Chapter 19 Cursed quest pt5

***Meanwhile back in Shi's room***

"Sam I think we need to seriously talk right now." Josh said.

I just nodded his head and waited for Josh to speak. I knew he seriously screwed up when I just stood there and did nothing. The end result had me save Josh but I did almost nothing for Marie. I tried to rally at the end but I knew the damage was already done and I was pretty sure it was going to cost him his relationship with them both. Praying that I could fix this some how or some way I stood up straight and took a deep breath ready to hear Josh out.

"Ok first off, I want the full truth and you are to hold nothing back from me. If I find out you held anything from me then we are over forever. I wont be with someone who cant tell me the full truth. Do I make myself crystal clear?" Josh stated in a almost yelling tone of voice.

I nodded my head again.

"Sam... nodding is not good enough I want to hear your voice and words. If you cant give me that then I will give up trying to talk with you and we can sit here in silence until Marie comes back. I will have my answer though about there being an us anymore." Josh said still kind of telling but with coldness slowly seeping in.

Sam looked down and said, "I understand. I will tell you everything fully. Ask what you want to know. I do ask though that even if you don't like what I am saying that you will hear everything and not cut me off mid sentence."

Josh nodded" I think that is a reasonable request. Now where to start...

*** While that was started in the game***

"Shi are you ready to go? Hey are you awake over there?" Bolggor spoke up. "I am all set here. Lets take out those fire breathing spiders and get to the end."

Kuro walked over to me, "Shi?"

I was currently looking at the people who applied for the bodyguard position. Only two seemed like they fit what I was looking for and I noticed one of them had the name of Josh. Did Josh really apply? I will definitely accept him. I think I need one or two more as well but can I afford it? Thinking about what I had in storage I could afford it for a little while. Suddenly a great thought came to mind... What if I say I am hiring people on a trial basis and then if I dont like them I wont have to worry about a long term contract with them. I went to reply to both of them when I felt my foot being tapped gently. Backing out of the forums I blinked a few times. My eyes slowly adjusted to the darker cave setting.

"Huh? Kuro why are you tapping my foot?" I asked confused. "Its only been a few mins."

Kuro chuckled, "Umm check your time again its been almost 30 minutes already."

I jumped up and quickly grabbed my stuff.

"Sorry, I was on the forums looking at my ad I placed for staff. I guess I lost track of time." I said.

"Ok lets do this... I will use my rocks here to gather up the webs. Then you Shi will burn them up and Kuro you will have your water sword ready to go in case one of those fire breathing spiders shows up. Is that all to the plan?" Bolggor said.

"Ummm... I think we should try to burn them with the torch first before I use my fire. It is taxing and tires me out pretty fast. I know why the torch went out last time, if you remember correctly, Kuro uses his water magic on the web's so they were wet at that time." I said quietly.

They both just nodded to me and started to enact the first part of the plan. I watched Bolggor pick up a stone and throw it into the room it caught in mid air about 3 feet from him. I watched him move his hand around and the rock slowly but surely started to move around too. As the rock moved around it started to pick up a bit more speed until all at once it froze and Bolggor couldnt get it to move again.

"That is as much as I can grab with that one stone. I cant see the webs though so I dont know how well I did." Bolggor stated kind of dryly and with a hint of exhaustion in his voice.

I looked into the room and was shocked almost all of the webs were caught by the rock. Carefully I walked into the room and took the torch to the webbing near the rock. It caught quickly and you could see the webs burn up all the way to the cave wall and it went a lot further down the tunnel. Loking around from what I could see 90 percent of the webs were gone already.

"Well that was suprisingly easy to clear. We have almost all of the webs gone that I can see. No telling how far down the tunnel they are cleared though. Cant see that far but I did watch the flame travel quite far down the tunnel." I replied with hope filling my voice.

Kuro and Bolggor both stepped into the room with me and all of a sudden the door we had just openes slammed shut. The ground started to shake a bit too like a volcano about to go off or something big like a giant was stomping around trying to catch a chicken. No idea why those ideas came to mind but they did. I quietly giggled to myself over the image of the giant. Bolggor and Kuro both were staring at me when I looked at them. They looked at each other and just shrugged and shook their heads.

"Since I can see the webs, I will lead the way down the tunnel." I said in a sing song kind of voice.

I heard Kuro quietly stay to Bolggor, "Do you know what has gotten to Shi? Less then an hour ago she was crying, panicking and wouldn't let us come close to her. Now she is laughing, almost singing and is almost skipping down the tunnel."

