Burning Webs Chapter 3, a Bleach + So I'm a Spider, So What?/蜘蛛ですが、なにか？ Crossover fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or So I'm a Spider, so What?

Chapter 3: Let the Hell Begin

Deep within the darkness of the Upper Stratum with only a torch lighting the cave, the reincarnation continued to stay on guard of the newly arrived earth dragon named Gakia.

'Okay, what am I supposed to do now? Should I run?' Ichigo mentally shook his head at the thought, 'No that wouldn't work at all. Even though I got a bit stronger from the level ups, I'm still too weak to do anything. Even though he just said he came to save me, but what will he do next?'

As soon as he was waiting for the earth dragon to make a move after concluding his thoughts, the dragon made a move alright.

STOMP!

A small impact suddenly shacked the ground below Ichigo's feet and almost made him fall. But that was not what surprised the reincarnationed ex-substitute shinigami. One instant at the corner of his vision was the dead body of the human he killed, then when he recovered from the sudden impact, right next to his small body is the giant earth dragon's foot on top of the corpse, stepping on it like a bug.

"I truly, hate, humans." Gakia snarled with hints of anger in his tone.

This action made Ichigo sweat a bit of the power gap between him and the dragon he was already aware of. But it just made it all the more clear in his mind that not only was the behemoth strong, but fast as well. It wasn't the first time he felt this difference in speed and power. The first time he felt outclassed was when he first encountered Byakuya, the end result was being close to death, laying on his own blood. Later on, when he fought against Kenpachi in the Soul Society who sliced skyscrapers like it was nothing, then against Grimmjow who out-speed him even in Bankai mode. Ulquiorra, he could barely react or attack when the 4th Espada used his sword releases. To top it off of being outclassed...there was Aizen...an opponent he never wanted to fight again. With or without the Hogyoku increasing his powers, the mastermind proved he was much stronger than the Soul Reaper captains and the Espadas he created at their most powerful from what he fought.

"Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired Skill [Memory LV1]."

Hearing the voice lady again broke Ichigo out of his thoughts. This time, he was glad for the interruption so he can refocus on the dragon in front of him.

Gakia lowered his head to look at Ichigo more closely. His red eyes glowed as if to be more intimidating. While doing so he brought his nostrils at the young Wrym and sniffed him of his scent.

"Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired Skill [Odorless LV1]."

Having enough of the silence stares and being disturbed of being sniffed at, Ichigo tried to speak through his mouth. "Not sure if you can understand me, but who are you and what are you trying to do?" then he was surprised when he got reply he hadn't had hopes for.

"I am Gakai, the eldest of the Earth Dragons. As I said, I came to rescue my kin such as you. Now, after seeing your work on that filth, I'm appraising you of your power," the elder dragon raised his head back up to give some room between them. "You have some interesting skills and intriguing titles as well. It's no wonder you were able to win, small one."

Ichigo raised an eye in question. "Titles? What are those?" he couldn't help but ask. While he was glad to finally make contact, in a very unusual way. While having a small understanding of Skills, he needed to know more so he could find a way out of the caves and a way home.

"Titles are given to those who have earned them. When you've obtain them, it grants those more skills that suits them and in return makes you stronger." the earth dragon went silent for a moment and spoke again. "You truly are different from other hatchlings, little Araba. Most newborn Wyrms aren't knowledgeable about these kinds of questions. I'll ask the same question as to who are you?"

The question thrown back at him made Ichigo want to hit himself for being careless. Though it wasn't like anyone could understand him anyway with his growling and squeaking. What could he possibly say next to explain how he was able to do things most newborns weren't able to think or talk clearly yet?! 'Damn it! I screwed up! I've got to say something convincing and fast!' Before he could try to answer, he was surprised by what the dragon said next.

"On second thought, it matters not."

Ichigo kept looking up at Gakai for the sudden change of heart of the question in confusion.

"I sense a change is coming." his eyes glowed again. "And you're a beginning part of it. With or without the voice from the shadows, I'm curious to see what might become of you as you grow within this domain. You'll be fine on your own from now on." he turns the other way and heads back to the path he came from. "Farewell, young one. Till we meet again in the future days." the elder earth dragon took his leave back to the tunnel where he came from. Which in turn Ichigo was having none of.

"Wait a minute! What is this place?! Tell me how can I get out of here!" Ichigo yelled out while following the after Gakai. Despite the size difference, Ichigo was catching up bit by bit. With his Night Vision skill active, he saw a two-way path up ahead. The elder dragon took the left path, then out of nowhere as soon as he entered, a wall sprung from the ground, surprising the reincarnation as he fell on back.

