Viserys walked back across the sand, the hot sand heating his feet through the sandals he was given by the count, promised work and pay Vis had eagerly accepted the manual labour of digging for gold out in the deep reaches of the desert, feeling the sand between his toes once again reminded him of the arena, grabbing a hand full letting it flow through his fingers like he once did before a fight, it's meant to be an easy job but yet he had an uneasy feeling in his gut.

The work started as soon as the carts arrived with men of all ages dug at the hard ground making slow progress the merchant allowing them frequent breaks to get out the hot sun before the coldness of night set in not allowing anyone to work without risk of becoming ill, while in the tents the workers gossiped about how the Merchant was looking for something else instead of gold this was quickly ignored by most of the workers some of the older ones continued speaking of rare items even magic ones, Vis ignored this and went to sleep on his hard bedroll.

A few days later workers started getting worried that no gold was yet found and without gold meant the workers would get paid less, however a shout was heard through the shout through the sandstorm "We've broken through, We've Broken Through!" the crowd rushed outside to see the temple like structure jut out the ground and the whole big enough for a few people, but the cheers were cut short when Volunteers was asked for, Vis out his hand in the air "If it gets me out of digging" strapping on his armour and weapons looking at the temple with curious eyes.
The clap was loud and echoed across the whole r

(Btw Dont know why it keeps putting the last sentence in sorry about that)

Once again, Aesop's idea was not brilliant.

At first, it seemed like a reasonable plan. He had been looking for easy money, if possible without breaking any law. Seeing these job offers for a short trip in the desert appeared like a sign from the gods. How could he ignore that?

Going on some sunny journey is the best that can happen to my tan, he thought while signing up for it.

It quickly became obvious that he underestimated the desert climate. The furnace made him sticky with sweat, and the skin of his shoulders turned quickly turned red when he attempted to walk shirtless. The only two women of the group he tried to impress with his body did not look as pleased as he expected. This journey did not start under favorable auspices.

If digging mindlessly quickly got tiring, it was far from being the worst part of the journey. The company was definitely not at his taste. He first tried to talk to these two women, whom spent all their free time trying to get away from him. After these first few days collecting rejections over rejections, the other men started to despise him. Not my fault, guys, if I'm the only one good looking enough to try to get the girls! Or maybe they just did not appreciate how he was intelligent enough to work as little as possible.

Fortunately, the gods answered his muttered prayers: something happened.

Some of the hard working thugs managed to clear the entrance of what seemed like a buried building. I wish I could hide in these shadows and do nothing for a while.

So obviously, he was there when they asked for volunteers. The first to rise his hand was a guy Aesop suspected to be mute; so far, this guy had made no attempt to befriend anyone here. At least, he was not one of the scum that ostracized Aesop.

If Aesop has any hesitation about volunteering, they vanished when one of the two women also raised her hand. That was an occasion to redeem himself.

"I will gladly help you, Merchants, to explore any cursed tombstone!" he volunteered himself.

"Good, that will be enough", one of the merchants (the obese one) replied after a fourth volunteer joined Aesop. "We just want you to have a first look of the building. Come back as soon as you find something. If there is any danger, you need to leave immediately. We don't want you to awake any fallen deities, right?"

His laugh sounded fake.

They got given basic materials to start their scouting.

"Well, ladies first?" Aesop said joyfully, as they all stopped in front of the dark entrance.

The girl gave him the worst look of disdain he ever saw, took a torch, and almost run toward the building. I must admit she seems brave.

Aesop followed her quickly. As she did not seem willing to start a conversation with him, the young man, not interested in the slightest by the ruins, tried to socialize with his two male companions.

"I'm not sure I properly introduced myself to you, guys. I'm Aesop, and you?"

His voice was resonating unnaturally in the narrow corridor they were following. Quickly, the torch became their only source of light as the entrance disappeared from their sight. If Aesop was impressionable, he would have said that the place felt… Hollow. But no, Aesop was a pragmatic and rational man.

"Oh and don't worry too much about this place. I've explored many abandoned buildings, he lied with a bright smile, and it's always empty ruins. I mean if it had any interesting treasures, it would have been stolen already a long time ago, right? So I have a plan for you guys: we could just stop right now, to have a little break. I think we deserve a rest after all these exhausting digging. We'll just tell the merchants that there is nothing interesting here. What do you think?"

Suddenly, the steps of the woman stopped resonating.

"Guys… she started, an uneasiness in her voice. I found something weird…"

Aesop felt his heart accelerate. Stupid, that is probably nothing.

"I love damsel in distress, he exclaimed in a forced oblivious tone. Let's save her from the enormous spider she probably found!"

He hoped no one could notice his shivers.

Viserys sighed at the man's over the top behaviour and from the smell of him never been in the desert before from the unruly stench he was giving off no wonder the woman ran off ahead of him, he remember this Aesop from the Inn eager to earn money a lot like him in many ways apart from the fact he was always trying to be the center of attention so when the obese merchant offered him enough gold for weeks Vis remember how quickly the kid took the offer without even bartering for a higher wage this made Vis rub his forehead since he didn't have time to be babysitting a greenhorn till they got back to the city let alone now they were in the abandoned temple together probably only doing it for the attention of a woman he long lust after while only laying on the woman a few minutes ago.

