Chapter 86 — Spoils of the Nest
For a while, no one said anything.
The cavern that had almost become their grave stood in heavy silence, broken only by the soft crackle of dying flames and the slow hiss of cooling ash. The Spider Boss was gone, reduced to drifting white embers that still glowed faintly across the broken stone. The swarm that had poured through the tunnel had retreated the moment their leader died, leaving behind hundreds of bodies scattered across the battlefield like discarded armor.
Peterson stood where he had landed, breathing slowly, the last traces of flame fading from the surface of his Veve Staff. The heat in his body had quieted, but it hadn't disappeared. It sat deep in his bones now, calm and waiting.
Naëlle was the first to move. She took one step toward him, then another, her legs trembling from exhaustion.
"You're late," she said again, softer this time.
Peterson looked at her, then at Jean-Daniel bleeding against the rocks, Wilkens barely standing with his daggers lowered, and Kemi staring at him like she had just watched someone break the rules of reality.
He gave a tired smile. "Yeah… I know."
Wilkens exhaled and finally let his shoulders drop. "Man, don't 'yeah I know' us. We almost got turned into cave decoration."
Jean-Daniel raised one hand weakly. "I personally would've made a beautiful decoration."
Naëlle turned sharply. "Daniel."
He lowered his hand. "Bad time?"
"Very bad time."
Kemi still hadn't moved. Her eyes were locked on Peterson's staff, then his face, then the ashes of the Spider Boss.
"So…" she said slowly. "He just does that?"
Wilkens glanced at Peterson, then at Jean-Daniel, then back at Kemi. "That's… complicated."
"Complicated how?" Kemi asked.
Jean-Daniel coughed, winced, then pointed at Peterson. "He's basically a walking problem with upgrades."
Peterson frowned. "That is the worst explanation you could've given."
"It's not wrong," Wilkens muttered.
Naëlle rubbed her forehead. "Can everyone stop talking for ten seconds before someone bleeds out?"
Jean-Daniel smiled weakly. "I think she means me."
"I do," Naëlle said, kneeling beside him. Water gathered around her hands, softer now, less aggressive than before. She didn't have much mana left, but she forced what little she had into a thin healing stream that wrapped around his chest and head. "Hold still."
"I am holding still."
"You're talking."
"That's different."
"Daniel."
He immediately closed his mouth.
Peterson turned away from them for a moment as the system opened in his vision. The golden interface returned, sharper than before, carrying the new weight of the upgraded system.
[Battle Contribution Calculating...]
He stilled.
[Spider Boss Defeated: +5,000 EXP]
[Swarm Elimination Calculated]
[E-Rank Spiders Defeated: +2,300 EXP]
[D-Rank Spiders Defeated: +1,800 EXP]
[C-Rank Spiders Defeated: +3,200 EXP]
[B-Rank Spiders Defeated: +6,060 EXP]
[Total EXP Gained: +18,360]
Peterson's eyes widened slightly.
Before the Spider Boss fell, he had been sitting at 6,640 EXP out of 25,000. The new scaling had made that number feel almost insulting, like the system had thrown him into a deeper ocean right after teaching him how to swim. But now the bar surged forward.
[EXP: 25,000 / 25,000]
[Level Up]
[Level 25 → Level 26]
[Remaining EXP Applied]
[Current EXP: 450 / 26,000]
A slow breath left his mouth.
"Finally."
Wilkens looked over. "System?"
Peterson nodded. "Level up."
Jean-Daniel weakly lifted a thumb. "Congratulations. Now use your new level to carry me."
Naëlle didn't look up from healing him. "Nobody is carrying you unless you stop talking."
Kemi's eyes narrowed. "Wait. System?"
The question landed a little too sharply.
Peterson glanced at Wilkens. Wilkens gave him a small look that said, *Yeah, she doesn't know.*
Peterson scratched the side of his head. "Right. That's… something we'll explain."
Kemi crossed her arms, though the movement looked forced from how tired she was. "You people have been saying that about everything since I met you."
Jean-Daniel mumbled, "Welcome to the group."
"I didn't join anything."
"You fought with us. That counts."
"That is not how membership works."
"It is during war."
Peterson almost laughed, but the system interrupted again.
[Level Reward Applied]
[+100 HP]
[+50 Stamina]
[+50 Magic]
[+5 Stat Points]
The familiar surge of growth moved through him, less dramatic than before but still clear. His muscles loosened. His lungs steadied. The exhaustion didn't vanish, but it became easier to carry.
Then another window unfolded.
[Summoning Skill Updated]
[New Summon Types Added]
Peterson focused as the list appeared.
[Summoning Skill]
* Clone
* Skeleton Warrior
* Skeleton Archer
* Skeleton Mage [New]
* Ant Soldiers [New]
* Spider Soldiers [New]
He stared at the list for a moment. The clone option remained there, but the clone itself was gone now, unsummoned after the fight with the Spider Boss. Peterson could still feel the faint echo of that presence somewhere inside the skill, but it wasn't active.
