Trainee Day 2 (1) – The Spider Cave

Wait, everything’s still attached down there, right?

But when I touched my forehead, I could feel the phantom sensation of horns.

Ting—

[Lee Han-gyeol

Trait: Elemental Mage
Sub-trait: Elemental – Flame
-Skill (A): Elemental Creation (Lv.4)
-Skill (A): Elemental Control (Lv.4)
-Skill (P): Flame Immunity (Lv.4)

Trait: Transformation – Succubus
-Skill (A): Transformation (Lv.2)
-Skill (A): Essense Conversion (Lv.4+1)

Sub-trait: Demonic Horns
-Skill (P): Demonic Horns – Ability (Lv.1)
-Skill (A): Demonic Horns – Manifestation (Lv.1)

Strength: 78
Magic Power: 140+1
Mana: 325/1414
Essense: 1200/1414]

Phew, what a relief.

It seemed that as my Transformation skill leveled up, only the ‘Demonic Horns’ skill from my succubus side had become usable even before transforming.

For a second there, I thought I was turning into a male succubus.

A male succubus? Ugh…

I think the only reason I’m not completely repulsed by my activities as a succubus is that I can transform and revert back freely.

If I could freely turn into a cat and back, I’m sure I could enjoy a pretty interesting life. But if I turned into a cat permanently and couldn’t go back to being human, that would be a huge problem.

Besides, since my appearance changes, I have complete anonymity—well, except from Choi Shin-woo.

But being forced to become a succubus, or a male one at that?

That would be… truly…

That’s why I was so shocked for a moment.

Anyway, seeing my Essense Conversion level up, it seems the new skills just share a name but have different effects.

I mean, what use would ‘Essense Absorption’ and ‘Magic Absorption’ be in my male form anyway?

[Demonic Horns – Ability: Lv.1
-Magic Power increased by 1%
-Skill (A): Essense Conversion level increased by 1]

[Demonic Horns – Manifestation: Lv.1
-Skill (A): Elemental Creation level increased by 1
-Skill (A): Elemental Control level increased by 1
-Skill (P): Elemental Immunity level increased by 1]

Oh? Both of these are good.

Since Essense Conversion went up by one, I tried converting about 10 Essense into Mana as a test. It turned into 250 Mana.

As for ‘Manifestation’… it’s late, so I should sleep. I’ll have to test it in the gate tomorrow.

*

“Good morning.”

“Ah, good morning. I heard you were quite the star yesterday.”

“Pardon? Ah… it was really nothing special.”

“Come on, for a first gate, that’s definitely being a star. At the very least, you didn’t hold the team back.”

“Ah… is that how it is?”

“Yes. You should be proud. Hmm, today, Mr. Lee Han-gyeol… you’re with Team ‘Orchestra.’ Oh, looks like they’re planning to fast-track your training.”

“Huh? What does that—”

“I’ll show you the way. Please follow me.”

The staff member led me up to a conference room.

“You can go in through this door. I’ll be on my way now. Good luck.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Knock, knock—

“Excuse me.”

I opened the door to see one person standing and giving a briefing, with six others seated at a table.

The man standing at the front spoke.

“Are you Lee Han-gyeol, the trainee joining us today?”

“Ah, yes. That’s me.”

“Then please have a seat over there and listen to the briefing.”

“Yes. Understood.”

*

The briefing went like this.

We were heading to Gate 22, commonly known as the ‘Spider Cave.’

As the name suggested, it was home to spider-like monsters. However, their social structure was like that of ants, with worker spiders, soldier spiders, and a queen spider.

The workers worked, the soldiers eliminated intruders, and the queen laid eggs.

Normally, we would just wipe them all out, but their byproducts, like spider silk and acid, were quite valuable. So, we had to cull them while maintaining their population.

We also introduced ourselves to each other.

The team leader was the man who had been giving the presentation.

Lee Hyun-woo, 31 years old. He wielded two elements, Wind and Water. An A-rank Awakener. From what I knew, Han Na-ri was a B+.

“It’s a pleasure. After you see our team in action today, you’ll be begging to join. Haha.”

The woman next to the team leader was Lee Su-ha. At 27, she wasn’t an elemental mage, but a healing mage.

“A healing mage?”

“Yes. I graduated from Merci Academy and came here. It’s nice to meet you.”

Next to her was a large, muscular man, Kang Han-ui, 25 years old. He had a dual trait: Enhancement and Magic. Within the magic tree, he was an Earth Elemental Mage.

