THE DEMON SPIDER, CINNAMON

It’s been a few years now since I started my magic training. I also managed to practice the theories I developed over the years in my magic studies. It seems that magic can do anything the wielder wishes.

Of course, people can only use magic that they have an affinity for. Magical affinity or magical attributes refers to unique properties found in a person’s mana. With a significant number of spells existing in the world, all of them can be categorised by their respective attribute that makes certain spells exclusive to a given holder of the said attribute. If a person has an attribute for fire magic, then that person can only practice fire-related magic spells.

There are five basic magic attributes: fire, earth, water, air and nature. Lightning, dark, space and light magic are classified as lost magic which are considered to be difficult to study and master.

There is also non-elemental magic which includes flight magic and other magic without attributes. They can be learned by anyone but it seems they are as difficult to learn as the lost magic.

Now, why are these five elements so important you may ask? That is because it is believed that the five spirit kings created them to keep the world in balance.

It is said that nature brings forth life, earth brings rehabilitation, water brings growth, air brings freedom and fire brings destruction. All these five elements maintain the cycle of life. The first four elements create and maintain life, but nothing can live forever and so fire is needed to bring forth destruction to begin anew.

Luckily, it seems I have the attribute for all the elements but that usually means that that person will be a jack of all trades and a master of none. That doesn’t bother me though because as long as there is nothing I don’t know, I'll do everything in my power to know it.

It seems that in this world, they believe that magic comes from within one's self but after extensive research, I managed to prove that this wasn’t the case. In my theory of magic, I managed to find that magic doesn’t come from within but from the environment.

The environment has what I call magic particles or for short, magictles, which are made up of the different magic attributes. My theory was supported by the fact that a fire mage was much stronger in a region that was high in temperature than in a region with low temperature. This was due to the amount of magictles in the atmosphere in a hot region being denser than in a cold one.

Now, when a person casts a spell, the magic formulas in them stimulate the person’s mana then their mana veins and finally their magic circuits. Magic circuits of a person are usually found in their hands and are made up from their attribute or attributes. Meaning if a person’s attribute is fire, then their magic circuits will also be that of fire.

The stimulated magic circuits will then absorb or attract the magic particles in the environment of that attribute and magic will be created. That is the process which I call Magic Materialisation. From the core to the mana veins to the magic circuit, that is how magic is formed.

Of course, mages of this world prefer using magic staffs because it is much harder to use magic with your bare hands.

There are three types of magic casting;

1. Normal Casting which is where a person chants the whole spell.

2. Summary Casting which is when a person summarises the spell in fewer words but only a few people can do this since you need to be familiar with magic formulas.

3. and Speed Casting which is when a person chants a spell in full in under five seconds, but the only people who can do that are high-ranked mages and sages.

There is said to be chantless casting but only entities ‘loved by magic’ can use that. Entities loved by magic refer to ancient and mythical dragons, Fenrir, the spirits and more.

Magic came easy to me, especially the magic formulars. Since I've been learning everything I can on magic since I could barely walk, I have managed to create a fair amount of my own magic formulas derived from the ones I've learned and my previous life’s knowledge. Of course, there’s still room to grow but for now, it should be good. Magic is divided into three levels:

1. Low-level magic

2. Intermediate-level magic and

3. High-level magic

High-level magic can only be used by high-ranking mages or sages. You're considered a genius if you can perform even one intermediate magic spell. Low-level magic is the lowest of magic.

There are other levels of magic like weather-level magic and superior-level magic. But only a few people – not even five – can perform weather-level magic. Superior-level magic, on the other hand, is just a legend.

Superior magic is only mentioned in history books and there isn’t even a single spell known. Even if there was, there is no person who has the mana to perform it. Only the Witch of Mist is known to have performed superior-level magic.

Barbra only had a low-level magic book with her for combat magic and as for healing magic, she had all kinds of those. I managed to be creative after finishing the low-level magic book and created new spells. I also improved the ones that were defective in a number of ways.

Elemental magic and non-elemental magic. I've mastered them both in the four years I've been studying magic and now, I have reached a bottleneck. I managed to find myself some intermediate-level and high-level magic books from the merchant caravan that sometimes comes to the village. Thanks to the money I saved up from selling monster materials all these years, it wasn’t hard ordering and buying them.

At The Outskirts Of The Forest.

