Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!-Chapter 107: Level 2

The next morning arrived with Henrik’s voice echoing through the chamber. "Up and moving! We will assess team readiness in thirty minutes!"

Kai woke from light sleep, his essence sense having detected minor disturbances throughout the night but nothing requiring intervention. The large signature from level three had remained stable, though perhaps marginally closer than yesterday.

Students emerged from tents, morning routines continued as they had been the past two days. Breakfast was quick and the mood was tense with anticipation about whether they would advance to level two.

Henrik gathered the team around the central fire after everyone had eaten. "I’ve assessed yesterday’s performance. Your combat coordination was solid, partnerships functioned well, and you handled mature specimens with appropriate caution. Based on this, we’re advancing to level two today."

Several students looked nervous at that pronouncement. Derek’s expression was unreadable.

"Level two contains more dangerous monsters like shadow wolves, stone golems and cave spiders," Henrik continued. "These creatures are faster, stronger, and more intelligent than what we faced on level one. Combat will be more intense. Anyone who feels unprepared can remain here at the safe zone without judgment."

No one spoke up. Kai couldn’t tell if it was pride or genuine readiness kept the team intact.

"Good. We are using the same formation and partnerships. We descend in fifteen minutes."

The team prepared with more focus as the students nervously walked around making sure everything was in order. Weapons were checked multiple times, essence reserves verified and emergency supplies confirmed. Kai noticed Lin looking particularly tense, her hands trembling slightly as she adjusted her equipment.

"Nervous?" he asked.

"A little. Level two is where my brother said things would get harder." She took a deep breath. "Shadow wolves hunt in packs and are more fierce. They’re not like slimes that just surge forward mindlessly."

"We’ll handle it."

"Your confidence is reassuring." She managed a small smile. "Though I suspect you would be calm descending into level five."

"Probably not level five."

The formation assembled near the descending staircase. The steps were wide and well-worn, suggesting centuries of use. Essence crystals grew sporadically along the walls, providing minimal illumination that support mages supplemented with their glowing orbs.

The descent took several minutes, the temperature dropping noticeably as they went deeper. The air grew damper, carrying mineral scents and a faint musk that gave the smell of animal presence.

The staircase opened into a large antechamber similar to level one’s entrance, but darker and with higher essence concentration. Three passages branched off with each one emanating different ambient essence signatures.

"Scouts, assess the passages," Henrik commanded.

Thomas and his partner moved forward carefully, extending their essence senses into each tunnel. After several minutes, they reported back.

"The left passage shows multiple small signatures which are likely cave spiders based on movement patterns. The center passage has larger signatures that might be shadow wolves."

"The right passage is unclear with high essence interference making detailed sensing difficult."

"We will start from the left," Henrik decided. "Cave spiders are dangerous but predictable. It would be a good introduction to level two threats."

The formation advanced into the left passage. The tunnel was narrower than level one’s corridors, barely wide enough for three people to walk abreast. Essence crystals grew in web-like patterns across the ceiling, their light creating shifting shadows.

After a hundred feet, the passage opened into a chamber filled with thick webbing. The strands stretched between walls and ceiling in complex patterns, some as thick as rope. Kai’s essence sense detected movement throughout the web structure and dozens of signatures the signature were each about the size of a large dog.

"Everybody get combat ready," Marcus commanded quietly. "Cave spiders hunt by vibration. Any movement on their webs alerts the entire colony."

As if responding to his words, a spider descended from the ceiling on a strand of silk. The creature was easily four feet across, its chitinous body was covered in coarse hair. Eight eyes gleamed in the crystal light, and mandibles clicked together with sharp sounds.

Where one appeared, more followed. Within seconds, twenty spiders were visible, crawling across webs and walls with disturbing speed.

"Defensive formation!" Henrik called. "Don’t let them surround us!"

The spiders attacked from multiple angles simultaneously, using good pack tactics Henrik had warned about. Three descended from above while others rushed from the sides, their movements wereprecise and synchronized.

Derek channeled fire essence into both hands and thrust upward, creating a cone of flame that engulfed the descending spiders. The creatures shrieked as their bodies ignited. They fell burning, crashing into the webbing which also caught fire.

The web ignited rapidly, flames spreading across the silk strands in bright orange waves. Within seconds, half the chamber was ablaze, smoke billowing toward the ceiling.

"DEREK, YOU IDIOT!" Henrik shouted. "The smoke will fill this chamber! Everyone get back to the passage!"

But it was too late. The burning webs created a wall of fire between the team and the exit passage. More spiders, driven by the flames, rushed toward the only available space which was where the students stood.

