Zae and Kiri had split ways from the spot that they had fought with Kukiro.
They both knew that the quest is solo and the system will not allow others to interfere.
Hence they both started to move on their own. Kiri started moving towards the top using shadow steps where Kukiro had said the shadow queen is and Zae started to go straight north to the place where Kukiro had said the illusion spider was.
They both met many monsters along the way but avoided most of them using shadow steps.
Just as soon as they took off in their own directions, Zae reached his location is less than a minute. But he was unable to find the exact location. Kiri was still going towards the top. The Apecolo mountain was about 23000 metres high from the ground.
Zae thinks as he stops on top of a tree and tries to scan the area with his extreme sense.
He could not sense the presence of any monsters nearby even if it was so deep into the valley of a mountain.
Zae thinks as he jumps down the tree he was standing on and just as he turns a little left he sees a ravine. Zae starts walking towards the ravine. It was actually not a ravine but a crack in the mountain which was caused by some external forces. Zae enters the crack in the mountain which was actually very small. It was about 10 meters wide and it extended further into the mountain. Zae starts to slowly walk into the ravine and after a little while when he got to about the middle of the ravine, he saw skeletons of both humans and monsters, he was disgusted yet terrified as it was the first time he had seen a pile of bones. This made a chill run down his spine. He had a fearful expression in his face and the feeling of fear made it even harder for him to proceed. As he started going further into the ravine, a blue mist starts to envelope him and it seemed to get thicker and thicker as he goes deeper. Zae stops and tries to get hold of the situation. He couldn't see 3 meters away from where he was, the mist was getting even thicker and even if he was not moving forward anymore. (Domain quest: The illusion cave raid has started) Right when he was caught in the conflict in his mind about what to do with the blue mist, a notification saying that his quest has started popped up Zae sits down crossed legs. His strategy was very simple, since the blue mist was inside a ravine, and there were multiple shadows, he decided to stay still there and wait for the illusion spider to approach him. Once he senses the illusion spider, he would study it first and then make his move after. That was the usual Zae who was very tactical in all his stuff. According to what Kukiro had said, the illusion spider has only attacked his clan's people using their own skills, but there is also a possibility that it has its own abilities, I should maintain my distance....this should be my first goal> Zae carefully starts to strategize what he was going to do when the illusion spider made its move. Since he was in the blue mist he got a slight idea that it was the illusion spider's aura and that it already knows that Zae was inside his territory. Zae is a very adaptable person ever since he was on earth, he could adapt to situations very quickly unlike other people and that was a very unique skill that he had brought from earth. Even in this life risking situation, he was calm and collected. But as time went by and nothing seemed to be happening, Zae became a bit impatient "OIIII ILLSUION SPIDER YOU THERE?!!!!!" Zae shouts as he stands up and starts walking further into the mist. Zae started having an eerie feeling around him just as suddenly as he started walking into the mist, but all he could feel was this eerie sensation, he could not sense any monsters or people nearby "Why is it so cold inside here!?" Zae starts to rub his shoulders as he starts walking further ahead just as he stumbles upon a rock and nearly falls. Zae looked into the same elevation of a stone that seemed to be the place he was sitting crossed legs on. Zae gets down and sits crossed legs with his eyes closed again After a long wait of about 2 hours, the illusion spider still did not show itself. But the mist was getting thinner. Zae thinks to himself as he opens one of his eye and closes it back again in anticipation that the illusion spider would be fooled by him. Just as Zae was becoming certain about the mist and why the illusion spider had started using it he started hearing footsteps. SFX:step step step step..... Zae was caught in fear since he could hear footsteps and couldn't sense what the enemy or what the thing that was coming towards him was. The footsteps started getting louder and clearer, and just as soon as a shadowy figure started appearing in front of Zae, the mist was clear. Just as the mist was cleared, Zae could see the entrance of the