After Bark gave me a full tutorial on how to throw a punch, Killa had finished eating almost all the spider. The monster core she pulled out from the creature’s head was a milky blue and had a more noticeable luster to it. She “generously” left me one leg, which I had to eat before she would let us go to the next floor. Yay, more spider meat. Yuck!

  I did get the hang of throwing a decent punch pretty quickly by Bark’s standard. Of course, he had me punching the stone walls to test out my new skin. And surprisingly, it didn’t hurt. I didn’t break the stone, but as long as I kept my wrist straight, my hands didn’t hurt. Reloading and holding my gun felt a little off, but it felt like I could still aim well enough. The dagger kept slipping through my fingers if I tried to shift my grip on it. It wasn’t a problem since I was gravitating towards using my gun more anyway.

  Why bring a knife to a gunfight?

  Bark was looking better; his movements weren’t as painful anymore, and we even removed the splints on his arms. But we couldn’t put off our descent any further. But as we walked downwards, Killa kept falling behind. “Will you two slow down?” She waved her arms as she ran to keep up. Her backpack nearly dragged on the ground as she walked. I couldn’t help but laugh at her.

  Bark snickered. “What’s the matter? Short legs?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, longlegs.” Killa glared at the shaylip. “At least I can carry my pack.”

  “Your pack is as large as you are. Are you sure you don’t want us to put you in it and carry you?” I couldn’t hold back another laugh.

  Killa pouted. “I’m glad I can be the butt of your jokes. At least Rina’s not freaking out again.”

  Bark bowed and waved for Killa to proceed before us. “If you don’t want to fall behind, you can lead.” Bark was looking better. His arms were at least no longer needing to be restrained, but I could see him favoring both of his left arms still. “I’m with Rina on this one. With you being so short, you look just so adorable.”

  The slime woman cracked a smile. “If I had a mirror, I’d probably agree with you.”

  Our progress was slow as we let Killa set the pace. And since I didn’t need the light from Killa’s magic as much, she wrapped the illuminating tentacle around Bark’s waist. The first room we came across had me feeling like we walked into an office space. There were tables and chairs haphazardly tipped over, thrown around, and damaged throughout the room. I even saw what looked like cabinets with drawers and counters that were also damaged.

  There was one thing missing: spider webs. And I couldn’t have been more relieved.

  “Keep your guard up.” Bark tapped my shoulder. “I don’t like the feel of this. It’s too quiet.”

  I turned and cocked my head. “This whole dungeon has been silent except for us. We’re the noisemakers. Maybe, just maybe, there aren’t any more spiders to worry about. We killed plenty on the first two floors.”

  Killa tugged my pants leg. “Nuh-uh kiddo. You’re going to hope there are spiders on this floor. Because if not, then that means something even worse moved in. Something we might not be prepared to handle.”

  You two are real buzzkills right now. I slumped my shoulders before straightening up and flexing my fingers before pulling out my gun. As we walked, the air felt even colder. My resistance was over a hundred now, but this felt colder than the desert night. Maybe the spiders left because someone turned the air conditioning on.

  While spiders have an aversion to cold, that seems unlikely.

  Do you have any ideas?

  Insufficient information.

  I thought so.

  The three of us moved through the chamber and into another room. The absence of spider webs, which had become an expected feature of this dungeon, continued. I really hope Killa’s wrong. There better not be anything worse than spiders down here. The silence was unnerving, our footsteps echoing in the cold, damp air as we walked through another room. It was another room full of upturned tables and chairs.

  In the center of the room, we found scattered remnants of what might have once been an adventurer’s camp. Tattered bedrolls, shattered glass vials, and overturned tables seemed to tell a tale of chaos and retreat.

  “Stay close,” Bark whispered. His head was on a constant swivel. “We can’t handle another deviant.”

  “Are you sure this wasn’t from the deviant from upstairs?” Killa asked. “If it killed down here, then moved up. It’s possible; that’s all I’m saying.”

  Bark relaxed slightly. “It’s possible, but I really hope there are not two deviants in the same dungeon. That shouldn’t be possible. I’d think they would have tried to kill each other by now.”

  I thought about our encounter with the spider upstairs and how we had to clear away the webs from the door down here. “Bark might be right.” Both of them turned towards me. “Think about it. That spider waited until we entered before it sprung its trap. It couldn’t leave, so it needed food to come to it. But it blocked the entrance to this floor. I think it was scared of something coming up to it.”

