The spider didn't make much noise but it crept forward towards the torch Lucas was still holding. He quickly threw it away to see its reaction. The spider followed the movement of the torch with its head. 'So they can see light but it's limited otherwise it wouldn't have looked away from its prey.'
Slowly but surely Lucas started to reach his apathetic state again. The spider was still fascinated by the light in this dark and damp cave, so Lucas took the opportunity to try something out. He picked up a rock and threw it over the torch. While it landed the spider looked towards the side and stepped towards the place where the sound originated from. When it arrived and couldn't sense anything it moved its head back to the flame, but the flame was starting to go out because of the humidity that was present in the cave. 'I need to act now! They can't see very well, but can sense things through sound and touch or vibration'
Lucas couldn't come up with a well-thought-out battle plan on the spot, but the information he got from that little exchange could save his life. The Steel Spider was something that a starting mage should be capable of dealing with, so he mentally prepared himself even further. He couldn't use too many spells or his energy would be depleted.
He used all the info he gathered and put it all into motion when the torch finally went out. "S̵̺̃o̷̡͎͋̉l̷̝̤̔", speaking would give away his location, but the light that emanated from his hand made him capable of seeing the monster in all of its grotesqueness. He jumped back and started to chant a spell, but before he was finished the spider was already in front of him. One of its legs stabbed toward Lucas, he canceled his spell, losing the energy wasted in that process, and used his sword to parry the leg to his left.
He had to act quickly, there were plenty of other legs the creature could use. While he was dodging backward he reached for his backup torch with his left hand. "I̶͕̟̍́G̸̞̀N̸̨̾̈I̴̻̒̾" shouting the beginner rune of fire he lit the torch and forced it towards the spider's eyes.
"KIEEEEEK"
The damage done was minimal, but that didn't matter, Lucas ran under the spider's body and used his sword to slash at the back of one of the spider's back legs.
Klang
The sword bounced back towards him, dealing a little scratch on the leg. It wasn't as strong as actual steel, but could still hold back iron weapons. Suddenly the other back leg went up a bit and moved at an extremely fast speed towards his body. He had to completely turn his body to dodge the leg, yet it still scraped along his chest. 'Shit', a few other legs started to lift off the ground before aiming at Lucas and shooting forward.
This time he was prepared for it though, because of his crossbow training he started to avoid most of the legs. He was still hit here and there, but that was nothing compared to being pierced. 'I need space!'
Lucas had thought of something he could try out, but he needed some time to achieve that. Taking a big risk he used his sword to perform a slash right above his head, hurting the spider immensely, but he also got pierced in his leg. Biting through the pain he forced the torch into the wound he just created and jumped away, freeing him from that cage-like situation. Looking back he saw the torch dangling from the wound, but it had already gone out, Lucas felt glad he didn't use too much energy on that flame since it was already gone.
The spider was still in pain from the wound, the torch also left burns and the tiny hairs quickly caught fire. The monster was distracted so Lucas quickly got to spell chanting. He created a water spear and used some of the water in the cave to speed up the process, then he used most of his mana to create flames underneath the spear. The water spear started to heat up to the point it was boiling. When the spider got back to its senses, it was angry at the perpetrator and rushed toward Lucas.
"KIEEEK!"
Taking the chance Lucas shot the spear and the flames forward, focusing the spear on the eyes and the flames on the body.
"KIEEEEEEEEEEEK!"
The boiling water splashed on its eyes, causing the eyes to be destroyed, since it involuntarily swallowed part of the spear, its insides were also burning up. The flames that landed on its body made all the tiny hairs catch fire and it didn't take long before the entire spider was a walking torch.
Using the chance Lucas stood up with an almost fully healed leg and jumped to pierce his sword into the spider's lower body.
"Aaaah" Letting out a battle cry he pierced the creature, Lucas didn't stop there though, he ran under the legs again, but this time he pulled his sword with him. Completely severing the spider into two pieces. The organs and green blood fell on his body, followed by the entire carcass almost crushing his bones. Forcing his body out of that unlucky position he stood up, only to realize he wasn't done yet.
Another spider was running towards his location, but he was too tired to even run. Even if he ran, the spider was a lot faster, so he needed to confront the spider. He didn't have a whole lot of tools left, only a torch that was somewhat spared from the green blood. Since his magic was up, the magic light that lit up the room also disappeared. The burning spider did light up the room, 'Perhaps the next one will get distracted by that.'
Lucas knew that whatever he was thinking was incredibly stupid, even if the spider was fascinated by the fire, he wouldn't be capable of running away without making a lot of noise. He dragged his body to his original entrance and rested on one of the walls. The spider entered the room and looked toward his brethren. The spider smelled the burning flesh and two of its legs went upwards. Lucas looked on in shock as a few small water balls formed in the air and fell on the burning carcass.
'What?'
'They can use magic? That fucking tome really needs to be revised!'
The spider was using magic without any signs or incantations, it merely appeared. After the fire was put out, the room darkened to the point he couldn't see anything. There was no light in that cave, so his eyes couldn't even adapt. He heard the spider walk around the room, but he couldn't pinpoint its exact location. 'Please don't notice us'
Lucas was focusing on the footsteps of the spider and when the sounds became a little louder he held his breath for as long as he could. He didn't see what was happening, but he could feel the proximity of the spider. The tapping that increased in volume, the snapping of its teeth, the strange gurgling sounds that it made. Coming closer and closer, Lucas could swear he felt the non-existent breath of the spider. He could feel a leg piercing the ground next to him, only a few inches away from his arm. The smell of blood started to enter his nose, the disgusting guts on him gave away his position but also gave a form of protection. The spider moved on, going back to its fallen brethren.
Lucas could finally, silently, catch his breath. This was already difficult enough, but after a lot of training his condition was good enough to handle that much.
After the spider checked the room and couldn't find any vibration, and only smelled the blood of its own species it started to roll the carcass deeper into the mine. Lucas couldn't see that though, the only thing he could use was the sounds it made. Waiting a bit longer he regained his energy a bit and started to move out of the cave. He recovered enough to create a tiny flame, but Lucas didn't want to risk it any longer. He would rather walk in complete darkness to find his way out. Surprisingly, the darkness, without the threat of monsters, felt kind of soothing. The cold cave also cooled him further, yet Lucas could only find relief. At a certain point, he could see the walls of the tunnel again, the light was guiding him back.