I plunged into the icy water below.

  I squirmed, flailing my legs uselessly in the water; spider limbs like mine were not made for navigating an aquatic environment. Fortunately, the [Web Realm Weaver] was discovering that it had the same issues, perhaps worse given its size and weight.

  I'd gotten so used to my spider form and all of its advantages that I'd forgotten the biggest advantage I had. I wasn't just a man, and I wasn't just a spider. I was both. I released my spider form, returning to my human form. The transformation was near instant, and suddenly I found myself cutting through the water with ease. My human limbs propelled me forward as I swam away from the floundering [Web Realm Weaver]. I could hear its wordless, frustrated chittering even underwater as it struggled to pursue me.

  I broke the surface, gasping for air, and quickly scanned my surroundings. The cavern stretched out before me, its walls glistening with moisture. Down below, I could see the realm weaver struggling in its aquatic prison. The sight brought a grin to my face as I dove back down below the water. While I couldn't breathe underwater, it seemed all my stat upgrades had certainly given me more lung capacity. I had to imagine it was the same for my opponent; I doubted the spider would drown anytime soon, so I was going to have to help it along to its watery grave.

  I slid through the water with practiced ease despite the addition of clothing and armour. It seemed all those summers spent in the pool and lakes as a child and then as a young man hadn't been a waste at all. All that time spent served me well now as I drew my dagger from my [Inventory]. Slashing wouldn't work in the water; there was too much resistance for that, but thrusting, that might work, less water to push through, less resistance. I approached the realm weaver from above and a little behind; there was little point in aiming for a blind spot, I knew that from experience. My own experiences as a spider were a reminder that they had nearly 360 degrees of vision. It would be most effective to simply approach from a direction from which it was harder to attack. This meant I wanted to be on whatever side its forelegs were furthest from, since they were the most flexible and had the most avenues of attack.

  As I drew closer, the [Web Realm Weaver] sensed my approach. It twisted in the water, its legs thrashing wildly as it tried to orient itself towards me. I could see the panic in its multiple eyes, a sight that would have been almost comical if not for the deadly stakes of our underwater battle. I tightened my grip on the dagger, my muscles tensing as I prepared to strike. The realm weaver's movements became more frantic, creating a flurry of bubbles that obscured my vision momentarily. I pushed through, using the disturbance as cover for my final approach. Just as I came within striking distance, one of its flailing legs caught me in the side. The impact was dulled by the water, but it was still enough to knock some of the air from my lungs. I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to gasp and lose my precious oxygen. Recovering quickly, I seized the moment of contact to grab onto one of its legs. Using it as an anchor, I pulled myself closer to its body. The realm weaver's chittering intensified, the sound distorted and eerie underwater.

  I dragged myself up its leg, foot by foot, getting closer to the goal of its torso by the moment. The realm weaver bucked and shook frantically, trying to dislodge me. My dagger plunged deep into the soft tissue, punching through the chitinous armour that covered its body. A cloud of dark ichor billowed out, obscuring my vision. I felt the creature's body convulse, its legs flailing with renewed vigour. I clung on, driving the dagger deeper, again and again spilling more ichor out into the once clear water. My arm was like a sewing machine, my dagger the needle as the green shimmer of [Venomous Strikes] coated the blade. A garbled screech of rage came from the mouth of the [Web Realm Weaver] as it struggled desperately to get me away from it. There were now three different venoms ravaging its body, mine, Vipera's and that of my dagger, and every short thrust of my blade delivered a fresh dose when it punched through the chitin of the massive spider. In a last act of desperation, the realm weaver rolled, trying to crush me beneath its bulk.

  My vision dimmed, flickering at the edges, and my lungs burned and pleaded for breath. The siren song of unconsciousness called my name over and over. I refused to give in. This battle would end here. A surge of energy redoubled my efforts. Grasping the edge of one of the deeper scars I'd left in the spider's chitin with my free hand, I dragged myself up higher on the realm weaver's thorax, fresh, unmarred chitin present new targets for me. The realm weaver tilted further, and I felt the rough stone of the ground pressing against me, smashing my leg into the ground. I howled in a cloud of bubbles and poorly spent air. The feeling of being trapped sparked a new surge of wrath deep in my guts.

  Pain and rage drove me; I became like a machine, no thought, no feeling, just the endless thrust and withdrawal of the dagger in my hand. My vision flicked once again, this time leaving black streaks across my once clear vision, and my muscles began to slacken. There was no strength in my limbs. The will to go on, to keep fighting, was there, but the body was spent. The [Web Realm Weaver] stopped struggling moments ago, slumping down onto the rocky body of the pond. Its limbs seemed to be feeling as weak as my own at the moment. It was a dead beast already, even if it didn't know it. There was too much venom coursing through its systems for it to cope with; it wouldn't be able to recover, especially down here in the deep water.

