《Tomb of Bakkwo》


 Book 1 Chapter 1: The fall.

    The boy could see that the wolf pup was blind, two crimson scratches lining down each of its eyes. He felt the instincts of a killer whirling within him. He didn¡¯t know what had attacked the creature and forced it to linger near their village, but he would end it. Even when disabled, the wolf was still a threat. He lifted his sword to deal the final blow to the injured animal.


    ¡°Arcturius stop!¡± A voice bellowed out to him and he froze, the edge of his blade hovering above the pup¡¯s head.


    ¡°Arkhantos¡­ dad.¡± Arcturius kept his gaze steady on the wolf and his sword mere inches away from its forehead.


    If it moved, he would end its life in a moment.


    A large shadow appeared over Arcturius and he knew his father was standing behind him. ¡°You would kill a helpless animal?¡±


    ¡°I would kill a threat to our village.¡± Arcturius was resolute with his intentions. He saw nothing wrong with killing a wolf if it meant saving them from future trouble. ¡°Why would you stop me?¡±


    Despite his words, he still respected his father¡¯s opinion above his own, and he lowered the blade. The man had more experience than he did, having explored the world and even tackled dangerous dungeons before. Words couldn¡¯t describe the respect and awe Arcturius held for his dad.


    ¡°Heh. Then I have raised you wrong.¡± Arkhantos moved beside the pup and knelt down, scanning its body with his eyes and frowning. ¡°Tell me, what do you see here?¡±


    Arcturius knelt down and studied the wounded creature. ¡°I see something that will eat our chickens and threaten my mother and sister ifwe allow itto grow up.¡±


    ¡°Then you are clearly as blind as this pup.¡± Arkhantos reprimanded him sharply. ¡°Your mother can take care of herself, she did not cross the three seas so that a young whelp could try and protect herwith meager fighting skills. Do not let your talentget to your head. No.¡± Arkhantos lifted the creature¡¯s fur and his son felt surprised as he sawthat the wolf hardly flinched. He had expected it to attack his father or try to bite him. ¡°This little fellow is not just wounded, he is starving. These marks are also fresh. But there is nothing around that seems like a threat.¡±


    ¡°Come Arcturius.¡± Arkhantos looked uneasy. ¡°Grab the pup and return to the village. We have bigger concerns than a single wolf.¡±


    Arcturius nodded and moved alongside his father back towards the direction of the village, only to run into his father¡¯s back. ¡°Dad?¡±


    ¡°Bring the pup with you.¡± His father¡¯s voice was resolute. ¡°We will figure out what to do with it after.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Arcturius turned around and picked up the weakened wolf, staring at it without emotion.


    To him, it was just a feeble creature that would probably end up dying regardless of what they did with it.


    Arkhantos¡¯ eyes darkened as they walked and he gazed into the woods where he knew the wolf packs roamed. ¡°The wolves have always taken care of their young. If this pup is both starving and injured, it means that something has encroached into their territory. I suspect that the only reason this one is so injured is that something got through the adults and tore into the child. The only reason it is alive is because its parents were probably the more immediate threat.¡±


    Arcturius¡¯ ears perked up and he grew more alert. ¡°You think it would attack the village?¡±


    He wasn''t worried abouthis dad. The man was the strongest person he knew. Even the wolves would scurry in fear when Arkhantos approached them. But their village was a different matter. If something attacked while his dad was busy, then he didn¡¯t know if the villagers could cope with it.


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± Arkhantos sniffed the air and grimaced. ¡°There is something strange in the air. Something is happening.¡±


    Arcturius followed his father¡¯s lead and tried to smell the air, but he couldn¡¯t sense anything. Magic hadn''t heightened his senses yet like it had his fathers. But the next moment he could feel something under his feet. A soft tremor, slowly growing stronger as time passed. It passed by his feet and continued until the trees were shaking. Arcturius could feel the ground itself quaking.And then nothing.


    ¡®Something is happening in the village.¡¯ Arcturius turned to face the source of the tremor.


    The tremor hadbeen fiercebut it had died out just as quickly as it had begun.


