We left through the door on the other end of the safe room and ventured back into the dungeon. There was no notification that I had left the saferoom, but I didn’t need one. I knew I was no longer protected. If any of those Dalari wanted to take a shot at us, now was their chance.

  Before us, there was more of the ruined city to explore. Somewhere out there, we’d find our way to the second floor. We’d probably have to fight a boss to get to it, but Val said that wasn’t always the case, as there were multiple ways down. We just didn’t know what they were.

  “It sure feels good to have the band back together,” Latro said as we passed a shattered stone bench. “What say you, Ersabet?”

  “I only feel a desire to complete this quest and be on our way,” she said, looking away from him.

  “And which way would that be?” Latro asked slyly.

  “That is none of your concern. Keep your focus on the dungeon.”

  He scoffed. “We’re on the first floor. There’s nothing here I can’t handle.”

  “Be quiet, Latro,” Fela said. “I thought I heard something ahead.”

  I strained my ears but didn’t pick up anything.

  “I hear it,” Ersabet said. “Only faintly. Chittering. Shall we investigate?”

  Fela smirked. “Yes, we shall.”

  It didn’t take long to figure out what that ‘chittering’ sound Ersabet heard was. When I noticed a small spiderweb in the crook of broken stone, it became obvious what we were up against.

  Sure enough, the spiderwebs grew more numerous and larger as we progressed, just like the mushrooms we had encountered earlier in the dungeon. I appreciated the system telegraphing what one might soon be up against.

  “Why does it have to be spiders?” Tabby said from the back of the group. “I hate spiders!”

  “Do not worry, Tinker,” Yurian said over his shoulder. “I will squash them before they can get anywhere near you.”

  “Let’s hope you’re as good as you look,” Tabby replied.

  I chuckled to myself.

  “My ability to detect social cues may be lacking,” Val said in my head. “But I think Tabby is flirting with that Dalari.”

  You would be correct. I informed her.

  “Disgusting. First, Delen falls for Ersabet, and now sweet, innocent Tabby is talking up a random Dalari! What’s going to happen next? Am I to catch you rolling in the hay with some common Kurskin tramp?”

  I think you might be overreacting a bit here, Val.

  “Delen and Ersabet, I can get. She is tolerable for a Dalari, but Tabby should not be flirting with a strange alien. Remember, they kicked Ersabet out of their adventuring party. He’s no good for her. Put a stop to it.”

  What am I supposed to do?

  “Tell Yurian she has a boyfriend.”

  I rolled my eyes. Like that would stop him.

  “Tell him you’re her boyfriend.”

  Absolutely not. My adrenaline spiked as Ersabet and Fela took off running. They must have seen the first of the spiders. Using the ability granted by my cloak, I focused on my mini-map, and multiple red dots appeared, indicating mobs ahead. Bye Val!

  I took off running after them and immediately spotted our quarry. Five basketball-sized spiders leapt from a web and were skittering our way.

  Fela jumped forward and landed on one knee, driving the tip of her sword into the ground. Gleaming blades shot out from the ground ahead of her, impaling three of the oncoming spiders.

  Latro conjured a small green spear and launched it at a spider, which exploded in a bubbled of green goop.

  Many of Ersabet’s spells were more support-oriented, like her ability to cast light or create a hole in a wall, and her offensive spells, like wind or the quicksand spell, would have been overkill for such a small opponent. I’m sure she had more tricks up her sleeve, but she liked to keep them there, so she killed the last spider the old-fashioned way – by smacking it with the end of her staff like she was playing golf. The spider died instantly, crushed from the blow, and was tossed a few yards.

  “Save some for the rest of us,” I said, directing my words to Fela.

  “It’s rare to find a human so eager for a fight.” Her smile was a challenge. “Let’s find out if you’re as formidable as Ersabet claims.” She walked a few yards away to a large web strung between two buildings. It was so big that it blocked the path through entirely. Casually, she flicked out her sword and slashed multiple strands.

  “This fight is for Musgrave,” Fela announced. “That means no interference unless he’s about to die.” She sauntered back to us, eyes on Ersabet. “Let’s see just how special your manling is.” She slapped me on the ass as she passed by.

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  I heard them before I saw them, and what I heard didn’t sound good. Multiple huge spiders skittered out of nearby buildings, slipping out of windows and dropping from web-covered rooftops.

  These spiders were significantly bigger than the ones we had just encountered, one of them the size of a dog. The spiders’ legs were long and spindly, and their white exoskeletons were almost translucent. They were freaky, and one of the scariest damn things I had ever seen, but I wasn’t about to let a little arachnophobia get in the way of me putting on a show for the crowd. I had to be careful not to overdo it, though. If I showed off too many powers, some people might start asking some hard questions.

  Ersabet handled her spider the old-fashioned way; why couldn’t I? I would just add a little bit of flair to it.

  I held my sword out to my side, razor-side forward, and activated Speed Check. I darted forward inhumanly fast, catching the oncoming spider by surprise. My blade severed its two front legs as I passed by it. I quickly switched hands and caught a spider on my left, taking it out of the game, too.

  I skidded to a stop and ran back to my original position. There were five or six spiders coming my way, and I didn’t want to rush into them all at once.

  I picked out the one closest to me and ran toward it, my Speed Check timing out in the process. The spider jumped at me just as I swung my sword. I cut through it just in time and was rewarded with a spray of snot-colored spider goop.

  The next one was on me fast. I tried to catch it with a backhand swing of my sword, but I caught the spider with my arm instead of my blade. Time seemed to slow down as I watched it try to latch onto my arm and sink its dripping fangs into my bicep, but the momentum caught up to the spider, and it was launched off my arm before it could find purchase.

