"If you and Chance built a house," Trent says as he and Grace guide us toward the Dungeon. "Then that means you two both have construction-related Classes, right? Is it all wrapped up into one, or is it split into several?"

As we walk, I've been giving them some more, smaller updates about what's gone on since the Mana Flood. It hasn't been all that long, and part of the purpose was to distract the three of them from their anxieties a little. This part of the growing forest is dark, dense, and ripe with opportunities for something to jump out at us. Not exactly a place that relaxes a person.

"Actually," I frown a little. "We don't have any. Neither of us received a construction-related Skill, so we don't have the related Classes. When I asked the golems at the System Shop about it, they just blanked on us. It seems that whatever the cause, it goes beyond basic knowledge."

While the gods do seem to be more active in things, I doubt they're actively interfering in the acquisition of Skills. Even if they would just to help me with my Class goals, there would be no reason to prevent Chance from acquiring Skills. Since the golem confirmed there are construction-related Skills, something is definitely up.

"Wait," Lucas says. "What about [Grenadier]? Wyatt gained that with [Throwing Master] when he did his first test for the potion bombs, right?"

My goal of talking as we walk to help relax all three of them seems to have worked as none of them are fidgeting too much or staring at shadows for too long. The nervous stutter Lucas has is gone for now as well. Task completed successfully, and only in a few minutes, too.

Not that it's been hard to calm Lucas down these last few days. His last run in the Dungeon helped give him more confidence and lowered his fears a little.

"No," I tell him. "That's actually why I was asking the golems about it this morning. I didn't receive [Throwing Mastery] or [Grenadier] when I tested my own potion bomb, and that made me realize I hadn't gained construction-related Skills."

"Ah," he says, then looks at Trent and Grace. "How much further?"

There's skepticism on Lucas's face so I'm sure Trent and Grace have picked up on the fact that he doesn't trust them. Lucas definitely doesn't trust people easily, though I know he's trusting me more easily than he's trusting others. I'm a little confused by that, though, as I'm not entirely sure why he'd trust me so well despite us knowing each other so little. It may have to do with how I was extremely concerned about his comfort levels the evening we met. That can often build some trust between two people.

Not blindly trusting people is understandable, though. You never know who might burn you. When it comes to Trent, I trust him enough. I don't know Grace too well but my gut says she's a decent person, so I'm trusting her for now as well.

"Almost there," Grace answers. "Once we see the Y-shaped tree, we'll be nearly on top of it."

"I'm surprised we haven't seen a spider yet," Trent's gaze darts around. "Or heard one of those damn owls."

"You've been hearing them?" I ask. "So they're out here as well?"

I'm not really surprised by that, though I'm a bit curious about how they managed to deal with the owls being as weak as they are.

"Yeah," he answers. "We decided early on we were going to be in our makeshift shelter, sealed up, by nightfall. So by the time they started their hooting, we were already hidden. They've been quiet the last few days, though."

He gives me a look that asks if I know anything about that.

"Don't know what's up with the owls," I tell him. "They went silent the night before I fought the squirrel queen. It has me concerned that something big is going to happen."

"Same," Lucas nods. "It's part of why I want to-"

"Damn, that's a big spider."

Everyone looks over to where I'm looking and Lucas trembles a little as he takes a step back. The spider is up to my waist in height, with a dark grey body and red-and-silver eyes. Trent and Grace are clearly still traumatized from their last experience with one as they both let out a small gasp or scream and jerk back a bit.

I point my left index and middle finger forward as the spider begins to approach, wiggling the two things coming out from by its mouth. I have no idea what they're called and I really don't care, I just know that the classic video game spider is weak to fire. At least, that's been normal in the ones I played back before the Mana Flood.

Which is why the spell circle forming in front of my two fingers is reddish-orange in color.

"Take another step forward and you'll die," I warn, and the spider actually pauses.

Did it understand what I said, was my tone just that menacing, or is something else about to happen? Keep an open mind but hope it's the second one, that's the way to handle this. Especially since my offensive begins a moment later.

My spell completes and a [Flame Bullet] forms in front of the spell circle, then shoots forward and slams into the spider's head. The beast jerks back, letting out a horrible scream-like sound as it shakes its head. Fire spreads, burning some of the hairs on the monster's head and even part of its body.

Though it attempts to charge forward, the struggle it felt from the panic delays the spider's next attempt at our lives long enough that I finish casting [Flame Blast]. The force of the impact pushes the spider back as more of its chitin burns, and I can see a few cracks in its melting body.

"You're a tough fucker, aren't you?" I ask as I aim a [Flame Bullet] at the biggest hole. "Here. Enjoy."

