All I have

Bits of spider splattered across the cave's floor and stained the Myranite shards. I ignored the system notifications and focused solely on the Boss’ reaction. It held up a magic circle, different from the ones it had cast before.

The remaining Scarra leapt from the cave walls and relied on their webs for mobility. They were pretty fast when attached to a string of web, but not impossible to stop. They closed the distance after webbing me up from afar and relied heavily on traps.

They’re fighting kind of like the Toxic Scout… they're just as bad of a pest as he was! Watching them fight, I concluded that the boss had sent it after me before to size me up. Seeing as it never came back, I’m sure it must have decided to kill me on sight. Maybe they’re trying to take out anything that might pose a threat to it? I guess food isn't the only thing on your brain, is it, bug-eyes?

{Basic Earth Magic activated}

Pebbles levitated up and circled into a ring. I reeled back and delivered my new attack, Piercing Shot, by sending the scatter of stones ahead like bullets.

{85 Exp gained}
{70 Exp gained}
{95 Exp gained}
{Level Up}

They were really great for grinding experience, especially when they closed in for their attacks! Things finally didn’t seem so hopeless. Maybe, just maybe, I could win!

There were two Scarra left. Their speed was seriously troublesome, even the speed at which they released their webs was faster than that of their siblings. Add in the boss’s buffing effects, and they were spinning circles around me.

Webs bound my arm, and I couldn’t release Piercing Shot. The pebbles I collected fell flat to the ground. I staggered and found my legs bound in place next. I knew what would follow and glanced up.

A bubble of acid fell over me, and with the last remaining mana I could muster, I forced a stone to shape. It managed to take the brunt of the attack, and the acid melted it down in a matter of seconds. What a terrifying skill.

I slowly drew in the mana around me, but even that ran low. The glow from the surrounding Myranite reduced to a pathetic hue of grey. I got desperate. If I didn’t end things quickly– I didn’t want to think of what would happen.

If I can’t summon any more stones, I’ll just use the ones around me. This can work, can’t it? I broke free of the webs using my Wreck Skill and felt the full momentum of my arms and legs.

The webs the Scarra cast were strong, but as I levelled up, they were easier and easier to break off.

I tossed stones from around me and hit off as many as I could, even without my mana, I could replicate Piercing Shot, since it didn’t drain my mana supply. The Scarra dodged along the ends of their long strings of webs, but one nicked their escape.

The Scarra was sent plummeting through the open air, defenceless. I knocked up a stone from the ground and reeled back, when suddenly the Boss created a second magic circle. It held two at once, something I failed to account for.

My body suddenly felt heavy, like a crushing weight had been applied on top of me. Even with my monstrous strength, I wasn’t able to deliver enough force to shoot the stone forward.

Crap, they really don’t want me to attack!

Suddenly, the Boss raised a third sharp leg and another magic circle appeared at its tip. A terrifying black and white pentagram morphed at the circle's centre and a similarly ominous colour had surrounded me in the shape of three rings. They surrounded my body like hula hoops and bound against me, like phantom restraints.

{Curse has been applied}
{Bleed has been applied}
{Blindness has been applied}

What the hell, it’s adding weird status effects onto me– it can do that?! A moment passed and the rings had no tug; I could move through them freely, as if they weren’t even there.

{Curse has been negated due to resistance}
{Bleed has been negated due to resistance}
{Blindness has been negated due to resistance}

Oh yeah, I forgot I was resistant to all status effects. I almost started to freak out there for a second…

I regained some composure and checked my status.

{Unamed Golem Lv9}
Attack: 125
Agility: 10
Vitality: 63/190
Defence: 250
MP: 4/65

Okay good, my health isn’t draining from this weird pressure it’s using on me. It’s probably some kind of gravity move, based on the fact that I feel heavier than usual. My defence is kind of high now…wait, my agility didn’t go up in the last two levels! What the hell, is it stuck like that forever?!

