It was a warm day, and the plains were peaceful, save for a gaunt man charging toward a hole in front of him. “You bastards!” He grabbed a turnip and hurled it into the hole. “Why’d you take my son? Take me instead!”

“Shit!” Roy was shocked by Huckle’s reckless charge. There was no time for further planning, so he quickly went to drag the baker back into the bush by his arm and body. “Are you mad? That’s suicide! Forget about saving your son! That thing’s gonna kill you too!”

“You’re right! I am mad!” Huckle was breathing heavily, fury flaring in his eyes. He tried to break free, but Roy had an iron grip on him. “If it hurts my son, I’m dragging it down to hell with me!”

The arachnomorph came out right after that. Before they realized what was happening, they saw the monster’s big, red eyes locking onto them. And then, it pulled its legs close to its body. A split second later, it leaped through the air, traversing forty feet in an instant.

Roy was surprised, but he quickly dragged Huckle back to the bushes behind them. The baker was pale and shaken to his core. And then Roy heard something smacking against the tree beside him. When he took a look, he saw a blob of white, warm ball sticking to the trunk behind him. “Goddammit.” Roy and Huckle tried to run away, but they couldn’t escape from the monster.

The arachnomorph scuttled after them, closing the distance at a blistering speed. A moment later, it leaped over their head and landed before them. Roy managed to dodge it just in time, but Huckle had no such luck. The arachnomorph screeched and pounced at the baker, then it slashed away at Huckle’s chest, creating a cross-shaped wound. Roy could see the excitement burning in its eyes as it went in for the kill.

The arachnomorph’s stench filled the air. Roy could smell the scent of soil and rotten flesh coming from it. If he so wanted, he could reach out and touch the monster’s fangs. Meanwhile, the arachnomorph’s attention was fully on Huckle, so Roy was ignored.

Perfect. Roy clenched his fist, and out came Gwyhyr. Without wasting a second, Roy plunged the sword into the monster’s ugly head. The arachnomorph shrieked in pain and spasmed, darting away from Roy. It was a close call, but Huckle was saved.

It glared at Roy maliciously and spat a blob of webbing, but Roy knew it was going to do that. The moment the arachnomorph retreated, Roy was already rolling around, dodging its web. When he regained his bearings, Roy switched the sword out for Gabriel and fired a shot at its body.

Thanks to Massacre and Crossbow Mastery, the new crossbow bolt easily penetrated the monster’s exoskeleton. Roy managed to do some damage, but not enough to take the monstrous spider down. The arachnomorph leaped across the air, attempting to kill Roy. If they were on the plains, Roy couldn’t have dodged it, but Roy chose to fight in the forest for a reason. The trees and bushes were all perfect in slowing the arachnomorph down.

Roy rolled away again, this time landing in a giant bush, the monster’s pincers missing him by a few inches. Once the arachnomorph turned around, Roy put all his strength into his right hand and buried the sword in the monster’s mouth. At the same time, he fired a shot at the spider’s eye, splattering blood everywhere.

The arachnomorph took considerable damage after those attacks. If it were a nekker or drowner in its place, they would have died, but insects were resilient. Even after all that, it had a third of its HP remaining. But it was already spasming on the ground.

Roy didn’t attack anymore. Beasts were at their most dangerous before their deaths. Roy took the chance to dive into a bush and kited it around the forest. He wanted to draw the battle out, at least until the paralyzing poison took effect. If it doesn’t, I might have to use one Dancing Star. But he knew he had a chance to kill it without using any bombs.

***

The arachnomorph scuttled across the ground, its reflexes turning unbelievably sharp. It chased Roy for a few seconds before leaping up into the air and using the branches to propel it further ahead. Is that thing defying gravity? The branches were severely cut every time the monster landed on them. It saw Roy running underneath it, and before Roy could run far, the monster jumped down on him.

Roy knew what was coming, and his eyes glowed crimson. The arachnomorph froze for a second thanks to Fear and the paralyzing poison. It only managed to cut Roy’s armor open, and it couldn’t even graze his skin. 

