They Wanted a Hero. They Made a Monster: Born at the Bottom
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 12: The Garden’s Visitors
A sickening stench filled the dark tunnel. Green blood dripped along the giant spider’s own web.
It was an Arachne. Like its spider relatives, however, it received no better name than “giant spider monster” from most illiterate adventurers.
Those who truly understood the creatures knew that an Arachne was a specialized giant spider capable of weaving enormous, venomous webs.
The thick strands were impossible to overlook, and weaker monsters gave them a wide berth.
Some creatures were strong enough to ignore such webs. Those were precisely the prey an Arachne hunted.
Today, this one had chosen badly.
A huge battle-axe was buried in the center of its head, which had collapsed into pulp beneath the blow.
Huff. Huff.
The bull-headed monster holding the weapon panted as it wrenched the axe free. A slight flick scattered most of the gore clinging to the blade.
Nearly fifteen feet tall, the creature’s powerful body was knotted with muscle that shifted beneath its hide with every breath. Even among Minotaurs, it was an exceptional specimen.
Its furious assault had turned hunter into prey.
The Minotaur had not escaped unharmed. Venom from the web had entered its left arm and spread along the veins. Poison Resistance LV5 had managed only to stop the advance.
Losing the use of one arm would make survival in the dungeon exceedingly difficult.
Fortunately, the problem would not trouble it for much longer.
A jet-black dagger slipped from the shadows and swept lightly around the Minotaur’s thick neck. Its throat parted as easily as soft cheese.
Nyx stepped from the darkness and watched the fallen Minotaur twitch. Then she turned to complain to her three companions, who had only just arrived.
“That was an LV40 Minotaur at the very least. On the Eighth Stratum, it could have guarded a treasure chest. If it hadn’t already been injured, killing it would have taken real effort.
“If we keep wandering like this, we’re bound to meet something truly dangerous. Nolan, how much farther?”
Nolan felt the pull of the Tracking Crystal. “Not far. The direction is changing more sharply now, which means we’re close.”
“Garrick, cut open its abdomen for me,” Ivan said, pointing at the spider.
“Why? Giant spider fluids stink.”
Garrick made his displeasure obvious, but he drew a dissecting knife and opened the Arachne’s belly. A wave of fetid air struck him at once. He backed away two steps, fanning his face.
Ivan’s eyes lit up. Ignoring the smell, he rushed forward and reached into the corpse with both hands to extract an organ.
“It really is an Arachne. Its venom sac is the finest possible material for a poison-cloud ritual.”
Only after Ivan placed the reeking organ into an ornate case with exquisite care did Nolan order the party onward.
He had a feeling they would reach their target within three caverns.
In fact, they passed through only one more cavern, where a few scattered Ember Gnats remained, before reaching their destination.
The four adventurers stared at the Mycelial Garden in disbelief.
A group of Puffcaps had claimed territory in the Deep Strata?
More fundamentally, why were Puffcaps in the Deep Strata at all?
The region might contain monsters of every level, but that should not include a species with no ability to survive. The Ember Gnats next door ought to have treated them as an endless buffet.
Garrick stood with his mouth open for a long moment before murmuring, “If she’s here, I think I understand how Lady Elara survived.”
“One is coming this way.”
A Puffcap approached on short legs.
Only then did Ivan remember to use Reconnaissance.
“It really is LV1 ... Wait. A skill? It has...”
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