A hissing sound could be heard before anything came into vision. I instinctively knew what it was. I mean, how could I not?

I aimed my torch at where the sound was coming from. Soon enough, the head of a massive snake came into view.

This snake was a copy of the Iobgnol that Velariah and I encountered before, except this one had black eyes and black and grey groups of scales between its white ones.

I doubted this snake was as friendly as the one before. Especially when it was considered the ‘final trial’ by this voice.

How the hell would we even fight a snake? It was not like I could simply run around it.

Draco was quick to charge it head-on and bashed its face with one of his shields before striking with his other.

An arrow flew at the scales behind its face and embedded itself in the snake’s flesh.

Alright, let’s see how this goes.

I ran past its head and pierced my spear in its lengthy body. I managed to get surprisingly deep and used my speed to drag the spear down its length.

A large cut was the result of my actions.

Not bad.

The beast struck Draco, but he easily blocked the attack with both shields.

Velariah took that as an opportunity to strike a blow of her own.

Her sword pierced the scales of the beast and set part of its body on fire.

Draco slammed his shield into the snake’s head again, temporarily dazing it.

More arrows were fired and Nira took to the skies and landed on the beast’s exposed back, creating large wounds with her talons.

I struck again with my spear and tried to drive it as deep as I could. It seemed this beast, despite taking many hits that did fair damage to its body, remained unfazed and steady.

“What is this thing?” Velariah asked. “I keep hacking away, but it doesn’t seem to care.”

“As far as my knowledge goes, it seems the dungeon is directly controlling this beast,” I said. “I would guess that has something to do with its inability to care.”

“Seems to be that way.” The elf responded as she slashed again.

“Elania, watch out!” Nira shouted from above, just after I impaled the reptile again.

I abandoned my spear and started running, but I was too slow.

Pain struck my rear.

I looked around and saw the snake’s jaws around my abdomen. Its mouth was opened as far as its muscles allowed and two fangs were embedded in my carapace.

I could feel the snake pumping venom into my body. The feeling was odd and the thought of so much venom flowing through me had me worried. I knew I had resistance to it, but this was far more than I’d ever received.

“Elania!” Velariah shouted and ran my way.

Draco grew to his black-scaled version of himself and seemed to let go of all defense. He furiously hacked away at the snake’s neck as its head was clenched around my abdomen.

Velariah took the orange potion out of her bag that she always secretly carried with her and handed it to me. I took it in my hands, uncorked it and… waited.

Velariah joined Draco in his assault and started hacking away at the beast’s other side. Blood and pieces of snake meat flew through the air.

I could still feel venom flowing from its fangs into my body, but I felt… fine?

I would have expected some kind of reaction. A certain weakness setting in, blurry vision or something else, but nothing happened.

That’s why I was still holding this potion without drinking it.

I was scared, but at the same time, I wanted to know what I could handle.

Draco roared behind me and I could feel the weight that was behind the snake’s head lift from my body. I turned around to see Velariah and Draco had cut its head off. They were both covered in the beast’s blood.

The snake’s fangs were still pumping venom into my body and I could still feel it flow throughout my body, but I still wasn’t feeling any effects from it. It left me confused.

Velariah slashed at its fangs and splintered them, causing its head to slide off my abdomen.

“Elania? Are you okay?” She ran over to me with worry on her face.

“I’m completely fine, it seems?” I replied.

I looked to where two fangs had pierced my carapace and saw two small holes with green liquid dripping from them.

“You didn’t drink the potion?” She looked at the potion, then at my face.

“Nope. I don’t seem to experience any negative effects from its venom.”

“Holy crap, Elania, you’re hardcore!” Seralyn joined the conversation.

Nira didn’t say a word and started healing the two wounds that were left.

It didn’t even hurt me as much as it looked like it should. Maybe that was adrenaline before and now because Nira was healing the wound?

“Huh?” I turned to Seralyn. That didn’t sound like an insult.

“You’re hardcore, not giving a crap about venom like that.”

“Seems I got the luxury of not having to give a crap…” I said.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Velariah asked.

I nodded and walked a few steps. “Vision is clear, no weakness or anything. I don’t know what to say, really.”

I corked the potion again but held it in my hands just in case.

