Mechanically, I fired a shot through the creature’s eye. It exploded in a shower of blood and brain matter out the back.

  “Huh,” I tilted my head. That’s the second time I’ve killed something, and I didn’t get any stats or shards.

  Evidence supports the following theory: the spider was already mid-decomposition before the host encountered it.

  That seems like an awfully wordy way to say that it was already dead. Do you think that the ugly thing back there killed it? Do you think it’s another deviant?

  Insufficient information. However, we propose the host proceed with caution as if it were a deviant.

  There wasn’t any movement as I stood around. The large web nest was suspended in the center of the room. Several other smaller versions, without sider corpses, dotted the corners. A sophisticated network of webs that seemed interconnected and fed to a central point covered every inch of the room. That point was the top of a door.

  It was impossible to step anywhere without landing on at least a few strands of web. Strangely, the webs weren’t all that sticky. Well, if that creature made all these webs, I doubt going to where they’re all converging is in my best interest.

  I headed to the other door in the room. As I did, there was a grating sound above me. I looked up to see chunks of the ceiling falling towards me.

  I dove away from the falling stone blocks only to have more parts of the ceiling fall above me. Rolling to my feet just in time as the next section hit the ground in a massive cloud of debris and dust. It blocked my vision and forced me to cough as I staggered away from the cave in.

  When the dust settled, the door I was planning on taking was buried. That couldn’t have been an accident.

  We agree with the host. The rest of the dungeon, even with signs of obvious neglect, has not shown any failure in structural integrity.

  Then what are you saying—something intentionally dropped the ceiling on my head?

  Correct. Analyze the stones more closely. The host should notice that half of the stones are wrapped in webs.

  I stepped closer and saw it. The webs were wound tightly around the stones, almost like rope. They weren’t very thick, but the more I looked around the room, the more I saw them. All the webs streamed from the rocks to the door.

  Are you suggesting that thing is moving the ceiling?

  That is the most sensible hypothesis. It appears that the creature is able to manipulate its webs. It must have been controlling them to control the saw blades as well.

  The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. If that creature can create and control webs like this, that means it can turn this entire floor into a death trap. But why did it keep me from going through that door? I turned my attention to the webbed up doorway and started cutting away at the webs.

  Insufficient information. The host will have to gather more evidence to support any deductive reasoning. We suggest the host avoid damaging the webs too much. There is the possibility that the creature can sense the vibrations in the webs, similar to a natural spider. However, the intricacy and extensiveness of the visible network would give support to the possibility that it does so with a greater degree of competence and an almost magical mastery.

  I finished cutting the webs attached to the fallen debris. Orange, sometimes I think you talk because you like to hear yourself talk.

  We have no opinions or preferences.

  No, of course not. I pushed some of the rubble out of the way to see that the door was still blocked. I sighed as I felt a headache coming on. This place has gone from terrifying to deadly to complicated and now annoying.

  We suggest the host avoid provoking the creature by damaging the webs more.

  I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t listening to you the first time. It wanted me away from this door. But it looks like if I want to clear my way through, it’d take too long. Fine. It wins this round.

  With one door inaccessible and the other where I came from, I headed to the remaining door. No more falling rocks, no spinning blades, and no resistance when I opened it.

  But what I did see was a lot of webs. Not a few strands, but an entire web spanning the length of the room. The center was suspended above the ground, but the walls, ceiling, and floor were covered. It was too uniform and neat to be an accident. If I walked through the room, I would undoubtedly be stepping on the web and into a trap.

  The host may wish to take a moment to survey the room before entering it.

  What’s there to survey? It’s a room with a web built like a cage. That creature forced me to go this direction to trap me. Either it’s not as intelligent as we gave it credit, or it severely underestimates my intelligence.

  Going back is an unadvisable objective.

  I know—the assassin. Maybe the assassin triggers different traps and that thing kills her. We can only hope. It would be better if I didn’t trigger every trap I come across. But that’s probably a pipe dream with an intelligent creature controlling everything. How is it doing all this? As you said, probably with magic.

  I let out a sigh. Is it still a trap if I know it’s one?

  Yes.

  I took my dagger to the nearest webs and cut them. Nothing happened. The web shifted but did nothing else. I cut the other side, and again, nothing.

  There was no way to avoid walking on the web as I continued to cut. I tried to step on the spots where the strands were thinnest, but I couldn’t avoid stepping on some strands. When I stood in the room, everything lurched around me.

  I heard a grinding sound behind me, and the door closed. The amber lights dimmed, and I heard a clicking sound. Then the web above me dropped like a big net. There was nowhere to go as it landed on me.

  The weight of it caught me off guard, and it pulled me down to the ground. I grabbed some strands and yanked on them, but they didn’t budge.

  The web pulled taut around me, binding my arms to my body and pulling me to the floor. It didn’t take long for me to find myself tightly bound and unable to move. I wiggled, trying to loosen the grip, but it was too tight.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Then the impenetrable darkness from when I fought the golem seeped from the large double doors on the far side of the room. It was much easier to see them now that the web covering them was flat on the ground. The problem lies in reaching them.

  My squirming didn’t get me any closer to freeing myself, but I was careful not to entangle myself more. Killa would have no problem with any of these webs. Bark better be right, and she’ll be fine.

  My thoughts were put to an end when the double doors opened up and in crawled the spider creature. It scurried up to the ceiling and into the protective cover of the darkness. But that thing made sure that I couldn’t focus on it. After it hid itself, in walked another golem. This one was larger and blockier than the other. Its legs and arms were tree trunks, and its torso was an upside-down pyramid.

