"Hrah!" Motoyasu stabbed a large spider from the wall of the cave he was in.
The spider let out a screech as its blood sprayed out, struggling until it eventually went limp and died.
"Finally… This should help with the money problem." He started cutting open the spider and putting individual pieces into his spear.
Buddy sat next to him, watching curiously. He was now big enough to reach up to Motoyasu's shoulder while standing. His size only made him better at tanking damage, which was a great help to Motoyasu advancing to new areas.
Right now, they are inside of the easiest dungeon Motoyasu knew of. Normally this wouldn't be the best place for money, but it was instead a great place for experience points.
Motoyasu had his own trick for money though. He grinned excitedly as he absorbed the last piece of the spider into his spear.
Web Spear Unlocked
Equip Bonus: Web Weaver
Special Equip Effect: Web Adjustment
Motoyasu changed to the new spear before going into the options for Web Adjustment. He reduced the stickiness of the webbing to zero. He then pointed the spear at his arm before shooting the webbing at it.
The webbing was strong, but it wasn't sticky. A perfect substitute for fine silk. In fact, it would probably be much better than silk with enough adjustments.
"Hah! Yes! This is just what I need!" Motoyasu was already thinking of what he could do with fine silk. In his previous world, he had spent a lot of time reading fashion magazines and making cosplay. He could use those skills here to make stylish clothing, stylish clothing that he could sell for a lot of money.
Buddy came over and sniffed curiously at the threads, clumsily wrapping the threads around his arms.
Motoyasu may have been going insane, but he seemed to understand what his "puppy" was trying to tell him. "How am I going to sew without tools? I guess we all know where most of my money is going… Don't worry, Bud. We're going to be eating like kings soon!"
Buddy let out a grunt as he returned to Motoyasu's side.
"Let's finish this dungeon. We're doing pretty well, and we need the experience." Motoyasu playfully rubbed Buddy's nose before continuing deeper into the cave dungeon.
Of course, the dungeon wasn't very big, and any real loot chests in it were long-since picked clean, likely by Itsuki's party.
Motoyasu entered the boss room, preparing to attack if the boss came up. He remembered the boss for this area was a giant spider called Arachnilossus, at least it had been in Emerald Online.
The big room was mostly empty though, except for the giant corpse of Arachnilossus.
Motoyasu went over to the corpse, breaking pieces off of it and putting them into his spear.
Spider King Spear Unlocked!
Equip Bonus: Alert Spear
Special Equip Effect: Spider Bite (medium)
Motoyasu curiously changed to the spear. He didn't remember this spear. He assumed Spider Bite was a counter effect that would take place if he landed a counter attack immediately after taking or blocking damage. He could also assume by the name that the counter effect was adding poison damage.
Buddy growled as he nudged Motoyasu with his nose.
"Yeah, we're done here, Bud. We can go back." Motoyasu turned around, finding that Buddy was telling him something else.
A giant spider was behind them, dwarfing Arachnilossus. It was ten times the size and covered a whole wall.
Motoyasu widened his eyes in shock as he quickly changed to his best spear. Currently his best spear was his Spear of Chaos that he had gotten from copying a spear in the weapon shop on his first day. "Buddy! Be careful!"
Buddy let out a growl as he stood up on his hind legs, already swiping at the giant boss spider. He didn't do much damage, but he had gotten its attention.
The giant spider swung its two front legs at Buddy, not doing much damage to him either.
Motoyasu raised up his spear. "Chaos Spear!" He unleashed the attack at the giant spider's unblinking eyes.
The spider let out a hiss and moved back to being defensive. It had high resistance to physical moves, but it lacked the same resistance to special attacks. While it was on the defensive, it spit poison at Motoyasu using snake-shaped extensions that came from its mouth.
Motoyasu rolled away before continuing running to avoid follow-up attacks.
Buddy kept trying to pummel the spider, but since he wasn't doing much damage, it would take about thirty seconds each time he needed to reclaim the spider's attention.
The spider suddenly grew spikes on its legs, launching the spikes into the air to create a shower of them. It seemed to be able to rapidly change its biology to fight back.
Motoyasu changed his spear to his Web Spear, quickly changing the properties of the webbing to max stickiness. He then adjusted the webbing into a web shape before launching a net of webbing from his spear.
