Swords, magic, and martial arts

Rod turned his head and saw a spider about the size of a calf hanging down from the ceiling above the door using its web.

The scene gave him the creeps.

He had never seen such a big spider in all his years of life.

This enormous, grayish-white spider is known to the Nords as the Frostbite Spider. The Frostbite Spider is a ferocious creature whose pincers and legs are deadly weapons.

The silk spun by the Frostbite Spider is extremely tough; it would take an adult considerable effort to cut it with a regular dagger.

They typically use toxins to incapacitate their prey, then wrap them in spider silk and inject venom, waiting for the prey to dissolve into a puddle of pus before eating them. Their prey ranges from snow mice to elk.

Rhodes quickly turned around to face the Frostbite Spider, his hands and legs trembling with fear.

"How come there are so many weird monsters in this cave? Living dead people, spiders the size of calves," Rhode couldn't help but complain.

Rhodes roared, hoping to relieve his tension and fear after the battle with Nord.

After shouting that, he felt a surge of heat in his blood and seemed less afraid.

Rhodes decided to strike first. He charged toward the Frostbite Spider with his axe. Once he felt he could hit it, he threw the torch in his hand toward the Frostbite Spider's face, then gripped his weapon with both hands and swung the axe at the Frostbite Spider with all his might.

The Frostbite Spider dodged the torch, but was struck on the head by Rhode's powerful axe blow.

However, the Frostbite Spider was incredibly resilient. The axe was still stuck in its head, and green blood kept flowing from the wound. It even used its forelegs to attack Rhodes.

My strength is still too weak. I couldn't even split it in two with one axe blow. If I can get out of here alive, I must train my strength.

The Frostbite Spider, severely injured, became even more ferocious. After its attack with its forelegs missed, it used its mandibles to bite Rhodes. Rhodes could only release the axe that was still stuck on the Frostbite Spider's head and quickly dodge backward.

Rhodes successfully dodged the attack from the Frostbite Spider's mouth, but was then struck in the chest by the spider's leg.

The Frostbite Spider's legs were sharper than scythes, and with a single strike, it sliced ​​through Rhodes's outermost layer of inferior iron armor, even tearing the fur clothing underneath.

After being hit, Rhodes immediately used the force to roll to the right. Although he didn't have an invincibility frame, he still managed to dodge the Frostbite Spider's next attack and took the opportunity to pull out the steel dagger strapped to his leg.

Rhodes held the dagger to his chest with his right hand, his eyes fixed on the Frostbite Spider, wary of its next attack. At the same time, he touched his chest with his left hand and found that there was no blood.

It seems that Iron Shirt combined with my armor is more effective at defending against the Frostbite Spider's leg attacks, but I don't know if it can stop its large pincers.

It's a pity I don't have the money to buy good armor. If I had good steel armor, I wouldn't be in such a sorry state when facing the Frostbite Spiders; I could just go head-to-head with them.

When I have money in the future, I must buy good equipment. If I had a steel axe, I could probably kill it with the first blow.

No, why am I suddenly thinking about all this random stuff during a fight? That's so unprofessional.

Just as Rhode was thinking about these things, the Frostbite Spider began to tremble and spat out a ball of white spider silk towards him.

His biological instincts made him close his eyes and use his left hand to block the spider silk. When he opened his eyes again, the Frostbite Spider had already rushed in front of him and opened its pincers.

Rhodes, emboldened by some unknown source, plunged the dagger in his right hand, along with his arm, into the spider's gaping maw and twisted it forcefully.

The Frostbite Spider let out a miserable scream and collapsed to the ground, probably too weak to resist any longer.

Rod pulled his right hand out; it was sticky and covered in a green liquid, which made him feel extremely nauseous.

After carefully observing and finding no wounds, I simply wiped it on the ground.

He didn't know how long he would have to walk here, and he dared not use the water he had brought to wash his hands.

Although the Frostbite Spider is venomous, it will not affect you as long as there are no wounds.

Rhodes sat down to rest for a moment, then walked over to the Frostbite Spider, took its axe, and picked up the torch from the ground to relight it.

The only valuable thing about the Frostbite Spider is its venom, but Rhodes doesn't collect it and finds the spider's death rather disgusting, so he completely abandons the idea of ​​collecting the venom.

Rhodes carefully observed his surroundings and indeed found no door leading forward. If there had been, he wouldn't have fought that battle; he would have simply run away.

He walked back through the wooden door that led into the room, and reached the row of iron railings where the ghoul had died. He couldn't find a way to go any further.

There must have been a hidden door in that room, but we needed to find a mechanism to open it.

Rod suddenly slapped his head again, realizing how stupid he had been. The giant spider had come down from above, and he hadn't even looked at the ceiling of that room.

