When Lu Tiechen returned to Spider Cave, considerably more players had gathered near the entrance.
Unlike his first visit, a number of players in the beginner village had now reached Level 4 or 5.
The rabbit and wolf areas near the village were packed, and the wild dog area was filling up, too. Bolder players naturally began exploring higher-level zones.
Spider Cave was one of them.
Level 7 monsters.
Poison.
Narrow cave passages.
That information had already spread across the forums.
But greater danger often meant better experience and better drops.
Some parties always believed their teamwork was solid and their equipment decent enough to give it a try.
They soon learned that higher-level monsters in Age of the Ancient Gods had more than just larger Health pools.
Several players sat outside the cave recovering Health, each looking more miserable than the last.
"What kind of spiders spit poison and webs?"
"I got caught less than a minute after going in."
"Antidotes cost too much. Go without them and you die. Bring them and you lose money."
"We can't even clear the entrance. Forget the depths."
Lu Tiechen walked past without stopping.
He was better prepared this time.
Five Basic Antidotes.
Three Basic Health Potions.
His Glimmer Iron Sword was repaired.
His Blackmarked Forging Hammer was placed where he could reach it most easily.
More importantly, his inventory held the Spiderweave Irongrip Gloves he still couldn't equip.
Level 5.
Just one more level.
Lu Tiechen checked his experience bar.
He wasn't far from Level 5.
Spider Cave offered plenty of experience. A steady stretch of grinding should get him there soon.
He entered the cave.
The damp, sickly-sweet smell washed over him again.
There seemed to be even more webs on the walls than last time. Layers of white silk nearly blocked half the passage in places.
He drew his Glimmer Iron Sword, cut through the strands in his way, and moved on.
Before long, the familiar rustling sounded overhead.
[Lv.7 Venommarked Spider]
A spider pounced from the ceiling.
This time, Lu Tiechen didn't step back to study it.
He already knew how these monsters moved.
Before landing, a Venommarked Spider drew its front legs inward and lowered its abdomen. If its mouthparts opened slightly after landing, it was about to spit venom. If its abdomen swelled, a web was more likely.
This one was preparing venom.
Lu Tiechen sidestepped.
Pale green liquid skimmed his shoulder and hit the wall with a faint, corrosive hiss.
At the same moment, his Glimmer Iron Sword swept out.
Thwack!
The edge cut into a leg joint on the spider's left side.
-39!
[Glimmer effect activated.]
[Weak-Point Armor Penetration]
The spider buckled to one side, its movements immediately slowing.
Lu Tiechen stepped in and drove his second strike into its underside.
-46!
It struggled briefly, then dissolved into motes of light.
[You have killed a Venommarked Spider.]
[Higher-level kill. Experience reward increased.]
[You have gained: 68 Experience Points.]
[You have obtained: Venommarked Spider Silk.]
Lu Tiechen collected the material and continued deeper.
A second spider.
A third.
A fourth.
He fought steadily.
He neither panicked at the sight of a Level 7 monster nor got greedy for extra hits.
Each time, he identified its next attack, then targeted the weak points at its leg joints and abdomen.
If poisoned, he immediately opened some distance.
If silk caught him, he cut it away.
Half an hour later, the sixth Venommarked Spider fell.
White light rose around Lu Tiechen.
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 5.]
[Health +20]
[Attack +1]
[Defense +1]
[You have gained: 2 Unallocated Attribute Points.]
He moved beside a relatively clean patch of wall and opened his panel.
[Character: Lu Tiechen]
[Level: 5]
[Health: 210/210]
[Attack: 20–27]
[Defense: 10]
[Strength: 6]
[Agility: 0]
[Constitution: 0]
[Spirit: 0]
[Forging Stability: 8]
[Unallocated Attribute Points: 2]
He didn't spend the points immediately.
The previous six had all gone into Strength. These two could wait.
Once he understood how forging depended on each attribute, he could decide then.
Lu Tiechen took out the Spiderweave Irongrip Gloves.
[Spiderweave Irongrip Gloves]
[Quality: Uncommon (Green)]
[Equipment Slot: Gloves]
[Required Level: 5]
[Strength +2]
[Agility +1]
[Forging Stability +5]
[Durability: 50/50]
[Additional Effect: Spiderweave Grip] Attack Speed +5%, Forging Stability +5.
