Syl

Chapter 192: The Spider and the Elf

Finally, I was face to face with the spider I had been hunting for so long. It had finally screwed up and revealed its hidden network of webs running along the ceiling when it tried to use them to attack me.

[Tremor Sense] had picked up the constant vibration along the threads, and then I simply had to follow it back to its source. The frantic attacks against me as I progressed only made my task easier. It was impressive that it could use this setup almost like a control center and watch the entire mine from safety.

I was hesitant about being teleported away again, but when I investigated more thoroughly, I saw that the entire entryway to its den had a thin perimeter of empty space. I could bet that crossing that invisible boundary would find me relocated again.

When I first spotted it, I noted its Mana was fairly diminished and quickly threw out a deceitful [Mana Burn] affliction to eat away at its reserves. The spider showed no reaction to my subtle spell, so while my affliction nefariously got to work, I continued silently observing it like it was observing me.

The spider had a sleek black form and many outstretched legs with menacing grace and sharp ends. Unlike the other spiders I had fought, this one lacked powerful-looking fangs or a rear end that could fire projectiles. Its front legs, however, seemed more tool-like compared to the other spiders, like something that would belong to a tailor or weaver.

Strangely, it was covered in threads I wouldn’t have noticed at first glance if not for [Mana Conception] making them light up like colorful lights. It looked like it had wrapped itself up in protective layers it had weaved. And all this thread had come from highly evolved spinnerets; I couldn’t even imagine how it compared to the base ones I could mimic.

However, what was mostly confusing was its size. The spider wasn’t even bigger than a wolf! All the previous spider monsters I had fought were giant and menacing; even the smaller jumping variety appeared fearsome. It had an almost creepy-cute appearance if I had to describe it.

<The Terror [Manhunter]; Riftweaver Spider [V] LV 25. Elemental Affinity: None.>

That’s tier five, right? Quite a high level for such a little monster. Then again, I’m almost there myself, and technically, my entire being is contained within my tiny core. Not having even a single elemental affinity is strange, but I guess if it got something absurd like Dimension, it can’t exactly complain. I’d bet it probably has Corrosion, too.

What really gave me pause was the almost impossibly hidden threads it had wrapped between the front legs, almost like a garrote wire. Now that it was attached to the spider, I noticed it had a blackish-purple sort of Mana coloring.

So that’s Dimensional Mana, right? I can barely comprehend it; it feels downright alien.

My thoughts were interrupted when my [Sub-Cores] brought a change in the situation to my attention.

<The Terror [Apex Hunter]; Riftweaver Spider [V] LV 25. Elemental Affinity: None.>

[Apex Hunter]! I cheered and equipped my own one to compare results.

Unfortunately, I didn’t receive the mental tingle, so my combined levels must have surpassed the spider. I found myself giving a small smirk at the situation.

The spider suddenly jumped as if I had attacked it and teleported a few feet across as if trying to escape when its Mana hit rock bottom, causing its escape to spectacularly fail. Its multitude of eyes seemed to blame me for its predicament.

"Sorry! Can’t have you running away," I tried to explain.

Perhaps the spider perceived my words as a threat, as it tried to repurpose the boundary into a barrier to prevent my entry into its den.

Seeing the net of strange thread blocking the entrance, I couldn’t help but be intrigued; how would it react to magic? I cast a simple [Water Orb] spell and watched it get sliced into bits as if portions of it were swallowed up.

The spider reacted to this by sealing up more gaps in the web. I cast a [Fire Arrow] directly on one of the webs and watched the spell disappear on contact.

Remarkable. It’s almost like an all-eating void.

I even threw out a [Lightning Bolt] and watched the bolt of magical energy lose its form and disperse.

The spider looked like it was growing increasingly anxious if I was reading its shaking legs correctly, so I decided to halt my experiments.

"I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist trying to see how it would interact with some simple spells," I explained.

Borrowing [Telepathy (Lesser)], I tried to reach out to the spider, but the mental handshake was hastily slapped away, and the spider began skittering backward.

"Look, I was only trying to talk," I tried reasoning. "I have a trait that allows mental communication since I assume you can’t talk out loud."

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I tried to make contact again but was mentally slapped away again. I sighed.

"Guess I’ll have to do some more convincing?"

I touched the rocky wall with an outstretched hand, producing a mass of tendrils at the point of contact. Armed with [Acid Slime], they sought into the rock, melting a tunnel for me to enter the spider’s den.

The spider seemed confused by my current actions and weaved more thread frantically from its spinneret. It likely did not have a direct line of sight to the tunnel I was crafting, so I doubted it knew my goal.

When the tendrils extended beyond my range, I sent a few [Sub-Cores] through my arm and down into the tunnel. I wanted to appear from a point of relative safety in case the spider had any further traps planted near the entrance.

Meanwhile, we continued our staring contest. The spider would occasionally try to flicker, likely to attempt another teleport. But with its Mana consistently being emptied thanks to [Mana Burn], it was a fruitless endeavor, and it was becoming increasingly anguished.

"Come on, I just want to talk to you," I tried reasoning again.

