An Adventurer's Heart

by Tao Wong

  It is only when the creature is finally gone that both Adventurers relax, chuckling at each other. There was little be gained from fighting the monster - after all, they were not here to gather Gulo parts. Better to keep on task.

  As they finally near the location of the first Querk Spider, Asin prods Daniel to let her take the lead. Now that they are close, her better awareness and perception of the surroundings were important, especially as Querk Spiders were well known for ambushing their prey.

  Asin leads Daniel in a circuitous route, skimming around the uneven earth and stepping on branches when she is able. Daniel follows her movements precisely, keeping an eye out for additional dangers. It is only after ten minutes of such walking that Asin come to a stop, pointing down to a particular, nondescript spot. This, then, would be the new lair of the Querk Spider.

  The Querk Spider lived in burrows in the ground with small doors. Unfortunately, due to their size and deadliness, the Spiders would often move these burrows to new locations as it attempted to ‘trick’ new prey. They were known to even create false burrows, slowly guiding prey to its real location where it waited, ready to pounce from underneath the ground to bite and inject its venom into its prey. As a precaution, both Adventurers had vials of anti-venom purchased in Karlak from the apothecary, but neither looked forward to using it.

  As planned, Daniel slowly edges around the corner of the burrow before setting himself. At his signal, Asin walks forward slowly; her tail curled up underneath her body as she readies herself to jump away. When the Spider attacks, it is so fast that Daniel barely sees it move, the trapdoor pushed upwards as the arachnid rears on its legs to sink its fangs into Asin.

  Asin jumps back, the yellow-brown stocky arachnid landing where she was. In size, it is only half of hers, barely three feet long from abdomen to thorax but its strong jaws glisten with venom. Surprise attack failed, the Spider begins to scurry back into the safety of its burrow.

  Daniel is moving, however, jumping forwards from the side and lashing out at its abdomen with Perin’s Blow. The monster is too fast though, and instead of smashing the creature into the air, he smashes one of six legs. This barely slows the Spider down, and before the Adventurers are able to attack again, it has pulled its trapdoor covering over its burrow. As Daniel reaches over to pull against it, Asin barks out a, “No.”

  “Ba’al’s Vomit,” Daniel curses, stepping back and away from the trapdoor. They have no way of knowing if the monster will attack again and the trapdoors were reinforced with the creature’s silk. It would be pointless to attempt to shatter it without enchanted weapons. “I’m sorry, Asin. I should have been there faster.”

  Asin nods jerkily, getting her breathing under control. The Spider was fast. Leading Daniel via a safe route out, the pair move away from the lair. It was unlikely the Spider would come out again today.

  Daniel huffs as another Spider slides away safely beneath its trapdoor, making the young Adventurer tremble with rage. Forcing himself to calm down slightly, Daniel walks away disconsolately while Asin picks herself off the forest floor, wiping away mud and leaves from her toned buttocks.

  “This isn’t working,” Daniel says, and Asin can only give a short nod. In a day and a half, they had only found three such Spiders and had failed to kill two of the three. Of the third, Daniel’s attacks had been so strong that he had accidentally crushed the venom sac.

  Exhausted, the pair stares at where the Spider continues to hide. “Let’s take a break for now.”

  Asin can only nod and lets Daniel lead them to a nearby stream where they set-up for lunch. The pair are quiet as they consider their plans, attempting to see what they can do to change their tactics. At this rate, it would take weeks before they could gather those three venom sacs.

  A day later, the pair crouch down in front of a new Spider’s lair. Daniel moves to the side once again, crouching down while Asin gently prods their bait. It had taken them the better part of yesterday and this morning to find their bait, though they had been lucky enough to capture three of the split-horned rabbits at once. Now, one of the rabbits had a rope tied around its body and Asin is prodding it, forcing it to head towards the Spider’s trapdoor.

  There is no warning as the trapdoor is pushed aside and the Spider lunges, fangs spearing the unlucky rabbit. Poison is pumped into the gray, squirming creature and the rabbit’s struggles slowdown. As the Spider begins to skitter backward into its burrow, Asin is hauling on the rope that has been looped around a nearby tree, taking up the slack. The Spider jerks to a halt, half in the hole as Asin strains against the monster.

