I sprinted as fast as I could, but couldn’t shake Rhannu. He was a warrior who already had an official rank of D. Although speed was not his strong suit, he could easily keep up with me.

I tried to create a portal to bring me back inside my subspace where it would be safe, but it was extremely slow to open, and I wasn’t able to create a portal wide enough to fit my bear form. I knew I was stronger inside my subspace than I am outside, but the difference is much greater than I thought. I also can’t phase myself inside the subspace like I do with the things I eat.

I felt a surge of mana from behind me, and threw myself to the side. Rhannu’s right hand, now in the shape of an elongated wooden spear, pierced the ground where I had been, violently shaking the earth where it struck. One hit from that would most certainly kill me.

Rhannu kept his hand rooted in the ground where it struck, and shortened it again, using it to rapidly pull himself towards me. Meanwhile his left hand changed shape to a wide tree branch, and extended to smash ahead of me. It then raked and pulled itself across the ground. I dug my claws into the ground and skidded to a stop, then turned away from the rake and ran at an angle past Rhannu, just barely outrunning the branch.

I was still spewing mist, and he wasn't in a state of mind to keep himself out of it. There wasn't any angle I could run at that could keep him out of the mist long enough to regain composure. I’d have to find a distraction to occupy him long enough to get away.

I smelled the air, and identified a few species in the nearby area. There was a herd of deer, a pack of wolves, something I couldn’t identify, and a few other individual beasts. I didn’t want to distract him with anything too dangerous, so I ran in the direction of the deer, dodging Rhannu’s strikes as I went.

I leaped into and around the herd before darting off. Rhannu was distracted by the infuriated group, so I tried to use the opportunity to gain some distance.

It was over in a moment. Rhannu swept his branch-arm throughout the entire herd, skewering a few in the process, before crushing them all into a giant ball. He turned his attention back towards me, and threw the ball of deer in my direction. The deer-ball scattered as it traveled, and a fawn struck me in the back, causing me to stumble for a step.

I bit into the fawn, and began to pull it into my subspace. If I exhaust my mana, I won’t be able to continue spewing mist. On the other hand, it was difficult to interact with the space and run at the same time. Even if I could deplete my mana, the rage would likely last a while after. I wouldn't even be able to run at full speed with my mana depleted, so he'd just kill me anyways. Best case scenario, I lose the first monster form I ever got, so I abandoned the idea.

I pivoted towards the wolves, hoping they would slow Rhannu down just a bit more. They met the same fate as the deer, though they at least lasted a few seconds longer. The individual animals I identified wouldn’t even last a second, so I placed my hope in the unidentified scent. My instincts were telling me it was dangerous, so with luck, it could distract him for a short time. It's probably even a monster, as there's no regular animal that my monster form would fear on an instinctual level.

Rhannu could certainly hold his own against a monster, even on his own. I wonder why I’ve already encountered another monster so quickly in a low-mana zone? I can't afford to give the thought much attention whilst running for my life. Hopefully it’s nothing too crazy.

I galloped in the monster’s direction. It was in the trees, obscured by the branches. Looking up for it, I nearly missed the massive web in front of me. I skidded to a halt, and threw myself to the side once more as Rhannu’s branch arm smashed through the webbing, ripping it from the trees it was stuck to. Rhannu retracted his arm with some resistance, pulling some of the webbing with it.

The monster felt its web being disturbed, and swiftly climbed through the webbing it had laid above us, then descended between us. where its web had been cut. Unlike the barbearian, I recognized this monster from Norbury school’s “local monsters” class.

‘

Spiderilla:

Size: 7 feet tall, 8 feet long, 6 feet wide

Alignment: force

Rank: E-D

Description:

The Spiderilla appears to be a cross between a gorilla and a spider. Similar to a centaur, it is clearly separated into top and bottom halves.

Its top half is that of a gray-ish gorilla. It has slightly oversized arms, and secretes an oily substance from its palms that allow it to hold onto its own webbing without sticking.

Its bottom half is that of a giant, hairy, black spider. Its web is roughly the girth of a standard rope.

Personality:

The Spiderilla is fiercely territorial. It will fight any who enter its domain to the death, and will never leave the area it chooses as a home. It will generally leave alone those who do not approach the area, but will occasionally chase after those who retreat.

Diet:

Though the Spiderilla may occasionally nosh on vegetables, it is an obligate carnivore. Dissection has revealed its digestive tract to only be located within its spider half, offering an explanation for why its diet is closer to that of a spider.

Combat:

The density of its mana, and therefore its rank, is most commonly E rank. However, numerous cases of D rank spiderilla have been observed.

As a force aligned, the Spiderilla is capable of using mana to enhance its own and webbing’s strength to a much higher degree than other monsters or powereds of its rank.

Its bite is venomous, and can be lethal if not healed within half an hour. Its webbing is extremely tough and sticky, requiring strength of a rank roughly equal to the individual Spiderilla to overcome its adhesive, or a rank higher to break outright.

If combat is unavoidable, it is recommended to used ranged attacks to fight the Spiderilla. The Spiderilla can be easily kited due to its relatively low movement speed for its rank.

Origin:

The Spiderilla’s exact origins are unknown. Its first documented sighting was at the minor Ostean Labyrinth in the year 3,965 A.C.

It may have originated from a metamorphosed gorilla or giant spider, but its perfectly bisected structure suggests it to be an artificial creation using the two.

