The strange spider looked intimidating compared to the other ones. With its bigger size and darker colors, it looked a lot stronger. Just the mere pressure it naturally released showed that it was close to evolving. Lucas could instinctually feel that its aura was bigger, meaning that the spider had a stronger core than its brethren.
But it wasn't suffocating like Venion's aura, showing Lucas there was a clear in-between. Nothing was truly black or white, only shades of gray.
'So monsters also have ranks? And they can upgrade their core like humans to become a higher rank, which in turn changes their appearance?'
'That or this is just a different type of spider. If there is a single queen like ants, what else could they have? Drones? Workers? Guardians?'
The darker spider was the only one that was close to the female, it was also the only one eating with her as well. He couldn't tell how strong it was, making a loose calculation based on their aura's revealed the spider to be a bit stronger. Of course, Lucas didn't truly know if a stronger presence meant a stronger being.
In the end he only had himself and Venion to compare with, and neither were a magical beast. This left him with a lot more questions than he'd like. Pushing all his theories aside, he tried to find their weaknesses.
'The first step to fighting is scouting your opponent's capabilities, Liam has a point. Going in there would only result in our death.'
'I don't know if that thing has better senses than the normal eight-legged creeps, but taking risks without a plan is just incredibly stupid. Don't do anything stupid.', part of Lucas felt that last part needed repeating.
Creating a distraction could lead to baiting some spiders away, but it wouldn't guarantee that the big one would go as well or that all the spiders would come. An ant hill wouldn't run completely empty just because they found some food.
'If it has reached Rank 1 it means that it has a form of intelligence, but that doesn't seem to be the case.'
'If it reached Rank 1, we wouldn't be talking right now, idiot.'
Figuring out how to succeed, his darkness kept hiding him, taking energy from his core. He needed to act quickly if he still wanted to fight properly after this. Next to that, he needed to run fast enough to outrun the monsters, which would require stronger muscles and wind to accelerate him.
Both of those require energy and a bit of willpower. In other words, he didn't have the time to create any kind of elaborate plan. He needed to act fast. 'If we just kill the female one they would probably follow us, right?'
The last time he did so, the other spiders even exited the cave to hunt him down. No matter how good his hiding spot was back then, they saw right through it.
Lucas thought it had to be a certain smell he just couldn't perceive because he was confident that his form was hidden back then.
'Then again, it was only after that female one moved her fangs that the other spiders came looking.
'Meaning that if we wanted to achieve the same result, we need this little one to feel fear as well?'
While Lucas was slowly starting to create a plan, there was a bit of an issue. How was he meant to get that smaller spider out of the sight of 40 normal ones and 1 bigger specimen?
Creating a bit of light would attract more than just one. The imagery of a bunch of spiders reaching for him gave him goosebumps.
'If they have a similar hierarchy like ants, they want the best for their queen. These spiders are intrigued by light, and are weak to heat.'
Lucas had an idea, if he could create an environment that the spiders liked, they should bring their so-called queen to that place since it's the best. He walked backward and rested for a bit to regain some of his energy while he was thinking about how he would lure the female spider.
Not long after, there was a part of the mine that was a lot cooler and wetter than any other part of the mine. One of the spiders walked into the different atmosphere before it went back to report, or so Lucas thought. Hiding in that strange part of the cave covered in a layer of darkness, Lucas created small lights to attract his prey.
He started to meditate again, trying to limit his aura even further. He wasn't sure how perceptive the big spider was. So he could only prepare as much as possible. If the close-to-Rank 1 spider found him, he would simply need to run away as quickly as possible or use the darkness from his spell as a source for an attack, although that would put his own body at risk.
Not long after, the queen spider was brought to the damp area, along with her food. The trap Lucas created was just a part of the tunnel leading to the nest. The place was too small for the big spider to be there as well.
Lucas felt like he had tricked them to fall into his trap. The room was too small for the massive spider to enter. He would be able to ambush the little one without any problems.
Sadly, his optimism was shattered when the big one stood outside and blocked the entrance.
'Well... better than nothing.'