“Wow, a dual trait?”

“Yep. I usually just create my own weapons and armor from earth, then charge in and get the job done.”

“Whoa—!”

Just imagining it was cool. But… why am I…?

“If he was going to charge in and fight like a brute, why did he join Elemental instead of Yua Dokjon? Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Ga-yoon.”

“Yes. It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Next to Kang Han-ui was Kim Ga-yoon. She was 24 and also an Earth Elemental Mage. Her tanned, healthy skin was on display in a tank top.

Next to her was a woman with red-dyed, short hair. She said she was 23.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Park Ji-an. I wield Flame, just like you. Nari told me you’re talented. I should have high expectations, right?”

“Pardon? Haha… I’ll do my best.”

Standing next to her was a tall man with a languid expression. His name was Sung Yu-han, 29 years old, and he wielded Lightning. When we shook hands, there was a spark of static electricity…

“Oh, the Lightning element.”

“The Lightning element is good, but it’s a potion-guzzling hippo.”

“They said my second element is Lightning.”

“Flame, then Lightning? Looks like we’ve got a real hippo here. Don’t worry, Lightning earns its keep—or rather, its potion costs.”

Last was a boy with a youthful face. A middle schooler? High schooler?

His gray hair with white-dyed tips was striking.

“You said you’re 20, right? Then I’m not the youngest anymore. Nice to meet you. I’m Nam Han-yul. I’m 21.”

“Aww, is our little Han-yul happy he’s not the baby of the team anymore?”

“Be quiet. You’re only two years older than me.”

“Tough luck. Should’ve been born earlier. Han-yul is the senior during the training period? No way.”

“Agh, seriously.”

He wielded two elements: Water and Ice.

“There’s an Ice element, too?”

“Yeah. It’s based on the property of ‘coldness.’ But honestly… it doesn’t earn its potion cost. It’s just rare. Anyway, nice to meet you.”

*

In front of the gate, people were gathered, wearing all sorts of equipment.

The team leader wore a light, flowing robe, Kang Han-ui and Nam Han-yul wore armor, and the rest of us, including me, wore Nephthra Suits.

Nam Han-yul’s armor had gaps here and there, looking light, but Kang Han-ui’s armor was… wow, was this the legendary full plate armor?

As I stared with wide eyes, he said, “Looks cool, right? It actually gets lighter when I reinforce it with the Earth element.”

Lee Su-ha carried a bag filled with all kinds of potions.

Nam Han-yul had a spear.

“Ah. I channel the Ice element through the spear when I thrust. I could create water and then freeze it into a spear, but that’s too wasteful.”

Sung Yu-han carried a whip made of a thin iron chain.

“Shooting lightning directly is inaccurate and eats up a lot of potions. So, I run electricity through the chain and attack with that.”

Just as I, an aspiring Lightning element user, was about to ask a question—

“Attention! The administrator here says the gate’s magic levels are within the expected range, but on the higher side. There might be more monsters inside than usual, so stay sharp! And grab a map!”

“Yes, sir!”

*

What I saw upon entering was a massive cavern.

It was cool in here, which was a relief after the jungle.

Like the jungle, there were container houses here, but there were several of them.

And in the distance, I could see webs. The team leader frowned at the sight.

“Seeing webs in those two directions, the queens are likely in Sector B and Sector D. Normally, we’d split up, but it looks like there are more spiders than we thought, so we’ll move as one team. Han-ui, Ga-yoon, and Han-yul will take the front line. The rest of us will be in the rear. For now, let’s head to Sector B.”

Even though he was some distance away, a gust of wind blew past, and his voice sounded right next to my ear. Was this the Wind element?

We entered one of the many passages leading out of the cavern. The paths forked like a maze, but thankfully, there were markers.

B-1

The deeper we went, the more webs we began to see.

Crystals that emitted a faint light dotted the cave walls, but it was still dark, so Park Ji-an created a small flame in the air to light the way.

B-5

The webs grew thicker and thicker—

“Shh— Multiple worker spiders ahead. Don’t touch the webs. Quietly, before they signal the soldiers, we take out the workers first. From now on, I’m the only one who talks. Don’t answer.”

The whisper flew to my ear.

“When I give the signal, it’s a blitz. Ga-yoon will block the path, Ji-an and Han-gyeol will burn the webs, and the rest will charge. For now, advance quietly until I give the signal.”

The air was thick with tension.

