My Goddess is a Tsundere

"It'll be okay, hun." A mature woman spoke gently, caressing Bane's head.

"B-But mom, I'm scared." The woman, Bane's mother, had him lying on her lap in the dark building. Tears streamed down his face as he looked around, creepy crawlies surrounding them.

"I know. Just focus on getting some sleep. You'll be okay; they won't hurt you." Bane's mother reassured him. This was a normal occurrence for the two of them. With the passing of Bane's father, they only had each other. They were forced to sleep in abandoned, disgusting buildings.

Because of this, Bane naturally developed a fear of spiders. Trying to go to bed, he felt tingles and small movements everywhere. If he tried to shoo them away, more would come, and more would bite.

"Don't agitate them. They don't bite unless provoked." Bane's mother said, looking down at him. Bane shuddered, holding back tears as a spider the size of a coin crept up his mother's face.

"See… They won't bite." His mother whispered, unable to hold back her emotions. A few small tears streamed down her face.

Bane snapped out of the depressive memory as the overgrown spider crawled toward him. Stuck in its web, Bane was just able to reach around and retrieve his sword. He cut the silky web off himself. 'I didn't even see it,' Bane thought.

The spider continued to slowly approach. Four black eyes bulged from its head, while its legs and abdomen were incredibly hairy. At this distance, Bane deemed it safe to use his Threat Analysis:

Silk Weaver: A spider found on the third floor of the dungeon, most commonly known for its razor-thin silk that catches many adventurers off guard. While it's extremely slow, the silk weaver also has the ability to shoot poison from its mouth.

Bane digested the information and exited out of the text box. He was wary of making any sudden moves; there could be a web directly in front of him that he couldn't see. Squinting and carefully moving his sword about to check for webs, a textbox appeared, delighting Bane:

[Skill Upgraded!]

[Danger Sense LV 2]

Bane closed the textbox, wondering what could have changed. To his surprise, red lines filled his vision. 'Outlines of spider webs…' Bane held back his joy and charged the silk weaver, cutting down each web as he crossed it.

As he closed in, the silk weaver made a last-ditch effort.

"Chra!" Hissed the silk weaver, launching a goopy ball of purple poison. With Bane's speed advantage and improved danger sense, he dodged and swiftly charged the silk weaver.

"Ah!" Bane shouted as his sword cut down the furry beast. He glanced back at the poison. A sharp hiss and sizzle echoed as steam emanated from the purple puddle.

'Definitely don't want to touch that,' Bane noted. He waited for the body to decompose into ash. With the fight over, like clockwork, textboxes appeared announcing a new title:

[Title Acquired!]

[Arachnid Assassin LV 1]

Deal greater damage to arachnid-type foes.

Bane dismissed the title, more interested in his skill that had leveled up. He opened his status, which now read:

[Bane of the Slums]: LV 15 (1390/2000)

[Title]: Slimey Slayer LV 1 (72/100), Goblin Dispatcher LV 2 (56/1000), Arachnid Assassin LV 1 (1/100)

[Strength]: LV 7

[Dexterity]: LV 2

[Mind]: LV 1

[Agility]: LV 7

[Fortitude]: LV 2

[Magic]: LV 1

[Skills]: Appraisal LV 1, Threat Analysis LV 1, Danger Sense LV 2, Passive Healing LV 1, Magnetize LV 1, Night Vision, Feared Hunt

Opening the description for Danger Sense:

Danger Sense LV 2: Grants all prior effects, as well as the ability to see traps, which will be outlined in red for the user.

Bane nodded, assuming that's how the skill worked. But a question bugged Bane: 'How do I level up skills?' He assumed it just happened naturally, but conveniently enough, another text box appeared:

Skills will level up after frequent use, or rarely, the user may manually level one up.

Bane nodded. It was one of his most-used skills, as it's always active and helps him survive. It made sense it would be the first to level up.

After his first run-in with the spider, Bane rushed around the third floor of the dungeon, slaying every silk weaver that crossed his path. Even though there were a few close calls with the poisonous sludge they shot, with his upgraded danger sense, he was unstoppable on this floor.