    ¡°Come Arcturius.¡± his father didn¡¯t hesitate to sprint towards the village and Arcturius followed him with the pup in his arms.


    It wasn¡¯t long before they reached the outskirts of the forest where the tree line ended and their village began.


    ¡®What in the name of the gods is that?¡¯ Arcturius saw the sky above the village area brighten and he leaped forward into a sprint towards his home.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Gods.¡± Arcturius could hear the flames before he saw them, and he rushed through the treeline with the pup in his arms to see what was happening in the village. ¡°It¡¯s on fire!¡±


    Before his eyes, the houses and small defensive walls that had been his home for all of his life were burning into cinders. He squinted as the light burned so bright that just staring into the flames blinded him.


    Arcturius began to throw the pup to the ground so that he could rush towards the village but before he could make a move, a large hand pushed him back and held him in place. More power than he could fight against pressured him into staying still and he looked up to see his father¡¯s grimacing face eyeing the village cautiously.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got eyes but not common sense boy.¡± Arkhantos didn¡¯t take a single step towards the village. ¡°Tell me, what do you see there?¡±


    Arcturius squirmed in his father¡¯s grasp but took a closer look at the village. ¡°Fire. And the village we need to help. Right no-¡±


    He stopped speaking as he eyed the village carefully. There was something odd about the entire scene. The flames crackled over the buildings with reckless abandon, and the fire had completely annihilated the walls. Butsomething more was missing.


    ¡°Where are the others?¡± Arcturius suddenly realised what was missing.


    There wasn¡¯t a single villager in sight trying to put out the flames that engulfed the buildings. Normally even the outskirts of the village would bustle with activity, and his mother would definitely be in the front linesfiring off water magic to douse the fires. But he couldn''t see a single soul in the entire area. It was as though the village had turned into a ghost town.


    ¡°Boy, listen to me carefully.¡± His father¡¯s voice was strong and firm, but Arcturius could hear a small tremble as he spoke. ¡°Your mother would have kept your sister safe, but she would not have abandoned the village easily. Not when she knows wewould return to help. It is possible that there is something here which could cause even her to retreat.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll stay here an-¡±


    ¡°You will stay nowhere.¡± His father¡¯s voice was sharp. ¡°You are to follow me and stay by my side at all times. I will not allow you to enter harm¡¯s way.¡±


    Arcturius was about to argue when a shriek blew into the air from in front of him. He jolted in surprise and rushed to bring out his sword, only to realise that the sound wasn¡¯t coming from an enemy. It was coming from his arms.


    The wolf pup was howling.


    ¡°Bloody hell.¡± Artcurius lifted the pup by the scrap of its neck.


    ¡°Stop.¡± Arkhantos¡¯ voice was sharp and Arcturius saw his dad¡¯s eyes slowly widening as the pups howls grew louder. The wolf¡¯s paw started to move as it tried unsuccessfully to run away from Arcturius¡¯ grasp. ¡°It¡¯s sensing whatever harmed it.¡±


    Their eyebrows furrowed as they tried to spot what the wolf was sensing. But aside from the burning village, he couldn''t see anything of interest. No dangerous animals or signs of bandits. With a wide view of the entire area, he could see that nothingliving was even remotely close to them.


    ¡°This thing can¡¯t even see.¡± Arcturius shook the blind pup and watched it howl helplessly. ¡°It''s probably just scared out of its mind at the fire.¡±


    At his words, Arkhantos froze and turned slowly towards him. ¡°You are right. The wolf cannot see. But it can smell...ON GUARD ARCTURIUS.¡±


    Arcturius heeded his father¡¯s warning a second too late, only to feel something large pass by him and smash into his father. His eyes widened in surprise as his father lifted his arm to block a blow from something neither of them could see, but then five blood-red gashes appeared on his arm where he had moved to defend himself.


    Something had injured his father.


    ¡°Illusion magic.¡± Akrhantos hissed as his blood dripped onto the grass. He lifted his free hand and smashed it into the ground, his fingers glowing bright red.


    Arcturius flinched as the attack bathed their surroundingsin the brilliant crimson glow of his dad¡¯s magic and then he stared up in horror. There were no more flames, no buildings, no bright trees, and grass. The village was completely gone. In its place was a desolate black and purple landscape. A mishmash of purple crevices that seemed to scar the earth; And Arcturius was standing right beside one.


