The Spider Queen
Layla, Salma and Adam made their way into the right tunnel.
The tunnel had no monsters in it, since they had previously completely cleared it.
"How should we fight it?" Adam asked.
"Well, Salma should stay behind us, that's a given. She's going to need a bunch of Mana Potions since she can not only deal damage but also heal us. And for us, well...that depends." Layla paused for a moment. "How big is it going to be, you think?"
"I hope not too big...although the bigger it is the easier it will be for me to hit it with my arrows." Salma said worryingly.
"Well...the only Boss Monster I fought was in a Hidden Location. It was taller than me and I only was able to beat it because it hadn't noticed me. I already had these Artefacts." Adam pointed to his Dark Cloak and his Old Assassin's Boots. "Plus this dagger deals additional damage when hitting an enemy in the back and stuff." He said as he took out his Old Assassin's Dagger from his Storage.
"Why aren't you using it now?"
"The dagger? It doesn't do much damage to the spiders since blunt weapons are the most useful against them. The greatsword isn't blunt at all, but it's big enough to split them in two and deal a bunch of damage. Its Attack Power is 125, you know?" Adam answered.
Salma stopped walking.
"We're not too far from it. Maybe 300 meters away. It's in a big room. It might have noticed us. It's not coming towards us though." She told them.
"Can you tell how big it is?" Layla asked.
"Um. Yes. It's big. Very big. As big as a small house. Its...its body and legs measure maybe fifteen to twenty meters." Salma said with a worried expression.
[ The Fox That Blesses Men says that spiders are weak beings.]
"Yeah? Well...it's pretty scary though." Salma muttered.
"That big, huh?" Layla brought her hand to her chin.
"Even though it's big, it has a limited amount of Health Points. If we can damage it enough, we'll win." Adam said in a reassuring tone.
"True! I'll use a super strong Fire Arrow and burn it!" Salma said while jumping up and down.
"That's the spirit!" Adam added.
[The Fox That Blesses Men wants to see a great fight.]
Layla still had a worried expression.
She received a private message.
[ The Everlasting Winter wants you to believe in yourself more.]
'It's not a matter of confidence. We don't know how strong the monster is.' Layla thought.
"It's weaker than our next target anyways. It should be fine, right?" Salma asked while looking at her sister.
"We're going to have to attack first. As soon as we're close to the room that it's in, Adam and I will run towards it. You fire an arrow with all your mana right away. Don't miss. Adam and I will manage. Probably. We need to try to end it as quickly as possible. As soon as I have a good opportunity, I'll use my "Acceleration" Skill to attack its Weakpoints as fast as possible. Adam, don't forget to use your new Concealing Skill. It's only 5 seconds, but that might be all we need to give it a final hit. Also, you have a Mana Stat now. Your Crumbling Touch Skill doesn't depend on Endurance anymore. As long as you have Mana Points anyway." Layla explained her plan.
It was true. Even the information about Adam's Skill had changed.
[ Magic Skill: Crumbling Touch [B]
When activated, whatever your hand touches shall start to crumble into dust, whether what is touched is organic matter or inorganic matter. The skill's power and precision depend greatly on how high your Magic Affinity stat is. The skill will use the user's Mana Points, if none are left, it will user Endurance Points. If Endurance Points hit zero, the Skill will use Health Points.]
Now that he had Mana Points, he could use it more freely.
Although, it used up his Mana Points extremely fast.
Salma and Adam nodded after hearing Layla.
"Adam, don't hesitate to attack stealthily by letting me attract the monster's attention. I'm much faster than you are now, so I'll probably be able to dodge." She added.
"Alright. Sure. Here Salma, take these." Adam started handing Salma Light Mana Potions. He gave her twenty of them. Layla also bought ten of them and gave them to her.
"Isn't this too much?" Salma asked them after putting all the potions in her Storage.
"Not at all. Might not be enough. You're two in one. Attacker and Healer." Layla answered.
"Alright. You buy ten of them too. If you start running low on Mana despite having these potions, that'll be our hint to get out of there. Okay? We're going in there to fight, but we can also turn this into a hit-and-run fight. We don't have to beat it right away. " Adam told her.
