I safely landed at my Tower in the clear night instead of crash landing into it. My feet were wobbly once I hopped off my broom, but that was probably because a small part of me still feared flying. I inspected the destroyed roof up there and had the idea to test landing up there with my Levitate skill. If its description was something to go by, I could float up places and also save myself from crashing on the ground as well. I closed my eyes and swapped my broom with my wand’s Quick Slot.
“Skill: Levitate!” I activated the skill. Immediately, I felt my body float upward. It was the same loose feeling my body felt when I met with Wisdom in the Space Stone. Cru’Zha, I thought, seeing Attor’s spirit float ahead of me and darting into the Tower. I shall remember that god’s name.
The hole could use some patching, I thought as I landed among the debris. In fact, this whole place needed patching. Perhaps I could enlist some of the Spider Workers to do some remodeling here as well. The cold air and moonlight soaking my skin will have to do. For now, I looked up and noticed Frampton snoring upside down from the rafters. I hesitated to wake him, since he must have spent all day flying around. Attor sighed.
“For a Demon Queen, you sure are nice,” he muttered.
“What was that?” I growled. The Dragon head simply floated around the sleeping Frampton and looked at him.
“Don’t demons normally beat each other up?” He sighed. “I haven’t been to the Demon Realm in a long time.”
“That makes two of us,” I poked the bat on the nose. “Frampton!”
Frampton’s eyes jerked wide open and he immediately fell to the floor in surprise.
“Y-Yes, Master! I bring good news!” He flipped over and bowed his furry head. I stood there with my arms crossed, resisting the urge to squeeze his fuzziness in an embrace. He cleared his throat and then his jaw unhinged wide again as his Skill activated. A blood mist manifested in his mouth before revealing the location of the human village he flew over. A massive mound of spiderwebs and poisoned grounds lay near it. That must have been one of the chunks from the old Spider Queen’s explosion I caused awhile ago, I mused.
“Thank you, Frampton,” I looked away as his jaw snapped back together. I noticed the bat’s gaze was fixated on me. I know I’m short, leave me be! “What is it?”
“M-Master, if I may,” he spoke up. Attor snorted, though the bat couldn’t hear him. “T-There’s a very dangerous spider on your shoulder!”
“Huh?” I looked at where his eyes fell on my shoulder and pretended not to notice the white Spider resting there. “Where?”
Blanche mewed as it crawled back into my hat. Frampton paled, but ignored it reluctantly.
“A-Anyways, the village is full of weak humans and ripe for the taking,” he said proudly. “There are still more human prey beyond that village in hideouts that I sniffed out.”
That was good news to me, I think. More opportunities to gain levels and to destroy weak humans. I could not think of anything better, opening the Quick Slot holding my broom.
“Very good, Frampton,” I smiled. The bat started to look uncomfortable and fearful. Was my smile that terrifying? “I’m off, then. I will hunt that village now.”
“Best of wishes, Master,” the bat cheered. I turned and quickly sped off on my broom. If I looked at that cute face any longer I would get nothing done!
“Your Majesty,” a voice sang in my head. Wait a minute, that’s not Blanche. Who is calling me? “Come to the Burrows. We have Tribute for you, Queen.”
“What?” I asked aloud, but I recognized that voice. It was the Caretaker using a Skill to contact me! I decided I should see what Tribute they were speaking about. Attor looked onward as we soared. The muddy Forbidden Burrows were illuminated by the big moon above us and there was not a Spider on the surface.
“They must be awaiting for your presence below,” Attor mused. The broom’s handle was rough in my grip, but I didn’t mind because I enjoyed the freedom it gave us and I could tell he had more to say. “Are you sure you wish to face humans now?”
“Hmph, you speak as if I am not one,” I scoff. It was lighthearted, yet warm enough to stamp out the cold brushing across my skin. “I have slain many humans in my past without Skills. I see no reason why I can’t do it now.”
