The entrance to the next room loomed ahead, framed by two massive stone columns shaped like mushrooms, their once smooth surfaces now coated in thick cobwebs.The strands hung like ghostly veils, swaying slightly as unseen movements sent ripples through the silk. They weren’t just obstacles, they were warnings.

  Thalviss and I stepped forward, blades flashing, slicing through the webs as they clung stubbornly to the stone. Each cut sent fine, powdery dust into the air, filling my lungs with the scent of decay. Behind us, Vaklira and Korzath stood ready, arrows nocked, eyes scanning the shadows.

  With one final slash, we tore through the last layer and stepped inside.

  The chamber was enormous. Fifty yards long, shaped like half of a massive tube, the ceiling curved high above us, lit by the same ghostly green glow that illuminated the ruined town. In the center, long strands of webbing stretched like bridges from one end of the chamber to the other, forming a tangled labyrinth above our heads.The ground was uneven, littered with the remains of rundown huts, their wooden frames rotted and sagging.

  Doorway sized openings lined them, dark and yawning like gaping maws, leading deeper into the hive.

  Thalviss held her unsheathed sword at her side, her grip tight. Her voice was quiet, but heavy with sorrow.

  “This used to be our farming cave. We cultivated all types of mushrooms and let them cure in the rooms on the side.”

  There was no warmth in her words, only the weight of what was lost.

  Korzath let out a slow breath, his gaze sharp.

  “Don’t get separated. They’re ambush hunters. And keep an eye on the ceiling.”

  We moved carefully, our footsteps near silent. Every instinct screamed danger. The weight of the air, the unnatural stillness, it was too quiet.

  Then, a muffled scream.

  I spun around, Vaklira was on the ground, legs bound in thick silk, webbing already covering her face.

  Before I could react, Thalviss was already there, her blade flashing as she sliced through the strands in a single fluid motion.

  Korzath fired. His arrow hissed through the air, vanishing into the darkness beyond. A split second later, something skittered away, fast, chitinous, unseen.

  I had no time to track it. The ground trembled. The first chittering sounds reached my ears.

  Then, they poured in.

  A dozen spiders burst from the shadows, their movements impossibly fast.

  Eight legged, with oversized mandibles, their bodies were the size of pillows, their glossy black carapaces reflecting the eerie light.

  A system notification flared in my vision:

  Drone Weaver (Level 73)

  The lowest on the Weavers’ hierarchy. They handle nest building, spiderling care, and food storage.

  “Shit.”

  They rushed us all at once.

  I threw energy spheres forward, illuminating the room in a flash of white. Shadows danced wildly as the spiders charged.

  “Korzath, Vaklira, target the faces! Thalviss, watch the flanks! Don’t let them encircle us!”

  One skittered ahead of the others, climbing over its kin I bashed it with my shield, sending it flying backward.Another lunged, I swung my hammer down, spiked end first, crushing its thorax. A sickening crunch echoed through the chamber.

  Thalviss moved like a storm. She darted past me, blade flashing, piercing a spider straight through its clustered eyes.It twitched violently, then went limp. Without missing a beat, she spun, deflecting another that lunged at her with its fangs bared.

  Korzath and Vaklira abandoned their bows, switching to close combat.

  Korzath swung his pickaxe with brute force, shattering a spider’s legs in one blow.

  Vaklira, faster and more precise, weaved between the creatures, her daggers finding weak points between their armor.

  Five were already ensnared in my wire trap, twitching as their legs were severed by the razor thin strands. That left five more.

  Then, one leaped, straight at Korzath.

  The spider latched onto him, its fangs punching through his armor, stabbing deep into his gut.

  His scream sent ice down my spine.

  Blood poured.

  Vaklira , eyes wild with panic, grabbed at the creature, trying to pry it off, but its legs dug deeper into his flesh.

  “Thalviss, cover my back!”

  Thalviss hesitated, frozen but my shout snapped her back into action. She moved in front of me, sword raised, teeth bared.

  I morphed a dagger, stepped forward, and drove it straight into the spider’s skull.

  It twitched violently, then went limp.

  I grabbed its twitching leg and pulled, slowly. Blood kept pouring. Too much.

  I seized Vaklira’s hands and pressed them to the wound.

  “Squeeze tight!”

  Tears ran down her face, but she nodded, hands shaking as she did as I asked.

  Thalviss was still fighting barely holding them off.

  I kicked one hard, sending it skidding across the stone floor if not for the situation, I would have been proud of the distance. Another lunged, I smashed it with my hammer, crushing its skull.

  The last jumped at me. Instinctively, I grabbed it mid air. I let out a shrill, high pitched screech. Not my proudest moment.

