Drip… drip… drip…
Water, somewhere far below, falling into a pool that had never quite filled.
Claire stepped up beside him, and her breath misted between them.
"First floor is Veil spiders and small goblins," she whispered. "Spiders like the ceilings. Goblins like the dark corners. Both hate light and lightning."
"Hmm.." Klein nodded with a frown.
He flexed his fingers, and thin arcs of lightning snapped between them, casting stark white reflections in Claire's worried eyes.
She reached out and touched his wrist, "If it feels wrong, we turn back. No shame in that."
Klein gave her a half-smile that probably looked more confident than he felt. "Yeah, I know... our lives are worth more than credits."
The passage opened into a cavernous chamber easily forty meters across.
The floor was uneven flagstone, slick with condensation and patches of black ice.
In the center, a dried-up fountain stood beneath a collapsed skylight far above; weak gray daylight leaked down in a single pale column, catching on drifting motes of snow.
Looking up Klein saw the silver webbing across the walls and floors 'The spiders.'
Claire exhaled softly "They are here."
Klein rolled his shoulders once, feeling the mana surge hot and bright through his nodes.
High above, dozens of glistening opal eyes opened all at once, looking down at them.
The first spider dropped down in perfect silence, with its eight hooked legs folded tight against its thorax, until it was only three meters above Klein's head.
Then it snapped its legs open, and silk detonated from its spinnerets.
Klein quickly dodged it and twisted on his foot, lightning exploding along his blade in white-hot arcs.
*swish* He slashed the sword at the descending spider mid-air and the blade crackling with his lightning elemental sheared the spider's body into two.
*squeach* Black blood sprayed out, and its body hit the ground.
Its corpse disintegrated into mist before leaving a small white stone.
Looking at the stone, Klein crouched and took it 'Beast stone of a tier-8 monster, we can get one credit by selling this.'
Claire waved her hand, and dozens of razor-sharp ice shards erupted from her, streaking upward in a perfect cone.
*swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh*
Three more spiders that had been scuttling across the ceiling lost legs, abdomens, and heads.
Frozen chunks of body rained down, shattering into glittering dust.
"Stay alert."
From every direction opal eyes ignited in the darkness, looking down at them.
A second wave dropped six spiders at once, and each one of them is the size of a large dog.
Klein exhaled once and let the mana flood his legs before dashing forward.
The nearest spider reared to spit silk.
Klein ducked under the jet and drove his sword upward through the soft joint beneath its cephalothorax.
As a veteran in this game, he knows every beast's weak spots.
*crack* Lightning poured into the wound, and the spider convulsed, legs curling inward as every nerve fried at once.
He ripped the blade free in a spray of sizzling black blood and turned to the next.
*sqeech* Huh? He dodged the venom spit by the nearest spider and slashed his sword at it.
The spider that had fired it recoiled, but Claire was faster; she flicked her wrist, and a spear of ice punched through its abdomen, pinning it to the wall like a butterfly on a board.
A blue glint passed through Claire's eyes 'Don't touch my brother.'
She planted her feet wide, and ice spiraled up her forearm in fractal spirals, crystallizing the air.
Her breath came out as a rolling fog 'Glacial Lances.'
Six spears of ice materialized in the air in front of her, and with a sharp downward cut of her hand, they launched.
*swoosh* The projectiles hissed as they flew, leaving trails of snowflakes.
Two spiders tried to jump aside, but the lances corrected mid-flight and took one spider clean through the cluster of eyes, punching out the back of its head in an explosion.
Another lance shattered against a raised foreleg, but the impact flash-froze the joint solid, and the leg cracked off at the elbow, blasting the spider.
The remaining four lances found their targets, killing four more spiders.
A spider lunged from Klein's blind spot.
Claire's gaze narrowed, and a wall of ice erupted from the floor between them, catching the spider mid-leap and slamming it backward.
Klein spun on his sword, reversing his grip on the sword, and rammed it backward over his shoulder.
*thoom*
Lightning exploded inside the trapped creature's mouth, and its head detonated in a spray of frozen meat and boiling blood.
"Thanks, Big Sis."
Claire was embarrassed, and a fond smile appeared on her lips "Don't worry, Big Sis has got your back."
Gripping the sword, Klein glanced at the remaining spiders and condensed the lightning elemental on his sword.
The spiders hissed in unison and their eyes glinted as they regrouped, chittering across the stone floor.
*swoosh* As he dashed forward, the first spider leapt at him from the left wall.
Klein twisted his wrist and slashed the sword upward in a clean diagonal arc.
*crackle* Lightning discharged on impact, exploding the creature mid-air into a burst of scorched pieces.
Another spider rushed him from behind, skittering silently.
Klein spun, dragging his foot across the stone for leverage.
His sword traced a glowing crescent as he swung low, and the lightning on the blade bloomed outward into a brief halo before splitting the spider clean in half.
Three more rushed at him from the front, and Klein's grip on the sword tightened.
He dashed straight into them, lightning surging along his legs in faint threads.
His body moved with surprising sharpness and a smile appeared on his lips 'Damn it, I missed this feeling of adrenaline.'
In his old world, he got a severe injury during a boxing match, and the doctors said that he can't do boxing anymore.
But this new body has potential, and he can do even greater things than boxing...
'And I am loving this feeling.'
The first spider lunged high, but Klein ducked under it and stabbed upward.
The blade pierced its abdomen, releasing a shockwave that cooked it from the inside out and its charred body fell down. *thud*
The second spider tried to flank him.
Klein pulled the sword free, twisted on his heel, and swept it horizontally.
Lightning scattered with the motion, shredding the creature's soft joints and sending it tumbling back.
Looking at the last spider, Klein stepped forward and brought the sword down in a brutal overhead strike.
The moment steel met its skin, the lightning gathered into a sharp, focused burst of condensed thunder.
The impact blew the spider apart, splattering dark blood across the cracked dungeon floor.
Silence followed.
Klein stood there for a moment and his chest rose and fell in steady breaths "Haa... Haa..."
He glanced over his shoulder at Claire.
She was staring with her mouth actually open in complete disbelief. "I-I didn't know you could move like that."
Klein smiled dryly and thought 'I was just excited to move my body after some years...'
"As I said, Big Sis, I was training a bit... so."
As he spoke, he slashed the sword, splattering the remaining blood from the blade.
Claire walked to him and raised her hand, ruffling his hair "I see, you are growing stronger."
Klein lowered his gaze, biting back a sigh.
He was simply someone else wearing her brother's face.
Still… the warmth in her touch settled something uneasy in his chest.
"…Let's keep moving," he said quietly.
Claire turned to look at the white stones scattering on the ground "First let's collect the beast stones."