My Goddess is a Tsundere

Meticulously, Bane weaved through the ocean of hairy legs and sharp fangs, narrowly avoiding certain death countless times. Each strike on a silk weaver was met with dozens of poison shots, but Bane narrowly avoided them all. In some cases, the poison he dodged even fell onto other silk weavers, causing them a slow and assuredly painful death.

But he didn't care. As long as they died, his emotions toward the disgusting creatures were filled with hatred.

Minutes passed, and the horde that once stood before Bane had been reduced to a few stragglers and the boss, the queen silk weaver. He gazed out at the battlefield proudly. He hadn't quite conquered his fear, but he could now face spiders with newfound confidence.

Though the queen silk weaver couldn't speak, her movements became sporadic and jittery. Whenever Bane got close, her large legs would scurry, moving her away. Bane hunted down the rest of the lesser silk weavers and was now left in a one-on-one fight with the queen herself.

"Just one left, and I'll never have to see the likes of you again," Bane said, his face void of emotion and his voice harsh. Deep down, he knew there would be more spiders to come—this floor couldn't be the only one.

"Ah!" Bane took a breath and shouted, charging toward the queen.

Woosh. The queen crouched and leaped into the air. Turning back, she shot a large glob of sticky poison, which Bane maneuvered around. It stuck to the ground with a high-pitched hiss. By now, most of the ground was covered with it, its corrosive properties making it unusable as footing.

The queen clung to the wall and maneuvered from nest to nest, not allowing Bane to get close.

'If her defense is similar to the others, one strike should be enough,' Bane thought. An idea came to him as he continued chasing the beast in circles around the arena. After a few revolutions, Bane decided to put his plan into action.

He stopped moving, and so did the queen. Noticing his stillness, she fired another glob of poison, causing Bane to roll carefully to the left. He was surrounded by poison. Quickly, he knelt and retrieved his new acquisition: the Saber Talon.

He examined the small, oddly curved blade and smooth ivory handle. His solution to the queen's evasiveness was his ability, Magnetize. He lifted the blade in his hand, deeming it of ample weight to throw with accuracy. Combined with Magnetize, he could ensure a sure hit.

He held the blade perpendicular to the ground and took a long windup. "Come on!" he said, imagining the blade cutting right through the queen. Noticing the clear threat, the queen tried to scurry away.

"Too bad!" Bane shouted, using Magnetize to home in on the queen silk weaver. Her speed wasn't enough, and the blade soon hit its mark. It swiped one of her legs, causing her to fall and lose her balance. The blade stuck into a silk cocoon that had been forced open.

As Bane rushed to the injured queen, he used Magnetize to return the small curved blade. Not wanting to let this chance slip, he wielded it as if it were his main weapon.

The queen's movements were disjointed, unable to adapt quickly enough to the critical damage to her leg. Just as she started to regain mobility, Bane was already on top of her.

"Ah!" Bane shouted, gripping the blade with both hands and slamming it down with all his might between the queen silk weaver's four eyes. The blade met little resistance as it entered the mushy interior of the queen's body. After a few twitches of her legs, the queen stopped moving—defeated by Bane.

"Yes!" Bane was manic. He fell to his knees, not out of exhaustion, but out of happiness for defeating every last spider in the damned room.

He took a well-deserved moment of rest and turned his attention to the textboxes:

Enemies Defeated:

Queen Silk Weaver – 1

Silk Weaver – 131

Rewards:

132 XS Energy Crystals

5,600 XP

Bane looked at the number of silk weavers and shuddered with horror. '131 too many…' he thought as he moved on.

Bane claimed the quest rewards for the floor three completion:

Floor 3 Completion:

Slay all enemy types on the third floor of the dungeon:

Silk Weaver – Complete

Queen Silk Weaver – Complete

Rewards: 10,000 Shill, two Skill Points

Claiming those rewards, he moved to his status and applied all the points he earned:

[Bane of the Slums]: LV 22 (1,460/6,200)

[Title]: Slimey Slayer LV 1 (72/100), Goblin Dispatcher LV 2 (56/1,000), Arachnid Assassin LV 2 (155/1,000)

[Strength]: LV 11

[Dexterity]: LV 2

[Mind]: LV 1

[Agility]: LV 10

[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

Bane had crossed a milestone. He was over level twenty—a mark many adventurers had passed. He looked upon it with pride. In just one week, his life had completely changed. While in his status, he glanced at the amount of money he had.

