Thanks to my quick arrival, I was able to save a considerable amount of mana. Before I joined the fight, the group had attempted to rescue Blue Arrow, using several times more mana to utilize my abilities. As a result, out of the initial 378 mana, I had about 210 left, taking into account my "shadow jumps." I decided to use 110 mana to restore the health of the wounded members lying on the ground. Perhaps the spider caught them off guard, but I had no idea where the heck it came from.
I quickly spread the aura of the healing ability while retrieving an axe from my inventory. Currently, I had 125 pure damage, but adding the axe damage gave me an additional 25. In essence, this damage might seem insufficient considering the opponent I was facing, but 150 damage plus the enhancement from "striking blow" could work wonders, namely 2100 damage. However, now mana consumption was higher than before. While on level 1, it only required 10 mana, by the third level, it required 30 mana, but it was worth it, even if I could use it only 12 times in a row.
Given that the bullets fired by Blue Arrow didn't cause much damage, the only option left was to try to damage the spider by severing its legs, of which, for some reason, it had 12, although spiders are supposed to have 8 legs, if I'm not mistaken. I decided to briefly examine its appearance. The spider's body was coal black, adorned with poisonous markings resembling patterns, creating a menacing design. Most of its massive legs resembled tall and powerful columns covered with fur or bristle. However, among the twelve legs, there were a few smaller ones, located behind the larger ones, possibly used by the spider to create webs. It also had chitinous pincers, one type of which could predict a painful death for its unfortunate victims.
"This is an Arachnocipher; you can consider it an arachnid warrior," said Ever.
"Who?! Arachno... what?" I asked, not quite catching its name.
"It's a spider that usually inhabits dungeons of level A. It's not a dungeon boss, but rather its guardian. Most likely, there are several of them in this dungeon. Although it's a level B monster, it definitely protects the A-level Arachna. You should be careful; even all your damage may not be enough to defeat such monsters," Ever cautioned.
"What should I do then?" I asked nervously. Her words instilled uncertainty in me because all my strength was in the abilities she gave me, and if they couldn't guarantee victory, things were not looking good.
"At first, you should destroy those four small nodes. They are responsible not only for creating webs but also for communication between him and another Arachnocipher," she explained.
"So, I was right about the web, but how can he communicate through them?" I asked, a little confused.
"You didn't forget that the web connects all these places, did you? He can send a signal through it that another Arachnocipher will understand, and it will rush to help him," Ever clarified.
"Understood, then I'll try to remove his extra legs," I confidently declared, though I felt nervous inside. She probably knows about this since she essentially lives in my soul, but I needed to act this way; it's the only way I can inspire myself.
As I was about to start my attack on the spider, Adel spoke to me. Fortunately, she had already recovered. Although I said she spoke to me, she simply shouted.
"This creature crawled out of the swamp," she yelled and added after a moment, "I'll take care of them."
When I arrived, I didn't have time to look at everyone, so I didn't notice her. But when I finally cast my gaze on her, I saw several wounds. They seemed to be from a heavy blow; perhaps the spider pressed them with its body or walked over them with its heavy legs. She was visibly injured, swaying a bit, but she went to help the wounded.
"I'll leave them to you, especially since I don't have enough mana to heal them," I said, then used a "shadow jump."
I disappeared from my place and, after a second, found myself behind the spider. The next "shadow jump" brought me onto the spider's body. Using "striking blow" to the maximum, I severed one of its legs with a single blow. Although it was thick, the force of the blow allowed me to smoothly separate it from the spider's body, causing it to scream loudly. It violently shook its body, throwing me aside.
Not waiting for a heavy landing on the ground, I used the next "shadow jump," which brought me to another piece of land. All I had to do was repeat the same action, namely, filling the axe with "striking blow" and severing the last leg available from its body. The next two legs were lower, which meant that I would have to either strike from its leg or from a hill or tree.
As it would be challenging to cut off the next leg of the spider, I decided to retreat towards the adjacent piece of land. As expected from the spider, it decided to pursue me. However, before moving towards me, it released a web towards the wounded group. Perhaps, due to the absence of 2 small legs, the web did not lay as it wanted; it covered only a small part of the people. So, it attempted to release the web again, but getting a similar result, it resigned. After that, with even greater aggression, it rushed towards me.
I managed to restore a bit of mana while it was busy with its web.
Information Panel: Health: 108 (108) (regeneration 0.48 + 0.25 per second) Mana: 48 (378) (regeneration 2.16 per second)
I only have enough mana for one strike or four shots. So, I should somehow avoid it while continuing to irritate it. I need at least 80 mana to destroy the last two small legs, then gather mana again to destroy the large legs while not letting it escape into the swamp or attack the wounded. Yes, a tough situation.
"It seems you'll have to use the 'Hit and Run' strategy," Ever said.
"So, you mean accumulating mana for a strike and hitting immediately, then accumulating again for a new strike, right?" I clarified.
"If we simplify, yes," replied Ever.
Essentially, her plan was the same as mine, but I thought of accumulating mana for several strikes instead of just one. Hm... Maybe she suggested it to prevent him from escaping? It turns out I have to run away from him for 20 seconds, deliver a blow, and run again. I feel like a game character; all that's left is to learn somersaults and roll from side to side to avoid the spider's attacks.
"After all, you got your abilities from the game; you shouldn't complain about it," Ever remarked.
"Then can you give me the ability to somersault, or at least a dodging ability?" I said, resigned to her teasing.
"Hey, how are you... Arachna... Whatever. Come with me!" I shouted as confidently as possible. Maybe I even became a bit more confident after those words, or the conversation with Ever calmed me down a bit.
Of course, the spider didn't understand what I was saying, but it was clear that it was still angry. Perhaps its legs would never recover, although who cares, I'm going to kill it. With that intention, I let it get closer, quickly using "shadow jump" to end up on its massive hind leg. It served as a platform, allowing me to deliver a heavy blow to its remaining two legs. The angle and force were perfect, in my opinion, but even that wasn't enough to deprive it of both legs with a single blow. Unfortunately, I could only detach one leg, and the other remained in place, albeit only halfway.
The spider screamed even louder, though now it sounded more like a roar. Its cry made my ears ache, or rather, it gave me a slight concussion. I fell to the ground from a considerable height, feeling intense pain all over my back, which caused me to curl up in a fetal position. My brows furrowed, and my face contorted in pain. Perhaps because of the loss of its small legs, the spider forgot about me at that moment. Still, if it hadn't been distracted, I would have undoubtedly received a lot of damage, unless, of course, I immediately went to the afterlife.
"You need to use 'shadow jump' urgently," Ever said with a slightly anxious voice. Usually, her voice sounded artificially emotionless, occasionally adding some tone, but now one could faintly detect her concern.
"S-shad... Shadow jump," I finally said. I was transported to the opposite side of this little island. Now there was a distance of just over ten meters between me and the spider. I didn't wait for it to recover and turned to Adel.
"Adel!" I shouted with all my might. Fortunately, she responded quickly, considering her injury.
"Yes!" she shouted, then added after a second, "How can I help?"
"Do you have the ability to alleviate pain? In general, do you have painkillers?" I yelled, gritting my teeth from the pain.
"Uh... I can only heal, but I have pain-relieving tablets," she said, stumbling a bit.
"Ever, why does it hurt so much? Aren't game characters supposed to feel pain? Don't bother; I'll manage," I said in my mind and uttered aloud to Adel.