Lemca was home to five thousand people who, just last week, bustled through cobblestone streets, going in and out of inns and shops and taverns. Farmers unloaded their wagons at the market, where merchants peddled rugs and textiles to bustling citizens. And in the center, there was a large line for people drawing water from the well. The town was too small for a water mage, so the citizens did it the old-fashioned way, with a rope and pulley. Yet they never complained about not having convenient magic. They were simple folk who were mostly satisfied when they weren’t drunk.

Now they were gone.

A quarter of the town was burnt to ash and charcoal, but the heroes couldn’t see it. There were webs as thick as ropes and as sticky as Gorilla Glue stretching from buildings to the street, threatening to grip a person’s limbs and rip their skin off.

“Watch your step, or you’ll lose your boots,” Edico said as he led them to the maze of webs. The heroes gulped and nodded. No one had to tell them twice.

Up ahead, Aelia stopped at the burnt remains of a building, rubbing charcoal between her fingers with a narrowed gaze.

“What is it?” Edico asked.

Aelia looked at “Galon’s Bakery,” which had webs jutting from it like the rest of the taverns and inns in the town square. “This is unnatural.”

He nodded gravely.

“What’s unnatural?” Jason asked.

“There’s no bodies.” The heroes shuddered at Aelia’s cold words, and she continued. “This charcoal is moist and light, and these webs aren’t from nesting. This is the work of a battle.”

“So what do you think happened?” Raul asked.

“I think that someone set this fire to evacuate the city, put out the fire, and led the Crimson Weaver here before leading it elsewhere,” she surmised. “The question is why.”

Edico looked at Sara. “What do you think?”

“I think they led the spider here to capture our attention; now, they’re baiting us into a trap,” Sara said.

“What do you think we should do?” he asked.

Mary folded her arms. “Why do you keep asking her?”

“It’s a training exercise,” Aelia said.

“Exactly. It’s our training exercise. So why are you only asking—“

“Be quiet,” Edico ordered. Mary stopped talking. Then he turned back to Sara. “Continue.”

“I think one of you should stay here with the heroes while I go check it out with the other,” Sara said. “This isn’t just a spider.”

“That’s a convenient solution,” Aelia said. Sara was adamant that everyone but Jason, Mary, Raul, and Daniel—the strongest amongst them—stay behind.

Sara didn’t flinch under Aelia’s chilling stare as she walked up to the web and grabbed it.

“What are you doing?” Edico yelled, sending the heroes into a panic.

Sara didn’t flinch; she closed her eyes and silently chanted. The web started freezing in a smooth gradient, creating a thin fog as it crackled for twenty feet in both directions. Then she clenched her fist, and the glassy ice in her hand shattered. She turned back to Aelia. “Do you know ice magic?”

Sara knew the answer was no.

“Where did you learn that?” Aelia asked with wide eyes. Ice magic was extremely advanced, requiring mastery of water magic and then pinpoint control of deceleration magic to freeze it to 32 degrees Fahrenheit without decelerating lower, as ice becomes brittle and weak if it gets too cold. That weakness also had its virtues, however. Her demonstration just proved that.

“Roman Mournings,” Sara said.

Brandon’s eyes filled with fury. “Why didn’t he teach me that?” He was also Roman’s pupil, so he obviously felt betrayed.

Sara’s gaze shifted from Aelia to Edico, ignoring him. “Nothing’s changed. From what we’ve been told, the mission is to follow the Crimson Weaver, not kill it. If it leads us to a trap, that’s irrelevant.”

Brandon curled his lip, stepping forward, but Edico sent him a warning gaze that shut him down. “If we split up, someone could attack the heroes,” Edico said.

“And if we take them, we won’t be able to fight,” Sara countered. “Send them home. There was nothing in the report that suggested that all of the—“

“Hey!” Jason snapped. “We’re not children! The King sent us to follow the crimson weaver. It’s our duty to—“

Sara released crushing magical pressure that made him wince, and the others dropped to their knees. “You might as well be children. You’re all weak, and your ambition is jeopardizing the other heroes’ lives!”

“Stop it!” Aelia yelled. “If you don’t, you’ll face reprimands!”

Sara released the pressure, meeting the sycount’s cold gaze.

“Now listen,” Aelia said. “This is an official operation, and it’s run by Sycount Sullsburg. Your protests are meaningless, so listen for your orders and obey them.” She turned to Edico. “What are your orders?”