“How did you get your hands on orange-quality anti-venom anyway?” Seralyn asked.

“Congratulations, you’ve passed the trial.” The voice from before came again. “You have provided me with the information I wanted to know. Make your way down and I will answer one question you have.”

What? Just one? What a scam. I was pretty sure the voice in my dream said ‘answers’ as in, plural.

“Hello?” Seralyn asked again.

“The voice from before talked to me again,” I explained. “Seems we’ve got to make our way down and I get to ask one question.” I shrugged. “I don’t even know what I should ask,” I said that last bit to Velariah.

“Dunno. What do you want to know most?” She said.

“I guess what I want to know most is exactly what my inherity is. The thing is, I will know that once I partake in the ritual. I should probably ask something unrelated.”

“Good point,” Velariah said.

“Anyone gonna fill me in?” Seralyn called again.

“Should we tell them?” I whispered to Velariah.

The elf shook her head. “Not with Nira here, we barely know her. We should wait.” Velariah whispered back.

It appeared neither Seralyn nor the harpy heard that.

“We received this one from Valtheril. We’re keeping it in case the worst-case scenario presents itself. It seems Elania was patient enough and realized it wasn’t needed now.”

Say what you want, Velariah was a good liar.

“Next time you get something valuable, at least let us know.” Seralyn sighed.

“You not knowing we had this would have probably kept you more aware of your surroundings,” I told her.

That shut her up. She had no reply to that.

The torch in my hand started to illuminate less and less, it appeared it was almost exhausted.

“Draco, got any more of these torches?” I asked him.

“No need.” He took the torch from me and seemed to channel magic into its bottom part.

The flames grew to their original state after that.

“How does that even work?” I asked.

“Any magic can fuel torches,” Draco explained. “Even the minuscule amount I can use to heal works.”

“That… seems pretty handy.”

Draco smiled. “Light can be the difference between life and death, these torches were specifically made to work with any kind of magic.”

That made these simple torches sound… expensive.

With the light at its maximum capacity, I was spooked by a sudden movement. I quickly turned my head to see the snake’s body still wriggling around, even after its head was severed.

“It’s dead,” Velariah confirmed. “It can’t do much without its head.”

I continued to observe it until its movements stopped completely.

The blade on which Velariah was resting glowed with a soft white light after that.

“Guys.” Velariah started and then closed her eyes.

“You okay?” I asked her.

“I’m fine, it seems I just evolved my inherity.”

“Nice one, Lady Velariah.” Draco congratulated her.

Velariah shook her head and gripped her sword. The faint white glow became brighter for a second before it died down to a faint glow again.

“Seems you were right, Elania. This does appear to be the same magic my father uses.”

“Holy?” I asked.

Velariah nodded and slashed the air in front of her.

“Seems to be a basic damage amplification on the weapon rather than an activated spell, but this could be useful, nonetheless.”

“Nice one,” Seralyn said, with a hint of jealousy.

“Congratulations,” Nira said from behind Draco.

Velariah cleaned the blood on the snake’s scales before sheathing her weapon again.

I congratulated her as well before I started looking for the exit from this room. It seemed to be in the direct opposite wall from the previous doorway.

I walked through the doorway with my spear at the ready, Draco and Velariah close behind me.

We turned a corner to the left and I was overcome with a sense of déjà vu again. Before me was the exact same hallway as in my dream. The same blue hue from the moss made me certain of it. I wouldn’t even need the torch here, in theory. There was enough light occurring naturally.

I walked around several of the stalagmites and soon came face to face with the hellspider queen that was in my dream.

Seralyn approached with an arrow drawn.

“Don’t bother, Seralyn, this one is friendly.”

“How do you know?” She asked.

“Because this is the being that talked to me earlier.”

I approached the large spider and it used a pedipalp to wave at us.

Ok, that was creepy.

“Welcome, strange one.” It spoke in my mind.

“You’re calling me the strange one?” I chuckled.

“This is the dungeon core speaking. I am sorry about the corrupted Iobgnol. I wanted to make sure you possessed what I think you possess.”

“And what would that be?” I asked.

“Not something I can disclose, you’ll have to find out for yourself or ask that later.”

I thought for a moment.