  Yup. It’s learning. My gun isn’t going to do anything meaningful against that.

  The host is unable to make any ‘meaningful’ actions in their current circumstances.

  You are not helpful.

  The new golem stepped up to me, staring down with its blank expression. The golem reared one of its massive legs back and brought it down on me. My world shook. Pain exploded through my body. Something snapped, and I couldn’t breathe.

  Another hit landed. And another.

  Every inch of my body pounded in pain as I tried to regain my sense of up and down. Something dripped from my face, and I could taste blood. I gasped and tried to move, but my body wouldn’t respond. The golem lifted its leg again, ready to smash me into the ground again.

  But it didn’t. It paused. I tried to look up at it, but I couldn’t see straight. My vision was blurry.

  The golem lowered its leg. Then it reached down and grabbed me by the back of my neck. It lifted me up into the air, holding me by my neck. I couldn’t feel my legs. My head swam as I tried to get my bearings. I could barely breathe. Some of my ribs had broken and punctured my lungs, filling them with blood. The golem held me up in the air and just stared at me.

  It was perfectly still. The webs puppeteering the golem went taunt before the ten-legged spider creature slinked down from the darkness on them. It’s bulbous, unblinking eyes fixed on me.

  The spider creature crawled onto the golem’s arm and stood on its shoulder. It looked up at me, its mouth gaping open. The rows of jagged teeth sent a shiver down my spine. The creature leaned forward, its mandibles twitching as it moved closer to me.

  I wasn’t about to give it a chance to bite me. This thing has me trapped and completely held in place by a golem, and yet it’s still acting like it’s scared of me.

  Ambush predators, on average, suffer from low defensive traits. The creature before the host uses traps and other constructs as weapons to deal with potential prey. Its defenses are likely lower than most, and it knows it.

  Let’s see how skittish it is. I spat in its face.

  The creature hissed and jumped off the golem. It scurried around behind it, and I heard it climbing up to the ceiling again. Then the golem started moving, jerking its limbs like it was a puppet. It threw me across the room. I hit the wall with a thud and crumpled to the floor.

  The host has suffered severe blunt trauma. The host is no longer in a state to fight.

  Yeah, thanks, I know. You telling me that isn’t helping. Which of my bones aren’t broken? Hurry up and fix me.

  The nanites were working overtime, trying to repair the damage. I coughed up a glob of blood from my lungs. There was a problem. The nanites weren’t working as quickly as they needed to. One good thing came of being thrown by the golem. It freed me from the worst of the webbing. I tried to stand, but my body wouldn’t obey me. I could feel my bones shifting and mending. The golem marched towards me again.

  I rolled onto my back. My fingers curled around my gun as I shakily raised it to point above the golem, where I saw the thin strings of webs disappear into the darkness. It reared back and instantly raised its arms to block my shot.

  It’s as I thought. The creature is afraid of anything that could damage it.

  Now I had the information I needed. The next hurdle was using it to my advantage. I bought myself a few more precious seconds to regenerate. My energy was dropping rapidly.

  Another round of that will kill me. Which is better, convincing the creature that I’m not worth it or running away?

  Whichever the host decides, we suggest they choose soon.

  At least I was able to stand on my two feet again. The golem marched towards me, keeping its arms raised. The last of my wounds were healed as I spat out the last of the blood in my lungs as I wiped off the webbing still clinging to me. It’s slow, and now that I don’t have that net restraining me, it’s not catching me again.

  I lunged at it, my dagger in hand. It threw itself back as I cut through the strings controlling one of its legs. They were stronger than I was expecting, but I managed to get it before it threw me off.

  I skidded to a stop as the golem lumbered away from me, towards the webs where the creature would be. The entire time, its one leg from the knee down wasn’t moving, but it still managed to support its massive weight on the leg. The creature wasn’t going to use its arms to attack me because the moment it did, I was going to take a shot at it.

  That leaves the golem’s legs as the only viable means of attacking me. Once those are dealt with, what’s its next move?

  Whatever the case, I had to stay on the offensive. So I charged the golem’s good leg and dove to the side as it attempted to punt me. The construct teetered, and before it could put the leg down and find its balance, I severed two of its strings.

  There was an ear-piercing screech as the golem dropped to its knees. It looks like it can’t handle the weight of this golem like it could the smaller one. If I can disable the golem enough, there’s a chance I could kill the spider creature. But do I want that?

  The golem reached a hand out to smother me. I took another shot at the web attached to the shoulders. Splinters broke off as the creature started falling faster towards me. As I turned to run, a line of webs shot up and wrapped around my leg. I caught myself before I hit the ground, but the lasso kept me from running further away. Instead, I turned directions and rolled between its legs a fraction of a second before it would’ve crushed me.

  There wasn’t a huge cloud of dust or debris because the webs caught almost all of it. But the landing snapped the head off its arm. A door opened, and I saw the spider monster slip through the double doors and close them behind it. I gained another five stat points and three thousand, three hundred and fifty shards.

  With all the traps I have had to deal with the points went right into agility. I needed better balance.

  But the way the golem fell almost seemed deliberate. The bug just threw the golem on me to escape, didn’t it? It knows I know it exists and can kill it.

  The darkness on the ceiling was gone, along with the spider. I cut the web around my ankle and stood up. At least I won this round. But if things keep up at this rate, it will kill me through attrition. I need food.

  In the previous room, the host has an available…

  No! No more spiders.

  The host doesn’t have the opportunity for selective consumables. Eat the spider.

  Grumbling sounds more than words, I trudged back to the room with the spider hanging from the nest. The things I do to survive. I hope the assassin isn’t catching up to me that quickly.

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