Three goblins were lying in front of the arachne, Elara, one of them was wrapped in vines like some sort of christmas present, the other one had all of it's bones crushed, and finally the last one was a mess of frozen limbs.
She had a grin on her face.
"Anna was the fastest but I do admire the cruelty you boys showed," Elara complimented.
"Thank you," Brock scratched his cheek.
"The goal of this exercise is not just to show power but control," she looked at Ryker, "Your control was surprisingly precise despite the minimal use of mana."
She then faced everyone, her hair blowing in the wind.
"Normally we'd do the orc killing next but I'd rather see you're creativity first," her four brown eyes lit up.
Ryker wasn't sure what to expect. A trap could be a literal cage that they had to break. Or a puzzle that required using their braincells.
"Brock why don't you go first," she said.
The golem walked confidently to a place that Elara had pointed at. He didn't seem nervous. Then Elara came closer to him and started weaving webs all over him until he was wrapped in a cocoon. The arachne was exceptionally fast. Before Ryker could blink she was already done.
"Okay get out before you suffocate," she said.
But the web wasn't normal webs. They had a purple tint to them, mana-infused webs. Brock was struggling physically first. He had turned his arm into stone, trying to rip it apart but to no avail.
A rock started forming above him, sharpening itself with mana, as it dropped, intending on slicing the webs apart.
But it wasn't effective. One sharp rock wasn't enough.
A minute had already passed. Sweat was pouring down Ryker's forehead as he watched his buddy struggle.
"Come on Brock," Anna was worried.
She was about to rush in, but Ryker stopped her with a look.
"Remember, failure means death in a dungeon," Elara said.
Brock's face turned purple, but he had a realization, it wasn't about strength. He was a golem that could turn into stone, not just his arms but all of him. But what if he could do more than just turn into stone? If he could grow spikes on his skin like the rock he made earlier?
With a new surge of determination, he closed his eyes, concentrating his Delta rank mana.
"Let's get spiky!"
Shards of stone, jagged and sharp, erupted from his entire body, shredding the cocoon from within like a beast clawing its way out of a cage.
He emerged from the web's shredded remains, panting, a triumphant grin on his face.
"I like it," Elara gave an approving nod, her multiple eyes all blinking in unison.
She pointed to the dryad.
Anna took a deep breath. She had thought of a few plans to escape but none of them seemed plausible. She hadn't practiced creating spikes from her body like Brock. She was a dryad, a wielder of nature, a delicate dancer with a wooden sword, not a stone behemoth.
Wrapped in webs, her timer began. She tried to use vines to rip the webs apart but that proved to be futile. Even trying to create spikes from within the cocoon felt impossible. There wasn't enough space. The cocoon was too tight.
Fighting goblins was easier for her. She had her sword, she could create spikes from the ground, it was easy compared to this. That was her flaw, thinking too much.
She hated failing in front of him. It happened all the time in classes but here, in a dungeon, she was the one with more experience.
"Come on Anna," Ryker's words of encouragement made her smile.
It gave her an idea. Creating a vine on the outside was easy, all she had to do was put spikes on it to create a makeshift cutting mechanism to slice her way out.
A vine grew in front of her, small spikes were appearing on it. The web was strong, but the constant sawing motion was cutting through it. She managed to sever the cocoon but she cut herself too. A gash appeared on her left cheek. Blood trickled down.
"Well done but cutting near your head was a mistake. Next!"
A gust of wind blew as Ryker entered the cocoon.
It felt like being suffocated by a thick blanket that tightened with every breath. But he knew he couldn't use brute force like Brock, that is he lacked required the strength. Anna's solution had worked but she had a bigger mana reserve. So he had to use something else.
His first plan was to try and freeze the web into brittle ice, but he dismissed it. Space magic was also not possible. Transforming into a bat would also waste mana on top of magic needed to transform back. A bat couldn't physically escape the web either.
He tried to expand his claw inside the web. That was another failed attempt, that is, it couldn't cut through the web. A different thought came into mind. Maybe he could imbue his claws with ice mana and then cut.
It was a simple but effective plan.
Slowly he moved his hands into position and gathered tiny bit of ice mana in the tip of his claws. The feeling was like a frost spreading through his arm. Once he had the feeling right, he slashed. The reinforced claws effortlessly cut through the strands, slicing a large gap for him to climb out of.
He emerged, panting slightly, almost half his mana reserve gone already. He needed rest.
The arachne was stroking her chin, as if impressed.
"I don't see a lot of vampires who use their claws with mana. Getting close is quite the gamble isn't it," Elara's compliments made him proud.
"Five minute break before the orcs," she announced, "Remember you need to pass all three categories."
They all sat down in the grass.
"You okay?" Ryker asked Anna, touching her bleeding cheek.
"Yes of course," she said.
Brock was now lying on his back, his grey hair drenched with sweat, "You're not healing it? You can, can't you?"
Anna's smile faltered, she didn't have any more energy, making the vine-cutter had taken a lot out of her.
"I think I'll need a few minutes."
Ryker scooted closer to her, a grin on his face.
"You know vampire venom stops bleeding and prevents infection," he teased, leaning in.
Anna rolled her eyes but didn't pull away, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
"I don't want the dungeon to break again, thank you very much," she countered, but her smile was back.
Then she whispered, "And you need your ice right? So again no thank you."
She patted his head condescendingly. That didn't stop him from grinning. He loved the back-and-forth.
"Alright time for the final test," Elara said.