Chapter 24: 23. Better

"What in the dark abyss, random hidden hole? What is that all about?" Bones objects to the surprise as soon as he is summoned.

My eye takes a moment to adjust. When it does, I can clearly see we are trapped. Despite my best climbing efforts, I can't make it out of the deep hole. Granted, I don't give it my best effort. Surely there is a bone summoned tool I can use to escape the pits. My heart just isn't entirely in it to find the solution. 

As creepy as the hole we find ourselves in is, it is not the end of our adventure. Rather it is the start. "Boss," I say, breaking Bones from his objections. "Check out this tunnel system. Looks like it goes deeper. Shall we explore?"

"Well, clearly, you don't want to actually escape this dark pit, so our only way forward is deeper." Bones pauses for a moment, then says, "Follow me," as he walks deeper into the tunnel.

"You know what they say, boss—Follow the dark tunnel to find the treasure." My words parade a false bravado. Yeah, I want to do some exploring, but that doesn't mean the dark unknown doesn't slightly terrify me. Especially considering it was a trap we fell into that brought us to this dark unknown. Most likely, only good things will be waiting for us. Now I use a lie to invigorate my steps.

"That isn't a thing. That's definitely not what they say either. Just because it is dark and gloomy doesn't mean there will be treasure at the end of the tunnel. Arguably, it is the opposite." Bones responds as he takes the lead. Slowly we descend deeper and further in the dark tunnel. 

After the slightest moment of silence, Bones continues his argument. "Only the foolish and the damned walk the paths of darkness.—That's probably what they say. I can see how you would misinterpret that, though. They are pretty similar in that they both consist of words and stuff."

Whoever dug the tunnel did so with larger people or things in mind. Neither Boss nor I have to crouch; if we wanted to, we could walk side by side. It works to our advantage to have Bones lead the way since his energy vision isn't limited by the low light setting. "The treasure we find is the journey we shared along the way." I merrily retort back.

Masterfully, Bones' body shudders, filling the cave with his discontent like he is casting an area of effect debuff. "I wish I didn't hear that." Bones says with a groan.

Distant scratching noises immediately follow Bones' words, allowing me to assume he wasn't talking about my positive proverb. Feint at first, the scratching grows louder and more prevalent. More shudders fill the cave. This time I'm unsure who the culprit of the expressed discomfort is. Naturally, we step more carefully as we work towards the mysterious sounds. 

"Just because you crouch doesn't make you instantly sneaky" The sudden sentence forms in my mind causing me to jump in surprise. I ready my bow, without drawing, by notching an arrow. Bones is still in the lead, hardly moving forward if moving at all.

"Tasty human, come out into the light so we can admire our fresh treat." On cue, the tunnel ahead begins to glow with lights. Still, we can not see our mocking hostesses. However, they continue communicating like we are well acquainted in a morbid manner. 

"Your boney friend is clanking so noisily we could hear you coming miles away. Thanks to the boisterous announcement, we could make dinner preparations right on time." If it wasn't weird before, it is weird now. Even Bones is giving me crept-out looks. A facial expression I have yet to see on my companion.  

"Hold up," Bones says as he stands upright and covertly searches for the weapon worn on his hip. "Just because you outnumber us and have a very intimidating presence doesn't mean that you have us trapped. It just so happens you fiends are exactly where we want you."

As if using his words to slice through the uneasy tension, Bones keeps engaging our new acquaintances. "Also," he cuts into his next thought, "based on my limited knowledge of arachnids, you things don't eat fresh foods. You let your food rot and fester." It isn't until now that I get a good idea of what we are facing. Of course, it will be the stuff of nightmares, and lots of them.

"It just so happens that I'm your terminator. You can't eat me, your poison has no effect on me, and I'm only slightly terrified of your redundant legs. Honestly, anything more than four is gross and overkill. Do you get to places twice as fast as other animals? No? Then. What is the point? "Bones' taunt, turned lecture is answered with the boisterous taps of spider legs surging towards our position. 

Now the spiders step into my field of vision. Roughly six feet in height and width, long bent pointy legs, shiny dark bulbous eyes, sharp girthy fangs the length of our short swords, the spiders are, in fact, nightmare-inducing. Though I am not sure of the numbers, it only takes three spiders to completely seal off the cave if packed together. Which they have done in front of us, setting up a barricade. 

The way ahead is closed off. Turning my head to the side, it is clear the path behind is closed off similarly. Creepy that we didn't notice the spiders moving behind us. They have us completely enclosed. No longer speaking and ignoring Bones's heckling, the spiders on both sides start slowly moving in. 

"Captain, how about you leave this one to me. If it gets too dicey, be quick to summon me and keep yourself well protected. "Maybe Bones hasn't noticed the spiders behind us yet. 

"Sure thing, Boss," I say as I let loose my notched arrow into the spider packed in the middle. Before it hits, another arrow is drawn and fired. In quick succession, two spiders blocking our retreat are taken out of the fight. "Let me just take out this final spider behind us, and you are good to go." By the time Bones turns around the three spiders behind us are dead.

Keeping myself out of the way, I split my attention between watching our backs and supporting Bones with the occasional arrow. Slowly I shuffle back to the downed spiders and recruit them to our side. The three spider recruits are commanded to keep our backs safe, allowing me to devote more support to Bones. 