Picking himself back up, he saw the path is closed, leaving Ichigo with only one way to go.

'Are you kidding me? Are you fucking serious?! What the hell! You just said you came to help me, didn't you? Then why ditch me now after all that talk, huh? You damned lizard!' he fiercely pounded the closed wall.

After a few minutes of cooling down, he gave up the pointless pounding and lying down with his back against the wall. Taking a breath to let out the intensity he just endured from dealing with the psycho adventurer and meeting another earth dragon.

"Is it always going to be like this?" he muttered to himself while looking at the ceiling which had glowing crystals sticking out. "More random crap that makes my head spin and making me more pissed off than I already am? Well, it's not like it's any different from my own world. Just when I was starting to get a handle on things, something just comes in and messes everything up. Just like now where I'm suddenly finding myself here in an underground cavern and now I'm totally lost with no direction to go." Ichigo looks to the path that wasn't sealed up like the one he was resting on. "Except that way, I guess? But there's one last thing I need to get off my chest." He also had mixed feelings about being called Araba.

Standing back up on all fours, he stood on his two lower feet and glared to the ceiling. "My name, is, Ichigo, not, ARABA!" his voice echoed across the cave.

Taking a minute to recollect himself, there was only one more thing the reincarnated teenager could do now that everything is quite with no danger at the present moment. He had to move on. Having all of his strength back from the level ups, he walked through the cavern tunnel.

"Okay, I'll just have to find my own answers in this depressing place. I was kinda hoping for that dragon to take me back to the nest or at least help me a bit more with understanding this place. But whatever, I'll just have to watch my step and get stronger somehow. I'll find a way out of here if it's the last thing I'll do," he cringed at the thought. "Which will not be."

A short bit later, he finally found himself out of the pathway...only to come across more tunnels...

"Great...more tunnels. Guess this place is maze? If it's going to be like that, then I'll just have to...just pick a damn road go with it." he says and moves forward. "Hope my sense of direction is better than the last time of being in that fung shui of a hospital Uryuu's dad owns.

A couple hours later

Unknown to the reincarnation back in the same tunnel where he had encountered Gakai, he was being followed. The torch left behind by the deceased Onjin was still shedding a small light. A paw at fast speed crushed it, leaving only darkness in the passageway once more.

Two green slit eyes glowed in the dark. The creature sniffed the ground and growled as it caught a scent of its next prey. With swift speed, it ran on all fours after the source.

Analeit Kingdom: Throne Room

In a large room that have been gathered by many high-ranking nobles, were the adventurers that have returned from the Great Elroe Labyrinth, kneeling before their king.

The king of the Analeit was named, Meiges Derra Analeit. To say he wasn't pleased would be an understatement. But not because they failed to bring back the wyrm egg as he requested, but it was how they failed. Due to his position of being king to his homeland he had to set a better example of not voicing out displeasure, unlike the other nobles. When the adventures of who were ranked A returned and gave their report, the throne room was filled with angry rants.

"How could you have failed?!"

"Aren't you supposed to be one of the best adventurers in our country?!"

"You let a newborn wyrm show you up!"

"I paid good money for you!"

"You say that the great warrior Onjin is lost to us?! That cannot be!"

"How dare you blame the axe wielding prodigy for your failure. He would never make such foolish mistakes as you claim!"

"Your majesty! I request you send these two once great adventurers to be hanged for disgracing an important task. That includes the guide who accompanied them as well!"

His highness raised his hand to silence to crowd. Clearing his throat, he spoke. "And you say there was nothing you could have done to prevent the wyrm from escaping? Or could have stopped your companion from chasing after it?"

Gaikun the archer spoke, "Yes, Your Majesty. I am indeed ashamed of not being able to stop my friend from going back to the lower stratum, but to lose the wyrm as well." there was a small moment of silence in the throne room before Gaikun choose to speak again. "Your Highness, I know I have no grounds to speak further of me and my team's failings. But, might I make a suggestion because of this failure?"

The nobles were angered again. In their minds of someone low born, even a respected and famous adventurer, would dare speak of such nonsense to their king. They embarrassed themselves for being unable to bring back an earth wyrm, which they could have used to strengthen the kingdom to further heights. And the leader of them would embarrass himself even further of this tragedy!

The nobles were quite again when King Meiges held his hand up once more. "And what is it, sir Giakun? You may rise to speak."

Gaikun nodded and did just that. Thinking carefully, he spoke with a serious tone. "Your Majesty, I beseech you to order the wyrm that is named Araba, to be killed on sight immediately."

