Chương 38: Chapter 37. Fight

The cave system had no secrets left. Well, almost none. That crack in the eastern tunnel's ceiling - just wide enough to squeeze through if blasted open. The underwater passage in the northern section that probably led somewhere. Three potential escape routes, all mapped, all viable. All useless if he died here. The forbidden tunnel remained the only mystery. The spider's reaction whenever he even glanced that direction told Adom everything. Something important lay hidden there. Something worth protecting.

Something worth dying for - or killing for. Even feigning disinterest had proven dangerous. A casual glance held too long would make those legs shift, mandibles clicking in warning. Once, he'd taken three steps in that direction during a "confused wandering" - the spider had materialized between him and the tunnel entrance so fast his mind couldn't process the movement. No violence, no threat... just presence. Absolute, undeniable presence. Message received. His bathroom breaks had served multiple purposes.

While reassembling the wakey-bird, he'd realised the transport crystal's cracks weren't beyond repair. Mana crystals responded to careful manipulation. Each hairline fracture could be sealed with precisely controlled mana flow, like welding glass with heat. The crystal wasn't perfect anymore - new cracks would appear after every few jumps, requiring constant maintenance. But it worked. And right now, that's all he needed. Now, in the artificial night of the cave system, Adom waited.

The spider's legs twitched in their familiar pattern - not quite the deep sleep he needed. His own breathing remained carefully measured, each inhale and exhale a practiced rhythm. The [Flow Prediction] skill thrummed at the edge of his consciousness, reading minute changes in the spider's posture. twitch Still too alert. twitch Getting closer. His mind reached for the golem, testing the connection. Seventy kilometers of control range - more than enough in these cramped caves.

The construct sat ready in his inventory, each component checked and rechecked during his "bathroom breaks." One wrong sound, one metallic scrape too loud... twitch... Almost... The spider's legs settled deeper into their rest position. The constant micro-adjustments that tracked nearby movement began to slow. Even those eight eyes seemed less... present, their crimson glow dimmed but never quite dark. Now. Adom kept his breathing steady, maintained his corner slouch.

His consciousness split - half anchored here, monitoring every tiny shift in the spider's posture, half flowing through the golem's crystal eyes as it materialized silently in the forbidden passage. Dark. Darker than the main caves. The golem's enhanced vision cut through it. Time to see what the spider guarded so jealously. His real body remained still, breathing steady. Can't twitch. Can't tense. The spider's combat precognition worked even in sleep.

One wrong move and- The golem's vision feed suddenly filled with something. Webs. Everywhere. Not the usual messy catching nets scattered throughout the cave system. These were different - precise, layered, almost architectural in their design. The darkness seemed thicker here. And there, at the center of this fortress, sat something that made all of Adom's mental preparations shift. An egg. Grey, oval, about the size of his torso. Well, that explained a few things.

The golem's vision vision swept the rest of the chamber, revealing what lined these walls. Bodies. Dozens of them. Adventurers in torn leather and rusted chain mail hung suspended in silk cocoons. Most were little more than bones now, their remains picked clean. Others still had flesh, preserved by the web's chemicals. A face here, a limb there, frozen in various states of decay. Stalker corpses dotted the collection too, along with other dungeon creatures.

Their remains were less preserved - the spider seemed to prefer their meat fresh. For once, Adom was grateful the golem had no sense of smell. The stench of decay in here must have been overwhelming. During his imprisonment, he had built what he called his "scenario tree" - each branch a different possibility of what the spider might be hiding. A maternal spider protecting its offspring had been one of his more confident theories. This was perfect. Better than perfect. An egg meant something to protect.

Something vulnerable. Something that couldn't dodge or predict movements. And judging by the elaborate web fortress around it, something absolutely vital to the giant arachnid. The spider's snoring grew deeper. Perfect timing. Through half-lidded eyes, Adom watched its legs twitch less, and less... and less. Deep sleep phase.