Bones adeptly fights his way through the cluster of legs and webs. He swings his short swords with the precision of a trained fighter, cutting any webs trying to trap him. Keeping himself balanced and well positioned in the harsh terrain looks natural as Bones maneuvers from advantage spot to advantage spot. 

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Pressing towards the wall of spiders, Bones' close attacks cause them to rely less on the webs and more on their feet. Legs from every direction are trying to pierce the skeleton. Bones deflects the leg volley keeping them at bay. 

When the oppressive attacks falter slightly, Bones doesn't. Capitalizing on the moment of opportunity to strike, Bones directs his aggression towards the spider on his left. He steps in close to the target, and with his left blade, he cuts the beast dislodging limbs and fangs. Then with a wicked stab, he ends the spider's life. 

The fallen spider corpse temporarily blocks the spiders in reserve from filling in the blockade. Still acting as the aggressor, Bones focuses on the next spider in the blockade. I shoot arrow after arrow into the spider on the right, allowing Bones the chance to quickly dispose of the spider, similarly to how he did before. Both the remaining blockading spiders fall almost in unison. One from swords, the other from arrows. 

Knowing that the fresh corpses can give us an advantage in the fight, Bones presses forward closer to the hosts of spiders, waiting for their chance to feast. The tight corridor doesn't give a significant advantage to numbers, so I only reanimate one spider, bringing my troops to four. The other two spiders I absorb. Amidst the fighting and chaos, information flows to my mind.

Webbing: Summon spider webbing that clings to surfaces. Webbing can be used for trapping and roping.

Without thinking further, I invest a small amount of mana required to absorb the new ability. Treasure now claimed I keep my attention on our backs. For the moment, it is clear. None of my three guardian spiders have had to do any fighting.

Free from conflict behind me, I focus ahead on the fight. Bones still holds the spiders at bay, and any spider that tries to go overhead is faced with a spider corpse acting as Bones' backup. I wait for the moment Bones dodges to the side. When he does, I let loose an arrow. Flying quickly through the tunnel, the arrow pierces the attacking spider. As the wounded spider rears up in pain, Bones steps in to finish the job. More arrows are fired toward the ceiling alleviating the pressure our support spider is facing. 

Cohesively we work together to reduce the eight-legged fiends while we slowly back out of the tunnel. Bones is consumed in an orbit of sword slices, moving his blades quickly to keep the pressure on the attackers and defend himself from any webs being slung. My arrows fill any gap in his defense, claiming just as many spiders as Bones' blades. 

Bones quits retreating and pushes forward—creating a prominent gap between him and me—carving a path of destruction into the spiders.

The strategic push for spacing is too easy. 

Three spiders feign their death, and as Bones moves past, they spring into action. Two charge my minion from behind while the third targets me. An arrow to its eye quickly brings down my attacker while my support spider drops to counter Bones' flanking opposition. Quickly I recruit the fallen spider in front of me. Only sort of dead, my new zombie spider rushes toward the flanking threat. 

Between me and my reanimated support spider's attacks, we quickly eliminate the threat behind Bones. Bones, now safe from flanking attacks, I can check my own back to make sure my guardian spiders are still guarding. All three are still reanimated with no visible threats, allowing me to turn my focus back to Bones.  

Bones is overwhelmed. Bringing my support spider off the ceiling allowed enemy spiders to take its place. Though it was only a brief moment, the spiders punish my mistake attacking Bones from above and in front. Webs are being shot constantly towards Bones entangling and restricting his movent. Overwhelmed, the predators finally ensnare Bones tightly in their webs and plunge their fangs repeatedly into their captured prey. 

Bones thrashes wildly, trying to escape his bonds. "Freaking spiders," he shouts from his confinement. "Stop trying to nibble on me! This isn't how you conduct yourself in a society." His muffled voice projects from the webbing.

With the spiders' attention on Bones, I command three of my reanimated spiders to hedge the way between Bones and me, leaving two spiders guarding my back. With solid protection between the live spiders and me, I dismiss Bones and immediately summon him back, arming him with two more short swords. 

"Hey, captain, remind me when we get out of this hell hole that I have a few upgrades I would like you to consider. Scratch that. As boss, I demand some upgrades."

"Sure, sure. We make it out of here with no spider eggs inside of us, I'll listen to your demands. Speaking of escape, I can seal off this tunnel, and we can retreat, burn down the forest, and then never step foot in this area again." Fortunately, the death aura was thick in the tunnel, leaving me plenty of mana to work with.

"Thought about it. Sounds good. Close off the tunnel, and let's get out of this wretched impoverished pit of a hole." Bones shouts back. 

With the five corpses keeping the rest of the spiders at bay, I use more pale energy to create a solid barrier between us. For good measure, I add a couple more. With our safety as secure as possible in the given situation, I take a moment to absorb the remains of dead spiders we left in our wake. The amount of corpses from Bones' brief counter advancement shows how effective he has become with his weapons. The hard weeks of training are paying off. 

Screeching and clawing can be heard as the spiders try to get through the barrier. Fortunately, it holds long enough for us to make it back to the hole we fell into. Earlier climbing out of the hole was a challenge. However, absorbing the spiders allowed me to obtain web-creating abilities. "Behold our treasure!" I say before summoning rope in the form of webbing. A summoned spear later, I attach the webbing to the spear and begin throwing it out of the pit. 

After a few unsuccessful attempts, I manage to get the web to latch onto a tree branch above. I turn to Bones, give him a grin and say, "First try." Being the hero that I am, I let Bones stay behind while I climb out of the hole.

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