It was painfully clear that his odds of leaving this clearing alive—after picking a fight with that monstrous green spider—were next to none. And yet, as Daemon squared up to it, his battered body surprised him. The shell he’d never trusted much was proving absurdly tough. Each cut sealed. His stamina refilled like a bottomless keg.
And here, right at the edge of that enchanted stone basin, fighting this overgrown nightmare... he was damn near
invincible
.
First the cuts on his knuckles mended. Then his heavy breaths came easy again. The moment he felt that invulnerability wrap around him, a dangerous idea sparked behind his many eyes.
Daemon stopped hesitating. He dove right in—circling the green spider like a madman while landing heavy punches when he could, grinning wide when the spider’s eerily intelligent eyes glared back at him as if mocking his efforts.
Mock me all you want, you smug bug...
He’d let it land a swipe on his forearms, just to grab a stone from the basin’s edge. Then another. And another. By the time he’d hauled up a pile of fist-sized boulders, its slashes couldn’t even scratch him—his grin widened with every swing.
When his Mana bar crawled back to half, he made his move. Daemon danced just outside the creature’s reach, then flared his aura—
Battle Cry
roared through the clearing like a cannon blast.
The spider flinched, instinctively backing toward the center of the pool again—afraid of another one of his thunderous strikes that had already cracked its armored shell once. Daemon’s grin turned wicked.
Got you now, bitch.
He triggered
Rush
. The stones, each the size of a door, spun in his massive arms—this time not to block but to
smash
.
Bang!
Clang!
Splash!
Ding!
Boom!
The forest trembled. One stone caved in a leg. Another snapped off the spider’s armored arm with a sickening crunch. Daemon caught the severed limb mid-swing, twisted it in his hand like a spear, and plunged it back into the monster’s abdomen.
In thirty seconds, the unstoppable predator lost its two deadliest limbs—shattered, torn free, turned against it.
Daemon didn’t waste a breath. He triggered
Critical Blow
a second time—two boulders swept in from opposite sides while his other arms lunged with the stolen legs like spears, pinning the beast in place.
Crunch!
A wet, sickening crack echoed through the clearing—but the damn thing refused to flatten. Its carapace warped and buckled, but the beast inside still writhed, still fought.
Daemon tossed the rocks aside and spat a laugh. “How durable... If only you weren’t a spider.”
He cracked his neck and surveyed the battered body. A twisted grin spread across three faces. “Grunt better be ready. I’m gonna milk every piece of you for loot.”
He heaved the carcass out of the basin and eyed the water—clear again, as if the blood and filth had never touched it.
“Magical, huh? Worthy of being my private bathtub.” He nodded to himself, then stepped in without a second thought.
Jab.
Daemon shot out of the pool with an inhuman shriek. “AAARRGGHH! MY ASS! What the—?!
Thousand Years of Pain
—why not just poison me to death, you
perverted bug
!?”
Three of his six hands flew to his backside while the other three fumbled beneath the water, searching for the traitorous object that just delivered the ultimate humiliation.
His fingers found something small, cold—he lifted it up, squinting. A tiny glass spider, perfect in every lifelike detail.
“W-what the
fuck
—what the
fucking fuckity fuck
—!” Daemon squealed, leaping around the basin like a kid who’d stepped on a snake. The glass spider bounced between his palms like a hot coal as he scrambled to get rid of it.
[Spider Ring: Agility +15]
He froze mid-flail when the notification popped up. “Huh? A ring? How?”
Cautiously, he slid it over one thick finger—and the tiny glass spider sprang to life, its eight legs curling tight around him until it latched on like a living thing. Its green eyes flickered once before fading.
Daemon stared. Then sighed. “Well, I guess that’s a fair trade for my dignity. Damn thing better be worth it.” He grumbled, glancing back at the shimmering pool. “Let’s check for more surprises, yeah?”
He waded back in, swiping the bottom with cautious hands. All clear.
While soaking his wounds—and pride—he pulled up his long list of neglected notifications. One caught his eye: 63 Experience Points for slaying what he now decided must’ve been a Spider Queen.
He chuckled. “Worth it. If I didn’t get a level or two from that, I’d have to crawl into the afterlife and slap whoever’s counting my XP.”
[Asura: Tier-0]
[Race: Fiend]
[Faction: Horde]
[Hero/Leader/Warrior/Spellcaster]
[Strength: 13.2]
[Agility: 26]
[Vitality: 15.9]
[Endurance: 17.1]
[Intelligence: 20.8]
[Magic: 13.8]
Daemon’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. Even when stacked with Grunt’s stats
and
buffed by Battle Frenzy, he was still nowhere near Asura’s raw numbers.
Meanwhile, back at camp, Jia stirred a bubbling pot over the fire, humming. Ippo, shirtless, shifted from sword drills to push-ups without missing a beat. Ru sat cross-legged nearby, pretending to meditate but clearly watching his sister out of the corner of his eye.
“How long’s he gonna sit in that dreamland?” Jia asked, shooting Ru a look. “We’re almost ready here.”
Ippo grinned, flipping to his feet mid-pushup. “No worries. If he doesn’t come back on his own, I’ll drag him out by the ears. Having a beauty like you worry about us—careful, we might fall in love.”
Jia’s cheeks went pink. Ru glared at him—earning only Ippo’s teasing wink in reply.
Daemon’s voice broke the moment. “Smells good.” He emerged from the tent, stretching both arms overhead with a lazy grin. “Did we get attacked yet?”
Ru clicked his tongue and looked away. Jia giggled—she’d already heard Ippo’s dramatic retelling of the whole scene. She, too, felt that restless itch for a real fight after her recent breakthrough—one that still felt like a dream.
Daemon dropped beside her, grabbed the steaming bowl she offered, and shoveled food into his mouth like a man possessed.
“Good, good, good... Let them gather strength. Let them recruit more warriors. When they come for us, it’ll be a clash worth carving into legend.” He beamed around a mouthful of stew.
Ru rolled his eyes and sighed, half-expecting Daemon to go pick that fight
himself
if no one else did.
Ippo only chuckled, sliding from sword drills back to his relentless exercises. He’d keep training—his body, Daemon’s, everyone’s—until the forest trembled with the echo of real battles to come.
Jia leaned her cheek on her palm, a smile playing at her lips as she watched the boy eat—equal parts monster, madman, and the seed of something greater.
Here's a link to my discord server if you want to talk - .gg/HwHHR6Hds
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