Chapter 135

Carly's confidence had been shaken. After she had shown the symptoms of dungeon panic she had realized something. This wasn't training class and she didn't want to die in here. Her usual calm and collected demeanor and flippant almost manipulative attitude had been replaced by constant vigilance and caution.

She watched where she stepped. She made sure not to fall behind. She kept her staff constantly at the ready. Her eyes constantly darted back and forth as her head swiveled left and right as she looked for danger.

M'redith led them through a door and in to a black room. The room's walls, floor, and ceiling were painted black. It made it difficult to see anything even with light, which came from a single solitary torch attached to the wall next to the door. It created a pool of radiance that did not stray very far from its source. The rest of the room grew dark and difficult to see in the further from the torch one went.

M'redith drew her sword and looked about for something to fight. As she did so a thick glowing wad shot past her head and hit the wall. It stuck fast, the goop glowing bright shades of fluorescent greens, yellows, and oranges. It lit up the area around it which was nice, but not enough to make out whatever had just attacked them.

A moment later a fat hulking shape wandered in to the light. It was the size of a car or small truck and its body was low to the ground, held up by its eight legs. This spider was not hairy but had a moist fleshy looking body and its legs were thick black spikes.

Four glassy orbs stared at M'redith before the creature reared up on its back legs and waved its front two legs about in the air. It spat another gob of glowing mucus at M'redith which she dodged almost effortlessly.

Norri moved to the left while Jay and Carly moved to the right. Aiden stayed put next to the torch attached to the wall as he kept an eye on his group for any wounds.

M'redith ran past the creature in an attempt to get behind it and force it to face away from the rest of the group. The spider dropped back to all eight legs but not in time. M'redith ran past just in time as the spider skittered about to face her.

While it was turning Norri hit it with her Class Ability, Control Creature. She focused on it's 'knees' but grew frustrated with trying to control eight knees. Instead she focused on the front two legs and tried to freeze up their joints. Norri's brow beaded with sweat and she felt dizzy but she pushed through it and focused.

The spider let out a furious screech as it stumbled in its attempt to turn its body. M'redith took the opportunity to deliver a wide swing of her sword which made contact with the spider's right front leg. The sword bit in to the spider's thick leg and cut a deep gash in it. Green ichor spurt out of the wound much like a burst hydraulic line.

Norri switched her focus to the spider's next leg, which worked fine until it raised it's opposite leg and sent it hurtling down through M'redith's calf muscle.

M'redith screamed and fell to the ground. Her wound wept blood at a worrisome pace. The spider lurched forward to attack her again but was stopped by Carly.

She had cast her only Class Ability, Starburst, at the monstrous spider in the hopes that it would give M'redith time to move.

M'redith made an effort to crawl away from the creature as Carly's starburst tore in to the creature's back. None of its legs could reach but they tried, they flailed and flexed in an attempt to ward off the attack. A green burst of ichor shot out from its back and was joined a moment later by 100 tiny pops as small wounds burst all over its back.

Aiden had rushed forward and grabbed the back of M'redith's armor by the collar and dragged her across the floor away from the sharp legs that were flailing about wildly. He dragged her back towards the torch, their main light source, and began to cast healing on her. Her leg quickly healed and was covered in patches before Aiden finally stopped and helped her back to her feet.

She felt tired, sore, but alive. It was enough. M'redith tilted her head and cracked her neck before she adjusted her sword and ran back in to the fight.

Carly didn't wait but cast Starburst again. She couldn't cast it very many times before she ran out of mana but she had enough left for at least one or two more casts.

The group's formation had gotten a bit messy. They were now all standing in front of the spider instead of spread out around it. Unfortunately that made it very easy for the spider to attack and defend itself. It was huge compared to the tiny humans fighting it. Things only went badly for it when it couldn't keep track of all of them at once.

The spider darted forward in an attempt to strike M'redith again but she darted to the side outside of its reach and ran past it, in to the darkness. The spider followed spitting gobs of fluorescent glowing mucus that stuck to anything it touched.

Jay wondered about the mucus. What was the point? Why was it glowing? Did it burn? Stun? Something else entirely? It seemed that a flashy attack like that should have a purpose, but what?

At least it helped them see the room a bit better, Jay thought to himself as another glowing gob was spat on to the floor where M'redith had been a moment before.

M'redith ran about the room dodging the spider as it lumbered forward and tried to follow her, spitting luminous mucus in piles on the floor and walls. As time passed more and more of the gobs lit up the room and Jay was finally able to get a look at the contents.

They were in a long room, he couldn't make out the other end, but what he could make out were rolls of yarn. Thick bobbins the length of his arm dotted the sides of the room in utilitarian looking shelving. Jay peered at one bobbin and tried to make out any details. He got a bit distracted and ended up staring for the full 10 seconds needed to trigger his identify ability.

He didn't mean to – it just happened. Using the identify ability during combat was usually a horrible idea as there were far better things to do with ten seconds than standing still during a fight. Regardless, it worked, and he saw Sail Yarn, Bobbin pop up over the item.

