There is No Epic Loot Here, Only Puns

82: Jack & Delta go down a tunnel

Her brave Adventurers were not exactly... in perfect shape to take on an undead horde. Having just faced off against an army of spiders, Delta's frogs needed some time to catch their breath. Not that Rale would admit to being at anything less than 100%.

Jack, who was something called a "Kobold" according to Nu, stayed resting near her core. The first 'proper' rest the guy had gotten in 20... or 40 years. Delta wanted to pretend she was expecting a trap or distrusted the Kobold but she didn't.

Jack sounded quite insane... and very lonely. He rambled on about undead, bombs, eating bones, and licking walls... but he refused to stop talking. He almost seemed a little needy for any ounce of conversation.

How long had he been underground?

Delta let him sleep as Renny stood guard. The Mime was still wary of the lizard but after a couple of quick words... the Mime just gave Jack odd looks.

Another victim of the Silence... a brother in arms in some ways.

So...with nothing else to do and definitely not dwelling on her dream, Delta did what she did best.

Make things better by making them worse.

The empty room beyond the Circus had been her focus until the Spiders attacked. Now, the only evidence of that was the glowing egg in her tunnel... well, at least that was what Delta hoped. If anything survived above then that would just be annoying.

Imagine if the town had seen her make a little mess and got angry or something? She might die from the embarrassment!

She pushed that thought aside to focus on the lone room that now curved to meet the new Spider Tunnel. The room here still had some of the Spider Queen's purple tinge, but it was aimless and docile. Delta tapped her chin as she sat on empty air to think.

If this was to be a shortcut via combat... then this room had to be a defence from the strong but not the smart. That only made sense.

Some sort of puzzle room... should it be spider themed or something? Delta had Mana and DP to spare, really.

Nu hadn't lied about the Third Floor and the Egg draining the excess.

Her Mana was now maxed at 200 and her DP was near the 800s.

It was insane and so much was open to Delta. She shook that idea off for a moment, getting lost in what she could do compared to what she wanted was just asking for trouble. She eyed the open room and made a giant gate of solid iron bars, spending a little more mana to add thick vines interwoven through the fence like gate to add some more weight to the whole thing.

She focused and a growth of metal and Mana bubbled at the centre of the gate, forming a spider with eight limbs made of metal. The top of which was still within reach of an average person. Delta grinned as she manipulated the next part with careful intent.

Each limb of the spider filled out with a spinning password lock. Eight passwords needed to bypass the lock and Delta spent 2 Mana a piece to set the passwords.

Cois
Numb
Billy
Fran
Hob
Gob
Maestro
Bacon

Each limb needed one of these names. Some limbs shrunk as their passwords were shorter and some grew as their names were bigger. If people wanted quick access to the second floor, then they damn well better know who they were skipping and not giving proper respect to. Delta focused and pulled up the menu of her efforts.

Web of Friends Gate.
Those who know friends, speak their names. Or else.

Double the gate's resistance to physical attacks. 10 DP
Make dummy passwords such as 'power' or 'Dungeon' to cause various effects to happen (Effects drawn from current Dungeon items. Honey... feather... goblin spit) 20 DP
Let the gate give clues with the Guardian's approval 3 DP
Allow second floor Monster names to be slipped in if invaders have knowledge of the passwords. 40 DP
Allow gate to be opened by the Guardian if alive and befriended by invaders 1 DP
Allows the Metal Spider to come alive if too many failed password attempts are given and gives it the ability to zap invaders unconscious. Also, allows the rebirth of the Guardian. 35 DP

Delta pursed her lips.

She pretended to cough as she dragged her finger down the list as if by accident.

The menu went blank and the gate become a dark iron gate covered in ivy as a spider with actual ruby eyes glared down at approchers. It looked so life-like...

Delta had to remind herself that it could be.

She floated down the tunnel and watched as Cois poked the giant egg.

"- make you into a giant omelet! I missed the fight and you go and die before I can show off!" he growled. The fire loving goblin poked his staff harder and the egg pulsed as one side seemed to bulge as the Queen inside moved.

"Stop that, this is a new being. She can't be held accountable for her previous life or how much of a horrid mother she was," Delta chided. Cois, to his credit, didn't jump at her voice.

"I guess but is she just gonna sleep there all day?!" he demanded as if offended by the 'laziness' of the egg.

Delta was about to comment when the egg wobbled as it drained just a tad more Mana and glowed orange. The egg shook from side to side for a long moment.

All that excess Mana the egg had taken had really sped things up.

Cois looked heavenwards as the egg split in half and a flood of birth yolk and goo covered his form. Delta covered her mouth in horror but Cois stood frozen on the spot as a tiny form fell to the ground.

The spider had a human torso and eight spindly legs that took a long moment to gain its' balance. Delta peered closely with interest.

"Queenie?" she called.

The form turned slowly and bright orange eyes blinked at Delta, then Cois. The spider legs scuttled forward.

"Papa... Cois!" the young boy beamed. Cois looked like the spider boy had just pulled his heart out in a painful manner.

"Spider... goo... slimey," he croaked. The Spider boy blinked.

"Not goo. I am Queenie," the boy declared proudly.

Delta watched as the young thing turned to her form shyly.

"You're...Momma? No... burning... Grandma Delta!" the boy beamed. Delta felt like the damn creature had just shot her in the kneecaps.

"G-grandma?" Delta blustered. Cois choked.

"Papa?" Cois screamed on the inside. Queenie the boy spider merely hummed as he examined his new land.

All hail Queen 'Queenie' the boy Arachne. Delta had no idea how to explain it but as Cois tried to free himself while cursing, the young child giggled and echoed his rude words, Delta knew she would break whoever hurt her sweet spider child.

She needed Muffet over here ASAP.

---

Her group was ready for war but Delta was too busy watching as Muffet slowly taught Quee, the shortened name for Queenie, how to form webs and how to use his eight legs... Quee constantly turned his head to make sure his Papa Cois was watching.

Not that Cois had any choice... being webbed to the wall after all. He had tried to escape but Quee cried and Delta's frosty glare had sent the goblin sulking back. Muffet turned out to be a good aunt and excellent teacher on all things spider.

Before long Quee had learned to make a web, dance, drink tea, and even look slightly noble. Some of those were definitely related to spiders. Another thing he could do was manipulate darkness, as they found out after some testing. His power was strongest when the sun set, Sis confirmed this.