Alien Students Found Out That Earth's Smallest Spider Can Kill Their Strongest Warrior in One Bite

Professor korax adjusted his third ey lens and gazed out at the Sea of Bor faces in his xenobiology 101 lecture hall another semester another batch of know-it-all students who thought they understood the complexities of the Galaxy's most dangerous planets he'd been teaching at Galactic University for over 30 Cycles now and every single term was the same story some hot shot warrior class student would challenge his assertions about the death World known as Earth today's lecture he announced his vocal Sachs vibrating with barely contained excitement will cover class 13 death worlds with a special focus on

the most fascinating example in our local cluster Soul three commonly known as Earth the usual murmur of disbelief rippled through the classroom right on schedule but Professor called out a voice from the back row my father says Earth is just a primitive Backwater they haven't even colonized their own solar system yet kathora his membrane covered teeth stretched into what humans would recognize as a smile though to his students it probably looked more like a Grimace The Voice belonged to verax a warrior class student from the militaristic KRON Empire the young alien sat in his reinforced

seat his Chrome plated exoskeleton gleaming under the quantum lights forearms crossed in what korax had come to recognize as the universal gesture for for I know better than you a verx korak said pulling up a hollow projection of Earth's various life forms tell me what's the strongest natural armor in your Empire's military Barack straightened up his headrest extending with pride the crack on Battle Shell of course it can withstand direct hits from plasma cannons and is completely impervious to most known toxins fascinating korax replied zooming in on a particular image and would you be surprised

to learn that there are creatures on Earth smaller than your central eye that can produce toxins capable of dissolving that armor in minutes the classroom erupted in skeptical chittering and clicking sounds verax's headrest deflated slightly but his posture remained defiant with all due respect Professor that's impossible our scientists have studied Earth's primitive weapons they're still using projectile technology and crude Atomic devices cathx is enlarge the image further revealing a closeup of a seemingly innocuous spider students meet one of Earth's most efficient Killers the Sydney funnel web spider and before you dismiss it remember this Earth

evolved under conditions that would be considered apocalyptic on most worlds their gravity is crushing their atmosphere is corrosive and their biosphere is locked in a constant chemical arms race that has produced some of the most potent organic compounds in known space he noticed several students discreetly activating their personal Shield generators just from looking at the image good at least some of them were developing appropriate caution but sir verax persisted his voice carrying that special tone reserved for those who think they're about to win an argument if Earth is so dangerous why isn't it quarantined why

do we even allow exchange students from there as if on Q the classroom door slid open with a soft hiss a human walked in carrying what appeared to be a hot beverage in a container marked coffee yes it's my fourth one today no I don't have a problem ah speaking of Earth students korak said his voice filled with theatrical timing everyone please welcome Max Thompson who will be assisting us this semester with our practical demonstrations the human gave a casual wave seemingly oblivious to the way several students recoiled at the gesture cathx couldn't blame them

the sight of of those five-fingered hands with their devastating grip strength was enough to make anyone nervous now then cathx continued his teaching membrane quivering with anticipation who's ready to learn why Earth's biology department is located in a reinforced bunker five levels below ground verax's secondary Hearts were pumping with indignation he wasn't about to let some glorified data Pusher tell him a Scion of the Mighty Kraken Empire that he should be afraid of a planet full of squishy bipeds and their even squishier Wildlife standing up to his full 3 m height his exoskeleton plates clicking

with the motion he made his challenge Professor cathx I formerly dispute your classification of Earth as a class 13 death World under article 7even of the galactic University Charter I demand practical proof of your claims the professor's third eye twinkled in a way that should have sent warning signals to verax's threat assessment glands interesting proposal student verax and how would you suggest we provide this practical proof a field trip verax declared his headrest now fully extended in challenge mode to this supposedly dangerous Earth location you mentioned the Australian Outback was it a collective gasp rippled

through the classroom even the floating gas cloud students condensed slightly in shock the human Max who had been sipping their coffeee substance actually sprayed it across three desks hold up Max interjected wiping coffee from their face you want to take a field trip to Australia have you all completely lost your minds Professor korax raised all three of his appendages in a calming gesture now now Max as an accredited arachnologist surely you appreciate the educational value of such an expedition Max's eyes widened I'm sorry did you just say I'm a what now an arachnologist cathx continued

