The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Vitmori POV

Before me was the spider's nest, or perhaps it's more of a spider's village considering the size. The mass of white vaguely writhed and swayed as the wind no doubt caught the many layers of spider silk that made up the exterior and borders of the mass of webs.

Looking up from the map table, I glance around at the various spitter wolves who have started lingering in the room. Two of them sat at the entrance, guarding it like they guard the rest of their den. Another three lingered around the room itself, looking at the various things in the room while one in particular stood with his paws on the edge of the map table, studying the magic sand that was currently recreating the spider's nest and the surrounding green trees. He then looked over at me, smiling almost cheerfully as he softly pants with his tongue lolling out.

I acknowledge him with a bob of my head before looking over to the entry as I sense Jack's approach. The raptor-sized sparrow flitted into the room and perched on the edge of the map table when he started looking me over, letting out an impressed-sounding whistle, and offering me his usual flourishing bow with an outstretched wing. "Hey there Boss, you're starting to look proper intimidating now. What can I do for you?" He asked pleasantly, and I could sense he was in a relatively good mood; that was until he looked over the map table. If a bird could frown, well it seemed Jack was doing his best with his feathers starting to poof with irritation.

I nod intently and decide to answer his question before he could voice it. "I'm gonna be dealing with the spiders now, they've started tampering with the traps and food of those in the Haven and I've been asked to look into it."

Jack nodded intently, and I have a feeling that if he could spit at the mention of spiders, he would have. "Aye Boss, you'll have my support. What do you need from me?" He asked, and I could feel him readying himself for a fight.

I raise my hands in a placating manner, shaking my head a bit. "Dial it back for now. I'm not on the warpath, yet." I then gesture to the spider's nest before looking back up to Jack. "I'm going to investigate and scout things out, see what things look like underneath all that web."

At that, Jack looked rather upset, his feathers poofing up with indignation. "But Boss, I'm the scout here, that would be my job anyways. You can't take this glory from me." He said, and I could tell he was doing his best to not raise his voice out of respect, but he was clearly against my decision.

I smirked at his little display, crossing my arms before tilting my head a little at him. "Jack, I'm the one who gave you the job of being a scout. But between you and me, I've got the most experience here." I mused kindly while leaning forward on the edge of the map table. "I've been scouting around and sneaking through dangerous places for over thirty years; besides, this place will be especially dangerous for a bird like you." I said while gesturing to the mass of webs between us. "Remember how Oururu said you would have a hard time fighting the squirrels due to the high risk of crashing into tree branches and facing them in their home territory? Well, the same sort of issues apply here, it's going to be hard to maneuver around and you'll likely find yourself getting snatched up in webs rather quickly."

Jack went to open his beak a few times, doing his best to find a counterpoint, but coming up with nothing as he let out a defeated-sounding whistle and sighed.

I offered a kind smile as I stood away from the table, walking around it and gently patting his back. "Now, now, I didn't call you here just to tell you I didn't need your help. I do in fact need your help, but with something else." I start to say before pulling away and leaning onto the map table beside him. "I will need your help, but first I want you to tell me what you remember about this Evertree of yours. You mentioned how the spiders took it some time ago?" I asked leadingly.

Jack perked up a little at that, fluttering his wings and settling his feathers as he considered my words. "I was still a young chick when it had happened about two or three winters ago. But my parents and the other birds often spoke of the Evertree before the spiders took it from us." I nod along, listening intently as I can feel Jack going through his memories, cloudy as they may be due to his time as a simple bird. "Though I call it the Evertree, it was actually a small group of trees with one main tree at the center of it all. My parents told us the area around the trees was comfortable through all the seasons, and was a sanctuary for birds who were too injured or old to travel north for the winter. It always had fruits for us to eat through all seasons and they never lost their leaves or withered" He explained as he hopped off the edge of the table and onto the map itself, sauntering around the mass of webs. "The spiders showed up at the height of one winter, and we birds welcomed them into the warmth. They didn't try to eat us at first, but suddenly one day they started webbing everything up, taking the trees for themselves. We birds fled and were forced out into the winter. Many of us died, but I suppose that is the way of the world. We were just animals. But now that I'm more than a bird, I can't help but hate them." He admitted bitterly before pecking at the image of the mass of webs.