Edico stepped forward. “Before that, we should make something clear. This is my and Lady Reece’s operation; everyone else is here to gain experience. Now, the situation has changed. We’ve been charged with following the Crimson Weaver, but we now believe it’ll lead to a trap. Therefore, this isn’t a mission for—“

“Sir!” Jason protested, taking a few steps. Aelia unsheathed her sword and created a wall between them. “Stay back,” she said. Jason gulped.

Edico took a deep breath. “This isn’t a mission for children. That said, we won’t abandon the mission, and I won’t stop you from joining.”

Jason’s eyes lit up.

“But before you even consider it,” Edico said, “—prepare to die.”

The atmosphere chilled, and Jason’s smile disappeared.

“This isn’t a training exercise,” Edico said. “It’s a dangerous operation. And as soon as you walk into that forest, you’re responsible for your own lives.”

Mary’s skin marbled with goosebumps, and Brandon broke out in cold sweats. Jason folded his arms, and Emma used her staff to keep standing while Raul rubbed Emma’s back.

“Who wishes to continue?” Edico asked.

Once the deliberation was over, only five people raised their hands: Daniel, Jason, Mary, Raul, and Emma—the original Hero’s Party plus one.

Brandon snorted. “You’re seriously walking into a trap? You guys are idiots.” He walked away.

Emma’s body shook after his words.

“Don’t push yourself,” Raul said to her. “Edico’s going.”

“No, I must go,” Emma said. “You need healing.”

“Titus is going,” Edico said, pointing at their healer.

Emma smiled wryly. “Sorry. I can’t.”

“You’ll just hold me back,” Sara said. “I don’t want to babysit you.”

Emma’s eyes welled with tears, but her posture straightened, seemingly emboldened by Sara’s words. “I’m going. If I don’t confront my fears like you do, I won’t ever be able to help people.”

Sara winced. “Please don’t—“

“Sullsburg has given his orders,” Aelia said. “If she wants to go, that’s her decision. Now load up. If you’re retreating, come with me. If you’re joining the party, go with Edico. That’s all.”

Sara felt a severe pang of anxiety. She went through a lot of risks to get Emma not to go. But it didn’t matter. It never mattered with Emma. It was stupid and irrational, but that’s just how people were sometimes—and Emma was no exception.

With a deep sigh, Sara returned back to the montas, where the two groups broke off. Aelia led the heroes back toward the Wishta Mountains while her group moved north toward Kent Forest, Jason and Mary at the lead. At least half of her plan was going well. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

The Kent Forest was similar to any other forest on Earth. It had tall pine trees with thicker needles, but they were not that different from the Ponderosa Pines in Colorado that faced extinction when her class was summoned to Reemada. The ground was spongy from light rain a few days before, and it was a good time of year to pick edible mushrooms. Shelf fungus lined the trees, and there were countless plants that adventurers used to make tea. The tea tasted like medicine and trust issues but eased the stress of travel. Sara, Kyritus, and Tiber survived on many of those foods when they were running from Jason’s forces, and the nostalgia was competing with her trauma from her last visit.

This section of forest was different, however. A massive beast had crashed into the trees, knocking over small ones and leaving hatchet marks in the larger ones with its razor-sharp legs. Long streaks of white webbing shot across the ground like slacklines, evidence of the Crimson Weaver shooting webs at an enemy. It looked terrifying—even to Sara.

“This is creepy,” Daniel said, watching his steps.

“Yeah,” Emma said, holding onto Raul’s arm with her unstaffed hand.

“How hard is it to kill?” Jason asked Edico.

“It’s not that hard to puncture its skin, but….” Edico pointed at a maze of webs in the distance. “It’s hard to get to without burning down swaths of forest. That’s why people leave them alone.”

“Leave them alone?” Mary looked at him. “Are they stupid?”

“These spiders stay away from people,” Edico said. “They hate loud noises.”

Jason gulped. “So it really is a trap….”

Sara snorted. He chuffed and looked away.

“Stop quarreling,” Edico said. “We’re getting close.”

Mary’s heart galloped as they approached a blizzard of webs in the distance. The party members were constantly looking toward the ground, slowly stepping over webs as if they were tripwires. Their fear spread between them, communicated through body language and sharp breaths. It became unbearable, and at some point, Mary wanted to scream at Emma to leave because her anxiety was suffocating.

The more Mary walked, the more intense her emotions became until her paranoia took over, and conspiracies took root. She thought about how Sara invited them, how the mission was apparently from a “prophecy” that Sara and Edico got a year ago (also known as a pending trap), and how King Escar—King Escar—said sorry to Sara. It was a trap. A fucking trap. Yet somehow, she ended up in Kent Forest, walking toward a spider that shot webs as thick as bungee cord—and she didn’t know why.

