Panic clawed at William, the sticky strands holding him fast. He strained against the webbing, his muscles burning, but it was no use. Trapped, helpless, with the venomous spider closing in…

His mind raced, desperately searching for a solution. What magic could he use? What weapon could save him?

Enhanced Strength! He channeled the spell, feeling the familiar surge of power coursing through his veins. With a renewed burst of strength, he ripped through the webbing, freeing himself just as the spider lunged.

Asura flashed, severing one of the spider’s fangs in a shower of green sparks. But the creature retaliated, spewing a stream of venom that struck William squarely in the face.

“Disgusting beast!” he roared, fury lending strength to his arm as he plunged Asura deep into the spider’s head.

[+1700 EXP]

The spider shuddered, its legs twitching, then lay still. William, though revolted by the venom coating his face, felt a surge of relief. He was uninjured, the venom hadn’t entered his bloodstream.

But Asura’s voice shattered his complacency. “That venom… it will seep through your skin. These spiders are dangerous.”

“What?” William’s blood ran cold.

He watched in horror as the venom began to disappear, absorbed into his skin as if it were a sponge. It was a slow, insidious process, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. The poison entered his bloodstream.

Fear gripped him. He had no idea how potent the venom was, and there was certainly no antidote to be found in this ancient tomb. His only option was to press on, to reach the treasure, and hope that the poison wasn’t lethal.

With renewed urgency, he continued through the labyrinth, his eyes darting from the symbols on the walls to the shadows that seemed to writhe with unseen dangers. He was racing against time, against the poison coursing through his veins, and against the unknown creature that still lurked somewhere in the depths of the maze.

William hadn’t seen that mysterious creature for a while, but it appeared again. It was in one of the corners, just like before, watching him with that ghastly grin. Asura still couldn’t sense any mana emanating from the creature, but William knew it was magical.

He had no idea if it was a powerful monster or not, but he needed to move forward. William decided to dash towards the creature.

“Swiftfoot!”

Utilizing one of his spells, William enhanced his agility and speed. He started sprinting towards the creature.

The creature seemed taken aback by William suddenly charging at it. William was almost upon it when it began to retreat, turning the corner of the corridor and disappearing from his sight.

It only took William a few seconds to reach the same corner, certain he would see the creature there. It was impossible for it to have reached the end of the corridor so quickly.

However, when he turned, he saw nothing. There was no creature in the hallway. It was as if the monster had teleported away.

“How is this possible? This makes no sense at all!” William murmured.

He couldn’t believe that creature could teleport. Teleportation was an extremely rare ability, achievable only by the most powerful creatures or mages. A creature like that certainly wouldn’t be in such a potent realm, or William would have been dead by now.

While he pondered what could have happened, he looked down and saw an unusual type of rat scurrying along the corridor, slipping into the corners.

The rat wasn’t normal. It had different fur, and its tail was distinct as well, not to mention it was emanating mana from its body – meaning it was a magical creature.

William watched the rat for a few seconds and could swear it glanced back several times, as if it were looking at him.

‘Could it be…’

He thought of something and decided to pursue the rat. The rat noticed his movements and started running too, trying to find some hole to squeeze into and disappear.

But there was no hole for it to hide in. The corridor walls were made of stone and were still in decent condition. Nothing was broken for the rat to hide behind.

William grabbed the rat with his hand. He wasn’t afraid of getting hurt by catching it; it seemed harmless. Well, at least he hoped it was.

Holding the rat, William looked at the small creature, wondering if this could be the bizarre creature he had seen. It didn’t make much sense, but he had that feeling. Then, something very strange happened. The rat spoke!

“Let go of me, you bastard,” the rat said, “I didn’t let you grab me like this.”

William was utterly surprised. According to the information he had, magical beasts capable of speech were rare. This ability was reserved for only the most powerful, legendary creatures, or rare beasts like this rat.

“How can you talk? What is this?” William asked, looking into the rat’s eyes.

“How can I talk? That’s the easiest thing. I wonder how the other creatures around here don’t know how. Bunch of idiots,” the rat replied.

“Start explaining, or I won’t let you go.”

William felt a bit bad about threatening and holding the defenseless rat like that, but he needed answers. And after seeing that the rat could speak, he became even more interested in the creature’s origin.

The rat said nothing at first, trying to squirm and escape William’s grip, but after realizing it was futile, it spoke again.

“I was Jinra’s pet,” the rat said, “but he died a long time ago, and I’ve been hibernating here in a magical formation he created for me. For some reason, I woke up a few days ago.”

That didn’t seem like a coincidence. Could the rat have woken up because it knew someone would come to its master’s tomb?

William was very surprised to learn that this small creature once belonged to Jinra.

“So you know me?” William asked, “My name is William. I was your master’s disciple a long time ago when I used my magic to travel to the past.”

“What? What kind of crazy talk is that?” the rat said.

But after a few seconds, he added, “Wait. William? You’re that William he even left a message about at the tomb’s entrance? How are you here now? You were my master’s!”

The rat couldn’t understand. As a magical beast, this rat could live for a very long time. It was something special about its species. Plus, it had been frozen for many years, centuries, if not millennia.

He knew William from the stories his master had told, but that was a long time in the past.

“As I said, I can travel through time. Actually, I’m from this era, and I met your master when I traveled back in time.”

“So does that mean you can go back in time and see him? Can I go with you?” the rat asked.

It was a tough decision. What would happen if the rat met Jinra before its time? Was it possible for the rat to encounter itself in the past?

William had to be careful not to start mixing things up and cause problems that couldn’t be undone.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep