Natasha the Halve

The Elf had a good laugh while we walked through the tunnel.

“Okay, Natasha...” she rubbed her cheeks and sighed. “You need to tell us you're after diamonds. Letting others know of objectives is important.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” I sighed.

Lapia was right. There was no way to justify my embarrassment around toys. Not in this world. Just mentioning I was after diamonds would have been enough, too.

We exited the tunnel and joined the rest. They had set camp in the time I was clearing the debris.

There, while having a rich soup, I informed them of my goal in the dungeon.

Nods were given in reply, and other than 'Oh, okay' and comments of that nature, nobody said anything about the subject. That was nice.

Night came and Pokora took charge of the group, assigning shifts for look-out.

Me and Bonte stood watch until two in the morning, then Pokora and Thelea replaced us. I used the opportunity to give a set of armor to the Goliath.

I didn't know if anything in my possession would fit her large body, so I first offered her a gauntlet from one of the Swordsmen class costumes. Much to our surprise and shock, the protective gear fit her body like a glove. So, I gave her a full suit of black plate armor that had spikes on the shoulder plates along with a legendary shield and sword. The set's name was [Cruel Onslaught Armor], and was pretty intimidating with her height. I spiced it up with rings and leather garments as well. The armor was similar to my own in terms of durability and enchantments.

She profusely thanked me but I insisted it was alright and to not worry about it.

I slept until six in the morning and woke up fully rested and energized.

Thelea and Yolin joined me in my morning routine, exercising until eight in the morning. The Goliath was especially excited, probably still happy about the gear.

After that we woke the rest up and had breakfast, then went into the tunnel.

I continued breaking the debris and opening the way, taking breaks to drink water and joke around.

After around five more hours of making sure the tunnel wouldn't collapse, my punches started echoing behind the debris.

I stopped and stared at the wall for a while.

“We're getting close,” Lapia commented next to me.

I looked behind and saw the group standing at the edge of my glow, then returned my attention to the wall in front of me and gulped. You got this, Natasha. Spiders are tiny. They are more afraid of you than you are of them. You know everything there is to know about them, too. That's half the fight already! I told myself, looking for motivation to face another one of my fears.

Lapia placed a hand on my left shoulder. “How are you doing?” she asked.

I turned to her and tried smiling. “Me? I'm doing great. Why?”

She arched an eyebrow. “Your hands are shaking a little,” she pointed out and gestured at my fists.

I rubbed my face and ran both hands through my hair, then braided my hair. “I'm okay. It's good. All is alright,” I quickly replied.

She nodded and patted my back. “Alright, then. Open it up,” she cheered me on.

I took a deep breath and let out a long sigh, noticing my body shaking a little. “Блять!” I hissed and raised an arm to punch the wall.

Images of eight legged nightmares surfaced on my mind, dowsing my back and core in dreadful coldness.

In response to that, a boiling rage took hold of my mind, making me tighten my jaw and glare at the wall.

Sometimes, fear makes us angry. In order to come out on top, weaponizing anger is often an appropriate approach.

Lapia took a few steps back while muttering something.

I punched the wall like it was my worst nemesis. I have elixirs with me. My armor has a durability of SSS+. My spear has a sharpness of SSS+ as well. I'm a Halve, too. The apex being of this planet. Nothing will happen to me, I reassured myself.

Rocks fell and were shifted away along with the dust.

Then, with a single punch, the wall opened and revealed a wide cave-like room. The walls, the corners, and even the ceiling were covered in webs.

I immediately wore my gear along with my spear and shield, then jumped backwards and took a stance.

Thirty seconds passed and nothing happened.

“Don't scare me like that!” Lapia complained from behind me. “I thought we were being swarmed.”

I took large gulps of air, trying to calm my heart.

Thelea approached on her mount and stared into the opening. “Well, let's go?” were the words that revealed her insanity.

I gulped and nodded, then started walking. Very slowly.

After crossing the artificial door of my making, the glow coming from my hair illuminated the place.

My companions followed on their mounts, looking around.

I stared at a nearby wall and my face paled at the thickness of the thread that made the webs. It was as thick as my fingers.

Oh, no... they're huge! I cried inside. This is worse than Australia!

My skin crawled and my bladder threatened to loosen up.

Sonya walked to me and pushed me with her head.

I turned to the Ratnak and let out a nervous chuckle. “You're not scared?” I asked her in a tiny voice.

She shook her head and gently headbutted me.

“Okay,” I nodded and climbed on top of her.

“How is E'er density looking, Natasha?” Pokora asked while approaching me on her mount.

I sniffed around, getting a taste of the air. “Pretty thick, higher than Mountroad's dungeon.”

She nodded and hummed, then turned to the group. “Alright! We're dealing with a potentially high tier dungeon. Natasha and Yolin on the front; Lapia, Elena, and me behind them; Alyssa, Bromisnar and Bonte behind us; and Thelea at the rear!” she commanded and moved.

I turned to the wall one last time to look at the thread and gulped, then tapped Sonya's neck.

We followed Pokora's formation and moved forward.

I kept looking at the walls and ceiling, growing more uncomfortable every time I saw webs covering every surface, even most of the ground. Come on, Natasha. You're doing it for the toy. Imagine what Yolin can do with it! I hyped myself with raunchy thoughts.

The cave widened and turned into a properly built tunnel... which was still covered in webs.

My glow revealed everything in a thirty meter radius, so we had good visibility at least.

“You good?” Yolin asked next to me.

I turned to her and scoffed. “Me? Pshh! Obviously. Why?”

