The webs were thicker.

Unlike the wispy threads that coated the dungeon behind them, a more substantial net now wove itself around the group as they traveled deeper down the new passage.

And it was sticky.

The white fibers clung to Dylan’s shoulder as he brushed past the wall on his left. He reached out to wipe them off but only managed to transfer them to his hand. He frowned, trying to shake the spider silk from his fingers before giving up and smearing it on his pants.

I hate this place.

Luckily, it wasn’t long before the passage opened up into a new room. One that surprised the group.

“Third set of challenge doors,” said Chester.

“Shit,” Rowan cursed.

While dungeons the System created for the Tutorial were always slightly different, after more than a century of observation, it was easy to find some of their basic patterns. More often than not, a section that began with a set of challenge doors would only have one fight further inside. And the fewer fights a section had, the tougher they would be.

So far, their group had proven surprisingly resilient for one without a healing class. But that was mostly because their front line was unusually well trained, and they’d only been facing relatively weak monsters.

With the help of Dena’s debuff, Chester and Rowan had been able to handle the worst of the fighting without major incident. But now, they weren’t just about to face the more dangerous monsters that would inevitably appear in the second stage of the dungeon, the party was about to face them in a fight the System had specifically designed to be difficult.

Chester paused in the center of the room. “We don’t know exactly what we’re up against, but there’s still a few monsters from our combat trials that we haven’t seen yet.” He nodded back at the passage they’d just exited. “Based on that, the web-shooting spiders Dena fought are a good bet.” Turning to continue forward, he spoke over his shoulder, “Keep an eye out for any other hints the dungeon might give us about what’s next.”

As the group walked through the room, Dylan glanced at the row of doors that had gone ignored to his right. The Herbalist’s symbol was no longer glowing, its door having joined those belonging to the two who’d left at the beginning of the dungeon in their inactivity. The only ones remaining were for the Blacksmith and the Runic Scribe, but Alice and Sara walked by without looking. Both had decided to challenge deeper in the dungeon.

After exiting the room, they once again entered a tunnel of webs. The more the party walked, the thicker the surrounding white net became. Viscous threads wrapped the space so completely that not even the ground was spared.

Dylan frowned as he looked down. Each step took just a little more effort as the webs tried to hold him back. It wasn’t much of a hindrance, but it was a hindrance. Something that didn’t matter while group was simply traveling, but in battle…

“Gonna be harder to dodge with this stuff on the ground,” Dena said.

“How did you deal with it during the combat trial?” Chester asked, stopping to look back at the group.

“Just did my best to avoid it. I was kiting around the room.” The woman gestured beneath her. “It wasn’t like this. Never had the chance to build up.”

“Jaiden, can you manipulate the earth to bury the webs? Give us some better footing?” Chester asked.

The Earth Mage thought for a moment. “I could, but not in any way that would be practical during a fight. It would take too long for the kind of space we’d need.” She stared at the ground. “Besides, my connection feels a little weaker with the webs in the way.”

“Do they have a dampening effect on magic?” Dylan asked.

“I don’t know. I just feel like I can’t manipulate the earth as much.”

“Let’s hope there’s a clear space in the next room,” Sara said. “I don’t feel like we should stay on this stuff for too long.”

“Obviously,” said Rowan. “Now, let’s go.”

They continued forward, and the webs continued to become more abundant.

The strands beneath Dylan’s feet were thick enough to make the ground feel spongy when he walked; it was almost like the earth would sink under him with every step only to rise again as the threads pulled against his boots.

It was an odd feeling. The closest thing Dylan could think to compare it to was walking through muddy snow.

But that wasn’t quite right. Mud and snow would only suck at his feet; they didn’t carry the same subtle…bounce? Dylan couldn’t be sure, but there was a sense that the ground was adding a gentle sway to his stride.

After a few minutes of careful progress, the passage began to expand. It was slow, and at first, hard to notice. The gradually increasing net of white fibers masked the earthen walls’ withdrawal.

What used to be a claustrophobic tunnel transformed into a wide channel, and when there was enough room for half the group to walk side by side without brushing the web-covered walls, Chester once again paused.

“We may already be in the next room. Keep an eye out.”

When he continued forward, it was with a slower, more methodical advance.

As the group walked, Dylan noticed what appeared to be dark recesses running along the top of the walls. They were veiled behind the white shroud, but they reminded him of the spider holes from earlier in the dungeon.

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Obviously, he wasn’t the only one to see them. The rest of the group began splitting their focus between keeping a firm footing and guarding against possible ambushes from above.

But no attacks came.

They continued forward for another ten minutes, and still, no attacks came.

The cavern continued to expand beyond what could reasonably be called a passage. There was no doubt they’d already entered the next room, but the only signs of monsters were the webs and the possible spider holes.

The further the group went without finding a more concrete idea about what they would be facing, the more Dylan’s nerves were set on edge.

When the room reached about thirty feet across and twenty high, they were forced to stop. A giant web spanned the entire space in front of them, blocking both their sight and their progress. Fine silk spread between a structure of threads as thick as rope. Shadows of even more webbing could vaguely be seen stretching deeper into the room through the mass of white fibers.

Chester reached out and tried pulling at it. No success. The web stretched and grew taut, but it didn’t break. While the finer silk came away with the Guardian’s hand, the larger frame remained intact. It was tougher than the stuff coating the cave around them.

“Looks like we have to cut our way through,” Chester said, looking at Rowan.

“Back up a bit.” The redhead unsheathed his sword and stepped forward. “Get ready,” he warned, “this might stir the nest.”

With a swing of his arm, Rowan’s blade cut down at one of the threads only to get stuck halfway through.

