We didn’t stay for too long. We had a dungeon to visit, and my mother had work to do of her own, so after a proper thank you, we headed back to the forest.

I had to instruct the spiders to not interact with anyone until I told them they could. It was partially for their own safety, but I knew there were people outside the dungeon that would look upon me with mistrust if I allowed them to run amok.

And I didn’t want to know what would happen to Elle if she suddenly charged one of the waiting soldiers, even if it was to hug them…

Like before, they followed me in a neat line, with Myria right behind me, and Amarys forming the rear.

We didn’t speak much, or rather, we didn’t speak at all, and reached the dungeon entrance after a long silence. It was no surprise we caught all the attention we could, with the guards present immediately turning their heads to us and our fellowship. I considered us lucky as there was nobody else to watch this happen.

But, they seemed to be okay with it, in a way at least. They acknowledged us and paid close attention to what we were doing, but we didn’t do much besides pass through the area and step into the portal.

Once on the other side, we spotted a titan anteater about twenty yards out. Before engaging, Cellestra put on her armor, while at the same time Shayla slowly skittered away from me and towards the creature. Suddenly, she halted before turning around to walk back to me.

“Good thing you remembered,” I said. “A few things you need to be aware of. First of all, anything in here that is not an elf, or even a human if they come here, should be considered hostile and dangerous. They can and will attack you if you get too close. Is that clear?”

The spiderlings formed an arc before me while I was explaining and nodded with their front limbs.

“Okay. Second of all, I don’t know how strong you are and I don’t want to lose you, so I'm going to help you to become stronger so you can hunt on your own. We will start small. This dungeon is the ideal place, and I look forward to what you can do. That thing over there—” I pointed at the nearby creature. “Is a titan anteater, and it has large claws that can do quite a number on you if you’re not careful. Do you understand?”

They all nodded.

“Okay. I want you to work together to take it down. I’ll help you if necessary, but be careful.”

I imagined this creature would be an excellent place to start to see my spiderlings’ strength for myself. They’d have to start somewhere and with an enemy like this… there wouldn't be a safer place to start. I had a variety of healing spells if things went sour, and I could fell one of these beasts with a single ice lance from afar if necessary.

“If you’re ready to go, you can go for it whenever you feel like it.”

Faerith took my words to heart and was the first to turn around, starting what looked like a charge to jump at the anteater, but Amarys was quick to catch up to her and halted the other by jumping on her abdomen. Obviously, she didn’t like the eagerness of the most active of minions.

Amarys appeared to guide the others by using a few gestures of her legs once they had all caught up. Myria was the most hesitant, but the leadership shown by the shield-dotted spider seemed to inspire her more than the others.

Then, the ‘leader’ initiated the charge from the front with Shayla and Faerith coming in from the left side and Elle and Myria coming in from the right. I was ready to intervene, but it pretty quickly became obvious that the raw strength the spiders possessed was more than I’d given them credit for.

Amarys clashed with the beast, and although she was slightly smaller, she easily overpowered it, her pedipalps and legs keeping the enemy’s claws in place. At the same time, it was surrounded by the others who literally sank their fangs into it while assisting Amarys with holding it down.

The anteater collapsed within seconds, succumbing to the large doses of venom, and interestingly enough, I saw two blue squares with my blessing’s text appear before me.

The content was interesting, but I quickly waved them away as I was far more interested in the scene before me.

Faerith was running circles around the anteater’s corpse, skittering around on six legs while raising two into the air waving wildly. Amarys stood by it idly, facing my way as if awaiting further orders. Myria and Shayla looked like they didn’t quite know what to do, and Elle was left staring at the dead creature in confusion.

Cellestra was left giggling at the sight, and a large smile was painted on my face.

“Great job,” I said as I approached. “Very good.”

Not only was I relieved everything went so smoothly, but I was also filled with pride. After I said the words I had, the confusion that my spiders were going through disappeared. Once that was gone, it was Elle who was the first to react… in her usual way.

I patted her as she hugged me and let her know she did a great job. I repeated the words to the others when they approached, building their confidence before I told them it was time to move forward.

“They’ll be great hunters soon enough,” Cellestra said in amusement as we walked through the next area, ignoring the black and white striped horses.

“What do you mean?” I said with a grin. “They already are.”

She giggled in response as we neared the next part of the dungeon – the long grass which hid dangerous predators – where I came to a halt.

“Okay,” I said addressing the would-be great hunters. “In here, there are enemies that will pounce on you out of nowhere. Stay close to me and be aware of your surroundings. We’ll get through here quickly.”

I wasn’t sure if I should have them seek out and kill the lionesses just yet. Their strength had been beyond my expectations, but I didn’t want to be the cause behind any major wounds. While they wouldn’t last long physically I was certain they could last for a good while mentally considering they were still young.

Besides, I was hungry and eager to get my hands on some meat.

We were lucky. Not a single lioness showed itself during our little trip through the field, and soon, there was the other side where my next target roamed freely.

I spotted a bison a good hundred feet out and eagerly made my way to it when Amarys suddenly skittered forward with the other in tow. It looked to me that she had read my intention of taking it down and was going to do it for me.

“No,” I said, loud and clear. “I’m going to take this down myself. These things are extremely tough and strong. You can hunt one later, just not today. Not yet.”

Amarys nodded first, and the others followed her lead.

“Cel, could you wait here, with them?”

“Want me to keep them in check?” She asked with a smile as she stepped off my back.

“Yes, please. If that’s no issue.”

“Of course it isn’t. Happy hunting.” She waved at me as she stood next to Shayla, patting her.

I swore, patting these spiders was just a compulsion. They were so incredibly soft and reacted to it so well, that it was challenging to resist.

“Listen well to Cellestra, okay?” I told them. “I’ll take this down and…”

I thought for a moment whether it was worth for my spiderlings to kill the Bison, but I didn’t see what skills it could offer. Besides, its sheer size and strength would make it difficult for me to ensnare it. The best option I’d have would be to use paralytic venom, and its hide was extremely thick and tough, leaving a paralytic venom-laden earthen spike as the only option.

And that in itself would deal a lot of damage.

All in all, too much of a hassle.

And I was hungry.

In my opinion, the best possible enhancements for them to obtain would come from the third floor. That was, if my experience regarding my own obtainable enhancements was anything to go by. I would be surprised if there was something incredibly powerful that I could get from any creatures without magic before then.

I readied my weapon, even though I didn’t have any intention of using it, and charged forward towards the unsuspecting animal. It wasn’t paying attention to me, and was just grazing without a care in the world.

Then, when I got in range, I cast my earthen spike spell twice in quick succession, impaling the animal and delivering a lethal blow. Its suffering ended quickly due to the major wounds, something for which I was grateful.

Great. It was time to eat… and to see if my spiderlings liked bison as much as I did.