The abandoned mine has a damp, musty smell mixed in with a faint wisp of rot. The ceiling is supported by wooden beams at regular intervals and an old rusted track runs down the gradual slope into the depths of the mine. It gives off an eerie feeling of desolation.

I regret not bringing a light source, because the visibility is poor underground. Torch sconces line the walls, which Miles lights up as he passes. This at least allows the rest of us to have better visibility, but even with them lit, the visibility is barely passable. Before going too far, I make sure to activate my map to begin charting the dungeon.

The progress is slow and steady as everyone shuffles down the path. The main shaft probably goes on for miles underground, and there is no telling how large this dungeon actually is. So far there has not been an offshoot, but it doesn’t take long before we come to the first junction. On the map it can be seen that this path continues on past the current boundaries of my map, but other than that there is no information.

Miles brings the group to a halt and turns around to speak.

“Team three.” He raises his voice. “You will explore down this tunnel. Anything you find is yours, but be sure to map out each path until its end. Tread carefully.”

I’m in team six. Team three consists of those from Wings of Liberty and is an all female group. The plan is to combine the maps together at the end, like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. Team three turns off and heads down the path into the darkness. I don’t imagine the upper layers will hold much value, so other than the map, I feel the will end off empty handed. Except of course in the advent of monsters.

The initial scouting party ran into monsters fairly quickly, but so far it has been quiet. Unnaturally so, but perhaps the AI makes the monsters smart enough to avoid attacking a large group with small numbers. The initial party only had 5-6 members, and they were chased out of the mine. Our group of 30 has not yet noticed any trace of monsters; however, once team three diverts off the main path, the sound of swords clashing can already be heard.

Our main group continues downward, and every so often a breeze will blow by. I observe the members fidgeting nervously with their weapons as if always on alert for an ambush. Even I am on edge, and ready to defend myself at any moment. The next two junctions pass by and the fourth and fifth teams take them. Now, all that remains is our sixth team and the 10 members from Sacred Order

The tunnel of the main shaft has gotten narrower the further we go, but there is still enough room to fight if necessary. It doesn’t take long before I see another passage off to the right on my map.

"Alright group six, you guys take this passage." Miles points towards a small offshoot of the main tunnel.

The passage is large enough for two people to fight side-by-side, but only that. Our formation would be useless in this situation, yet we have to take it.

“Alright. Everyone, follow me!” Sirius continues, "I'll be out in front along with Ilyena. Quinn, you take mid while Astrya and Elayne will follow in the back."

Miles nods and then leads his groups onward, leaving us alone in the dark. Just that small passage leaves me feeling anxious, because I have never been good with enclosed spaces. Even though I'm a lot strong in this world than reality and have teleport crystals on me, one's nature is hard to change. Looking at my companions, it seems I am not the only one. The only one seemingly unaffected is Sirius, but whether that is a false front or not is hard to tell.

Sirius takes down one of the lit torch sconces to use as a light source and starts slowly making his way into the tunnel. Level one maps will not show hostile entities, so we can only rely on our five senses.

The air within this side tunnel is stale compared to the main shaft and there is also a lingering foul stench permeating throughout. Just one benefit of the heightened senses from the system. So far the path is quiet, but there is no telling when something might pop up. All the other groups have probably come across monsters already.

Everyone in the group is silent and on edge, ready to take action at a moment’s notice. This way, any extraneous noise is eliminated and we can focus ahead. And it doesn't take long before sounds are heard in the distance.

*Skitter*Skitter*

*fap*fap*

*Skitter*Skitter*

Ominous sounds can be heard from ahead.

Sirius turns his head and puts a finger to his lips indicating silence. Up ahead, a spider and a slime can be seen wandering around a small room. On the map I can see the area widens to at least three times what the current tunnel is, and this will allow us to at least fight easier.

He motions for Ilyena and I to sneak up on them to launch a surprise attack. The two of us crouch down and approach the monsters. Unfortunately, I do not have the skills that would silence my footsteps or give me night vision.

Since the slime has a high physical resistance, we unanimously decide to aim for the spider. Since the slime is the same level as myself, I can see its stats using my appraisal skill, but for the level 12 spider, I cannot see anything.

Species Level Slime 10 Vitality 160 Stamina 80 Strength 40 Mana 60 Defence 30 Intelligence 20 Dexterity 40 Spirit 0 Skills Absorb: Level 1 Resistances Physical Resistance

Physical resistance negates 3/4 of all physical damage, which means most of our attacks will be ineffective against the slime. Thankfully, Elayne is on our team and can dish out magic damage. It’s second skill, absorb, is a bit more challenging. For every time it damages us, it will absorb vitality causing it to grow larger and possibly evolve into a big slime.

Ilyena gives the signal and we simultaneously activate our cloaking. In this mode the surroundings seem as if shadows of themselves; however, I can see Ilyena and myself as clear as day. The darkness limited vision is irrelevant in this mode, as everything is a light grayscale tone. We have to be quick due to the 5 second time limit, but that is all that is needed.

Wielding our daggers, Ilyena and I launch towards the spider at the same time. Utilizing the backstab skill to deliver 2x damage, with the combination of both our attacks, the spider is killed in an instant. If either one of us were a split second off, the dual surprise attack would have failed.

Ilyena gives a small nod in satisfaction.

