The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Training Field No.12- Special Arena)

"Okay so the two of us will engage from the front while you stay at the back and cast spells to distract it," Mark softly whispered as he gestured to his companions.

"Makes sense," Astrid replied as she focused on the mana flowing through her body.

The other Mendolesa warrior in the group growled hoarsely and gripped the wooden staff in his right claw.

His name was Aidan and like Mark they were both students in the ordinary class who had been fortunate enough to make it to the second stage.

Mark gestured towards him, and the pair slowly made their way towards a round-shaped creature who was currently sleeping.

The beast was around the size of a small dog with rough, bumpy skin that was a dull grey colour.

A yellowish-green liquid oozed out of the creature's lower orifices and an unpleasant scent filled the air that made Mark want to throw up.

He turned around and saw Astrid staring at them with an encouraging smile.

Mark could have sworn that a cunning glint briefly surfaced in the mage's eyes but when he looked again there was nothing wrong with her facial expression.

Astrid focused on her breathing and turned her attention to the upcoming fight.

She had encountered Mark and Aidan a few hours ago after fleeing from the horde of furry creatures.

With low mana levels in her pool, Astrid offered to team up with them and showed off just a small taste of her power.

They were both surprised at first to learn that the fearsome Mendolesa girl holding a crossbow was a mage, but Astrid soon convinced them of her strength.

Now the trio were temporarily teaming up together to gain more points and hunt down the creatures that roamed the tundra.

"Three… two… one… NOW!" Mark suddenly yelled as he rushed forward. He thrusted his palm outwards, and a golden light surrounded his fingertips.

Mountain Breaking Palm!

His palm slammed into the body of the creature with enough force to crack steel. A confident look flashed across Mark's face, but it soon turned to horror.

The hand that he had used to strike the creature sunk into its gelatinous body and no matter how hard he tried… it was stuck!

"I got you!" Aidan roared as he swung his wooden staff forward with as much force as he could muster.

The creature stirred and hundreds of miniature eyes suddenly appeared on the surface of his skin.

These eyes were almost completely black with purplish pupils that glowed eerily under the sunlight.

"Lanuae ei awat!" Astrid chanted as she felt a chill run down her spine.

The space around Aiden's body rippled and he vanished from the spot.

It was not a moment too soon as several beams of purplish light shot out of the creature's eyes towards his previous location.

Mark was unable to avoid the attack and a few beams hit his body directly. He froze in pain as his skin gradually hardened and turned grey.

He opened his mouth to scream for help, but his words died down in his throat as his entire body turned to stone.

Aiden stumbled as he emerged from a portal a few hundred meters away from Astrid's position.

The Mendolesa mage was staring at the creature with a serious expression.

Astrid had never seen such a beast before, and it seemed almost unthinkable that an animal had developed such a powerful defense mechanism.

Turning organic matter to stone?

It reminded her of an old folktale in the Mendolesa culture, but she just could not remember the details.

What was it about… urgh… wait… WAIT!

Astrid's ears pricked up and she hurriedly dove to the ground and narrowly avoided the beams of purplish light that passed mere inches away from her head.

"Aiden don't just stand there! Fucking move!" Astrid yelled furiously as she saw her companion frozen in place.

The Mendolesa warrior was clearly lacking experience or perhaps the pressure of taking part in the battle ranking exam was affecting his judgement.

Either way he barely reacted to Astrid's warning and one of the beams landed squarely in the middle of his chest.

"I… I… sorry…" Aiden gasped with his last breath as his body also turned to stone.

Astrid furrowed her brows and crawled on the ground almost like a dog. There was no use for pride in a life and death battle.

She could hear the sounds of the creature moving from its position and slowly making its way towards her.

"Come on… think… think…" Astrid muttered quietly as she readied several spells in her mind.

Blue runic circles floated in the air above her body and strange dark tattoos appeared beneath her fur.

As the beams of purple light passed above her head, Astrid was suddenly struck with an idea for how to beat the beast.

"Spatium portae reditus mittentis," Astrid whispered quietly as she raised her right hand in the air.

The space around her fingertips rippled and a portal emerged in the air. Another portal appeared behind the creature who turned around curiously to look at it.

The beast continued to use the eyes on its back to fire at its enemy, but this was all part of Astrid's calculations.

One of the beams of light that it fired entered the portal above Astrid's fingertips and disappeared.

It exited the portal behind the creature and slammed right into the beast's body.

Astrid's tail wagged furiously from side to side as she watched her plan come to fruition.

The creature froze in shock as the beam hit its body but then its sides began to shake uncontrollably.

A hoarse wheezing sound came from its long maw which Astrid eventually realised was the sound of laughter.

Damn it!

Astrid was slightly annoyed as she cut off the mana connection to the spell and the two portals instantly collapsed.

The Mendolesa girl checked her mana pool and saw that a decent amount has recovered after drinking the blue potion.

It was probably enough to cast a tier two spell, but the only issue was that she would be defenseless after killing the creature.

There were still several hours left in the exam, so Astrid reluctantly crept away from the creature with a heavy heart.

She did want to kill the beast for mocking her efforts and slaying her companions, but it was important to take a long-term view of the situation.

It made more sense to hunt down weaker creatures using normal cultivation methods and saving her magic for the tougher foes once she recovered a bit more mana.

Astrid kept to the ground and walked on all fours as she hid behind snow piles and chunks of ice in order to conceal her figure.

Fortunately, the creature was not particularly fast, so Astrid was able to lose it after five minutes of moving.

The Mendolesa girl stopped for a moment to catch her breath, but she could hear the faint sound of something rustling in the snow pile a few meters away.

A cute and adorable furry creature rolled out of the snow pile and stared at Astrid with a warm expression.

The Mendolesa girl and the furry creature looked at each other for a brief moment before the spines on the creature's back slowly raised upwards.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

"Fuck."