Spider Fountain

Charles ultimately stayed at Twilight's home.

Naturally, they did not sleep together. Twilight stayed on one side of the hearth, while Charles stayed on the other.

Charles had quite a few things in his Bag of Holding for living and traveling, including but not limited to Happy Water, instant noodles, canned food, a first-aid kit, clothes for all four seasons, a tent and sleeping bag, torches, daggers, a Magic Lantern, an MP5, and so on.

After preparing his sleeping bag, he let the Magic Lantern float above his head, opened the box given to him by the Great Elder, and his face immediately darkened.

Inside the box was a fresh sheet of A4 paper. Its contents had been printed in nineteenth-century copperplate type, and it was obviously the Old Man's handwriting.

Clearly, the Old Man was in contact with the Great Elder, but neither side was saying anything.

The paper listed two spells. One could be seen immediately, while the other would only appear after he completed the mission.

The spell displayed on the paper was Revealing Charm. The ordinary version could detect hidden spells on objects and objects concealed by magic, while the enhanced version could detect animals nearby.

The Old Man's spell was highly targeted, because Acromantulas could hide in underground caves and determine an animal's location through vibrations in the ground. One careless move, and he could be ambushed.

Charles curled his lip. He had thought the Old Man would teach him the most lethal of the Eastern spells he knew—the Family Register Curse, Annihilation Curse.

The tribe was already utterly silent. The only sound was the faint clopping of the patrol's horses near the wooden wall not far away.

Charles glanced at the mechanical watch on his left wrist. It was just past half past eight in the evening.

When he saw that Twilight had already fallen asleep across the hearth, he put away the Magic Lantern and quietly went outside to practice Homenum Revelio.

The night passed uneventfully.

Charles was awakened when the sky was just beginning to brighten.

The Great Elder would not let him go to the Chestnut Forest alone. He had selected several warriors to assist him the day before, and everyone was now in the Great Elder's house, slurping instant noodles while discussing their plan of action.

Only then did Charles learn that the Centaurs also hunted and ate meat. To them, however, meat was a tonic. They only ate some when they were injured or ill. Pregnant women and warriors also ate a little after waking and before going to sleep each day.

They did not really have much of a plan. Charles would spearhead the operation, while Bane and several other Centaurs would guard the flanks, rear, and treetops as they steadily advanced.

Besides that, Charles had asked for some wooden stakes and large rocks to be placed in his Bag of Holding so they could be used as Projectile weapons later.

When they left the tribe, Charles finally learned how the Centaurs raised chickens.

The feathers along the rear edges of the chickens' wings had been plucked out, preventing them from flying very far.

A group of girls around Twilight's age used wooden sticks to drive the chickens into the woods and let them find their own food. Bags for carrying eggs hung from their waists.

The boys, meanwhile, entered the depths of the forest with their fathers, bows and arrows on their backs, hunting and gathering fruit and mushrooms in relatively safe areas.

After casting Levitation Charm on himself, Charles was like a martial arts expert who knew qinggong. He could keep up with the Centaurs' brisk jog through the woods—provided he did not run into a tree.

Many dangers lurked in the shadows of the Forbidden Forest. An inconspicuous vine might be the noose of death, a puddle on the ground might be a ferocious predator, and a large mushroom beneath a tree might run faster than you.

The Chestnut Forest was less than two kilometers from the Centaur tribe as the crow flew, but they had to run a full four kilometers to get around the dangerous areas.

"It's just ahead." Bane pointed forward. "Those Acromantulas come here early every year to dig holes and lie in ambush, hunting animals that come to eat fallen chestnuts—and us."

"It's morning, and the weather is still very cold. They should all be inside their holes."

Charles nodded slightly, waved his wand, and cast the still-unfamiliar enhanced Revealing Charm.

At present, the radius of his spell was only about the length of a basketball court. For the vast Chestnut Forest, it was nowhere near enough.

Fortunately, Acromantulas had limited intelligence. As long as one of them moved, the rest would swarm out.

A light pillar as thick as a chopstick appeared on the ground more than ten meters ahead of Charles, and everyone immediately tensed.

An unknown snake had been coiled beneath the dead leaves, still not fully awake, when a large rock smashed it into a two-dimensional image.

Though it had been a false alarm, the spell was indeed useful. Charles and the Centaurs were greatly encouraged.

