An arrow of light was fired from atop the hill where the nomad camp was situated. It flew in a high arc, a radiant streak of white that illuminated the night like a personal star.

For the brief instant it hung at the peak of its arc, everything came into sight.

The panicking, half asleep expedition camp. Several of its members too young to be considered adults. Several were half dressed, half asleep and half intoxicated.

All were unprepared. But not as unprepared as they otherwise would be.

As the arrow fell, a comet through a void of black, the creatures hissed and skittered away. But only for a moment. They were tall, twice the height of a human, though almost all of their size came from the eight, pencil thin legs that held up their small, hairy thorax and abdomen.

Sets of eight eyes glinted in the light from above, the campsite was surrounded by hundreds of ominously reflective spheres.

A man stumbled back as he saw them. His face going pale and his eyes wide in terror. His panicked yell seemed to be the spider monster’s indication to charge. The light from above seemed to sear away the darkness that clung to their spindly frames.

The arrow of light fell among them, piercing the body of a single monster. It shuddered and twisted unnaturally as it died. Long slender legs folding in on themselves. It was a single death, but there were countless spiders.

An ethereal warrior aparated where the arrow had landed, its armoured frame wielding a large blade. It began to hack and stab as several more arrows lit up the sky. Several of the arachnids froze, many turning to face the newly appeared threat while the rest swarmed forward.

Shards of ice flew horizontally, spinning like discs as they severed arachnid legs like an axe would fell saplings. They snapped with a sickening sound, their elevated bodies falling with furious screeches.

Marcus stumbled out of the nearest tent, trading places with the deer as Leif threw the oblivious animal inside.

The spriggan focused on [Willpower], the attribute soaring thanks to [Grand Action] and his vastly improved [Charisma]. Four limbs of ethereal golden energy thrummed into existence from Leif’s back, they pushed through small gaps in the cloak he had made for just this use.

The limbs then morphed, changing in seconds as bladed tips grew from their knuckles. Leif’s own, physical, ivory white arms were likewise tipped with similar golden blades. So much control over [Gold Iron Physique] would have been impossible prior to his advancement.

Screams rose from all around as the Spriggan stepped forward. He gutted a spider, a bladed arm piercing it up from below. Another fell as he bisected its front two legs, the creature screeched as it tumbled, he crushed it underfoot and kept moving.

An expedition member fell backwards as a spider lunged for him, but Leif shielded the man with a golden barrier. A pair of floating daggers zoomed in from out of sight and stabbed into the monster’s side but Leif didn’t have spare attention to give.

With each blow Leif landed, the monster's vitality and purple blood trickled down through his limbs and into the pool of life energy within his body. Leif had burnt through much of it to empower the initial skill usage that conjured his golden arms.

With every kill the pool refilled, it churned within him, boiling and eager. So when a spear tipped spider leg stabbed downward, the intent somehow shrouded, and punched through his neck, jerking the spriggan’s entire body to a stop the energy was ready.

It flooded upwards, towards the wound. The spider withdrew its appendage, confident of its kill. So when two amber arms ripped it to pieces it likely felt more than a little confusion.

He charged forward, felling three monsters before using [Amber Steps] to blink back to where he had been a moment prior and out of reach of any counter attacks. Leif was like a whirling dervish of death. His every movement tearing into the attacking monsters.

Nearby Sieg was having similar success. The spiders were slipping on the frozen ground before being cut down by either the man’s axe or the several floating blades of ice. Purple light flashed from behind, the world trembling for just a moment before arcane lightning danced from monster to monster.

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The spiders quickly realised the futility of attacking this heavily defended portion of the camp. They chittered and hissed, withdrawing into the darkness of night. Those few Academy students and nomads who had rallied to fight off the attackers seemed at a loss as to their next course of action.

Leif felt a spike of fear blossom up from within the camp. [Amber Sympathy] let him feel the surge of emotion, and likewise locate where it had originated from. A spider stood above a nearby tent, its long limbs elevating its body to loom high over its soon to be victim.

Leif couldn’t see the person who was in danger, and with no target [Under My Protection] couldn’t trigger. So he improvised.

