We walked down the stone steps into the familiar entrance room. I hate this dungeon, I never liked bugs and I hate them more ever since my older brother put bugs in my bed when I was still sleeping 7 years ago. Now I have to fight Giant roaches, pillbugs, beetles, ants, and worst of all, spiders. I've always been terrified of spiders, I can fight anything, as long as it's not spiders.

Today we will be moving into the beast area, then further to face whatever is there and kill the floor master. As we began moving from room to room killing monsters after defeating a room master and treasure chest appeared.

"Well, well, looks like there is treasure here" (Corvon)

"Something is odd..." (Vala)

"I agree" Tallen sounded like he was thinking about something.

"Just now figuring it out?" Astra mocked. "The monsters aren't ambushing us, they aren't gathering their forces either, acting much more like normal dungeons"

"Maybe this dungeon turned into a normal one?" (Clar)

"Don't be stupid! Why should it just turn normal?" (Astra)

"We don't know much about the younger days of dungeons, perhaps they all go through a period like this? Although I have to admit it is very unlikely" (Cain)

"Lets just open the treasure and find out what's inside it" Keera said impatiently

"I agree, we can figure this out later, right now we have a mission" (Ken)

"Yeah, I'd rather now stay in this area" I said, getting shivers down my back as I see a normal spider crawl across the surface os the chest making it's way to the lock. I hold back a scream and back away as far as I could up against the wall.

"Fine" (Astra)

"What's wrong, Yeara?" Thera said worriedly

"N-Nothing!" I replied my voice higher than usual

I don't even care about the treasure anymore, let's just get out of this zone!

Clar opened the chest and found a magical dagger.

"Who has the highest Inspection skill?" Clar said holding out the dagger the spider that was on the chest was now crawling around on the dagger.

"Mine is at 6" (Tallen)

"5" I said

"3" (Corvon)

"4" (Cain)

"4" (Astra) " and to speed this up does anyone have their skill higher than 6?" no one replied.

"Then it's up to you" Clar said handing the dagger to Tallen.

"Actually mages get a bonus to inspection when identifying the properties of magical items, for this Yeara is the best here" Tallen said. holding out the dagger to me. I went pale seeing the spider get ever closer with each step as Tallen walks to me. I tried to back away but I am already against the wall.

"EEEEEK!" I scream and run across the room.

"What's wrong Yeara, you're acting strangely"

"I think I know what" Tallen replied looking over the dagger. "Yup, there's a little guy on here" he said flicking the spider off. "No more spiders on this, it's safe now"

I accepted the dagger and inspected it.

Frostburn Dagger Rarity: Magical Magic effects: Inflicts cold damage to wounds Special:

The dagger had a frosty blue blade and a leather handle, the blade was cold to the touch with ice slowly building up from the moister in the air.

"It's a magical dagger that inflicts cold damage; Magical rarity" I announce

"Well that's expected for a low-level dungeon, I'd have preferred at least Rare rarity" Dovin complained.

We moved on and the hall had a few swinging axes, no so much as traps as it is a test of agility and timing.

"Let's just go around" Dovin said, but as he was saying that Clar walked up to the axes and swung her axe at the trap cutting through the wood that the Axe head was attached to. Clar proceded to disable the remaining axes leaving stubs swinging side to side.

"Or you can just do that..." Dovin said, shocked.

We cleared the way to the beast area with little effort, our 12 man party being more than a match for the low-level insects.

"Prepare for a large ambush" Astra said, drawing her rapier from her parasol. She kept her parasol in her offhand for a guard, in case she needed to parry.

We enter a room with stags, they charged at us but were no match being shot down mid-charge by our rangers and gunslinger. After collecting the magic cores we move onward.

"Just yesterday they were attacking us in droves, this is too weird I am getting a bad feeling about this" (Tallen)

"Perhaps the dungeon core is taking a day off, haha!" Clar joked.

"Actually, that is a plausible explanation" Astra answered stopping to think.

"Forgive me, my lady, but I believe your judgment is wrong" (Ken)

"Think about it, for the past few days more and more monsters of been populating this dungeon perhaps the core ran out of mana to produce monsters and has entered some sort of sleep cycle" (Astra)

"That actually makes sense" Cain said, agreeing.

"Then that means we'll have an easy time?" (Leo)

"Until the core wakes up that is" I answer.

"Then let's do this quickly! perhaps we can kill the next floor master and make our way to the Dungeon master!" Clar

"I don't think there is a dungeon master yet" (Tallen)

"What do you mean?" Keera asked.

"Is it because there is no {Dungeon master} buff?" I asked.

"Yes, we can see the {Sector master} and {Floor master} buff but not a {Dungeon master} buff" Tallen answered.

"So there is no Dungeon master?" Clar asked

"Not at this time" I clarified

Clar slumped to the ground "Then why are we on this raid?" Clar said with a shocked on her face.

