Chapter 60 – Natural Treasure

Crunch. Gobble. Slurp!

The 3 Empyrean Arachne's were very messy eaters. It was no wonder that the whole cave had such a thick scent of blood lingering in the air.

Adam watched as they bit, crushed and chewed their way through the bones to get to the meat. Their pointy limbs only made things worse and gorier.

"Empyrean Arachne… aren't they a species that have the bloodline of the druid's? Fire attributed and mainly prefer to stay in places of extreme heat. Known for the corrosive poison that they can excrete from their bodies." Adam began recalling any relevant information he had on these monsters.

"Solitary creatures due to the habit of the Female's eating their male counterparts after mating." This last piece of information was what created doubts in Adam's mind.

"The Females are said to be much larger than the male counterparts so these three should be males. Why would the three of them be coexisting in a single habitat? These creatures are said to be highly territorial."

"Interesting. Seems I have to investigate for a while longer." Adam's figure slowly stood up. He was ready to follow the three spiders deeper into the tunnel at a moments notice. He watched the three spiders feast like a hawk.

The ranger class was meant for scouting. When this class reached level 30 it would evolve into the Thief or Assasin class. Both of these classes were known for their subterfuge and untraceable movement abilities.

Though Adam himself did not realize it. His movements were increasingly getting smoother and he seemed to blend in with the surroundings at this moment.

Like an untraceable shadow in the dark, he stood there motionless.

When the Empyrean Arachne could only see bones left, they hissed a couple of times in delight as if appreciating the meal and then made their way back into the tunnel that they once came from.

Adam maintained his distance and travelled hot on their trail.

The tunnel was craggy and many crevices were on its outline. Adam used these to his advantage as he made his way deeper and deeper into the mountain.

The spiders were inexhaustible as their 6 feet propelled them with no signs of exhaustion through the long and winding tunnel. They were very loud as they moved on the stone surface with their sharp feet and paid no attention to their surroundings. If a rock came in their way, it would turn into pebbles in the blink of an eye. They were just like bulldozers.

They did not have a clue as to the little thief that was trailing them. Even if they did they would not fret too much. Anything that stepped into these tunnels was food to them, this was their home ground after all.

Unimpeded the monsters continued their journey further in.

Adam was like a fish in the water as he followed. Soon in front of the monsters appeared a bright orange cave opening. Adam realized that they were reaching their destination soon. He did not let up for a second thought and continued to maintain his safe distance.

Just as the three monsters were about to enter the entrance a twice as big spider almost 2 metres in height came out from the opening.

"A female Empyrean Arachne…" Not only was the body of the monster bigger but so were the colours of its glossy carapace even more vibrant.

The three male spiders stopped and moved aside finally and bent their sharp feet in a bow to let the spider pass. It was obvious that the females held the power in this species.

The Female Spider did not even spare a look at them as it slowly continued to exit. Headed straight for Adam.

He had not expected it but he was prepared. His body bent behind the rock that he was hiding behind and stilled. Though he could not see anymore, he could hear every single step of the huge female spider.

Especially when she walked right by him. A few centimetres off and she would have crushed Adam. His heart wanted to beat rapidly but he suppressed it.

When the danger had finally passed, he got back up and looked around. The three spiders he was following were nowhere to be seen.

"They must have gone ahead and entered already." He looked at the ground and saw the marks left behind by them and confirmed his thoughts.

He slowly made his way to the bright opening. Making sure that no other creatures were behind him or about to exit from the opening.

His head popped out of the dark cave and the wide expanse in front of him came into view.

This was the centre of the miniature mountain. Hundreds of tunnels that were all either dug or naturally formed converged at this hollow centre point. It was a huge hemispherical dome space with holes from the tunnel openings all over the place.

The floor of this circular room had water pouring in from underground as well as a few of the tunnel holes acting as outlets. The outer perimeter was a deep pool of water that had various different species of catfish like big bodied fishes swimming in its clear depths and frogs of a multitude of colours hoping around on the rocks and weird lotus like plants protruding to the surface or wading on the inside.

This lively scene was a complete contrast to the outside of the mountain.

The inner perimeter of this dome had molten lava bubbling with a single island at its centre. The pool of water and the molten magma were in a constant struggle. Only a thin layer of solidified molten rock separated the two opposing forces.

Due to this, a thin layer of steam forever wafted in this space and was ventilated out through the various holes in the walls.

Adam took this whole scene in but his attention at the moment was completely focused. He was counting.

"12…43….67." Empyrean Arachne walked about freely on their webs that hung from the ceiling or the walls. Thick webs that could support their weight that looked like the wires of suspension bridges created a complex web of pathways in the vast open space above the pool and lava.

Some of them would even lower webs to the bottom, near the pond and use their pointy feet as spears to hunt fish skillfully.

Adam was fascinated at this completely logic-defying ecology in front of him. These solitary creatures had formed a colony and were even living peacefully with no complications.