The net of webbing caught the spikes before landing and sticking on the spider's face.
Motoyasu then had to fumble through his settings again in order to change back to his Chaos Spear.
The giant spider grew its skin to be thicker and more like iron plating. It wanted to stay defensive until it could clear its vision.
Motoyasu spun his spear around as it turned back into the Spear of Chaos. "Chaos Spear!" He rained attack after attack onto the giant spider, wanting to get damage in before it recovered.
Buddy took this time to chew through the joint on one of the spiders legs. He had a high strength stat at the moment, so his jaw was able to break the joint with enough effort.
The spider started thrashing angrily as one of its legs was painfully removed, its blood splashing all over the room.
"Buddy! Back up! I've got this!" Motoyasu rushed forward, heading for where the spider's leg was missing. He needed to get to that wound, because he remembered one fact that was pretty common across spiders.
The spider immediately retracted some of its defense to make its legs more like blades. It then swung frantically at Motoyasu.
Motoyasu had fumbled through his spears just in time to change into the Spider King Spear, blocking a few attacks with it before jamming the spear into its leg wound. His Spider King Spear unloaded a lot of venom into the giant spider's wound.
Buddy moved close to Motoyasu as fast as he could so he could protect Motoyasu from the thrashing the spider started to do in an attempt to throw Motoyasu off.
"Most spiders…aren't immune to their own venom." Motoyasu pulled his spear out just in time for the boss to collapse.
There was a moment of silence as Motoyasu looked over the unmoving corpse.
Motoyasu then started laughing as his level jumped up a few times from this kill alone. "Yes! I did it!" He then hugged Buddy excitedly. "No! We did it! Yes! Hahahaha!"
Buddy gave Motoyasu a literal bear hug, growling and grunting in equal excitement.
Motoyasu eventually jumped back and got to butchering the boss. "Now what do I get from you?"
Chimera Spider Spear Unlocked!
Equip Bonus: Antidote compounding up, poison resistance (medium), web resist (high)
Skill: Change Spear
Special Equip Effect: Web Scatter
"Web resist? Does webbing do damage now, or…?" Motoyasu watched as the spider's giant corpse made the wall collapse from its weight.
The next room had webbing all over the floor and a single treasure chest.
Motoyasu blinked in surprise, not having remembered this from Emerald Online. He made sure to have the Chimera Spider Spear equipped before he walked into the next room. It seemed that he couldn't get stuck to webbing due to web resist. "Buddy, sit. Stay. I'll be right back."
Buddy plopped down on the floor to wait.
"Good boy." Motoyasu then went into the next room and popped open the chest, finding some old spider-silk garments in it. He found most of it to be worn out from thousands of years in there, but he found one item surprisingly undamaged, a rainbow scarf. He didn't have appraisal skills, so he just brought it back and tied it around Buddy's neck like a bowtie. "There! Now all the girl puppies will be lining up for you!"
Buddy growled in appreciation, liking the new bowtie immensely.
Motoyasu then absorbed the scraps from the garments that didn't survive as well into his spear.
Silk Spear Unlocked!
Equip Bonus: Clothing material improvement
"That means all materials for clothing, right?" Motoyasu thought out loud. He could figure that out later. For now, he needed to go back. He pet Buddy before they left the way they came.
After a long walk back into town, Motoyasu was eventually able to reach a clothing store. He entered in with Buddy right behind him.
"Hello!" the tailor greeted with an over-abundance of energy. She was a plain but pretty girl who was wearing pretty average clothes for someone who literally ran a clothing store. She had on a scarf and glasses which gave Motoyasu an immediate impression of her being like an otaku.
Motoyasu sneered at her. "I need a sewing kit. Do you have an old one a can purchase?"
The tailor tilted her head curiously at Motoyasu's demeanor, but she brightened up when she saw Buddy. "Who is this adorable gem!?"
"That's Buddy. He's my puppy," Motoyasu said simply. "Now do you have an old sewing kit for sale or not?"
She tapped her chin as she thought. "I guess I do, but only if you let me put a hat on your adorable pet!"
