Hope

Seeing the beetle gazing at him with abnormal looks, Arthur was scared. He was ready to run again, even though he knew the beetle could catch him. He knew he had never seen the beetle this angry before.

As Arthur prepared to flee, the beetle's expression suddenly changed to normal. Looking at the beetle's normal expression, Arthur stopped himself from running.

"Sorry, I just remembered something. It's not about you," the beetle said, knowing Arthur was scared by his scary expression.

Hearing the beetle, Arthur calmed down. "He's going to kill me with a heart attack," he thought, experiencing the number of shocks he kept getting from the beetle.

Arthur realized something: the beetle had no intention of killing him. It was just the beetle's unusual behavior that scared him. "Still, I need to find a way to counter him," Arthur thought, knowing even if the beetle didn't look like a threat right now, he needed to be prepared.

"I'll find something to eat for us. You continue your training. I'll also live here from now on until you become ready. Then we can start our journey. Is that okay?" the beetle asked, looking at Arthur with a normal expression.

"What? Food? And he's staying here? With me?" Arthur thought.

"Yes," Arthur replied, knowing this was the best thing for him. Since the beetle wasn't going to kill him, he could use the beetle as a bodyguard, and he wouldn't have to worry about food either.

"Okay, then. I'll come back after I find something to eat!" the beetle said, jumping off the edge.

Seeing the beetle jump, Arthur walked toward the edge where the beetle had jumped from. He tried to look down to see where the beetle was going. The beetle was standing on the ground, looking back at Arthur with a blank expression.

"Huh…!" Arthur reacted, seeing the beetle looking back at him. He didn't know how to react, but the beetle turned his gaze and started walking straight.

"Hah… deep breath. He always shocks me," Arthur thought, seeing the beetle just walk away.

The beetle was heading toward the area where Arthur had seen the snake. He soon crossed that area and continued straight. This time, there were no creatures or monsters around. As the beetle continued forward, he crossed a big open hole in the wall that looked like an entrance to the other side of the area. This far, only Arthur could see since he was watching from above. After the beetle crossed the entrance, Arthur returned back toward his broken egg.

"Ahh… damn it!" With anger, he threw a straight punch at the ground.

"I'm weak," he muttered, knowing how he felt in front of the beetle, who was stronger than him.

Beetle

"Wait, I forgot to ask him his name," the beetle thought, suddenly stopping. He realized he hadn't asked the spider his name.

"Well, I can ask later. That's not the problem. I hope he doesn't do anything stupid," he thought as he started walking again.

After crossing the entrance, the new area the beetle entered was bigger than the area where Arthur was born. The ground was still rocky, spreading across a long distance and connecting to the wall dividing the area where Arthur was born and the area where the beetle was currently standing. Arthur's area was like a small room with a passage that connected to this larger zone, but the new area was as big as a football ground.

Suddenly, the beetle heard the stirring of different creatures and monsters. He quickly became invisible, blending himself with the dungeon light.

Arthur

"I don't know when he'll come back, but he said he'd bring food. Ah… food. That means I need to eat raw meat, I guess. Well, I need to survive, so I'll eat. And I need to become strong too," Arthur said, standing on the opposite side of the edge where the beetle had jumped from.

Raising his hand toward the front wall, Arthur took aim, "Shoot!"

With his full force, Arthur shot a thin web from his hand. Quickly, a thin web shot straight toward the front wall he was aiming for, but the web fell in the middle of the wall and the spot where he was standing. Seeing his web fall in the middle, he shot the other end of his web from his hand toward the same direction. It also fell in the middle, between where Arthur stood and the first web.

"So, my web is only half the distance, and the end of that web falls in the middle of that half distance, huh?" Arthur said, seeing how far he could shoot his web.

"I need to increase the distance of my web shooting," he thought, thinking about how he could increase the distance.

Arthur suddenly recalled something. He quickly said, "Spirit Ally, how can I increase my web distance? I mean, I know I can increase it by doing more practice, but is there any other way too?"

"Yes, with practice, you can increase your web-shooting distance. Another way to increase your web-shooting distance is to use magic," Spirit Ally replied.

"What? Magic? Oh, yes! I need to control my mana to use magic. It looks easy, but it needs practice so I can mix my magic with the web too. That's obvious, actually," Arthur said, looking down, resting his head on one hand like someone thinking.

Suddenly, a thought hit Arthur. His eyes widened, and his eyebrows raised. He slowly raised his head.

"Spirit Ally, can you tell me how to escape from the beetle? And if he attacks me, how can I fight him and survive or defeat him?" Arthur asked, wondering if Spirit Ally could answer this question.

"Allow me to scan your memories so I can know how strong the beetle is, or you can tell me if you want. I recommend allowing me to see your memories," Spirit Ally replied.

"Do it," Arthur replied, seeing hope that Spirit Ally could help him.

"Yes, you can run from the beetle, but in a fight, there is a 98% chance that you will die. I do not recommend you fight the beetle. If you want, I can tell you more," Spirit Ally replied.

Arthur was shocked to see Spirit Ally's ability. For a moment, he thought about how strong Spirit Ally actually was. Suddenly, another thought hit Arthur. Arthur finally understood how powerful Spirit Ally was. From all his conversations with Spirit Ally and everything Spirit Ally had told him, he finally understood its capabilities.

Arthur suddenly stopped himself from thinking too much. "I can think about this later first," he decided.

"Spirit Ally, tell me how I can survive or run from the beetle?" Arthur asked with hope in his eyes.

"First, don't talk with this much sound. The beetle can hear this. Talk with me in your head without opening your mouth so the beetle can't listen to us," Spirit Ally replied, pointing out Arthur's mistake.

Hearing Spirit Ally say that the beetle might be listening to their conversation, Arthur was shocked. He quickly looked around, but there was no one around. Seeing that the beetle wasn't there, Arthur calmed down.

"Oh, sorry…! I will," Arthur replied with a sad face, accepting his mistake.