smoothly it's right here in your exchange student file how fortunate that we'll have an expert in Earth's most fascinating creatures to guide us there seems to be a slight misunder stit Max began but verax cut them off then it settled I will prove that my crack on battles shell can withstand anything your pitiful Earth creatures can produce when shall we depart kathora is membrane covered teeth stretched into that unsettling smile again University regulations require at least three solar cycles for field trip preparation I suggest you all use that time to update your medical insurance and

ensure your next ofkin documentation is in order the class spent the next three Cycles in a flurry of preparation verax commissioned additional reinforcement for his already formidable battle armor boasting loudly about its enhanced capabilities to anyone who would listen and many who wouldn't the floating gas cloud students invested in premium containment Fields one particularly paranoid zyian student even tried to hire a mercenary escort until korax gently reminded them that bringing unauthorized weapons to Earth was a violation of 17 different treaties Max meanwhile spent the time trying desperately to convince everyone this was a terrible idea

look they explained to a group of students in the cafeteria you don't understand Australia isn't just dangerous it's Australian dangerous that's like regular dangerous but wearing shorts and actively trying to kill you while calling you mate nobody seemed to pay much attention to These Warnings after all what could a mere human know about real danger several students even pointed out that Max's obvious fear was proof of their species primitive nature the day of departure arrived with all the subtlety of a Quantum explosion the last gathered in the University's teleportation chamber looking like they were preparing

for war rather than a field trip verax stood at the front of the group his enhanced battle armor gleaming all forearms holding different scanning devices remember Professor korax announced as they prepared for teleportation we're being granted special access to a restricted area of the Australian Outback the Earth authorities have been informed of our presence and there's a fully staffed medical facility on standar isn't that reassuring why do we need a medical facility asked a nervous looking student from the back oh no reason cathx replied cheerfully just standard procedure when visiting class 13 death worlds now

is everyone wearing their emergency Beacon excellent Max would you do the honors of programming our destination coordinates Max looked at the teleportation console then at the professor then back at the console Soul you know what fine fine but I want it noted for the record that this is the worst idea since humans invented milk chocolate for dogs noted korak said now then class who's ready for some practical education as the teleportation field hummed to life verx struck what he thought was a heroic pose there's nothing in this Australia that can possibly threaten a crack on

Warrior this will be the easiest field trip in Galactic history the last thing the class heard before the teleportation beam engaged was Max muttering Famous Last Words mate Famous Last Words the Australian Outback materialized around them in a shimmer of quantum particles and regret the class's first Collective action upon arrival was to collapse under Earth's crushing gravity all except verax who merely stumbled slightly his enhanced battle armor compensating for the increased Force by the seven suns weeed a zyian student their crystalline structure creaking ominously how do humans live like this oh this Max said cheerfully

breathing the corrosive oxygen atmosphere like it was nothing this is nothing you should try Earth's oceans now there's some proper pressure for you Professor korax activated his anti-gravity assist just enough to maintain his dignity students please take note of your immediate physiolog ological responses this mere seconds after arrival is why Earth is classified as a class 13 death world and we haven't even encountered any of the local Wildlife yet as if on Q a kangaroo bounded past in the distance three students immediately activated their personal Shield generators one of the gas cloud beings condensed into

a panic sphere verax however scoffed at their reactions that bouncing creature pleased my Armor's senses indicating it's not even armed Max pinched the bridge of their nose right because on Earth creatures need to be armed to be dangerous just wait until you meet a Cy a what never mind let's just focus on finding your spider and getting this over with the class spread out across the designated search area their various scanning devices humming and beeping in the hot Australian Sun verax strutted around like he owned the place occasionally firing up his Armor's cooling systems when

the temperature exceeded his Comfort Range this is what you call harsh conditions he boasted all fourarms gesturing at the landscape my home world's average temperature is twice this fascinating korax noted recording everything on his datapad and how many of your world's native species actively secrete neurotoxins well none but and how many can kill you just by brushing against your skin that's not really and do any of them actively seek out confrontation with beings several thousand times their size verax's headrest drooped slightly no but surely he was interrupted by a blood curdling scream from one of

