The spider lunged again, its limbs snapping like a nunchaku. Each strike came with a terrifying whistle as the limbs blasted through the air, the force so intense that small cracks rippled along the armor wherever the blows landed.
But Adam had seen this before. Rather he had perfected the art in countering it. Every day for as long as it had been in the flickering light of the holograms he trained against, over and over until the motions became his reflex.
He wasn't going to turn out like last time.
The spider's limbs crashed again.
clang, clang, clang!
scraping and thudding against his mana armor. The relentless rhythm of attacks left no room to breathe, yet Adam's body reacted perfectly, parrying the attacks until the time was right. The monster roared, limbs twisting and rotating with violence and hatred behind each strike.
[Skill Activated: Tactical Foresight]
A dot appeared. Adam waited patiently, waiting for the opportunity to arise itself. And so, it did.
A brief moment arose where its front legs overextended, leaving the lower neck exposed.
Adam surged forward.
His mandibles shimmered faintly with mana as he aimed for the soft spot just beneath the left side of its neck. But the spider was faster, slamming both front limbs together in a brutal, crushing motion meant to pin him in place. The impact rang through his armor like a bell, staggering him back a half-step. But it was not enough to stop him.
He pressed on, his momentum unstoppable.
The left mandible cut through its flesh, grazing the spider's shoulder and slicing deep. The spider shrieked.
The edge of Adam's strike had nicked one of the red, pulsing sacs. A soft pop, and then a hiss.
Red-hot acid spilled from the wound, steaming as it dripped to the ground. Some splashed onto the spider's own body, burning through its translucent flesh in tiny smoking holes. The stench was unbearable, pungent and unforgiving to his senses.
Adam recoiled, twisting his body sideways mid-strike, avoiding most of the splash as he pivoted back into range. The creature screeched, collapsing slightly, its front limbs trembling. Almost as if it was about to fall over and die on its own.
Adam's instincts flared. "This is my chance!" he screamed as he lunged.
As Adam closed the distance, it unexpectedly spun sharply on its back legs, flinging arcs of acid in a wide spray. The droplets hit like molten rain, sizzling against Adam's armor and burning through the plates across his back. The pain struck like lightning. He winced, jerking back as the acid hissed through the seams, the scent of scorched chitin rising in choking clouds.
Before he could recover, two bladed limbs shot out.
They targeted his left mandible, trying to snap it off clean.
Adam jerked his head sideways, swinging in retaliation, his mandible slicing through the air. But it met nothing. The spider had already ducked low, legs crossing in a deadly weave beneath his jaw.
A sharp crack echoed.
The world tilted.
The spider's lower limbs scythed upward in a vicious sweep, slamming into Adam's underside and launching him off the ground.
He was airborne for an instant, weightless. His mind raced for answers. "How could this be... Was I not winning?"
The spider anchored itself with its back limbs, its two frontal ones whipping like hammers into Adam's chest mid-air. The impact sent him flying.
He crashed through layers of red web, tearing through silk that wrapped around his legs and back, until his body slammed hard into the deeper wall of the chamber. The force reverberated through the tunnels, shaking loose dust and pebbles from above.
His breath hitched. Pain flooded his senses like fire.
"Cough--Cough."
Through blurred vision, he saw the spider charging. Not waiting around for its sweet time to look down on its prey. Not like before at all.
Its limbs scuttled violently, the wet slap of chitin against mud echoing like drums of war. The spider lunged, its form slicing through the air with murderous precision. "No! I can still do it!" His mind screamed as Adam met its charge head-on, mandibles raised, every nerve in his body bracing for impact. Yet it never came.
The ground shook beneath his feet, then split apart beneath them. For an instant, he felt as if he was gliding smoothly through the air. The next his world turned over and over as he plummeted into the darkness. He fired strands of webbing instinctively, but the silk shot wild, spinning out of control. The air was thick with dust and falling debris; vibrations roared through the tunnel walls, a thousand tiny earthquakes rattling against his senses.
A sickening crack echoed below.
