The spider stood, and eight legs brought the giant to even greater proportions. Gilda could not even imagine how powerful such a creature would be. “System, show level.”

The words ‘Level 32 Hell’s Widow’ appeared above the creature’s head in bright red letters. Along with a new word: ‘Boss.’ Gilda had never seen that description next to a monster before. Was this really a game? Right now it seemed more like a death sentence.

Gilda rushed back into the slightly safer and smaller passageway. “Did you see the giant spider?” Gilda whispered.

Shon and Thorin nodded. “A level 32 boss when we are respectively levels 3, 17, and 22,” Thorin said.

“Actually I’m level 4 now,” Shon explained.

“That’s good dear, don’t forget to use your new skill points. We’ll need every advantage we can get. Even with a few more points, the odds are we’ll all die if we face that thing,” Gilda said.

“But do we really have any choice?” Thorin asked, “The portal we entered disappeared and I’ve already confirmed with the system that the only way out of this dungeon is to defeat the boss.”

“So we die quickly if we fight, and slowly if we don’t,” Shon said, “I for one would rather get this over with. Let’s fight.”

Gilda put her arm around her son. Her precious baby was correct; they needed to fight. “I agree, that is the only logical answer, but first we use another healing potion to stop the many cuts I can see on your arms from bleeding, and we take a moment to talk about our roles and discuss our strategy.”

Gilda knew her son would not like her plan. “Thorin, how much time is left before you can use your skill that puts monsters to sleep?”

“There’s still an hour left to wait.”

“Then we begin in an hour. Even if you cannot fully incapacitate it, making it drowsy will still be helpful. Shon, you never told me about your newest skill. I’ve seen it in action but I’d like to know more details,” Gilda said.

“It’s called rend. It deals a strong blow followed by bleeding damage equal to 10% of the damage felt by the first blow every second for 15 seconds. I think I picked well, the other options locked me into the berserker class which I did not want or didn’t really do any damage.”

“Yes, rend is a good skill. You did well. Now for our plan. Once Thorin has finished his song of sleep Shon and I will attack together. Shon, you’ll use charge followed by rend, and then you will hang back and protect Thorin as he sings to give us buffs. I’ll entertain our eight-legged friend until Shon’s wait times are both over. Then you will join me again.”

“I don’t see why I can’t stay up in the front with you?” Shon asked.

“First, you may have more armor than me, but your level is the lowest and you’ll die the quickest. I cannot have that. So you’ll use your skills then fall back and let me do most of the work. After all, I’m at a much higher level, and my speed might help me to dodge its many legs. You’ve done wonderfully so far, and you even saved me a couple of times, but I couldn’t help but notice how slowly you move. It was fine with the lesser beasts but it will be detrimental with a faster one. You do understand?” Gilda couldn’t have this go wrong. Even if she perished, her boy needed to survive.

His furrowed brow and heavy sigh were not good signs. She waited. A moment later he relented. “Fine, but if you get hurt I’ll do whatever I feel is necessary.”

“Good. Yes, thank you. Now Thorin, I have a question for you. Do you have good aim?”

“I think so,” Thorin said.

“I have a plethora of throwing knives. I’m going to give half of them to you. Try to be helpful and avoid stabbing us in the back if you can,” Gilda said. She unwrapped her leg and pulled out four knives, then took four more off her waistband and three extra small poison needles she had pinned carefully around the elastic of her ponytail.

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Over the next while they ate, expelled waste, and practiced hitting a target with knives. Even Shon, so she gave him a few more she’d packed in her backpack, just in case. It truly was a miracle that she’d been so paranoid about her son’s first dungeon because she didn’t usually carry an armory on her for these things.

Nothing disturbed them and the hour passed. It was time to put their lives on the line and fight. Thorin started singing before they entered the large chamber where the Hell’s widow waited. As she’d suspected he was not powerful enough to lull such a strong boss to sleep. The spider watched with a pitying look on its face.