I nodded intently, feeling his sorrow, anger, and hate all bundled up in a tangled mess of emotion as I gently pat his back again. "Well, one way or another, I'll do my best to return the trees to the birds. But I must ask you to let me do what I must, whether that means making peace with the spiders, or having to kill them all if it comes down to it."

Jack looked up at me, and I could feel him wanting to argue against sparing the spiders. But then he considers what I've done with the squirrels and my words about wasting a life. He looked back to the mass of webs before slowly bobbing his head. "Aye Boss, I'll put my trust in you." He said softly.

"Good man." I enthuse before pulling away. "Now then, I did say I still needed your help. As I don't know what to expect there, I want you and your birds to try and draw the spiders' attention as best you can. Take a squad and do your best to harry the spiders, send as many attacks their way as you can, and do your best to stay out of their reach. Meanwhile, I'll enter from the other end of the nest and check things out. I'll try and find these Evertrees of yours and work out what we're dealing with."

Jack blinked once before whistling with amusement. "I see! Sure Boss, I can do that, no problem." His mood dramatically improved at the idea of getting to at least antagonize and mess with the spiders with my permission. It does make me wonder if he's antagonized them before, but I suppose that's neither here nor there right now.

I flash a smile before bobbing my head. "Alright Jack, that's all for now, I'll see you soon." With that said, Jack dismissed himself and eagerly flew off. As I made my way out of the map room, the spitter wolves that had been loitering around the room were now sitting eagerly at attention, wondering if they needed to go get Legosi and join me for this raid on the spiders. I smile a little more, reaching out and giving their heads a gentle pat. "I appreciate the offer, but we don't need to come on too strong. Just go back to your duties, and if things escalate, I'll certainly call on you all." Their ears droop, though they do lean into my touch before dispersing as I made my way out of the den.

Standing before the spiders' nest, the image of it on the magic map didn't do it justice. Now I'm not particularly afraid of spiders, but seeing this absolute wall of dense webbing before me just sends all sorts of weird tingles and chills down my metaphorical spine. I definitely hesitate, but after another moment I drew my dagger and cut at the webbing, only the blade doesn't go very far or do much at all. That's... Not good.

I take a moment to consider my next choice when I hear the sounds of wind swirling around and I could sense the skirmish kicking off at the other end of the nest. I don't have time to waste, I need to get in and look around to see as much as I can see. Racking my mind on what I could possibly do to get through this webbing, I glanced at my hand and suddenly remembered that I have magic! Leaving the dagger in the webbing, I took a step back and held out my palm and did my best to imagine a flame thrower, more specifically a gas flame thrower, rather than a liquid or gel. In the next moment, a spout of flame erupts from my hand as I trail a vertical line down and then back up the wall of webs.

The webs melt away like a thick sheet of polyester that was exposed to flames, giving off a fairly thick smoke as my dagger drops to the dirt, revealing the way inside. I scoop up the blade, clutching it in my offhand as I maintain the conjured fire in my right hand, imagining the flames as a simple torchlight until I need the flame thrower again. Before me are more webs, but it's as if I can see multiple paths around me, the trees almost acting as load-bearing columns that the spiders built their webs around. Strangely enough, or perhaps not strange at all, the floors are completely free of webbing, allowing me to walk through mostly unimpeded as I make my way down the path straight ahead of me.

I kept walking straight until I came across a branch in the path, with there being a left and right turn. For some reason, this place is starting to remind me of some kind of maze and I don't like it, what are spiders doing making a maze? As much as I can appreciate a good maze, now is not the time for me to get lost wandering around the place. Instead of taking the left or right path, I decided to forge my own way as I aim my flaming palm at the wall of webs before me and burn it down like the last one. The thick webbing melts away once more as another corridor of webs reveals itself and I hurry along ahead.

It isn't long until I start feeling eyes on me, the sources coming from relatively normal-sized spiders, or perhaps they're baby spiders if the normal ones are those huge dog-sized critters. But they aren't trying to come after me, so I'll happily leave them alone. Glancing back behind me, I can tell that I've already crossed about a hundred feet of this strange maze of webs. Something about this feels odd, there's too much intelligence behind this design, though before I can ponder it much longer I cross through another melted wall when I'm hit with a wave of energy as if I've crossed some kind of threshold... More accurately, it feels like I've entered someone else's bubble!

