OP Absorption
Chapter 44: Done Waiting

Chapter 44: Done Waiting

The oppressive weight of the unseen entity bore down on them, making rational thought difficult. Hana quickly led the team into a shallow cave nearby, a dark cleft in the purple rock offering minimal shelter but at least a defensible position.

Inside, the pressure lessened slightly, but the fear remained. Arguments broke out almost immediately.

"We should have pulled back the moment we felt that pressure!" Joe snapped, pacing nervously near the cave mouth. "Going further was suicide!"

"And how were we supposed to know the exit would vanish?" Gary shot back, leaning heavily on his hammer. "Hindsight’s useless now. We need a plan."

"A plan?" Susan scoffed, checking the edge of her shield. "Our plan was based on a Rank 6 dungeon, not... whatever this is. We’re outmatched and cut off."

"Maybe if we push forward?" Lucas suggested, though his voice lacked conviction. "Find the source of the presence? Maybe that’s the clear condition?"

"Push forward into that?" Joe gestured wildly toward the cave entrance. "We can barely stand under that pressure! We’ll be torn apart!"

Mary remained silent, her hand resting on her sword hilt, eyes scanning the cave entrance with unwavering focus. Hana tried to regain control, her voice sharp. "Panicking won’t help! We need to assess—"

"Guys," Fin interjected quietly, his attention fixed on something just beyond the cave mouth.

"Not now, Fin!" Susan snapped without looking at him. "This is A-rank business."

"But I hear something," he insisted, taking a tentative step closer to the entrance. A faint scuttling sound, like too many legs moving across stone, reached his ears. It was getting closer.

"Probably just some Scuttlers drawn by the commotion," Joe dismissed, still agitated. "Focus on the real problem!"

"No, it’s bigger," he said, his eyes widening slightly as a massive shadow began to fall across the cave entrance. "Much bigger."

"Fin, I swear if you don’t shut up—" Gary started, turning toward him irritably.

Fin ignored them, his gaze locked on the horrifying shape emerging into view just outside. He backed up slowly into the cave.

"Uhhh, guys," he said, his voice suddenly very calm, though his eyes were wide. "You might want to see this."

The arguing stopped abruptly. The tone in his voice, combined with the growing shadow, finally got their attention. They turned toward the entrance.

Blocking the opening, its colossal, multi-eyed head peering in, was a spider easily three times the size of any they had encountered. Its carapace was a deep, sickly purple, matching the ground, and its legs were thick as tree trunks, ending in razor-sharp claws that dug into the rock.

Thick strands of webbing dripped from its mandibles, along with a viscous, dark venom. Its presence radiated a predatory intensity that made the general dungeon pressure feel almost gentle by comparison.

The cave they had sought refuge in, Fin realized with dawning horror, wasn’t just a cave.

It was the spider’s lair. And they had just walked right in.

The giant spider didn’t wait for introductions. With a horrifying chittering sound that scraped against their nerves, it lunged into the cave. Its massive legs slammed down, shaking the small space, barely missing Gary and Susan at the front.

"Attack!" Hana screamed, drawing her swords.

There was no room for maneuver. Gary roared, swinging his warhammer in a desperate uppercut, connecting solidly with the spider’s underside as it reared over him. The blow staggered the beast for a crucial second.

Susan shoved forward with her shield, adding her weight to push it back toward the entrance.

"Get out! Now!" she yelled, straining against the monster’s immense strength.

The team scrambled past her, spilling out of the cave mouth back into the oppressive purple zone, weapons drawn. Mary and Hana immediately flanked the entrance, blades ready. Joe and Lucas took up positions further back, preparing ranged attacks.

The spider screeched, enraged, and forced its way out of the cave, shaking off Gary’s hit. It fixed its numerous eyes on the assembled Hunters, mandibles clicking rapidly.

"Fin, stay back!" Hana ordered, already moving to engage the creature’s flank.

But Fin wasn’t listening.

The near-death experience, the dismissal from the others, the constant feeling of being sidelined – it all boiled over. More than that, the proximity to such a powerful creature sent a familiar, addictive buzz through his veins.

The memory of the power rush from the berserker zombie, from Scarlet and other monsters, resurfaced.

He craved that feeling, that strength.

’Done being left out,’ he thought, a reckless grin spreading across his face. The ’sweet rush,’ as he’d come to think of it, flooded his brain, overriding caution.

Ignoring Hana’s command, he charged forward, staff held high. Mana surged into the weapon, making it glow with unstable green energy drawn from his core.

"Fin, no!" Mary shouted, seeing him rush past her.

He leaped, aiming for the spider’s head, bringing the glowing staff down in a powerful overhead strike.

The spider reacted instantly, faster than anything its size should move. It whipped one of its massive forelegs around, swatting him out of the air like an annoying fly.

He hit the ground hard, tumbling several yards, the impact knocking the wind out of him. His staff clattered away. Pain flared through his shoulder and ribs, but the adrenaline rush masked the worst of it.

"Idiot!" Susan yelled, intercepting another leg strike aimed at the downed Fin with her shield. The impact sent shockwaves up her arm.

Gary smashed his hammer into the spider’s side, drawing its attention. "Focus on the big one, kid, not getting yourself killed!"

Fin pushed himself up, spitting dirt. The rush was still there, undimmed by the blow. He felt power tingling in his hands, ready to be unleashed. He scrambled for his staff, his eyes fixed on the spider with manic intensity.

He wasn’t thinking about teamwork or strategy anymore, just the fight, the power, the rush. He was going in again.

The black staff shimmered, then extended rapidly, the metal segments lengthening until it resembled a sleek, spear-tipped polearm nearly seven feet long.

His stance shifted instinctively.

Gone was the brawling posture; now he held the stuff with a practiced ease, feet balanced, body coiled. When the giant spider turned its attention back to him, distracted momentarily from Gary’s heavy blows, Fin didn’t charge recklessly.

He moved like a seasoned warrior.

He sidestepped a heavy leg stomp, the stuff blurring as he deflected a secondary claw strike aimed at his ribs. He flowed around the attack, using the stuff’s length to keep just out of the creature’s immediate reach, probing its defenses with quick, precise thrusts.

"Whoa," Joe muttered from the back line, momentarily forgetting to reload his daggers. "Where’d he learn that?"

Hana watched intently, her eyes narrowed. His movements were efficient, controlled, completely different from the wild energy he’d displayed moments ago. It was as if years of combat experience had suddenly surfaced.

Fin parried another strike, the impact jarring his arms, but his footing held firm. He spun, using the stuff’s butt end to strike a joint in the spider’s leg, forcing it to recoil slightly.

He wasn’t dealing heavy damage – the creature’s carapace was incredibly thick – but he was creating openings, disrupting its attacks, drawing its focus. He was actually contributing, fighting with the team instead of just getting in the way.

He instinctively reached inward, trying to draw on the calm, pure power of Juliana’s core to enhance his strikes, make them bite deeper. But he hit a wall. The core was there, a reservoir of immense, clean mana, but it felt sealed off, unresponsive to his will.

He couldn’t access it, couldn’t wield its power. It was just... present.

’Dammit,’ he thought, dodging a spray of venom that sizzled on the rock behind him. ’Still locked away.’

Frustration mingled with the battle high. If he couldn’t use the pure energy, he only had one other option.

His eyes locked onto the spider, not just as an enemy, but as a source.

’Alright then,’ he decided, a predatory glint entering his eyes as he deflected another claw strike. ’Next best thing. Time to drain the overgrown bug.’

He shifted his focus, his Absorption power simmering, waiting for the right moment to latch on and start pulling.

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