King Escar gave them the order to follow Sara on the mission, but Edico removed that provision. She didn’t have to be there…. No, it was better this way. At least here, she was with skilled fighters, following after a spider that normal adventurers could fight. If she was in the other group and was ambushed, the idiot heroes would start throwing around spells, killing themselves with friendly fire.

Suddenly, a twig snapped, and Mary stumbled backward, landing on something and tripping. After her vision returned she looked down and saw her boot was stuck to a piece of webbing. “W-Wait up, guys…” she called out.

Sara took a deep breath and then turned to her. “Hold still and keep quiet.”

Mary bit her cheek as Sara kneeled and started chanting, releasing a freezing wave of ice that made Mary yelp. Her ankle was bright red and layered with frost, shaking and burning. “What are you doing?” she yelled.

Sara’s eyes sharpened, and she put her index to her lips. “Get stuck again, and I’m leaving you here.”

Mary’s face contorted in rage, but energy drained from her body when a horrifying screech came from the labyrinth of webs ahead of her. “W-What was that?”

“What do you think it was?” Daniel asked, uncharacteristically flustered. “Just shut up already.”

Mary’s face twisted into a scowl, but she stood up and continued moving, grinding the ice under her foot as she walked.

Sara turned to the sound of the Crimson Weaver. She could barely see through the webs, meaning they were nearing the nest.

“Sara,” Edico whispered. “Can you make a path?”

“Sure,” Sara said, silently chanting as she walked into the labyrinth of webs. Her body swirled with white fog in a hypnotic cyclone as she lifted her hands. Then, a blast of ice shot across the webs like an electric current, freezing the entire area and making the Crimson Weaver screech in the distance. Sara was shocked that her ice spell froze the entire area. Did I put too much mana into the amplification stone? Sara thought. She led the Crimson Weaver to the location with a treasure that amplified attacks. Still, she only added enough mana to the stone to increase attacks by fifty percent. It shouldn’t multiply the output. Something wasn’t adding up. I should start small….

Sara developed a small fireball in front of her hands.

“What are you doing?” Edico hissed.

“The fire will shatter the ice and obtain visibility,” she said, “Otherwise, we’ll be blind.”

Edico looked unconvinced.

“It’s just a small one,” Sara said, looking at the soccer ball-sized fireball in front of her. “I’ll use wind magic to get rid of the steam. We just need to use barriers to protect us from the initial blast.”

“Unconventional,” Edico said, “but effective. I’ll take your lead.”

Sara nodded and released the fireball—and that’s when her plan started going to hell. As the fireball moved, it increased in size. That was expected, accounting for the amplification stone. However, it didn’t stop expanding, growing eight times its original size before slamming into the icy hellscape she created.

The area erupted in a massive explosion of steam, sending a milky fog crashing into the barrier. It was a surreal image where the steam exposed the curvature of the barrier’s dome, making it look like a bubble in a cloud of smoke.

“What just happened?” Edico asked.

“I don’t know,” Sara said. That was the God-honest truth.

For a moment, the party regrouped, looking around in the dense white mist. Then, a horrifying shriek came from within, and the group lifted their weapons.

“Get ready!” Sara said. “It’s coming!”

Edico unsheathed his sword as a loud scuttling snapped through the trees.

“You brought it toward us?” Mary yelled. “Are you insane? Why the fuck—” A white rope abruptly shot through the fog, drilling straight into the barrier in front of Mary. If there wasn’t a barrier there, she would be dead.

“Get out of the way!” Sara yelled, chanting a spell to layer her sword with frost, allowing her to cut through webs if necessary.

More webs shot out of the mist, crashing into the barriers until they cracked and dissipated. Then hot steam assaulted the heroes, making the heroes choke and wheeze.

“Fall back!” Edico coughed. “Something’s seriously wrong here. We need to—“

A web suddenly crashed into his shield, pushing him back five feet until he slammed into a tree.

Sara instantly cut through the web with her frozen sword, leaving thick fog in its wake. Then she started chanting a wind spell. Lampádes trimménous sti—

Before she finished, a web shot out of the mist at Titus—the healer they brought on the mission. The web slammed into the man’s wrist with a sickening crunch, and he rocketed forward like a slingshot, his body disappearing into the mist.

