The next few days of travel were different. Having Akurra helped ease some of the loneliness I had been feeling. Akurra was a surprisingly good companion, as dangerous as he is. I found out a few things about the giant snake. He was obsessed with killing and eating and never passed up an easy opportunity to attack and feed. This was due to the fact that he gained XP from both killing and eating. The amount of XP he gained from eating was sizeable it equated to about twenty-five percent of the XP of the kill. I also found out that this was not affected by the skill cores. Once I knew this, I began to remove the skill cores from the kills he was going to eat. I also found that he had a preference for his meals. He preferred to eat the rats, then the spiders and last were the other snakes. I also initially had been worried that he might be weaker than the other beasts since he was starting over at level one. I soon found that this was not the case. Since he evolved, he actually was higher at a higher level. It had been something I had been positing on since I had arrived. Since some of the larger more aggressive beasts had been lower level. There seemed to be some kind of mechanic, where beasts once they met certain factors evolved and became larger and more powerful versions of themselves. From what I could glean from Akurra that is what had happened to him. The difference being that he did not just grow by one step, he gained a coveted evolution.

We also found that no matter who made the kill, we would both get some XP. The difference was that If I made the kill Akurra would only get about seven percent. When he made the kill alone, I got twenty-three percent. When we both participated it was split fifty-four to forty-six percent. The XP split was always going to be in my favor, but he more than made up for it with his ability to gain extra XP. We started to use a rotation where he would stun them and I would make the kill, and then we would switch. By doing this we could guarantee the most equitable distribution of XP.

We traveled for five days before we hit a solid wall of rock. Now that I had found an edge I could see more from my map. It seemed like we were in a huge bowl, surrounded on all sides by rock. What I needed was a valley or cave to exit this area. I was also able to get a better gauge of the trees in the forest. I was able to see that either the first trees were smaller or that I had misjudged the sizes of the trees. Even against the sheer height of the rock wall, they were still huge. I would have had to guess the shortest being at well over four hundred feet whereas the tallest might have been over six hundred. There was also another difference in the trees. I could not tell if it was because of the mana density in the area, but the wood from these trees was exceedingly dense. Even dry the wood was heavy and tough if not for my magic, starting a fire would be difficult. I also noticed the sky was a light blue with hints of purple. That made sense since I could tell this world has a higher oxygen content. You would think you would not be able to tell, but I am from Colorado. It was easy to tell that it was easier to breathe, living at a mile high had its benefits but thick, oxygen-rich air was not one.

Now that I somewhat had my bearings, I decided to walk towards the wall in what I had deemed the northern area. I had no reason other than it was the area opposite from where I had arrived. As I walked, I started to feel a buzzing like the mana was becoming denser again. That was impressive since this was already a high-density area. I could tell Akurra was becoming listless the farther we went. Until we reached a point where I could tell he was becoming nervous, even a bit fearful.

“What is it buddy,” I asked patting Akurra’s side?

I didn’t really expect an answer from him so I was surprised at his response. I was him, I was seeing from Akurra’s perspective. I got a glimpse of how he saw the world. I was strong most of the things here feared me even in the night. I had gotten bored and decided to leave there was an area where the rock in the wall was broken. I was going to go through and leave and find new things to eat and get stronger. Once I was inside, I realized a spider must live here there was a lot of webbing. I am strong so I push through until I felt it. The spider here was not puny and weak like the ones outside. From the vibrations, the thing was much larger and stronger. I would have to use my trump card, I would stun it and strike maybe I could defeat it. Once it got closer, I reared up to my tallest and realized my mistake. Even at my tallest, I was nothing to this thing. At my tallest, I barely reached the middle joint on this thing’s legs. This was a true monster. I had one advantage and I used it, I stunned it I could tell it worked, but I knew it would not hold so I had fled. I realized I needed to become much stronger.

The vision was over and I understood why Akurra was so relentless. He had faced a true monster and had been found wanting. I had seen what he had seen, and while he was right. He had missed something in his vision. The size while being a detriment was also a boon his size must have triggered something in the large spider. But me, I would be a spec to the thing, there were also areas that were too small for a beast that size. He had also seen a light on the other side meaning there was a way out.