"Well, that makes sense" Astra said. "If our hypothesis is correct then the dungeon master hasn't been created yet, not that it won't "

"How long will we have to wait for the dungeon master to spawn?" Dovin asked.

"given the rate at the... for lack of better words, maturity of the dungeon perhaps within a few days, although from yesterday to today there seems to be a massive growth, a week had passed and barely any traps and no treasures, then today there are more traps and treasures, if we assume a sort of dungeon equivalent of a growth spurt we can assume those few days will extend into a week or more" (Astra)

"Are you saying this dungeon went through puberty or something?" Vala asked.

"Actually that might be accurate to our analogy" (Astra)

"U-um, p-perhaps we should... err... get an expert?" Thera asked timidly.

"What a great idea, Thera! then we can get him to hire us for protection!" Corvon said.

"A dungeon like this would spark the interest of those dungeonologists..." Cain said

"More like it'll light a fire under asses, they'll be jumping to get their hands on a dungeon like this" (Leo)

"Then it's settled after this mission lets have the guild contact some dungeonologists, even this dungeon has my interest sparked" Tallen said.

As we made our way through the beast zone we noticed that some treasures would appear after clearing the room or defeating a room master, but some treasures were just in a room and didn't drop because of room clearing. This came to no surprise as it is common in some dungeons though not all; something that dungeonologists still have yet to explain why some dungeons do this and others do not.

"Geh!" Thera exclaimed as we entered the next zone and saw it's enemies. Blue and green slimes

"You don't like slimy things?" I asked

"O-o-of course not! I-it's moist and... gets everywhere... e-e-even if you wash it off it still feels like it's there!" (Thera)

"I can understand" I sympathized.

"Well you'll know if these things are actually on you or not, often slimes dissolve whatever they are touching" (Tallen) Thera and I just stare at Tallen in a tone that said "We didn't want to know that!" but he completely missed our stares and rushed at the slimes. Honestly, sometimes I just want to punch him for his denseness.

The slimes weren't that strong, being level 8 and 9 they were no match for us, they didn't even have the numbers of the insects.

"Since the core seems to be asleep lets take out the sector master if we come across it" Astra commanded "But we'll slay it as quickly as we can just in case the core can still learn our strategies"

We started looking for the floor master going from room to room left to right to left, the dungeon layout being simple made this easy, we soon discovered the Slime Master for this zone, quicker than we'd thought. a hulking Blue slime with tendrils reaching out toward us

"Remember just mindlessly butcher this thing!" Astra commanded.

as our fighters charged forward us mages started chanting while Thera cast defensive buffs on our fighters.

[Gather lightning] [Echoing spell] [Lightning blast] I call down a strong blast of lightning down but I didn't use all my strong daily spells.

[Pledge of Darkness] [Mastery of Shadows] [Night Knights Blade] a black sword made of shadow materialized and slashed down onto the slime

[Charging] Corvon didn't have his two pistols out instead he had an overly large gun with a massive barrel, he inserted a faintly glowing red cartridge and reached for an electric blue one [Overclock] a high pitched wiring sound came from the gun and particles of light gathered at its tip. With a pull of the trigger, Corvon braced himself as a blast of light shot toward the sector master, the bullet pierced the slime blasting a large hole in it.

With all the damage the master had suffered the slime collapsed in an inert puddle. a message like last time appeared announcing the death of sector We collected the magic core and continued searching for the floor master, since most of our party is physical damage our party will have to rely mostly on us mages to do most of the damage.

Our search continued for a long time until we found the stairs to the second floor. Yet still no floor master, we even found an undead zone yet still can't find the floor master

"Well at least we know where to go for the second floor but still no floor master" Keera complained.

"We don't have many more rooms to search but it is unlikely for the floor master to be in this zone" (Astra)

We still finished our search but Astra was correct, likely the floor master is in the beast or undead area.

"How about a race?" Tallen challenge.

"Oh?" (Astra)

"Yeah, lets split up and whomever finds the floor master first gets the greater cut of the profits"

"Well, since the core is taking the day off might as well!" Clar said.

"Alright, either of our parties should be able to hold our own" Astra agreed "to make it fair, since your group has fewer people, you guys cover the beast zone and we'll take the undead zone"

"Alright, let's go guys!" Tallen commanded

"Take this, use it to alert us that you guys found the floor master if we find it first we'll use ours and it'll alert you" Corvon said giving use a red crystal. "It'll glow and vibrate the other if it's used" Corvon clarified.

"Thanks!"

We quickly ran toward the beast area and started to grid it, instead of killing the monsters on our way we ran past them, they don't seem to chase us into the next room. we did kill the room bosses though and gathered the loot. we came upon the Sector Master a large dire white honey badger, a vicious and deadly beast.