New branch forming in the scenario tree: if those protective webs were anything special - and they had to be, given how they practically hummed with energy - they might be connected directly to the spider's consciousness. Touch them, and... Only one way to find out. The golem's single arm shot forward - an arc designed to slice through the web and snatch the egg in one fluid motion. Break and grab. No hesitation. No- The snoring stopped mid-breath.

The scream that followed wasn't just sound - it was primal fury given voice, echoing off every surface until the whole cave system seemed to vibrate with it. Adom jerked upright, putting every ounce of confusion he could muster into his voice.

"What- what's happening?! What's wrong?!" Before he could blink, the spider was on him. Its mass slammed him against the wall, mandibles spread wide enough to show rows of hooked teeth inside its maw. The stench of rotting meat washed over him as those jaws opened wider, wider - he could see clear down its throat, could imagine how those hooks would tear him apart, rip him to shreds while he was still alive.

"I don't understand-" he started, his voice high and trembling, trying to radiate pure confusion through every gesture. The spider's mandibles snapped shut, cutting him off. Its front legs pinned his shoulders with crushing force. One twitch, one wrong move, and those jaws would close. His heart slammed against his ribs, but he kept his face locked in what he hoped was perfect bewilderment. He couldn't fight it, not like this, not at this range.

All those careful plans, all that preparation - none of it mattered with death literally breathing in his face. Keep the act. Keep the act. Look confused. Terrified (He actually was terrified). The golem. Make it move. A sharp crack of stone against stone echoed from deep within the forbidden tunnel. The spider froze. Then its head whipped toward the sound, mandibles snapping shut inches from Adom's throat. Eight legs scrambled against stone as it launched itself toward the tunnel entrance. Fast.

Faster than anything that size had any right to be. The golem had the egg, and Adom waited. About three kilometers away. The spider's massive form disappeared into the forbidden tunnel, its speed terrifying even from this distance. Wait. Not yet. The thundering of eight legs echoed through the cave system, getting closer to the golem's position. Just before the spider would reach his construct, Adom made his choice.

The golem released the egg, setting it carefully on the tunnel floor before retreating into the shadows. Let the spider have its offspring back - he just needed the distraction to escape. The spider's discovery of the returned egg should have ended its rage. Should have sent it back to protective brooding. Should have bought him the time he needed to disappear. The hammering of legs reversed direction anyway.

Despite everything, despite the distance, despite his acting, despite returning what it valued most - it knew exactly who was responsible. And it wasn't going to let that slide. No time for subtlety. Dismissing the golem back into his inventory, both his hands moved in a blur - left hand weaving [Fireball] as his right gathered power for [Push]. Double weaving was hard enough, and mana draining, but at this point... The fireball erupted just as the web barrier came into view, flames catching the sticky strands.

The webs at the cave's entrance ignited like oil-soaked rope.

"[PUSH]!" One second he was in the cave, the next - sky. A somewhat bright, purple, star filled sky. It was beautiful. Until it wasn't. The [Push] spell had launched him straight through the main entrance, his body cutting through air like a stone from a sling. His stomach lurched into his throat as gravity realized what was happening.

"[Levitate]!" He did not need to scream the spells, but for some reason, in this situation, screaming helped him calm down. The spell caught him mid-flight, but control was a joke. The world spun - ground, sky, ground, sky. Wind tore at his face, making his eyes water. He couldn't hear anything except the roar of air rushing past his ears, couldn't even tell which way was up anymore. Then he heard it. Even through the wind - that scream. The spider had followed him out. Of course it had. But why?

He'd given the egg back. Left it safe in the tunnel where any reasonable mother would focus on protecting it instead of chasing the threat that was already retreating. What was wrong with this thing? He tried to turn, to look down, to get his bearings. Bad idea. The ground swayed sickeningly far below, a patchwork of trees and rocks that made his head spin. How high was he? Too high. Way too high. Focus. Had to focus. Had to- There. A dark shape moving through the trees. Fast. Following. The spider hadn't given up.