A golden javelin soared through the air, impacting the creature's side but bouncing off. It left a small gash that bled purple ichor. The monster hissed and wheeled to face its attacker. Leif growled internally, that improvised attack hadn’t been all that effective, and now he was down an arm.

A surge of vibrating wind caught the monster from behind and sent the thing soaring bodily up and away. Leif watched it sail off into the night before crashing down somewhere in the darkness.

Adriana limped from behind a tent as Leif jogged over, he finished off a spider blinded by some sort of green sizzling liquid from another expedition member as he went.

She clutched her side where blood was flowing freely. Despite that she had a look of triumphant satisfaction on her face. Adriana slumped down next to an injured nomad girl Leif didn’t recognise, her arm mangled and eyes unfocused.

Leif knelt, placing an amber hand on both humans and letting [Blight’s Bounty] surge lifeforce from himself and into them. The nomad girl gasped as golden light burst from her arm, the wound already healing at a visible rate.

“Thanks.” Adriana grimaced, her bloody hand still at her side but the tension was rapidly leaving her body. Leif just nodded and stood. All around were flashes of skill usage, a tumbling and chaotic mess of emotions and intent all mixing together with a confusing mesh of lifeforce.

Cold blasted from nearby, followed by crackling purple energy. Leif chose to trust Sieg and Marcus were capable enough to hold their own. He tore off in the other direction.

[Amber Sympathy] was being overwhelmed, too much was going on. Leif focused and retracted his aura, pushing the skill down and dampening its effects.

It took an instant of concentration.

In that exact moment a pair of spiders seemed to materialise out of the darkness.

Shadow spooled from both towering monsters like the morning mist. Each was taller and more angular than the other spiders Leif had seen. He could only assume both were higher level, most likely both were evolved monsters.

One of the two leaped forward as if to bite him. Leif slashed at it with three bladed arms and drove the monster back, it hissed in pain as purple ichor ran down its face, several eyes ruined.

Leif needed to kill them quickly, every second he wasted people might die. The uninjured monster skittered to the side and opened its mandibles wide. Strands of darkness, sticky and restrictive shot from its open maw.

An amber shield snapped into existence around his body but the shadows, web-like in nature, phased through the barrier and wrapped around his legs, stalling his movement. Leif hissed, letting the shield drop and cutting at the strands. Each slash severed the restraints, but for every one removed two more would latch onto his body.

The injured spider flanked him, then bit down on his shoulder. Leif didn’t feel pain, but instead a facsimile of the sensation. An icy chill flooded his upper body as the monster's fangs sunk deep. Despite his bark being remarkably tough the creature didn’t have any problems penetrating through the outer layer and into his plant fibre muscles.

Leif seized up, his body going numb. His amber arms fell limply to his side as he felt his connection to the skill grow fuzzy, likely because the limbs were connected to his body but he couldn’t be certain of the exact cause.

More shadow webbing wrapped around his form. Leif was being spun up like a cocoon, he struggled for a moment before realising it was useless. He would cut his way out or not at all.

The spider monster chittered and pulled the connecting webbing taught. Then it yanked, like a fisherman plucking their catch from the water.

Nothing happened.

It yanked again, this time with more force. Leif increased his weight using [Gold Iron Physique] and once again the spider achieved nothing. Something rumbled in the distance but Leif didn’t have the time to consider what.

Both spiders hissed and chittered, unsure what to do.

His unusual nature fought whatever paralytic venom the spiders had pumped into him. With every second he could feel the cold retreating, his control over his limbs being slowly restored. But as he was, Leif couldn’t move. If either monster decided to finish him off there was little he could do. Their spear-tipped legs were easily up to the task if they targeted the right areas.

Despite being restrained Leif was more than healthy. [The Well Within] practically roared with power from the monsters he had killed and partially drained. Power waiting to be used, practically begging. Leif reached for a skill he hadn’t yet used in combat. Previously he hadn’t wanted to use it without extensive testing but things were looking desperate.

[Embolden Vegetation] triggered, and the life force within his body trembled. The well of vitality that his body housed flared, his golden eyes flashed with power and his entire body convulsed.

Somewhere in the distance what sounded like thunder rolled across the land.