Could it be that my IQ has been lowered since I transmigrated into this Nord's body?

Back in the room, Rod looked up and saw a hole in the wooden door that allowed him to stoop and squeeze through.

It seems I've arrived at some kind of ancient Nord tomb, and to get out I have to go through that cave.

Rhodes hesitated whether he should go in. The Frostbite Spider must have come from here. Could there be more inside?

If we were to encounter such a low-lying place, it wouldn't affect them at all; I wouldn't even be able to run away.

Rhodes finally steeled himself and decided to go in. He was trapped here with limited food, and if Baron and the others couldn't get out, he would definitely starve to death here.

Why not take a gamble while you still have the strength? Even if you encounter some monster inside, you might not be the one who dies!

Just then, he hesitated again. Was his body influencing him to have this idea of ​​gambling with his life?

After gritting his teeth, Rhodes decided to go in anyway.

Rod took a running start and grabbed the bottom of the hole with both hands. With a powerful pull-up, he entered the hole.

I definitely couldn't have done such a difficult move before I traveled back in time.

Rod walked forward with his back bent.

This posture is really uncomfortable. What's the point of the owner of this tomb making things so difficult for people?

After walking a few dozen steps forward, the hole suddenly allowed him to walk upright.

The entrance is very narrow, but it becomes normal after walking for a while. Could it be that the craftsmen who built this place couldn't stand bending over anymore, so they didn't follow the original idea of ​​the tomb owner and started digging it so that people could walk upright?

As Rod walked, he filled in these possibilities in his mind.

The passage is long, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill, and winding, but there are no forks in the road.

Rhodes couldn't understand why the ancient Nords would build it this way. He couldn't find a reason to explain it, and after more than ten minutes, nothing strange or convoluted appeared, nor was there any mechanism.

As Rod was thinking, the road in front of him suddenly became shorter, forcing him to walk with his back bent. After walking for a short while, he saw the exit.

There was no road ahead; the only way to continue was to jump down from here. Rod walked to the edge and looked at it. It looked very familiar. Wasn't this mural the same one from the room they had just been in?

Did I end up back where I came from by following that winding path?

I was just criticizing the passage built by the Ancient Nords, but now it seems they do have some skill.

No, I seem to have forgotten something.

Rod peeked out and found that the spider's corpse was gone. Could it be that another creature had appeared where he had just been and cleaned up the corpse?

He slapped his forehead again, realizing he had been overthinking things; the passage clearly led to another room that was built exactly the same.

Normally, people would enter with a stooped posture, walk for a while and then straighten up, wander around for a long time, and then leave with a stooped posture, only to find that the outside is still the same room they came into before.

They would definitely think, like me, that the craftsman was incredibly skilled, managing to inexplicably bring me back to where I started.

In reality, they simply built an identical room on each side and constructed sections at both ends of the passageway that required people to bend over to pass through.

That giant spider must have been from the door directly below me, but it wandered off into the passage and I killed it. Otherwise, it would have definitely been tricked too.

Anyway, Rod felt that if he saw the same room, he wouldn't jump down to check it out, but would turn back and check if there were any side passages in the corridor that he hadn't noticed.

Unfortunately, the elaborate scam was ruined by a creature trapped inside, and it failed to achieve its intended effect.

Rhodes was somewhat impressed by the ancient Nords' ingenuity in coming up with such a deceptive idea. The wooden door had been pulled open from the outside, so from above, it was impossible to tell whether it was open or closed. He realized he should pay more attention to such details; they might come in handy in the future.

After confirming that there was no danger below, Rod jumped down from above.

He tried to pull the wooden door with his hand. This time he remembered that the door was meant to be pulled. He pulled hard, but couldn't open it. He tried again, but still couldn't open it.

Rhodes slapped himself on the head. It seemed he needed to find a way to recover the intelligence he hadn't brought with him when he transmigrated.

Just now, we were pulling the door from the other side, but now we're inside the room, so we're pushing it from the other side.

Rod pushed open the door and found the room filled with spider silk, and several spiders had spun cocoons-like structures from their silk.

He didn't go in directly; after what had just happened, he was reminding himself to pay attention to details.

The Frostbite Spider should have been in a room full of spider silk before, so how did it get outside? Does the Frostbite Spider also know how to open doors?

The ancient Nords must have taken these things into consideration when they built this place. They probably built the doors with this type of opening mechanism to prevent the Frostbite Spiders in that room from pushing the doors open and running out.

So what opened the door for it?

Thinking of this, Rhodes shuddered, and a chill rose from the soles of his feet.

Rhodes glanced back and flinched in fright...