Suddenly, the ground beneath Lily began to shake, and a couple of moments later, streams of water burst from the rocky terrain like geysers, ejecting some of the ants that had hidden underground to escape her.

  “It’s working!” Lily exclaimed cheerfully, keeping the skill active to flood every inch of the underground area the ants had dug, then reached over with her other hand. “Water Bolt,” she echoed again, trying to amplify the skill’s power by casting it twice.

  Though the water pressure actually increased, it wasn’t doing any significant work, as no more ants were being pushed out of the ground by the geysers. So much so that Lily even wondered if the ones she had managed to uncover were the only remaining ones.

  I guess that’s it for this zone, Lily mused as she interrupted the cast, promptly jumping toward her target before they could attempt to run away again. “Silk W—”

  Before she could finish chanting her skill, the little ants hastily jumped into the flooded holes, swimming deep beneath them.

  “Huuuh? What the hell just happened?” Lily blurted out, uncertain whether her eyes—all eight of them—were not just imagining things. Did they just dive into the water? Lily wondered, trying to think back at what she knew about ants.

  Sure, they must have understood the danger she posed to them, but diving to their deaths didn’t really make sense since at least some could have probably managed to escape her.

  That’s when it hit her. “Swimming ants,” she mumbled under her breath. “Focus,” Lily told herself as she closed her eyes and lifted a limb. Taking a deep breath, she slammed her fist onto the ground near the tiny flooded opening, sending a powerful vibration through it.

  The information she received in response to her Detection skill was almost overwhelming, like a radar going haywire. There must have been at least thirty or forty monsters hiding beneath Lily, and one in particular returned much stronger vibrations than the others.

  She remembered a fun fact about a type of ant that could hold its breath—or something akin to that—for a prolonged period of time, long enough to use it as a defense against enemies that couldn’t swim. That, coupled with the fact that these weren’t the run-of-the-mill ants but magical monsters, could have easily explained the situation.

  “So what now?” Lily asked herself as she stood over the opening. “UGhhh, I’m never gonna get used to looking like this,” she muttered, catching her reflection in the clear water for the first time since evolving. Wait, what are these new purple spots? And my eyes?! They’re also purple-ish, she thought, checking herself out. “Now that I think about it, I do look a bit different… cool, I guess,” she added.

  Lily tried to go over a couple of plans in her head, including smashing the ground or even creating an opening by pulling down more stalactites. Still, she quickly gave up on that idea since she had already flooded everything, and all that water would have made it a pain in the ass for her, unlike for the ants.

  “Wait… that’s it!” She tried snapping her fingers—making no sound at all, since she didn’t really have any actual fingers to begin with. “Right,” she sighed, “moving on.” Without wasting any more time, she reached for the flooded opening again. “Acid Blast.”

  In the blink of an eye, the once-clear water turned a shade of green, then deepened to an almost neon hue.

  It wasn’t long before she felt something shifting beneath her, and the vibrations grew stronger by the second, culminating in another weak earthquake that ended with an explosion a few meters away, creating a thick cloud of dust.

  [Lesser Rock Ant x32 defeated.]

  “Yay! It worked!” Lily jumped up and down, smiling at her experience bar rising in the System’s translucent window. Though it wasn’t as much as she hoped to gain from that many enemies, she was still happy with herself.

  [Hidden Quest completed.]

  Primarily because her goal wasn’t to gain experience but to complete the Hidden Quest she had picked up from the strange boulder.

  “What’s this—” But before she could tap the Accept Reward button, a piercing scream cut her off. “Huh?” Right as Lily looked toward the direction the loud noise came from, her senses made her jump out of the way just in time to evade a massive slashing attack.

  [Greater Rock Ant engaged.]

  So that’s what those other vibrations were, Lily thought, recognizing the enemy in front of her as a much stronger foe than the lesser ones she had slain.

  It was similar to the other ants, but it was definitely an evolved specimen, its higher rank evident in its sturdy body, covered in something akin to rock-like armor, and in its mandibles, which looked like extremely sharp scythes.

  The greater monster wasn’t playing around.

  Even as it cried out because of the damage Lily’s acid had done, it still lunged toward the little spider with all of its might, mandibles shining, ready for another slashing hit.

  It was fast. Its speed may have been even higher than that of the other higher-ranked monster Lily had fought, but even that didn’t mean anything.

  “Great idea,” she chuckled. Following her foe’s strategy, Lily lunged toward the ant, and before they could collide, she nimbly gained the higher ground with one of her webs, then punched the ant into the ground as if it were just a weak bug in comparison.

  Shocked by the little spider’s strength, the monster could only scream as it tried to stand and flee, but Lily had another plan for it, one she had already successfully pulled off before, emphasis on pulled.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Silk Web,” Lily echoed, and before her enemy could stand up, a massive stalactite pierced right through its body. “Whoa, that was much easier!” she exclaimed, almost surprised by her newfound strength and giggling inwardly at how she had successfully used the same strategy twice in a row. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, she reminded herself.

  [Greater Rock Ant defeated.]

  “Sooo, about that reward,” she giggled, calling up the quest window, “accept.”

  A small item suddenly appeared before Lily’s multitude of eyes, its shape enveloped in the familiar warm light she was accustomed to.

  “That’s so cool,” Lily mumbled under her breath, her attention fully captured by the magical scene. “Should I…” And without giving it a second thought, she reached for it.

