SJ returned to the Inn, dropping the box off with Floretta, the Inn's skeleton cook. She had been very grateful and promised to treat SJ to something special for her evening dinner. After ordering a Hogling sandwich and drinking two mugs of coffee, she headed back to see Stanley. Stanley had done as promised and handed her five bags of saltwater mix. She had dipped her finger into one to see how strong it was, and her face contorted from the sharpness of the salty mixture.

She placed one of the bags in her inventory and confirmed she could recall it to her hand before adding the other four. They reminded her of large waterbombs. The bags' material was thin and flimsy; she needed to figure out what they were made from. SJ headed back to the Crypt.

The torches she had lit earlier were still burning, and she relit her own before venturing back down the steps. The initial chamber where she had met the rats was now empty, the corpses having disappeared. SJ assumed it was the same as the Hoglings she had fought and that they just vanished in time. As she approached the room where she had been captured, she slowed.

Her hands felt clammy, and she was not wearing her claws as she did not want to chance to puncture one of the bags and waste its contents. Holding the torch in front of her and a homemade water bomb in the other, she moved forward with trepidation. Peering from the entranceway, she could not see the corpse of the initial Spider or any signs of the level 7. The ceiling wasn't visible; the torchlight was not bright enough to cast its light that far.

SJ noticed a new web, consisting of thick, gloopy strands, had been strung across the chamber. Staring upwards, she slowly entered the chamber, creeping towards the web, checking her step so as not to trigger any strands that may be on the floor. Reaching forward with the torch, holding it against the strands, she stared upwards, watching for any movement, until the flame eventually caught. Backing away and moving quietly back to the entrance, she watched nervously.

The Spider that had attacked her had been huge, and considering it had spun her five-foot-five frame in its forelegs, she was unsure if it could fit in the narrow corridor. It did not take long for SJ to hear scuttling across the chamber. She saw the reflection in the Spider's eyes before she saw its body. The eight orbs gave it almost 360-degree vision. She shivered, seeing the creature. It stood at least seven feet tall on its legs, and they spanned twelve feet easily. They tapped the chamber's ground as it moved towards the burning web.

It hissed as though talking and turned to look directly at SJ.

"I think it knows you are here," Dave said unhelpfully.

SJ did not reply and, nervously, threw the first waterbomb towards it. The Spider watched it fly through the air, and as it approached, it lifted one of its legs, blocking it. The bag exploded on impact with its leg, showering the creature in the saltwater mixture. It screamed in pain and pulled back. Using its appendages to rub the water from its body. SJ could see what looked like burn marks appear, reminding her of the acidic burn she had suffered on her arm. The Spider's health had dropped by twelve. It now had 68 of 80 hit points remaining.

SJ did the quick math and knew that she would have to go hand to hand to finish it if she managed to do similar damage with the other four water bombs. She wished she had asked for more now. The Spider began to skitter towards her. She backed further into the corridor, holding the second waterbomb ready. It tried to enter the corridor, but even by squeezing its legs in, its body was too wide, preventing it from entering the narrow entrance. SJ took the advantage, hurling the next waterbomb at its head.

The waterbomb hit true; the Spider could not move from the entrance in time before it struck it, shrieking in pain and withdrawing back into the chamber. SJ saw its bar drop by fifteen more hit points. The waterbombs were brilliant and did exactly what she needed. SJ cautiously moved forward, not seeing the creatures form in the light from the burning web in the chamber or the light of her torch. She equipped another waterbomb. She had three left and had to make the most of them, weakening it as much as possible.

"WATCH OUT," Dave cried.

A strand of web flew from the darkness at the side of the chamber. SJ pulled back away in time as it struck the corridor wall at head height. It had come from the left. She quickly moved, looking around the corner along the length of the web still attached to its spinner, and threw the waterbomb with all her might. The Spider recoiled, seeing the object coming towards it, and jumped sideways, its agility for its size surprising her. Its massive form just moved out of its way as it burst, hitting the chamber wall behind it. The salty mixture exploded harmlessly.

"Damn," she cursed, stepping back into the corridor. "Two left."

"You could always leave and get more?"

"I could, but now it knows it would be even more cautious than it is."

"Shame you don't have a hose or a pump you could spray at it."

"I know. I wish they had water pistols in this world."

"They do."

"What? Why did you not tell me before?"

"Oh. You can't get them here. I have only ever seen them in the capitals. They are a gnome contraption and are rather expensive. They are a toy of the rich children."

"Water pistols are for the rich?"

"Yes. They are enchanted. They are probably not like the water pistols you are thinking about."

"I see. I may have to get one eventually. Having a portable spider deterrent, looking at the size these things grow, would be something worth investing in."

"It could be useful, but it's a very specific item to carry for only one purpose."

