-----
Veronica and her party walked through the corridors of the dungeon, each floor they came across to would become smaller and smaller, with little space. It seems that the floors that were close to the exit would be 'easier' on their complexity.
The monsters found were quite weak compared to what they had fought before, so they managed to end them quickly without any difficulties.
By abusing Aqua's Stealth and Camouflage, Veronica was capable of surprising the weak Rank 1 to 3 monsters with powerful blows using her Soul Form and her Phantom Form, most of her barrage of attacks being deadly.
Since she had crossed three floors, she fought a group of four Rank 2 Blood Slimes, and a dozen of Rank 1 Demon Rats and Horned Rabbits. Veronica and Aqua only needed to slap these monsters with a mildly strong blow to instantly kill them, most of them ending as mush of minced meat.
Aqua took care of cleaning the corpses, and Veronica decided to save the shattered Blood Slime Cores, as they could be sold for some money if bought by an alchemist in a magic item shop.
[Experience Points have reached the required level!]
[Individual 'Rank' has increased from level 8 to level 15!]
[Furthermore, the Individual's 'Job' has increased from level 8 to level 15!]
"Phew, the Experience Points are pretty bad, I've killed more than a dozen of these weak monsters… though, I suppose this is how Adventurers train?" wondered Veronica.
"No, I don't think they are even capable of fighting as many monsters, they would already be exhausted and would go back home by then… especially young or low ranked adventurers who are far from superhumans like S Ranked Adventurers," said Shade.
"Guubo!" said Aqua, digesting a whole bunch of Demon Rats.
"You think so? I guess because I am an Undead, I do not feel physically tired. Attacking them with my soul does not cost much MP either, so mental fatigue is not possible, even if I were to fight against a thousand Demon Rats and Horned Rabbits" said Veronica.
"There are certainly quite a lot of benefits for being reincarnated as an undead, specially such a peculiar one like a Living Armor, isn't it?" asked Shade.
"Indeed… I not only barely feel any pain, but I am immune to status ailments and cannot feel physically fatigued… but I wonder, what about you, Shade? You're a spirit, how do you work in that regard?" asked Veronica.
"How do I work? Well… we Spirits are an ethereal life form, made out of Mana… so we do not have physical bodies, we don't feel physical fatigue. But we can feel tired if we lack enough Mana. To regain Mana, we need to be in a place that has a high concentration of our attribute… for example, a Life Attribute Spirit should be near forests, an Earth Attribute near the ground or underground, or for me, to be in a dark place, or a place where the light is very intense… your soul is completely dark, and it is ideal for me to rest inside. I also can regain MP from you, so I can travel alongside you as long as you can give me MP. If not, I would have to run away to a dark place to rest for a few hundred years" said Shade.
"I see… Perhaps this might be a bit rough of a question… but how do spirits die?" asked Veronica.
"Die? Hm… I have seen some die in my life. When the environment deteriorates, our spirit slowly dies, we dissipate… after all, we are simply made out of mana. If the attributes of the world weaken, our existence will do so as well… thought light and darkness are the most prevalent attributes, so it's hard for me to die… however, other ways could inflict our deaths, such as having all our Mana drained by someone… it would be like getting eaten" said Shade.
"I see… sorry for being so abrupt with this question… in my previous life, after many wars, the environment of the world deteriorated a lot, which ended making spirits very rare to find… so it was related to this fact… it's not that they were hiding… they were dying…��� muttered Veronica.
"Because you're a Spiritualist, you are capable of feeling some of our emotions, I suppose that dread that you felt back then wasn't something easy to bear," said Shade.
"Indeed… it was… dreadful. But even then, I somehow managed to find a spirit of each attribute, and they always kept at my side, even in my very last moments" said Veronica.
"I hope they are still alive…" said Shade.
"I hope so too" added Veronica.
"Guubo!" said Aqua, waking both Veronica and Shade from their melancholy.
"What is it Aqua…? Ah…!"
Veronica quickly felt what Aqua did, by using the Mana Waves created by her soul, coupled with 'Special Five Senses', she felt an intimidating presence coming from the floor above her…
"Wait, the wind… isn't quite strong now? Is it the exit? But… what is that? That pressure that it is emitting… it's like back then…" muttered Veronica.
