A Waste of Time-Chapter 18: Shattered Loom

“But how come there’s no indicator of my Health—” Daemon muttered, frowning at empty air. He was still mentally flipping through Asura’s stats, annoyed that even his skills didn’t show clear numbers for how much
Mana
they cost.
Yet the moment the word
Health
slipped past his lips, the world flickered—and three bars shimmered into view, floating before his eyes in bold, unmistakable colors.
[Health: 207/207]
[Stamina: 215/215]
[Mana: 225/225]
“Well, would you look at that.” He laughed under his breath, baring sharp teeth in a grin. “So the system
does
listen if you poke it in the ribs.”
A quick scan told him more—Asura, for all his brute size, was weirdly balanced. More magical potential than raw muscle. “I figured you’d be a walking earthquake, but turns out you’re built to toss some fireworks too. Good. Would’ve been a nightmare to deal with ranged pests otherwise.”
He flicked his focus to the
Equipment
tab. A row of empty slots stared back.
[Equipment]
[None]
[None]
[None]
...
“Really? You mocking me for being broke now?” He clicked his tongue, glaring at thin air like it owed him gold.
A glance at
Inventory
brought more salt to the wound.
[Inventory]
[Empty]
[Empty]
[Empty]
...
“Fuck off! Don’t rub it in!” Daemon snapped, all four of his hands clenching at once.
He exhaled hard, then cracked his neck side to side. “Fine. If you won’t hand me gear, I’ll make my own.”
He stalked the forest, snapping branches thick enough to fit comfortably in his huge palms. His nails, tougher than steel, sliced and shaved away twigs and bark until he had a crude arsenal—rough clubs for a giant’s fists.
[Branch x6]
The notification popped up like an insult. Daemon bared his teeth at it. “Annoying twat. Be snarky later.”
Three sets of eyes swept the forest. He ignored the small prey—rabbits, squirrels, even a brown bear that stood up on its hind legs, puffing itself up like a forest king. One look at it and Daemon snorted.
Tempting... but I’m not that desperate.
To him, the bear was just another Grunt—fatter than Grunt, furrier than Grunt, but just as boring.
So he moved deeper until the trees parted around a natural clearing—a fountain, half-hidden by ancient stones. The pool shimmered blue, clear as sky trapped in a hollowed earth.
And around that perfect little oasis—spiders. Dozens of them. Small ones, big ones, armored ones. Eight-legged nightmares, all perfectly still until his foot hit the edge of their circle.
Thousands of red eyes turned in unison. A shiver rippled down his massive spine.
Shit.
A primal, instinctive fear scuttled under his skin. He bit down on all three tongues to keep himself from bolting.
You’re not losing your nerve. You want a worthy fight? Here it is.
His lips twisted into a manic grin. He stepped forward.
“Hold it together, Daemon. They’re just overgrown bugs. And bugs
squash
.” He growled the words under his breath—then roared the rest at the swarm: “BRING IT, YOU CRAWLING FREAKS!”
Battle Cry—
Mana dropped by 15 instantly as the skill ignited through him. The spiders twitched, then charged—hundreds of spiny legs spearing the forest floor in a horrific rustle.
Daemon braced himself, branches tight in his fists. When the first wave hit, he triggered
Lone Tower
.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
He swung like a whirling demon—branches cracking chitin, spider guts splattering his arms and torso.
Gara. I’m fucking Gara.
He thought through clenched teeth, eyes bloodshot with focus.
Nothing gets through. Nothing.
His feet anchored in the dirt, extra arms snapping out to catch strays trying to scuttle past. The notifications flickered in the corner of his vision—he barely saw them, but each kill sang through his bones.
[Eliminated Level-1 Hatchling Spider: +1 Experience] (×1,024)
[Eliminated Level-2 Common Spider: +3 Experience] (×256)
[Eliminated Level-3 Elite Spider: +7 Experience] (×64)
Bits of leg, guts, and sticky fluids sprayed his face and chest. His makeshift weapons started to splinter, fraying under the relentless battering.
Then came the bigger ones—grey carapace, harder bodies that shrugged off his wild swings. They hit like battering rams, pushing him back a step for each that got close.
Bigger hits. Need bigger hits.
He pivoted, slammed an elbow into a stunned grey spider, and hurled it into another. Then, spotting a thick-trunked tree, he triggered
Rush
.
He barreled through the mass, feet churning earth and bodies alike. Reaching the tree, he wrapped six arms around the trunk and leaned, feeling it crack under his weight.
Crack. Creak.
“OPEN SESAME!” He roared, wrenching the trunk sideways until it toppled. The closest spiders scrambled—too late.
“Gum Gum… Axe!”
“Homerun No Jutsu!”
“Rock Comes First!”
“Second Comes Scissors!”
“Paper Comes Last!”
“BAN-KAI!”
His laughter mixed with the crunch of splintered bark and smashed chitin as he swung the trunk like a giant’s club, flattening anything that dared crawl too close.
[Eliminated Level-4 Spider General: +15 Experience] (×16)
[Eliminated Level-5 Spider Commander: +31 Experience] (×4)
When the last red-hued Commander stopped twitching, Daemon was panting, covered in sticky filth, surrounded by twitching legs and busted bodies.
“Ugh—some of that got in my
mouths
—fuck, I’m gonna
hurl
…” He dropped the battered trunk and bolted for the fountain.
But halfway there, he froze—one foot hovering over the stone edge. The water pulsed with a strange energy, a soothing warmth that crawled over his skin even from a distance. He glanced at his bars—Health and Stamina were rising so fast it felt like someone was filling him with a hose. Mana, too—recovering in steady drips.
“So that’s why these freaks were guarding it. Clever bastards.” He moved closer—then stopped dead.
A glint of green caught his eye—needle-thin but solid as steel, hidden between two rocks near the fountain’s edge. A single segmented leg, speared into the dirt, twitching.
Daemon’s hackles rose. Instinct screamed. Quietly, he backed away—eyes flicking to where he’d dropped his tree-trunk club.
Almost there—
The trap sprang the moment he moved. The rocks exploded apart as a massive green spider lunged, bladed legs slicing the air faster than he could react.
Rush.
He triggered it instinctively—legs churning as he dove for the trunk.
A flash of emerald blurred through the shadows—too fast. It was on him the same moment three of his hands grasped the battered tree trunk.
“GO FLY!” Daemon bellowed, sweeping the trunk in a wide arc. He layered
Battle Cry
on top of it, pouring raw threat into the swing—then triggered
Critical Blow
, hoping to stagger it with a single, decisive hit.
But the green horror didn’t dodge—it
met
his strike. One bladed leg flashed down, severing the trunk clean in two. The momentum threw him off balance—his stacked fists slammed into the spider’s carapace, the full force of his boosted blow cracking chitin.
The spider hissed, but its counter came just as fast—another leg raked across his knuckles, splitting skin and bone in three places.
Daemon staggered back, three fists clenched tight over oozing cuts. The green spider skittered back too, sliding into the fountain’s basin with a splash.
“You cheating piece of shit—” Daemon snarled, three jaws baring fangs. “You think I
won’t
break every leg you’ve got? Bring it!”
The forest around them fell silent, as if holding its breath for the clash to come. The last drops of sunlight faded behind the canopy—leaving Daemon, bloodied and grinning, alone with his nightmare.
When true enemies meet on a narrow road, there’s no room for both to walk away.
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