his classmates everyone rushed over to find a Meridian student pointing frantically at what appeared to be a perfectly ordinary patch of ground something moved something small and brown and it had more legs than any sane creature should possess Max wandered over and glanced at the spot oh that's just a huntsman spider they're basically harmless well unless you're driving and one drops onto your face from the sun visor then they can kill you but only indirectly through the resulting car crash the entire class took three synchronized steps backward verax determined to maintain his reputation stepped forward

instead you call that a spider it's not even the size of my auxiliary power Core watch this before anyone could stop him verax activated his Armor's enhancement field and brought one of his armored feet down on the spot where the spider had been the resulting impact left a small crater in the Australian soil there now who's the dangerous One Max and Professor korax exchanged a knowing look barx the professor said calmly would you please activate your Armor's microscopic threat detection system and scan that crater why I clearly eliminated the O brax's voice trailed off as

his sense of has revealed not one but dozens of smaller spiders scurrying away from the impact site that's that's not supposed to happen Welcome To Earth Max said with a grim smile where everything has backup plans for its backup plans and death comes in funsize packages the class huddled closer together as they continued their search every scanning device Now set to maximum sensitivity even verac seemed less enthusiastic about demonstrating his Armor's capabilities Professor he asked trying to keep his voice steady exactly how small did you say that funnel web spider was korax consulted his data

pad oh about the size of your smallest Finger Joint why do you ask barx looked down at his Armor's threat detection display which was now lighting up like a celebration during the galactic concorded no reason he said weakly no reason at all as the sun climbed higher in the sky the class was about to learn that on Earth it's not the threats you can see that you need to worry about it's the ones that are waiting for you to get just a little bit closer it happened during what Max later described as Peak spider hour

that lovely time of day when the Australian Sun had heated the ground just enough to make every venomous creature feel particularly enthusiastic about life the the class had spread out again but not tooo far they'd learned that lesson after the Huntsman incident verax was leading the way his battle armor sensors sweeping the ground in increasingly erratic patterns as the number of small scuttling life forms began to overwhelm its detection systems this is ridiculous he declared though his headrest was notably less extended than it had been that morning these readings must be wrong my senses are

showing thousands of potential threats within a 50 m radius oh the sensors are working fine Ma said casually stepping over what looked like a perfectly innocent patch of ground that's just how many things in this area want to kill you did you know that even some of our caterpillars are venomous we've got poisonous Trees Too the trees they just sit there waiting for someone to touch them a Meridian student who had been leaning against a nearby tree jumped away with a Yelp different typ type of tree Max assured them probably Professor korax was having the

time of his life his data pad practically smoking from the speed of his note taking fascinating the sheer density of lethal organisms in this ecosystem is unprecedented students please observe how even the seemingly empty spaces between visible threats are actually found one the shout came from verax who was crouched over a small hole in the ground his armor enhancement field was active magnifying his view of what appeared to be a simple spiderweb around the entrance this is it isn't it the funnel web spider home ha look how small it is my Armor's environmental seals can

easily verax Max interrupted suddenly very still I need you to back away from that hole very slowly why my battle shell can now you Chrome plated idiot but it was too late the spider apparently deciding that the large noisy creature blocking its front door was simply too annoying to ignore emerged from its Lair with all the fury that millions of years of evolution had packed into its tiny frame what happened next would later be described in 17 different ways in the student reports each account more terrifying than the last the floating gas cloud students would

claim the spider moved faster than their sensor arrays could track the zyian students crystalline structure would resonate for days afterward at the mere memory of it the spider displaying the Casual disregard for physics that Earth creatures are known for launched itself directly at a gap in verax's armor a gap that was approximately one tenth the size of the spider itself ha verax laughed triumphantly it can't possibly the spider somehow squeeze through anyway there was a moment of perfect silence then verax's mighty warrior of The Crow rackon Empire wearer of the most advanced battle armor in

