we don't know if they had some sort of skill or something that sped up the process. Like I gave you the quick tier one evolution. If they have something like that, then yes, it would speed up even more. If they don't, then it's probably going to take you well beyond just tier two. Maybe halfway to tier three or I don't know, depends on how much of the body is left and I don't mean exactly which parts are left, I mean how many particles are inside. But you need to get to Tier 1 first. Otherwise all particles will go to waste."

Riley nodded, and I felt the urge to add one more thing, "I'm not telling you to eat your old master's corpse. I'm not going to lie, I'm not sure I could do it."

"So you're saying you couldn't eat her?"

I paused. "I'm not really bothered by eating bugs. Honestly, my biggest problem with them were the tiny legs. Which wouldn't be the problem with your master, since her legs are big. So right now, yeah, I think I could eat her. Probably would want that cricket recipe she mentioned, but that's about it. I'm saying that I don't know if I could eat someone who is important to me. But I could also see how that could be construed as letting you keep a piece of them with you. It's a rough one. It's not something I can give you an answer for. You're going to have to make a decision. Is it something you can handle or not?"

Riley nodded. "I'll think about it in the morning."

"Do you need any help to pick your class?" I asked.

"I already decided. The Silkstress Apprentice," they said.

I couldn't help but smile. It really was a way to honor her master. Even though if she truly was about to get to tier 2 in a single day, which was bullshit, let's face it. The name would probably change to the Inheritor of the Silk Fortress or something like that.

We helped Riley set everything up and locked all the doors using {Compression} as I had recovered some Energy during the travel before sitting down to sleep. Although, I knew that no one was going to sleep right now. Both Astrid, Michael and I had already reached the peak of tier one and we were about to choose our classes to advance to tier two.