We walked in the bleak path of the dungeon....walked, and walked.

Everywhere my eyes saw...the same faintly glowing stones on the wall. And on the floor, there are only rocks, rocks and rocks.

The anxiety of getting lost forever in this dungeon never left my chest.... but, there was also a hope of getting out. Seeing my family. Having dishes that my Mom cooks. Having a chat with my Dad. Quarrelling with brother. Reading those upcoming novels...

My legs feel tired. But still I moved my legs. Then we rested a bit, sat for a bit, with the back facing the wall. The dungeon was mostly lifeless, it was better than having to fight for life at step, no doubt about that, but this lull was eerie in itself.

We got up again and walked. Turns after turns, we wandered in this dungeon. Hoping to see the outside light.

*SCRREEEECH*

*KHEECCHHHHH*

*SLAM!*

"I heard some noises coming from that way, Itsuki-san!" Rina spoke.

Those noises were coming from the other side of the turn.

"Yeah, there is no point in checking what there is, we should quickly get away from here." I replied.

A Trio of Arachnes came running from the other turn behind us.

Maybe, they heard the noises too.

*SLAAMMMM*

*BOOM!*

Ahead of us, from where the noise was coming, two Arachnes were slamming and smashing each other, beating each other in the most brutal way I've ever seen. One Arachne grabbed the other's upper jaw and slammed it on the wall, debris flew and a cloud of dust covered the area. And then the one who got slammed on the wall punched the first one, it got blown into the wall on the other side.

'I doubt I can survive a punch like that.'

What are they fighting among themselves for?

'A territorial dispute?'

Or for a Prey?

Anyway.....

I nodded to Akane as the trio approached us while licking their tongues and swaying their hands in the joy of getting a "meal".

I took a deep breath.

""

*THUD*

""

*THUD*

Seeing its mates drop on the ground lifelessly, the third Arachne turned its head left and right and tilted its head in confusion. After a brief moment of pause, it glared at us.

'Ah, so it dawned on it that it was due to us, huh.'

My arm right on it's chest but it still a bit far from my range.

Webs shot themselves from its lower, spider-like, half and attached with the walls to both sides, the Arachne bounced back and sling-shoted itself towards us like a catapult, with a speed that I could only make out a blur of its motion.

'This..... I didn't expect.'

'I can't aim at it, it's too fast!'

It will kill us the moment it reaches here.

!!??

But...

It stopped mid-air.

Akane stepped forward.

She raised her hands and waved her arms forward. As she moved her hands in that way, the Arachne, floating in mid-air was slammed on the wall with a loud crash.

"Hoh, nice one Akane-san.... but you slammed it too far away, it's out of my range now-"

"It's okay, I will hold it down as much as I can, I have greater range than y-you."

'but for that, she will need to "overexert" herself -----!!!'

I noticed that due to the loud crash, the Arachnes that were fighting each other, have turned their attention towards us as they stopped their battle and now are charging at us with a nasty grin plastered on their faces. They hit and pushed each other as they move closer to us.

'Are they now competing to get the prey first?'

'Fuck them'

""

Another Arachne died. Seeing its competitor drop on the floor lifelessly, the other one's grin widened as it charged at us.

" !"

Shit! I missed it! My skill didn't connect to the soul stone, if it did then the Arachne would've lying dead, but if not the soul stone then where did it connect? Did I miss completely?

The Arachne paused it's charge. Legs stuck on the side wall, its face was wincing in pain, and it was touching its head as if it was finding something.

'So, it connected to head, huh.'

Seeing its grimaced face, I concluded that my skill indeed caused pain. But what now? It was still not dead yet... will it die when its whole brain matter is gone? I doubted it.

'Akane is busy holding down the other one... And I can't shoot my skill twice on the same target.' I stepped back.

'Quick my skill, reach its chest as fast as you can!'

The Arachne prepared itself. It was going to lunge at me.

'Fuck!!'

*SCREECH*

It screeched and then lunged at me. My heart raced, I ran backwards in order to get far as possible from its range, but I knew that it was an effort in vain.

!!??

