Chapter 76: Stripping Them Down to Their Birthday Suits!

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Stripping Them Down to Their Birthday Suits!

The fight was over faster than the spiders but tighter than expected, mostly because of the narrow bridge, leftover webbing and everyone slightly worn well except Lucien, but he didn’t decide to spoil their fun.

The shield-bearer shoved Kael toward the edge. He caught himself with a gauntlet, twisted, and threw the man clean onto the platform behind him.

Rika disarmed the swordsman in three exchanges. Vex’s arrows outpaced the archer entirely.

Zalor’s shadows faltered under the mage’s flame, so Lucien seized the last of the spider’s blood-soaked silk instead, yanking it taut to bind the mage’s legs mid-cast.

The fight ended fast and decisively.

Rika’s blade rested at the swordsman’s throat. "Drop your weapons."

He hesitated.

Lucien’s scythe settled against his neck from the other side. "I’d listen."

He dropped it.

"You attacked us for loot," Rika said, furious.

"We were only—"

"Robbing us," Vex finished.

"You should be grateful," Lucien added.

The man glared. "For what?"

"That you found us instead of someone less patient."

Rika ordered them to leave everything they had even their clothes and scram as they complied without argument, well if they wanted to keep their lives, that’s all they could do.

"What do you even want their clothes for?" Kael asked staring at Rika weirdly, as various thoughts came to mind.

"Don’t think stupid stuff, it was just a warning."

They reached the descent to Floor Five a few hours later.

"We’re close," Rika said, and everyone relaxed slightly.

The staircase down spiraled through the trunk of an enormous crimson tree, black-red wood steps disappearing into the dark.

"Finally," Kael said, dropping onto a root. "Done with the pain-in-the-ass floor where the monsters have too many legs than needed."

"You say that like the eight legs was the actual problem," Vex said.

"It was absolutely the problem."

"You nearly had youbass torn off by a spider," Zalor pointed out.

"That was a tactical bite, also why do they keep going for it?"

"We’re resting," Rika announced, cutting through it. "Three to four hours, we’re not walking into a boss room poisoned and bleeding."

Kael dropped flat immediately. "I support the captain’s wisdom."

They found a hollow beneath a massive root system nearby, which formed natural walls and a single narrow entrance, far enough off the main path that other groups wouldn’t stumble across them by accident.

Vex checked for traps while Rika and Zalor scouted the perimeter, and Lucien got the cooking going while the rest set up the concealment plate and detection crystal.

Dinner turned out to be roasted Bloodfang Weaver leg meat, surprisingly tender once properly seasoned, paired with the last of their bread and a simple broth.

"This tastes like it shouldn’t come from something with eight eyes," Kael said, mouth full.

"Don’t think about the eyes," Lucien said.

"Too late."

"Eat anyway."

He did.

Once everyone settled, Rika spread a cloth across the ground and began dividing the haul from Floors Three and Four, mana cores, silk, fangs, chitin plates, hide, glands, all sorted into five roughly equal piles, as they each took a part.

"I’m going to cultivate for a while," Lucien announced.

"You always say that right before disappearing," Kael said.

"Perhaps I enjoy solitude."

"Or perhaps you’re hiding something," Vex said.

Lucien gave him a wounded look. "Vex. I’m hurt you’d accuse me of such a thing."

"You’re not hurt."

"Emotionally, I am."

He slipped deeper into the roots, found a small hollow, and activated a concealment plate, the faint veil muffling sound and suppressing his presence.

He pulled out the compressed spider candies, a substantial haul, given the creatures’ size, and started working through them methodically.

[Chitin Plating (Uncommon) — Lv.2 → Lv.6]

[Slightly increases skin durability, improving resistance to slashing and piercing attacks.]

"So I’m becoming slightly harder to stab," he murmured. "Not useless."

[Sticky Situation (Uncommon) — Lv.2 → Lv.7]

[Allows the user to produce a small amount of durable, mana-infused silk directly from the body.]

’Repairing torn clothes. Improvised traps. Binding enemies without touching my own blood reserves.’

"This could actually be quite useful, hopefully it doesn’t come out feom my backside."

[Wallgrip (Uncommon) — Lv.2 → Lv.7]

He looked at his own palm. "Excellent, I can now become a very dangerous wall decoration, maybe even sleep hanging upside down?"

[Eight-Point Focus (Rare) — Lv.3 → Lv.6]

[Upgrades your brain’s processing power and spatial awareness to act like a mental radar, letting you track eight targets at once and instantly sensing hidden attacks from your sides or back before they hit you.]

He didn’t gain extra eyes, but his mind suddenly forcefully expanded, it felt as if a heavy, invisible fog had been lifted from the back of his skull.

"Phew, no extra eyes today," he wiped the imaginary sweat of his forehead, "but this trait is definitely the best so far, from the spiders."

[Threadstep (Uncommon) — Lv.7]

[Instinctively adjusts movement on thin surfaces, threads, ropes, or unstable terrain.]

"Might pair well with the scythes," he thought aloud.

