OP Absorption
Chapter 48: Fin Vs Spider 1

Chapter 48: Fin Vs Spider 1

Fin landed lightly on another branch, his boots barely making a sound. For the last hour, he’d been moving through this section of twisted forest, deliberately making himself an obvious target.

He vaulted from tree to gnarled outcrop, doubled back on his path, paused in open clearings – anything to draw out the watcher he knew was there.

But whoever, or whatever, it was, remained hidden. The feeling of being observed was constant, prickling the back of his neck, amplified by his heightened senses. Yet, no attack came. No sound betrayed the stalker’s position. Just that unwavering focus fixed on him.

He paused again, crouched low on a wide branch, scanning the shadows below. Nothing moved. The air was still, heavy with the dungeon’s dangerous atmosphere and the cloying scent of the terrain.

This was getting ridiculous. He was wasting time playing hide-and-seek when his team was trapped somewhere behind him, relying on him to find a way out.

His patience snapped.

He straightened up, planting his staff firmly on the branch.

"Alright, that’s enough!" he yelled, his voice echoing slightly in the unnatural quiet. "I know you’re out there! Following me like some kind of creep!"

Silence answered him. The feeling of being watched didn’t waver.

"What, are you scared?" he taunted, projecting his voice louder. "Afraid to show yourself? I thought whatever lives in this dump would have more guts. Or are you just a coward hiding in the dark?"

A flicker of movement in the deep shadows beneath a cluster of jagged rocks. A subtle shift in the energy.

"Come on out!" He shouted, gripping his staff tighter. "Stop being a bitch and face me!"

That did it.

A figure detached itself from the shadows, stepping fluidly into a patch of dim, purple light. Fin’s breath caught for a second.

It was humanoid, mostly. Roughly his height, slender, with pale skin that seemed to absorb the purple glow. She wore dark, form-fitting coverings that looked like chitinous armor. Her hair was long and black, framing a face that was disturbingly beautiful, save for the six gleaming black eyes arranged above her sharp cheekbones. Two extra, smaller spider-like limbs, sharp and chitinous, protruded from her back near her shoulders, twitching slightly.

Her primary arms were crossed, and her main pair of eyes narrowed, burning with cold fury.

"A coward?" Her voice was like dry leaves skittering across stone, laced with venom. "You dare call me, a Child of the Queen, a coward, human?"

He stared at her, taking in the multiple eyes, the extra limbs, the faint aura of toxin clinging to her.

"What the hell? A spider girl?" He was shocked, this was his first time seeing one.

’dungeons sure are full of surprises.’

"A Child of the Queen?" he repeated slowly. "So, you’re one of the locals."

She tilted her head, her expression unreadable, though the anger still simmered in her eyes. "You trespass in Her Majesty’s domain, human. What did you expect? Welcoming banners?"

"I expected monsters," he admitted, keeping his staff ready but not yet attacking. "Spiders, beasts. Not... whatever you are. What are you doing hiding in the shadows, anyway? Observing?"

"Observation is prudent when dealing with unknowns," she replied smoothly, her gaze flickering over his staff, then back to his eyes. "Especially unknowns who possess... unusual abilities. You recovered faster than anticipated. Perhaps I should have aimed for the heart."

He froze. The casual way she said it, the mention of recovery, the specific timing. It clicked. The poison dart. The unseen attack that nearly killed him.

"That was you?" he demanded, the earlier shock replaced by a surge of cold anger. "You shot me in the back?"

A faint, cruel smile touched her lips, the same one she’d worn in the shadows earlier. "A necessity. You were interfering with the Matriarch. Pity the dose wasn’t quite sufficient."

"Sufficient?" He scoffed, rage boiling under his calm exterior. "You ambushed me. Like a coward."

Her smile vanished instantly, replaced by sharp fury. The air around her seemed to crackle. "I am Arachne, Child of the one and only Queen! I am a predator, you are prey! There is no cowardice in securing a kill!"

"You call sneaking around shooting poison darts ’predator’ behavior?" He shot back, gripping his staff tighter. "Sounds like being scared to face someone head-on to me. All those eyes and extra arms, and you still needed poison?"

"Insolent whelp!" She hissed, her extra limbs twitching erratically. "You understand nothing of true power! I could dissect you limb from limb before you even realized the battle began!"

"Yeah?" He lowered his stance slightly. "Prove it. Come on, spider-girl. Show me what you’ve got besides cheap shots from the dark."

That was all the invitation she needed.

She didn’t just move; she exploded forward. One moment she stood ten yards away, radiating fury, the next she was almost on top of him, covering the distance in a silent, impossibly fast blur.

Fin reacted on instinct, bringing his staff up horizontally to block.

He barely saw the attack coming – not from her main arms, but a lightning-fast kick aimed at the center of his staff. The impact was shockingly powerful, far stronger than her slender frame suggested.

CRACK!

The force of the blow slammed through the staff, jarring his arms to the shoulders. His feet left the ground as the momentum carried him backward, completely overwhelming his block.

He flew through the air, end over end, before crashing heavily through the brittle branches of a gnarled, black-barked tree behind him. Wood splintered, leaves flew. He landed in a heap amidst the debris, tangled in broken limbs, the breath knocked out of him.

For a moment, he just lay there, blinking, stars dancing in his vision.

Arachne stood where he had been, dusting off her hands, one foot slightly forward, a look of disdain on her face.

"Pathetic," she sneered. "And you called me a coward?"

Fin groaned, pushing broken branches off himself. Okay, maybe trash-talking the multi-limbed spider humanoid assassin wasn’t his brightest idea.

That hurt. A lot. And, yeah, watching himself get punted into a tree probably looked ridiculous.

He pushed himself up, spitting out a piece of bark. Every muscle protested, and his shoulder where he’d hit the tree trunk throbbed sharply. He flexed his fingers, gripping the staff that had somehow stayed in his hand.

The impact had left a faint crack near the center.

"Okay," he conceded, wincing as he straightened up fully. "Point taken. You hit harder than you look."

Arachne watched him, her six eyes narrowed slightly. She hadn’t expected him to get up so quickly, nor seem relatively unfazed beyond the obvious impact. Her poison should have left lingering weakness, even if it hadn’t killed him.

This human was proving annoyingly durable.

"Your resilience is unexpected," she stated coolly, though a flicker of irritation crossed her face. "It will only prolong your suffering."

"We’ll see about that," he retorted, extending his staff back to its full polearm length with a soft click. He adjusted his stance, keeping more distance this time, his focus absolute. The brief flight into the tree had cleared any remaining recklessness.