"Kekekek." The spider's saliva dripped as his jaw got closer to Aldred's face.
"You're stronger than I thought," Aldred said.
He smiled and pointed at the spider's face with his index finger. And then he bent his finger to point to the side.
The spider turned its head and saw Aldred sitting leisurely on top of a boulder, yawning.
The spider widened all of his 7 eyes in shock. It couldn't believe what had just happened. Which one was real? Which one was fake? Its senses couldn't help identify the real one because all their auras, blood, power, weapons, and smells were the same.
Then, the Aldred that it pinned down burst into blood before flying beside Aldred and formed into his clone again. Another bloody mist formed up on Aldred's left and formed another clone.
In total, there were 3 Aldred's looking at the spider nonchalantly.
Bartrem smiled. "Aldred is becoming smarter. He isn't relying on pure strength anymore."
Mary nodded. "If he keeps playing the spider like this, eventually he will win the battle."
Aldred slid off the boulder and stood up as he looked at the spider. "I have had enough play time. Do you want to see my full power?"
The spider did not reply and simply kept its gaze at Aldred.
Aldred smiled and raised his hand. "Arise."
Hundreds of undead stepped out of the black mist, and they all growled and glared at the spider.
"This power... It's similar to that dark magician!"
"Kill it," Aldred said.
The undead growled and rushed at the spider. 55 Bajaragon belched out powerful flames at it from all directions before the phantom claws ripped it bit by bit.
The spider retaliated, throwing dozens of undead, but the Snow Wolves and the Snow Apes swarmed it down.
The spider was overwhelmed and it let out an unwilling cry before its body was torn apart and burned.
The undead stepped back and moved to the side as Aldred walked towards the dead spider. It was twitching on the ground, unable to move.
"At first, I was going to give you salvation, but I changed my mind. I will turn you into my eternal slave," Aldred said. But just as he was about to turn the spider into his undead, the spider burst into dust, and beautiful light-blue energy fluttered around the cave.
It formed into an image of a young boy and a young girl playing in the field with butterflies flying around them. The young girl was the one that he had seen earlier, and the young boy seemed to be the brother that had been turned into a giant spider.
The image changed, showing them playing by the creek, catching fish, and splashing water at each other.
"This…. This is their memory," Aldred said.
As the siblings ran around, playing. They suddenly ran at him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."
The image disappeared.
The cobweb that was blocking the entrance disappeared as well. Stella and the others immediately approached Aldred as his clones and undead vanished.
Aldred was still staring into the wall, recalling the image that he was shown earlier until Mary tapped his shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
"I am fine." Aldred let out a breath. "For some reason, I don't feel like going deeper into the dungeon anymore."
Mira held both of his hands. "You can take a break, Aldred. You didn't do anything wrong. Don't let one obstacle blind you of your true goal. We will set up camp in this cave and after that we will rest."
Aldred sighed. "Right. Maybe I am just tired."
Aldred sat down on the boulder as the other set up the tents within the cave.
Suddenly, a system panel appeared in front of his eyes.
[+4,250 EXP]
[You have learned a new skill 'Sticky String']
[Sticky String]
-Let you shoot strings out of your finger.
Some use this power to be a hero, some use this to tie girls and hang them in their house. (Insert Spiderman theme song here (T))
"This could be useful."
Stella plopped her ass on the boulder beside Aldred. "Aren't you curious about how those webs could prevent us from entering the cave? That's no ordinary web. My attack was absorbed and brought into a different dimension. And weirdly, the spider doesn't use it to attack you."
"I am more curios of who is the culprit. I don't think that dark magician targeted me specifically. At least, from what I suspected."
Stella glanced at Aldred. She knew more than him that a lot of powerful beings beyond this continent were looking at his every move. They were wary of him. Terrified even.
Because he might bring great changes not just to this continent, but to the whole world.
She was sure that one of those entities told their subordinates to subtlety remove Aldred. They could not send someone that was too powerful for Aldred or his mother would interfere.
Nothing could be done if she moved her hand. In fact, they might be killed if she moved.
Stella gulped, recalling the event of Aldred's mother threatening her at that time.
"Aldred, can you tell me more about your parents?"
"My parents?" Aldred raised an eyebrow at first, but then he smiled. "They're perfect. The best family that I could ever ask for. Some might disagree with me, but I love them whole and know that they feel the same thing towards me."
Aldred looked up at the ceiling. "Even now. I believe they are watching over me."
'They are!' Stella thought.
"What do you usually do with them?"
Aldred laughed as he recalled some fun memories. "We used to travel around the galaxy and universes. My dad would fish some monsters, and my mom would sing me a wonderful song. And I used to read a lot of stories with my big sister."
"Galaxy? Universes?"
"Oh, you don't know? Well it's complicated to explain, so let's just say that our world is called a planet, and this planet is within a galaxy, and this galaxy is within a universe which consisted of billions of galaxies and trillions of planets."
"What?"
