The Shapeshifter

"No, we aren't." Reynard's deep voice were like the tiny flames of hope that lit up inside the childrens hearts.

But those little flames of hope couldn't compare to that of the numerous little spiders.

Even then, all of them still think otherwise. It was just that they think that they aren't surrounded. Hope is the word that all of the children are holding on to.

However for Alex, he was thinking of something else. 'Does Reynard have a plan?'

They were clearly surrounded, yet Reynard was saying otherwise.

If it ever leads down to a fight, Alex wasn't the slightest bit confident of getting out of the cave without sustaining any injury, he might even die.

His current skills weren't enough to thwart the tide of spiders.

The current hurdle became an eye opener for Alex as he simply lacks the skill to fight off the horde of spiders.

'After I get out of here. I will start to seriously practice on my magic. Ah! The system is still updating. Stupid system.'

'Scratch! Scratch!'

"Ahhh! I can see them!"

"We're going to die!"

"Dad!"

The group of teens were all bunched up together behind Reynard. They were obviously frightened and are afraid to lose their lives being nibbled at by these tiny insects. While Alex was a bit away from the group, since he was the last one to follow.

Once Reynard heard his son, Rezhul's voice. He no longer hesitated and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Spider Queen!"

The Big Baldie's voice reverberated inside the deep and dark cave.

Although the shout wasn't really directed at them, their bodies was still weak. Not only were their bodies exhausted, they also haven't tempered their body in accordance with their tribe manual.

While Alex on the other hand was shaken up. He could feel his ears ringing and he was unable to hear any sounds for a couple of seconds.

'Thank God I kept on practising the body tempering skill. I'm afraid I would have fallen unconscious as well.'

Earlier on, just as they left the tribe, Alex insisted on practising the [Ancient Tribal Body Strengthening]. That was why he kept on sweating during those hours walking to the falls.

Coincidentally, just when they were about to leave the falls, he was able to level the skill up to level 3.

With that, he was able to increase his body strength and defense by an unknown amount.

When Alex finally regained his composure he couldn't help but start an argument with Reynard.

"You could have warned, no? Now everyone's fallen unconscious. My ears hurt.", he said grumpily.

Reynard who was looking into the dark distance of the cave was visibly shocked by the Alex's voice.

"H-how?", Reynard asked.

But his voice was almost drowned by the sounds of scratching. Moreover, there was an even louder sound coming their way from the depths.

'Tap! Tap! Tap!'

Loud rhythmical taps where heard by the two. Their attention was drawn by the creature that was heading towards them.

Soon, a large 5 meter tall spider silhouette, entered their vision just a few meters ahead.

"Spider Queen!", Reynard said and quickly kneeled in the direction of the so called Spider Queen.

As for Alex, he was shocked by the turn of events. When he heard Reynard's shout from earlier, he thought that he was issuing a challenge to someone, or clearly, something. He thought he must have heard wrong.

But now, he knew he was wrong. Reynard was kneeling right in front of the Spider Queen, showing his respect towards the creature.

Reynard, who was probably a peak Knight-level warrior, which was able to fight head to head with the mutated dire beast beetle, was now bowing to the Spider Queen.

Void Beasts are creatures strong enough to fight off multiple humans without even losing their ground.

Alex didn't dally any longer and quickly kneeled with his head bowed down. Beads of sweat are now trickling down Alex's body. This came as a huge shock for him, since this is the first time that he was able to come face to face with a most likely aggressive Void Beast.

"Speak!", An old gravely voice sounded in front them.

The voice of the Spider Queen gave Alex goosebumps. If he remembered correctly, the voices of the Spider Queens shown on Earth was a vast difference compared to the real one.

Those on Earth were like seductive spider beauties, doing all their seductive stuffs to lure people to them. But this one was just straight out of a horror movie, not to mention the voice sounded like a creepy old woman.

Finally, Reynard was able to muster up some energy to talk before the Spider Queen.

"Spider Queen. I have brought you your food. Whatever you do to it, is none of my concern anymore. So please, cease your attacks on my small tribe. I beg you."

"You have no right to bargain with me."

"B-but I have brought you your food. You should-". Reynard hastily replied.

The next second, Alex saw Reynard's body flung out and crashed somewhere behind him.

"Don't you talk to me like that, human."

Alex's eyes widened as he was unable to see how Reynard was sent flying. The attack was too fast for his eyes. If it was him, he never would have knew how he died.

He gulped down his saliva and bowed his head even lower. His body couldn't stop trembling from the sheer terror.

"But I must say, you have brought me quite a number of them. There is even someone who has a small amount of mana. I'm impressed.", the Spider Queen said as she inched closer to the group.

"Ugh... Haah.."

Groaning noises sounded out, as Reynard struggled back to his feet.

"T-those children aren't your food. Only him.", Reynard said while pointing at Alex.

"What?"

Even though Alex's head was bowed, he knew that he was the one being referred by Reynard.

"We came in hopes that you stop your attacks. From your little spiders that kept on harassing us, to your minions of insects destroying my tribe.", Reynard said.

Upon hearing Reynard's words, the Spider Queen couldn't help but chuckle.

"You make me laugh human. You think a boy with some bit of mana can stop me from getting some of food from your puny tribe?", the Spider Queen said menacingly.

"No. I know that. Just spare us for another month. Please."

With a thud, Reynard once more kneeled, but this time, he was kneeling on both knees.

"Hmph!", the Spider Queen snorted.

"Alright. I'll give you one last chance. If your food doesn't satisfy in a month. Then I shall wreck your tiny village to pieces!"

The Spider Queen, slowly walked forward as if it has all the time in world. It then arrived in front of Alex.

"Look up, boy.", the Spider Queen said.

There was something in the Spider Queen's old gravely voice that made Alex look up. Although he was gripped with fear, he unconsciouly looked up.

Its gigantic face was occupying all of Alex's line of sight.

Its face was unlike any other spider. What should have been a spider's face was replaced by a human's.

Its spiky, long, messed up hair placements were already causing Alex to shiver. His eyes wandered around and noticed that its head was like a human's shriveled skin.

It has two huge eyes and the other six eyes were surrounding its main eyes. Its nose were also that of a human's. Its nose was big and crooked. And its human-like mouth was currently smiling at him, showing quite a number of sharp teeths.

Its overall appearance was simply that of a nightmare.