“Pizza? Delivery? What? Oh. It’s you three again,” the spider replied, its voice rising hauntingly from the ground. “Have you come to bother me again? To taunt me with your delicious-looking bodies while you torture me with your spells?” She groaned through the webs, and the sound echoed around the cave. “I’m going back to sleep. You’re too much of a bother.”

“Wait!” Lucas shouted, smacking one of the webs to try and get the spider’s attention.

“Arh!” The spider cried out in pain, causing Nick, Lucas, and Bonnie to cringe and cover their ears.

It’s a super-low-level dungeon. Of course, it wouldn’t be that hard to kill . . . Lucas was suddenly frustrated with how much effort he and Nick had put forth trying to defeat the arachnid the first time. Its weak point is the very webs we destroyed the first chance we had. All you have to do is strike them to hurt the boss . . .

“What is it?” the spider called out from the cave. “Stop bothering me. I don’t need you people to come down here and make me feel fat again.”

“Yeah, I agree. Stop bothering the giant people-eating monstrosity,” Bonnie cried. “I don’t want to go through that again!”

“But I have food for you,” Lucas called down to the spider. “If you’re willing to hear me out, I have exactly what you’ve been seeking.”

“What I’m seeking?” The spider’s voice rose hesitantly and softly, and it was almost completely overshadowed by the loud clicking sound that accompanied it.

“Food,” Lucas explained. He was taking yet another gamble by assuming that he had figured out how to talk to NPCs in order to properly create the quest events he wanted. “If you work with me, I can even give you a shot at more than just one meal.”

The spider didn’t respond, but its mandibles began crunching and cracking against each other in excitement. Its two front legs appeared a moment later, and it haltingly stuck its head out from the cave it dwelled in. “This is a trap. Yes, a trap. I know your kind, Human. Your kind doesn’t work with mine. You kill my kind. I’m your meal, aren’t I, sneaky Human?”

“Hmm . . .” Lucas tried to look as contemplative as possible, as if he were debating what to say next. “You’re right. I need to prove my sincerity. How about this . . .?” Glancing over at Bonnie, he said, “Cut off one of Jason's legs and feed it to her.”

“No! No! You can’t do that!” Jason cried. He struggled against his restraints, but it was useless.

“Sure thing, boss,” Bonnie answered back cheerfully. “No problem! I’ve got just the tool to do it with, too.” She rummaged through her backpack for a few seconds and then pulled out a medium-sized saw.