As they turned to continue deeper into the tunnel, they heard a sound that made them freeze.

  It was the soft chittering of chitin mandibles clacking together, creating a distinct, hollow clicking sound that echoed from somewhere above them.

  The noise was rhythmic and unsettling, like bone tapping against stone.

  At first it blended into the background noise of the sewer as it was a soft sound.

  Eleonora’s instincts prickled before her mind caught up. Her grip tightened on her shield. Her shoulders tensed.

  “Up!” Kavisha shouted, instantly recognizing the threat. “Cave spiders!”

  Her mind was already racing through possibilities.

  If they were here, it almost certainly meant they’d been spawned by the mana being emitted from the glowing goop coating the tunnel.

  That much raw ambient mana could warp or spawn lesser creatures quickly, and spiders were infamous for adapting fast in mana-rich environments.

  Cave spiders themselves were both a resource-rich find and an absolute nightmare to deal with.

  Their silk alone could fetch a small fortune. Properly processed, it was lighter than linen, stronger than steel wire, and naturally the best cloth to hold runes and their magic, thus it was perfect for enchanted gear.

  As well as making waterproof bowstrings and high-grade spell foci. Their chitin armor plates were just as valuable.

  Once treated, they could be shaped into lightweight armor that rivaled steel while holding enchantments far more efficiently than metal which often had impurities that conflicted with magic flowing though the runes etched into them.

  Unfortunately, the very properties that made them valuable also made them extremely dangerous.

  Cave spiders were ambush predators by nature. Thus, they were silent, patient, and terrifyingly fast when they struck.

  Their chitin wasn’t just tough; it dispersed kinetic force, meaning blades could glance off if they struck at the wrong angle.

  While their powerful legs could punch through armor like it was cloth.

  And then as if they couldn't be more terrifying was the poison they used.

  Each spider had enlarged venom glands, and some variants could actually spit it.

  The liquid wasn’t just toxic; it was also highly corrosive. It caused what alchemists called “alchemical burns,” where flesh blistered as if exposed to flame instead of liquid.

  Worse, if it got into someone’s eyes, it could blind them in seconds.

  Kavisha tightened her grip on her dagger.

  “Shields up!” she barked out.

  Eleonora snapped her gaze skyward just as shadows detached from the ceiling upon hearing Kavisha's yell.

  Three massive spiders dropped from the darkness in front of the party hitting the ground with heavy, meaty thuds that sent ripples through the thin film of water underfoot.

  They were the size of large hunting dogs with bulbous bodies and glossy black chitin that was polished like obsidian.

  Their segmented abdomens flexed as they settled into low, predatory crouches on their long and thick legs which were jointed like bamboo and covered in coarse, bristling hairs.

  Meanwhile, their mandibles clicked wetly as strings of viscous saliva stretched and snapped between them.

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  Their Eight eyes seemed eerie as they reflected green-blue glow coming from the walls.

  The creatures spread out with eerie coordination, forming a loose half circle around the group, herding them away from the clearer tunnel behind them.

  “Their bites are poisonous!” Kavisha shouted. “Be careful!”

  Eleonora and Isadora moved instantly with no hesitation or need for words. Their training and repetition taking over.

  Their shields locked together with a solid, reassuring clang in front of Lucien, forming a tight barrier of reinforced steel as Eleonora planted her feet solidly while bending her knees slightly to absorb impact.

  She could feel Isadora’s presence beside her which was as always, a solid, steady, and comforting presence for her.

  “Ready when you are,” Isadora said calmly, like they were in a training yard instead of a glowing sewer facing nightmare creatures.

  Lucien stepped back two careful paces, staff already beginning to glow brighter, lines of spell work circling the head like orbiting rings of light only he could fully see.

  Then the spiders rushed forward.

  They moved with terrifying speed as their legs skittering across the stone with a dry, scratching sound that set Eleonora’s teeth on edge.

  One slammed into Eleonora’s shield.

  The impact was like being hit with a thrown log. The force drove her half a step back, boots scraping across wet stone.

