I circled along the edge of its web instead of backing away, my steps cutting through leaves and roots as the creature adjusted to track me, its legs stabbing down in intervals, forcing me to keep moving without pause.
I could have run.
The forest behind me was open enough, and if I had chosen to pull away instead of engaging, the spider wouldn’t have caught me easily. But I didn’t take that option. Instead, I kept moving around it in a wide circle, adjusting my steps with each strike of its legs, letting it track me while I stayed just out of reach.
My eyes kept flicking toward the web.
There was movement inside it. The captured creatures were struggling weakly against the bindings, their bodies twitching just enough to show they weren’t fully dead yet. Whatever this thing was doing, it wasn’t killing them immediately. It was holding them alive.
That changed things. If I dealt with the spider first, everything caught in that web would be free to finish off.
More importantly they would be easy kills and levels. So instead of running, I kept circling, keeping its attention locked on me while I looked for an opening to close the fight.
The spider shifted again, one of its legs driving straight toward me, and this time I didn’t retreat completely. I stepped in at an angle, letting the strike pass just close enough to feel the force of it before turning with the motion, my hand pushing against the leg as it embedded into the ground.
I pushed off.
My foot hit the trunk of a nearby tree, bark scraping against my sole as I used it as a step, driving myself upward without slowing. The height came quickly, my body moving before the spider could fully adjust, and I planted again, higher this time, climbing along the rough surface.
Below me, the creature turned, its legs shifting rapidly, trying to track my position, but the tighter spacing between trees forced its movement to narrow, slowing the reach of its strikes.
I didn’t wait.
Reaching a low branch, I shifted my weight onto it and immediately launched forward. The distance closed in a moment, and I landed across its back, it reacted instantly, its entire body jerking upward.
The world shifted with it. Its legs lashed out around us, tearing into the surrounding trees, snapping branches as it tried to dislodge me, but I dropped lower against its body, gripping tightly, adjusting my position with each violent movement while inching forward toward its head.
Once I reached the base of its head, I clenched my fist and drove it forward in a straight punch. The impact surged up my arm the moment it connected, the surface of its head resisting for a split second before giving just enough to carry the force through. Its entire body jerked violently, the momentum throwing it off balance as it crashed sideways into the trees, branches snapping under its weight.
I moved with it, not giving it a moment to recover, adjusting my footing against its shifting body as I stabilized myself. Before it could react again, I drew my arm back and struck once more, placing the next punch into the exact same spot, driving the impact deeper while its movement was still uncontrolled.
The spider thrashed harder now, its movements growing more erratic, its legs striking blindly in wide arcs that tore through the forest around us, but none of them reached where I was positioned.
I kept going.
Each strike followed the last, my rhythm tightening as I adjusted my balance against the shifting surface beneath me, my body lowering closer to maintain stability while my fists drove down again and again into the same point. The resistance began to change, the surface giving way little by little, cracks forming beneath repeated impact.
I shifted once more, adjusting my angle, then drove my fist down with full force into the weakened spot.
This time, it broke and blood burst out.
The creature’s body jerked sharply beneath me, a final violent movement running through it before its legs gave out, collapsing forward and taking me down with it as its massive frame hit the ground.
I stayed where I was for a moment, as the last of its movement faded, the tension in its body draining away until it lay completely still.
Only then did I push myself off and drop back onto the ground, landing lightly as the forest around me once again into an uneasy quiet.
[Level Up]
[Level 4 → 5]
[Combat Points +20]
[Influence Points +0]
My sword was still there, caught where the web had wrapped around it earlier.
I stepped closer, brushing aside the thinner strands as I reached for it, but the moment my hand touched the web, it clung to my skin, resisting the pull. I tightened my grip around the hilt and pulled once. It didn’t move.
I adjusted my stance, planted my foot against the trunk beside it, and pulled harder this time, twisting the blade slightly to break the hold. The web stretched, thinning under the strain before snapping apart in strands, the resistance giving way all at once as the sword came free. I stepped back, flicking the blade once to clear the remaining threads before turning my attention to the rest of the web.
There were in total 7 monsters caught among the web.
A wolf, smaller than the ones I had fought earlier, its breathing uneven. A deer, its legs bound awkwardly, eyes wide and unfocused. Two other creatures I didn’t recognize immediately, both barely moving, their bodies drained but not gone.
I moved toward the closest one first, cutting through the strands with sword strikes, the web giving way under the edge of the blade. The wolf dropped to the ground the moment it was freed, its body trying to react, to move, but it didn’t have the strength.
I didn’t give it time. The sword came down cleanly, slicing its neck before it could even attempt to stand.
Turning to the next, I cut through the web around the deer, the strands parting quickly now that I knew how to handle them. It collapsed the moment it was free, legs failing beneath it, and again, I stepped in and ended it in a single motion.
The third and fourth followed the same pattern.
Cut.
Drop.
Finish.
I heard another chime in the back of my mind. The other three were already dead. I exhaled slowly, lowering the sword slightly as I looked around the now empty web and pulled up the notifications.
[Level Up]
[Level 5→ 6]
[Combat Points +10]
[Influence Points +0]
[Talent detection pending]
[Initiate?]
I blinked surprised and then realized that at level 5 talent was supposed to unlock.
My focus sharpened immediately, and without hesitation, I gave the command mentally.
"Yes. Initiate."