Clip Claw Spider

The Clip Claw Spider has a stone gray color. It was a huge creature, standing over two meters high and a length of five meters.

In terms of size, it was even bigger than the Hellhound form of the Gentle Dog.

Its eight bright red eyes jiggled as it automatically zoned toward Lucas and the Gentle Dog.

It was in that direction that its trap web had been disturbed.

Its pedipalp vibrated rigorously.

The fangs slowly extended and opened wide. A gaping hole wide enough to fit two human heads could be seen at the center of the fang. Full of razor-sharp teeth, the Clip Claw Spider's mouth released a loud yet suppressed hiss.

Hissssh!

As it did so, its two front legs suddenly rose up in the air, way above its head. 

It was posing for a strike. 

Upon closer inspection, one would be able to see that the tip of its legs actually had two sharp claws, akin to a clip.

Seeing the famous posture, Death Lunge, in person, Lucas actually did not panic.

Like an arrow waiting to be released, the Clip Claw Spider arched its legs up in the air even more.

Knowing that this strike was deadly, Lucas did not wait for it to be released before he hopped away. At the same time, he ordered the Gentle Dog to attack.

As always, the Gentle Dog in Hellhound form has no fear in its eyes as it lunges toward the Clip Claw Spider.

At that moment, the Clip Claw Spider finally moved.

Swoosh!

Like an arrow released from a bow, its huge figure swooped toward the Gentle Dog.

Its two claws were extended forward, as if it wanted to pierce the Gentle Dog in one go.

If it were before, the Gentle Dog in Hellhound form might just choose to withstand this attack head-on.

However, recalling the training it had with Lucas, it actually stepped to the side at the last second, avoiding the Death Lunge without any harm.

'The training has paid off!' Lucas commented as he distanced himself from the battle.

Boom!

Its two claws actually pierced a thick three. 

"Attack it now, Spot!"

Hearing his words, the Gentle Dog, whom he conveniently named Spot, turned and attacked the Clip Claw Spider that was now stuck on the tree.

With its butt exposed toward it, the Gentle Dog Spot did not waste the opportunity and was merciless enough as it attacked the Clip Claw Spider's spines with its massive paw.

The strength of the Hellhound form was truly not to be underestimated. The Clip Claw Spider has a great defense; its body was as hard as stone, but one attack from Spot alone and Lucas saw that its spinnerets had somehow cracked from the impact.

The Clip Claw Spider forcefully ripped the tree away. It was desperate and hurriedly turned around to face Spot.

Its humongous fangs bit toward Spot's paw. Fortunately, Spot was quick enough to retract it in time. 

But the Clip Claw Spider did not stop there.

It suddenly spit a grayish fluid toward Spot.

Seeing its action, Lucas hurriedly ordered Spot to dodge.

That attack was called Stone Toxin Burst. It allows the Clip Claw Spider to shoot out poisonous substance from its fang toward its target.

It has paralysis properties, and long-term exposure to such toxins could even turn anyone into stone.

Since Lucas reminded Spot about it, it did not question anything as it hurriedly dodged in time. The speed of the projectile was quick at close distance, but Spot's reaction was quite swift as well.

Since Spot and Lucas had already trained and deepened their bond during the past few days, Spot was no longer a stranger to his sudden order and was able to execute it flawlessly.

After it dodged, it went back to attacking the Clip Claw Spider. Its two front legs kept on stabbing and slashing toward Spot.

As Spot deflected, dodged, and even counterattacked from time to time, he slowly gained the upper hand and advantage of the fight.

The Clip Claw Spider was an ambush predator to begin with. It was not great at prolonged and sustained battle. One of the reasons why Lucas chose it as an experimental target was also because of this detail.

One could say that he had thoroughly prepared this time around. The hours he had spent in the library after he was done with 3 cage cleaning missions per day were well worth it.

Compared to before, Spot had also gone stronger. Its ability to dodge and deflect strikes might not be perfect, but it was already above basic, making Lucas extremely happy.

After a while, Spot finally broke through the tough stone-like cuticle after repetitive bashing.

The cuticle slowly cracked, and bloody fluids oozed out until it turned into particles of light.

Lucas looked at his grimoire and was elated upon seeing the amount of experience points he got.

[You have killed an iron Grade-Iron Star 4, Clip Claw Spider (100%): You gained 6.96 XP]

His total experience point was now at 23.39/150 XP.

He still has a long way to go to become an Iron Star 2 Summoner, but he was not disheartened and remained positive.

Now that he confirmed that Spot could defeat an Iron Grade-Iron Star 4 beast, Lucas became bolder and decided to hunt the Clip Claw Spider for experience points.

As for trying something of a higher star level, Lucas was not in a hurry to confirm it as the day was still long.

After he told Spot to return to his Gentle Dog form, Lucas set out to search for traces of Clip Claw Spider once more.

Since he was afraid that Spot would trigger some web traps, he decided to let it hop on his head as they moved forward.

Spot, in his Gentle Dog form, was only around five kilograms in weight. 

It was definitely manageable for Lucas to carry him over his head for a long period of time, as his body was trained well too.

And it seems that Spot was also enjoying the view from up there.

With the flashlight leading the way, Lucas soon found another Clip Claw Spider camouflaged above him. It was sleeping and curled up on the cliff. Quite far for Lucas and Spot to fight.

Fortunately, they did not have to approach it to fight it. They can simply trigger the web trap it set and let it come down by itself.

After Lucas allowed Spot to transform into the Hellhound Manifestation, he plucked and cut the web trap to alarm the Clip Claw Spider.

At the next moment, it woke up from its slumber and immediately assumed a striking position the moment it detected the two of them below.

Like before, Lucas did not wait for it to strike before he moved out of the way.

Spot, having experienced killing the same creature earlier, was more calmer and merely waited for it to strike.

As it struck, Spot immediately hopped to the side to dodge. The Clip Claw Spider's claw struck and created indentation on the ground.

Its side became vulnerable to Spot as it tried to recover from the strike it made. Spot was quite experienced and did not allow it to do so easily.

After a few minutes, Spot killed the Clip Claw Spider without sustaining much injury because it dodged very well.

"Good job, Spot. Here," Lucas petted Spot's head as he handed him the Moonlit Bone that Ethan had given him.

Woof?