“I’m just wor— questioning if you are planning to take over this Realm,” he looked back. I joined his gaze and noticed the dimly lit kingdom far away. Several spots of castles and smaller forts dotted along the countryside and rivers beyond the great Forbidden Forest. “There might yet be good humans around, still.”
“I have no plans for running this Realm,” I sighed. “I have not seen a good human yet, for the hundreds of years back then and even now. Let this Realm burn, for all I care.”
“Ah, to be young,” Attor chuckled.
“That’s a bit much, considering you’re a Young Dragon now,” I snapped, but I couldn’t help but smile to myself. I decided to press on the broom’s handle and we dipped below the clouds in our slow descent. “I hope we find a good human. I’m sure you have a reason to be with me instead of doing… whatever Dragons do.”
“Indeed,” he mused. “I came here to conquer this Realm, but I was too weak.”
“I see,” I scanned the Burrow for the Caretakers’ location and aimed the broom towards it. “Sorry for bringing that up. Not a day goes by without thinking of my own weaknesses.”
“We’ll be fine,” Attor told me. “Just don’t die to these humans.”
The Caretakers clapped their front legs and arms together when we arrived. I was getting used to landing, since I did it without a fuss or tripping this time. Perhaps my Broom Travel Skill increased! The Caretaker seemed stronger than the last time I spoke to it directly. Ah, its fangs were similar to the Spider Warrior’s evolution. They were also shaped more similar to a human, much more thin and also standing on two powerful legs while having six spare arms.
“Don’t tell me you wish you had six arms,” Attor grumbled. How did he know what I was thinking?
“Your Tribute is in here,” the Caretaker pointed where the same place my Dark Stone was. Free stuff!
I tried to maintain my composure in anticipation of whatever present these Spiders had. A black spherical mass floated above the altar this time and launched into my chest like a Spirit as soon as I got near it. Possession? I stumbled back down, feeling myself. My breath was fine and I could move on my own.
— Tribute from the Spider obtained. Your Skill: Web Conjuring has upgraded to Skill: Steel Web Conjuring.
Well, now I had no excuse to lose to the bandits. I tested the Skill and slashed several webs out with the Steel Webs. The webs themselves were practically invisible, glinting at certain angles under the moonlight. This was extremely useful! I sliced through a rock with it before I got a scolding from Attor. Get more tribute for me, Spiders! Perhaps we could make better armor or dresses with this material? Wouldn’t the metal cut into me? There was no use. The Spiders moved towards me, as if they read my mind or took the cue from me looking at my own dress.
“A gift, for you, Your Majesty,” the Caretakers each held black garments out for me, but the slim one swooped me up and I found myself dizzy, but in new clothes.
— Clothes Identifier: Steel Webbed Witch’s Attire [Epic]: Extremely effective against pierce and blunt attacks, Ice and Thunder elemental attacks, but weak against Fire elemental attacks. (+500 Defense, +300 Magic Defense)
The numbers did not mean much to me, except the Rank of my Defense Stat was C and my Magic Defense’s Rank was A. These resistances should prove effective no matter where I go, and the dress looked amazing. As expected of these Caretakers, they were expert craft-spiders. Now then, I summoned my Broom. I had a bandit village to visit. Several different fuzzy butts lined up at the entrance. They had the frame of the Spider Warriors before they evolved, but instead of fangs they had massive mouths lined with teeth.
— Spider Feeder, level 10
— Class: Spider Monster [Uncommon]
Massive spiders responsible for rapidly digging magical pathways for the mages. They will consume anything that gets near their maws, including other Spiders.
Anything, you say? I had to float on my broom just to pat the closest Spider Feeder on the head. It made a gross vibration, but I assumed it was happy.
Come with me, I told them in my mind and ducked as dirt started spewing everywhere as they dug underground. This Title could draw their attention, making it easy for them to track me even if I flew. The Feeders were level 10 and would not attract as much attention as the Spider Steel Warriors so they would make the perfect soldiers for this option.
