Awakening: Reincarnating With the SSS-Level Extraction Talent

[Do you want to use the Spider Nest Key?]

"Yes."

Dive into the story on m|vl em pyr

The door groaned open, revealing the dark, web-strewn passage of the next floor.

Stale air wafted out, thick and suffocating, carrying the distinct, unsettling scent of decaying creatures.

Alex gripped his [Whispers of Shadows] dagger tightly, peering into the shadows, his undead army flanking him.

He could sense the change immediately—this was no ordinary dungeon floor.

The entire Spider Nest was like a living entity, breathing and pulsing, with webs crisscrossing from floor to ceiling, some so thick they seemed to form walls of their own.

As he stepped inside, the ground beneath him felt sticky with webs.

Along the sides of the narrow path, hundreds of other creatures hung in the dense webbing, trapped and drained dry by the predatory arachnids that lurked deeper within.

"W-Wow..." Alice mumbled, hiding behind Alex.

She was clearly too under-leveled to be accessing such an area, but it didn't matter.

With a surge of determination, Alex took a deep breath. "Alright, let's get moving."

The moment he entered the Spider Nest fully, a rapid skittering echoed through the passageway as the door closed.

[You have entered the "Spider Nest", do not get captured, as it will take time before they kill you.]

These spiders had the vicious habit of leaving their prey glued to their webs for days, if not weeks, before they kill them.

Players who get captured this way wouldn't be able to escape, thus forced to die from hunger.

Emerging from the shadows were the first wave of enemies, their segmented bodies and many-legged forms illuminated by the dim glow of the dungeon's eerie lights.

[Spiderlings]

[Level: 110]

[HP: 90,000]

[Skills: Web Bind, Poison Bite]

...

A swarm of small, nimble spiderlings rushed toward him, their fangs dripping with green venom.

With a flick of his wrist, Alex signaled his undead to take the front line.

Skeletons lunged forward, swords raised to intercept the horde.

Explosive Fireball!

The fireball burst forth from his staff, hurtling toward the advancing spiderlings and exploding in a wave of heat and flames.

-12,103!

It was enough to stop their assaults, making many of the spiders shriek as they hated fire: it burned their webs.

"Heh..." Alex immediately noticed that, "If you hate fire so much, take this!"

Fire Vortex!

-10,654!

Every spider in the hallway, as well as those far, were hit, their skins burning.

A few more of these attacks, along with the undead attacking, and every spider was now dead.

Alex didn't even break a sweat!

Ding!

[You have slain x54 Spiderlings! Gained 47,400 experience points!]

[+1 Level]

[Fire Vortex +1 Level; Explosive Fireball +1 Level]

The skittering only grew louder after that, though, as more enemies appeared.

"Let's do this," pointing his staff at the sound.

Alex was ready.

...

It took him a few hours after that to reach the 15th floor, simply because he needed to regenerate his mana when needed.

[Extraction talent activated: +182 strength, +103 spirit, +76 vitality, Spider Legs x6 (Rare), +7 skill points.]

[Extraction Points: 1248/1000]

[You can level up your talent.]

And he was forced to enemies that were much tougher.

Along the way, most of his skeletons had died, and keeping anything that wasn't one of the giant ones wasn't worth it.

Meaning that right now, Alex had three [Grand Skeletons], two [Bony Knights] and one [Spectral Wraith] with him.

He had leveled up three times, and Alice four, though the girl was more of a spectator than anything.

[Level: 59 (8748/50000)]

One level away from reaching Tier 3!

And also, each of his skills went up by two levels.

[Shadow Strike] had become his favorite skill to use along with [Rending Slash], since cutting off the spiders' legs was extremely satisfying.

But before he could think about anything else, a few more spiders appeared.

...

[Abyssal Tarantula]

[Level: 150]

[HP: 120,000]

[Skills: Shadow Cloak, Devour, Poison Storm]

...

These spiders were enormous, covered in thick, bristling fur that glistened with poison.

They had the ability to cloak themselves in darkness, making them difficult to spot.

But they were facing someone better than them.

One of them vanished before his eyes, slipping into the shadows, but Alex could perfectly see it thanks to his [Eyes of the Cursed King].

And when needed, he himself would use [Shadow Veil] to completely disappear from view.

SLASH!

Shadow Strike!

-31,212!

"SSKRRRII-"

The spiders would bleed as well when he attacked them from the shadows.

[+Bleed effect, dealing 20 percent of health over 5 seconds!]

The beast screeched as it stumbled back, weakened but not defeated.

Yet, with a single flick of his fingers, Alex's [Spectral Wraith] moved in, phasing through its massive body and tearing through the spider's internal organs, leaving it writhing in agony.

Ding!

[You have defeated an Abyssal Tarantula! Gained 2,400 experience points!]

The further he advanced, the larger and more threatening the spiders became.

Venomous Webweavers and Abyssal Tarantulas merged into the horde, alongside even deadlier arachnids.

Alex glanced back at Alice.

She was breathing hard but held her ground, loosing arrows at anything that came close.

Her level had steadily increased from all the monsters they had fought, her stats and confidence growing as they progressed.

Ding!

[Alice has reached Level 51!]

It didn't take much longer to reach the end of floor 15, and Alex was on the verge of reaching level 60.

At last, they reached the final room of floor 15.

It was a vast chamber, its ceiling stretching far above and lined with thick, ancient webs.

The air was tense, and Alex could feel the presence of something far more powerful than anything they'd faced thus far.

He raised his [Whispers of Shadows] dagger, signaling his undead to halt.

From the darkness, a massive figure descended slowly, its weight shaking the ground as it landed.

The creature's eyes gleamed like burning coals, and venom dripped from its fangs, sizzling as it hit the stone floor.

[The Queen's First Elite Guard - Superior Level Boss - Tier 4]

[Level: 150]

[HP: 750,000]

[Skills: Venom Blast, Guard's Wrath, Web Cocoon, Queen Call]

The spider was colossal, easily twenty feet tall, with a dark, armored exoskeleton covered in barbs and spikes.

Its legs were tipped with claws that could tear through stone, and its abdomen pulsed with a green, toxic glow.

It had massive stats, and now, even with his [Superior's Awakener's Set], which protected him from all blows of the spiders, he wasn't sure he would endure it.

He was clearly pushing himself simply because he needed to reach the 20th floor before the time limit.

Would rescuing the [Fox Tribe Princess] even be worth it?

They had served zero purpose in his previous life, so why?

"Alright, Alice, stay back and cover me. This one's going to be a serious fight."

She nodded, positioning herself at the edge of the chamber, bow at the ready.

He couldn't summon any more undead without putting his mana at risk, so he just ordered those already present to get ready as well.

The guard let out an ear-piercing screech before slamming the ground with one of its legs, and summoning a spear out of nowhere.

"Skriskk (You are going to suffer, human)."

"I think I'll be fine, thank you," Alex smiled before summoning an [Explosive Fireball].

If he beat that thing, it meant he would be at the halfway point to completing his SS-Level Hidden Quest.