Arthur cursed, struggling to free himself from the spider net that had dropped over him, sticking to his body and holding him down. His movements only managed to get more of the sticky web to stick to him, the strength of the spider silk too great for even his enhanced body to break free, not without proper leverage. Cursing, Arthur could only drop his spear and try for his kris while watching the rest of his team fight.
He had gotten a little cocky, figuring the spiders were the easiest to handle. He should have known that none of the creatures of the fifth floor were actually easy. They had only run into the outlying scouts of the spider nests, dealing with the small groups that bordered the deeper layers of the jungle.
By themselves, the larger number would have been manageable. Expected even. What he had not realised was the combination of the acrid poisonous flowers that had acted upon them all, slowly poisoning the group. Not to damage them, or even cause injury, but to lower their inhibitions, to basically make him - and the rest of the team - feel drunk.
They'd lowered their guard then, and wandered right in.
And now...
"Fire is good, but a little painful," Karen was saying, holding a hand above her head. It caught against the strings of webs trying to fall across her, rushing all along and burning up the thread in a flash of fire, shrivelling up the air itself. She kept her head bent a little low, hiding from the flames before she took a fast-step to the side and slammed the same, still burning hand, into the body of a spider as it dropped. The creature curled up reflexively, it's plunge faltering as it bounced away from the fallen Jan. "You should consider getting Flaming Hand. Or Flaming Aura. Or Aura of Fire. Or something like that..."
Out of the corner of his eyes, Devi was ignoring her mother's prattlings as she ducked between falling nets, using a long stick that she'd been carrying around to smack them away before the struck and swinging the entire contraption from the side away. She reached the trapped Uswah, standing over the scout as she drew a pair of short swords - actual swords and not parangs - from her back and got ready to deal with a few scuttling spiders.
In the meantime, Arthur kept struggling, cutting at the web. It stuck to the blade, refusing to cut well and he yelped when the same burning hand ran over him. She was not wrong that it was painful, for the silk burnt up fast, blistering his skin as it sparked and released him.
"You should keep some flame, or at the least, a Sparking Stick for when you get captured," Karen continued, casually grabbing hold of another spider that tried to swing itself at her. She held it by its body as it clamped its fangs on her arm, stopped by the metal bracers she wore on that hand and ignored it struggling and dying. "Also, if you see the yellow flowers, you should pay attention for the nest."
On his feet, spear still webbed, Arthur formed a Refined Exploding Energy Dart and launched it at the trio of spiders that were nearly on Jan. They were blasted aside even as the younger woman finally managed to tear herself free, her greater strength and boosted traits giving her the ability to do so unlike Arthur.
Then again, catching sight of a pair of scuttling spiders near his feet, he casually dodged them and struck with his kris as he bent down, slicing feet off with quick chops that left them writhing on the ground unable to get to him. He spun around, took a quick step and stabbed another spider attempting to escape and leaving it pinned with his kris. He almost pulled another Refined Energy Dart into being, but realised that the team had things well in-hand.
Especially as, he noted, Uswah was doing something to the webs. They kept darkening, twisting and freezing before suddenly, they shattered as she pushed. Standing upwards, the one armed woman flicked her only hand outward, shadows reaching out of the ground from underneath the spiders and yanking them down. With a sickening crunch, two of the creatures lay writhing under the grip of the tightening arms.
"Or you could do that...?" Karen for once seemed surprised. "That's... different."
"She's unique for sure," Arthur muttered, yanking his kris out. The group fell silent, finishing the last of the spiders off before they raided the bodies, the burns on his body slowly healing. Karen moved away to help Jan deal with the rest of the sticky webs on her, offering a flask of what smelled like strong alcohol to help wide and dissolve the thread.
When everyone was back together, Arthur could not help but ask. "Why didn't you warn us?"
"Would you have learned better that way?" Karen said.
"You're one of those," he said with a sigh.
"One of those?" An arched eyebrow met his accusation.
"Sadists."
"Hey!" Devi protested, but Karen just shook her head, silencing her daughter.
"Should we return? Should I stop?" Karen challenged Arthur, though her body language was not confrontational. Just firm. A fine line to thread, he noted.
"No..." Arthur laughed softly. "No, I'm good. I just like to know what I'm in for." He rubbed at his neck where red blisters were already beginning to form and shrugged. "Let's go. I'm curious to see what else you have to offer."
***
As it turned out, the answer was a lot. Not only did Karen and Devi have great experience and knowledge of the terrain, leading the group to fight and deal with multiple monsters in quick succesion, she also understood the biology and ecology of the jungle. She pointed out various herbs and plants that were often put up for quests, allowing the group to quickly collect them and add to their earnings that day as well as various smaller monsters that were not listed on the wiki.
"Gah. You'd think they'd mention there were leeches too," Arthur complained as he waited for her to burn off the latest one gripping his calf. The thing was about the size of his hand, having fed on his blood for the last few minutes unknowingly until its presence had been pointed out by Jan.
"Not magical," Karen said, watching the leech fall to the ground as it tried to escape the burning hand. She killed it by stepping on the monster, sending a squirt of blood to splash outwards and making Arthur grimace. "No stone."
"Still, that's disgusting..." Arthur grumbled, staring at his still bleeding leg. "Also, won't they make me - or anyone they eat - a mark for the roaming boss?"
"The Lemur?" Karen nodded. "In other levels, yes. It doesn't come down here often though."
"Often," Arthur said, grimacing. He'd stop bleeding soon enough, his healing technique already working on the anti-coagulant in the leeches bite. At the least, this damn floor was going to give his healing techniques quite the work out.
"Nothing's ever for certain. Now stop complaining." Jerking her head, she led them down the deer trail she'd found, heading back.
The sun was already setting, the group having been out longer than the previous days. With an actual guide, Arthur was willing to stick around longer to increase their returns over the next few days. Getting lost and having to spend the night in the forest, while potentially quite lucrative, was less than desirable.
At least on the second day of their exploration. Eventually, though, they'd have to get to it.
In the meantime, as Karen continued to explain her thinking, Arthur watched her. Deeper considerations passing through.
He did, after all, need a second in command on this floor.