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The road towards the cave was steep. I understand why they gave us Galleons. A horse can’t walk this path. The road was rocky, but all sorts of bushes and vegetation grew here. Even mushrooms, although I’m pretty sure they are poisonous.

As we kept walking an arrow flew from behind and landed near a bush close to my mount. I looked behind and it seems Tia was the one that fired the arrow.

“Be careful, Izuna-san!”

At a closer look there was some weird looking snake in the bush.

“That’s a really poisonous one.”

“Tia… how did you see it?”

“As an elf I have better eyes than most.”

That might come in handy.

“Watch out!”

Another warning came from Tia, but this time her bow wasn’t ready. Another snake crawled around a tree and lashed at me. It bit my shoulder.

“Pathetic.”

After a few seconds it let go and fell on the ground squirming in pain. Eventually it died.

“Eh!? Wait wait… something doesn’t make sense. Although I’m glad you are ok, why was the snake the one that died?”

“Hmph. As if poison if that level would work on me.”

I didn’t want to give details, but it was thanks to one of my accessories. Demon Fox Necklace. This necklace has a 50/50 chance to either completely cancel out a status effect or bounce it back to the caster. That pretty much means that one way or another I am immune to any type of status effect. Poisoned is one of them. At endgame there were bosses that not only would cast nasty debuffs on you, but also cast some really bad status effects. Petrified, paralyzed, sleep, slowed down, blind and so on. Without a healer in your party to remove them, you’re going to get screwed.

In my case since I played mostly solo I tailored my necklace so that it would cancel out status effects. And judging by the snake, this time it bounced back the venom to the snake.

“This is the first time… I’m seeing something like this.”

Elenore kinda patted Tia on the head as if to say ‘you’ll get used to seeing stuff like this’. I still need to be careful though. I may be safe, but the girls and our mounts sure ain’t.

Eventually we stumbled upon some weird plants.

“That’s it. Those are the herbs I need!”

Tia jumped off the Galleon and hurried to collect those herbs.

“Is there something special about them?”

“Well, it’s said they make a powerful medicine, but as you can see acquiring them is hard. I only need them for my quest. With this, my adventurer rank will surely increase!”

So that’s what she’s after. Rank. Still, it feels kinda silly for her to come here alone. Not to mention without provisions. Normally an elf should be able to forage or hunt. Is there nothing edible around?

“Okay, I’m done…”

Tia abruptly stopped her sentence.

“You girls… I’m sorry. I was distracted with the gathering.”

“What’s wrong?”

“We’re completely surrounded.”

“What!?”

I immediately grew vigilant. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t see anything other than plants, trees and rocks. And then it happened. 3 giant boulders started shaking and they became 3 big spiders. They were around the same size as a Humvee vehicle and we were definitely surrounded, in a triangle position. Dang. Tia’s eyes really are impressive. But this situation is bad.

These spiders are all level 60. I can take care of myself, but Elenore and Tia aren’t strong enough to handle one.

“Elenore, Tia, you girls think you can keep one of them distracted for a few minutes? I’ll try beating up the 2 that are coming from the cliff edge and then come and support you.”

“Wha…!? Are you crazy? You can’t take on 2 by yourself!”

Elenore on the other hand didn’t even think of questioning me.

“Understood.”

The 2 spiders jumped straight for us, but I put power into my legs and blocked their charge with my Chaoscaliber. However my body was pushed back a few feet, leaving a small trail on the ground. These things are strong. Meanwhile on the other end, the remaining spider threw it’s front legs, but Elenore and Tia managed to swiftly jump out of its way and avoided being crushed.

I put more force in my hands and brush them away. Then I instantly tried to circle them and attack from behind, but… as soon as I reached their blind spot, they sprayed web strange at me.

“These assholes…” (literally)

These threads entangled my spear and made me stick to the ground. The spiders slowly turned around towards me.

“Did you really think this is enough to stop me? [Self Burning]!”

Self Burning, as it’s name implies, is a level 60 spell that wraps the caster in flames for 30 seconds. It melted the threads easily. On its own this spell doesn’t do much, but using it alone isn’t it’s purpose.

“Skill chain: [5 Heavenly Spear Strike]!”

I sprinted between them. All that could be seen were fire blade waves behind me, slicing all their limbs on one side. Both spiders lost balance and collapsed.

“Sorry, but I don’t have time to play with you. So I will have you die here.”

I extended my hand upwards and a purple energy sphere was formed.

“[Black Hole]!”

As I chanted it’s name, I tossed the sphere near them. Black Hole is a level 75 spell that can literally absorb any lvl 75 or lower non boss monster. It’s 5 minute cooldown didn’t make it spammable in game, but I found various uses for it.

Both the spiders bodies started to become distorted and were absorb into the sphere. Science says that not even light can escape a black hole, so these guys aren’t going anywhere. It didn’t take long before they vanished. Well, that takes care of 2. Just one more left.

I turned around and saw that Elenore and Tia were pretty coordinated. Elenore would parry it’s legs and Tia offered support with her arrows. She even chanted magical arrows to make small explosions for cover. But it’s clear they are still struggling.

“Both of you, get back!”

At my shout, both of them took a big jump. The Galleons also took cover. Good. I’ll end this in one strike. I slammed my spear in the ground.

“[Impale]!”

A magic circle formed beneath the spider. And in the next instant, various light spears errupted from the ground skewering the insect. Blood splattered everywhere. But it was dead. Impale is a lvl 100 skill, so it costs a bit more mana, but it’s defense penetration and damage is well worth it. After the last spider collapsed I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

“Well… that was an interesting workout.”

“Amazing… you’re simply amazing!”

Tia’s eyes were shining and looking at me with admiration.

“Hey, we’re not finished yet. So stay sharp!”

Our journey wasn’t over yet.

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