Eric POV

  My hunch turned out to be accurate. The others all managed to level up before we reached the spot where we normally turned around, although just barely in Damien's case. This was it, this was the moment we either make it past the boss creature or flee in panic. I don't get the same sense of threat from the creature that I did before. I'm hoping that's a good sign. To be clear, I am still getting a vague sense of threat but it's more 'this is going to be a hard fight' and less 'you're about to die'.

  As we stepped further into the dungeon it became obvious we were entering a spiders layer. I sensed it's location around the same time it launched an attack. "Look out" I yelled but it was to late. Damien got hit by a giant web which proceeded to pin him to the floor. Amy immediately used her skill to draw it's attention while Rachel turned and tried to free Damien from the webs. I felt for her but this was ultimately inefficient. dashing towards her I shouted for her to focus fire on the giant spider while I hacked at the web with my sword. quickly glancing around I allow myself a half second to process what is happening. Amy managed to keep the spiders attention but right now I'm guessing she is starting to regret doing that.

  The spider has her pinned to the ground and was about to start wrapping her up when a small flame struck the side of the spiders cephalothorax. Right between the second and third pair of legs. Never though my cousins strange fascination with spiders would actually prove useful. After that I was forced to return to my own task. using this sword like a common knife to try and remove the webs. In theory I could have done this much faster but I didn't yet trust myself to not cut Damien as well. Still It didn't take all that long. Once I removed the webs pinning his arms down he was able to assist me with the rest. After that we turned our attention back to the fight.

  My perception skill already told me that it was some kind of spider. Even knowing that however did not prepare me for the creature that now stood before me. I hadn't really had a chance to take it in before but now that I did I couldn't get over how massive it was. The other spiders were huge sure but still technically within the range of what is possible. This thing should not be able to physically exist. Clearly over a meter in diameter, not quite one and a half meters but definitely more than a meter. Rachel and Amy have it caught in a pincer maneuver where if it attacks one it gets attacked by the other one. It dodges to fast for any of the attacks to actually land but they have succeeded in keeping it busy.

  It occasionally launches another web at the to girls, unfortunately it's either burned by flames or blocked by Amy's tower shield. The impact of the web on her shield does push her back a few centimeters which is surprising in itself. No wonder Damien was knocked to the ground instantly. We can't allow this stalemate to continue. After spending a few seconds to wait for the perfect opening it finally comes. The spider launches a web net at Rachel and spins to leap towards Amy. Amy who was about to attack raises her shield instead. Just in time to as the spider lands on the front of the shield as soon as it's raised. It then launches itself off the shield with surprising force pushing Amy backwards in the process. It's new target is apparently me who is currently mid strike.

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  Thank goodness I invested some stat points in speed. With that I was just barely able to adjust my swing in time. The last minute adjustment must have surprised the spider because it didn't react until I had already sliced through two legs. Unfortunately, it was two hind legs that were slice off. Just then a ball of fire came from the side. Rachel seizing the opportunity to attack while it was clearly distracted. It managed to dodge the fire but it's mobility was clearly effected. Taking the opportunity I swung down at an angle to try and limit the escape options. This time I managed to slice through one of it's front legs, which it used to try and block. The sword would have kept going but the crafty thing launched a spider web to counter the swords momentum.

  This slowed my strike enough for it to dodge. The direction it chose to dodge in however was towards Amy who seized the opportunity to thrust her sword forward catching it like a piece of steak on a shish kabob. A direct hit from Rachel then finished it off. It's hard to believe all that happened in the span of about two minutes. Two of the longest minutes of my life. At least according to my watch, which is one of the few pieces of technology that still works consistently. As we looked around we were all a bit disappointed by what we saw, or more specifically what we didn't see. There were no huge chests, no piles of loot, not even victory music. The boss was clearly dead because we got the experience but was that really it.

  Just as we were about to give up and head out one of the web curtains suddenly moved. Instantly we were all on high alert once again. the web curtain in question seemed to open like a uh … well, like a curtain revealing a passage behind it. How I missed that passage with my perception I do not know. This must be where the loot is we all decide at almost the same time. Amy is the first to suggest going to check it out and nobody objects. Soon after entering the passage way we are confronted by a spiral staircase going down. Without even hesitating we decide to climb down the spiral stairs. They turn out to be much longer than previously suspected, at least in my opinion. After what felt like climbing down from the roof of a really tall apartment building we finally reach the end of the stairs.

  Walking forward through the passage we can see … light up ahead, but that can't be right. Walking forward a bit more we appear to exit the dungeon. I say appear to because I clearly remember climbing down for a long ways. Yet here we are seemingly back on the surface. Finally Damien voices what we're all thinking. "This is impossible right? I mean how are we on the surface when we should be over a kilometer below the surface. I mean clearly the sun is right there so we must be outside but we can't be." Eventually I decide that the only thing we can do is explore and try to find out where we are.

  I asked them not to go wondering off until we figure things out. Not that I really thought they would but I still felt it was important to emphasize sticking together. Less than ten meters away from the entrance we found what looked like a pile of goop. I was inclined to just ignore it considering how far away it was but then it started moving towards us. Quickly using my analyze skill I discovered that this thing was actually a dungeon spawn called a puddle slime. This confirmed two things for me. First was that we are in fact still in the dungeon. I'm not sure how but inside the dungeon is the only place I've ever encountered dungeon spawn. The second is that this dungeon is way bigger than we thought it was.

  I then noticed that it wasn't alone. Immediately, I ordered Rachel to open fire on the little piles of goop. I'll explain what they actually are when we're out of danger. The fight lasts several minutes thanks to attacking it with swords being about as effective as stabbing water. Afterwards I explained to the group that we were still somehow in the dungeon. "And before you ask no I can't explain the sky clearly overhead" I say to cut off the obvious questions I knew were coming. Not that I blame them one bit, after all this is a lot to take in. I hate to think how we would cope with this revelation if we hadn't long ago accepted that magic is real now.