Chapter 25 The Cluster

Elysia’s eyes scanned each tree trunk for any movement, spotting another beetle a few minutes later. She electrified her spear, thrusting it into its head before it could move, scoring a quick kill.

Killed level 30 Bark Beetle.

Level up! Level 25 Channeler.

As the warmth from her level up faded, she continued to march forward. If something 10 levels higher dies that easily, this dungeon shouldn’t be too hard. Elysia paused and shivered. Please tell me I didn’t just jinx myself.

After standing still for over a minute finding nothing jump out at her, she released a sigh before continuing on, walking through ferns. As she circled around a three meter diameter redwood, a chorus of buzzing reached her ears. Her spear flashed up, expecting a horde of flies only for her eyes to land on a ladybug cluster covering the entire circumference of a redwood trunk.

With her hand covering her mouth, she silently backed away, only to step on a stick. The buzzing intensified, prompting her to turn tail, sprinting back the way she came. Unlike her normal attire, the armor slowed her down, allowing the buzzing to approach. She broke through the vines near the cave entrance just as the cluster of ladybugs descended.

In desperation, she swung her electrified spear in a wide arc, slicing into several ladybugs before they reached her. The light darkened as hundreds of melon-sized ladybugs surrounded her. Her veins lit up under the full-body combat suit as she charged her spear with as much electricity as she could. The spear grew hot even through her metal padded gloves as a streak of violet lightning shot out with a violent crack.

-120 Charge.

Killed level 28 Ladybug x12.

Level up! Level 26 Channeler.

A dozen ladybugs fried instantly, but more filled their place. Elysia dropped her spear and covered her head as she dashed toward the cave. She activated static shock, but with most of her combat suit lacking direct metal contact with her skin, it only fried a few more while the rest bit chunks out of the armor. A hiss of pain escaped her lips when a ladybug bit through her shoulder padding, but she pushed on, diving into the cave.

Once inside the cave, she spun with throwing knives in each hand, only to find the ladybugs hovering just outside the cave. She raised both hands, channeling another surge of lightning, smiting another dozen ladybugs, receiving another level up. Recharged, she released another strike, killing even more before the ladybugs retreated.

-240 Charge.

Killed Level 28 Ladybug x24.

Level up! Level 27 Channeler.

Lightning affinity level 4.

+5 max charge.

Red hot pain engulfed her body as she crumbled to the ground before her senses cut her off from the outside world. She laid sprawled out on the ground for several minutes in agony before it all vanished, replaced with a radiating power lighting up her body and senses.

Elysia shot to her feet, dashing out the cave with effortless feather light strides, scooping up her spear along the way. In a power fueled trance, she sprinted through the vines following her path toward the ladybugs, finding their depleted numbers back on the tree trunk. Her lightning sparked between her fingers before running up her spear, scorching the rubberized shaft before shooting out like a cannon at the tree.

-150 charge.

Killed Level 28 Ladybug x 16.

Level up! Level 28 Channeler.

With only a few left, her electrified spear flashed out, skewering the last six, killing them instantly as her power high dissipated. Elysia swayed on her feet from a dizzy spell, resting her hand on a nearby tree as the events following her blackout replayed through her mind.

After recovering, she glanced at the remaining ladybug corpses before turning back the way she came. She reached her cave a few minutes later, collapsing on a log by the fire pit.

With a heavy body, she unstrapped the pup tent and sleeping bag from the top of the backpack. She popped up the tent and unrolled the sleeping bag before climbing in, falling face first out cold on the sleeping bag in her body armor.

Without the sun to wake her, she dozed for over twelve hours, awakening with a groan. Her eyes fluttered open, seeing the light from the crystals on the ceiling shining through her camouflaged tent.

A series of notifications displayed themselves to her unfocused eyes.

Achievement! Overspend.

“Sometimes wasteful spending leads to unexpected results.”

Reward: +1 to all attributes.

Achievement! Massacre.

“Forcing retreat wasn’t good enough for you?”

Reward: Hatred by all ladybugs, +5% damage against ladybugs.

Elysia attempted to rub the sleep from her eyes, only to smack her gloved hand against her visor. She unbuckled the helmet, flinging it outside the tent before sitting up with a scowl. After crawling out of the tent, she stumbled toward the backpack, fumbling with the front pocket, grabbing a meal bar chomping it down between chugs of water from her canteen. No chocolate? Have they no heart?

She shook away her insult as her mind wandered to the achievements while pulling up her status menu. So 200 charge was the key as I thought. I’m not sure I want to overspend again. I don’t know what was worse, overcharging myself on the boat, or backlash from overspending. At least I got a bonus out of it, unlike overcharging myself. I wonder if I’ll ever have a safe place to experiment. I tried to test absorbing electricity, only to crash into Port Alberni and end up here. There has to be a safe way to increase my max charge otherwise what’s the point in having them limit each other. At least I’m assuming it’s a two-way limit. Maybe I can increase my max charge infinitely, but I feel like at a certain point my body would explode.

Elysia shivered at the prospect of exploding but shook it off in favor of examining her combat suit. The once pristine, heavily armored suit lay in tatters with exposed skin all along her body, and chunks missing from every piece of metal plating. I’m so glad I had this armor. Those ladybugs would have devoured me if I didn’t. As useful as it was, I don’t think it will survive another episode like that.