'You fucking idiot! We wasted so much energy to create this place, and now we're also stuck in here? Why did you think that big one would leave this little shit alone?'
'Hey, it's better than an endless stalemate. Trust me.'
'I'd rather not.'
The small spider seemed to relax in the environment. It seemed to collect the water from the walls that Lucas created. To Lucas, it looked like normal water, but to the spiders it contained a lot of free mana to consume.
The spiders never cared for the coolness or humidity of this place, but it's magical significance. This was lost on Lucas though.
It didn't take long before the other spiders brought the food for their queen. The food that was brought in was placed around Lucas, even some landing on him, destroying the spell. Luckily the smell from the bodies hid his own. Covered in entrails and blood and pus from the rotting bodies, Lucas had to resist the reflex to vomit.
He sat there covered in guts as his acid reflex happened multiple times. Lucas was incredibly lucky the noise of falling bodies covered his own gagging.
'I really didn't think this through.'
'No shit.'
'At least it worked out..for now, that's good enough.'
'From now on we should plan out every detail before doing anything. If you're going to be in control, at least think before you act.'
'Can't believe you're the one saying that.'
Covered in corpses and other unidentifiable meat, Lucas waited for the queen to inch a bit closer. The moment she came to feast on another body close to him, Lucas sprung in action. "Die for me."
KIIIIEEEEK
A stone spear had drilled into the queen's head. What happened next all passed in mere seconds. Before the spiders rushed towards his location and the bigger one forced its way inside the little cavern, Lucas grabbed one of the queen's legs and pull it off with one hand as the other created a small hollow dirt ball that was meant to capture whatever scent the queen gave off.
While Lucas had placed himself in a dire situation, that didn't mean he had lost sight of what he wanted to experiment with. Creating the ball and pulling of the leg took around two seconds, but the spiders were already turned towards him. Without looking at them or thinking things through, Lucas jumped underneath the big spider's legs before rolling and running at his fastest speed to get away.
Conjuring up a small wall behind, Lucas tried to create some distance, but the spiders demolished it in an instant.
Using hihis magic to enhance the muscles in his legs, his speed was barely above that of the spiders. They were right on his tail, screeching for their queen, or that was what Lucas assumed.
A chase started, with Lucas at the front, using air magic to propel him faster through the mine system and his leg muscles bulging. He kept running and running while carrying the queen's leg and a small dirt ball. One object in each hand he rushed to the place where he left Robert and Liam.
Lucas was gone for quite some time so Liam and Robert had been discussing how they would be handling the monsters that escaped their trap. The trap was placed in a pretty big room that had two exits.
One was a dead end, the other led back to the main cave system and thus the outside. Robert looked a bit paler than usual while he clapped his hands together. "I'm done, the trap has been upgraded.", he said with a smile.
Liam had been scouting for Lucas, but since he didn't see him for quite a while he glanced at Robert, "What did you even do?"
"I added a few arrays in the cave, although calling them arrays is an overstatement. Arrays are normally a lot more complex than what I've created."
"Why have I never heard of this before?", Liam looked inside the room and saw a few red circles with runes placed inside of them. He couldn't recognize any of those runes, since he wasn't a mage in the first place.
"I've learned about arrays in one of my private lessons about magical practices."
'With this, he should be surprised about my abilities. It's time for him to be in awe of me.', Robert had a proud smile on his face, but Liam was still somewhat confused. "What do these even do?"
"These arrays are made of pure air and fire runes. The moment the circle is broken it will activate a big explosion, or at least, that's what it said in my book.", seeing the confused look on Liam's face he continued.
"You can compare it to what Lucas did with his hands. He used certain elemental runes to heal his hand right? He made them all with his mind and waited for the right moment before activating them. This is the same principle, but I don't have to do anything. All I need is for the circle to break before the entire room collapses."
While Robert looked proud of himself, Liam had but a single worry.
"I know what you mean, I was just thinking... how do we avoid this explosion? Lucas said he could hide us from the spiders, but with that explosion, won't things get a lot more complex?"
"No worries, I'm prepared."