The following day, Lucinda headed straight into the forest after a quick breakfast. She chose to travel the same route she had the day before, making her way steadily north towards the rough centre of the wooded area, which she finally reached after around two hours of walking.

Was the spider cave north or west from here? There were webs all over the place, it can’t be too hard to find.

After spending a few minutes scanning her surroundings looking for familiar terrain features, she eventually settled on heading north along the river, keeping her eyes open for the signs as she travelled.

Before she’d gotten too far she realised she’d been correct to head north, when she began noticing the webs she’d sought scattered through the area. Like she’d done a few days prior, she quickly moved to the other side of the river, putting some distance between her and the spider cave, so she could observe the situation before diving in.

Lucinda waited for a time, during which she saw no signs of actual spiders, before giving in and deciding to make her way towards the cave entrance. Crossing the river once more, she soon found herself at the border of the spider’s domain, so marked by the webs that were woven into the trees and other flora in the area around the cave. Bracing herself, she moved forwards.

As her foot stepped onto the web covered ground, Lucinda tensed, expecting to be beset by the eight-legged creatures at any moment. However, her expectations were not met, in fact, the surrounding forest was eerily silent.

Maybe they’ve gone to visit relatives?

Attempting humour to suppress her own mounting discomfort, Lucinda forced herself to continue towards the cave. Moving forwards was hard work, as the sticky webs along the ground made lifting her feet between steps difficult, but eventually she found herself in front of the cave.

The opening to the large moss-covered mound that was the cave, immediately caught her attention. It was completely sealed off by webs, allowing very little light to penetrate through, giving her almost no information about what lay inside.

Walking up to the webbed opening, Lucinda carefully peered through in a vain hope of seeing more from up close. It was mostly as futile as she’d imagined, she couldn’t see anything, and after standing like that for a short time realised she couldn’t hear anything either.

Do giant spiders hibernate? Oh, right, probably not in summer even if they do. Still, maybe I should have checked the library yesterday, or asked Waflaw… Too late now. Do I turn back? Or risk going in?

Lucinda pondered the situation for a few minutes, weighing her options. Of course, stepping into a giant spider cave was in general, a bad idea, but she did have an innate ability to influence animals. There was also the hope that Waflaw would rescue her if things went poorly, and as far as she could recall giant spiders didn’t immediately kill their prey, instead opting to slowly dissolve them inside cocoons. It was a disgusting thought, but likely meant she’d have time to be rescued if she did get in trouble.

Moving to one end of the cave mouth, Lucinda pulled her knife from her pack and began cutting a hole in the web. She was surprised at just how durable the stuff was, and it took her several minutes to open up even a small hole for her to slip through.

As soon as she was past the web barrier, Lucinda put as much effort as she could into projecting a sense of calm, hoping to forestall any sudden ambushes by hidden spiders, while staring deeply into the darkness to encourage her eyes to adjust.

Lucinda began creeping further into the cave shortly after her eyes were able to discern the rough shape of the interior. The path slopped down for a short time before opening out into what Lucinda imagined was a larger room, though it was difficult to tell as she couldn’t see very far into the darkness.

Peering into the gloom trying to determine what lay in front of her, Lucinda’s breath caught as she saw something move not far from where she stood. Examining the part of the room she could see more closely, Lucinda realised that what she had thought to be a mass of spider web sticking out from the floor, was in fact the body of a giant spider.

Running her eyes along what she now knew to be a spider’s body, she was able to determine the spider was lying flat on it’s back and was for the most part motionless.

Oh! It must be moulting. I’d forgotten they did that. It all makes sense now. The lack of reaction to my presence, and the blocked off cave entrance. Are there any more of them in here though?

Lucinda kept her eyes peeled and her ears open, seeking any signs of other spiders. Even with her innate ability she was on edge, yet as the minutes passed without any surprise spider appearances, she gradually relaxed, or as much as anyone can relax when they’re sitting in a giant spider cave.

I don’t think I’ll mention this one to Mother. For some reason, I think she might not be too happy about it.

She’d been expecting an opportunity to further explore the functionality of her innate ability to influence animals, but with the spider so occupied she felt it unfair to disturb it with such mental intrusions. Instead, she kept her focus on her continued projection of calmness, hoping to encourage the prone animal to continue without concern.

Some time into the process, during which Lucinda had remained sitting against the cave wall nearest the entrance, the spider’s body had started moving in her direction. Lucinda had been startled at first, at least until she realised the body of the spider was simply emerging from its old exoskeleton.

