TAKE ON ME [Survival LITRPG Apocalypse]

Bo blinked away a momentary bout of dizziness.

"New spells, everyone!" Loo's excited voice rang off the stone walls.

"Ohhh baby," Amber said, a grin spreading across her face.

Loo leaned around Bo. "What'd you get, Amber?" She bounced on her toes. "I got [Summon Mana Coral]!"

Amber's grin widened. "Oh, just more stabby stuff. I have [Slaughter], a killing stroke to demoralize surrounding enemies and . . . another spell."

"What spell?"

"Shhh!" Amber checked to make sure Tom was out of earshot. "Okay, fine. My new [Flair] skill is called [Thrill]. It increases damage based on how precarious a position I'm in. I guess the riskier the stunt, the harder I hit."

Loo's eyes widened. "Dad's gonna freak."

Yep.

Bo sighed. He wanted to talk to Tom, but Tom was still crumpled against the wall with red and inflamed eyes.

He didn't mean to blow up on Tom like that. What he had said was true, but—as Hana had already pointed out to him—he didn't have to be such a loud jerk about it. Especially in front of the kids. Bo sighed again.

That'll have to wait.

Bo checked his own spells, though he wasn't expecting much.

His [Bard] spell was a passive ability called [Stage Presence]. If he played a song well enough, he would become so compelling that all eyes would be drawn to him boosting his own power and causing the enemies' spells or attacks to possibly miss.

A self buff and an enemy debuff, I guess that's not bad.

His [Sound Track] spell was [Thematic Fit], which had to be triggered by his song choice. If his song choice and intention fit the situation they were in, then the spell would trigger and give stacking boosts to his other spells.

Another self buff, at least these don't add to the embarrassment.

Bo walked away from Loo and Amber, toward the far wall of the cavern. He poked the end of his staff into the roots, where he had seen the blue portal—and the magical camera sticking through it—during the Boss battle. His heart sped up as he searched for the chest he hoped Epic had left them. He dropped down to a knee and ran his hands along the rough bark wall.

"Dammit," he muttered, finding nothing but flakes of cobweb and specks of dirt. He had seen Epic, plain as day. "Did anyone else see Epic during the fight? Am I in the right spot?"

Hana approached him. "I saw the blue camera too. This looks like the right area. But, before the fight ended, he shrugged and left."

Bo ran his fingers through his beard. "He was watching us, but I don't see a chest here this time."

Chloe walked over and joined them. "Maybe we weren't epic enough? What if we didn't make the cut for his 'universal highlight reel?'" She held up her hands in air quotes.

"Besides the scary moment with the Spider hair, the fight kinda sucked and was hella boring," Amber said with a shrug. "At least for me." She idly twirled one of her knives.

Tess crossed her arms. "You mean it was clean, and efficient, with no unnecessary risks. If only the rest of the Dungeon had gone so well."

Bo continued his search. He climbed over sticky piles of branches and peered into dark crevices. He combed every inch of the cavern.

"There's nothing here but the Matriarch's chest," he growled, tearing at a cobweb, "Fucker, why didn't he leave us any loot? I'm sure we could have used it! It could've been something good."

Stolen novel; please report.

What did we do wrong? What did we miss out on?

The thought gnawed at him.

"Maybe Chloe is right," Bo said with effort. "What if we missed out because we were too lame?"

Amber's eyes lit up. "Next time, I'll make it more exciting. A few backflips, maybe scale the walls—"

"No!" barked Tom from the floor. "You already forget about your solo trip in the trees?"

His eyes didn't seem to be healing. Kate was inspecting the swollen skin; she plucked a stray hair from his eyelid.

"You better not, Amber." Tess's tone was sharp. "We're not here to put on a show. We're here to survive and protect our people."

Bo sighed, and tugged at his beard. "Tess is right, but I don't think Amber is wrong either. Maybe we can do both. If he shows up again, we make it Epic. Somehow."

Kate plucked a hair from Tom's tear duct.

Tom swore.

Bo coughed. "Well, do we want to open the chest?" His voice was gruff.

"Oooh, the chest!" said Loo.

Bo knelt before the ornate Bronze-capped container. With a grunt, he heaved the lid open.

"More blueprints," Bo said. He rummaged through them. "Weird."

"What is it?" Amber leaned in.

Bo pulled out his sheet of parchment. "They're all the same . . . for [Basic] level shoe sole inserts?"

The group gathered around, and took it in turns to grab their blueprint from the chest. Each blueprint was tailored to its owner's specific abilities.

Tom—his eyes normal-size but still pink and waterlogged—was the last to retrieve his parchment. He squinted at it, then held it up. "Mine is for stability."

"Mine is for speed," said Amber.

Bo huffed at his blueprint. "This is just confirming what Chloe already figured out about swapping ingredients. We already know this stuff! We could have made all of these items eventually with just one example blueprint. What a waste." He kicked a nearby root.

"Well, only sort of a waste," Chloe said, studying her blueprint. "I think the value is in the possibilities presented here. Yes, we would have eventually figured out how to make some of these, but a lot of these call for ingredients we would've maybe never looked for, which means we're probably not realizing the benefits of other possible ingredients out there. Plus, did any of us ever think to make magical shoe inserts? What else can we make that we're missing? Magical coat liners? Backpack straps?"

