Continuing to get closer to the mountain in the distance while also getting a better look at the cave that seemingly cut straight through the towering mountain to the other side, Scaly and Verdell were both taken aback by the towering monsters they saw moving around within the dark cave. Discovering that the undead and skeletons they had grown used to encountering on this bloody path that had been carved out by the undead legion was nowhere in sight.
[Cave Spider, lvl 67]
[Venomous Cave Spider, lvl 81]
[Cave Spider, lvl 64]
[Cave Spider Champion, lvl 107]
[Cave Spider, lvl 59]
[Cave Spider...]
Instead, the only thing moving around inside the cave through the mountain was a large number of spiders standing more than five meters tall as their long legs covered in a layer of thin hairs moved across the corpses that covered the ground. Biting into the corpses of the undead that should have originally been left behind by the undead legion while kicking aside the bones of the skeletons as there wasn’t anything on the bones for them to eat.
Among these spiders that had occupied the path of destruction created by the undead legion as it had forced its way through this cave in the past, there was even a powerful cave spider champion that had reached the S Rank. Far surpassing any of the undead, skeletons or monsters, the two of them had run into so far.
But maybe the most important thing about these spiders wasn’t just how strong they were compared to the skeletons and undead they had encountered so far. Instead, it was the fact that none of these spiders were injured and were in a healthy state that would undoubtedly make them harder to kill off compared to the easier to handle skeletons that could easily be crushed by Scaly’s claws without her even having to rely on her magic during battle.
Of course, though this sudden change in enemies was unexpected, it was far from enough to intimidate Scaly, who continued cutting down undead after undead and crushing one skeleton skull after the other. Leaving any monster or undead trying to ambush her in the process for Verdell to deal with. After all, his job as her de facto guardian had already been solidified and there was nothing much Verdell could do about the situation, he found himself in.
The only thing he could do to ensure he wouldn’t run out of mana while following behind her during her rampage that left no skeleton or undead behind, was reluctantly grab a few of the precious mana rich herbs he had gathered so far during their travel through the serene forest and squeeze them with everything he had. Swallowing the mana rich liquid while silently imagining the pained face of the old alchemist he had originally bought his precious few healing potions from in the past. Knowing that this old alchemist would undoubtedly pull out his herbal knife and stab him if he saw how he was wasting so many precious mana rich herbs.
Of course, this kind of sentiment wasn’t just one shared by this old alchemist, but one shared by all alchemist when it came to this kind of rough potion making that relied entirely on wasting 90% of a mana rich herb.
Then again, he himself was also reluctant to do this, but he understood that if he didn’t squeeze those precious mana rich herbs and recover his mana, he would be left behind by Scaly who showed no signs of slowing down even as the two of them got closer to the cavern filled to the brim with all kinds of cave spiders that would undoubtedly be far harder for them to deal with.
Not just because these spiders weren’t in an injured and weakened state, but because attacking one of those cave spiders would undoubtedly end up provoking all of them into swarming over to lend a hand dealing with the one bold enough to attack them.
Thwack~
Whoosh-!
In fact, as he was busy ensuring his mana was fully recovered for the upcoming battle with the cave spiders, Scaly accidentally hit one of the skeletons a bit too hard. Launching it flying towards the cave filled with spiders-
Bang!
Causing the flying skeleton to collide head on with one of the cave spiders that had accidentally found itself a little too close to the cave opening. Killing it on the spot alongside the skeleton as part of the skeleton’s bones broke apart and turned into sharp bone fragments that directly pierced its head on contact.
Not just that, but some of the bone fragments that broke off from the violent collision flew off and pierced a dozen other unsuspecting cave spiders, causing some of them to collapse on the ground, unresponsive. Only the twitching of their legs and soft movements of their bodies suggesting that they hadn’t been killed like the spider unfortunate enough to collide head on with the skeleton sent flying by Scaly.
Rustle~ Rustle
~ Rustle~
Not surprising to say the least, this kind of attack caused the possibly hundreds of spiders inside the cave to stir violently before they turned into a black tide of long hairy legs that came rushing forth towards the dragon looking blankly off into the distance beside him. Not showing the fear or surprise that should have been present on her face after what she had just done.
Not to mention, the sight of hundreds of large spiders covered in a thin layer of hair forming a monster tide of their own was more than enough to cause a senior adventurer like him to shiver in fear. Part of him was already imagining the spiders crawling all over him before they sunk their fangs into his soft dwarven flesh. Even recalling an old story his parents used to tell him in the past when he was a child about cave monsters being especially fond of dwarven meat.
Although he knew that this little story from his parents was just their way of trying to stop him from recklessly exploring abandoned mines that sometimes had monsters lurking inside of them back when he was still young and only aspired to be an adventurer and had not yet truly started his journey, the sight of the cave spiders that in his eyes were focusing directly on him, made him unable to push these thoughts out of his mind. Wondering if there was some accuracy to what his parents had told him back then.
So... So many monsters!
Of course, contrary to the fear Verdell was feeling upon seeing the tide of spiders surging towards the two of them, Scaly felt herself overcome with joy as she stared towards the incoming cave spiders recklessly charging towards her. Not feeling the slightest bit afraid of these spiders. Knowing from a single glance that most of them were only around level 60, while the only real threat was a single S Rank Monster just above level 100 that seemed to be leading the charge as the leader.
Finishing off that one powerful spider, the rest of the spiders wouldn’t be able to pose much of a threat to her and she would be able to run rampant and easily gain enough experience to jump all the way up to level 35 when the battle ended and maybe even beyond that.
Naturally, with the large number of enemies she found herself facing off this time around, she couldn’t afford to rely entirely on her claws for combat and had to thin out the numbers ahead of time using her magic. Not to mention, she wasn’t entirely confident in taking down an S Rank Monster without using her magic. Especially so when the other party wasn’t in an injured or weakened state.
Because of this, the first thing she did, facing this approaching tide of spiders, was conjure up dozens of water blades-
Whoosh-!
Whoosh-!
Whoosh-!
Sending a vast majority of them flying towards the cave spider champion while the remaining ones were sent flying off in random directions without any clear target in mind. Showing her very clear intent of taking down the leader of the spiders first before dealing with the weaker cave spiders.
"FIRE WALL"
Aware that he couldn’t afford to hold back in the face of so many spiders, Verdell quickly followed behind her water blades and directly erected a more than a hundred meters long to block the incoming tide of spiders. Funneling in far more mana than normal to ensure the fire wall was long enough to block all the approaching spiders. Forcing them to jump through the wall of fire if they wanted to continue approaching them, something that would undoubtedly weaken every single one of them.
Ptsh! Ptsh! Ptsh!
The one unfortunate thing about the wall of fire was the fact that Scaly couldn’t see what kind of damage her water blades ultimately ended up doing to the leading spider on the other side of the wall of fire...