The normal spiders—if one saw two-foot-tall as normal—were not that much of an issue. They had begun to learn. Do not approach the [Maid’s] lair. In that direction was a swift death—only worse if you tried to put any webbing down.

However, the monster-type spiders were more stubborn. Not that smart, but twice as tough and annoying to deal with. And Fayette… was facing a slight issue in dealing with them. Especially the larger ones.

Her knives had been fine for the small ones, sort of weak as they were, but the larger ones… were just so damn solid. An exoskeleton of solid, shifting rock, and no handy cracks to pry knives through. [Cutlery Control] was a skill built for accuracy—not so much power.

And her broom was made of wood.

Fayette really didn’t want to get her precious brooms all burned up in their fiery webbing, but the other options weren’t good either. [Spicy Cooking] did nothing, there was just no good spot to get it in—the things were built like fortresses.

Giant, moving, fire-spewing, armored fortresses, in spider form.

Which left only one option. She had to take some risks.

Right now, Fayette was a few rooms deep inside the ruins, keeping her eyes closed, focusing on her [Dustsense]. It wasn’t that mighty of a skill; it could only cover about 15 feet around her at this rank. But it did let her sense the disturbance in the dust. A fiery tendril snaking.

She opened her eyes and saw. The one good thing about fighting these things was that they emitted light by themselves. She could fight blind, but it was at least twice as difficult. And there was not that much leeway here.

The [Maid] was crawling right now, hidden behind fallen rubble. This section of the place was in bad repair, and the walls and ceiling were literally falling apart—Fayette had had to dodge a falling brick twice. But right now, she was waiting. Her [Eavesdrop] had picked up on something, headed her way.

She hefted her broom up, eyeing the burnmarks along the shaft in the dim glow. Some minor damage, but it was still holding. And most importantly—the metal-tipped end was holding up better.

In these fights, Fayette was really only relying on two skills. [Maid Martial Arts] and [Maid Armour]. Her two true fighting options, and both very useful. She silently stood up, then jumped over the rubble. To the monster shambling forward on the other side.

It was big—well up to her neck in height. A craggy exterior of black rock, scuttling along on eight rumbling legs. Not so nimble—but fast and doubly strong. What need was there for nimbleness when two webs of fire trailed behind it, like the hems of a hellish wedding dress?

They seemed to sense by using tremors in the ground, so as soon as Fayette landed, it shifted. The [Maid] ran forward, broom ready.

The monster began to turn, body slow and cumbersome, but the webs were fast. The first was already almost at her, spreading into a wide net, which blocked her advance. Have to get through. The [Maid] feinted in one direction, then the other, and the second web of fire appeared there to block her. All sides covered, surrounded. Fayette held her broom forward.

And she vaulted over the webs, using her broom as a pole. Her body coordination really was in top form, [Maid Martial Arts] making the broom act almost as a fifth limb.

She landed, and then she was by the spider monster. She got one hit in, right at the head, and the broom's metal-end rang. Then two limbs of spindling rock tried to impale her.

So she went under it this time.

Disoriented from the hit to the head, the monster lost track of her for a moment and stumbled in confusion. The webs headed towards the ceiling. And Fayette just… stayed down there—under the monster. Taking a breather. That was too close.

The [Maid] waited, crawling under the rock spider’s frame, taking care to stay clear of the limbs as it scuttled, trying to find her. These things really aren’t smart.

After a minute or so, the monster relaxed, and it started scuttling forward leisurely again, webs trailing behind it.

Then a [Maid] appeared out of nowhere and hit it on the head five times.

Splat.

That really was the word of the hour, whenever she fought these things. The rock melted down in an instant, devolving into a grey goop, and a glowing orange monster core appeared under it. Fayette shuddered as she imagined how dirty she would have gotten underneath.

She pocketed the core, humming cheerfully. Another fine addition to her collection. She was making many.

[Another pest cleared, almost there!]

[Progress towards next level: 30%]

Then she strolled onwards, broom at her shoulder. That encounter really hadn’t been all that special, just standard fare as far as these creatures went. Sometimes the hiding trick didn’t work, and she had to run away. The things weren’t that good at chasing her, so Fayette didn’t consider the work that hazardous.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

As the [Maid] walked, she swept the dust and grime away in a wave in front of her. She left every room she passed mostly clear, which meant her [Dustsense] would be poorer in them, but it had to be done. So that she would get experience, not get annoyed… and not get lost.

See, this place was pretty big, and the rooms didn’t really differ that much from each other. Just the same, dull, crumbling walls of brick, scorched clear of anything interesting.

Yeah. No treasure in sight. Not one bit.

She really cursed the monsters for that. There weren’t supposed to be fire monsters of all things in ancient ruins. Why, they would ruin all the mysterious books and artifacts, wouldn’t they?

Yes they would.

There weren’t even any piles of ash left, the years had mixed everything together into the same uniform dust. Fayette took a moment to stare at the dust she was sweeping in front of her. Was that bit of dust maybe once the ashes of a valuable book of secrets? Or was that other bit formerly some heirloom cupboard made from magical wood?

That was the thing, wasn’t it? Everything returned to dust someday. Dust laying in some dim corner—slowly accumulating.

And then a [Maid] would have to clean it.

