[Tian] 1:17 (Patreon)

A GIANT SPIDER STANDS BEFORE KALMAT. 

It spreads its mouth wide open, revealing sharp fangs dripping with venom. Its gray chitin makes it hard to see in the dark cavern. It blends in almost perfectly with the stone walls and the stalagmites poking out of the ground.

It strikes down at Kalmat with a screech. The man parries the attack with a swing of his sword. A glow overcomes his blade— not his Feat, but his Aspect. And with a single swing, he slices off the monster’s legs.

“Kalmat!” Keshiy calls out, rushing forward. She conjures a ball of fire, hurling it at the downed gargantuan spider. The blast burns its body, lighting the venom leaking out like blood from a wound ablaze.

Beihal raises a hand, stopping her in her tracks. “Wait— that’s tarantinel! Don’t get close—”

My eyes narrow. I spot small, crawling specks emerge from the burning corpse. Smaller spiders— still about the size of my head— pour forth like a rushing waterfall. They each let out a soft screech, sounding almost like a chirp. This chittering bounces from the cave walls.

It draws our more tarantinels. Some of them are as large as the first, although others are smaller, many of them about the size of a person. Kalmat stabs his sword to the ground. He lets go of his blade, walking forth as Lifeblood gathers around him.

“Freeze the large ones— stop them from multiplying! Burn the rest!”

Flame and ice shoots out from both his hands. Keshiy backs him up from behind, while Beihal focuses his fire on the oncoming black wave of the smaller tarantinels. They are sheared through almost easily, like a cloth being prepared for sewing.

However, the monsters pour out of the darkness. They seep through thin cracks. It is almost as if they are a deluge, leaking into a broken-down wooden home during a storm. Seiled shouts something, and Nindran activates her Feat.

She blasts a larger tarantinel in half, before splashing it with a tide of water. The moisture around its broken body instantly freezes. It stops the smaller spiders within its body from escaping in time.

It seems like it should be an easy victory. Herder runs in a circle, leaving fire in his tracks to form a perimeter around us. Kalmat slices apart another tarantinel and crushes its body with his Aspect, killing anything inside of it. I do not have to intervene— or at least, I do not think I do at first.

But it becomes clear that this swarm of monsters will not stop. The clicking of their sharp and spindly appendages against the cold stone echoes incessantly from the distance.

“They just keep coming!” Beihal yells, tossing aside his lightshooter. He shifts his stance, instead manipulating the Lifeblood around him, drawing magic to fight with.

“Stand your ground!” Kalmat’s Aspect flares out. It coalesces into a wall, barring the path of the second swarm. The tarantinels that slam into it screech— their bodies burning from the sizzling energy of his Aura.

A sharp hiss cuts through their clamoring. They foolishly press on, getting incinerated by the Aspect. It is like their bodies are melting, dissolving, as they tumble and sink into the black wall. Smoke rises up to the cave ceiling— it clouds my vision with a thin veil.

Fortunately, I can still see through this haze. I spin around, squinting as I glance at the tunnel we came from.

“Kalmat.”

My voice draws his attention. I point at the descending, dark blanket rolling down the corridor. His eyes grow wide.

“They’re flanking us from behind!”

The tarantinels encroach on us from all directions. I feel for my novacloth pouch— ten ginsoul pills are left. At the rate these monsters are coming, I may have to consume more than one if I want to help. But… must I really fight to help them?

My gaze sweeps around this impending tide. There is no intelligence here. Or at least, so little intelligence it cannot be ascertained. So, why are these monsters attacking us? Where are they even coming from?

We did not stumble into their nest— this is a coordinated response. Otherwise, they would have attacked us on the way down the tunnel rather than waiting for us to fully descend. If the Desolate Caverns really do belong to the Websmith, then the creatures residing within it should fall under her rule.

Can the Websmith have commanded this? I do not believe these monsters can be reasoned with. Not in any sense like a Sacred Beast. They are like Spirits, instinctual and vicious.  Perhaps she is using something similar to the School of Invocation. She may have sent them this way with magic, scaring them away from her rather than a direct link. But why assail us, and not Galgom? I feel a tugging at my lips, drawing it into a frown.

“A test, then,” I murmur. I glance over at Kalmat as he cuts down another tarantinel. “Do you believe this Websmith will help us? Is she truly intelligent enough to negotiate with?”

He backs away from a chomping mandible. “She is the last guardian of this world.” He meets my gaze with an unwavering look. “There is no one in Utana I trust left in Utana to be as wise as her.”