'21,000…' he thought as he read the number. With the crystals from today, he certainly had enough to cover the repairs. It was a sum of money he'd only ever dreamed of having, and thanks to the system, it was now a reality.

He wallowed in his thoughts for a moment longer before finally standing. Though he thought he'd dodged everything perfectly, his cloth armor was full of holes—signs that some of the corrosive poison the silk weavers shot had landed on him.

'Another trip to Old Grey's can't hurt…' As he noted the damaged armor, he carefully maneuvered around the corroded boss room, grabbing every crystal he could. Some were covered in poison, and he sadly had to leave them behind. With every crystal gathered, he walked to the room's exit.

Leaving, he was met with two expected textboxes: one notifying him he could fast-travel to floor four, and the other, the completion quest for it:

Floor 4 Completion:

Slay all enemy types on the fourth floor of the dungeon:

Unknown – Incomplete

Unknown – Incomplete

Unknown – Incomplete

Rewards: 15,000 Shill, two Skill Points

Bane gazed at the rewards greedily. Even at level twenty-two, his progress excited him. A feeling started to nag at him as he fast-traveled back to the dungeon entrance. 'Luna.' A girl he'd had the displeasure of meeting at the beginning of his journey. A girl the system had specifically called out as someone worthy of getting revenge on.

'I'm not on her level yet…' Bane thought, remembering their fight. Her raw strength was incredible. She had effortlessly defeated him and stolen the energy crystals. 'Soon, I'll be able to get revenge,' he thought with an eerie smile as he walked into the guild hall.

"Good afternoon, Bane," Winter said, her voice quieter than usual.

Bane approached and asked, "Is everything okay? You're usually more excited." Winter nodded, understanding his confusion.

"Yes, I'm excited to see you, but I don't want to draw unnecessary attention to you. Especially with such a valuable item," she said, motioning to the void sack at his waist.

Bane pursed his lips. "But I like it when you're happy and excited…" Winter's face flushed.

"Well, it's not like I'm not excited to see you, Bane… It's just, people might see you—a lower-ranking adventurer—with such an item, and then…" Winter trailed off, imagining the horrible situations Bane could fall into.

"I understand, but…" Bane couldn't come up with a good rebuttal. It was best for him if she didn't make a scene.

"Here, let me take your void sack," Winter said. Bane reluctantly handed it to her. 'She's like a totally different person.'

Winter walked away from the counter for a moment and quickly examined each crystal, moving them to their respective receptacles. A small mountain of crystals had formed by the time she was done, and she returned with money and the sack in hand.

"Here you go," she said. Bane cupped his hands as Winter poured out a few coins. "18,000 after the ten percent stipend. You're really improving fast, Bane," she said admirably. Bane shoved the coins into his pocket and reattached the void sack at his waist.

Winter wanted to say something; it was written on her face.

"What's up?" Bane inquired. Winter kept her eyes downturned for a moment before looking up with confidence.

"If you want to see me back to my excited self, we could meet someday—outside of the guild," Winter said, an awkward smile on her face.

Bane tilted his head and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. When are you off?" Bane asked, unsure when guild employees even got time off.

"I have one day off on occasion, but you could also request a meeting with me, and we could get together," Winter said, almost choking on her words.

"Hm. That sounds like fun," Bane replied with a smile—something he hadn't done in a while. His life had become full of death and darkness; an occasional day with Winter could cheer him up.

"Really?" she shouted, causing people to look. She ducked her head in embarrassment.

"Yes, I could use a day off here and there too. If you want to come tomorrow to the faction building, I'll be there," Bane offered.

"O-Okay, I'll try to be there," Winter said, her usual smile returning. Seeing it warmed Bane's heart.

The two exchanged goodbyes and went their separate ways.