The party ventured deeper into the forest, their steps cautious and deliberate as they prepared for any potential threat. Every group of spiders they encountered was dealt with methodically, with breaks in between each fight to recover. As they moved further in, the spider's traps and ambushes became more complex, with webs intricately woven between the trees. Touching even one would alert them and cause them to swarm toward you.
As they ventured deeper, the spiders' traps became more elaborate and deadly. The party had to be cautious of every step they took, looking for hidden pitfalls and traps. One misstep could mean getting caught in a sticky web and facing certain death.
In one instance, Juan was unlucky enough to fall through a hidden trapdoor covered by leaves. He landed on a giant web, which immediately started to wrap around him. Luckily they had just cleared a group of nearby spiders and had time to cut him free from the sticky web before the spiders could swarm in.
Despite having lower stats than the rest of the party, Carn was a valuable asset, using his agility and cosmic eyes to spot even the thinnest of spiderwebs. After learning about the spider's underbelly being their weakness, Carn was able to assist the party more during combat. He was also the initiator of attacks as his first arrow before entering combat was undetected thanks to his bow’s ability.
All in all, he was a good asset to the team but he got slightly frustrated as he wasn’t able to try his new skills that utilized his aura. In any case, Carn had leveled up eleven times and was now level 43. The skills Mana Arrow and Hunter’s Accuracy raised to level 16 increasing damage and ranged accuracy respectively. He had tried to level Hunter’s Mark as well but it seemed like he needed to get the final hit on the marked target in order to give it any experience so he ended up not using it.
Of the 55 stat points he had acquired, he put 10 into agility and intellect, 15 into will, and 20 into strength.
The party had been hunting in the forest for almost 7 hours now, and as they went deeper, the webs of the spiders became thicker, making it difficult to move. The ground was sticky, and the leaves were barely visible as they were covered in webs that looked like disgusting, oversized cotton balls.
The forest was eerily silent, with no chirping birds or rustling leaves due to the thick webs. Liam put out his hand, signaling the group to stop. "We're approaching the most common place to find a boss," he said, "Here's the plan: Carn and I will take on the boss while the rest of you focus on the minions."
The party nodded as if it was a standard plan but Carn was flustered, “Why am I on boss duty won’t I be a hindrance?”
“No no no, this is the exact reason why we bring new guild members here, aside from the good profit. The boss is quite slow and when I give it a debuff it slows to about high copper tier. Due to it being slow though it has a wide variety of strong attacks and skills so it is a great way to teach new melee dealers how to dodge and strike. Just don't take a hit face on as you will die no questions asked,” Liam explained, “Your Relentless Strikes should eventually allow you to deal substantial damage to the boss and Serrated Aura should slow the movements of its legs even further so you and I should be plenty. After all I am a tier above this thing so I could maybe even solo it if I put my mind to it.”
Sanaa stepped forward and explained, “I'll give you a speed buff for the whole fight so you'll be about as fast as a mid-iron tier player. So don’t worry about being too slow. Also, I’ll be recording your fight as I support you so that the guild can give you some pointers afterward.”
Comforted by Sanaa’s words and with the plan set, the party ventured into a large clearing enveloped by a massive dome of webs, blocking out any sunlight. The ground was littered with silk trap spiders, while others crawled along the ceiling. The air was thick with the scent of decay, and a sense of dread hung heavy in the air.
The ground was covered in a thick layer of webs that stuck to their feet with every step they took. In the center of the clearing loomed a grotesque creature that made their blood run cold. It was nearly the size of a one-story house, with a bloated body covered in vile, yellow skin that seemed to have a sickly gloss. Its many eyes glinted in the dim light, and its sixteen legs - twice the number of a normal spider - were covered in spiky hairs that looked like they could puncture through armor.
The most unnerving part, however, was the way the creature moved its legs. Eight of them were planted firmly on the ground, while the other eight were longer and stuck up in the air, weaving and bobbing as if they had a mind of their own. As they watched in horror, the creature used its eight raised legs to spin webs out of thin air, weaving them together into a complex network that looked like it could trap a dragon.
Liam swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on the monstrous creature. "There’s the cunt," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "The Weaver."