the known Galaxy did something that no one in the class would ever forget he screamed not just any scream this was the kind of scream that made the earlier blood curdling one sound like a gentle lullabi this was a scream that said I have made a terrible mistake and now I am experiencing the consequences in excruciating detail the spider having successfully navigated the Gap in verax's armor did what funnel web spiders do best it bit him the effect was immediate and spectacular verax's battle armor designed to withand plasma cannons and resist most known toxins began

to smoke the spider's venom combining with his natural biochemistry created an reaction that the professor would later describe as explosively educational Professor verax wailed his voice Rising several octaves as his Armor's emergency systems blared warnings in different languages it's dissolving my secondary carapace excellent observation korax exclaimed still taking notes students please note the speed at which earth-based neurotoxins can overcome even Advanced defensive systems the changing color of verax's exoskeleton is particularly instructive Max being the only one with any sense of urgency and significant experience with spider bites was already activating their Emer Beacon medical team

to our coordinates now and tell them it's a funnel web bite yes another one no I don't know why they keep letting tourists come here either as verax collapsed into a twitching heap of compromised armor and wounded Pride the rest of the class finally understood why Earth was classified as a class 13 death World it wasn't because of Any obvious threats or overwhelming forces it was because on Earth even the smallest creatures had spent millions of years perfecting the art of saying fight me to the Universe At Large and winning the Sydney interspecies emergency medical

center had seen its fair share of unusual cases but even the veteran staff had to admit that a crack on Warrior being rushed in with a compromised battles shell and rapidly dissolving exoskeleton was a new one let me get this straight the head physician Dr Reynolds said while reviewing verax's readings he deliberately antagonized a funnel web spider in his Defense Max offered watching through the observation window as a team of human and alien medical staff worked on their classmate he didn't think it could hurt him nobody ever does first time on Earth the medical Bay

was a flurry of activity verax's armor had to be carefully removed piece by piece revealing the extent of the spider's handiwork his mighty crack on Battle Shell pride of his Empire's military Tech technology looked like it had been dipped in acid which as Professor korax was eagerly explaining to the stunned class wasn't far from the truth you see students this is why Earth's biology is so fascinating the funnel web spiders Venom isn't just a simple toxin it's a complex cocktail of compounds that evolve to overcome any possible defense mechanism when combined with the unique biochemistry

of our friend verax here it created an unexpect Ed but thoroughly educational reaction Professor one of the gas cloud students ventured are you still recording of course this is unprecedented data the way his secondary carapace changed colors before starting to Bubble simply remarkable from his hospital bed verax managed a weak growl I can hear you Professor a team of alien medical students had joined the observation group their various sensory organs wied with fascination as Dr Reynolds explained the treatment protocol the challenging part isn't just neutralizing the Venom she said pointing to a holographic display of

verax's biology it's dealing with all the cascading reactions the spiders Venom triggered a defense mechanism in his armor which reacted with his natural biochemistry which then created an entirely new compound that started dissolving his exoskeleton we're basically doing doing chemistry in Reverse here Max who had been unusually quiet finally spoke up so verax remember when you said Earth creatures weren't armed not now human verax groaned his headrest now a fascinating shade of purple had deflated to half its normal size because technically you were right they're not armed they're walking chemical weapons factories that's spider it's

not even in our top 10 most venomous species it's just the one that really really likes picking fights the class had pulled out their data pads and was furiously taking notes even the xyan student who had been maintaining a personal Shield generator at maximum power since arrival was recording everything Professor another student asked is it true what the human says about this not being their most dangerous spider korax his thirdd eye gleamed Oh indeed would you like me to show you some data on the Australian box jellyfish or perhaps the blue ringed octopus both a

fascinating examples of how Earth's oceans are even more lethal than its land masses no the entire class shouted in unison Dr Reynolds checked verax's latest readings well the good news is you'll make a full recovery the bad news is you'll need to stay here for observation for at least a week Earth toxins can be persistent a week Bar's voice carried a note of panic but but what if something else gets in the hospitals environmental seals are designed to Earth standards Dr Reynolds assured him which means they can keep out everything from microscopic parasites to determine

