Strength and Spiders

After a few hours of rest, most of the wounds were healed by the Mages, and the Mages themselves quickly replenished their mana due to how concentrated it was down there.

Anna woke up as well, only to find just half of her vision available. Feeling her face, her left eye was bandaged, and upon taking the bandages off, she could feel scars passing through her eye.

Her blind eye. In the end, the wound has taken it, rendering her incapable of seeing from it again.

Before she could panic, however, she heard a call from Marilyn.

"Gather up people, we've rested long enough. As for those who think of giving up, aren't you ashamed of yourselves? Five of our friends gave their lives for us to come this far, so will we let their sacrifice go to waste?"

A few awkward moments passed, as there were a few people with such thoughts. They shifted on their feet uncomfortably, knowing they were seen through.

"So get on your feet and get moving! This dungeon of a Monster Nest isn't going to explore itself!"

A few minutes later the campsite was packed up, and everyone was geared up, with the explorers going to their respective parties.

But every party sustained some casualties, with Onheim's being the most miserable, having only two people remaining. Reluctantly, they joined up with Marilyn's party who coincidentally lost two people.

At the same time, Anna joined Leo's party who lost their Ranger, with her new half-blindness it was safer for her to be in the rear. And she has already fulfilled the role of a guide, with the group entering uncharted territory down below.

Finally, they marched forward, Marilyn leading as always.

The darkness of the tunnel swallowed them as they stepped within, the group's steps became shorter, wary of being ambushed while their vision was restricted.

Surprisingly enough, the ambush they were expecting didn't come, only some insects or an occasional rodent passing under their legs, merely putting the explorers on edge.

Soon enough the party saw light once again, the same soft blue radiance coming into the tunnel which they saw the exit of.

"Finally... Those tunnels really make me feel claustrophobic..."

Marilyn was the first to enter the tunnel, and as such she was the first to exit it, and she was the first to see the unexpected sight which opened before her.

"...I don't even know what to expect at this point."

What she saw was yet another forest clearing, not dissimilar to the one where they just rested: A field of grass with trees surrounding it, but with a few key differences. The first was the pillar of rock she could see in the distance.

Although it looked natural, it was too... Neatly placed. It seemed to be in the direct middle of the visible ceiling, and the ceiling itself was too smooth. This once again confirmed her suspicions that this Monster Nest was somewhat artificial in nature.

The most eye-catching detail of the view before her was the source of light in the cave. It seemed to be a crystal, similar to the ones that they obtained by slaying the monster bosses, but bigger.

It was embedded in the pillar and illuminated the whole... Forest before her.

And a forest it was, as under the ceiling and the pillar in the distance, trees covered her view. Their amount was incomparable to the first... Floor. They blocked her from seeing whatever was behind them.

Before she could observe further though, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Marilyn turned around, and seeing her partymates, she understood that she unknowingly was blocking the way for them by standing in place.

So she walked forward, away from the tunnel and toward the center of the clearing, which was covered in the shade of trees. The rest of the group followed close behind.

They too stared in wonder at the scene before them, some being more confused than others.

"I thought Monster Nests are supposed to be either a cave underground or a dense forest under the sky... Not a forest underground!"

"Did you also think that a Monster Nest is supposed to have two bosses whose bodies also disappear into thin air?"

"No well... You're right, but how the hell does this make any sense!"

At the same time, Marilyn finally had the time to observe the rest of the clearing. And she saw that the trees almost blocked it off completely, in a way that proceeding through them as a party would be near impossible, as an explorer would have to maneuver amidst the trees to pass through, that's how dense they were grown.

But, two seemingly obvious paths could also be seen, one leading to the left, and one leading to the right.

They looked convenient, devoid of any tall vegetation, and even lined with stones, as if saying 'Hey you dum-dum, you walk through here!', to all who see them.

They would indeed be convenient. Too convenient in fact.

"That looks, smells, and sounds like a trap."

Marilyn muttered under her breath. Anna, who was walking towards her, overheard this and added.

"Well if it probably is a trap, what can we do? Cut through the trees? Not to mention that we are no lumberjacks, do you think we can just cut a path through the entire forest, however big it is?"

"Can't we just burn it down like Onheim did..?"

Before Marilyn realized how dumb her suggestion was, Anna already corrected her.

"Then we would suffocate here. Don't forget that we are underground. Fires and underground? That's a big no-no, girl."

"Yeah, you're right... So all we can do is choose a path.. Left or Right?"

"Can't we split up?"

"And split our combat power? We don't know what awaits us in this forest, and I sure as hell don't want to get slaughtered because of an enemy too strong for six people."

Marilyn then turned and walked towards Leopold, who was the best Ranger, and by extension, Scout in the group.

"Leo, could you briefly scout both of the paths? We need to know whether they are different somehow. Don't go too far, just enough to understand what we're getting into."

The masked man looked toward Marilyn and briefly stood motionlessly as if thinking. Following that, he nodded and sped off towards the path on the right, soon disappearing amidst the trees.

Marilyn and Anna stood, with the Ranger being stupefied.

"Is he always so eager? And is it just my imagination, or is he faster than before?"

"Well, to answer your question, despite how quiet he is, he likes exploring dangerous and unknown places. Especially the dangerous ones."

"As for whether he is faster..."

Marilyn then thought back to how she felt after absorbing the glowing crystal, and the fact that Leo absorbed one too.

"I don't know. This Nest is weird enough already. I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow made him faster."

Still, the group was ready for battle after descending the tunnel, being fully rested. But they were met with another peaceful clearing, and now they didn't really know what to do except to be on guard.

And as minutes passed, one of the Rangers noticed something.

"There's movement from the right path! A lot of it!"

Marilyn, as the leader, didn't miss this, unsheathing her sword, and readying her shield.