    ¡°What the hell are you?¡±


    Arcturius heard his father¡¯s voice growling in anger and he looked up, only to see a large purple creature staring down at them. It was a humanoid that looked like a mismatch of muscle and sinew, with the legs of a cow and startlingly sharp claws. Arcturius shivered as he realised he hadn¡¯t been able to see the thing the entire time it had been there, but now it was too late.


    It was standing right next to him.


    ¡°Die.¡± Arcturius lunged at the creature but its body blurred and he felt a stabbing pain as it dug its claws into him, throwing him and the wolf pup in his arms back with enough force to knock the wind out of his stomach.


    Arcturius let out a cry of pain and then tried to lift himself up, only to realise that there wasn¡¯t any ground underneath him. The creature had knocked him straight over the edge of the purple crack that had appeared beside him.


    He was already falling down into it.


    ¡°ARCTURIUS.¡±


    ¡°DAD.¡±


    Arcturius could see his father reaching towards him and being stopped by the creature¡¯s blackened hand. He felt his heart plummeting as he fell beyond his father¡¯s grasp and into the pitch-black. The confusion of the fall frayed his emotionsas he fell deeper but before he could gather his thought he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and his body crumpled, his mind turning blank and his eyesight leaving him.


    He had hit something, but he hadn¡¯t stopped falling.


    Arcturius could feel his hands reaching out to grab something, anything, and failing. He blinked and tears flew from his eyes into the air. He wasn¡¯t a fool. Wherever he was falling, it was far too deep for him to survive the fall. These would be the final seconds of his life.


    ''And it was a good one.'' He thought to himself groggily. "If only I had been strong enough.''


    Then he would have been able to react quickly enough to dodge his attacker. Maybe even powerful enough to stop his father from being hit, or to sense the illusion magic before they had been ensnared. But now it was too late to worry about that. He wouldn''t have any more time to grow stronger when he was dead. As he fell asmall glimmer caught his eye and he turned his head towards it. The last thing he saw as he fell was a faint rainbow light entering his vision. he felt warmth flowing through his body, easing his pain and causing him to feel a sense of calm and peace.


    Then he felt his body hit the ground and his surroundings turned black.

 Book 1 Chapter 2: Exploration

    A pained groan broke the silence of the cavern as Arcturius rose from his slumber.


    ¡°Gods that hurts.¡± Arcturius brought his hands to his head as pain wracked his body.


    It felt like something had bathed his entire body in the fire poison of the Eros forest frogs. Pain shooting from one section of his body to the next, trying to escape. He tried to lift himself up and grunted as more waves of pain flowed through him, but they were quickly lessening.


    ¡®No matter how confused I am, I have to scope out my surroundings and detect any threats.¡¯


    His father¡¯s lessons from growing up quickly flooded into his head. He needed to figure out his situation. He still clasped his sword in his hand. As a true warrior, his father had trained him from a young age to never let go of his weapon even in the direst of emergencies.


    ¡®Good.¡¯ He wrapped his fingers around the weapon tightly. He turned his head to confirm it was actually a sword in his hands and then blinked. ¡®Light?¡¯


    He didn¡¯t have night vision.


    Arcturius moved his head slowly through his surroundings, cautious not to trigger any residual injuries, and quickly spotted the source of the light that shone over him. A cluster of white crystals stuck to the wall, shimmering with a bright light and illuminating the small chamber he was resting in.


    ¡®How did I get here?¡¯ Arcturius tried to recall the last thing he remembered, but all he could think of was the long drop into the earth. ¡®No¡­ there was something else.¡¯


    He vaguely remembered a brief flash of rainbow light that had popped up beside him during his descent. But in his panic and with his injuries he hadn''t been able to view it closely. Whatever it was, maybe it had something to do with why he was still alive.


    ¡®Not just alive, but in perfect health as well.¡¯ Arcturius suddenly realised the pangs of pain keeping him down had subsided as though there had been nothing wrong with his body.


