“Is that supposed to be someone important?” Victus asked, suspicious of him. He’d never heard of the name, and he thought being named after an animal was particularly uninspired. Jade took out the wooden tablet from before and scribbled onto it, “Alright, so Victus and Wolfe?”

The large man remained silent. Victus told him, “Fine, you can come along. 70:30 sound good to you?” Wolfe didn’t respond. He turned around and made his way towards the exit, making a slight thud in the floorboards with every step that he took.

“When you two acquire your objective, head over to the lab by Silverbell Woodlands. You know it?”

“Silverbell, got it. Thanks, Jade.” Victus turned back around, “Hey, hold up!” He followed the burly man outside. Even though it wasn’t raining anymore, it was still gray and chilly.

“Okay, 60:40, take it or leave it,” Victus suggested. Wolfe ignored him. Once the two left town and got on the trail, the man finally spoke again, “I know of a cave not too far from here. There are Glowshrooms there.”

“Great. Any monsters in this cave?” Victus asked.

“..Yes.”

He stopped talking after that. Being quiet didn’t bother Victus all that much, but talking helped calm his nerves. After all, the land was dangerous, and a predator could jump out at any moment, or worse, a group of bandits. The half-elf treaded carefully along the wet, muddy road that continued to stain his boots, keeping aware of his surroundings. Wolfe remained vigilant as well, but he didn’t appear very worried.

“..So what kinda monsters?”

“Arachnids.”

“Spiders?! How big?”

“The size of dogs.”

He shivered in disgust. Victus hated bugs, spiders most of all, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’s dealt with them. The smaller ones bothered him more than the big ones, since they were a much harder target to hit. “AH!” He jumped, looking behind him at a wet bush that brushed past his back. Wolfe didn’t utter a word, continuing on the path. Humiliated, the young man followed. They eventually arrived at the cave with less pride than trouble.

”60:40, correct? After you,” Wolfe gestured.

“How thoughtful..”

Victus reached into his satchel, taking out a short, thick stick wrapped with a lightly stained fabric at the tip. He knelt down and put the torch on the ground, then took a piece of flint and struck it against his dagger. After a couple of strikes, a spark lit the fabric aflame. Quickly, he put his things away and picked up the torch, holding it out into the cave.

The darkness was faintly illuminated by his small, burning source of light. From what he could see, there were no spiders, just cobwebs. He took a few more steps, then turned back to Wolfe, “You coming or what?”

Wolfe entered the cave, walking past him, “Impressive. Come upon those materials yourself, boy?”

“Yes, I did,” Victus continued, following him. “I’ll have you know that this isn’t actually wax, but Iphisnore sap. Lasts longer than wax. You know what an Iphisnore is?”

“..The spider?”

Victus paid less attention to his surroundings now that Wolfe got him going, beginning to talk endlessly as they delved further and further into the treacherous cave.

“Yep! Iphisnore, also known as the Love Spider. They secrete sap instead of silk, and that sap is harvested by perfumers who turn it into a liquid and sell it. It’s widely believed that such an aroma could create feelings of infatuation towards the person wearing it, but there’s no actual scientific evidence of this. In fact, Iphisnore only got its title because Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty, supposedly said that it was her favorite spider. That really depends on what you believe in, though, and me personally..”

Wolfe abruptly stopped, moving his arm in front of Victus, bringing him to a halt. “Shh..”

He pointed down, and below them was a short ravine full of large, sleeping spiders. Eggs were wrapped in silk webbing on their backs, glowing a nauseatingly yellow color. They didn’t seem to notice the two adventurers, yet.

“Crap,” Victus took a few steps back. “Maybe this quest isn’t really worth it..” He whispered.

“Look,” Wolfe pointed across the ravine, where patches of glowshrooms littered the ground and walls. “Think you can make it over there?”

“Me?! Why me?!” He shouted back, in whispers.

“..60:40.”

“I hate you.”

The half-elf handed him his torch, then rolled up his sleeves. He looked at the walls at each side of the ravine, estimating how much distance he had to cover. After a few more steps back, Victus got a running start, then jumped onto the wall and ran across it several steps. Before he lost his footing, he jumped again, reaching at the edge of the other side.

“Shit..!” His hands just barely caught onto the ledge, his body swinging into the wall. He hung there for a moment to let the pain subside, hoping he hadn’t awoken the spiders.

Wolfe watched in amusement as the young man struggled to pull himself up, his chuckling sounding more like the wheezes of an old frog. When Victus finally got his upper half over the ledge, he froze, hearing a sudden fatal crack. Some rubble fell past his legs, and he saw jagged lines start to form beneath him. An unpleasant feeling in his gut formed, and before he knew it, he was looking ahead at the ceiling while falling through the air. If he truly experienced death once, he wasn’t too keen on letting such an event happen again.

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He turned and punched at the air with Excelsior, and a blast of strong wind launched from the ring, propelling him onto the other side of the ravine. He fell onto his back, surrounded by cobwebs and glowshrooms. The slithering and skittering of spider legs could be heard fast approaching, and he saw them crawling up towards him over the ledge.

“Back!” Victus skittered backwards, the large spiders grabbing at his legs. Mortified, he kicked them off and turned around, but webs suddenly wrapped around his feet, dragging him towards the pit. He thrashed his hands at the ground, desperately grasping for something he could hold onto.

“Feu..”

