Beyond the empire's western mountains were plains upon which ancient battles were fought. However, right before reaching them, there was a round, blue lake.

To those living in the empire, this lake was almost as important as the border beyond the mountains. Labyrinth city was built nearby, and this oversized puddle was the entrance to the labyrinth.

On a sunny day, in the middle of spring, almost a hundred soldiers and mercenaries plunged into its depths. Everyone’s target was the bottom of the lake, in the very middle, where a bright light drew their attention.

To ensure they would not be separated upon entry, every group had tied themselves with a rope. Since they were unfamiliar with the dungeon, Finn’s team went in last, just in case, with their weapons on their hips and provisions on their backs.

Soon, the light enveloped them and their vision became dark. However, Finn could feel a torrent of mana pulling them into a vortex and then spitting them out.

When they opened their eyes, they were inside a small, square, damp cave which opened up into a tunnel. The ceiling and the walls emitted a dim, blue light, and they were not alone.

There was a slightly glowing, blue crab with four pincers crawling above their heads. From the tunnel, a bioluminescent centipede, the size of five bulldogs standing in a line, crawled towards them.

Tommy stepped forward and sliced the centipede in three even pieces.

“I’ll take the lead.”

“Suit yourself.” Michael followed.

Natalie threw away the torch and pulled out her rapier. She then stabbed the crab above her head and twisted the blade. “Stay alert,” she whispered.

After drawing an arrow on the wall, Finn followed after them with Annie guarding the rear. There was a bow on his back like always, but the twists and turns inside the cave would render it useless. The boy followed after Natalie in silence, memorizing his surroundings and searching for clues.

Since this was just the first floor of a busted dungeon, there were few monsters and no traps to speak of. The only problem:

“My God, how big is this place?” Michael complained after what seemed like an eternity of walking.

“All the tunnels lead to the exit,” said Finn. “We just need to be patient.”

“Why? what are we searching for?”

“Indeed,” Tommy muttered, and Natalie turned her head.

“The mage we encountered inside the Phoenix mansion is here, he’s planning something big.”

“Like what?” asked Michael.

“How do you know?” added Annie.

“Just trust me. All I know for sure is he’s here, and we have to stop him. If we do, the rewards will be substantial.”

This seemed to pacify Michael and Natalie who both smiled and stopped asking questions. Tommy, on the other hand, was satisfied as long as they were fighting evil; so it was only Annie who kept staring daggers into Finn’s back.

‘I’d love to tell you how I know all of this, but… Better safe than dead.’

After five hours of walking and only 20, tiny monsters to fight, the teens reached what looked like the exit. It was a large room with countless tunnels leading towards it.

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

Right in the middle, there was a statue of a horned wolf, emitting bright light, like the center of the lake above.

Once again, the teens strapped themselves together with a rope. However, this time around, Annie took the lead. She pulled out a tiny orange crystal, no bigger than one of her nails and approached the wolf with a tiny grin.

“Fascinating,” she muttered. “The spatial distortion distorts even further when I approach it with this crystal.”

“Fascinating, distortions distort, my ass. Will this get us to the fourth floor or not?” asked Michael.

Annie turned around and chuckled. “Maybe. It will certainly send us somewhere.”

She took a step forward and placed a hand on the wolf, getting sucked into the vortex along with all of her friends. Using Labyrinth city’s fast pass, they skipped the wolf infested second floor and the third floor, which was known to be covered in traps.

Nobody had time to explore those too. Their goal and mission was slightly below.

They arrived inside a giant cave. If the first floor was an endless row of tunnels converging on the exit, this one was a cave the size of a village, all of it covered in webs.

The spider webs formed walls and passages, dead ends and traps for the weak. One touch of these natural barriers could get a person stuck and attract unwanted guests.

As they explored the cave, the teens could not see these guests, despite the walls, floor and ceiling being of an even brighter blue than the first floor.

“The monsters on this floor keep to themselves,” muttered Finn after a while.

“Really, you’re trusting the guards?” asked Michael.

“Of course,” said Tommy.

“We don’t have a choice,” Natalie shrugged.

“Fine. They looked pretty useless to me though, just saying.”

Given the urgency and unfamiliarity of the situation, the guards near the lake had been in a full on frenzy. They basically threw supplies at the mercenaries and soldiers, and shouted advice in such a haphazard, hurried way, that half of it was unintelligible.

“No worries,” said Annie. “I can feel the portal from here. In a few minutes, we’ll enter floor number five.”

The girl looked almost giddy at the prospect. However, as soon as they approached the middle of the cave, this excitement waned.

There was a circular, open space, at the center of which there was a large, glowing, marble snake. The area had no webs, fortunately, but what it lacked in sticky substances, it more than made up for with human sized spiders and bodies.

Lots and lots of human bodies, almost 100 to be precise, lay around the glowing statue. Dark-blue spiders were tearing them apart, and not a single victim still looked to be breathing.

"We're dead last," Natalie whispered.

“Let’s go,” said Tommy.

“Wait,” said Finn. “Something’s off. Annie?”

The girl shrugged.

“There’s no way all those people got killed off by a dozen spiders,” said Michael.

“Some don’t have a scratch on them,” added Natalie.

“Exactly.” Michael gave her a kiss. “Big boss, what’s the plan?”

Finn chuckled and walked towards the front of their formation. “We need just one volunteer, one that has dealt with magical traps before.”

The boy tied a rope around his waist and threw the free end towards Tommy. Then, with a knife in his right hand, he entered the clearing.

“How do you feel?” asked Annie.

“Peachy.”

One of the spiders jumped at him, and he pierced its brain. Several others followed but were met with a barrage of flames.

“So far so good.”

“Roast them all,” said Michael.

Finn approached the statue. Some of the spiders had escaped into the labyrinth of webs, leaving only four to watch over his movements.

“What happened to you?” Finn whispered towards the fallen soldiers grouped in piles around the statue. With no other choice, he stepped on their bodies and placed a hand on the marble snake.

However, nothing happened. He was not pulled into the fifth floor, and his friends, who were holding the end of the rope, were not affected either.

“Weird, if the statue glows, then it should be active. Annie, come check this out. I don’t think there’s any danger anywaaa…”

Something wet and sticky fell on Finn’s shoulder. The boy squirmed and wiped it off before looking up and feeling a chill run down his spine.

“When did you get here?”

Ten spiders were watching him from the ceiling, every single one of them the size of a truck. Their fangs were the size of Finn’s torso, and within seconds of touching their saliva, the boy could feel his shoulder and palm going numb.

“So, you’re the parents… Huge and poisonous, and you’ve blocked off the exit… Crap!”