Duncan woke up trying to scream which turned out to be difficult with his mouth covered with a substance that solidified over it. He counted his blessings that a nostril was left uncovered and he didn’t suffocate.
The gravity of his situation was further emphasized by his sense of gravity which told him he was upside down. Duncan’s hands were tightly bound by the cocoon and he had almost no freedom of movement. He strained his muscles and made the elastic web shift a little bit but when he relaxed it pulled him back tight.
He could hear the shouts from Shaya, Demirah, and Gabris which came muffled through the cocoon as it was wrapped tightly across his ears. They were apparently fighting his unknown assailant. It was not entirely unknown to him since even the dumbest person could guess it was some kind of giant arachnid that was the culprit by now. In other words, he got captured by a giant spider.
Luckily for Duncan, it had the same modus operandi as some spiders on Earth when they were not hungry. They tend to make a stockpile of their victims, while their prey is still alive. His main concern right now was how to get out of the web. He knew the group he was with was ill-suited for such an opponent as they were all using ranged weapons.
Their ranged attacks would do little damage against an insect covered with a chitin exoskeleton and what they were doing right now was basically just buying him time and risking being caught as well.
He thought about releasing the giant rock but dismissed the idea since releasing it inside of the cocoon could squash him against the web and he didn’t know if he could take it. The other reason was if the cocoon fell on the ground with him in it he would probably get squashed beneath it.
Duncan’s next thought was to use the massive amount of water in his inventory but he dismissed that as well since it would not free him and it might even drown him. Finally, he had an idea of using the flaming torch in his inventory. It was small enough that it would not squash him and if the spider’s web was anything like the Earth’s counterparts the protein in them would quickly coagulate and turn brittle under high heat. It was a bit of a risk since if the flames got too much but he could always summon the water from his inventory to extinguish them.
He summoned the torch and the proteins in the web shrunk around the hot flames of the torch immediately and in the process freed his right arm with which he waved around himself. The web didn’t catch fire but lost its stickiness and contracted into thick strands. As he waved the torch around Duncan managed to free his torso and head. The only things that caught on fire and were singed were his hair and beard.
Duncan was oriented to the side of the battle that was ragging beneath him. The spider was defending his stockpile of food while Shaya, Demirah, and Gabris were firing at him from three directions. The spider shot back its web but it flew much slower than arrows and the group managed to dodge them easily.
They were in a stalemate. The spider was unwilling to let his stockpile go undefended and the group was without any real means to make him move from it.
Duncan’s legs were still tightly bound and he was suspended three meters from the ground from a huge tree branch. He started to wiggle left and right to be able to see what was beneath him. He finally caught the glimpse of the spider that was just below him. It was huge. Its body was covered in green and brown striped fur, measuring around a meter and a half in length and the fat ass was at least a meter thick. The barbed long legs that turned into spikes made it into a more than four meters big insect. It raised its front legs threateningly at its attackers every time an arrow bounced off its carapace.
Duncan did the only logical thing one could do. He dropped the huge rock from his inventory right on top of the spider just as it once again raised its legs to defend against an arrow. There was no drama as the rock made a squishing sound and the insides of the giant spider flew all around him as it popped like a balloon.
The gunk from the spider flew in a circle all around the squashed spider and hit the surprised group of archers like a fountain. Shaya quickly turned around and the flying goo only managed to hit her back while Demirah and Gabris got the full load frontally including their faces.
Duncan was pulling off the web from his mouth and the rest of his face as Shaya came closer.
“Are you alright?” she asked nervously.
“I will be once you get me down from here,” Duncan replied while still gyrating on the web upside down.
Shaya nodded and ordered Gabris to climb the tree. He was quick to get on the branch that held Duncan and used a torch to burn through the web.
Demirah and Shaya caught him before he could fall head-first onto the ground and used a torch to dissolve some of the webs on his legs.
“What kind of spider was that?” Demirah asked while she was looking at the legs beneath the boulder which still occasionally twitched even though the owner was dead.
Duncan rummaged through the knowledge he got from the bestiaries and answered, “I believe it’s called the Giant green forest spider. Luckily for me, it is not poisonous. Only uses his web to ensnare and later its mandibles to eat its victims while they are still alive.”
He shook his head at what could have become of him if it was the sort of spider that shot dissolving poisons with its mandibles into its victims and drank up the liquified remains.
“What were you thinking, going away from the group like that?” Shaya finally could not hold herself back as the danger passed.
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“I was not going to go far. I saw a herb a few meters from where I was that is useful for alchemy. I didn’t know you would all just move on without me,” Duncan said as he looked sternly at Demirah who started to avoid his stare.
“Yes. Demirah. We can expect such stupid behavior from Duncan, as he does not know better but not from you. You did not warn me to stop when he went off,” Shaya said as she faced Demirah.
“I didn’t think anything would happen,” Demirah tried to defend herself.
“That’s the trouble with you. You never think,” Shaya shot back.
“Could you finish freeing me before you start to quarrel?” Duncan asked while still on the ground half enveloped in the cocoon.
Demirah pouted and stayed quiet as Gabris already climbed back down and was burning off the rest of the web from Duncan’s feet by moving the flame of the torch around them.
Duncan started to get aware he was becoming immune to almost dying. Not in a sense of being immortal but he was nowhere near as scared as the first time it happened. He looked at the events that unfolded in a calm rational way instead of panicking.
