Why am I going first? Both Bark and Killa stood on each side of the door, waiting for me. Bark was still holding onto my backpack with one of his hands. There was no giant cobweb blocking the door this time. Well, this is supposed to be my training montage. I might as well get this started.

  The door creaked open, revealing a scene that seemed both out of place and yet fit perfectly in the dungeon. It was as if I had stepped into some kind of locker room. The room was lined with plainly carved stone benches in front of metal cabinets. Square vertical support beams crisscrossed the room, their surfaces covered in a fine layer of dust. Several small orbs hung from the ceiling. None of them looked like they had worked for years.

  But there was something else on the ceiling that sent my heart rate into the red as it appeared in my vision.

  A spider hung from a vast, intricate web that spanned the ceiling. Its body was a sleek onyx with silver veins seemingly engraved across it. Its eight beady eyes unnerved me. A spider’s eyes were always the most unsettling part to look at. And can someone please tell me why that spider is as big as me? That’s not a spider! That’s a monster!

  Spiders are common predatory arachnids. They are known to snare their prey in webs. They spin elaborate canopies or shoot sticky strands of webbing from its abdomen. Spiders are most commonly found underground and in various dungeons.

  They are not supposed to be that big, Orange.

  There is no limit to the size a spider can grow to.

  The moment I stepped into the room, the spider’s eyes were locked on me. Its legs twitched, and with a sudden burst of speed, it descended towards me. I panicked and dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the spider’s ambush. It struck the stone floor with a resounding thud, sending dust into the air.

  It scuttled away towards the vertical support beams. I sprinted towards one of the cabinets, hoping to use it for cover. The spider lunged again, its legs tapping against the stone.

  I spun around, my dagger raised. The spider’s fangs reached for me, venom dripping from their tips. I shrieked as I tumbled backwards, tripping over the stone bench. The spider’s fangs scraped against the stone bench where I had been only moments before.

  The spider easily climbed over the bench and followed me as I scurried away from it. I screamed as I turned over and ran away from the nightmare-fuel monster. There was no doubt it followed me, as the room seemed to brighten up.

  “Why are you running?” Bark groaned.

  “There’s a giant spider chasing me!” My whiny voice echoed throughout the room.

  It’s just a spider. The host shouldn’t fear them. They aren’t a threat to the host.

  “Calm down.” Killa sounded almost bored. “I’ve got it tied up now.”

  I turned around to see the spider’s legs were all wrapped up in yellow tentacles. It fought to free itself. The screeches it let out were going to haunt me later.

  “Running away isn’t fighting.” Bark walked closer to the arachnid. “It’s just a spider. Hurry up and kill it already. This is embarrassing to watch.”

  I stomped my foot and pointed at the spider. “That is not a spider. Spiders aren’t that big. They’re supposed to be tiny, so you can step on them.”

  Bark and Killa exchanged glances before returning to me.

  “You mean you’ve not seen a spider like this before?” Killa asked.

  “No!”

  Bark slapped his forehead. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He dragged his hand down his face as he took a deep breath. “Well, that explains the running and the screaming. But if we are going to do this every time, it’s going to be a long, long day.”

  The host killed rats larger than they are used to. Why is the spider a problem?

  Rats are nasty, disease ridden creeps but aren’t really an issue. Spiders are unnatural. All those eyes, their hairy body, their poison, the webs… It’s nightmare fuel.

  It’s not poison, it’s venom. We can purge the host’s body from it.

  Killa rolled her eyes. “Just stab it in one of the center eyes and it’ll die, nice and easy.”

  I stared at the two lunatics. Do they really expect me to get near that thing? Yeah, no. Not going to happen. “I’m not getting anywhere near that thing.”

  The host has arachnophobia. We did not calculate for that.

  “Then use your gun,” Bark said in an exasperated tone.

  Something in my mind clicked. Oh, right. I have a gun. “How did I forget that? I was only too busy running for my life!”

  Bark glared at me and then turned to Killa. “Let it go. She needs this experience.”

  Killa waved her hand, and the yellow tentacles holding the spider in place vanished. The spider lunged at me. Why me?

  Because it’s good for the host. The only way the host will overcome such a pointless irrational fear is by repeated subjection to their fear until they give up such a pointless notion.

  I hate you Orange!

  I ran from the spider and pulled the gun from my pocket. I dove in between two beams that I knew the spider wouldn’t be able to fit through. But there wasn’t a thud of the spider hitting the beams that I expected. When I turned around, I never felt more stupid in my life. The spider had crawled up them and walked around.

  I hate spiders.