    Arcturius lifted his shirt and stared at his chest in astonishment. He distinctly remembered being kicked by the hostile creature, and it wasn¡¯t a light kick either. It was enough to have at least shattered some of his bones and it had caused him to fly into the crevice. He had also hit his head and body against the rocks during his fall, and finally his body had slammed into the ground from a height that should have killed him. At the very least he shouldn¡¯t even be able to move, most likely for the rest of his life.


    There wasn¡¯t even a single bruise to prove the traumatic events that he¡¯d experienced were real.


    Then he heard something that made him forget the crystals and injuries completely. He crouched low and grabbed his sword tightly as he turned to face the sounds. It was a soft billowing of air that seemed to puff every couple of seconds into the air. The sound of breathing.


    In the ground in front of him was the familiar shape of a tiny wolf.


    ¡®So you survived.¡¯ Arcturius kept his thoughts to himself so that the sleeping wolf wouldn¡¯t wake.


    He lowered his sword as he drew closer to the pup. It was fast asleep and clearly uninjured just like he had been. Now was the best chance he was going to have to strike at it.


    He brought his hands to the pup and wrapped his fingers slowly around its neck. He wasn¡¯t sure how it had survived the fall, but he couldn¡¯t risk it trying to finish him as he slept. But as he began to squeeze down a thought crossed his mind and he hesitated. He remembered the events that led up to the two of them falling down here together. Then, he slowly began to move his hands away and let the sleeping pup continue to dream.


    It was a necessity, not compassion, that had stopped him from ending the wolf¡¯s life. Before he¡¯d fallen to the surface magic had engulfed them and hid the corrupted landscape from their view. But this pup had sensed the invisible enemy approaching before either of them had. He knew the pup was dangerous, but he feared illusions and enemies that he couldn¡¯t detect more than just a couple of little bite attempts.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Arcturius lifted himself up and moved away from the pup, gazing further down the cavern and narrowing his eyes as he tried to use the limited light to detect any threats.


    ¡®If nothing ate me while I slept then hopefully that means there¡¯s nothing dangerous here.¡¯


    Arcturius frowned as the thought crossed his mind. His father would have belted him for thinking like this in such a dangerous situation. The fall had trapped him in an unknown area, with enemies possibly lurking around every corner. He wasn¡¯t going to survive by staying still, he at least needed to get the lay of the land.


    He crouched low and tried to move as stealthily as he could through the cavern. The crystal¡¯s glow was constant but quickly stopped providing a means of sight as he shuffled a few meters away from them. He sighed in defeat and moved back towards the pup. If he couldn¡¯t see then it would just be foolish to walk through the darkness.


    He had to make light.


    Arcturius turned towards the cluster of crystals and eyed them hungrily. They were the only source of light in this entire area, and he needed to move them. He clasped his fingers over one of the longer crystals and tried to pry it from its place in the rock, but it wouldn¡¯t budge. It would take tools far stronger than his hands to break them free.


    Arcturius brought his sword up to his eyes his brow furrowed as he thought of a plan. He could try to use the edge of the sword to chip off the rocks around the crystals and free one. It was the only tool he kept on him.


    ¡®No.¡¯ He shook his head. ¡®That would just be stupid.¡¯


    Light was important, but his weapon was the second thing that would keep him alive. He didn¡¯t even know if the sword could chip the rock. If he accidentally broke or damaged it beyond use then he would be as good as dead if he ran into anything hostile.


    He looked around and frowned. There was nothing that could help him. In fact, the entire area was a dead end, with only one path leading out into darkness. The other sides around him were all solid stone walls that he could see weren¡¯t easy to break through, not that he would want to.


    ¡®How did I get here?¡¯ The thought crossed his mind again.


    There was no hole in the ceiling, so this clearly wasn¡¯t the place where he¡¯d fallen down. But he probably hadn¡¯t been in any condition to move here if his memory was correct. So clearly something had brought him into this dead-end and next to the crystals. Maybe even the same thing that had healed him of his injuries.