As he lay on the ground he looked up at the tree. From that perspective, he saw he was not the only one who was captured by the spider. The tree had five cocoons strung up on it. Four of them even showed slight movement.
“Let’s just continue what we were doing,” Duncan said and pointed up at the tree.
Shaya and the rest looked where he was pointing. The other cocoons were attached higher up on the tree from the ground than he was and looked like a bunch of oversized fruit.
“There are more captives higher up. Shall we go and get them? ” Duncan said as he stood up.
Gabris sighed and went climbing up the tree again. Soon he cut off the first one which crashed on the ground with a thud. He moved across the branches and did the others too which were followed by four additional thuds.
They opened up the cocoons using the torches in anticipation like opening up Christmas presents. The first one was a big Midnight Deer which showed the great strength the spider had to move an animal weighing over 300 kilograms up the tree. Three other victims were piglets from the Black Forest Boar. The last victim was an already dead Deathclaw Badger which started to go bad and caused a small explosion as Demirah used her torch on its cocoon.
The meat was worthless and the fur was destroyed by the explosion. Demirah was lucky the guts splattered in the opposite direction of where she and the group were standing.
The four animals had their bones broken from the fall but were still alive. Shaya finished the deer off with a dagger but left the piglets alive. Duncan stuffed the deer in his inventory and walked towards the rock.
There were surprisingly no complaints.
“What do you plan to do with the piglets?” Duncan asked.
They were small. Each was weighing around four to twenty kilograms and was still half wrapped in their individual cocoons.
“I am thinking we could bring them back and fatten them up before we kill them,” Shaya replied.
Duncan saw the cute snouts of the weak piglets and got reminded of the movie Babe which made him lose interest in bacon for a week.
“Do as you want. I am not carrying them,” he replied.
He checked his [LOG].
[Killed Giant green forest spider - Level 27 ]
Duncan didn’t get a level from killing it or from the deer.
“I hope this whole expedition won’t be just a giant waste of time,” Duncan mumbled as he stuffed the rock back into his inventory.
Looking at the flattened spider remains he smiled and shook his head.
“Anyone wants this?” Duncan asked the rest of the group.
They all shook their heads and Duncan also stuffed it in his inventory.
Duncan was looking around the spiders as he asked for any other interesting things to gather before he turned to the group. “Can you take me to where I was attacked then we are done here. What do you want to do next?”
“It’s just over there,” Shaya said and pointed.
Duncan slowly walked in front of them as they exchanged whispers behind him.
“You know what. Let me just get the herbs and let’s go back. This party is not going to work. We didn’t have a tank and we were lucky the only thing that attacked us was this spider. If it were something stronger or hungry someone would be dead,” Duncan said as he found the herb.
“What’s a tank?” Demirah asked.
Duncan wanted to explain the origin of the word but finally, he just replied with the current context to not confuse them further. “Someone to keep a monster busy while you snipe it from afar.”
As he turned around he could see crestfallen faces on Shaya, Damirah, and Gabris but they gave no reply to his assessment of the situation. Duncan shook his head.
“They probably knew this was a bad idea from the start but were too eager to get out of the village to voice complaints,” Duncan thought.
“Alright. Teach me how to track on the way back to the ruin,” Duncan told Shaya, hoping this expedition will bring at least something fruitful.
Shaya nodded and pointed at some tracks they made and Duncan followed them as best he could. It was easy where the ground was muddy since they were obvious but sometimes the ground was rocky and she pointed at the disturbed foliage.
No one talked on the way back to the ruin except Duncan and Shaya. He needed help finding tracks sometimes and Shaya explained where to look for clues. He could have just followed the obvious signs of foliage being cut that were a few feet up ahead at most times but he wanted to get the skill.
The slow diligent tracking didn’t disappoint and he got the skill and leveled it three times before they reached the ruin.
[ You have Learned Tracking Level 1. ]
Perception +0.1
Wisdom +0.1
[ You have Learned Tracking Level 2. ]
Perception +0.2
Wisdom +0.2
[ You have Learned Tracking Level 3. ]
Perception +0.3
Wisdom +0.3
It was another skill in the mental department but Duncan expected it to be.
As each of them was holding a live piglet, Duncan had to do three runs to get through the barrier. The walk through the dungeon and the mine went without any incidents and they made it to the village safely.
Crossing through the mine entrance Duncan let out a sigh and Shaya looked at him with anticipation.
“We are not doing this again. Well, at least I am not,” Duncan said as the group was watching him with wriggling piglets in their arms.
“Doing what?” Demirah asked.
Duncan rolled his eyes. “Risking our lives with a bad configuration. You are all ranged and I am good at everything but not great at anything. We were lucky we all came back in one piece. Hell, I almost died the last time I went out even with the other group and we were a lot better configured. My luck will run out sooner than later if I don’t get my skills up or get a lot stronger.”
“What should I tell the Captain?” Shaya asked.
“Nothing.”
Duncan let out a sigh and then thought about it.
“Give him a report and tell him I will come to see him when I am ready. I need to practice with you guys and learn all I can while I am safe before we go out and try our luck again.”
Shaya nodded and turned around. Demirah wanted to say something but Shaya pulled her by her hand to stop her from making Duncan angry. Gabris just smiled and waved as they left in the direction of the barracks. Duncan watched them take a few steps before he turned in the opposite direction and walked towards the main street.