Jay tried to make out anything else in the room but it appeared that the room was specifically meant to store flax yarn.

Meanwhile M'redith had lopped off the spider's front two legs at that point and the spider was furious. Glowing gobs shot past M'redith in a stream as she backed away. One gob shot right where her head would have been and struck the wall with a wet splat.

Jay watched the gob stick to the wall and glow brightly when he had an idea.

“Crap!” Aiden yelled. He had been scanning his party and watching for injuries when he had noticed Jay get a thoughtful look on his face.

“What's wrong?” Norri yelled from off to the side.

“I think Jay has an idea!” Aiden yelled while trying not to laugh.

“Well CRAP then!” M'redith yelled from the other side of the spider.

Jay laughed, “Hey! I have good ideas!”

M'redith dodged another sharp leg that slammed down in to the ground next to her. “Spill it!”

Jay nodded before realizing that M'redith couldn't see him from her position. “There are bobbins of yarn along the wall, try to get the boss to shoot a glowing gob at it!”

“What? Why!?” M'redith yelled.

“I don't know, it just seems like the only possible use for the glowing spit!” Jay yelled back.

Norri had approached the spider from the side and was delivering crushing blows along with jabs towards the spider's eyes.

“That's ridiculous!” yelled Aiden from the lit portion of the room. “Also, what the hell is a bobbin?”

“YOU'RE a bobbin!” yelled Norri as she made contact with one of the spider's eyes and it screeched and pulled away from the tiny humans. Or at least it tried to pull away – it seemed that the spider was surrounded.

M'redith laughed but moved to draw the spider back in to the center of the room. It was touch and go for a bit there as the spider wasn't sure who it wanted to attack most. M'redith helped solve that conundrum with a slash across its abdomen as it rose on to its back legs.

Finally M'redith was in position and she arranged it so that she was standing between the bobbins of sail yarn and the big nasty spider.

The big nasty spider wasn't doing too good. As far as bosses went, it was an easy one, or at least it had been so far. As long as they didn't get trapped in its spit or webbing they should be fine. The spider however would not fare so well. It was missing two legs and two more were badly wounded. It had a large open wound on its back surrounded by hundreds of smaller wounds. One eye had been crushed to jelly. The spider wasn't winning and it knew it.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The spider spat a fat gob of glowing fluorescent mucus and it lit up the room a bit as it hurled through the air. M'redith, at the last moment, pulled her head and upper body to the side and it sailed past her.

Everyone stood still and watched as the gob struck the bobbin of thread and the mucus was absorbed slowly by the thread until all that was left was a brightly colored glowing bobbin of sail thread.

The spider noticed that its enemies weren't moving and took the opportunity to attack. It used its body to try and knock M'redith over but instead felt as if it had hit a wall. As for M'redith, she only took one step back – a huge hit considering her Giant Frame ability. Normally she wouldn't be affected at all. The spider was truly a huge creature.

Carly checked her mana, she had enough for another cast. She focused, said a word known only to her, and a bright six inch star hurtled towards the monster's face. The explosion threw out a jet of blood and flesh from the spider's front, and it lost another eye from the hundred smaller stars that erupted afterwards.

With a gurgle the spider screamed and collapsed to the ground.

“Well that was easy.” Aiden said with a grin.

“I almost lost a leg!” M'redith spat back with a shocked expression.

“Ya, but I fixed it!” Aiden said and Norri laughed.

“It did seem a bit easy. Compared to some of the other bosses we've fought this one was pretty simple.” Jay admitted.

M'redith shrugged, “Not all bosses are difficult puzzles to figure out. Sometimes all you have to do is hit it until it stops moving.”

Aiden chuckled. “Cute. I like that!”

Jay wandered over to the giant spider which was in the process of disappearing in to motes of light. It had been a big creature so there were a lot of motes in the air all at once. It turned in to a pretty twinkling display of light before it was gone completely.

On the floor in its place sat a powder blue treasure chest with ivory edges.

“Treasure!” Norri yelled as she ran over to stand next to Jay.

Jay inspected the treasure chest carefully. He ran a finger along the lid's seam gently and his finger caught on the very tip of a pin. Jay got down on to the ground and peered at the lid around the pin. Sure enough he found a tiny hole to the side of the pin.

“Anyone have a trap pin handy?” Jay asked. “I had one but I've no idea what I've done with it.”

“Sure, here,” Aiden said as he walked over and handed Jay a pin from his pack. “I started carrying a few after traps class. Glad I did!”

Jay took the pin gratefully and used it to slide in to the tiny hole. With a click the pin tip disappeared. Jay took the trap pin and gave it back to Aiden, “All done, thanks!”

Aiden nodded as Jay returned to inspecting the chest. There was again no latching mechanism, the lid just rested shut. Not seeing anything else he gave the clear signal. “I think it's good now. Maybe use your staff to tip it open though instead of your hands? Just in case?”

“Goddess you're bad at this.” Aiden said with a grin.

“Hey! I just disarmed a trap!” Jay said with a smile.

“Did you? Are you sure? Because you sounded unsure a moment ago.” Aiden quipped.

