Chương 82: Chapter 79-Chosen Forest Return

The loudest and longest yawn possible escapes me the same way a person serving life escapes a prison. I didn't get much sleep last night. Hopper lets out a yawn. Which means I made it somebody else's problem. After I got back from my walk, I ran into Hopper, who had just come back from Luna's. Naturally, we did some fucked shit. We may have or may not have broken into the clock tower in the square. What we did there can only be described as shenanigans. What prompted this? Nothing really.

You put two people together who can't sleep, combine it with my bad influence, Hopper's full belief in me, and you'll get shenanigans of the highest order. We crest the top of the stairs to find the Whisperwood Forest in all its whispery glory. Seems the stairs behind the Dungeon Gem did lead to the outside. I wonder- Turning around, I find solid rock. Seems the Chosen Dungeon is gone. Along with the gold. I tried looking for a way back to the 9th floor, but I couldn't find it. Shame really.

All that gold is sitting there for the taking, and I couldn't even grab a single piece. Am I in one of the hells? Has my greed condemned me? Penelope watches as Hopper yawns again.

"What did you do, Charlatan?" she asks me.

"Hopper doesn't sleep, and I'm the one responsible. How's that work?" I ask her.

"It usually is your fault," she retorts.

"Princ- Penelope, it really isn't his fault. I'm the one who chose to stay up. CJ just kept me company," Hopper says as he yawns again. Penelope looks at Hopper and then at me.

"What were you doing last night?" she asks, the real question she was hoping to get an answer to.

"Why? Jealous we didn't invite you to hang out?" I ask with a devilish smile. Penelope rolls her eyes.

"Please. I have better things to do than doing who knows what in the middle of the night," she says with a huff.

"That didn't sound like a no. How about this? Next time we decide to do something, I'll make sure to come and get you," I say as we head into the forest.

"You're always welcome, Princ- Penelope," Hopper says as he struggles with the change in etiquette.

"I mean… You don't have to, but I guess I would have to join you if you showed up out of nowhere. I mean, someone has to be the voice of reason," Penelope lies to herself.

"Hmm… I'm-""Something's up ahead," Hopper says, putting us on high alert.

"What is it?" Penelope says as she draws her greatsword across her forearm.

"It sounds familiar. Above, it's a Giant Spider," Hopper calmly says. Looking up, I see a harrowing sight. A black spider with red-tipped legs that's not much bigger than the first Giant Spider we fought. It hangs from a large red web that coats the entire upper area of this forest. This is going to be a pain. If I remember correc- Its eight purple eyes lock on to me before letting out a blood-curdling scream. Yeah, it did that. The Giant Spider drops from the web, cracking the frozen ground.

Hopper fires off a volley of shots. Each hit ripples visible cracks throughout the Giant Spider's hard exoskeleton. The damage causes it to stumble to the ground as it tries to begin its charge. Penelope cracks her shoulder as she disappears and then reappears on top of the Giant Spider. Her greatsword crackles to life with lightning as she disappears again. One of the Giant Spider's legs smashes into its back where Penelope once was. Looking up to the web, I watch as Penelope uses it as a springboard.

With one of her shields standing in the way between her and the web itself. Like a bolt of lightning, she crackles down on the Giant Spider, cleaving into its back. The force of the strike brings it to its knees. Penelope then reappears next to us.

"Good work, team. We killed it," I say, having contributed nothing to the fight.

"I'm not entirely sure about that," Hopper says as the exoskeleton falls away to reveal a red exoskeleton.

"I thought I felt more resistance than normal. It seems it was in the process of becoming something else," she says as the Giant Spider emerges from the remains of its own carcass. Hopper fires a shot, only for it to burn away before it can reach its target. The snow around the Giant spider melts and quickly evaporates away. Soon enough, the dry grass alights with flames along with the red webs above. A fire spider in the snow, amazing. The Fire Spider rockets towards us like a comet.

The heat rippling off it singes the edge of my skin. Penelope throws up a shield, stopping the creature in its tracks. Using the opportunity, I do a basic slash and cut clean through one of its mandibles. It reels back in pain. Hopper shoots. An arrow covered in a thin layer of ice pierces through one of its eyes and then explodes with ice. Running to my left, the Fire Spider trails me. Exactly what I wanted. Penelope moves towards the side that Hopper blinded. Then she does something I wasn't expecting.

Penelope points her greatsword up towards the sky and then down at the Fire Spider. The once clear sky suddenly clouds, and what can only be described as a lightning storm appears. Multiple lightning bolts scatter across the field seemingly at random. One barely misses me and instead leaves a large scorch mark on the tree beside me.

"Watch it!" I yell as the Fire Spider is struck multiple times by lightning. Penelope slashes through one of its legs, prompting a retaliatory attack. Penelope catches the striking leg, stopping it in its tracks, but also searing her hands. Taking The Chosen Blade I [Throw] it and watch as it curves around the head of the Fire Spider and lands perfectly at the joint of the caught leg. Penelope pulls as hard as she can, tearing the leg from the body. The Chosen Blade falls onto the ground.

Taking my Uneven Blade, I rush towards the Fire Spider. Lightning strikes around me as I luckily dodge every hit.

