Chapter 20 - More Spider Mutants

I kept going deeper and deeper into the cave, with no signs of the tree, to the point I was starting to doubt whether it was indeed somewhere in there.

As I was going, I kept wondering about what was wrong with the woman in the orange dress. She was acting really weird. I would expect her to try and help more if she really cared about her child. Or go back to the City of Prosper and ask the Peacemakers for help instead of waiting for us to randomly find her. Anyway, this did not change the fact that I needed to help her cure her child.

Small, annoying spiders aside, I was starting to get used to this place, it was not so bad after all. Maybe a bit humid, but I could even go fishing in one of the ponds if I wanted to. Of course, I would mostly catch more spiders, but that was not the point.

I kept thinking about all kinds of different things until something suddenly hit me in the back and made me fall flat on the ground.

What I saw was way different than anything I had seen so far, even in this dungeon.

It was the exact opposite of a [Spider Fiend].

While [Spider Fiends] looked mostly like people except for their lack of mouth and addition of a few extra spider characteristics like spider legs and chelicerae, this one looked like a huge spider, about half my height. It would be fine if the description ended there, but on its sides, other than its eight ugly—and quite deadly in this case—legs, there were two human arms coming out of its back.

The disgusting creature was using its two arms as catapults, creating small balls of web and throwing them at threats like me. That was what hit me. Since it had snuck up behind me, it had the time to create a bigger one—almost as big as my torso—that was able to hit much harder than the rest. I assumed it had to use both its arms to thow something that big that forcefully.

But now that I had gotten up and was facing it, it started creating smaller ones that it was able to throw at an increased frequency, in a web barrage.

I pulled Illuminator out of its case, but I was not able to do much with it. I parried some balls of web, but I had to mostly keep dodging. I was not able to get close and damage it, but at least it was not able to damage me either.

That was until it started using its arms more efficiently. It was sitting back, in a corner, as far away from me as possible, and moving its arms in a circular manner, in a way that when its right arm was all the way up, its left was all the way down. Its spinnerets were working overtime, not stopping for a second, and all that together made it so that it was constantly generating and throwing web balls at me at the fastest rate it possibly could.

More and more started hitting me, as I was unable to dodge the entirety of this barrage. The pain was similar to being hit by a small rock thrown at you, but these ones were also sticking on to me. This made me slower, which made it easier for the creature to land more hits, some of which landed on my face, close to my eyes, which made it way harder for me to see.

I needed to find a way to block all these balls, otherwise I would be in big trouble, so I ran back and hid behind a stalagmite I found.

It was not thick enough to cover my entire body, but at least it blocked most of the projectiles. The only ones that did hit, barely scraped my shoulders and outer parts of the arms.

I tried picking up one of the balls of web and throwing it back at the creature, but the ball got actually stuck in my hands and would not leave. Plus, I had to get out of behind the stalagmite to throw it, which left me vulnerable and resulted in another ball hitting my forehead and knocking me back.

I needed to do something to change the whole situation, but at least I had time to sit down and think about my approach.

That was the case until a [Spider Fiend] fell from the ceiling and landed almost next to me, around ten meters to my right.

If I tried to dodge its inevitable attack, I would expose myself to the damn catapult spider. If I stayed here, I would be dead in a few seconds.

That meant I needed to act first and act fast.

Without thinking, I picked the small octopus that was still stuck on my lower traps and threw it at the [Spider Fiend]'s face using [Item Throw]. It hit its face and got stuck there, blocking its vision. While the [Spider Fiend] was trying to get the octopus away from its face, I was able to get up and dash towards it using [Gale Slash]. A few web balls hit me on my way, but they were not able to stop me from charging. I sliced upwards and diagonally, from left to right, cutting the creature into two uneven halves.

Defeated [Spider Fiend - Lvl. 6]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

From there, I was now exposed to the catapult spider and had to keep moving fast or start getting hit again by the balls of web.

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I could not just run towards it like that. So I took a big risk.

"I'm sorry, buddy..."

I lifted Illuminator up high and threw it straight to a stalactite that was on the ceiling, close to where the spider creature was.

I managed to hit it and the impact made the lower half break and fall to the ground.

It was too far from the creature to fall on it and pierce it, but that was not what I was going for. The stalactite fell on the ground and shattered to tens of tiny pieces that were right in front of the spider's face, blocking its vision.

This gave me a chance and, although I did not have any weapons, I used [Gale Slash] to get as fast as I could within striking distance to the spider. I managed to strike and swung upwards just like I would if I was holding a sword, except I was throwing an uppercut this time.

I hit the spider right underneath its jaws and a small gust of air appeared from underneath my fist, blowing upwards.

The force of the impact made the spider fly in the air momentarily, turn around and land on its back, which gave me just enough time to go and retrieve Illuminator before slashing the spider's head off with it, soaking the ground with even more purple spider blood.

