Rune stood in the first chamber on the spider side of the dungeon.
Before coming here, he had gone through the city and collected everything he had ordered over the past few days.
His new armor fit close to his frame, light despite its layered build. At first glance, it looked like dark cloth, charcoal and ash, easy to overlook in the dim dungeon light. That illusion vanished the moment light brushed across it.
A faint crystalline sheen surfaced, as if glass had been spun into thread and woven directly into the fabric.
Crystal spider web.
Drawn into impossibly fine strands and braided into a flexible mesh, it moved with him rather than against him. As he shifted, pale highlights slid across the surface, subtle and fleeting, like moonlight caught in silk.
With his hood lowered, the collar framed his neck and shoulders without restricting movement.
The material flowed naturally, refusing to crease or bunch no matter how he moved. Reinforced seams traced clean lines along his torso, not bulky, just enough to suggest structure beneath the weave.
Dark metal fastenings sat flush against the fabric, anchoring straps across his chest and back without breaking the silhouette.
A simple belt secured the layers at his waist. The sleeves hung loose before tapering near the wrists, their inner lining thickened where strikes were most likely to land.
Even then, the armor never looked heavy.
It was not made to draw attention or impress. It was quiet. Patient.
Armor worn by someone who expected to be hit and had already decided it would not matter.
On each of his wrists sat the bracelets Gretta had made for him, meticulously crafted using the cores he had given her.
One would heal him. The other warded off physical and mental fatigue.
William had mentioned adding a few extra features to the armor. Ones he knew Rune would appreciate.
"Let's try this out."
Rune flicked his arms forward.
His axes appeared as if pulled from thin air, settling perfectly into his hands. William had sewn small rune pouches into each sleeve, allowing weapons to be stored and drawn instantly.
"That is just too good. William really earned his pay with that one."
Rune rushed forward, weaving through the three spiders in the first chamber. Each fell to a single, clean swing of an axe.
The fight was over in seconds.
[No Power Increase: Combatants Too Far Under Your Power Level]
'Well, that is a first. Let's keep going.'
In the next chamber, Rune pushed himself further. He allowed element only once, using Shadow Step to close the distance on the ranged spiders clinging to the walls. After that, he relied purely on his body.
Metal rose and fell. Muscle, timing, and weight carried each strike.
By the time the room fell quiet, every monster lay broken at his feet.
[Physical Power increasing… +2]
Rune exhaled slowly.
'24 spiders, and all I got was 2.' His grip tightened around the axe handle.
'I really need to get to more difficult places if I want to keep getting stronger.'
"Summary"
[Status Summary]
Name: Rune
Age: 22
Race: Human+
Element: Light
Element: Shadow
Element power: 38
Physical power: 54
Stored Money Value: 20,540
[Perks]
Memories of the World
One That Has Started to Remember
Perserverence
[Qualifications]
None
"Hope this is enough for the spider queen. I know you are supposed to fight her with a group, but I cannot trust anyone when they can die as much as they want, and I cannot."
Rune followed the winding path deeper into the dungeon, the air growing thicker as he descended. As he neared the final corner, he reached into his pouch and pulled out one of the skin hardening potions.
'She said this was going to hurt. But I need it now. I need everything I can get.'
He pulled the stopper free and drank it in one go.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then it hit.
His skin began to dry, the sensation spreading fast as muscle and flesh hardened beneath it. Not stiff. Not locked. The change settled in layers, allowing movement while increasing density, flesh edging closer to stone.
Pain tore through him, sharp and relentless. Had he not already been familiar with pain like this, it might have broken him.
"Alright. I prepped the items I got from Gorthmir already, so I should be good to go in and lay waste."
Rune walked casually around the corner and was met with the same sight he had seen the other day.
The matriarch.
Crystal webs anchored her massive form to the walls of a vast cathedral like chamber. Threads stretched high above, disappearing into shadow, while spiders of every size crawled along the stone, the webbing, and each other.
Rune's eyes moved immediately, scanning the upper reaches of the room.
Ledges.
Ranged positions.
"There."
He moved without hesitation. Shadow Step carried him up to the ledge in an instant, and just as expected, more than a dozen ranged spiders clung to the walls, mandibles already twitching.
The boss battle began there.
Rune tore through them, axes flashing as he moved down the ledge in a blur of precise cuts. Bodies fell apart. The chamber echoed with the sharp sounds of metal and shattering crystal as he carved a clean path forward.
The matriarch let out a piercing screech as her children fell around her.
Rune turned his focus to her, but a dense swarm of spiders crawled over the floor between them, bodies layered thick enough to deny him a clean path. He needed an opening.
Luckily, he had planned for this.
The day before, he had gone to the blacksmith and commissioned hollow spheres made from leftover crystal, each one packed tight with metal scrap. Crystal ore could be imbued with element. That was why everyone chased it for weapons and armor.
Rune had taken it a step further.
Each sphere had been doused in the explosive salve Gretta had brewed. He wanted one thing from them.
The biggest explosion he could make.
Rune reached into his pouch and pulled out two of the spheres.
He fed light into them, steadily increasing the flow until he felt the crystal strain, right at the edge of what it could hold. Any more and they would rupture in his hands.
He threw them in a smooth motion, both landing beneath the queen and slightly to her side.
The moment they struck, they detonated.
Light energy collided with the volatile force of the orange cores, releasing a concussive blast that tore outward with a sharp, thunderous crack. An instant later, the crystal shells shattered, spraying metal scrap in every direction.
The spiders caught at the center were erased, bodies breaking down into dust and fragments before they could even react. Those at the edge of the blast were left mangled, crawling in broken arcs, missing limbs and chunks of their bodies as they tried and failed to regroup.
Rune had his opening, and now was the time to take it.