Jay pursed his lips. “I'm...pretty sure?” Jay sighed, “Alright, you're right. I need to practice more, but I'm still better at it than you are big guy.”

Aiden laughed, “Oh absolutely. Traps are all you my friend.”

Norri watched the two argue with a smile before she gave Jay an inquiring look.

Jay shrugged and reached out to open the chest. Nothing happened and no one got hurt.

“See! I told you!” Jay called over to Aiden as Norri dug through the chest. Everyone else had approached Norri to sit near her as they went through the loot.

“I feel like I've seen this before,” Norri said as she pulled out five wrapped bundles of armor. They were the same as the last ones they had found, unusable as armor but with minor stat bonuses.

“This armor is worthless.” Aiden huffed.

“We've been over this. Think of it as winning a quest item. You're not wearing the armor, you're collecting them for a quest, ok?” M'redith explained patiently.

Aiden shrugged, “Anything else in there?”

Norri sighed, “Coins?” she said as she took out five silver and handed one to everyone.

“Just silver huh?” Aiden complained.

Norri rummaged around in the chest before withdrawing her hands and shaking her head. “That's it. Useless armor and a silver.”

“That sounds about right. The boss was pretty easy.” Aiden remarked.

“Stop saying that! It was not easy! You try tanking that thing next time!” M'redith said in exasperation.

Aiden laughed. “No thanks. I'm fine standing at the back away from the fight thank you very much. Seriously though, that was some good work M'redith. Thanks for keeping that thing off of the rest of us.”

Everyone nodded seriously in agreement as M'redith smiled shyly.

Jay got up and took the wrapped bundles from Norri and stored them in his backpack. Then he walked over to the wall where the bobbins of thread were stored.

The bobbins were large, roughly the length of Jay's arm. Most of them were as they were before the fight started but some had gotten spatter from the glowing gobs the spider had shot out. Jay continued looking through the bobbins. Finally he found one that had been completely covered by the mucus.

The bobbin was clean of any mucus but its thread was glowing a rainbow of colors. Jay inspected the item and read the results.

Enchanted Sail Thread, Bobbin – rare - this sail thread has been imbued with the magic of a Phasic Arachnid.

Jay had been right, the spider's goop HAD done something with the thread – it had enchanted it! Jay went to store the bobbin in his bag but it wouldn't fit. Apparently even a bag with magic abilities had its limits. Maybe he should start saving up for a better magic bag?

Jay could take the thread, but he'd have to carry it. With a shrug of his shoulders Jay took the bobbin and cradled it in one arm while he used his other to hold on to his staff. He walked back over to the entry door and set the bobbin down on the floor.

The others were sitting on the floor with their backs against the wall relaxing and catching their breath. Carly was drinking from her canteen while M'redith cleaned her sword. The others just sat quietly.

Jay went around the room and carefully checked the walls and floors with his ability. His ability didn't detect anything, but his eyes did. Towards the back of the room where the darkness was thickest he found a tiny keyhole set in to the floor. He used his hands to push away some of the dust and discovered that there was a trap door. Locked. But still a trapdoor.

He returned to the front of the room with his friends and sat down next to M'redith who was just putting away her sword.

“Find anything?” she asked as she gently leaned up against him.

“Yes.”

“Really? What?” she asked as she leaned forwards and turned so that she could see his face.

“A trap door. It's locked, but if we find a key we'll know what it goes to.” Jay said with a grin.

“What's with the...bobbin?” asked Aiden.

“I don't know,” Jay admitted, “It was a long shot having the spider spit at it but it worked. What it's for? I have no idea yet.”

“What the hell are we going to do with it? Are you going to just carry it around with you?” Aiden asked while laughing. “You look ridiculous lugging that thing around.”

Jay smiled, “I know. It's huge. I'm going to bring it back up to the cooking area and leave it there until we find a use for it. If we don't find a use for it I'll carry it back with us and we can see what it will sell for. What do you think?”

The others nodded, it seemed like a fine plan. Especially since none of them would be asked to carry the thing.

The bobbin was basically just a spool that thread had been wound around. Now however it held enchanted thread. Usually bobbins were used as part of a machine though, and Jay had yet to see a machine that would use it. Judging by the size of the bobbin the machine must be pretty large.

Normal bobbins for sewing machines were roughly only an inch or so tall. The bobbin Jay was carrying was over a foot and a half tall. If it were for sewing it was for sewing something big.

“Great work everyone,” M'redith said with a smile as she stood up slowly. “Now that we've finished going down we can head back up to the cooking area on floor 1. We'll rest up, regenerate our health and mana, and take a short break for some food. Sound good?”

Aiden's belly growled loudly just as M'redith spoke the word 'food.' Everyone laughed but got up and got back in line for the journey back to the first floor.

Carly had been unusually quiet and Jay had been keeping an eye on her. Still, she didn't seem panicked, just quiet, so Jay left her to her own thoughts after getting in line.

“Ok, let's move.” M'redith said as she led them out of the black room and back towards the winding stairs.