    ¡®The pup?¡¯ Arcturius narrowed his eyes as he scanned the creature from top to bottom. ¡®No.¡¯


    There didn¡¯t appear to be anything abnormal about the creature. It was just an ordinary wolf pup. He could see the injuries on its eyes, a deep crimson pulsating grimly under the crystals¡¯ light. The cuts hadn¡¯t healed alongside the other injuries pup would have gotten from falling.


    *Clatter*


    Arcturius turned with eyes wide and his sword in front of him as he heard something falling onto the ground. His eyes quickly moved from the pup to the walls and then on to the ground, where an object was rolling around as though someone had dropped it.


    ¡®Strange...¡¯ It was the same long crystal he¡¯d tried to dig out earlier.


    Arcturius approached it carefully, eyeing the surroundings for any movement. The crystal had been wedged firmly into the rock, and he doubted his tugging had caused it to loosen. But the proof was in front of his eyes, the crystal had dislodged cleanly from the wall.


    Arcturius approached the crystal warily but stopped a couple of feet away from it. Then without warning, he struck out at the air and weaved his sword through every corner of the room. But after a few seconds he stopped the barrage and took a deep breath. He couldn¡¯t help but think of the invisible creature that had snuck up on him on the surface. The surroundings definitely weren¡¯t big enough for something of that size to have dodged all of his strikes.


    ¡®Okay.¡¯ Arcturius picked up the crystal, keeping his sword at the ready. ¡®It¡¯s better than nothing.¡¯


    The crystal¡¯s light was bright enough that he could see a few feet in front of him, but if there was something beyond that he¡¯d be in a lot of trouble. Arcturius kept it in front of him as he crouched low and moved forward.


    The passage slowly opened up as he walked further. It was a single corridor with the odd hole here and there, but after a few meters of walking, Arcturius came across something different.


    It was a mass of blood and gore.


    Arcturius shivered as he looked up and saw the entrance of a hole leading up into parts unknown. He moved to the gore to examine it.


    There was no doubt about it, this was where he had fallen. It was deep enough underground that the light of the surface wasn¡¯t shining through the hole, and Arcturius didn¡¯t know how long he¡¯d fallen for. But one thing was clear, a splatter of this size meant that his injuries were too intense for him to move around.


    It confirmed his suspicion that something had dragged him to the crystal, and they had healed him of injuries.


    Arcturius took one last look at the gore on the floor and moved past it. He didn¡¯t have time to get queasy over healed injuries. Then he froze as he heard a sound on the edge of his senses. It was the shuffling of flesh against the rock.


    And it was coming from above him.


    ¡®Shit.¡¯ Arcturius lifted his head up just in time to see something large jump down towards him.


    He¡¯d forgotten to check the hole in the ceiling for enemies.

 Book 1 Chapter 3: Enemy

    The creature crawling above him spread its legs across the room and moved through the air towards him. It was lowering its body from the ceiling, vicious fangs arched towards him.


    "You''ve come to your death, beast."


    With a startled shout he sliced at the nearest dangling limb, his sword slicing right through the creature¡¯s skin, unleashing a torrent of green blood that covered the floor. The creature let out a shriek that tore into his ears but he tightened his grip on his sword and sliced at it again, carving out a chunk of its stomach and unleashing its insides into the air. The creature¡¯s wail died out and he quickly rushed out from underneath it, covered in green ooze.


    ''For a big guy he sure went down easily.''


    He took a step back and eyed the creature wearily. It was a giant spider, but a kind he hadn¡¯t seen before. He knew that the forest spiders would fake death when injured, only to strike when their enemies had relaxed their guards. He didn''t intend to become one of those fools.


    Under the light of the crystal he could see twelve shimmering black eyes gazing lifelessly at him, seven legs folded into its body as they contracted at the moment of its death. Thrown to the side was the single hairy limb he¡¯d cut off.


    He stood in silence as he waited for the creatures bleeding to stop. There was no need to approach it to stab it again because time was finishing the job for him. He could be sure from the pool of green on the stone floor that it was dead. There was no way for a creature to survive that much blood loss with such a small body.


    ¡®Are there more of them?¡¯ Arcturius frowned as he imagined more spiders dropping on him while he slept.


