Glaring at Talen, the poison spider roared, an ear shattering roar echoing through the forest.
Fully turning its body around, the spider caused the ground to violently quake and tremble.
Plunging his jian deep into the earth, kneeling, Talen gripped the hilt hard, struggling to remain standing.
Behind the spider, Henry lost the ground beneath his feet, landing hard on his back. 'He's strong, he can handle it.' He thought, blood escaping his slightly parted lips.
Raising its four front legs high, the spider aimed to shatter the ground before it.
Noticing that, Talen went into the Zone, sprinting towards the tree he had jumped from.
The spider's spiked legs met the ground with a thunderous thud, the impact shattering the earth where Talen previously stood.
Massive boulders rose high into the sky, tearing the clearing like fabric; the force from the impact violently shook the first row of trees in the direction Talen tried to escape.
The tree Talen was taking cover on trembled, as the spreading cracks shook its foundation. 'This isn't gonna hold for long.' He thought, scanning around for a more stable tree.
Luckily, he found one only a jump away.
Slipping back into the Zone, Talen crouched, clenching his jian; he glided through the air.
Spotting the fly that caused it such pain, the Poison Spider's eyes gleamed.
Jumping to his escape tree, Talen turned his head to observe the spider.
When suddenly, he saw a misshapen boulder hurling at him.
Talen could easily track the boulder's trajectory; however, he had no ground beneath his feet, therefore dodging was not easy, but it was doable, unlike blocking.
With his eyes on the boulder's increasing size, Taken knew he only had seconds to decide how to dodge. 'Your death isn't gonna be easy, spidey.' Talen thought.
Clicking his tongue, Talen twisted his body to face the boulder.
He commanded his body, attempting to summon the strength of Neather; however, his body could not comply even if it tried. 'Level three.' Talen thought, placing his jian between his teeth.
As the boulder grew inches away from Talen, he extended his hands, placing them on the boulder.
He had found grounding. Using it, Talen raised his legs to his stomach in a curl; feeling all the boulder's imperfections, he pulled his entire body over it, vaulting over the boulder.
Nevertheless, he still was not safe; now he was stranded in air, with no cover or grounding.
Talen free fell, his eyes locked on the spider; he finally discovered its element.
The spider's gigantic body remained still, surrounded by massive floating boulders. Its eyes were even more murderous, as if that were possible.
'Yeah, I might be dying here.' Talen thought, realizing Chaos Monsters' emotions were too violent to be used against them.
Locking its raging eyes on Talen's empty eyes, the spider began preparing another boulder.
However, before it could, a broken katana struck its poison sack.
Annoyed by the prickle, the spider turned its head slowly to Henry.
Henry stood, albeit barely, his uniform torn and drenched in his own blood. His body swayed, yearning for rest as it fell lifelessly.
As a result of Henry's desperate distraction, Talen was able to land.
Grabbing his jian from his teeth, Talen prepared to sprint. "You're not tryna run, are you!" He Declared, sprinting at the spider, his eyes glowing purple in the starry night.
Hearing Talen's insufferable voice, the spider turned around, completely ignoring Henry.
Their battle began.
Launching multiple boulders, the spider also swiped its tail at the approaching pest.
Tracking all the projectiles' trajectories, Talen smirked as he dodged the boulders and tail, growing closer to the spider.
Getting in range, Talen jumped high, landing on the spider's tail; raising his jian, he prepared to decapitate the tail.
However, before he could strike, its tail launched another boulder at him. Grazing his stomach, he narrowly dodged with a jump.
Landing back on its tail, Talen glanced at the spider; realization striking him like a punch. Tempests were Chaos Monsters Talen had no business fighting, yet here he was doing exactly that; even worse, he thought he could win.
That single boulder was not only Talen's wake up call but also the beginning of hell.
The Poison Spider began launching boulders, along with its occasional tail and poison webs. As it did, it overwhelmed Talen, pushing him back.
He was able to dodge many of the spider's attacks; however, many more met their mark.
Talen kept dodging, exhausting his body, struggling to stay alive, while the Poison Spider kept prickling Talen just at the right angle to keep him alive.
He had substituted Henry.
Talen now stood glaring at the spider, his uniform a mess of dripping blood and small grazes which added up, draining him of blood.
His breathing was heavy and ragged. 'Two minutes.' Talen thought, dodging another boulder, but it still grazed him.
'Just a bit more.' Talen thought, dodging a poison web.
His endless dodging was not a fruitless endeavor; after a few attempts, Talen gave up on advancing. Rather, he focused on assigning the spider's attacks a pattern, a pattern he could bypass and kill the darn thing.
Pushing his mind further, Talen continued studying the spider, dodging another boulder; more grazes littered his body.
After that golden dodge, Talen finally made everything click into place. "There it is." He smiled, blood dripping from his mouth.
Clenching the jian by his side, Talen sprinted at the spider wildly.
As Talen launched at the spider, it retaliated.
However, Talen was always a step ahead, dodging all the boulders, poison webs, and tail effortlessly.
Nevertheless, Talen's body was too exhausted to perform flawlessly; his grazes still piled up. A trail of blood followed behind as he paved his path to the spider.