  The spider’s legs gripped the vertical beam, and with a push, it launched itself towards me once again. This time, its leg hit me as I tried to dodge to the side. I went flying through the air before tumbling into the wall. I could barely focus my vision as I rolled myself into a seated position. The spider bared its fangs as it scuttled towards me. Desperately, I pulled the gun out, pointed it at its face, and fired.

  The spider let out an ear-piercing screech as it stopped and stumbled backwards. After dropping my gun, I slammed my hands against my ears. A trail of brownish blood leaked from the monster’s mouth. One of its mandibles hung limp as it kept flinching.

  I got it? I got it!

  The screeching stopped as the spider started waving its front two legs in the air as it retreated. I picked up the gun and aimed for its eyes. My mana bar dropped below half when I fired the second shot. A familiar sense of fatigue hit me. So that explains the tiredness. I spent my mana shooting at the assassin.

  The spider’s face exploded in a shower of more blood as its body flopped to the ground. In the corner of my vision, I received both ten stat points and two hundred shards. An eerie silence fell upon the room as I stared at the corpse.

  I sat on the ground, panting. My heart rate kept blinking red on my HUD. “I got it.”

  A slow, consistent clap ended the silence. Bark marched up to me, clapping two of his hands while the other two held swords at his sides. “Congratulations. For a moment there, I thought I’d have to step in.”

  The host’s performance could be improved in every way. Instead of running, the host should’ve taken an aggressive stance and attacked before the spider attacked instead of letting it make the first move. The host had a better performance when facing the cosmic assassin.

  Enough, Orange. I’ve never been in these kinds of situations before. I’m not used to this.

  “Don’t like spiders.” My voice wheezed as I spoke.

  Killa stretched her arm behind her and into her backpack before pulling out a canteen. “The first one is always the hardest. You’ve got to get over your fear so you can think properly when you fight.” She walked over and handed me the water. “So, do you want to take a short rest to calm down and recover your mana?”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  I took a long drink. “Yeah.”

  Bark shrugged. “Distribute your stats and let us know when you’re ready to go. In the meantime, Killa.” He nodded to the spider corpse. “Do you mind?”

  I placed all my points into arcane since I wanted to keep my distance from the giant spiders. What’s he talking about? Killa walked over to its face. How can she be willing to walk towards that? Her arm expanded, swallowed the spider, and dissolved it. In her hand was a small, dull, milky pearl. She stuffed it into her bag of holding.

  I stared at the puddle of green blood. “What did you do to its body? What was that thing.”

  “I ate it,” Killa chirped. “If you want to eat one, just let me know.”

  Right, there’s no way I’m eating one of those. Nuh-uh.

  Giant spiders are a large source of protein and would provide large quantities of calories.

  Still not going to happen. I’d have to be starving, and even then I’d do anything but that.

  “Thank you,” Bark said before he turned back to me. “That thing is a monster’s core. When we stop for the day. Don’t focus on that right now. There’s something else we need you to focus on. You’re going to kill all the spiders on this floor, of course.” His lips curled into a devilish smile.

  More spiders? And I’ve got to kill them? I fainted.

  ***

  I stared at my stats screen as I woke up.

  “Enjoy your little nap?” Bark asked without hiding the annoyance in his voice.

  I looked at my status and saw my energy bar was at about half, my mana was full, and my heart rate had returned to normal. I can feel my heart rate. It’s a bit redundant with that in my vision. The heart rate monitor disappeared from my HUD.

  I sat up and leaned my head against the cool stone. “So, uh, how big is this floor? How many spiders are you expecting me to have to fight?”

  Bark shrugged. “Last time I was here, we killed six. But there’s always the possibility for more. The first floor is pretty small. Just a few office rooms and equipment storage.”

  I took a deep breath. “So, why does this take an entire day to clear out?”

  Killa extended a hand to me. “It doesn’t. We packed for three days just in case we needed to rest for a day. We didn’t know how much you’d have to rest between encounters. Most of the rooms are too small to house a spider that size. And that’s one of the smaller ones. Your mana is good now, right?”

  I took her hand, and she helped me to my feet. “Yeah.”

  “Good.” Bark waved a hand towards the door. “Shall we?”

  I picked up the gun. Killa placed a hand on my wrist. “Maybe we should show you how to fill that. You know, just in case.”

  She gave me a wide smile. I went to hand her the gun, but she shook her head as she pushed it back to me.

  She pointed to a small button on the bottom of the handle. “Now this thing holds nine shots before you need to fill it. As long as you fill it with any earth-related material, it’ll do the hard part for you.”