What the hell was it thinking? The threat was gone, the egg was safe, but it kept coming anyway. Adom tried focusing more using [Flow Prediction], but the skill required him to be calm and collected. And Adom was everything but calm and collected. A wet thwip cut through the wind. White strands of webbing shot past him like arrows. Adom twisted mid-air, the sudden movement throwing off his [Levitate]. The world spun violently.

Another volley - the spider was actually shooting at him from the ground, trying to bring him down. This was insane. He'd returned its precious egg, and it was still trying to kill him. His stomach lurched as another wild spin threw off his [Levitate]. Too high. Still too high. One wrong move, one slip in concentration, and the fall would kill him before the spider got the chance.

The thought kept screaming at the edges of his mind - he could die here, actually die, broken on the black sand or torn apart by those mandibles when he eventually crashed. And he would crash. The [Levitate] spell wasn't meant for sustained flight, especially not while dodging web-shots and fighting vertigo. He couldn't maintain this much longer. When he lost control - and he would lose control - where would he land? Would the spider be there waiting? You might be reading a stolen copy.

Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. That would be game over. [Indomitable Will] No. Focus. Plan B. He'd prepared for this possibility. The spider was still down there, still coming. Each second he spent tumbling through the air was another second it gained on him. His hands shook as he tried to stabilize himself. The screaming hadn't stopped. It would never stop, not until one of them was dead. Next branch in the scenario tree - the one he'd hoped he wouldn't need. The dark lake.

His glasses stayed firmly in place despite the violent wind, and a hysterical thought bubbled through his panic: he really needed to thank that glasses lady if he survived this. Quality craftsmanship. The lake stretched out below, a black mirror reflecting the sky. Getting there would be the trick. His current trajectory was all wrong, and the [Levitate] spell wasn't meant for this kind of maneuvering.

"[Wind]!" In moments like these, when plummeting through the air with precious mana to spare for the upcoming fight, efficiency became everything. [Wind] was as basic as spells came - pure mana conversion into directional force. No fancy particle manipulation, no complex air current calculations. Just raw power, enough to knock a grown man off his feet. Or in this case, redirect one falling mage. The spell jerked him sideways like a puppet on strings, fighting against his forward momentum.

His stomach lurched again as competing forces played tug-of-war with his body. The world tilted, and he made a mental note that if falling from great heights was going to become a regular occurrence, he really needed to get better at this whole flying thing. Maybe practice somewhere closer to the ground next time.

"[Wind]!" he screamed again, this time using it more like an air anchor. Another correction. Too sharp. His vision blurred. The spider's screams grew closer. No time for self-discovery.

"[Wind!]" The spell cut through his velocity, this time like a break, but the sudden deceleration made his teeth rattle. The lake surface rushed up to meet him. If there was going to be a fight - and there would be a fight - it needed to happen here. Water. Carp. Space to maneuver. A chance. Assuming he didn't pass out first from the vertigo. Adom clamped his mouth shut, held his breath. The lake's addictive properties weren't something he wanted to test. Not now. Not ever. Impact.

The water hit like stone, every inch of his body screaming at once. Cold. So cold it burned. His bones rattled, his muscles seized- [White Wyrm Body has reached level 5!] [Physical Resistance has increased] [-3 Life Force] The pain... wasn't as bad as it should have been. Still hurt like hell, but he'd expected worse from a fall that height. Small mercies. Darkness pressed in from all sides. The lake lived up to its name - even at what had to be just below the surface, he could barely see his own hands.

[Light Ball]. A sphere of white light bloomed beside him. Not enough. [Light Ball]. [Light Ball]. [Light Ball]. Four orbs now, spreading out in a circle, pushing back the darkness. The water cleared enough to see maybe twenty feet in any direction. No sign of it yet. And the spider- Something massive broke the surface above. The impact sent ripples through the water, distorting his view through the spheres of light. But he saw enough. Eight legs, spreading wide.