“I see.”

I remember the five Springs— the false test for immortality. I assumed it was one to prove my strength, my courage, my desire. However, it was not.

If this test by the Websmith is one of sheer force, then she is a fool. She is directly harming her own chances of defeating Galgom. So, this has to be a puzzle. She must not want us to defeat all the tarantinels here— if that is even possible. We have to stymie this wave.

My gaze snaps to the side as there is another blast. A beam of light shoots from Seiled’s lightshooter. It blasts the head of a giant spider off. Before the tarantinels inside of it can escape, Nindran freezes the hole.

“Oi, squirt, can you gimme more of a warnin’ next time?”

I blink. “I think I understand.”

Our group backs up to the entrance of the tunnel. The tarantinels at our back are still approaching, rapidly getting closer. We will be crushed by both sides here. I raise a hand, pointing it at the gaping hole.

“Back up, Beihal,” I call out.

The bulky man pauses before the ground just next to him rises up. A thick wall covers the exit, blocking the view from the second horde. “Flamelord’s fury— Tian, what are you doing?”

I ignore him, marching up to Kalmat as I crunch on a ginsoul pill. “Can you use your Aspect to hold the rest of the tarantinels off? I have to borrow Nindran.”

He grimaces. There are explosions and flashes of light all around us. Everyone is doing what they can just to fend off the unending tarantinels. “I can try…”

“Do not worry. I will not take long.”

“”What are you planning?” he asks.

I close my eyes. I remember the soft sounds of dripping water; the pattering of the rain from the outside was almost serene. Some of it seeped into the house through a roof. The stillness of the water droplets, ever-so-often splashing against the wooden floor, compared to the tempest raging outside, incessant in its anger, felt… calming. It soothed my soul.

But mother warned me, “A single leak can cause a collapse.”

I protested, but she fixed the ceiling. Even though she was weak— even though poison ran through her meridians— she got to her feet regardless. Was the danger of a thunderstorm really present for her? No. But it was a threat for me.

My eyes open. I return back to reality— to the present. I speak simply.

“A single leak can cause a collapse.” I cast my gaze around the room, pinpointing where the tarantinels are swarming from. “And this ceiling is riddled with holes.”

Kalmat stares at me. “Uh, what?”

“I will put a halt to the tarantinels approach.” I look down at the palm of my hand. Another ginsoul pill rests there. Hopefully I do not have to take another one.

I take a step back, adjusting my sash.

“We will pass this test.”

He hesitates, but nods anyway. “Got it.” He breathes deeply and bellows. “Keeps of the Grove—”

I feel a surge of inspiration flow through my body, though I do not spend any more time listening to his speech. Instead, I grab Nindran before she runs straight into another of the giant spiders.

“Tian? What are you—”

“You are coming with me.”

I leap through the air, over the first wave of tarantinel. The azure-haired woman screams, flailing her arms wildy as I land lightly on a stalagmite.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh—”

“Quiet down,” I snap. I point a finger at a looming tarantinel, firing a Ray of Esh its way. The monster falls, dead. “Freeze it.”

She stares for a moment, uncomprehending. Then she hurriedly brings her hand together, covering the corpse with a layer of ice.

“Is that why you kidnapped me?” she asks with a bewildered look.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I want you to do the same thing, but with that.” I gesture at the closest crack running alongside the cave chamber. Where the monsters are pouring out from.

“I… don’t see anything?” She rubs at her eyes.

I snort. “Of course not. It is too dark and the smoke is too thick for you to see through. Now come.”

I grab her once more, flipping over the snapping mandibles of a larger tarantinel. I easily avoid most of the swarm, hopping over their carapaces and the rock columns jutting out of the ground. Finally, we reach the first entrance for the swarm.

Nindran’s eyes go round. “Oh. No wonder they just keep comin’.”

“Freeze it.”

She shakes her head. “I’ll do one better.” Pressing her hands together, I watch as the sides of the wall slowly closes in on the crevice. She groans, as if she is actually physically exerting herself to move the stone. It closes, and she lets out a sigh in relief.

“Great. We’re done now, right?”

“No. There are four more.”

“What?” she sputters. She makes an over exaggerated movement with her hands. “That took everything outta me!”

“Are you not marked?” I raise a brow. “Surely someone like you who has been recognized by the Elocunive is more capable than that.”

