Random Portals

“Sirus, what you are telling us is simply impossible. There is no way anyone could have control over the Spider Queen. Much less have tamed her to be their servant!”

“I understand. That is why…”

“Silence! Do not interrupt Elder Vasuki while he is speaking!”

“It is quite alright,“ Elder Vasuki said in a calmly manner, “please continue captain Sirus.”

Sirus noticed the glares the other Elders were giving Vasuki. But he just lowered his head and pretended not to notice.

“I have brought some drones to confirm this and maybe shed some light on the situation. Also,” Sirus hesitantly continued, “Nevateb herself nearly killed me when I tried to explain that Steven... Im sorry Shirem, was one of us. She said he was obviously a human with a domain touched by the divine.”

“This again!” Another Elder started.

“Silence!” Elder Vasuki said. “Please bring in the drones so that we may speak with them.”

“At once.” Sirus said as he bowed in respect.

Sirus brought the drones in, then joined the guards to the side of the room. It was easy for him, as he once had this very job. That’s how he knew the Elders were acting a bit off. Elder Vasuki use to never have to rein in the other Elders. Something was going on, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. He would have to arrange a meeting with the Elder guard this evening to see if they had noticed anything off.

Sirus just listened as the Elders questioned the drones.

“Who do you serve exactly?” An Elder asked.

“We serve our Queen, and in extension Steven Odling, who is our King.”

Several gasps and murmurs echoed out.

They were just as confused as Sirus had been when he watched the Queen bow down and become the humans servant.

“Well, if that is the case, then you also serve us. Steven, as you call him, is one of our subjects!”

Elder Vasuki looked over in confusion at the Elder that had just spoke. But before he had a chance to reprimand the Elder for speaking out of term, the drones went berserk.

“How dare you!” One drone said. While throwing a poisonous dart at the Elder that spoke.

“Our King serves no one!” Another drone shouted as he shot webs at the Elder. The third pulled out a dagger and charged. Sirus had not been ready and was too slow to stop the dart or webs, but he stopped the dagger wielding drone with a bone cage, followed by trapping the others in similar bone cages. The Elder that had been targeted fell unconscious to the floor from the poison, arms trapped to the sides by webs. Chaos quickly turned into confusion as the Elder turned into a human wearing a white robe.

The next moment, three more of the Elders turned human, all wearing the same robes.

“Looks like the gig is up. Kill Vasuki!” One of the robbed men said. Two naga guards began rushing at Elder Vasuki. Sirus began shouting orders while releasing the drones from their cages. Bone spikes flew directly at the two Naga guards charging at Elder Vasuki only for a white barrier to block his attack. However, the impact was strong enough to knock the would be attackers into the wall. Both Naga turned human, wearing matching white robes. The actual Elder guard quickly made it to Elder Vasuki's side. More guards poured in, a bright flash of light, and suddenly all the humans were gone. Every Elder in the room was dead aside from Elder Vasuki. Who looked as though he was going to have a stroke from all the excitement.

Steven pulled up his stat page.

{Stats*} {Equipment} {Shards} {Inventory}

Level- 11

Available Attribute ~0

Essence- 15837

Essence required for next level 2067

HP ~ 72

Stamina ~ 40

Mana ~ 173

Poise ~ 0

Vitality ~ 7

Endurance ~ 4

Strength ~ 4

Dexterity ~ 11

Resistance ~ 7

Spirit ~ 13

Basic Stealth -

15% less likely to be noticed while in stealth.

15% noise reduction while in stealth.

20% more damage when attacking in stealth.

“Well, it’s looking pretty good,” Steven said with a wide grin, “now to spend all that hard earned essence.” Steven was only able to get to level twelve before a ball of pink light popped up in front of him.

“Hold it right there. You absolutely can not level without your familiar present! I have insights you must have. There are no and, ifs, or buts.”

“Uh, okay. I mean, if you have information that will help me, I’m definitely willing to listen. I’m kinda just winging it after all.”

“Master as a level seventy Queen I think I may also be of assistance.”

“Absolutely not! You plan on eating me!”

“But master! Please, I want you to be as strong as possible for our children.”

Steven narrowed his eyes. “Children? We don’t have any children!”

“Yet.” Nevateb muttered.

“What was that?” Steven asked.

“Nothing Master, I will make sure no one disturbs you.” The spider Queen lowered her head and left the hidden room.

“You realize she is going to eat you and make drones from your essence, right?” Silvia said.

“Is that why she wants to eat me?”

“Spider Queens don’t actually have any control over that. Once they mate with someone, they become enraged and devour their mate. It’s really just in their nature. They are monsters! Since you have a domain, your essence will create drones much stronger than normal, not to mention stronger princesses.”

“But I haven’t mated with her. Why does she want to eat me?”

“If I was to guess, she will force you to mate with her and then create over powered offspring the likes this world has never seen.”

