Large Cave Tarantulas aren't inherently strong. Most cave monsters could kill them in one or two hits, and the damage they often dealt was negligible. They weren't good at camouflage either, being easy to catch thanks to their eyes. While their webs were useful, they weren't strong enough to be used for traps. And unlike many other creatures, they don't specialize in magical attacks.

What they lack in those areas, they more than make up for in numbers.

The reason these spiders could be dangerous to creatures many times their size is because of their numbers. They were like Pikmin: latching onto large enemies and whittling them down little by little. Unable to focus on multiple opponents at once, monsters would often find themselves immobilized by webs and killed before they notice. These creatures proved that fifty to sixty heads were better than one.

Currently, the spiders were on the hunt. Red lights sped across the ceiling as the sea of spiders hunted their next meal. The group marched uniformly, looking out for anything that could provide substantial nourishment. Well, except our spider. She didn't care about prey. She only cared about all of the shiny things around her.

The outside was everything she wanted and more. Crystals of various colors made the cave look like a rainbow. Streams that flowed with natural water shined like they were glitter. It was cold. It was unfamiliar. And yet, it was new and exciting. She felt like she could get lost in this cave if she had the chance.

Unfortunately for her, she didn't have the chance.

She was staring at a large green emerald for a long while and would've examined it for an hour if her mother didn't notice. Her mother dragged her as far away from the crystal as possible upon the sight. If spiders could cry, then half the cave would be covered in her tears.

Back in the group like she was supposed to be, she at least tried to get a glimpse of the cave. It was hard to see much besides rocks and something bumping into her. She had to jump up to see a bit more of the crystals around her, spring water, and something bumping into her. But she almost ended up falling, thanks to them being on the ceiling and something bumping into her.

She turned to see that it was her little brother bumping into her: the same one from the last chapter. Giving the spider equivalent of a smile, he tried yet again to jump right on her back. Unfortunately, gravity wasn't in his favor. It's something to be expected when one jumps off the ceiling.

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Her mom went down right away to berate the kid for his stupid mistake. Our spider used this as an opportunity to get away from the group. Skittering as far away as she could, she ended up finding a small stream. Putting her head inside, she was instantly amazed. It's hard to imagine being moved by the taste of water, but that's what happened here. These spiders got their water from the food they ate, so she never had the liquid version. Now that she finally had a taste of it, it felt like an elixir of life itself. She wished she could drink this forever.

But her mother wouldn't let her.

She was now quite close to being grounded, and she didn't want to stay inside all day. So reluctantly, she stopped her escape attempts. It was a hard sacrifice to make but a necessary one.

It felt like hours of walking past by, but she finally heard the signal: a stomping noise notifying them of nearby prey. Looking to the ground, she saw a large caveworm emerging from the floor. These creatures could get up to twenty meters long, and it was clear that most of this one was underground. With no eyes and a large mouth with many teeth, they navigated the world through touch and ate through any animal in their path.

On cue, they all leaped down onto the worm's back and bit into it. The worm thrashed about, shaking the spiders away left and right. A few flew off, but our protagonist spider held on with her life.

The worm thrashed about as much as it could. It slammed itself against walls and the floor, trying to knock them off like a bull in a rodeo. Our spider tried to hang on as much as possible. Her fangs scraped against the worm's skin as she started to slide off. Blood spurted out of the large scratch wounds she made in an attempt to stay on. The worm shook rapidly and wildly until it finally fell. The worm no longer had the energy to move, so the fight was now over.

It took some more bites all over to make sure the worm was dead. The worm wasn't able to kill the spiders in time, and the blood loss left it exhausted. Now it was just them and a large meal, and they wasted no time digging in.

Our protagonist spider didn't eat right away. She saw the spiders that fell next to her. They just laid there, completely still. She poked them, and there was no response at all. They were dead.

While the teamwork strategy was good, it wasn't perfect. Since the spiders were weak individually, a lot of casualties would occur in fights. It wasn't uncommon for many to die in a single fight. It was practically inevitable that there would be death.

Our spider didn't understand this however. She didn't understand why this happened. She didn't understand how this happened. But above all, she wanted whoever did this to pay. No one should be allowed to take the lives of her family without dying themselves, and she will make sure it happens with her own teeth.

Until she remembered the culprit was already dead. Then she decided to go eat.