"Enchanted socks!" Loo said

"All right, good point," said Bo. "I just was hoping for something more tangible." He sighed. "Let's start gathering the rest of the loot."

They spread out to explore the cavern.

"Hey!" Richard called. "I'm sensing something over here. It feels dangerous, but not like the traps."

"Tom, can you clear those webs?" Bo asked.

Tom carefully peeled back layers of sticky silk, revealing a small alcove. Inside, nestled together, were three tiny creatures.

"Are those . . . baby Wolf Spiders?" Bo asked.

Loo squealed with delight. "Oh my God, they're so cute!"

The Wolf-Spider hybrids whimpered in their sleep, their furry bodies twitching.

"There's a blueprint here too," Tom said. He grimaced as he reached around the Spiders to pull out another piece of parchment. "Construction blueprint for a [Basic Spider Den]."

Bo's mind raced with possibilities. "Richard, go grab Ellen. We might be able to use these."

Richard grumbled but complied, developing a brand-new limp as he left to find the [Tamer].

"You know, I bet we left undiscovered treasure in the Headless Dungeon too," said Loo, "since we didn't have Richard's detection skills."

Bo's jaw clenched, and irritation bubbled up inside him. Loo was probably right. The thought of missed opportunities chewed his insides.

He forced a tight smile. "You might be onto something, Loo. We'll have to be more thorough next time."

How many resources had they left behind? How many advantages had they lost?

Eventually, Richard's complaints became audible again. He stepped into the cavern with Ellen in tow, who was brushing strands of webbing from her worn jeans. Her eyes widened when they fell on the Wolf Spider babies.

"Three of them," she breathed. She knelt by the nest. "Two with normal eyes, but this big one . . . eight eyes."

"The Boss was a Spider Matriarch, and she had eight eyes," said Bo. "I'd bet the big one is the female."

Ellen reached out, her hand hovering over the largest pup.

"Yep, it's a girl."

A soft blue glow enveloped her fingers as she made contact.

[Female Wolf Spider Puppy Level 1: Tame.]

"Dang," Finn whispered. "Wish I could have a pet."

Bo nodded at Ellen. "Can you tame the others?"

Ellen pursed her lips. "No, I can only have one pet tamed. But . . . my brothers can. At the very least I think I can domesticate them."

The remaining pups growled and snapped at Ellen as she reached for them. The newly-tamed female yapped, and pushed her larger bulk against them. The two male pups backed down with a small whine.

"Good girl," Ellen murmured. She scooped up the reluctant puppies.

"All right, I think it's time to gather up all the loot and get out of here," said Tess. "We have a long walk back to Foundation, and we want to make it in time for the next monster wave."

Richard's excited shout echoed through the cavern. "Over here! I've found something!"

Bo rushed over, his thick beard bouncing with each step. "What is it?"

Richard grinned, and held up a stack of parchments. "More blueprints, hidden behind this web." He handed them to Bo.

Bo scanned the sheets. "Nice. They're [Basic] quality. God I hope [Basic] is a significant improvement over [Crappy]." His smile faltered. "Although this confirms that we left loot behind in the Headless Dungeon."

Chloe approached, her pale skin almost glowing in the dim light. "What did you find, exactly?"

Bo rifled through the blueprints. "Ten of them. More designs for buildings. And this." He held up one sheet. "[Basic Paved Walking Path]. Provides a time dilation for walking speed."

"That's going to help enormously with moving between the town and the Mines," said Kate.

"You, sir." Bo pointed a finger at Richard's chest. "You're with us on every Dungeon run from now on."

Richard's grin collapsed. "But I—"

"No buts. Your [Divination] skills are too valuable to waste."

Hana cleared her throat. "Richard, you of course have a choice. But we would love to have you with us."

Richard's complexion now matched the silver-white gossamer strands around them.

Hana pulled Bo aside. "Don't be so pushy, what's wrong? Are you unhappy with the blueprints?"

Bo's shoulders slumped. "No. Well, maybe. A lot of them are still [Crappy], so that sucks. But . . . it's stuff we don't have. Training zones, gyms, storage, hunting equipment . . . so that's good."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Even if we had a thousand blueprints, they're all still shit items, easily falling apart. We need better, well, everything. I guess I'd hoped for better items, and the fact that we missed out on Caretaker Epic's chest, and probably stuff in the Headless Dungeon . . . it just adds to it."

Chloe sidled up to them. "Maybe they don't have to stay [Crappy]. Look at these." Chloe held up a Coin that—at first glance—looked like a normal Copper Coin.

[Blueprint Upgrade Token: Copper]

Oh, fucking A!

Chloe pointed to the [Basic] blueprints in Bo's hands. "I think those blueprints are already upgraded for us. I bet any of the [Crappy] blueprints could be upgraded with these."

Bo nodded slowly. "I bet you're right, and I bet it takes more than one Coin for an upgrade. We're going to have to prioritize." He paused. "All right. Let's claim the territory, collect the rest of the loot, and get out of here. We've got a town to defend."