Chapter 29: 28. The Wolf

Bones stayed close by, standing guard duty while I slept all night. When I wake up, I eat a quick breakfast. Together Bones and I run through a light fighting and stretching exercise. Afterward, we equip our armor. I am wearing a layer of active blackened chitin armor, and Boss is wearing thick leather hides because, in his words, "It looks cool." We grab our weapons and exit the cave mid-morning.  

As we make the summit of Waterfall Hills, we can tell that everything is different. What was once a densely overgrown forest is now a dark, densely overgrown forest full of webs. It is as if the spiders are constricting the life out of the woods. Definitely an eerie image with an eerie feeling. 

It only took the spiders a night; they have already claimed the Deep Woods and are now at our border. Even the energy feels off. The vibrant feel of Forest Camp is like the sun compared to this suffocating forest's gloomy, damp feel.

Thoughts granted to me from the Spider Queen suggested this would happen. Without a queen to keep the balance, the colony would consume the life out of everything. Now the spider plague is in full force. With how fast they spread, it will only be a few days before the forest, as I know it, is no more.

The fact of the matter is clear. Either we fight off the spreading population of arachnids or let the forest and our home be overtaken, life sucked from it. For me, it isn't much of a choice. Sure, I am not a native of the forest. However, I am grateful for my time in it and would be saddened to see the forest and its inhabitants suffer. This alone has solidified my resolve to fight. "I think you made the right call, Boss. This probably isn't a problem we can ignore."

"Thanks. Let's just make a deal. You can't die. Fair enough?"

"Fair enough." I have no intention of losing this round.

Stepping into the forest, Bones has a long slim sword in each of his four hands. The spider's exposed flesh makes this the best weapon of choice. Unlike Bones, I am holding onto my remodeled bow. 

In our previous excursion, we had to stir up the nest to get a reaction. This time it is only a matter of stepping onto the spider's newly claimed turf. Not long after entering the freshly infested grounds do we find ourselves surrounded. 

One significant difference between our last encounter is that I have a better-ranged weapon. That and I'm significantly stronger, quicker, and have much more stamina. So it turns out this is going to be a completely different fight. Oh, and Bones now has four arms and is trying a new fighting style. 

"Hello, spiders!" I hear Bones call out from the side of me. "We claim this forest, so you can leave now or die here." 

No verbal or mental answer responds to Bones. Instead, the spider assault begins. Bones charges out to meet them. His swords are creating chaos in their wake. Finding an enemy in their ranks, most of the spiders focus on Bones.

Bow in hand, I begin rapidly firing. When I am uninterrupted, I can get two shots per second. Traveling fast and packed with force, each arrow claims multiple lives of the numerous spiders. 

Either repulsed by Bones' relentless blades or trying to dispatch the closest foe, the spiders hardly engage me head-on. Occasionally a few get close, and I have to focus my shots on them. Almost every shot results in several kills or severe injuries. 

Seconds turn to minutes. Minutes turn to an hour. By this point, I am back to creating arrows. Conveniently this allows me to fire shots faster, and I get up to four shots per second. Constant arrows keep the pressure not only off of me but Bones as well. 

While very intimidating with his four arms, Bones isn't nearly as effective as he needs to be. His sword swings are clumsy, to begin with. He quickly gets overwhelmed if I don't shoot a few arrows his way. However, his wild sword dance amidst the spiders demands attention, and they continually focus on him. Bones trusts my support and continues to work with his new style while holding most of the enemies' attention. 

After trial and error, he becomes much more fluid with his motions. His sword dance becomes less wild and more controlled. He isn't the killing machine he was hoping he would be. Instead, his extra arms are more keeping spiders at bay and protecting his blind spots. Less and less arrows are needed to support him. I don't think it is a stretch to say that with more experience, Bones will become a four-swordsman demon. Or something like that.

When the spiders realize they aren't winning, they abandon the safety of their thick wall of webs encasing us and begin a frenzied attack. Swarms of spiders rush at Bones and me. I take as many shots as possible with my bow before they get into melee distance. At least ten spiders fall victim, before they can close the gap. When no more space is left, I holster my bow and summon swords. 

Swords in hand, the true slaughter begins. Each light swing is, in reality, a powerful slash that takes life wherever it strikes. Energy from a well-executed swing extends the deadliness of the blade claiming several more spiders.  

Caught up in shock from the power of my attack, a group of spiders slip past my guard. Instincts flair warning me of the attack on my flank, and I quickly step out of harm's way. More spiders recklessly throw their lives into my blade. I restrain myself from going all out, not wanting to give in to the urge for complete slaughter. 

