《Down the Deep Blue Hole》Volume 1 Chapter 18: Is anyone afraid of Spooders?
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You see, this sensor is a finicky thing. Hm? What sensor? Ah, backtrack backtrack. You see, just a while previously, I realized that I had a Designated Dungeon Companion. What's more is that she needed saving! Oh, this prince of justice will be riding on his steed to your rescue! Fret not, ma lady, for I am here! Your dungeon in shining..er... core is here! Hyahahaha!
*Ahem* So, for the serious note. Larvacks, get going! You see where I'm feeling it? Tunnel there? Ah, wait wait wait. I have yet to explain the sensor. Courtesy of our friendly bee dungeon, she had explained that once aware, dungeons are able to sense the general direction their companion is in. This does not matter whether the companion is designated or not, but the binding contracty magic thing must be made to do so. Well, since my companion is a designated one, there is no need and I can straight away sense her general direction. convenient right? Just the thing I needed to make my life easy. Haah~ Blue screen-san. You are such a nice...erm...screen...? Hm? Bee dungeon is missing?Where did she go? Ah, yes, while my larvakcs are going to focus on tunneling, she is going to mobilize her troops. Her fighting capability is still leagues beyond mine after all. Her troop control is better than the ant dungeon's after all. It would have been fatal for me if the dungeon was actually smart. Like, phew, really dodged the bullet back then.
"A little more to the left" Strange, her signals moving around... Come to think of it, I never really knew what kind of trouble she landed herself into huh. Well, judging from all the god-be-damned number of dungeons surrounding here it's probably a dungeon. *Sigh*, dungeons again. I hope negotiation is open. I don't want to fight. But no harming my companion ya here me? If you dare to touch her in any censored way, I will kill you okay? No touching my potential hare- *shiver*-I mean companion! Yes, companion. So please, bee dungeon, put away your imaginary knife! Don't castrate me! Wait, can I actually be.... what am I thinking of! Go away, thoughts!
"A little bit more to the left" This is the meme right? The kung fu panda meme. Now I just need a firework cannon and a peacock. Actually, that might be viable. Since peacocks lay eggs. Hmmm, I want chickens.....
*Crrk*Cruch*crumble*Rukmble*Munch* Ahhhhhh, the sound of larvacks eating the stone is indeed pleasing to the ear. So far, they have dug out a semicircle-ish tunnel, except the bottom being more rounded. Reminds me of a very very wierdly shaped upside down pear, or the larger part of a circle when you cut it into two. The larvacks have taken no breaks, since I have supplied them with manaleaves. Waste of resources? Pfft. I may be a hoarder, but I'm a hoarder who knows when to utilise his hoard properly you know? This close to a year old dungeon is smart you know? But still, I have not encountered any dungeons at all in the vicinity huh. My hypothesis must have been correct, or part of it.
Hypothesis: A large number of dungeon "spawn" at around the same time. Then, as they expand, they start to meet other dungeons. They either battle it out or they negotiate and achieve the most favourable outcome. Soon, the weak dungeons will be weeded out and the strongest remain. Since killing other dungeons also give massive benefits, the dungeon who is most combat oriented will end up the strongest. Judging from the stories I read in the past, this also means that those adventurer humans will also be easily dispatched, since the dungeon is strong. Darwin-sama, you are truly amazing. The Law of Natural Selection is applicable to even dungeons as well. Scary.
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Even so, I must have been one of the latest to spawn huh, judging from the fact that so far all of the dungeons are leaps beyond me in strength. Bee lady is an exception. It was from her stories of dungeons who invaded her and got trashed. She may have been a dungeon of an earlier generation or simply one of the earliest to spawn. No, thinking properly....bah, forget it. I'm not a scientist anyway. ... .... ... ... ... ... ... ... Wait I am!!!!! Well, I'm too lazy anyway.
"Some more to the left" Oh, I feel it now. I'm definitely getting close. Very close.I do hope this dungeon is a rational one. I have no desire to fight, but if need be, I shall unleash the full power of Zhu Ge Liang-sama. Of Sun Ze. Behold, my reincarnation cheat!
