And finally, with sore muscles and a new sword - technically three - I made my way to the tavern area of the guild to grab some breakfast in preparation for my first dungeon run. I made it down before Eva and Rose, and in fact before most of the adventurers. Making my way to a booth along the edge of the room, I waved down Garth curious as to when he ever, if he ever, took a break.

  I didn’t have to wait too long. It was unclear if they awoke naturally or if the nervous bouncing of my leg or the tiptip tapping of my fingers on the table reverberated through the building enough to wake them. Definitely unclear. Unlike her usual attire, Rose wore some armor today. Not much, mind you, but she wore armored robes that I could tell were enchanted. Underneath, I saw hints of metal as well, still unable to toggle the passive. The robes were laced with metal wires that should be able to catch incoming attacks fairly easily. Them being white didn’t appeal to me much, given we were going into a dark dingy dungeon but I didn’t have room to talk. I still had no armor, having not had time to get any.

  Eva was dressed in her usual leathers and even had on some chain maille to cover any areas where skin had been showing, namely her upper arms and lower legs. The legs jangled a touch and I wondered if there was a reason she chose maille over grieves. I was sure she had a reason, so I didn’t ask for the time being.beneath her armor were several weapons, and in her pack were dozens of empty vials with metal stoppers.

  When they arrived at the table, they looked me up and down slowly. I felt Eva’s judgment before she opened her mouth, and Rose’s amusement. “Lios, armor? I knew you lost a sword, but don't tell me you lost your armor too?”

  “Ah. Not quite, it was melted by a sand wyrm before we arrived in town.” I scratched the back of my head, my hand brushing against the ponytail I had started wearing recently instead of cutting my hair. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

  “Did you research the dungeon at all? If any of the spiders bite you you could become a liability.” Eva’s eyes narrowed. “Rose, I told you he wouldn’t take this seriously.”

  “Hey hey Eva, we’ll be okay. We’ll just have to carry him and make him make it up to us.” Rose acted as an intermediary. She sat down across from me and idly pet Luka who approached looking for food. When he found she didn’t have any he came back over to me to shamelessly beg. I was a bit surprised when they begged that they didn’t send telepathic messages. Perhaps because they knew they didn’t need to?

  “Eva, Rose. I understand it seems like I’m being lackadaisical, but I’m not. I just haven’t had time to either do further research or make a new set of armor. I have some materials already but... well, my priority was to make a new weapon.”

  As I spoke and tried to assuage their concerns, Garth approached and dropped off their food. It was the same as always, there wasn’t much variance at the guild. We ate for the next little bit, Eva ignoring me but showering Sky with affection because she would approach without needing to hold out a bribe. Just after we finished the food and were getting ready to depart, Eva pointed at the sword on my hip in its pale oak scabbard.

  “Is this where all of your efforts were devoted?” Her head tilted as if she were debating between being irate or curious. “I think it’s best if you tell us its capabilities. I don’t have an appraisal skill, but I can tell its quite magical, is it not?”

  “It is. Here, take a look.” I appraised it to bring up its information before sharing it with them both. Neither of them looked particularly shocked but both frowned a bit.

  “The Spiders Web dungeon is within a cavern system. No flames when we are close to each other. Fire is dangerous in caves.” Eva glowered at me.

  “Trust me, I’m aware. If I find a need to use them, I’ll either make sure I’m far from you both or to warn you. It’s not the best weapon for this situation, the next one will be more appropriate. It’s just the first element I was able to work on.” I shrugged and pulled down the screen that floated before us. “I haven't had time to practice with it either, or my swordplay with one arm. I’ll do my best not to inhibit you both, however.”

  “Rose, I know we already paid but...”

  “We’ll be fine, Eva. Besides, I want to see what the Hero of Linden is capable of.” Rose turned to me with a sparkle and I groaned at the use of the title. “We can carry him this time. I have a feeling we wont always be able to.”

  “So, what level are the spiders, anyway?” I asked as we started to walk, following Eva as she shook her head in resignation. My question certainly didn’t earn me any favors. She glared at me for a second before answering.