That being said, Elos was only recently colonized in the year 3,959 A.C., and relatively few humanoids had left Husaram by this time. Even fewer would have spent any meaningful amount of time in a labyrinth. Who would have been making artificial monster species at the time of its discovery, and for what purpose?

‘

As soon as he laid eyes upon it, Rhannu immediately changed target to the Spiderilla. His right arm speared straight towards the monster’s eyes, but it casually reached out and grabbed the stake-like hand, crushing as it clenched its fist. Rhannu tried to retract his arm, but it wouldn't budge. The Spiderilla picked Rhannu up by his own outstretched arm, then shifted its weight, leaned back, launched him over his shoulder into the air, then slammed Rhannu down. Rhannu reacted quickly, using his left branch-arm to cushion and stop his descent.

Rhannu dug his branch-arm into the ground, then aimed a foot at the Spiderilla. His right leg grew forwards and outwards in the Spiderilla’s direction, turning to roots. The monster threw away his arm, and dodged backwards, leaving a trail of webbing that stuck to and restrained Rhannu's leg.

I stayed to watch on the sidelines for about a short time, just in case. If Rhannu was winning, I would use the opportunity to run away. If he was losing, I would join the fight on his side. For now, they were evenly matched. If it can match Rhannu blow for blow, then it's likely this individual Spiderilla is D rank.

The fight would likely last a few minutes before a victor was decided. This gave me a new way out that I didn’t have time for before. I still don’t know how many minutes it takes to transform, and since I don’t know for sure that Rhannu will win, I have to be able to help him if the situation turns against him. I’ll exhaust my mana until I can’t produce rage mist anymore, then join the fight.

I bit into the ground below me, and used all my concentration to siphon the dirt into my subspace as quickly as I could. Within a minute, I began to feel hungry and weak, and my rage-sac sputtered out.

I looked back up towards the fight, and the situation changed once more. Rhannu was no longer consumed by rage, the mist having worn off some time after I left his vicinity. Instead, his expression was that of fear. His right leg and left branch-arm were gummed up with webbing and rooted to the ground. His spear-arm was still usable, but Rhannu appeared to have trouble keeping it up. Rhannu’s left leg had grown into a wall of vines that he was keeping between himself and the Spiderilla.

The Spiderilla looked similarly damaged. Its right arm hung onto it by a thread, having been speared one too many times. Most of its spider-legs had been crushed, and it was no longer able to stand, only drag itself forward.

It was still intent on killing Rhannu. It pounded and ripped at the wall of vines with its remaining arm and teeth.

I have to act quickly, before the Spiderilla breaks through. I circled around to its back side, towards its broken right arm. It didn’t seem to notice as I slowly approached, too enamored by its current target to check its surroundings.

When I got less than a foot away, it noticed me and turned to defend itself, but not quick enough. I jumped onto its back, and dug my claws into its shoulders. The monster screeched in pain, and flailed wildly.

The gorilla half was muscular, but with large muscles comes a lack of flexibility. It could not reach behind its back. The Spiderilla turned on its side, trying to smash me against the ground, but it was tired and injured — maybe even out of mana — and lacked the force to do real damage. Rhannu took the opportunity to further restrain it with his roots, and stab it once with his spear-arm.

Its flailing slowed as its exhaustion caught up to it, and it realized its own helplesness. I reached out with my snout, and opened my mouth, nestling its neck between my fangs. It let out a whimper, and I grew saddened by the situation we had put it in. It was just defending its own territory after all, and we were the violent invaders. I almost let it go then and there, abandoning the prospect of gaining its form for myself.

Almost.

With a gruesome crunch, I severed its spinal cord and ended its suffering. Its muscles spasmed, then grew limp.

With Rhannu still tangled, I dragged its corpse away, then tore at and ate its flesh. I began to produce mist again as I ate, taking in its own mana as my own.

I looked back towards Rhannu, who was still stuck. I’m not sure exactly how to get him out of there. My current form only has E-rank physical strength, which isn’t even enough to overcome a strand of the adhesive, much less a whole clump like what was on Rhannu. He doesn’t seem to have enough strength left to get himself out, either. Maybe he’s out of mana?

I walked away for fifteen minutes to go hunt for some food to give him. I made sure to use the remainder of my mana before going back to his side. He was asleep when I got back.

I walked over to him, and tried to nudge him awake, placing my paw on his webless right arm. He didn’t budge. “Rhannu?” I called in my unintelligible bear voice. “Rhannu, wake up.” I called again, nudging him more aggressively. “Uncle?” I stared down at him, paying closer attention to his wounds.

He was leaking sap out of some of his limbs, but sap-loss wasn’t lethal to a Dryad like Rhannu. They were fae — sentient monsters with souls comprised of spirits — with the bodies of trees. As long as their minds and souls were undamaged, most wounds would only limit mobility. The only things that could kill a tree-based Dryad in any reasonable timeframe was stuff like full on woodchipping, mind or soul damage, strong poison—

I turned my head, and stared in horror at Rhannu’s leg. The Spiderilla had gotten a bite or two in his leg, back when Rhannu had used it as a wall. I assumed that was just to help tear it down, but I was clearly wrong.

His chest heaved weakly, his breaths drawing slower and slower, until he let out a raspy whine, and drew breath no more.