I have turned thirteen but somehow, there is still no improvement in my training. My mana core stopped growing a long time ago. I guess I had reached that age. Sigh, even though I can now perform high-level magic, it is still quite boring. I guess having this brain of mine is a curse. Of course, fighting monsters and bandits is fun but they are just so weak that I end up killing them by mistake.

I guess it is time for me to challenge the red zone’s territorial boss today.

The ‘Red Zone’ is an area in the forest. I divided the forest into five zones according to their danger levels. There is the ‘Green Zone’ which is the safe zone. Gram and I live in the green zone. The ‘Yellow Zone’ is where low-level monsters like horned rabbits live.

The ‘Orange Zone’ is where you find monsters like goblins and orcs, but since I have been hunting them the most the past few years, their number has dwindled down from tens of thousands to only a few hundred. The wild boars and wolves can also be found there.

The ‘Red Zone’ is where you’ll find the most dangerous monsters like the flame tiger, lightning wolves and more. But within the red zone, there is a monster that isn’t like the others. I call it the red zone’s territorial boss. The Demon Spider, Cinnamon.

I haven’t had the chance to fight her because of all the bloodlust she releases in her cave. It seems to serve as a warning to passerby monsters. Even a flame tiger is no more than food to her. Okay, it’s decided. I’ll be fighting her today.

The last zone is the ‘Dark Zone’. I don’t know anything about it because of the weird dark energy which I have learned is demonic energy. Demonic energy has the ability to corrupt any living thing be it humans, monsters even plants and trees. That is where the rumoured ‘Silent Demon’ lives.

I then jump up from my bed and clench my fists. I place everything I would need in my storage space. Storage space is a type of space magic that is able to store things. I then go to my gram’s room.

She is still in a coma but thanks to the potions and my healing magic, I managed to reduce the symptoms a lot. She looks better than she was two years ago that’s for sure.

“I’ll be going out for a bit, Gram. Wait for me to come back.”

With eyes filled with sorrow, I then kiss her on the cheek and leave.

IN THE FOREST

As I walk around, I notice that the monsters no longer attack me. I guess they see me as their natural enemy since I've been hunting them all these years.

As I enter the red zone, the roars of the flame tiger monsters fill the air before one leaps to view out of the bushes. Twice the size of the average tiger in my world, the beasts are creatures clad in ragged flames all over their bodies. Had it been my previous world, the entire forest would have been reduced to ashes. But the trees and plants of the red zone are mostly resistant to fire, making the deep forest a suitable habitat for these creatures.

The monster roars and speeds in my direction, spitting flame arrows as it paws its way towards me. Water based magical attacks are these monsters’ worst nightmare.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Sigh, water bullet rapid shot version.”

I fire the water bullet, a high-pressured ball of water, which pierces the flame tiger in the head. The high-pressure volley is so powerful, it puts paid to its heart and other vital organs. It drops on the ground, turning into smoking cinder.

“My Summary Speed Casting is really on another level. It lets me fire my spells almost immediately and only takes at least two to four seconds to fire. This type of casting is the closest one to chantless casting. Sometimes I even surprise myself with my ingenious ideas.”

When I faced this guy the first time, I struggled. Since it has a resistance to fire magic, water magic is its weakness but low-level water magic just evaporates the moment it makes contact with its body. Of course, Water Bullet is a low-level magic spell but with my mana capacities and my magic control, even a low-level spell can be deadly.

The reason I shot it at its vital points was simple. I once fought a giant snake and I struck it with my water blade, cutting it in half. As I let down my guard thinking it was dead, it jumped on me from behind and bit me. I managed to kill it but the poison was potent. Even after drinking tons of detoxification potions, I couldn’t cure the poison.

I then decided to try out a hypothesis I had. By moving my mana all over my body, I was able to slow down the poison. Expelling the poison out of my body was the hard thing I had to do next. I managed to survive that ordeal thanks to my mastery of mana. So when I went hunting, I made sure to hit the monsters' vital organs more than once. It was a precaution I had to take.

But casting the same spell over and over might be annoying so, I created ‘rapid shot version’. Of course, there are other versions as well but I'm not gonna talk about them now.

OUTSIDE THE DEMON SPIDER CAVE

“Here we are. If it was a year ago, I wouldn’t even dream of facing this guy. This guy’s bloodlust can send anyone running for his money. Too bad I don’t know the ‘rank system’ of monsters in this world since Gram didn’t have a book about that, but I can tell that this guy must be at the top.”