"A mage skeleton now?" Peterson muttered. "That's new."
Wilkens leaned closer. "What did you get?"
"Summoning updated. I got Skeleton Mage, Ant Soldiers, and Spider Soldiers added."
Jean-Daniel opened one eye. "So now you can summon the things we almost died fighting?"
"Basically."
Kemi took one step back. "I don't like how casually you said that."
Naëlle finally finished stabilizing Jean-Daniel enough for the moment and stood, wiping sweat from her forehead. "We can deal with that later. Right now, we need to deal with this."
She gestured across the cavern.
The battlefield was littered with crystals.
Some were small and pale, barely glowing under the dust. Others pulsed green, blue, and purple from between broken bodies and cracked stone. Near the deeper side of the chamber, two larger orange crystals gave off a heavier presence, their glow richer, more solid, more valuable. The sight was overwhelming.
Kemi blinked. "That's… a lot."
Jean-Daniel slowly turned his head. "Are we rich?"
Wilkens crouched and picked up a small white crystal. "Depends who we sell them to."
Naëlle gave him a look. "We are not selling everything."
"I didn't say everything."
Peterson stepped forward, scanning the battlefield. His system began identifying colors and rarity as his eyes passed over them.
Basic. Uncommon. Rare. Epic. Legendary.
No Demi-god tier.
No God tier.
Good. Those were supposed to be almost impossible.
Naëlle folded her arms. "How are we supposed to carry all this back?"
Jean-Daniel raised one hand from the ground. "I can carry two."
Kemi stared at him. "Only two?"
"I'm injured."
"You were trying to fight a giant spider boss five minutes ago."
"That was different. Fighting is heroic. Carrying crystals is labor."
Wilkens nodded thoughtfully. "He makes a terrible point, but I understand it."
Peterson looked across the cavern and sighed. "We'll take some back to the base by hand, but the rest can go into my storage."
Kemi turned to him. "Storage?"
"Spatial storage."
"How much can it hold?"
Peterson hesitated for half a second.
Naëlle answered for him. "A lot."
Peterson added, "Unlimited."
Kemi stared at him.
Then she looked at Wilkens.
Then Jean-Daniel.
Then Naëlle.
"Nobody thought to mention unlimited storage before we started talking about carrying rocks?"
Wilkens raised both hands. "I assumed you knew we were surrounded by nonsense."
"I did not know the nonsense had storage."
Jean-Daniel grinned. "It has storage, fire swords, clones, and bad timing."
Peterson pointed at him. "You're still bleeding. Don't get brave."
They started picking up crystals manually at first. It lasted less than three minutes before the reality of the task became obvious. There were too many. Crystals were tucked between corpses, buried under ash, scattered behind rocks, and wedged inside cracks from the shockwaves. Every time Peterson grabbed one, three more seemed to appear.
He straightened and rubbed his face. "This is taking forever."
Naëlle, who was kneeling beside a cluster of blue crystals, said, "Yes."
Kemi held up a green crystal between two fingers. "I swear this one feels sticky."
Wilkens glanced over. "That's because it came from inside a spider."
She dropped it immediately. "Why would you say that?"
"Because it's true."
"I didn't need truth. I needed comfort."
Peterson exhaled. "Alright. Nobody freak out."
Kemi immediately looked at him. "That is the worst thing to say before doing something."
"Yeah," Wilkens said. "You've got to stop opening with that."
Peterson ignored them and opened his summoning list. He selected the new summons carefully, avoiding the clone for now.
[Summon: 10 E-Rank Ant Soldiers]
[Summon: 10 E-Rank Spider Soldiers]
[Skeleton Warrior Summoned]
[Skeleton Archer Summoned]
[Skeleton Mage Summoned]
A pulse of dark-gold light spread over the cavern floor. Ten ant soldiers emerged first, each about the size of a medium dog, their bodies black and smooth with sharp mandibles twitching. Ten spider soldiers crawled out next, low and quick, their legs tapping against the stone in perfect rhythm. Then the three skeletons rose from the light: one with a chipped sword, one holding a bone bow, and one with faint blue fire glowing inside its ribcage.
[Magic Consumed: -130]
[Magic: 1,070 / 1,200]
Kemi screamed.
Not a battle cry.
A real scream.
"WHY WOULD YOU SUMMON MORE BUGS?"
Peterson raised both hands quickly. "They're mine!"
"That does not make them cute!"
The Skeleton Mage turned its glowing skull toward her.
Kemi pointed at it. "And that one looks like it knows secrets."
Jean-Daniel squinted. "It does look judgmental."
Wilkens studied the summons with genuine interest. "Can they follow collection commands?"
Peterson nodded. "That's the idea."
He gave the order.