  With pure adrenaline, I tore its legs off and threw it back.

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  Thalviss finished off the last one, her sword dripping with ichor.

  “Any injuries?” I asked, breathless.

  Thalviss was clutching her arm, blood dripping through her fingers.

  “I’ll live.”

  Then she ran past me, kneeling beside her brother, gripping his hand tightly.

  Both sisters were crying, silent and pained, while Korzath struggled to breathe.

  Vaklira turned to me, eyes filled with desperation.

  “Please… help him.”

  I knew nothing about medicine. My knowledge was limited to an embarrassing amount of Grey’s Anatomy.

  But I had one option left.

  I activated Astral Sight.

  Korzath’s aura flickered, unstable, leaking, draining away. It reminded me of my own aura the first time I saw it.

  I reached out, nothing. Like pushing against air.

  I coated my hands in my own energy. Tried again.

  This time, I felt resistance. Like something was pushing me out.

  I ignored it and kept pushing back the leaking energy. My vision blurred. A notification blinked at the edge of my sight, I ignored it.

  The leak shrank. Smaller. Smaller. Then gone.

  I opened my eyes, feeling like I’d just run a marathon. My limbs gave out, and I collapsed onto my back.

  Korzath was pale, unconscious but alive.

  A scab had already formed.

  Skill Learned: Energy Manipulation (Rare).

  You are not content with your own energy. You desire to shape the world around you.

  This skill is usually reserved for System Administrators.

  A rare skill. A powerful skill. The implications were huge.

  Thalviss cut off my musings, stepping forward before bowing deeply. Her voice was steady, but her hands trembled.

  “You saved my brother.”

  The weight of her gratitude pressed down on me, and I shifted uncomfortably. Formalities like this didn’t sit right with me. I reached out and pulled her up before she could lower herself further.

  “None of that. He risked his life for all of us, I just did what had to be done.”

  She studied me for a moment, then nodded. Without another word, she turned and lowered herself beside Korzath, placing a hand gently on his arm. His breathing was shallow but steady. The bleeding had stopped, but his body had lost too much. He wouldn't be able to go on.

  “We can’t keep going,” Thalviss murmured, her voice edged with frustration. “He’s too weak.”

  She was right. No matter how strong he was, he wouldn't survive another battle like this.

  I exhaled, then straightened.

  “You take him back. I’ll keep going.”

  The words had barely left my mouth before Vaklira shook her head so fiercely her braids whipped around her shoulders.

  “The next tunnel branches into other city caves,” she argued. “There are pitfalls, too many. If you don’t know the paths, you’ll get lost.”

  She hesitated, glancing at Thalviss. Her sister’s expression was pained, torn between duty and family. But after a long pause, Thalviss exhaled and nodded.

  “I’ll be your guide,” Vaklira declared. “Thal can bring Korzath back.”

  “I won’t let you go by yourself,” Vaklira said firmly, her gaze unwavering. “We’re doing this for our people, and we won’t get a better chance than this.”

  There was no fear in her voice, only determination. She wasn’t even part of the System, yet she had thrown herself into battle without hesitation. She had no safety net, no extra lives, no status screen to rely on, just her own strength and courage. And still, she refused to back down.

  I let out a slow breath, meeting her gaze.

  “Alright,” I relented. “But the moment we reach the big weaver, you turn back. You’ve seen me heal from wounds, you won’t be able to.”

  Vaklira pressed her lips together, considering, then finally gave a small nod. “Deal.”

  With that settled, we turned our attention back to Korzath. He was barely conscious now, his breathing shallow, skin even paler than before. Together, we helped Thalviss secure him to her back, tightening the straps of her harness so he wouldn’t slip.

  “I’ll move as fast as I can,” she said, adjusting his weight.

  Vaklira stepped closer, and the two sisters clasped hands, pressing their foreheads together. No words were spoken, but the moment stretched between them, silent, heavy, unbreakable.

  Finally, Thalviss turned away, carrying her brother into the darkness.

  Vaklira took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and faced me.

  “Let’s go.”

  Without another word, we stepped forward, leaving the others behind.

  We pushed forward, my steps leading the way as we navigated the ruins. A collapsed hut loomed beside us, its walls somehow still standing despite the decay, but the roof had long since crumbled away.

  Without warning, a thick strand of webbing shot toward me. Instinct took over, I twisted my body, narrowly dodging as it slapped against the ground with a wet sound .

  “Run!” I barked. “Target the ones getting behind me!”