*BOOM* * CRASHHH*

"??? Akane---san..."

As that Arachne lunged at me, she caught it mid-air and crashed it on the wall.

'Damn! love you, Akane-san!!!'

!!

But... Her hold on the previous Arachne has decreased, seeing as it's slowly raising while trembling and glaring.

'Then again...'

I walked towards it.

'...I haven't shot this one yet.' And even though not that much, Akane's hold has slowed it down, I won't miss again!

" "

Its head and arms slumped. It died. I turned around to see what happened to the one that I missed my aim of.

"Itsuki-san, I am trying to l-lift it and throw it a-awayy, but its hold on the ground is t-too strong!"

Akane was still overexerting herself. Well, she has to push this Arachne with everything she got or else we'll die.

'But why can't she lift it? The wasn't the problem that was obvious.'

My eyes went near my palm, to my finger's wound.... and it dawned on me. 'Yeah, the tip of their legs is sharply toothed, like a saw. Of course, she can't lift them up, they're basically rooted in the ground. Pulling them outside would be tough.'

Its half of its head was disintegrated, after a few moments, its eyes will be gone too. Even though I expected it, I was a bit surprised to see their tenacity, it was moving without half of its head that too consciously, how was that even possible? What was even their biology?

It glared at us, grimacing in pain.

'No worries, we just need to wait for a bit. In a few moments that hole will expand to the soul core and it will die as soon as it reaches there.'

*khrrre*

'Hah! don't glare at me like that, it was you and your "friends" who attacked first.'

*ssSSCCHHRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCcchhh*

It screeched in pain........... Or?............................ Was it a call for help? The Arachne finally slumped on the ground, just after it's mouth disappeared.

More Arachnes joined. It became a fray... Six of them......appearing from the way this one came from. They glared at us. There was anger in their eyes..... or was it bloodlust?

'So, they want REVENGE for their dead and a soon to be a dead friend?'

'I won't let them have it.'

"Akane-san, don't try to lift or push these. Just hold them enough so that their motion is restricted, and yeah, if any of them jumps, then you're free to slam them on the farthest wall as hard as you can." I said to Akane.

"I was going to do exactly the same." She replied. Akane nodded her head and raised her arms to get ready for the second wave.

"fuuu......................."

I calmed my heavily beating chest and locked my arms, aiming towards the closest ones.

""

""

*screech*

*screech*

""

*screech**khhaacccckkk**screech**Rrrrwwwrrr*

These screeches aren't of those that I kill with my skill, but they are the screeches of their friends that see their kin dropping on the floor lifelessly. I raised my arm further up to aim at the Arachne which was agilely coming closer from the ceiling.

""

I lifted my left hand to aim at those who were charging from the ground.

Some of the Arachnes stumble and fall because of the dead one's sudden fall on the ground.

""

*screeeeeech* *screeeeeech*

'I missed again... twice'

"Pant Pant"

My breathing is becoming rough because of the tension and unease.

'h-huh??'

Two.. three.... five... a dozen or even more Arachnes appeared out from that path.

Now...

There is no doubt about it......

'Is this really the end?'

.......I and her definitely can't handle this number...

"still.... haaahhh I WON'T DIE YOU MONSTEEERRS " I yelled.

""

"Keep calm you moron!! You'll miss more if get worked UP!!!", Akane smacked me with her psychokinesis?

"Sigh... HAAAAAA "

Akane redirected and slammed the ones that leapt at us to the furthest back at the wall to gain even a little bit of time, they collided with the walls. Rina stepped a few steps backwards and I, a few steps forward. To get them in my range.

""

"Hmm?"

'Why have all of these Arachnes become slower? It looks like one of their legs is stuck into a puddle of mud or something-----'

""

'-- I still haven't gained level-ups yet, so why--- oh!'

They haven't become slow nor have I levelled up. It was Akane. She was using their advantage against them.... since she couldn't lift them up due to them being "rooted" in the ground, she was pushing them more into the ground? She was applying her force in a way that those Arachne's legs get stuck in the ground more than needed... causing them a disturbance in movement. An effective Pseudo Debuff.

