The moment I opened my eyes in Godsrealm, the festival bells were already ringing. Warm dawn sun spilled over the streets of Carpa, and the colorful flags fluttered in the wind just like they did when I logged out 24 hours earlier.

  Music drifted in from the plaza, but I had no time for cake stands or games today.

  My exp bar was at 9,400 out of the necessary 55,000 points to reach level 14. The time I spent chasing the Elder Stag meant that the best players around me were already starting to outlevel me, so I didn't have any time to waste.

  I stepped through the well-worn doors of the Adventurer's Association and was immediately greeted by the gentle hum of players checking quests. A couple of them turned to glance my way – one even did a double take – but I kept my hood up and strode to the board.

  The available Iron-rank quests weren't anything glamorous, but they were efficient. Thankfully two out of the three were at Dusken Lake so I could clear both of them at once. I quickly accepted all three of the quests.

  It looked like the bandit quest that was on the board on the first day was no longer available. Bandits were human enemies, and their respawn system was different compared to animals and monsters, and that was probably why it didn't reappear. Someone had possibly solved the quest already, and the cove was free from bandits for now.

  As I made my way to Dusken Lake, I spotted a group of adventurers going in the same direction.

  "You guys are going to the Lake?" I asked. I wanted to get these quests done quickly to get to Shademere as fast as possible. I needed 8 adventurer's XP for the next level, and I wanted to get it done by the end of the day.

  "Yeah," the Guardian of the party said. "Wanna join?"

  "Sure."

  The group was fairly balanced.

  "Wow, you're Orion!" Ceriel said. "I've seen you on the forums!"

  I smiled awkwardly.

  When we arrived to Dusken Lake, Brent said.

  "Goal's simple," he briefed. "We rotate aggro, pull boars, hounds and wolves in waves. I will tank anything that comes in too hard. Aim is speed, not safety."

  I liked that. With a party like us, it should be easy to pull in as much as we could without too much trouble.

  "Let's keep it clean," I nodded.

  We worked the east bank first, pulling Duskhounds and Duskboards in small clusters. I alternated between Piercing Shot and Flaming Arrow, depending on which went off cooldown.

  Each of us rotated at skinning the animals. In around three hours, we have finished both quests. The trio waved and went back to Carpa, while I stayed standing alone at the lakeside, checking my map.

  Shademere was to the south-west of Dusken Lake, close to the village of Shadowreach, but I had to pass a smaller mountain range in order to get there. The roads did lead through it, so I wasn't too worried about the trip.

  I looked towards Dusk Peak rising to my right. It's still early, I thought.

  After a short walk I arrived at the base of the mountain. Paths were leading in many different directions, some sketchy, some more straightforward. I took a deep breath and adjusted my quiver before starting my ascend.

  I was following a narrower trail, fighting off Mountain Lions and Rock Beetles as I went. I spent about an hour following the path before it ended at a small cave's entrance.

  The end of the trail was overgrown and quiet, the kind of place that didn't see regular patrols, be it players or NPCs.

  There were no wolves howling, no mountain lions lurking around, just the crunch of my boots on dry soil and the soft creak of the trees in the wind.

  The cave entrance was narrow, half-hidden behind a clutch of thorny shrubs and a moss covered log. It looked like it was already moved before, but regardless, I nudged it aside with my bow a bit more, taking in the first few meters of darkness.

  "Call Pet, Lune!"

  My little companion instantly materialized at my feet, and started running around immediately before climbing to my shoulder.

  Fox Fire!

  The moment I activated my skill a warm, bright firesource appeared, floating next to me.

  It didn't take long before the webs started.

  Thin at first, hanging from low-hanging stalactites like drapes. Then thicker, like bundles of silk strung between rock formations, heavy with dew and the bones of small animals.

  Spiders. Every game had to have spiders for some reason.

  I drew my bow, moving slowly, carefully. The cave was only about two meters wide in most places; perfect for ambushing bugs to jump at me.

  The first attack came ten meters in. Two level 13 Spindleback Spiders dropped from the ceiling with a dry hiss.

  I rolled aside and loosed a Flaming Arrow before the first one lunged. It still clipped my arm but I rolled past it fast, and the ignited silk mass beside the spiders caught both of them in the flames.

  After a Piercing Shot and a couple basic attacks both shrieked and collapsed on the ground, each giving me almost 300 experience.

  This is a good place to grind for a bit, I thought. I processed their fangs, webbings and mandibles before moving onward.

  I got to another bend in the path when the next group appeared. This time, there were three. Two dropped from the ceiling while one scurried from a crevice. I dealt with them slowly, one by one.

  By the time the third one fell, two more have appeared from the darkness.