  [Dungeon Key acquired.]

  Though the key vanished into nothingness the moment she touched it, Lily also gained another quest, this time to explore a dungeon connected to the one she had just finished. Even better, the right spot was marked on the map, though it was pretty far away.

  Lily’s eyes sparkled like a million lights at the idea of exploring a hidden place, maybe one that nobody or only a few people had visited, but before going off to do the new quest, she had to refill her energies—and stomach.

  “Devour.” She eagerly sank her teeth into the ant's flesh, and surprisingly, though the taste was similar, it was more flavorful than the lesser ones she had eaten earlier. “Maybe the secret’s in the rank, the higher the tastier,” she said with a mouthful, wondering what the basilisk she ran from might have tasted like.

  [New skill: Breath Holding, acquired thanks to Devour’s special effect.]

  “I knew it!” Lily exclaimed, spitting out little bits of food as she spoke. I bet I was kinda smart back in my day! Maybe I was a zoologist or something like that, she thought, figuring that all that valuable knowledge about wildlife had to come from somewhere.

  But even though she tried her hardest to remember more about her personal life, nothing, not even a single new memory, came back to her. Still, the little progress she had made in the last two days was something, and it was enough to keep pushing forward.

  “Ugh, I wonder where that ghost lady is right now,” Lily mumbled under her breath as she wiped her mouth. “Anyway, where was I—”

  “Fireball.” An unknown voice chanted from behind a nearby rock, cutting her off.

  “Huh?” Thanks to her sharp reflexes, the little spider effortlessly dodged the small flame sphere aimed at her, letting it collide with what remained of the ant's gigantic carcass, which burst into flames. Can’t a spider catch a break in this world? Lily thought, hanging from the ceiling by a web, waiting patiently for the attackers to show their faces.

  “That monster’s damn fast,” another voice said from the same place, its tone much deeper yet slightly concerned.

  “Yeah, and that can mean only one thing…” Suddenly, a raven-haired man in a robe-like garment rose, his hands glowing a bright red. “It must be quite rare, and we can sell its parts for good money once we kill it! Fire—” he chanted, causing a circle with inscriptions to form around Lily, albeit slowly.

  A human?! Lily mused, mouth gaping as she stared at the guy. I can’t believe my eyes!

  “Otto!” The raven-haired guy exclaimed while focusing his mana.

  “On it.” One word was all he needed, and a bigger, more muscular guy wearing armor jumped out from behind his cover, wielding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. “Taunt!” he shouted, banging the sword against the shield, trying to capture the little spider’s attention.

  Another one! Lily was flabbergasted by their ambush, since she hadn’t really done anything to warrant it, but what shocked her more was the ineffectiveness of their attacks. “I’ll show you a taunt,” she mumbled under her breath, using her web to jump against the bigger guy.

  Lily was so fast that, to them, it was like she teleported.

  Luckily for him, the muscular guy had enough sense to raise his shield, absorbing most of Lily’s well-placed punch. Even so, he wasn’t strong enough to stop her, as the little spider’s punch was powerful enough to break through his defenses and send him flying into the rocky walls, sending a deep, reverberating sound throughout the place.

  Whoops, that was a lot, Lily thought to herself as she sped toward the unconscious guy, giggling inwardly when she realized he was embedded in the wall and had left a crater shaped like his body. “Sorry,” she mumbled under her breath, pulling him down and checking for a pulse because she had merely wanted to knock him out, hoping she hadn’t killed him.

  “Otto!” the robe-wearing guy cried out, staring at his buddy in shock. “Come onnn, I can still save him. It’s almost ready,” he told himself, refocusing his attention on the spell.

  You’re next, Lily thought, her loud giggles accompanied by hisses as she lunged toward the trembling guy.

  But, figuring that the mage had to be much less resistant and that she still needed practice controlling the full extent of her strength, the little spider opted to take care of him in a more creative way.

  “Mete—” Just as the guy was about to finish casting his spell, Lily’s webs nimbly ensnared him and pulled him to the ground, cutting off his magic in an instant. “SHI—” Another thread promptly covered his mouth, silencing him before he could shout for help.

  The closer she got to him, the more he tried to wriggle free of her webs, until she was right by his side, when he froze like a deer in headlights. “Chill, I’m not gonna harm you,” she whispered, looking him straight in the eyes.

  “W-wh… wha—”

  Much to Lily’s surprise, the guy fainted on the spot.

  “Clausss!” Another voice yelled from nearby, this time sounding more feminine and accompanied by heavy breathing. “Hold,” she echoed, and a pink-hued string appeared like magic, constricting Lily’s body in a split second.

  Whoaaa, she’s pretty fast, Lily mused, staring at the golden-haired girl who had just appeared out of nowhere. For some reason, her Detection passive seemed to struggle warning her about humans.

  “I can’t leave you guys alone for two seconds,” the pink-eyed girl said, her tone stern yet amused. “I’m sorry. You’re an adorable little spider, but I can’t let you kill my friends,” she added, giggling as she spoke.

  “UGhhh…” Lily sighed loudly, startling the unknown girl. “I don’t want to kill your friends! They attacked me first!” she yelled, causing small cracks in the girl’s magical bindings. “Don’t you think it’s rude to assume—”

  The golden-haired girl cut Lily off with a loud shriek, her pink eyes wide in shock. “D-did you JUST TALK?!” she exclaimed, unable to believe her ears.