Ray is currently on the way walking towards the Brood Queen's territory.
The forest was still a distance away, and right now he could only see earth and grass.
As Ray continued walking, a while later, he suddenly felt ill at ease.
'Am I sensing danger from somewhere here?'
One of the benefits he had received from 5 years of receiving dreams was the ability to sense danger from threats around.
And he had felt such feeling before when a woman suddenly wanted to stab him from behind with a knife due to some circumstances.
And now, he suddenly felt the feeling again.
Ray felt the movement of the mana around and there seems to be nothing abnormal.
Feeling that way, Ray then concentrated the mana into his eyes to better see the movement of the mana around, it was a technique he had learned from the Dream him.
Doing so, he could then see a part of mana move towards a circular area in the ground.
Right now, Ray is still somewhat a distance away from the dead forest that's why at first, he had thought that there wouldn't be spiders appearing before arriving there.
But it seems that it was a mistake. It seems he had already officially entered the spiders' territory.
A kind of spider that hides underground.
Ray had heard about it before.
A spider that ambushes its prey by feeling the vibrations near its hiding place.
'A trapdoor spider'
Currently, Ray didn't have any skills that he could use against being poisoned, so he must remain vigilant. Still, he needed to get some points to get a poison resistance skill in the mystery merchant. The cheapest [Poison Resistance F] cost a total of 1 000 small souls. Right now, Ray only has a little small souls left since he had just bought another skill from the mystery merchant. The three bosses; the spider, the scorpion, and the toad are already screaming poison, so the poison resistance skill is something that he much needed. Still, between the two skills, Ray had chosen the other one since it was a choice between being passive and being active.
Ray slowly came near the circular area as he then tapped his right foot on the ground while keeping his eyes vigilant towards the circular area.
Not seeing any movement, Ray then started to repeatedly tap his right foot.
*Flip!
And there it appears!
With its sudden appearance, the circular area from before was suddenly flipped backward as Ray then saw the monstrous creature half as big as a cow reaching towards him.
With two of its hind legs remaining on the hole exposed by the flipping and another two of its legs supporting its weight, the monstrous creature tried to cover Ray's retreat with its four front legs as if trying to embrace Ray.
As the monster was trying to cover Ray's retreat, the monstrous creature with eight eyes then exposed its sharp jaws that threaten to rip Ray apart.
The spiders are creatures that are gifted in agility.
And seeing the movement of the spider, Ray had to admit, that they are indeed really fast.
However.
It wasn't fast enough.
A sword suddenly appeared on Ray's right hand as Ray used his high agility to reach for the monster before it could reach him. With a slight jump, Ray had managed to overcome the spider's speed as he had then stabbed the spider with the sword on top of its head downwards.
*Ksshhhkkk!
Because of the force, the sword had then penetrated its head like a kebab as the spider's juices splattered on the ground.
The force of the stab was so great that the spider was thrown on the ground pinning its head a bit.
Caramel-like juices could be seen appearing on its wounds, but it still wasn't dead yet, it was still trying to struggle with its lasts bits of power.
*Schreek! The spider gave a weak hiss.
But with its life in threat, the spider was now using power beyond its normal strength in an attempt to struggle free.
Seeing the spider still trying to struggle, Ray then raises his right leg and then stomped the butt of the sword, pushing the sword downwards thoroughly, pinning the head of the spider completely like the sword in the stone in the Arthurian legend.
*Kwushh!!!
Ray jumped a bit backward and looked at the twitching spider as he then saw its legs slowly crumpled down as it turned silent.
___________________________
[Congratulations! You have killed a grade 1 Ambush Spider!]
Rewards:
26 small souls
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A pretty good amount of souls considering how easy it was. It was already equivalent to two and half hamburgers.
'It seems I would have a good harvest'
Ray thought as he looks on the area with concentrated mana in his eyes… he could still see several circular areas on the path.
The path to gaining the poison resistance is slowly nearing.
...
Dead Forest.
After killing a few more Ambush spiders on the way, Ray finally arrived near the dead forest.