"Break time. Rest well. Prepare for the battle to come" Ah, well, it wasn't like I was actually talking(no vocal cords), just simply conveying my so called orders. It was something bee dungeon taught me on the fly. The method to convey commands. It was rather useful, though my previous method was not flawed as well. It appears that my previous method was more suited for higher intelligence creatures/monsters. By the way, intelligence is not equal to wisdom. But that shall be a story for a later date. For now, we rest. In case the dungeon is another battle maniac, we need all the energy we can get. So you heard me boys, eat up. Honey, manaberries, eveything. My treat. Just...Not the manaleaves. We need them for tommorow. Hmmm, maybe I should get a larva who only feeds on manaleaves......gehehehe.................
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Come to think of it......how did bee lady even know I had a designated companion.... Meh, whatever.
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*rumble*crumble*krackle*
My, that is one looooooooooong tunnel. Its almost a quater of a meter across and it goes on for literally four meters. Four. In a day. Yes, they were buffed(sort of) but still. Man, evolution is scary. I wonder if I could make some man-eating worm thing that can swallow a house whole. Or one of those worms from Magic the Gathering. Those sound really cool.....
Either way, let's send an Envoy Request to this dungeon, I guess.
Envoy Request Sent!
Great! Now we simply have to wait. Please do not reject, please do not reject.
Envoy Rejected! Now commencing default Dungeon Battle (Deathmatch). Grace Period: 0s Now starting Dungeon Battle! Battle Start!
........ famous last words......
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Although, of course, since it was an instant battle, there wasn't enough time for the swarming tactic huh. So, this is the true guerilla warfare. Go me!
So, a quick desciption of the enemy dungeon. Hmmmmm. Its a very dark cave.... No sh*t sherlock! Do a better description me! Ah, yes me. The cave is pear shaped(somewhat), about 15 meters long and 4 meters wide, 3 meters tall. A splendid and empty cave. Yup it's empt-That's not right! How the hell is the monsters supposed to live if there is nothing in the cave. And where are the monsters, it should not be empty. No, wait, hold on. This must be it, active camouflaging. Like my parasite. I have to be real careful then, and I have just the thing for it. Fuehehehehe...... The long awaited action for the stealthy parasite will begin now. Hm? Yeah yeah, I know. Last fight you did very little. Honestly, I wasn't confident that you could make it out unscathed but this time, I am pretty confident. Death mana, is, after all, really strong. My assasin, be strong will you? Sneak in and give us the report! Meanwhile, let's get our logistics sorted, prep some traps and check on the status of our dear bee dungeon friend. This will be a true test for my ability in attrition battles. I should also have a more equal footing now. Yeap, this dungeon will not lose!
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Still, this is rather boring. I have already gone on an imagiary beach chair with an imaginary parasol sipping an imaginary glass of lemonade. My companion is in some serious trouble right now but...... if I don't have enough information, it will be akin to charging to my death you know? I don't want to die 5 days before my birthday. The demon days, was it? From egyptian mythology. Meh, who cares. It's probably wrong. Ah, you've returned! So how was it?
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We have a serious issue. The enemy cannot be spotted. I have no idea how but the enemy managed to evade our dear parasite's search. I would love to smoke them out but time is running short. I do not have enough time and resources to develop fire and a smokable plant. This is a crisis. The bees are still mobilizing, I will have to resort to a dangerous tactic if i do wish to reveal the identity of my enemy. Firstly, I took a toxic larva and bled it. Then mix the blood with the goop that is barfed up by the glue larvas. Then, spread the goo onto a militarvae and send it in. Alone. Of course, not too far out. And it will be holding onto a vine(cleverly disguised with the help of the cleaners' black concoction) so that we can pull it back at a moments notice. So in it went and happily walked around for quite some time. Seeing that nothing happened, it munched on a leaf. Then walked in further. Then munch on a leaf again. Then further, and further, then BAM!
Like lightning it came, so fast that even I, a proud FPS gamer, had difficulties seeing. I mean, it was not like I wasn't paying attention, I blame it on my weakened reflexes but still, it was pretty fast if I do say so myself. A spider.
A pitch black spider(thanks to minimal night vision we are able to determine colour. huzzah to logic) that came and pounced onto the militarvae. However, that was its demise. The militarvae that I had put under spartan training will not be fazed by such a simple surprise attack. It was a wonderful attempt, and had shown the intelligence of the enemy dungeon. A clappa for you, my good sir. But not good enough.