[Silk sense (Uncommon) — Lv.3 → Lv.7]

[Improves spatial awareness within areas covered by the user’s silk or blood threads.]

"A poor man’s detection array." He paused. "A very sticky detection array."

Then, finally after consuming most of the candies.

[Blood Sacrifice (Rare) — Lv.1]

[Converts and burns the user’s blood into an energy for a short burst of physical strength, speed, and regeneration, using this strains the body severely. One-time use trait.]

His expression sobered.

’Temporary enhancement and regeneration in one package, its like a cheap Crucible Overdrive but it would be quite dangerous when stacked with Crucible Overdrive.’

’Saving this one, not wasting it on a random fight.’

He finished the remaining candies, gathering levels, Enhanced Limb Precision, Chitin Plating, etc, before pulling up the full list.

"I have officially become more spider than vampire, maybe slime the most from the mama Conductive body." he muttered.

He immediately rejected the thought. "No. Absolutely not, I refuse to hang upside down from ceilings, or become a helpless jelly, onky fated to to splattered."

"...Although hanging upside down would be excellent for ambushes."

With that finished, he pulled up the Wife Status tab on the system.

[Aurelia Astrax.]

[Race: Demon (Asura)]

[Age: 25]

[Rank: A (Beginner)]

[Bond: Partner — 97%]

[Current State:

Mana Core destroyed.(52% → 7%)

Mana Veins shattered.(53% → 4%)

Cannot cultivate until mana veins and core are fully recovered.]

Lucien stared at the number. ’Four percent left.’

’She’s almost there.’ He pictured her first thought once fully healed, probably gratitude then maybe a challenge.

’She even recovered till A Rank, though not anywhere near her previous SS Rank.’

’She’s definitely going to punch something or someone.’

His smile faded slightly. ’And when Dravik finds out she’s recovered completely...’

’The entire Astrax family is going to regret ever crippling her.’

His eyes drifted to the bond number again. ’Ninety-seven, three more.’

’Would a hundred unlock something? A new bond tier with higher multipliers? Some kind of ability or reward? Maybe the system will finally acknowledge what an excellent husband I am.’

A pause.

’Probably not the last one.’ He thought moving to the next page.

[Seraphina Lilith.]

[Race: Demon (Succubus)]

[Age: 23]

[Rank: D (Peak)]

[Bond: Partner — 89%]

[Current state:

Bloodline rejection.

Cannot cultivate any further.

Focused on alchemy.]

’Probably brewing another potion that glows ominously.’ He pictured her makeshift lab, cauldrons bubbling dangerously, Seraphina apologizing to one mid-explosion.

’I should get her more ingredients when I’m back.’

’Eighty-nine, not bad.’ He considered his options. ’Maybe more compliments.’

Another thought surfaced.

’Or let her feed me one of her experimental potions.’

’No. Compliments are safer.’ He decided moving to the next one.

[Evelisse Noctis.]

[Race: Half Human/Half Fallen Angel]

[Age: 21]

[Rank: E (Peak)]

[Bond: Partner — 84%]

[Current State:

Healthy.

Focused on cultivation (through Lucien’s snack blackmail)

Focused on eating delicious foods

Might be addicted to those Rare Snacks.]

He blinked. "Peak E-Rank?"

’So snack bribery really is the answer.’ He pictured her cultivating with a bag of chips balanced on her knee, one chip per completed cycle.

’I may have accidentally discovered the most effective cultivation method in existence.’

’Eighty-four percent, it’s the lowest of the three.’ He thought about her tsundere insistence that none of this mattered while she almost certainly saved him the last snack anyway.

’At least she’s improving.’

’Ninety-seven. Eighty-nine. Eighty-four.’

’Could a hundred unlock something new? A wife slot? A permanent bonus? Or some divine reward?’

He closed the interface.

’Knowing my luck, reaching a hundred percent probably just unlocks a new debt or something.’

He checked his stored cultivation progress, seven months, patient and untouched.

’Save it for the boss chamber. Denser mana there, probably. More efficient than here.’

He returned to camp, where Rika was already assigning watches.

"First watch, Vex and Zalor. Second, Me and Lucien. Third, Kael and Zalor. Sorry Zalor, but can’t leave Kael alone, otherwise we’d all wake up in the afterlife."

"No worries, it’s safer like this." Zalor said.

Lucien volunteered instantly for second as it was best, sat down, closed his eyes, and was asleep within seconds.

"You’re supposed to stand watch next, so don’t sleep too deep" Vex said

"And Kael, make sure to stay awake on your watch and not fall asleep like last time." Rika said.

"I will and if my eyes do close, know that I’m standing watch spiritually."

"And if you’re lying down too?"

"Then my spirit is standing."

Rika sighed and didn’t bother arguing.

Deeper in the dungeon, on Floor Five, Adrian Valemont wiped blood from his silver longsword.

Behind him, the corpse of the Bloodveil Matriarch, nearly fifteen meters wingtip to wingtip, wings torn, fangs shattered, cooled slowly against the dungeon’s floor.