"Yes. We can inflict as much damage as we can safely, run away and come back later to finish it off." Layla added.
"Oh. I see." Salma said.
"Oh right. Store. Weapons?" Adam said out loud.
[ Iron Dagger [F] 100 Gold Coins
Iron Sword [F] 400 Gold Coins
Iron Shield [F] 200 Gold Coins
Iron Mace [F] 500 Gold Coins
Wooden Bow [F] 100 Gold Coins
Wooden Arrow [F] 5 Gold Coins
]
"Oh. Did we get these after reaching level 10?" Adam asked.
[Correct.]
Adam checked the other categories but they were still empty.
"These are so expensive." Layla said after opening her Store. "I have enough money for them, but still."
"Are going to get something?" Salma asked her older sister.
"No. Swords would have been nice I think, but not against a spider." Layla answered.
The three continued walking towards the Spider Queen.
After walking for a bit, Salma told them that the room was very close.
Salma and Layla stopped advancing.
Adam, with his high Stealth Stat and Artefacts that made him hard to notice, went ahead.
He arrived at the large space.
To his surprise, inside the room wasn't dark at all.
Many holes were on the ceiling, letting lots of sunlight in.
Inside the room, many spider eggs of different sizes could be seen hanging from the ceiling.
Spiderwebs were everywhere.
The Spider Queen was lying in the middle of the room.
He could only guess that the monster in front of him was the Spider Queen, but it looked obvious.
The spider was lying on the ground.
Its body without counting the legs was about 6 meters. The size of it was bigger than a car.
Its body was as white as snow.
Except for one black stripe that stretched from its back to its front.
Its eight eyes were open.
When Adam noticed, his heart sank.
But he remembered that spiders slept with their eyes open, as they have no eyelids.
'Salma should probably stand here. No reason for her to get closer.'
Adam was about thirty meters away from the spider.
'How close can I get before it notices me?'
Adam took one step forward, and then another one.
He kept walking until he arrived behind the spider.
Once he was only five meters away from her, he went back to the entrance of the room.
'The Goblin Chief couldn't notice me either. They're both from [E] rank locations. One is a Dungeon and the other is a Hidden Location, but that shouldn't matter much. Plus, I have a high Stealth Stat now. This will be easier than I thought.'
An arrogant smile could be seen on Adam's face as he went back towards Layla and Salma.
He told them everything.
"Really? Are you sure it didn't notice you?" Layla asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yes. It's asleep. Now's our chance." Adam answered. "I'll enter again without it noticing me and turn its head into dust. After that, it will either die or fight blind. Spiders are weird, maybe they can live without their head. Am not sure."
"Sounds like a plan. Still it's weird that it didn't notice you, but I guess you have already dealt with Boss Monster that way. Just be careful. It would be hard to tell if it suddenly woke up." Layla told him.
"Yey. If it's that stupid that it doesn't notice you, then we were worried for no reason. That's great news! Why aren't you happy?" Salma asked joyfully.
"Am not sure. Adam, wouldn't it be better to attack it on its head while it's asleep?"
"Um? No? It might die from my Skill you know." Adam answered.
"Alright then. We'll stay at the entrance while you go in." Layla said.
Salma and Adam nodded.
The three of them walked towards the entrance.
Adam started walking towards the queen.
"It's huge." Salma whispered.
Layla stared at her with a disproving look.
Salma looked at the ground for a second before raising her gaze towards the Spider Queen.
They were not supposed to do anything that could alert the sleeping monster. Not even whisper. Their lives might have depended on it.
Adam walked closer and closer to the huge spider.
His heart was beating faster and faster.
He got in front of its head.
He was five meters away.
Once he made sure that the spider was still asleep, he got closer.
Its eight globulous eyes made him feel disgusted and creeped out.
But he took another step forward.
Once he was one step away from it, he raised his right hand towards the monster's head.
The Spider Queen's body twitched.
One of its eyes moved ever so slightly.
Adam did not notice.
His right hand got closer to its head.
"ADAM! IT'S AWAKE!" Salma shouted.
Immediately hearing that, Adam jumped back.
Only then did he notice the spider's leg that was moving towards him extremely fast.
He jumped back, but the spider leg still made it into his body.
