Crash!
The metal struck something solid.
The kinetic force traveled entirely into Kair’s hands, sending pain through his forearm, only for it to be drowned out by the pain that soon struck his abdomen.
Pow!
His body was thrown several meters away, crashing against one of those roots.
His back ached, and his lungs began to burn.
His vision blurred, and before him were dozens of eyes, which, even after his vision cleared somewhat, did not become much less numerous.
Soon, above the sea of webs, countless spiders emerged.
All of them with legs gleaming against the fragmented sky.
What the fuck!
Why do these spiders have metal legs?
And why were that creature’s eyes so…
intelligent?
Kair had no time to think.
He couldn’t.
Either he found a way to deal with the dozens of spiders that were the size of dogs.
Or…
I’m not going to die here!
Shit, all I’ve done is run!
I have to deal with them.
With or without a lineage.
There has to be a way to kill them!
His blurred eyes, already clouded by the poison, stared at the sea of eyes above him.
Every spider seemed different in its own way.
Some had bluish fur, others green fur.nOthers had no fur at all and were made entirely of metal, while some had clear protective scales.
They look like different species, so there isn’t even a weakness they all share.
Shit…
The insidious poison traveled through his bloodstream and, with every passing second, amplified his paralysis even further.
But for some reason, those spiders stared at him.
They analyzed him, almost measuring the desperation of their prey trapped in their web.
However, everything changed when the heat came.
Almost as if the long-awaited dawn had arrived.
A calm light, which quickly began to grow, illuminated the night and made all those dozens of eyes turn in two directions The tips of the webs were being burned.
Some reached close to one of those crimson flowers.
And Kair could see emotions in the eyes of creatures that shouldn’t even have been treated as beasts.
Fear.
A deep fear, and it wasn’t of the fire.
When the webs began to burn, several of the spiders rushed forward to cut some of the webs connecting to the Flowers.
That’s it!
The Flowers!
If I free them, they should kill the creatures for me!
Kair’s mind accelerated.
He found the flower closest to him.
Far enough away that the spiders couldn’t stop him, with both clawed gauntlets gleaming.
He attacked.
Crash!
Crash!
Crash!
The sound of metal striking metal echoed throughout the region.
“Fuck!
How are these webs so strong?!” Kair didn’t know whether it was his shout or the fact that he was about to free one of those flowers, which the creatures apparently feared to death, but dozens of spiders began running toward him.
“Come on!
Tear!
Tear!
Come on!” Amid Kair’s ragged breathing, the webs began to tear apart.
However, it seemed there was no time left.
Even with all his speed and strength, the webs were incredibly strong.
And the creatures were faster than he had anticipated.
Shit, they’re going to devour me!
When several of the spiders were only a few meters from Kair, he heard the unmistakable sound of ropes snapping.
CRACK!
A tremendous force launched him backward, and through his blurred vision, Kair managed to see the webs breaking apart and a beautiful crimson rose blooming.
It was beautiful.
And dangerous.
With a slight movement, resembling a damn carnivorous plant, it closed itself around several spiders.
All that followed was the sound of acid, or whatever it was that these roses used to digest their prey.
Looking upward, exhausted, Kair saw more of these roses being freed and many being burned, but not before they devoured several more spiders.
For a few seconds, Kair remained still.
The world was nothing but the sound of burning fire and digesting acid.
Until the heat and smoke came.
He realized that if he didn’t move, he would be cooked alive.
With difficulty and nearly crawling, praying that the poison hadn’t permeated his entire nervous system, he left.
What he couldn’t have known was that, if he had stayed a little longer, a certain princess would soon have passed nearby and could have helped him.
— Kair couldn’t say how much time had passed.
Hours?
Or perhaps minutes?
The poison had already consumed much of Kair, and he was moving almost entirely through sheer stubbornness and spite, refusing to die like this.
After an amount of time he couldn’t calculate, he found himself in a region without webs.
The roots were still as vast as imposing walls.
But here, he could have sworn that several roses had been cut down.
Some withered, others burned, and others frozen.
Almost as if they formed a path toward somewhere.
Kair no longer had the strength to keep going.
Either he found help, or the poison would paralyze him and, at best, his heart would stop.
At worst, he would be devoured alive by some of those creatures while he watched helplessly, thanks to the poison.
What the hell is this world?
I didn’t even have time to think.
How can someone send countless youths into this hell and still sleep at night?
It was obvious that rulers who had lived for centuries had already obtained information about this place.
Or they themselves had come here when they were young to take the Coming-of-Age Test.
Or is this because I don’t have a lineage?
Are the others doing okay?
Only someone as weak as me…
No!
I saw that young lion die with my own eyes.
He came from a damn lineage, and one of the good ones at that!
Kair didn’t know at what point during his daze it happened, but his eyes caught an orange light.
Sounds reached his poisoned senses.
Voices!
And from several youths!
He quickened his tired steps, desperately trying to find someone.
Even those who looked at him with contempt or pity.
Anything was better than the deadly silence of that place.
The light grew stronger, but perhaps because of his haste, or because he believed they posed no threat to him, Kair failed to notice that one of the roses nearby had not been destroyed.
Its petals opened at a terrifying speed.
A world of light was covered by rose petals that smelled of iron.
Kair’s thoughts didn’t even have time to form.
The sound of metal tearing through flesh reached his ears.
And the world was illuminated once again.
Kair was completely out of strength now.
The only thing he managed to see before passing out were two green eyes.
Two familiar green eyes, far too intelligent, followed by a voice.
“Well…
Congratulations on surviving this long.
Welcome to the camp, Kair Without Lineage.”