“Shit,” he cursed, pulling the weapon from the web. “Gonna have to burn it.”

Rowan’s sword took on a familiar red glow, visible heat waves rippling through the air, but he didn’t immediately attack the web. Instead, he continued to focus on his blade. The metal shone brighter, radiating more and more heat, until its edges burst into flames.

Dylan watched as Rowan let out a breath and prepared to swing again when he suddenly had a thought.

“Wait,” he called out. “I want to try something.”

“What?” The fiery blade halted, licks of flame reaching mere inches from the web; the man wielding it was clearly annoyed.

“We don’t know how flammable this particular kind of web is. Maybe it takes more effort than it’s worth burning it like that.” Dylan pointed at the sword before gesturing to the expanse of white that surrounded the group. “Or maybe the fire takes too well and you cook us all by mistake.”

“And what’s your alternative?”

Dylan summoned the card catalog and pulled out one of the Blank Cards. “Turn it into a card.”

“And you couldn’t have said that before I wasted energy channeling fire into my sword?” Rowan waved the blade around in front of him.

“I didn’t think of it earlier.”

“Fine.” The redhead let the flames go out as he stepped back from the web. “This had better work.”

Dylan nodded but was unsure himself. He’d never worked with such a large material when making a card before. Even the giant armored spider he’d used was dwarfed in comparison.

He took a deep breath and moved to center himself in front of the web. Sitting down, he closed his eyes and entered the same state of semi-meditation he’d found success with when making Lunadera’s Bloom. He calmed his mind and pushed away outside distractions. And as much as his instincts made him also want to try to push away the feeling of the web beneath him, he instead forced himself to focus on it.

The soft, sticky texture. The way he hadn’t been able to get the fibers off his hand earlier in the passage. The way the web had usurped the ground and pulled against him when he’d walked over it. He let himself sink into the white mass beneath him as he let himself sink into the sensation of being trapped.

An indeterminate moment later, Dylan stretched out his hand. He began to channel his mana as the Blank Card touched the giant web.

A spreading glow passed through to Dylan’s closed eyes. He imagined the illumination swept across the entire room with how large the material he was attempting to turn into a card was.

The process seemed to take longer than he was used to. But soon there was a flash, and he felt the card in his hand vibrate.

No.

He felt the space around him vibrate.

Snapping his eyes open, Dylan saw the rest of the group stabilize themselves as a tremor passed through the room.

“Fuck,” Rowan cursed.

“That was probably a part of the room’s structural support.” Sara looked around the edges of the web that Dylan’s card creation had just vacated. “We should probably move on as soon as possible.”

“Agreed,” Chester said before looking down. “You good?”

“Yeah.” Dylan pried himself from the webbed floor and looked at the results of his work.

Spider silk still coated every surface of the room, but the obstruction was gone. The only remnants of the massive white tangle were the few loose threads hanging from the rocky ceiling.

I can’t believe that actually worked.

Dylan’s mind briefly drifted to the other possible uses of his Blank Cards beyond simply enhancing his deck, but then he stopped himself. He had to focus on the present.

As the party began its trek once again, Dylan looked down at the card in his hand.

Burned into the golden surface was, unsurprisingly, a web.

[Name: Giant Web]

[Type: Summon]

[Subtypes: Object]

[Summoning Cost: 2 Mana]

[Activation Cost: 2 Energy]

[Effect: Summon a Giant Web. Lasts 0.5 minutes. Covers a maximum area of 201.06 square feet. Has a sticking power equivalent to 4 Physical Power.]

He’d managed to create another card that was actually functional, and it seemed quite useful for crowd control. Though, he’d have to test it to see just how practical and flexible it truly was.

Looking at the numbers, Dylan assumed the values were scaling in some way with his stats, but now wasn’t the time to examine the card’s more detailed display.

He was already behind the rest of the group.

He quickly used the card catalog to collect his new creation before hurrying to catch up. On his way, he pulled up his stats to look at his mana.

[Mana: 95/103]

He still couldn’t quite grasp how his expenditure during card creation was calculated, but at least Giant Web hadn’t cost him much. He was still more than ready to fight.

Not long after passing the site that Dylan had cleared, the group stopped again.

A large stone archway stood in front of them. Angled slightly to the left and reaching across the breadth of the cavernous room, it was covered with a mass of the thinner webs that had appeared in the first section of the dungeon. They appeared as a gossamer veil, stretching to cover the entire passage through the stones.

From beyond the archway came a flickering green glow.

Chester looked around the group, silently checking their readiness. Giving the party a quick nod, he held his shield and moved forward.

When he reached the thin white membrane, he paused. The entire group took the chance to look at what lay beyond.

The details were kept vague by the web blocking his vision, but Dylan could make out enough to see that before them was a long, narrow room. The green light came from a pair of torches set just behind the archway.

The flames were unusual. They flickered through the omnipresent spider silk without causing the slightest damage, and whatever wind moved them touched nothing else in the room. It was as if they were visible from the room but didn’t actually exist in it.

Beyond the first torches, another pair could be seen along the walls about ten feet deeper, and then another. And another. They stretched back to the end of the space, where a ring of the unnatural fire stood surrounding what appeared to be four massive stone pillars.

The other details were too obscured for Dylan to see clearly.

Once everyone had had a chance to observe, Chester reached out to break through the veil.

The moment his hand swept across the silky threads, the flickering fire froze.

Dylan could almost imagine the room itself taking a breath.

A roar echoed from the direction of the pillars, and each flame exploded with a silent burst of light. A familiar skittering sound surrounded the group.

“Let’s go!” Chester called, leading the charge inside.

Dylan rushed in behind the Guardian and summoned his deck.