"Hurry! Get inside!"

I have never been much of a leader. A leader is supposed to take charge and responsibility, as well as sacrifice themselves for those below them. There are many types of leaders in different situations, but generally they need to be charismatic, etc. while looking at the bigger picture. Personally, I lean towards being more self centered.

I am standing at the entrance to the tunnel watching my companions run towards me. The tunnel is only wide enough for two people to fight side by side, so Ilyena is standing right behind me. Elayne and Astrya have almost made it and Sirius is only short behind; however, the spiders have almost caught up to them. This would be different if the crystals could be used during combat, but that is not the case.

The three of them run past Ilyena and I in a flash.

"Ilyena, take the right side!"

She starts moving even before I finish my sentence. She got there just in time for the first spider to reach us. It's one of the level 12 variants, the larger brown spiders are staying back for now, as if commanding the smaller ones.

The first attack is blocked by Ilyena, but she is knocked back by the spider's jumping attack and is not in a position to retaliate. I make the split second decision to launch an dual attack at the spider with my sword and dagger. Fancy moves are near impossible in this enclosed space, but that doesn't stop me. The spider is struck against the wall from my attack, and Ilyena takes the chance to deal it critical damage.

One spider down, but two more take its place. The two spiders make the same motions the previous one did. This predictable movement allows us to be prepared and neither of us get knocked back. However, we did not make it out unscathed and both took a hit. If we had both been hit similar to how Ilyena had been on the first attack, we wouldn't be able to cover each other. While in the midst of fighting the two spiders, a fireball soars only inches above our heads.

What happens next is a crisp black ball falls from the ceiling. After we finish off the two spiders in front of us I take a look at what it is. It is a burnt spider and that was with only one spell. So, either the spider's weakness is fire magic or that spell is too overpowered.

I briefly glance at Elayne in disbelief, but she responds with a nod full of determination. While I am distracted, a spider takes advantage to sneak attack me. Ilyena is busy fighting her own battle and couldn't cover me in time, but thankfully my armour blocked most of the damage.

With Elayne protecting our heads, I can focus on the fight. It is unfortunate, but Sirius seems to have a great fear of spiders, so I cannot rely on him. I quickly finish of the spider that attacked me, but another immediately takes its place. With a the bottleneck from the cavern into this tunnel only two spiders can attack us at once. The rest are waiting, and watching, from beyond the line of combat in a squirming sea of black. This continues on for around 10 minutes.

If nothing changes, our stamina will be depleted before a dent is made in the horde. I can see Ilyena's stamina is at around 40% and we have only killed around 25 spiders between the two of us.

"Ilyena, do you have any stamina potions?"

"Uh...” She lunges at a spider, "No."

Damn it.

"Sirius!" I yell while blocking an oncoming attack, “We cannot do this without you! Snap out of it!"

The spider is knocked back and I slash at it's front legs before stabbing it in the eyes.

"I-I'm s-sorry." He whimpers.

I do not  have time for this.

"If you do not do anything, we will all die!"

"I-I know. B-but, I can't do this!" His voice suddenly gets louder.

"Sirius, what if this were an online computer game. What would you do if your character were fighting a spider?" Astrya, realizing the severity of the situation, tries to reason with him.

"I would kill them."

"Yes, and what would you do if your teammates were struggling while fighting a high level monster?"

"I would help them!" His voice increases in confidence.

"And what will you do when your teammates lives depend on you?"

"I will fight!" He declares. That seemed rather easy.

"Well then, go switch with Quinn before he runs out of stamina."

Sirius comes up behind me, but since there is not yet an opening, we cannot switch.

"Sirius, once I knock back the spider we will switch.” I parry an attack while speaking. “Got it?"

"Okay!"

Three... Two... One... The spider jumps at me and I send a heavy swing towards it, sending it stumbling backwards 5 feet.

"Switch!"

Sirius takes up his shield just in time to block the spider's next blow. I cannot rest for too long during this period. Ilyena doesn't have any stamina potions; therefore, I give one of mine to Astrya, so she can give it to Ilyena later. It is unfortunate that Astrya only has holy magic level 1, because level 2 is required to alleviate fatigue.

I drink a stamina potion and immediately feel full of energy. My stamina bar fills up at a slow, but steady pace.

"Ilyena, get ready to switch!"

"Mmm"

I wait until there is a slight break I'm combat.

"Switch!"

I take her spot and slash out at the nearest spider. With Sirius and I holding them off, Ilyena can quickly restore her stamina.

So far it has been only the small fry spiders, but a couple of the big ones are starting to make there way over. Their brown bodies stand out against the sea of black and I fear they will be much more challenging.

A clicking sound is heard amongst them, as if they are communicating between themselves. Two of the larger spiders are now only a few feet away. If the black ones are the sizes of dogs then these brown ones are the size of horses. A few of the black ones get crushed as the brown spiders get closer.

An attack is imminent.

