SCREEEEEE!
The shriek shattered the remaining glass in the bank lobby.
The Brood Mother pulled herself fully from the cocoon. She was a nightmare of chitin and hair—a massive spider the size of a delivery van. Her abdomen pulsed with a sickly green light, and eight obsidian eyes fixated on the two tiny morsels standing near the vault.
[Boss: Arachne Brood Mother][Level: 15][Status: Furious]
"Elara!" Kael shouted, his voice cutting through the panic. "Center! Now!"
Elara didn't hesitate. She slammed her shield down in the middle of the lobby floor, bracing her shoulder against the cold steel.
"Come and get me, you ugly bitch!" she yelled, banging her sword against her shield. [Taunt].
The Brood Mother hissed, green acid dripping from her mandibles, melting the marble floor. She lunged.
BOOM!
The impact was like a freight train hitting a wall. Elara was driven back three feet, her boots carving grooves into the floor tiles. Her health bar flickered.
[HP: 85%]
"I can't hold her forever!" Elara gritted out, her arms shaking under the crushing weight of the spider's fangs pressing against her shield.
"You don't have to," Kael said. "Just ten seconds."
He held the blue skill book, [Lesser Mana Manipulation], in his hand.
In a normal game, you'd have to sit down and read it. But with the System, contact was enough.
[Would you like to learn the skill?]
"Learn."
The book dissolved into blue particles that rushed into Kael's head.
[Skill Learned: Lesser Mana Manipulation (Rank D)][Passive Effect: Mana Regeneration +10%.][Passive Effect: Skill Mana Cost reduced by 20%.]
Kael felt a cool sensation wash over his brain. The headache from using [Shadow Step] earlier vanished. He could feel the mana coursing through his veins like a second circulatory system.
He looked at the Brood Mother, who was currently trying to crush Elara with her front legs.
"My turn."
[Shadow Step]
Zwoop.
Kael vanished from the vault entrance.
He reappeared five meters in the air, directly above the Brood Mother, stepping out of the shadow cast by the chandelier.
Gravity took over. Kael fell, bringing his pipe wrench down with both hands.
[Heavy Strike]
CRUNCH!
The wrench smashed into the spider's cephalothorax—the armored plate protecting its head. The chitin cracked, oozing green blood.
"SCREE!"
The Brood Mother thrashed, throwing Kael off. He landed cat-like on a teller's counter.
The boss ignored Elara now. It turned its eight eyes toward Kael.
"Good," Kael smirked. "Look at me."
The spider opened its maw. A jet of green acid shot toward him.
[Shadow Step]
Kael dissolved into darkness just as the acid hit the counter, melting the wood into sludge.
He reappeared under the spider's belly—the soft spot.
Slash. Slash. Slash.
He switched to the [Goblin Dagger] in his off-hand, carving deep lines into the monster's abdomen.
[Critical Hit!][Critical Hit!]
The Brood Mother shrieked and slammed her body down, trying to crush him.
[Shadow Step]
Kael warped again, appearing behind Elara's shield.
"You okay?" Kael asked, breathing steadily.
Elara stared at him. "You're... teleporting? Like a mage?"
"Like a predator," Kael corrected. "She's at 50% health. She's going to enrage."
As if on cue, the Brood Mother turned red. She reared back, her abdomen pulsating violently.
[Boss Skill: Web Explosion]
"Shield up! Full coverage!" Kael ordered.
He didn't run away. He stepped behind Elara, pressing his back to hers.
Elara hunkered down, engaging [Iron Defense].
THWIP-THWIP-THWIP!
Hundreds of sticky white webs exploded from the spider, covering the entire lobby. The force was like a shotgun blast. The webs hit Elara's shield with the force of bullets, wrapping around it, gluing her in place.
But they were safe behind the steel.
"Now!" Kael roared.
While the spider was recovering from the attack, Kael used Elara's shoulder as a stepping stone. He vaulted over the shield, over the webs.
The Brood Mother was tired. Her movements were sluggish.
Kael was in the air again. This time, he aimed for the eyes.
He threw the [Goblin Dagger].
SQUELCH.
It buried itself in the central eye cluster. The beast blinded, thrashed wildly, knocking over pillars. The roof began to groan.
Kael landed on its back. He gripped the pipe wrench.
"Sleep."
[Heavy Strike (Overcharge)]Combining Mana Manipulation to pour extra mana into the strike.
CRACK-SPLAT.
The wrench caved the skull in completely. The spider's legs curled inward. It collapsed, twitching one last time before going still.
[You have slain the Arachne Brood Mother (Lvl 15)!][Level Up!][Level Up!]
Kael slid off the carcass, landing in the pool of green blood.
[Predation Activated.]
This was a Boss Soul. The energy was massive. A thick, viscous purple sludge rose from the corpse, forming the shape of a screaming spider before Kael inhaled it.
[You have devoured a Boss Essence.][Agility +3.0][Dexterity +2.0][Skill Absorbed: 'Sticky Webbing' (Rank E)]
Effect: Shoot a web to bind targets. Duration depends on Strength.
Kael checked his stats. He was Level 8 now.
He walked over to Elara, who was cutting herself free from the webs. She looked at the dead giant, then at Kael.
"We... we actually killed it," she breathed.
"We farmed it," Kael corrected.
He knelt by the spider's mouth. Something shiny was stuck in its mandibles.
He pulled it out. A long, serrated dagger made of black chitin.
[Item: Fang of the Queen (Rank D)][Attack: 45][Effect: Inflicts Poison (Weak) on hit.]
Finally. A real weapon. He tossed the rusty pipe wrench aside.
"Here," Kael said, kicking a small pile of gold coins and a frantic-looking shield item that dropped from the boss toward Elara.
[Item: Arachne Scale Shield (Rank E)]Lighter and stronger than her current one.
Elara caught the shield. Her eyes widened. "You're giving me the loot?"
"I took the dagger and the XP," Kael said, sheathing the Fang of the Queen. "You took the damage. Fair trade."
He walked toward the shattered entrance of the bank. The sun was beginning to rise. Day 2 was approaching.
"Where are we going now?" Elara asked, equipping her new shield. She sounded different now. Less doubtful. More... loyal.
Kael looked at the horizon.
"The Tutorial Zone ends in 24 hours," Kael said. "But before that, there is one more thing I need to steal."
He pointed toward the center of the city, where a massive blue pillar of light had just erupted into the sky.
"The Secret Shop," Kael smiled. "And I know the password."