260 As Long as I Donst Have to Touch Them (1/2)

The massive spider webs burned instantly, leaving an invisible and miasmatic cloud free to drift through the entire area, and cause each and every insect or animal caught by it, to fall on the ground in a state of complete paralysis. If Daniel and Aeron did not have a protection against this poisonous cloud, they would have likely ended up in the same situation.

”That's not good..” muttered Daniel while looking at the reaction that a few small insects next to him had shown in responses to being poisoned. He then took a deep breath, and jumped right into the large sink hole along with Aeron.

Daniel had read about the type of spiders that populated this cave. He already knew that they were of a certain size, and that was proven by the size of the cavern's corridors, which were massive. Unfortunately, Ton Bes's environment was so dangerous, that it had forced the wildlife into a state of constant evolution. Therefore, there was a high possibility that all of the information he had gathered about his prey, was already outdated.

What he knew about these arachnids, was that they were two meters long spiders. Their shape was not unlike that of a common tarantula, which was composed of eight hairy legs divided into multiple sections, two furry palps which they used to handle their food, and sharp fangs which would inject a powerful poison which could paralyze the prey, and turn their organs into a pasty goo of which they would slowly feed on.

The massive cavern was filled with thick spider webs which Daniel and Aeron carefully avoided, as they were sure that a single touch, would leave them instantly paralyzed for who knows how long.

A few hours passed, but despite how long the two of them had walked, they had not found any sign of life. The walls had deep scratches on them, sign that the spiders had tried to dig through in hope to expand the cave, but all of these scratches were old.. Just like the thousands of bony remains strewn all over the ground.

It almost seemed as if the cave was abandoned.

Aeron was starting to doubt that there would be any spider here, but Daniel did not share that opinion. He knew that, if the quest told him that he would find the objects he needed here, then he would undoubtedly find them.

Left with no other choice, Daniel approached one of the threads, and after covering his fingers with a layer of stone, he pinched it. The vibration caused by Daniel's action extended through the entire length of the thread. It also jumped from one thread to another in the points where the two threads touched, creating loud noise that would definitely alert each and every being that lived close by, or in contact to those threads.

Unfortunately, even after five hours of wait, nothing had happened.. Or at least, nothing that they could feel from that distance.

In the far away depths of the cave, covered by an oppressive amount of darkness, a single yellow eye had opened. This eye was massive, and did not have a round pupil, but a reptile-like slit instead.

What made Daniel and Aeron understand that there was something wrong with this cave, was the fact that they had finally found remains of the spiders that they were supposed to be hunting, but were oddly big, and only carcasses mixed with the remains of their own preys.

Finally, a few changes occurred..

A piercing cry was uttered from the far depths of the cave, but powerful enough to reach all the way to where Daniel and Aeron were.

Surprised by the sudden human scream, the two dashed with their fastest speed, and after a few minutes, they arrived in a massive cave. In one of the sides of this large cave, a man and a woman were being cornered by a large amounts of gigantic spiders.

At least twenty of them were slowly pacing around this couple, with some of them that were mummifying what looked like a few fresh human corpse with their webs, and a couple more that were creeping on the stony wall right above the couple quietly.

Just like Daniel had feared, these spiders were a lot different from how they were supposed to be. They were at the very least fifteen meters in length, and had two rows of four eyes each, just above a massive pair of mandibles that ended in sharp spikes.

This couple appeared to be in their fifties, and wore expensive armor. They did not have any patch or coat, and were likely mercenaries, the only other job aside from that of the researcher in Ton Bes.

While Ton Bes's atmosphere had become poisonous due to the multitude of experiments and tests conducted by the various poison masters through the centuries, now, it was very different. Many groups had considered leaving this planet and finding another one, but things had changed to such a speed, that the planet itself had become a heaven for scholars all over the universe. The beasts kept evolving, causing new poisons and resistances to be discovered every single year.

The need to keep advancing in their research, had caused the poison masters to push themselves into the poisonous area in order to look for new species of poisonous beings.. And no place was better for that, than Ton Bes.

It didn't take long before this job was passed down to mercenaries.. A type of replaceable individual which no one would have missed.

”We kill.. And tie you.. And eat you.. So juicy..”

”So hungry..”

The thoughts that Daniel and Aeron heard coming from the minds of these spiders were much simpler than what they had expected. They were beasts at the sixth, seventh, and eight stage of cultivation, and yet, they sounded slow-minded, and focused on eating above anything else.