    He didn¡¯t mind fighting more of them face to face, but the idea of those fangs digging into his sleeping body caused him to back away from the corpse and slowly look up to examine the hole. If the spiders had hidden in there, he wanted to confront them now, armed with his sword and bursting with energy. He hadn¡¯t even pushed his muscles as he sliced through the creature.


    It was almost as though there had been no resistance at all from its flesh and bones. If it even had any bones. But from the look of its corpse, it covered its skin in tough hairs and skeletal plating covered its legs and body.


    ''Yet somehow my ordinary weapon had cut through it? Weakling.''


    Arcturius looked down at his sword curiously and an odd sight met him. His sword was glowing with light.


    ¡®That¡¯s new.¡¯


    It wasn¡¯t strong enough to illuminate the entire cavern, but it was definitely a marked improvement from before. Arcturius studied the phenomenon carefully. It didn¡¯t look like the creature¡¯s blood was causing the glow, in fact, it seemed to come from within the sword itself. Arcturius had heard his father¡¯s tales about magic weapons. But he was sure it was just an ordinary sword.


    He moved the crystal ahead of him and pointed it towards the ceiling. ¡®A mystery I''ll solve another time.¡¯


    He didn¡¯t have the luxury of standing still and admiring his sword¡¯s new qualities. Moving backward, he slowly made his way to the cavern filled with crystals. He knew it was a dead end but if those things came after him and he started running around aimlessly he could end up in a worse situation. At least here there was light.


    Arcturius thought up a plan as he moved. The important thing for him wasn¡¯t surviving; It was staying alive until his father brought help to come and rescue him. He was confident that his father had survived the attack. There was no way that the battle-hardened warrior had fallen to a creature that needed to resort to cheap tactics. That he hadn¡¯t come straight down after him meant that the hole probably wasn¡¯t a viable way to access the caverns he¡¯d fallen into.


    ¡®Anyone that fell down that hole would probably die on impact.¡¯ Arcturius thought glumly.


    That didn¡¯t mean the hole was useless. It would definitely serve as a marker for where he should be, so he resolved to stay as close to it as possible. There was just the issue of the spiders. If more were inhabiting it then he didn¡¯t want to be resting right next to an entire nest of them.


    ¡®I have to clear them out properly.¡¯ He finally reached the cluster of crystals.


    Nothing had changed since he¡¯d left a few minutes ago.


    A low growl floated into his ears and his back shivered. He swiveled around with his sword drawn. In the attack''s confusion, he¡¯d completely forgotten about the other inhabitant lurking in the area.


    The wolf pup.


    The growling sound grew louder and deeper, and from behind a small rock the wolf pup emerged. Arcturius eyed it warily. It was clearly hostile. But it wasn¡¯t growling at him. It was growling at something behind him.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Arcturius jumped to the side without hesitation and watched as a glob of yellow liquid flew into the space his body had been in. It splashed against the wall and with a faint sizzling sound the rocks began to cave inwards and dissolve before his eyes.


    He turned around with his sword drawn and froze as he spotted his attacker.


    The seven-legged giant spider was blocking the corridor. It¡¯s guts hanging out from the cut he¡¯d made underneath its stomach and its cold black eyes darting in every direction. Its fangs were dripping yellow and drops of acid were splashing down as its body moved from side to side, watching him.


    Judging from what they¡¯d done to the rock wall he didn¡¯t doubt that the liquid would kill him if he let it touch him.


    "You¡¯re one tough bastard." Arcturius shuddered at the sight of it. "But a dimwitted one if you came back for seconds."


    He hadn¡¯t gotten a good look at it in its full glory before, but now he could see that it was far bigger than he was, and he knew that its legs made it a difficult opponent to catch. Luckily for him, the corridor wasn¡¯t wide enough to support its full frame. He raised his sword towards his enemy and charged¡­


    Only to see the spider shudder as the wolf pup bounced through the air and clamped its jaws down tight onto one of the spider¡¯s eyes. With a growl, it locked on tight and its mouth splashed with green blood. Arcturius rushed towards the enemy, ducking under its body and severing its exposed guts with a strong cleave of his sword.


    The spider let out an inhuman shriek as its organs were severed, and it struggled to turn towards him while the wolf pup continued to gnaw at its eyes. It couldn¡¯t reach him as long as he was underneath it, but its fangs splashed acid across the room as it moved.


