“Let’s go.”
Preparations were complete.
I’d crafted a weapon for the boss monster and backup weapons in case it failed.
Since work clothes alone felt unreliable, I made additional armor.
With this, no matter how strong the spider was, I could escape if needed.
“Ember, let’s go.”
Whoosh—
Ember perched on my left shoulder.
I stepped toward the Mine’s entrance on the wall.
[You have entered Hephaestus’ Mine.]
The familiar air.
Thanks to Ember, the damp, chilly air was warmed and dried.
Feeling comfortable, I headed toward Area 2’s boss room.
Hoo.
Hoo.
I reached the boss room with a nervous heart.
Just around the corner was the boss room.
Peeking around, I saw the web-covered room.
In the shadows, a massive spider moved, partially hidden by the webs.
If I’d rushed in without checking, I’d have been spider food.
“First, let’s burn the webs.”
I pulled out a crossbow.
A pitch-black body made from Burning Hornbeam.
A bowstring made from Flaming Thread.
A stock crafted with Ignition Stone.
Every fire-related material from the Auction House and the Mine went into this crossbow.
Its name—
[Blazing Crossbow]
Type: Crossbow
Grade: SS
Restriction: Level 15 or higher
Description: A crossbow infused with the spirit of flame, crafted solely from fire-attributed materials.
Attack Power: 150
Abilities:
- Fire Arrow – Generates flaming arrows when no arrows are available. When arrows are used, they gain additional fire attribute damage.
- Blaze – Arrows that hit the enemy burn fiercely, dealing continuous damage and worsening burns.
- Soot – Arrows hitting burned areas ignore enemy defense, dealing significant damage.
- Ignition – Hitting an enemy with arrows ten or more times triggers Ignition.
The Blazing Crossbow.
A spider-slaying weapon crafted to burn the sticky webs in the boss room from a distance.
Its first ability: automatic arrow generation.
Arrows are essential for archers.
Some say archer Hunters call their inventory an “arrow quiver” and fill it with arrows.
Because of this, archers can’t farm items properly in Gates.
Arrows are that critical.
This crossbow generates them automatically.
But—
“That’s not my concern.”
The description says, “When arrows are used, they gain additional fire attribute damage.”
To maximize my blacksmith advantage, I loaded a pre-crafted arrow onto the crossbow’s string.
Preparation complete.
Normally, I’d step around the corner, take aim, and shoot.
“But what if I lock eyes with it?”
No way I’m doing that.
The bat encounter was terrifying enough.
Locking eyes with a spider’s eight eyes? I’d run screaming.
So, I chose—
Peek.
I stuck the crossbow around the corner.
I couldn’t see well, but my goal was to burn the webs, so rough aim was fine.
When I felt the aim was decent—
Twang.
I pulled the trigger.
The arrow shot cleanly.
Engulfed in flames by the crossbow’s ability, it flew with a fiery tail and lodged into the boss room’s webs.
The poorly aimed arrow hit a corner haphazardly.
Boom!
It caused a massive explosion.
That’s right.
The arrow wasn’t ordinary—it was an Explosive Arrow.
Made with explosive stone, its blast was immense.
Likely amplified by the crossbow’s abilities.
Whoosh!
As the arrow exploded, the boss room’s webs caught fire.
As the Mir Guild said, fire was the spider’s weakness. The flames didn’t stop at burning part of the webs but spread across the room.
Tssss!
A deafening roar followed.
The scream of Area 2’s boss monster.
Confirming the attack landed, I stepped out from the corner and took a proper shooting stance.
I’d never used a crossbow, but it had a sight and trigger like a gun.
I may be a shut-in now, but I was a sharpshooter in the military.
Taking a seated firing position, I saw a shadow moving in the flames.
Twang.
I pulled the trigger.
The spider was obscured by flames, making precise aiming impossible.
Thwack.
Nice!
The arrow hit the spider’s body.
The Fire Eagle’s Feather in the arrow corrected its accuracy.
Grrrr!
A vicious sound came from the arrow in the spider’s body.
A Cruel Arrow made with Hellhound fangs.
It dealt additional damage, like a beast’s bite.
Snap.