The spider's leg was deeply embedded inside his right thigh.
The leg was extremely sharp.
If the spider moved it in any direction, it could cut through Adam's whole body.
That's why Adam, despite the pain, gripped the spider's leg with his hands.
The next moment, the whole leg was tuned to ashes.
[ 100% of your Mana Points have been used.
10% of your Endurance Points have been used. ]
He had previously told the System to always notice him of how many Mana Points and Endurance Points his Crumbling Touch consumed when used.
The Spider Queen quickly got up.
Adam jumped back once more.
'How the hell did it wake up? Was it awake from the beginning? Or did it sense the incoming danger? That's not the time to think about that. Right now...'
His injured leg gave out. He fell to the ground.
Just when one other spider leg was being extended his way, a Fire Arrow hit the monster's body.
It screeched in pain.
A burn mark could be seen on the spider's previously white body.
The spider turned its body in the direction the arrow came from.
Seven of its eyes focused on the small girl with red hair that was drinking blue potions in the distance.
Only one of them noticed the other girl, the one with very dark hair that was to its side. She was about to hit the mark left by the Fire Arrow.
'It became a Weakpoint. Previously, the top of its head and its abdomen were its only Weakpoints. But Salma's arrow made a third Weakpoint appear.' Layla thought.
At that moment, Adam and Layla were on each side of the spider.
The spider quickly extended its legs that were on Layla's side towards her repeatedly.
The spider's speed was something Layla could keep up with.
She deflected every hit beautifully and without any unnecessary movements. It was proof of her high Agility and Dexterity Stats.
She was armed with her two Iron Maces, both enflamed by Salma's "Fire Enchanting" Skill.
The spider's legs were extremely hard and tough, but after multiple hits from Layla's Iron Maces, very small cracks and burn marks started appearing.
It was an endurance match in which Salma had the advantage.
The spider jumped back and away from the close-range fighter.
It could now see the two intruders with its eight eyes.
Its main focus was not to get hit by that fire projectile that had burnt it earlier.
While the spider was focused on Layla and Salma, Adam had consumed three Light Mana Potions and two Medium Healing Potions. His Health Points and Mana Points were practically back at full. Only a scar was left on his thigh.
To the spider, Adam was just a bit harder to notice than the others, since he had done no damage to it.
Which was why when he used his Temporary Concealing Skill, the spider that relied on its eight eyes forgot about him.
He only had five seconds of invisibility.
'If I play my cards right, that's all I need.'
He quickly moved behind the spider.
He was about a step away from its abdomen.
His hands were raised above his head.
Purple light wrapped both his hands, but the light was invisible to others too.
Two seconds left.
'I'll conjure two Maces. I'll use 100% of my Mana Points. Max Attack Power, Minimum Time Limit.'
[ You have used 200 Mana Points to conjure a weapon of the type Mace.]
[ Reinforced Conjured Mace [D-]. Attack Power: 120. Duration: 10 seconds. ]
[ You have used 200 Mana Points to conjure a weapon of the type Mace.]
[ Reinforced Conjured Mace [D-]. Attack Power: 120. Duration: 10 seconds. ]
A purple Mace appeared in each of his hands already above his head.
The Reinforced Conjured Maces could only be used for 10 seconds, but they were weightless. And the Attack Power they gave, was the same as holding one Goblin Chief's Greatsword in each hand.
[The Duration of your Temporary Concealment Skill is over.]
One of the spider's eyes managed to catch a glimpse of Adam behind it.
But it was too late to dodge.
Adam slammed both his Reinforced Conjured Maces on the spider's abdomen.
It screeched in pain and extended its two back legs towards Adam with all its strength before turning towards him.
He quickly threw the maces in the air and took out his greatsword of the Storage.
Just fast enough for the spider's legs to hit the greatsword and not his body.
Adam was thrown a dozen meters back.
"GRAB THEM! QUICK" Adam shouted as he rolled in the ground.
The spider that had turned to face the dangerous threat that was Adam and spit a ball of poison in his direction.
The Spider Queen wanted to get rid of him later. It wanted to focus on Layla and Salma.
Layla noticed the purple maces and knew that Adam would not throw them in the air if they were similar to her maces.
