"Finally," Nathan breathed.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd been by himself in the past week. While he wasn't objecting to the presence of the squad at his stronghold, it was still common knowledge that too much of everything was bad. Too many people in such a small space could work for a short period of time, but for longer periods, it was an ill-advised setup.

As expected, they'd started to get on each other's nerves. The jostling for power and the silent picking of sides had begun. Nathan wasn't worried too much about that. The only power that meant anything to him was the one that ensured he could protect himself and his loved ones if the need ever arose.

Lording over a bunch of teens was definitely going to be more work than it was worth. He'd done his best to ensure equal footing between him and the squad, and deep down, he was hoping that the decision wouldn't come back to haunt him.

Hopefully, Ciara gets stronger fast.

Between the three of them — him, Pirlo, and Ciara — the mage was the best equipped to deal with the management of the squad. Both he and Pirlo weren't suited for real leadership, and it showed. The pair were the kind of people that charged into every problem headfirst, not bothering to consider their various options.

Alright, seems like it's time to dive headfirst into another situation.

Nathan had stood at the entrance of the E-ranked dungeon for a minute, letting the thoughts he'd locked away while with the rest of the squad come to the fore of his mind. They weren't all bad ones or judgmental; some were kind of nice, but he wouldn't dwell on those.

He'd pretty much turned off his burners when it came to leveling up since he'd met the squad, and while the rapid soza had been enough to give him a little bit of cardio, it hadn't been a dungeon, and it had stressed him mentally — having to worry about the safety of people who were as old as him. He grimaced at the thought, pushing it back into the strongbox at the back of his mind and shutting it.

No more delays.

With childlike anticipation, Nathan stepped past the threshold, ignoring the first system notification that probably gave him the generic warning. He stopped at the second though, wise enough to want to know what he'd be facing in this particular dungeon.

Welcome Challenger.

The Web awaits,

Dungeon is locked and will remain locked until you fulfill clearance requirement.

Clearance requirement: Kill the Spider.

Nathan did a quick once-over at the notification that had been given to him by the system. Apparently, this dungeon was called The Web, which was a name Nathan found quite amusing. The clearance requirement was what kept him from chuckling at the name that had been assigned to the dungeon.

Spider.

At the word, Nathan instantly thought of the little insects that sometimes chose to room with him in his run-down apartment, nothing but quiet neighbors always looking out for him by killing other bugs and insects that tried to crowd his little space. Of course, on a fear factor level, he wasn't quite fond of spiders, but he respected them and could, to a degree, tolerate them as far as they stayed off of him. Which Nathan thought was a pretty good deal as everyone and everything involved got to keep to themselves.

Now I'm willingly going to walk into a spider's web.

Somehow he doubted that this was going to be his friendly roommate of a spider, but all the same, he kept his hopes up. Maybe luck would shine on him and it'd be nothing more than a small spider like he'd had as a roommate. He resisted the urge to snort at the line of thought as he dismissed the notification, fully stepping into the dungeon, eager to swing his blade and sate his hunger for level growth.

Of course, it wouldn't be termed a dungeon if it isn't dark and ominous.

Nathan rolled his eyes at the look of the interior of the dungeon, all gloomy and dark. The lich and Naga dungeons were the only ones that had been properly lit. The rest had all been dark and gloomy like it was a prerequisite before a dungeon could really be called such. Although the darkness wasn't going to bother him that much with his improved perception, the points he'd spent on the stat had begun showing their use.

Shaking his head, he kept his eyes peeled for danger and his sword at the ready for any attack that would come. Nathan didn't know much about spiders, but what he did know about them made his skin crawl, literally. They could walk on almost all surfaces, had an uncomfortable number of eyes, and they shot this slimy sticky thing called webs that didn't really make them any more likeable.

Regardless of what his thoughts were on the matter, he'd have to battle whatever type and size of Spider was currently occupying this dungeon with him, and he wanted to do it as soon as possible. He had more dungeons to clear and more levels to gain; as far as Nathan was concerned, he was going to make his time count.

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If I was a spider, where would I be?

At this point, Nathan seemed to have walked past the middle of the sphere-like dungeon, a structure that seemed to be the go-to for the system. His improved perception pierced through the darkness like it wasn't even there, and no matter what side and angle he glanced at, he couldn't quite spot the Spider that was supposedly here.

A morbid thought crossed his mind: that the spider he was supposed to fight might actually be the size of his thumb. The thought wasn't quite as relieving as he'd assumed it would've been, especially if the spider in question carried some kind of paralytic like the bunny. Then it being that small would be the worst thing ever.