  “The strongest are around level ninety. Wait, what even is your level? I swear to Ferune AND Protole that if you are not-”

  I started laughing at her growing exasperation, much to her displeasure. She wheeled on me in the doorway to the guild. “I’m level one hundred and one in my combat class. Sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed you’re right to be concerned. So far I’ve only shown myself as an incompetent ally, but I promise I’ll be of help. The foxes too.”

  “Right. Well, lets collect Luna and get to the dungeon.”

  “Luna?”

  “You’ll see.” She replied with a dark smile, meanwhile Rose said nothing simply enjoying the drama.

  A few minutes of walking in an awkward silence later and I met Luna. She was housed in a bestiary to prevent accidents in the city. Luna was, by all accounts, terrifying. As I waited outside and wondered what she could be, I heard loud grunts come from inside of the bestiary. Growls and huffs followed soon after. And then, Eva exited the building holding the door open for a giant bear with white fur. Not a polar bear, but a massive grizzly with white fur.

  Luna was perfectly groomed, which only alleviated about two percent of the terrifying visage she wielded. Her eyes immediately fell onto me with a massive amount of intelligence in them. She sauntered over, every footstep causing the ground to rumble. I raised my hand idly, reaching it up for her to sniff. Luka and Sky stood behind me their fur bristling toward the large beast. I stood my ground and ignored whatever look Eva was shooting my way, more curious about her pet bear than anything else at the moment.

  Luna stopped before me and slowly lowered her head to sniff my hand. When she didn’t attack or anything I moved forward and started to scratch at the side of her face, earning me a chuff of enjoyment. My foxes stopped growling in her direction and moved forward warily to sniff at her paws. Even on all fours Luna was taller than me by two heads, let alone for the tiny foxes.

  “Okay you’ve introduced yourselves. To the dungeon?” Eva asked impatiently. She huffed a little making me wonder if she hoped I’d be scared of her companion.

  “To the dungeon!” I agreed as Rose spoke in unison. We broke into a fit of giggles that only irritated Eva more before she led us toward a guild controlled building that housed all of their dungeon portals. We approached the portal and gave the attendant our guild cards to verify we were eligible and had indeed reserved the dungeon.

  I watched as everyone else stepped through first, gave the attendant a wry smile, then stepped through unsure what to expect.

  __________________________________________

  The portal felt like walking through an empty doorway. I had expected it to make me nauseous, to give me a feeling of strange movement. A little timey wimey wibbley wobbly or something. But no, much to my consternation, it felt like nothing. I checked my hand to make sure nothing was missing. I thought about checking my jewels too but noticed the gals looking at me in amusement.

  “What? I was expecting.. More, I don't know.” I puffed and they both laughed a little before Eva took on a serious expression, her lips pursed and eyes narrowed.

  “Okay, Lios, I’ll give you the rundown. We need to be careful. Even the small ones are venomous, and all of them are stealthy. Theres little chance in sneaking up on the spiders due to their powerful senses, which is why its okay for me to wear chain maille. Their webs are sticky and strong, but burn quickly. Be careful with your fire. Rose is our healer, protect her. I will fight with a bow and can fight with a sword, but you are the proper swordsman here.”

  “Understood. I’ll do my best to protect Rose and keep the spiders attention on me. Luka and Sky can help too. Luka, try to keep an eye on them with your earth sense and Sky, keep a breeze going to sense them, yeah? I’ll keep my own [Portent of the Thaumaturge] active as well. It only has a range of a hundred and fifty or so feet.” I drew my sword, the blade glowing faintly even without summoning any flames. “I can still channel other magic through the blade but it’ll be weaker than flames. One question, I know that the bodies of the things we slay get reabsorbed, but what about the webs? Are we able to take them with us?”

  “Why, pray tell, would you possibly want the webs?” Eva sighed heavily. “Whatever, yes you can take them with. They’ll only be remade by the spiders we leave behind or that the dungeon generates next. This dungeon is a few floors, it’ll take us probably a full day to deal with the boss if we want to do that. There’s bosses on each floor too. Multiple different ones in different chambers that lead to the next floor.”

