Chapter 8: Chapter 8
Shortly after that encounter, I thought of many things as to the strange phenomenon which is the spider being nearby. Since the spider seems to be protective over her eggs, it may be because something is hunting down the spider's eggs…
"You're going over there again?" Ace appears beside me as I adjust my collar.
"Mhm," I simply said. "Nothing has happened for the past three days, but you can never be too careful. I'll come back at the same time as always."
The spider mom is always around her eggs. She gathers small insects to create sufficient food when they hatch, but she herself never eats it. It's… kind of sad. Which is why I started hunting larger insects myself after the fourth day of observation.
I asked Ace if there were any large bugs or insects I could hunt down, and he seemed to understand. He told me that there were insects that flew above a body of water that's near the base, but the water contains monsters as well. I would rather not fight insects above water, but it'll have to do.
The buzzes from the insects ring my ears. I look up to see giant mosquitoes flying above the rather clear yet dark water. My sword materializes in my right hand as I jump up, stabbing the large mosquito and holding on to it.
"Die you stupid bug!" I yell, splitting the mosquito in half. With a grunt, I leap off of the body and quickly store it in my inventory. I go into another mosquito and do the same, eventually gathering up to six giant mosquitoes in a matter of seconds. They're much weaker than I expected.
After killing the sixth one, I fell into the water. I screamed in horror as my vision became dark since I had closed my eyes as soon as I felt water on my back. My arms became numb because of the sheer coldness of the water. Looks like I need some landing skills…
"Master, are you alright?" Ace asks me. I simply look at him soaking wet. "...I will take back my inquiry."
I sigh, piling the mosquitos on top of each other. "These are for the spider. I'm just showing you since you know about these cave spiders more than me."
"I think it will be sufficient," Ace nods his head. "Although it may be lacking to feed her babies…"
"Really? So, I need to hunt down more of these, then?" I shudder at the thought of falling into the cold water again… And potentially getting caught in a fight with a dangerous monster in the water.
"Apologies, Master. But mother spiders usually have around four thousand eggs, so of course, just six large mosquitoes aren't enough. Once they hatch, they'll have to resort to eating each other…"
"Four thousand?" I stare at him. "I only saw three sacs…"
"..."
"..."
"WHAT?"
Now everything makes sense.
The mother spider most likely ran away after most of her eggs had been killed. Which is why she only has three of them and not four thousand. That would also explain why she is so defensive over them too…
"Ace, I'm going there now," I tell him. His ear flicks in response, a mutual understanding. I store the bugs in my inventory and I start running back to the area with the mother spider.
I've already memorized the entire path. I don't need to worry about getting lost, but I do need to worry about getting potentially killed if I don't do things right…
I slide to a stop in front of the entrance to the dome shaped cave. The tree is still there, and it seems that the spider webs that were carefully placed in every inch of the cave, it's all gone. The residue of the webs lay on the floor. It seems… darker than usual, even if nothing had changed with the lighting.
"Um… mother spider?" I call out. Sweat beads down my face. I frantically look around to make sure there's nothing else that'll attack me. I spot a large shadow in the hollow tree, so I take out the mosquitoes from my inventory. I kneel down and put my hands up. "I come in peace. I hunted down these mosquitoes for you and your children…"
The pitter patter of the spider's legs slowly comes out of the shadows. The mother spider has a scowl on her face, obviously distrusting of me. I take out my sharp stones and bone weapons and throw them to the side. I really need to gain the trust of this spider. I can definitely think of the benefits if the both of us became allies…
Hisssss…
It stares at the large mosquitoes. I gulp. My hands start fidgeting, and I start to curl it into a ball and back into an open hand. She looks at me and then at the pile. With a huff, she shoots out a large web around them and drags it to the hollow tree. I begin to sigh of relief, bringing my hands down, but the spider hisses at me again. I bring my hands up.
"Uh, okay," I fumble with my words. I see the spider place the pile of mosquitoes in the middle of the tree, but then lunges at me with a screech. "AHHH! WHAT THE-"
I immediately activate Adapt, and all of my poison and bite resistances fly through the roof! Just what the hell is this spider!? I see that the poison is entering through my veins, being a solid orange color. I grab onto the spider's neck and throw her against the wall.
I quickly store my weapons in my inventory, leaving my dagger in my hands. My breath is staggering due to the poison. Blood slowly makes its way to the corner of my mouth. I wipe it away, bringing my dagger up.
"I told you, I come in peace!" I shout. The mother spider hisses as it attempts to recover from being thrown. "I don't want to hurt you, but you literally bit me with your poisonous fangs! I had to throw you off or else I would've died!"
Hiss! Hiss!
"I can't understand you…" I slowly lower my dagger. The spider is still injured, but she's standing up. Even after that, I want to gain her trust. She's going through a tough time right now, I know it. "And I want to help you. So please let me."
She's still hissing at me, not budging.
"I will give you more insects to eat!" I say. Her several eyes widened. Finally. "I will offer you protection from whatever and give you food, and you have to trust me. Can we agree on that?"
A long pause. I thought I was going to die before I was given an answer. Thankfully, what seemed like years, the mother spider gave me a quiet nod.
"Alright," I nod my head. "Then I will take my leave."
I turn and leave, my legs stumbling a bit because of that single bite. Once I'm out of the passageway and back near my base, I let out a loud groan. I grip onto the shoulder where the bite is.
"What the hell…? That bite was so intense I thought I was actually going to die," I thought to myself. "Are all of the monsters here death machines? Those Dire Wolves have ferocious biting power, the bats are fast with fire fangs, and the spider has poisonous fangs! Without Adapt, I don't think I would've survived here…"
"Master, are you alright!?" Ace runs at me and knocks me over. I yelp as he throws himself onto me. "I heard you yell from the base!"
"How good is your hearing?" I get Ace off of me. I shake my head to focus on the main topic. "Anyways, I'm fine. I just… got into a shuffle with the spider. She had such a poisonous bite that all of my poison resistances went up…"
"It's possible that you've achieved 'All Poison Immunity,'" Ace explains. "Because I am confident that there is one specific species of cave spiders that has all poison in their poison sacks. And since all of your poison resistances went up, I'm sure you've gained an immunity to them."
"Nah, I don't think so," I pull up my status window while still talking to Ace. "That's too much of a coinci…"
Both me and Ace stare at my window.
[ Poison of A Thousand Blood
You have gained immunity to all poison from everything. From normal poison, fire poison, or even Black Magic Poison, you are immune to it all. Affinity for poison has increased and you are now able to cast 'Poison' magic. ]
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