8 New Companion
In front of Mark, who was standing proudly at the back of the terminal, was a well organized row of supplies. Shelves that were taken from the shop were used to keep everything stored neatly.
"Great work everyone! I feel like I can head out without worries now." Mark said, smiling widely.
"You really planning on heading out alone kid?" Rick asked with a worried tone.
"Yeah, I'm just going to check things out tomorrow. With all the monsters inhabiting their own territories, it's slightly easier to maneuver around." Mark said as he grabbed one of the chargers from the shelf and patted Rick on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, I won't bite off more than I can chew." Mark comforted the concerned dwarf.
"Alright kid, just be careful..." Rick said watching Mark's back as he sauntered away.
After a long day of work, Mark returned to the supply closet. He had cleaned it up a bit during the day, along with the little girl who wanted to continue to sleep near him. Mark plugged his dead phone into the outlet on the wall and began surfing the net as he lay on his 'bed'.
"Lots of people going crazy on social media right now." Mark commented, as he looked through all the posts. The original posts of happy people on vacation, or selfies, was now replaced with the horrors of the apocalypse. People were sharing their stories and images of the chaos, trying to process such a surreal situation.
"Everyone is just as confused, scared, and sorrowful as the people here." Clye said watching through Mark.
"I hope most people learn to acclimate fast, this new world won't wait." Mark sighed and put his phone down, closing his eyes to rest.
...
The next morning, Mark opened his eyes to a pleasant surprise. His Core Density had progressed to fourteen percent, giving him another point in his spirit.
"What a great thing to wake up to." Mark said as he stretched out and did a light exercise to limber up.
"Big bro, do you plan on going out to fight the monsters today?" The little girl asked groggily as she rubbed her eyes.
"I do... I need to get strong to keep everyone safe!" Mark said as he flexed a bicep and patted it with his hand.
"Be careful... please..." The little girl said with teary eyes.
Mark patted her head to reassure her. "I'll do my best, don't worry." He soothingly said as he stood up and made his way to the door.
After breakfast was over, everyone got to work. Many people formed teams and headed out to collect baggage for clothes, and Mark headed to the first of the territories near them.
Quietly approaching, he used inspect on the creatures before him.
{Inspect}
{Creature: Kobold
Core Density: Hollow
Mana Circuit: Beginner (Stage 1)
Info: Bipedal dog demons, quick witted with fast reflexes. Their canines and claws are extremely sharp, and they have a strong pack mentality.}
Seeing the information, Mark counted their numbers. After counting more than twenty, he planned to leave. Just as he was turning around, he noticed a spider that was sleeping on its web. A stray kobold noticed the web as well, and began tearing it down.
The spider woke up, seemingly enraged and began firing webs at the kobold.
At first Mark believed that it was a pointless endeavor, but soon he noticed the kobold was moving slower and appeared to be getting exhausted.
Peaking Mark's interest, he quickly used inspect on the spider.
{Inspect}
{Creature: Orchard Orb Weaver
Core Density: Hollow
Mana Circuit: Beginner (Stage 1)
Innate Talent: [Web Drain]
Info: A spider that managed to adapt to mana, gaining intelligence. Its talent allows it to drain the health, mana, and stamina from creatures touching its web. Absorbed energy can be transferred to itself or allies through contact with the web.}
Seeing the spider's talent, as well as its intelligence, Mark immediately dove in to save it from the pack of kobolds that were angered by their friend's state.
Jumping in front of the little spider, Mark finished off the kobold that was weakened with a stab in the eye, before preparing to take on the others.
"Hey there little spider, it looked like you could use some help!" Mark turned to look at the spider slightly, before returning his gaze to the approaching group.
The spider stood there stunned for a moment, before quickly grasping the situation and climbing up Mark's leg. It stopped on his shoulder and rubbed its front legs together before Mark received a notification from the system.
{Name: Orchard Orb Weaver wishes to form a party with you, accept? (Y/N)}
Seeing the notification, Mark widened his eyes in surprise. He felt a tingle on his neck as the spider tried to snap him out of his daze. He shook his head and accepted.
{Party}
{Members: (2/5)
Name: Mark Tellin
Health: 10/ 10
Mana: 10/ 10
Name: Orb Weaver Spider
Health: 10/ 10
Mana: 10/ 10
}
"Whew... Alright let's do this!" Mark said, as he coated his sword and slashed at the first kobold to reach him. A thin line appeared on its neck as it clutched its throat and collapsed.
