The Queen's Guards
Adam and the group were all absolutely shocked at the Mutated Black Widow's strength.
It was fast enough that Layla could only react by defending.
Strong enough to be able to deflect Adam's attack with the greatsword.
And its senses were so developed that it sensed them when they were still pretty far away.
"Does it have no weakness?" Layla asked as she took out a Medium Healing Potion from her Storage.
"Its body is soft. So a normal hit would do lots of damage I think. Although its legs are very strong and its claws are sharp." Adam answered.
It seemed to him like these were even stronger than the hobgoblins he had fought.
'Without Salma, I probably would have had to rely on Crumbling Touch once again. My Dark Cloak also isn't as useful as it could be since we're carrying the torch for Layla. Maybe I should try going forward alone for the next one.' Adam thought.
Salma had used two Magic Spells.
She had used about 70 Mana Points on the Fire Arrow and an additional 25 for the explosion that finished off the spider.
Her Max Mana was at 220.
They decided to rest for a bit.
"Should we head back?" Adam asked.
"No. It's fine. As long as we don't have three of these at once, we'll be fine." Layla answered. "I'll be ready next time."
Adam nodded and turned towards Salma.
"Try to use those explosions behind the enemy as much as possible, okay? That was a super good move." Adam told her.
"Yes! I know!"
"Do you think you can do both at the same time?" Layla asked Salma.
"Both what?"
"Throw your arrow and use the Explosion Skill."
"Umm... Probably?" Salma said with her head raised.
It had been about 20 minutes since they entered the left tunnel.
Once Salma's Mana Points were back at full, she re-enflamed all their weapons and drank three Light Mana Potions.
They continued going deeper into the tunnel.
"Three spiders. Two Concealed ones and one like before. I can only use Explosion if they're close enough. From this distance, the widow one will notice us in no time. It's already looking this way. The other ones aren't moving."
"Alright, I'll go in there." Adam said as he took out his greatsword.
"No. Please, leave it to me." Layla said as she positioned herself in front of the other two.
She took one other step forward.
"It noticed you. It's coming fast! It's on the ground this time." Salma said as she aimed her Fire Arrow.
"It's here!" Adam shouted with his greatsword between his hands.
Just as the spider's foreleg got out of the darkness, Layla thought
'Acceleration.'
Immediately, she noticed the spider's movements had gotten a lot slower.
It's not that her eyes perceived the spider's movements better.
She had just gotten a lot faster.
Previously, the Mutated Black Widow was a bit faster than Layla. She had only managed to react to its attack.
But now, Layla's speed was multiplied by 1,5.
Layla took three quick steps towards it.
Salma and Adam were surprised by her incredible speed.
The spider extended its right foreleg to stab Layla's left side.
She had nine seconds left.
She turned her body sideways towards her right.
The spider's leg missed Layla's body.
She then swung the Iron Mace in her right hand vertically and hit the monster's head.
It screeched in pain and pulled its leg back.
Layla turned her body back to face the monster and swung the Iron Mace in her left hand vertically. It hit the monster's head once again.
She now had both arms raised above her head.
She had 7 seconds left.
Just as the monster was about to step back, surprised by the speed of its opponent, Layla slammed both her Iron Maces on the spider's head, exactly on the head's weakest point.
It was beautifully done.
[1 Mutated Black Widow has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 80Gold and 160 Experience Points.]
She had 6 seconds left.
She turned back to look at Salma and Adam.
They both looked extremely slow.
They had surprised faces that made Layla chuckle.
She had gotten rid of the monster using half the duration of her Skill.
Her confidence went back up, as being knocked out before had made her unsure of her own strength.
'Yep. I can protect them too.' Layla thought.
[ The duration of the Skill "Acceleration" has passed.]
She felt lots of energy leave her body at once.
Half her Endurance points had been consumed by the Skill.
"That was awesooome!" Salma shouted.
"It really was!! You took care of it easily on your own!" Adam said with shiny eyes.
"Thanks. I think I counted 5 seconds when I gave it the final hit. But since it uses Half of my Max Endurance Points, I can't use it a lot." Layla said humbly.
The Skill consumes half of her Max Endurance Points. Since her Max Endurance was 150, the Skill consumed 75 Endurance Points. It didn't depend on how much Endurance Points Layla currently had. It consumed half of the max. Therefore, if she didn't focus on always having plenty of Endurance, she could easily find herself lacking.
"Let's walk closer to those invisible spiders. The next big spider is mine." Adam said confidently.
He was happy that everyone was strong enough to defend themselves.
Salma got rid of the invisible spiders, as she was now used to.
[ You have leveled up!]
"Ohh! Nice!" Salma said. "Kayla, stats?"
[Stats: Strength: 12(+1)
Agility: 18(+1)
Sense: 57(+1)
Vigor & Endurance: 14(+1)
MagicAffinity: 41(+1)
Mana: 21(+1)
Unused stat points: 3(+3)
]
"Umm, three in Mana." She said right after reading her stats.
Salma and Adam were both level 9 and Layla level 7.
"Eight monsters left right?" Adam asked her.
Salma stared at him for a bit.