With a grim smile, Nathan stood still as he settled down to survey the dungeon, hoping the spider didn't have a cloak of darkness skill like the alpha did. He confirmed once more that the spider wasn't on the walls, which left him only one more place to look: up. With trepidation and a beating heart, Nathan glanced upwards to the most horrifying sight he'd ever witnessed.

Up there, under the camouflage of darkness, was the widest web he'd ever seen, webs that were probably half the size of a standard football pitch. What was worse was what had actually made the webs; the monster responsible for the monstrosity was currently perched up on the web looking down at Nathan with beady black eyes — seven eyes if his count was correct.

Stalker alert.

The monster was the size of... he couldn't even find an accurate thing to compare it to. All he could say was that the spider was huge, huge and bulky enough that it could crush him if the webs holding it up gave way. Nathan couldn't even fathom what exactly he was supposed to do. He couldn't get up there as he had no means of doing that; he couldn't even handle it from afar as he had no ranged attack. So for the first time since leaving the squad behind, he actually wished that they were here — the ranger coupled with Ciara would've peppered the spider with enough attacks that it would've dropped to the floor by itself.

Seems like I thought too soon.

The realization had barely registered in his mind before the spider scuttled away, and Nathan presumed that the spider was about to fight him on ground floor. His assumption seemed to have held some weight as it scuttled until it landed on the floor, balanced on eight spindly legs. Seven beady eyes fixed on him, and there were probably six other things that Nathan couldn't pick out in the moment.

Now, he'd always prided himself on being a practical person, but if there was anything he'd learned from all his dungeon runs, it was this: don't give monsters time to think. Surprisingly, this little mental note worked in his favor since he preferred to go berserk mode on them, and at that moment, he held himself back, opting to analyze his foe before letting loose all his pent-up fight urge.

Lilith Spider

Level 26

Well, Nathan had no choice but to whistle at the name of the spider, and the level too. It was quite impressive — level 26 was no small feat. Heck, the panther that had given him a massive boost in his level had been at level 27 at the time, which meant that the spider would be a good test of how far he'd come since the near-death experience with the panther.

The more that Nathan thought about it, the more he realized that the scrap with the panther had been his closest shave with death; the rest didn't really come that close. He'd been saved by a freaking rabbit, which was hilarious to say the least. Dispelling his thoughts which had begun running amok, he said a quick prayer before charging at the monstrosity before him.

Spindly-legged and nimble as it was, it scuttled away from his charge erratically, the movement of the spider making Nathan's charge look silly — just like a bull charging at a teasing red cloth. Without letting the movement by the spider dissuade him, Nathan pivoted, following the spider to its new position before suddenly pausing.

Seems like every monster wants to put me in a trap.

Nathan mused. The thought hadn't been an idle one. While he wasn't sure if the monster actually had any intentions of luring him into an already prepared trap, it certainly wouldn't be a first. So he stood still, watching the monster which hadn't once attacked him since he'd stepped foot in the dungeon, its beady eyes watching him with the intelligence of a silent predator watching foolish prey.

He grunted at the thought. Sure, charging headfirst into his battles had always been his thing in the games he'd played online, but this wasn't a game. This wasn't a game; this was real life, and the monsters he'd encountered in this apocalypse weren't mindless beasts — they were just as intelligent as they were barbaric. He shook off the mental image of the master imp crushing the skull of one of its minions.

Nathan knew he had to be smart about how he handled things. Sure, being a Berserker meant he'd always be at the forefront, but that didn't stop him from using his brain to put two and two together. After all, if all Berserkers were just mindlessly charging into fights, it'd be nothing more than the system implementing its own version of natural selection.

He held his sword in front of him as he looked at the spider that had paused its retreat to stare back at Nathan. It had been awfully quiet compared to the other monsters Nathan had fought in recent times, and to be honest, he found it a little nice — the absence of screeches, hisses, and shrieks was highly welcomed.

Finally, a monster that doesn't want to burst my eardrums.

That was the only reasonable trait he was glad the spider exhibited, and even then, the hairs on his arm were tingling, almost in warning. The feeling reminded Nathan of a saying that he often thought about, most times not word for word, but the gist of the saying was: fear those who are silent more than those who boast of their own prowess.

So far, the imps, goblins, kobolds, and Rapid soza were all loud creatures, noisy during his confrontation with them but at the end of the day easy to put down. On the other hand, the lich and the panther had both been quiet for the most part but were the monsters he'd struggled against, which lent credence to the saying. And if the saying was to be trusted, then he'd be in for a long, long fight.

"Well, come on, you lazy bum," Nathan yelled. "Come on, do something!"

He was intentionally provoking the spider, waving his sword at the creature like a complete moron, but if the end justified the means, then he would've done it again in a heartbeat. Why? The formerly reserved and fight-averse spider had just begun scuttling towards him at full speed.

Time to get this party started.