The summons scattered across the cavern and began gathering crystals. The moment an ant picked up a white crystal, it vanished into Peterson's inventory. Then a spider soldier dragged a green one from under a corpse, and that vanished too. The skeletons worked more slowly but more deliberately, especially the mage, which used weak blue pulses to pull crystals out from tight cracks.
Then the notifications started.
[You have obtained a Basic Crystal]
[You have obtained an Uncommon Crystal]
[You have obtained a Basic Crystal]
[You have obtained a Rare Crystal]
[You have obtained a Basic Crystal]
Peterson's eye twitched.
"Oh no."
Naëlle looked over. "What?"
"The notifications."
More appeared.
[You have obtained a Basic Crystal]
[You have obtained a Basic Crystal]
[You have obtained an Uncommon Crystal]
Peterson closed his eyes. "I'm going to fight the system."
Wilkens smiled faintly. "You're going to fight your own system?"
"If it keeps saying basic crystal, yes."
Eventually, the interface adjusted.
[Crystal Storage Organized]
| Rarity | Quantity |
| :--- | :--- |
| Basic Crystals | 64 |
| Uncommon Crystals | 92 |
| Rare Crystals | 38 |
| Epic Crystals | 8 |
| Legendary Crystals | 2 |
| Demi-god tier Crystals | 0 |
| God tier Crystals | 0 |
Peterson relaxed slightly. "Better."
Naëlle walked closer, reading his expression. "What do we have?"
"Mostly basic and uncommon. Some rare. Eight epic. Two legendary."
Wilkens' eyes sharpened. "Two legendary?"
Kemi looked between them. "That's good?"
Naëlle nodded. "Legendary-tier crystals. Extremely rare."
Kemi slowly looked around the cavern again. "Okay. Maybe the bug nightmare was worth something."
Jean-Daniel groaned from the ground. "I would like my share delivered to me personally."
Peterson was about to respond when a new notification appeared.
[Spider Soldier Eliminated: 9/10]
He froze.
At first, he assumed one had been crushed under unstable stone or attacked by something left behind. Then another message followed.
[Spider Soldier Eliminated: 8/10]
His expression changed.
Wilkens noticed immediately. "What?"
Peterson lifted a hand slightly. "Wait."
[Ant Soldier Eliminated: 9/10]
Then another.
[Spider Soldier Eliminated: 7/10]
The air around them seemed to grow colder despite the leftover heat in the cavern. Peterson turned slowly toward the darker tunnel deeper inside the dungeon. No flames reached that far. No crystals glowed bright enough to break the darkness. The smell coming from that direction was different too—damp, metallic, and stale.
Something was down there.
Something killing his summons.
Peterson selected one remaining Ant Soldier and issued a silent command through the system.
*Hide.*
*Keep your antenna signal active.*
The ant immediately scuttled into a narrow crack along the tunnel wall and disappeared.
[Summon Tracking Available]
[Ant Soldier Signal: Active]
Peterson stared at the pulsing marker in his vision.
Naëlle stepped beside him. "Peterson?"
He didn't look away from the tunnel. "There's another boss."
The group went silent.
Kemi blinked slowly. "I'm sorry. Another what?"
"A boss," Peterson said. "Deeper inside the dungeon."
Jean-Daniel stared at the ceiling. "I just want everybody to know I hate this cave."
Wilkens' grip tightened around his daggers. "Your summons are dying down there?"
Peterson nodded. "Fast."
Naëlle looked toward the tunnel, her face serious. "Do you know what kind?"
"No," Peterson said. "Not yet."
Kemi rubbed both hands over her face. "So after spiders, ants, giant spider, giant ant, and whatever Peterson is… there is still something else?"
Peterson glanced at her. "Whatever Peterson is?"
"I said what I said."
Jean-Daniel weakly raised a hand. "For the record, I agree with Kemi."
Peterson sighed, then looked back toward the tunnel. The tracking signal continued to pulse softly in his vision, deeper in the dark.
"I'm not forcing anyone to go," Peterson said. "We already survived too much. We can take the crystals, go back to the base, and recover."
Naëlle watched him closely. "But?"
Peterson gave her a tired smile. "But if something down there is strong enough to quietly kill my summons while we're standing here, leaving it behind might be a problem."
Wilkens muttered, "That's the kind of sentence I hate because it makes sense."
Kemi pointed toward the dark tunnel. "Or we leave and make it tomorrow's problem."
Jean-Daniel nodded weakly. "I vote tomorrow."
Peterson looked at all of them. Injured. Exhausted. Low on mana. Still alive by a narrow margin.
He didn't blame them.
Not even a little.
"There's another boss deeper in this dungeon," he said quietly. "I can track one of my ants toward it, but I don't know what we're walking into."
The cavern settled into silence.
This time, it wasn't the relief of victory.
It was the weight of choice.
Peterson turned toward the darkness again.
"So… do we go deeper, or do we leave?"
No one answered right away.
Beyond the reach of the dying flames, the hidden tunnel waited.
And somewhere inside it, something continued moving.
End of Chapter 86