Arcane Innovator

When I came to my senses, I carefully patted myself down. Although my whole body was in pain as I was thrown back by the explosion, I didn't have anything broken or missing—at least I think I didn't.

"Ugh!" I groaned as I stretched my limbs, trying to feel the area around me as I was once again submerged in total darkness.

Luckily, only half of the chamber collapsed, so I was spared from being buried alive by a mountain of rocks. But I still had to deal with some pressing issues.

'Spiders, huh?' Now that I think about it, the idea of facing the wolves outside doesn't sound too bad anymore.

I conjured a small flame so that I could see where I was and try to find a way out.

Well... great. Now, even if I wanted to try my luck with the wolves outside, I couldn't. The tunnel I came from was buried by a collapsed cave wall.

The explosion had a bright side, too. When the wall collapsed, it uncovered yet another corridor. But to my dismay, it didn't lead to the surface. Instead, it led even deeper into the cave.

I was reluctant to explore it, but I had no other option since I couldn't find another way out of this cursed place.

I didn't think straight at that moment when I fired that shot. But now I regret losing control like that. I need to be more careful in the future; I could have killed myself along with the spider. Although obliterating it like that felt great.

With a long sigh, I gathered my stuff and proceeded to explore the uncovered corridor. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Now that I knew there were monsters here too, the whole thing became a much more daunting ordeal than it already was.

The air was thick and musty, and the ground was slick with slime and moisture. Every step I took seemed to echo through the cave. I came to a bend in the tunnel. I carefully looked ahead, and then I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye.

I turned to face it, my hand gripping tightly around my pebbles, ready to fire at a moment's notice. Out of the darkness emerged another spider-like monster, its eight legs clicking on the rocky ground. Its eyes glinted in the dim light, and I could see its venomous fangs poised to strike.

'I need to be very careful not to get bitten,' I thought somberly. That strange liquid dripping out of its fangs must be some sort of poison. Old Sven warned me that many monsters use poison in their attacks.

I stood my ground, trying to steady my nerves. I knew I had to be careful; one wrong move could mean the end of my journey and my life. Every step I took could mean the difference between life and death. And so I moved forward slowly, my eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of danger.

Before it had a chance to lunge at me, I had already fired my shot. Its body collapsed from the grievous wound in its chest. What I found out from our brief encounter previously is that although they are very swift and extremely deadly, their defenses are not strong. Their bodies are actually quite squishy.

But that doesn't mean I can take them lightly. 'One wrong move and I'm done...' I kept repeating myself as I slowly moved forward. I rounded another bend in the tunnel, and then I froze. I saw dozens of spiders, all scuttling towards me with their bared fangs ready to strike.

'They must have been lured here by the sound of the explosion,' I thought.

I quickly prepared for battle. I knew that this would not be an easy fight and that I would have to be quick and agile if I wanted to survive, but the corridor itself is quite narrow, so they can't surround me. And so, with fierce determination, I charged forward, the bangs of my shots merging with the hissing of the monsters.

The monsters in the front collapsed and blocked the way for the others. I used this opportunity to take a quick glance at my bag of pebbles. I refilled them back at the underground river shore, but I'm once again running low on ammo.

This is bad. The bodies of their fellows slowed them down, but it didn't stop them. They were already squeezing through. As I looked at the hopeless situation I found myself in, I got an idea. Taking advantage of the fact that they were so crammed together at the moment. I threw my torch at them.

I then poured as much mana into the fire as I could. I saw the torch turn into a big ball of flames right as it landed on the mass of spiders in front of me. I still couldn't control fire very well, and conjuring something akin to a fireball was well beyond my ability.

But igniting something, especially such a dry piece of wood like the improvised torch, was fine. I timed it so that the wood ignited a mere moment before the impact.

The second before the wood was consumed, it created quite a big flame fueled by my mana. This flame rained down upon the spiders' bodies, burning viciously.

It seems the spiders are quite afraid of the fire. They hissed and tried to escape the fire. However, before they got a chance, I poured even more mana into the fire, igniting the bodies of the dead spiders.