When the Volunteers first entered the temple he allowed the other Male volunteer to talk to the kid while Vis examined the walls looking at the carvings of ancient beings and a lot of drawings of snake like people, this made Viserys uneasy due to the idea of a whole colony of snake people living in the undergrounds repopulating for almost 100 years he shook the unease of him waving the torch in front of him clearing the tunnel of spider webs and dust before trying to not pay attention to the young man's tale of doing this many times before but from the cleanliness of his clothes or how undented his armour was he could tell he's as new as the female who walked ahead.

When the female let out her nervous call he walked faster forwards catching up to her seeing the hollowed out cavern filled with cacoons and webs scattering the walls he swallowed hard before turning to the female and muttering "Stay behind us and try to avoid conflict" he looked back at the two men hoping they would follow his actions in protecting the simply miner girl as he unsheathed his war hammer making it clang across the cavern as he saw the green eyes slowly rise up seeing the mix species of Man and spider slowly start to move towards them arms wielding makeshift weapons and hairy spider legs erupting from their torso as they climbed on the walls, long since gone was the ability to communicate due to breeding with offspring and being away for society for such a long time Vis turned looking at the young lad obviously nervous running on Adrenaline alone he beckoned "Don't die" before aiming his hammer at one spider signifying which one was his first target.

When he dismissed the girl's fear by talking about spiders, he did not expect to be right. Making the good guess has never gutted him as much.

Holy shit of the many Gods, what is… that…

The mute volunteer - who wasn't so mute when it came to talking to women! - was acting all heroic, shoving the girl behind him. In front of them, monstrous mixes between men and spiders were climbing the walls of a dark cavern Aesop did not want to explore.

He was frozen for a few precious seconds, unable to reconcile what he was seeing.

"What happened to the "stay away from any danger"?" said Jov, the other male volunteer, with an unsure voice. Aesop got his name when they chatted, earlier.

A smart reaction as I like them!

Aesop was about to offer to run away to the exit, when suddenly, one of the spider monster run on them. Too late, he only managed to think.

Fortunately for the little group, the mute volunteer reacted more promptly. He crushed the first monster's chest with his hammer. The spider let away a growl, filled with what Aesop guessed being a mix of fear and anger.

But what set Aesop into motion was the gaze the mute volunteer gave him, before striking. When the miner said "don't die", Aesop heard "wake up, you stupid kid". He unsheathed his sword, holding it tight with his two sweating hands. He knew how to use his weapon, as he already fought several times before. But only in cities, against humanoids races. Never against horrors.

An other spider-monster was aiming at the girl. She just had the pick they used to mine, and tried to defend herself. He needed to help her or she would just die.

This is like a brawl. Forget that they are enormous spiders, focus on their human parts. Act as if this was a duel, he tried to encourage himself.

He was about to strike the spider in the back, when the monster collapsed. The woman, panting, was still holding the pick, which was now covered of blood and bits of flesh. The head of the human part of the monster was exploded.

"I know how to fight! Help the others!" she shouted at him.

After a couple of seconds of astonishment, he turned away, scanning the cavern. He spotted Jov, pushed in against the wall of the cavern, barely able to counterattack the two spiders on him. Aesop run toward him. Seeing the woman kill the monster broke the spell he was under. They could die, he had the proof of it. He was now thinking more clearly, the fear less incapacitating.

He sliced the right arm of one of the spider, whom did not see him approach. The monster screamed, enraged, and turned toward him. Aesop was watching carefully every of its movements, paring every attacks. A duel, this is like a duel. The spider gave him an opening, and he managed to aim for the heart. For a few second of shock, the spider still tried to hit Aesop, before finally collapsing.

Aesop turned to Jov, who just managed to kill the second spider. He was keeping his swollen left arm against his chest, probably bitten.

"Aesop! There is a small tunnel in the left! They won't be able to follow us, they're too big!"

The adventurer finally noticed the small entrance.

"Go for it Jov! I'll get the others!"

Without checking if Jov was moving, Aesop run toward the two other miners.

"Follow me, there is another exit, we won't make it otherwise!"

Just as he shouted the words, a monster jumped on him from the ceiling. He screamed, from both terror and rage, and managed to slice one of the spider's numerous leg. But the monster was on him now. Too late, he told himself for the second time today, while thrown to the ground under the weight of the spider.

He yanked the sword from the Spiders torso as its green blood scattered over him and the floor watching the few others crowd around him allowing his sword to be stabbed into the ground he drew a War hammer black as night allowing it to be swung with immense force into the first monster's jaw ripping it off with a tremendous thump he roared into the cave with it bouncing off the walls becoming echoes to the sound of scuttling.

As he finished off his third one by slamming the hammer through its legs and slamming the pommel into the beast's forehead leaving the body twitching under the heavy mass of his foot his attacks seamlessly getting stronger the more he took down and the more wounded he became the beasts starting to purposely avoid the gladiator knowing its a futile effort Vis started to walk towards the male companion before putting his hammer through the back looking down at the boy who was now covered in the green blood of the beast that had tackled him down he offered his hand "Didn't I say not to die" before continuing "Be a hero and get the others to the crack, Ill hold them off till your through" he said with a sly smirk crawling across his face intoxicated with battle as he charged jumping on a beast which screamed a high pitched wail before Viserys wrapped the handle of his weapon round choking and eventually breaking the beast's neck his only objective was to kill as many to allow them to escape then find a way to meet them.