Magnus sat on a rock, thinking, and holding the venom sacs of the two spiders he killed. Snacking on the spider flesh he stored earlier and wincing from the taste. After he ate his third strip, he heard a ding.

[Poison Resistance is now level 3]

“That’s good. I won’t ever get used to the taste of that though, “he said looking up at the ceiling as if talking to the System.

He was thinking about whether to consume the venom inside them to level his [Poison Resistance] or to keep them to serve as bait. Not overthinking it much he decided to consume the sac from the higher leveled one and keep the second one. Putting the one he didn’t need for now on the ground, he held the other one in his left hand and made a small incision in it with his knife.

Magnus took a deep breath and drank a small sip of the poison. The taste wasn’t so bad as the smell, the pain on the other hand. Feeling the now familiar burning pain spreading throughout his body, for what must have been a fifth time this day, he wondered how he got into this situation. Alone, in pain, and nearly naked in a damp cave.

He snuffed those thoughts before they took root. This was not the time for despair. First, he had to get out of this damn cave. Deliberately focusing on the pain instead of his thoughts, he waited for his body to cleanse itself, when his eyes caught a dark sheen of a spider’s eyes.

Magnus did the first thing that came to mind, closed his eyes and acted dead, hoping the spider was stupid enough to come closer despite the 5 corpses of its brethren. Soon enough he heard the distinct clicking of spider legs come closer.

Holding his breath to sell the act, he prepared to strike with the knife in his right hand. When he felt his [Danger Sense] warning him that the spider was close, he opened his eyes a stabbed. It was a critical hit. The spider instantly went limp as the knife penetrated the side of its head.

[You are now Level 3. You have gained 2 Stat Points.]

Magnus kicked the corpse away from him and took another sip from the sac. His mind made up he put both his Stat Points into Endurance in preparation of the inevitable fight with the guardians of the exit.

Around an hour later he was ready. With the venom sac finished his [Poison Resistance] leveled to 5. He stretched in preparation, put his two remaining venom sacs into his pockets, and departed in the general direction of the exit.

The exit and its guardians were the same as before. This time he made sure to [Identify] the spiders lounging on the ceiling.

[Cave Spider – Tier 0] – Level 4

[Disappearing Cave Spider] – Level 6

Magnus could feel it in his bones. This was going to be his toughest battle yet. If he messed up that is.

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He whispered a silent prayer to whatever gods might be listening and threw one of the venom sacs on the ground near the spiders, while hiding behind a rock, out of sight of the spiders. It worked; the smaller spider climbed down from the ceiling to investigate. Magnus made sure not to get spotted until it was too late for the spider.

[Stealth is now Level 2]

He was happy due to the level, but he made sure not to get distracted. A single mistake might cost him everything. After carefully examining the unknown object, the spider went at it, tearing it apart and drinking merrily. With the spider distracted, now was the time to strike. And Magnus did. Running from his cover, with the knife in front of him, he committed to the attack.

The spider, stupid as it was, did not expect to be ambushed like this and couldn’t react in time. Stabbing it into its head, it died instantly. One down, one more to go. This was going to be easier than he thought.

Magnus turned his head to where the other spider was staying. It was not there. That was expected but not what he hoped for. He closed his eyes to focus on his hearing. With the combination of his [Danger Sense] and relatively high Perception, it did not take him long to find the general location of the spider. It was trying to sneak attack him from his back. This spider was evidently smarter than the one he just killed

Magnus acted oblivious to not alert the spider and waited for it to come to him with his back still turned. At the moment [Danger Sense] screamed he quickly spun while slashing with his knife. The spider recoiled as he hit the left side of its face, injuring 3 of its eyes. Hissing, it started retreating and Magnus followed. If it disappeared again, he would be put in a bad position.

When he was preparing to end the fight with a lunge, his [Danger Sense] screamed and he jumped left. He turned his head around and used [Identify].

[Disappearing Cave Spider – Tier 0] – Level 6

[Danger Sense is now Level 2]

Even with the early warning, he didn’t manage to dodge all the way and the spider left a nasty gash on his right thigh. Magnus suspected that without the Stat Points he assigned to Endurance, the wound would be even more severe, perhaps a major artery would have been slit. The good news was that the formerly burning pain of the venom was only a dull ache now.

He landed on his left leg and when he tried to put weight on his right he stumbled and fell down to the ground. Cursing, he looked around and found that the injured spider was gone from his sight. The new arrival rushed for him, aiming for his neck. Magnus stabbed where his [Danger Sense] warned him the injured spider was.

He felt the injured spider bite into his left shoulder, but due to its injured eyes couldn’t see the knife aiming for it. Luckily for it, the pain in his shoulder managed to throw off Magnus’ aim and what should have killed the spider instantly only started a countdown to its death. It tried to retreat.

Magnus struggled to pull the knife out, but the other spider finally arrived and bit him in the stretched-out arm, making the knife slip from his hand.

He was seeping with rage.

Magnus threw off the spider still stuck to his arm, pumping poison into him, and started reaching for anything. He caught ahold of a stone that fit snuggly into his hand and swung for the spider while seeing red.

He let out a roar of rage, like a wild beast, and struck, again and again, until he felt the spider’s head split open like a coconut. Slowly standing up, while yelling victoriously, he glanced at the stabbed spider. Seeing it curled up on the ground dead, he felt all the fury and adrenaline rush out of his system. His eyes rolled backward into his head and he collapsed forward.