At the sight of the spiders, Steven and Nott took immediate battle stances. Steven readied himself to use his Rampage Blast, while Nott prepared to pounce forward to meet the horde.

But...

Something felt wrong about this lot.

The spiders did not attack. They simply stared at the two of them, as though some form of confusion lingered within their many red eyes.

That alone stunned both Steven and Nott. They remained still, watching, waiting for the first attack to occur.

But none came.

Moments stretched far too long, the tension slowly bleeding away. Steven eased his stance slightly and finally spoke.

"Are these even monsters?" he asked, confusion plastered across his face.

Nott simply shrugged, having no idea what to categorize this strange lot as either.

Then a sound echoed from deep within the tunnel, right where the light thinned and shadows thickened. A silhouette of a man slowly formed within the darkness.

"Uh... are—are you humans by any chance?"

Steven and Nott immediately narrowed their eyes toward the voice. It was unmistakably human, and the figure emerging from the shadows did not contradict that assumption. The masculine tone clearly belonged to a man.

"And are you a husk by any chance?" Steven threw the question back at the figure.

"Oh—sorry," the figure muttered, slowly stepping forward beneath the looming red eyes of the spiders.

Despite his movement, the spiders did not react.

Steven fully expected the man to be engulfed, torn apart the moment he stepped beneath them—but instead, nothing happened. The spiders neither harmed him nor even acknowledged his presence.

It was as though he was invisible to them.

That realization made Steven tense even further.

"Forgive me for appearing so terrifying," the man spoke again as he entered a section of the tunnel where the dim lighting finally illuminated his face and body.

He was a man in his early twenties—fat and chubby, but not so much that it restricted his movement. He wore specially made body armor that covered him from shoulder to toe, designed to provide protection while still allowing comfort and mobility.

’Honestly, he looks rather harmless,’ Steven thought.

That alone made him even more wary.

Steven took a small step back and frowned. The man noticed this and stuttered, trying to say something, before stopping himself. He simply smiled instead... Steven’s reaction was clearly something he had expected.

"I’m sorry again. I am Shawn Boulder, a half-awakened," he said, raising his arm and revealing an unprotected forearm. A sigil mark rested there, unmistakable proof of his awakened status. "And this is my ability."

He waved his hand through the air.

Immediately, the dozen spiders began to crumble, their bodies breaking apart bit by bit before dissolving into smoke and then into nothingness.

Even then, Steven did not lower his guard.

Nott remained firm as well, standing still and awaiting Steven’s command, whether to lay waste to the now-defenseless intruder or welcome him as a fellow awakened.

The choice lay with Steven.

And the young awakened had one more confirmation technique to pull off.

{Astral Chat has been activated}

{You can now see the chat between a vessel and his sponsor}

Steven stared at Shawn. A moment passed, then several notifications popped up before his eyes, which he quickly read.

[Astral Chat]

[God of Weave: You sure are stupid letting go of your spider weave before a potential enemy.]

[Shawn: He might be human. Shouldn’t we at least try?]

[God of Weave: ...Sigh...]

[Shawn: I can’t get through this realm alone, can I? I at least need to try. If he is an enemy, he and a summon can’t take down twelve Spider Weaves, can they?]

That was the end of the chat.

Steven sighed, dismissing the blade from his grasp. Seeing this, Nott did the same, straightening his stance.

"I am Steven. No last name," he introduced.

At that, Shawn’s face lit up with a happy grin.

[God of Weave: How gullible. slaps his face]

Steven found this amusing and simply smiled.

During his time training in the First Sanctuary, he had learned how to use the Astral Chat skill. Unlocking it had been satisfying, yet biased at the same time. It allowed him to read the mind-chat between a sponsor and their vessel.

In other words, he could partially read intentions, but only when sponsors spoke to their awakened.

It was a very useful skill.

However, he had also realized that other half-awakened spoke frequently with their sponsors—unlike him. The Undead Deity preferred to mock him rather than offer guidance.

’Curse you, bastard god,’ he frowned inwardly.

Shawn walked closer, stopping just a few feet from Steven. Then something strange happened.

His attention shifted, not to Steven,but to Nott.

Steven frowned in confusion. Why was the other awakened staring at his summon?

"Where I spawned was a labyrinth where the dead are buried within the tunnels. There’s no way out, only monsters, most of which I already killed—"

"Uhhmm!" Steven cleared his throat loudly to catch Shawn’s attention. "I’m the boss here, dimwit!"

Shawn blinked, eyes flicking from the hollow gaze of the Grey Knight back to Steven.

"I—sorry," he said awkwardly. "He didn’t look like the summon. You look so frail and—"

He stopped mid-sentence as he noticed the demonic glare Steven shot at him.

Steven frowned even deeper.

’Why does everyone keep underestimating me this badly?’ he wondered, forcing his emotions down as he straightened.

"Where I came from is packed with too many Disasters," Steven added calmly.

Shawn froze.

"You... fought a Disaster?" he repeated slowly, staring at Steven from head to toe.

Steven didn’t reply. He let the silence linger, heavy with implication.

Then he simply walked past the stunned awakened without another word.

"I—I’m sorry!" Shawn hurried after him, not wanting to lose Steven’s interest. "There’s another path I passed by. We can try that one first."

Steven nodded. "Sure. Let’s move. At the very least, we should reach the end of this tunnel before resting."

Shawn stopped for a moment, stunned by something Steven had said.

Still, the awakened of the undead paid him no attention. Steven continued walking without looking back, the Grey Knight moving at his side.

Shawn smiled, then quickly hurried forward to catch up.

Together, the two awakened joined forces, delving deeper into the dark and mysterious depths of the caverns.