kangaroos you'd be amazed how often we have to test those specifications Professor korax was practically vibrating with academic excitement Dr Reynolds would would you be willing to share your hospitals incident records for educational purposes of course the statistical analysis of earth-based medical emergencies would make an excellent addition to our curriculum absolutely not Max interjected the last thing we need is you giving the class more ideas about Earth's Wildlife besides verax here has already provided enough material for an entire semester worth of what not to do lectures from his hospital bed verax could only groan in

agreement his mighty battle armor or what was left of it had been placed in a containment field for later study the small spider that had caused all this chaos was probably already back in its hole ready to defend its territory against the next overconfident visitor as the class prepared to return to Galactic University leaving verax in the capable hands of Earth's medical professionals one timid student raised an appendage Professor I have just one one question yes can we do our next field trip somewhere less dangerous like maybe an active Supernova one week later back at

Galactic University Professor korax xenobiology 101 class had undergone some notable changes for one thing attendance was perfect no one dared miss a lesson after what they hadd witnessed for another the students had developed an almost pathological attention to detail when it came to study ing Earth's biology verax had finally returned his new battle armor featuring significantly improved environmental seals and what appeared to be several dozen additional layers of protection his headrest while fully healed now tended to flatten automatically at any mention of Earth wildlife and that students cathx was saying concluding his presentation on the

field trip data is why proper research and respect for alien ecosystems is crucial for xenobiologist now who can tell me the primary lesson learned from our practical demonstration every appendage tentacle and sensory organ in the room shot up never underestimate Earth life forms they chorused in perfect Unison excellent and why is that because 4 billion years of evolutionary arms race means everything there is trying to kill everything else they recited and they're really really good at it verax who had become something of a reluctant expert on Earth's Medical facilities raised one of his four arms

Professor I've been doing some additional research did you know their medical database includes treatment protocols for over 10,000 different types of Venom and toxins and that's just from their native species very good verax I see your unexpected Extended Stay on Earth has given you a new appreciation for their biological diversity would you care to share your hospital observations with the class I'd rather not verax muttered his new armor woring as its threat detection system scanned the room for the hundredth time that day but I will say this I Now understand why humans are the way

they are when you evolve on a planet where everything is constantly trying to kill you in increasingly creative ways you either develop a very robust medical science or you don't survive long enough to leave the planet Max who had been quietly enjoying their fifth coffee of the day gave verax an approving OD sounds like someone learned something after all indeed korax exclaimed which brings me to our next topic Max would you care to share your expertise about Earth's marine biology I believe you mentioned something about box jellyfish the entire class flinched actually Professor Max said

standing up with a grin that made several students activate their Shield generators I have a confession to make I'm not really an arachnologist oh kathora is thirdd eye focused intently nope I'm a marine biologist specifically I study cone snails you know those beautiful shells that can inject you with enough neurotoxins to kill 20 humans before you even realize you've been stung the sound of several personal Shield generators being turned up to maximum filled the room and I've brought some specimens for next week's practical demonstration Bar's new battle armor immediately initiated its emergency teleportation sequence but

not before everyone heard his dignified Warrior scream Fading Into the distance Professor korax watched his star students Hasty departure with all three eyes gleaming excellent timing Max now class please note how the mere threat of encountering another Earth species triggered a flight response in our previously overconfident colleague this is exactly the kind of healthy respect for Earth's biodiversity I've been trying to instill as the rest of the class edged nervously toward the exits Max pulled out a small container don't worry they're just shells the snails themselves are safely back on Earth though I should mention

one of them did Escape during transport the lecture hall cleared so quickly it set a new Galactic University record same time next week Max called after the retreating students I'm thinking of doing a presentation on blue ringed octopi Professor korax is membrane covered teeth stretched into that familiar smile Max I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful academic collaboration thanks Professor though I do feel a bit bad about verax should we tell him the shells are just for show eventually korak said already planning next semester's curriculum but perhaps after he submits his thesis on

Survival strategies for class 13 death World encounters I hear he's become quite passionate about the subject since his practical experience somewhere in the distance verax's battle armor was probably still scanning for cone snails but that's the thing about studying Earth's Wildlife it's not paranoia if everything really is out to get you and somewhere in the Australian Outback a small spider was probably telling its friends about the time it took down a warrior 3,000 times its size though being Australian it would have ended the story with no worries mate he was asking for it