Chapter Four, Mystic Orbweaver.

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  …

  ”[Stab]. [Stab]. Oh shit, [Stab].” Jora weaved leg after leg, ducking and diving through every pounce.

  ”[Devour]. [Devour]. [Integrate].”

  He sucked the blue blood off of his fingers, not as satisfied with its taste compared to the full meal.

  “Okay, experience requirements clearly increase exponentially… Thankfully I can consume lifetime experience.”

  He ran his hands through his hair, ruffling it up a bit to dry off what remained wet on his fingers.

  ”This feels right… Familiar… Eating, getting stronger. I feel more complete with each skill gained… Did I have all these skills before? What happened to me?” He questioned.

  He peered down the seemingly never ending corridor.

  And then he stepped forward.

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  …

  …

  Sparks flew, a shield and swords colliding with hard almost metallic appendages.

  ”Lighting heed my call and stun my foe, [Shockcharge!]” Arjae casted, a miniature bomb of electricity sprouting from his gauntlet that had just barely grazed it’s opponent. The spider was stunned for brief moment, creating an opening.

  ”Wind, compress and sharpen, [Wind Needle]!” A thick needle of green wind pierced through the spider’s face, taking out multiple eyes and nearly killing it in that moment.

  The low level spell didn’t carry enough power to dig deep enough to destroy the spiders central nervous system, but that didn’t matter.

  ”Condense, form, and pierce! [Water Spear]!” Jess yelled from the midline of their formation. She cast her most powerful—and only really—offensive spell.

  SCREE-

  ”There it is!” Jess cheered, jumping up in excitement.

  ”[Shield Slam]!”

  Boom!

  Behind her, another spider was pummeled into the ground by Luke’s shield.

  ”Hmph!” Clara came from behind him, slicing her sword through the overgrown insects neck, killing it instantly.

  ”Fire answer my call, condense, fire, and explode! [Fireball]!” Ryan sent a bomb of fiery mana towards the final, and isolated spider. It exploded upon impact, lighting it ablaze and killing it almost instantly.

  “Huff…” Ryan exhaled, letting his outstretched staff fall down to his waist.

  Five spider corpses were strewn about the clearing they were in, the party collecting themselves calmly.

  ”Phew… That was our most important level, and that should have been enough kills to lure out a Miniboss, right?” Luke asked, picking up his shield off of the caved in body beneath him.

  Clara strode by, tossing him a potion.

  "Honestly, I'm surprised one hasn't shown up by now... Then again there are a lot of people here farming." Arjae replied, wiping blue blood off of his katana with a handkerchief.

  "This dungeon floor is more than large enough to safely space all the parties out. On top of that there should be at least fifteen Mothers for each zone. We're only in the midzone, halfway to the Boss portal..." Clara answered.

  "So are you suggesting something is off? We've been here for what... An hour? I suppose it is eerie we haven't encountered one with all the killing we've been doing." Arjae noted.

  "Hold." A loud whisper sounded throughout the group, causing everyone to halt their movements.

  Those that could view Ryan and the direction he was looking, followed his gaze.

  His hand had risen, motioning for their movements to cease, and his other finger had been placed against his lips, shushing the group.

  "Observe, [Analyze]." His eyes flared with light, glaring down the dark corridor that led out of the clearing.

  His breath hiccupped.

  "Speak of the devil." He murmured.

  "..."

  Ryan's jaw dropped.

  Luke and Arjae had him within his sights, nervousness appearing on both of their faces.

  They stood in silence for five seconds, their mage struggling to gather his words.

  "There's an Orbweaver in the corridor." He spoke, in a hushed tone.

  "Mother?" Arjae whispered back.

  "Evolved... Dungeon Boss level."

  Alarm ran through the spines of all those present, fear filling Jess while nerves took over the rest.

  "Are we safe to move?" Clara asked.

  Ryan only nodded in response, making movements away from the waiting beast, and back towards the entrance of the clearing.