THUD!
Adam slammed against something soft and damp. The surface gave way beneath him, a broad orange fungus that burst under his weight. Its spongy flesh cushioned the fall but threw him aside, rolling him over its slick edge. He tumbled onto the cold floor below, his senses ringing. The air was heavy with the scent of sweet and fungal aroma. Tiny spores clung to his shell, shimmering faintly in the dim light.
When he looked up, the cavern revealed itself in blue and gold. The walls glimmered with shards of mana crystal, their glow bleeding through the haze, casting the entire chamber in a deep oceanic hue. Each breath he took felt charged, as if he was slowly shocked by static all over his body. The faint hum of mana pulsed through the air, vibrating faintly beneath his feet.
A sharp hiss snapped his attention forward.
The spider had fallen too. Its body sprawled atop another giant mushroom. The red bubbles on its abdomen popped. Acid sprayed outward in sizzling arcs, eating through the fungus. Steam rose, laced with the sharp tang of burning decay.
The sudden disruption sent ripples through the crystals in the wall. One by one, they flared, releasing waves of mana that rolled through the chamber like invisible tides. Adam felt it strike him. Like a pulse that shot through his core, flooding his body with energy. His mana surged, refilling faster than he could track, the world around him momentarily sharpening to clarity.
[ Absorbing mana from surroundings ]
[ Mana Heart filled 30%... 43%... 57%... ]
and so, it continued.
The spider's body struck the great orange fungus with a thud. The impact rippling through the soft, spongy surface. The mushroom quivered, releasing a faint puff of glittering spores that drifted through the air. Adam steadied himself, his body still humming from the shock of the fall.
Before him, the spider staggered upright. Its limbs twitched violently, swaying unsteadily with each breath. Its movements were disoriented, like a puppet half-possessed, becoming sentient and the peak of its story. one leg bending at an unnatural angle, another dragging across the ground. The creature's abdomen bulged grotesquely; each pulse of its veins pushed more of that crimson corruption through its body.
Then, it raised its head.
The scream that followed split the air.
A shrill, bone-sawing cry erupted from its mandibles, so sharp it seemed to tear the space between them. The sound hit Adam like a physical blow. The tunnel walls vibrated; the ground shuddered underfoot. Fine cracks formed through the surrounding crystal walls, their inner glow flickering like candlelight in a storm.
Adam's entire body trembled. The tremors crawling from his legs to his chest and from his chest to his skull. He clenched his mandibles and released a sharp burst of mana toward his ears. A faint, translucent barrier shimmered to life, but the sound was too violent. The vibrations tore into him still, the world around him thrumming with unbearable resonance.
Crk–crk–crk!
Cracks spread through the barrier. Adam's head felt as if it were splitting open from within. His senses blurred. Vibrations became colors, smells became pressure, everything folding into a maddening haze. The spider's screech rolled on, shaking the air itself until it shimmered.
Then, it stopped.
Silence followed and then.
The spider's body convulsed, and faint red lines crawled across its carapace, like veins of fire. They pulsed. Then...
FWOOOOSH—!
Red flames erupted across its body, licking upward in a chaotic spiral. The air turned blisteringly hot. Adam stepped back instinctively, lowering his stance. The ground beneath him vibrated, ready to spill any treasures hidden underneath.
[WARNING: Great Mana Disturbance Detected.]
The spider's eyes ignited crimson, no longer just glowing, but burning. Its limbs steadied, newfound ferocity replacing its earlier clumsiness. Every movement shed flakes of molten carapace and ash.
It lunged.
A violent burst of pressure exploded outward, and the red flames trailed behind it like ribbons, twisting and folding through the air. The mushrooms shuddered from the impact of its steps, their flesh rupturing with wet cracks.
Adam braced himself. The world had become a storm of noise and heat. Each vibration carried by the trembling ground, each spark of mana stabbing at his senses. The spider's advance was a blur of red and black, its roar still echoing through the cavern like a chorus of dying things, as all Adam could think to himself in that moment.
"...Damn it."