(Lance POV)
I am not having a good day.
Henry had been my buddy since childhood and the two of us had joined as Adventurers together, completing multiple Requests and gaining both fame and fortune over the years.
This Request should have been a simple one, we only had to track down a dragon and report it to the Guild and we would be rewarded. Easy and simple.
There was no requirement for us to subjugate the dragon in the first place.
And since this elf that joined us claimed she knew someone who was already tracking the dragon, we could just go find said person, get the details from him and call it a day.
We would then claim the rewards and I will invite the elf out for a celebratory drink. Then proceed to spike her drink before raping the daylights out of her like what I've been doing to the other female temporary members who join our party.
At least, that was my plan.
This kid came out of nowhere and because of him, we're now marching our way towards that stupid cave of monsters.
I swear, as soon as things start going south, I'm definitely booting the hell out of there.
My own life takes precedence over anyone else's.
I honestly wanted to just leave the pompous kid to his fate. Pricks like him are just a waste of space anyway, why bother so much about his well being?
If that elf wasn't such a hot piece of ass, I would've just left right there and then. I don't even know why Henry is taking that little kid's side either.
I had tried to convince them to abandon the kid but the elf just brushed me off, calling me ignorant for not realising what I'm abandoning.
Even Henry agreed with her, like what the hell man?
Is he trying to score points with her? But I've never seen him interested in any girls before?
This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
It was a five minute trek before we finally reached the cave of monsters. There was no question that it was the right cave since there were already dozens of those spider monsters just sitting at the entrance of the cave.
We hid behind some of the bushes a distance away, watching the entrance of the cave. There was a clearing just in front of the cave that was just a flat plain of grass, making it impossible to get any closer without being spotted.
"Ok, now what, smart guy?" I hissed at the stupid kid. "Don't tell me your plan was to just waltz in there and search for the scales in there?"
The cheeky brat actually smiled at me, "Unfortunately, I do not know how to waltz, so I suppose I'll just have to improvise."
He stood up and strode forward with all the confidence of a flamingo, completely avoiding our attempts to pull him back.
"Damn him! How stupid can he be?!" The elf cursed, pulling out an arrow to nock on her bow.
Five of the spiders had spotted the kid and began rushing out of the cave towards him, their bodies three times the size of a normal man.
I stood up from the bushes. Not to help the boy, no, but to prepare to get the hell out of this damn place.
Arza let loose her arrow, the projectile striking home on a spider's head.
Unfortunately, its carapace was too tough for the arrow to pierce, causing the projectile to bounce off with nary a scratch, annoying the monster instead.
"Damn… And he's just the right type too… Guess we better run, Lance," Henry finally called out, already in the midst of turning around.
"Not a bad shot," The kid called out without turning his head. "But your blow was too weak. You need something with a little more kick…"
One of the spiders leapt towards him, its jaws open to devour him whole.
I managed to keep myself from turning away just to see how the arrogant kid would look when there's a spider munching down on his corpse.
Unfortunately, that opportunity never came.
The kid straightened the fingers of his right hand before stabbing it upwards, piercing through the head of the spider.
Wait… These are Armored Swarm Spiders right? The ones with the incredibly tough chitin that swords can't pierce through? Did the kid just do it with his bare hands?
He swung that arm in an arc, throwing the spider's corpse to crash into another two of its brethren.
The other two screeched in anger at the death of their comrade and scurried forwards in an attempt to attack him.
Something glowed in the boy's hands and a sword that an eight year old should not be able to lift appeared.
He lowered himself into a half crouch before the blade suddenly extended and spewed out flames from behind, propelling it in an arc in front of him and slicing the two spiders horizontally in half.
Again, these are supposed to be spiders with really tough armour right? I definitely did not imagine the elf's arrow bouncing off the spider's head just now right?
The boy lifted the sword over his shoulder before fire spewed out again, launching him high into the air before landing in front of the last two spiders, both still trying to untangle themselves from the spider with the pierced head.
The gigantic sword was brought down on top of one of the spiders, splitting it and the already dead one vertically in half.
The sword then disappeared into particles of light, the kid raising his right fist high up in the air.
Electricity began sparking off of him before he brought the raised fist down on top of the last spider, its head exploding into paste the moment the punch connected.
What the hell.
Attracted by the noise, a horde of spiders began rushing out of the cave, numbering in the hundreds.
"And here comes the rest of the party," The kid laughed.
He actually laughed? What the hell are you laughing for?! This isn't a joke you know?!
He faced them and clapped his hands together, a fiery portal opening in front of him.
Arza called out, "I told you! These spiders are fire-proof! They are armored so they don't burn! Their weaknesses are--"
A giant funnel of flame blasted out of the portal, covering the entire clearing and the cave entrance with it.
We watched with our mouth agape as the shadows of the spiders began disappearing one by one within the fire.
The boy kept the fire up for a good five seconds before it shut off abruptly, the entire area in front of him burned to cinders. The cave walls were still glowing red from the heat, steam rising from its rocky surface.
Not even ashes remained of the horde of spiders in front of him.
He grinned back at us, "Don't need to burn them if they get disintegrated by the heat alone."
I am seriously not having a good day…