Bolggor just shook his head, "When will we ever understand women? They are an odd race that is clearly foreign and only crazy people have a chance to understand them. I won't even bother to try. Are you going to try?"

"I don't want to end up in a Looney him. So nope never going to happen. Not worth trying." Kuro said really fast back.

"I heard that guys. Really I am just happy things are going right for me here. My ad had a lot of replies too and one person who I hoped would reply did reply. He is Josh, the guy who saved me before I came back. So now I know that I will be able to be safe when outside of the game. That would make any WOMAN happy." I said cheerfully. "Also the burning of the webs did an amazing job. So we can move on our way a bit faster. I am excited to see what is next. There is a turn up ahead."

"Slow down Shi!" Bolggor said.

"This is really too easy now. I don't like this, look here it looks like something is in the dirt here." Kuro said.

I turned around to look where Kuro is looking and he brushed off the floor a bit. Horror showed across both makes faces. I thought about the crunch sound I have been hearing as Bolggor was following us and froze.

"Ummm... don't look down and don't look at the floor behind you Bolggor. Let's just keep going a touch more slowly yet also hurry last this area." I said with a tremor in my voice.

Kuro took a deep breath and said "We are walking in a tunnel that has a floor covered in bones. I don't like this, I wish we could go back now. This is creepy and disgusting."

"This isn't my first time and it probably won't be my last time I am walking around on bones." Bolggor said with a sigh.

"We can only go forward and be on the lookout of whatever killed the living." I said shivering.

My mood was no longer happy. I turned the corner and saw a huge room.

"Wow this room is huge and filled with webs again." I replied stunned.

Holding out the torch I burned some of the webs away so I could walk inside the room.

"Bolggor we are going to need your rock or three to help clear up this room." I spoke up loudly as I had no idea how far back he was.

Bolggor appeared beside me and again threw his rock and a few others into the room. They all got stuck quickly. I watched him raise both hands.

"Freeze Bolggor, There are webs right by your hand and they look thicker then most in here." I said fast.

"I can actually see those without an issue. I wonder what would happen if I touched those. Don't burn them yet. I will avoid them and clear out more of this space." He replied warily.

Nodding I handed Kuro the torch and pulled out my weapons. I had a bad feeling about this area. Watching Bolggor's rock move around was fascinating. He avoided all of the really thick webs until most of the rocks got pretty stuck. Bolggor grunted a bit and took a horse stance and pulled his arms back towards his body. I was amazed to see the rocks start to move closer to him. He was starting to shake a bit.

"Bolggor don't over do it ok... We need you to be able to fight too." Kuro said warily as he put the torch up to the rocks covered completely in webs.

Laughing a bit I said "You couldn't of been able to reach them if he hadn't brought the rocks to you. You are quite petite."

Kuro got all offended. "I will have you know in real life I am the exact opposite of my avatar. I am quite tall and skinny. Very handsome too."

I couldn't help but laugh. He reminded me of Twiggzy when she pouted. Kuro moved over to the side and bumped one of the thick wires. The floor started to shake and dropped us all to our knees.

"Quick burn the thick webs fast," Bolggor yelled.

Kuro tried to reach the nearest one but he was too small to reach it. I dropped my sword and raised my hand and shot a flame out at one of the thick webs. They caught on fire and I saw that it took longer for them to burn but also they were all connected to a large sack like thing way up in the air. When the flame finally caught up to that sack we could hear popping like noises and the ground started shaking even worse.

"I dont think we should of burned those webs." I heard Kuro yell over the noise of the popping and rumbling.

Bolggor yelled, "Shi look out!!!"

I grabbed my sword and tried to roll closer to Bolggor but something large was crawling over me and I bumped into its leg. It looked like a hairy spider leg. I froze and tried to tuck my body under my shield. Oddly the leg kept moving and started to crawl away from us. With my shield above me I could see what looked like a huge tarantula with stripes like a tiger climbing the wall. All of the sudden the ground went still and we could all slowly get to our feet.

"Did you see that thing it was huge." I said quietly to my companions.

"I can tell you what that was if you will stop making comments about my size." Kuro said pouting.

I quietly chuckled but nodded my head.

"That is a Tsuchigumo." Kuro said proudly.

"A what?" Bolggor said I said in unison.

"A Tsuchigumo, which is Tsuchigumo it is translated as a dirt/earth spider and id the name for a race of spider-like yōkai in Japanese folklore. They appeared to people as having faces of an oni, a body of a tiger, arms and legs of a spider, and wore giant outfits. They all lived in mountains, firmly captured travelers with strings, and ate them. In its native habitat for its furry, prominently striped body and aggressive disposition it's called the Earth Tiger."