A body larger than a horse, descending into his sanctuary. Its first movements were clumsy, legs fighting the water's resistance. Then those legs adjusted, spreading wider, moving in sync rather than independently. Not as efficient as land movement, but adapting. You stubborn bastard, Adom thought. Even here you refuse to be helpless. During his captivity, Adom had studied the spider's movement patterns obsessively.

The way it distributed its weight across those eight legs, how it used micro-adjustments to maintain perfect balance. That kind of locomotion relied on friction, on solid surfaces. In water? It should've been like watching a cat try to run on ice. Should've been. Yet here it was, charging through the water with frightening determination. Each movement showed growing understanding of the new medium, but the water's resistance still robbed its strikes of their usual lethal speed. His lungs burned.

Time for that trick he'd been working on. [Wind Spiral] followed by [Water Filter]. The spells merged, creating a temporary pocket of breathable air around his mouth. One deep breath. Release. The spell dissolved. Efficiency. No wasted mana. A leg swept through the water where his head had been a second ago. [Burst]. The tiny fire bursts propelled him backward, the water dampening the recoil perfectly. Small spells. Keep the mana pool full. He'd need it if that scenario came into play.

Through the spheres of light, Adom watched the spider's descent. He gathered his mana, carefully separating tiny droplets from the water around them. [Water Shot]. Not one blast, but dozens of droplets accelerating simultaneously. The spider's movements blurred - even underwater, its combat precognition was terrifying. Legs twisted, body contorting in ways that shouldn't have been possible as it dodged the barrage. But the water's resistance took its toll.

One droplet caught its carapace, the impact barely more than a scratch, but it had hit. Something that hadn't happened once during their fights in the cave. Details had a way of sticking in your mind, even when you didn't realize their importance at first. Back in the cave, during the Strider attack, one of them had charged ahead of its group. The ring of metal had echoed through the chamber as its shield and sword knocked together mid-stride.

Before the spider flattened the Strider against the cave wall, there had been that moment - a slight hesitation in the spider's movements at the sound. Just for an instant, but in a fight that fast, an instant was everything. The same spider that could predict and dodge almost anything, that could visibly process countless variables in combat, had been thrown off by simple sound waves. It made a certain sense - a being that relied so heavily on processing sensory input would be vulnerable to sensory overload.

The modified wakey-bird had been a gamble. During his captivity, Adom had rebuilt its resonance chamber, reinforced the striker mechanism. Each adjustment aimed at one goal - producing vibrations at strong enough frequency to overwhelm the spider's heightened senses. That's all he needed. And now, underwater, where sound traveled differently, moved faster, reached further... He pulled the device from his inventory, his fingers finding the activation mechanism through memory.

The spider was still coming, its movements slowed by the water but no less deadly. The wakey-bird activated. Through the water, Adom couldn't see the vibrations themselves, but he felt them - a subtle pressure against his skin, like standing too close to a ringing bell. The sound reached his ears distorted, deeper than it had been in air. The spider's reaction was immediate. Its charge faltered, legs twitching erratically. The massive body twisted in the water, movements losing their fluid grace.

Its very coordination was being disrupted. The water carried the vibrations better than air ever could. What had been a localized effect in the cave now filled the space between them, multiplied by the density of the liquid medium. The spider's spasms grew more pronounced, its legs moving in jerky, uncoordinated patterns. For the first time since their encounter began, the creature seemed truly vulnerable. [Water Shot]. [Water Shot]. [Water Shot]. Not three shots. Thirty. Not powerful, but that wasn't the point.

Each projectile created its own ripples, its own trajectories, its own set of variables to process. Too many data points, too fast to track. Two shots connected. [-3/1500 Greater Cavern Weaver Life Force] Fifteen hundred life force, and he'd just carved away three points. Not much, but it was the first real damage he'd dealt since this started. The spider's movements hitched for just a fraction of a second. It lunged, movements lacking their usual precision.

