The tunnel eventually widened before opening up, revealing a vast cavern. Several hundred ters underground, the giant cavity was ho to hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of cocoons. Clinging to the rock walls, their white color contrasted with the surrounding darkness.
About the size of a soccer field, the cavern must have been almost ten ters high. At this depth, the only light available was the bluish glow of the mushrooms. The density of their lines had increased considerably. Many lines intersected, forming impressive geotric figures on the floor and walls. They seed to imitate spider webs.
The unique scenery might have been magnificent had it not been for the sound of clattering mandibles and high-pitched spider cries that shattered the silence. A destroyer was in the room, and the occupants were trying to chase it away. Dozens of spiders pounced on the human, attacking ferociously, with no regard for their own lives. There was no fear in the minds of those whose job was to protect the cocoons.
Unfortunately for them, their destroyer was too strong. His physical attributes had long since surpassed those of an average human. Each of his blows sent an arachnid flying.
Priam was dancing just outside of the tunnel. His spear exterminated one spider after another, aid resolutely at the creatures' brains. Prosse was wreaking havoc as the spiders' blood dripped to the ground. A barrage of his victims' bodies was gradually rising in front of him. Channeling his Potential to prevent [Battle Flow] from leveling up, Priam jumped.
Leaning his foot against the cavern wall, he plunged horizontally into the air. Passing over the still-living spiders, he lowered his spear sharply to pierce the last one. The blow killed the spider and brought Priam to a halt. With a pirouette, he landed lightly on the ground, behind the spiders' backs.
The spiders kept moving in the direction of the tunnel for a mont before realizing that the human had disappeared. Their eyes were accustod to the darkness, and one of them quickly spotted him. With a shrill cry, it rushed towards him. Priam blocked the attack before striking back. Prosse tasted the opponent's brain.
Without missing a beat, the other spiders redeployed themselves. So charged at him, while others scaled the ceiling.
Priam parried backward. A spark was created when the spear ca into contact with the sharp leg of one of the monsters. The spider raised one of its eight legs and tried to pierce him. The hard black chitin covering the tips of its legs seed capable of penetrating the Viscount's constitution.
Rolling backward, Priam dodged the blow and two balls of slimy thread shot toward him. As he rose, he swept the spider with his spear and hurled it to the ground. Before its allies could save it, Priam pierced its head.
Another spider pounced on him. Priam had no ti to disengage his spear, as the spider had already penetrated his guard. He raised his left arm and touched the spider's leg. Discharging so of his kinetic energy, he catapulted the monster. Its carapace exploded against the wall, its blue blood covered the rock.
Freeing Prosse, Priam dodged another swipe before counter-attacking. With a thrust, his weapon penetrated the spider. The creature froze before collapsing to the ground. Behind it, five others awaited their turn. Their paws clicking on the stone floor inford Priam that he was surrounded. A distinctive noise was heard above him. Looking up at the last mont, he saw the bright ceiling darken, hidden by a spider's falling body.
Pulling out a grenade, Priam straddled the mist the next instant. He reappeared behind the barrier created by the spiders' corpses and bent down. An explosion resonated, and Priam rose to his feet. A dozen spiders were lying on the ground, their legs curled up. The monsters had made the mistake of charging into the spot he had occupied only monts ago.
Looking up, Priam counted three more adult spiders. Hundreds of babies were waking up and tearing open their bags prematurely. The sound of a grenade exploding near them must have disturbed their dream...
Priam raised Prosse and whistled. The three spiders ca running as the Viscount retreated into the tunnel. A second after him, each carried on eight legs, they approached at full speed. Their starting position forced them to position themselves one behind the other, making Priam smile. His hand lowered, and Prosse disappeared. If his spear reminded him of his desire for freedom, it was a promise of death for his enemies.
The three spiders collapsed, and Priam caught his breath. He'd been fighting for several minutes and was using his energy quickly. Despite his great Vitality, Micro was exhausting his stamina by demanding the maximum from every one of his muscles. Or almost. Thanks to his Vivacity and Dexterity, Priam realized he wasn't using all of Micro's abilities yet. Controlling every muscle in his body individually during a fight was complicated. Inspecting himself, Priam confird that the spiders hadn't injured him once.
"Fuck..." sighed Priam as he saw the hundreds of little spiders arriving. He had no ti to lose. "Do you want to take care of it?" offered Sphinx.
"Yes, please."
