Chương 8: Chapter 7: The Webbed Ravine

The scream came from deep inside the ravine, followed by several seconds of silence. James stood at the entrance with the heavy maul in both hands while Julie remained wrapped tightly around his forearm. Every sensible part of him suggested leaving before whatever lived inside decided to investigate the noise outside, but the scream had been human, and walking away without even checking sat badly with him.

"This is a terrible fucking idea," James said as he looked into the web-covered passage. Julie pressed her head against his wrist in obvious agreement, and the Silver Thread Spider waited several yards ahead as if it expected him to follow.

"Glad we're all on the same page," he added before stepping into the ravine. The walls narrowed quickly around them. Silver strands crossed between exposed roots and stone in thick layers, some thin enough to brush aside while others were nearly as thick as cord. James moved carefully and avoided touching anything that looked intact, because being wrapped in spider silk while investigating a scream would rank high on his growing list of stupid ways to die.

"Please," a weak voice called from ahead. The word was followed by ragged breathing, and the spider immediately climbed along the wall toward the sound. James tightened his grip on the maul and followed until the ravine widened around another bend. A man hung upside down against the wall, wrapped from chest to ankles in silver silk. Blood covered one side of his head, and a broken sharpened branch lay beneath him beside two wrapped Ferals and half of an Iron Fox.

The trapped man's eyes widened when he saw James, though the relief disappeared almost immediately when he noticed the spider moving above him.

"Oh, thank God," the man whispered as he struggled weakly against the silk. His face was pale enough that James stopped worrying about whether he was dangerous.

"Please get me down before that fucking thing eats me." James looked at the spider before activating Appraisal on the man. [Human lvl. 2] [Name: Thomas Drey] [Status: Injured] [Condition: Blood loss, exhaustion, minor venom, panic.]"Hold still," James said as he approached the binding. Thomas immediately stopped struggling, though his eyes continued tracking the spider above them.

"If it wanted you dead, I think it already had plenty of opportunities."

"That is not comforting," Thomas said while trying not to move. His voice trembled, and James could not really blame him after seeing the amount of web covering the cavern.

"Just cut me down, please." James examined the silk before touching it. [Silver Thread Binding] [Restraining prey.] [Damaged.] [External blood scent detected.] The final line caught his attention. James looked down and realized there was considerably more blood across the floor than Thomas's injuries could explain. A smeared trail disappeared deeper into the ravine, with several torn strands of silk marking where something heavy had forced its way through.

"What happened here?" James asked while cutting carefully through the damaged sections around Thomas's legs. Thomas dropped several inches when the first binding released, and James caught enough of his weight to keep his head from hitting the stone.

"And whose blood is that?" Thomas swallowed and looked toward the deeper cavern.

"Something came through here. Big bastard, horns, almost looked human except it was huge," he said after James lowered him to the ground.

"It killed two people and took Rachel." Julie raised her head toward the deeper ravine. The Silver Thread Spider turned at almost the same moment, and James finally understood why it had led him here. The spider had not brought him to rescue Thomas because of some sudden concern for human life; another predator had invaded its territory, destroyed parts of its web, and stolen living prey from it. A golden System window appeared. [Optional Objective Generated.] [Webbed Ravine Disturbance.] [A hostile predator has entered Silver Thread Spider territory and taken living prey.] [Objective: Defeat or drive away the intruding predator.] [Reward calculated by contribution.] James stared at the notification before looking at Thomas. The man could barely stand, Julie disliked the cavern, and James's ribs still hurt from being thrown by the Stoneback Boar less than an hour earlier. Every piece of available evidence supported leaving immediately.

"Of course," James said as he lifted the maul onto one shoulder. Thomas looked at him in confusion until James nodded toward the blood trail.

"Because one terrible decision tonight apparently wasn't enough." A low growl came from deeper inside the ravine. James sighed.

"All right, Julie. We're going in," he said as he stepped toward the darkness. Julie loosened around his arm and shifted higher toward his shoulder, preparing to move.

"Thomas, stay behind me and don't do anything heroic unless the alternative is dying." Thomas stared at him.

"I'm coming?" he asked as he picked up what remained of his broken spear. His hands shook badly enough to make the weapon look even less useful.

"You know where Rachel was taken," James said as he started walking. Thomas hesitated before following, and the Silver Thread Spider moved along the ceiling above them.

"So yes, unfortunately for both of us." The ravine became a cavern farther inside. Damp stone replaced most of the exposed roots, while webs filled cracks, corners, and narrow openings along both walls. The air smelled of blood, wet rock, and rotten meat, and Julie tightened around James's shoulders every time something shifted in the darkness.

"Tell me what happened at the starting area," James said while keeping his voice low. He wanted information before they reached whatever waited ahead, and Thomas seemed to need something to focus on besides fear.

"I fell off the cliff about ten seconds after arriving, so I missed the political convention." Thomas almost laughed, though the sound died quickly.

"Everyone split into groups," he explained as they moved.

