I slept quite well. Sure, we may be trapped in the middle of a death forest, but after travelling for so long I was completely exhausted. Once morning came I yawned, stretched out my paws, arched my back and opened my eyes to see a twisted human-like face.

I let out a surprised yelp, and back away, suddenly jolted awake when Vile shouted, "Stop! Don't move another step!", with a tone of uncharacteristic urgency. I do so, turning my head to see the shimmering border of the strange magical dome, and beyond it, countless oversized arachnids, all sitting perfectly still and staring with empty their red eyes. I shuddered to think what might have happened had my tail pushed outside of the barrier as I turned back around, looking to the bizarre creature which sat directly beyond the magical shelter. The problem with resting for the night had become clear.

As with behind, there isn't only a single spider, but rather dozens, all set in a circle around us, unmoving, a steady rhythmic clicking and chittering audible from their unmoving mouths. The bodies are basically those of your usual spiders, hairy (and not in a nice way like a dog or a cat), entirely grey and very much oversized. It's the faces that are strange, almost human and expressive, even if all of them shared the same expression. Two red eyes line up along the face, framing the faint nub of nose, with another three set around each, all blood red, unblinking and offering not even the faintest hint of intelligence. There's a small slit beneath the nose which at first glance I had assumed to be a mouth, but it never moves and beneath the chin are long, curved fangs.

I shudder as I back away a step from the barrier. I've never liked spiders. They make webs which are practically invisible and you always find yourself walking through, they intrude into your home uninvited, and they refuse to leave, no matter how loudly you bark at them. Unsurprisingly, enhancing their sizes by... who knows how many times, does nothing to make them more charming.

"What are they doing?" I ask, narrowing my eyes to meet the unwavering gaze of the death weaver set directly in front of me.

"Waiting, of course. They might not be the smartest creatures, but they know that we can't hide in here forever." The rat says in a calm voice.

"I... see." I say. From sight alone, there's no hint that they are even alive, but I have little doubt that every one of them would quickly spring into action if I were to poke so much as a single paw beyond the protective shield. "I don't suppose that you have any sort of teleportation spell to help us get away?"

Slave just rolls her eyes, but Vile doesn't seem so annoyed. "I'm afraid not." she says, "New spells are hard to come by for a rat, and although I've always wanted that one, I've never gotten the opportunity to obtain it. Most of my magic is combat based. I don't have any spells which will help us get out of this."

"Oh," I say, more than a little disappointed. "Well, what do we do? I need to get to my master! I can't be stuck in here forever!"

"No need to worry about that." Vile nods her small head. "We'll starve or die of dehydration eventually."

"That doesn't help." I grumble. I do notice that while the rat doesn't exactly look thrilled, she doesn't seem to be overcome with despair, either. Clearly, the situation isn't completely hopeless. Really, the solution is quite an obvious one. "I guess that we need to fight out way out, huh? I know there's a lot of them, but we can fight just like we did against the alpha wolf! Slave can defend, I can keep her healed, and you and me can attack whenever the opportunity arises! It might take a little while, but I'm sure that we can win!"

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I smile, quite proud of myself. Sure, it might not be the most cunning or elaborate of plans, but it was mine! Looking to Slave's downcast expression, however, my hopes quickly dwindle.

"Normally, you'd be right." the black cat says, more than a hint of shame in her voice, "Ordinarily, I would be able to protect against as many opponents as needed, for as long as it took. Unfortunately, I have a weakness for physical restraints."

At first I was wondering why her enjoying being tied up would matter in a battle, but then I realized that she was talking about the webbing ability of the spiders. Well, both are likely true.

"That would be an issue for you as well," Vile says, turning to me, "But it seems that you have a handy talent that allows you to purge status ailments. I don't suppose you could teach Slave that 'summon inner strength' skill?"

I wag my tail excitedly, more than willing to do so. At least until I give the matter a little bit of thought. "Um, I guess I could try, but honestly, I wouldn't really know where to begin. It was an ability that I sort of just figured out on my own ages ago. It's more of an instinct than a learned skill." I say. Slave is visibly disappointed. "Still, I'll try my best!"

After an hour of unintentionally vague explanations on my part as to how I use it, and repeated demonstrations in hopes that the black cat might pick up on it, Vile finally speaks up, "Okay, enough of that. I can't say that I'm too surprised. It was worth a try, but it was always going to be a long shot. Even for trained teachers it can be very difficult to pass on skills. We won't be able to count on Slave for the coming battle."

Slave looks rather heartbroken, but surprisingly the rat doesn't state that last part in an insulting or accusatory matter, rather simply as a fact.

"Status ailments are always an issue for tank type characters. Once her mobility is taken away, she might draw some of the attacks away from us, but nowhere near all of them. We'll be on our own. Or, more accurately, you'll be on your own."

"Me?" I ask, rather dumbly. Who else would it be?

"That's right. I don't have the defense to endure hits from those creatures. It will be up to you to both take all of the damage, yet also aid in destroying the creatures." the rat continues.

In principle, that shouldn't be so bad. Back when I was fighting alone, taking damage was an inevitability, especially when facing multiple opponents at once. Still, there was no denying the reality of the situation. Each one of these creatures might not hit the hardest, but there are so many of them. I had no idea just how long I could hope to hold out, and against so many enemies attacking at once, stopping to heal wouldn't really be an option. Even if I could, somehow, keep up with the damage that they were inflicting, which in itself was a longshot, I'd be no closer to victory and my Spirit would run out quickly. Still, it really is the only option. I'll just have to fight my hardest, and hope that it will be enough.

"Got it." I said, doing a pretty good job of concealing my anxiety, if I do say so myself. "I'm ready when you are."

"No." the rat says, "We're not attacking yet. We still have some preparations to make first."

I blink and look about. Within this five foot dome of energy, I can scarcely imagine what exactly we can hope to accomplish. "What sort of preparations?" I ask.

The rat grins wide. "Training, of course."

My sense of overwhelming dread returns.

---

Squire: "Really? More training?"

Vile: "Of course! What did you think that the entire arc would be named after that brief bout of it from earlier?"

Squire: "I was kind of hoping..."

Vile: "Don't be a wimp. There is no greater sensation in this world than feeling your strength significantly raise in response to a hard training session! To watch those numbers grow ever higher!"

Slave: "That, and it will also maybe help us, you know... not die."

Vile: "Yeah, I guess that's okay, too. To be honest, I never really saw the big deal about dying. Rats die all the time, after all."

Slave: "It is a big deal! I promise that you'll never die while I'm around!"

Vile: "Heh."