Magnus thankfully didn’t fall into any more spiderwebs while walking to the stream. He examined the surroundings of the stream from behind a tree not too far away. Frankly, the place was beautiful. The water was falling down from the cliff into a raised pond. As the pond was filled the water continued down repeating the process twice. Judging it to be safe for the time being Magnus stepped out from behind his cover and walked over to the lowest pond.

Looking down into the clear water he saw his reflection. His face was ironically looking less gaunt and having not shaven for a long time his stubble was showing more and more. The scar running along his left cheek wasn’t only a reminder of what he had gone through, it was a promise that no matter what happens to him, no matter what he must pay, he will survive. If not for himself, for his parents who would want him to fight for his life.

A single teardrop rolled down across his cheek.

Having made his decision to not give up just yet, Magnus took off his jacket, breastplate, and t-shirt to look at the bandaged wound. The bandage was looking pretty rough but still better than his first one. He removed the bandage, took out the old one from his jacket lying on the ground next to him, and washed them both in the stream. After he was done washing them downstream as he still had a use for the pond, he hung them, still dripping wet, on a low-hanging branch of a nearby tree.

Magnus stripped down completely, put his knife near the pond so he had it near him if something ambushed him again, and lowered himself into the pond. Maybe due to his increased Endurance, the water was a lot less cold than he thought it would be. Diving underwater, he held his breath for as long as he could and counted. He counted roughly 16 minutes before he had to resurface. It was pretty good considering he wasn’t a trained freediver. The pond was comfortable even if it was a bit rocky, Magnus thought as he relaxed his tense muscles. A wave of exhaustion came over him and his eyes drooped close.

He jumped awake and he lunged for his knife while looking around. Feeling a lot calmer and more collected with the knife in his hands he examined his surroundings properly and saw nothing out of place. Breathing out a sigh of relief he shuffled over to the pile of clothes. A dubious smell radiated from it. He was so excited for a soak that he forgot to wash his clothes first. Well, it didn’t matter anyway considering he didn’t need to look presentable. With a bad taste in his mouth, he put on his clothes and breastplate

Magnus walked over to the hanging bandages to put them away. They didn’t feel even a little moist to the touch. He must have slept for longer than he thought. He looked from down below the canopy up on the ceiling. The crystal was shining bright as ever. It could have fooled him he was above ground but the nonexistent day and night cycle woke him up. He had to get stronger to escape from this place.

He started walking, following the stream’s flow, making sure to watch out for any threats, when he realized something. It was deathly quiet. No birds singing no bugs chirping. Maybe there were no animals to begin with or maybe the spiders ate them all. He didn’t know and had no way to find out yet. Magnus continued walking downstream.

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Soon enough he found the lake he saw from the cliff. The lake wasn’t big by any means but it wasn’t small either. It was kind of circular and the length of three swimming pools. He decided to walk along it just to see if anything interesting popped up. Sure enough, there was something. A ravine serving as a drain for the lake. The water from the lake turned into a waterfall as it flowed through a small hole in the lake and fell down into the ravine where it collected into a small pond again.

At the end of the ravine, a big hole was carved into the stone wall. Something about the hole seemed rancid. On a whim, Magnus activated [Mana Perception] and immediately saw the problem. A cloud of mana the color of puke was flowing out of the cave. On a second look, it was as if something was moving deeper in the cave. Suddenly, his [Danger Sense] screamed.

He dropped down onto his belly trying to make his body as unnoticeable as possible. He heard it before he saw it. Heavy footsteps sounded from the cave. Something big was coming. He wasn’t the only one who knew as [Danger Sense] screamed louder than ever before.

A few of the rumbling footfalls later, three of the biggest spiders he saw all scattered out of the cave in different, almost as if scanning the place for any threats. They were the size of a brown bear. Taking a closer look he realized they didn’t seem as soft as the spiders he fought before. Pitch-black plates covered the whole of their bodies except the underside it seemed. He Identified them.

[Armored Guard Spider – Tier 0] – Level 9

All of them were Level 9. The highest Level he has ever seen and three times at that. He stood no chance if a fight broke out. The only way to survive would be to run.

The spiders seemingly done with the search all hissed in unison. If he thought these spiders were big then the one that exited the cave was giant. A spider the size of an elephant with a giant backside. Magnus gulped and used [Identify].

[Cave Broodmother – Tier 0] – Level 12

[Identify is now Level 2]

[Stealth is now Level 3]

The spider shuffled over to the pond and started drinking while the guards stood watch. It was over Level 10 and Magnus instinctively knew that meant something. Breaking under the stress he stood up and started running. Terrified he realized they saw him when [Danger Sense] screamed. He looked back while still running. A single of the armored spiders was chasing him and contrary to its appearance it wasn’t slow. It was gaining in on him.

Two minutes of intense running later the spider still wasn’t giving up and in fact, it was starting to breathe down his neck. The issue wasn’t in Magnus’ stamina, it was that he was too slow. During the two minutes of running, he tried weaving through the trees but the spider rammed through them while barely slowing.

Looking behind himself and preparing to take his final stand here turned out to be a shitty idea when he tripped over what he presumed to be a root. Quickly turning around while reaching for his knife he prepared for an attack. The spider had other plans though and was standing in place, hissing just behind the root Magnus tripped over.

After an intense staredown, the spider started stepping backward while keeping every single one of its eyes on Magnus. A few minutes later sure the spider was far away he breathed out while laying on the ground, lucky to have escaped the chase unhurt.