On the way, Ray received an equipment drop from one of the ambush spiders.
____________________________
[Black spider gloves]
Quality: F
Description:
Black gloves made from spider silk.
Dropped from an Ambush Spider.
____________________________
After examining the equipment, Ray had then immediately equipped the gloves.
He had received 3 of such items, as he wore one, he stored the rest in his storage as spare.
Wearing the gloves in his hands, Ray didn't find it uncomfortable. It works as if it was made perfectly for him.
Ray had earlier tried to cut the gloves with the throwing knife as a test and found out that it could withstand the sharpness of the throwing knife.
Ray looked at the place which was named as the Dead Forest.
A small forest, with an estimated area of 350 square meters.
After seeking the mystery merchant on his arrival and using the sacred and divine blood he had, Ray had then thought about which boss to start with and thought that he would start with the brood queen first. The territory of the scorpion king was too huge, and the swamp sounds more trouble.
Still... the scenery in his eyes was a sight for sore eyes.
'Is this really a forest?' Ray thought as he was looking at what seems to be the forest in front of him.
Everything is white.
Hearing the name Dead Forest, one would think that what they would see are dead trees and hanging corpses, but it's different.
The whole forest has been covered into layers of webs; it was hard to even see the trees.
He didn't know what lurks inside it. Considering how a spider could reproduce in swarms, and seeing the forest being covered whole, if the spiders are only as small as in reality, then there could be billions of spiders inside it. A billion of spiders with poison that could possibly kill him is something that would even make him think twice about entering such infested place.
Now Ray had decided, he would never enter it.
Observing at proximity, Ray then concentrated mana on his right hand as he then activated a skill.
"Flame thrower"
*Vssshhhh!
Heat suddenly surrounded Ray, as a torrent of flame suddenly came out of his right hand targeting a portion of the web infested forest.
Earlier Ray wanted to have at least something that he could use as a countermeasure in case he gets tangled up in webs.
So, at first, he was about to buy a skill called [flame enchant] that costs 500 small souls.
But after receiving a notice saying that as the first customer, he would receive a 75% discount for one exchange, Ray had then changed his mind and bought the [flame thrower] skill which normally costs 2 000 small souls.
Even though it wasn't compatible with Ray's passive skill, the skill still has high attack power so it works with Ray's current objective.
Looking at the forest, it seems the fire had started to spread fast due to the dead trees and webs.
However, Ray still isn't satisfied.
There are no strong winds so the fire isn't spreading any faster.
In order for the flames to engulf the whole forest, and to prevent the spiders from escaping the forest... Ray had then gone around and cast several flame throwers on the forest's perimeter.
'Burn!'
Each cast of the skill consumed a great amount of mana, so Ray had just cast on several important points. Just enough, for the flames to surround the forest.
After a time, Ray had then successfully managed to cover the whole dead forest's perimeter in flames.
Finished doing the job, Ray had then moved on a safe distance away to see the whole picture.
He had also long notice, that what he did has already started getting results.
Covering the whole forest in webs has become the spiders' undoing.
...
[Congratulations! you have killed a grade 0 giant spider!] …
[Rewards Received!] ...
[Congratulations! you have killed a grade 1 giant spider!] ...
[Rewards Received!] ...
[Congratulations! you have killed a grade 0 Assassin spider!] …
[Rewards Received!] ...
[Congratulations! you have killed a grade 1 Assassin spider!] ...
[Rewards Received!] ...
[Congratulations! you have killed a grade 1 Poison spider!] ...
[Rewards Received!] ...
Ray was watching the burning forest from a distance.
'It has spread well'
The burning forest looked very beautiful.
It made Ray reminiscence on the bonfire they had during high school.
Sitting on the ground faraway, looking at the scenery, Ray felt at peace.
On the other hand, he is currently receiving rewards like playing an idle game on mobile.
Ray had already received hundreds of notifications for his kills.
The small souls that he had used to buy the skill flamethrower, has already been repaid many times over.
Right now, he had more than two thousand small souls. It was just a pity that these kills don't give stat fragments.