Pop.
Whoosh!
Next was a flaming arrow.
The spider, already struggling in the flames, burned even hotter.
Various arrows I’d crafted pierced its body.
You’d think it’d locate me by now.
Was it the excruciating pain of burning?
The spider couldn’t find me, blindly charging and slamming its head into walls.
“It’s tougher than I thought.”
I’d shot multiple arrows already.
It’d been burning for a while.
Yet the spider was still alive.
The Giant Vampire Bat died so easily, so I thought this would be similar, but no.
Then—
Hiss!
The spider broke through the flames and appeared in the corridor.
But it was in bad shape.
Its eight eyes and entire exoskeleton were scorched and peeling.
Arrows stuck all over its body, as if holding its melting exoskeleton together.
“Why is it so tough?”
Would it really not die?
It seemed like the burn damage would finish it off.
Planning to shoot one last arrow and flee, I pulled the trigger.
The flaming arrow hit the spider’s forehead.
Whoosh!
A massive blaze erupted from its body.
The Blazing Crossbow’s fourth ability, Ignition.
Triggered after hitting an enemy ten or more times.
Thud.
[You have defeated the Mine’s second boss monster, ‘Giant Dire Spider’.]
[You can now enter the Mine’s third area.]
[The Mine’s time limit has been extended to 8 hours.]
Finally, the spider collapsed into ash.
Ding.
[Level increased.]
“Giant Dire Spider? Tough as hell.”
I didn’t expect it to survive those flames.
The bat fell quickly to electricity, its weakness.
This thing endured its weakness, fire, for so long.
Its tenacity was shocking.
It could’ve been dangerous if it held on longer.
[Level 25 achieved.]
[Ability ‘Hephaestus’ Descendant (SSS)’ has been enhanced.]
[New skill ‘Blacksmith’s Soul’ has been created.]
“A new skill?”
I had five skills so far.
Crafting, Repair, Disassembly, Mining, Spinning.
No, six, including Hephaestus’ Mine.
Now, a new skill appeared.
“I’ll check it later.”
First, I needed to deal with the situation.
The spider’s charred corpse.
It didn’t look like much was salvageable, but digging through the ash revealed items.
[Giant Dire Spider’s Silk Gland]
[Giant Dire Spider’s Eye]
“Ugh, gross.”
Unlike the bat’s fangs, these were disgusting to touch.
I covered the eye with a subspace bag to store it.
Gross, but as boss monster materials, they’d be useful.
I grabbed the silk gland too.
Entering the boss room, I noticed the heat and smoke had mostly cleared, thanks to good ventilation.
Like in Area 1, I activated Hephaestus’ Descendant and looked around.
“Here?”
I found silk threads hidden in the walls.
With familiar scissor work, I cut through the charred walls.
As layers peeled away and the burned parts vanished, I collected several threads.
[Giant Dire Spider’s Web]
A rare material reminiscent of Bloodstone.
As useful as Bloodstone, I hoped it’d be valuable and stored it.
Then—
I turned to the other side of the boss room.
As expected, defeating the boss opened the entrance to Area 3.
Since I came straight to hunt the spider, I had plenty of time to explore.
“Shall we go?”
I headed toward Area 3.
Ding.
Hephaestus’ Mine.
Normally, a mine is for extracting ores, but this place was different.
Area 1 was for mining ores, as the name suggests, but Area 2 was for harvesting fibers.
“So Area 3 is for another material?”
I was excited.
Ores in Area 1.
Fibers in Area 2.
What material awaited in Area 3?
Since we had ores and fibers, the next material might be…
“Wood or leather?”
There are other materials, but those are common.
Recent game armor categories were cloth, leather, light armor, medium armor, and plate.
Leather walls were hard to imagine, so I guessed wood as I entered Area 3.
“Wow, the air’s nice.”
As expected.
A corridor of wood appeared.
Like Area 1’s stone walls and Area 2’s silk walls, Area 3 had walls of layered wood.
The floor was covered in grass, the ceiling in vines.
Light streamed through the trees, making this area quite bright.
“Looks like picks and scissors won’t work here.”
Time to craft a new tool.
No, a logging tool.