It’d taken him a long time to modify his sword into the shape of a saber. He’d had to grind the wood on a special, shiny, porous rock for months to get it just right.

  He ran chi through the sword, not using any other techniques. In this place, using power sparingly and efficiently was the best way to survive. Jake was able to regain lost energy easier than the other prisoners, but that didn’t mean he could be careless. If he spent all of his time replenishing his lost chi, he’d never be able to advance.

  The Web Burrows were a very clever prison.

  Jake moved forward into the dark. Some who came down to mine would bring a light. Jake didn’t need one. His night vision was up to the task, especially with the weird, glowing moss that seemed to pepper every cavern or mine hallway. Slim could see in the dark too.

  Even so, the crawlers in this section of the mines would be hard to see. They looked sort of like jet black monkeys mixed with scorpions. Even after all these years, Jake still wasn’t sure what they ate to reproduce so fast or get so damn big. At least they didn’t grow too big for their environment, the mine tunnels. In the really large caverns, the things could get huge, but in the smaller tunnels that he and Slim were in, they only got the size of a large dog.

  Jake spotted the vein of three trigrams milk ore right up ahead. This was a vein he and Slim had found a year ago. Back then, it’d been too small to bother with, but it’d been a while since they’d found any new veins of the stuff. It was worth collecting this bit now before continuing to dig new tunnels.

  Sure enough, the moment he got close enough, he could hear scuttling in the tunnel ahead. The crawlers seemed to sense if anyone got close to any three trigrams milk ore and groups of them were attracted to the stuff.

  He’d asked Slim once why the rock was called three trigrams milk ore. Slim had no idea, other than its pale, veiny appearance.

  Slim had been in the Web Burrows for over thirty years. Jake refused to stay here that long. He had a plan, and he was close to enacting it.

  The crawlers came into sight, skittering around a corner ahead. “Big ones!” Jake called back.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not coming anywhere near you until everything is dead!” called back Slim. “Your problem, Boss! If you die, I’m running back!”

  “I know!” Jake muttered, “Every fucking time… I get the point.” He surged forward, moving among the crawlers like it was second nature. After all these years, he’d had a lot of practice.

  His wooden sword, strengthened with chi, blocked and cut with ruthless efficiency. All the creatures’ tails had giant points the size of a dagger. They dripped with venom.

  The crawlers had two sets of arms, one with monkey-like hands and one with pincers. To be safe, Jake usually cut off as many limbs as he could before attacking the creatures’ bodies directly. He’d adapted this strategy after a close call when he’d first come to the mines.

  This time, there were five crawlers. That seemed to be the average number, but it could be four or even five times that sometimes. Jake had no idea why. The things screamed at him, the sounds echoing weirdly around the tunnels as they leapt around, trying to tear him apart. They were fast, but Jake was faster.

  He cut them apart methodically, precisely, and the things growled in hatred as he did it. Their faces were like a fucked-up mix of human, monkey, and lion. When the last one was down, he checked to see if any of them had enough residual energy to feed on. Two of them did. He saw two monster cores on the ground too, where they’d rolled off the crawlers.

  “Yes!” he whispered.

  One reason he worked with Slim was the man...creature…whatever, never came anywhere near until Jake told him to, at least prior to actually mining. This allowed Jake to feed or collect monster cores without any questions. And during the actual mining, if any demon beasts attacked them, he let Jake have half the monster cores that appeared. Jake still got half the mined ore too.

  At the end of the day, Slim was a coward who hated fighting, and Jake had better things to do with his time than swing a pick at a wall. Whenever he had down time while guarding for Slim, he’d either practice forms with his wooden sword, meditate, or sit down and contemplate their surroundings.

  The Web Burrows blocked most techniques, or even spikes in chi. He also hadn’t been able to access his inventory the entire time he’d been a prisoner.

  Jake put away the two cores. He called back, “It’s clear!”

  “Got it.” Slim jogged up and immediately began working.

  This had been their routine for so long, it didn’t even require thought.

  Jake tried to spread his senses as best he could. It wasn’t easy to do in the Web Burrows. He was tense for about an hour. If any demon beasts were going to attack, they usually did so while miners approached ore, or right after mining.

  Nobody knew how the damn things moved so freely around the tunnels. They even seemed to be able to get into closed off tunnel systems somehow. Jake knew for a fact the things couldn’t move through walls, though. He suspected there were fissures or smaller tunnels that just usually escaped notice to all but the crawlers.

  He focused carefully, using all of his senses for a few minutes.

  Satisfied that nothing was going to eat Slim’s face anytime soon, Jake settled against the wall. He placed one hand on the ground, probing the stone itself. As he tried to better understand the weird energy field in this place, he thought about the escape plan he’d be acting on soon.

  Thoughts of escape inexplicably reminded him of how he’d first come to the Web Burrows. In the midst of his meditation, it was like he was reliving the experience.

  Chapter 6

  OVER NINE YEARS AGO, ON THE SAME DAY JAKE HAD COME TO THE MURIM WORLD

  Right after using his bat mount’s special ability, he appeared in the air between two large hills, not quite mountains. He didn’t know how far he’d teleported away, but this was definitely a different-looking area.