Gilda took her first step into the chamber when the blue system window popped up.

Good luck with your first boss battle.

Before fighting you might want to use all resources available.

Hint: The Game Shop is now available.

Was the system trying to be helpful? Once again she signaled for them to stop and wait. “I was just informed that we should use the shop feature. Quickly check and see if there is anything useful you can buy.

Gilda opened the shop with a simple thought. There was money. More than previously mentioned. “How do players earn coins for the store?” She asked.

The system replied with a rather lengthy list which included completing quests, killing monsters, and killing bosses. She currently had 3,545 coins to spend which meant that she’d probably earned between 1 to 3 coins per monster. She scrolled through potions and random items then clicked on the weapon’s section. Her blades were fine, but would they be able to pierce the thick strong carapace surrounding the spider?

Weapons were pricey but astoundingly useful. There were some rare and unique weapons that gave the barer extra stats. “I see weapons that give you more speed or more strength. It’s amazing.”

“I found a staff that will reduce my cooldown time and a pair of gloves that will increase my intelligence. This just might save our lives.”

“I bought a shield. It increases my strength stat by 4 and it gives magic resistance. I had to use all my coins, but look at it.”

Gilda looked at her son, a shining silver shield was now firmly attached to his left arm. It was about three feet long, compact, and practical.

Among the many daggers in her price range, one stood out. It was called The Angry Wasp. It didn’t give any extra stat points but its damage over time (DOT) was stackable. She clicked purchase for 3,400 coins and watched in awe as a lovely dagger materialized into her hand. The blade was a foot long with a wicked curve shaped like a talon and the handle had a yellow and black striped motif that matched its name.

This time they were truly ready to fight. Gilda ran into the boss’s chamber hoping to catch the beast unprepared, but the spider turned to face her. Its senses were sharp for a monster without ears.

The beast’s long thin black legs carried its large bulbous body with ease. It was even faster than she’d imagined and her eyes struggled with keeping track of all of those legs.

The Hell’s Widow jumped and, in a flash, it was above her head descending in a collision course with her head. Gilda leaped and twirled out of its path. The air whooshed past her face as a leg landed less than an inch from her.

Shon charged at the spider from the side and dealt a round of furious blows. To keep the spider’s attention away from her son, Gilda rushed forward and dug the Angry Wasp’s blade into its underbelly. It barely hit but at least a little green goo oozed out when she removed the dagger.

The giant spider turned toward her son, raised its front leg, and sprayed a green liquid from Shon to Thorin. Luckily, Shon was able to block the suspicious liquid with his new shield. Thorin did not fare as well. He started screaming. “It’s burning. Get it off me, get it off,” Thorin yelled as he wiped the stuff off with clothing that fell apart.

“Go help Thorin,” Gilda said. Her son nodded and ran.

Gilda used that distraction as an opportunity to stab the Hell’s Widow again and even a third time before a leg knocked her off her feet. Gilda rolled with the impact and twisted her body back into an upright position. Rhythm guided her to move with the beat of her heart. She glided between the beast’s legs and with Slice and Dice she found a weakness at the center of its abdomen. Gilda went under the creature, gripped both of her daggers, and plunged them upwards with all her might.

Goo dripped down her arm and onto her face and shoulders. Was it the same stuff acidic stuff it shot at them earlier? Her skin tingled and felt numb but there wasn’t any pain.

Pressure on her arms was the first signal that something was happening then the spider pushed down. Her arms and legs shook as she tried to stop the beast from squishing her, but the weight was overwhelming. Her muscles gave out and she hit her knee as she was knocked to the ground. The dark cave grew black as the spider sat down on top of her.

The crushing force caused a rib to crack and Gilda could not breathe. There was no air flowing under its body. She should have tried to climb up its body or cut off its legs. Instead, she’d gone for the weakest section and was paying for it.

Is this how I die?