I then walk into the cave. Wow, I never realised the last time I scouted this place, that it is quite a big cave. It seems that the deeper you enter the cave, the stronger the bloodlust. It is as if it is warning me to stay away, but why?

In this world, it’s the law of the jungle that matter, meaning the strong get to live and the weak are eliminated. So, why is she so persistent at warning anything that comes close instead of just killing them? Could she...?

My thoughts are interrupted by a nails-on-chalkboard kind of screech that echoes throughout the cave.

“That’s quite a strong screech you’ve got there,” I say with a smirk on my face. “I see you got impatient with the warnings you’ve been giving, huh! Hehe, well then Cinnamon, show me what you’ve got.”

From the depths of the dark cave, eight scarlet red eyes shimmer, eyes that embody death itself. Those are the eyes of an apex predator. A predator at the top of the food chain.

As it emerges from the darkness, the tremors it makes with each step of its eight legs causes the atmosphere to completely change. It is big. No, it is gigantic and it is at that moment I knew why the cave is so gigantic. That is because its inhabitant is monstrous.

I see now, I see why the flame tiger or any other monsters are said to be nothing but food to her. She's definitely on another level. I'm starting to regret my choice; not because of her strength but the fact that we are fighting inside a cave. That means I can’t use high-level spells due to their destructiveness which could result in a cave-in.

Sigh, at this point I am not sure if I can even use intermediate-level spells. (My spells are so strong that even

intermediate magic can result in a cave-in.)

“Melee combat it is then.”

I take out my sword from my storage space. This sword was crafted by the village’s blacksmith, old man Gonz. It was crafted with rare materials I got from monsters I defeated and rare ore I found by luck in the forest.

With its strong screech, it charges straight at me. It swings its gigantic blade-like claw at me. I block it with my sword, the clanking of sword and claw echoing reverberatingly in the cave.

This guy is quite strong. Even though I blocked that attack just now, my hands are still shaking from the impact. Hehe, fighting you will be hard but I hope you can show me more than that.

I charge at it using my mana as a boost. With a burst of energy from the mana, I appear right next to it and swing my sword imbued with mana.

With that large body of yours, you won’t be able to dodge this attack.

But then with a swishing sound, the monster vanishes into thin air. How? I look around only to spot it launching an attack from atop. Luckily I manage to dodge the blow in time.

Cinnamon isn’t normal at all. She is fast even with that huge body of hers. It is able to dodge my attack and not only that, it manages to retaliate with its own attack. And that’s not all; I can’t sense her even though I have my Mana Sense on.

I guess I can’t let my guard down with her. (Smiling) I guess you’re more interesting than I thought.

With my serious mode turned on, I charge at her once again. I swing my sword releasing a mana slash. She dodges it again and releases her webs, each strand accompanied by a booming sound. I dodge them.

With her speed, I guess I'm at a disadvantage. Huh, I guess I'll use magic then.

With a simple swing of my hand, a fireball shoots out, whistling through the air as it catapults at breathtaking speed towards her. The gigantic spider evades even that. I guess it is more than just speed that it has. It’s as if it can see my attacks ahead of time.

The spider shoots the webs again in repetitive bursts, forcing me to scurry for cover, evading each one. I then shoot Fire Bullet Rapid Shot Version. The explosive bursts fill the cave.

I smirk.

I see now. Those eyes of hers; they can see my movement but not only my movement, also my mana. She’s able to predict my attacks by observing the flow of my mana and using her speed, she is able to dodge and counter-attack the point where my mana isn’t concentrated, in other words, my weak spot.

I charge at her again releasing a variety of magic spells but she manages to dodge or counter them. I decide to cast fire, water, air and earth magic spells at it. She dodges them all except wind magic. Since its body is strong, wind magic doesn’t have much effect against it.

This means that this guy is a sentient being since she is able to judge that much, I deduce. Sentient beings are humanlike beings that are subjected to awareness and thought. That means they have a sense of self and aren’t simply driven by instinct like most monsters. There are monsters with a sense of self like orcs and goblins but they also tend to listen to their instincts more.

Cinnamon is different though. I feel a sense of calmness from her, as if she has seen every move I am going to make.

Huh, huh, it’s been a few minutes now that we’ve been fighting. I managed to inflict some damage to it but not enough to be fatal. Of course, it also managed to do the same to me too.

The screeching sound fills the cave again.

“What! What's with it now?”