“I get it buddy,” I say patting him again. “But together we can get out of her I am done with this how about you?”

Akurra enthusiastically shakes his head, even though I can tell he is unsure how it will work. The first trick is to get to the area in question. While we were doing that, I would explain the plan to Akurra. First, I need to know how his size change worked. When I started talking to him about this, he had no idea what I was talking about. I realized that at this time I had never seen him use any of his new spells. From his impressions, I got that he did not see his screens as I did. His stunning sight he had been born with, and he had felt it intrinsically. The new ones he did not see or feel once I understood that, I realized a small secret. For him to use his new spells I would have to go into his screens and cast them for him.

I went into the screens and went to the first new spell Elemental Aura and cast it. Unsurprisingly it took some of my mana to activate, I also had to direct the element as well. I also cast Weakening Blast the spell was much simpler to use. The last spell I used was his Size Change. This spell was special as it seemed to be both an at-will and limited use. It seemed that he could shrink and come back to his normal size as much as he wanted. He was also able to grow to twice his current size once a day for half an hour. The Size Change allowed him to either reduce his size by either half or one-tenth. I could tell that he really did not like losing size. I had to explain the idea of being sneaky to him. He had never had to think about it due to his Conceal spell. It took some time and a demonstration for him to finally get the idea. We approached a group of Dire Rats I had him shrink down and get behind them before he became normal size and struck. Once the exercise was done, he was more agreeable, I had to fight him much less.

The rest of the day was used to test the spells and combinations. I could tell that he liked the earth and fire Elemental Auras, he was not a fan of water and he did not see the purpose of air. I also found that when cast, his Elemental Aura carried into his strikes and venom. I only noticed after one kill when I went to remove the core and saw the burn marks in the fang marks. I cut into them to see that the burns carried even farther than the fangs penetrated. This gave me more ideas to follow up on later.

We also tested his smallest form he shrank down and wrapped himself around my neck and shoulder. Initially, it felt weird it took us a while to find a comfortable position, once we found it though we both took efforts to remember it. This was the crux of my plan! To the over-large spider, my movements would be small and erratic. I would not be recognized as a prey source and hopefully, since I was smaller, it would think I was not worth the effort. Akurra would be wrapped around me and would be too small a target as well.

For the next few days, we work on our arrangement. I worked on my movement with Akurra attached, changing direction and moving at speed. Most of all I try moving through tight spaces together. We do this for the next three days until we reach the gap that Akurra tried to cross. The place looks unassuming. It’s not until you look closer that you see the webbing. Also, the farther in you go the more the gap becomes a cave until it's fully enclosed. We get there closer to the end of the day and decide to wait to make our crossing. The last thing we want to do is get caught trying to cross in the dark and wander into a trap or have an accident.

We decide to watch the entrance for the rest of the day. While we watch we see a few smaller spiders rush out of the cave entrance. I say smaller like each of the spiders that come out of the cave is not the size of a pony. I surmise that the spiders stay in the cave after they hatch. They probably prey on each other until they become too large. Once they hit a certain size they have to leave or they become food for their mother. Hopefully, the mad dash means that the cave has cleared out and we can sneak through. If we had another option, I would rather take that but Akurra has informed me that this is the only way in or out. This area is basically a huge bowl of stone with trees inside. I tried to fly out but my fly spell is insanely mana intensive and the wall is very tall. I think I made it a fourth of the way before I started to run out of mana. This is truly the only way out and I have no intention of staying here till I die.

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We find a spot to camp and do so quietly the spiders are more active in this area. I find just how quiet this place is eerie. It is even worse when I look at my map and watch the spiders move around. That is not even the worst part as I see the mama spider’s location on my map. My map has had an unexpected upgrade, it was not listed but it doesn’t just work off my senses. It now takes input from Akurra’s as well, and since his senses are far more evolved than the maps, detail has increased greatly. I can easily see the great gold dot that is the giant spider. This dot isn’t just large it is huge this spider is like a moving building. From what I can tell, she doesn’t move much. She just sits in one spot, from what I can see her size limits her movement. I wonder how something that size gets enough food to sustain it, there is probably some funky magic that makes it happen. Outside of that nothing too large comes near us or the cave entrance, through the night.