Fayette’s eyes opened wide as she made the realization. Is this why [Sweep Dust] is so powerful? It represents the true power of time!

She waited for a second, holding her breath. No system notification—she had really hoped that that one would have given her an upgrade to the skill. She shook her head.

Reading that book over and over again was really getting to her. Fayette sighed. That’s a bit of a reach, isn’t it? Maybe clearing places like this of burnt artifacts is what they need [Cave Maids] for.

She almost got lost in her train of thought again when she felt a shift.

A rumble.

First, Fayette sensed it in her dust, an almost imperceptible wave traveling at the speed of sound. Then she felt it in her legs and ears.

Thump.

The [Maid] crouched down, dodging a loose rock that fell from above. How deep am I? If she thought about it—she was deeper in than she had ever been before, wasn’t she? Had she finally found something of true note?

Then she heard the second thump and knew what the sounds were. Something was moving. Something big and heavy.

She flattened herself against the wall, then slowly shuffled forwards, following the sound. Moving in the darkness was tough, especially as her mental [Dustsense] map of the area was distorted with each thump, like a paper being rustled around.

She heard a rumble coming from ahead and paused. A monster? No—monsters. A wave of them. Then she saw the glow coming ahead and jumped behind rubble for cover. A horde.

They came, and Fayette held her breath, shuddering at the sheer number. But they were all small, smaller than the first one she had seen. New borne? They were moving in a tide, spreading out at each intersection, splitting on their way further out. They didn’t notice the [Maid] creeping behind the rubble. Were they… fleeing?

Fayette waited, the monsters disappeared past her, and then she heard the thumping continue. Becoming more sporadic. She hurried towards it.

She kept to a brisk jog, just slow enough to allow for care, but she wanted to see this, whatever it was. And then Fayette did.

Peeking out of a doorway, she saw a lumbering form, ten feet tall, with a width three times that. A huge stone spider, with the biggest web of fire she had seen so far.

For a moment, she considered challenging it. Then she saw the web of fire move.

More of a cage than a web—really. One spread all the way around it, whole, no breaks in it. Too small for her to have any chance of getting through. And the giant spider was moving too. Not nimbly, but precisely. Every step was measured, and it was fast, those legs were just so long.

It was moving like a cat getting up from a nap, stretching limbs, pacing about the giant chamber. And then it paused, seemingly satisfied.

It got to work

The monster rumbled over to a corner, and began to dig, six huge shovel point limbs cracking open the stone wall and prying bits off, then lugging them behind.

The [Maid] finally took in just how big this chamber was. The monster looked like it could just about fit into the other corridors—but not snug. How long has it been digging here?

Slowly, Fayette crept away from it, admitting her defeat. There was no way she was defeating that.

At least yet.

—

And so, soon Fayette found herself back at her base, troubled. She felt anxious and full of nervous energy, but had nowhere to put it in. Delving the ruins had felt good, but she couldn’t do it all the time, and right now she felt danger in it. The titanic monster had been unsettling.

So she had nothing to do but pace around her cooking pot. It was still boiling, still hot. Fayette looked over her head gallery, but they weren’t reassuring her right now. Neither was the book. She wanted… someone.

She bent down, looking under the cooking pot—the glow had gotten weaker. A pile of monster cores laid below, emitting a steady stream of energy, which had kept the stew boiling hot for so long. Time for a refuel.

Fayette had made a little discovery on the monster cores, become somewhat of a [Researcher] too. Normally, they were only slightly warm, a bit more than her body, but there was a way to increase that. Is this how [Artificers] do it?

She laid her new monster core onto the ground, then hit it with a hammer five times. It began to heat up, cracks appearing on it. Four was too little, and six usually ended badly—this was the sweet spot she had discovered.

Good, that will last a bit longer. She threw it into the pile under the pot before it got too hot to touch, then got back up. She would have to go back to the ruins soon for more—had to keep the pot boiling. The [Maid] had to be ready to serve her guests.

If only they would come.

And then Fayette had nothing to do again. The silent, dark walls were leaning against her now, or was she leaning against them? The shadows were crawling closer, and she could almost hear whispering—but no, it was just more silence.

She fled to the pot, anchoring herself to the light and sound of boiling stew—she would need to add more water soon. Something to do. And maybe…

Fayette took out her feather duster, then started using [Sweep Dust]. On the sweet-smelling steam rising from the stew. She hoped it would travel farther, invite someone in—guide them to her fire by the scent.

And someone did come. Several someones, in fact. Fayette killed the spiders, went to her spider pile, and threw them on top.

Then she just stood there, looking out into the darkness. Being the [Maid] with no master had already felt weird, but the [Maid] with nobody at all… she didn’t begin singing that song. She just stared into the darkness, waiting for the glow of a lantern, or footsteps, or speech.

And the walls began to loom again. She was seeing only with her [Dustsense], but was the dust moving closer? Or was that just from her movement?

Yes, she was surviving here. Very well in fact. Food, water, bedding, entertainment… Getting lots of levels too—but she really didn’t want to stay any longer. Fayette wanted to leave. Or not leave… just listen to someone talk.

She smelled the scent of her stew, then began to walk back, saying a silent prayer.

C’mon, everyone. Hurry up.