Motoyasu gave her an annoyed glare. "You're not taking Buddy away from me. He's my only party member, and he is my best friend. I need him."
Buddy had leveled up in the cave and was now a little taller than Motoyasu when standing up. He was a big bear, and he was still growing. He didn't look intimidating at all though, licking the tailor's hand to get her to pet him.
She started petting him without hesitation. "Please! I need to see him in a hat! He'd look so cute in it! How about it Mr…?"
"Motoyasu," Motoyasu told her firmly, not adding that he was the Spear Hero.
"Motoyasu! Let me put a hat on your Buddy!" She was practically begging him at this point.
Motoyasu just stood there blankly. He tended not to trust people, but Buddy seemed to like this woman.
Buddy looked back at Motoyasu, giving him an innocent look.
Motoyasu eventually relented with a sigh. "I assume I still need to pay for said hat."
"I'll make it cheap! One silver for the hat, and I'll throw in the sewing kit for free!" The tailor replied.
"Fine. As long as I get my sewing kit." Motoyasu checked his money. He was doing better for money after selling some materials from the dungeon, so he assumed he could make his "puppy" cuter.
The tailor squealed in excitement and ran off.
Motoyasu rolled his eyes in annoyance. Originally he would find her behavior cute, but now he didn't have the trust for that.
She eventually came back and put a chef's hat on Buddy. "See? He's so much cuter now!"
"He looks like the new mascot of Chef Boyardee," Motoyasu said with an unamused tone. Of course, his mind was still lagging so far behind due to his depression that he still saw Buddy as a small puppy, which probably hinted at a noticeable level of insanity.
She didn't grace that with a response, and Buddy seemed happy enough to have the hat.
Motoyasu was eventually given his sewing kit, and he left with Buddy. He had to stop by the weapon shop next. He felt safer in the weapon shop since he actually trusted Old Guy.
Thankfully the buildings weren't too far apart, and Old Guy seemed happy enough to greet Motoyasu.
"Hey, Spear! You're looking a little worse for wear!" Old Guy waved at him from the front counter.
"I just fought the biggest spider I've ever seen. I'm amazed a puppy like Buddy could bite off the thing's leg," Motoyasu replied.
Old Guy looked at Buddy for a little bit.
Buddy was sniffing items on a high shelf, showing how big he was getting.
"Right…puppy." Old Guy cleared his throat. "So what are you in for?"
Motoyasu dropped a pile of monster materials, mainly spider parts from the boss he had just killed. "Can you use this in armor? I need new armor before the Wave, and I'd like to save money."
Old Guy looked through it. "I'd need to take time to clean the poison off, but it should be ready in time."
"As long as it's good armor. Do you know where I could get equipment for Buddy?"
Old Guy looked at Buddy. He could assume Buddy was about the size of a beastman, and he knew about the Slave Trader through Naofumi. "There's a circus tent in town. They sell slaves there. You should be able to get monster equipment there for him." He went over to Buddy and used his appraisal skill on the bear's bowtie. "…where did you find this? It has good bonuses to magic-based attack."
"In the dungeon. After I killed the boss, the wall broke. I found a chest on the other side with it," Motoyasu explained.
"It's actually really good. Are you sure you don't want it on yourself?"
"It looks too good on Buddy to take off!" Motoyasu said quickly. "It's fashionable!"
"Right…" Old Guy said with a chuckle. "Oh right. Two other heroes come by here often. The Shield Hero left this, and I thought I'd save it if you needed it. He seemed to not need it anymore." He pulled out a book from under the counter.
Motoyasu actually grinned a bit. "Taking things from that bastard. I love to hear it." He went over and grabbed the book, flipping it open. He was actually surprised to see it was a hand-written book about this world's language and how to translate it to Japanese. He looked at the first few pages, finding it was actually pretty easy to follow. "I wonder where Naofumi got this?"
Old Guy kept on his best poker face. He remembered Naofumi writing the book himself and handing it in. He had been trusted by Naofumi to give it to Motoyasu, since Naofumi had assumed Motoyasu would never accept it as a gift from him.
Motoyasu was actually rather excited to have this, because eventually he would need to be in long carriage rides between towns as he traveled, and being able to read and learn would be a great way to spend that time. "This…is a good find." He bowed his head to Old Guy out of thanks. "I'll be back for the armor before the Wave."