  I popped the bottom open to look inside the handle and see what looked like sand filling half of it. Well, there was plenty of sand outside. But what can I use right now? I looked around the room and saw a few chipped pieces of rock lying on the ground. I scooped them up and watched as the handle swallowed them regardless of their shape. Now the gun looked to be filled with the black stone everything was made out of.

  Okay, that’s kind of cool.

  I closed up the handle and marveled at the little weapon. Something like this on Earth would destroy the gun market. Not paying for bullets—that sounds like a gun nut’s fantasy come true. The only thing that would top that is if every weapon had a secret gun attached to it. But that’s just crazy.

  With Bark and Killa following me, I led them further into the dungeon. They had me open every door first. I always swung the door wide open and, after a few seconds, poked my head through to look for any spiders. And after my first encounter, I always checked above the door first.

  The gun made killing the spiders much easier. I noticed with my new arcane stat, I could shoot nine bullets over the course of several minutes before my mana was spent. It took about ten minutes before we found another spider. It hung in the far corner of the room, almost as if it didn’t see me poke my head through the doorway. Even though Killa’s light was limited, I had no problem seeing in the dark.

  My eyes really did get an upgrade. I’m starting to see their benefits. Ha, see.

  The host's eyes are…

  Orange, don’t.

  I took three shots to kill it before it could reach the door. That went way better than that first attempt.

  We followed that routine throughout the first floor. I peeked in and tried to kill the spider before it reached the door. Luckily, there was never more than one spider per room, if there was a spider. Most of the rooms were completely empty. If I needed to let my mana recover, I just said so, and we took a short break. Bark told us we could eat once we reached the stairway down. Then it’ll be safe enough for us to eat. Killa offered me a finger in case of an emergency.

  With each kill, I could feel myself getting better at shooting my gun and the spiders weren’t as frightening. Eventually my shots hit the spiders more than they missed. It was much easier when they didn’t do anything until I entered the room or shot them. We, or more accurately, I, killed eight spiders relatively easily. I impressed Bark and Killa with how quickly my accuracy improved. On the last one I killed it in one shot. And each time I killed one, Killa ate it. Each spider held a monster core that she placed in her bag.

  They’ve got to be worth something if Killa and Bark are collecting them.

  We almost finished clearing the first floor after receiving a total of fifty-five points. The first three spiders gave me ten points each, while the last five gave me only five points each. Which meant they were level eleven.

  We stood in front of the last room, according to Bark. The door was larger than the rest, which led to much smaller rooms, as Bark had mentioned earlier.

  “So, why did we stop?” I asked my shaylip companion.

  “This room is much larger.” Bark didn’t take his eyes off the door and placed my pack next to it. “It also leads to the next level. There’s a chance we’ll have several spiders to face.”

  “Hey, Killa.” She turned towards me. “Do you mind helping me find some rocks? I’ve got one shot left.”

  She nodded. “Not a problem.”

  Her hand glowed and shot out a pair of blue tentacles at the wall. A few pieces broke off as a loud crack echoed through the hallway. After the ringing in my ears subsided, I scrounged up a few pieces and loaded my weapon. I also saved a few of the other larger pieces in my pocket for later.

  “Thanks, but could you warn us next time?” I asked as I rubbed my ears as I felt the nanites working on them. My energy bar was down to a third. If I had to guess, my mana regeneration is also enhanced by my nanites. It’s helped us clear this floor faster. I could use some food, though.

  Bark nodded at me. “You ready? We’ll start when you fire from the entrance and lead them here.” He turned to Killa. “If any try to climb over the top of the door, take them out.”

  Killa nodded and placed her pack next to where Bark placed mine and his. “There shouldn’t be too many. We’ll be fine.” She patted my shoulder as she walked behind me.

  Bark pushed open the door. The door sounded heavier as it ground against the stone floor. If anything was sleeping in there, it’s not now. Inside weren’t just a few spiders, like my companions led me to believe. There was a swarm of them. They were smaller, but I could easily count more than twenty of them, each half as wide as I was tall.

  “Uh, guys, that’s not a few spiders.” I lifted my gun to the nearest one and fired.

  It wasn’t my brightest move, but at least I hit the spider. The bullet passed through its center section. Green blood poured from the wound as it stumbled to get up. But after one attempt to stand, it crumbled to the ground, and I was awarded one hundred and fifteen souls and five stat points, which I immediately put into arcane. I’m going to need to shoot a lot more.

  The other spiders hissed and charged at us. Another problem ran through my head. I’m not going to have enough bullets for this.

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