"Next time just call it an Earth Tiger." Bolggor said. "What is an oni and yoku?"

"It's yokai Bolggor, and an Oni means Demon or evil one in Japanese I do believe though I have no idea what that is supposed to look like." I replied.

Kuro cleared his throat and room a deep breath while watching above us and said, "Yōkai are a class of supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons in Japanese folklore. Yes Shi you are right about what Oni means. Though to answer you fully..."

"Kuro your voice trailed... off" Bolggor said and stopped.

Looking up I saw there were 5 or 6 of those things up there and the popping was still going on. That web sack is really huge like giant statue huge or one of those air craft carriers we can see in books.

Kuro replied again while pulling out his sword and putting it in both hands, "Oni are a kind of yōkai from Japanese folklore, variously translated as demons, devils, ogres or trolls. They are popular characters in Japanese art, literature and theatre. Depictions of oni vary widely but usually portray them as hideous, gigantic ogre-like creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads. They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes. Their skin may be any number of colors, but red and blue are particularly common. They are often depicted wearing tiger-skin loincloths and carrying iron clubs, called kanabō. This image leads to the expression "oni with an iron club", that is, to be invincible or undefeatable. It can also be used in the sense of "strong beyond strong", or having one's natural quality enhanced or supplemented by the use of some tool."

"Thanks for that description Kuro... I didn't need to think invincible when they are right over my head." I said.

"Bolggor stay still, they are quite poisonous and are attracted to movement and vibrations. The sack popping drew them to it. We will move down the tunnel and when we get far enough you can see us or our light you move as fast as you can towards us. The tunnel will allow you to block them from getting to us and hopefully they will leave you alone but if not... you cant be poisoned." Kuro said in a heartless tone of voice.

"Kuro that is basically asking him to sacrifice himself for us. That is not right!!!" I said with heat.

"Actually Shi that is logicalb I got a warning sign whe it came close to me that said it was above my level and I probably wouldnt be able to beat one 5 or 6 of them would be impossible for me to beat even with you both to help. So slowly head down the tunnel. I have a plan, just make sure to burn all the webs in the tunnel because I might have to run if it doesn't work out. Ok?" Bolggor said.

I nodded and headed slowly towards the tunnel hugging the wall while keeping an eye all around me. I saw Kuro doing the same thing.

"Hey Kuro, your size here helps you out a lot. Small is better then large here... and that wasn't a jab at your size it was... an... ummm... observation." I said quietly with a smirk on my face.

We both got to the tunnel and started to walk down it. Kuro walked backwards and kept his back against my legs as I walked forward and used my weapons as a light.

"Pass me the torch Kuro, if I see a web I will burn it on the way." I said.

"Not going to happen it is really dark in here and I dont have a light like you do. Besides I can burn them until they stop you from moving and you can use your flame to clear them. This torch could stop one of the Tsuchigumo if they come this way. Most things are scared of fire. Now if we had Bolggor behind me I would pass it to you in a heartbeat but right now we don't. I don't want to die and besides the quest says that I have to be protected and live." Kuro said with a tremble in his voice.

We went so far that we couldnt see the room Bolggor was in. I came to a few tunnels that looked like they were just made. I thought about the ground trembling and realised something.

"Hey Kuro, the ground shaking before... I think that was the Tsuchigumo tunneling into the tunnel to head to the popping sound. I counted 5 tunnels while we were walking to here." I said.

"Scary, very scary." replied Kuro.

"There is a door hear it reads leave all living things besides yourself behind when you enter this room. Death awaits all who defy this rule. Welcome to your safe haven."

"That sounds promising I think." Kuro said.

"As long as Bolggor doesn't bring a Tsuchigumo in here in his chase we should be good and safe." I dryly replied.

"Very true, we should be ready to close the door as fast as we can just in case." Kuro stated.

I pushed on the door, it was heavy but slowly moved. I tried to move it as slow as I could to lessen the vibrations so as to not attract their attention. We got it opened and stepped in. The door started to try to shut on its own and I quickly grabbed it and braced myself to try to hold it open.

"Kuro help me hold it open. Put the torch down and help me." I grunted.

I could see something coming towards us.

"Close the door Shi, I don't think that is Bolggor coming down the tunnel. Close it now!!! I dont want to die." Kuro started to panic.

He grabbed ahold of my arm and tried to pull me away but I held firm and locked myself in place. The shape came closer to us and seemed to be moving fairly fast towards us. I started praying that it was Bolggor and not a spider. Right as it got close enough to see...