The average level of the Empyrean Arachne was around level 15 with some of the larger females even reaching 18-19. The level 8 males he had met were most definitely the lowest level creatures in this colony.

This was no doubt a death zone for the level 16 Adam. His mind was telling him to immediately leave lest he is discovered and faces certain death. His heart's curiosity, however, had already been sparked to life.

Throwing caution to the wind he looked around the room with rapt attention to find a path that would bring him closer to the centre.

When he was watching these spider monsters earlier he realized that they all intentionally avoided the central island. No webs ran over that spot.

This place was obviously their domain so what could possibly deter them to avoid a certain region.

This line of thought intrigued him to the point that he had to go check it out. He felt like the place at the centre most probably held the answers to the various questions he had about the weird actions of the Empyrean Arachne.

The only problem was that the monsters lived in webs above the whole area. They had a clear view of the whole room from above. His chances of sneaking past them were slim to none unless he was capable of turning invisible.

He only had one option and that was to sink into the pond. Outside his opening was a short platform before the pool began.

Right now he was waiting for the right timing to make a stealthy dive. There were two spiders that were in viewing distance of his opening. The second that both of them looked away was the opportunity that he was waiting for. It was only a matter of time.

The opportunity came quicker than he expected and he almost missed his chance. The two spiders who were lazing around on the webs got up and with a few hissing sounds began a bout of play fighting.

Adam was like a snake on the ground as he slithered and dipped into the water.

Hot!

His pale skin was turned bright red from the heat of the water. The clear water was deceivingly hot and it was sure to get hotter the closer it got to the lava layer.

The water at this distance was hot but not to the point that it could burn his sturdy skin. It was at the level of an overheated bath. He had to disregard the heat and dive deeper into the pool to avoid being detected. If he dove deep enough he would just look like an overgrown fish from the refraction.

At first, he only took into consideration the problem of holding his breath but now he also had to figure out how close he could get to the layer where the two opposing forces collided.

He now had to slowly move forward. If he swam too quick and entered a zone where the water was way above his tolerance level, then the outcome would not be a pretty one. On the other hand, if he swam too slow, he might run out of breath.

Adam was not against receiving a few burns if it meant that he could get closer to the centre so he gritted his teeth and pushed ahead at a steady pace.

There were a few lotus pads like plants that floated on the surface of the pool. Their leaves were a bright violet and were a preferred spot for the frogs of the pool to sit on.

Adam surfaced below one of these massive pads every so often to ascertain his direction and take in a breath. These leaves were very sparse so he had to plot out a course to get closer to the centre.

Any slight deviation in the meandering depths of the pool would leave him to surface at an open spot and be instantly killed by the spiders. In the water, he was defenceless and debilitated.

It was a nerve-wracking few minutes. Adam finally reached a spot where the water was so hot that bubbles constantly surfaced from its depths. The pool this in was just like a simmering pot. This was the furthest that he would be able to venture safely.

Only a few of the largest fishes still swam in the depths here. The frogs completely avoided this area.

Adam surfaced under a small pad that barely covered his whole head. He quietly took a breath. Burn marks could be seen on his cheeks and neck.

His eyes swivelled as he focused them on the island that had finally come into view.

The island itself was nothing special. It was just a huge flat surfaced rock with no vegetation on it.

The thing that caught Adam's eye and attention was a moving figure on the rock island.

At the centre of the island stood a 2.5-metre tall humanoid monster.

Half spider and half human appearance.

'What am I seeing…'

Silver long hair, with the face of an old woman. The wrinkles on her face were a clear indication of the passage of time. Her skin was bright green like the colour of a leaf. She was humanoid from the torso up and had the lower body of an Empyrean Arachne. The carapace on her lower body was a luminescent purple with not a taint of black on it. Not a piece of cloth covered this woman's body.

A vicious and commanding aura was exuded from her every movement.

'Species: Half Druid

Level: 24'

Enhanced sensory acted up the second he had a clear view of the old monster.

'A monster that has activated its original bloodline!' He thought. This was a rare occurrence where a monster would be born with a pure bloodline of its ancestors. The chance of this occurring was so minimal that this information had slipped into the books of legends and superstition.

While Adam was surprised by the discovery of this awe-inspiring monster, his eyes caught on to what the monster was doing.

The monster was meticulously scanning and tending to almost two dozen ostrich egg sized eggs with maternal care. The eggs had a shell that was similar to the Half Druid's carapace, a luminescent purple.

They were all placed in a circular pattern in the nest. This nest was placed on the centre of the island and at the centre most point of the nest lay a hovering colourless flame that exhibited a unique flavour.

The eggs were obviously basking in its warmth and glow. The Half Druid protected this place.

"Oh my god! That's a natural treasure! A natural treasure!" Adam who was already startled by the appearance of the Half Druid almost fainted at the sight of the colourless flame.