I looked behind me and saw Seralyn whisper something to Velariah who nodded in response.

And she was complaining that I was hiding things from her…

“Okay, so, you told me I could ask a question, right?” I continued.

“Correct, but first, let me introduce myself. I am dungeon core Arch, I materialized here ages ago and recently awoke from my slumber. I was forced into it because of the absence of mana. It seems you are the one who awoke me. Forgive me for being blunt with my information, but my strength is low and I must cut off the communication soon.”

“Greetings, Arch. I am Elania, but I have the feeling you already knew that.”

“Correct. Your presence here is, as we call it, an anomaly. I am quite unsure how you came to be here, you’re not from around here, are you?”

That was one question I could cross off my list of questions I could ask.

I nodded. “You’re right in that regard. I don’t know how it happened, myself.”

I was careful with my words. I was talking aloud and didn’t want to give too much away to my companions behind me.

“Interesting.” It replied. “Excuse me for being bad with words, you are the first that I can talk to.”

“Not a problem,” I replied. “I am afflicted by the same thing.”

Was that a laugh I heard?

“With that out of the way, I do suggest you ask your question. It takes a lot of energy to speak to you this way and my reserves are waning.”

“Understandable.” I nodded.

“Velariah, could you come here for a sec?” I asked.

Maybe she knew a good question?

Velariah walked up to me and I whispered to her I had no idea what I should ask. There were far too many questions possible, but I feared I could answer most of them myself, given time.

“About that question, do you have any idea what I should ask?” I whispered.

“How you appeared in this world?” She suggested.

I shook my head. “It doesn’t know that either.”

“Wasn’t lifespan one of your worries?” She whispered.

“I don’t know… that would be one thing I can’t find out myself. The other thing I was thinking about was simply asking how I evolve my inherity, whatever it is. It could give me the info I need in order to grow stronger.”

“Hmmm.” Velariah thought. “Possibly, but you’d also find that out yourself, eventually.”

“True.” I sighed.

“I would wait with that,” Velariah whispered again. “Just follow your heart.”

Follow my heart?

I guess it was my heart that was screaming to know how long I would have to live on in this world. Despite our relationship still being so young, I didn’t want to have to leave Velariah too soon.

Was this going to be a question I would regret?

Or would I regret never asking in the first place?

I understood not everyone wanted to know the answer to this. I, however, felt that Velariah deserved to know the answer.

I decided to get her the answer.

“I’d like to know what my lifespan looks like,” I answered the hellspider queen in front of me, at last.

“I knew you’d ask that eventually. Your heart is a complicated one, but true. The answer to your question is that I simply do not know. All I can tell you is that your aging resets every time you molt.”

“Wait, so molting is something other than an evolution? How does that work?”

“I gathered some information on your being from your presence and I have answered your question. The other answers you will need to seek for yourself. Your destiny is your own, Elania.”

The voice was cut short and the spider in front of me started walking around.

The blue light beyond the doorway it was guarding faded.

I stepped forward to the doorway, unable to contain my curiosity. In a small room, on top of a pedestal, lay a crystal ball the size of a soccer ball.

That had to be the core.

The hellspider queen seemed to react to me and walked up to me and raised its fangs.

I stepped back from the doorway and the creature seemed to ease down.

No peeking, got it.

“So?” Velariah asked, expectantly.

“Seems you don’t have to worry about me leaving you anytime soon.” I smiled.

Still, though. I was expecting more from this. The vision I had led me to believe this would be some kind of major revelation. In that regard, I was quite disappointed. On the other hand, knowing I didn’t have a mere two years to live was warmly welcome as well.

Maybe I wanted to know that more than anything else?

Was that what that dream had been all about?

It did specifically mention ‘the answers you seek’ if I recall correctly.

It did give me another piece of information, though. Maybe it was a mistake of some sort, but in my dream, it clearly said I had evolved. This time around it mentioned molting specifically. I concluded from this information that the two were separate processes.

I wondered what the difference was.

I turned around in shock. I thought I felt a hand run over my abdomen. When I looked, there was nothing there.

“You okay, Elania?” The white-haired elf asked.

I sighed.

“It seems I have that itch again…” I replied.

“You mean…?”