cave of the illusion spider and above him was the evening sky with the sun about to set. In front of Zae stood an odd man who was looking down. He had black hair just like Zae but he was wearing different clothes. What shocked Zae the most was that he couldn't sense that person who was standing right in front of him like it was not present there. "You finally decided to show yourself huh?" Zae asks the guys standing there without any movements. The guy in front of Zae moves his head up looking at Zae and starts dashing towards him It was the illusion spider imitating Zae. That blue mist was it's first card to play when Zae had entered the ravine since the illusion spider also had the same sensing abilities but at a wider range It sealed off its presence and hid all its skills using the mist that it had created inorder to avoid Zae which it sensed that could be a threat. Just right when the illusion spider came rushing in with Zae's form #Copy skills #Copy stats #Shadow steps Zae copies Kiri's skills from his copy memory and dodges the illusion spider's attack. Or so he thought but right after he had used shadow steps, the illusion spider had also disappeared into thin air, Zae couldn't sense where it was and he couldn't see it in sight aswell. Just as Zae was looking left and right to locate it, the illusion spider had also used shadow steps and had gotten behind Zae, SFX:screech.... The illusion spider had the face and body of Zae but it's hand were its pincers and claws, which were very sharp and had many points in each of them. 8 legs came out from behind it all pointing towards Zae. The attack had magic imbued in it. So Zae had to dodge that. Zae uses shadow steps again but his reaction was very slow and he got some scratches on his left arm, it was bleeding non stop Zae shuts one of his eye close in pain as he reappears on the ground. The illusion spider was standing on the tree that Zae was before preparing its stance for another attack. The illusion spider disappears The illusion spider moves above Zae this time using shadow steps and comes down with its claws facing Zae. "Same move? It won't work again" Zae uses shadow steps to get behind the illusion spider but he was still hit slightly on his left cheek. It was only a scratch but because of the anti coagulant property it was still deadly. Zae got behind the illusion spider and a sniper suddenly appeared in his arms. #Magic shot SFX:Bang The bullet hits one of the spider's claws. But to Zae's surprise, it was only able to make a slight scratch on it and nothing more. This pissed off the illusion spider more than it could damage it "Ah shit" Zae uses shadow steps again to get away from the incoming attack! This time he was able to dodge since he reacted fast enough. "Status!" Zae shouts [HP: 22568/30000 Mana:7978/10000 Energy:6840/8000 Status:bleed, corrosion, speed down, attack down, defence down] Zae thinks as he looks in to the illusion spider who was looking at the spot where he had shot it. The illusion spider was taking its sweet time in checking his injury as though no one was around Zae pulls his sniper out and aims at the illusion spider and #Magic shot 5% mana SFX: bang .....Boom A mini explosion was created at the impact of the bullet and the claws of the illusion spider. After the smoke was cleared Zae was shocked to see what appeared in front of him, It was no longer his copied form but a huge spider about 13 meters tall with armour like body. "Good Good!!!" A screeching voice came out from the illusion spider "A human at this level is able to damage me?? Now don't tell me that's all you got show me some more of your moves" The screeching voice continues and as it stopped talking its voice still lingered "You.... can talk?" Zae was so surprised he was hardly able to move, It was the first time that he heard a monster talking after coming to DuoCroZan. "What? you mean I don't have the right to talk?" The screeching voice replies. "You are the only human at this level who has hurt me till now, show me more of your puny little tricks and I might just make even your bones my feast, Its been so long since anyone has been able to stand against 1 of my moves yet you survived three that too inside my clone domain" The illusion spider adds. "Now come on I will give you a chance to kill me in one move, If you can't do that then die!" The screeching voice lingers again Zae was soo shocked. First it was the way it copied his skills, second was his injuries which had multiple debuffs on them and third the speaking of the illusion spider and lastly the mentioning of clone domain. He was surprised that the monster he was facing was more than level 100. He couldn't even decide what to do anymore and was just standing still in fear listening to the illusion spider.