Carn's heart pounded in his chest as he drew his bow, his fingers trembling as he summoned mana to form an arrow. He watched in amazement as the arrow changed color, the light blue hue transforming into a deep black with glittering specks swirling inside. It was a rare sight; he had never seen a Magic Arrow take on this element before.
He turned to Liam, the galaxies in his eyes spinning faster and faster, and spoke with urgency, "I need you to initiate, now!"
Liam hesitated, surprised by the sudden change in plan. The whole day they used the ability from Carn’s bow to get some extra damage in before starting the fight for free but now he wanted to do something different. He was about to reject the idea but when he looked into Carn’s eyes he noticed the boy’s eyes. He knew something was different.
“Alright change of plans, start the buffs now I will initiate and Carn will follow shortly after,” Liam said while standing up.
The rest of the party nodded in agreement. Sanaa, without flinching, plunged her sword into her thigh. Blood rushed out from the wound and into the bodies of the rest of the party like tiny needles. At that moment Liam exploded from his spot, disappearing in a blink of an eye and reappearing at the boss's side.
“Oi, you ugly cunt, why don’t you slow down a bit!” Liam taunted the creature, striking one of its legs with his palm. A sort of spiritual copy of its body was pushed back into the air as his palm collided. Liam pulled back his hand and twisted it causing the projection to disappear.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
HISSSSCLICLICK!
The monster's reaction was ear-splitting. It screeched and hissed, clicking its legs together in fury. The entire clearing shook as the noise echoed off the web-covered walls. Every spider in the clearing glared at the party with beady, red eyes full of hatred.
Carn tuned out every noise focusing on the task at hand. As soon as Liam pulled back his hand, he released the black-speckled Magic Arrow. The arrow vanished from his bow as the string snapped back into place. In the same instant, one of the spider's legs was eviscerated, and Carn appeared in the space where it once stood, dagger in hand.
Carn's heart raced as he reappeared next to the massive spider boss. His dagger pulsed with a jagged pale orange light, surrounded by Serrated Aura and Relentless Strikes. Liam's voice was lost in the chaos, drowned out by the screeches of the Weaver and the pounding of Carn's heart. But he didn't need to hear. He was in the zone, and his mind was razor-sharp.
System notices rang in his head as the spider brought down one of its legs with tremendous force. Carn sidestepped and slashed his dagger, leaving a small gash in the tree-trunk-sized limb. Yellow blood oozed out from the wound as Serrated Aura did its work. But the Weaver wasn't done yet, launching a giant ball of the web at Carn using one of its upper appendages. With lightning-fast reflexes, he rolled out of the way and struck once more, leaving a larger gash in the spider's leg.
Liam tried to coordinate with Carn, but Weaver's giant body blocked his path every time he tried. Still, as he watched Carn narrowly dodge each strike and land his own blows, he knew the boy was handling himself just fine as he narrowly avoided the attacks of the boss and left slashes of his own.
Carn's mind felt like it was going a million miles an hour as the spider brought down its lower and upper appendages at him with great strength. Each leg cracked the floor below and shook the entire clearing. Every time the giant beast struck Carn would narrowly avoid its pressure and deliver a strike of his own. His strikes grew more and more powerful with each blow, leaving larger and larger gashes in the spider's exoskeleton.
Throughout the fight, the Weaver had been focusing on Liam, as every punch delivered by the monk left a crack on its body. However, over time its attention shifted to the other combatant on the other side of its body. Every strike the man delivered was difficult to heal and the damage that he dealt seemed larger and larger as the fight drew on to the point that he was doing more damage with every successful hit than the monk.
The Weaver's fury was palpable as it lunged forward, jaws wide open to snap at Carn. With insane reflexes, Carn slid underneath the spider's head, feeling the rush of air as its fangs narrowly missed him. His dagger glinted with a fierce orange light as he delivered a vicious slash under the Weaver's jaw, tearing through its exoskeleton and drawing a thick stream of yellow blood.
But the Weaver wasn't done yet. With a roar, it brought its massive bulk crashing down toward Carn, who barely managed to roll out of the way in time. As he scrambled back to his feet, he saw the spider's upper legs thrashing in the air, spinning a deadly web-woven cocoon above its body.
