Seeds of Discordia: New Arrival Mayhem

“Liam?” Mercer questioned as he caught Liam’s expression. “What’s happening?”

Liam continued to stare at the sack trying to find any clue as to what was inside.

Nothing appeared.

“Liam?” Ariyana prodded.

“I don…,” Liam began, but stopped as a notification appeared in front of him.

 

“Black Widow Swarm Egg Sack. 50/50 HP. 0/0 MP.”

 

Like the name suggested, Liam watched as a swarm of Black Widow Spiders engulfed the webbed sack. He felt his blood run cold as the small arachnids flooded out.

“Oh my god! What is that!?” Ariyana shouted as panic filled her voice.

“That is a Swarm of Black Widows,” Liam relayed.

“What!?” Artem exclaimed.

The creatures continued to cover the sack and over each other. They were the size of a small cat. A couple couldn’t find proper footholds and fell. That was all it took for the rest to follow. Like a water tap turned on they continued to drop to the floor and created a massive puddle-like image.

Liam watched as more and more continued to pour out with no end. After confirming his suspicions, he ordered, “We need to destroy that sack! Ariyana and Mercer try shooting it down!”

“You got it!” Mercer replied as he grabbed an arrow, readied it and shot. Ariyana chanted a spell and shot it alongside the arrow. They both collided into it and bounced off.

Liam assessed it once more.

 

“Black Widow Swarm Egg Sack. 50/50 HP. 0/0 MP.”

 

“What the hell!” Liam shouted. “If that didn’t work then…” He looked at Avery and said, “Try shooting a Fire ball.”

Avery pulled her rapier to her body before pointing it to the egg sack overflowing with the black legs and fangs. After she got done chanting the fireball formed and shot fast. As it collided with the egg sack multiple screams echoed. Shortly after, the sound of pop rocks when they enter your mouth mixed in with the creepy sounding screams of pain.

Liam assessed it again.

 

“Black Widow Swarm Egg Sack. 32/50 HP. 0/0 MP.”

“Black Widow Swarm Egg Sack. 20/50 HP. 0/0 MP.”

“Black Widow Swarm Egg Sack. 15/50 HP. 0/0 MP.”

“Black Widow Swarm Egg Sack. 9/50 HP. 0/0 MP.”

 

He watched as the health point bar plunged. The fireball had caused a burn effect on the silky sack of nightmares making it easier to deal with.

After it ticked zero the string holding the flaming egg sack snapped and dropped on the pool of multiple legs making them scatter out of reach.

The ones that were hit by it lit up with fire and ran away from the group slowly dying an agonizing death.

The rest of the spiders reformed into a group and moved like a wave towards Artem and Blair.

“Oh no, no, no!” Artem groaned with wide eyes. The color on his face drained as he started to panic internally.

Blair rushed out of the way as Artem hesitated.

“Get out of their path!” Liam shouted.

Artem took a step and was able to get out of the path at the last second, however a few had jumped on to his kite shield and crawled to his hand. He didn’t realize it until he felt a prick on his bare skin.

This made Artem freak out as he dropped his sword and shield and begun swiping his other hand over his arm. This made the tiny terrors fly back into the wave-like swarm.

Liam noticed a purple drop icon appear next to Artem’s picture as his health started to drop five points every two seconds.

 

“Venomous bite! Venom has been injected. If it is not properly taken care of health will continue to drop. The longer the venom spreads in the veins the more chances the body will lock up and stop moving.”

 

“Damn it,” Liam cussed. “Artem! Grab your equipment, get out of there and cast Detox!” He then looked at Avery and instructed, “I need you to cast Fireball on that swarm. When you get their attention kite them around the room and keep lighting them up.”

“Excuse you!” Avery exclaimed. “Did you really ask me to have a swarm of nightmare inducing things chase me around and play exterminator with my fire magic?!”

Liam gave her a firm expression. “You’re the only one who can do it.”

“Fine!” Avery conceded as she flung her arms up in the air.

“Mercer! Play the Swift Footed song on Avery! Ariyana cast Echoes of Sound on her too!” Liam ordered.

