A single hanging spider was not frightening.
However, when they appeared in swarms, they became quite terrifying, becoming the most troublesome monsters in the outer area of Arkenwald Forest.
Hanging spiders spewed silk at extremely high speed. Once someone was caught by a group of them, a single spider could wrap its prey in a massive amount of silk within a short time, making escape impossible.
It was said that this silk possessed incredible toughness and was a highly valuable material.
However, now was clearly not the time to think about that.
Saelran moved quickly through the forest while trying to think of a way to shake off the large number of hanging spiders chasing him.
Within the forest environment, his speed was constantly being limited.
The hanging spiders, each the size of a washbasin, were unaffected by this. By continuously spewing silk and sticking it to the surrounding tree trunks, they were able to move swiftly.
Ssss!
A sharp sound came from behind.
Without thinking, Saelran swung his sword.
Thud!
The first hanging spider that caught up shrieked sharply and was cut cleanly in half by Saelran's iron sword. Pale green viscous liquid splattered onto the ground.
『Gained 25 experience points!』
Huh?
Saelran did not stop, but his eyes widened in surprise. The experience points were very high.
Judging from the number of hanging spiders chasing him, there were at least seventy or eighty, possibly even a hundred.
If he could eliminate them all at once, he could gain at least two or three thousand experience points and level up twice.
Pup! Pup! Pup!
Thick spider silk, as thick as a pinky finger, shot out from the swarm of hanging spiders behind him, attacking Saelran simultaneously.
With a twist of his left foot, Saelran dodged behind a large tree to his left, using the thick trunk as a shield to block most of the silk.
Several strands of silk landed on the ground beside him. A thought flashed through Saelran's mind; he tried cutting the silk with his iron sword.
"Bang!"
The silk bent under the sword's strike, then snapped, producing a soft and elastic sound.
Troublesome!
Feeling the elasticity of the silk, Saelran finally understood why this silk was considered an amazing alchemical material.
Bang!
Saelran's eyes narrowed. He pushed off the tree trunk with his back foot and dashed forward again, leaving the spot where he had just stood.
In an instant, several hanging spiders had already surrounded the large tree.
Although Saelran once again escaped from the hanging spiders, the distance between them was shrinking.
"If I had the abilities of a druid, a forest priest, or even a hunter, I probably would not be in such a miserable state."
A layer of sweat formed on Saelran's forehead as he continued using nearby trees to evade the spider silk.
He could not delay any longer.
He could clearly hear the hissing of the hanging spiders behind him. It was only a matter of time before they caught up.
Use magic?
The only offensive spell he had was "Magic Arrow," which was practically useless against such a large number of hanging spiders.
Wait.
Saelran's eyes lit up. He suddenly remembered a spell that might be useful in this situation.
"Heating!"
Saelran gripped his iron sword tightly and spoke in a low voice.
Heating could warm any object it touched, but it required time and its temperature was not high, making it useful only for everyday tasks such as cooking soup or reheating food.
Even though he had used skill points to upgrade the spell, the improvement was minimal, so Saelran still used it mainly to heat food.
But suddenly Saelran wondered, since the spell could heat objects, could it also heat weapons?
"Heating!"
Within about ten seconds, Saelran clearly felt the temperature of the iron sword rising, the scorching heat spreading into his palm.
Rip!
Saelran raised his left hand, grabbed the linen sleeve of his right arm, tore it off, and wrapped it around the sword's hilt to prevent burns.
A minute passed quickly.
The iron sword in his hand was heated to around 150 degrees Celsius, its entire surface radiating intense heat.
The sword itself was unaffected since iron's melting point was above 1500 degrees Celsius, and 150 degrees would not even cause it to glow red.
Puf!
The sound of spider silk being shot rang out again.
This time, Saelran did not dodge. Instead, he lifted his blazing iron sword and slashed at the incoming spider silk.
The spider silk that had once been incredibly tough was effortlessly sliced apart and torn to pieces by the heated blade.
"As expected, even the strongest spider silk cannot endure high temperatures."
"Now, it is time for me to strike back."
Seeing this, a smile appeared on Saelran's lips as he stared coldly at the swarm of hanging spiders pursuing him relentlessly.
The real problem with these hanging spiders was their exceptionally strong silk.
And now, with a heated iron sword that could easily cut through this silk…
Then—
Saelran stomped on the ground, stopped running, and instead charged forward, turning to counterattack the approaching hanging spiders.
"Light Consecutive Slash!"
Saelran shouted, his iron sword cutting through the air and forming four light afterimages.
His heated sword sliced through the air, easily severing not only the mass of spider silk shot at him but also killing the four leading hanging spiders instantly.
『Gained 21 experience points!』
『Gained 27 experience points!』
『Gained 22 experience points!』
『Gained 25 experience points!』
"Hiss!"
"Hiss!"
"Hiss!"
"…!"
Sharp and piercing hissing sounds filled the air.
Since Saelran had stopped running, the large number of hanging spiders chasing him quickly surrounded him.
They crawled across the branches of the surrounding trees, hissing, their red eyes fixed on Saelran who stood on the thick layer of fallen leaves.
Pfft—Pfft—
Thick white spider silk shot out simultaneously from the abdomens of the hanging spiders. Working together, the numerous spiders created a complex web in the air, attempting to trap Saelran below.
"Useless!"
Saelran smirked and casually slashed upward with his iron sword.
The sticky white spider web was instantly split in half by the heated blade and fell to the ground.
This caused the hanging spiders, who had been hissing sharply, to momentarily freeze.
"The slaughter begins!"
Saelran suddenly ran toward a large tree, pushed off its trunk, and leaped into the air.
"Light Consecutive Slash!"
Psst!
Psst!
Psst!
『Gained 27 experience points!』
『Gained 25 experience points!』
『...』
The information on his attribute panel continued updating rapidly.
Pieces of hanging spider bodies flew everywhere, and pale brownish-green liquid rained down from above, filling the air with a nauseating stench.
Without the threat of spider silk, the hanging spiders were nothing more than lambs waiting to be slaughtered in Saelran's hands.