Once again the high-nobles were in a frenzy. Finding it ludicrous to kill something so insignificant that is only a baby dragon. King Meiges raised his voice "Silence!" a said a bit louder and silence returned to the room. The king gestured for Gaikun to continue.

"You see, my king. I believe this creature is no ordinary wyrm. It proved to have high intelligence that it was smart enough to not only catch us by surprise when we approached the nest, but heavily injured Onjin as well. It also escaped at the perfect moment when we were at our most exhausted state. I fear this encounter might make it distrust humans and has a reason to become stronger to not be captured again. If it were to evolve, my king. It could lead to a disaster to anyone who enters the Great Elroe Labyrinth. Or worse, disrupt the balance within the monster filled caverns."

A chilling silence entered the atmosphere. The nobles that were red in fury a moment ago, instantly turned pale white.

Even the king was in deep thought by the man's words. It was not impossible, but it was still to outlandish to believe.

After thinking more on the matter, the king came to a decision. He spoke with sad eyes. "I am sorry, but I cannot grant your request."

Gordeau who was beside Gaikun stood up with wide eyes. "But, your majesty! This creature could be a threat to let it grow in the labyrinth if left to itself. It has to be stopped!"

The royal knights that were guarding their king drew their swords at the action. "Be silent, sir Gordeau! The king has not given you permission to speak nor stand!"

Before Gordeau could say more, Gaikun put a hand on his shoulder to bring him back down to kneel to their king. After that was done, the archer looked back to the king. "Could you please explain why, your highness?"

"Given your reputation of always succeeding in every quest you and your team were given, even the most difficult ones. I took in your concerns and thought about it carefully," he closed his eyes and took a breath before opening them and continued. "However, I find it rather impossible for the creature to grow into a threat as you claim. It takes Wyrms decades or hundreds of years for them to evolve enough for them to be a threat. Even if we left it alone, the monsters in the labyrinth will surely make quick work of the small thing. I will not dismiss the trouble it caused to you and your team given the shape of your equipment. I truly believe this, Araba, will meet it's end very soon." The king proclaimed, easing the worries of the nobles.

Gaikun and Gordeau were not to pleased by this, but they kept their mouths shut. They could not speak anymore since the king made his final decision.

His Majesty resumed after the tension was eased. "You shall be sent back to the adventures guild. I will send a messenger to your team of what penalties you shall have for unable to fulfill your quest. This meeting is dismissed!" he gave his order and everyone left the room.

Only the king was left alone in the throne room. His young son named Julius, who is only four years old, had become the new Hero. A blessing from the heavens of what most of his people of the kingdom joyfully expressed. But as a father, he couldn't help being worried of his precious child. His majesty has three wives due to his royal blood and duty of having multiple heirs to the throne to if something were to happen to him. But he didn't care because of his age. He was more concerned of his children's future. Julius, being one of the true treasure to his heart, being the new hero filled him with dread. He wanted to do whatever he could to ensure when his boy went outside of the kingdom, he would be protected.

He had a dream of his son and along side a dragon familiar, would be the best guaranteed protection he could possibly offer. Even being fully aware the difficulty of this request, he had high hopes for it to succeed, but regrettably, it was not meant to be.

"Forgive me, my son. I've failed you." he said in sadness.

Lower Stratum

Back with Ichigo, he continued aimlessly going through the labyrinth. But not in a slow steady fashion, more like, moving in a fast and careful way. The reason for that is because he's been hearing other monsters echoing in the labyrinth. Such as the screeching of bats, howling from wolves, buzzing of bugs, roars from beasts he couldn't imagine were making. With their noises echoing and bouncing all over the tunnels, it was rather hard to pinpoint to go or not to go.

The only thing that made sense in the young man's mind was to keep moving while also staying close to the wall. If something did come out of hiding he can use his earth magic to attack and defend, while he can also make a getaway if need be. Normally Ichigo would hate running away, but this was completely different. In the past it usually involved saving his friends or if idiot punks came after him. But no, this was survival of the fittest. If no one he knew was in trouble than of course he had no reason to pick fights he shouldn't and press on.

He wished he had a map to know where he was going. Most of the paths went down and none of them were going back up. Which was the opposite of where he wanted to go! How was he supposed to get out if he's only going further down the cave. It was ridiculous, but with the creatures blocking his way, going down was the only option sadly.

After another hour of going through the endless path of dirt while running and hiding, Ichigo finally found the end of the path. Making his way through, he came across a wide-open space. Even with Night Vision, he couldn't see the end to it. The only thing within the large area were pillars of rocks. The layout was way too similar to the Menos Forest that it scares him. The only difference was that there was no sand on the ground or any hollows.

