I managed to find my way back to the cave, after a harrowing fifteen minutes of sneaking around avoiding demons and dragging myself through the dust.

But I did survive! And once I got back to the cave, I could relax. Or not exactly relax, but I knew that I was back in familiar territory.

After entering the small cave, I overlooked the pool of glowing blue liquid, and finally, I could put those damn spiders out of my head, at least for a minute or two.

Sitting down with my back against the wall, I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.

Now that I was here, I was going to need to rest up. My stats would take time to regenerate, but that's all they needed. As long as I played it safe, I could camp out in the cave until I was all healed up.

Although that plan sounded incredibly boring, it was most likely the safest thing I could do.

So I sat there, the makeshift sword laying across my lap, breathing steadily, straining my ears for any demons nearby.

....

I wasn't exactly sure how long I had spent hanging around in that cave; it might have been half a day, it might have been three.

What I do know is that sitting inside a tiny cave for an unknown amount of time with nothing to do, is a huge pain.

I was so bored I started eating more of that disgusting Cirilka meat, just so I could have something to do. Luckily, eating that stuff also counted towards advancing my Iron Stomach skill, which had leveled up twice throughout the day.

But besides eating demon-crabs, I had nothing to do! Sure, I managed to occupy myself by fiddling around with the Cirilka shells, trying to make more armor, but I couldn't get anything to work!

Alongside that, I tried to get some decent sleep, but with how stressed I was, I only managed half an hour at a time before being jolted awake.

And I haven't even mentioned the demons that kept wandering nearby!

For the most part, it was just more Tiletik Spiderlings, but there were some big ones that were higher than level 10, things like Imps and blade-demons, and also more dangerous things.

A lone Abitsimus had wandered nearby, close enough for me to see him in the distance. He didn't get close enough to notice me, but the encounter still took years off my life.

But for the most part, the only demons I fought during that time were Spiderlings. It was honestly confusing since I hadn't seen a single one of those spiders until recently, and now they were everywhere.

I encountered one every hour or so. Maybe even more than that, to be honest. The tiny bastards seemed like they were taking over the area, and I hated that thought.

Why are there so many of them? They're all so weak! Barely any are above level 2, and even I don't have a hard time fighting the weaker ones!

I didn't understand why the other demons in the area hadn't just eaten the Spiderlings yet.

I was definitely missing some key information. I didn't know everything about the spiders, which is why I was so confused by the situation.

Well, I'm already planning to do some scouting, so I'm sure I'll be able to figure some things out then.

I tore off a small chunk of Cirilka, chewing mindlessly on the white meat, and leaned against the cave wall.

"Main menu."

Main Menu: Lake Rogers

- Character Profile

- Quests (2)

- Loot Boxes

- Options

- Traits

Looks like I had some new quests! Hopefully, they wouldn't be too crazy; it would be nice if I completed them fast and got some useful items.

But at the moment, I wanted to take a look at the character profile.

Lake Rogers

Age: 19

Level: 3 (224/300)

HP: 12/17 (Regen/Day: 7)

SP: 14/14 (Regen/Day: 28)

MP: 13/13 (Regen/Day: 20)

Power: 14

Endurance: 15

Agility:17

Vitality: 14

Manipulation: 11

Concentration: 10

Willpower: 26

Skills:

Perception - 3, Foresight - 2, Climbing - 1, Contemplation - 1, Punching - 3, Kicking - 3, Jumping - 2, Stomping - 2, Analyze - 1, Demon Killer - 3, Abyss Sanctum; Mastery of Death - 1, Demonic Envelopment - 1, Sprint - 1, Explosive Artist - 1, Grappler - 1, Slayer - 3, Persistence - 1, Stealth - 1, Reflexes - 3, Time Dilation - 1, Deception - 1, Blood Rush - 1, Scavenging - 1, Tracking - 1, Taunt - 1, Regenerate - 1, Quick Feet - 2, Tenacity - 1, Iron Stomach - 3, Double Hit - 1, Block - 1, Counter - 1, Beginner Water Magic - 1, Beginner Ice Magic - 1, Beginner Blood Magic - 1, Fire Absorption - 5,

Fear Resistance - 1, Heat Resistance - 5, Bludgeoning Resistance - 1, Pain Resistance - 3, Slashing Resistance - 2

It felt amazing, being able to look over all of that stuff.