  “Well, if there’s nothing else lets get into it?” I asked, stepping a few feet away and taking in the cave with my sphere of perception. I saw a few tiny spiders scuttling about, less than level one, and at the edge of my perception a few larger ones. I swiped my sword a couple of times to get used to the weight, it was designed for one or two hands and I was used to fighting with both. It would take time to get used to but I’d get there.

  After agreement from both Eva and Rose, we set down the cave. I told them about the half dozen spiders hiding on the ceiling before us and Eva immediately found them with her enhanced eyesight. She fired off a couple of arrows before the spiders knew what hit them but the remaining three dropped down and rushed toward us. I went to take a step but the first of them was impaled by a stone as Luka worked his magic. The next was sliced in half by Sky, and finally the last reached us. Disappointed I stepped forward and slashed at it. It was around one foot in diameter so not that hard to hit. As my blade passed through it I could vaguely feel the chitten surrounding its body break. There was a faint sizzle as my blade cauterize the wound and the spider fell dead.

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  The bodies of all six spiders melted into the ground, leaving behind a small collection of items. Three fangs, a tiny vial of venom, and a pair of eyes. Eva scooped the eyes and put them in one of her vials, before stowing the rest in her pack. “We’ll divvy up the loot after. I promise we will be fair.”

  I only nodded and we continued. The cave was dark, go figure, aside from the glow of my sword. Thankfully all of us had some way to see in the dark. We crept along with heightened awareness that anytime a foe could fall on us. Spiders ambushed their prey, after all. We fought a few more clusters of the insects and had little trouble dispatching them.

  I noticed on the first few swings that I had grown used to using my left arm as a counterbalance while fighting and was now overextending. I knew it would take time to get used to my body now that an integral part was missing, but it was still discouraging to see that the perfect form I had worked on for years had diminished.

  I led the way through the caves, cutting away any webs that barred our pass. The flaming sword, yet unnamed, easily ran through them. The heat on it prevented it from getting stuck to the webs. I started to collect a bunch of them, filling my otherwise empty pack quickly. I had water and food in it but that was all I’d brought beside my weapon. When I revealed this Eva about had an aneurysm, saying I was truly unprepared.

  “Tell me why we’re letting Lios lead us again?” Eva asked rose loud enough that I could hear her. My natural instinct was to chastise her for speaking so loudly even though we were doing nothing to be stealthy. It wasn’t like we were clanging pans together or making intentional noise but we weren’t trying to be overly quiet either.

  “Cuz I’ve got a solid perception skill and great instincts.” I replied dryly.

  And it was true, I was able to peak a ways down each of the various paths and between [Intuition} and [He who Wanders] I was able to pick the correct, or at least the best, path each time. We still marked the cave walls at each intersection but I had full faith in my ability even if my team didn’t. They’d learn to believe in it, I was sure.

  We didn’t have a clear direction we were heading in as the dungeons layout shifted with each party that came through. [Portent] and the foxes kept us from being ambushed at any time, easily sensing the spiders when they entered our range. Each time we called them out they were quickly dispatched and Rose didn’t need to heal much at all. I kept us moving, leaving markers at every intersection but following my gut as to which direction to head. Some of the caves were tight, enough so that I had to hunch down and even considered crawling to pass through them. In these ones I discovered that one of Eva’s skills was to pull Luna into an enchanted necklace which excited me for a variety of reasons. Namely, that that meant there was some sort of enchantment that could expand a space. I wasn't able to ask many questions about it but I filed it away for a later conversation.

  Other caves were rather large, filled with dozens of spiders that were ready for us. Egg sacs lined these caverns but we decided to ignore them, they weren't worth the experience and the they would provide the dungeon with its next denizens practically for free. And so we simply entered them and slaughtered the adult spiders, leaving the babies for the next fools who came through here. Spiders were horrifying, especially when they were massive furry beasts.