The kobolds began to howl, seeing two of their pack dead in just a few seconds. They charged over and surrounded Mark instantly. Cold sweat appeared on his forehead as he looked around and decided to be proactive.
"Little spider, use your webs and help me recharge my mana, I'm going to need it if we want to get out of this." After speaking, Mark dove in and began slicing at the kobolds, taking a few down.
Unfortunately with numbers on their side, Mark couldn't remain uninjured. He was constantly being cut up by the kobold's sharp nails. One lucky kobold managed to sink its fangs into Mark's thigh, slowing him down and making him groan in pain.
Seeing its savior being injured, the little spider immediately flung threads of silk at nearby kobolds, connecting them to Mark.
Clye wasn't still either, firing a mana bolt that was slightly bigger than yesterday right into the eye of the biting kobold, killing it.
Some of the webs were cut off by the kobolds, but the ones that weren't were feeding into Mark, quickly healing him.
At a speed visible to the naked eye, the gushing wound on his thigh closed up and scabbed over. Mark was shocked seeing this, thanking the little spider. He quickly got back to action and slashed at the rest of the kobolds one by one, killing them slowly.
Finally after what felt like an eternity, Mark collapsed on the ground panting. His stamina was nearly full, thanks to the spider, but his mental energy was drained.
Mark stood up after a short while and looked at the green and yellow spider, who had gone over to its destroyed web, lamenting at its hard work that went down the drain.
Mark chuckled a little seeing this, and walked over to the spider, crouching down to get closer to it.
"Hey, I know this can't make up for you losing your home, but I have a base I'm setting up and you can come make a new nest there if you wish. I can promise you that no one will mess with your webs. Also, I think we make a pretty good team! I'd love to have you join me." Mark laid out all his cards, nervously waiting for the spider's answer.
After a short while, the spider crawled over to Mark, who lowered his hand and allowed it to crawl up. All smiles, Mark said to the spider, "I promise you won't regret this! Welcome to the team!" The little spider rubbed its front legs together in response.
Mark looked at the kobolds, and after deliberating for a bit, he bent over and began collecting the finger nails of the creatures, storing them in a side compartment of his bag.
'Without anything better, we'll probably have to get used to using monster parts as ingredients, armor, and weapons from now on." Mark cringed, not used to harvesting parts of creatures.
Whenever he went hunting with his father, it was a learning experience for him. He was taught how to dismantle game, but never had to personally do it, since his dad never forced him.
"If dad is okay, I really have to thank him for everything that he taught me. I wouldn't have been nearly as well off as I am if he didn't." Mark frowned, worrying about his family's wellbeing.
"I have to say your father really did do a good job. You know rudimentary combat techniques, strategies, hunting, and a bunch of other stuff." Clye chimed in, once again amazed at Mark's skillset.
"It was hard growing up, especially without a mother. Dad was always super strict about me learning all I could from school and from him." After these last couple days, Marks view on how he was raised began to change. He used to be somewhat annoyed about his father's strictness during his childhood. Now all he could do was to hope to get the chance to thank him.
...
After collecting everything and making his way back to base, he was met with gasps and anger when everyone noticed his disheveled and bloody state. Especially the little girl who began reprimanding him with tears flowing down her face.
"I'm sorry, but look I'm all healed now thanks to our new friend!" Mark said as he pointed at the little spider on his shoulder.
Hearing this many people looked at the spider in confusion, and some even looked slightly afraid.
Mark, noticing this quickly explained, "This little guy is just as smart as us, please treat it with respect. I decided to add it to my team as well, since we worked together so great during our battle."
"What do you mean, just as smart as us? A mere spider as intelligent as me? What a joke!" The pompous elf that caused issues yesterday spoke up, complaining once again.
"You know, I tolerated your attitude yesterday as it was just some insults towards me, but if you continue, I will forcefully kick you out. I don't care if the others try to stop me." Mark's eyes narrowed as he patted his sword.
Quickly shutting up, the elf backed away. The others looked at her with slight contempt, knowing full well she would be screwed if she continued.
"Anyways, I'd recommend all of you to get rid of those pre-conceived notions and biases from the 'old world'. Any creature that resisted mutation received intelligence and a talent, and all those monsters out there..." Mark paused for a moment, pointing out the nearby window.
"They'll also gain intelligence at some point." Mark side-eyed the elf, before taking the little girl's hand, motioning to Rick, and walking away to the supply closet.