"Watch out for those large ones! They'll be upon us in moments!"

I try warning Sirius, but he is busy fighting. He is making grunting noises, so I do not know if he heard me or not. It's amazing how our ears can block out the sound when concentrated on another task.

The attack finally came.

I can now see it's name. It's a level 15 wolf spider, and not something we can take lightly.

Sirius blocks the incoming assault with his shield; however, he is knocked back leaving an opening. As if on cue, Elayne shoots a fire ball right past us nearly missing my head by a few inches. The fireball manages to dismember two of it’s legs on one side. Ilyena then charges at it while it is still disoriented and lodges her weapon between its eyes. But that is not enough to finish it off!

I make a split second decision and throw my knives at the nearest spiders and jump at the wolf spider.

Skill Acquired: Thrown Weapon Level 1

Allows user to utilize thrown weapons to deal damage from a distance.

User's accuracy and damage increases by 10%

Two hits and a miss.

However, an opening was created and I lash out at the wolf spider, and cut off another one of it's legs. It has about half health now, but Ilyena and I whittle it down, while Sirius and Elayne cover us.

Finally, after a couple minutes the wolf spider collapses under the weight of it’s wounds. Ilyena lodges her blade deep into it's carapiece and finishes it off. However, there is no time to rest.

Countless spiders still exist, but by the looks of it, after we kill a certain amount of the little ones, a big one comes over. It's a good thing, because I don't think we'll be able to handle two of those at the same time.

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"We've finally made a dent in the swarm."

"Hah. We showed them!” He pauses, “Though, aren't spiders supposed to be more solitary creatures?" Sirius. A moment ago you were whimpering in fear.

This pattern continued for over half an hour.

We switch whenever someone's health reaches below the halfway point. This is the only way we can survive for any prolonged length of time. Astrya is able to heal, so we are able to take greater risks and this increases our speed up a notch.

"Is there no end?" Sirius says while catching his breath.

"We've killed at least a quarter of them." Elayne comments.

"Ugh.."

Having killed so many spiders, their weak spots have become engrained in my mind.

Another half hour passed.

At this time, the fatigue is settling in; however, over half the spider's have died.

We have all levelled up during this time, and I have already made good progress towards level 12. I put the points into vitality. By the end of this swarm we all will have gained at least two levels.

Despite the danger, this is very beneficial for our progress. I wonder how the other teams are making out. Surely not every path is like these ones. Facing a swarm after only 2 monsters is unreasonable. If I hadn't noticed them above us or thought to run to this natural bottleneck we could have easily died.

*clikclikclikclik*

The spiders began vigorously clattering and slowed down their assault to a standstill.

A tingling feeling appears at the back of my neck similar to how I felt before we were attacked, but this time it is far more prominent.

An ominous sign.

Activating my night vision, I look beyond the swarm, but there is nothing there. Night vision cannot be maintained indefinitely due to my pitiful mana supply, but just for now I will leave it on.

"Be careful. Something is not right." I warn my teammates.

"What are you talking about? They are finally retreating. We should take this opportunity to go after them." Sirius seems caught up in his grandeur.

"Quinn is right." Elayne comments with weariness in her voice, “This is unnatural."

"Unnatural? What about these dog sized spiders is natural? I'm not afraid of them anymore!"

"You should be afraid." I chime in.

"That's right. They wouldn't stop for nothing. Something must be commanding them behind the scenes."

"They're nervous." Ilyena comments while staring out into the cavern.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sirius seems confused.

"Look at them." Ilyena continues, “They're quivering in anticipation."

As if on cue, the spiders become silent.

A few pebbles drop from the ceiling, creating echoes in the distance.

My gaze wanders towards the hole I initially watched the spiders pouring out from, and to my dismay, there is movement.

At first it seems like pillars are descending; however, what follows is enough to make my blood run cold. A massive spider that cannot even compare to the one’s we have been facing has appeared. It must be at least the size of an elephant.

We all stare in silence towards it, jaws to the floor.

“Umm...”

“Get out your teleport crystals!” I raise my voice in an attempt to grab their attention, “Hurry!”

After coming to their senses, everyone takes out their crystals and I do the same. We have a small window now that the assault has temporarily stopped. This is our only chance.

“Umm...”

I activate my crystal and the familiar white light consumes my vision.

However, the light begins to fade and I remain in the same position.

Damn it.

Notification

Teleportation is unavailable at this time.

User is required to beat the ‘Colossal Arachnid’ before leaving the area.

  Hidden Boss

 Level Colossal Arachnid ? ? ? Vitality  Unk Stamina Unk Strength Unk Mana Unk Defence Unk Intelligence Unk Dexterity Unk Spirit Unk Skills Unknown

A teleportation trap.

This is simply cruel. Given the nature of these spiders, if we run away, they will only pursue us and our stamina will get decreased further. Also, it is unknown what we would run into if we continued further. That is, IF we can continue further. This is not looking good.