"Damn, where is it now?" SJ could no longer see the spider in the chamber, having no idea where it had gone. Its ability to climb and move around the chamber at will in the partial darkness was terrifying.

"I need to try and draw it out from wherever it is hiding."

"How? You have nothing to use as bait."

"I am not even sure what would bait it."

"A Kobold, perhaps. There was the one at the stall. You could always ask him to come down here?"

"Really! I am not going to put someone else in danger."

"Meh. Your decision. What about one of the gnoll children we saw playing?"

"DAVE!" SJ shouted, shaking her head.

"Dwarf?"

"STOP."

"Okay. I was only trying to be helpful."

"Talking about using bait like that is not helpful."

"Shame you killed all the Giant Rats. I bet one of those would have worked."

SJ did not argue with his comment this time. "Yeah, that may have worked. Although I do not think it would have been happy being picked up and thrown into the chamber."

"No. But it would have been funny."

SJ had to finish this fight. She was determined to complete the quest and needed the experience to reach level 5. She replaced the waterbomb in her inventory and equipped her Badger Blades.

"Oooooo. Going for up close and personal," Dave said excitedly.

"I have to do something."

SJ snuck back to the corridor's mouth, still holding the torch. The light from the web in the centre of the room was fading as most of the web had now burned. Not being able to see the Spider. Cautiously edging from the entrance until only a couple feet inside the room. She saw the flash in the torch's light, diving backwards as a new web strand flew past where she had been standing. The Spider was trying to snag her again. This time, it had come from the right.

"This is not fun," SJ said.

"Go miniature."

"Miniature against that thing?"

"No. Go miniature and sneak up behind it. You are supposed to be an assassin, after all."

SJ had not even given it a thought, but it made sense. The Spider was expecting a humanoid, not a six-inch tall Fae. She placed the torch on the corridor floor, which remained burning and shrunk to her miniature size. Returning to the entrance, she stuck to the wall and crept into the room. She still had her claws equipped, and she cautiously began to skirt around the edge, keeping her back to the wall. The thick strand that had missed her looked massive now that she was tiny.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, moving into the room in the dark with no torch, but she kept going. Edging around towards where the last of the web, strung across the middle of the room, was starting to burn out. Looking back towards the corridor entrance, she could still see the flickering of her torch. Then she saw it. The dark form moved before her, blocking the torch's light. Seeing it up close and personal while this size was terrifying, as she now stood behind it.

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Taking a deep, steady breath, she called one of the waterbombs from her inventory, holding it carefully and making sure her sharp blades did not touch it, and she thought about being large. As she grew, the size of the Spider, although still intimidating, was not quite as terrifying as it had been. It was stationary, perfectly still like the predator that it was awaiting its prey. SJ pulled her arm back and threw the waterbomb with all her might, and as soon as it left her hand, she shrunk back down and began to run to the right.

The waterbomb hit perfectly, bursting over the Spider's back. It screeched in pain, moving forward from where it had been and spinning around. SJ had moved a few feet and positioned by the strands on the floor. She stood perfectly still. The Spider had taken another 14 damage from the hit. Its health was now just below half. She had one waterbomb left and needed to cause maximum damage with it. She had an idea. A downright stupid and dangerous idea, but at least it was an idea. The Spider skittered around the chamber before eventually coming to rest again and stood to the left of the entrance. When it prowled, it was perfectly silent, even at its size. Its long, hair-covered limbs were placed silently on the stone floor.

SJ began to move towards it. This time, she did not work around it but underneath it. It stood looking toward the entrance, gently tapping one of its legs on the stone floor as though impatiently waiting. As soon as SJ worked her way behind and underneath the Spider, she thought about being large. Reaching maximum size, she threw her left hand and claws up, cutting across its abdomen, and at the same time, forced her right hand containing the final water bomb into the wound she opened. It all happened within a second of each other. There was not enough time for the Spider to react fully, and her clawed hand dug into the sickly ichor from the open wound, the waterbomb bursting inside.

The sound the Spider made now was unearthly, and she slashed out quickly with her claws as she again began to shrink in size. The Spider jumped upwards away from the strikes and clung to the chamber's ceiling. The crying sounds worse than a screaming child pierced her ears, and she quickly pushed herself in her small form backwards across the damp ichor-covered floor. Her body was soaked in the putrid liquid.

The Spider's health had dropped massively with the dual strike and the extra slashes from her blades. It was now only on eight health; she had just achieved massive damage by exploding the waterbomb inside the Spider rather than outside. As SJ watched, she saw the health of the Spider tick down to 7 hit points, then to 6. She could not believe it; the saltwater inside the Spider must be poisoning it. SJ lay there watching in hope as it slowly ticked down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and then stopped.

