After a moment's thought, I moved on, carefully walking between the bodies. The corridor was long, and with each step there were more and more corpses. Some were old, reduced to bones, others still bore the marks of recent death. The stench was hard to bear, and the air was heavy, as if the place itself didn't want me to breathe.

  Suddenly, I heard something deep in the tunnel.

  Footing.

  But not the kind that a man makes. It was not the sound of two feet hitting a stone. There were more. Much more.

  My heart started to beat faster. I walked over to the torch hanging on the wall, lit it, and without thinking long I threw it in the direction from which the sound was coming.

  That's when I saw it.

  Spider.

  He was the size of an adult. His body was covered in scars, and there were old arrows in several places, as if someone had tried to kill him before... and failed. But what was most frightening was something else—a purple crystal was growing out of its armor, unnatural, pulsating with faint light.

  The beast howled and pounced on me.

  The first thought was the magic of destruction. One word and everything would be over.

  But at the same moment, I remembered the pain. That piercing, crippling headache that kept me awake after fighting the goblins. This spider was something much bigger than two goblins.

  If I now reach for destruction... I may not survive.

  I had no choice.

  I collected mana and uttered a spell:

  Water Missile.

  I felt almost all of my mana leave my body in an instant. A stream of compressed water pierced the spider's side through, tearing its armor apart. The beast howled, taking a step back... but it did not.

  She was still alive.

  With the last of her strength, she threw herself at me. The impact was powerful — it slammed me into the wall of the tunnel, and air escaped from my lungs. I felt blood in my mouth.

  At that moment, I didn't think about it.

  I reached for the dagger that Brenor had given me.

  And I shoved it right into the beast's brain.

  The spider's body trembled and then slid limply to the ground.

  I fell down with him.

  I lay there for a long time, trying to recover. Every breath hurt, my hands trembled, and my head was pulsing with a dull echo of exhaustion. Finally, I forced myself to get up.

  I looked around.

  The spider was really dead.

  I collected what I could—most of the purple crystal growing out of his body, and pieces of armor that might still be useful. I didn't know what exactly this crystal was, but my instinct told me that it was not something ordinary.

  It was not an ordinary mine.

  And that's just the beginning.

  I continued through the tunnel, forcing my tired body to take the next steps. I didn't even walk a long distance when something caught my attention.

  Nest.

  The walls were covered with a thick, sticky cobweb, so dense that the light of the torch could barely penetrate through it. There was a sweetish, nauseating smell of decay in the air. On the ground lay the remains of bones—human and non-human—entwined with threads, as if someone had deliberately stored them here.

  It was the spider's nest.

  Or at least... one of them.

  My heart clenched in my chest. A cold shiver ran down my spine when I noticed something else. Cocoons hung among the cobwebs. Large. Some were cracking, others were still whole.

  They moved.

  I held my breath.

  If this spider had offspring... That meant that the struggle I barely survived could only be a warning.

  I squeezed the torch tighter and slowly took a step back, trying not to move the cobwebs. One thought swirled in my head:

  I don't have mana for the next fight.

  And whatever was in that nest... was definitely not one opponent.

  Then I remembered dynamite.

  Near the camp—this abandoned, destroyed miners' camp—I saw chests. Dynamite. They probably used it to widen tunnels.

  Without thinking any longer, I turned and ran.

  I stumbled over my own legs, stones, protruding roots. The pain in my side reminded me of a spider wound, but I ignored it. After a while, I fell out of the cave, gasping for air like a drowning woman. I grabbed all the dynamite I could find and turned back.

  When I got back to the tunnel, my heart almost jumped out of my chest.

  Some of the cocoons were still hanging.

  But most... was gone.

  I froze.

  Deep in the tunnel, I saw them—hundreds of small, shining eyes reflecting the light of torches. They were moving. They were crawling. They were getting closer.

  There was no time.

  I lit the fuse with a torch and threw the dynamite right into the nest. The explosion was small — too small. I understood it at the same moment.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  The only chance.

  I set fire to all the other charges at once and threw them into the tunnel.

  The spiders have moved.

  I could hear their footsteps—dozens of legs hitting the stone. Then the world exploded.

  The bang was so powerful that I thought I was going to lose my hearing. The tunnel began to collapse, the rocks fell one after another. I stepped back instinctively, shielding my head.

  As the dust settled, I saw one spider — crushed to the ground by a huge boulder. He was still moving.

  Without hesitation, I approached and finished him off.

  I didn't look back.

  I ran out of the mine, and the sound of the explosion was still ringing in my ears. I knew one thing— I didn't want to have anything to do with this place, never again.

  The way back to the city passed calmly. I treated my wounds as best I could, relying on the basic spells of water. The pain was dull, continuous, but bearable.

  Finally, I reached the gates of the city. The hood is pulled low over the head, the ears are covered. I passed through the guards without any problems.

  The Adventurers' Guild looked the same as before. The same receptionist looked at me as I walked over to the counter.

  "Have you completed the task?" He asked indifferently.

  I put fragments of the spider's armor on the counter.

  "No one survived," I said calmly. "I explained to him exactly what I had found in the mine and what had happened there.

  He listened in silence, then handed me thirty silver coins.

  "You can go.

  "I have one more thing.

  He looked at me more carefully.

  "Show me."

  I took out a purple crystal.

  His expression changed immediately.

  "This... A rare case," he said. "Crystals of this type sometimes grow on monsters that live in caves. This one is big. Very large for this type.

  He thought for a moment.

  "Forty silver coins.

  "I'll take it."

  When he handed me the money, I felt the eyes of other seekers on me. Their reactions said it all.

  It was a large sum for one mission.

  The first thing I did after leaving the Adventurers' Guild building was to go to the Adventurers' clothing store.