In that split second, the bait militarva dodged the pounce, curled into a ball(sort of) and stuck out all its spikes. Next, a quick and skillful tossing motion of the vine(the largots who threw stones the previous battle) launched the militarva away from the spider and up into the air. We were small creatures, but we pack quite the punch. With a hearty *smack*, the militarva lodged its spikes into the spider, thanks to gravity. The paralysing poison(toxic blood) flowed through the bloodstream of the spider. It hurridly attempted to shake off the larva but it could not. Looks like the glue had did its job well. You won't be running away from this one. As if sleepy, the spider's movements slowed down and slumped to a crawl. It appears that the poison had taken its full effect. With a silent battle cry, the larvae swarmed that one spider and dragged it back into the tunnel. It was then transported to be stored into my inventory. Then, the bait militarva went out again. This techinique worked for three more times before no matter how far it went(as far as the vine allows), the spiders do not come. Either way, now I know of what the type of dungeon the enemy is now. Spiders huh.... I wonder if spooderman exists. Shooting webs and saving pretty girls. Just imagine the harem you would have. Of course, you have to wear a cape of a spider that is labeled as "Spooderman" isn't that right? right?
Well, now that it has come to this, we can safely determine that the enemy is indeed strong and intelligent. The ant guy was just a wall of pure muscle but this time, the enemy is smart. Well, I don't think enough, because my cute(subject to change) companion is being held by you. I want her back. It's your fault, I was willing to compromise, but no no no, you had to reject it. Well, gehehehe.
COMMENCE THE RAID!!!!!!!!
All hands at the ready! Bring in the front line! Dig the trenches! Clear the spiders! Take them on in a team of two! One poison one mili! Set up the vines(barbed wire)! Current formation will be the skirmish! Get theeeeem!
And oh boy did the spiders swarm. They surged. I mean, yeah defend your home, I did that too, but your techiniques are sloppy. I mean, seriously. In which world does a spider use its legs and not its fangs to attack. Hello? Compared to my larvae who fought life and death battles, you are lukewarm. You may be smart, but you are rigid. You are not flexible and you cannot change your techniques. That is your failure. Whee, all those chuunibyou worthy novels I read, they didn't go to waste.
Slowly, but surely, over the course of hours, we were gaining territory. 2 militarvae and 2 toxic larvae had to leave the front lines due to being injured. I really needed a healer huh. My temporary first aid through using mana can only do so much. But then, came the closer.
Honey~ Hold on tight! I'm coming!
Yup, the bees are here. My tunnel was suddenly flooded and numerous bees came through the entrance. Cleaning up the rest of the camouflaged spiders was a piece of cake. One sting and they're gone. Ok, the bees didn't actually sting. They would die if they did. You know, basic biology. Just a couple of bites and the spiders were ripped apart. Still, the same. The bees were sloppy. Yes, their flight was very fluid, I can't find major error but the fighting, I want to throw up. There are so many openings. Oh well. We could always do something at a later date. Right now, we had air superiority and a severe numerical advantage. Our troop quality was top *cough* notch and we had a ready supply of food and medicine. Things were looking on the bright side. ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Touch wood.
Yup, I didn't forget it this time, alright. Still, we cleared out this cave rather fast huh. Oh well, let's take a break and rest, while we find the entrance to the other parts of the dungeon. Or we could just dig through the walls. I can feel my companion only a few meters away. Hmmmmm, it's suspicious you know. There were more spider carcasses than the floor could hold(when they were alive), so there is defnitely a secret passage somewhere. Or just a covered tunnel. I mean, it's literally pitch black here you know.
Well, on with the tapping method. Tap the walls and hear for sounds made by a hollow portion in the wall. So, instead of a *thuck*thuck* you would be hearing a *thonk*thonk* sound. Pretty useful information, I bet. Oh, looks like we found it. It was hidden by spider webs, very poorly made too. Haah, spiders are monsters with so much potential and you go wasting them like that.
So we must charge through, for the time is running out! My companion, hang in there! Ooooouuuuuu!
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"Hey, is it just me or...."
"No, its not just you......."
"Then why is.........."
"Filthy........."
"So that's where all its efforts went to.........."
"Unforgivable........to do this to darling's-"
Yup. Apparently dungeons have fetishes. Nope, I'm not joking around. I mean, look!
WHY THE HELL IS MY COMPANION GAGGED, BLINDFOLDED AND TIED UP(shibari style) IN A FREAKING SPIDER WEB. I would like to go into the details myself as a kindred spirit but........ this is absolutely.....
"Kill"(bee dungeon)
"I agree"
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