  After he was able to think clearly, he felt through his link with the Clay Bat that it was exhausted. It gave a few flaps of its big grey wings, then before Jake could even react, it grew smaller and disappeared into his storage.

  Jake fell. “This wasn’t in the item description!” he yelled.

  Even though he wasn’t as high up as he’d been back on Earth over Macon, landing was still gonna leave a mark. He only had a few seconds to think about what to do as wind began to scream past his ears.

  Before he landed, Jake settled on a plan to flash-step directly upwards before hitting the ground, then do it as many times as he needed to, making each one’s distance shorter. It would take every shred of his concentration if he had any hope. He thought it was a good plan, or at least as good as he could come up with on the fly. Maybe he’d even survive getting dropped off his bat. He knew that realistically he was still going to likely be hurt by the fall.

  The next second, he saw a flash of green light and felt a massive wave of disorientation. He had his eyes open but couldn’t see anything. Then he tried to feel around him, not sure where he was. It felt like the world just got turned upside down.

  When he could finally put two thoughts together, he wondered what in the heck had just happened, and more importantly, where he was. A soft light surrounded him, but it was strange, muted, and had a reddish hue. The large chamber he was in was covered in gold and satin. He thought it might be something like a lavishly decorated meeting room. Some of the effect was a little ruined when he caught glimpses of a rough stone ceiling and between some of the banners.

  “Welcome to my humble abode.”

  Jake swallowed and turned slowly. He swallowed again as his abused senses slowly caught up to current events. I’m so fucked, he thought a bit sadly. He’d tried his best, but even though he couldn’t even begin to measure the power of the being before him, he knew it had to be way past his ability to understand.

  Half in shadow, the speaker smiled. She was a human woman from the waist up, but from the waist down, she had the body of a giant spider.

  “I have taken the liberty of removing everything from your possession but your clothing, such as it is, and put it all in your storage ring in your dantian. Very clever of you to hide such a precious item where you did. Of course, if it were inferior in any way, you might have destroyed yourself. The fact you were able to do so had nothing to do with your own skill or power, for sure.”

  Jake didn’t say anything. He stood completely, absolutely still. The feeling he was getting right now was different than when he’d seen the projections of gods back on earth, even Morrigan. Of course, The Morrigan was a god, and was likely not trying to bowl him over every time he met her. Still, Jake hadn’t experienced anything quite like what he was feeling now.

  The sensation was like he imagined being really deep underwater might feel, like a pressure on every inch of his body. It felt like he weighed three times what he really did. It took an effort of will to stay standing.

  What was worse was, he was pretty sure she was not trying to exude pressure on him. This was just her normal aura.

  “Excuse me, may I ask who you are and how to address you?” Jake was terrified, but his old mage training asserted itself. This approach had worked for him before, maybe it’d work again. Also, staring at powerful entities, or probably also cultivators for that matter, was usually not a good idea. Either acknowledge or ignore them, but never just stare.

  “Oh? Polite. That’s good. But I can clearly tell you are not used to speaking this language. Interesting.” She took a pull from an extremely long, thin quellazaire made of metal. The cigarette on its end produced a lazy line of smoke the corkscrewed into the air. When she exhaled, her smoke didn’t disturb the line coming from her cigarette.

  Jake knew he was way out of his depth on this one. Whoever this woman was, she could likely crush him with a thought, and she was also physically here with him. This was not a sending, or a hologram, or a projection. Making everything worse was how he was still disoriented and had no idea how he’d even wound up here.

  The woman moved a bit closer. Jake had to suppress a shudder. The woman’s spider body twitched, the legs moving even as her human torso stayed still. The effect was unsettling. Jake had seen a lot of monsters in his life, but nothing quite like this. As a mage, he’d learned about monsters called jorōgumo, but he’d never actually seen one. And he certainly had never met one with this kind of power.

  She took another puff of her cigarette, exhaled thoughtfully, and pursed her lips. “Ah! You have so many titles! But instead of explaining things, they only…oh, no wait. A champion? That does explain a few things, but not everything.”

  Jake felt a chill. She can see titles too? Can every-fucking-body see titles? What the fuck? He didn’t say anything out loud.

  “You seem like you want to say something, but you’re scared shitless. Probably wise, but if I wanted to just dispose of you, we wouldn’t be talking. You can call me Lady Brima.”

  “Thank you, Lady Brima.”

  “What are you thanking me for? I might still destroy you.” She smirked and took a short puff of her cigarette. When she blew the smoke this time, it sparkled.

  Jake wasn’t as fazed anymore. His nerves were rapidly steadying. He still didn’t know who this woman was or what her intentions were. The fact she was attached to a big-assed spider body wasn’t exactly encouraging, admittedly. He said, “It was still thoughtful to introduce yourself without your asking. Lady Brima, are you a god?”

