Calmly toying with its food, the spider crawled around Shye, "checking him out" as it laughed eerily—sounding similar to a distorted human child's laugh.
It was cunning, way more compared to Shye. However, it was also arrogant and playful.
The Mist Arachne believed that the young human in front of it had no chance of escaping its grasp, hence, it felt that it had the luxury of indulging in its sinister hobby: scaring its prey into insanity.
Unfortunately, it didn't get what it wanted out of Shye.
The young adventurer was annoyingly persistent in struggling so the arachnid failed to derive pleasure from this particular prey.
Deciding that toying with this one isn't fun, the Mist Arachne turned around and aimed the hole in its abdomen toward Shye before emitting purple gas right in front of his face.
The gas proved remarkably potent, causing the spider webs that had ensnared him to dissolve, resulting in his collapse onto the ground.
[Warning: You've been poisoned!]
Almost immediately after inhaling the purple gas, a notification appeared in front of Shye. He wanted to try tapping on the notification but the gas made him feel lightheaded.
As Shye prayed to the Gods and Goddesses for his safety, he gradually succumbed to the poison. His head and limbs grew limp, eliciting an eerie smile from the arachnid, who inwardly celebrated another delectable prey.
It could tell that this human was young which meant that the flesh it would be feasting on would not only be tender but also juicy and slightly sweet—its favorite kind.
The arachnid was cunning and it was quite experienced in hunting humans; fairly evident on its underdeveloped human face.
Hence, it knew that feigning unconsciousness was a common human tactic.
It almost died that way in the past after all.
As a precautionary measure, it ensured to delay for a full two minutes before cocooning its victims and administering another bite to inject the killing poison into its prey.
Unfortunately for it, this very same countermeasure gave its current prey a chance.
Due to Shye's new poison resistance passive skill, the poison gas' efficiency was diminished by a great deal, allowing his consciousness to return exactly fifteen seconds before the Mist Arachne came in for the kill.
Realizing that he was still alive, Shye inwardly thanked the Gods, the Goddesses, and his lucky stars as he continued to feign unconsciousness, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Based on its attributes, the Mist Arachne was way too weak for a (B) ranked creature, however, its cunning nature made it a very dangerous adversary, hence, its rank.
However, how could Shye let it do so? It would probably kill a lot more adventurers should he allow it to escape, thus, with blazing determination in his eyes, Shye chased it down with another skill: [Dash Lv.4]
Due to movement difficulties brought about by two missing legs, Shye easily caught up to the Arachne, brandishing his greatswords downwards to slash it in half using [Power Slash Lv.4].
The arachnid was equally resolved to survive, hence, after a clumsy sidestep, the Mist Arachne narrowly avoided a fatal strike.
Still, it was unable to escape unscathed as three other legs on the left side of its body were severed, leaving only three more on the right side.
At this point, the Arachne couldn't flee.
Knowing full well that it would die today, the Arachne vowed to take the human down with it, thus, it devised a plan.
Pretending weakness and desperation, the arachnid feigned a desperate crawl away, fully exposing its back to Shye.
Naturally, Shye's instinct was to finish it off, using another of his skills, [Lunge Pierce Lv.2] to close the gap and end the little shit's life without knowing that this is exactly what the Arachne wanted—for him to let his guard down.
Then, just as he was about to strike the spider, it jumped off, utilizing its remaining legs to spin in the air and exploit its unsteady balance, narrowly evading his attack.
The Mist Arachne then fiercely bit him on the neck.
Fortunately for Shye, having lost a significant amount of blood, the bite was weaker than expected, narrowly sparing him from instant death.
Still, it was painful as heck, prompting him to scream in agony as poison droplets invaded his body.
The poison then began its slow infiltration, leaving behind purple vein-like marks as it spread through his system.
'F*ck! F*ck! It got me!' Shye cursed, fully understanding his situation.'I have to finish this and seek medical help in Balkrow City as fast as possible or I'm dead!'
Grabbing the spider, who was still latched on his neck, by its legs, Shye decisively pulled, causing purple blood to fountain out of the harrowing bite wound, making him feel like he would die any second.
Memories of his little sister, girlfriend, friends, and instructors flooded his mind in a series of flashbacks, prompting a sudden realization:
'Am...I going to die? Just like this? Me? ' he thought. 'LIKE HELL I WOULD!'
Summoning the last shreds of his consciousness, Shye hurled the spider onto the ground with all his strength, inflicting significant damage to its body. He then unleashed a relentless barrage of stomps, exerting the most force he had ever mustered in his life.
He desired nothing more than to crush the pesky insect into oblivion. What better way to achieve satisfaction than to stomp on it like how one should?