  The words had barely left my mouth before another dozen spiders erupted from the walls, their glossy bodies gleaming under the dim light. They skittered across the ruined structures, shrieking as they unleashed a barrage of silk in my direction. I moved erratically, zigzagging, leaping unpredictably to make myself a harder target. But there were too many.

  I launched myself at the closest spider, aiming to crush it mid air, only to get a web right to the face.

  The impact sent me reeling. The suffocating silk clung to my skin, sealing my mouth, my nose, blinding me. I clawed at the strands, but before I could tear them away, something slammed into me.

  Pain.

  Agony flared as sharp fangs raked across my cheek, carving deep, burning gashes into my skin. I roared, seizing the creature’s writhing body and ripping it free. Blood streamed down my face, but I had no time to dwell on the pain. With a furious snarl, I swung the struggling spider like a club, smashing it into another lunging drone. Their bodies collided with a sickening crunch, legs twitching violently before going still.

  Webs shot at me from every direction.

  I had no time to dodge.

  Silk wrapped around my arms, pinning them to my sides.

  No hands. No weapons. No problem.

  I shaped my legs into long, jagged spikes, activated Levitation, and dropped like a stone.

  My feet pierced straight through another spider, impaling it like a grotesque kebab. I barely had time to yank my legs free before more webbing shot toward me.

  Shit!

  No time to untangle myself. No time for finesse.

  I covered my face with an Energy Mask, bent my legs, and started jumping, soaring into the air, then stomping down on the drones below.

  Again.

  And again.

  And again.

  I was stomping spiders like some deranged, blood soaked Italian plumber.

  Vaklira’s voice rang out from behind me, her shots throwing off the drones’ aim. Her arrows didn’t pierce their thick carapaces, but she was buying me time, forcing them to adjust their attacks while I kept my momentum.

  One last spider skittered forward, I slammed down onto its twitching body, pancaking it against the stone.

  Silence.

  I panted, blood dripping from my wounds, my heart still hammering in my chest. Vaklira jogged over, amusement flickering in her golden eyes as she surveyed the carnage.

  “…It looked like you were having fun.”

  I huffed out a breath, wiping the blood and webbing from my face. “Yeah, it’s a lot more challenging in 3D.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “Never mind.” I shook my head, motioning to the thick silk still binding me. “Just help me with the webs.”

  She made quick work of it, her dagger slicing through the strands with ease.

  Before we could move forward, the air filled with a terrible sound.

  Clicking.

  Dozens of clicking noises, echoing from every direction.

  A swarm of Drone Weavers poured in from every angle, roping down from the ceiling, crawling from the openings in the walls, skittering out from beneath the ruins.

  Both exits were cut off.

  A wave of chitinous bodies, surging toward us.

  “Run!” I bolted toward the nearest wall.

  Vaklira didn’t hesitate. She was right behind me, her breath ragged, her movements swift. The spiders were closing in, a sea of black legs and gleaming fangs, clacking, screeching, gaining on us.

  We reached the wall.

  No time to think.

  I scooped Vaklira into my arms and jumped.

  We soared through an opening, landing hard inside a crumbling chamber, straight onto two waiting spiders.

  Their bodies crunched beneath me.

  I shoved Vaklira aside, spun, and manifested the largest energy wall I could.

  The shimmering barrier stretched across the opening, not perfect, but enough. The gaps were too small for the drones to squeeze through.

  For now.

  I planted spikes in front of the wall, bracing myself just as the swarm hit.

  The impact slammed into me, almost knocking me off my feet.

  I gritted my teeth, anchored myself with wires, digging them into the surrounding walls for support. Vaklira, ever the quick thinker, threw her weight against the barrier, helping me hold it steady.

  The system notifications flared in my vision, flashing kill after kill after kill.

  Not enough.

  The wall was cracking.

  I could feel my energy draining.

  I risked a glance at my status.

  Total Energy: 76/550.

  Not good.

  I had one option left. A dangerous one.

  I activated Astral Sight.

  The world shifted. My vision blurred.

  I could see the energy surrounding us, faint threads in the air, pulsing, shifting.

  I reached for them.

  Pain exploded through my skull.

  A splitting headache slammed into me like a sledgehammer.

  Blood poured from my eyes.

  Vaklira was shouting, pleading but her voice was distant, like a whisper through a storm.

  It felt like pulling something apart that wasn’t meant to be moved

  I forced my will forward, grabbing hold of the energy, shaping it into a dense, volatile mass.

  It felt like my brain was boiling.

  The energy pulsed in my hands, unstable, volatile, on the verge of tearing itself apart.

  I didn’t care.

  I slammed it down.

  The energy wall shattered.

  The last thing I heard was a disgusting crunch.

  Then…

  A deluge of notifications.

  And darkness.