2: Time stops for no man

[Year 5 Month 3: 5 Months have passed]

I was jolted from my dormant state by a new notification.

[15 Blessed have died]

[You have gained 3 levels]

[You are now level 5]

[Blessing of Warding has upgraded]

[You now gain a negligible percentage of power for each person blessed by your ability. This slightly increases mana regeneration and damage resistance. This does not weaken the other individual.]

Oh, people died. Still, at least I gained some levels, and the upgrade to my skill is also exciting! Now I get something more active than the xp. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Turning away from the notifications, I realized something had dramatically changed with my surroundings. The constant church hymns were absent, and there were no priests or even a stray normal person in the cathedral.

While it could have just been a weird day, a thin layer of dust coating the floor told me all I needed to know. The cathedral must have been abandoned for several months now.

Where did everyone go? Something must have happened.

I spent a day or two awake, curiously waiting for someone to come by, perhaps a stray straggler. Alas, nobody arrived.

Before I went back under, I quickly pulled up the number of people I had used [Blessing of Warding] on.

[Blessed: 152]

[You are granted a 15.2% increase in mana regeneration and resistance]

Not bad.

[Year 6 Month 0: 9 Months have passed]

[41 Blessed have died]

It was several months later before anything changed.

Instead of being awoken by voices, it was a strange, repetitive skittering sound.

Moments later, several spider-like creatures entered my vision.

I had always disliked spiders.

These seemed to be a much scarier version of earth spiders, however, and were each roughly the size of a small dog. Their chitin was also considerably thicker than what I remember spiders back on earth having.

Are these creatures the reasons why everyone left? Honestly, I would too. These things give me the creeps!

Almost like they could hear my thoughts, the spiders had slowly approached where I was standing, seemingly investigating every corner of the cathedral.

Eventually, one seemed to feel my mana and approached, bringing an antenna to my surface.

Ew ew ew get off! Get off!

Several moments later, it let out a chilling sound, chittering loudly and with obvious excitement, like a dog that found a chew toy.

It rounded up its fellow companions and quickly left the cathedral, leaving my vision completely.

At first, I didn’t know what to think, but roughly two days later, I heard the same clattering sounds but considerably louder and… heavier.

Much to my continued dismay and horror, the little spiders brought their mom. It just so happened that their mom was a towering creature whose legs went out of my vision, and attached to it was a large, meaty body that looked grossly out of place without any chitin or shell.

Without delay, it beelined to me, only taking four steps as its legs pounced through the wooden piers.

With surprising care, its long feelers rested on the runes that covered most of my surface, and without further ado, I could feel the presence of its mind pressed upon me.

[A Vexus Broodmother is requesting a blessing. Grant a blessing?]

Unlike with previous requests, I didn’t accept automatically, and told the system no. No way was I giving this creature any bonus if I wasn’t required.

At this refusal, it seemed to understand why nothing changed, and I could tell it was angry. Its legs grew erratic, crashing and destroying more around it.

A ‘Vexus’ Broodmother, huh? That is rather interesting. It probably is what made the little ones. It is probably what has killed some of my Blessed people. I hope the rest escaped and got away.

Once again, it brought its feelers back to the rune and requested another blessing. Once again, I denied it despite its raging.

This turned out to be a mistake, as it decided to take what it wanted rather than ask. Activating one of its abilities, I felt a ripping sensation, almost like someone had stuck an arm down my throat and decided they wanted what I had for breakfast.

[A Vexus Broodmother is attempting to extract your ability [Blessing of Warding] ]

[Your ability is unique to your race]

[Mana drained as replacement]