"Screeee!" The giant spider roared as it scuttled across the dead leaves of the Forest floor, its coarse black hair blending in with the gloom beneath the ice canopy.

Jun jumped back, putting more distance between herself and the monstrous beast as it rapidly closed with her.

A shimmering wall of hexagonal plates appeared in front of it for a moment before the beast tore through the spell like it was nothing. Still, the barrier slowed the monster long enough.

Powering through the backlash of her broken barrier, Jun coalesced a nest of questing tendrils in front of her, sending the snares to intercept the spider. The tendrils wrapped around the spider's limbs and tugged, sending it spilling with its 8 limbs splayed out to skid towards her on the frozen ground!

With a flex of mana, Jun's ethereal tail coalesced and wrapped around a tree branch, tugging her out of the way moments before hundreds of pounds of spider slammed into the tree trunk with a resounding thud. More tendrils appeared, wrapping around the spider's abdomen as their touch sapped the spider's strength. But not enough

The spider roared again as it ripped at the tendrils holding it down, freeing four of its limbs with quick slashes of its fangs. Wielding it's freed claws like knives, the spider lashed out at more of the tendrils, each broken snare sending a small amount of backlash in the form of pain shooting through Jun's head. Ignoring the pain, Jun coalesced a wave of [Purging Missiles], sending the wave of glowing white spells to pepper the spider from above.

A brown glow enveloped the spider as Jun's mana senses sensed the sturdiness of a mountain and her [Purging Missiles] shattered against the spider's spell. Jun felt more of the spider's mana move, her senses screaming danger as images of stalagmites impaling the sky came to her.

WIth a thought her tail moved her out of the way moments before an earthen spike shot through where she'd been, shearing through the branch her tail was wrapped around. Jun slammed into a lower branch with a gasp, the impact emptying her lungs as she desperately bit her nails into the bark of the tree to keep from falling further. Her mana sense continued to scream at her. She couldn't stay still. Pushing herself upright, Jun sprinted along the tree branch as she cast another set of tendrils, anchoring them to her shoulders and using them to pull herself about the canopy.

The Forest shook as earthen spears shot into the air from below, sending branches, leaves, and ice tumbling to the gloomy Forest floor. The spears pierced through the ice cap of the canopy, sending sunlight streaming through the holes. The light only made the battle more confusing as Jun's eyes, adjusted to the darkness, struggled to adjust.

For the giant arachnid, long used to laying ambushes from the dark of its tunnels beneath the soil, the rays of sunlight burned its eyes, blinding it completely. But that didn't make it less dangerous, for it was a Mage Hunter Spider, and it had its own mana sense. The beast's senses were poor as it struggled to keep up with Jun's erratic movements, but it had an ambush hunter's cunning, sending volley after volley of earth spears spraying across a wide area, forcing Jun to dance among the branches of the canopy in a deadly ballet where her sight was unreliable. Instead she was forced to rely on her mana sense to avoid the spider's barrage.

Jun's personal barrier lit up as a sharp spear slammed into her chest, the spell barely stopping it from piercing her heart at the cost of half her mana. It didn't stop the force of the blow from knocking her about, her tendrils losing their grip on the branches. She fell, even as she felt another swarm of earth spears rocketing up to meet her. Her spell-llimbs shot out, arresting her fall as they wrapped around a tree and pulled her away from certain death to shelter behind a thick trunk.

The tree shuddered as an earth spear slammed into its trunk, but it still held, giving Jun a moment to think. She tried to take a deep breath, only to feel a deep ache fill the space between her breasts and send her wheezing and coughing. Blood splattered the inside of her barrier as its metallic taste filled her mouth. Even with her barrier the spider nearly killed her, and the fight was still far from done. A loud crack filled the Forest as the tree Jun hid in groaned and she darted away, weaving above, below, and around the latest volley of the spider's spells. The spider's mana seemed endless even as she stole all she could to refill her own pool and power her spells.

This was the difference in power between an Iron and Silver. Jun continued to dart about, using her superior mobility and mana sense to stay one step ahead of the Mage Hunter's attacks, but she was dancing on the edge of a knife. Coughing up more bloody spray, Jun continued to drain the spider, sending its mana back at it in the form of more more tendrils and missiles or slamming high speed barriers into it. Anything to try and crack the tough mana-reinforced carapace.

More shafts of light appeared in the canopy with rains of debris from the Mage Hunter's missed attacks, every new shaft of light illuminating the gloomy arena even more. Though Jun's eyes adjusted quickly enough to the changing light level, she continued to rely on her mana sense, the Silver ranked spider a beacon of arcane energy as it unveiled its full might.

An ominous creaking filled the air and Jun darted back, exiting the ring of light as her instincts told her to get far away. She was just quick enough as the ice-capped canopy, weakened by the Mage Hunter's indiscriminate attacks, collapsed, burying the Mage Hunter in an avalanche of ice and branches as a new clearing formed in the Forest.

Jun came to rest at the edge of the new clearing, dismissing her spells and suppressing her mana as she nursed a mana headache from the backlash of dozens of her spells shattering in the collapse, but she didn't let her guard down. Logic said that nothing, not even a giant mana enhanced spider, could survive the sudden collapse, but her mana sense spoke differently. The Mage Hunter still lived.

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As if living up to a prophecy, the Mana Hunter erupted from the collapse with a furious hiss, praying shards of ice and wood around the new clearing. Ichor leaked from rents in the Mage Hunter's dull carapace, staining the ice and snow a sickly green color as it struggled free from its hole. As it dragged itself free, three of its limbs hung uselessly, bent and broken. The Mage Hunter's eyes swirled about, near useless in the blinding sunlight as it searched for its prey.