From what I've heard, the feeling is supposed to be oppressive and almost suffocating to the senses, at least that's how it was for my beasts and the sinners. But here... I feel just fine after the initial wave... Is it because I'm stronger than it? Or something else? Whatever it is, I can't sense anything beyond the fact that there was something emitting this bubble. Closing my eyes to focus on the presence, it doesn't seem to be reacting to me, it hardly knows that I'm here despite all the fire I've been throwing around. But I can sense it ahead of me, it's not all that far now.

Maybe it was the sounds of battle in the distance, or maybe because I started feeling even more eyes start to crowd around me, but I decided that I was through with burning down one wall at a time. Sheathing my dagger, I take a step back and hold up both of my palms, conjuring a ball of fire in each one until I bring them together and aim at the source of the bubble around me. Before I knew it, I could feel a wicked grin on my face as I unleashed a massive spout of flames, wall after wall of webs melting away as I also melted away the webbing of the ceiling above me, exposing the maze of webs to the open air as the thick smoke rises up into the sky.

If I had a heart, it would have been pounding with exhilaration as I couldn't help but relish in the literal and sheer firepower I was able to call down without needing any sort of fuel or tools. With that little display, I could sense all kinds of movement starting to converge on me as both birds and spiders started heading my way. No time to waste then.

Breaking out into a dash, I cross through each melted threshold as the shadows of birds come in overhead, Jack and the others whistling out their cheerful war cries as they follow my lead. "So much for just scouting, boss! Haha!" Jack mused as he swooped in close before climbing higher again.

Yeah, I might have gotten a little carried away... I cross through a final threshold and enter into a round chamber that feels like it is in the middle of the spiders' den. There in the middle is a pedestal of wood, web, and stone, and on it was a blue crystal just around the size of a cantaloupe. Only... An entire quarter of it had been cracked and broken off, and I could sense a trickle of mana leaking from it. There were still lights swirling within it, but to me, it felt like it was in a deep sleep.

From the other end of the chamber, an even more pitiful sight came into view as what I can only describe as the top half of a teenage ballerina and the body of a spider came crawling forth before defiantly standing between me and the damaged core. However, she had been clearly mangled at some point from what I could only guess was a fight several years ago. She had managed to move gracefully on five of what used to be eight legs. Her left arm had been messily removed at the elbow, and the entire right side of her face and right shoulder looked almost melted with scars of what was clearly fire damage. How she was alive was anyone's guess. She did her best to seem intimidating as she glared at me with her three good eyes, but I could sense her eyes continuously flicking to the balls of fire in each of my palms filling her with a deep-seated dread that made her want to run, yet she stayed still and refused to move.

Suddenly I feel sick to my stomach at what I've just done, here I am, the cruel monster and destroyer that just melted her home. I could sense her life flashing before her eyes as she wondered when the flames in my hands would finally take her. In the next moment, a massive swarm of all sorts of spiders spills into the room, but they stop in their tracks as they see me facing off with the spider girl.

There's no doubt in my mind about what I have to do next as I raise my hands, the spider girl flinches at the movement, but I then dispel the flames and spoke out to Jack. "Jack, call off your birds, this fight is over." I then turn to look up at him as he hovered nearby. "Round up Reyvyre, Rita, Oururu, and Legosi, and come back here. No rush."

I could sense his hesitance, but after he took another look at the mangled spider I felt at least some of his hate start to fade as he simply whistled out his confirmation and took off with his birds.

Looking back at what I suppose is some kind of spiderkin, I could sense a million questions on her mind, though fear was the main sensation at the forefront of her thoughts. I took another step forward, closing the distance before speaking out in the gentlest, kindest voice I could manage. "My name is Vitmori, I am the dungeon core of this land and you are in my territory." Before I could continue, I could sense she understood my words as she backed up with a greater sense of fear; standing closer to her core. I sigh softly and take a step back, giving her the space she needed. "I want to help you, will you let me help you?" I asked as I gazed into her eyes. Her mind races some more when she glances behind her before looking back up at me when another thought comes to the front of her mind. I bob my head once, though my expression is grim with the guilt of terrorizing the poor spiderkin. "Yes, I'm showing mercy... I'm so sorry for scaring you... Will you accept?"