My bones seemed to quiver after that impact.
My skull throbbed, and my senses were scrambled.
But I knew that standing still meant death.
The Dark Spider Queen was practically on top of me with her jaws wide open, drooling boiling venom onto the floor. The acidic smell burned my nostrils, and her roar shook the walls of the library.
Just when I thought I was going to die, one of my little skeletons leapt onto the Queen.
He grabbed a knife, raised it, and plunged the blade into the creature's back, just as I had done.
The second skeleton came right after, repeating the attack with its fists.
The Queen shook her body, trying to get rid of her small opponents, but they refused to relent.
This gave me space and time to recover from the blow.
My hands found the cold floor, and with a clumsy push, I got up.
My chest rose and fell at a frantic pace.
I could run away.
The path up the stairs was clear.
But running away wasn't part of the plan.
It was three against one—a perfect opportunity that I had planned myself.
This was my chance.
I had no weapon in my hand because my knife had fallen when I was thrown.
But I was not unprotected.
I looked ahead and kicked one of the Queen's front legs with all my strength.
A crack echoed like a dry branch breaking.
The leg bent at an abnormal angle and broke.
The Queen staggered, letting out a groan of pain and despair.
Her jaws opened again to bite me, for, unlike the skeletons on her back, I was within her reach.
I threw my body to the side just as her mouth snapped shut where I had been.
A crack reverberated through the room as her fangs pierced two steps of the marble staircase.
I was relieved that I hadn't been hit by the attack, but one of my small skeletons was hurled against the wall with brutal force thanks to the spider's sudden movement. It smashed into the middle of the staircase, its bones scattering on impact and then disappearing like mist.
[A Summon was destroyed by Dark Spider Queen.]
It was a shame, but better a summon than me.
As I stepped aside to dodge the monster's bite, I ended up with my lower back against the stair railing and a clear view of the path upward.
That's exactly what I did.
However, this time, instead of aiming for her rear, I took advantage of her leaned-forward position and wrapped my arms around the base of her head—a kind of neck hold.
My hands met at the end, and I held on with all my strength.
A classic rear naked choke. With this move, it didn't matter how much faster or stronger this monster was compared to me. I only had to outlast her.
Feeling the tightness of my arms, the Queen's legs slammed the ground several times, cracking the stones.
She bashed the wall, climbed the stairs, and then jumped off a ledge, doing everything she could to try to break free from me, but I kept squeezing.
It didn't matter if this thing was a monster. Without oxygen, no living creature could survive.
However, it seemed that this thing preferred to try to stay alive at all costs, even if it meant hurting itself. With so many sudden and strong movements, I began to hear crackling sounds. These were faint at first, but then they became louder, and I still couldn't understand what they were.
Then, when this thing turned to the side and I unconsciously put force on the other side, I heard a clear "CRECK".
[You have defeated a 'Dark Spider Queen (Rank E)'!]
[You have received +200 Soul Fragments!]
Yes, completely by accident, I ended up breaking the Dark Spider Queen's neck.
I knelt over the Dark Spider Queen, my chest heaving and my expression one of disbelief.
[You have completed the 'Mother of All (Rank E)' mission!]
[You have received +1 'Dark Spider Fur Cloak'!]
[You received +1500 EXP.]
[You received +100 Coins.]
[Congratulations! You have risen to level 3!]
With so many system notifications popping up, I looked at the small skeleton remaining and began to laugh with unrestrained joy.
Then, I picked up the small skeleton and began to spin it around.
After killing the Dark Spider Queen and celebrating a little, I had an idea.
I went back to the room where I had found her and started destroying all her eggs with the help of my little skeletons.
For every egg I destroyed, I earned 5 Soul Fragments.
It was less than killing fully grown Dark Spiders, but it was still easier than having to fight the dozens of Dark Spiders that could come out of that room.
In the end, eighty eggs were destroyed. That earned me 400 Soul Fragments. Adding that amount to the other 200 I received from killing the Dark Spider Queen, I had a total of 600 unused Soul Fragments.
At first, I thought about distributing this amount evenly among my Attributes, Levels, and Summons. However, when I was ready to raise my attribute points first, I realized the cost was a little different.
Previously, at level 1, I needed to spend 10 Soul Fragments to purchase each attribute point. However, now, at this level, I needed 15 Soul Fragments per point.
"I see... There is a certain balance to try to curb too much focus on purchasing attributes."
It was obvious that the stronger I got, the easier it would be for me to obtain Soul Fragments in large quantities. If the cost of attribute points remained constant, in a few months, I would be unstoppable without even having to level up that much.
"The question now is: did this increase in the price of attributes happen because I leveled up to Level 2?"
If the answer was yes, then I would just have to stay at a low level forever. That way, I could always buy attribute points and get stronger anyway.
The only way to test this hypothesis was by investing in leveling up instead of purchasing attributes.
[150 Soul Fragments have been converted to 1,500 Experience Points (EXP).]
[Congratulations! You have risen to Level 4!]
[Your HP has been completely restored.]
[Your MP has been completely restored.]
I took a look at my current attribute levels. From Level 2 to Level 3, five different attributes had been increased:
[Constitution 5 -> Constitution 6.]
[Speed 6 -> Speed 7.]
[Control 2 -> Control 3.]
[Dexterity 5 -> Dexterity 6.]
[Strength 8 -> Strength 9.]
Again, an increase of only 5 Attribute Points in total. That seemed to be the constant. In other words, each level gave me only 5 Attribute Points at a time, and from what I could tell, it was based on the attributes I used the most during the activities between one level and the next.
Since I hadn't done anything particularly different after defeating the Dark Spider Queen, when I leveled up to Level 4, the increase was one point for each of the same attributes as before.
'With the amount I spent to level up, I could have gained 10 attribute points instead of 5... Ah, I almost regret thinking of this test.'
When I checked the purchase price per attribute point, I noticed that the price was still 15 Soul Fragments. This confused me, but it made me realize that the price increase was not related to my level, but to something else.
So, I concluded that the increase was likely tied to the total number of attribute points purchased.
Maybe the more I bought, the more expensive they would become? It made enough sense to me.
I decided to test the idea by purchasing only one attribute point in Intelligence.
To my surprise, this time I was right. When I checked the price again, the price to buy another attribute point had increased to 16 Soul Fragments.
"In the end, I had to spend 165 Soul Fragments to understand how this system works, but at least I understand it now," I thought, with my hand on my chin.
I still had 435 Soul Fragments left to invest, but I decided to save them for now so I could consider my options more carefully later.
After all, in addition to focusing on myself, I also needed to think about how to make my Summons stronger.
So, when I took my attention away from those system screens, I looked around the room again and realized once more that there was an opportunity—a great opportunity.