Mercer pulled his flute out and started the fast-pacing song. His fingers slipped a few times as he played but pushed through as Ariyana started chanting.

After Avery received her buffs, she looked at the wave moving around freely chasing Blair around. She shook her head as she let out a grunt of displeasure, shuddered and chanted, “Oh, flame of burning power. I beseech you to come forth. Burning bright and hot, shoot true towards my enemy. Fireball!”

A fireball shot out into the pool of Black Widows causing them to change course and scurry towards her.

Avery let out an involuntary shriek as she started running.

Liam turned to see Artem grip his mace and shield tightly as he chanted, “Impurities coursing through the body have no place here. Expel, expunge, disperse all foreign substances to make the body healthy once more. Detox!”

A faint glow covered his body as nasty purplish dark green liquid squeezed out of the bite marks on his arm and dripped to the floor. He let out a shudder after it was done.

Detox was a Curing Focus Point ability that pulls out poisons, toxins, venom, or similar combative debuffs.

“We have incoming!” Ariyana shouted as she pointed at the Black Widow Matriarch.

The giant spider stopped vibrating and scurried forward towards Blair.

Liam assessed the Black Widow Matriarch.

 

“Black Widow Matriarch. 90/275 HP. 120/120 MP.”

 

“Artem, back up Blair!” Liam ordered. “Mercer drink a Mana Potion then play your Sound wave song for as long as you can. Keep enough MP for a Health Pulse song just in case. Ariyana start blasting away.”

“On it!” Ariyana shouted as Mercer started playing a high-pitched shrilling song.

Sound Wave was an Instrument Proficiency Focus Point Ability. This song didn’t need any proper form. It just needed Mercer to create the annoying ear-splitting noise.

This sound didn’t affect the party members, but it did do a certain amount of damage per second to the target as long as Mercer didn’t stop playing. The draw back was it drained three M.P. per second.

A translucent wave washed over the silky ground and crashed into the Black Widow Matriarch as Artem crashed his mace down on the head of the creature.

The Black Widow Matriarch brought its left leg back and was about to swing, but stopped as Roman thrusted his palm against the abdomen allowing a current of electricity to zip and zap across the body making the legs flex and tighten before curling in.

“Good Job Roman!” Liam shouted. He then chanted, “O Gravity, powerful and dangerous. Become heavier and stronger. Bring the Force down upon my enemy slowing and hindering its movements. Force Increase!”

A dark purple color washed over the EFM making its already scrunched body move slower as the gravity around it pushed down.

“Release everything you have now!” Liam shouted as he rushed towards the creature and started stabbing, slicing, and striking as many times as he could.

The attacks didn’t let up as they continued to hammer down on the Black Widow Matriarch. After the many successful hits landed, the Black Widow Matriarch Let out a shriek as an ominous liquid started pooling out from its mouth.

It then extended itself to bring its mouth towards Artem as it moved its fangs out and tried taking a bite.

Artem felt his fears take over as his swings became more erratic and missed more than landed. Panic escaped out his mouth as he shouted, “No, no, no! I…am…not…food!”

Before it could take the bite, a slightly bigger than usual, fireball crashed into the side of the head causing the Giant spider to tip over and fall. It let out one final breath as it curled its legs towards its body.

Everyone looked at Avery who was breathing heavily. Her eyes held the kind of anger that every man knew they didn’t want turned towards them. Her hair was as wild as the expression she had which made Liam gulp. He knew she was going to tear him a new one for this.

 Liam could feel the heat coming from her eyes as she locked hers with his. To emphasize how mad, she was her feet stomped down hard as she slowly made her way to him.

Avery raised a finger up as she approached him. She then said with a furious but low tone emphasizing each clipped word, “Never. Do. That. Again!”  

Liam saluted her as he said, “Got it.”

Avery took a deep breath in as she closed her eyes and brought her hands to a prayer position before balling them up and saying as she released the air, “I don’t think you are taking me seriously.”

“Oh, trust me. I am,” Liam said as he forced a friendly smile.