"Eight, and then the Spider Queen." She corrected him.
After the "Acceleration" Skill's cooldown passed and Layla's Endurance went up a bit, they continued walking.
"There's a group of four in front of us. Of different sizes too. Seems like there are three Mutated Black Widows and one that is either a Paralysing Spider or a Venomous one." Salma said as she stopped walking and concentrated on what was in front of them.
"We can't take them on." Layla said.
"Maybe I can go in there in the dark?" Adam suggested.
"Maybe they'll be able to notice you right away." Layla said in a teasing voice.
"I don't think so. You're underestimating this cloak. I think it'll be fine. Especially since I still have my Skill that can turn them into dust." Adam raised his hand as he said that.
"How about you stay 15 to 20 meters in front of us, hidden in the darkness? You can take them out as they come this way. I'll hold the torch." Layla suggested as she put one of her Iron Maces in her Storage.
"Yeah. That works too."
They changed their formation.
Layla was now in the middle, with a torch and a mace.
Adam was in front of her, far enough into the darkness that Layla couldn't see him at all.
Salma was just behind her sister by a couple of steps.
"The biggest ones are coming," Salma said.
Adam heard her and readied himself.
He focused on the presences in front of him. He felt them coming closer.
The spiders were in line, one behind the other.
Salma readied her Fire Arrow.
'I'll use two-thirds of my Mana on this one.' She thought.
Her Max Mana was now at 260. So using two-thirds of that was going to make a Fire Arrow that has a lot more power than the ones she used before.
That shot left her with about 85 Mana Points.
The arrow was nicely aimed.
The spider at the front saw the Fire Arrow coming and jumped down to the ground.
There, it found Adam, already swinging his greatsword with all his strength.
Since he was in the darkness, they only noticed him once it was too late.
Even Salma found it hard to locate him when he used his Items.
He swung the greatsword in a vertical upward motion with both hands. The spider was immediately cut in two.
[1 Mutated Black Widow has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 80Gold and 160 Experience Points.]
The one behind it noticed the arrow too late. It jumped down, but the arrow had already burnt part of its abdomen.
As it fell to the ground, it saw its companion being split in two.
It immediately tried stabbing the attacker that it could barely see.
But once its leg was extended towards the opponent,
The whole spider quickly turned into dust.
[1 Mutated Black Widow has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 80Gold and 160 Experience Points.]
The third spider was hit by the arrow and died on the spot.
[1 Mutated Black Widow has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 80Gold and 160 Experience Points.]
Adam walked back towards Layla and Salma.
"Looks like the last one didn't notice us yet." Adam told them.
"Yeah. If it doesn't notice us soon, I can just use Explosion."
"Choosing to take this tunnel was definitely the right choice for us. We can rest and fight. An Endurance battle would have been detrimental to us. Although it's all thanks to Salma. If we couldn't sense those Concealing Spiders, this would have been a lot more dangerous." Layla said.
Salma got rid of the last spiders using her Explosion Skill.
"Only four left and the queen right?" Adam asked Salma
"Yes. Although four of these might be tough." Salma answered.
"I can get rid of two of them with my Acceleration Skill." Layla pointed out.
"It shouldn't be too hard." Adam said.
"I'm not sure, I have a bad feeling." Salma was worried, she didn't really know why.
They waited for Salma to recover her Mana and then continued walking.
Once again, Adam was in front, hidden in the darkness.
"They're about one hundred meters away. I can feel four of them. All are strong black widows. But I have this weird feeling." Salma told the other two.
"What do you mean? Are they stronger than the ones we fought before?" Adam asked.
He could hear the sounds the four Mutated Black Widows made.
"No... I'm not sure. I have this feeling." Salma muttered.
"All we can do is advance cautiously." Her sister said.
Once they took about 20 steps,
"They're coming!" Salma shouted.
Layla threw the torch and took out her second Iron Mace.
Adam, still in the darkness was preparing to attack the spiders once they were close enough.
The four Mutated Black Widows came running towards the trio.
One was on the ceiling, one on the ground and the other two were on each wall.
Salma shot an arrow towards the one on the ceiling. It fell to the ground but the arrow didn't hit it perfectly. It was still alive but unmoving.
Adam decided to take the one on the ground. As he was still in the darkness, it didn't notice him until it was too late. He swung his greatsword with all his strength towards the spider's head and split it in two.
[1 Mutated Black Widow has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 80Gold and 160 Experience Points.]
He immediately moved towards the one on the right.
Layla had gotten rid of the spider on the left with Salma's help.
Salma had used her Explosion Skill to finish off the spider she had hit earlier, while she was aiming her Fire Arrow towards the one that was attacking Layla.
Layla finished off that one.
Adam, seeing that the spider he was going after, the one on the right wall was the last one, used a massive amount of Endurance Points and turned its body to dust.
[1 Mutated Black Widow has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 80Gold and 160 Experience Points.]
Except that, the fight wasn't over yet.
Once they all lowered their guard, three poisonous spheres flew towards them at a very high speed.
"MOVE!" Salma shouted.
Salma barely sensed the one aimed at her and dodged it by jumping back.
