Master Of None

”Well, I don’t see anything that looks like decay or slime monster.” Remey threw her hands up since they seemed to be coming up empty everywhere they looked along the tree line. 

”Looks like we have to head on in now, just remember to keep your eyes open. The trees will obscure our long distance vision and there could be monsters in the branches.” Walker gave a few warnings as they all formed up. Remey was the lead with Walker in tow, she wanted him to see her use her combo skill as soon as she found the next enemy. 

The forest was not too hard to maneuver since there were worn trails near the outer edge. This made the party more relaxed since they were able to still spot anything a good distance away. The trees toward the edge were also younger and did not have the proper potential for monsters to use as homes. 

The real problem was the fact that the ground in the forest was covered in dead leaves or moss, making the floor of the forest soft and effected the party’s footing. On top of that when they got deeper the tree roots would become large enough that they would have to step on or over most of them. Some vines had started to grow up the older trees and hang over their heads, these were the perfect place for insects and spiders to hang making Remey much more wary. 

”Stop, did you see that.” Su had spotted a slight motion four trees ahead of them. ”There was something that moved in the corner of my eye, it is on the tree over there blending in.” She moved in front of Walker and Remey motioning for Gil to draw a normal arrow. ”Aim at the fourth tree about halfway up. The bark doesn’t look normal.” 

Su could see a discoloration on the brown tree bark, it had moved slightly which tipped her off that it was definitely unusual. Gil followed her line of sight and notched a normal arrow. When he let it fly he half expected it to just thunk in to the bark of the tree as any arrow would. However, he was surprised to hear a soft squishing sound instead. 

The was a lot of movement from under the brown patch that seemed to be held to the tree with the arrow that Gil had fired. With whatever Gul had hit struggling Remey broke from behind Su and wound up a solid punch. She unleashed two heavy right and left hooks at the spot causing a cracking sound. 

Pieces of dried brown bark fell on to the ground revealing a much smaller baby grey haired spider that had just been crushed by Remey. It had used its spider thread to pick up a piece of fallen bark and hide itself to ambush prey. If the party had walked by without Su seeing the movement they could have been victims of this strategy.

”Only two experience points for that but if we hadn’t seen it we could have been poisoned or worse…” She seemed disappointed at this because the risk was much higher if they had not noticed it. 

”It was using a natural hunting tactic. Just because it was smarter in how it hunted doesn’t mean it was any stronger, look at the size. I’m surprised my arrow didn’t defeat it in one shot.” Gil was looking at the spider that couldn’t even be used as crafting materials. If he had known what it was he would have just tried to go around it and let it grow to adulthood. 

”At least we know that they can hint like that. If we didn’t learn this lesson now it could have caught us off guard later. I will be looking for discolored spots in the forest as we walk.” Walker was studying the bark that had been used as a disguise. ”The scary part is that the bark also acted like a little bit of a shield.” 

”By discolored do you mean something that seems to stand out as a little too different...something like that round spot on the ground over there?’ Remey was standing like a stone statue. She was locked on a large round spot on the ground that was a very bright shade of green compared to the moss surrounding it. 

”Form up, that one looks bigger. Remey do you want to fight it and try to work some combos is? Or should we try and beat it quickly.” Walker left it up to Remey since it was her trying to teach him a lesson. Plus it was a good experience to let her act as the leader at times. The entire party needed to grow and evolve not just one. 

”We can take it down together, it will be easier to show off combos against opponents that don’t have poison or eight legs to dodge.” This was the answer Walker would have come up with. ”Su you taunt it while Walker prepares that fancy new skill of his. Gil, you will be support and Midnight will circle behind. Once it is surrounded we will all attack in turn.” Remey was more adept at battle strategy and was showing her prowess here. 

Gil pulled back a basic arrow and was planning on using it the same way they had with the baby grey haired spider. This one was certainly larger but if it was struck through the moss patch then it would want to attack or run right away. Midnight faded in to the shadows using her shadow wrapping skill and Gil released the arrow. 

There was almost no resistance and the scratching of legs gave away the spider hiding under the moss. The light green moss was flung in to the air revealing a very large adult grey haired spider. ”Get over here you worthless bug!” Su taunted the spider making it focus its rage from being hurt in her. It charged at her but was met with her shields as it swung its sharp legs down at her. 

The sound of vibrating metal let The others know that they were able to attack. Remey went in with a slide to get under its weaker belly. She was able to strike twice with jabs before retreating again. The damage she had done was enough to slow and stagger the spider. Walker was creating the first whip much faster due to the water all around him. 

Since the spider was distracted and staggering Midnight was able to bound in and shred at the legs of the spider taking out three of them in a vicious swipe. When Midnight retreated she flapped out her wings giving her a slight boost backward. Walker wanted to praise her for the wise use of her wings but the frost whip was formed and he needed to hold his own. 

Gil and Walker worked together at mid range to fire their projectiles. Gil’s arrow was able to take out and lodge in to one of the spider’s eyes. Walker sent a pulse of mana through the frost whip and sent three ice needles in to the same area as Gil’s arrow. The result was a very angry and hurt spider.

The grey haired spider began to panic at the damage it was receiving and lashed out blindly. Su was there with her shields blocking every attack and even managing to parry one that could have reached out for Remey as she moved in with a hammer fist. When Remey made contact the spider’s abdomen cracked open showing just how much damage it was taking from the onslaught of attacks. 

Walker knew that it would try to flee since it had started to spin around wildly, he used the frost whip to wrap around two of its legs and made it freeze. He did not worry that the ice would break and he wouldn’t be able to control it since he was already making a new frost whip in his other hand. The second frost whip wrapped around another two legs while Midnight came in and shredded off the remaining free leg. 

Su slammed her shields together and used a shield bash with her full might to crush the spider in its weakest point. The giant grey haired spider had not stood a chance against the teamwork of the party. 

’Giant grey haired spider defeated

45 exp multiplies to 450 exp’

The party looked at the twitching corpse knowing that they had gone in to full attack mode and defeated a strong opponent. If this spider had ambushed them they would have lost a member of their party, no doubt about it. ”Nice job Remey. You have good eyes.” Walker’s sudden praise made Remey unable to reply, however, Gil and Su echoed this along with a few huffs from Midnight. She was suddenly too sheepish to reply at all. 

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