I begged and pleaded with her, the other day but she packed my suitcase and sent-, oh, hi there!

I’m… still following the hunters. They’ve been saying things and following a path but not much else has happened, and, honestly, it’s kind of boring. It was fun at first, but the conversation quickly became surprisingly mundane.

Archer guy was moaning about how the chick he saw in the forest the other day hadn’t returned his letter, rogue guy told him she wasn’t ever going to, and the mini-wizard told him the girl was probably just shy.

I gave up on listening soon after this. Love interests and food shortages were things I could hear about at any time back home. What I wanted now was more of the supernatural variety. What magic the mini-wizard could use, what a dungeon was, what they could possibly hunt in it, that kind of stuff.

In short, I zoned out, keeping a fair bit of distance between them and me, just sort of hanging back.

That is, until they stopped, and I only barely evaded flying into their backs.

Man, that would’ve been embarrassing.

...So, uh, what’s going on, fellas?

After hurridly retaking my distance, I take a peek at what they stopped for.

...It looked like the entrance to a mine or something. It was pretty much just a hole in the side of a mountain, much like the goblin’s village, but much smaller. On either side of the entrance, two lit torches sat, flames dancing despite the sun standing high.

-Who lit that? Why is it lit during the day-? Is this the dungeon…?

The five hunters, without saying anything, took one glance at each other and headed inside. The one carrying the daggers, the rogue whose name I had forgotten, grabbed one of the torches off of the wall and headed inside.

Ohhh, okay, so that’s the why. But, I must wonder… How is it alight? And it still doesn’t answer who lit it.

Still, I follow them into the dungeon, keeping my distance.

------

My friends haven’t noticed it yet. The presence behind us, the flash of light between the hanging dead branches. But I noticed. As always, my senses pick up what humans cannot.

I was raised by humans, among them, but even so, my heritage is that of an elf. When they look, I see. When they hear, I perceive.

So, too, do I notice it. The thing flying just behind us. My friends, the ones Mister Brobdingnag made me learn to know, they see nothing. They speak of mundane things because I directed them to.

Hark, not with subtle orders, but with social manipulation! They suspect nothing. It is better so. They are excellent hunters, good monster-killers and men of honour. Yet, with forces like the ones I see, I do not trust them.

When we reach the dungeon, the Shallow Dungeon of Myrr, the place we always go to every single day, it almost strikes. It rears upon us, staggering forth to almost crash into the back of Oeuf. Yet, moments later, it retreats. It is waiting for the proper time.

We stand outside of the dungeon, and I consider telling them. Telling them that we are followed, that we might be wandering into our graves. But I do not. Call me spiteful, but I do not do this for revenge. Call me petty and foolish, but I do this to prove my worth.

A wizard is someone of great worth, as should I, as his apprentice, be of worth. And yet, I am sent upon petty missions of little reward, as a test. It shames me to follow his orders, as much as I trust him. I wish to prove it to him, that I, too, am of worth.

This is how I shall do it. Not through battles with meek monsters and unassuming beasts, but with a true triad between good and evil!

But I shall bide my time. Until it shows its foul face and displays its terrible power, I shall not say a word.

I must ask, did he truly believe he could hide his luminous body in these dark caverns?...

-------

Alright, I’m pretty sure I haven’t been seen yet. So far, we’ve only just entered the cave, or, dungeon, as they call it, and nothing of note has happened.

My own experiences with dark caverns aside, I sure do hope they aren’t going to meet any monsters. They seem geared for a fight, but I hope it’s with a cave lioness rather than a… well, I can’t think of any examples, but some sort of cave-dwelling spooky monster. Like a really big dog. Man, that would be scary alright!

As I wondered about this, it seems we have gone even further into the dungeon. through twisting halls and large, empty rooms.

Nobody is speaking, and it honestly feels quite weird. I don’t mind the silence, but it’s kind of spooky!

This better not-,

Skill (System Recon Interference) has been used, information will be shown

Paper Spider, “Georgio”, Lv.12 (E)

Named after its oddly thin carapace and legs, this spider-like monster inhabits the Shallow Dungeon of Myrr, where it reigns as an apex predator along with several dozen brethren alike it. Weak alone, this monster is at its most dangerous when in groups, much like the notorious Cave Dweller. Curiously enough, neither of these two group-hunters can be found within the same tunnel-system.

G-, Georgio-?... But I can’t see anythi-,

Oh, nevermind, there’s a spider right there. Man, it’s big! About the size of a housecat, I reckon! Compared to me it’s the size of a car, but still! Shape-wise, it fits the name almost perfectly. White in colour with angular, thin legs and abdomen like that of origami.

Without any verbal command of any sort, everybody gets into position. The healer and mini-wizard step back, the archer in the middle (seems like he’s feeling like it now), and the warrior and the rogue stand at the front, all weapons drawn and ready. But they don’t attack just yet. No, a moment of peace passes, both parties staring each other down, until…

“KIIIIIIII”

Origami Spider "Georgio" has used skill (Rallying Cry)

The very name of the skill sens shivers down my spine at the memory of it. Last time I saw a message like that, I almost fucking died, so I guess it’s only fair. I feel pretty safe where I am, and that’s not just because I absolutely crushed (they got squished, punk) the worms that used it on me last, but because, well…

I may be rank D-something, but I took down a dude who was C-something, damn it! I ain’t afraid of no spider! I’d bet a well-placed Firefly could take out this guy in a jiffy.

I say that, but even I get the shivers when the whole damn starts shaking and the sound of jittering chittering legs can be heard all the way here.

Georgio himself stood as still as a predator in hiding.

“...It’s never been this loud before…”

One of the five hunters mumbled, his voice raised ever so slightly by his rising panic. Nobody answers so it seems his comment was an expression of all of their thoughts.

The cave walls behind Georgio started moving. It was faint at first, but soon, the ripples turned into a wave, which turned into a tsunami. The very next second, the room was absolutely floored by spiders with size ranging from that of a cat to even a large dog.

Frantically, I removed myself from the side of the wall, pretty much putting myself out in the open.

The hunters, now faced with enemies on all sides, now changed formation, with the rogue and warrior on either side, flanking the mini-wizard, healer and archer. I tried to see if there was any way I could escape through the tunnel we had come from, but no such luck. Much like the room itself, it was crawling with spiders, so much so that they simply blocked them with the amount of them.

I turned back around to face the group of hunters. Only two of them were turned towards me, the mini-wizard and the warrior. Neither of them were looking at me, so-,

Oh, wait, I take back that last part, the warrior is totally looking at me.

His face tenses up even more, somehow, his hands clenching around the hilt of his sword.

Yeah, um, I’m on your side, but I’m not sure how to tell you this. I don’t-, I don’t mean to interfere or nuthin’, so if you just ignore me, that’ll be-,

“Grenouille, on your left”

“Roger that!”

An arrow whizzes past my head before I have a moment to realize what is happening.

H-, holy shit-,, I almost died, didn’t I-,?...

Dude-, no! I’m,, I’m on your side, cool it!

Shit, he’s loading another arrow, fucK, okay, shit, gotta prove I’m no threat,,,

Standing still will do me no good, so I quickly gain some speed, whizzing around the five with all the speed I can muster.

“Grenouille, keep an eye on him! Anders, cast a ward, Mal, fire up these buggers!”

“Will do, sir!”

“Allow me a moment!”

Alright, shit, before any of these guys do anything, I have to act. All these spiders are E rank, so they should be easy prey, I just needs something big, flashy, that’ll take out a bunch of them…

Hmmm, I haven’t used that spell yet, have I-?

Ohohohohoho, watch out, spiders!