The village was in sight, with shoddy buildings and a thin wall of logs surrounding it. I scoffed. Even the Demon villages closest to the Human Portal were much more guarded than this. I lept off my Broom and had it fly into my Quick Slot and landed safely close by, using my Levitate Skill. The ground quietly shifted beneath me feet as the Feeders drew near.
It was time to begin.
“Do you need me to assist in the hunting?” Attor asked breaking the silence, making me almost shriek.
N-No, not yet, I told him. Unless you want to join.
His head simply faded as he went back to sleep. Thanks for the confidence, Attor. I crept closer to the walled border and a familiar stench made my nose wriggle. My eyes also felt teary, but I realized that this body probably was not used to it. The smell of death wafted over this village, but from where?
A campfire’s smoke was nearby, which must be the watch so I decided to eavesdrop there. Three men were sitting around it, idly chatting.
“Damn that Jerric,” one of them cursed. “Leaving us out in the cold to watch for these blasted spiders.”
“Quit your whining, Selb,” the second one grunted at him. “The spiders ain’t even been here for awhile now, not since he cleared ‘em all out.”
“Bah! I hate ‘em freaks! Their constant chittering, twitching limbs, nasty spit!” Cried out the third one.
“See, Trent? Brom gets it!”
“You too, Brom?” Trent growled. “Jerric promised us one of them, you know, by tomorrow. If we make it tomorrow.”
“Jerric promised that, but the last wagon of them had nothing but near dead ones! It’ll be a miracle if there’s even one left alive!”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Those are some pretty cute names,” I interrupted the bandit guards with an evil smile on my face. “Think I’ll name some of my spiders after you humans.”
“Hey, Selb,” Brom, level 6, pointed at me. “One of them is alive!”
“No way!” Selb rubbed his eyes. “Think Jerric’s trying to bribe us with this little girl?”
“Oi, focus!” Trent drew an axe. Of all three, he was the strongest at level 9. “Little girl, if I were you I would turn back now.”
“Where’s the fun in that, Trent,” Selb approached me without fear. I disliked that, but I noticed the inside of this village was mostly barren. In its center, however, was an odd pile of rubble in the midst of destroyed wagon carts. The rubble was the source of the smell; they were the dead bodies of many humans. “Listen, little lady, how about you stay with us and keep warm?”
“With us! We’ll keep you warm, miss,” Brom repeated. I noticed all three were closing in on me. The smile did not wear off my face. They must not be able to tell how strong I am because of my Dark Stone. Even the smart one, Trent, had a wicked grin on his bearded face.
— Trent, level 9
— Class: Human Warrior [Common]
— Debuffed: Inebriated
“My apologies, gentlemen,” I said politely. “I don’t need any warmth. I need your help in some experiments I have. Starting with you, Selb.”
“Huh? What’s that?” Selb’s face scrunched like a wrinkled blanket, his cheeks bit by cold and now red with anger. “Listen, miss, don’t make us send you back to the pile!”
“Skill: Martial Arts,” I muttered. Before Selb could strike me, my fist met his heart at an upward angle. His growling immediately ceased and his Health drained to zero. The others stared in disbelief as I pulled the fleshy, beating thing from the cavity I made. “Huh, I did not expect him to be so weak.”
I crushed the heart in my fist and Trent immediately panicked.
“M-Monster!” His eyes widened and breath puffed rapidly like the dying fire. He swung his axe at me. “Never should have come here!”
“Skill: Steel Web Conjuration!” I narrowly dodged the swing and pointed at him, spreading out my fingers. I felt my stamina drain a little, but watching the deadly strings lance straight to him made me laugh. Die humans, die! Soon, a cloud of blood and limbs reddened the snow as the web I conjured stuck to the ground. Brom roared and activated a melee Skill with his axe. These humans did not make for good test subjects, I believed. Their levels were far too low! Even without a Skill, his axe bounced off my dress’s defense and stunned him. “How disappointing. Tell me, sir. Is there anyone strong in this place?”
“Shove it, you Witch!” Brom scooted away from me. He pulled something out of his cloak. A horn? “Gods help me!”