Priam concentrated on [Aether Perception], curious how Sphinx would do it. His skill enabled him to see a sphere materialize around his friend. In the area concerned, the aether seed more stable, less mobile. Sphinx's Domain had spread out in a three-ter radius around them. Advancing towards the spiders, Priam watched in fascination as their tiny bodies twitched. As soon as one of them entered the Domain's sphere of action, it would die.
"How do you do that?"
"I scramble their aether. Concretely, their ridians burst, and their minds dislocate," Sphinx explained. Priam's heartbeat quickened. The power of a Domain over a weaker being was terrifying.
Prosse's tip lifted one of the corpses. Although not big, the baby spider must have been around twenty centiters high. For Priam, this was twenty centiters too high. The creatures were dead, but the Domain didn't make them disappear. Priam grimaced with disgust as he returned to the nursery. With every step, he felt corpses crushing underfoot. He stopped twice to remove pieces that had beco wedged between his toes.
"It's disgusting..." he complained. Sphinx laughed, perched on his shoulder. For a mont, Priam imagined grabbing her and throwing her onto the carpet of spiders. In the end, common sense prevailed. He was the oldest and had to be the wisest.
Above all, he had no desire to test Sphinx's limits. If she decided to take revenge by making him eat those spiders... Priam shuddered.
The grenade had started a fire that was quickly brought under control. So spiders didn't hesitate a second before slicing off the flaming parts of the cocoons and throwing them aside. Apparently, silk caught fire very easily.
Priam stepped back into the room and waited. After about thirty seconds, no monster had yet attacked him. However, he had observed so spiders wandering between the cocoons.
"The soldiers are dead, but workers are still looking after the babies... Sounds like a division of labor based on ant colonies," remarked Priam.
"What's an ant?" asked Sphinx. Priam began to explain calmly, bending over the corpse of the largest spider he could find. The specin must have been almost a ter and a half tall. Its fangs - from which the venom emanated - were almost ten centiters long. Priam activated [Focus] to combat his disgust.
He pulled the corpse to him and planted the hook in his arm. Part of it was already filled with venom, and the liquid penetrated his body. Under the effect of [Focus] and Micro, Priam's face remained impassive. He waited a few seconds before releasing the hook.
"Why did you do that?" asked Sphinx. She didn't seem worried that he might have hurt himself. Priam was pretty sure she thought he was more or less immortal, despite him assuring the contrary. Tribulations worried her, but not a small - or large - spider bite.
Lvl Up: [Poison Body] lvl 4
CONST 1
VIT 1
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TA (END) 1
"I don't know where Anatole is, but there are certainly hundreds of caves like this one. If these spiders can poison the Jubokko, then I want to be able to do it too. [Poison Body] allows to strengthen my body by testing different venoms. I'm pretty sure my blood also takes on the characteristics of the poisons I've tested," Priam explained.
There was no clear indication about that in the skill description, but Priam had long understood that the System didn't give all the answers.
[Poison Body] - In your body flows poison. Your blood is harmful to most organisms. You are resistant to the poisons of your Tier, and they strengthen your organs, bones, and muscles.
Smoking is now good for your health. Too bad there are no more cigarettes.
"In addition, I'm resistant to this poison, but they're still Viscount. I would not be surprised if their poison could overco my defenses to so degree. Might as well start immunizing myself."
"Then I'll get you the biggest spider ever! By the way, I think I know how to find Anatole," said Sphinx.
"No thanks. What about Anatole?" Priam asked, intrigued.
"The poison of these little spiders won’t defeat an Earl, even if that is his weakness. Anatole must want to use Barons’ and Viscounts’. All we need to do is find the strongest spiders and we're done!"
"You’re a clever girl, you know that?!" exclaid Priam while petting her. His friend had the ability to step back from the situation, and the solution beca obvious. There had to be a cave full of Barons and Viscounts sowhere, and it was a safe bet that Anatole would be there.
"I've got an idea how to get the Barons out of their hiding place..."
Priam turned his gaze to the various white cocoons. A grenade had ignited several of these cocoons before the workers had extinguished them.
"Say Sphinx, do you still have the grenades you swallowed at Viracocha?"
His friend opened her mouth and a dozen grenades fell. Panicked, Priam barely caught them. He knew they wouldn't explode so easily, but he wasn't stupid enough to test their safety.
"That answers my question..." he said, looking around the dark room.
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