  What do you think, Orange?

  That’s a possible conclusion. It could’ve also been nothing more than a trap to keep anything it caught in its lair.

  Killa’s eyes went wide. “That’s…”

  “Unsettling,” Bark finished.

  “So, should we leave?” I asked. “If something like that spider is scared of what’s down here, I want no part of it.”

  Bark turned his head and clenched his fist so hard it shook. My heart pounded in my chest. He doesn’t want to leave. Even after hearing that? How desperate is he?

  “We’ll just, just... No. Let’s go.” Bark looked defeated. “We will just have to go without the answers for now. We have to live first and foremost.”

  “Thank you.” I sighed.

  Bark shuffled his feet towards the next room. “Come on, let’s head to the secret entrance. It’ll get us home faster.”

  “Why don’t we just go back the way we came?” I asked.

  “This way is faster,” Killa answered. “Unless you want to stay in this place another day?”

  There is also the possibility the cosmic assassin has already returned to the Soul Nexus and is following the host. If the host runs into it now, the host and allies will be at a disadvantage.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  I nodded. “Fair enough. Emergency exit it is.”

  About an hour passed as we went from desolate room to desolate room. Bark and Killa exchanged worried glances, clearly as unnerved as I was by the thought of something more dangerous than the giant spider prowling the dungeon. The nagging feeling that something was not right settled in the pit of my stomach and sent a shiver down my spine constantly.

  Bark led us to a tiny side room. He nodded to a wall. “You’re up, Killa.”

  She saluted, and her body flattened into a puddle before she seemed to slip in between a seam along the floor. I looked closer and saw that there was a seam that almost looked like a door along the wall that went up to the ceiling.

  We heard a click, and Bark started pushing the section of wall Killa slid under. He was looking like he was moving better and wasn’t in constant pain.

  The wall moved back and started lifting as if on a hinge attached to the ceiling. Killa smiled as she waved when she came into view. “I’d welcome you to the exit, but there’s a big problem.”

  I looked past her and saw that the walls had collapsed. “It’s not supposed to look like that, is it?”

  Bark held the door up and sighed. “This is going from bad to worse, and now, finally, outright evil.”

  “Give me a minute to see how much is collapsed.” Killa pointed to the rocks. “Maybe we can just dig enough to slip through.”

  “Yeah, go ahead.” Bark closed his eyes as he lowered the door.

  Killa nodded before burrowing into the dirt. I looked at Bark, who let the door close. “So what do we do if it’s too bad?”

  He shrugged. “Just head out the way we came in. But if it is like this, then this entrance is closed forever. We’ll have to go through the dungeon again after we recover.” He threw off his pack and slid his back down a wall as he sat down.

  I looked at the cave-in, and something caught my eye. “Hey Bark, what’s that?”

  He looked where I was pointing. “I don’t know. Dig it out if you’re that curious.”

  It’s only a small section and near the front. It should be fine, right? So I started digging with my hands. They had no problem sifting through the dirt, and none of the dirt slipped through the seams around my joints. It wasn’t long before I pulled out a backpack.

  Its straps were tangled and shredded. Bark’s eyes narrowed as I placed it between us.

  “Someone was here,” he muttered, his voice low. “Recently. Did they cause the cave-in? Or did they escape from something that caused it?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  Killa popped her head back out of the hole she dove into. “No-go, fellas. It’s at least thirty meters.” She looked at the pack I had just opened. “Oh, what have you got there? Someone left something behind?”

  Killa slithered closer. Her eyes lit up when she saw the backpack’s contents. “Potions.” She whistled. “And a whole stash of them too.”

  I pulled one of the vials of shapes filling the bag. While all the bottles were different shapes, they were all bright green. My eyes widened as I saw the label, “Meal in a Bottle.”

  That sounds like food to me. And I need the energy. I can eat all of these and not have to eat any more spiders for the rest of this trip.

  Killa’s voice held a mix of caution and concern. “Rina, I wouldn’t...”

  Before she could finish, my fingers had already popped the top of one of the vials and brought the vial to my lips. I’m not eating another spider.

  “Rina, wait!” Bark’s voice rang out, but it was too late.

  The potion tasted strange—a mix of flavors that I couldn’t quite place. It almost tastes like sour apples mixed with grapes that have been soaked in something I’ve never tasted before. As the liquid slid down my throat, a warmth spread through my body, and a tingle told me the nanites went to work. My energy bar filled up to just under full. Oh, yeah. Those are so much better than eating some bugs.