The noise surprised me with how loud it was. Careful, me, I pointed my fingers at him. It was time to test how gentle I could conjure my webs— The webs I summoned wrapped around him too tightly! I heard a grotesque pop, and a chime informing me I’ve gained experience points.
“S-Sorry, Brom,” I said to the remains. My hair was stained with raining blood, but it was too late to worry about that. Activity was stirring within the shoddy buildings, and it was time to test my next weapon out: The Crystal Wand. The bandits saw the destroyed remains and me, but hesitated.
“Surround her!” Someone called on the roof. “A Witch! To arms, a Witch is here!”
They were efficient, I gave them that. There were level 7s and 9s behind me and several lower leveled bandits and level 10s in front of me. Some of them laughed as I saw a greater shadow tower over them approaching us.
“Move it, move it!” A deep thunderous voice boomed. There were about thirty men in total here, but this giant singlehandedly trumped all of them combined.
— Jerric, level 12
— Class: Human Chieftain [Rare]
Active buffs: Magic Resistant, Brutal Strength, Powerful Friends
The status chirped at me, but I realized if I could see it he was at my level or weaker. I wondered if the Status worked that way, but I didn’t have the time to call for Wisdom. This giant was saying something, but with that Magic Resistant buff on him I wondered if he could survive a Skill or a Spell.
“You belong back to the pile, dammit!” He stamped the snow with his boot. “Where are the guards, how did they miss one?!”
The crowd of bandits remained quiet. I kicked the pile of bloody spiderwebs at my feet.
“Well this here is Brom, the other one back there is Trent, or maybe it was Selb?” I pondered. The giant Jerric studied me oddly, but I returned his gaze. I barely reached his waist in height. A punch from this guy would hurt.
“I like you, little lady,” he laughed. “Take her to my bed!”
“No can do, sir,” I told him, pointing my wand at him. “First Spell: Dark Bolt.”
The wand glowed a deep sapphire color, channeling my Mana Pool. The black bolt leaked out of my Crystal Wand like a slow rolling tear, drifting towards the giant. Everyone watched in silent for a moment, but burst into laughter. This must be a mistake! I mused. How could such a cool element give me a weak spell? The bolt slowly traveled towards my taunting target and promptly exploded into a black fireball. After the flames dissipated, I saw the giant collapse in front of the gawking crowd.
“Yeah! I meant to do that!” I shouted triumphantly. For some reason, I could hear Attor groaning.
— Jerric, level 12
— Class: Human Chief [Rare]
HP: 10%
“S-She…! She killed Boss!” The man on the rooftop screamed. He raised a rifle at me. I clicked my tongue and as soon as I heard the trigger snap a burning sensation bloomed in my shoulder. My body collapsed. Guns were a thorn in my side in the Demon Realm, but I was fast enough to dodge them and strong enough to break their bullets. Here, my body was not as ready for those yet. As I heard the concerned grunt from Attor and the laughter of cocky bandits approaching me, a smile still crept on my face. I still could get stronger! I reached swiftly for my Crystal Wand and fanned my hand at the three riflemen on the rooftops.
“Arcane Missile!” I let the missiles do their work, feeling my arm restore as the buildings burst into a red light from the Tier 1 spell. “Thanks, Blanche!”
I rose slowly to my feet and grinned at the horrified crowd. The bullet wound on my shoulder glowed a bright white from the Body Spider’s healing magic, but at least I could use it again!
“Now, gentlemen, I have a Skill to level up and you all are going to be my test subjects for the evening,” I clapped my hands as thin webs shot from my fingertips. “Let us begin!”
A few hours later, I tallied up the survivors of my experiment. Of the thirty three men, I had eleven neatly wrapped in shiny, silky webs. I tried to pull a string apart, but even my A rank Attack could not rip a tear in it. These webs were quite worthy. The big guy finally groaned as his eyes widened. I splashed several Potions of Minor Healing on him awhile ago since Blanche did not want to heal him, but it seemed like he was finally coming around now.