The next day after some prep, a little procrastination, and a few minutes to psyche myself up we began. I chose one of the narrower openings. It would have normally been a bad choice since the opening lent itself to ambushes. The difference was that I already knew that there was an ambusher, and I knew where it was. As soon as I entered, I stabbed up and to the right. My sword slides through the spider. I had placed my sword and number of knives within easy reach for this purpose. I knew that if it came to a fight there was a good chance, I might not be able to use my sword. I remembered the first episode of goblin slayer. It was likely that I was not going to be able to swing it around inside without hitting something so I wanted options.

The first part of the day went easy enough. I crept through a lot of nooks and crannies sliding through narrow points. I ran into a number of spiders and killed them. The size of the gap slash cave was ridiculous. The area had to be at least two and a half to three miles long, and half a mile wide in some areas. One side had a ledge a hundred yards wide that ran the length of the space after that it dropped off into an abyss of unknown depth. Initially, before it closed off it was at least fifteen hundred feet tall if not more, and might be taller after. I would not be able to tell since it was closed off. I could not see the mother spider on this level which meant she was currently in the area below. I could see also that the mama spider was trapped here because after the entrance the area became much narrower before it widened. She was effectively trapped by her own greed. By doing whatever it was she did to become so large she trapped herself in this area.

The first part of the trip went as planned, mostly. I had not accounted for just how much webbing would be in the gap slash tunnel. At first, we were able to make our way around the thick webbing. But, after a few hundred feet there was no way around, we had to go through. Luckily for me my blades seemed perfectly suited for doing so.

Tactical Field Knife; Void, Epic, 7000/7000

This blade is made of steel that has traveled through the void. Steel has not been discovered in this world. Due to this, your blade is a bane to all things of this world. This weapon does increased damage to any beings or materials native to this realm.

The knife cut through the webbing as if it was not there. The biggest issue was not cutting through the webbing it was what to do with it once I had. I decided to store it as it might be useful later. It turned out that even with the ease in which I cut the webbing it still seemed to hamper us the most. Even so, we made good time for quite some time.

We were more than halfway across before everything went to shit. I had just cut through a patch of webbing. On the opposite side, there was a mass that I knew was a spider. I had intended to deal with it the same way I had dealt with the many others I had come across. I didn’t realize the mistake I had made until I stabbed the mass. What I thought was one spider, was a bunch of much smaller spiders. My stab killed one but the mass then moved to attack me. The smaller spiders were not a threat to me but Akurra who was wrapped around me started getting bitten as well while the attacks were not doing any damage Akurra responded charging his Elemental Aura and shocking the spiders covering the both of us. The shock was effective in killing the smaller spiders but the charge from the shock did something I had never seen before. I don’t know if it is the high mana concentration in the air but before I knew it the shock jumped and arced its way onto a web. I started to move again hoping that the web was a dead end or away from Big Momma Spider. I knew somehow that my luck was not that good though.

I was proven correct when the loudest noise I had ever heard came out of the abyss. I could also feel the vibration of her movements. All I could hope as I watched the gigantic gold dot come to life was that she was too slow and big to get up here in time. I could feel the cave start to ruble as she began to move from her whole in the deep. I guessed that she must have already been up here when Akurra tried the first time or she would not have been to sneak upon him. Even now I could feel her every movement with my tremor sense, the rumble was causing me to grind my teeth. I turn down my Tremor sense.

From that point on it was basically a mad dash. My original plan to sneak through went out the window. My friend used to say that no plan survives contact with the enemy. At this time, I believed there had never been a truer statement spoken. There were a few positives to this though. With the big spider on the move, all of the little spiders retreated to areas unknown. I was also a little over half a mile from what I hoped was the exit. I could even see light beginning to filter through the webbing.