The slime is alerted to our presence, but Elayne fires a barrage of fire spells towards it. The slime, having been caught off guard, has it’s health drop below half into the yellow zone. Apparently, not only is the slime strong against physical attacks, it is extremely weak towards magic based attacks. I wonder how it would fare against a magic sword.

The slime diverts it’s attention from us to go attack Elayne, but Sirius blocks it’s advance with his shield. This allows Ilyena and I to launch an assault against it’s back. Despite the physical damage reduction, it’s health drops quickly under our combination of attacks.

*Phew*

When they are both killed, we split up the drops based on contribution. Since this is unfair towards Astrya, who is a priest, we all agreed to share with her. And besides, if we run into any undead in this dungeon, we will be relying heavily on her to weaken them. The drops were, in addition to Tor, spider silk and slime balls.

“Well,” Sirius is the first one to break the silence. “That was unexpectedly easy."

“Yea!” Astrya comments, “I thought it would be more challenging than that. After all, the scouting party nearly got wiped."

“Mhmm. The other players had difficulty with the monsters, so there must be some powerful monster we are unaware of.”

“Un.”

"Hmm." Sirius looks to be in thought. "That's true. We should stay on guard just incase.”

“Agreed.”

Since it will only get more challenging from here, I do not hesitate in my reply. The first fight only went so smoothly due to Ilyena’s and my coordination in eliminating the spider.

“There’s no use staying around here, let’s press onward.”

Sirius once more motivates us to continue. He is doing well in the leadership role for now, but when it begins to get tough is when I will see if he is truly a fit leader.

After another few minutes of travelling, we come across a giant cavern. Stalactites hang from the ceiling while stalagmites cover the floor on the side. Some of these have combined to form pillars, which line the main path through the cavern. The cavern goes on for probably a kilometre and has a width of at least half that.

“Ahh, I wish I had the night vision skill.” I murmur beneath my breath.

I didn’t think anyone could hear me, but Ilyena looks in my direction with a questioning expression.

“You do know that assassins and rogues can pick up the night vision skill automatically right?”

“Huh?” This is news to me.

“Haa...” She sighs, “Pick a dark spot off to the side and try really hard to focus on the light that reaches that area. You will feel a straining sensation in your eyes, but this will pass. When it’s activated your mana will slowly drain at 1 point every 10 seconds.”

I gaze off to the right side of the path and try to focus on a stalagmite in the distance. Just as she said, my eyes feel strained, but it soon passes. My vision becomes a little better automatically and my mana slowly gets consumed.

Skill Acquired: Night Vision Level 1

Allows user to see 10% better in the dark.

Consumes 5 MP per 10 seconds.

Wow, that was easy. I look at Ilyena in disbelief. Although she has veil covering her face, I can imagine her wearing a smug smile right now. While she may seem very standoffish, she is actually kind when she wants to be.

My impression of her has improved slightly.

“I cannot believe you made it to level 10 without figuring this out.”

And then it dropped back down.

So, apparently some skills can be acquired automatically based on which class a character is. For example a mage could pick up magic skills, and quarterstaff skills with ease, but would have to go to a NPC to learn the sword.

Since I have no other use for my mana, I keep night vision on while I explore the cavern with my eyes. Even though my vision has improved by 10%, it is still difficult to see far away. When gazing off in a random direction, I notice a quick movement. Whatever it was is gone before I could focus on it. With that at the forefront of my mind, I get a feeling that we are being watched. It’s like a tingle or an itch at the back of my head and it refuses to go away.

The others seem to be oblivious to it. Even Ilyena, who has heightened senses compared with the rest, is carrying on like usual. Maybe it is just my imagination, but this feeling continues on for five more minutes.

Out of chance, I happen to look towards the ceiling above me. What I see is enough to make my blood run cold. A chill runs throughout my body and goose bumps appear on my arms as I halt my movement.

Tens of spiders are crawling out of a cobweb filled hole in the ceiling every few seconds. There must be at least 100 of them currently on the ceiling, but I lost count after 30. I cannot see them in detail, but 9 out of 10 of them are like the small black spider we encountered earlier. The rest are a larger brown variant, and there are at least 10 of those. They start to slowly creep their way down the pillars or by hanging from their web.

Elayne and Astrya, who were behind me, seem to notice my strange behaviour.

“Quinn, What’s wrong?” Astrya looks at me with concern in her eyes.

I try to speak, but words don’t form.

“...”

““Quinn?””

By this time, Ilyena and Sirius both become aware that something is off.

I point to the ceiling.

*EEEEEEEEEEK!*

A very manly, but high pitched squeal is sounded. We all look towards the source of the noise and see Sirius visibly shaking in terror. For someone who acts very brave, he is unexpectedly terrified of spiders. Personally, I’m fine with regular spiders, but when it comes to hordes of spiders the size of small dogs, I would rather run. Even Ilyena is frozen stiff while staring at them.

This is not good. If we do not get out of this position, we will be trapped and surrounded on all sides. Since I was the first to fall into a stupor, I am the first to regain my senses; therefore, temporary leadership of the group is immediately conferred to me.

“Follow me! If we can make to the other end of this cavern, we can make use of the natural bottleneck to defend ourselves.”

“C’mon!” I grab the nearest person’s hand, which happens to be Ilyena, and pull her towards the exit.

Thankfully, I can see the exit due to my night vision skill. It is only 50 feet away from our current location, but we can make it if we run. It is now a race against time.

*Skitter*Skitter*Skitter*

I look back and see my party members running all out. Not far behind them are the spiders skittering across the floor in pursuit.