Chapter 163 - When Others Fight (2/2)

Laz looked down at the little thing who looked back up at him in turn. It's fuzzy face had eight little eyes that seemed to be staring back at him as though wondering what was up. Laz, reacting on instinct, ended up communicating with the little thing via his spiritual sense as he would normally do with Vivi.

*Hi little thing. You seem different from the others?*

*mhuaa?*

Laz suddenly went from pale white to ghostly white as he jumped back. Luckily he managed to not drop the little spider that was in his hand.

”You... you... you.... talk?” Laz spoke these words out loud, causing Ruby and Leona to look at him like he was nuts. The spider didn't respond back this time and only started looking around before it's eyes wandered over to the next cave entrance that was sitting half way up the wall on the rather hard to climb ledge. Coming back to himself, Laz followed the little things gaze and knew that something else was on it's way.

'Must be the dog size ones,' Laz thought as he looked over to the two women. The smaller spiders, or the few that were left at least, had retreated into the ceiling and the little holes spread all about. They knew they weren't going to have a chance to feast on these two pray with the big brothers coming. Knowing what was going to happen, Laz actually got up and backed away a bit more, until his back was against the wall of the cave before sitting down with the little spider. This time though, he put the spider on his shoulder to keep his hands free and drew a few throwing knives out of his pouch. He had no intention of interfering, but he wanted to be ready just in case.

The girls, seeing Laz's movements, looked over at him and then at eachother before looking back.

”What are you doing now?” Leona asked, finally having caught her breath.

”I would advise you to take off the backpacks and toss them over here,” Laz said while gesturing with his hands.

”Why? The little shits are all dead and scared. It would have been nice for you to tell us this like half an hour ago,” Ruby responded while setting her bag down. She was going to go through it and find something better to wear. It was only know that she understood why Laz told them to bring changes of clothing and make sure it was durable. Unlike Leona who had gone through some of Laz's training and knew that if he said something, he meant exactly that, Ruby had dressed up a bit nicer to start with, if only because she enjoyed looking good for herself.

Before Ruby could even unzip her pack, Leona had thrown her's towards Laz and walked over to Ruby. Before Ruby could say anything, Leona grabbed her pack and threw it at Laz as well. The entire time, she was looking in the direction of the large hole half way up the cave wall.

”Hey Lea, I was using that. I want to change out of my shirt.” Ruby hadn't noticed the look of danger in Leona's eyes.

”Ru, get ready. Something else is coming,” Leona advised while helping Ruby to stand up. Leona's senses had been trained a bit by constant sparring with Laz so she had sensed the incoming spiders before Ruby did. Although Ruby was trained in the ways of humans and detecting bloodlust, she had no experience when it came to monsters or animals.

Ruby finally looked up at Leona and noticed her gaze. They both backed away a bit and put some distance between themselves and that side of the cavern.

As they made ready to fight, Leona looked over at Laz and noticed a rather calm look on his face, as though everything was what he expected. Seeing this caused mixed emotions in her. She was mad at him for acting indifferent and not helping, but she also knew that meant they were fully able to handle what was coming and that he had investigated things before hand. Obviously this was something he had set up to train them and after seeing the knives in his hands, she knew he was going to make sure they were ok. Just knowing that Laz was watching over them caused quite a bit more warmth in Leona's heart. She couldn't help but enjoy having a partner that would watch out for her but trust her at the same time and allow her to do her own thing. Most men were not like that. Just as she had come to this conclusion, Ruby had noticed Laz as well and came up with a similar evaluation. Despite the danger both girls felt, they couldn't help but smile knowing he was watching on.

Laz had no idea that his little guestures were being regarded with warmth by the two girls as he too watched the opening. In barely a few breaths of time, ten of the large, dog sized spiders appeared and rushed out of the opening. They jumped off the ledge and landed on the ground before charging at the two waiting girls.

Laz stiffened up when he saw this, thinking that Vivi didn't tell him there would be this many. His first instinct was to act and take out a few of them, but seeing the girls smiling at the oncoming threat, he decided against this. Instead, he strengthened his sense so that he could observe the battle more closely and waited.

It was important for them to fight like this against creatures and allow them to grow, but he wasn't going to allow any accidents. He knew that he wasn't always going to be there for them as he had a feeling that life would make him leave soon, but until then, he promised himself he would take care of these two no matter what.