She smiled and gave me a nod. “If you say so.”

I looked to the front and tried recalling everything I knew about spiders. The telling details that separate the harmless from the dangerous. The exact location of their book lungs. The meaning of abdomen size, coloring, shape, etc. The differences in web and the presence of it and what it implies.

Know your enemies and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster! I reminded myself, looking around.

The threads around us were clearly cobwebs with no discernible design. They were also too spread out to be used in the protection of eggs.

That was a small relief.

The tunnel continued up to around forty meters, where it was replaced with a more natural-looking rocky surface.

So far there were no webs blocking our path or forming a web tunnel.

The environment, however, expanded into a dungeon floor.

More precisely, a jungle dungeon floor.

“Fuck,” I muttered while glancing around.

This dungeon, however, didn't have stalactites that emitted light up in the ceiling. Instead, vegetation on the floor had glowing flowers. Unfortunately, the thickness of the jungle created shadows between the shining plants. Perfect for a spider to hide.

“Mhm,” Yolin hummed in agreement. “At least better than cave spiders.”

I turned to her and shook my head. “There is no 'better' when it comes to spiders, Yolin...”

She laughed and gave me a toothy smile. “True that!” she cheerfully agreed.

I joined her in laughter and turned to the group at the back. “Okay, Lapia! Burn it all down!”

“What?” the Elf blurted out in confusion. “This is a closed off space. We'll asphyxiate, Natasha...”

I scowled behind my helmet. “What do we do, then?” I asked out loud.

“We hunt the spooderoonies,” Pokora replied with an excited tone.

“We might find a cute one,” Elena cheered from behind Lapia.

I shook my head in disbelief at their words.

The sound of a loud and rhythmic clapping came from the right.

I whipper my head in that direction and saw a familiar monster some twenty meters into the jungle.

A green bug the size of a humming bird moved between the greenery. It had wings like a dragonfly, antlers like a moth, compound eyes like a fly, and thin, long legs.

“Hey, look,” I whispered and pointed at the thing and appraised it.

[Morthar Scout, Lvl 300]

“Three hundred on the first dungeon floor?” Yolin muttered and whistled in amazement, then turned around. “High tier dungeon, no doubt,” she announced.

“Got it,” Pokora replied. “Give me a minute, please.”

I followed the bug with my eyes.

It lazily flied between the trees and above the undergrowth.

So it's not a floor guardian in this dungeon? I wondered while looking at it.

The bug stopped moving mid-air.

My heartbeat accelerated along with my breathing.

It used its spindly legs and jerked around, shaking the spider web that had caught it.

“Ay, no!” I whispered and squirmed on the saddle, trying to scratch the itch that covered my body.

I watched in horror as a being out of my worst nightmares showed itself from behind a tree.

Slowly, very slowly, a yellowish green spider with red stripes crawled on the web towards the bug. Hairy, long legs appeared first. Then, the hairless cephalothorax followed, revealing eight beady eyes that uncaringly stared at the world around it. Chelicerae the size of my forearm trembled in depraved emotions that were probably more eldritch than the beings of the Abyss themselves. Its long pedipalps tapped the webs as it grew closer to its prey. It's hairy abdomen pulsated like a heart in preparation to strike. It was the size of a fully grown Elf. When it was around a meter away from the bug, it stopped moving.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Right then, the spider shot towards the bug and wrapped its disgusting legs around it. With movements that were far faster than it had the right to have, the spider used its spinneret to envelop its victim in webs while spinning the bug with its legs.

I was paralyzed in absolute terror at the sight. My heartbeat was going a million beats a minute and nausea filled my head. My mouth was dry as a desert and my eyes were as wide as they could be.

It was at that moment that, similar to when I was high above the air in the arena, my Halven instincts kicked in and all the fear gripping my mind dissolved like cotton candy in the ocean for a moment.

I lifted my spear and threw it at the nightmarish creature with all my strength.

The weapon reached the spider in less than an instant, piercing its thorax and taking it along the pike's flight. They impacted a tree that got split in half, continuing far into the jungle until both disappeared from sight.

“Nope,” I announced and turned Sonya around, then continued in Russian, “Fuck all of this. Spiders can go fuck themselves for all I care. I'm leaving.”

“Did you appraise it?” Yolin asked in Russian, still looking at the spot the spider previously was at.

I let out a nervous chuckle. “I did not. I do not need to. I will not. I am leaving,” I finalized.

“It was level three hundred, just like the Morthar Scout,” Yolin continued. “Do you remember how easily you killed those?”

I bit my lips and looked down at my hands. My weapon materialized in my grip and I let out a long sigh.

“You are over a thousand levels higher than them,” the Oni insisted. “They literally can't do anything to you.”

I turned to her and weakly shook my head. “But I don't like them!” I whined.

Yolin nodded in understanding. “I know. I get it. You don't have to fight fight them as you did with other monsters,” she gently comforted me.

“I could deal with them,” Elena joined the conversation, speaking Russian. “I would need a Morthar Queen, though.”

“Heh... hehe... HAHAHA!” I stored my weapon and clapped, turning to the Entomyst. “Yes!” I searched my storage for the ring I got in Mountroad's dungeon, then appraised the thing.

[Morthar Queen Coronet (Low)]
-Attracts a Morthar Swarm when worn.

I offered it to the Elf.

She took it and gave it a look, then nodded with a smile. “This is perfect,” she commented, matching my enthusiasm.

You'll be mine, diamonds, I thought with a wide smile behind my helmet. I also have to give Elena some armor... I didn't want her to fight, after all.