“Urgh! My head!” Jerric groaned. The others were also stirring awake.
“Oh, you’re awake!” I clapped. Even tangled up in a web, the giant man was still taller than I was. At the sight of me, Jerric started snarling and struggling against the webs. “Oh, I wouldn’t bother, mister. You see, I was practicing my Web Conjuring Skill on your men over there. Yeah, the ones in pieces there. Let’s just say, I acquired Advanced Web Conjuring and what a world of difference this Skill makes.”
The growling mountain scowled at me but he finally ceased his struggle. The others seemed too terrified to speak. I liked that fear in their eyes, though I felt a little guilty. Attor grunted.
“Ask them questions about this world,” he reminded me. I stared at him blankly before I realized what he said.
“Right! Now, look,” I waved my arms nonchalantly. “I don’t really care about what you bandits do, but I am looking for information. Really, that’s all. Just some simple questions and I’ll even let you guys go. Does that sound okay?”
“Such monstrous strength,” Jerric grunted. “You’re not a little human girl, are you?”
“I’m 9 years old,” I pouted. “I think I’m going to be—“ I counted each of my fingers.—“10 years old next month.”
“You lie,” he sighed. “I won’t tell you a thing.”
“Not even where you come from, or where we’re at?” I crossed my arms and peered back at him.
“We ain’t telling you nothing!” Said a man with a ponytail. He spat. The Status above him told me he was Jerric’s son. I sighed, and clapped again. The ground began to rumble as the Feeders arrived, though I only signaled to one to appear for now. This human shall be the perfect bait for getting information!
The men screamed as the Spider Feeder ripped out of the ground, devouring the pieces of bandits I used to gather experience for my Web Conjuration Skills. After the crunching and gory display, the Feeder sat by me and awaited my orders. His fuzzy butt dwarfed the building that Jerric lived in, but it waggled as he idled. Someone’s arm dangled from its fangs.
“I really wanted to do this the easy way, you know? You just answer some easy questions and then you get to live. Free of charge,” I turned dramatically and pointed at the man with the ponytail. “Eat him.”
The Spider Feeder immediately complied but Jerric screamed and groveled just in time.
“P-Please, I’ll give you all the answers, I swear on the gods!” He cracked. The Feeder’s breath paralyzed his son, making me wince as his webbed body slumped over. “Spare my son.”
“Ah, wonderful,” I told him. “Where in the world are we? Do you have a map?”
“We’re in the Forbidden Forest, the westernmost territory of the Bohun Duchy. Uhhh, which is apart of the Sharra Kingdom!”
I contemplated for a moment, but gave up. None of these names besides my Father’s name rang any bell! Still, who knew a giant Spider Monster could get an answer out of anyone? I knew the Forbidden Woods seemed like a secluded place, but I did not know how far I really was. We were on the edge of the world.
“There’s nothing but clouds beyond the mountain and the Dragon’s Great Eye Portal,” Attor told me. I caught myself glaring at Jerric accidentally in deep concentration, who squirmed. “The Hidden Valley lies between the tallest mountains, but even I did not get to visit that place.”
“And are there other Kingdoms out there?”
“Yes! Many, the Sharra Kingdom is apart of the Holy Empire, along with the Zeadian Kingdom, and Jacobs is from the Brusihan Kingdom!”
“I see,” I muttered. I guessed I never paid attention to where the humans came from, since I only battled them in the Demon Realm. “Well, that’s all the information about the world I need, I guess. What are you doing here with all of these bodies?”
I fanned a hand over the massive pile of dead human bodies.
“We, well, we’re in the business of trading people,” Jerric glanced nervously at his son.
“I see,” I inspected the corpses. They were of numerous sizes and reeked as worse as any battlefield in the Demon Realm. These were useless to trade for these guys and the mouths weren’t worth feeding so they had to go. “Well, I don’t care about any of those.”
“See? I knew she wasn’t human!” One of the men in the webs exclaimed.