  This is not just a cave, I thought. It's a nest, and I'm trespassing.

  The deeper I went the more spiders have attacked. After a while even flying variants called Whispercave Drones have come out when I got to more spacious parts of the cave.

  These were level 14 and had poison attacks, which made it incredibly frustrating to deal with them.

  My movement skills were constantly on cooldown, I had to keep waiting for my mana to regenerate and I was going through my health potions rapidly.

  After about an hour I must have fought over fifty of them. I checked my experience bar and saw that I was at 36,400 out of the necessary 55,000. Another hour or so in this cave and I should hit level 14.

  The path went deeper into the cave. My breathing was steady, but my hands were slick with sweat.

  I kept resummoning Lune for the Foxfire ability. I was incredibly thankful for my little companion, but I recalled her as soon as possible in case of a spider ambush.

  The cave was far bigger than I had guessed at first; there were twisting paths, layered drop-offs and strange, bone-filled alcoves tucked behind narrow crevices wherever I went.

  The next chamber opened up into a wide bowl of rock, maybe ten meters across, with threads draped from the ceiling like funeral veils. Foxfire caught glints of movement.

  I counted nine of them; five Spindlebacks and four Drones.

  The Spindleback Spiders darted side to side while their flying counterparts attacked from the air, moving in strange patterns, as if they were wanting to throw off my aim.

  It looks like they are learning, I thought. I wonder if maybe their dead comrades have somehow signaled them that the attacker uses ranged attacks?

  If these spiders were connected via one “hive mind”, it could be possible. But maybe I was overthinking it.

  I fired a Flaming Arrow at the wall to force a burn zone, hitting two of the spiders along with it. Then I dove to the right, and cleared a Skirmisher with a fast combo of Piercing Shot and Leap attack.

  I activated Nature's Howl to sustain the damage I took from the poisoned attacks.

  It felt like whenever I cleared one, an additional one appeared. I danced between rocks, letting the lifesteal recover me one arrow at a time. It felt like a mini-boss arena, except there was no boss. Thankfully.

  For the next hour, it was a repetitive massacre. I cleared the mobs, and more came. I finished the last of my healing potions, because despite my best effort, I couldn't dodge all of the mandibles and whatever else these monstrosities had on their bodies at the same time.

  As the last of the Drones collapsed, its legs curling inward, I stood panting amidst the carcasses of my enemies, ankle-deep in silk and green ichor.

  My experience bar rose significantly; I had 51.400 exp points out of the 55.000, and I had collected plenty of Spider-related materials as well. I wasn't sure if they were usable for ranged equipment, but I decided to consult my friend Danzaburou about this later.

  As I stepped forward, I started hearing something weird.

  A thrum. A low-pitched heartbeat.

  I activated Foxfire once again, slowly nocked an arrow and continued my journey.

  The air changed. It felt warmer, oddly humid, heavy with the scent of iron and decay. As I was getting deeper, the webs changed as well. They weren't just strands anymore. They were structures. Pillars, cages, ropes and lattices, like a strange form of order amidst the chaos of the cave.

  As I moved Foxfire a bit ahead, I spotted my next challenge, and for a moment my legs grew roots, as if I stepped in cobwebs.

  She was waiting in the far corner, coiled atop a massive silken throne made of hardened silk and dried chitin. Her eight legs stretched to full span as I entered.

  She was nearly twice my height and her glossy black abdomen pulsed with faint green light.

  Her eyes – all six – were locked onto me.

  I didn't have arachnophobia. In fact, I found spider-like monsters in games no creepier than the wolves and boars outside.

  But this one was different.

  It was an Elite Monster five levels above my own. At this point it could have been a Field Boss, it wouldn't have made a difference.

  I was out of health potions and I didn't even have mana potions to begin with either.

  At a quick glance at my surroundings I realized that there was another path just beyond the Broodmother, but nothing else.

  From my previous encounters I had learned that the silk threads caught on fire easily, so that could give me an environmental advantage, but I doubted that it's going to be enough.

  And then she screamed.

  Not having other options, I decided to fight back. Worst case scenario, I spawn back at Carpa.

  When a player dies, he loses all experience points, which was especially painful in my situation. They also had a chance to drop an equipped item upon death, as well as a percentage of materials gathered in their inventory, or any other items that they had there.

  This meant that not only would I lose hours worth of progress regarding leveling up, but would also have to come back and recollect all the hides that I would be missing for the association quest.

  And worst case scenario, I could technically drop my epic rated leg armor.

  Okay, no dying. I thought. As I was turning around to flee the way they came from, I devastatedly realized that the entrance was silked shut by hordes of level 10 Spiderlings that were now slowly approaching me.

  Maybe I do have Arachnophobia?