It could only mean one thing, that they were much more powerful.
The real threat wasn't Adam at the moment, but those Reinforced Conjured Maces.
As soon as the maces left Adam's hands, Layla had used her Acceleration Skill to jump up and get them.
She jumped about ten meters into the air and grabbed them, before falling on the other side of the spider.
She used the momentum from her fall and launched herself towards the spider's abdomen.
Layla too, slammed the maces on the spider's back, except that she hit the weakest point on the already weak point of the spider.
The spider screeched extremely loudly because of the pain.
It was confused.
Individually, every one of its enemies was weak. But right now, all it did was take damage.
Layla could only defend against the barrage of attacks previously.
Adam who had been injured was saved by the other two. Not only that, but after landing one hit he was thrown back and was now practically defenseless.
Salma was far away, but that only showed her weakness when it came to close combat.
And yet now, it was taking hit after hit.
The Spider Queen was fuming.
It jumped with all its strength and turned its body to stick to the spiderweb-covered ceiling.
'Finally.' Salma thought.
She had been aiming her Fire Arrow for a while now, but since Adam and Layla were fighting from close distance, she couldn't shoot as her aim was not perfect.
But now that the spider was far away from them, she was free.
'Previously, I was scared to hit Layla or Adam, so I only used half my Mana Points. Now that it's alone on the ceiling, I'll throw everything in this one.'
In an instant, fierce flames covered Salma's arms. It was proof that all her Mana was being condensed in one single attack.
She let go of the bright Fire Arrow.
Her body was pushed back by the power of her attack.
She was surprised as it was the first time it had happened. It was also the first time she used so much Mana at once.
Her Max Mana Points used to be at around 250, but after leveling up to level ten, she got a massive boost.
Her Mana Stat had gone from 20 all the way to 65.
Which meant that, thanks to the additional 20 Mana Points she receives from her Passive Skill "Mana Regeneration", her Max Mana Points stood at 670 Mana Points.
The Fire Arrow she shot was brighter and fiercer than any she had ever shot.
It advanced quickly towards the spider's abdomen.
The Spider Queen still hadn't forgotten about the arrow it had received earlier, even though it only had half the power this incoming Fire Arrow had.
It was still very much aware of Salma's movements, so it noticed the Fire Arrow move towards it.
But it didn't expect it to be so fast.
All it could do was move its back so that the arrow hit its side.
The Fire Arrow exploded once it touched the Spider Queen's side.
'Really? It dodged that?' Salma thought as she started drinking Mana potions.
The Fire Arrow didn't hit a weak point, it hit the opposite side that the first Fire Arrow had hit.
But unlike the first arrow, this one didn't leave a burn mark.
Instead, a big part of the spider's body was missing.
It's whole side was missing.
The Spider Queen was now bleeding extensively from its abdomen, had a burnt side and a completely missing side.
Victory was pretty much assured to one side.
But they didn't let that phase them.
They already had gone through unpredictable situations before after letting their guard down, like with the Spider Queen's Guards.
Salma had stopped drinking Mana Potions after noticing the damage her Fire Arrow had made, but she continued right after. She didn't have the time to stand around and do nothing.
Layla too, stopped for a second. When she remembered that Adam's conjured weapons had a time limit, she quickly threw both Reinforced Conjured Maces towards the Spider Queen, still on the ceiling.
She ran towards her Iron Maces that she had let go of before. They were on the ground a dozen meters away from her.
Unfortunately, the Reinforced Conjured Maces turned into a cloud of purple dust before they could hit the Spider Queen.
Layla picked up her Iron Maces and raised her head.
The Spider Queen was immobile.
So was Adam.
'Was he knocked out? Should I protect him? Attack? Protect Salma? I'm the closest to it. I can't let it do whatever it wants. If it attacks Salma with poison, I won't be able to do anything. I have to keep attacking. But it's on the ceiling...' Layla was thinking about what to do while staring at the bleeding Spider Queen.
Meanwhile, Adam was lying on the ground, with his greatsword on his chest.
'Shit.'
[ You have been hit by a Paralyzing Venomous Poison.]
[You are currently paralyzed.]
[ You are currently poisoned.]