  She chuckled. “No, I am not a god. I am a cultivator in the Seeking Enlightenment phase. I can sense an arrogant lizard’s energy on you. I know him, unfortunately. So I am in the same stage as the lizard, but more advanced than him. Is he your master?” She didn’t give any time to answer. “Doesn’t matter. He’s gone, I can feel it now. I don’t even care how you came to be near that old hermit. You are here now and you are mine now.”

  What this spider woman just said blew Jake’s mind. He’d never even heard of the “Seeking Enlightenment” cultivation phase before. What the hell is that? The most advanced he’d ever heard of, ever, was Meridian Refinement! Jake didn’t say anything, just stayed motionless.

  “So quiet. Are you perhaps still wondering how I can see your titles?”

  Jake tried not to show any reaction, but he was sure he’d failed. He doubted that this woman missed anything, especially if she was more powerful than Master Zi.

  “Actually, Lady Brima, now that you have told me your cultivation level, I’m not really too shocked.”

  “Oh?” Her voice dripped with amusement. “Perhaps you are even telling the truth. Now then, let me explain what happens next. You are very lucky. Not only are you interesting, you are being backed by a power greater than myself and I have no wish for more enemies. But retribution only applies if I destroy you. In a few moments, you are going to the Web Burrows, my little private prison.”

  She gestured and Jake noticed for the first time that something had been hovering at the corner of his vision. He immediately recognized the Living Clay Bat. “You can keep this.” When she pointed, the deactivated bat disappeared into his Endless Storage Ring in his dantian. “I will let you keep the ring too. That is quite a treasure, you know. Telling anyone else that you have it would be foolish.” She smiled. “You might want to keep it to yourself that you met me too. Others you will meet soon…have not been so fortunate.”

  Jake had to dare ask a question. Nothing made sense. He’d obviously been intercepted either when he was teleporting or right after he’d appeared again, but he couldn’t figure out his captor’s motivation. She seemed…detached. Clinical. “Lady Brima, why are you doing this?”

  “Everything I do, I do for the same reason any of the strong do anything. I felt like it.” Her grin was predatory and added to the unsettling feeling her rustling spider legs caused. “Remember that. Oh, and don’t bother trying to access your storage ring again. It has been sealed. There will also be other changes on your body in the Web Burrows. I am sure you will discover them in time, though. Thank you in advance for your mining effort.” She put one arm over her midsection and took a puff of her cigarette.

  As Jake faded away, she waved goodbye. “Do try to stay alive. You never know where life might lead you.” She blew another cloud of smoke that formed a laughing face.

  Chapter 7

  Slim was mining fast as usual. The wait was almost over.

  No demon beasts attacked while Jake was reflecting about how he’d come to this place. To this day, he still wasn’t completely sure how Lady Brima had captured him, although he knew a lot more about Seeking Enlightenment experts now.

  He’d learned a lot over the last nine years. Now he knew more about the Murim world and about cultivation itself. He was no longer the clueless initiate from Earth.

  Slim dragged his wrist across his inhuman eyes as he finished mining all the milk ore in the small vein. It wasn’t as much compared to what they usually gathered, but was still more than most prisoners would have produced in days. Jake and Slim intentionally went to dangerous areas that most others usually wouldn’t risk. It was easier to find more milk stone this way.

  And Jake had some advantages. If he got injured, it took him far less time to heal.

  There were no new monster cores, so the two of them only split the ore. Slim moved his weight from foot to foot, the expression on his ghastly face also making his awkwardness obvious. “So you are going on alone again?”

  “Yes. I’ll find another vein of ore.”

  “Alright. Well, be careful. Uh, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  Jake let his amusement show and quirked a smile. “Do you need me to go back with you a ways first? In case there are any more demon beasts?”

  “I don’t think so. We came off of the timber branch tunnel to get here and enough prisoners walk there every day that there shouldn’t be any problems. If anything does come, I can escape. Same as if anyone wants to steal my ore.” He pointed to the robe-turned-satchel he had slung over his shoulder.

  “Okay. Later. I should be back before the evening meal sale. If not, it’ll be morning for sure.”

  Slim nodded. He turned to leave and briefly looked over his shoulder as he moved away. His movements were unusually hesitant, like he’d noticed that something might have changed. Jake realized with some surprise that he actually felt bad he would probably not see Slim again after he set his plan in motion.

  He stood there for a minute after Sim was gone, just thinking about the last few years. The day had been strange so far, full of reflection. Finally, Jake turned and moved deeper into the tunnels.

  Not for the first time, he felt a flash of frustration that he couldn’t just phase through the stone like he could before being a Web Burrows prisoner. He wasn’t sure how, but Lady Brima prevented most movement-based, natural abilities, including his phasing ability.

  He didn’t think there was any way for him to break through that restriction after years of fruitless effort. Luckily, some of the other ways he’d been limited weren’t quite as solid.

  Jake had a number of things to do before he attempted a prison break and one destination was on the other side of the mine. Most of the other prisoners didn’t question his solo forays deeper into the mines anymore, and that meant the guards didn’t either. They all thought he was just nuts and ate demon beasts…which was even true to an extent. To maintain his social standing and relative invisibility, he’d still need to make it back to camp before the end of their “night,” or they might grow suspicious.