Rage had replaced calculation - legs striking through water like angry spears, but slower, much slower than in its domain. Each attack created visible disturbances in the water before reaching him, giving precious fractions of seconds to react. A spell pushed Adom backward, muscles screaming in protest. Without [Indomitable Will], he'd have given up already. Every movement was a battle against water resistance, against burning lungs, against exhaustion creeping into his limbs. He couldn't keep this up.

Even with the spider handicapped by the water, time worked against him. One slip, one moment of fatigue, and those legs would find their mark. Time for the gambit. Another quick [Wind Spiral] and [Water Filter]. One deep breath. He couldn't afford to pass out now. His inventory opened, releasing a chunk of stalker remains into the dark water. Blood and tissue dispersed in lazy red clouds. A risk, but if his theory about the lake's other resident was right... There. Movement in the darkness beyond his light spheres.

It was... not what he was waiting for. Something else had caught the scent first. A Level 27 Abyssal Maw emerged from the gloom, its serpentine body easily twice the length of the spider. Rows of crystalline spines ran down its length. Its jaw unhinged, revealing three concentric rings of teeth. The spider's reaction was immediate and brutal. It met the Maw's charge head-on, eight legs spreading wide in the water. The Maw's teeth clamped down on one leg - and that was its last mistake.

The spider's mandibles closed on its skull. Bone cracked. The water turned dark with blood as the spider literally tore the creature's head apart, ripping through armor-like scales as if they were paper. The Maw's body thrashed once, twice, then went limp. The spider flung the remains aside with contemptuous ease, but the display of violence had cost it precious seconds of orientation. His lungs burning again, Adom quickly formed another air pocket. Breath. Release.

The wakey-bird's vibrations seemed to hit it harder now, its movements growing more erratic. Strands of sticky webbing shot through the water - slower than in air, but still dangerous. Adom twisted away, the resistance of the water both helping and hindering his movements. The spider was adapting, learning how its weapons behaved in this new medium. That's when Adom felt it. A deeper pressure change, something that made the water itself seem to shrink away.

His light spheres caught movement - not the quick darting of scavengers, but something massive. Patient. The great carp arrived. Adom pushed himself further back, heart pounding. What else could he do in a fight like this? The carp moved first. Each tail stroke sent shock waves through the water, forcing Adom to channel mana into staying in place. Physics was a harsh mistress underwater. The spider twisted, trying to present fewer targets, but water resistance turned its usual grace into something almost clumsy.

Four legs swept at the carp's approach - too slow. The fish's jaws snapped shut on one leg, crushing chitin like paper. [-47 Greater Cavern Weaver Life Force] Blood clouded the water. The spider's mandibles clicked in fury, venom sacs pulsing. But the carp was already moving again, its massive body coiling in ways that shouldn't be possible for something that size. [Flow Prediction] showed him devastating possibilities. The spider would die in minutes at this rate. Can't have that.

[Water Jet] The spell kicked him backward like a mule, but the pressurized stream caught the carp's gills. The monster flinched, giving the spider an opening. Three legs punctured scales, drawing first blood. [-92 Giant Shadow Carp Life Force] The water turned red. Both monsters paused, reassessing. The spider kept trying to scuttle toward Adom between exchanges, but each attempt drew the carp's fury. Perfect. His lungs screamed for air. One more [Wind Spiral] and [Water Filter].

The last breath he'd need in this fight. No need for complex water spells here. Just focus... Another clash. The carp's tail swept like a battering ram, taking out two more of the spider's legs. The spider's remaining limbs wrapped around the carp's head, mandibles sinking deep near its right eye. [-156 Giant Shadow Carp Life Force] [-83 Greater Cavern Weaver Life Force] The water churned so violently that Adom's [Light Balls] scattered, creating strobing effects that made tracking movement almost impossible.

