Sneaky Sabotage

The Spider Queen was easily dealing with the players from Noob Killers; although the monster didn't manage to kill any more players the amount of damage done to each of the tanks was plenty. The Spider Queen had a large black body with a slightly red tip. Its body was covered by 6-inch fur strands which were also quite sharp.

The group silently stepped their way over towards the walls. Blake stepped a bit closer to the spider pods before lightly tapping it with his sword. They may as well make sure that their plan is going to work since they're planning on doing it based on the assumption that a light graze will hatch them.

The pods were quite small, being able to fit into the size of a player's palms.

However, once being lightly tapped by the sword it started shaking violently. Starting from the top, cracks began to spread across the entire egg. It only took a few more seconds before there was a faint popping sound, the top of the egg popped off and a small spider head poked out of it.

Blake stared at it with a raised eyebrow. "Huh, this doesn't seem so scary. Rather, it seems rather cute."

The spider had the normal eight eyes, but the size in comparison to their head size made them seem adorable. Not to mention its fangs were quite small, their bodies were completely black with light brown fur evenly distributed around their carapace.

The spider turned its attention away from Blake and started munching on the egg. It's little fangs started crunching up the eggshell, crushing it before stuffing it in its small mouth. The party noticed something off, the body of the spider started to grow the more it ate.

"Quickly, come back here," Jose whispered as he gestured for Blake to return behind the stone. He had a bad gut feeling, especially since it seems as though the Noob Killers guild were swiftly taking control over the situation. Through the use of constant aggro on different sides of the cave it managed to confuse Spider Queen, allowing for some of the injured tanks to drink an HP potion.

The Archers and Mages were still firing off, targeting the Spider Queen's eyes to allow for vital damage. Jose quickly analysed the spider to see how well it was doing and was relieved by the sight.

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Name: Town of Beginnings Spider Queen

Class: Boss Mob

HP: 7342/10000

MP: 1780/2000

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However, Jose noticed that the Spider Queen didn't appear to be using much mana points. It seemed to only decrease whenever it shot out a spider web.

"Jose, take a look," Blake whispered as he pointed towards the hatchling spider.

The eggshell was now thoroughly devoured and the spider was now a metre tall, wide, and long. Its cute appearance disappeared and was instead replaced by one filled with intimidation. The thick, green liquid was dripping out of the spider's fangs as it looked towards the group of players attacking the Spider Queen.

Jose cast his spell Analysis Eyes to get a better reading.

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Name: Spider Queen's Guardians

Class: Semi-Boss Mob

HP: 2000/2000

MP: 200/200

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The stats were phenomenal, beyond anything Jose's seen before aside from the Spider Queen. He also realised why the difficulty was ranked so highly. It wasn't due to the Spider Queen alone but also took into consideration of the pods.

However, Jose was confused as to why they would consider the pods. They were so easily avoidable and unless someone purposely targeted them the Spider Queen could be easily taken out. Granted, a large group of players numbering in the hundreds would still be needed but Jose can't see why it would be ranked so high in terms of difficulty.

"Alright, slightly new plan, Harrison and Luke, you two go along the walls lightly grazing only a few spider pods. The stats these things possess are quite high so having too many hatch open would be detrimental to us," Jose explained a new plan. With the stats of the Spider Queen's Guardians in his mind, he changed the plan immediately to one where they would be many times safer. "We'll cover your return in case the Noob Killers guild starts to attack you two."

"Alright, let these bald bros handle it," Luke said with a slight flex of his biceps. "And do make sure not to hit us with anything. After all, we'll already have enough issues dealing with the Noob Killers players already."

The last remarked was aimed to Hayley. She clicked her lip before pouting angrily. "Don't worry, as long as you do your job properly, I'll do my end of the deal properly. And if you fail, well, we can't exactly have you coming over and giving away our location."

"Hayley, just make sure to keep them alive," Jose sighed before gesturing for the two tanks to begin. Harrison sprinted to the other side of the cave, his body close to the wall making it difficult for the players to see him.

Harrison looked towards Luke who was gazing at him. They both nodded at the same time before running forwards, their shields held in front of their bodies. The edge of their shields lightly grazed a dozen spiders each before they halted their steps and retreated.

Unfortunately, the leader of Noob Killers managed to notice them. He shouted angrily towards Luke and Harrison, gaining the attention of the entire guild. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? Everyone, quickly get rid of them and finish those spider hatchlings before they grow!"

An arrow of magic spells and arrows were fired at them. Fortunately, real-life skills were also practical in-game. So, although their defence and vitality were quite high, they didn't need to take on all the hits. Harrison and Luke, with the use of their shields, rolled on the ground and pushed off, exerting their strength through their shields.