The buzzing gnat that hurt it was somewhere. It felt its mana through the collapse, though the trace vanished before it could dig its way out. It might have died from its injuries, as the spider knew it struck the annoying darting thing. Questing out with its mana sense, the Mage Hunter sensed more than felt the darkness of the Forest ahead of it, near where it last felt the gnat's mana.

Pain filled its being as it dragged its useless legs behind it. Finding the gnat's corpse now meant its survival, the mana and meat necessary for it to heal so that it could continue to hunt in the cold dark.

Blessed darkness soon soothed its nearly blind eyes as it came to rest beneath a tree where it last felt the gnat. Feeling about with its legs, it searched for the soft flesh of the gnat's corpse, only to find ice and branches.The gnat should be here! Its dead body should be there, still warm and flesh full of trapped mana, perhaps even with a core it could consume to advance further!

The Mage Hunter circled the tree in vain, failing to find the life-sustaining body of its prey. The Mage Hunter hissed in frustration. The gnat liked to stay above the spider's own domain, pecking at it like the annoying feathered ones. Perhaps its corpse lay in the domain above, amongst the branches it so favored.

If it had been any other time, the Mage Hunter would have left the gnat to rot and searched for other prey, but it knew it was in no condition to hunt anything else. It would either find the gnat, or it would die. Stabbing its good claws into the trunk, the Mage Hunter began to climb into the tree towards where it last felt the gnat's mana.

Jun watched with a sense of creeping horror as the broken spider began to climb, laboriously stabbing its good claws into the tree as it pulled itself up. The tree shook with every stabbing thunk of the Mage Hunter's claws as it grew closer. As it got within 10 feet of the branch she stood upon, Jun could smell its breath, a strange mix of musty earth and rotting meat.

Close enough, she thought as she let her mana flow again.

The spider tensed as Jun stopped suppressing her mana, its eyes locking onto her position as it let out a pained roar. Pulling itself higher up, it reached out with a clawed limb, poised to impale her and pull her body into its fanged mouth.

Before it could strike, Jun channeled all of her remaining mana into a spell. A massive [Purging Missile] manifested in front of her, hovering for a split second before it sped between the spider's fangs. A muffled blast shook the tree as the spider shuddered, and then it fell, its good limbs curling in as it slammed into the frozen earth below.

Jun sagged tiredly against the trunk of the tree as she looked at the dead Mage Hunter, green ichor leaking out in a puddle below. She sat for a few minutes and let her mana refill until she had enough to climb back down and defend herself. Gingerly, Jun climbed back down with a set of snares anchored to her shoulders. Standing at the edge of the freezing pool of ichor, Jun stared at the curled of spider that was larger than her dorm room. Even in death, the beast unnerved her to look at.

A vague sense of suppressed mana pulled her from her contemplation as her ears picked up the faint scuff of something stepping through the dead brush behind her. Adrenaline still coursing through her veins from the fight, Jun whirled around, her personal barrier and a dozen snares coalescing as she prepared to defend herself. Only to freeze as Michael carefully approached, his amulet starting to glow with healing magic.

"You need healing."

As the adrenaline started to subside again, Jun coughed into her hand, the sticky red of her blood telling her that her teammate was right. Nodding, Jun tried to speak, only to wheeze and cough up more blood. Unable to speak, Jun dismissed her spells, allowing Michael to approach and place his hand on her chest.

"Damn Jun," he exclaimed as his magic went to work. Michael's healing magic sent a spike of pain through her chest as it cleansed the adrenaline that numbed her before soothing the ache in her chest. "Bruised heart, four fractured ribs, perforations in your lungs, stomach, and pancreas, and some of your chest muscles are nearly mush. Her breathing grew easier as Michael's magic worked, the aching slowly bleeding away. "How are you still on your feet?"

The answer to Michael's question flashed to the forefront of her mind, but even if she could speak, she wouldn't have answered. The answer was too awkward. How did you explain period cramps to someone who'd never experienced them? Or that hers were painful enough that she gained levels in [Pain Resistance] every month?

Idly, Jun pulled up her [Pain Resistance] passive skill.

[Pain Resistance] (Apprentice 7)

The impact of pain is lessened based on the severity of pain experienced.

She'd dismissed the skill as unimportant except for her monthly curse, but in retrospect the skill had proven immensely useful outside of that. Without it, she probably would have collapsed from the Mage Hunter's strike.

Shrugging and shaking her head, Jun let Michael work even as Aya, Keira, and Cian came into view, the two girls giving Jun a knowing look. They knew the answer to Michael's question, but by unspoken agreement none of the women would tell him the truth. Not yet at least. Even if he was their healer, there were some things he just wouldn't understand.

"Good fight kitten," Shiori said, appearing behind the rest of her team followed by Kora.

The Guild Guide seemed to radiate disappointment as she glanced between Jun and the dead Mage Hunter.

Ignoring the Guild Guide, Jun focused on her mother as the catkin produced a scroll and handed it to her. Taking it, Jun unrolled the scroll and read the bounty notice.

"Silver Bounty: Mage Hunter Elimination

A Silver Ranked Mage Hunter has been detected in the outer Forest ambushing gathering teams. Exterminate the Silver Ranked Mage Hunter and bring back its fangs and 3 bottles of fresh ichor as proof of elimination.

Recommended Party: 3 low Silver

Reward: 50 gold"

"This bounty is yours kitten. Collect your proof and any other loot you want and let's go, we have more hunting to do."

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