[Additional Effect: Minor Poison Resistance] Poison damage over time -10%.
[Equip?]
Lu Tiechen confirmed.
Black-gray gloves covered his hands.
The outer plates fitted snugly over the backs of his hands, leaving room at the joints. The spiderweave across his palms was fine and supple.
When he clenched his fists, nothing felt stiff. Instead, the gloves seemed to draw the strength of his fingers and palms together.
[You have equipped Spiderweave Irongrip Gloves.]
He grasped the Glimmer Iron Sword.
The difference was immediate.
The handle rested securely against his palm without the slightest slipping. The spiderweave seemed to bite into the grip, making his movements steadier and faster.
He tried the Blackmarked Forging Hammer next.
Even its heavy handle felt easier to control.
The base stats gave Forging Stability +5.
The additional effect gave another +5.
These gloves provided a total of 10 Forging Stability.
Lu Tiechen's eyes brightened.
This was the equipment he needed.
Not just for fighting monsters.
For working iron, too.
Soon, another Venommarked Spider crawled from a crevice.
This time, Lu Tiechen switched to the Blackmarked Forging Hammer instead of attacking with his sword.
The moment it pounced, he sidestepped and swung the black hammer across it.
Thud!
The hammerhead smashed into its back shell.
-34!
[Blunt Strike effect activated.]
[Damage against shelled targets +10%.]
A faint crack came from the spider's back. All eight legs stiffened at once.
It wasn't merely damage.
It was structural disruption.
Lu Tiechen immediately understood the hammer's value.
A sword was suited to cutting into weak points.
A hammer was suited to breaking shells.
Against a shelled monster like the Venommarked Spider, the hammer might not kill faster than the Glimmer Iron Sword, but it could throw the creature's movements out of alignment.
In forging, a single blow could alter the stresses inside an iron blank.
In combat, a single blow could likewise disrupt the structures a monster used to move.
The spider was about to spit venom when Lu Tiechen switched back to his sword. While it was still stiff, he thrust into its abdomen.
-52!
The spider fell.
Lu Tiechen glanced at his hands.
The equipment's effects were obvious.
A 5% increase in Attack Speed didn't sound like much, but in close combat, it was enough to let him strike a fraction earlier.
Minor Poison Resistance gave him more room for error as well.
As long as he wasn't swarmed continuously, these spiders were much less threatening than before.
He continued deeper into the cave.
Soon, confused shouts came from ahead.
"Back! Get out!"
"I'm webbed!"
"Antidotes! Who still has antidotes?"
"Forget me! Make some room first!"
Lu Tiechen stopped.
The voices came from a fork a little way inside the cave's entrance.
Rounding a web, he saw a five-person party retreating in disarray.
Two Venommarked Spiders blocked the passage, one wounded and one at full Health.
The party included a Shield Warrior, an Archer, a Mage, and a healer, but their coordination had clearly collapsed.
The Shield Warrior was poisoned and slowed, his shield coated in silk.
The Archer had one foot caught in a web and was desperately pulling at it.
The healer was pale, clearly almost out of Mana.
The Mage hurled a fireball in a panic. It hit the wall and knocked loose only a few bits of stone.
"We're done! I can't hold them!"
The full-Health spider leaped toward the trapped Archer.
The Archer's face drained of color.
At that moment, a heavy black hammer crashed in from the side.
Thud!
The blow knocked the spider off course, cracking its back shell.
-36!
[Blunt Strike effect activated.]
When it landed, its eight legs tangled for a moment.
Lu Tiechen didn't stop.
The hammer went away. The Glimmer Iron Sword came out.
Its edge flashed across a leg joint.
-41!
[Glimmer effect activated.]
[Weak-Point Armor Penetration]
The spider had barely turned before its vulnerable abdomen was exposed.
Lu Tiechen stepped forward and thrust.
-53!
A large chunk vanished from its Health bar.
The five-person party stared.
"Who is that?"
"That damage..."
"He's alone?"
Lu Tiechen didn't answer.
The two spiders were blocking the passage, and their materials were useful.
Since he had found them, there was no reason to let them go.
The wounded spider tried to spit a web.
