Spider Fountain

Charles ended up staying at Twilight's place.

Naturally, they didn't sleep together. Twilight was on one side of the fire pit, and Charles was on the other.

Charles kept many things he might need for travel and daily life in his Bag of Holding, including, but not limited to, Happy Water, canned instant noodles, a first-aid kit, clothes for all seasons, a tent and sleeping bag, torches, a dagger, 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 darkened.

Inside the box was a new sheet of A4 paper, with content printed in a 19th-century copperplate font. It was clearly the old man's handwriting.

It was obvious that the old man and the Great Elder were in contact, but neither side spoke of it.

The paper listed two spells. One was visible immediately, while the other would only appear after the mission was completed.

The spell displayed on the paper was the Revealing Charm. The basic version could detect hidden spells on objects and magically concealed items, while the advanced version could detect nearby animals.

This spell left by the old man was very targeted, as Acromantulas could hide themselves in underground burrows and detect the location of animals through ground vibrations, making it easy to fall into an ambush.

Charles curled his lip. He had thought the old man would teach him "Family Register Curse" – "Annihilation Curse," the most destructive of his Eastern spells.

The tribe was now completely silent, with only the faint sound of patrol horses near the wooden walls.

Charles glanced at the mechanical watch on his left wrist. It was just past 8:30 PM.

Seeing that Twilight had fallen asleep on the other side of the fire pit, he put away the magic lantern and quietly went outside to practice the Revealing Charm.

The night passed without incident.

As the sky began to lighten, Charles was woken up.

The Great Elder wouldn't let him go to the Chestnut Forest alone. Yesterday, several warriors had been selected to assist him. They were currently in the Great Elder's house, slurping instant noodles and discussing their plan of action.

It was then that Charles learned that Centaurs also hunted and ate meat. However, they viewed meat as a tonic, only consuming it when injured or sick. Additionally, pregnant females and warriors ate a small portion each morning upon waking and before sleeping.

They didn't really have a concrete plan. It was simply to use Charles as the spearhead, with Bane and the other Centaurs providing defense from the flanks and above, advancing steadily.

Besides that, Charles had requested some wooden stakes and large stones to be placed in the Bag of Holding, to be used as throwing weapons later.

As they left the tribe, Charles finally understood how the Centaurs raised chickens.

The feathers on the trailing edge of these chickens' wings had been plucked, preventing them from flying far.

A group of young girls, around Twilight's age, used sticks to herd the chickens into the forest to forage for food, with bags for collecting eggs hanging from their waists.

The young boys, along with their fathers, carried bows and arrows into the depths of the forest to hunt and gather fruits and mushrooms in safer areas.

After casting the Levitation Charm on himself, Charles felt like a martial arts master with qinggong, able to keep up with the lightly trotting Centaurs in the forest, provided he didn't crash into trees.

The Forbidden Forest held many hidden dangers. An inconspicuous vine could be a noose from the Grim Reaper, a puddle on the ground might be a ferocious hunter, and a large mushroom under a tree could perhaps run faster than you.

The Chestnut Forest was less than two kilometers in a straight line from the Centaur tribe. In reality, they traveled a full four kilometers to bypass dangerous areas.

"We're almost there," Bane said, pointing ahead. "Those Acromantulas come here early every year to dig burrows and ambush us, hunting the animals that eat the fallen chestnuts."

"It's morning, and it's still very cold, so they should all be in their burrows."

Charles nodded slightly and waved his wand, casting the not-yet-proficient advanced Revealing Charm.

Currently, the radius of his spell was only about the length of a basketball court's side, a drop in the bucket for the vast Chestnut Forest.

Fortunately, Acromantulas had limited intelligence. If one moved, the rest would swarm out.

A beam of light, about the thickness of a chopstick, appeared on the ground about ten meters in front of Charles, immediately putting everyone on edge.

An unknown snake, coiled beneath the dead leaves and still asleep, was smashed into a two-dimensional object by a large rock.

Although it turned out to be a false alarm, the spell was indeed effective, greatly boosting Charles's and the Centaurs' confidence.