I felt angrier looking at my stats than I did fighting the Scarra. At least with them, I knew they were able to die, but it seemed like my last hope at getting faster than this wobbling mess was shattered forever.

No, I can’t lose hope. There’s a chance I could grow faster with some weird skill in the future, I just need to keep believing! Yeah, it’ll all be alright! First, I need to get out of here– wait, I’m almost level 10? I got a new skill at level 5, so it’s not completely out of the question to expect something at level 10, right?

I looked around and noticed the Scarra closing in, they looked to be building more traps. It was a gamble, but it seemed like my only option at this rate. I had to push for level 10 and hope for the best.

Gods of luck, please be on my side. I’ve got enough MP for one more miracle, so please work!

I realised something about magic through all those experiments I did. When creating earth from magic, it took much more MP than simply bending an existing piece of stone or dirt. The catch being that the object in question needed to have MP already imbued in it.

I had no idea until now how to imbue something with magic, only how to take it out. Thanks for showing me some neat tricks, Mr. Spider boss.

I recalled the magic circles at the end of the boss’s claws and focused on the wall, where the damaged Scarra stood. It took a pretty nasty fall after I cut its web midair. Bleeding patches stained its dark colour red, but it held on enough to retreat to the wall beside me. It crawled closer, but gingerly waited until I was dead before making its next move. I must have scared it pretty good earlier. It wouldn’t risk getting closer after that last attack.

Focus all your mana on a single spot and channel through that area…pierce!

The sensation I felt over me was strong, but something else hid under it all. There was a tether, a sort of invisible string that connected to the Boss, one I could trace back, ever so slightly. I held onto that feeling and just as I did many times before, I recreated the feeling into my own.

The wall the Scarra clung to morphed sharply into a protrusion that lightly stabbed through its existing wounds. A second later, the notification screen popped up and blocked off the nasty sight of its impaled body.

Yes, I guess those wounds were enough to let that weak attack kill it! I did it, now give me those levels!!

{50 Exp gained}
{Level Up}
{Congratulations on reaching Level 10. Evolution options will present themselves}
{Skill <Basic Earth Manipulation> has evolved into <Greater Earth Manipulation>}
{You have gained the skill <Earth Spike>}
{You have gained the skill <Bulldoze>}

W-woah, that’s a lot of information… It doesn’t matter, I need to focus on the skills I have. Looks like I got something pretty useful, so let’s give it a shot.

The Boss let out a desperate cry of anger and what I imagined to be fear. It abandoned its post and dropped to the ground ahead of me. A cloud of dust rose as it hit the ground. The magic circles were gone, but the Scarra reacted to its cry like a puppet. Its body flung towards me with no regard for its life and gave me a chance to counter.

The other skills I saw pop up seemed related to magic and since I had none left, I needed something physical, something I could rely on to take out the last Scarra and the Boss. I was surprised that I knew how to use the skill.

The moment I focused on the notification specifically, it came to me like a wave of knowledge and suddenly I knew both how to use it and what it did. I hunched over as far as my body could allow and used the momentum of my weight to charge ahead, on all fours.

It came suddenly, like whenever I used Wreck, the amount of speed I summoned was definitely not something I could use before. My body shot forward like a gorilla charging at prey, the Scarra in my sights as I delivered a powerful impact directly into it.

{50 Exp gained}

Okay, that just leaves you and– ME?!! I stepped away as the large spider boss towered over me, but I couldn’t move as fast as my eyes could. Scraps of ivory rock flew over me and landed on the ground seconds later. I tried for a shield, a rock, anything, but couldn’t manage it. My mana was completely depleted.

I stumbled back and the boss let out a shrilling shriek, its fangs bore at me with poisonous liquid along the corners of its mouth.

The legs along its bulbous body wriggled forward as it rushed over me, its teeth stretched open and revealed three rows of monstrous fangs. Horror barely described the sight above me.

Crap, I can’t dodge or block, I’m screwed!