  After about two hours of walking we exited a tight cave into one of the massive chambers, this one however was significantly larger. It was massive, at least a half mile wide and even longer still. Filled with glowing mushrooms and gargantuan webs, it was an intimidating sight. Aside from the mushrooms not much else grew here. Egg sacs surrounded the cavern and spiders of all sizes crawled around it. Eva stopped me from entering the cavern.

  “This should be the boss chamber. Its bigger than reports said so it could be a variant. Do you know what that is?” She waited for me to shake my head. Once I did she sighed. “Of course. A variant can only occur within a boss monster, and is, as the name suggests, a different type of monster within the same family. For instance, the boss for this level was meant to be a tremendous venomous tarantacula. Basically a giant version of the venomous spiders weve already killed. Its chamber is typically half this size with no eggs, from what the guide said. I don’t know which variant causes this massive of a room to spawn... We will want to exercise caution.”

  “Noted. Whats the plan, then? I was thinking I could go in and test things out, reveal the boss so you two could either escape or find a way to fight at range. I’ll take Sky with me and you can keep Luka so he can relay information to me and sense if any spiders are prepared to flank you. Plus, if needed, he can block the cave here should you be swarmed.”

  “I don’t like it. It sounds, well, sound, but what if you get trapped in there? We wouldn’t be able to help you. You're asking us to support at range as you and your companion go alone?” Rose asked as Luka whined.

  “Papa, I can go with too...” He said in my mind, wishing to be beside me as I fought. I felt his wishes and took a deep breath, considering.

  “To be honest, and perhaps this is selfish, but I also wanted to test out my sword a bit. Theres a huge number of enemies before us, and my sword is suited well to killing them, I feel. Plus I cant use even one of its enchants with you all near me, for fear of engulfing you. I understand that I sound reckless, and maybe I am, but most of my spells deal damage in an area. I have the least chance of being overwhelmed of the three of us, and Eva is strongest at a range. If you can land a powerful shot with your bow while I distract the boss, wouldn’t that be the best case?”

  Rose and Eva thought for a moment. Rose looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself and shook her head. After several moments the two of them shared a look then glanced back at the cavern. Eva was the first to speak up, which interested me. It seemed that in the dungeons she spoke quite a bit more than when in town, perhaps due to experience?

  “If you’re sure, but the instant that it seems too dangerous you will leave won’t you?” She stared at me intently, “I will not leave you behind so use your best judgment. Keep an eye on your mana reserves too.”

  “I will, thank you for trusting me. Now, I’m gonna go kill a couple dozen spiders and see what we are dealing with.”

  I took a deep breath and commanded Luka to stay behind with them, and to let them know if anything came close to ambush them. I could feel his anguish at being left behind as a defender, but I reassured him that this was the best place for him strategically and that him being there made it so I could rest easy knowing our friends were safe. With Sky on my shoulder, I ran into the massive cavern and kept my senses open. Instantly I attracted the attention of a dozen spiders, all at the height of my knees.

  I didn’t feel the need to cast a spell at them as they all arrived at different times. As I weaved around them and sliced through the spiders or dodged the webs a couple of them launched my way, I dragged my heel through the rocky ground and drew the first few runes of a circle. It was the simple fire wave spell, but as I made it I poured fire mana into it for the first time. I also activated one of the abilities of the sword, Ignium’s Shroud, and watched as a flaming aura surrounded first the blade then my body and even Sky, who was on my shoulder. She growled briefly before realizing the flames were not burning her.

  I continued walking through the dimly lit room, if one could call it that, keeping an eye out for wherever this boss might be. Then, at the edges of [Portent] I noticed an approaching wave. Not just one or a few spiders were coming at me, but dozens. Hundreds. Smaller than the ones we had previously faced, the largest of these was only around the size of a baseball, but the number made up for it.

  “Sky, try to find a big spider. I can sense the small ones but no Idea where they are coming from.” I received a quiet yip in my ear as she agreed. The wind picked up around us as she flooded as much of the cavern as she could.