  It landed awkwardly on its side, and I had my sword through it before it could recover.

  I spun and saw two more coming quickly. I pulled out a dagger from one of the many pockets Tabby had sewn into my jerkin and launched it at one of the spiders. The dagger missed the eye that I had been aiming for and ricocheted off the spider’s hard carapace.

  Not one to give up easily, I tried again, and this time, my dagger popped one of the spider's eyes, causing it to stumble and screech in pain. While it was distracted, I met its partner and cleaved it in half before it could make a move on me. Then, I spun back around to the injured spider and finished it off, recovering my dagger in the process. I shook some gunk off the dagger and threw it as hard as I could at another oncoming spider. I missed the eye again, but this time I threw the dagger hard enough to puncture the carapace, though it didn’t seem to cause the spider any significant injury.

  It slowed its approach to me, and I noticed one more, larger spider creeping around a corner behind it. From what I could gather, these were the last two.

  As fast as I could, I riddled the closest spider with four more throwing daggers as it skittered toward me. I got lucky with a throw, hitting it in the joint where its front leg met its cephalothorax. It caused the spider to fall and tumble, landing on its backside. I stomped down hard. On the third stomp, the carapace cracked, and my boot came out wet with spider guts. There was only one more to go.

  I gripped my sword with both hands and screamed at the final spider, challenging it. This one was different than the others. For one, it was bigger, and it also had green speckles that seemed to glow against its white legs and body.

  Instead of charging at me, it tilted backwards and planted its legs to allow it to raise up high enough to rotate its abdomen toward me. My eyes widened as I realized what it was doing, but it was already too late. The spider had released a thick jet of silk from the tip of its abdomen, and there was nothing I could do to avoid it.

  The web engulfed me, like a fish caught in a net. It wasn’t enough to subdue me, and I was about to break free when a second wave of silk hit me. I tried to dodge, but my legs were already tangled, and I fell to the ground, wrapping the silk net around me ever tighter.

  I struggled back and forth, my face in the dirt. From the corner of my eye, I saw the huge spider stalking my way. It would be on me in seconds.

  A blur of blue clouded my peripheral vision as one of the Dalari leapt over me. They landed in a roll and sprang back up, launching themselves into the air like a gymnast. With an inhuman grace, the Dalari landed atop the spider. I couldn’t see well through the webbing, but the Dalari drove a weapon into the spider, and it collapsed to the ground only feet away from me.

  The dead spider shifted as the Dalari dismounted, and my web bindings loosened as they cut me free. I shook off the rest of the sticky webbing and turned around, expecting to see Ersabet. To my surprise and delight, Fela was smiling down on me.

  “Not bad for a human," she said.

  I looked at the giant dead spider she had killed in a single blow. “Not bad yourself, but I had it handled.”

  She laughed. “Oh, you did, did you?”

  “Of course! I had that spider right where I wanted it, but then you panicked and ruined my plan.”

  “I saved your life,” Fela said matter-of-factly, “Do not mock my efforts.”

  I grinned. “Thank you, Fela. I owe you one.”

  She patted me on the face. “Yes, you do.” She walked toward Ersabet. “You weren’t kidding about this one,” she said, thumbing toward me over her shoulder. “Not quite as special as I was hoping, but special enough. He’ll do.”

  “Let’s hurry up,” Latro said, walking past us. “This floor is boring.”

  More spiders came at us as we progressed, and the webs soon covered every building, every rock, and every petrified tree. At one point, we had to hack our way through webs that spanned the entire street. The layout reminded me of the mushroom area. No doubt, there would be a spider boss at the center of this web.

  I had a level up pending from fighting those spiders, but I couldn’t activate it in the presence of another player, or they might see a familiar glow as my body was enhanced. Based on the speed I was gaining experience, I might have two level-ups pending by the time we finished these spiders. I didn’t share XP with Fela’s group, but I did get a share of XP with my group, and Ersabet was putting on a show with her staff. Meanwhile, Tabby wasn’t one to sit out of a fight, and she was learning her lever-action crossbow quickly. Kitz was having fun with his slingshot, too, and I’m pretty sure he killed at least three spiders by this point. Even Delen pitched in, pulling Tabby back from a spider she didn’t see coming, and testing his taser on the arachnid. It worked horrifyingly well.

  I had yet to use any of my shadow abilities and didn’t plan to unless I was forced. Ersabet and I were handling the spiders just fine as long as we stayed together.

  There was a pause in the fighting as Damine killed off the final spider from the most recent cluster. These had been different: darker in color and slower than the white ones, but larger and significantly stronger. Even my razor sword struggled to sever their hairy limbs.

  But thankfully, we prevailed and had a moment to catch our breath. For the first time, I noticed we were on the outskirts of the city. There were some buildings scattered among the rocky terrain, but we weren’t on a street any longer. The spider webs were everywhere, spanning wide crevices in the rocky earth, stretching from a crumbling building to a petrified tree, but I didn’t see any more large spiders in the immediate vicinity.

  The massive, jagged wall of the cavern was visible in the distance, and a faint red light glowed at its base. It seemed so unnatural compared to everything I had seen thus far.

  “What’s that red light?” I asked, pointing out the distance.

  Ersabet looked at it for some time. “Fela, come here, please.”

  Fela came over, and Ersabet pointed out the light. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Fela’s eyes lit up. “It must be.”

  “Must be what?” I asked.

  “The exit,” they both replied in unison.