Constant pressure from the arachnids eventually leaves me surrounded. Fluidly, I whirl my blades around. The speed and power behind the spin attack conjures a force of sword energy. The force pushes away any spider that doesn't happen to die. In the wake of my attack, dozens of spiders die, and even trees fall, bringing more death where they land.

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Where life was once overwhelming me is now only emptiness. Standing out in the open, I am startled by the surmounting void created by my sword and switch back to my bow.

As I continue to fight, I force myself to be conscious of the level of destruction I am leaving in my path. Every shot delivers death, adding more destruction. Eventually, even my arrows manifest energy similar to my swords. Exploding on contact, swarms of spiders are brought down shot after shot.

When the spiders try to close in, I dash away and unleash more arrows where I once was standing. When the spiders try to overwhelm me with oppressing numbers, I lash out with my swords, sending out energy waves that add to the death count. 

I become such a threat the spiders don't even pay attention to Bones. At one point through my dance of destruction, I catch a glimpse of Bones, who is just standing there watching. 

My speed and strength are too much for the spiders to handle. Though they outnumber us, they are vastly outmatched. Still, they keep coming. With each death, the forest becomes less oppressive while my burden becomes heavier. Liberation becomes slaughter. Still, the spiders keep coming. True to the Spider Queen's warning, the swarm is enthralled with their need for power.

Reluctantly, I force myself to keep fighting. Just as our cause might be in our eyes, this doesn't feel good. Despite the swelling urge to consume more pale energy, I take no joy in this. My burden grows heavier. However, constant pressure forces me to fight. 

The longer I fight, the more I learn about my physical attacks and how to control them. Thousands of deaths, and I master the energy techniques. Likewise, Bones is much more familiar with his fighting form now. Any spiders not devoted to my downfall meet the same end. Even without my presence, Bones can probably handle this swarm on his own.

Wave after wave, the spiders come. Death mana is thick, weighing on us heavily, granting me more power and urging me for more death. I can't take the pressure anymore. Crossing my blades, I execute a double blade slice. Energy slices in front of me, cutting everything in its wake. Before the spiders recover, I absorb mana and let out an amplified shout using my roar skill.  

Spiders stop in their tracks. Surrounding trees and earth tremble. Shaking off my fearful attack, the spiders start pressing toward us again. I repeat the action again. Some trees collapse from my energy strike, and some nearly fall from immense shaking. Nowhere in my vicinity is life. In unison, the spiders take a step back. One more Slice and Shout, attack name pending, is all it takes. 

First, it is one spider turning away and racing out of the web cage. Then another, quickly followed by other less enthusiastic foes. When the creatures on the front line see they are losing support, they turn tails and run. I actually think it is just as eerie seeing them disappear so rapidly as it was seeing the Deep Woods being consumed by their presence. 

Seeing the spiders run off, Bones lifts all his arms into the air and gives a loud victory cry adding a boney gurgle that rolls out of his throat. Seeing his excitement from the progress he made brings a smile to my face. I almost join him. However, it feels wrong to celebrate such slaughter. In the wake of my destruction, I am not feeling as just in our cause. That being said, I will not let all these lives go to waste. 

Putting heavy thoughts aside, Boss and I get to work. Boss assigns himself the duty of bringing the spiders I killed at range to me while I focus on absorbing power. 

Equipping a spear, I begin absorbing spiders. This allows me to hone the web slinging ability. After consuming a third of the creatures, the ability has significant improvements. I feel the ability improving from web to enchanted web, then magic web. The upgrades slow down once it hits the silk cord stage. And then it seems to come to a standstill at Magical Silk Cord.

Magic Silk Cord: Summon a highly adaptable silk cord.

With it being clear the ability won't be upgrading anytime soon, if at all, I turn my focus to cultivating. I focus on cycling my death core. Not in expansion. However, I still want to pursue other energies before I go all out on necro core. So instead, I focus on compacting. Using my entire spirit strength, I force the mana into the tightest ball possible. Once it is compressed, I pull in more mana and continue to condense it within my core.  

For a moment, I am surrounded by a shroud of death aura. I almost pass out a few times due to the pressure on my cores as I concentrate on absorbing and condensing. With the last of my willpower, I condense my second layer until it bursts. 

Layers of death actually burst. Before I even have time to panic, the layer reforms itself. This time the outer edge of the layer of my pale core is bronze. Power rushes through me. Instantly I feel refreshed, exhaustion from cultivating gone. My second core feels stronger than ever. 

Opening my eyes—I wasn't aware they were shut—I am met with thick darkness. This isn't the darkness that came from the spider plague. Rather this darkness is like shadows gathering. Enticing me to embrace its comforting eerieness.  

"See, I told you he wouldn't be much longer," I hear Bones say. Looking in his direction, I jump when I see a bipedal wolf person spirit thing standing next to him.

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