Devi nervously crouched near the entrance of the web-coated cavern, her heart pounding loudly. Bits of singed rock were scattered around, remnants of her previous struggle. Her heart thudded loudly every so often, startling her each time.

She tightened her fingers around her crossbow, a bolt nocked and ready. The tip of the bolt glowed in the darkness, casting an iridescent hue on its surroundings. A small mana crystal was lodged on the arrowhead, primed and ready to be shot.

Securing the makeshift grenade to the bolt had been a bit of work, but Devi hoped it would pay off. Countless hours had been spent filling her small, yet growing, collection of mana crystals to the brim. Positioning them close enough for a slight push to send them over the edge, yet far enough to avoid accidental triggering had been challenging, but she had managed.

She wasn't sure how many hours it took to prepare the five mana crystals, including the one attached to the bolt, but it was considerable. Each crystal contained around 100 mana, making the regeneration time a significant investment. However, she had found that resting significantly improved her mana regeneration rate, even if she had lost track of time.

The next thing I am going to make is a damn clock.

Timekeeping had been nearly impossible in the caverns. Devi believed she had spent at most a day preparing. Between infusing the mana crystals and taking power naps, she had also hunted a couple more bats for sustenance. The taste of blood had gradually become normalized for her.

The final task had been distributing her remaining seven free attribute points, splitting them equally between Vitality, Agility, and Strength, with the extra point allocated to Agility. Watching her attributes cross the 30-point threshold had brought a grin to her face.

But now, her expression had shifted to a determined scowl. Technically, she didn't need to confront the giant spider again. Avoiding its attention was feasible, but her determination to conquer her fear and the thrill of facing a formidable adversary compelled her forward.

Her grip tightened around her crossbow. Her plan was set. Wait for the spider to come into view, shoot the bolt with the explosive crystal, and then, while it was disoriented, rush in and finish it off with her flaming blade. If needed, she had more mana crystal grenades at her disposal. It sounded straightforward, yet executing it flawlessly in the dimly lit and web-filled environment was crucial.

Reaching for her belt, she retrieved the dead bat she had hung there. With a hint of hesitation, she tossed the bait further into the cavern, aiming to lure out the spider. Venturing into its den was out of the question; it seemed like a bad idea.

Screeching echoes reverberated from deep within the cavern, sending shivers down her spine. She steadied herself. Taking a deep breath, she aimed her crossbow down the sights.

Now, it was a waiting game. Her gaze remained fixed on the darkness, scanning for movement or any sign of the massive arachnid. Her heart thudded like a drum, each beat ringing out loudly. Tension hung heavily in the air, and every second felt like an eternity.

Then, as if summoned by her determination, the spider emerged from the shadows, its legs tapping on the rocky floor. Devi's grip on the crossbow tightened, her breath catching in her throat. This was the moment she had been waiting for.

I can still back out, no need to pick a fight with a massive spider. But even as she was trying to convince herself it wasn’t completely necessary, she was aiming down the sights.

The spider moved with an eerie grace, its movements calculated and deliberate. Each step clicked on the stony ground. Devi's finger hovered over the trigger, her heart seemingly beating in sync with the creature's steps. She forced herself to focus, her mind honing in on the crosshair, her breathing slowing to a stop.

As the spider's massive form drew closer, Devi's hand tightened around the trigger. Just a little closer, she thought, her anticipation mixing with anxiety. The spider's legs twitched, and in a heartbeat, she squeezed the trigger, releasing the bolt.

The crystal-tipped bolt streaked through the air, its glow casting an otherworldly light. But the spider, as if sensing danger, suddenly leaped to the side, its legs carrying it in a blur of motion. The bolt sailed past, missing its target by a hair's breadth, embedding itself in the cavern wall.

Fuck!

That had not gone as she had planned. The spider spun around, its eyes searching for where the projectile had come from. Its pincers slammed together menacingly, dipping fluidly as it did. Devi kept holding her breath, not making a sound, trying to spot an opening she could exploit.

A massive explosion ripped out behind the spider, throwing rocks and debris mixed in with iridescent light. The monstrous arachnid let out an unearthly screech as it was peppered with shrapnel, only a few pieces breaking through its thick carapace.

While it was momentarily distracted, Devi hurled one of the mana crystal grenades from her pocket at the beast.

The small chip of crystal sailed through the air, shimmering with contained energy. The spider turned its bulbous eyes just in time to see the projectile hurtling towards it. With a quick, instinctive movement, it leaped backward, avoiding the full force of the explosion.

However, the blast still caught its legs, and it stumbled. Its screech echoed through the cavern. The explosion's impact had left a cluster of wounds on the spider's legs. Thick viscous liquid leaked out of a few, dripping onto the stones below.

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Devi dashed forward, dropping her crossbow in the process, trying not to let the opening close. Her blade found its way into her hand as she approached the monster, flames springing to life on its edge. Shadows danced wildly as Devi lashed out with her weapon, trying to plunge the blade into the spider’s head.

Moving far quicker than its bulk should have allowed, the spider darted to the side, avoiding the fiery blade with unnerving agility. Its legs scrabbled against the uneven ground as it sought to regain its balance after the explosion. Devi scowled at the monster as it righted itself before she could bring her blade up for another attack.