Going further out in the open wouldn't be the best idea. With no wall to back him up with his magic, he would be completely exposed to whatever was out there. Sure, he can make some spikes from the ground, but if something flies at him from above then he was a sitting duck. Still having no clue what the monsters were like in here, he needed to take cover with whatever he could use.

'I'll just stay close to the wall while I'm moving. If anything comes at me, I'll at least have a chance to fight back.'

He thinks to himself as he continues. The plan was simple, but there was only one problem. It was the fact he still didn't know what to expect in this place! The only things he's seen so far were dragons and humans. Nothing else aside from the marathon of wild calls he kept hearing from the creatures in this maze.

Regardless of that there was nothing else he could do except relying on the plan he made. Moving quietly while picking up the pace he kept eyes open for anything that would come out and attack. With the wall guarding his left, his field of vision can be focused on the ceiling with no end in sight and the open ground.

"Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired Skill [Vision Expansion LV1]."

'Okay lady, I appreciate the new skill and all, but could you keep quite so the noise won't attract monsters.' obviously he wasn't going to get a reply, but since there was no one else to talk to, the voice was an odd comfort of sorts.

Ichigo was surprised a bit when his field of vision go a bit wider. He wasn't complaining about this one since it gave his advantage a small boost.

Another hour had passed and it was getting a bit tiring. While being glad to not run into anything, everything looked the same! He already expected that, but he was looking for another tunnel to enter and leave the open danger zone. The only good coming out of this was that some of his skills rose a few levels. But he only heard his Stealth skill going up while he ignored the others due to him being more focused to his surroundings.

Speaking of, for a short while he's been having the unpleasant feeling of being watched. Thanks to his new Vision skill he's been carefully watching at the corner of his eye to what was following him. Ichigo couldn't tell what it was as the hidden creature hid behind one pillar to another to stay out of his sight. The teenager was waiting for it to come out and attack him to trap it. But this waiting game was getting old fast and had enough of this. Turning around to face what was stalking him, he's surprised by what it was.

It was a white furred monkey?

Appraising it, Ichigo looked at the results.

"Anogratch LV9."

"Ano...what? The hell does that mean...wait a second? Why did my Appraisal tell me about it's level now? Did the skill go up another level? But when did that happen?" Ichigo wondered why, but quickly dismissed that question of seeing the monkey realizing its cover was blown.

"Omph! Oomph! Omph!" the monkey grunted of being found out and left it's hiding place.

The distance between them was good enough for Ichigo to not worry of a sneak attack since he revealed his attacker. "Sorry, you dumb monkey, but fun's over. Unless you want to turn into a monkey shish kabob, then back off." he let out a small growl, which was not comforting since he still felt human inside.

Right when he was about to turn away, the elroe monkey leaped at him with quick speed.

"It's fast!" Ichigo didn't hesitate to use his magic and launched a pillar of earth at the monkey while it was still in midair. "Nice try-shit!"

The monkey caught the sharp tip of the pillar, surprising the earth small wyrm. Then it swung on his own magic spell and attacked again. Even surprised, Ichigo dodged it's fist and retreated back to the wall. However, he felt his tail being pulled. Before he could react, the monkey tossed him out to the open area like a baseball being thrown. Thinking fast, he used his earth magic to make the spot he was about to land on turn to soft dirt to cushion the landing. But he wished he didn't land head first. Digging himself out, he spat out the dirt in his mouth.

"That (cough) was not part (cough) of the plan!" turning back around to face his enemy, just in time to see the said foe in the air once more with its arms rolled back to deliver the killing blow. "But I got another one for you (cough) fur-ball." Staying on the patch of dirt for just a second longer so the monkey would come in closer, his timing had to be perfect,

'Now!' he dodged the furious strike and the monkey was stuck in the dirt from the force of it's attack, just what Ichigo wanted. The next instant, an earth spear came out of the patch of dirt and impaled the elroe monkey through the stomach. 'I got him!' Ichigo cheered a bit for his victory to not get ahead of himself, but something unexpected happened.

The monkey looked at him and let out a deafening shriek. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Ah, dammit!" Ichigo does his own leap and lands on the screaming monkey's body, but he dispelled his magic attack back into dirt while slamming it's face into the dirt patch to silence it. After a few minutes of struggling, the monkey was finally defeated. No sooner right after he finished the job, Ichigo glowed like before and heard the the voice woman again.

"Experience has reached the required level. Individual Earth Wyrm has increased from LV 12 to LV 13."

"All basic attributes have increased."

"Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired."