When we arrive on the fifth floor, there is a thick layer of cobwebs spanning all around the room. I feel something sticky touch my hand and I immediately let out a yelp, which made everyone around me flinch in response.

“What?! What is it?” Serafina asked, cowering behind Mist’s shield.

The wispy thread of webbing clung to my skin persistently, no matter how much I shake my hand to get it off. My heart rate picks up as images of a large arachnid fill my mind. Wherever a web is, a spider is sure to follow. “Get it off! Get it off now!” I screech, my panic overtaking reason.

Yumi hurries over and helps me, but my worries don’t stop there. She scans my clothes and hair, checking to see if there are any creepy crawlies lurking on me. I need a verbal confirmation before we move on or else my thoughts will continue to point to this one troublesome thing.

“Is it on my back?” Braeden shouts, causing me and Yumi to redirect our attention to him. He’s frantically pointing at the middle of his back, but it’s clear Mist doesn’t see anything. “I swear I felt something burrowing here!”

“For the hundredth time, you’re good,” Mist snaps back.

Yumi smirks at me in amusement that only frustrates me further. “What? Don’t give me that look. I’m not anything like him. I listen to you when you say there’s nothing there.”

“After a thousand reassurances,” she answers with a scoff. “Deny it as much as you want, Mai. You and Braeden are more similar than you’re willing to admit. Who else gets that terrified of spiders?” She begins to walk away to rejoin Serafina.

“To be fair, I’m scared of all bugs and arachnophobia is a common fear. Serafina’s scared! You can’t think her fear is silly.”

“It’s only because you two won’t stop screaming,” Mist interjects. “We haven’t made it ten steps without one of you flipping out. If it’s going to be a problem, maybe you should have stayed back. We’re not going to make any progress like this.” He turned towards Braeden and added, “Besides, you’ve already gotten new gear from this level, Braeden. You could have waited at the inn for us.”

“Don’t be silly. We’re a team, Mist,” Braeden replies, his skin appearing paler than usual. My eyes widened upon realization he’d broken a sweat in the scuffle. Did I look like that?

“Then both of you need to work on getting over your fear. This level is dedicated to Arachne. You do know what that means?” Mist asks, his gaze flickering between me and Braeden.

Athena tore the cloth to pieces, but unable to handle the criticism, Arachne decided to end her life with a single string of rope. The benevolent goddess transformed the rope into a spider’s web, and Arachne into the spider who spun the thread.

“No, this has to be just a terrain type,” I say, shaking my head in disbelief. “They wouldn’t make the host of this level a…” I search the dark corners of the room, hoping not to find an arachnid sitting in any of them. But when my eyes finally meet the final corner, I see a large purple spider that makes all the air leave my body in a huff. I begin to hyperventilate, pointing at the creature in shock. “S-spi—S-sp-sp….” I try to say, falling onto the ground.

“Holy shit!” Braeden exclaims. “Look at the size of that one!”