"Timothy White is a police officer, and people started following him because he looked like he knew what he was doing. Daniel Warsky is another cop, but he and Timothy started handling things differently pretty quickly." James nodded as he stepped over a thick web strand. People gravitating toward police officers during a crisis made sense, especially when almost nobody understood the System.

"How differently?" he asked while scanning the next chamber.

"Timothy wants control," Thomas said after a moment. He wiped sweat from his forehead and kept moving.

"At first it helped, but after the first-night announcement said someone reached Level Five, he got pissed because he thought he should be leading the tutorial. Daniel keeps trying to protect whoever needs it, even when they aren't part of his group." That told James more than Thomas probably intended.

"And who is the highest level?" he asked as he remembered the mysterious Level Five participant. Julie shifted slightly against him while Thomas looked surprised.

"You know about her?" Thomas asked before shaking his head.

"Elizabeth is highest-level. She can use sound like a weapon. She screams or focuses her voice, and monsters start bleeding." James stopped walking for half a second.

"She gets fucking sound magic, and I got gravity tossing me off a cliff," he said before continuing. Thomas stared at him, clearly unsure whether James was joking.

"Keep going." Thomas explained that Timothy had sent scouting parties after Elizabeth once he suspected she was the tutorial leader. Thomas, Rachel, and several others had been ordered north, where an Iron Fox forced them into the ravine. The spider's webs caught some of them, but before the spider could finish whatever it intended to do, a larger monster entered its territory and attacked everything. They found Rachel in the next chamber.

She lay against a stone wall with one leg twisted beneath her and blood soaking the fabric around her thigh. Her breathing was shallow, but her chest still moved, and James felt some of the tension leave his shoulders when Appraisal confirmed she was alive. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. [Human lvl. 2] [Name: Rachel Meyers] [Status: Critical but stable.] [Condition: Blood loss, blunt trauma, deep laceration.] Thomas started toward her.

James caught him by the shoulder.

"Not yet," James said as he pointed toward several deep hoof marks in the dirt. Thomas froze, and Julie's warning entered the bond at the same time.

"Whatever dragged her here is still close." A heavy step sounded from behind a thick stone pillar. Then another. The creature that emerged stood more than eight feet tall. Dense muscle covered a humanoid body, while dark fur grew across its chest, arms, and legs. A bull-like head sat above massive shoulders, and two thick horns curved outward from its skull. James activated Appraisal. [Stonebind Minotaur lvl. 5] [A powerful territorial predator.] [Stone-reinforced hide.] [High physical strength.] [Prefers direct overpowering attacks.] James looked at the maul in his hands.

"Level Five," he said quietly. Thomas immediately backed toward the narrow passage behind them.

"Well, I wanted stronger monsters." The minotaur roared and charged. James moved toward Rachel instead of meeting it directly. Thomas shouted a warning, but James had already noticed something useful: the creature hesitated when it reached several burning remains near the wall, where broken wood still smoldered from an earlier fight. It shifted away from the flames before continuing its advance.

"So you hate fire," James said while grabbing Rachel beneath the arms. He dragged her toward a narrow side passage, ignoring the pain tearing through his ribs.

"Thomas, make yourself useful and piss it off." Thomas stared at him for only a moment before grabbing a stone.

"Hey, ugly!" he shouted as he threw it at the minotaur. The rock bounced harmlessly off one shoulder, but the creature turned toward him with enough rage to prove the insult had succeeded.

"That worked better than it should have," James said as he pulled Rachel into cover. He lowered her carefully and turned back toward the fight.

"Stay alive for a few minutes." Rachel did not respond. The minotaur charged Thomas. The narrow passage restricted its shoulders and forced the creature to slow, which gave James enough time to retrieve his Iron Fox spear. He stepped from cover, aimed at the exposed side, and threw. The spear struck beneath the minotaur's ribs. Dark blood ran around the shaft. Julie dropped from James's shoulder and attacked before the creature could pull the weapon free.

She moved along the wall, launched herself at the wound, and buried her fangs into exposed flesh. The minotaur twisted to grab her, but Julie released and vanished behind a rock before its hand arrived.

"Perfect," James said as satisfaction entered the familiar bond. The minotaur ripped the spear from its side and snapped the shaft between both hands. James's approval disappeared quickly.

"Well, shit." The Silver Thread Spider joined the fight. Silk shot from the ceiling and wrapped around one horn. Another strand caught the minotaur's wrist, while a third tightened around one ankle and pulled just as the creature tried to charge. The bindings snapped almost immediately under its Strength, but each strand delayed it long enough for James to close the distance. He swung the maul into its knee. The impact hurt his arms more than the minotaur. James hit the same spot again. Julie bit the wounded leg.

Thomas rushed forward with his broken spear and drove the sharpened end into the creature's lower back before scrambling away.

"I fucking helped!" he shouted as he nearly tripped over himself retreating. James would have laughed if the minotaur had not been trying to kill all of them. The creature turned toward Thomas. More silver silk tightened around its legs. Its injured knee buckled. The minotaur crashed to the ground. James moved immediately. He climbed onto its back, grabbed the broken Iron Fox spearhead still lying nearby, and drove the metal point into one of its eyes. The minotaur screamed, but James had already raised the maul.