Occasionally, he glanced down at the void sack at his side, thankful for Mr. Grey's offer. Using his Magnetize skill to grab each Energy Crystal and shoving it into the void's maw was incredibly efficient.

A few level-ups and over a hundred slain spiders later, Bane came upon a room different from everything he'd seen thus far in the dungeon. He assumed this was a boss room. Webs were everywhere, and cocooned eggs littered the outskirts of the room.

For a moment, Bane debated just leaving for the day. He had enough to cover the repairs and then some… But in reality, he just wanted to get off this floor.

'Spiders are the worst!' He thought. 'I need to get off this floor sooner rather than later.' He made up his mind and moved forward. Even though the spiders were weak, their fear factor still shook Bane to his core.

And it didn't help that the boss was much of the same. As a large, hairy, black spider lowered down from the ceiling on an invisible web, he held back tears.

'Gah! Why!?' Gazing up in horror at the monster, he wanted to finish this as fast as possible:

Queen Silk Weaver: The boss of the third floor of the dungeon. With stronger poison and the rest of the lesser silk weavers at her will, the queen silk weaver makes for a formidable opponent. However, her weak defense makes her a sort of glass cannon. Important reminder: Keep quiet to avoid waking her young.

Bane gazed in horror at the beast. Looking closer, his skin crawled even more. 'She has babies on her back!' The queen silk weaver had many cocooned young at the outskirts of the arena, but she also carried some on her back. It was as if her abdomen had a mind of its own, as lesser silk weavers crawled around and over each other. It made Bane sick.

'Just avoid their poison, and I'll never have to see them again.' Bane shakily charged at the beast; his technique was even worse than before. He had been slowly improving, but in the face of fear, all of that hard work was reduced to a shaky mess.

A few lesser silk weavers jumped down from the queen's back to defend her and were quickly met with the reckless fear response of Bane. The three that jumped down were turned to ribbons by Bane flailing his sword.

"Ah!" All the while, he shouted a loud battle cry, but to his detriment, it only woke the sleeping silk weavers. Dozens of cocooned silk weavers burst from their silky confinements.

Bane heard the tearing of silk and gazed fearfully around the edge of the arena. Anxiety and memories started to flow back. 'Spiders, crawling on me… Mom, help!' He stood, his breath ragged, trying to overcome his past hell in the slums.

Before, his mom would be there to help, reassure, and console the young Bane. But now, it was just him. He was alone. Alone with hundreds of his worst fear closing in on him, he just stood, unable to move.

"U-Uh… Ah…" He took a ragged deep breath in and let out a long exhale, repeating it a few more times. His sword dropped to the ground as he squeezed his head. It was too much. The sound of thousands of hairy legs walking and the remembrance of the past overwhelmed him.

He tried maintaining his breath, tried covering his ears to block the sound. His heart pounded relentlessly, and sweat dripped from his forehead.

'Bane, it will be okay…' He remembered his mother. 'Even when I'm gone, I'll always be with you, right here.' He remembered further back to when she would reassure him about her death. 'I'll be here,' she would say, placing her hand on his heart.

Bane swallowed. His breathing slowly regulated, and he opened his eyes, looking up at the horde surrounding him. His thoughts were in a battle of fear and memories of his mother.

Bane used Magnetize and re-equipped his sword. 'For her, I will not lose. Not here, not ever. She protected me from the spiders, and now I will protect myself.' Emotionless, Bane flung himself toward the hundreds of silk weavers.

[Bane of the Slums]: LV 19 (360/4500)

[Title]: Slimey Slayer LV 1 (72/100), Goblin Dispatcher LV 2 (56/1000), Arachnid Assassin LV 2 (23/1000)

[Strength]: LV 9

[Dexterity]: LV 2

[Mind]: LV 1

[Agility]: LV 9

[Fortitude]: LV 2

[Magic]: LV 1

[Skills]: Appraisal LV 1, Threat Analysis LV 1, Danger Sense LV 2, Passive Healing LV 1, Magnetize LV 1, Night Vision, Feared Hunt