The spider's many eyes remained fixed on Devi, reflecting the blazing blade in its dark orbs. Its pincers clicked together in a threatening rhythm, but it did not rush to attack. It was wounded, but far from defeated. Its movements were cautious, calculated, as if it were assessing its opponent's every move.

Devi danced back, sending a surge of mana through the blade as she did. A large tongue of flame burst forth, ready to burn the spider to ash. But it had other ideas, deftly avoiding the fire as it scuttled up the side of the tunnel.

Undeterred, Devi sent blast after blast at the creature, but she was unable to do more than singe a few of the hairs off its legs. It dodged every attack, its pincers clacking in frustration as it was unable to charge at her through the torrent of flames Devi was sending its way.

Then, in a moment that felt like an eternity, the spider seized an opening. She had paused for too long, overextended herself in an effort to catch the bug. It darted forward, a blur of legs and fury. Devi's instincts screamed at her to dodge, but her opponent was far too fast. The spider's fangs sank into her shoulder, and pain radiated through her body like a lightning bolt.

A cry of pain tore from Devi's lips as she staggered back, the spider's venom seeping into her veins. But even in her agony, she refused to yield. With a roar of determination, she swung her flaming blade in a wide arc, her vision blurred by the pain.

The spider’s fangs were too deep in her shoulder for it to maneuver out of the way fast enough, so Devi had the satisfaction of seeing her blade gouge deep into its face, a few eyes popping open from the heat.

Its screech of pain echoed through the tunnel as it released Devi, stumbling back. She fought through the excruciating pain radiating through her torso and launched another crystal grenade at the monster. It didn’t see the projectile coming its way, too distracted by the pain it was in.

A flash of brilliant multicolored light tore through the air, followed by a thunderous explosion.

Devi ducked behind a stalactite while bits of stone flew through the air. Intermixed with the explosion were the pained cries of the spider, hopefully having taken the brunt of the blast. The pain in her shoulder flared up in time with her heartbeat, but thankfully, it wasn’t that often.

She peeked around her improvised cover and saw the large behind of the spider scampering off back into its lair. In the faint light of her blade, she could see the faint blue splotches on the stony ground as the monster bled while it fled.

Smirking at the retreating spider, Devi took a moment to reload her crossbow. Unfortunately, it had to be with a regular bolt since she had only prepared one that exploded. She hadn’t thought there would be time for her to reload at all.

She winced in pain as she pulled back the heavy arms, her shoulder sending a spike of pain as she moved it. At least, it is not hurting all that bad; it definitely could have been worse. There wasn’t much she could do about it though; bandaging it up would be very hard. If it had been on her arm, she could have just wrapped it up in strips of cloth, but with it being on her shoulder, she’d have to figure out a better way to wrap it.

A quick check of her Status showed her Health sitting at 118, which meant that the bite had done over 80 points of damage. And even as she watched, the number dropped by one.

Shit! Poison. Devi thumped her head with her good palm. She had been too preoccupied with fending off the spider and then preparing to rush in after it to finish it off that she had forgotten that the spider apparently had a very potent poison. At least if Aks’ta was to be believed. And their skeleton did make a pretty convincing argument.

She stared at her Status screen as her Health dropped by one fairly quickly. It only took around half a minute for it to drop again. If that kept up, she would be at zero in less than an hour.

Her plan had been to not get bitten, relying on her enhanced Agility to prevent being poisoned, but that had obviously not worked out. She did have a backup plan, but she had no idea if it would work.

Concentrating, she closed her eyes and sent out a trickle of mana, starting to shape the rune that had cleaned up the grime from her hands. She figured that it had something to do with cleansing and had been found on the water purification magic tool, so she was hopeful it could work.

The rune slowly took shape, not that she could see it. She could only blindly feel around with her mana, waiting until she could feel it all click into place. It had been getting slightly easier to feel her own mana, but it was still a long process that took all of her concentration. Which sadly meant it was not feasible to use when she was fighting.

She felt the mana finally snap into place, a wave of white light emanating from a point just in front of her shoulder. 30 points of mana washed over her, sending her nerve endings tingling from their passing. Other than that, there was no sign of what the rune did. She didn’t suddenly feel better, but she hadn’t felt bad before.

Actually, now that she looked at how large the two massive puncture wounds she had on her shoulder were, she was surprised she wasn’t in more pain than she was. When her arm had been savaged by the odd bird panther monster, it had hurt constantly, and she could barely move it. But now? Her injury was of comparable size, but it didn’t hurt nearly as bad.

That wasn’t to say it didn’t hurt. It still did. But she could move it and only have a slight twinge of pain. As if she had scraped her knee. It would hurt, and not be comfortable to move, but she still could.

Devi studied her Status as she puzzled over why she wasn’t hurting. It could have something to do with being turned into a vampire. A lesser one at that. Her heart rate and breathing had both slowed down tremendously, so maybe the pain was reduced as well.

Inspecting her Status for at least several minutes saw her Health dip a single point. Instead of dropping two a minute, it was now roughly one per ten. Which was much better than before.

It appeared that the rune did, in fact, purify the poison, at least to a degree.

She let a small smile play across her lips. Having one of her hypotheses about the rules that governed magic be proven correct was always a good feeling.

Time to go finish off that spider