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  Seeing their allowed movement, Clara repositioned herself, peering down the dark tunnel.

  "[Inspect]." She spoke, utilizing her skill.

  "Good fucking lord..." She murmured. Ryan noticed it, his fear settling in.

  "What level is it's [Thread Warping]?" He quietly asked.

  The group continued to inch away, hoping that they wouldn't disturb the monster.

  "Four..." Clara replied.

  "Then..."

  Nearing the entrance, the group jolted when they heard a scream.

  "I'm stuck!" Arjae swiveled around, seeing Jess caught in a web of nigh-invisible silk that lined the entrance.

  "Fuck!" He cursed.

  He dashed towards her, slicing at the threads around her in attempt to free his friend.

  "It's coming!" Ryan yelled.

  "Why the fuck is there an evolved monster here! A mid D-rank in a low D-rank dungeon?!" Clara exclaimed, readying her two daggers.

  "Doesn't matter! Defend!" Arjae said, releasing Jess.

  "Spatial disturbance! Luke!" Ryan yelled once more.

  "[Shield Taunt]!"

  A burst of mana emanated from Luke as he stepped forward, digging the bottom of his shield into the ground and taking cover.

  Quicker than half of them could react, powerful silk lines smashed into Luke's shield, making the tank stagger.

  "Mana reinforce my target! [Reinvigorate]!" Jess cast a spell, Luke's shoulders finding their stability and strength once more.

  "Come on Arjae! Luke can't eat these kind of attacks for forever!" Clara shouted, dashing past the front line as their opponent stepped into the dimly lit room.

  It had long slim legs, and a colorful pattern to its body. Yellow and black stripes along its length, with fur over its head.

  It stood taller than all of them, reaching close to ten feet.

  A vicious aura emanated off of it.

  "Why's it so mad?!" Jess screamed.

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  ...

  ...

  Jora exhaled, the residual mana from his [Fury] exiting in that last breath.

  He glanced around the clearing.

  It was trashed.

  Countless holes in the ground, craters, and blood displayed all around.

  It was proof of a fight, but not of the battle that had been held.

  Eight spiders versus him...

  And of course he won.

  He had taken note of their nearly mindless nature. It was obvious they could think and operate, but they were shallow creatures. They executed the same moves, either jumping or stabbing. They never ran away. They never stopped fighting, not until they were physically incapable of it.

  "Perhaps because they're dungeon monsters..." He muttered.

  Then he opened his system.

  Jora smiled happily, thoroughly pleased with gains he had received.

  Swiping the screen away with a mental flick, he lowered his stance.

  "[Leap]." He blasted through the clearing with a broad jump, touching down in the dark tunnel and continuing in stride.

  This had been his routine for the past hours, devouring any foe he came across and delving deeper. He instinctively understood that deeper meant stronger monsters, and at the deepest.

  "The boss..." He whispered, sprinting at speeds far beyond what he could've have imagined just earlier.

  As he moved, his mind wandered.

  There was still an unease, a small boiling rage at the mystery of what all of this was.

  He was a demon. It didn't feel correct to his instincts, but all of the devouring and slaughtering did. Perhaps he was originally something else that killed and ate whatever it came across.

  Is that what his memory was? His first and only memory?

  He had grown inclined to believing that was his birth. Darkness, then blood red. Birth through death, perhaps?

  And that brief soothing feeling he could recall. Was that [Devour]?

  He shook the thoughts away.

  Eat more. Get stronger.

  That was his main goal.

  With more skills under his belt, maybe he could find something that could dig into his mind. To truly understand the emptiness within. It wouldn't be easy, but he was sure that he could get it done.

  Sniff.

  He slowed down, coming to a halt.

  He arrived in another clearing, and mentally he had taken note of the fact that he hadn't come across any spider within that corridor.

  He assumed the answer was before him.

  In the clearing resided two spider corpses, the familiar jumping spiders. Accompanying them were two more bodies.

  "Humans."

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