Having given my answer, the Spirit Guide started working.
"Permission confirmed. Initiating evolution of |Gentleman's Favor|." [Spirit Guide]
I felt my body change. My muscles loosened and tensed, my bones felt like they were shattering, and a bubbling feeling arose within.
"Verifying integrity. ...Verification complete. Processing. ...Processing complete. The skill |Gentleman's Favor| has successfully evolved into the skill |Temperance|." [Spirit Guide]
The skill had evolved successfully, which meant only one thing.
("|Analyze|.") [Solace]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Name: |Temperance|
Description: A skill that allows the user to gain strength and durability from receiving strong physical interactions. It also increases health regeneration by a small amount.
Effects: N/A
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
It was basically the same as |Gentleman's Favor|.
("Well, it's probably just a bit stronger.") [Solace]
Now having an ability that I doubted would turn the fight around, I had to snap back to the reality of being stuck in a hole thanks to the arachnid queen.
("Gentleman's rule number 8: A gentleman must return the favor given to them. Let's hurt it.") [Solace]
Summoning my Vermillion Eclipse, I took the risk of letting it use my body.
"Kill…!" [???]
The first thing I was forced to do was grip the spider leg really hard.
"|Revolving Shell Arts|!" [???]
My hands spun around the spider leg, suddenly blowing me and the leg out of the hole. It was the fastest I had ever moved, and the most surprised I've been when seeing the entire arachnid queen spinning mid-air.
"You have acquired the skill |Revolving Shell Arts|." [Spirit Guide]
"Junior disciple?! What skill did you use?!" [Nakros]
My eyes locked onto Nakros.
"Kill…!" [???]
("Hey! No!") [Solace]
I forcefully pushed my consciousness back into my body. It took a moment for me to fully gain control of my body again, allowing the arachnid queen to right itself.
"Junior disciple! Behind you!" [Nakros]
I turned to see a spider leg coming towards me. It didn't occur to me that the spider would make use of its long legs to try to attack from behind.
("Oh that's clever.") [Solace]
In moments like these, I usually would panic. However, everything felt a bit slower than usual.
"|Wind Edge|!" [Solace]
I sent an invisible blade at the leg, hoping it would cut it in half. Unfortunately, it barely left a scratch.
("Oh dear.") [Solace]
The leg came down upon me with the force of what felt like a truck hitting me at 40 miles per hour.
"Warning: You have taken an alarming amount of damage." [Spirit Guide]
("I think I can see that!") [Solace]
I clung to the leg as it smashed into the ground.
"You have gained |Experience|. |Temperance| has gained a level." [Spirit Guide]
The force hurt quite a bit, but I repositioned myself enough to let my feet touch the ground first
("Let's try my new skill!") [Solace]
"|Revolving Shell Arts|!" [Solace]
I felt the weight of the spider leg shift, suddenly throwing it to the side.
("Woah! This skill is awesome!") [Solace]
The arachnid queen looked angry from my new skill. It attempted to lunge at me, but was thrown face first into the ground as Nakros punched it.
"Nice save!" [Solace]
Nakros clutched the exoskeleton on the monster, keeping him from falling off.
"Junior disciple! Stick with me!" [Nakros]
Although I wasn't sure how I was going to be of help when he called me, I still sprinted to his side.
"Flip it over! We're aiming for its heart!" [Nakros]
"How?!" [Solace]
"Just hit it really hard!" [Nakros]
The arachnid queen pulled its face out of the ground and tried to shake us off its back.
"Make a hold!" [Nakros]
This was the part where I panicked. The surface was smooth where I stood, so I thrust my hand into the spider's back.
("It worked- Ew!") [Solace]
Blood and… other fleshy parts flew at my face from breaking the exoskeleton. This also caused the arachnid queen to fling itself around to get us off even more desperately.
"Jump when I say go!" [Nakros]
"What?!" [Solace]
"Go!" [Nakros]
I saw Nakros jump. Me? I stood there confused for a second and then jumped the moment I saw a wall coming closer.
("Yikes!") [Solace]
I narrowly evaded the spider slamming itself into a wall. It was now positioned sideways, which was a golden opportunity for Nakros.
"|Flowing Ascent|!" [Nakros]
He leapt forward with terrifying speed. Aiming for the heart, I saw the arachnid queen guard with all of its legs.
"Junior Disciple!" [Nakros]
Nakros suddenly grabbed me along the way, throwing me at the spider's legs.
"Ayo?!" [Solace]
Time seemed to slow down for a moment. Maybe it was a feeling of impending doom? Either way, I had to react quickly.
"|Revolving Shell Arts|!" [Solace]
The spider's legs were pulled wide open the moment my hands touched them. All that was left was for Nakros to do the final blow.
"|Heavenly Fold|!" [Nakros]
Nakros plowed straight through the spider in a coloration of black and white. The walls of the caverns shook as his fist simply demolished everything around, and I was struck with a backlash from what felt like the sound barrier breaking for a moment.
"Oof!" [Solace]
Somersaulting through the air, I fixed myself and landed on my feet.
"Are you okay?!" [Nakros]
I saw my senior disciple come out of the gaping hole in the spider's chest with a smile on his face.
"Uh…" [Solace]
Looking at myself, there were many instances of injuries and a ton of blood covering me.
"What does it look like?!" [Solace]
Nakros was surprised by my reply. Standing there with a shocked expression for a moment, all he did was laugh.
"Good one!" [Nakros]