Undaunted, Carn charged forward, the aura surrounding his blade glowing even brighter and nearly double the size as he approached the spider's massive body. With a fierce yell, he aimed for another one of Weaver's lower legs, unleashing a powerful strike that sent shockwaves through the air. This time the blade didn’t stop as it was forced through the length of the appendage and emerged at the other side, cleaving the giant claw off from the spider's body leaving a jagged stump that oozed with yellow blood.
The Weaver's frantic screeches echoed through the clearing as it lost the function of yet another leg. Fueled by rage and desperation, the spider's upper appendages rapidly stretched apart, weaving together a complex web of sticky fibers that descended like a deadly shroud, enveloping nearly half of the battleground.
Carn's eyes widened as he watched the sticky trap descend toward him, his heart pounding with adrenaline. His body moved on pure instinct as he drew his bow, swiftly knocking an arrow and letting it fly. The projectile soared through the gaps in the netting with expert precision.
Carn braced himself for impact, tensing his muscles for the inevitable crash unsure as to why he wanted to shoot that arrow. But at the last moment, he felt himself falling through the air directly above the Weaver.
As he fell, he drew his trusty dagger, its pale orange aura still flaring with a blinding intensity. In a flash of steel and fury, Carn landed on the Weaver's back, his dagger finding purchase in the spider's thick exoskeleton. A triumphant grin spread across his face as he felt the blade sink deep into the monster's flesh. As he pulled his blade back an arrow flew past his face and stuck into the wound he had just created.
The Weaver recoiled in shock, its eight legs thrashing wildly as it tried to dislodge the human clinging to its back. With lightning-fast reflexes, the spider's upper appendages lashed out toward Carn, each strike aimed with deadly precision.
Carn's heart pounded as he fought on top of the Weaver's writhing body, struggling to maintain his balance as the spider's movements shook the ground beneath him. The creature's upper appendage strikes were more precise than ever, making it a challenge for Carn to avoid their deadly assault. But he refused to give up. With each opportunity he got, he dug his serrated dagger into the spider's exoskeleton, the pale orange aura around it intensifying with each hit.
As Carn neared the base of one of the upper legs, he made a daring leap and twisted his body to dodge the spider's attacks. He landed a clean slice through the limb, sending it tumbling to the ground. The Weaver roared in anger, trying to shake the human off its back as Carn continued to hack away at its body.
Soon, limb after limb came crashing to the ground until the last upper leg was sliced off. But the Weaver still had one last trick up its sleeve. It squatted down, compressing its legs before extending them all at once with such force that the ground below cracked and splintered. Carn felt himself being launched into the air, the wind rushing past him as the spider propelled itself toward the domed web ceiling.
The ground shook violently beneath their feet as the Weaver launched itself into the air, its enormous body casting a dark shadow over the battlefield. The rest of the party was still fending off the remaining Silk Trap Spiders, and Liam had disengaged from his opponent, scanning a chance to strike again. Sanaa had been watching the fight with the Weaver with great interest as it was her duty to record Carn’s movements for further analysis. However the real reason she watched was to see the prowess of someone who had two base 10 stats.
The performance shown by Carn was so astounding she was even surprised but now she was sure that Carn was screwed. But even Sanaa couldn't have predicted what happened next. As the Weaver hurtled towards the ceiling, it was suddenly engulfed by a stream of darkness that cascaded down from above. It looked like a waterfall made of the night sky itself, engulfing the Weaver in its entirety.
The Weaver impacted with the ceiling where it stayed stuck for a moment before crashing back to the floor landing with a large boom. The party waited with bated breath as the dust cleared, and when they saw Carn walking towards them from the headless corpse of the Weaver, they erupted into cheers. Sanaa's attention was drawn upwards, where she saw the head of the spider still stuck to the ceiling.
As she looked back down, she saw Carn drawing an arrow back in his bow. The arrow shot past her face, and she watched in amazement as Carn disappeared from sight. A sudden slashing noise behind her made her spin around, just in time to see an injured spider that they thought they had killed earlier drop to the ground, dead with an arrow in one eye and Carn's dagger piercing its head.
“Wow Carn that was a spectac- '' Liam abruptly stopped his praise as Carn’s eyes locked onto the group.
The whites of his eyes were now black. Each eye looked like it had an endless depth to them as one galaxy after another moved around within the pitch-black space.