"Get into formation and get ready for battle!"

Soon enough the rustling and other noises like skittering and screeching could be heard by the other people, not just the Rangers.

All of a sudden, a black figure darted out among the trees, causing one of the Rangers to fire his crossbow.

To his surprise, his arrow was deflected and he was met with a shout.

"Friendly fire!"

Upon looking closer, it could be seen that the one who just exited the forest was none other than Leo... Only to almost be shot soon after.

However it would seem that the danger hadn't yet ended, as even though the stealthy rogue was now back among them, the noises hadn't stopped, instead getting only louder.

The true enemy didn't take long to reveal itself, in the form of a 2-meter monstrosity emerging from amidst the branches.

It's eight legs were covered in small black hairs, its fangs seeped with poison, and its six eyes were staring at the humans with great animosity, the other two eyes being injured with what seemed to be a slashing wound.

It was a spider, a giant one, on that would drive any arachnophobe into panic. But the problem was that it was the first one.

The largest spider was followed by a dozen smaller ones, which were fortunately only half a meter in size. And then, they charged.

The sight of so many bug spiders heading towards yourself was morbid, but the group held on, with Rangers already shooting their projectiles, and Mages blasting the arachnids away with shockwaves of mana.

The group formed a spear formation, with Marilyn taking the brunt of damage and holding off the biggest spider at the front.

When she collided with the eight-legged beast, she almost lost her footing, but, surprising even herself, she held on. Although she wasn't sure where she had gained that newfound strength, Marilyn didn't waste the chance.

She put her force into her arm and pushed the greater spider away, then stabbing her sword into its face. But she didn't completely succeed, being deflected by one of the legs and grazing the side of it instead of piercing.

'Tch, too shallow.'

Marilyn then once again engaged the beast, trying to minimize its ability to charge, as she couldn't stop such force forever.

However, as she battled, she noticed something that alarmed her greatly. The wounds, the cuts on the greater spider's carapace were healing.

They were closing themselves at a visible speed, not instantly, but a shallow cut would be gone after a minute.

This made realize that whatever powers this beast held, she wouldn't be able to win in a battle of attrition with it. This though however, made her hesitate for a second, giving the arachnid an opening.

It slammed her with its legs, making her take three steps back, and then rammed into her, causing Marilyn to lose her grip on her shield, leaving her wide open.

It followed up by a lunge, leaving her no chance of blocking.

Marilyn, felt as if the time had slowed down when seeing the hopeless situation, trying to think of any solution to the crisis.

Her teammates were occupied with their own opponents, she couldn't expect help from them. Her armor wasn't tough enough to withstand the fangs of the spider, and she would probably get poisoned to death or at least paralyzed if she was bitten.

The only option left was her sword, but it would not make it in time to block the incoming fangs. If only she swing it faster...

As the thought came, Marilyn instinctively channeled all of her strength along with something else into her right arm which was holding the sword.

And the sword did indeed swing faster, faster than she had ever swung it before. But the beast was mere moments from getting to her, it still wouldn't be enough.

But, to her surprise, her sword began glowing.

The light began to gather on her sword, becoming brighter and brighter, before erupting with a flash of light, which blinded Marilyn.

Then the time seemingly resumed its normal flow, the woman being snapped out of the state she was in. But she was met with a small problem.

She was blinded, couldn't see, and her eyes now hurt as if she was staring into the sun with her naked eyes for a good minute.

Fortunately for her, it would seem that the spider was blinded as well, because although she felt it slam into her, it then rolled away and was currently screeching in agony.

It would seem that it was hurt by the flash of light even more than she was.

Marilyn than relied on her sense of touch to find her shield. Having found it, she put it in front of her and retreated backward, she was in no condition to actively fight right now.

And yet again Marilyn had lucked out, as the rest of the group were finishing their fight as well, with most of the lesser spiders being turned into corpses filled with arrows, stabbed to death, cleaved apart, or blasted apart.

And Marilyn's flash of light almost blinded the entire team, but thankfully it was better at a distance, unlike how it was at point blank for the woman herself.

Additionally it blinded some of the remaining spiders, making them easier to finish off.

One such spider's head was pierced by Leo's dagger, who then dashed towards the greater spider Marilyn was battling. It was currently confused, its two front legs covering its eyes, but it didn't seem to retreat, its wounds quickly regenerating.

"That won't do."

Leo was the one to continue the battle with it. He used his daggers to slice the greater spiders legs at their joints, making the spider turn and try to attack him, while relying on its weakened senses.

But that was a mistake which made it expose its face. And as the Rangers were now mostly free, such a blunder didn't go unpunished.

Three arrows whistled through the air, one slamming into its eye, two piercing its face.

And when the greater spider recoiled in pain, Leo didn't miss the chance.

He stopped circling the beast, instead jumping up and landing on the spider's abdomen, and running up to its head in two steps.

"Die."

He then slammed the daggers in both of his hands into its head through its eyes.

As the beast writhed in great pain, Leo held on, not falling off, with one dagger, the other stabbing in and out, through eyes healthy and wounded, and the rest of its face.

It didn't take long for the arachnid to quiet down and eventually collapse, all strength leaving its body.

As Leo jumped down from the corpse, wiping away the goo from his daggers, the corpse turned into mist, leaving behind a small glowing green crystal.

He then looked over the entire group. Fortunately this time there were no casualties, but some had their limbs bitten, being visibly pale and being treated by Mages whose mana was running low.

He then picked up the green crystal. It gave off a pleasant feeling, but it didn't 'respond' to him.

Shrugging at yet another mystery, he walked to the group, only to be met with a tired yet questioning face of Marilyn.

"Leopold, what the hell did you find in there, and why the hell did you bring a whole swarm of spiders along with you?"