[ Depending on the quantity of the Paralysing Poison that hit you, you will be unable to move for a certain amount of time.]
[ Depending on the quantity of the Venomous Poison that hit you, you will lose Health Points for a certain amount of time.]
[ Depending on the Venomosity of the Poison that hit you, you will lose a certain quantity of Health Points per second for a certain amount of time.]
'So it's a two in one? Both Venomous and Paralysing. The number of HP lost per second depends on the Venomosity of the Poison, while the number of seconds I'll be poisoned depends on the quantity of Poison that hit me?'
Adam said as he raised his head to look at his stomach.
There was a big print of a purple and yellow mixture on his stomach and greatsword.
'Thank god the greatsword took most of that.'
He could move his neck and hands, but not his arms, mouth or any other part of his body.
'I can't even check how many Health Points I lost.'
All he could do was lie there.
[ A Certain Evil is chuckling at your condition.]
'Yeah. I would probably laugh too if my face wasn't paralyzed....and if I wasn't the one in this situation.'
He looked at the ceiling.
There was a hole right above him.
He could see the bright sky.
'I wish I could fly.'
Somehow, he felt at peace.
"ADAM! ARE YOU OKAY?" Layla shouted.
'Sorry. I can't answer...' Adam thought.
He moved his hand to let her know he was alive, but that only made her more worried.
Layla sprinted towards him.
He raised his head to look at her.
She immediately understood that he couldn't move.
She stood in front of him and faced the Spider Queen that was still on the ceiling.
'Can I even fight it like this? Fight it head-on?' Layla had doubts.
But she had a surprised look after that.
The spider took a step back.
'What?'
It took another step back.
'Is it scared?'
Meanwhile, six of the spider's eyes were focused not on Layla or Adam, but on Salma who was drinking Mana Potions.
'Wait is it...?'
Salma felt her Danger Sense Skill tell her that something was coming.
Just when Layla started thinking that it was going towards Salma, the Spider Queen's used its bleeding abdomen to shoot a thick spiderweb towards Salma.
"SALMA! MOVE!" Layla shouted while sprinting towards her sister.
The young Salma wasn't fast enough to dodge it and got caught in the web.
"What the hell is this? LET GO OF ME!" Salma shouted.
She was getting more and more agitated.
Suddenly, the web started pulling her towards the Spider Queen.
Salma noticed the web was still connected to the Spider Queen's back.
"Oh? So that's how it is?" Salma said with a wicked smile.
[The Fox That Blesses Men is wants you to burn everything!]
[ A Certain Evil is looking at you.]
She ignored the private messages she got.
The Spider Queen kept pulling Salma closer and closer.
Salma's body was completely restrained. She couldn't move one bit.
Which made her angrier and angrier.
The more Salma realized she was trapped, the stronger and fiercer the fire in her heart burnt.
She let out an evil smile.
Layla seeing that, was stopped in her tracks.
Was it a special link between sisters? Somehow, she knew Salma would be okay.
Once her anger was not something she could tolerate anymore, Salma shouted loudly.
Just as she did, fierce flames went out of her whole body.
The flames were extremely hot and surrounded Salma's body.
A moment later, the spiderweb that the Spider Queen was using to pull Salma caught fire.
The fire spread through the spiderweb and penetrated the Spider Queen's body.
It screeched in pain and cut its connection to the spiderweb.
It fell to the ground.
It fell upside down.
Its backside was still burning.
Layla did not miss the opportunity.
She sprinted forward and slammed her enflamed Iron Maces on the spider's head many times.
The Spider Queen could only move its legs in every direction possible, trying to protect itself.
Layla was cut many times. All were superficial cuts.
On her face, her thighs, her sides, her arms and on her shoulders. She was cut everywhere.
But in the end, the Spider Queen could not fight back.
The fire was burning its insides, while blunt weapons were hitting its head.
Messages appeared in front of the three.
[1 Spider Queen has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 1250 Gold and 2500 Experience Points.]
[Congratulations! ]
[ You have defeated the Dungeon's Boss Monster.]
[ You have cleared the Dungeon.]
[ You can exit the Dungeon by expressing your desire to do so.]
'Oh. We made it?' Adam wondered.