  I looked in the pack and saw more than a dozen bottles.

  “Rina, what are you drinking?” Killa snatched the bottle from my hand. “Do you even know what those potions do? Or what kind of effect they might have on you?”

  “It said it was a meal potion,” I answered hesitantly.

  Bark groaned. “Rina, do you have any idea what you’ve just consumed? Those potions aren’t just meal replacements. They’re rather potent and need to be diluted in water before you consume them.”

  Killa waved the bottle. “Drinking a meal potion straight like that is poisonous to most species.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “If it’s poisonous, why is it a meal potion? Why would people willingly drink poison?”

  Killa frowned. “Normally it isn’t poisonous, it’s just the concentration of it that causes problems.”

  I don’t understand.

  The host can think of it like this: the human body requires salt, but in copious quantities, is harmful and dehydrates them. We can absorb all nutrients and calories without harming the host. It is safe for the host to consume these potions.

  That makes sense.

  We suggest the host consumes as much calories since they are available.

  It’s not a spider so I’m all for it. I scooped up another bottle. “It’s safe for me to consume them because of my nanites. So, can I drink them?”

  Bark’s mouth gaped. “What?”

  “No,” Killa answered with a hard expression.

  “But didn’t you guys want me to be in the lead?” I asked. “It’s safer for me to have as much energy available at all times. Since I can have no limit, drinking now is preferable to in the middle of a fight.”

  Bark waved his hand to Killa. “She makes a good point.”

  Killa hung her head. “Fine, but just save one for emergencies.”

  I downed the second just as fast as the first. But I didn’t stop there. I downed vial after vial, my energy bar filling a second time and partially into the third when I finished the final bottle.

  “You done?” Killa took the final bottle from me.

  I let out a loud burp and sighed as I leaned against the wall. “Yeah. That’s just what I needed.” Even though I didn’t feel full, something about not eating a spider was satisfying.

  Killa’s expression turned from surprise to exasperation. “Rina, are you serious right now? You downed all of those potions like they were nothing! I know you said what you said, but seeing it is another thing.”

  I chuckled sheepishly. “Yeah. I really, really don’t want to eat any more spiders.”

  Bark pointed at the pile of empty bottles. “By the way, you just chugged down almost twelve thousand shards worth of potions in minutes.”

  I blinked several times. “Wait, what? Twelve thousand shards? Are you serious?” My diet is going to bankrupt me.

  Bark pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, Rina. That’s the cost of those potions. You just gulped down a fortune. I knew you could eat a lot, but that’s unheard of.”

  Killa rolled the bottle into the pile of other empty ones. “Do you even realize how much you’ve just eaten?” I shook my head. “At standard potency, each of those is roughly four meals worth.”

  I counted the bottles. Fourteen times four... fifty-six. I ate fifty-six meals? My face flushed and I shifted uncomfortably. “I was just so sick of spiders, and I need the energy. But…”

  Bark’s voice softened as he placed the final bottle in his pack. “I guess it’s fair. We’ve been making you eat them while I eat regular food.”

  I tried to put on a smile for them. “On the bright side, I’m all ready to go.”

  Killa chuckled and shook her head as she waved her hand up. “Let’s just get home. Do you mind, Bark?”

  Bark stood up and picked up his pack. “Yeah, let’s get going. And for the rest of our time here, Rina, you’re taking point.”

  But just as Bark opened the door, a figure emerged from the darkness across the room.

  The creature stood about a head taller than Bark, its body lithe and sinewy. Its skin was a deep, mottled shade of gray, textured like aged leather. Its head was elongated, reminiscent of an octopus, but with four long, slender tentacles surrounding a central, beak-like orifice. The tentacles twitched as they draped down its front. Dark eyes seemed to glow from the light around Bark’s waist.

  The creature was wearing an intricately woven robe that seemed to shift colors as I stared at it. Strange symbols and patterns pulsed and danced with a soft glow on its sleeves. A cloak of shadowy material billowed from its back, blending with the darkness behind it. Each hand only had three fingers.

  “Well, what do we have here?” I didn’t hear a voice through my ears. It was like something was speaking directly into my mind—a deep, slithering voice. “Interlopers? Interesting.”

  https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0BVWLYCT3