Jumping onto its tail, Talen slashed his jian as he ran up the spider; black blood gushed out, bathing Talen.
The Poison Spider roared in agony, the hatred in its eyes growing.
It shook its tail violently, in desperate need to rid itself of Talen; however, it was all for naught.
Talen remained on its tail, running up it persistently, dodging and hacking.
He kept going until he jumped onto the spider's web and poison sack.
Plunging his sword deep into the sack, Talen began running up it, tearing it open.
The Poison Spider roared, a cry.
'Crying already.' Talen thought, struggling to keep his body together.
Talen continued ripping the poison sack open; however, it didn't bleed; rather, the sack opened, revealing a store of its green poison.
He kept going, dodging more boulders aimed at him; however, the grazes were deeper.
Reaching the sack's end, Talen gripped his jian in both hands.
Crouching, he strained his body, leaping high into the night sky. 'Killed a mere Behemoth like this.' Talen thought, blood dripping from his smirk.
Talen rose high into the sky, the stars illuminating his silhouette. Purple eyes tied to black eyes.
Descending on the spider, Talen smiled, his empty smile.
Raising his jian in both hands over his head, Talen plunged it deep into a black eye.
The jian went through it, going straight into the Poison Spider's brain.
It roared, a different roar. It was a final cry, letting go of a life it had plunged into, giving into death.
Talen smiled through the blood wetting his face.
He plunged his jian deeper, more black blood drenching his hair and face. "All that arrogance only to be killed like a Behemoth." He said, phasing in and out of consciousness. His five minutes had ended.
The spider's body began violently twitching; Talen's grip around the jian faltered, he groaned, the pain pushing through his Zone mind.
'Hurry up and die already.' Talen thought, tightening his slipping grip.
The Tempest's body continued twitching, proving its resilience until, finally, it calmed down.
'Dead. Finally.'
Drifting out of the Zone, the whiplash hit him like a ton of bricks.
Every tissue in his body spasmed; his mind felt like a blacksmith's anvil. 'I only went over the five minutes by a second.' Talen thought, his grip on the jian weakening.
His vision began tunneling; the world began spinning; his grip on the jian dead.
Talen's body fell lifelessly.
Looking into the Physical Realm's canvas with a half awake mind, Talen saw his mother's smiling face in the star alignments; he thought. 'You used to be afraid of these things, mom.' He scoffed, falling unconscious.
Talen's body fell headfirst through the air, straight into the spider's poison sack.
Talen's body submerged deep into the spider's poison infested sack; his body hit the sack's bottom and began floating to the surface.
As Talen rose to the surface, the poison seeped into all his wounds, healing them.
The warm liquid invaded his body, healing all wounds internal and external. Jolting his mind awake, eyes opened heavy, vision murky.
It looked and felt like he was in a liquid. 'Where am I.' Talen thought, examining his body.
He watched as his remaining injuries healed slowly and painlessly. 'Good one, lady luck.' Talen thought, smiling.
Looking around him, Talen swam to the surface. His silky hair broke through the liquid; drawing in a long breath, Talen swept his hair back.
His mind and body were still exhausted and in pain; fortunately, however, he was no longer losing blood.
Looking at the spider's head, his jian remained plunged in it. 'Isn't there supposed to be poison in here.' Talen pondered.
He rested for a while, floating in the spider's healing poison.
His body was completely healed; only scars remained. He was used to those. "I couldn't do it without you, Hen." Talen whispered, when suddenly he came into realization.
Clicking his tongue, he strained his exhausted body, jumping out of the poison sack.
Groaning with each step, Talen swayed his way to Henry.
He laid on the ground, his face pale as snow. Similarly, Henry's body was covered in small wounds.
Talen examined him, exhausted. "This is gonna hurt me, not you, so be grateful and answer all my questions." He groaned, stepping into the Zone, abusing his body further.
Carrying Henry on his back, Talen sprinted to the poison sack.
Arriving in front of it, Talen jumped, plunging them both into the healing poison.
Escaping the Zone's taxing grip, Talen sighed in relief; glancing at Henry, he saw his injuries similarly begin healing.
Looking up at the starless sky, floating peacefully in the water, Talen relived his child self and mother's screams and cries at the sight of spiders; now here he was bathing in one's healing poison.
Slowly, with the healing drift of the liquid, Talen fell into slumber's warm embrace.
The next day.
Far from the Poison Spider's clearing, on a mountain, the Bird of Plague nested.
Opening its eyes, the Bird of Plague spread its wings; wielding the wind, it cleared its obsidian black feathers, replacing them with its beautiful sky blue feathers.
The Tempest soared high into the sky; each flap of the bird's wings caused trees nearby to bend.
The Bird of Plague flew away in search of prey.
Below the mountain, Kestis hid in a cave, watching the Bird of Plague fly away, the wind rustling his hair.
Watching, a savage grin crept onto his face; he stood up. "Talen. Valen. Henry. Lillian. You are all nothing but classless peasants. This will most definitely care for you." He sneered, walking to the mountain.
His disdainful eyes overflowing with determination.