Charles and his companions formed a formation, the Centaurs nocked their arrows, and they began to advance slowly.

The sun climbed higher, and the forest was eerily silent, as if something was lurking in the shadows.

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

At the edge of the Chestnut Forest, Charles discovered a skin.

It was likely a Pangolin. The fur was relatively intact, and there were two small holes, no bigger than a little finger, on its side. The internal muscles and organs were gone, and only the larger bones remained, with the cartilage missing, making it look like an empty bag.

"It's a young Acromantula," Bane whispered. "Its fangs aren't thick, its venom can't dissolve large bones yet. It's no more than three days old."

Charles nodded and said, "We need to be careful from now on. I'll cast the Shield Charm on you."

In a life-or-death situation, the Centaurs no longer cared if their traditions allowed a wizard to cast spells on them. No one wanted to end up as an empty husk like the Pangolin on the ground.

"Revealing Charm!"

A white beam of light appeared in the fallen leaves about twenty meters away. It was as thick as an arm, much thicker than the snake earlier, and there was clearly a large creature beneath it.

Charles told Bane and the others to prepare themselves.

He threw a stone at the location of the light beam, and a smaller Acromantula immediately rushed out from under the leaves, emerging from its burrow.

Upon seeing Charles and the others, the Acromantula became somewhat excited, making a "da da da" sound.

Charles immediately used a combination of the Accio Charm and the Projectile Charm. The Acromantula rolled over twenty meters on the ground, all eight of its legs broken, and its "da da" sound changed.

Bane whispered, "It's summoning its companions."

Charles immediately said, "Let's fall back to the clearing in the woods."

They finished speaking and retreated. Soon after, there were sounds of "dada" from behind and from both sides.

These Acromantulas had a certain tactical instinct; they would surround their prey. Moving to an open area reduced the spiders' cover.

"So many!"

Bane's expression was very serious. They had initially thought there would be at most ten Acromantulas, but unexpectedly, over twenty had appeared all at once.

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

Therefore, he unleashed a big spell on the Acromantulas at the front.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Three Acromantulas instantly shot into the sky, flying a hundred meters up. Charles then ignored them.

Using a combination spell required casting two spells. Now, if one spell could solve the problem, they wouldn't use two, saving half the time.

If a 100-meter freefall didn't kill these giant spiders, then 200 meters. If they still didn't die, then it would be the Avada Kedavra Rainbow Cannon.

Of the first three Acromantulas sent into the air, one fell to the ground, its entire belly exploding like a water bag dropped from a tall building. Another impaled itself on a treetop, and the last one landed amidst branches, its massive impact splitting it into several pieces.

Seeing that it was effective, Charles immediately continued casting. The fastest charging Acromantulas were also the fastest to fly.

He was already very skilled with the Levitation Charm, practically hitting whatever he aimed at. There was enough time... or so he thought.

The smell emitted by the fallen Acromantulas attracted their companions from the surroundings, and the number of spiders suddenly increased.

Charles could only attack in a fan shape, while the spiders swarmed from all directions.

This was dangerous. Bane and the others kept shooting arrows.

Charles immediately increased his output, making spiders in a larger area fly up to buy time to reposition and continuously cast spells in other directions.

For a time, Acromantulas were constantly flying into the air, like a spider fountain.

After an unknown amount of time, the Forbidden Forest suddenly fell silent. The north wind blew, and the air was filled with a foul odor.

"How many?"

"More than fifty."

"Sixty-three. I'm exhausted."

Charles sat down on the grass, finally done.

A bottle of Happy Water appeared before Charles. Bane said to him with great sincerity, "Thank you."

Their hands were trembling from holding the Happy Water, having been constantly shooting arrows just moments before.

Charles took out several canned fruits and distributed them to everyone, prioritizing replenishing their energy.

After resting, Charles immediately extracted the venom from all the spider corpses. Then, he and Bane safely arrived at the chestnut grove. After an inspection, they found no more Acromantulas in the vicinity.

But it wasn't over yet. Everyone inserted wooden stakes coated in poison into the pits originally dug by the Acromantulas before returning. The Acromantulas had retreated backward into their pits.