It took Steven a long moment to process what the wisp said. At least he was safe till he reached level one hundred. Shaking his head, he told Silvia they needed to get leveling. After Steven took a couple of hits, he opened his stat page.

“Okay, what’s the plan here?” Silvia asked.

“Well, I was going to use all my essence and see how many attribute points I have to work with before I started spending them.”

“Well, what’s the holdup? Get to it.”

Steven narrowed his eyes at the Wisp. “You’re the hold up! You told me to wait.”

“Oh yeah, well, you don’t need to wait for that. I wasn’t aware you could level up without having to spend your attribute points.”

Steven just rolled his eyes and looked at his stat page. “Dam, it cost so much essence to level up now!”

“Yea! Thats kind of how it works. Most don’t level up several times in a row. Ive actually never seen anyone level as quickly as you do.”

“Even so, I’m not going to get as many levels as I would like.” Steven complained.

He then began spending essence to level, but it wasn't long before he ran out of essence.

“Dam, I was really hoping to get to level twenty! Looks like seventeen will be as high as I can get on this floor.”

{Stats*} {Equipment} {Shards} {Inventory}

Level- 17

Available Attribute ~6

Essence- 1208

Essence required for next level 3041

HP ~ 72

Stamina ~ 40

Mana ~ 173

Poise ~ 0

Vitality ~ 7

Endurance ~ 4

Strength ~ 4

Dexterity ~ 11

Resistance ~ 7

Spirit ~ 13

Basic Stealth -

15% less likely to be noticed while in stealth.

15% noise reduction while in stealth.

20% more damage when attacking in stealth.

“This is still good. We can work with this. Though we really need to sure up some of those weaknesses,” Silvia said. “Your strength and endurance are horrible.”

“Wait, you can see my stat page?”

“Yes, of course, we are soul bound. Ive mentioned it before. Now your stat page is similar to Sorin’s, so I should be able to help you. Lets see vitality governs your hit points so you definitely want to put some points there. And… Oh, my! Your stamina is worse than I first thought! You have to place points into your Endurance!”

“Wait! Do you know what level Sorin is?”

Silvia’s light faded a bit. “Yes.”

“Well, what is it?” Steven asked.

“I wouldn’t worry yourself with that right now!”

“Just tell me! I need to know how much I need to level.”

The Wisp somehow sighed, even though she didn’t have lungs. “He is level fifty six with four shards.”

“Only four shards?”

“Yes, only four shards and he is also three times your level.” Silvia said.

“But why only four shards?”

“Like I’ve told you, shards are extremely hard to find. And that’s why you should use the one you have!”

“Okay, okay. I’ll consider it. But first I need to use my attribute points.”

“You realize you get a boost to your attributes when you use shards, right?”

“I’m aware! Do you know what attributes will get boosted if I use that undeath shard?”

“No, I do not. It’s always different and seemingly random from what the Wisps can tell. Even so, is it not smarter to use the shard first, then use your attribute points? I assume your goal at the moment is to use that over powered spear you somehow looted.”

“Yes. And I do agree, but I really don’t want to use an Undead shard.”

“Does it really matter if you die in here? We don’t always get to do what we want when we are trying to survive.”

For some reason, Steven felt that was directed at him, but before he could speak, the spider Queen spoke.

“Master, sorry for the intrusion but, if I may speak.”

Steven glanced at Nev. That human form of hers was overly attractive, and he was finding it hard to get upset about her interrupting his leveling. He wished she would put on some clothes that weren’t so provocative. It was difficult to focus on other things when she was around. Changing into clothes that didn’t turn him on seemed to be the only order she continued to ignore.

“Yes, you may speak.” Steven tried not to think about the fact he had a beautiful woman asking him if she was allowed to speak, and had to remind himself that she was actually a terrifying spider Queen that would someday eat him.

“I couldn’t help but overhear that you don’t want to use the Undeath shard. I have an alternative option. If Master is interested.”

Steven wasn’t sure how she was able to overhear them talk when she had been out of the room. Also how did she even get back in here without him noticing?

Silvia turned to the Spider queen. “You have a shard you’re offering?”

“I do indeed. I’m sorry, I would have mentioned it earlier, but I wasn’t aware Master had reached level twenty and could absorb his second shard.”

“I haven’t reached level twenty?”

“What? But you already have a shard and can only absorb a shard every ten levels. Or is this different for Domain holders?” Nev asked, wide eyed.

“Oh yeah, I don’t know how I didn’t notice before,” Silvia said. “You should only be able to absorb a shard every ten levels. Are you sure you can absorb one now?”

Steven opened his inventory and pulled out the Undeath shard.

Absorb Shard of Undeath Yes/No?

Selecting no Steven closed the prompt. “Yes, it seems I can absorb one ever since I reached level ten.”

“Master, I am unsure how you can absorb another shard, but I recommend using a shard as soon as possible. It will greatly increase your survival rate in this dungeon.”