The little spider actually shook its head at me!

The nerve! Well... I have a surprise for you.

Theoretically, I could leave behind a body duplicate if I primed it beforehand, although it would be stiff as a board. I’d never attempted it before beyond the bunny bombs I had fooled some wolves with, but it was certainly worth a shot.

I started sending more and more of my cores along the melted tunnel while ensuring one stayed behind to maintain my "body." Once we were ready to break into the room, I primed the body and retreated my final [Sub-Core] to join the rest of us.

The body was perfectly still as if leaning against the wall. It certainly felt uncanny to look at since it was still a perfect replica of my elven persona.

[Tremor Sense] told me the spider hadn’t moved, so I began my sneaky infiltration into its home by finally melting through the final bit of rock between me and the chamber. It was still having a staring contest with my primed fake body, so I sneakily approached.

I wasn’t exactly sure how this interaction was going to go. Part of me wanted to land a sneak attack while it was preoccupied, but if it was a fellow [Experiment], then I wanted to at least try negotiating and getting more information. I’d attacked Trixie, and we’d become friends, so anything was possible.

When I reached a certain point, the spider immediately turned around to face me as if I had somehow come into its vision radius. It was absolutely startled and leaped backward in retreat away from both me and my immobile clone.

"Hey, so are you willing to talk now?" I asked.

The response I got was the spider jumping and growing! The tiny little spider suddenly enlarged to a far greater size and leaped at me with the threatening thread between its front legs.

I was dumbfounded by the sudden and unexpected change, as I couldn’t have predicted it could shrink or grow, but I still managed to react in time to retreat using [Wind Step].

In retaliation, I fired a [Lightning] bolt directly at it. The crackling energy struck against it before it could dodge, but its woven armor seemed to take the brunt of it and did far less damage than I had expected.

"Damnit, just talk to me!" I shouted as it leaped for me again.

A bunch of the threads in the chamber seemed suddenly commanded by it and were trying to hinder my movement.

"Fine, if I have to force you to submit, I will!" I shouted.

Another [Wind Step] got me away from it, and then I launched a barrage of spells at it by letting my [Sub-Cores] go wild. Two [Fireball] and [Wind Cutter] spells went hurtling towards the spider.

Meanwhile, [Shatterquake] was activated from both sides, sending a wave of rocky shrapnel flying toward its flanks. [Glacial Aura] became active to slow and hinder the spider, and I launched another [Lightning Bolt].

I had thought it quite an impressive barrage of spells, but the spider surprised me by erecting makeshift web shields to catch the rocky shrapnel on its flanks. It dodged one of the [Fireball] spells while the remaining one was swallowed up by a net of that strange thread.

The [Lightning Bolt] crashed into it but still seemed less effective than I had hoped. [Glacial Aura], however, was in full effect, and it appeared that even its network of hidden threads in its lair was starting to get a little frosty.

"Oh? Not a fan of the cold?" I taunted.

The spider hissed at me, flicking a thread at me. I dodged, but it looked like it had expected that as another one of those strange threads awaited me and sliced through my arm.

"What a waste," I commented as I regrew an arm.

The spider looked outraged.

I held out the freshly grown hand, but instead of casting a spell, I used [Nitro Slime] to create a small explosion to scatter a spray of [Cryo Slime] throughout the area.

Again, the spider surprised me by first shrinking and then expertly dodging most of the slimy shrapnel, but it couldn’t help but catch a few scattered sprays and encounter the deathly chill encroaching upon it.

It then charged at me, shifting between its shrunken and enlarged form in a rather unorthodox approach. I fired a flurry of [Icicle] spells when it suddenly shrunk and vanished. The spot it once occupied only held a small circle of thread attached to a connecting line across the floor.

"What?" I questioned.

I received the warning too late from my [Sub-Cores] as the spider had somehow teleported behind me and attacked. With its size enlarged again and its front appendages stretched outwards with interconnected thread, it went straight for my head.

Its garrote wire of that deadly thread cut through my neck like a hot knife through butter. From the disconnect, I temporarily lost connection to the [Sub-Core] I had housed in my head and to my primary normal vision. A frustrating experience that would have likely killed most others.

Using [Life Sight] as my eyes, I exploded with a barrage of [Pseudopods] toward the spider. Each tendril was armed and tipped with [Metal Slime] blades and spears. The spider had clearly not expected such a counterattack from a headless corpse and was caught off guard, and my blades cut and spears pierced as best they could, although its threaded armor was putting up a much greater defense than I would’ve thought.

If slashing and piercing were not going to be effective, I rapidly morphed the ends into metallic bludgeoning implements like hammers, maces, and morningstars; I had plenty of variety to choose from. The array of tendrils continued to assault the spider, which was trying to defend and counterattack. It would slice off a tendril, only for it to regrow shortly after.

At the same time, I was spreading out a growing radius of slime on the floor to catch any severed appendages.

"Well, you made me stop fighting like an elf, so good job!" I said with a newly formed head.

There was a frantic panic in the spider’s eyes as it tried to defend against the endless assault of tentacles.

"We can keep playing until you feel like talking."