    He lifted his unused arm to block the drops as they approached him and he gasped in pain as the acid splashed onto his defensive arm. Within seconds he could see the bone underneath as the liquid burned through his flesh. He immediately lifted his sword with his good arm and stabbed it into the creature, running it through.


    The spider¡¯s shrieks immediately grew quiet as the sword passed through its stomach, blood and organs spilling over Arcturius and the floor. The spider¡¯s body fell to the ground with the pup still clinging on and its legs curled up into its body.


    "No." Arcturius had already seen this trick. "You won''t trick me this time."


    He stabbed the spider several more times to make sure that it was dead. And then he cut off its fangs just to make sure that it couldn¡¯t spit any more acid on him.


    ¡®The acid.¡¯ Arcturius grimaced as he raised his injured arm up to examine it.


    Now that the adrenaline was wearing off he knew the pain that would hit him would be worse than he could imagine. The liquid had dug into his bones. It wasn¡¯t an injury he could afford to have while staying in this hostile environment.


    ¡°What?¡± Arcturius gasped as he viewed his arm.


    There was no pain, no broken flesh and no exposed bones. There was only a faint red rash where he¡¯d seen the acid spilling onto him. And even that was fading away quickly.


    "Something strange is going on here." Arcturius'' voice was low as he took in the situation.


    It wasn¡¯t just his wounds.


    It was more than that. He had seen the spider die before his eyes. But now it had come back to life. He¡¯d only survived thanks to the warning of the pup. Something was wrong in this place.


    ¡°Is it these things?¡± He stared down at the crystal he¡¯d been keeping in his hand.


    The crystal he¡¯d been holding had shrunk. He hadn¡¯t noticed it because of the sudden attack and the added glow from his sword, but the crystal had definitely grown smaller. Before he could hardly fit it in his hand, and now it snuggled comfortably in his palm. Even as his wounds grew smaller and smaller, he could see the crystal shrinking visibly before his eyes.


    "Crap." His light source was going to run out soon.


    But there were immediate worries to deal with. If these crystals were involved in healing his injuries, then they were a serious threat to his health because they would continue to heal his enemies. There were still plenty of crystals left because the cluster was large, but that meant that this spider was a more immediate concern.


    "Looks like I''ll have to stop you from getting back up." He turned to the bleeding corpse with malice in his eyes.


    He couldn¡¯t afford to let it revive again.


    There was only one thing he could do. If these crystals could heal even his injuries from falling into the cavern, then he would have to make sure that he injured the spider beyond healing. He sat down in front of the bleeding mess. There was only one method he could think of that would guarantee its death.


    ''I''ll carve out its organs.''


    The main body of the creature was only the size of his back but when it had spread out fully it dwarfed him in size. He was lucky that it was so weak to metal. The body squelched as he dug his sword into its eyes and began carving them out one by one. It was a quick process, and the spider didn¡¯t move at all so he could assume it was well and truly dead, but he couldn¡¯t be sure.


    So he continued to dig out its remains from the main body until he¡¯d completely hollowed out the creature. In the middle of the ground lay a pile of spider guts and innards, and one hollowed out spider carcass. The material of its outer shell was actually hard enough that his hands couldn¡¯t even squeeze it. It surprised him that his sword had carved through it so quickly.


    He placed the spider¡¯s hollowed-out carcass in front of him and watched it closely. He¡¯d only taken his eye off of the spider for a couple of minutes before and it had somehow managed to get back up with half of its body hanging outside of it.


    He placed its insides to the side and the wolf growled as it kept its head pointed towards them. He felt a small shred of a smile tugging at his lips as the wolf turned its blind eyes towards the spider¡¯s remains. Even if it couldn¡¯t see this was the second time it had spotted an enemy he couldn''t see.


    It had saved his life.


    ¡°Maybe I will keep you around. Just for good luck.¡± The pup¡¯s ears perked up as he spoke to it, and it tilted its head towards him curiously.


    Then it let out a little yip and he smiled.


    ¡°At least you¡¯ll make for better company than the spiders.¡±