A single spider the size of a loaf of bread sat on his web. He just finished it after hours of work when his last one was destroyed by falling rocks. A good web needs to be in a key location to catch all the bugs to feast upon, that’s what his instincts told him.
He always enjoyed the ones with wings, so he ensured it was high up to catch them. He laid motionless at the center, waiting for one of the many silk ropes to vibrate. A signal that dinner was served.
One of the strings started to vibrate, followed by three more in that direction. “Yes! A big one!” The spider looked in that direction, but saw nothing stuck in his web. Unknown to the spider, the magic in the area allowed him the ability to see in the dark.
“No big one?” The spider asked himself in confusion.
More webs started to vibrate. He frantically looked around and saw no bugs stuck in his perfect web. It then occurred to the spider this was exactly what he felt right before his old web was destroyed. “No, my home!”
The wall that the spider's web was attached to came crashing down as a gloved hand pierced through into the opening. Light flooded into the new opening. The spider who had never seen light before scurried away in fear, to find a new place to live.
“Fuck!” Nathan screamed in fright. “Did you see how big that spider was!” Nathan pointed in the direction it fled and Thu sent her light forward to see if any more monsters were waiting for them.
Nathan knew she couldn’t answer, but he could tell she was unfazed by it. “Puts Australia to shame. There is a reason I never went to the conventions in that country. Not to mention the jet lag and long plane ride. My back never let me sleep on those damned things.”
Nathan was once again thankful for his youthful body in this new world. His attention was brought back at the motion of Thu moving forward. Their plan was simple: Get as high up as they could, and hope the others were trying to get down to them as well.
If they came across any monsters, they would kill them. They would try to reason with the Bandits and knock them out if possible, if not then they would be forced to use lethal force.
Nathan silently prayed the latter would never happen, but he made a promise to Thu. Their lives would come first, no matter what.
There were no creatures or Bandits, so they proceeded forward slowly. Nathan had his spear at the ready. Thu chose to fight with her hands. Nathan asked her if she had a weapon, and she had two small knives on her body. One in her boot, the other on her side.
She preferred not to use them, unless an enemy was hard to fight with her hands. Nathan figured it would be useful for people with metal armor or monsters with thick hides.
The light Thu could create required constant Mana to keep it lit, luckily she had a high Mana pool, more than his from what he could guess. It was their only way to see danger. Without it, they would be blind and good as dead.
Thu took the lead and walked slowly, constantly on alert. Nathan occasionally looked over his shoulder, to be sure nothing snuck up on them.
It was a quiet few minutes until Thu held up a hand to stop Nathan. She motioned for him to stay while she looked ahead. Nathan strained his ears, trying to listen for what she could have seen or heard.
Thu went forward several steps and turned to her left. Nathan heard a screech from an insect as Thu thrusted her foot out to kick something. Nathan saw a scorpion scuttled away toward him.
He took a deep breath and readied himself. Once it was close enough, he stabbed it, piercing it to the ground.
Thu walked over and stepped on it’s head killing it. She nodded to him and Nathan pulled his spear out. Dark green blood stained the metal. Nathan made a face as he flicked the spear to get as much of it off the spear as he could.
He didn’t want to waste mana on [Cleanse] so he pulled out some cloth to wipe off what was left. Nathan looked at Thu and gave her a thumbs up.
They continued forward, killing two more monsters. After the last one, Nathan and Thu could hear echoes of something coming from deeper in the caves.
They silently crept forward, ensuring to keep an eye out for more monsters. It didn’t take long before the noises turned into voices and then into words they could understand.
“Blasted idiot. When we get out of here, I am killing him!”
“Jimmy, that’s the thousandth time you said it. We are not getting out of here any faster by you complaining. We all want a piece of that elven bastard. Right now we need to work together so we can get Jagor here help. He won’t last more than another two hours.”
There was a bit of silence and then a sigh. “I know, but damn it, if he didn’t blow this place up we could be out of here. We had plenty of ore to please the Boss. But noooo the greedy cunt wanted to get more. And what happened? WHO KNOWS! I bet he locked us down here to get a larger share.”
Nathan peeked around the curve of the tunnel and saw four figures around a fire. One was sitting next to someone laying down and bandaged. One was pacing back and forth, while the last was roasting something over the fire.
“Jimmy, you best get back to mining. I have enough stamina to fend off another two of those things. If the big one comes, you all run away. I can hold it off for you two.”
“Please, a Bandit thinking the best of others?” The one by the fire scoffed.
“Fuck on Shunter. At least I am trying to save our asses here.”
“And then what is going to happen Tucker? Get no money for showing up late?” Shunter asked. He pointed a stick toward the cave Thu and Nathan were hiding in. “I say we keep going forward and find a way out.”
Jimmy picked up a pick and started to mine through a pile of rocky rubble. “We both know the exit is around here somewhere. It’s our best chance to dig through solid stone.”
Thu and Nathan looked at each other. Thu pulled out her notebook and started to write. ‘Two options, we grab one of them as hostage and make them help us, or we double back and find a way around.’
Nathan shook his head. He whispered back to her. “They have someone hurt, and you heard him. That’s the way out if he can dig out. Maybe we can work together?”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
‘Really? Trust a Bandit? I get you don’t want to hurt them, but they will absolutely hurt you.’