Old Guy gave him a thumbs up. "It will definitely be ready by then. You can pay me then too."
"Just don't sneak any extra fees on me," Motoyasu told him.
"I would never!" Old Guy said teasingly.
Motoyasu now had work to do. He had brought his level to an ok range for the Wave, and while he would love to be at a higher level, he needed money to even make it that far. Not just to pay Old Guy for his armor, but also because he needed to feed Buddy who had been eating a lot more than Motoyasu had expected.
Buddy followed after Motoyasu, curiously looking at the book in Motoyasu's hands. He was curious why it had excited Motoyasu so much, just like any animal wonders why their owners get excited.
Motoyasu went right back to the inn and paid for the night. He then went right to his room without a word. He now would make the best progress he has made in a long time.
Buddy settled in a corner just to watch Motoyasu work.
Motoyasu sat down on the bed and set down the book and the sewing kit, popping open the sewing kit. He dug around in it until he pulled out the most worn needle. He grabbed his spear to change it to the Web Spear so he could get thread, but he noticed his spear reacted to the sewing needle, so he let his spear absorb the needle.
Tailor Spear Unlocked!
Equip Bonus: Clothing quality bonus, clothing creation speed bonus (medium)
Motoyasu could feel a grin returning to him. "Now this is going to be good." He switched to his Web Spear and adjusted the webbing to come out in a single thread, removing the stickiness as well. He then extended thread from his spear, occasionally cutting the thread off of his spear before adjusting the web color and unleashing more thread. By the time his SP was out, he had a good amount of beautiful web-based silk threads to work with. He then changed to his Tailor Spear and got to work creating clothing. He opened the book next to him and would occasionally peek over at it, reading out of the corner of his eye and saying the new words repeatedly to get a good feel of the new language.
Buddy slowly came closer to look into the book, just staring blankly at it. He would grunt and growl in time with each time Motoyasu read out loud, trying to participate the best he could with his owner.
That was how the two spent the rest of the day and night, reading the book and butchering the words.
Motoyasu didn't stop though, continuing to sew and read with energy provided to him by his excitement.
Motoyasu stopped early the next day, having a pile of clothes next to him. He had followed a large assortment of styles, wanting to make sure he had something for every type of person. Normally this would have taken him days, but his spear's bonuses had made things much faster. He looked over at Buddy, smiling when he saw he was fast asleep next to the bed. "Thanks for the company, Bud." He then felt his heart drop.
He had been so excited yesterday, that he had skipped two meals at least, and because of that he had also made Buddy skip those meals.
"I'm such a bad parent…" Motoyasu sighed as he stood up from his bed, stretching out with a grunt. "He's a growing pup. He needs to eat." He folded up his newly-made wares to sell sometime that day and stacked them on the bed. He then went to go buy them food from the downstairs restaurant, bringing some of his wares with him just in case.
Everyone was glaring at him as usual.
Motoyasu just glared back. He went to get himself a table, sitting down and waiting for his order to be taken. He set his wares down next to him in case someone was interested. He did still need money after all.
"So the woman-beater sells clothes now?" A scrappy, bandit looking man asked as he came over, taking the scarf that was on the top of the clothing pile and looking at it.
"I'd recommend putting that back. It's certainly worth more than your life," Motoyasu replied. "I don't want your filthy handprints all over it."
"Is that how you treat a customer? Oops! Looks like I tore it-!" He tried to pull it apart, but the material was far too tough for him to pull apart. He blinked in surprise, having expected the thin material to tear easily.
"Doesn't look like you tore it at all." Motoyasu glared at the man. "Now put it back before you hurt yourself. You couldn't afford that."
The man grinned at Motoyasu. "Nah, I think I'll take it."
"Thirty silver. Up front."
"I said 'take it' not 'buy it'," the man whispered to him. "No one will believe your end of the story, and you know it."
Motoyasu was silent for a moment. "Then I'm afraid no one will find your body." He stood up from his seat, looming over the man.
"We're in a populated area. You couldn't make me disappear here," he pointed out confidently.
"You greatly underestimate me-"
The door suddenly was thrown open, slamming loudly.