And that was its last chance to kill him. Roy didn’t get up from the ground. Instead, he held Gwyhyr over its head awkwardly before slamming it into its mouth, piercing its innards. Roy didn’t stop until he felt the hilt touching against the monster. The arachnomorph’s blood started flowing down, drenching Roy’s face.

Roy quickly rolled out of the way, then the monster snapped out of Fear’s effects. A few moments later, smoke billowed from its mouth, and it stopped moving. The monster fell ahead, flames licking its body. 

‘You killed an arachnomorph. EXP +70. Level 4 Witcher (900/2000). You have killed a grave hag, a drowner, a childhunter, a leshen, an elf sorceress, a nekker (normal, warrior, chieftain), a nekker nest, a kikimore, a cursed one, and an arachnomorph. You have killed ten types of magical creatures.’

Roy stared at the dead monster in surprise as it slowly turned into a big ball of flames. That’s Gwyhyr’s burn effect? Getting stabbed by a sword and burning up inside was a torture beyond anyone’s nightmares. Roy shuddered at the thought of anything that had to go through that. Well, at least it’s not me.

The battle had lasted thirty seconds. If he were in the game, he would have had to spend a while to kill the spider. Any misstep ended in the player’s death. Roy wiped the blood off his face with the dewdrops from the grass around him. When he went back to Huckle, the baker had already passed out. He was angry about Huckle’s reckless charge. If there had been more than one monster, they would have died, but that didn’t happen, so Roy didn’t dwell on it. Not to mention Huckle needed help, so Roy cleaned the baker’s wound with a marigold potion and bandaged it.

Then he smacked the baker’s face.

Huckle opened his eyes in fear and shot up, but then he gasped in pain. “Spider! Spider!”

Roy patted his back and shoulder. “Calm down. It’s dead. You’re safe now.”

“Dead?” Huckle looked surprised. He puffed his chest and took a deep breath before struggling to get up. “What about Berschel? What about my son? Did you save him?”

“Not yet.” Roy pondered about it for a while before coming to a decision. “We’ll save him right away.” If the spider’s not alone, its friends would have come out by now. And Huckle can’t go down alone. I’ll help him out.

Fifteen minutes later, Roy rappelled down the hole with nothing but a torch to light his surroundings, while Huckle stood guard outside. The rope was secured on Gwyhyr, which was buried in the ground outside.

Roy thought the den was humid, cold, and dark. At least it’s not like the tunnels. It’s one straight path down till the end. That confirmed the fact that the arachnomorph lived alone and didn’t manage to expand its colony in time.

He made the landing fifteen minutes later. Roy shone his torch around him and noticed that he was in a space that was slightly larger than the tunnel. It was about the size of an inn’s room, and the walls were covered in branches and leaves connected by clay. That provided great insulation for the space.

There were three white cocoons in the cave’s depths. The smallest one was on the left, which was the rooster they used as bait. The one in the middle was probably a mole or a raccoon, while the one on the right looked like a human. That’s the one. It was unmoving, not unlike a corpse, but Roy noticed some breathing coming from it.

Delighted, he quickly sliced the top part with his bolt, and out came a horrifying sight. Roy could see that it was a young man. He had big eyes, bushy brows, thick lips, and a wide jaw. The man looked honest enough, but there were bulges on his face. The bulges were the size of a whole fingernail, and they were spread across his cheeks, forehead, and chin. Roy noticed the bulges squirm, obviously containing something alive in them.

Even though the young man wasn’t awake, Roy knew he must’ve been having a nightmare, for he kept frowning.

‘Berschel:

Gender: Male

Age: Eighteen years old

Status: Civilian, baker’s apprentice

HP: 10/50 (Dying)’

***

Roy turned around and took a deep breath. He thought he’d seen a lot of disgusting things, but the sight still made his stomach churn. Having live spiders in his body must be a torture. “Can you hear me, Berschel? Say something,” Roy tried to wake him up, but he got no response. Left with no choice, he tied the cocoon up with a rope and dragged it up with him.