Nindran chews her lower lip. “I, uh…” I continue staring at her until she shifts her feet. A tarantinel comes from behind us, but before I can do anything, it freezes entirely. The azure-haired woman looks up, grinning. “Ya can count on me.” She shoots me a thumbs-up.

I smile. “Good. Let us continue.”

We repeat the process three more times, each time Nindran straining herself harder than before. I carry her over the swarm of monsters. Their numbers are visibly dwindling— the closed entrances are not opening back up, so the incessant waves of tarantinels are slowing drastically.

However, when we reach the last spot, Nindran looks at the size of the hole disbelievingly. “I can’t shut that— especially not when…” She brings her hand up to gather Lifeblood, but it does not gather. She coughs, panting heavily as I knock away an angry tarantinel just slightly smaller than me.

“Are you alright?”

“Fine and dandy, just… a bit tired ‘sall.” She tries to give me a reassuring look, but coughs as she loses grip of the Lifeblood once again. It is like they begin to gather around her, before dissipating as too much of them get close.

I feel for my Qi— it is starting to get low. I will have to take another ginsoul pill. Then I will have eight left. I have nine from what I started out with, and it has barely been a month since I arrived in this world.

My fists clench as I consider what I should do. My Aura is still inert. The only other thing I can do is…

I place a hand on Nindran’s shoulder, supporting her. She grits her teeth, then looks at me, perplexed.

“I will help you,” I say, nodding.

“But you can’t use magic, can you?”

“I cannot. Not enough to be useful. But I am able to do this.” I hold up my palm as Lifeblood gathers there. An entire cluster of it just sits there— it does not do anything because I cannot tell it to do much.

But more and more gather. I focus only on bringing the Lifeblood to Nindran, for her to manipulate. “Use it.” I kick a charging tarantinel back. I shatter its carapace entirely. It is a small one, so only a few tiny spiders come from its corpse.

Nindran eyes my proffered hand as I urge her to take the Lifeblood. She inhales deeply, steeling herself, before grabbing hold of my arm. I feel her cold grip tightly grasp into my forearm. The red blobs evaporate, being used up by her with a loud grunt.

The hole in the wall is slowly covered up. I can feel the ground shake, the earth rumbles. The gaping crevice letting in dozens of tarantinels at once is slammed shut. The azure-haired woman collapses.

“That… sucked…” she manages to sigh.

I look down at the collapsed woman, then at the cave chamber. The last of the tarantinels are easily dealt with. Hundreds of bodies— all of them belonging to the tarantinels— litter the floor. Only a few really stand out, as most of them had been smaller than us.

Kalmat walks up to us, his black hair drenched with sweat. “Good job, Tian, Nindran. If that had really gone on for too long, we’d have been in trouble.”

“No probs…” Nindran tries to give a thumbs-up, but fails. “Thought of the plan all by myself.”

I roll my eyes, although I do not interject. Kalmat faces me with a furrowed brow. “You think that was a challenge by the Websmith?”

“Or a kind of test. It seemed almost too convenient how the tarantinels attacked us with increasing ferocity. And the holes in the walls… they are definitely artificial. The tarantinels themselves cannot burrow through them.”

I tap a finger on my chin as I explain. I can see a few dubious looks coming from a few like Herder— the ones I do not know well. But Beihal seems to believe it, and Keshiy— she exclaims.

“Wait, I just got—”

She is interrupted by another shout. Seiled jumps up in the air excitedly, pumping a fist. “I—”

And more and more people break into shock and excitement. I realize soon after what they are all celebrating about as even Nindran jerks back to her feet.

“I… got another Feat!”

I pause, waiting for the voice in my head. And it comes.

For passing the Websmith’s test, you are awarded a level in your Class!

- Soul Seeker Level 3 advances to Soul Seeker Level 4.

Tian

Race: Ren

Class: Soul Seeker Level 4

Feats:

- Void Walk

- Ray of Esh

- Galgom’s End

- The Guardian’s Blessing

My lips quirk up as even Kalmat checks on his mark. He has leveled too, just like everyone else. “So, it was a test,” he remarks.

“Yes,” a deep voice replies. I glance up at a set of eight eyes looking down at me. A spider, just like the tarantinels, but far, far larger, hangs from the ceiling. It dangles from a thin thread that almost looks like it is made of iron, before releasing itself and crashing down before us. The dust settles as it— no, she stands before us. “Congratulations, Keepers of the Grove, you have passed my test. Now, let me ask you: why have you come here?”