Sara’s eyes trembled. She hadn’t spoken two words to the man, but a life was a life—and no one was meant to die. “Fuck!” she screamed. “I lampádes trimménous sti miazméni fosforá!” She swung her sword, and an abnormally massive gust of wind cut through the fog, dispersing it instantly.

Obtaining visibility didn’t give them consolation—it made things worse. The instant the mist cleared, everyone could see a car-sized spider with a crimson abdomen staring at them with dozens of golf ball-sized eyes. It was in a tree, Titus’s screaming head in its maw. It bit into the man’s skull with a crunch, sending blood gushing toward the ground in a waterfall.

Emma screamed, and Mary followed with equal passion.

“Edico! Protect the heroes!” Sara gripped her sword, and the blade turned bright white.

“Got it!” Edico rushed forward, putting up a large barrier over the group. “Prepare to retreat!”

Sara swung her sword in a wide arc, and a streak of light cut through multiple trees as it shot at the Crimson Weaver. The spider jumped from the tree, using its web as a bungee cord just in time to avoid the strike. However, Sara’s slash cut through the tree it was on, sending the trunk crashing onto it.

When the tree collapsed on the Crimson Weaver, Jason’s eyes shot open. “Attack it while it’s down!” He lifted his sword up high, making it radiate brighter than the strike he used during the Golden Trial.

“Don’t, you idiot!” Sara yelled. But it was too late. The Crimson Weaver whirled around under the tree and shot a web directly at Jason’s chest.

Sara dropped her sword and caught the web with her bare hand—and instantly regretted it. Her body was tempered through the pits of hell, so even amplified, the web should’ve only left her hand numb. But it didn’t. It felt like she caught a bowling ball instead of a fastball, and it was clear if she pushed Jason, it would’ve hit and shattered her wrist, and if she tried to slice the web, it would’ve sent her sword’s blade flying into his chest. And as much as she wanted Jason to die, his death would create a permanent rift between her and the heroes, feed King Escar’s paranoia, and, most importantly, ruin her plan. Victory was in her sights—so long as everyone lived. That said, if she knew that the Crimson Weaver was exponentially stronger than it should’ve been—she would’ve let Jason die.

The impact made Sara’s hand crunch, sending blood everywhere. Then, her body yanked forward.

Sara dug her heels into the ground, stopping the momentum. Then she pulled back with inhuman strength, yanking the spider out from under the tree.

“Just die!” Sara yelled, wrapping the web twice around her hand. “Chiáste tou agápē kai misous, skevasména se xéna hácha!” Ice shot up the web like a lit fuse, freezing the Crimson Weaver’s spinnerets. It instantly shrieked, snapping the icy web off as it scuttled up a tree.

Sara turned to the heroes. “Get the fuck out of here! You’re liabilities!”

“Liabilities?” Jason said. “You’re the person that created a cloud of fucking steam—“

Sara backhanded Jason with her broken hand, sending him flying into a tree. Then she turned to Mary. “Pick him up and go! Complain once, and Raul will haul you both away!”

Mary shook in place and then complied, grabbing Jason.

Sara turned back to the Crimson Weaver, which was staring down at her from a tree. It was pissed, but it wasn’t nearly as pissed as she was. She gave the Crimson Weaver a mana amplification stone, but that should’ve only given it extra torque—it wouldn’t make fireballs eight times stronger and webs strong enough to break through her body tempering.

Why the fuck are you so strong? Sara silently asked the spider. I didn’t put that much mana into that…. Her body broke out in cold sweats. Wait… the mana vein…. They were on a mana vein! Fuck!

Haligara fed on mana, and there was a river of the shit under the Earth below them—that’s why it lived there! Now, that mana amplification stone was sucking in ungodly amounts of mana, turning any magical attack in the area into a nuclear explosion. That’s why the fireball turned into a small sun, and the wind spell shook the forest. Why the hell didn’t she take that into account? Did she forget about it? Was it something she didn’t understand? Or was she just fucking stupid?

Sara didn’t know. She’d figure it out later, but for now, she fucked up her hand right before a major battle, and she was pissed. So she lifted her sword, warping the mana around her. If the area amplified mana, she would give this creature hell. With a bright white sword, she slashed in a horizontal arc, sending out a blast of mana that cut through air and tree and stone.

For the first time, Mary knew true fear. Jason was in her arms, but she couldn’t move. Her lungs weren’t working, and her body was buzzing from oxygen deprivation. But when Sara released her massive attack, her primal instincts took over, and she tried to move—but it was too late. The Crimson Weaver jumped from a falling tree, flying down toward her.