Quintin stood up to full height from his kneel over the wolf corpse. His innately metal hands dripped blood and other unmentionable bits to his feet. The fight had entered its showdown phase, his plan hinged on a deeper understanding of [Compression Grip], while the spider cared nothing for plans as it began to ascend.

Its legs snaked down towards the ground to reestablish the trap, straining against the vines and taut within other tight spaces. They crept ever lower, the fibrous encasement coming down once again.

Quintin had not been idle while this happened but still failed to make it out. Even though he was now trapped, he still had a plan.

If [Compression Grip] is to be believed, then as long as this mesh dome isn't overly magical I should be able to tear a hole through it.

Already next to the hair-woven wall from his failure to exit, he put his palms together and jabbed out like a knife into it. Metal hands crafted a breach on impact, which only opened wider and wider as the contest between them gave way after only a brief moment of opposition.

He strained against the edges of the head-sized hole, but much like peeling an over-sized husk of corn, the hard part was at the top. Soon after, the membranous weave began to split even further into an oval exit.

With a final pull, the oval frame widened and became big enough for him to fit through. A swan dive saw him burst out into a tuck and roll. What greeted him at the end of his tumble was a snarling [Intruder Wolf] — coming face to face with the face he was unable to finish off.

It tensed backward in as much surprise as Quintin, but a split-second later it was snapping forward to rip his face off. With a keen reaction speed, he blankly punched forward. His hand going inside the wolf's mouth as he braced himself in a kneel. The wolf choked hard, biting ineffectually against his armored hand as he cracked a slimy finger from within the beast and blew the back of its head off. The projectile skittered away and left a trail of pinkish-white brain matter and skull fragments in its wake.

[Breath of Sudden Calamity] used.
-10[PP]
PP: 90/250
{Fatal Blow}
-500[HP] damage.]

He extricated his hand while turning to see the [Canopy Spider] was now trying to free its limbs from the vines that entrained them. It stood at well over twenty feet high and looked like a Victorian Dress made to be worn by a giant. The fibrous mesh seemed to float there and encapsulate a being.

Quintin didn't exactly know how he was going to fight against such a tall creature; all of his training was designed to challenge similar-sized opponents. Though it remained that since he came to this world, he had been enhanced. All of his techniques had been revamped and became more powerful in purpose. His own hands and arms had taken the form of a veritable wrecking ball, with pressurized forces he was still growing accustomed to — with questions he hoped would be answered.

While I may not know how to directly confront it, that doesn't mean I have to fight it from the front. If I can get on top of its shell, I should be able to fire projectiles down into it at point-blank range and kill it.

He looked to the side and found sudden inspiration.

If I climb this tree and time my jump to land on its back... That seems more than doable, especially since it's not completely freed up yet.

Quintin gripped, punched, and grappled up the tree, [Compression Grip] allowed him to easily create holes in the bark that acted as footholds. He gained a height advantage over the [Canopy Spider] and took off running along a sturdy bough. At the end of the bough, he leapt into the air and sailed steadily down onto the spider's plentiful back.

Sensing the impact on top of it, the spider made a clicking sound and began to shake in an attempt to knock him loose. Quintin was ready as he drove his fingertips into its chitinous body and pinched with a vice-like [Grip]. He crept along on its shell, grip after grip, getting closer to the head of the beastly spider.

One moment he was smoothly scaling the creature's body, in the next, the world seemed to fall out from under him. A whooshing sound-wave took over his senses before a lightness of gravity pitchforked his legs into the air and a dizzying, long-ringing sound floated within his ears.

[Falling Damage] calculated.
-50[HP] Damage.
HP: 100/310
slightly {Dazed}
slightly {Winded}

His conditions seemed to quickly clear, but upon reflection, the [Canopy Spider] was already half-raised into the air once again.

With renewed vigor, he madly clambered across its impossibly wide back.

a trick of the light, he thought, I must be imagining things.

Even though he had the urge to rub his eye and dispel the idea, it quickly departed when he suddenly touched upon eight freaky eyes midway to its front, where he imagined its head to be.

Is this its head? Even if this isn't, I'm still going to blind the fucker!

He didn't need to think twice while shoving his right fist into the centermost eyeball and released three projectiles all at once, downward into the cluster of eyes.

[Breath of Sudden Calamity x3] used. -30[PP] PP: 60/250
{Critical Damage} x2!
{Weakpoint Damage}!
-200[HP]
-200[HP]
-300[HP]
{Major Bleeding}

A low screech escaped the [Canopy Spider] while both were in freefall again, but Quintin was prepared this time as he braced his feet into the handholds created earlier to do his best to soften the blow.

[Falling Damage] calculated.
-35[HP] Damage.
HP: 65/310]

The spider was dead, with no more immediate dangers, Quintin sluggishly rolled off its back and leaned against the base of a nearby tree.

                         +***+
                      End of Chapter 3