The [Flame Bullet] strikes into the crack and the spider's head jerks back as it waves its front legs in its pain. I follow that up with another [Flame Blast] aimed at the same spot, and the spider shifts back onto its two pairs of hind legs from the impact and pain.

As it comes back down, something shoots forward and strikes in the hole created by my attacks. It was as fast as my elemental bullets but looked like a one-inch thorn. That's not a spell I knew Lucas learned but it came from where he was standing. Nice.

"Kill-stealer," I joke as the spider drops to the ground, no longer screaming in pain.

"S-sorry!" Lucas exclaims. "Um… you gained a Level?"

"Nah," I say. "Just guessing it's not dead. Did you?"

"No," he answers. "I-I guess that wasn't enough. And s-sorry. I should've a-asked f-first."

"You're cool," I say. "We're a team, Lucas. You're not being kept on just for the healing. If you want to help me out in a fight, you can. Was that [Thorn Shot]?"

"Y-yeah," he answers. "B-but it takes f-fifteen seconds to c-cast."

"Really?" I ask.

"A-and 25 M-Mana," he nods.

"Damn," I say. "That's a hell of an expensive and lengthy spell. Didn't you say before that plant magic costs more and takes longer? Was that because of this spell?"

"Y-yeah," he nods. "And another. B-but [Thorn Shot] has a thorn count in t-the description, s-so I think it also i-increases how many i-it summons as the L-Level goes u-up."

"That's good, then," I say. "That was some decent aim, too. Been practicing?"

"A bit," he nods. "It felt natural, learning to shoot the spell."

"It's so weird, how your stutter just disappears like that," Grace says.

"Commenting about it is a bit rude," I let her know, though I make sure my tone is kind. "He's self-conscious of it and you don't really know him. I barely do and made the mistake of it back when the Mana Flood happened, and he let me know later that it had bothered him. And bringing attention to it can actually make it worse."

That was a big oopsie on my part and I made sure to make it up to him once he let me know. Apparently, just thinking about the stutter can make it worse, too.

"Oh," she says. "Sorry, Lucas."

"I-it's f-f-fine," he mumbles.

"So you feel comfortable with offensive plant magics?" I ask him, switching back to the previous topic.

"Y-yeah," he answers. "T-though they're a bit d-difficult to use."

"That's fine," I say. "If you're willing to spend that extra time and Mana on the spells, it can make things a little bit easier for me. I'll try non-fire spells for this spider and if it turns out to be worse than the fire spells, then we can do a strategy of you casting [Thorn Shot] into the wounds I've created. If things go like the first one did, your spell is sharp enough that once it's inside, it fucks them up enough to kill them."

"T-this spider?" Lucas asks.

"The one that's lurking in the shadows over there," I point with my left index and middle fingers, a grey-white spell circle forming in front of it. "Sneaking it's way over as if it thinks it's actually hidden from view."

Lucas begins casting another [Thorn Shot], his spell circle brownish-green in color. My [Air Bullet] finishes first and shoots forward, slamming into the spider's head with perfect accuracy. While it does crack the monster's chitin a little, the spider isn't even stunned from that and decides to dart forward. This thing is way too fast.

A one-foot-wide [Air Mastery] spell circle rapidly forms as I aim my left palm at the spider, canceling the second [Air Bullet] I'd begun casting. Trent and Grace jumpback as Lucas lets out a small shout of surprise at the spider's speedy approach.

Then my [Air Mastery] spell circle finishes and I generate a powerful gust of wind that slams into the spider, forcing it back. One thing I've learned over the last few days is that [Multcasting] doesn't work for different spells at the same time, so I have to wait until I finish this to begin my next one. Because of that, I make sure to blast the spider as far back as I can manage, then immediately begin weaving a reddish-orange spell circle.

The spider darts forward again, but I bought enough time to finish casting [Flame Blast]. My spell strikes the same spot as the [Air Bullet] did, worsening the damage there as it burns the spider's hair. A few more cracks have formed from that, but I target the biggest one with my next [Flame Bullet]. There's no guarantee an [Air Bullet] would do much to the spider as my fire spells are definitely doing more damage to these things than that did.

As the spider screams and recoils from the pain, Lucas finishes his [Thorn Shot] and with expert accuracy, strikes straight into the flailing spider's biggest injury. His thorn pierces into it and kills the creature, causing it to collapse to the ground.

"Looks like fire spells are the way to go," I comment.

"You two are handling this like it's nothing," Trent says. "Just how strong are you?"

"Not that strong," I tell him. "Comparatively. We're actually weaker than the area is. By a lot. Start casting again. I think we pissed off the swarm. Incoming."