“I sure am human,” I told him. The Spider Feeder followed me as I passed along the dead corpses. They could feed my army, I guess, but a cage caught my eyes. Inside of it lay a dead, bisected Spider. A dark anger overwhelmed me and I balled my fists. The Feeder Spider crept away from me as it sensed my rising anger, startling the men I captured. “You guys took your time with this one, didn’t you?”
“We-We were hungry, Miss Witch!” Jerric’s voice grew higher and higher in pitch as he noticed the cowering Spider Feeder. “W-We had no choice but to cut out the good parts of anything that came our way.”
They were lying. I turned around and gave a sad smile.
“Food’s food, I get it,” I told them. For a second they relaxed, but I snapped my fingers. “Well, if that’s the case, then food is what you shall be, too.”
“What?” Jerric cried out. “No, you promised us! We’d be free to go, we gave you the information!”
“Yeah, well,” I did not get to admit to them I lied before a maw burst from the ground, turning Jerric into a bloody pulp. “Well, you know.”
“It’s not good to lie, Charlotte,” Attor scolded me.
“Well,” I guessed humans did not like lying a lot. They probably did not like being the Spider Feeder’s dinner. The one cowarding in the corner away from me joined his friends after some encouragement and apologies. I wasn’t mad at it, but they really made me feel bad! Clever guys. After the screaming feast ended, a tug on my hair turned my attention back to the corpse pile. Blanche was signaling me for something.
“Are you hungry too?” I asked it. The white spider hopped excitedly and glanced at a certain dead body covered in mud. “Oh right, you are a Body Spider, after all.”
I approached the one Blanche pointed at and realized it was a human girl whose breath was uneven. She had scars and a shaved head, but even worse was her health draining rapidly, but her eyes opened and widened as she saw me leaning over her.
“A-Are you Death?” She asked me. Tears started slipping down her cheeks and her hand reached towards mine. “P-Please take me away. P-Please, please, please!”
Before long, someone else’s tear dropped on the girl’s cheek. It was my own? I was crying?
“Relax,” I held her hand. The girl did not seem to notice Blanche crawling along her own arm, heading towards an open wound in her chest. “It will be all okay.”
“P-Promise?”
“I promise,” I said firmly. Attor, would you forgive me for this one lie, right? His head merely floated away, giving a respectful silence for the girl. Blanche slipped inside the wound and for a moment her eyes widened but settled into a peaceful smile. If she was alive, I bet she would have been one of the good humans, right?
“Well,” I hefted the girl’s body up on my shoulders. The Feeders will take care of this village and I wanted out of here. “Let’s go home.”
I flew on my broom in silence, with the girl slumped on my shoulder. It appeared that my Skill allowed for one or even two people to fly with me and they did not fall off as long as I was in control. This made things easy, as I gracefully settled into the top of my Tower. I slumped the girl’s dead body against a bookshelf. Blanche was doing whatever a Body Spider does inside of it, so I was not going to interfere with it! The day was coming soon, so I better make this last part of my night quick.
“The Stardust?” Attor asked me.
“Mmhmm!” I cheerfully tore apart the rest of the room, searching for the leather bag. Where did it go? “Aha!”
A Tier 2 spell conjured water from the Ocean Realm neatly into the cauldron I made with my Transmutation Skill, and I was ready to go. I sprinkled some of the Stardust into the pot, watching match the moon with its bright magical light. After the spell resolved, the room became like the night sky and I was surrounded with the stars and cosmos above. Now, I got to ask the Stars a question, right?
“What lies in the future for me?” I asked the twinkling stars. They swirled, illuminating the room with their celestial light as the magic conjured ominous and beautiful images created by stardust.
“This is what will befall upon thee—
A Starfall will crash in the Age of Love, day-of-three
And tomorrow— You shall meet your Doom-to-be…”
The stars faded away and soon, I was left there stunned as the sun began to rise.
Eh?! What do you mean I’m going to meet my Doom tomorrow!?