  Slowly, my eyes drifted closed as the last vestiges of my mind fled into the darkness of unconsciousness.

  After all that, this is where it ends?

  —-

  I sputtered, rolling onto my side, a torrent of pond water spilling out of my mouth. It felt like I'd been kicked in the chest by a horse, or a Jarken. Probably a Jarken. Those rhino-like monsters had some wait behind them. My head was spinning, and I groaned, retching up yet more water. It felt as if I'd swallowed half the damn pond. I lay there for several minutes, dragging in ragged breaths as the last moments before unconsciousness. Slowly filtered back into my mind. The feeling of a wet snout prodding my cheek got me to open my eyes, face to face with a familiar pair of electric blue eyes. I sagged back against the stone.

  "Pulled me out of the pond, huh?" I rasped out a weak hand, finding Vipera's head. The large snake squirmed under my touch, and I felt a shock of worry pass through our bond. "Saved my ass, thanks, girl."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  I could feel the system notifications buzzing in the back of my mind, so I ignored them for the moment. For just a few minutes, I wanted to rest. It'd been so long since I'd truly been at rest, I couldn't be sure of how long exactly it had been. My sense of time while I'd been here in the soul-sheer was fuzzy at best. That would happen to anyone without sleep or hunger or a daylight cycle to mark any sort of passage of time. I gingerly tried to move my leg, the one that had been trapped beneath the [Web Realm Weaver]. It was sore and tender, but it moved; there didn't seem to be anything broken.

  "How in the hell did you get the big bastard off my leg?" I asked, looking questioningly at my familiar. There was no shot that she moved the damn thing on her own. I was stronger than she was, and I didn't think I would have been able to shift all that weight by myself, even healthy and not underwater.

  The mental equivalent of a shrug passed through our bond, accompanied by the idea of a body turning to smoke, fading, disappearing.

  "Ohhh, you looted the body after it died, then pulled my ass out. Makes sense." I grunted out, dragging myself to a seated position. I was seated on a familiar ledge of rock. One that led directly back to where I had first begun making progress. It led back to the underground jungle. Oh, the irony, finishing this where it began. I shook my head at the irony, as my skin was covered by a familiar tingle, and I immediately began to feel better, the ache in my legs fading rapidly. The [Root Regeneration] skill that Vipera had was no joke.

  I turned my attention to my system notifications; it felt like there were more than a few of them. More than I expected.

  It took me several minutes to go through all of the notifications since there was a small pile of them. At the end, I couldn't help but grin. I had done it. I'd reached level 20, and I'd slain the guardian of the realm. Now I would finally be able to go home. Admittedly, the thought of going home didn't have the same draw to it that it might have had when I started this journey. Honestly, the thought of going home and never gaining another level, never progressing, stagnating, sat poorly in my gut. It was like a lead weight. Yet here I was, for months I'd battled in the Soul-Sheer, and now I was going home.

  Instead of moping about what might be when I finally returned home, I instead opened up my [Inventory] to see if that massive spider had dropped me anything interesting. A last gift from the Soul-Sheer.

  In my hands, I held a pair of gloves; they felt sturdy, as sturdy as my cuirass or my bracers. They were made from velvety smooth, black material; the back of the hands and each finger section were covered in hard black chitin that reminded me of the [Web Realm Weaver]'s hard exterior. Each finger was capped by a short, but very sharp claw. I noted several small holes that I was unsure of the purpose of, one just beneath each claw, and one underneath the large plate that would cover the back of my hand when I wore them.

  Now that is a rare item. I couldn't help but put the gloves on immediately. They were silky and smooth, and after a few moments, I barely felt like I was wearing gloves at all; they felt natural on my hands. I was impressed. The first effects on these gloves would surely be helpful, but they weren't the real prize. The real prize was the last one. It would let me act as if I had [Web Mastery] personally and let me get the skill through practice. That was a huge boon since I had little information on how skills worked or how to actually obtain them outside of random chance and taking related actions.

  I glanced at the timer. Apparently, I'd gotten lost playing with my new gloves.

  Curse my loot goblin ways.

  I chuckled, taking a seat on the stone ground beneath me. There wasn't much else to do at this point but wait.

  The timer ticked down slowly. Marching ever onward towards its destination, bringing me closer to mine with every step. I sat silently on the stone, mood subdued.

  I sat there, right until the world began to melt.

  It began with a soft touch. A softening, a rounding of edges. Then it accelerated as if the entire world was dissolving. I rose to my feet, slowly, painfully slow. It was as if I was pushing every movement through syrup or molasses. My feet sank into the stone as if I were standing on a marshmallow rather than hard stone. I sank as I was the rock, first to my knees as I struggled, then my hips. The panic settled in, and I struggled even harder; every movement was a struggle, and no progress was made.

  Within barely a minute, I was up to my neck.

  Then I knew no more.