Lucas begins casting, aiming his spell in the direction I've pointed with my right index and middle finger. This spider gets fairly close to us, but I timed things right and finish the cast before it actually reaches me. From this short distance, there's almost no spread for the spell so the impact of the [Flame Blast] is enough to send the spider stumbling back on top of burning it and cracking its chitin.

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Rather than casting a single [Flame Bullet] or another [Flame Blast], I cast two [Flame Bullet]s at once, sending both to the central crack from the attack. They both impact into it and widen the crack, then I cast an [Air Bullet] into it. Just as I expected, that didn't do enough damage. Lucas's [Thorn Shot] may be weaker than my attacks, but it's more effective than my [Air Bullet]s into a hole in the beast.

I make sure the beast stays back with another [Flame Bullet], then Lucas finishes it off with an expertly-aimed [Thorn Shot].

"Lucas," I begin casting a [Flame Blast]. "Prepare a [Thorn Shot] but don't shoot it. Keep it ready for casting. It'll cost some extra Mana, but it'll make things faster if another attacks."

"O-okay."

"Trent, Grace," I say. "How many spiders did you guys face?"

"Three total," Trent answers. "And only one at a time, in different places. They didn't come at us like this. If we backed off, they stopped."

Defending their territory, maybe? Though that's no excuse to try and kill people who are just there. Monsters are monsters, though, and their instinct is to kill people – that's what the golems at the System Shop say. It's curious that they would back off if Trent and Grace left, but that's not something I should try and figure out right now. Making sure we all make it out of here alive is what we need to focus on.

"We're probably not going to be that lucky," I say. "Since Lucas and I have proven we can take them down. But let's start moving back. We've faced three in a row, so they're clearly pissed. They might come in a bigger group."

"Got it," Trent and Grace say.

"Trent, keep watch to your left," I order as we start moving back. "Grace, to your right. Lucas, you watch forward. Considering the direction they all came from, we'll most likely face an attack from behind, which I'll be watching."

"What if a group attacks us?" Trent asks. "Do you guys have something that can deal with them?"

"My waveburst potion," I answer. "While I do have a group-disabling spell, it takes me almost six seconds to cast. That's too long for a group if we can't hold them down. There's also no guarantee it'll work for very long on them."

"I-it might," Lucas says. "T-the only things that have r-resisted it so far are others with m-mind magics and the boss s-squirrel."

That's actually a good point. The only monsters we've faced so far that were able to quickly shrug it off or ignore it, even at my 42 Mind, have been those with mind magics. The squirrel queen could when I was a little bit weaker than this. If the spiders had mind magics, I'm sure they'd have used them already.

Which suggests their own Mind stat is fairly low. I could probably disable them. That's not something we should rely on, though, just in case they have a higher Mind stat than their attack strategy suggests.

"The problem is that I'll need about six seconds to hold them down," I say. "And I can't cast two different spells at once. You've got some decent Magic, but not enough to use-incoming! Single!"

When the spider is close enough for comfort, I shoot it with my prepared [Flame Blast], then Lucas's sends his [Thorn Shot] into the central crack formed by the impact. That was… damn fast of him. He had to have shot it before my [Flame Blast] connected – he picked up aiming just as quickly as I did. Even before my attack landed, he knew where the fire would weaken the chitin the most.

That's kind of hot. If he's up for it, we'll probably be doing some stuff once there's a chance for it. Though I should probably be focusing on the situation at-hand rather than how sexy Lucas is right now.

"Let's keep moving," I say as the spider drops. "Lucas, prepare another!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

"You won't be able to use [Air Mastery] to hold off a group like I can," I tell Lucas as we resume walking, and I make sure to prepare another [Flame Blast]. "So you won't be able to buy me time for [Stunning Sound] if we're attacked by a group. We'll probably need to improvise. You're not comfortable with [Air Bullet] and it doesn't seem to do much-"

"T-Trent," Lucas interrupts. "C-can you grab some mana potions from my p-pack? I-I need some backups."

"You've got two on your belt," I say. "That should be plenty. It's hundreds of Mana's worth."

Lucas is quiet for a few seconds, probably thinking about what to say.

"If you use [Air Mastery] to hold them back for about thirty seconds," he says. Ah. He was making sure he could respond without stuttering. With our discussion about his stutter back at the start of our new situation, he'd mentioned he can do that if he mentally prepares himself and picks his wording carefully. Usually. "Then I can prepare a spell to hold them all down. It's just [Plant Mastery], but it should be enough. If their minds are weak enough, then you can use [Stunning Sound] to disable them for longer in the time I'm able to hold them down, and that could give you time."