  The small spiders came from all directions, not just in front of me. I waited until they were fairly close but not close enough to jump to create a wave of fire around us. At the same time, intuiting my spells activation, Sky pushed more wind from us to bolster the small inferno. Notifications exploded as faint popping sounds and screeches filled the echoing chamber. I had cast the spell from my sword, using it to amplify the effects, and watched as the flame rolled out from us burning all of the spiders and their webs in its wake. Backed by Sky the flames grew hotter, engulfing each entity that they came across and consuming them.

  The smell of charring arachne flooded the area. Soon after the flame was sent out the crackling and screeching abated, nothing was left to burn as the fire kept racing along the webs all around us, quickly consuming them. The range on the spell itself had been roughly triple what I was used to, likely doubled by the use of the proper mana and further expanded by the amplification effect on the sword. I didn’t even feel the heat from it because of the shroud. I couldn’t help but laugh as I kept walking through the field of charred spiders, remembering the very first time I’d tried this runedance. How I’d burned my legs and stopped my mother from having it healed with magic.

  My laughter likely sounded like that of a lunatic, but it did feel good to use my magic again. To see progress in it, to use the appropriate mana. I thanked the fire mana within me, imagining the deer prancing within the fire that had spread out from me. A few seconds went by with only the crackle of the fire on the webs, but soon those flames were snuffed out. In my area of perception I saw dozens, hundred, more spiders again coming toward me. It wasn’t much of an expense to be rid of them, but still I knew it had something to do with the boss. I flashed a glance toward the entry but didn’t see anything as I continued to stride forward in search of the boss.

  This time, as the spiders neared, I didn’t even cast the fire wave but instead waited for them. Many of the smaller ones, any smaller than an egg, were lit instantly by the shroud of flame broiling the air around me. The ones that were a bit larger were able to still leap at me, or even scuttle in my direction even after being set on fire and I was forced to slash them away. It made me feel like a demigod, either way.

  As fire washed around me, scrubbing the area clean of disgusting spiders, I continued my slow wary journey to the middle of the cavern. My theory, now, was that there was some sort of brood mother creating a stream of spiders to attack. Whatever variant this was, I figured it had to do with swarming the opposition. Web flared up around me anytime I neared. It was a shame, some of that web would have made great silk for clothing. It was a bit weak to flame but once treated it would be as sturdy as steel wire. If a bit burnable.

  It was as I mused the tragedy that was losing all of this silk as I was surrounded by countless tiny enemies that I heard it. The sound of strange feet clacking against stone in the distance. From the other side of the cavern. It was faint, and I barely heard it, but it was there. It rose over the sound of the thousands of spiders that filled the area. Briefly I wondered what had caused the sound, and after considering my options I decided to use a bit of my mana to get a better idea. I activated a flame blade spell enveloping my sword with more flame, ready to be launched. After my blade was further enveloped I swept my sword in the direction of the feet faintly clacking against the stone floor, sending the current aura out as a sweeping blade of inferno. It washed over hundreds of spiders, the ambient heat of it setting some on fire and popping others like grapes underfoot. The blade traveled far, further than my first circle spell blades could normally reach, and lit the surrounding cave showing that what I had thought was the ground was actually a writhing mass of the eight legged creatures. And then, a towering pillar covered in spurs and hairs was revealed. And a second on as the flames passed between them, and a third and a fourth until it cracked into the fifth.

  I would never forget the primal fear that raced through me when the massive spider screeched. The way it nearly caused me to fall to my knees simply from force alone. The flames that had crashed into it quickly lit the webbing around it, causing it to panic and screech as hundreds of spiders that had been on the webs burned to a crisp. It was a screech of pain and anger and violence, that sent shivers down my back and even caused Sky to whimper.

  And in the dying light of the flames that remained I watched as the creature turned all of its eyes toward me, and as a mass of spiders on its back seemed to wake up and come to life. All of them coming toward me. I took a deep breath and readied myself, the aura reapplying on my sword.