"Conserve your mana Yeara, leave this one to us" Tallen commanded, I did so and watched the fight, a level 28 sector master versus 4 level 32 average. Tallen tanked the hits, holding his shield up to the swips of the razor claws and piercing fangs while Dovin and Leo launched attacked from a flanking position. Vala launched volleys into the pelt of the beast and soon the sector master was downed. we harvested the magic core and the white bloodied pelt from the man-sized beast. The message informing of the Sector master's defeat broadcasted throughout the dungeon and soon enough we were informed of the undead sector master's defeat.

"Not in this zone either..." Vala said.

"Then it must be in the undead area! Astra must have known otherwise she wouldn't have sent us to this zone!" Dovin said angrily

"No, they haven't used their crystal thing, they haven't found it either" I said pulling out the crystal, Tallen gave it to me during the sector master fight in case it broke in the melee.

"It's in the Insect area, dammit!, well-played dungeon core, having us nearly clear out the entire floor just to find the floor master" Tallen fumed.

"Uug, do we have to?" I complained

I hope it's not some giant spider

"Don't worry I won't make you fight any spiders" Tallen said with a smile, making me blush a little.

we began gridding the insect area and as we entered a corner room it was already empty.

"This makes thing easier on us, thankfully it's already cleared" Dovin said. As we looked toward the exit to the hall we found it covered in thick webbing making shivers go down my spine.

"L-lets not go that way" I said, backing away. turning to the way we just came from. I froze.

when did that happen?

The door was like-wise cover in webbing.

Do not look up, do not look up, just burn the webbing away and run for it, yeah just run.

[Fire spray] I aim the spell at the webs expecting them to melt away or at least burn but they were completely unaffected.

Do not look up, do not look up, do not look up.

I look up. Less than a foot away from my face I could see the glint of light reflected from its many eyes, its hair sent a chill down my spine, venom dripping from its dagger-like fangs. a giant spider loomed above me

I blink, petrified, staring at this abomination inching closer from its rope-like webbing changing from the ceiling. Color drained from my face.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" With an ear peircing scream so loud I swore the spider took sonic damage from its proximity I run toward the web covered exit swinging my staff at it trying to break free.

"GETMEOUTGETMEOUTGETMEOUTGETMEOUT!!!" I scream. I hear the thud on the spider landing behind me.

"Yeara! the other shout as they just realized the ambush they walked into. above them was the Floor Master surrounded by a swarm of descending giant spiders, many egg sacs clung to the ceiling, movement within them tells us that they are close to hatching.

Hearing a louder thud behind me I dared to stop my assault on the webs and looked unconsciously using my Inspection skill.

Floor Guardian: Syrath the Brood Queen Level: 36 Classes: Insect Race: Dungeon Monster Str: 164 Con: 206 Dex: 133 Sex: Female Wis: 102 Int: 95 Cha: 112 Luck: 56 HP: 2000/2000 MP: 210/300 Buffs: Floor Guardian, Damage Reduction, Sector Buff, Swarm Bonus, Swarm leader Skills: Shoot webbing, Web net, Capture, Lay Egg Sacs

"YEARA! USE THE CRYSTAL!" Tallen shouted. [Commanding Presence] [Oath of Protection] [Knight's Duty]

I fumble around a pack shakingly pulling out the crystal and dropped it as all the spiders started attacking Tallen, his [Commanding Presence] makes all monsters within a certain range attack him.

I slump to the ground reaching out a shaking hand to the crystal to activate it.

"Yeara, you must overcome your fear" Vala said coming over to me to help me up. she took the crystal and activated it and put it in her pack.

"Yeara, I know it's sudden but you must conquer your fear. Win over your weakness and you'll be much strong for it" Vala said holding me by my shoulders

"Nonononononono! I don't want to!" I denied

"Yeara! you must!"

"Please don't make me do this!"

"It is the only way to get out of here!" Vala embraced me in a hug "I know you're scared; that's alright, it's alright to be scared" Vala Said petting my head. "I know you can do it"

"I-I can't"

"Yes, you can"

"I can't!"

"You can! Have courage! Burn the spiders! Take your staff and burn them all!"

"I-I-I just can't!"

"DO IT!" Vala's sudden outburst made me jump. "DO IT NOW!"

I hold out my staff pointing it at the Spider queen trembling from head to toe shakily chanting

[Maximise Spell] [Enhance Fire] [Echoing Spell] [Mana Burn] [All Out] [Hellflame Javalin] a Javelin of made of hellfire flashed across the room and piercing into the spider queen lighting it aflame dealing massive damage, unfortunately for me mana burn uses all my mana for extra damage so I can't use any more spells, but the damage I dealt was enough that my party can take out the floor master although it'll be a tough battle.

"You did well Yeara" Vala said.

Perhaps I can overcome my fear of spiders! I can do this!

just then I felt drop on me a tarantula sized spider, not only one though, all the spiders in the egg sac above me were now clinging to me with fangs bared, their many black eyes reflecting light and crawling up on me. everything went black as I fainted, my last though echoing in my mind.

Fuck overcoming fear, I am never going anywhere near spiders again.