Seeing its abdomen swell, Lu Tiechen sidestepped early and angled his sword upward, redirecting the silk onto the wall.
Then he switched to the hammer and struck.
Thud!
-33!
The spider lurched sideways.
Lu Tiechen switched back to finish it with his sword.
-47!
The first spider collapsed.
[You have killed a Venommarked Spider.]
[You have gained: 51 Experience Points.]
The party had already damaged this one, so they received part of the experience.
Lu Tiechen didn't mind.
He turned toward the other spider.
The one that had started at full Health was already lunging again.
Before, he might have had to carefully draw out the exchange.
Now, with his Spiderweave Irongrip Gloves, his sword was faster and his grip steadier.
The spider missed its pounce.
Lu Tiechen cut twice at the same leg joint.
-39!
-42!
His third strike pierced its abdomen.
-55!
The spider gave a dying cry and fell.
[You have killed a Venommarked Spider.]
[Higher-level kill. Experience reward increased.]
[You have gained: 68 Experience Points.]
[You have obtained: Venommarked Spider Silk.]
Silence returned to the cave.
The five players stood watching Lu Tiechen collect the dropped materials. For a while, nobody spoke.
Finally, the Shield Warrior broke the silence.
"Thanks, man."
Lu Tiechen shook his head.
"No need."
His tone was matter-of-fact.
The Shield Warrior was about to say more when the Archer suddenly stared at Lu Tiechen's face, as if remembering something.
"Wait. I've seen you before."
He pointed, sounding unsure.
"Aren't you the guy who sold the white sword at the village entrance?"
Everyone's expression changed.
"The white sword?"
"That Level 1 white weapon that sold for 1 Gold Coin?"
"Isn't he a Blacksmith?"
The Mage looked at where the spiders had just disappeared, then at Lu Tiechen's sword and hammer. He couldn't help asking,
"A Blacksmith can fight like that?"
The question silenced them for a moment.
As far as they knew, players with Life Professions were supposed to stay in the village grinding proficiency.
Hunting monsters, leveling, and killing bosses were jobs for combat players.
Yet Lu Tiechen had just handled two Level 7 Venommarked Spiders alone, more steadily than their entire party.
Especially the way he switched between hammer and sword.
The hammer broke the shell.
The sword cut into the weak points.
He looked less like an ordinary combat player than someone treating monsters as materials that happened to move.
Lu Tiechen put away his Glimmer Iron Sword and prepared to continue.
The Shield Warrior hurried to stop him. "Don't go any farther, man."
Lu Tiechen paused.
"Why?"
The Shield Warrior looked uneasy.
"A boss spawned in there."
Lu Tiechen's gaze shifted.
"A boss?"
The healer nodded, still sounding shaken.
"We didn't come to grind ordinary spiders. We took a gathering quest to collect Spider-Venom Herb. We'd barely reached the entrance when we heard people shouting that a boss had spawned deep inside."
The Mage added, "Some kind of spider boss, apparently. Not an ordinary Venommarked Spider Guard. People wanted to take a look, but they couldn't even get past the poison spiders at the entrance."
The Archer gave a rueful smile.
"Forget the boss. Most people can't even get into the cave. We thought we'd try, and nearly wiped."
Lu Tiechen looked into the depths.
Webs overlapped in the darkness, where faint scuttling sounds echoed.
A boss.
Deep inside Spider Cave.
If there really was a boss, it meant more experience, better materials, and perhaps equipment drops.
More importantly, spider materials were useful to him.
Silk, venom sacs, and carapaces could all be forged into special equipment.
What could he make from boss materials?
Seeing him stay silent, the Shield Warrior couldn't help warning him again.
"Don't get carried away. You're strong, sure, but it's chaos in there. Several parties are stuck near the entrance, and nobody dares push farther."
Lu Tiechen nodded.
"Got it."
But he didn't turn to leave.
He tightened his grip on the Glimmer Iron Sword and headed deeper instead.
The five-person party stood frozen.
The Mage opened his mouth.
"He's really going?"
Watching Lu Tiechen's back, the Archer murmured,
"I'm starting to believe it."
"Believe what?" the healer asked.
The Archer swallowed.
"Maybe a Blacksmith really can fight like that."