It had one hit point remaining; she wanted to scream in anger at being so unlucky. Then again, she had just been a sneaky little assassin, and that actually made her feel good.

"I have to compliment you on your last move," Dave said.

SJ did not reply; she was still lying on the floor in the chamber with the huge Spider hanging from the ceiling above her. She needed to move; slowly crouching, only being able to see the Spider's vague outline clung to the ceiling, she slowly began to inch her way back towards the corridor entrance. It may only have one hit point left, but it was still a massive creature that could shoot webs and pin her down.

SJ made it back, and once down the corridor and past her burning torch, she grew to her large size, letting out a sigh of relief. She expected the Spider was wondering what had happened to it, not seeing its enemy with its eight eyes surveying everywhere nearly all at once. SJ put her claws away. If the Spider was hanging on the ceiling, she only had one option open to her, either throwing the torch at it or her stiletto. She had never thrown a knife before in her life and had no skill in it, but it seemed the better option than trying to throw the unwieldy torch and knew it did at least two damage. She withdrew the dagger. Removing the blade from its sheath before adding the sheath back into her inventory

She had again forgotten to get a new belt and had not attached the sheath to the one she had. She judged the weight of the stiletto in her hand. It was not that she knew what she was doing, but she had watched several YouTube videos with knife throwers in her time and had always seen them do it. The stiletto felt well balanced, and she gripped it by its blade rather than its handle, again copying what she had seen in films. She knew where the Spider had been and made her way to the entrance. Quickly glancing around and up, she thought she vaguely saw its form still in the same position hanging on the ceiling.

Taking a steadying breath, she launched into the room, pulling her arm back, aiming upwards, and letting the stiletto fly. She saw the blade spinning away from her hand as she yelped in pain, feeling the cut that had been left across her palm. She must not have been holding it right. Hearing a dull thud, the dark shape began to fall to the ground as the Spider hit zero.

She stood gripping her hand now, cursing at her stupidity. She should have just thrown it by the handle.

"I bet that hurt," Dave said, laughing at her.

SJ's display triggered.

Quest – Free the Crypt – Completed – 150 Xp awarded

Report back to Cleric Lythonian to receive your remaining rewards:

1 x minor healing potion

45 x copper pieces

"Woot. It's completed."

"Well done, my young loophole finder, on finishing your first quest."

"Thanks," SJ beamed. She walked back to where the torch still lay, spluttering against the corridor floor, and picked it up while wiping her bloody hand from her thrown dagger on her dress. Walking back into the room, she began to look around it properly. Bending to pick up her stiletto where it lay. Obviously, it had not stuck into the Spider and only just hit it. To her annoyance, she saw a torch on the side of the entranceway that she had missed previously, lighting it. There were three more within the chamber which she lit.

Now bathed in light, the chamber no longer had the scary and dread feeling it had while pitch black. Looking at the smooth stone surfaces and high arched ceiling visible above, this was a perfectly crafted resting place for the dead. The walls housed its members, and plaques were placed on them, naming the lost souls.

Across the chamber was a tunnel cut wide and led upwards at an angle. Walking over it, SJ held the torch to bathe it in light. She felt a gentle breeze, allowing air into the crypt's depths, and assumed it was where the spider had carried her.

Shuddering at her cocooned memory, she walked over to the spider's body and looted it.

3 x spider silk, 1 x spider fang, 2 x silver, 50 x copper

As SJ looted the Spider corpse, her display was triggered again.

Congratulations on reaching Level 5

You have been awarded the following:

5 hit points

5 mana points

+1 Dexterity

+2 free points to distribute as you wish

Level 5 is your first stepping stone in your new life as a Legionnaire. The following are now available to you:

Armour Class – what you wear now offers protection

Primary Profession – decide on your new path of discovery in Amathera

Reach level 10 for your next opportunities.

SJ jumped up and down excitedly, doing what could only be described as a happy dance. She gyrated her hips and circled her arms, singing, “Oh yeah, oh yeah.”

"What do you think you're doing?" Dave asked.

"Dancing with happiness."

"You look more like a floundering fish."

SJ stopped dancing and placed her hands on her hips. "How to destroy a girl's moment. I can't even celebrate reaching level 5 without you giving me abuse."

"I was not being abusive, just factual. I have never seen a dance like that where you gyrate your hips in a circle; it made you look like you were acting like a fish out of water."

"I will have you know that I was a good dancer back on Earth."

"You didn't do it professionally, did you?"

"No. Why?"

"Because you wouldn't have made any money if you did," Dave's typical sarcasm appeared.

"Anyway, I need to go and see Lythonian, and then I need to look through all this profession stuff and now have an armour class available," Dave could not dampen SJ’s mood.

SJ made her way back through the Crypt to the graveyard.

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