Everyone looked at the door in surprise from just how loud it had been.
A woman came in, looking around curiously. She was beautiful with flowing, golden hair and shining golden eyes. Her body was goddess-level hot, something that showed with how tight her cheap armor was. She had a backpack on that was almost as big as she was. She slowly raised her hands and made some gestures.
"…what?" The person closest to her asked.
She made the gestures again.
"It's sign language, you oafs." Motoyasu sighed and made some gestures back at her. He didn't know it well, but he had tried to date a hot, mute girl back in his previous world. He had just enough for a normal conversation.
She signed back at him.
Motoyasu narrowed his eyes, trying to translate for her. "Waiter, she needs something to go. Also, why has my order not been taken yet!?"
The woman came over to Motoyasu. She was certainly weird, because instead of walking or running over she tucked and rolled over to him. She straightened up before taking the scarf from the man currently trying to rob Motoyasu in front of the whole place. She looked it over curiously before signing to Motoyasu.
"Thirty silver," Motoyasu told her, signing it as well in case she couldn't hear him.
She seemed to hear well enough, looking at the man who was still staring in shock at her for some reason. She turned from the man back to Motoyasu before she signed back with, "Is this man trying to rob you?"
"He's certainly trying. He's not very good at it," Motoyasu replied. "Looks like the retard stars aligned with this one."
She nodded before putting one gold on the table and putting on the scarf. She then signed back to him again, "My boss loves custom clothes. You should visit." She then took Motoyasu's hand and wrote a location on it.
Motoyasu gave her a disgusted look, pulling his hand away. "I don't even trust you. Even if…" He awkwardly collected the gold, looking it over to make sure it was real. "…you do tip heavily."
"Have I been forgotten here?" Motoyasu's thief asked in annoyance.
"Were you ever relevant? All you were doing was committing suicide in public," Motoyasu told him firmly.
The woman nodded in agreement, taking her food right as it was handed to her by a waiter. She then tucked and rolled out the door like she had never been there.
"I…" The thief was silent for a moment. "You got off easy this time, Spear Hero."
"I bet I did," Motoyasu replied sassily.
The thief then awkwardly went back to his table.
Motoyasu eventually got to sit down, relieved when the waiter finally came to take his order. "Took you long enough."
"You seemed occupied," the waiter told him with an awkward smile.
Motoyasu tapped his finger loudly on the table. "The cheapest meal you have and ten fish platters."
"Ten-?" The waiter asked.
"I have a growing puppy who had to skip a few meals. I need it all bagged up." Motoyasu put down the copper needed for the meal.
The waiter took the order and went to hand it to the cooks.
Motoyasu held up the gold he had gotten before looking at the location drawn on his hand. "…I guess it would be good to have a regular buyer, and I am high enough level to fight my way out if it is a trick." He had to think about how to best survive in this world, and that meant he needed a lot of money. He weighed his options. He could go out into town and hope for a fair deal for his wares, or he could have a regular buyer. He hated how the second option was definitely a much better choice. He thought for a while until his food was placed in front of him by the waiter.
"Sorry for the wait… Ten whole fish meals is a lot," the waiter told him.
"As long as you didn't skip out on any, we'll be fine." Motoyasu took the bag of food and his wares before starting the climb up the stairs. I just wish I had someone to talk to about this… I do miss speaking to people who won't stab me in the back… He eventually made it up and opened the door. "Hey, Bud! I got food!"
"Welcome back, master Motoyasu. I believe I have figured out the proper vernacular in which to speak to people," Buddy replied like it was normal. "This book has been pleasantly helpful in this endeavor, and now I believe you are able to understand me."
Motoyasu stood still from shock, everything falling out of his hands.
"I believe the Spear of the Spear Hero has allowed my mind to develop, much like the legend of the Filolial Queen shared by monsters of this world. I do hope this isn't bothering you," Buddy added.
Motoyasu raised his hand to stop him from saying anything else and cleared his throat. "WHAAAAAAAA-!?"
Maybe heroes should be careful of what animals they adopt? Just saying... A Filolial can't be the only creature effected by a hero's weapon... That just makes it sound like an excuse to have an angel-looking bird loli if it only effects Filolials.