  Before the Spider can release the rabbit and escape their trap, Daniel has rushed forwards. Rather than targeting the Spider this time though, he aims his attack at the trapdoor the Spider still holds with two of its legs. Triggering Perin’s Blow, he smashes the trapdoor in the side, ripping it free from the Spider’s grip and sending it flying into the distance. Without its trapdoor, the Spider spins to attack Daniel, the rabbit dropped and forgotten.

  Daniel catches the attack high on his shield, sinking low and letting his knees absorb the shock before he triggers a Shield Bash, slamming the Spider into the air. As it lands, he takes a careful step to the side and crushes a leg, his mace cracking the spindly, hairy appendage.

  Asin is scrambling forwards as well, ducking low so that she can slice at both legs on her side with her knives. She scores cuts against both, damaging the legs but as the creature spins again, she finds herself quickly coated with spider silk that the Querk Spider uses to defend itself, spewed forth from its spinnerets. The silk is sticky and tough, restricting her movements and Asin grunts in pain as she attempts to escape.

  Seeing his companion in danger, Daniel lays into the Spider, forcing the monster to pay attention to him as he works on the creature’s legs. Staying close, he shoves the creature and bashes its jaw when it attempts to push the young Adventurer aside, forcing the monster to give him its legs. Another leg is crippled and then a third soon after, the monster unable to move as fast anymore. As it scrambles aside, attempting to escape now, Daniel darts around to mash the monster’s other legs, leaving the creature chittering in anger.

  Smiling grimly, Daniel ducks back to look over to his friend. At first, he coughs and then he finally has to giggle a little. To escape, Asin has had to cut off the affected fur, chopping around the silk where it has stuck itself to her body and her clothing. The random patches of uneven fur and gaping holes around her cloak and shirt make Daniel grin, an action that makes Asin hiss at him in anger and dismay.

  Freed, Asin stalks right past Daniel, careful to avoid the remaining silk to attack the monster. Drawn back to the task at hand, Daniel works on crushing the abdomen to put an end to the monster, careful to avoid the head where the glands lie.

  The monster dead, Asin proceeds immediately to carefully cut up the monster, working to extract the venom sac without damaging it. She chuffs in anger, shaking the blood from the meat and examining the venom sac before discarding it as damaged, working even slower now to extract the second. This is more successful, and Asin purrs happily, her tail waving absently.

  Grinning, Daniel holds out the enchanted storage pouch for Asin who carefully stores the gland in it. Even enchanted, the gland would only be good for seven days, but without it, the entire venom would degrade within a day. Still, Daniel cannot help but grin, spotting the bare spot on her tail where Asin had to rip the silk off.

  “That’s one,” Daniel says, and Asin nods. She would need to be more careful on the next Spider. It wasn’t as if she carried that many sets of clothing.

  “Are you done laughing?” Daniel grimaces, tugging at the silk that binds him down. Two Spiders, one sac and a day later, Daniel is caught in spider silk. His shield is stuck to his body, his legs webbed together and he’s lying on the ground, able to roll only a short distance back and forth.

  Asin sniggers and shakes her head, wishing for a moment there was a way to mark this m
oment for all time. Daniel groans and just leans his head back on the ground, exercising his patience.

  “Asin!”

  “That’ll be a silver for each,” the shopkeeper smiles, pointing to the set of dissolution potions on the counter.

  “A silver!” Daniel chokes. “They only cost 20 coppers in Karlak!”

  “True, true.”

  “So, 20 coppers, right?”

  “In Karlak. It’s a silver each here.” The shopkeeper smiles again. “You taking them or not?”

  “Aaarrggghh!” Fishing the six silvers out, Daniel snatches up the potions after paying. They had used their initial two potions, and they were already wasting half-a-day traveling back just to get a restock. They could not afford to waste more time.