""

..... maybe she just holds one of their legs along with the ground. Effectively making a bog, a sticky puddle of mud. Making one of their legs stuck in the ground for a second, at least causing their movements to be disturbed.

They have become slower... they're getting annoyed by that disturbance in their movement... they're getting distracted.

This time............. a grin......

""

...... curled up in my lips.

Because now....

"".

.... It's Easier.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I sighed, "We survived, huh..."

"Yeah, huff...haha... thank goodness!" Akane rubbed her forehead. She was having a headache. Well, she used her skill for a good fifteen minutes, more so, she was overexerting herself for the most of the time.

"Do you have MP left, Akane-san?" I asked.

"Only a few hundred MP remains. It's good that MP gets filled up whenever there is a level up." She sat on the ground beside a dead Arachne.

"Yeah, it sure is." I smiled.

.

.

.

*Ting*

Finally the last of the bunch vanished into thin air. There was one other thing I noticed, the walls that were damaged were already looking anew as if the debris lying on the ground came from somewhere else.

I looked at Akane. She looked a bit less exhausted than before. Same was with me too. The exhaustion has gone down quite a bit due to level up but not whole. The level up provided with a slight relief from tiredness, and even healed a bit, not to mention increased stats.

'She really did everything this time and might be tired too but... no time to rest. This area looked more prone to monster's attack, we need to move from here as quickly as we could.'

"Just check for any significant upgrade in status, let's move from here first."

"Yeah, let's go, Itsuki-san."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

It has been more than two days since we were thrown here.

After that fray, we fought a few more of them. But they were handled rather easily. Because we had a pretty decent strategy to deal with them. When they attacked us, Akane used her psychokinesis to stop them, but they were still overpowered enough to wade through more than 25,000N force stopping them, but at least it was enough to slow them down, enough for me to aim accurately. I simply invoked my on them and, they were removed from existence.

The current biggest problem was that we have only 1 slice of sandwich and no water left. We haven't even crossed one floor, and all our food supplies are nearly exhausted. Hunger and thirst can dull our minds which could be fatal in this dungeon, but since we ate just a few hours ago, this much was still bearable.

I don't know when we would get out of this shitty dungeon. The only thing I was sure of was that we weren't circling around a single spot because if we were, then there wouldn't be a change of view every few turns or so.

The last time we fought with an Arachne was about eleven hours ago. This has been the longest interval without any fight.

There are three things that I can think of as the reason that why they aren't popping out.

First, this dungeon has extremely large floors that's why their density is too low.

Second, they saw what I did to their kin and are now hiding from us. If this is the real reason then it could be dangerous, because if they use stealth attacks on us to kill us for their defence, then our chances to survive will decrease even more than it already is.

Or third, their population was too low, to begin with. I mean they are Arachnes, they were known to be among the strongest fictitious creatures back in my old world, so that might be plausible.

.

.

After walking for two more hours in a not so wide path or simply a tunnel, we finally reached an open area or a big room like area. This huge empty area had a dome-shaped ceiling with various glowing colors of gems and stones. Reminded me of clear night's sky. At the very opposite to the direction from where we entered, a majestic gate was present. It had various ancient looking carvings and jewels embedded in it. Above the gate, a particularly large emerald stone was ingrained within the wall. It is relatively brighter than any of the stones we saw till now, the area was mostly illuminated by this stone only.

I cleared my throat and spoke. "That large gate is probably the entrance to the Boss room."

"This door gives me ominous feeling, Itsuki-san!" Akane-san whispered in my ear.

Her whispering gave me chills. I shudderred, then whisper back in her ear, telling her to not whisper in my ear.

She giggled and then smiled quietly.

"Honestly, I never thought you will be this lively. You were the quietest kid in our class, you know."

"Ahaha~ is that so?... huh!? What are those Itsuki-san?" frowning, she pointed towards a pair of skeletons sitting in the farther left from us.

They were placed side by side with the wall supporting their back.

So, we found them, huh.

Humans.

Well, Human skeletons, to be exact.