As we walked silently, the skittering sound grew louder.

B-8

Skitter, skitter—

Skitter-skitter-skitter—

“Now!”

Thud—!

Kang Han-ui and Kim Ga-yoon charged forward.

Earth clung to Kang Han-ui’s armor, forming spikes, as he leaped ahead of Kim Ga-yoon, clearing a path by knocking spiders aside.

“Kiriri—” “Kiriririri—”

The spiders, the size of large dogs, tried to flee into the various tunnels.

Rumble—!

But earth and rock shot up, blocking their escape routes.

Seeing their paths blocked, they scrambled towards the webs covering the walls.

But those were already being incinerated by my and Park Ji-an’s flames.

Whoosh—! Hwoosh, whoosh—!

The team leader’s blades of wind sliced off the spiders’ legs.

Swish—! Crackle—!

Sung Yu-han’s whip glowed as it lashed out, striking down spiders left and right.

Crunch—

Kang Han-ui slammed into spiders with his armored body.

Shnk! Thwack!

Nam Han-yul’s spear pierced a spider’s head.

And then,

Fwoosh!

Having burned most of the webs, Park Ji-an and I joined the front line and incinerated the remaining spiders.

The legless spiders burned.

The spiders with legs only spread the fire.

Hah—overwhelming firepower. This is what flame magic is all about.

A clean sweep.

Can you feel the difference in our power?

“The fire, the fire, put it out now!”

I withdrew my magic, gathering the flames and creating water to extinguish them.

We took a short break, drinking potions.

The team leader closed his eyes, focusing his senses.

Then he opened them.

“I think we’ve been spotted. We blitz the queen’s chamber and wipe them out before the soldiers get here. There’s probably another queen in D. We’ll annihilate the one in B. Let’s move!”

Everyone started running.

“Ah, Ji-an and Han-gyeol, as we go, toss an ember onto any clumps of webs you see.”

B-17

The passage was filled with webs and swarming with worker spiders. Everywhere I looked, there were webs and workers… I couldn’t tell which way was which…

“Left! Next, right!”

The team leader read the space with his wind and guided us.

Krrrrunch—!

Ruuuumble—!

Kang Han-ui cleared our path, while Kim Ga-yoon blocked the spiders’ path.

Nam Han-yul created water between Kim Ga-yoon’s walls and froze it, making them solid.

Sung Yu-han, Park Ji-an, and I conserved our mana.

We had to go all out in the queen’s chamber.

Occasionally, as we passed a clump of webs, I’d toss an ember onto it—

A bright light flared up behind us moments later.

“Kiriri—” “Kiriririri—”

The worker spiders turned their backs and fled. All I could see were the backs of spiders.

After running for a while, I was starting to get out of breath.

In that moment—

“Dammit, soldiers!”

The team leader’s low curse.

Shit. Running was the easy part. I shouldn’t have complained.

“Han-ui will draw their attention, Han-yul will stab and slow them down! Once we’re all past, you follow behind! The queen’s chamber isn’t far! If we kill the queen, they’ll fall into chaos!”

We kept running, but I couldn’t see any soldiers.

Maybe he was mistaken—just as I was having that happy thought, three spiders, unlike the others that were growing smaller in the distance, were rapidly growing larger.

It was like three cars charging at us.

“Hyaaaaaah—!”

Kang Han-ui shouted and shot forward.

Nam Han-yul followed swiftly behind him.

Soon after, BOOM—

The cave shook.

“Kieeeeh—!” “Kiiiiiik—!”

“Hyaaaah—! Hurry!”

Swoosh—! Swish—!

“Middle path here!”

I didn’t have the presence of mind to watch the battle. I just ran, staring straight ahead.

The vibrations stopped, and I could hear the sound of Kang Han-ui and Nam Han-yul running behind us.

The sound of two human feet running, not the skittering of eight spider legs.

No, that wasn’t right. I couldn’t hear the sound of human running anymore.

The sound of eight-legged skittering drowned out the sound of human feet.

“Queen’s chamber is just ahead! Get ready!”

Electricity sparked and crackled from Sung Yu-han’s hand and whip.

A red glow flared to life in Park Ji-an’s hands.

A flame flickered at my fingertips—

That corner up ahead. The queen was just around that corner.

The moment we rounded it—

What I saw was a creature with a massive body… huh? A gate?

“…Dammit, a multi-gate!”

And beyond it, a sea of spiders filling the massive cavern.