Rescue Mission

"Yna, I'm sorry I failed. I've tried approaching several guilds and even the association itself but no one seems interested. They say Sassan is already dead along with the others." Jay spoke as he tried to console Yna, only to for her to push his hand away.

"No, Jay. Something feels like he's still alive. I've been feeling uneasy ever since. Since the mist is still at its stagnant state, we might be able to hurry and find him." She reassures.

"That mission was a failure from the get-go. It was a moving mist. Even if we try going back inside, the mist outside might shift and we'll get stuck there."

"Jay." Yna looked dead into his eyes. "If you're not coming, I'll go there myself."

Jay took a deep breath and sighed.

"Fine. We'll gather who we can find. We'll go tomorrow morning, I need to recover my arm first."

Yna giggled and childishly slapped Jay.

Jay felt somehow annoyed and happy at the same time. She's like a little sister to him.

Meanwhile...

Fleung!

A spider's head flew across the wall.

"I'm having the best time of my life! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sassan deep within the dungeon floor.

"All these monsters here are basically D-rank. Normally, dealing with them takes five to seven people of the same rank. Two C-ranks. And one B-rank. Right now, I'm about B-rank!" He looked into his stats but somehow felt sad. He was still at E-rank.

Screeech!

Sassan's eyes gleamed violet and a streak of light left when he turned his head. His eyes locked onto his opponents, a mass of spiders.

"Rush Blow."

As if as time stopped for everything around him, his fist flowed slowly like a river water. Flowing and flowing, rippling the space and time. Until his fist touched the head of a spider.

Boom!

Time continued as a splatter of bug blood and flesh scattered. A sonic boom formed a little late and blew everything back a little bit, including him.

"Rush Blow." He smiled. "A very powerful skill. In a nutshell, it's a striking skill applicable to any form of fist strikes. Jab, punch, haymaker... It makes the hit instant the moment it has been cast. The only draw back is..."

He grimaced.

"MY FUCKING ARM BROKE!" He looked at his metallic arm, all bent and dented. If it was his real arm, it would've been shattered to meat splatter.

Kirnk.

The gauntlet twisted, clanked, and moved. As if repairing itself.

"That's convenient. But by the looks of the damage, it'll take about quarter an hour before it's fixed. Rush Blow will be only used once and only when it is needed. Now I have a trump card."

Screeeeeeeech!

Sassan's heart suddenly sank. A strong aura exploded towards his direction. He was petrified and a cold sweat fell on his temple.

"What kind of monster..."

A massive spider leg revealed itself from the dark. Soon, three more. Until a large silhouette appeared and revealed itself within the light.

"B-Rank Tunneling Spider Queen."

A massive spider queen emerged!

Adorned with it's spiky texture and a metallic sheen like appearance. Along with it's emerald excellence.

Tunneling Spiders, know to be dungeon makers. They dig a hole underground which soon gets habitted by monsters strong enough to handle its pressure. It hunts food only once, it does not kill them, rather, it makes a farm of them.

And someone stole the goods from that farm.

Five Hours Earlier

"Silver Fang Tiger..."

Sassan lowered his body as the tiger prowls at him. The tiger lunged at him, Sassan crouched and stabbed at the stomach.

The stone knife shattered.

"Damn! Augh!" The tiger swung its body and its metallic tail struck Sassan on the side.

Boom!

"Khuk!" Sassan coughed blood as the wall behind him shattered like a cobweb.

He fell to the ground as he fights to stay conscious.

Growl...

The tiger pounced and bit Sassan on the leg. Swung its body and flung him far.

Crush! Crush! Crash!

Sassan crashed into two trees till he hit the wall again. This time, along with the cobweb, his blood splattered across.

"I... I'm no match for this monster."

"Is this the end for me... I thought I got stronger..."

Sassan glanced to his side, seemingly losing hope. His eye caught something!

A puffy mushroom!

It looks like it's about to explode.

The tiger rushed towards him, growling, and gnashing its silver fangs. It pounced once more.

Without hesitation, Sassan slammed his hand on the mushroom and a cloud of spores exploded. It engulfed both of them.

The tiger coughed and tears flooded its eyes. Soon those tears turned violet. It struggled and struggled. It swung its claws around only to hit the air. A figure appeared before it and immediately went for a bite.

Boom!

Another cloud of spores exploded.

It struggled and struggled for a while until...

Blag.

Its body fell to the floor.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

"Immunity. Immunity. Immunity."

"Damn that's annoying..." Sassan irked at the sound of his system yet he was thankful that it worked.

He tried to prop himself up, only to fail. He closed his eyes and began to think.

"How lucky am I. But this feels like cheating. That damn monster toyyed with me. It could've killed me if it wanted to... I need to be stronger... But how... Spiders... Yes, those spiders. I might not use Level Cultivation yet but I can still level up."

Sassan was immune to the toxicity of the spores yet his eyes remained irritated. He began sneezing.

When Sassan mustered enough strength, he began looking for herbs. He still remembers how to make healing potions. But right now, all he can do is chew on them.

Leveling doesn't recover HP nor stats. It only improves combat capabilities. Sassan knew that however he hoped that it worked that way. He was in unbearable pain. His back felt like it might give out any moment.

"Maybe, Level Cultivation can heal me. It might not give me the stats but maybe I can channel the energy to recover my body instead."

He began sitting cross-legged and chanted Level Cultivation multiple time.

After an hour, he still felt awful. He lost his levels and stats yet he still felt like his body could shatter.

"Fuck."

Sassan slammed the ground. Suddenly the grass he slammed his fist with, emitted a muted light.

"Could... Could this be! A herb used to make full recovery!"

He dove his face right into the grass and began chomping and swallowing.

His body gradually felt better and his wounds slowly healed. It might not be as effective as a full recovery potion, but just in 15 minutes, he'll feel better.

He began collecting pocketful of these herbs. And when he was contented, he began hunting all the rabbit to make up for the level he lost.

Present time.

"Ohhhhh, shit."

The spider queen squirted a string of web at him. It stuck his shoulder. It spun as it flung Sassan around in the air.

"WAHHHH... WAAAAAAH... WHaaat... IIIsss... ITTTTttttt.... WWWWIIiiiiiTTTThhhhh..." He spun and spun in the air and it made him vomit. "Bluuuurghhhh.."

He thought to himself.

"What is it with these fucking monsters tossing me around and around???"

The string snapped and it threw him across the wall. He crashed and fell dragging across the ground.

"Fuck, I'm exhausted. This never ends huh..."

"Force Bolt!" Suddenly the Spider shrieked as its head suddenly turned from the impact.

"Oh God! It's a Tunneling Spider Queen! And it's fighting... Is that... That's Sassan!" Yna shouted.

"Jay!"

"On it! Keep this monster busy! Blink!" Jay began blinking small distances till he arrived before Sassan.

"Sa.. Sassan! He's secured! Quick, each one of you! Use fast recall!" Everyone adhered. Suddenly one by one glowed and phased away.

Jay grabbed a stone and gave it to Sassan who is slowly losing conscious.

"Jay..."

Jay snapped the stone in half and Sassan began glowing before disappearing.

Jay quickly snapped his and his body started glowing.

The spider queen recovered and began yo raise its leg. It stabbed through Jay only to find that it stabbed his image.

It angrily shrieked.