A spider lunged at Roland from the left. He brought his sword up in a defensive arc, the blade catching the creature’s front legs and deflecting its trajectory. It landed heavily beside him and immediately turned to attack again with its.mandibles seeking his throat.

Roland channeled earth essence into his free hand and punched the spider’s head, the strike cracking its chitinous skull. The creature twitched once and went still, green ichor leaking from the wound.

Sarah engaged two spiders simultaneously, her sword moving in a rapid flow that kept both creatures at bay. One spider shot webbing at her legs, trying to entangle her, but she leaped back and severed the strand with a quick slash.

The second spider used that opening to rush forward. Its mandibles closed on empty air where Sarah’s throat had been, she had dropped into a roll beneath its attack and came up slashing at its exposed underbelly. Her blade cut deep, and the spider collapsed with its legs curling inward.

Three more spiders converged on the support section. Mira created a light barrier that forced them to adjust their approach, buying time for Emma and another support mage to launch ranged attacks.

Wind blades and fire bolts struck the spiders, damaging their legs and bodies but not killing them outright. The creatures were more durable than they looked.

Kai moved to intercept before the spiders could reach the support mages. His sword cut through the first spider’s front legs in a single smooth motion, toppling it forward. A quick thrust through its head finished it before it could recover.

The second spider leaped at him from the side, mandibles spread wide. Kai sidestepped and brought his blade up in a rising cut that opened the spider’s abdomen. Green ichor sprayed across the stone as the creature fell, its legs scrabbling uselessly.

Lin engaged the third spider with pressurized water streams that punched through its chitinous armor. The creature staggered from the impacts, giving Kai an opening to close distance and drive his sword through its head.

The burning webs created chaos throughout the chamber. Smoke filled the upper portions, making breathing difficult. More spiders fled the flames, creating a surge of desperate creatures attacking anything in their path.

"We need to break through to the far passage!" Henrik shouted while dispatching two spiders with efficient strikes. "There’s another exit on the opposite side! Use the fighting formation to advance through the flames!"

The team pushed forward as a unit, combat specialists clearing paths while support mages created barriers against the fire. The heat was intense, sweat pouring down faces as they navigated through burning webs and attacking spiders.

Derek was in his element now, channeling massive amounts of fire essence to burn through obstacles. For once, his aggressive approach was beneficial to the whole team as he carved a path through the burning chamber with raw destructive power.

But Kai noticed that his eyes held a manic gleam as he destroyed everything in his path with flames roaring from his hands with barely controlled fury.

They burst through into a connecting passage on the far side, students coughing from smoke inhalation but otherwise intact. Behind them, the spider chamber continued burning, the remaining creatures fleeing deeper into level two.

"Headcount!" Ben called.

Everyone was accounted for. Several students had minor burns, and most were covered in spider ichor, but there were no serious injuries.

"That," Henrik said with controlled fury, "is why we don’t use fire techniques indiscriminately in enclosed spaces filled with flammable materials. Derek, what were you thinking?"

Derek’s manic grin didn’t fade. "I was thinking we needed to kill the spiders. Fire works."

"Fire in a web-filled chamber creates an uncontrolled inferno that could have killed us all!"

"But it didn’t. We’re all fine." Derek’s flames still flickered around his hands, his control clearly slipping. "We won. That’s what matters."

Henrik stepped closer, his own essence flaring with authority. "You endangered the entire team with reckless—"

"I SAVED US!" Derek’s fire exploded outward, forcing everyone to step back from the sudden heat. "Those spiders would have overwhelmed the formation! I created an opening and we escaped! You should be thanking me instead of—"

His words cut off as Henrik’s hand moved faster than most could track, striking a pressure point on Derek’s shoulder that disrupted his essence flow. Derek’s flames died instantly and he collapsed to one knee, gasping.

"You will control yourself," Henrik said coldly. "Or you will be sent back to the surface immediately. Do you understand?"

Derek glared up at him, breathing hard with a manic gleam still present in his eyes.

"I understand," Derek said finally, but his tone meant he understood something different than what Henrik intended.

Henrik released him and turned to address the team. "We’re falling back to level one safe zone. That chamber fire has destabilized this section—we need to let it burn out before proceeding."

The formation reorganized and began the careful trek back toward the staircase. Kai noticed Derek hanging back, trailing at the rear of the group with an expression that shifted between rage and something almost like satisfaction.

Lin moved closer to Kai. "Did you see his eyes? Something’s wrong with Derek. That wasn’t just combat adrenaline or anger. That was..."

"Something else," Kai finished.

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