There was plenty of space between them, so she wasn’t worried about getting in its way, but as more of the spider came into the stronger light near the entrance she began to feel a bit queasy. The light was revealing the soft and fleshy body of the animal, something that was usually covered by a harder outer layer. She imagined it was like seeing a human being cut to the bone, thankfully something she’d never witnessed. It was also revealing just how large the spider was, with the main portion of its body being close to that of a fairly large dog, with the eight long legs along the sides making it look considerably larger.

All in all the sight was proving to be a fascinating if disturbing experience, and Lucinda was quite relieved when she received a pair of notifications signifying she could safely leave.

You have cleared stage 3 of 3 for class unlock: Shifter

You have unlocked class: Shifter

Lucinda made her way outside the cave, leaving the spider alone once more, before giving in to her elation and celebrating.

I’ve done it! With only two days to go until I can choose. Shifter here I come!

Her task complete, Lucinda considered heading straight home, but realised she should probably inform Waflaw of the good news, and instead started making her way towards the meeting spot.

It took her another two hours or so to reach the location where Waflaw had told her about how to become a Shifter only a few days prior, which was easily recognisable, being the only sizeable clearing within sight in that part of the forest. Lucinda looked about carefully as she reached the spot, hoping Waflaw might already be there, but unfortunately he was nowhere to be seen.

“Waflaw?” she called out. “Are you here?”

Checking the position of the sun, Lucinda confirmed she had a few hours before dusk. Sitting down she decided she could afford to wait for him for a while, even if he didn’t show up in the end.

Fortunately, she was in luck and before too long Waflaw appeared, emerging from deeper within the forest.

“Hello, Lucinda.”

“Hi.”

“Am I safe in assuming that you seeking me out on the third day since you began trying to unlock the Shifter class, is a prelude to some good tidings?”

“Yes, I unlocked it!”

“Ah-ha, that’s great. So, what did you choose in the end?”

“Weren’t you watching over me in case I got in trouble?”

“Well, sort of. I had Wollow keeping an eye out for you, but he didn’t feel the need to get me involved. It seems you handled things well.”

“Oh, I see. In that case then, I chose a deer, a boar, and a giant spider.”

“Quite the brave forest explorer I see. I wondered if you’d go with one of the more dangerous creatures, and I’m glad to see you did, and that you made it back in one piece.”

“Mmm, spending time with a giant spider was strange, but not too dangerous luckily!”

“For someone with an innate ability like yours you mean, most other trainee Druids would have had a much harder time.”

“I suppose so…”

“Anyway, this is a cause for celebration! Oh, and how soon until you can choose your class?”

“Two days from now.”

“Excellent. I have to admit this is getting me far more excited than I would have thought possible. I’m sure you’re going to love becoming a Druid, well, Shifter,” Waflaw continued, before reaching into his pack and bringing out a large water skin. “Here,” he said handing it to Lucinda.

“Oh, thanks, but I have my own.”

“Not like this you don’t. Give it a sniff, it’s not water.”

Lucinda pried the top open and moved her nose closer before inhaling.

“Oh! It smells like strawberries. What is it?”

“Alcohol of course. What better way to celebrate you unlocking the Shifter class? Give it a try.”

The voice of Lucinda’s mother warning her about being alone in the forest with a stranger suddenly sounded in her head. But, she dismissed the thought and took a small swig of the drink.

“Well, how is it?” Waflaw asked.

“Mmm, it’s good. I didn’t know you could get things like this.”

“To tell the truth neither did I until a few days ago. I asked around in town for something that a young woman like yourself might like and this is what they suggested. I’m glad you like it, best to enjoy it while you still can.”

“What do you mean?” Lucinda asked, taking another sip of her drink.

“Ah, well it’s one of the lesser-known aspects of becoming a Druid. Resistance to poisons. A handy ability to have, but it has one major drawback in that alcohol counts as a poison. It’s not so bad, to begin with, it just takes longer for you to get drunk, but eventually, like me, you’ll become outright immune. Which really kills the fun of it.”

“Oh…”

Lucinda wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She’d tried a bit of wine with her parents, but hadn’t really acquired a taste for it. To her living without the ill effects of alcohol didn’t seem like a concern at all.

“So, drink up! Then you can tell me all about your adventures over the past three days.”

“Okay!”

Lucinda started telling Waflaw about her time spent with the deer, continuing to sip at her strawberry flavoured alcoholic drink as she did. Though she was not prone to boasting under normal circumstances, a behaviour discouraged during her time as a Cleric, the alcohol was already having an effect on her, causing her to focus the tale on what she had accomplished with the doe.

“That does sound impressive. Perhaps I’ll have you teach Wollow how to fetch.”

