Free Web NovelChapter 12: Blood skull spiders (1)
As he rested, Ryven felt the cold grass seep into his back. He couldn’t help but feel a chill creep up his spine, forcing him to stand upright.
The ground here is very uncomfortable...
His gaze swept across the surroundings, alert for anything unusual. Samminah calmly sat cross-legged nearby, while Fred stood guard, not noticing anything wrong in the surrounding area.
Noticing that they didn’t feel any threat, his mind eases slightly. Ryven then tilted his head toward a nearby tree.
He remained vigilant despite the apparent lack of danger.
He still preferred to trust his intuition. After all, there was no guarantee that some abomination wouldn’t suddenly emerge from beneath the ground while he was resting.
In the next instant, he swiftly climbed the tree and settled on its largest branch, using it as a place to rest.
After thirty minutes, they prepared to move again.
"Samminah, conserve your mana. We should reach the cave in a few hours."
She offered no response, as she was already focused on conserving her Mana.
As they continued moving, Samminah ignored the nearby abominations, letting them pass undisturbed without attacking them.
Two hours later, they finally arrived.
The three stood before a strange ruined place.
The cave was massive, roughly the same size as the cave that they saw before. However, it was not completely shrouded in darkness.
The fog was also much thinner here, allowing them to make out what lay within. Countless strands of web covered the interior.
They were eerily thick, yet strangely transparent.
Samminah subconsciously observed the cave due to amusement. The webs was somewhat familiar.
As she observed, her brows furrowed slightly as she sensed something unusual.
"Be careful. Watch your steps. These spiders may only be First-Stage, some even Second-Stage, but they’re far more dangerous than an ordinary First-Stage or Second-Stage abominations."
As Ryven inspected the cave, he nodded in agreement.
"Will the spiders notice us if we go deeper?"
Samminah remained silent for a moment before answering briefly. "Depends on how careful you are."
With that, she stepped into the cave.
The atmosphere inside was suffocatingly silent. It was so quiet and unsettling that anyone left alone in the cave would froze on the spot.
Ryven followed cautiously behind.
Each step filled his mind with countless what if scenarios, for example, what if a spider suddenly emerged and killed him on the spot?
The thought alone made his breathing grow tense as he moved forward.
Only because Samminah and Fred were with him was he able to keep himself from not being petrified from fear.
Focus... I need to get used to this. This won’t be the only dangerous situation I will face...
He steadied himself and took another step, only to feel something hard roll beneath his foot.
Looking down, he realized it was a human skull.
His heart nearly jumped out of his chest from fright.
Meanwhile, Samminah noticed his mistake.
That single misstep could easily disturb the spiders lurking within the dark
Rather than reacting immediately, she chose to observe the cave further. Her gaze landed on a massive web. Her intuition told her something was inside it.
Without hesitation, she raised her hand and sliced it open with her Moonlight Blade.
The thick, transparent web split apart.
Ryven turned toward her, planning to ask for guidance after realizing his mistake.
But the moment he looked in her direction, his face paled and nausea surged through him.
Entangled within the thick webs were countless grotesque corpses.
"W-what the actual f*ck?"
Before he could react further, Samminah grabbed him and lifted him. In the next instant, she shot backward, creating distance from the place they were in earlier.
"Move. If we go deeper and get surrounded, it’ll only get worse."
Behind them, Ryven saw countless strange spiders. Each had six legs and was twice the size of a human head.
What was worse is within their heads was another skull, their own skull. Inside the hollow eye sockets glowed a crimson light filled with bloodlust.
There were more than ten of them, that emerged from the darkness.
Samminah then introduced what they had encountered.
"These are... Ancient creatures."
"Blood Skull Spiders."
"They’re dangerous. Even a single bite would be incredibly troublesome, especially if they evolve into an Empress Blood Skull Spider."
"Thankfully as you said there should only be a Mother Blood Skull Spider which is the Third-Stage creature, so I should able to handle it."
Her gaze shifted to him.
"As for you... Don’t get bitten. Even a First-Stage could kill you."
Ryven’s face paled even further, but he forced himself to composed his thoughts.
Fred rushed from behind to follow, but the spider was faster than he had expected. In an instant, one of them lunged straight at Fred.
Seeing the situation turn dangerous, Ryven had no choice but to command the skeleton.