The first strike hit the side of its skull. The second broke one horn. The third ended the fight. [You have slain Stonebind Minotaur lvl. 5.] [Experience awarded.] [Shared familiar growth applied.] [Optional Objective completed.] [You have leveled up!] [You are now Level 5.] [3 Attribute Points are available.] [Julie has leveled up!] [Julie is now Level 5.] [3 Attribute Points are available.] James stood on the dead minotaur's back with both hands around the maul.

His breathing came hard, blood ran from several reopened cuts, and every part of his body wanted to sit down. He grinned anyway.

"That's what I'm fucking talking about," James said as Julie climbed his leg and settled against his torso. Her emotions reached him clearly through the bond: relief, pride, exhaustion, and an aggressive amount of hunger.

"You were perfect." The Silver Thread Spider lowered itself until it hung at eye level.

"You too," James said as he looked at the creature. The spider tilted slightly while several silver legs remained folded beneath it.

"Good job, little man. Or woman. I have absolutely no idea how spider anatomy works." Thomas stumbled back into the chamber.

"Rachel?" he asked immediately, and whatever celebration he felt disappeared behind fear. James pointed toward the side passage.

"She's alive," James said while stepping down from the minotaur. Thomas moved past him immediately and dropped beside Rachel.

"She needs treatment more than congratulations." James joined them and examined her injuries. He was not a doctor, but years around job sites had taught him enough about pressure, bleeding, and stabilization to know the gash across her thigh was the immediate problem. He cleaned it with water, pressed the edges together as well as possible, and used loose Silver Thread Silk to create a tight binding around the wound.

"You're using spider silk?" Thomas asked as James tightened the final wrap. He sounded horrified, though he continued holding Rachel still.

"You have sterile gauze hidden somewhere?" James asked as he gave Thomas a flat look. Thomas shut his mouth, and James continued working.

"Then spider silk wins." Rachel managed to eat several Vitality Berries. Her breathing strengthened slightly, and color slowly returned to her face while the silk prevented fresh blood from soaking through the makeshift bandage. [Action recorded.] [Emergency field treatment using monster materials.] [Improvised binding and wound stabilization recorded.] [Class seed stabilizing.] James studied the notification before opening his attributes.

The minotaur had made several weaknesses obvious, and he did not intend to ignore the lesson. He placed one point into Strength, one into Endurance, and one into Perception. [Strength increased to 15.] [Endurance increased to 14.] [Perception increased to 14.] He assigned Julie's three available points into Intelligence after checking with her through the bond. Her approval came immediately, and the connection sharpened once again as the points settled.

She still did not speak, but the meaning behind her emotions became clearer than before. Once Rachel could stand with Thomas supporting her, they began returning toward the entrance. Thomas waited until they were halfway back before finally saying what had obviously been bothering him.

"Come back with us," he said as he watched James carefully.

"Timothy needs strong people, Daniel needs help, and Elizabeth only protects her own group."

"No," James replied as he moved another web strand aside. Thomas looked surprised by how quickly the answer came, but James had already considered the question before it was asked.

"I'm not joining somebody's camp because I can swing a hammer harder than they can."

"You saved us," Thomas said as he helped Rachel over a stone. His voice carried more frustration than accusation.

"People need someone strong."

"That doesn't make me responsible for everyone," James said as he slowed enough for them to keep pace. He understood the argument, but becoming responsible for hundreds of frightened strangers was not a role he wanted.

"I'll help when I can, but I'm not volunteering to manage a thousand people while trying to understand this System." At the ravine entrance, James pointed them south toward the river. He explained where to find the Vitality Berry bush if nobody had stripped it, warned them about Iron Foxes, and told them never to assume a single night Feral was alone. Thomas listened carefully while Rachel leaned against him, exhausted but conscious.

"Thank you," Rachel said as she looked toward Julie. Her voice remained weak, but she managed a small smile when the snake raised her head.

"And she's beautiful."

"She knows," James said as Julie immediately sent a satisfied pulse through the bond. Rachel laughed quietly, then winced and stopped. Thomas extended his hand. James shook it.

"Stay alive," James said as he released the grip. Thomas nodded and began helping Rachel toward the trees.

"That'll be enough thanks for me." James watched until both humans disappeared into the forest. Then he turned back toward the ravine. The Silver Thread Spider waited on a flat stone near the entrance. Julie became alert immediately. The spider raised its front legs and lowered its body in a deliberate motion that James had never seen it make before. A faint warmth touched the edge of his awareness, similar to what he had felt when Julie first asked to bond with him. James stared.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," he said as a golden System window appeared. Julie lifted her head and watched the spider without attacking. [Silver Thread Spider lvl. 4 acknowledges your strength, craft, and contribution.] [Silver Thread Spider lvl. 4 wishes to become your familiar.] [Do you accept?] [Y/N] James looked at Julie. Then at the spider. A slow grin appeared.

"A snake and a fucking spider," James said as he rested the maul against his shoulder. The spider remained still while Julie watched it with obvious suspicion.

"My mother would have hated this."