“I’m not sure either. Maybe it’s because I’m from another world.”

“Ive been meaning to ask about that. How did you arrive in this world?” Nev asked.

“Your getting off topic.” Silvia said. “What shard do you have?”

Nevateb looked slightly irritated, but continued anyway. “It’s the greatest of all the shards, it’s called, Shard of Arachnid Royalty. I was planning on giving it to one of my daughters. But you are my Master and your survival is much more important than any of my offspring.”

Steven was starting to think the seductive look she continued to give him was just her normal face. But he didn’t care. No way in hell would he be sleeping with the spider Queen. Although if she wouldn’t eat him… Steven shook his head.

“And you’re just going to give him a shard so rare?” Silvia asked in a hotty tone.

“Of course! I am nothing but Master Odling’s loyal servant!”

“That plans on eating me! How do I know this shard won’t make me serve you or something?”

Nev gasped, as if that was the greatest sin imaginable. “Are you not aware of the changes your Wisp made to the oath?”

“Actually, no?” Steven turned to the Wisp, who was pretending to not pay attention.

“It’s why it took me so long to accept I had to read over all the changes, but as they only had your best interest in mind, I accepted all but one.”

“Wait! You two were negotiating the oath? I wasn’t even aware that was possible! Why wasn’t I informed about this?”

“I’m sorry Master, I was not aware you were not informed. I assumed the wisp was negotiating on your behalf.” Nevateb said sweetly.

“You’re not the one I’m upset with.” Steven glared at the Wisp.

“That’s wonderful Master. I’m so glad you’re not…”

“Oh, shush Nev. And Silvia! Stop pretending to not pay attention! Why did you not inform me of this?”

“Master Odling, I was…” Silvia started.

“Don’t master me! Just tell me why!” Steven seen a wicked smile fall over the spider Queens face. He would have to deal with that later.

“Honestly, I was afraid you would leave her wiggle room to take advantage of you,” Silvia said as her light shown just a bit brighter, “and my fate is now tied with yours more than you know,” the pink ball of light grew brighter as she spoke, “so if little miss spider Queen wanted to pretend to play loyal servant I was going to make sure she didn’t have a choice in the matter.”

There was a brief pause of awkward silence before Nevateb spoke up.

“Master, In your familiar’s defense, I wasn’t planning on playing the loyal servant the entire time of the oath. I am a max level spider Queen after all,” Nev said sweetly, “but when your familiar didn’t leave me with any other options, I decided what was a few decades of servitude if I could be the first spider Queen to break past level seventy so I accepted.”

“I figured the loyal servant was all an act. But why tell me?” Steven asked.

“Master,” Nev bowed, “If I may pose a question.”

Steven rolled his eyes. “Go on.” She was really playing into this servant thing.

“Does it really matter if I am acting or not? If I have no other option than to be your loyal servant for the duration of our pact, then what is the difference?”

“And what is the punishment if you don’t? You just lose half your levels and eat me, anyway!”

“Actually, she can’t! If she doesn’t obey you to the best of her ability till the oath has ended, she dies.” Silvia said proudly.

Steven thought about that for a moment. That was basically a slave, and he didn’t know how he felt about that.

“So a slave, basically?” Steven asked, a bit irritated.

“Yes! Isn’t it great!” Silvia said, glowing so brightly Steven could see the flecks of green in her pink.

He was just about to say something when Nevateb spoke up. “It is quite great indeed. Master has no reason at all to not trust me. I couldn’t have done it without you, so I want to thank you, Silviaburlaxatrix. I am more than grateful to be Master Odling’s slave!”

“Hey! You’re not supposed to be happy about it!” Silvia protested, “though I am impressed you got my name right. But that doesn’t change the fact you’re a conniving spider Queen that only cares about your own gain!”

“True, but one that can do nothing against Master’s will, thanks to you! It’s actually quite freeing. I think I’m going to enjoy not being the one in charge for a while. If I’m being honest, the thought of someone else telling me what to do is quite exhilarating. For the last century every one has been groveling at my feet, this is a nice change.”

Steven ignored the pair as they bickered. He wondered how old this spider Queen was. If she ruled the swamp for the last century, then she had to be over a hundred years old. Steven just shook his head. He was confused about most of what was happening anyway, and that was just one more thing to be curious about. One thing he did know was the Queen was cunning. He would have to keep an eye on her.

Steven couldn’t help but overhear the pair bicker while he looked over his stat page. He did his best to tune them out.

If he used all six attribute points he had, he would still only be at ten strength, and he needed it to be eleven if he was going to use the spear.

“Nev?”

The spider Queen stopped talking immediately, and turned her complete attention to Steven.

“Yes Master?”

“Do you have the shard on you?”

“No, I’m sorry Master. It is in my nest. It is also trapped and I’ll have to be the one to go get it, unfortunately the drones would not survive.”

“Okay, that’s fine. Also, how strong are your webs?” Steven asked.