"Behind you! Kill it!"
At his command, Fred turned just in time and cleaved the creature in half. Purple blood splattered across the skeleton as a notification abruptly chimed.
[Fred, Had slain a First-Stage, Small Blood Skull Spider!]
He ignored the notification, he left’s in Samminah’s grasp and ran forward to help Fred.
Even knowing that a single bite from these spiders was lethal, he still want to fight the small blood skull spiders.
After all, one of his goals here was to gain experience.
"Don’t interfere—only step in if things get dangerous!" Ryven shouted as he charged ahead.
"...Idiot."
Samminah frowned slightly. Causing too much disturbance might awaken the other blood skull spiders lurking deeper inside.
But seeing Ryven rush forward, she had no choice but to follow. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
The moment Ryven conjured his spear, he thrust it toward the nearest spider.
Although the speed of the strike wasn’t slow, his movement was too sloppy and tense, allowing the Blood Skull Spider to sidestep the attack.
Looking at the result of his first attack, Ryven’s heart sank.
I should’ve spent more time training with this spear...
Ryven sighed inwardly, regret flashing through his mind. Striking a moving target with a spear was far harder than he expected.
After a single breath, the small blood skull spider lunged at him, aiming to latch onto his arm and inject venom.
Ryven reacted quickly, raising his shield just in time to block it.
As the creature made contact with the shield—and fully attach itself in the shield, he drove his spear straight into the spider’s skull.
The skull shattered, and purple blood mixed with brain matter burst outward.
Ryven swallowed hard.
The moment he glanced toward Fred, another spider entered his vision.
Instinctively, he thrust his spear again.
The tip of the spear pierced through it cleanly, like skewered meat.
The sight of organs strewn across the ground made his stomach churn. He fought back the nausea threatening to overwhelm him and forced himself to stay composed.
After confirming that there were no abominations nearby for the time being, he turned his gaze toward the skeleton.
For the first time, he observed the skeleton fighting in full might.
Fred moved like a seasoned warrior. Despite lacking strong stats, he held his ground against multiple spiders at once.
Watching Fred’s movements, Ryven felt as if his thoughts suddenly accelerated, clicking into place as he grasped the pattern behind
his each attacks.
Blind spot.
At that realization, Ryven’s eyes sharpened.
He adjusted his stance and began imitating Fred’s movements.
He thrust his spear toward the Blood Skull Spider’s blind spot, then quickly stepped back into a defensive position.
Again and again, he repeated the same pattern, strike, retreat, then block or dodge the incoming attacks.
This is disgusting...
He complained inwardly. The purple blood, scattered brain matter, and the foul stench clinging to his body made him very uncomfortable.
However, he forced himself to stay focused as two more Blood Skull Spiders rushed toward him.
He raised his shield and swung his spear, the incoming blood skull spider was thrown into the nearby wall and was squash like piece of meat.
Eventually, twenty minutes passed.
Ryven and Fred managed to eliminate the Blood Skull Spiders, though most had been taken down by Fred.
Still, it came at a cost.
The skeleton was visibly damaged—parts of its body had been corroded by green venom. Several bones had partially dissolved, leaving gaps along its frame.
Although, Fred has his reflex improved by devouring the huge bird trait, and his durability increased by devouring the Black Serpant, he was still badly injured.
Still, Ryven knew it was inevitable. He had been constantly surrounded by Blood Skull Spiders from all sides.
If Ryven had been in Fred’s position, he would’ve already died by now.
"Not bad, I suppose."
Samminah, who had been watching from the sidelines, seemed a little amused.
"Haa... Good thing I didn’t get bitten."
Ryven gasped for breath as the adrenaline faded, his entire body burning due to exhaustion.
He turned toward Samminah and said tiredly.
"Your turn."
"I know that." She stretched lazily, her tone indifferent.
Without saying a word, she wrapped both of them in Moon Luminesce. Ryven immediately felt his exhaustion lessen, while Fred’s damaged bones began to regenerate.
At the same time Blood skull spiders started appearing once more, they are far larger than they had fought earlier.
They were at least tall as a fully grown men, and at least a meter wide.
Three... Four... Five...?
Ryven couldn’t help but be dumbstruck as more and more fully grown Blood Skull Spiders appeared.