Nathan shrugged. “Best chance we get. Plus they mentioned a big monster. You want to fight it with just the two of us?”
‘Big and scary compared to a few low leveled bandits with no weapons.’
“And the girl who can’t talk and a healer have a better chance?”
Thu didn’t write a response instantly, thinking it over. ‘Okay, you talk, but if anything happens, I will act accordingly. Don’t die, if you fuck this up, I will just leave you.’
Nathan didn’t like how she would just abandon him. He glared at her for a moment, before walking toward the Bandits.
He held his spear at the ready, so they didn’t just charge him. He learned that lesson already, and refused to be caught off guard again.
“Hey, your friend is hurt? I can help if you promise not to kill me.” Nathan said, three heads swirling to him.
The bigger one that was picking his way through the rubble ran back to his group. Tucker pulled out a rapier and pointed it at Nathan.
“Who the fuck are you? How did you get down here?” He asked.
Nathan looked at the Bandit who was still not moving. “Fell down here when the explosion went off. I can heal your buddy there, I am a Doctor after all.”
Nathan hoped calling himself a Doctor would scare them. He wasn’t lying...technically. They would just think he is this world's version of a Doctor. A high level Priest or Cleric.
They glanced at each other then at Nathan, none of them making a move. “Why should we trust you? We don’t have any money.”
Nathan smiled hopefully in a friendly manner. “Well, don’t worry about money, you can help pay me back in another way. See, I don’t want to die down here like you all. I help your friend there, we work with you to get out of here together. Then once we are all out, we go our separate ways. Sounds like a deal?”
Jimmy and Tucker seemed to almost accept the idea. Shunter on the other hand narrowed his eyes. “We?” He asked.
Nathan mentally facepalmed at his fuck up with words. “Yes ‘We’. As in all of us here.” Nathan gestured to the four of them with his spear.
“No, you said it as if you had a friend hiding somewhere.” Shunter said, looking behind Nathan. “You are the reason the mines were caved in weren't ya. Adventurers? Bet you have a friend or three hiding while you negotiate.”
Nathan started to worry. “We could have easily taken the surprise on you all, either we work together, or my friend will take care of you all in their own way. It was my idea to try and work with you instead of just resorting to violence. Which will it be, we work together, or you are all going to get hurt. I can heal injuries, obviously none of you can.”
Jimmy dropped his pick. “If they are the reason he used that wand, then we can’t fight them. You have a deal, Doctor. My name’s Jimmy.”
Shunter turned and looked back at Jimmy. “We can’t trust them! They will kill us once we are outta here.”
Tucker slapped the back of Shunter’s head. “I don’t want Jagor to die, you idiot. Plus, I am down to half health myself. If the Doctor can patch us up, and keep us alive, so be it. I ain’t going to die down here because of your pride.”
Tucker walked forward to Nathan. His rapier was still in his hand, but his other was held out for a handshake. “No funny business Doc. I know your kind follows your God's ideals to a perfection, which one do you follow?”
“Oh I don’t follow any God. I just do what I think is right. Such as helping your friend there, mind if I take a look at him?” Nathan shook the man's hand.
Tucker was taken back slightly. “Don’t follow a god? So you one of them Alchemist and fake healers? Using potions and stuff?”
Nathan shook his head. “Nope, I have magic. Now, your friend?”
Tucker hesitated, but gestured for him to look at Jagor. All the while Thu remained in the shadows, watching closely. She was ready to attack when Nathan fucked up by mentioning he wasn’t alone. Yet in the end he pulled it off. She was almost impressed.
Nathan started to examine Jagor. He had a ripped up shirt bandaged around his left leg, as well as around his chest.
“Jagor was pinned under some rocks. Leg is all fucked up, along with some of his ribs.” Tucker said.
Nathan nodded and started to pull out some bandages. “Alrighty, you guys did good on ensuring he didn’t bleed out. Help me get the cloth off of him so I can get clean ones on. Then I’ll heal him.
“Wait, you said you have spells, why not just wave your hand?” Shunter almost demanded more than asked.
Nathan waved a hand at him. “Because it works better this way, do you want him saved or not?”
Jimmy and Tucker didn’t ask questions and started to help Nathan. Once all the bandages were off, Nathan was able to look at the damage better. Jagor had little external wounds, a few puncters that were started to scab over, but clearly bones were broken. Jagor’s leg was all kinds of messed up.
One could see parts of the skin being raised from the bone underneath trying to press it’s way out. Nathan started by checking his pulse and then worked on a splint for the leg. Once that was done, he knew there was nothing he could do to help mitigate the mana for the ribs.
Even back home, the best way to repair ribs was to have the patient not move and stay bandaged so the ribs remained aligned.
Once everything was in place Nathan slowly started to use [Healing Touch]. He was careful to not use too much Mana. Slowly the wounds were repaired, his [Knowledge (Vitamancy)] kicking in to ensure he did everything correctly.
The entire process took less than twenty minutes and soon Jaguar's eyes fluttered open. Nathan cleaned his hands off with some water to remove what little blood got on them and let Tucker and the others explain what was going on to Jagor.
Nathan leaned against the wall to face the tunnel he came from. He could see Thu show herself enough so he could see her. She gave a thumbs up and went back to hiding.