If you would have told me a month ago, I would be able to flat out sprint a half a mile. I would have laughed so hard I would have broken something. Now I was running like an Olympic sprinter. Sky Cutter was out and cutting the webbing in my way. Before I was using one of my knives to cut the webbing, it cut the webbing easily. But, with Sky Cutter, it was as if I was just waving my blade in the air and the webs were just split. With the ease that I was cutting through the webbing, I pushed my speed as hard as I could. I felt like I had to be running like a scene in a superhero movie where the guy is running and passing cars on the highway. I knew I was not a blur like they made the speedsters look, but I knew I could easily run with a car on the highway. We made it half the remaining distance before I could tell she was on her way up the side of the cavern. While we were fast, she was big and had large strides she could easily cover the distance in a few steps. I started swinging Sky Cutter at everything in reach. I am hoping that I would cut something that might be holding up some structure. I reached out and cut a huge knot of webbing, and heard a gale of snaps and cracks. It sounded like when in the movie when you heard the supports of a structural break. There were a bunch of loud pings and cracks, and then a loud crash as her web lost support on this side of the gap. I heard a loud crash and then a thud as the weight of what was being suspended crashed down into the abyss.

This drew a loud screech from the mammoth spider, and the tremors increased. I could tell that she had been climbing up her web and the wall before but now all of her bulk was on the wall. I could tell she wasn’t as far down as I had hoped.

My thoughts were confirmed when her massive paw slammed down between us and the exit.

Golden SkyWeaver Queen/Magic Beast, Mature Adult lvl 156.

And yes, I said paw. Until I arrived here, I had not known that spiders had paws with claws on them. On normal-sized spiders, they are tiny and hard to see. Since I had arrived, I had noted the paws on the giant spiders. They were slightly smaller than my hand. This paw though was the same size I was. The paw along with the tarsus was blocking my way out of this hell hole. I also didn’t know why I knew it was called a tarsus I just did. Maybe at one point, I had read a book about spiders, but I was not sure. All I was for sure about was that I needed to get on the other side of that leg. I was not going to let her deny me, was all I could keep thinking. If this had been the old me, I might have given up. But this was the new me and I woke up choosing violence this morning. I swung sky cutter forward while at the same time casting Blade Lash. I watch as Sky Cutter and six additional copies sliced forward. Each of the blades used Cut simultaneously and the tip was severed cleanly from her leg. Her screech shakes the entire cavern as her leg pulls back over the edge. I can only guess the last time anything has made her feel pain. I can tell she has retreated a bit as I rush towards the now severed tip of her leg. As I reach it, I don’t even slow down as I will it into my inventory. I don’t have time to go over it, and there is no going around it. I feel a draw as it disappears it is easily the largest thing I have put into my inventory. I continue to rush to the light, I know once she recovers she is going to be pissed. When that happens, she is going to come right for me. I take a few seconds to glance at the exit. Even from this distance I can that alcove was worked stone. Someone had carved an arch into the surrounding rock.

I am a few hundred yards before I feel her coming back, and this time she is coming much faster than before. I prepare by casting both Infect and Envenomate on Sky Cutter, and ready another Blade Lash. I hope that I am long gone by the time she can reach me, but I can only hope. But, I know it will not work out that way somehow. I pour on the speed I can feel Akurra squeezing my midsection nervously. I am a hundred and fifty yards from the light when I see her head crest the edge. I flicked Sky cutter at her head as soon as I saw it. I watch one of the blades attacks one of her many eyes. Her roar shakes the cave and one of her legs slams into the ledge breaking off a huge chunk of stone. Her injured leg slams into the rock at the top of the ledge causing chunks of stone to fall across the cavern. I have to duck and roll to avoid getting smashed.

A few harrowing seconds later I enter the alcove and freedom, or so I thought. When I get into the alcove, I see what has happened. What I thought was an exit was only a small gap of light between what was obviously a cave-in. If I was much smaller, I might be able to make it through, but there is no way in hell that I can squeeze through that gap. Even worse there is a very pissed-off two-story spider behind me.

I know what I have to do it’s a risk but at this point it is my only chance. I cast Reduce Gravity, and make sure to get a good look at the pure blue of the other side. I turn ad flip the monster bitch the bird before I turn back and cast Dimension Door, and disappear.