Charles and the Centaurs formed up. They nocked arrows and began moving forward slowly.

The sun climbed higher. The woods were silent, as though something were lurking in the shadows.

Charles cast the spell once every ten meters. At first, they proceeded without incident.

At the edge of the Chestnut Forest, Charles found a pelt.

It should have belonged to a cat-like creature. The fur was still mostly intact, but there were two holes beside the body, each only slightly larger than a little finger. The muscles and organs inside were gone, and even the bones remained only in their larger sections. The cartilage had disappeared, leaving it like an empty sack.

"It was a young Acromantula," Bane said quietly. "Its fangs weren't very thick, and its venom couldn't dissolve large bones yet. It couldn't have been dead for more than three days."

Charles nodded. "Be careful from here on. I'll cast Shield Charm on you."

With their lives at stake, the Centaurs no longer cared whether their traditions permitted a wizard to cast spells on them. None of them wanted to become an empty skin like the cat-like creature on the ground.

"Enhanced Revealing Charm!"

A white light pillar appeared among the fallen leaves twenty meters away. It was as thick as an arm, much thicker than the one marking the snake earlier. There was clearly something large beneath it.

Charles told Bane and the others to get ready.

He threw a rock at the spot marked by the light. A relatively small Acromantula immediately burst out of the fallen leaves and crawled from its hole.

When the Acromantula saw Charles and the others, it grew excited and began making a "click-click-click" sound.

Charles immediately used a combination of Accio Charm and Projectile Charm. The Acromantula rolled more than twenty meters across the ground, all eight legs snapping. Even its "click-click" sounded different afterward.

"It's summoning its companions," Bane said quietly.

"We're falling back," Charles said at once. "To the clearing between the trees."

They retreated as soon as they finished speaking. Before long, numerous "click-click" sounds came from behind and both sides.

These Acromantulas possessed a certain tactical instinct. They would surround their prey, and moving into a clearing would reduce the spiders' cover.

"There are so many!"

Bane's expression was extremely solemn. At first, they had thought there would be at most ten Acromantulas. They had never expected more than twenty to appear all at once.

Charles frowned slightly. What they needed now was speed and efficiency. They had to deal with the Acromantulas before they could charge close.

So he went big against the several Acromantulas at the front.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Three Acromantulas shot into the sky, soaring a hundred meters into the air. Charles promptly ignored them.

A combination spell required two spells. Right now, if he could solve something with one spell, he absolutely would not use two, saving half the time.

If a hundred meters of free fall could not kill the huge spiders, then he would use two hundred meters. If they still survived, he would fire the Rainbow Curse cannon.

Of the first three Acromantulas sent skyward, one smashed into the ground. Its entire abdomen burst open like a water-filled sack dropped from a tall building. Another was impaled on the treetop, while the last landed among the branches, the tremendous impact breaking it into several pieces.

Seeing that it worked, Charles continued casting. The Acromantulas that charged fastest also flew fastest.

He was already highly proficient with Levitation Charm and could almost hit whatever he pointed at. There was enough time—except there wasn't.

The smell released by the dead Acromantulas attracted their companions nearby, and the number of spiders suddenly increased.

Charles could only attack one direction, while the spiders surged in from all sides.

This was dangerous. Bane and the others fired arrows without pause.

Charles immediately increased his output, sending the spiders over a larger area flying into the air. This bought him time to change positions and keep casting toward the other directions.

For a while, Acromantulas kept flying into the sky, like a spider fountain.

No one knew how long passed before the Forbidden Forest suddenly fell silent. The north wind swept through, filling the air with an unpleasant smell.

"How many?"

"More than fifty, I think."

"Sixty-three. I'm exhausted."

Charles dropped onto the grass, finally finished.

A bottle of Happy Water appeared in front of Charles. Bane said to him with utmost sincerity, "Thank you."

They had been firing arrows nonstop, and the hands holding the Happy Water were trembling.

Charles took out several cans of fruit and distributed them to everyone. They could replenish their strength first.

After resting, Charles immediately collected the venom from all the spider corpses. Then he and Bane's group reached the Chestnut Forest without incident. After checking the area, they found no more Acromantulas nearby.

But that was not the end. Everyone only returned after planting poisoned wooden spikes in the holes the Acromantulas had dug. The Acromantulas had backed into the holes.