  The spider’s weight pressed forward, legs scrabbling for leverage, as its mandibles snapped inches from the shield rim.

  Another lunged for Isadora, fangs clicking shut barely a hand’s width from her faceplate.

  “Eyes!” Isadora snapped, recalling the main weakness of the creatures.

  Together she and Eleonora thrust their swords together, perfectly in sync.

  Eleonora angled her blade up and forward, driving with her whole shoulder behind it. The tip punched through the soft, clustered mass of eyes on the spider’s face.

  Black ichor exploded outward, splattering across her shield and vambrace in hot, stinking droplets.

  The creature shrieked a high piercing and tearing sound as its legs spasmed violently, stabbing into the stone around her.

  Beside her, Isadora drove her sword straight into another spider’s open mouth.

  The blade punched through the mandible and into the throat before being buried deep into the spider's brain.

  The spider convulsed as its legs hammered wildly against her shield before collapsing completely.

  “Now, Lucien!” Kavisha shouted, already diving backward, dragging herself clear of the forming spell zone.

  Lucien raised his staff and the air began to change.

  It felt like the entire tunnel paused as if the world itself took a breath and held it.

  The glowing slime on the walls pulsed once… twice… then seemed to dim in the presence of the forming spell.

  The light at the tip of Lucien’s staff condensed, tightening from a diffuse glow into a searing point of white-orange brilliance which then exploded outward.

  The fireball filled the tunnel, expanding in a roaring sphere of heat and force which was brighter than daylight.

  The heat slammed into Eleonora’s face like a living thing trying to push through her armor. The blast wave shook the sewer causing stone, dust and loose mortar to rain from the ceiling as the flame swallowed the remaining spiders whole.

  For a heartbeat, Eleonora saw nothing but light.

  Then the darkness rushed back in, broken only by flickering torchlight and the smoldering spider corpses.

  Thin strands of smoke drifted lazily upward, carrying the nauseating stench of burned chitin and cooked spider meat, which was actually a delicacy often compared to crab meat.

  Lucien lowered his staff slowly, arms trembling slightly from the mana expenditure. He was breathing hard, sweat cutting pale tracks down his face.

  “Clear,” he said hoarsely.

  Isadora and Kavisha moved forward immediately with a professional and methodical approach, their blades at the ready.

  They checked each corpse with the same thoroughness.

  Kavisha nudged one spider with her boot, causing it to crumble slightly as its charred shell cracked from the force.

  “Dead,” she confirmed with a grin.

  Eleonora stayed beside Lucien, shield raised, scanning the tunnel. Her ears rang faintly from the blast, a high, needling whine that tried to drown out everything else, but training forced her to listen past it all.

  She shivered slightly at the sight of the spiders. Goblins weren’t too bad even though they were ugly, vicious, and dangerous in groups.

  The giant spiders were another thing entirely.

  Too many legs. Too many eyes. The way they moved was too fast and just plain wrong. It had been almost as bad as butchering the wolves yesterday. She still remembered the smell.

  She pushed the thought away, tightening her grip on her shield.

  Beside her, Lucien was still breathing hard, his staff dimmer now, the afterglow of his spellcasting fading.

  She could feel faint heat radiating off him through the damp air, like a forge cooling after a hard strike. Mana exhaustion and whatever effects of the mana poisoning were left had left him pale and unsteady.

  Then they heard a mighty roar echo down the tunnel.

  The entire party snapped toward the sound just as a massive shape burst from the darkness ahead, a hobgoblin.

  It was enormous, easily eight feet tall and broad as a barn door. Its muscles bunched under its pale green skin.

  It resembled a hairless gorilla more than anything with its long arms, thick chest and heavy jaw filled with blunt teeth capable of denting high-grade steel.

  And it was charging straight for Lucien.

  Lucien who was already weakened from mana poisoning and already drained from the fireball stood frozen in fear.

  His eyes were wide while his body was locked in place at the sight of the towering monster bearing down on him.

  I guess, you’ll have to come back on Friday for the next chapter, dear reader.