Layla, with her high Agility, tried dodging it once she heard Salma. But when she noticed the attack, it was too late. The sphere hit her right hand.
Adam, having used most of his Endurance, got hit in the back.
The two did not feel pain, but once they saw the notifications that popped up, they both freaked out.
[ You have been hit by a Paralysing Poison.]
[ Depending on the quantity of the Paralysing Poison that hit you, you will be unable to move for a certain amount of time.]
Adam's whole body could not move while Layla's right arm felt numb.
They were all extremely confused as even Salma hadn't sensed a presence other than the Spider Queen.
"I can't move!" Adam shouted.
Salma and Layla both moved in front of Adam to protect him from whatever was coming.
Layla raised the Iron Mace she had in her left hand, and Salma got ready to shoot a Fire Arrow.
But nothing happened.
They stayed in that position for a couple of seconds.
Salma felt something very close and shouted
"STEP BACK!"
Layla heard her and took a step back.
Right after she moved, she felt something extremely sharp slash her stomach horizontally.
The cut was very shallow and didn't bleed much, but the three panicked.
They were being attacked by something they couldn't see nor hear. Not only that, but Adam could not move at all.
Salma, seeing her sister hurt, decided to use her Explosion Skill everywhere around them.
'Explosion here, here, there, that way, over there too, and on that wall.'
A series of lights appeared at once and were followed by many explosions.
They heard a creature screeching to their left. It let out a loud and long cry.
Layla jumped that way as soon as she heard the sound and slammed her Iron Mace at the space where it came from.
She could feel some resistance. She had hit the target.
After that, Salma noticed blood drops falling on the ground.
She readied her arrow and aimed at the point where the blood was falling from.
Her Fire Arrow flew in the air and exploded in mid-air.
[1 Spider Queen's Guard has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 120 Gold and 240 Experience Points.]
'Queen's Guard?' Salma thought for a second.
Layla realized that she could now move her right arm.
She turned towards Adam. He was still paralyzed and could barely move.
"LAYLA! JUMP!" Salma shouted.
As soon as Layla heard that, she jumped immediately.
A purple poisonous sphere hit the ground, where she had been standing a second ago.
Salma followed the trajectory the poison sphere had taken.
She was starting to recognize the presences of the attackers.
Salma could feel two extremely faint presences.
She quickly took out four Light Mana Potions and drank them on the spot.
They couldn't be felt previously despite Salma's concentration as they were concealed by the immense presence of the Spider Queen.
"Adam, can you move?" Salma asked.
"A bit... I can move my arms, but I am gonna need some more time before the paralysis is gone. Can you feel the monsters?"
"Yes. Their presence is very weak... concealed I mean." Salma aimed her arrow as she said that.
'The second one should be around here. She aimed at the edge between the darkness and the zone the torch could light up. I'll use all of my remaining Mana Points.'
The arrow flew. It was much brighter than any Fire Arrow she had fired before.
It exploded in mid-air once again.
[1 Spider Queen's Guard has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 120 Gold and 240 Experience Points.]
Adam felt that he could now move his arms around. The rest of his body was set in stone.
"ADAM! It's right in front of you!"
Adam raised both his arms in front of his body.
As soon as a drop of blood appeared on his right palm, a pile of ashes immediately fell to the ground.
[1 Spider Queen's Guard has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 120 Gold and 240 Experience Points.]
Adam's body was not under the paralysis anymore.
He immediately fell to the ground.
"ADAM!" Layla and Salma shouted.
"I...I'm...I'm gonna need to...sleep for a bit." He closed his eyes.
Just as he closed them, Layla lifted his head off the ground while Salma poured three Medium Healing Potions inside his mouth.
His first use of Crumbling Touch had decreased his Endurance Points to 40/140.
When he used it a second time, his Endurance was only at 45/140.
That second use depleted all of his Endurance Points and used a third of his Health Points.
He fell into a deep slumber.
The sisters were happy to feel his heartbeat, but they didn't let their guard down.
Only after 5 minutes or so passed were they convinced that there were no enemies nearby.
Layla drank a Medium Healing Potion.
The sisters sat next to Adam as he slept.
"The guards were a mix of the spiders we saw before." Layla broke the silence.
"Yeah, that's true. They all had the Concealing Ability of the Concealing Spiders, except that the concealing ability was much stronger than the original." Salma realized.
"They also had the Strength of a Mutated Black Widow and could shoot paralyzing poison like the Paralysing Spiders. I wonder what their rank was?" Layla said while rubbing her chin.
[ The Spider Queen's Guards' rank is [E]. ]
"Oh. Is that so? Since the Dungeon is an [E] rank, and these three were the first [E] rank monsters we saw, the Spider Queen must be [D] rank at least right?" Layla asked.
"I think the Dungeon is [E] because we have a choice between two Clear Requirements. One tunnel's difficulty is something like [D] and the other tunnel's difficulty is [F]. Maybe? I don't know."
"It is true that until this fight, it had mostly been smooth sailing. Except when I got thrown against the wall... If that's the case, do you think this tunnel is the [F] rank or the [D] rank?"
The two sisters kept talking while Adam was asleep.