Climbing along the now-familiar tunnels, a gloomy red light up ahead showed he was almost at the first level. This time he was going to make it! Or die trying, again.

The tunnel became smaller at the end until he had to squeeze through his round body, making a popping sound as he exited the cave systems. Looking around the rocky area, he saw that nothing moved, as he had expected. The exit he used, the one he always used was far from the roaming monsters. High above, the bloodred veins pulsated in the ceiling of the cavern, causing everything to be bathed in a reddish hue.

Rushing along, Anton headed towards his favorite hunting grounds. It wasn't that far as he had crossed most of the distance underground. Although he had no exact idea of time, he guessed it was around ten minutes when he reached a wide-open area, only dotted by a few rocks. Hiding, he waited, keeping his eyes on the area. Within moments a slithering creature came into view, leaving behind a foul-smelling trail of mucus.

These were Anton's secret weapons. As far as he knew nobody had found them yet, most people only knew about the small imps that were abundant everywhere. It was probably because they only seemed to roam the flat areas, and most people were to chicken shit to go there. A screech sounded from above, and looking up, he saw one of the flying demons, all four claws at the ready, dive towards the worm.

Anton tssked, and watched as the bird snatched his desired prey, flying off with it. Bloody birds. It took longer for another worm to appear, but this time there wasn't any bird. Anton waited for the right opportunity, and as soon as the thing slithered closer, he jumped forward, skittering on all limbs. The thing noticed him coming and tried to back away, but it was far to slow. Jumping on its slimy body, Anton wasted no time and pierced the eyes with his foremost limbs. The worm trembled, white goo oozing from the destroyed eyeballs. A surge of energy caused Anton to let out a content sigh. Then, long over the disgust, he had felt the first time, he began gorging himself. His small fangs made short work of the tender, gooey meat.

"Hmmm yummy." He growled, ignoring the fact that he did that every time.

As soon as he felt a burning sensation, he jumped off the unmoving worm and rushed back towards the relative safety of the rocky area. Hiding below an overhang, he waited as he felt the familiar pangs and pains of his body morphing. Looking at the chitin like front leg, he saw it become thicker and fleshy. It didn't take that long until the sensation stopped, and stood up, taller this time, flexing his muscles. Although he had no way of looking at himself, from what he could see of his limbs, he expected he had turned from a small black spider into a large, thick spider with a meaty exterior similar to the worm he had eaten.

So far, for step one, now for the next step. Rushing along the terrain, he kept an eye out for any birds. His new shape had only one disadvantage. He was much more visible against the dark grey rocks. But he knew where to go, and without any trouble, he reached his next target. It was a small village made from piled up stone and leathery hides, building against a cliff wall. Around the buildings, scrawny imps walked around.

Although they looked weak as hell, Anton knew underestimating them was why most folks never got passed this part. The fact they went at it with their base spider form didn't help either. Heading to the edge of the village, under cover of the rocks, he began climbing up the wall. It was a bit more complicated than in his regular shape, but the benefit would show itself soon. Moving across the back most building, he climbed on its roof and went to the edge.

Below, he saw the small imps rush around. He had sat here one time to try and discover what the hell it was they were doing, but eventually, he had to determine they just ran around fighting each other, and respawning back in their little houses. Waiting for one of the imps go get close, he raised a front limb, and a thin thread emerged from the tip. With a practiced effort, he turned it into a lasso that he lowered onto the ground behind the imp. When it reached whatever it was it was moving to, it turned around again like a machine, and stepped into the waiting loop on the ground.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Anton began pulling back the thread, causing it to snag the imp that started to flail around before falling. Ignoring the resistance, Anton pulled the imp up towards the roof. As soon as it got there, it tried to crawl up, but Anton was prepared and tossed a larger loop around the torso of the monster. Pulling it tight, he pinned its arms before commencing to wrap the entire thing into a spider web.

As soon as the struggling thing was made inert, Anton sat down next to it. Now came the part he really disliked, but he needed to do it, or he wouldn't make it passed the second level guards. Resolutely he grabbed one of his back legs and began twisting it. The pain was horrendous, but it was faster than any other way he had found. A few twists and the leg snapped off, causing white goo to spurt out. Not waiting, Anton grabbed one his prays legs and, using his mandibles, bit it off. The first few times, he had done it the other way around, but he had found that the shorter the imps leg was away from a body, the better it performed.

Trying to ignore the pain, he pressed the torn-off leg against the open wound on his abdomen. Almost right away, he felt the pain lessen, and the thick white goo began covering the wound. Holding it down for a moment longer, he let go and tried wiggling the new, out of place limb. It moved without any problem.

"Look ma, new shoes," he snorted before ripping off the other hind leg and replacing it with one from his prey. Done with it, he headed back to the edge and waited for the second donor.

When he left the roof, climbing along the wall was really impractical because his four hind legs wouldn't stick at all. Then again, this time, he had four spider legs left, making it a lot easier than when he had two the previous time. Dropping the last bit, he landed on the legs and began running away from the village. He could stay and feed on a few imps for increased strength, but he knew it would make little difference unless he stayed for weeks. He had all he needed to pass the first floor guards now. Besides, the second floor held far more juicy pray.

The cavern he was in now, although seeming endless, wasn't all that big. It was just that he was so small it seemed that way. Rushing towards one of the sides, it took him another hour to reach his last destination. It was a square hole, leading to a slope that he could follow all the way up to the next level. As far as he knew, only ten percent of everyone he knew that had tried in the beginning had gotten passed it.

"I'm back, you ugly dogs." He growled as he examined the hairless two-headed canine's that roamed around the entrance. A burst of movement from the corner of his eye surprised him, and looking that way, he saw three black spiderlings rush towards the entrance.

"Well, well, who are you fools?" He whispered, curious. He hadn't seen others attempt this gate for a while now. Perhaps new people had been put down here? Not that it mattered, going up like that was suicide, even if you managed to get passed the dogs, which you wouldn't.

Then again, perhaps he could use this to make his day a little easier. Getting ready, he waited for the dogs to notice the incoming spiderlings. As soon as they did, and began rushing forward, he sprinted towards the entrance. Moving like a horse, keeping his front limbs forward for balance, he picked up speed quickly. All of the ten or so dogs had left the gate wide opening, idiots, and when they saw him rush towards it, it was too late. A few turned around, barking and growling like mad as they tried to block his way, while the rest tore into the spiderlings ripping limbs off and generally massacring them.

"Thanks for the opening suckers!" Anton yelled as he rushed through the portal, noticing the pattern of symbols again on the sides. They glowed when he crossed some invisible barrier, and he knew he could take it easy now. The dogs were incapable of entering.

Turning around to look at the spiderlings, he saw one managed to get closer than he had thought possible, two hounds hot on its heels.

"Please wait. Help me!" A feminine voice called out as the spiderling saw him standing in the entrance.

Snorting, he wished he had a head to shake. Crazy broad, even if it was possible, which it wasn't, why would he do that? Ignoring her calls, he looked as the dogs caught up and dove on top of her. Then he turned towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

Time for the harder part.