I yelled as I felt myself being forcefully pulled into the mini-boss’s room. I heard the sound of arrows flying past me one after another, but luckily they all missed. Unluckily for me, whatever it was that was pulling me had started hoisting me upright, the shock of it making me drop both my rapier and shield. I cursed under my breath as they both clattered uselessly to the ground and was rewarded with a mute because of course I was.

  I struggled helplessly as I was lifted into the air. A quick glance upward showed the giant spider monster that was pulling me closer toward it and panic hit me. I noticed briefly that my Anger Boost was still at 0, and I cursed to myself as I glared in the direction I thought Amy was, though I couldn’t see the entrance to the door anymore due to the fog. I received an extended mute for my unkind thoughts to Amy.

  By this point I was 30 or so feet in the air and my heart was beating rapidly in my chest. I could hear the chitter-like sounds from the spider above me as I moved ever closer to my doom. “Use your claws!” I heard Amy yell at me, to which I tried to yell back, only to remember that I was still muted. Still, she was right. I had claws, and in my panic I’d forgotten about them. I willed both sets of fingers to have claws, before frantically scratching against my back, trying to find the web that was attached to my armor. It took a couple of swipes, but I managed to cut myself free… Only to realize that I now had gravity to deal with as I went plummeting toward the ground.

  I landed with a crash, groaning as I tried to get up. I was surprised that I didn’t feel all that bad, though I did notice my Combat Log had lit up as a result. I had no time for that, though, as I heard the sound of an arrow and quickly moved out of the way. I dodged another before I managed to spot the first of the three goblins through the fog and I wasted no time attacking him with my claws. The goblin cried out as my claws sank into its chest, killing it instantly.

  I heard a sound above me and managed to jump out of the way as another string of web was shot at me, only for an arrow to slam into my side. I winced in discomfort, but when I reached down to check how deep the arrow was, I found my side arrow free.

  “Your armor is too thick for it to puncture!” Amy called out, though I still couldn’t see where she was. “To your left!”

  I turned just in time to see an arrow enter my vision. I ducked as the arrow whizzed by, and I heard the sound of it hitting something meaty behind me. Without checking to identify the source of the sound, I lunged forward, blindly hoping to hit whatever had just shot the arrow at me. I was rewarded with the sensation of my claws digging into goblin flesh, and a second later I managed to get the goblin to the ground, clawing the life out of him in the process.

  I looked around for the third goblin, being careful to keep an ear out for the spider or any more arrows, but I didn’t hear any. “The goblin you just killed friendly fired on the third. It’s just the spider now,” Amy informed me.

  Sighing in relief, I blinked as I realized that my extended mute had expired. “Have I told you how much I hate you?” I yelled back to Amy, before dodging as I heard another spiderweb heading my way. “Where is my rapier?” I called to Amy, annoyed at the fog that was limiting my visibility.

  “Near the center of the room. Here, I’ll get it for you; just keep dodging.”

  “Easier said than done!” I replied back, my luck having finally run out as I felt spiderweb attaching to the front of my armor and yanking me off balance. I fell to the ground with a thud, the wind getting knocked out of me as I landed. I tried to roll over, but the spiderweb had attached itself to the ground, effectively gluing me in place. “A little help here! I’m stuck!”

  “Dismiss your armor, and then re-equip it!”

  That sounded like it was cheating, but as I heard the chittering of the spider approaching me, I did what I was told, storing my armor back in my Personal Space. Instantly I found myself able to move, and I did so just in time to watch as a giant black spider claw slammed down and made a giant hole in the ground where my head had been seconds before.

  I re-equipped my armor and charged the spider, though I instantly regretted it as I swung my claws and felt them bounce off the thick carapace of the spider. I was rewarded for my stupidity by a claw strike to the chest, though like my claws, this bounced off my armor without doing much more than knocking the wind from my lungs and causing me to stumble backwards.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Alright, your rapier is back in your Personal Space; you should be able to use it again!” Amy shouted to me, and I wasted no time summoning the weapon and lunging at the spider once I’d regained my balance. The spider dodged it and countered with his claws, but I ducked and used the opening to lunge once more, this time at the creature's underside where I hoped its armor would be thinner and was rewarded with an ear piercing screech that had me fall to my knees. Without thinking, I dropped my rapier and tried to grab my ears to try and block out the sound, only to find my helmet in the way.

  My stupidity was rewarded with a claw to the back of the head that, while dealing no damage, did allow the spider the opportunity to pin me to the ground. I felt the spider’s weight shift on me, and the next thing I knew, I felt a burning sensation in my back as the crunch of metal rang out in my ears.

  You have been poisoned by: Level 10 Giant Spider. You will take 10 damage every cycle for the next 20 cycles.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 19 cycles remain.

  I barely had a chance to process the information that had appeared in my vision before I felt my anger flare up. “I am sick and tired of these damn monsters!” I yelled, and as the mute debuff flared through my body, I saw my Anger Boost increase further, now at 300. I didn’t care about being muted. There was a giant spider that needed killing.

  I grabbed my rapier from the ground and somehow managed to pull myself free from the dumb monster right as it slammed its claws back into the ground. I wasted no time, noticing that the spider was nearly defeated. I made two quick strikes to its weakened flesh from my earlier strike before pulling back. As I did, I watched the spider as it collapsed on itself, the two new strikes doing more than enough to seal the massive arachnid's fate.

  I stood there, panting heavily as an intense fire coursed through my veins. My notifications continued to pile up, but I ignored them. With the spider gone, my anger quickly began to fade, and before I knew it I was on my knees, my arms barely able to support my weight. I could hear Amy calling to me, her voice sounding frantic, but my brain wouldn’t let me understand the words that were being said. I still had 55 cycles left before my mute expired, so I couldn’t respond to her even if I wanted to.

  I watched my mute debuff tick down, all the while feeling myself growing weaker as the world around me grew darker. I thought that was odd, as the last time I’d cleared a fog room of monsters the fog had gone away, but this time it was getting thicker? Amy was once more frantically trying to get my attention, but I still couldn’t even see her, wherever she was.

  Without meaning to, I lost my balance and fell flat on my face. The cold stone felt refreshing against my skin. I blinked a few times, noticing that my mute was set to expire in 50 cycles and was about to dismiss all my notifications when I noticed that my Combat Log was still blinking. I sighed, which took a lot more effort than I felt like it should have, and opened it up. I was immediately bombarded with an abundance of information, so I decided to focus on the last few notifications.

  You have dealt 100 points of Melee damage with: Iron Rapier.

  You have dealt 100 points of Melee damage with: Iron Rapier.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 18 cycles remain.

  You have defeated Level 10 Giant Spider.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 17 cycles remain.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 16 cycles remain.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 15 cycles remain.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 14 cycles remain.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 13 cycles remain.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 12 cycles remain.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 11 cycles remain.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 10 cycles remain.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 9 cycles remain.

  You have taken 10 points of poison damage. 8 cycles remain.

  I checked the upper left-hand corner of my vision where my Hit Points were displayed just in time to see them decrease by 10, leaving me with a measly 39 remaining. I’d have laughed, if it didn’t hurt so much. Who manages to die twice in less than a week?

  I felt something brush against my hand and looked down to see Amy. She looked concerned, and I tried to smile, but it hurt too much. I mouthed “I’m sorry,” before closing my eyes as everything went dark.

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