From time to time, he would also receive items from the spiders' deaths. So, Ray would take out items from his storage and stack it up on the side in order to always have space to receive the incoming items.
*Screech!!!
Ray could suddenly hear a screeching sound as he then saw a giant spider as big as a bus running out of the forest.
As it moved away frantically, the fire around has then consumed two of its eight legs, making the spider fall out of balance.
*chsshhhhhh...
And as the spider's body has fallen down on to the ground, the burning surface has started to grill the skin of the giant spider.
*Screeeech!!!
The spider did its best to pull out itself from the burning ground, but as it did so, the fire has consumed his other legs as they then gave out.
*Pop! *Pop!
Popping sounds could then be heard, as the boiling blood inside the spider's legs caused small explosions.
*Screeeeeech!!!
Sticking into the ground, being grilled alive, the spider then gave a final screech as it then became silent.
*Pop!!!
A loud pop could then be heard as Ray saw its butt explode.
Ray could see the blood on it currently boiling.
Afterward, the spider's corpse then started burning.
[Congratulations! you have killed a Grade 2 Killer Spider!]
[Rewards received!] ...
After a time, Ray had also started receiving rewards from Grade 2 spiders as the kills he had received started to lessen.
...
When the kills had stopped, Ray began checking the rewards he had received.
First, was the number of souls.
__________________________
[Small Soul]
---------------------------
Use for various rituals
Current small souls: 3 548
__________________________
3 548 souls!
It was a great harvest. Now, it was more than enough to upgrade his crest.
Ray then checked the items he had received.
[Giant Spider Silk] x 22
[Black Spider Pants] x 12
[Black Spider Boots] x 11
[Poison Spider Vial] x 10
[Black Spider Chest Armor (Rare)] x 2
____________________________
[Giant Spider Silk]
Type: Material
Description:
A material for making clothes
Dropped from Giant Spiders.
____________________________
____________________________
[Black Spider Pants]
Quality: F
Description:
Black pants made from spider silk
Dropped from Assassin Spiders.
____________________________
____________________________
[Black Spider Boots]
Quality: F
Description:
Black boots made from spider silk.
Dropped from Hunter Spiders
.____________________________
____________________________
[Poison Spider Vial]
Description: A tool used to coat weapons with poison.
Warning: Use with caution.
____________________________
____________________________
[ Black Spider Chest Armor]
Quality: E
Description:
A black chest armor made from spider silk of good quality.
A rare item dropped from Killer Spiders.
____________________________
"A full spider set" Ray commented seeing the items, despite the simple descriptions, Ray knows that wearing this set would enhance his defense capabilities by a huge amount.
Right now, besides the gloves he had earlier, he only had his normal clothes since the start.
And against the inhuman creatures here, it was as good as being naked.
Now, getting a full set of equipment, he could at least feel safe in the bare minimum.
If he would use the Mystery Merchant as a base, then all these F Quality equipment could sell for about 200 to 500 souls, while an E quality equipment on the other hand, could go as high as 1 000 souls to 5 000 souls.
Just the equipment alone, is already rewarding enough.
So, Ray knew how much great the harvest is this time.
It seems like the fire had caught most of the creatures inside.
'Still, there is still the Brood Queen' Ray thought.
With the destruction he caused, Ray wondered whether it would cause the boss to move.
As Ray was thinking this, he suddenly heard a loud noise.
*Thud!
*Thud!
Sounds of trees falling.
Ray shifted his sight on to the direction of the noise.
And there he found.
With the webs now gone from the fire, he could now see it clearly.
Unaffected by the burning forest around. A gigantic spider as big as a three-story building, could be seen looking at Ray.
On its back, a lump of ball made from hundreds of spiders could be seen wriggling.
The trees had fallen because the gigantic spider is now moving. Moving towards Ray's direction.
Ray look at the monstrous creature.
It seems like he made it angry enough to make it come personally to him.
"Here it comes"
___________________________
[Brood Queen]
Grade: 2nd Grade Boss
Status???
Description: A mutated spider from a secret land which has lived for more than 300 years
Warning: Very Angry
___________________________