The fire spread quickly, engulfing the whole corridor. The spiders burned. A few of them who were in the back scurried away, but most of them didn't get away in time and were engulfed in flames. They squirmed and hissed, but they were too cramped together to get away, and soon the corridor was filled with the foul scent of burning meat.

In the end, I killed around twenty of them. Some were still alive, so I finished them with a shot of a [Stone Bullet] before everything was quiet once again. I sat on the ground. The mental strain of controlling such a big fire was heavy, and I also spent most of my mana.

For what seemed like hours, I rested until I recovered enough of my strength. The rest of the spiders didn't return, and there were no signs of them in the corridor. So I continued through the underground tunnel's twists and turns.

It was a daunting journey. I moved slowly with nervous anticipation, wondering what other dangers lurked in the shadows, and I knew that I would never forget this trip for as long as I lived.

After a long time, I stood before a massive opening in the rocky walls. I carefully peered inside, and I could see dozens of spiders scuttling about. Their eyes were glinting in the dim light, and I could feel their presence all around me.

It was the entrance to a spider's den. I finally found it. You see, I thought a lot about my current predicament. And I gathered that, with so many spiders here, they must have a den somewhere. And in order to feed themselves, they must have a way to get to the surface to hunt.

I felt a slight breeze blow across my skin. There is surely a way out of here. And so, I took a deep breath and stepped inside.

This den was truly something else. The walls were lined with thick webs, each glowing with soft blue light, and the spiders themselves were massive; their bodies were as large as horses, and their legs clicked against the rocky ground.

And in the midst of it all, there was me, a lone child exploring the dark depths of this underground world.

For hours, I wandered through the spider den, carefully avoiding the webs and the spiders themselves. I was covered in ash and dirt from my misadventures so far, which luckily seemed to block my scent from the spiders.

I knew that I had to be careful and navigate the spider's den without getting caught in their webs. And so I moved forward slowly, my eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of danger.

On the walls were also some kinds of glittering crystals, each sparkling with soft blue light. The ground was slick with moisture. They must have used these crystals to strengthen their webs.

I noticed that the webs were becoming denser and more intricate. But the breeze was stronger here. Suddenly, I heard a low hiss from behind me. I spun around and found myself face-to-face with a group of spiders, their eyes gleaming with malice.

I quickly fired at them before they had a chance to bite me. It was getting increasingly difficult to avoid them, but I was also getting better at aiming and firing my pebbles than ever before. Adrenaline and fear of death fuel me.

And then I saw it. A way out. The corridor sloped upwards, and in the distance, I could see faint rays of sunlight penetrating the darkness of the cave.

'Ah! I never thought how much I would miss the sun!' I thought happily.

But then I froze. I heard a sound that made my heart skip a beat. A low, threatening hiss. It made my skin crawl, and I felt immense danger right ahead.

A form lowered itself from the ceiling in front of me. It was the biggest spider I had seen so far. It projected an almost palpable aura of death. 'It must be the Spider Queen.' I thought bitterly, and what's more, she is blocking my only way out...

I could see it—a way home. It was right in front of me, and yet it could as well be hundreds of kilometers away.

The Queen herself was a terrifying sight to behold. She stood towering over me, her massive form reaching nearly five meters high. Her body was covered in thick, armored plates, each segment glistening in the dim light of the cave. Her eight legs were thick and muscular, each ending in a set of razor-sharp claws that glinted dangerously in the darkness.

And her head was the most horrifying part of her body. It was nearly as big as my entire torso and dominated by two enormous, multifaceted eyes that glowed menacingly at me. Her mandibles were long and sharp, dripping with venom that steamed in the cold air.

Despite her immense size, she seemed to move with a fluid grace that betrayed her monstrous form. She stepped forward, her eight legs moving in complete sync. I could hear her chitinous armor scraping against the rocky ground.

As she was approaching me, her mandibles clicked and clacked, and I could feel her hot, fetid breath on my face.

'Oh, crap!' I quickly lunged back, startled.

'After everything I've been through down here, right when the exit from this hellhole is in my sight, fate wants to play with me and place an impossible challenge in front of me.' I thought bitterly.

I was angry. Very, very angry. Soon, anger turned into determination.

"I refuse to die in this place!" I exclaimed loudly, prepared to fight to the death.