It starts charging at me at incredible speed. Lightning crackles. I cover my entire body with lightning, and the impact sends it crashing with a resounding thud into the wall.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but using my lightning magic like this increases my speed to another level.”

The demon spider turns abruptly to gawk at me, and then shoots its webs again. I disappear instantly.

“Even though you know you can’t win against me, you’re still fighting. Why?”

It looks up, following my voice, but before it can react, I punch it in the head, sending it crashing into the ground. The thud seems to shake the walls of the cave.

The punch cracks its hard shell. But even with that onslaught it doesn’t give up and keeps shooting a series of webs. It is easy to dodge them with my speed. I disappear and appear from below it. I kick it in its stomach, sending it clashing to the cave’s ceiling. “I guess I'll be finishing this no-” I can’t move.

“I’m stuck. I see, so the webs it’s been shooting out all this time were so it can trap me in them.”

I look up, my eyes trailing the screeching sound. The demon spider is hurtling towards me. A strange fluid starts gushing out of its mouth.

“Poison! No, that’s acid.”

I cast a Mana Barrier around myself. But the squishing acid can seep through mana itself, forcing me to place another Mana Barrier under the first one. Surprisingly, even that can’t stop it completely.

I should cast healing magic before it attac-

But then I feel myself staggering. What! Why am I dizzy all of a sudden? Did the acid contain poison? No, that’s impossible. But why do I feel like my strength is draining out of me? And what’s with this weird smoke? Wait a minute, smoke! Where is it coming from?

I look around me and find that the smoke is coming from the webs.

“The webs! But how? Oh, I see now.

When the acid came into contact with the webs, it created the smoke. It seems I was poisoned by this vapour because the webs were filled with poison from the beginning. The acid only made the poison airborne. What a sly little spider.

“To think you’ve thought that far, but I'll have to disappoint you. Unlike my previous fights with the orcs or the bandits, this time I came prepared.”

I take out the potions from my storage space. I drink the detoxification potion in one gulp. I then tear out the left sleeve of my shirt and splash it with some water magic and cover my nose with it, and then resume fighting.

Ten minutes later the spider is crawling on the ground. Its body is damaged from all the attacks I inflicted on it. It is covered in burn marks, cuts and smashed skin. It is bleeding everywhere and as it keeps crawling with its broken legs, I can feel its desire to live.

“Why? Why are you struggling so much to live? You are a predator. You of all beings should know that in this world, it is the survival of the fittest. Now that you have lost, that proves your shortcomings. (Shouting) So, why? Why do you want to live so much?”

It screeches as it lifts its huge body from the ground. Behind it is a narrow space. It is like it is protecting something.

With an even louder screech, it prepares itself to charge at me again.

“Sigh, so this is how it is. I'll end this as painless as I can. Lightning Arrow.”

Lightning starts appearing in my hand. It changes its shape to that of an arrow.

“Goodbye Cinnamon.”

I shoot the lightning arrow towards the demon spider. As it is about to thump it, I hear a little screech coming from behind her. I then quickly change the direction of the lightning arrow to the wall. Thunder trails its impact with the rock.

“I see now why you were fighting so much. You were just protecting your babies.”

It turns out that what is behind the demon spider are baby spiders. She was protecting her young all this time.

“I’ve been focused on becoming strong all this time but I guess I failed to distinguish between an enemy and a living being. I almost took away those little guys' mother just like how my mother was taken from me. I guess in their scared little minds, I'm actually a bad guy who’s trying to take away their mother.”

I watch the baby spiders as they try to protect their injured mother. The mother then steps up and pushes her babies away and focuses her attention on me. I can tell that she is willing to fight to the death to protect her babies. It seems I have forgotten why I wanted to be strong. It was so I could protect what is mine and what I love, so that nothing can ever be taken away from me again.

“SIGH, HIGH HEAL.”

I cast High Heal on the demon spider and its wounds are immediately healed. High Heal is a high-level healing spell that can heal any injury including broken bones. The demon spider is surprised by my actions but she is still cautious of me.

I then gracefully bow my head.

“I’m sorry for what I have done to you. I know a simple sorry isn’t enough for the damage I have done to you and your family, even your home. But I promise I'll make it up to you.” With those words said, I then leave the cave.

That day, I learned a lesson: monsters aren’t all evil. Just because they are monsters doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings and thoughts. But of course, not all monsters are like Cinnamon. And for those, I'll kill them, be it humans or literal monsters.