  “My… face!” Clawing at the silk that has stuck to his face with one hand, Daniel has to remember not to reach with his other hand when he realizes he is unable to move his first. His assailant, having dodged and sprayed Daniel when he first attacked, scrambles away for the nearest tree, dragging the young Adventurer along the ground. Daniel scrambles for his pouch as he bumps over a root, struggling for breath through the corner of his mouth. Hand closing on the potion, he works the stopper free to pour it over the spider silk.

  As the Spider reaches the nearest tree, a blurring blue-wreathed dagger pierces its body. Too aerodynamic to pin the creature, it still makes the Spider jerk, slowing its forward momentum long enough for Daniel to pour the potion over the silk. It immediately begins to dissolve as Daniel struggles with the web and breathing.

  Asin does not stop, tossing knife after knife at the Spider. Angered, the Spider spins around and attacks Daniel, the long chelicerae in its head shutting on either side of the Adventurer’s leg. Only one fang manages to get around the leather armor on Daniel’s leg, sliding past the armor and injecting poison into his body. Even as Asin sinks another knife into its body, and Daniel smashes against it, the Spider does not let go, pumping more and more venom into Daniel. As it dies, Daniel is finally able to tear the last of the silk from his face and use both hands to pull its jaws apart.

  Asin scrambles over, handing him a potion to combat the paralysis that rushes through Daniel’s body. Shivering, Daniel curls up on his side and vomits half the contents of his stomach up. Once Asin has checked with Daniel that he will be fine, she drags the body away, working on the Spider to locate its venom sacs. She grimaces, finding one crushed and the other only half-full. Putting it aside, she mentally does the math. Today was the fourth day since they first managed to get their first sac. Another day and it would rot, so they either had to get one today or risk not having enough. For a time, she watches Daniel who continues to shiver before she hurries over to check on their bait. Only one last rabbit left before they had to find more live bait.

  This was going to be tough.

  “Last chance.” Asin points, holding up both the map and the rabbit. Having gone through the vast majority of the easy to get to lairs, the pair would either have to revisit old lairs or journey deeper if they failed again. Daniel grimaces, nodding, running a hand through his hair and finding it catching on remaining spider silk. Lips twisting, he reaches down to pull out his boot knife to cut the glob of silk out, tossing it aside. Well, at least he did not have to worry about a haircut anytime soon.

  “Then we better get this right,” Daniel growls, rolling his wrist and mace. Days of tramping through the forest, hunting down Spiders that might or might still be in the locations marked on the map, trapping and dragging live animals and then brief minutes of scrambling, fighting and sometimes, winning, has made the Adventurer short-tempered. So much work for so little gain. No wonder most Adventurers charged such a high rate for these sacs - it wasn’t difficult so much as annoying.

  Flank, rabbit, charge, and smash. Everything this time works smoothly; the Spider is caught out and its trapdoor is sent spinning away. Asin ducks in close this time and works on the back leg, one after the other while Daniel works on distracting the Spider. He mostly blocks, attacking only once in a while when he has a clear shot, too wary to lash out aggressively.

  The monster crippled, Daniel grins and stretches when Asin hisses. He spins around, his eyes widening as he spots the pack of wolves behind him. They let out a little growl, and Daniel slowly edges around the monster towards Asin who has a pair of daggers held out. The wolves snarl again, slowly pacing forwards as they drive the pair away from the Spider. Neither Adventurer wants to start this fight though - they are outnumbered and tired.

  Once they are a distance away, the two look at each other as they slide their backpacks on and begin jogging away. Silence lingers for a time as they put distance between them and the pack before a curse flies out finally.

  “Ba’al’s vomit!”

  Chapter 16

  Two and a half weeks later, a pair of tired, dirty Adventurers walk into the city of Karlak. The guards nod in recognition to Daniel as he half-heartedly waves in greeting before paying the entrance fee. The two Adventurers trudge in, Asin’s tail hanging low and waving disconsolately as they walk, ears pressed low.