“He’s your animal companion, can’t you give him orders already?”

“Ah, that’s different. It’s true I can ask him to do actions for me, but he only does so out of a sense of duty. Something done entirely for ‘fun’ is beyond him. A shame really.”

“Oh, poor Wowow…” Lucinda said, before bursting into giggles at her silly mispronunciation.

“Sounds like that drink has gone straight to your head,” Waflaw replied with a laugh of his own.

“You know, mother warned me about people like you.”

“People like me?”

“Most men are only interested in one thing’ she said. And here we are alone in the forest, and you’ve got me drunk!”

“If you are insinuating that I have some ulterior motive, you may rest assured, I simply wished to celebrate my new pupil passing her most important test to date.”

“Aww, you’re sweet,” Lucinda replied with another giggle.

Alongside the words her mother had offered with regards to men and their possible motives, Lucinda also recalled their conversation on marriage and the corresponding restrictions her mother wanted her to adhere to. A familiar hint of the same unfairness returned, and thanks to the alcohol, soon blossomed into outright annoyance.

Another sip of her drink was all it took for her to consider a new, drastic idea.

“What if I… wanted something else?”

“Hmm, now is that the drink talking I wonder?”

“Maybe…” Lucinda admitted.

“Truth be told I’m flattered. You are certainly an attractive young woman Lucinda. But, I’m sure you’d be much happier with someone closer to your own age. Tell you what, why don’t you see how you feel about it tomorrow.”

“Mmm, fine…” Lucinda said, pouting.

Waflaw maintained a friendly smile in Lucinda’s direction as a silence stretched between them.

“Might be time to call it a night,” Waflaw announced. “Do you think you’ll be okay getting home?”

Lucinda tried to get to her feet, but soon found herself flat on her back instead.

“Everything’s spinning,” she groaned.

“I’ll take that as a no… Okay, why don’t you take a nap here? I’ll wake you in an hour or so and you can head home to a proper bed then.”

“Sure…” Lucinda quietly agreed, though she was already halfway to unconsciousness.

“Lucinda?” a voice and a hand on her shoulder woke her.

“Waflaw? What are you doing in my room?” she replied, half asleep and fully confused.

“We’re still in the forest just outside of town, you’ve been asleep for over an hour. How do you feel?”

“Tired.”

“Come on, up you get. You need to get back home,” Waflaw said as he helped her up.

“Okay…” Lucinda replied, stifling a yawn.

“You look a little unsteady still. I’ll have Wollow walk you back, I doubt anyone will mind at this time of night.”

Lucinda watched as Waflaw’s pet stag emerged from the trees not far from where they stood. The mighty stag was just as impressive as she remembered.

“Here, get a good hold of his fur, don’t want you falling into a ditch on your way back.”

“Thanks, I’ll be okay.”

"I didn’t anticipate how strongly the drink would affect you. Please don’t tell your parents, I have a feeling they’ll hunt me down if you do.”

“Oh!” Lucinda cried, her mind clearing suddenly. “Mother must be worried sick about me, I need to get back.”

Lucinda said a quick goodbye to Waflaw and began walking back into town, guiding Wollow as she did. She was still feeling a bit dizzy from the drink, but the night air and the exercise helped clear her head.

She had to walk through the entire town from the western entrance all the way to the south-east to reach her home, which took almost a half-hour. Finally stopping in front of her house, she bid Wollow goodnight and thanked him for his assistance, then headed inside.

The inside of her house was dark, with only traces of illumination shining in from the moon. As carefully as she could Lucinda began making her way to the stairs, but she didn’t get more than a few steps before her staff caught on something with an audible crack.

“Lucinda?” a groggy voice called out.

“Mother?” Lucinda whispered back.

Lucinda moved into the kitchen where she was sure the voice had emerged from, and found her mother seated at the kitchen table. She did not look happy.

“Where have you been!?” her mother said with quiet anger.

“I’m sorry! I was in the forest with Waflaw, and lost track of time…”

“Alone in the forest with that man at this hour… What am I supposed to think of this?”

“Mother, please, it’s not like that. He’s just teaching me how to become a Druid.”

“Have you been drinking?” her mother said, moving closer to her.

“Umm a little. I unlocked the class today. We were celebrating…”

“I see. I suppose I can understand that. But, I really wish you’d told me. I was ready to call the militia! Thankfully your Father talked me out of it.”

“Sorry, Mother.”

“Off to bed with you. We can talk about this more tomorrow.”

“Okay, goodnight,” Lucinda said as she made her way upstairs.

Reaching her room and collapsing in her bed, Lucinda fell asleep almost instantly.