Wolfe whispered into the torch’s flame, and it grew brighter. He hurled it into the pit, creating a small explosion that ignited the webs. Flames enveloped the spiders and their eggs, crying out in pain as they were burnt to a crisp. The stragglers, however, were still dragging Victus towards the fiery pit.

Thinking quickly, he reached into his coat and pulled out his dagger, then turned and cut at the webbing wrapped around one of his feet. He managed to break free of it, but he couldn’t get to the other one before another spider pounced on him. Its slimy green fangs hung just above his face, only held back by his hands. They inched closer to him, smacking together with a wet disgusting slap.

“Agh, gross!” Victus stabbed his dagger into the spider’s face with both of his hands, plunging the blade as deeply as he could. He then ripped it out and punched the disgusting creature off of him, only now realizing that the other web on his foot had lit aflame. Quickly, he tore the webbing off, patting his boot until the fire had been extinguished, “Whew..”

“All good over there?” Wolfe’s voice echoed.

Victus got up and shouted at him, “Yeah, no thanks to you! Trying to burn me alive, or what?” He dusted himself off, looking at the slime that now soiled his blade.

“The mushrooms.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got ‘em,” Victus turned and harvested some glowshrooms off of the ground, storing them in a jar from his satchel. He put the jar back into his bag and looked down at the fiery pit, “I don’t think I have enough mana to get back..And the other way looks like a dead end.”

Wolfe rubbed his beard for a moment, then reached into his cloak and took out a bottle. Inside, a bright blue liquid he swirled around. “Catch,” he tossed the potion across the ravine. Victus barely snatched it out of the air, fumbling the bottle in his hands. He held it up, examining it.

“What’s this?”

“A potion-”

“I know that! What kind?”

“It’ll restore your mana.”

“You sure it ain’t poison?”

“If I poisoned you, we would both fail the quest.”

“Good point,” Victus uncorked the bottle and, in an instant, the liquid became a vapor that stuck to the sides of the glass, causing it to deteriorate. He easily crushed it in his hand.

The pieces of glass quickly transformed into small grains of cyan-colored sand that were absorbed into his palm. The sands of mana flowed throughout his body, turning his eyes purple for a short moment. Victus sighed in relief as his energy was restored, “That’s a lot better.”

He ran and leapt off of the ledge, turning and punching the air again. A surge of wind propelled him once more, and this time he landed on the other side with finesse, skidding along the dirt with his feet planted squarely on the ground.

“Thanks. That’s just what I needed,” Vick stood.

“Let us return.”

“Not yet. Know the way to Silverbell?”

“I’ve not been there in a while, but yes.”

“Cool, ‘cause I don’t. Lead the way, big guy.”

Wolfe made a short groan and turned around, leading them out of the cave and towards Silverbell. They would arrive there shortly, by the evening. It had begun to rain again, this time a lot harder.

“The Odinson must be upset..” Wolfe murmured.

“Thor, you mean?” Victus walked faster, looking up at the cloudy sky. “You don’t really believe all that, do you?” He didn’t respond. The half-elf sighed, looking ahead. Distantly, he saw a small cottage upon a hill, surrounded by large trees that had white flowers hanging from their leafy branches.

The chimney protruding from the roof exhaled white smoke, and there was light seeping from the windows. “You think that’s the lab?” Victus and Wolfe moved closer, reading the sign on the door: Alyza’s Alchemist Shop.

“Eh, alchemy’s close enough, right?” Victus knocked on the door. No response. He knocked on the door again, this time harder. There was a delay, and then a muffled voice finally responded to him, “Apologies! I’ll be right there in a moment!” Followed by a clanging, banging, and an angry meow, “..Ah, shit!”

Victus and Wolfe looked at each other, then back at the door as it violently swung open. On the other side, a woman. She looked to be about Vick’s age, maybe a bit older, and she wore an apron over her clothes, her tawny hair tied up into a messy ponytail. As pretty as she was, he was shorter than her, and that was enough for him to decide he wouldn’t try to pursue her.

“Come right on in!” She moved aside, and they entered the lab. There weren’t many shelves, and the counter was small. Still, there was quite a display of potions, vials, and various other medicines, all an alluring array of colors. Victus and Wolfe stood in the center of the shop, looking around.

“See anything you like?” She asked.

“Er, well..We’re here to make a delivery. Are you Alyza?”

“Oh,” the woman looked dejected.

“Sorry..”

“It’s quite alright. I take it you’ve brought the Glowshrooms I requested?” She held her hand out, and Victus reached into his bag, taking out the jar of mushrooms. Alyza took it and went behind the counter, placing the jar down. She then pulled out a formal strip of paper and stamped it, holding it out to him, “Here.”

Victus took the paper and folded it, putting it away. “Pleasure doing business with you,” he nodded. “Know anywhere we can spend the night? Rain’s coming down hard, and I doubt we could make it back to town before the gates close..”

“Well, there’s the Lizzarburg Inn, not too far from here,” Alyza sighed. “But it’s usually reserved for bandits..”

“Alright then, thanks. Come on, Wolfe, let’s get going,” they turned around and headed for the door.

“Wait, but..!”

“..What?” Victus looked back.

“I just said there would be bandits..”

“Yeah? We’ll just have to fake it. Big, mean, and scary over here should do a great job. Won’t you, bud?” He nudged Wolfe, who groaned in response.

“Oh..Be safe, then..”

“We will. Good luck with your shop and all that.”

They took a few more steps, until she shouted once again. “Wait!”

Victus lazily turned back around, “What is it now?”

“Let me come with you.”