3 Monster

Lucas gathered his bearings. "What kind of messed up situation is this?..." Lucas mutters to himself in the dark. Firming his grip, Lucas pushes the lid of the coffin aside only to be shown the figure of a colossal skeleton easily over 8 feet tall. Black in color, But they glistened like finely polished jade. Laying beside the frame is a one-handed broadsword from equally as black, and smooth down. No inscriptions or names anywhere to take note of.

On the other side, On the skeleton's boney finger is a pure white ring spun like a rope. Taking the ring and sliding it onto my right hand's index finger, then picking up the sword. Lucas dares not to turn down the path of grave robbing any further.

Returning to the direction he once came, Lucas halts his breath.. witnessing four beady red eyes watching from the dark outside the crevice of the room, and as their eyes meet, a shrill scream echoed through the tunnels. Threatening to deafen any listeners present.

backing to the corner in the room, a couple of sharp and pointy appendages dart into the room and stab everywhere but failing to meet their target.

Lucas can already recognize the foe as an impossibly giant spider... about 2 meters tall, at least from what he could see in the crevice.

The beast continues clawing into the crevice, either hoping to widen the path or tear some delicious meat from our tender protagonist.

Luca further retreats into the back corner. Keeping near the wall, Lucas frantically searches the room for any other path but finding none in return.

Left with no other choice. Lucas makes a quick decision and comes in from the size with the sword in hand and gives a steady chop onto the legs. The first few hits bounce or slide down the smooth carapace until it catches the joint, digging in deep.

"Eiiiiiiiii!!!!" A pain-filled cry fills the room, but Lucas doesn't stop, Or rather he can't afford too. After a few more swings without any luck. The spider also grew tired and vanished into the darkness.

Waiting for a few minutes listening to the various pitter patters of the water drip from the ceiling. With the occasional windy howl coming by. No signs of the spider were heard.

Slowly stepping out into the corridor, Lucas frantically watches both directions and decides to go back to the large cavern with slowing scenery. At least he couldn't be completely blind. Slowly making his way again and stopping and the oddest little sound. Lucas took much longer returning than leaving.

After returning to the large room, the fatigue from the day starts to kick in so Lucas, Left with not many choices. Bent down and drank from the little stream.

The water was simply delicious — the best water he ever had, Almost sweet.

As Lucas goes to grab his sword again, he notices his middle finger on his right hand is... strangely turning charcoal black, with slight pain. Lucas's anxiety goes up with each second. Taking a closer look, Lucas could see the black was very slowly spreading up.

"Click" Lucas grabbed the sword, spun around, and looked up. A horrific bloodthirsty spider was clinging to the ceiling and looking down at Lucas with the gaze of a predator about to pounce on its prey.

goopy liquid leaks from the spider's fangs, Salivating at the tasty meat. "Hisss" as the liquid hits the ground, It quickly melts the rocks, Leaving small holes. The beast soon scrambles forward to snatch its prey.

Lucas calms himself just enough to notice its balance wasn't as right as it should have been. It must have been from his chop to its legs earlier.

Taking advantage of its inpatient charge, Lucas jumps to the side, rolling on the ground.

Splashing water everywhere, the spider crashed into the stream. Just as it was righting itself up, Lucas comes in from behind and slashes it on the abdomen, resulting in sparks flying off the hard carapace. With his blood pumping and his mind moving fast. Lucas changes targets for the joints on the legs.

Slashing at one of the back legs, It slices through much more natural than expected! The spider was releasing another horrendous scream while flopping on the ground.

Backing up for some space. Lucas steadies himself for the next attack. The spider also happened to get a hold of itself to face Lucas once again, releasing hissing and clicking sounds in a furious rage, charging towards its prey once more!

Lucas backs up but ends up tripping over a mushroom, Falling on his back with the spider coming down on him. Gritting his teeth and closing his eyes in despair, many thoughts flash past Lucas's mind. Ellie is still waiting for him... he always wanted to find his parents... Lucas was unwilling to die.

Moments just before his grizzly death. Lucas's body acts on instinct before he realized. A sword was plunged into the beast's mouth and its brain.

The creature twitches a few moments... With a quiet hiss and its eyes clouding over, it fell to the ground lifeless.

With his legs crushed under the beast, Lucas struggles getting out still manages to slide out. Checking his legs over, they were only badly bruises but nothing too serious.

Getting to his feet, Lucas wobbles as a dizzy feeling overwhelms him. Thinking back on the whole day, There wasn't a moment without stress. For that matter, How long had he been down here, Lucas wondered.

stabilizing himself, "Grrrrr" one might have thought another beast was approaching except the beastly sound came from Lucas's stomach.

Looking around for anything to eat... Lucas doesn't dare to try a glowing mushroom. Once again, coming to the stream, Lucas cups the cold, refreshing water in his hand and splashes it all over his face.

Washing his face, scrubbing the uncomfortable grime off his face reveals a handsome youth "Grrrrrr" Lucas stomach grumbles once again while looking back at the ugly creature on the ground a few meters away. But it could be worse, right?

Settling for the legs, Lucas cuts them off at the joints and into many segments while trying to think of a way to start a fire. An idea sparkles in Lucas's mind as he remembers the sparks coming off the beasts shell doing battle.

Coming to observe the abdomen, It was very coarse like sandpaper but cold like metal to the touch.

Ripping off some pieces of cloth off his shirt, Lucas uses them as make-shift gloves to try handling a few of those mushrooms. They might burn.

In a clearing on the ground, Lucas piles up a few mushrooms and vines behind the spider while using a rock to make sparks towards the piles of plants. They caught fire surprisingly quick, and Maybe it had to do with the glow? Lucas wonders.

The sound of fire crackling and water trickling could be heard in the cavern, dispersing the cold atmosphere.

After cracking open the brittle shell of the spider leg, tender white meat could be seen glistening. The taste was very reminiscent of juicy, delicate crab.

Licking his fingers clean, Lucas feels content with a full stomach and energy to keep going. Wondering if he could use the rest, Lucas searches the rest of the corpse and finds a few useful pieces to keep. The other seven legs were kept to eat along the way; The Fangs were kept along with the poison sac and silk pouch along with the big outer shell covering the abdomen the size of a shield. Strapping it to his back, Lucas sets off once more down the tunnel.

Peering over the edge once more, nothing could be seen but darkness. The wind howled like the screams of an angry ghost, bringing a chill to Lucas's spine. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted more of the previous vines climbing up just outside the tunnel.

Can I even do this with a broken arm? Thought Lucas. Looking down at his left hand that was mangled and swollen, then to his right hand that had a layer of black spreading up his hand, Almost fully encompassing his entire hand at this point. Taking a closer look, It looked very much like very tiny, ink-black snake scales.

re-thinking the past few actions, The only thing odd happening to his hand was when he pricked his finger on the stone doorway.

Sliding the back of his hand against the edge of the sword, The scales were too smooth, and it all just glided over without any damage. Seeing how strange it's been in the past day or two, Lucas wasn't surprised anymore, and as long as it wasn't fatal, it'll be fine for now.

As the black scales spread up to Lucas's wrist, they retracted back into his skin, leaving only a black ring around his wrist that continued upwards.