"Penelope, up!" I yell as I point to the top of the Fire Spider. She nods and runs towards me. A lightning bolt crashes down on her, which she swiftly redirects towards the Fire Spider using her greatsword. Penelope and I then disappear and then reappear on top of the Fire Spider. Taking the Uneven Blade, I stab it halfway into its back. Penelope and I then slide off its back. I grab The Chosen Blade on the way.

"Did you throw The Chosen Blade?" Yellow asks.

"Not now!" From a distance, Hopper lines up his next shot. Right as the spider is about to slam down on us, he sends the arrow between us and right into the open maw of the creature. Ice then explodes from its maw, causing it to stagger. Mere moments away, I watch as the lightning from Penelope's [Skill] crashes down on the Uneven Blade, sending the bolts straight through the body. The Fire Spider stumbles and then falls dead on the ground. Giant Fire Spider LvL. 1 has been Defeated.

Skill <Throw> has Leveled Up"Well, that was an interesting ride. Maybe next time, don't accidentally electrocute me," I say to Penelope.

"New [Skill]. It's harder to control than you think," she explains. Hopper hops down from a nearby tree.

"That was tough, but easy at the same time. The difference [Leveling Up] makes." At the mention of [Leveling Up], I take a peek at my [Stat Window]. Stat Window HP 90/90 MP 110/110 General Information Attributes Name Carlos "CJ" Juárez STR 15 Race Half-Vashrin DEX 22 Title Fake Chosen One CHA 30 Blessing N/A CON 18 Level 13 INT 22 Age 18 LCK 42 Skill List Name Level Description Throw 7 Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Throw with skill.

Lie 6 Lie with prowess. Steal 4 Steal with expertise. Gardening 4 Garden with expertise. Cooking 4 Cook with expertise Poison Res. 3 Resist poison. Disguise 3 Disguise for 25 MP Clean 1 Clean for 5 MP Well, that's certainly a big change compared to when I started this whole thing. I mean look at my [LCK]. 42? It used to be 20. Not to mention the number of [Skills] I have. Eight, eight full [Skills].

Sure, other than [Throw], none of the other [Skills] are good for combat, but at least they're useful outside of combat. Hmm. I wonder-"Hopper, can I see your [Stat Window]?" I ask. Hopper nods.

"Sure, why not?" Stat Window HP 160/160 MP 40/40 General Information Attributes Name Hopper Lightfoot STR 3 Race Beastkin DEX 33 Title N/A CHA 3 Blessing Hunter CON 32 Level 13 INT 7 Age 18 LCK 3 Skill List Name Level Description Track 5 Track with experience. Shoot 6 Shoot with prowess. Hide 5 Hide with experience. Freeze 6 Freeze a target for 10 MP Mana Channels 2 Increase MP output for every INT point. Clone 1 Create a Clone for 20 MP Yeah, that's interesting. Like I thought, his [Attributes] are weird.

They're so lopsided. Are they supposed to look like that? Well, at least he has [Skills] he can actually use in combat. Clone must be the [Skill] that The Chosen Dungeon gave him. That sounds infinitely more interesting than [Clean]. Penelope hovers near us as if waiting for something.

"Well, thanks, Hopper. I learned a lot," I say.

"Wait! Uhm, don't you want to look at mine?" Penelope asks without a hint of shame.

"Oh, I'm sure they're good. I don't have to see them," I say as I turn back to Hopper. Penelope stands there, frustrated, before letting out a sigh.

"Come on, Charlatan. I know you want to see them." I do, but at the same time, this is so much fun. If I piss her off too much, she might not show me, but… It's a calculated risk. One, I'm not smart enough to calculate. Damn it! I'll have to give in for now.

"Ok, Penelope. Why don't you show me your [Stat Window]?" I ask with a hint of curiosity. Stat Window HP 230/230 MP 240/240 General Information Attributes Name Penelope Sylvian STR 44 Race Half-Elf DEX 4 Title N/A CHA 5 Blessing Battle Mage CON 46 Level 13 INT 48 Age 18 LCK 2 Skill List Name Level Description Shield 6 Magically Shield for 5 MP Imbue 6 Imbue an Object for 20 MP Step 5 Step within view for 10 MP Light Beam 3 Shoot a beam of light for 50 MP Pain Res.

3 Resist Pain Storm Call 1 Call a Storm for 120 MP By the Gods! Those are some high highs and low lows. I said lopsided earlier, but this is truly skewed like all hells. I really don't know what to make of this. Well, I know one thing. We've gotten stronger. Much stronger than I thought we would get, but we still have a long way to go. After all, Professor Stargazer did say that the average [Level] for the Advanced Class before moving onto the next Year is somewhere around [LvL. 25].

"Hey, by the way, how much harder is it going to be to [Level Up] from here on out?" I ask.

"Much more. We'll have to be hunting more and more powerful creatures if we want to keep the pace we were going at before. I wouldn't recommend that," she explains. Hopper hops over to the carcass and glances at it.

"Hey, guys. Are Giant Fire Spiders supposed to have this?" Penelope and I walk over to the body. Carved into its back is a symbol that radiates hate. Even being near it makes me feel a bit angry.

"What in the hells is that?" I ask as I take a step back. Penelope looks down at it with contempt dancing in her eyes.

"Trouble."