Chapter 71 Cave And Spiders
Taking out a glass bottle with thick green liquid from my storage space, I opened the cap.
It wasn't a potion, but something similar I made with herbs.
Pouring the liquid on my hand that was almost cut in half, I wrapped it with a clean cloth.
The cut was from my wind spell and it might have been fatal if not for my gloves and protective gear.
It was a deep cut and blood was gushing out like tap water from it.
Wrapping the wound with a cloth and some other herbs, I checked my storage device.
Taking out some less important things, like ant armor and a bunch of normal arrows, I threw them at another side... gently.
Walking by the rabbit, I started cutting it.
It was big enough for me to fit in, but I can't take this whole dude with me. I wished I could but, well.
Checking for a core or skill stone, I sighed in disappointment.
'Not every rabbit gives skills...'
Core wasn't there either.
Taking some large chunks of meat, skin, and nails, I stored some in my storage device.
Putting the remaining things in my bag, I ran away from that place without even looking back.
My heart had started beating like crazy and I knew what that meant.
Jumping on tree branches, I reached a safe distance.
My heart had calmed down a bit, so I turned around and activated my [Mystic eyes].
A colossal figure descended from the sky in a loud voice.
-Vaaaaaa!
A scream that sends shivers down my spine with cold sweat on my back.
That thing was not something that I could even go close to.
A enormous bird with jet black feathers and glowing white eyes with a dark red pupil in its center.
A [Dark vulture], a scavenger bird that cleaned every big corpse such as that rabbit.
It was a (Yellow) ranked beast with darkness attribute skills.
Not only does it clean up the dead, but it also clears up any creature around it.
Like that snake and other birds and insects around it.
Its fundamental skill, [Dark eating] devours calmness and the creatures just lose their will to live.
Some of the rare fear-inducing skills with partial mind control.
I didn't know if I could resist it's a skill like that demon baron, so I didn't want to take any risks.
Picking up my speed, I jumped away.
It was smaller than the rabbit.
But, it wasn't the only one to enjoy this food.
They traveled in groups, and I knew there would be many of them soon.
Not only did they prey on the dead, but they even hunted in these groups.
Their prime targets were strong opponents like brown rabbit but they avoided hunting stronger opponents like that fire bore or mother snake.
I would be a nutritional, healthy meal for them, considering my Mana pool.
And... I had no plan of being torn and eaten by some scavenger birds.
I had to find a good place, possibly another cave, to spend my night.
I jumped and ran and jumped and traveled from tree to tree and sometimes, open areas.
There were many beasts that I spotted from afar all this time and one of the most noticeable among them was a [Topical parrot].
A (Red) ranked bird we believed to be almost extinct.
There were some miraculous sightings of them in southern tropical islands, that's why they were called that.
Having a long tail and half meter tall figure, the bird had extremely beautiful feathers of red, blue, and black.
The color of the feather also indicated their elemental properties, so I can guess that the one I saw had fire, water, and darkness properties.
Its beak was shining golden, and its eyes were a beautiful green.
It... was a sight to behold.
They were sensitive creatures and avoided any other presence other than their family.
This one was alone, eating some fruits from a tree.
I was lucky to spot it from almost 1.5 kilometers away because of the open area.
There was also a group of terrifying monkey-like beasts that numbered more than 20.
With white fur-covered bodies and black tails, and white dots on fur, they played among themselves.
I could feel they were strong, with all the combined pressure oozing out of them.
Because of them, I had to take a different route than the perfectly straight one.
I strolled for some time, and it was almost evening.
I thought that I wouldn't have anywhere to stay for today but, thankfully I found a perfect place.
A bit deep cave of three (Red) ranked spiders.
These were [Wind net spiders].
Though it could have been an easy kill, I had to check for possible variables.
This cave was deeper than the one where I previously lived.
And, unlike the previous one, this was almost undetectable.
Surrounded by trees, it was on a small rock cliff.
In the neighboring area, there wasn't much activity and there was even a tree with banana-like fruits on the other side.
The entrance of the cave was small, only two meters tall.
But, from what I could see inside the cave, the cave was much bigger on the inside.
But it was still a suitable spot.
A net was surrounding the cave entrance, a green net.
I could see some wind moments in it when looking closely, and I understood it was from a skill.
The spider from last time always followed a fixed timing and hunting periods.
These spiders, however, almost always stayed inside their house.
I observed them for almost three hours and there weren't many moments from them.
'It doesn't look like there is something else in this cave, but I can't be too sure.
Let's fight them outside.'
I knew this place was safe because I trusted my heart.
[Dynamic Heart] has almost always been right in this kind of situation, but for safety purposes, I checked it again.
Landing down on a bush before the cave, I focused my Mana on my feet and thinly spread it.
It was a bit difficult, but I got the hang of it after six minutes or so.
(Earth Detection)
A (tier-2) spell, which was one of the most basic detection spells.
Through the small vibrations and moments on the earth, I can map out the area near me.
For the time being, its range was still a hundred meters, and it was perfect for now.
Though it was my first time using this spell, and I almost knew nothing about the actual spell... I knew the basics.
From all the things I have read, I knew about the principles of many spells.
Specific and nonspecific, many spells were just explained in some books for different reasons.
I knew all the basics of 'magic' and 'Mana', so I was able to create spells with my imagination.
Anyone with high willpower could do this, and I knew this one was easy for me.
The Mana spread out from my legs and into the ground.
I could feel the micro sensations of earth and a rough image of the caves inside appeared in my mind.
It was unclear, but I can feel the spiders inside the cave.
There were only three of them and nothing else.
There was a big spider web inside the cave and there were many tiny insects stuck in it.
The spiders were at the back, and they were wrapping something inside their webs.
I tried to look closer at what it was, but suddenly, one one spider started screeching.
I could see that screaming outline and there was also sound coming outside, but the surprising thing was that, after screaming, it looked back.
It looked back and outside the cave and almost in my direction.
I flinched, and the spell broke.
"They are special, too. Looks like I will have to fight head-on... from a distance, of course," I smiled and jumped back on the tree.
I could hear the familiar sound of a spider crawling coming my way.
It will be a good fight to test some different things out.