Notifications resounded throughout the parties minds, informing them of who attacked them and how they're able to fight back now. This was another reason why they weren't going head first, they needed this one special notification to click so that they don't lose anything if they are killed.

Luke's and Harrison's bodies shot a metre into the air, narrowly dodging the arrows targeting them due to their unique dodging style. The Mages and Archers pouted angrily before firing off another volley of arrows and spells while Luke and Harrison continued to narrowly dodge.

"What the hell! How does he keep dodging my attacks?" The leader of the mage party shouted angrily and loudly. She kept firing off one magic spell after the other along with her party. She was one of the better mages, ranked 91st on the 1st game server, she seldom missed her attacks.

The vanguards of the group were now struggling since the Mages and Archers were busy attempting to deal with Luke and Harrison. The guild leader shouted at them angrily, "What are you doing? Stop wasting your mana on players and get rid of these spider guardians!"

He couldn't believe how useless his Mages and Archers were being. Although taking care of the players isn't a bad idea; he immediately noticed that these tanks were no beginners seeing that they were able to easily dodge volleys of arrows and spells. So, instead of wasting mana and arrows on players, it would be a better idea to deal with the spider queen's guardians.

The mage's leader clicked her tongue before changing targets. Fortunately, the spiders had just hatched and were currently nibbling away at their eggshells. Making them extremely vulnerable with their low health in comparison to when they're fully grown.

"Fire!" She shouted loudly, setting off a volley of magic spells that completely shattered the spiders into smithereens. However, she raised an eyebrow when she noticed something odd about the spider pods around it. They were shaking vigorously instead of remaining still.

"Holy shit! Are you actually that dumb!" The leader shouted angrily to the mage leader. He felt as though he could facepalm through his head at the moment. Although the mage leader was incredibly capable, she was also incredibly dumb whenever it comes to strategical planning. Usually, she would only be invited to them so that she understands what she needs to do.

"What? What's wrong?" The mage leader asked in confusion. She didn't understand what she did wrong. She did what she was told. Changed her targets from the players to the spiders and even killed them. She used her Fireball correctly and nailed the spider perfectly on the head.

"You're supposed to hit the ground near the spider but away from the pods or let the archers deal with them. Your magic spell which has a small AOE damage ended up also slightly hitting the other pods," The leader explained swiftly before slashing forward, cutting deep into the Spider Queen's leg.

The Spider Queen roared angrily before throwing the guild leader into the wall. Jose swiftly analysed it and noticed that its HP had dropped below half. Its body was changing, the colour was morphing into a deep shade of red. The furs gave off a metallic sheen and another pair of fangs sprouted around the spider's mouth.

The Spider Queen sliced its front leg horizontally, pushing back all the tanks surrounding it with one attack. The new metallic furs managed to slightly scratch one of the tanks and halved his health instantly. Despite being a tank with plenty of points in vitality, his health was instantly halved.

Jose took notice of it, he was currently still stationed behind the rock observing the battle. Luke and Harrison both ran far behind them, around a couple of corners to get out of the player's sight. Also to leave an opening weakness when the players believe there weren't any more outsiders nearby,

"Jose, are you sure we can beat this thing?" Maddy asked concerningly. She looked towards the tank that had his health halved in one attack. Not to mention the Spider Queen didn't stop there and instantly finished the tank off with on of its side legs. Stabbing right through the tank's shield, bursting open the tank's head by crushing it against the ground.

Although the corpse swiftly dissipated with a faint crackling sound as it shattered into a myriad of lights, the death was still gruesome, to say the least. It certainly left a large impact on the other tanks' minds, seeing one of them so easily beaten.

"Well, I think we can," Jose said without much confidence. He didn't think the boss would be so strong. Originally, it wasn't strong at all. But the moment its health got below half, it got a massive power boost, to the point where it could easily one tap mages and archers that don't have many points in vitality or defence.

"I don't like that fact that you used the word think," Hayley complained angrily. "Maybe we should retreat for now, we've already ruined their attack, it's unlikely that they're going to be able to salvage the situation as of now."

Currently, due to the mages' mistake, a few dozen more spiders happened to spawn, some of which managed to grow to the full size and start interfering with the guild's formation. Specifically targeting the Mages and Archers at the back since they were the weakest of the bunch.

"We'll wait momentarily to see if the boss has anything else up its sleeve. That way, should we ever come here to tackle it ourselves we'll be able to prepare ahead of time for anything it'll throw at us," Jose explained, taking another peek around the rock to see if there were any more changes in the Spider Queen.

"Jose, you're going to want to hear this," Luke and Harrison both appeared behind them, both panting slightly since they went back to the entrance of the cave before coming back. "We can't escape the cave unless that boss is beaten. In other words, we're basically stuck here."

"What!"