With his new skill, Jax didn’t need to do anything at all. He could simply employ the technique, and it would automatically empower him. Being the second skill he had learned, it was a rather great one.
Jax stood to the side of the massive tree that was dozens of feet taller than where the Spider Queen had placed her cobweb. The tree was close to falling on its own, so Jax helped it a little.
He struck the base of the tree one more time with his strong axe and removed enough structure that the tree couldn’t stand under its own weight. With a large croak, it began falling toward the inside.
The Spider Queen seemed to realize what was happening and moved away from that tree, going toward the other side.
Jax quickly ran away as well and watched the massive tree slowly fall to the ground. As it fell, the webs that were attached to it were pulled on, and its top ripped nearly half of the Spider Queen’s webs.
The distance between the trees was large enough that the tree didn’t touch the other side, but that was fine. Jax would just bring the rest down as well.
The falling tree had caused a loud enough sound that Jax had to work quickly. He ran around the outside of the lair, dealing the final blow to each of the trees to get them to fall.
With each hit, the trees came tumbling down while Jax ran to the next one.
The Spider Queen’s nets were ripped away almost fully at that point, so she climbed over to another tree, but it was only a matter of time before Jax got to it.
Once 13 trees had fallen, Jax stood next to the one where the Spider Queen was, and he chopped down the last one too. He struck the tree as hard as he could and moved aside, watching the tree slowly lean sideways as it fell to the ground atop the already piled trees.
It landed with a strong thud.
The moment the tree landed and settled, Jax immediately jumped onto it and ran toward the Spider Queen. Having nowhere else to run, the Spider Queen joined back in the fight as well.
It struck down with its giant legs, but the tree had now created an uneven surface, with crevices where the legs couldn’t reach him.
He dodged the legs easily and arrived next to the Spider Queen in no time.
The monster swept at him, but simply jumping onto another log was enough for that attack to miss. Jax could jump back in and continue with his attack.
Jax first used his Poison Threads, wrapping them around the Queen’s head the moment he was in range. Then, he jumped toward it and swung down with his axe. The Spider Queen tried to bite at him but wasn’t quick enough.
Jax managed to land above her, his axe swinging down on one of its two good eyes. Fluids splashed onto him as he destroyed another one of its eyes.
The Spider Queen jerked its head around while Jax did his best to hold on. The movement became slower and slower over the course of a few seconds as the spider came closer and closer to dying.
Jax pulled himself up by the axe and dug it out with great force before swinging it back down on the last remaining eye of the Spider Queen. As he burst through the eye, the Spider Queen came to a final stop.
Her body glowed with a soft white light at that moment, and Jax heard the notification he had been waiting for.
<Congratulations! You have killed the boss monster ’Spider Queen’>
Jax landed down from the Spider’s head, standing before it. Slowly, he stopped using the skill he had been using all this time, and at once, he felt the fatigue that came with the lack of power.
It was as if all strength had been drained from his body at once. And with the lack of energy, the pain amplified.
Jax stumbled to one knee, barely holding himself up with his axe. He breathed in and out, and as he did, the next set of notifications came to him.
<You have received 15 Opal Stones>
<You have received 3 Earth Opal Stones>
<You have received ’Spiderweave Trousers’>
Jax looked before him and quickly grabbed the stones. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of the 3 Earth Opal Stones.
"Finally! I can unlock the Earth Element," Jax said softly. Placing the stones into his Inventory, Jax looked at the last loot he had received from the Spider Queen.
The Spiderweave Trousers.
It was a surprisingly soft pair of trousers, with a flat earthen-green color to it. It felt quite elastic and light. He looked at it for a moment and saw something on the side of it.
It was a sort of mark, like an alphabet he didn’t recognize.
"Gemma, is this a rune?" Jax asked.
Gemma arrived next to him in a wisp of light. "Uh-huh. That’s a rune, alright. Congratulations on receiving equipment with a rune on it."
"This must be rare, right?" Jax asked.
"Uhh... I believe the Spider Queen has a 3-in-10 chance to drop this. It’s rare, but not as rare as the Venomous Dagger you could’ve received."
"Let me be happy with this for now," Jax said. "What does it do exactly?"
"That, you will have to use a treasure to figure it out," Gemma said. "I can’t tell you, sadly."
"That’s fine," Jax said. "It’s probably better than what I’m wearing."
Jax quickly changed into the new trousers. Wearing them, he felt something.
"Is a single rune related to a single effect?" he asked.
"More than one rune can be used to do the same thing, but if there is just one, then it only does one thing," Gemma said.
"Then I think I know what this one does. It makes me lighter."