[New Map Acquired: Area 2 — South]
Maddy walked with a steadier pace now, gently swaying Sephiran—the name she'd chosen for the little one, as she hummed a lullaby. The notification flickered signaling her progress.
"Area two, huh? That means we're getting closer… Ugh, I miss the sun so much. This damp hole is officially not my cup of tea. I've always been a morning person, there's just something about sunlight that makes everything feel right. Maybe I'm obsessed with the light because my old life was so... dark."
She trailed off, a pang of bitterness hitting her as she remembered the years spent under her husband's thumb. Just as the grief began to swell, a wet, heavy sound echoed in front of her. Something slimy and oval shaped had plummeted from the ceiling, shattering upon impact and spraying a pale yellow fluid across the stone.
"What on earth?!"
Maddy stepped closer, peering at the mess. Inside the broken shell, a malformed baby spider twitched feebly, its legs too soft to support its weight. It let out one tiny, pathetic hiss before going still. Her Monsterpedia remained blank; the creature hadn't even lived long enough to be categorized.
"It's a nursery…"
Maddy realized, her skin crawling. In this section of the cave, the mana wasn't just drifting it was thick, swirling in heavy, emerald currents that made her lungs feel heavy.
"Lucy, the mana here is... it's suffocating. It's like the air is made of soup."
[Response: This area is a natural monster spawning zone. The mana density is abnormally high, allowing creatures to form, evolve, and reproduce at accelerated rates. However, readings indicate an irregularity. A higher form entity is present, one that exceeds the threat level of the Evolved Spiders you encountered.]
Maddy frowned, scanning the darkness.
"…I don't see anything. Just mana. Too much of it. Okay. I can't do this in the dark. Absolute Light Manipulation: Daylight!"
The golden marks appeared on her skin and flared with power. A miniature sun ignited in her palm before expanding into a brilliant explosion of white and gold. The darkness didn't just recede; it was annihilated.
As the chamber lit up, Maddy's heart nearly stopped. The room was gargantuan, a cathedral of stone, but the "decorations" were horrifying. Thousands of eggs were stitched into a massive, pulsating web that blanketed the entire ceiling. Because of the sudden light, the vibrations started, dozens, then hundreds of eggs began to tear loose, shattering on the floor.
Malformed hatchlings and fully grown Spear, Sword, Shield, and Ranged spiders crawled out of the wreckage, screeching at the intruder. But they weren't the real problem. In the center of the web sat a nightmare.
[New Monsterpedia Entry Added: Suzerain Spider]
[Suzerain Spider (Evolved Form) — Habitat: Cave]
[Supreme queen and progenitor of the swarm. Possesses lightning element powers, able to channel electricity through her body and offspring. Gives birth to specialized weapon limbed spiders: sword, spear, shield, and range variants by digesting weapons. All spiders recognize her as their mother and obey her without question, forming an unstoppable army.]
One line made her pause.
"Gives birth to specialized weapon-limbed spiders… by digesting weapons. All spiders recognize her as their mother and obey her without question…"
Maddy swallowed hard.
"A… a monster that can give b-birth—"
Before she could think further, the Matriarch didn't wait for a greeting. Her mandibles crackled with blue electricity, and a second later, a jagged bolt of lightning—a literal laser of high-voltage energy shrieked toward Maddy.
Maddy dove to the side, the smell of ozone filling her nose. The air was so charged that her violet hair stood on end.
"Hey! Watch the hair! And the baby is sleeping!"
Sephiran just let out a tiny, contented snore against her chest. As the offspring began to swarm her from all sides, Maddy realized she couldn't play defensive forever.
"Fine! If you want a light show, I'll give you one! Absolute Light Manipulation: Radiant Rain!"
She Classed her hands together, and a pillar of light shot toward the webbed ceiling. It exploded raining down hundreds of searing darts. The hatchlings were pinned to the floor, their carapaces sizzling.
"INGEST!"
The Hellmouth tore open across the floor, its shadowy vacuum dragging the hundreds of dead and dying spiders into the void.
CHOMP!
[System Notice: You have ingested multiple objects containing traits.][Storing already applied and existing traits…]
Poof!
[Done]
The Suzerain Spider released a high-pitched, mourning shriek that rattled Maddy's teeth and shook the cavern walls. Watching her children annihilated and devoured in a single breath had been too much.
The massive arachnid tore herself free from the ceiling, her bladed legs slicing through her own webbing as she descended.
"Oh, now you want to go toe to toe? For the record, your children attacked us first and my baby boy, hmm. Bring it on, Momma."
She narrowed her eyes, the golden glow in her pupils sharpening.
"Appraisal!"
[Magic: 600,000 | Might: 600,000]
"One million two hundred thousand total stats?! That's four times your kids' power!? Okay, Momma… I see you. You're the real deal."
The Suzerain vanished in a blur of static, appearing instantly in Maddy's personal space. A bladed leg swung, Maddy instinctively raised her forearm, shouting,
"Shell Plates!"
Her skin hardened into thick, overlapping chitinous scales, the trait she gained from the Shield Spider. The blade hit with a resounding clang but a jolt of electricity surged through the contact point. Maddy hissed in pain, her arm trembling. Her own Static Discharge trait felt useless—trying to shock this thing was like trying to drown a fish.
"Ugh! Static doesn't work on a lightning queen, noted!"
Maddy grumbled, skidding back. The spider followed up with a barrage of spear thrusts. Maddy was struggling; holding Sephiran with one arm meant she was fighting with half her mobility.
"I can't protect him and go all out at the same time. These shell plates aren't enough to stop this spider! Argh!"
Focusing, she quickly devised a new way to use her Absolute Light Manipulation to replace her shell plates with something stronger.
"Yeah, this works! Absolute Light Manipulation: Shiny Shield!"
A shimmering, radiant shield formed on her left arm. Each of the spider's spear thrusts slammed against it, the impact absorbed and dampened by divine energy. The spider screeched in frustration, striking faster, but Maddy blocked every attack.
"Ha! That's… that's better! I'm finally putting this creation magic to good use!"
A silly smile spreading across her face as the shield shimmered.
"You know why I call it Shiny Shield? Because when it shines, it means it's absorbed enough of your crap!"
With a forceful push, she drove the shield forward.
"Flashburst!"
It burst with light, sending the massive spider hurtling backward into the cavern wall with a deafening crash.
[System Notice]
[Congratulations! You acquired a skill: Absolute Light Manipulation: Shiny Shield]
[Absolute Light Manipulation: Shiny Shield: Form a radiant barrier from condensed light to block incoming attacks and absorb impact. Can protect the user or allies, store energy from strikes, and release it outward in a forceful burst. Effect scales with the amount of light absorbed and the user's control over its release.]