My willpower was at 26! That's just crazy! Along with that, I had tons of awesome skills, I was nearly level 4, and all my stats were looking great.

I couldn't wait to go back to that spider nest and find another Tiletik Hunter.

Fighting that thing would be so much fun!

Before that, though, I should check out my new quests.

Quest: The Novice Magician

So, you've managed to cast your first spell. By grabbing onto your soul and squeezing out some droplets of mana, you're now a "master of all magic", is that right? Wrong! Even mediocre magicians have dozens of spells available, and are always learning more! But for a beginner like you, I suppose five spells will suffice. Prove yourself worthy of being called a proper spellcaster!

Objective: Learn five spells

Reward: Uncommon loot box

- - - - - - -

Quest: Baby Steps

Now that you've awakened to the system and your acquisition period is all wrapped up, we should get cracking on some bigger goals! And by that I mean: we're aiming for the pinnacle! You may be weak right now, at level 1, but even the gods had to start somewhere, am I right? So for right now, let's make it to level 5.

Objective: Acquire Level 5

Reward: Common loot box

Both the quests sound like fun, and I can work towards the objectives passively. The only problem is I still don't know how to learn more spells. Last time, I just sorta fiddled around with the magic, and things... happened.

And I have a feeling that messing with things I don't understand is a great way to kill myself, especially when it comes to magic.

But besides that, the quests look great!

Turning my attention away from the floating text in front of me, I paced around the cave and stroked my chin thoughtfully.

I needed to come up with a strategy in order to kill the Tiletik Hunter. I had a feeling that even with full SP, that Hunter would be a tough opponent. It was blindingly fast, and...

I winced, my hand reaching up to graze the scabbed-over wound on the left side of my head.

Most of the outer ear had been torn off, leaving what I assumed would look like a bloody hole in the side of my head.

The pain was a constant reminder, faint, but always pounding. Along with that, my hearing on that side was dulled and weak. I couldn't hear what direction sound was coming from on that side.

I grit my teeth, narrowing my eyes.

It would be scary, yeah, but I needed to beat that thing. I had to overcome it, to show that I was better. I was going to kill that spider, no matter how difficult the fight would be.

....

The journey to the spider-nest was around twenty minutes long, but that didn't count the slow pace I went while trying to avoid any roaming demons.

And even though traveling through those claustrophobic rock passages towards the Tiletik-nest hadn't been pleasant, it did give me plenty of time to think.

I had decided that the best strategy for fighting the Hunter would be letting the spider chase me towards a dead end. Then I would quickly surprise it by turning around and activating Blood Rush and Time Dilation, then spamming Double Hit until the spider was dead.

It was definitely not an SP-efficient strategy, but I figured that it would work pretty well!

As I began figuring out the specifics of the plan and thinking about how I should save SP, I finally made it to that massive cliff and the spider-cave.

But what I saw surprised me.

The cave mouth was more than ten feet tall and just as wide.

When I had last been to that place, it was covered in curtains and walls of webbing, Tiletiks crawling all over, and the whole place looked generally nightmarish.

But this, this was a very different sight from last time.

The webs had been violently slashed apart as if they were attacked by a massive sword.

Dead Tiletiks were everywhere, of all types. There were Spiderlings, Hunters, as well as ones covered in eyes and a giant one around six feet long.

Everything was dead, sliced apart with lethal precision.

I gulped loudly.

My eyes turned to stare into the mouth of the cave, now opened and revealed to the outside.

Webs had fallen to the ground, although a few tattered banners remained to partially cover the entrance.

A cool wind blew from the darkness.

I walked over the fallen webs and piles of dead spiders, careful not to trip or get stuck.

Entering the cave, I felt the temperature drop dramatically, and I widened my eyes as I adjusted to the shadows.

There were even more dead Tiletiks inside.

Luckily, the light didn't fade completely, even when I ventured deeper into the cave. I was able to see decently, although it was still quite dark.

An echo suddenly resounded through the cave, and I startled at the noise.

It sounded suspiciously like a scream.

The scream was throaty, yet high pitched and it buzzed in my ear. The noise was faint but deep, like it was very, very loud, coming to me from a far distance. It sounded as if whatever had made that noise was large; extremely large.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I glanced down at my sword and tightened my grip.

I smiled, because I had a feeling I knew exactly what that noise was.

It sounded like a boss fight.