  The only time the pair perk up is as they pass by a roadside food vendor, the smell of slowly rotating meat sparking a glimmer of interest. Daniel moves over, purchasing a half-dozen sticks from the lady, before handing the pieces over to Asin who scarfs her food down without a word.

  At Maxwell’s shop, the armorer is stalking back and forth shouting at his apprentices. When he sees the pair, he opens his mouth to berate them for being so late and then stops, his eyes sweeping over their tired, drawn forms. Asin holds up the bag without a word which Maxwell grabs. She hisses, “One day,” before stalking away, a cryptic sentence that takes Maxwell only a moment to puzzle out.

  Daniel nods too, waiting for Max to check the contents before he walks off, too tired to explain the delay. The last few weeks had been a hell of bad luck, bad planning, and more bad luck. Having lost the Spider to the wolves, the pair had to discard the first sac. For the next few days, they had struggled to find more Querk Spider lairs. When they had finally collected all three sacs and were hurrying back, Daniel had slipped while crossing a log bridge into the water, spilling both himself and the pouch. By the time they had finally managed to fish the pouch out of the water, all three sacs had been compromised, forcing the pair to begin collecting again.

  No surprise then that words had been said, none of which were friendly or nice after the incident. The rest of the quest had been completed in a tense, mostly silent atmosphere. If it had not been for Asin’s insistence on carrying the pouch, she would have left immediately upon entering the city. As it was, the pair had agreed to ignore one another’s existence for the next three days.

  Daniel stumbles into the Spinning Top, waving to Elise. She comes over, grimacing and murmurs to him. He stares at her blankly for a time before he slowly exits, heading to the next inn down the road. Daniel’s room had been given up for the week, and because of that, Elise had rented it out. She was now filled up and unable to accommodate him.

  Groaning, he flops in his room, staring at the peeling paint and the water-stained ceiling. He exhales, breath flowing out with a huff and then he shuts his eyes, exhaustion finally claiming him. As he falls asleep, a last thought crosses his mind.

  “I need a bath.”

  Dawn comes too early, bright morning sunshine sifting through the cracked shutters and waking Daniel. He groans, rolling on his side and slowly stands, making his way downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast is surprisingly decent, the porridge filling and warm and the sides of bacon and mushroom heaven sent. Resolved to start becoming human again, Daniel heads upstairs to get his towel and a change of clothing from his bag. Today would be an errand day, one filled with taking care of the many small tasks that need completing after a couple of weeks in the forest. He had socks to darn, clothing and his body to wash, weapons to properly care for, broken equipment to repurchase and more errands to run. Tonight… Tonight he would see K
hy’ra he promises himself.

  A couple of days later, the pair meet up at Maxwell’s shop. Asin stands at the corner, offering her friend a slight smile with a cocked head. Words were said, and relations had strained, but he was her friend. Was she his still? The returning smile from Daniel and the cup of offered tea answers her questions, and her tail relaxes, turning back to swinging idly. A slight flicker of disappointment runs through Asin, she had hoped for more of Elise’s heavenly cooking rather than tea, but tea would do.

  Daniel does not notice, his attention caught by the ‘Closed’ sign. As they rap on the door, there is silence for minutes. A second knock brings a harried apprentice to open the door, only for it to be shut again with a whispered the only excuse, “Not now!”

  As Daniel raises his hand again, the bar is dropped with a finality, leaving the pair to stand in the early morning chill. Daniel grimaces, staring at Asin who returns his look before she shrugs. Well… Not now then.

  “This is… nice,” Daniel says as he bends down, picking up the mana stone from the Ogre. Asin nods firmly, stretching herself out as they stare around the grassy plains of the seventh floor. It was nice to be back on the seventh floor.

  Questing had been necessary, even important. They had learned more of the world, fought in a new dungeon, met new Adventurers and would eventually get Daniel his first full set of custom armor. It had been important, but the Dungeon was much less frustrating. Even the sixth floor and the caverns seemed nostalgic now, difficult but at least they were always progressing. Questing was important, but for now, Daniel was happy to be a real Adventurer, delving into dungeons and facing the monsters that Ba’al would release on the world if it could.