I lay quietly on the ground for a long time trying to come up with a plan. Nothing came to mind. I checked my stats and noticed something surprising. I decided to ask the guide.

  "Why has my Broadsword skill gone to zero?"

  "When was the last time you used it?" she replied.

  "Uhhh." I shrugged mentally. "Quite a while ago."

  "Exactly. If you don't use a skill then your ability fades with time. If you use a skill regularly then it stays and potentially improves."

  "That makes sense."

  "You never completely forget," she added. "And, you pick up a forgotten skill twice as fast. The most you can lose is one level, unless you are crippled, or suffer some sort of memory damage."

  "Could that be what happened to me? Why I can't remember my name or friends or where I'm from?"

  There was a long pause.

  "I don't believe so," came a rather reluctant reply.

  I had a suspicion, but I let it drop. I was exhausted and I had to think of a way to kill that spider before its eyes healed. At some point I think I might have dozed off.

  Fortunately, I didn’t snore or I might have awoken to a face full of acid.

  While I had a good idea where my quiver was there was little point in trying to retrieve it. Any noise might prompt a swift acid reply. And while the webbing did stop the acid it dissolved into a small hole after a few moments which she had to fill back in. Too much noise in a single spot and she would burn a hole through her webbing and target the sound. And she was frightfully accurate. Worse my bow was inside the dome. I could see it lying beside the tree stump I dove behind when she sprayed at me the second time.

  I rose as quietly as I could and surveyed the area looking for a way to end the fight.

  The sun was rising. The dome gave her partial shade and I suspect she created one to hide in every morning. However, as the sun rose she hissed and curled into a ball hiding her head from the light. I wondered why she would avoid the light while blind but I decided it was instinct. And that gave me an idea.

  I moved carefully until I found a small heavy branch I could throw as a test. I tossed it towards the dome at an angle away from me. It struck the dome of webbing and the spider reacted sending a spray at the wood which caught in the webbing. It dissolved under the acid and a few moments later a small hole appeared in the dome as well.

  The spider had settled in at this point and did not try to repair her work. She just tried to hide her head.

  I slipped back behind the tree I landed near. I was feeling better although I was certainly up for a big meal. Even though I wasn't hungry I knew healing causes a great demand for nourishment.

  The tree was a true giant. It towered into the sky dwarfing those around it. I could easily see the spider crawling up into its branches to hide from the sun. But now I was more interested in how far the spider could throw its venom.

  First, I needed to remove part of her protective dome. I gauged where she would have to spit in order to account for the arc of her venom then I hurled a large rock at the dome. The first one was a little off but she spit at it and burned a hole. I tossed a second one as she spit at that as well connecting the two holes. I heard her hiss in annoyance.

  “It should be large enough,” I thought.

  Unsurprisingly, I got no response from my guide.

  Then I snuck back to the large tree and picked up a large heavy branch. Getting behind the tree I swung at the tree. It gave a loud clunk and her head came up and a stream of venom shot out through the opening and struck the front of the tree. I dodged back to keep any acid from hitting me.

  “I thought so. Spitting is instinct for her. I can use that.”

  The tree was hissing as the bark and the wood was slowly being eaten away.

  I got behind the tree and swung again. The loud thunk brought her head up and again a stream of acid shot out and struck the giant tree.

  “I wonder how much of that stuff she has in her?”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  The side of the tree was showing clear signs of distress and I could see a bit of sway at the top.

  One more time I thought.

  It turned out to be two.

  A jet of acid shot out and hit the tree for the final time and the core of the tree fell to the acid. The huge tree swayed and then with a loud crack began to fall. The spider came up, its senses alert but, the instinct to spray at the tree did nothing to stop the tons of weight that were falling towards her. The ground shook beneath me as the tree fell straight through the dome and crushed the spider, its massive weight landing straight on her.

  Tree crushes spider for three hundred points of damage! Matron Dust Spider is dead! Double experience points for defeating a creature five levels above you!

  A golden glow enveloped me.

  Congratulations! You are now level 4!

  I waited for a few moments after the tree fell to make sure no other creatures approached. Then I inched forward and retrieved my quiver and then made my way to the stump where my bow lay. It took a few minutes to find it beside the tree trunk but it lay unharmed and I picked it up gratefully. Now fully armed, I slowly approached the body of the spider.

  The head was smashed on one side and I could hear sizzling where the tree had broken one of the spiders acid glands. It had eaten everything around it in a slow pool of destruction. Part of the insects head was devoured by its own acid and the tree was slowly being consumed. I backed away to watch as parts of the creature and the tree were slowly turned to dust by the acid. I was just about to turn away when a thought struck me.

  I made my way back and from a distance looked to see what was happening.

  I soon realized that each mandible had a channel for biting conveying the deadly acid, However the same mandible also could carry a powerful agent that would paralyze the victim. How could this work?

  The answer came quickly as I found two holes in each mandible. One designed to carry the venom, the other the acid. I pried at the creatures head and eventually discovered two glands which carried the venom and the acid. What was interesting was they were not one big gland but rather a group of smaller glands which could be individually compressed giving the creature great control over how much she could spray at a single time. “I could use these if I can get them free without killing myself,” I thought.