"But it's expensive as fuck," I say. "Trent, middle pocket on the front. The potions with clear blue liquid. They have silvery runes on them."

A few moments later, Trent discovers something.

"You guys have healing potions," he says. "And salves."

There's a touch of hurt in his voice. Is he upset we didn't use potions to heal them? I'm guessing he thinks they would have been faster than our spells.

"Your injuries weren't bad enough for us to break those out," I say. "We want to keep them for-incoming! Single!"

Lucas and I take it out the same way we did the last one, barely pausing in our retreat. As I go to cast [Flame Burst], my instincts tell me that we won't be facing just one next time. Spells which can hold down more than one will be necessary.

"Lucas, start preparing [Plant Mastery]," I say.

"G-gut instinct?" It seems he's picked up that my gut's been pretty reliable.

"Gut instinct," I confirm.

"C-can't move i-if doing a s-spell that b-big," he tells me. "W-we'll need to stop."

Weaving spell circles does take focus and what Lucas wants to attempt is even bigger than any magic I've done so far. I doubt I would be able to maintain focus on it if we were moving.

"Alright," I say. "Let's all stop. They'll be coming from the same direction, but not yet."

"We're stopping?" Grace asks. "Should we keep moving?"

"Uh… I'm with Grace on this," Trent says. "Isn't it better to get away from the monsters that are coming after us?"

"There's more we haven't told you yet," I begin casting a four-foot-wide [Air Mastery] spell circle. "But we suspect I might have some sort of innate psychic ability. Ever since the Mana Flood, I've been having gut instincts about things and anytime we investigate them, they turn out correct. Could just be subconscious observations, but that only further proves it's reliable."

If something is consistently correct, then it's better to follow it. If that correctness comes from picking up on subtle signs, then that means there's something that's actually warranting listening rather than some unknown magic that we don't understand.

"W-where do you f-feel they're c-coming from?" Lucas asks as he steps up next to me. "Y-you're sure i-it's the s-s-same d-direction?"

I focus on the forest. Whether my gut instinct is actual psychic ability or just me picking up on subtle signs, we don't know. But if I examine the area around us…

"This way," I aim my spell circle, which has finished casting by now, a little bit more north than where the spiders had been coming from, though still somewhat west. "And I can feel it's more than two or three of them but I'm not sure how many. Not a massive group, I don't think. Twenty, maybe twenty-five seconds before arrival at most."

Lucas nods, then pulls off his pack and sets it down, then kneels and places both hands on the ground.

"P-potions, please," he says. "O-open them f-for me."

Trent still looks skeptical when I glance over, but he once again opens up recovery items pocket on Lucas's pack and pulls out some potions as a brownish-green spell circle forms on the ground, spreading out from Lucas's hands. He lifts up his right hand to down his potions, which doesn't seem to affect the casting.

The spell circle Lucas is weavingspreads out, though it's not complete by the time the spiders arrive. Seventeen seconds. I was off.

Activating my own spell, I begin blasting the seven spiders which decided to attack us. Rather than swarming us from different directions, they all come at us from the same one.

That makes this easier and I can narrow the focus of my gale a little. Using it, I keep the spiders pushed back around thirty feet. They try to scatter to the sides, except that I'm getting good enough at [Air Mastery] that I can shift the direction of the wind I've conjured in different parts. Around the edges of the gale I've summoned, the winds turn back inward – meaning anything that attempts to exit the actual magical wind finds itself pushed back in. This is easier thanks to the narrower focus of the spell.

Fast the spiders may be, but they're neither strong enough nor heavy enough to brute force their way through the wind.

"S-stop!" Lucas calls out, his spell circle now completed, six feet in diameter. "N-need them c-closer!"

He's willing to do this even though it means willingly letting the monster get close to him? Then he's confident in his plan. I'm going to trust in him on this.

"Alright," I cancel my [Air Mastery].

Immediately, the spiders are charging toward us again. The spell circle Lucas has cast begins to flare up as I raise my right hand to start casting [Stunning Sound]. No. That's not right – I should cast a wide-range attack spell while they're bound. [Fire Jet] sounds good to me, and I can just torch them a little.

A reddish-orange spell circle forms in front of my right palm as I aim it at the spiders. At the same time, a series of smaller versions of Lucas's spell circle forms around the spiders. Vines shoot up out of those, wrapping around the legs and bodies of the spiders. Shakily, Lucas reaches for another bottle of potion. This is not just sapping his Mana but pushing the limits of his casting ability. He might not be able to manage to hold them off.

"Hold on!" I tell Lucas. "Just ten more seconds!"

