After helping Diana out of the webs, Anthony and Diana stare at James.

“There was venom in it’s fangs. He’s poisoned. Look around for any plants. One might be a herb that can heal the poison.”

After searching for about half an hour, they came up with 3 plants. One was black with thorns and small purple flowers, another was a yellow fern, and the last was a blue moss.

“Alright. I think that this one is a heal herb, but not an antidote.” She says, holding up the blue moss. “This one should be a slightly poisonous fern and the flower should be an ingredient for an antidote potion, should we find the other ingredients.”

Skeptically, Anthony says, “Aaaannnnd, how do you know all this?”

“There is an RPG called Infinite Dungeon: Shadowfall. I play that game a lot, and the opening sequence was just like what we went through. It starts with the player being summoned and being called a hero before being sent through a portal with no gear or weapons. It was always different, the dungeon. No matter how far you got, the levels never repeated. There were always slight deviations in them. Like different elements imbued in the monsters, or a different species, or the monsters were immune to something. So I think they just sent us to live the rest of our lives in here.”

“Wait. So you’re saying that we’re stuck here forever?” James inquired in a shaky voice.

Diana nods.

James felt happiness erupt in him. He had never really had any close family, and his friends were few and far between. This was much better than his past. A place where he can defeat evil and slay devils!

Anthony ticked off because they were doomed to die here.

Diana felt some kind of sadness because she would never see her friends from college and her relatives again. She would never finish college either. Also, she knew how difficult this dungeon was. She died so many times, that the amount of tries was over 200. Even though this was dangerous, she knew this was something she always wanted. A life of adventure rather than the bore of real life.

Diana stood up. “You stay here James. Don’t get up because we don’t want you to get worse. Also, Anthony, come with me. We’re going to get the loot in the room, but be on guard. There might be another spider in there.”

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Diana and Anthony approach the gap in the wall where the spider came through. “Ready,” Anthony says. Diana walks in and looks around. Torches flare up around the room, showing cobwebs in every part of the room. In the center of the room, there was a chest. It looked old and shabby, as if it had been used a lot in the past, but neglected for a long time. Carefully, Diana opened the chest. Inside of it was a round shield and a bronze shortsword. There are a couple copper coins inside too.

Diana inspects the items to find:

Bronze Shortsword: Damage: 5-9.

Item Quality: Weak. Item Rarity: Common

Durability: 15/21

Wooden Round Shield: Damage Reduction: 3-5. Item Quality: Shabby. Item Rarity: Junk. Durability: 7/16

“Let’s go to the next room. We might find another ingredient for the antidote.”

Diana gave the shortsword to Anthony. 

"I'll serve as the tank for now. I think it'll serve us better if you're not the one being attacked."

“Wait. Can I practice a little bit with this? I don’t want to drop it on my foot.” He smirks.

Anthony takes a few practice swings, imagining a target. “Huh. I feel like I’ve practiced with this before. Alright, we can go.”

Diana faces towards the wall on their right. Breathing out, Diana places her hand on the wall.

The part of the wall opens and 2 spiders approach. One is another giant spider, the other appears to be a juvenile spider.

“Kill the juvenile, then help me with the big one,” Diana shouts. She approaches the giant spider warily. Anthony sprints past her and takes a jab at the juvenile.

-9

Scree!

| Juvenile Spider | 5 ----- 14 |

The giant spider then leaps towards Diana, who is holding the shield at the ready. It’s front legs smash into the front of the wooden shield. Diana is pushed off balance but recovers. As she looks over, one of the juvenile’s legs is cut off and is bleeding.

Anthony finishes off the juvenile, while the giant spider rears up for another attack. However, Diana runs up to the spider and bashes it, knocking it over.

Seizing the opportunity, Anthony cuts in and stabs the abdomen of the spider.

-15! Critical!

| 9 --- 24 Giant Spider |

“Anthony! Look out!”

Anthony ducks just in time to avoid being ensnared by the spider’s webs. But before he can land the final blow, he trips over a stone lying on the ground. The spider advances on Diana alone. The heavy bash of the spider’s legs form a crack in the shield.

Diana bashes the spider again, sending it sprawling. Anthony finally comes in and stabs it twice.

0 ------ 24 Giant Spider

Anthony wipes his brow and sighs.

“Your clumsiness almost killed me!!” Diana shouts.

Anthony sighs and looks toward the darker part of the room where another chest could be seen. He opens it and finds:

Brass Club: Damage: 7-9. Item Quality: Okay. Item Rarity: Common. Durability: 19/20

Leather Greaves: Damage Reduction: 3-4. Item Quality: Great. Item Rarity: Uncommon. Durability: 24/35

“At least we have better gear. No herbs or anything though.”

Let’s move on then. Hopefully the next one will have the rest of the herbs.