Chapter 183: From Repelling Attack to Infiltrating (2/2)

“Eh?”

Jack exclaimed in a strange voice with widened eyes. He seemed to be greatly surprised by Loren’s words. The others seemed to know already, they didn’t look surprised at all and just nodded.

“You’re probably confused because it’s called ‘thread’, but spider threads are made from solidified body fluid. They can be burned, but they don’t catch fire.”

“Eh? Eh?”

“Dust and insects caught in a spider web can catch fire, but the thread itself doesn’t.”

Loren patted Jack’s shoulder as if telling him ‘You’ve learned something new’. Nim spared him a sideway glance and continue:

“Our path is a straight path. There’s no detour.”

“We have to get rid of it somehow.”

Ritz looked at Dig as if asking for a confirmation, and Dig nodded solemnly.

“Miss Gula, can you use your secret skill again?”

Quartz placed his hope on the secret skill Gula had used to incapacitate all the spiders chasing them, but Gula shook her head:

“Once spit out, it takes some time to gather again.”

Loren could only think of one kind of gas to be emitted after eating, but he kept his mouth shut because he didn’t know what Gula would do to him if he spoke it out. But if the gas was really what he thought it was, it definitely took some time to be gathered again once released.

“Can we go stealthily?”

Nim suggested.

The passage beyond this space was almost filled with the threads that made up the web. Even if they wanted to go in stealth, they wouldn’t be able to avoid stepping on them.

“Spiders determine prey’s location by the vibration of their threads. If we can avoid disturbing the threads, it won’t notice us.”

“Hey, your elf is talking about the impossible.”

Loren turned to Ritz and said, but Ritz just shrugged. Elves had lighter body weights and nimbler movements. Nim probably could go through without touching the threads, but Loren and Ritz had the well-trained bodies of swordsman, and they weighed considerably more due to all the muscles. And Quartz, being an eldery magician, had weak legs and joints, by no means could he move like an elf. Dig, as a dwarf, was out of the question, so no one was keen to listen to Nim’s proposal.

“With a web this big, I think it won’t shake if we walk carefully.”

Nim said easily.

“Because the web is large, the load of each individual thread is also higher. Even if we step on a taut thread, it won’t shake.”

“Is that so?”

Ritz asked with doubt. But the route back was also a straight path. If they turned around, they would definitely run again into the spiders Gula had somehow immobilized.

Ahead was a spider web, and behind was a horde of spiders. In the current situation, it was dangerous no matter which path they chose.

Ritz considered it for a while, then chose to move forward.

“If both front and back are as dangerous as one another, we should go forward.”

“That’s right. If it goes well, we might not be in any danger.”

Even though the hope was thin, if walking stealthily could keep them from confronting a spider like Nim had said, they wouldn’t be in any danger.

“Weft threads are used to capture preys, so they’re sticky. Warp threads are not sticky. Step on the warps.”

Nim said with a deadly serious face. But Loren and the others looked at the towering web and couldn’t tell which were weft and which were warp at all. Everyone’s eyes focused on Nim, thinking that she must know, but she just carelessly said:

“If it doesn’t stick to your feet, it’s a warp.”

“If it sticks, then we’re finished though?!”

Ritz quipped with an obvious fact, but Nim clicked her tongue and wagged her finger:

“Pull your foot back before it sticks.”

One could say that this was a method unique to the lightly-weighted elves only. It was difficult for heavily-weighted dwarves or armed humans to imitate.

“I’m wondering if you can tell us something possible for dwarves and humans.”

Loren smiled wryly and begged, but Nim just said after thinking a while:

“These threads are not on the web… so maybe we don’t need to be too careful. The threads supporting a web won’t be sticky, I think.”

“In short, we have no choice but to walk stealthily without touching the web?”

Loren summarized, and Nim nodded. Ritz looked up at the ceiling and sighed, while Dig and Quartz held each other’s hand and stared at the web they were about to walk through with pale faces. Loren glanced at Lapis and Gula, who looked no different from how they were usually, and wondered if he could just let them blow off the web in the worst-case scenario. He let out a resigned sigh.