Next, she examined her spear laid against the log, frowning as she took in its state. Most of the rubber coating melted off, revealing scorched and bubbled carbon fiber below. She swung it a few times, finding it still functional, but a flashback to her last spear failure caused her to worry. Her worry shifted to annoyance a moment later, glaring down at the damaged spear. They knew I had lightning magic, but they still gave me a spear that couldn’t handle it. I hope I can make it through this dungeon without equipment failure, but it’s not looking promising. I may have to jerry rig another spear soon.

After releasing a sigh, she stood up, grabbing her helmet and strapping it on before turning toward the exit to the cave. I guess I’ll do some more exploring, hopefully without another ladybug horde.

Nothing jumped out at her as she followed her cleared path to the ladybug tree. She stood in the clearing, unsure of which direction to go before turning to the left at random, walking through the ever present ferns growing between massive redwoods. I wonder why there’s so many redwoods here. I thought they never grew this far north. Oh well, I’ll chalk it up to weird dungeon magic. At least they are pretty. If only swarms of giant ladybugs didn’t gather on them.

Movement on a tree to her right drew her attention. With an electrified thrust of her spear, she skewered the head of a bark beetle before moving on, stepping out of the way of the falling body.

-9 Charge.

Killed level 31 Bark Beetle.

This pattern repeated itself for the next half-hour, scoring six kills but no level. After her latest kill, a rotting stench reached her nose. Curious, she followed the stench with a scrunched nose, reaching a clearing a few minutes later.

Her eyes landed on three mutilated bodies, but paused before continuing further. She scanned her surroundings, finding a gap in the dense forest canopy for the first time, revealing a cave ceiling a hundred meters up with glowing crystals similar to her camp. Her gaze moved on to the vines woven through the surrounding redwoods and bushes, but other than that, nothing else jumped out of her. Still, she approached the carnage head on a swivel spear raised.

When nothing attacked, she knelt down to examine the bodies, finding them wearing similar uniforms to the trio who escorted her here. Her eyes landed on a radio clutched in a dismembered arm’s hand. She pried the radio free, finding it still on. While cringing at the stench, she brought it to her mouth before pressing the button on the side.

“Can anyone hear me?” Elysia said.

There was a several second pause before a staticy response came through the dirt covered speaker. “Beta team! Glad to hear from you.”

Elysia winced as she responded. “I’m sorry, but I’m not Beta team. I found this radio next to three bodies. I wanted to report their deaths.”

The other end remained silent for several minutes, leaving Elysia to stew. “Thank you, they will be missed. You said there were three bodies? Beta team was a team of four.”

Elysia scanned the clearing again, confirming three bodies before speaking into the radio. “I only see three bodies.”

“Thank you, Miss. Is it possible to identify the bodies?” asked the staticy feminine voice.

With one hand pinching her nose, she pulled on the disfigured torso of one body, spotting dog tags. After checking other bodies, she found a pair for each. “Yes, I found dog tags. Laura Thompson, Ethan Bennett, and Henry Case.”

With an almost relieved tone, the voice responded, “Thank you. Jake Russell was the fourth member. I will notify their families. May I have your name? Your voice doesn’t sound familiar.”

Elysia paused for a moment before answering, “Lara Moon.”

“Thank you, Lara Moon. I hope you make it out of there all right.” Responded the voice.

Done with talking and growing nauseous from the stench, she turned off the radio to conserve battery before clipping and on her belt and continuing on, still on high alert for ambushes. Just in case, she slashed through the nearby vines before walking past, through a bush with white flowers. On the other side of the bush, she found a trail of crushed ferns causing her to pause. Her eyes followed the trail, but it disappeared behind a tree. She scanned her surroundings, finding nothing but ferns, bushes, and trees before following the trail to the right.

After walking the trail for a dozen meters, curving around a tree, her gaze landed on blood splattered ferns. She bent down to examine the blood, only to jump back, catching movement from the corner of her eye. A razor-sharp vine tip embedded in the ground where she was standing. Another vine launched from a bush on the opposite side of the trail, denting the chest plate near her right lung. Elysia stumbled back, gasping for breath, when the first vine spear pulled itself out of the ground and whipped toward her. Her eyes widened as she ducked into a roll, only to pop up right into the path of the second vine. She brought her spear up, knocking away the vine just before it reached her face. With a quick backpedal, she slashed her electrified spear tip down on the first vine, cleaving off several meters, then spinning and doing the same to the other vine before it could strike at her again. Despite not seeing a kill notification, she took off in a sprint, following the trail. Trees blurred past her vision as she sprinted with a single-minded focus to put as much distance as she could from the vines.

Elysia slid to a stop upon arriving in front of a small cave. She crouched as she entered the dark cave. Her foot hit something, sending her stumbling forward, catching herself on the cave wall. A surprised squeak sounded when her eyes landed on what tripped her.

Slumped against the back wall of the shallow cave was a man with a deep stab wound in his thigh, leg cinched with a tourniquet. Elysia approached, touching her finger to his neck, finding a weak pulse.