  The shop was run by an elderly woman, apparently between sixty and seventy years old. Her back was slightly hunched over, but her gaze was sharp and alert, as if she could judge any customer at a glance.

  "Do you have masks?" I asked. "Those that protect the face and cover it.

  Without saying a word, she pointed with her hand to a small display by the wall.

  I came closer. There were many masks — decorated, heavy, excessively decorative, others too grotesque. Most of them didn't suit me at all.

  Until I finally saw her.

  A simple, white mask. Smooth surface, only two eye holes. Nothing more.

  "For how much?" I asked, pointing my finger at her.

  The older woman looked at me carefully.

  "It's the most expensive mask in the store," she said calmly. - Contains an artifact. If someone casts a black magic curse on you, the mask will consume it.

  She was silent for a moment.

  "But only once." The artifact is a one-time thing.

  "The price?"

  "Twenty silver coins.

  It was a lot. A lot.

  But I knew it was the right decision.

  "I take it."

  When I put on my mask and looked in the mirror, I didn't recognize myself for a moment. Brown hair. Human ears. Face hidden under a white mask.

  I didn't look like an elf anymore.

  And that's exactly what it was all about.

  After leaving the store, I went in search of an inn or an inn. I didn't need luxuries—just a place where I could sleep in peace.

  After a long search, I found an inn. She did not belong to the upper classes, but she looked solid and clean. Perfect.

  I approached the receptionist.

  "I'd like a single room." For ten days.

  The woman glanced at the book, then looked at me.

  "One silver coin.

  I paid without hesitation.

  For the first time in a very long time, I felt something like... safety.

  I immediately went to my room and fell asleep almost immediately.

  The next day, I wasn't going to take a new job. I needed rest—both physically and mentally. I walked around the city, visiting various shops and gathering information. I asked about Brenor and Sylvia, but no one could say anything specific. Either they had already left the city, or they deliberately stayed away from the places where the adventurers were hanging out.

  The most interesting place I went to that day was the library.

  It was huge. Much bigger than I expected. The tall shelves stretched upwards, and the smell of old paper and dust hung in the air. I immediately turned to the magic-related departments — I was interested in water magic, destruction magic, and mana theory.

  However, I quickly noticed the problem.

  Books were expensive. Definitely too expensive for me to afford all the ones that caught my attention.

  Resigned, I entered the section with old books. There, almost at the very end of the shelf, I found the only book devoted to the magic of destruction. It was in terrible condition — yellowed pages, cracked cover — but the price was surprisingly low.

  I took it right away.

  When I bought it, I asked the receptionist why the book was so cheap.

  "Because no one can make use of it," she replied without hesitation. "She was supposed to be thrown out anyway." It's good that someone bought it.

  I just nodded and walked out of the library, holding the book close to me.

  Apart from that day, nothing special happened.

  In the evening, I went to a restaurant where desserts were served. They were expensive, but... One of the best I've ever eaten in my life. For a short while, I could forget about the mine, the spiders and the blood.

  As the day drew to a close, I went back to my room in the inn and went to bed.

  I was glad that for the first time in a very long time I experienced a peaceful day.

  Days passed, and nothing special happened.

  Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. Life went on slowly, almost in a monotonous rhythm. I didn't do much—I kept looking for Sylvia and Brenor, but to no avail. It was as if they had disappeared into thin air.

  I studied magic from a book about the magic of destruction that I bought in the library. However, I quickly discovered that the most important thing had been cut out of her. Key chapters, diagrams and descriptions were missing. Nevertheless, I tried, analyzed the remnants of theory, learned from my mistakes.

  Time passed so quickly that I didn't even notice when two years had passed.

  I was nine years old.

  I was taller, had much more mana, and was stronger—both physically and magically. I managed to advance to the A rank, one higher than before. Although I was actually nine years old, I registered in the Guild as an eleven-year-old. So now my adventurer card was thirteen years old.

  I also collected a large sum of money.

  Seven gold coins to be exact—which was equivalent to seven hundred pieces of silver.

  I was very close to my goal.

  I put it on a special staff with a magic jewel — an artifact that increased the power of spells by a factor and a half and had the ability to transform into a ring. I have only one gold coin left to win.

  So I decided to go to the Adventurers' Guild.

  I wanted to see if there was any order that would be... well paid enough.

  The receptionist was not very talkative. Actually... as always.

  Even though I've been in this city for two years, his approach hasn't changed one bit. He gave me a quick glance from the counter, then went back to his papers. No questions asked. No comments.

  Without saying a word, I headed to the application board.

  The first thing that caught my eye was the huge number of tasks for lower ranks. Simple jobs — collecting ingredients, escorting merchants, eliminating small monsters. Their rewards were too low to spend time on. I swiped through the ads, one by one, rejecting them without much thought.

  I already knew many of them.

  Nothing new. Nothing interesting.

  Until I finally stopped.

  One ad clearly stood out from the rest.

  Reward: one gold coin.

  Rank Required: A.

  It was... rare. Even very much. Tasks of this type were extremely rare — those that only a few could undertake.

  The order was to find the missing daughter of a nobleman. The description showed that the girl was last seen in the direction of the forest, near which there were underground houses known for the activities of smugglers. However, there was no certainty whether they were behind the disappearance. There was a lack of witnesses. There was a lack of evidence.

  There was only a guess.

  First prize.

  I hesitated for a moment, analyzing the possible risks. In the end, however, I made a decision.

  I decided to give it a try.

  This time I didn't set out as a lost seven-year-old girl in torn clothes.

  I set out as a full-fledged high-class magician, holder of the A rank, with experience gained over the last years.

  Still, one thing still bothered me.

  My fitness. My strength. My maturity — too great for this age. The only conclusion I came to was that elves... they have to grow up faster than other breeds.

  Or maybe I was just different.