Before Avery could scold him, Mercer called out, “I grabbed the loot. Do you want to see if its harvestable?”

Liam looked at Avery and said before slipping away from her, “Duty calls.”

Liam reached a handout and said as he touched the Black Widow Matriarch’s body, but before he could do anything a slew of chime sounds echoed in his mind.

 

“Congratulations! Body Attribute Constitution Sub-stat Vitality has reached level 4!”

“Congratulations! Body Attribute Dexterity Sub-stat Agility has reached level 10! You can now use stealth movements easier and can move 2.5% faster while in stealth.”

“Congratulations! Body Attribute Dexterity Sub-stat Fine Motor has reached level 10! You gain a 5% success to all thrown weapons and/or arrows. Your smaller muscles have developed in a way that you now have a chance to curve the direction when throwing weapons.”

“Congratulations! Body Attribute Dexterity Sub-stat Reflex has reached level 10! You have a 5% chance to dodge surprise attacks or sudden attacks. Your body has developed a keen sense of danger and will attack accordingly with the best outcome.”

“Congratulations! Body Attribute Dexterity Sub-stat Speed has reached level 11!”

“Congratulations! Mind Attribute Intelligence Sub-stat Perception has reached level 15!”

“Congratulations! Mind Attribute Wisdom Sub-stat Physical Practicality has reached level 9!”

“Congratulations! Spirit Attribute Recovery Sub-stat Stamina Recovery has reached level 11!”

“Congratulations! Your Knowledge Theory Tactics of a Control Tower has reached level 11!”

 

Not a bad level up harvest. Especially my Sub-stats in Dex. I’m going to have to test that curving out. Liam thought as he swiped the notifications away.

He reached once more and was about to use Harvest until another chime echoed. Confused he muttered, “I didn’t think I’d get lag when my sub-stats leveled up. Which one…,” His eyes widened as a grin formed as he stared at the message.

 

“Congratulations! Weapon Skill Daggers has reached level 10! Your -15% to successful hits has dropped to -5% to successful hits when using Daggers. You can now duel wield daggers.”

 

“Well, it’s about damn time,” Liam stated. He shook his head and remembered what he was about to do. He paused and waited for a moment as he eyed the roof. No sounds echoed in his mind as he reached a handout and said, “Harvest.”

 

“You have received Black Widow Matriarch Fang x 2. Item Rarity – Rare. Item Quality – Poor. Description – Fang of a Black Widow Matriarch. Crafting material. Can be used for making arrow heads, daggers, and more.”

“You have received Black Widow Matriarch Clawed Leg x 8. Item Rarity – Rare. Item Quality – Poor. Description – Clawed leg of a Black Widow Matriarch. Crafting material. Can be used for making weapons or armor.”

 

Liam stared at the notifications and muttered, “Interesting.” He then placed the items into one of the three satchels inside his inventory before turning to the others. “What loot dropped?”

Mercer looked at something in his inventory and then glanced at Avery. He looked nervous as he looked back at the item.

“You alright?” Liam questioned.

“Yeah, it’s just…,” Mercer started before turning to Avery and finished, “It’s an item you can use, but I’m not sure how you would feel about it.”

“If it’s a helmet made from that thing’s skull I’ll pass,” Avery flatly said as she shuddered.

“It’s not a helmet. It’s a weapon,” Mercer informed as he pulled it out from his inventory to show everyone.

It was a sleek slender pitch black sharply pointed rapier. The guard part of the sword where the blade meets the handle had a Black Widow design with four legs. The two back legs represented the knuckle guards for both sides instead of one while the other two reached out in front. It looked like the blade emerged from the mouth while the handle emerged from the abdomen.

Liam assessed it.

 

“Widow Matriarch Needle Point. Item Rarity – Rare. Item Quality – Average. +10% to Agility +5% Sub-stat to Power Sub-stat Trait – Each cut this weapon makes has a 10% chance to inject venom into a target. Venom can stack making it spread faster with each successful injection.”

 

Liam let out a whistle before turning to Avery.

Without hesitation she said, “I’ll take it.”