A massive current caught him, tumbling him end over end. His back hit something - rock? The spider's leg? When he stabilized, squinting through the chaos, the carp had the spider pinned against the lake bottom. Only four legs remained, thrashing desperately. But the carp's right eye was gone, replaced by a ragged hole leaking blood into the dark water. Adom would watch these two rip each other to shreds.

'Help' a bit if the odds were too favorable to one. Then he'd kill whatever was left standing. He was hopeful the spider would fall first. The spider's legs trembled with each movement now, chitin cracking at the joints. Life Force down to barely a third. The carp wasn't much better - scales missing, blood clouding the water, but still twice as strong as its opponent. Perfect. No need for complex water spells here. Just focus. Concentrate the water in front of his palm, compress it until it screamed to be released.

His other hand sparked with fire magic - the counter-force he'd need to stay stable in this chaos. One... The carp's tail sent another shock wave through the water. Adom's back teeth rattled. Focus. The water compressed tighter, a needle of pure pressure forming. Two... His lungs burned. Damn it. Forgot to take that last breath. The murky water made targeting a nightmare, Light Balls creating more shadows than illumination. Like shooting through static. Three- The spider's head snapped toward him.

Eight eyes locked onto his position. Did it notice? You overpowered bastard. It abandoned its fight with the carp, legs pushing off the lake bottom. But the carp's jaws clamped down on its abdomen. The spider's shriek vibrated through the water. Now. The water-needle shot forth. The spider twisted - too fast, too damn fast. The pressure stream grazed its side instead of piercing center mass. [-10 Greater Cavern Weaver Life Force] But the carp's bite had done its work.

The spider went limp as its Life Force hit zero. The carp's massive jaws worked once, twice, and the spider vanished down its throat. Adom's second shot was already forming. The carp began to turn, exposing its wounded side. That empty eye socket - a direct path to the brain. No armor. No bone. Just soft tissue and victory. The pressure-needle pierced true this time, punching through the cavity and into the carp's brain. Its massive body convulsed once, then went still. [You have slain Great Carp of the Dark Lake!] Adom kicked hard, letting the remaining fire magic in his palm explode downward, launching him toward the surface. His muscles screamed, overtaxed from maintaining position in the fight. He broke through with a gasp that was half-cough, half-desperate inhale. The purple sky stabbed at his eyes after the darkness below. Too bright. Too much. He paddled to the shore, dragging himself onto the rocks and mud. His clothes clung to him, water streaming off in rivulets. Adom collapsed onto his back, chest heaving.

The purple sky swirled above him, almost peaceful if you ignored the whole alien death-world thing. [System recalibrating...] [Flow Prediction has reached Level 2!] [+5 White Wyrm Body] He barked out a laugh that bordered on hysterical.

"What the actual hell?" he wheezed between breaths. The absurdity of it all threatened to overwhelm him until his mind drifted to the time he spent on it. The cave! The thought came suddenly. With the spider dead, he could go back. Loot whatever valuables it had hoarded, maybe even take that egg for study. Rest properly for the first time in days. The thought was tempting - a safe shelter, time to recover, maybe even find something useful in all those adventurer corpses. Then he heard it.

Distant but unmistakable - the hunting cries of striders echoing across the landscape. Multiple voices, getting closer. Of course. With their territorial nemesis gone, they'd move in to claim the cave system. He'd seen their pattern during his captivity - constant probing attacks, always testing the spider's defenses. The cave was no longer viable. Within hours, it would be swarming with the pack. He had been avoiding it to not put more pressure on himself, but now...

Time Limit: 1 month, 03 days, 01 hour, 21 minutes The euphoria drained from him like the water still dripping from his clothes. One month. One month before the illness began its work. He pushed himself to his feet, muscles protesting every movement. He couldn't afford to waste another day here, not with the clock ticking.