Defeated [Spider Fiend's Friend - Lvl. 8]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Now that the fight was over, I checked Illuminator to see if it was okay. Somehow, there were no scratches or signs of any kind of damage, something I was really happy about. I just recently bought this sword, but I really liked it and did not want to ruin it, yet I had to throw it if I wanted to survive - I could not think of a better plan in the midst of action.

I wiped off the blood, dusted off the debris from the fallen stalactite and then put it back in its sheathe, allowing it to rest for a bit.

I wanted to examine the bodies of the [Spider Fiend] and [Spider Fiend's Friend], to see what was going on with them and why they looked like that, but I could not stare at them for long without having an urgent need to puke out everything I drank yesterday. I just approached the [Spider Fiend] for a second to retrieve my trusty small octopus, which was not so harmless after all, if you used it right.

Another thing I found weird was why the [Spider Fiend] came after me. Wasn't the crippled one supposed to let them know that they would have a similar fate if they tried to do anything funny? Maybe this one was missing at that time. If it heard the crippled one and still decided to come after me, then it got what it deserved. The more you fuck around, the more you find out.

Which was also exactly what I was doing, hoping to finally find the tree that created these ormon fruits. And eventually, I did.

In front of me, there was a big, open room. So big and tall that it almost seemed like you were outside, looking at the night sky. And so wide and long that it looked like an old, empty, deserted field.

And in the middle of that field, I could see it. A tree. A big tree, maybe as thick as three or four trees of the [Tiny Forest] combined, and twice as tall. It was full of beautiful green leaves, looking like it was at the peak of its blossom. I could see round, big light orange fruits hanging from its branches, ready to be harvested. I could only imagine how sweet they would taste.

But there was a catch.

The man who killed the gigantic spider earlier on like it was nothing. The one that was covered in a suit of spider web. The one that looked like the evolution of [Spider Fiends]. He was there, laying by the tree, doing nothing. Probably protecting the tree—and its fruit—from intruders. It was 'his home,' after all.

But I needed the fruit. Doubly so, after meeting the woman in the orange dress. I was not going to let anyone die - not again.

I unsheathed Illuminator for one—hopefully final—battle. I did not give Illuminator much time to rest after all.

This would be far from an easy fight, so I opened my pouch and ate a [Spherule of Power].

Ugh... so disgusting!

Consumed [Spherule of Power]. Temporary increase in offensive stats.

Great, this would increase my chances at least a couple of percentage points. I needed to be smart with my approach. One wrong move and I would probably be dead. If just a single projectile of his was able to do so much damage to that [Mini Boss], I could only imagine how much it would do to me.

But I would rather die than let my friend fall to his death, knowing I could have potentially prevented this.

Wait. Jack was not my friend. Was he? No, he was just a person I met in jail - he was no friend. Or was he? Anyway, it was too early for him to die and it was my job to prevent it.

I sat back for a bit, looked at the room, and analyzed my potential approaches. None of them was very likely to work, but there was a certain one that—although ambitious—seemed to have more potential than the rest of them. In any case, I needed to strike first, as one hit would most likely mean the end of me.

I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves before going in.

I was finally ready.

Just a moment before finally entering the room, something hit me hard on the back of my head.

Not another one of those damn [Spider Fiend's Friends]... This is far from a good time to come at me...

I turned around and charged immediately. I did not have time to waste and I could not allow it or myself to make any sound as that would alarm the man covered in spider web.

I quickly closed the distance and was about to use [Gale Slash] when I looked up and...

"Guen?"

It was not a [Spider Fiend's Friend], after all. Instead, in front of me was standing Guen, the Elven girl that helped back when I got into that fight with the boar.

I was thankfully able to stop my attack on time and did not hurt her, but she didn't stop hers. She hit my head with her elbow, just like she did with the boar back then, and I ended up falling face first to the ground.

"What are you doing here, stupid?" she said.

"It's good to see you too," I replied after I managed to get up and detach my face from the ground.

I looked back at what she threw at me, expecting to see another wooden bowl, like the one she was using in the past, but instead, what I saw was... an ormon fruit!

I looked back at her and saw that she had even more of those fruits in her arms—at least five or six—and was eating another one of them.

"Where did you get those?" I asked.

"Oh, I was hiding them under my mattress, but decided to bring them here for a walk. Where do you think I found them, you idiot? I got them from the tree right there!"

"Stop calling me an idiot, you idiot!"

"I would stop calling you an idiot if you stopped being an idiot, you idiot!"

"idiot!"

"idiot!"

"idiot!"

"idiot!"

"idiot!"

"idiot!"

The man covered in spider web probably heard us faintly, because he got up and started looking around the room. Thankfully, we were not loud enough, which made him uncertain on whether or not he heard a voice, and after slightly checking around the room and a few meters outside of it, he went back to his tree.

As soon as he heard us, we ran away, as silently as we could, and we hid behind a big rock. We got away this time.

After we made sure he was no longer checking for unwelcome guests, I turned to Guen and told her,

"I need you to give me two of those fruits."

"No way, I can't do that."