Den of Spiders

When I came to my senses, I carefully patted myself down. Although my whole body was in pain as I was thrown by the explosion, I didn't have anything broken or missing, I think.

Ugh, I groaned as I stretched my limbs, trying to feel the area around me as I was submerged in total darkness.

Luckily, only half of the chamber collapsed, so I was spared from being buried alive by a mountain of rocks. But I still had to deal with some pressing issues.

Spiders, huh? Now that I think about it, the idea of facing the wolves outside doesn't sound too bad anymore.

I conjured a small flame so that I could see where I was and try to find a way out.

Well... great. Now even if I wanted to try my luck with the wolves outside, I couldn't. The tunnel I came from was buried by a collapsed cave wall.

The explosion had a bright side, too. When the wall collapsed, it uncovered another corridor. But to my dismay, it didn't lead to the surface. Instead, it led even deeper into the cave.

I was reluctant to explore it, but I had no other option since I couldn't find another way out of this cursed place.

I didn't think straight at that moment when I fired that shot. But now I regret losing control like that. I need to be more careful in the future; I could have killed myself along with the spider. Although obliterating it like that felt great.

With a heavy sigh, I gathered my stuff and proceeded to explore the uncovered corridor.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. The air was thick and musty, and the ground was slick with slime and moisture. Every step I took seemed to echo through the cave, a constant reminder of the danger that lurked in the shadows.

I came to a bend in the tunnel. I carefully looked ahead, and then I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned to face it, my hand gripping tightly around my pebbles, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

Out of the darkness emerged another spider-like monster, its eight legs clicking on the rocky ground. Its eyes glinted in the dim light, and I could see its venomous fangs poised to strike.

I needed to be very careful not to get bitten, I thought. That strange liquid dripping out of its fangs must be poison. Old Sven warned me that many monsters use poison.

I stood my ground, trying to steady my nerves. I knew I had to be careful; one wrong move could mean the end of my journey.

But even as I faced down the monster, I could not help but feel a sense of awe and wonder at its sheer majesty. Its body was covered in a thick, mottled hide that seemed to shift and change color in the flickering torchlight. Its legs were as long and thin as tree branches, each ending in a razor-sharp claw that glinted in the darkness.

Every step I took could mean the difference between life and death. And so I moved forward slowly, my eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of danger.

Before it had a chance to lunge at me, I had already fired my shot. Its body collapsed from the grievous wound in its chest. What I found out from the brief encounter previously is that although they are very swift and extremely deadly, their defenses are not strong. Their bodies are quite squishy.

But that doesn't mean I can take them lightly. One wrong move and I'm done. I kept repeating myself as I slowly moved forward.

I rounded another bend in the tunnel, and I froze. I saw dozens of spiders, all scuttling towards me with their pincers snapping and fangs bared.

They must have been lured here by the sound of the explosion. I prepared for battle. I knew that this would not be an easy fight and that I would have to be quick and agile if I wanted to survive.

And so, with fierce determination, I charged forward, the bangs of my shots merging with the hissing of the monsters.

The monsters in the front collapsed and blocked the way for the others. I used this opportunity to take a quick glance at my bag of pebbles. I refilled them back at the underground river shore, but I'm once again running low on ammo.

This is bad. The bodies of their fellows slowed them down, but it didn't stop them. They were already squeezing through.

As I looked at the hopeless situation I found myself in, I got an idea. Taking advantage of the fact that they were so crammed together at the moment. I threw my torch at them.

I then poured as much mana into the fire as I could. I saw the torch turn into a big ball of flames right as it landed on the mass of spiders in front of me.

I still couldn't control fire very well, and conjuring something akin to a fireball was well beyond my ability.

But igniting something, especially such a dry piece of wood like the improvised torch was fine. I timed it so that the wood ignited a mere moment before the impact.

In the second before the wood was consumed, it created quite a big flame fueled by my mana. This flame rained down upon the spiders' bodies, burning viciously.

It seems the spiders are quite afraid of the fire. They hissed and tried to escape the fire. However, before they got a chance, I poured even more mana into the fire, igniting the bodies of the dead spiders.

The fire spread quickly, engulfing the corridor. The spiders burned. A few of them who were in the back scurried away, but most of them didn't get away in time and were engulfed in flames.

They squirmed and hissed, but they were too cramped together to get away, and soon the corridor was filled with the smell of burning meat.

In the end, I finished around twenty of them. Some were still alive, so I finished them with a shot of a [Stone Bullet] before everything was quiet once again. I sat on the ground. The mental strain of controlling such a big fire was heavy, and I spent most of my mana.

For what seemed like hours, I rested until I recovered enough of my strength. The rest of the spiders didn't return, and there were no signs of them in the corridor. So I continued through the underground tunnel's twists and turns.

It was a journey of danger and wonder, of fear and determination, and I knew that I would never forget it for as long as I lived.

After a long time, I stood before a massive opening in the rocky walls.

As I peered inside, I could see dozens of spider-like monsters scuttling about, their eyes glinting in the dim light. The air was thick with their musky scent, and I could feel their presence all around me.

It was the entrance to a spider's den. I finally found it.

You see, I thought a lot about my current predicament. And I gathered that with so many spiders here, they must have a den somewhere. And in order to feed themselves, they must have a way to get to the surface to hunt.

I felt a slight breeze blow across my skin. There is surely a way out of here. And so, I took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The den was like nothing I had seen before. The walls were lined with thick webs, each glowing with soft blue light. The spiders themselves were massive; their bodies were as large as horses, and their legs clicked and clicked against the rocky ground.

And in the midst of it all, I stood, a lone child exploring the dark and mysterious depths of the underground world.

For hours, I wandered through the spider den, carefully avoiding the webs and the spiders themselves. I was covered in ash and dirt from my misadventures so far, which seemed to block my scent from the spiders.

I knew that I had to be careful and navigate the spider's den without getting caught in their webs. And so I moved forward slowly, my eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of danger.

On the walls were also some kind of glittering crystals, each sparkling with soft blue light. The ground was slick with moisture. They must have used these crystals to strengthen their webs.

I noticed that the webs were becoming denser and more intricate. But the breeze was stronger here.

Suddenly, I heard a low hiss from behind me. I spun around and found myself face-to-face with a group of spiders, their eyes gleaming with malice.

I quickly fired at them before they had a chance to bite me. It is getting increasingly difficult to avoid them, but I am getting better at aiming and firing my pebbles than ever before. Adrenaline and fear of death fuel me.

And then I saw it. A way out. The corridor sloped upwards, and in the distance, I could see faint rays of sunlight penetrating the darkness of the cave.

Ah! I never thought how much I would miss the sun!

But then I froze. I heard a sound that made my heart skip a beat. A low, threatening hiss. It made my skin crawl, and I felt immense danger.

A form lowered itself from the ceiling in front of me.

It was the biggest spider I had seen so far. It projected an almost palpable aura of death. It must be the Spider Queen. And she was blocking my only way out.