As Mercer handed it to her, he said, “I wasn’t sure if you would want it since…you know.”

“Hey, a weapon is a weapon. Not only is it an upgrade from my current one, this one has a chance to inflict venom when I strike. I’d be a fool not to take it.” Avery stated as she looked over the weapon before gripping it and swinging it a couple times. “Yup. Feels good.”

“I’m glad you’re happy,” Liam smiled, but then raised his hands up as Avery swiftly swung the tip to point at him.

Avery smiled before bringing it back down. “You better be because this just saved you.”

“If you guys are done,” Mercer coughed as he handed Liam two big bubble-bottom glass vials with cork stoppers plugging in a purplish dark green liquid.

Liam assessed the contents.

 

“Black Widow Matriarch Venom. Item Rarity – Rare. Quality – Poor. Crafting Material. Description – Venom from a Black Widow Matriarch. You can use this to craft a type of poison to coat on weapons, make venom antidotes, or other creative ways in Alchemy.”

 

“Nice!” Liam exclaimed as he placed the vials into one of the small satchels in his inventory.

He looked at the satchels and noticed he was filling up his spaces quickly.

He then looked at Mercer and said, “I’m going to need to buy an actual backpack or something similar. I’m running out of room from all this crafting materials I’m getting.”

“We can look for some when we get back. I was just thinking about it myself,” Mercer agreed. He then looked at everyone and asked, "Are we ready to move on to the next part?”

Everyone looked up at the stone still hanging.

“How are we going to get it down?” Roman inquired.

Liam looked at Mercer. “Think you can shoot it down?”

“I believe I can. Everyone back away. We don’t want this to fall down on us,” Mercer called out as he took a few steps away, pulled an arrow out of his quiver, knocked it back, aimed, and released.

The string snapped easily as the arrow sailed through it and lodged itself into the wall close to the ceiling. The stone fell and bounced on the silky ground.

“Damn it,” Mercer cursed as he watched the arrow get stuck. “I was hoping it would come back down.”

“Artem, can you pick it up and carry it?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Artem replied as he made his to it. The stone was the size of his stomach and looked heavy. However, Artem made it look light as he picked it up with ease.

“Let’s get out of here,” Blair said as they walked up to the exit.

As they were about to leave the room, sounds of something snapping echoed in the air making their hearts drop.

They swiftly turned to see the wiggling and writhing forms covered in webs start to break free.

“Oh god, please no,” Artem said as he paled a bit.

“I thought the fight was over!” Roman exclaimed as he brought his fists up ready to strike anything.

As the first trapped victim opened its prison a bony skinless hand emerged. Following close by was a smooth skull and a skeleton frame. The other trapped creatures broke their cocoon of webs and freed themselves as well to reveal they were all Skeletons and Zombies.

“Skeletons?!” Ariyana shouted with shock.

“Oh crap, they’re pissed we didn’t save them in time, aren’t they?” Artem whined.

The trap door the EFM came out of started vibrating. After a moment it swung open as skeleton figures with weapons poured out of the hole.

“There’s too many for us to handle, what do we do?” Avery asked as they all looked at Liam.

Liam watched the new monsters and was forming a plan until he noticed an odd behavior. He straightened his posture and said, “Hold on. Something feels…odd about this.”

His companions stared at him with disbelief.

“What do you mean hold on?” Roman questioned. “If we don’t do something they will overwhelm us.”

“I said hold on. Watch,” Liam said as he pointed.

The skeletons didn’t make their way towards them, but instead to the corpse of the Black Widow Matriarch. Like a swarm of ants, they circled the body and then picked it up. Once when they picked the body up, they slowly made their way to the hole and carried it inside.

As Liam watched one slowly pull the lid of the trap door close, he imaged a scene from one of the many favorite movies created by his favorite director and was waiting for one of the zombies to say with an evil and ominous laugh, “New arrival.”

The group stared at the trap door, dumbfounded and not sure what they had just witnessed.

Liam turned and said, “Well that was interesting. Let’s get out of here.”

The others turned to look at him. Not wanting to jinx anything, they kept their mouths shut and joined him.