"Back then… you mean that being that banished before we fought the armored spiders?" asked Shade.
"Yes… it is," said Veronica, if she could sweat, her entire body would be dripped in a cold sweat.
"Even after you evolved twice since then… it is still strong?" asked Shade.
"Yes… At least Rank 6" said Veronica.
"T-That's two ranks above you?! Impossible, we cannot win… let us go back. If you kill more monsters, you might evolve again and be capable of fighting at a better chance of winning" said Shade.
"I can't…" said Veronica.
"…Eh? Why not? Don't be reckless, Veronica!" shouted Shade.
"It's not that, we can't run away. We already fell on its trap" said Veronica, glancing at the trap made out of threads beneath her feet.
"…What? When?!" shouted Shade.
"The moment Aqua alerted us, we were already below its trap, not even she was capable of detecting it…"
"Bloob…" said Aqua, apologizing.
"Griiiishaaaaaaaa…!"
Suddenly, a deafening screech filled the floor where Veronica was, the exit then was blocked almost instantly by a wall made out of threads as the presence slowly descended, alongside an army of smaller presences.
"The trap connected to the ones that blocked the entrance… What kind of creature is this? Capable of setting such complex traps!" said Shade.
"There is no way out, we must fight," said Veronica. Her soul suddenly expanded like a specter, covered on its phantom form, Veronica then resembled a terrifying creature, as if a demon had been awakened from within her often-carefree demeanor.
Her soul shaped itself like claws and as she infused more of her mana, more claws appeared, her soul and phantom converging together into a monstrosity. Using these claws, Veronica cut down the incredibly hard thread that was trapping her to the floor, but it was already activated, and the monsters were already before her.
Meanwhile, Aqua extended her body into tentacles, taking over Veronica's gauntlets and shield.
"Guubo!"
"Aqua, Shade, I am counting on you two," said Veronica.
"…Veronica. Of course, leave it to us…!"
Rumble!
An arachnid of the size of a car appeared, its entire body was covered in a silvery exoskeleton, shining brightly in the eerie dungeon. Eight large claws carried the heavy body, creating sounds as it clashed over the floor.
Clash, clash, clash.
Eight crimson eyes and jaws that could pulverize a whole school bus. Corrosive poison dripping from within them.
A gigantic spider appeared before Veronica, surrounded by over a dozen of smaller Armored Spiders.
"Griiisshhaa…" it muttered, stopping on its way and glancing at Veronica with a strange expression.
"Shaaa!" it screeched, ordering the dozens of spiders to attack Veronica, testing her strength!
The nightmarish armored arachnid fiends ran through the walls, ceilings, and floor, fearlessly and voraciously glancing at Veronica's entire body!
"Griiissha!"
-----
[Name: Nameless.
[Race: Grand Armored Spider Queen
[Titles: Self-Proclaimed Ruler of the Dungeon.
[Type: Arachnid/Material
[Rank: 6
[Level: 052/100
[Health Points: 1072/1072
[Mana Points: 175/175
[Strength: 671
[Defense: 934
[Magic: 136
[Resistance: 605
[Agility: 96
[Passive Skills]
[Dark Vision; Level 6]
[Abnormal Status Resistance; Level 4]
[Strengthened Physical Power; Level 3]
[Physical Damage Resistance; Level 6]
[Armored Carapace; Level 5]
[Magic Damage Resistance; Level 3]
[Strengthen Followers; Level 3]
[Health Points Enlargement; Level 3]
[Mana Points Enlargement; Level 2]
[Armored Spider Egg Production; Level 5]
[Enhanced Physical Ability; Exoskeleton; Level 3]
[Active Skills]
[Coordination; Level 3]
[Commanding; Level 5]
[Charge; Level 4]
[Projectile Fire; Level 4]
[Corrosive Venom Secretion; Jaws; Level 4]
[Mineral Devourer; Level 6]
[Throwing; Level 4]
[Metallic Sticky Thread Reeling; Level 6]
[Aura of Fear; Level 3]
[Unique Skills]
[Cursed Eight Eyes: Level 4]