[Flame Jet] takes 15 seconds to cast since it'll only be Level 1 once I learn it, which is just over double the casting time for [Stunning Sound]. It might have been better for me to give that a try first. Shit. This was a bad idea.

"C-can't!" Lucas overestimated his ability, and the vines go slack as his spell circle fades. "B-but you've g-got t-time!"

Even if he's not controlling the vines anymore, the spiders aren't strong enough to just break through. It takes four seconds for the first to wriggle free and start moving forward. Now might be a good time to use a waveburst potion.

Before I have an opportunity to reach for the one on my belt, something swoops in front of us and lets out a screech, flapping its wings while maintaining a position in the air between the spiders and us. Fea's magically-enhanced screech breaks the vines and pushes the spiders back, even cracking the monsters' chitin a little.

"Thanks, Fea!" I call to the magihawk as he flies to the side as my own spell finishes.

You have learned [Flame Jet].

Fire erupts forward, a semi-conical burst of flames that billows outward, consuming all lesser matter in its path. Unearthly screams of pain fill the air as the spiders find themselves cloaked in their weakness. Though the spell only lasts for three seconds, it's more than enough to deal with the threat we were facing.

While it might be a good idea to wait until we know for sure the spiders are finished, I'm confident that they're dead. I examine the notice to see what my gains are from this fight.

You are now a Level 18/50 [Elemental Mage]. +20 Mana +0.006 Mana Regen +2 Magic +2 Mind +2 Skill Points +2 Attribute Points You have gained 2 EXP

I gained 2 Levels form even with Fea assisting us in the fight. Not a bad gain, though it does mean I might need to hold off on physical attacks sooner than expected, if I want to reach two mastery thresholds before Status Level 2. Coming back here will have to wait.

"Everyone good?" I ask as Fea reveals an ability to use [Water Mastery], which he utilizes to start putting out the fires caused by my last spell.

Huh. The bird can use two elements now. At least that means I don't have to deal with putting out the fires from my attack, as I don't want to risk burning down the forest. With the Mana in the air and soil here, there's no telling what might happen if a fore fire begins.

In the worst case scenario, the ambient magical energy would only fuel it.

"What… just happened?" Grace asks.

"I used a spell to hold back seven spiders," I answer. "Then Lucas tied them down. We received an assist from Fea – a magihawk my grandma tamed and the one who was flying overhead – who stunned their minds and pushed them back some more, then I finished them off with a flamethrower."

"Duh," Lucas says, causing me to snort. "H-harvest?"

"Just the crystals," I tell him. "Also, let's fix one onto each of our packs. We can probably process them and sell the parts to the System Shop. If their bodies are in a good enough condition for it, anyway."

"O-okay."

"You're doing what?" Trent asks.

"Making money," I answer. "I'm pretty sure we're safe now that we've taken out seven of them. Unless Fea decides not to help us, we'll be able to take on other groups of them. The spiders have probably learned their lesson for now, but that also means they might come after us more ferociously if we come back. Lucas, let's check their heads. Something tells me there's something in them."

"O-okay," Lucas is looking down, his voice quieter.

He's probably not feeling great about fumbling his attempt at binding them. An understandable state of mind considering his anxiety problems and it being his first real attempt at combat. A more normal reaction.

"And Lucas?" I say.

"Y-yeah?"

"Were you casting multiple spells at once?" I ask. "Or was that all one spell?"

"A-all just one [P-Plant M-Mastery]."

"That was some damn good casting for a first attempt at something like that," I tell him. "Practice it and improve your control a bit, and you'll be hella good at crowd control."

His face redden a little but he smiles at the same time. That perked him up.

We get to work on harvesting crystals from five of the spiders, leaving the two that look most-intact to tie onto our packs. As I work on cutting up on my first spider using compressed air (since my knife isn't able to pierce even their weakened chitin), I learn that my suspicion about their heads was correct.

Also that spider brains are… nowhere near the same as a human brain. Damn does it seem spread out. Either that's the same for normal spiders or monster spiders have some funky brains.

Contained within these spiders' brains are blue maginiite crystals. Ones which aren't attuned to any particular element, meaning they'll be perfect for keeping a slime as a normal, basic slime.

The maginiite crystals in their hearts are pale green and filled with poison magic. Neither Lucas nor I want to touch those with our bare hands, but our packs have gloves that I bought from the shop in them, so we use those to finish extracting the poison maginiite and place them into a jar, which we firmly seal shut.

"Alright," I say once we finish our harvests. "Let's leave this place, then meet up with Wyatt. He's probably not done yet but we can recover while waiting for him. Anyone opposed?"

All responses come fast and in favor of leaving.

"Then let's get going," I say.