Arthur took a deep breath, cleared his mind, then activated the "Enhanced Senses" Skill. Without any hesitation, he began to explore the area with extreme caution.
To make sure he didn't miss anything, he checked everything in sight using "Evaluation". This allowed him to get a better understanding of the forest he was in.
On the surface, the forest looked very normal, much like some forests in his own world: temperate climate, tall oak trees, and small birds singing happily.
But behind that peaceful facade, several unsettling and unnatural things were hiding. And Arthur didn't need much time to find proof.
About a mile and a half east of his den, he saw something that made every hair on his wolf body stand on end.
A massive section of the forest was covered in giant white spiderwebs. Thick, silky, spread across the trees and ground like a pale sheet… yet they had no scent, no presence, nothing at all—almost as if they didn't exist.
What was even worse was the strange pull he felt toward them.
After staring for just a few seconds, his vision turned blurry. His thoughts grew hazy, and he couldn't think clearly.
Without realizing it, his legs started moving on their own, walking directly toward the webs.
Tremble!
When he was just about to touch the webs, his body suddenly jolted—as if something inside him had been forcefully broken.
With a shocked expression, he looked at the web that was now only two steps away from him, then quickly stumbled backward.
'What… what just happened?'
He shook his head hard and muttered with a frown,
'These webs are insanely dangerous… they must have some kind of charm ability. Thankfully, "Primal Predator" skill woke me up before it was too late.'
Unlike his other Skills, he didn't need to manually activate "Primal Predator" every time he wanted to use it.
It was literally a sixth sense, activating automatically whenever certain physical or mental conditions were met, or when a deadly threat appeared.
While he was still thinking about what happened, his body froze. A chilling cold spread through his limbs, and he instantly understood what that meant—his senses were warning him.
Very slowly, he lifted his head and stared at the web in front of him.
That's when he saw them.
A cluster of blood-red eyes was glaring straight at him.
The webs were too dense for him to see the creature clearly, but he was certain it was a giant spider—one easily over 40 feet tall. And the information his "Evaluation" Skill gave him was more than enough to confirm the danger.
[ ?????????? ]
The question marks meant only one thing:
This monster's Rank was far higher than his.
Arthur cried internally at how absurd the situation was.
He cursed his terrible luck—and what made it worse was the fact that he could already feel himself being drawn toward those malicious eyes, just like with the webs.
'Damn it… is this forest hell? Can a weak wolf like me even survive?'
As before, his head grew heavy, and he could no longer think clearly. Involuntarily, he started moving forward.
Yet, even though the pull of the eyes was far stronger than the webs, Arthur retained a part of his consciousness and resisted intensely, his body trembling violently.
His previous experience had made him slightly more resilient, and he wasn't just a dumb beast that could be easily tricked.
His human intelligence, combined with the "Primal Predator" Skill, gave him decent resistance against the red eyes' pull.
'Damn it!'
Arthur howled in pain, forcing himself to stop in place. He clenched the ground tightly, trying to think of a way to escape—or at least break free from the pull—but it was useless. He was like a moth drawn to fire.
'No… I don't want to die like this.'
Despair washed over him, yet he continued to struggle desperately. In the end, a glimmer of hope appeared before him.
Ding!
[You have obtained a Rare Skill: Iron Will]
'This…?!'
Arthur was shocked. He quickly read the skill description—it increased his resistance to mental attacks. Without any delay, he activated it.
He immediately felt the pull become much weaker and regained full control over his body.
He didn't know exactly how he had acquired the skill, but he didn't dwell on it—the timing wasn't right for that.
He calmed himself, took a deep breath, and then quickly glanced at the blood-red eyes.
They were still fixed in place. Without any hesitation, he fled at top speed, leaving a trail of dust behind him.
He knew that spiders don't leave their nests, yet monsters don't follow the common sense he knew.
He was literally gambling with his life with this rash move. Luckily, the spider didn't chase him and only watched.
Sigh!
Once Arthur had gone far enough, disappearing behind the trees and shrubs, a faint sigh came from among the webs, followed by a soft, feminine murmur.
'It ran away?! What an interesting wolf.'
There was a hint of surprise in the female voice, yet at the same time a strange indifference and chilling coldness.
Then, oddly, the blood-red eyes vanished as if they had been nothing but smoke. In another part of the silky webs, a very beautiful human girl opened her eyes and sneered.
"He should thank his luck this time. All my Skills are restricted due to the Evolution Slumber."
The girl had jet-black hair, mesmerizing sleepy red eyes, and skin as pure as sapphire.
Her upper body was slender and alluring, but her lower half was a massive black spider body, marked with streaks of blood.
Without paying Arthur any further attention, the spider closed her eyes and returned to her slumber.
She had been only half-conscious all along, unable to move freely.
…
On the other side of the forest, after running a sufficient distance, Arthur finally stopped, looking back with a tense expression.
'Phew… I survived. But what was that? And why would such a powerful monster be so close to my den?'
A mile and a half might seem like a long distance, but for powerful predatory monsters, it was practically nothing. He could almost consider it his backyard.
'Fuck!'
Arthur grew more anxious and felt a bit nauseated. He hadn't yet recovered from last night's terrifying experience, and here he was facing something even more horrifying.
According to his senses, the spider he had just seen was far stronger than the monster that had passed by his den last night.
Arthur didn't need much time to regain his composure and lift his spirits a little—or rather, he resigned himself to the situation.
There was nothing he could do, and it was useless to trouble himself over something beyond his control.
After a short rest, he resumed exploring the forest. This time, he headed south, and about two miles from his den, he discovered a clean stream, from which he drank to quench his thirst.
As night approached, he returned to his den and took a good rest.