Thanks to Nakros' skill, I was able to just trail behind.
"...This is a bit weird, but I just realized I never got your name." [Nakros]
I pondered whether or not to give him my real name.
("...Well, Master knows it. Plus, he's my senior disciple... I guess it won't hurt?") [Solace]
"My name is Solace, but I go by Alt." [Solace]
"Alt? Is there some kind of meaning behind it?" [Nakros]
"Uh…" [Solace]
I didn't know how to explain the concept of alternative accounts to this guy.
"Not really. It's just a name I made up." [Solace]
"Ah, an alias. I use that sometimes too. So, what should I call you?" [Nakros]
"Just call me Alt when there are other people around." [Solace]
I thought this could lead to people finding out my identity if Fina ever met him, so I had to place some sort of restriction. Though, letting him know my real name was a pretty high risk regardless.
"If you say so, junior disciple." [Nakros]
It was also then that I realized it didn't matter whether or not he knew my name since Nakros and Master only referred to me as "dear disciple" or "junior disciple".
"...You really resemble Master, you know?" [Solace]
"Do I?" [Nakros]
We continued to tread through the mines, freezing every hand sized spider along the way. Sometimes we would meet a giant one, but Nakros would just somehow slice it in half with a wave of his hand.
"What martial art is that?" [Solace]
"It's |Wind Chasing Arts|. The skill itself was called |Wind Chasing Fingers|." [Nakros]
"Wait, there are sub-skills to arts?" [Solace]
"As you continue to develop it, yes." [Nakros]
That had me wondering what I would eventually unlock from |Vortex Arts| and |Explosive Arts|.
"I think we're nearing the Arachnid Queen." [Nakros]
"How do you know?" [Solace]
He then pointed to the webbing that lined the walls.
"What about them? We saw those on the way too." [Solace]
"Watch." [Nakros]
Picking up a pebble, he tossed it at the webbing. I thought it would just stick, but I was shocked to see it melt the instant it touched the wall.
"The Arachnid Queen has acidic webbing. Make sure not to touch it." [Nakros]
Nodding in agreement, we went in further. The narrow mines soon began to open up, leaving us in a large cavern covered in webbing. Thankfully, the floor was left untouched.
"So, where-" [Solace]
"Shh!" [Nakros]
Holding a finger over his mouth, he pointed upwards.
("Up?") [Solace]
Upon raising my sight, horror befell me. I saw the largest spider I had ever seen.
("Dear gods…") [Solace]
It appeared the cavern had expanded upwards, somehow holding in a black spider the size of approximately… I dunno… twelve elephants? It was very big.
"It hasn't noticed us yet." [Nakros]
He spoke in a low voice so as to not alert the monster. I could tell with its eight red beady eyes it was working on something else within its webs.
"Junior Disciple, you can leave now if you'd like." [Nakros]
He stared at me with concern. Nakros originally pulled me in to help kill it, but perhaps he saw the expression I was making in order to change his mind.
("Should I leave…?") [Solace]
I wanted to leave, I really did. However, the gamer in me told me otherwise. Just looking at that monster gave me chills and excited me at the thought of how much |Experience| I would receive.
"Let me consider it for a second." [Solace]
Staring at the monster, there was only one thing to check.
"|Analyze|." [Solace]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Name: Baol
Race: Acidic Arach
Class: Arachnid Queen
Gender: Female
Age: 171
Level: 240
Health: 21600/21600
Mana: 12370/12370
Strength: 3582
Agility: 2407
Intelligence: 1050
Willpower: 1732
Status: Stable
Skills: |Acid Web Lv. 80| |Hard Carapace Lv. 74| |Bite Lv. 68| |Spiderling Spawn Lv. 72| |Resilience Lv. 42| |Regrowth Lv. 56| |Paralysis Lv. 47|
Unique Skill: |Arachnid Command Lv. 80|
Titles: |Mother| |Gargantua| |Survivor| |Inhuman Swordsman|
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Looking at that, I had so many questions and thoughts.
("First of all, my god those stats. Second of all, why does it have the title of swordsman?!") [Solace]
There were many things that didn't add up to me. At moments like these, I would have run. Nonetheless, I stayed. Why? There was one simple reason.
"Nakros, what do you think your chances are of beating this thing?" [Solace]
"One hundred percent." [Nakros]