“Yes…”

“Better get you some food then. It seems we are all done here. A pretty worthwhile dungeon, if I may say so. Small, sure, but I got an evolution.” Velariah said, as I turned around.

“Yeah, it looked pretty sweet. Next time you evolve your inherity, I don’t think we will need a torch anymore.” I grinned.

“Very funny. I’d rather get a skill.”

“Why, what’s wrong with glowing swords?” I asked, as we walked back to our party.

“Nothing, but it doesn’t feel useful, specifically. Of course, I can’t tell yet because I haven’t seen its effects yet.”

“I’d love to see it… in a couple of days, I think.”

“Aw, poor El’s gonna molt.” She teased.

“Not so loud!” I pouted.

“Wait, what is this I hear?” Seralyn said.

Oh no.

What have you done, Vel?

“Molting?” She asked. “Like a lizard?”

I had no idea how she could say that with Draco literally standing right next to her.

“Yes,” I answered with a sigh. “And hopefully, it allows me to get my leg back. That’s why I asked you to leave those slimes to me.” I paused for a second. “Enough standing around, I’d like to get myself something to eat and then I guess I’ll be out for a few days.”

This dungeon better not bait me with a carrot on a stick again while I’m out cold.

We walked back through the cave tunnel, then through the large room, and finally through the next cave-like hallway with the stairs leading up.

I walked up the flight of stairs with confidence which didn’t seem to be misplaced. These hooks at the end of my legs seemed to provide more than enough grip. I should try walking up walls, sometime.

I could already see myself hanging on the ceiling when Velariah entered the bathroom.

That could be fun.

We entered the tunnel structure of the hellspider nest again and walked back outside. The grass in the area seemed to have regained some of its original color.

“Nira? Velariah?” I called out as I lowered myself to the grass.

“Thanks, Elania.” Velariah and Nira both said as they hopped on.

I’d like to get back to the guild as soon as possible.

“Let’s keep moving,” I said as we walked back to the guild.

We soon reached the coffee bushes and for a second I considered taking them with me anyway. I decided against it as I knew how I would feel soon enough. The itch was already getting worse and I knew I would start feeling tired soon.

I kept up the pace on our way to Dawnleaf. The grass was still damp and Seralyn struggled to keep up. She was panting when we reached the road.

“You have no mercy, do you?” She asked me.

“Look who’s talking,” I said in response. “No, but for real, I have to keep up the pace - I need to eat plenty before I collapse.”

“Sounds painful.” She replied.

Come to think of it, I wasn’t even hungry. Last time I was starving. Did this mean I had enough reserves built up to go through the process? Perhaps.

I wasn’t going to gamble on it, though.

I slowed down slightly when we reached the village. The itch was now actually annoying and I’d like to get this done and over with as soon as possible.

I let out a sigh of relief when I walked into the guild hall and found it nearly empty.

As I promised my companions, we got through this quickly. I made sure to order much of the same so the cook could get it done quickly. I stuck to a bunch of sausages and omelets, they were quickly turning into my favorites.

Oh, the stares they gave me as I was literally shoving them down.

They ordered after me and started their lunch as I was about to finish mine. A glass of strawberry juice finished what I started. Velariah quickly shoved her last sausage down as well and stood up together with me.

“I apologize for leaving you like this, but I’m starting to feel the exhaustion kick in.” I turned to Nira.

“I would have liked to get to know you better, but it seems I need to leave you for a few days. I hope you’re still around when I return.”

“I think I will be.” She replied bashfully.

From what I had seen, she was a bit of the shy type, but she was fiery in combat. It was a damn shame that she had to deal with the harassment of male party members. She was very useful in our party.

Shame on them, I guess.

“Thank you, guys, for the dungeon adventure today. Let’s find some more group quests after Elania is back up and running.” Velariah said.

With that, we left the guild hall and started our walk to her mansion.

I yawned widely on my way.

“Aw, poor Elania needs her beauty sleep. If it’s any consolation, I’ll watch over you when you’re asleep.”

“I didn’t expect you to do otherwise.” I smiled at her. “Also, beauty sleep?”

“Yeah, you’d make girls angry with jealousy, getting a completely new body and all. I do hope you get your leg back.” She said, with worry on her face.

“So do I, Vel. So do I.”