I carefully shuffled one of my left legs to the left before gripping into the wall again. I repeated the process with all my other legs, carefully and one at a time, until I was in a horizontal position relative to the floor. I then carefully walked forward until I was above the lines that I’d spun before.

“Almost there...” I reassured myself.

I continued my counter-clockwise turn until my face was looking at the threads that were now in front of me. Velariah was looking on with amazement in her eyes.

“Vel, come here for a second.” I concentrated on my legs to make sure I wouldn’t lose grip. There was something that danced in my mind and I feared that if I let this opportunity pass by, I’d regret it for quite some time.

“Okay?” She walked up to me.

I bent over forward and took hold of her head. I then lowered my face to hers and kissed her as I was hanging on the wall.

She took hold of my head as well and pressed her face against mine even more. I started to notice a loss of control and quickly broke away before my hold on the wall would break.

“Sorry for that, I didn’t want to fall down.”

“El, you tease, why did you do that?”

“You know those moving pictures I talked about? There is one movie with humans where one of them gets bitten by a spider and he gets all kinds of spider powers, like shooting webs out of his hands. There is a very iconic scene in that movie where he kisses his girlfriend while hanging upside down. I couldn’t resist...” I grinned.

“So you just wanted to recreate a scene from your world? And here I thought I was special...” Velariah said with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Oh, but you are special.” I looked at the threads below me. “Mind lending me a hand?”

“What do you need?” Her expression changed to a neutral one.

“Actually, hold on. Let me see if I can do this.”

I carefully moved one of my front legs from the wall and grasped one of the threads in front of me. I added some weight to it and felt that the thread held just fine. I then moved a second leg to a different thread and repeated the same process. I believed I would need at least three legs on the wall to stay stuck to it. My rear was quite heavy and with each leg I moved from the wall to the thread, I could feel it begin to weigh me down.

Soon, I had four legs on the thread and I moved my front two legs forward on their respective lines.

“Seems your idea works,” I said, still fearful, but more confident.

“Told ya.”

I moved another leg onto a thread and another. I now had six legs on separate threads. Most of my weight was now resting on the web, and it appeared my last two legs on the wall seemed obsolete at this point. My only issue was that I couldn’t quite see where I would put them.

“Vel, could you guide my last legs onto unused threads?” I asked politely.

“No problem.”

She took hold of them and I let go of the wall. I could feel the tiny claws touch silk and I clasped them after the elf had guided them.

I then moved the legs that were in my vision forward, I basically glided them over the silk until they were where I wanted them to be.

“Going smoothly, just relax.” Velariah tried to put me at ease.

My rear was now detached from the wall.

“Now for part two,” I said aloud. “Could you guide my spinnerets too?”

Doing this without vision on my target was quite the task. I imagined this too, would improve over time.

“Sure,” I heard her voice from behind me.

She gently put her hands next to the protrusions and guided my rear to the edge of the web.

“Careful, it’s sticky,” I warned her.

I decided to use the sticky kind of silk for this task. I imagined it wouldn’t be a problem since we were going to cover the web with pillows anyway. By the time Elly wanted to wash them, the effect would be lost. That was my reasoning, at least.

I felt my spinnerets touch the silk and started producing more. Velariah then gently swayed my rear back and forth as I carefully moved forward.

“Dunno about you, but I’m having a great time,” The elf giggled.

“I’m still scared to death this web breaks. I know it won’t, but things never quite seem to go for me as they should.”

About fifteen excruciating minutes later Velariah told me we were done.

I looked behind me to see a tight zigzag line through the parallel ones. Once more, I felt the feeling of pride swell up in me.

I started to get the hang of this whole spider thing quite well, if I did say so myself.

“Looking good,” Velariah commented as I was looking for a way down. “Now turn around.”

“Wait, what?”

“You heard me,” She continued. “We still need to get those pillows up there, might as well have you do it.” She paused for a second. “Unless you want me to get stuck, of course.” She added seductively.

“Vel!”

“Tee-hee. No, but for real, see if you can turn around on your own web. Any proper spider can, right?”

“I guess you’re right...”

I was about to ask Velariah for help again, but I figured I should eventually be able to do this on my own.

Here goes nothing…

I started carefully moving my legs one by one again as I tried turning while trying to balance out my weight over all the threads. I had a few missteps but it wasn’t much of an issue as I was only moving one leg at a time. Eventually, I had turned myself around.

“Nice going, El,” Velariah spoke as she handed me the first of the pillows.

I was glad I had someone who was supportive of my new life. I smiled as I took the first pillow and carefully placed it on the web. A few minutes later we had the web covered with a sheet of fluffy pillows. They turned out to be much easier to walk on than the comparatively small threads. I could easily turn myself around and semi-jump out of the pillow-covered hammock.

In hindsight, maybe I’d stressed a bit too much about falling. It was only one meter to the ground, after all. I just wasn’t sure I’d be able to prepare for a fall, even if it wasn’t that high, if I misstepped completely.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I didn’t want my butt cracked open like an egg.

That sounded quite disturbing in my mind.

And painful too…

It was then I started to feel it.

Complete exhaustion struck me like lightning. Velariah had been right. I’d overexerted myself creating this hammock after creating a lot of silk earlier today.

I yawned as Velariah walked up to me.

“Nice work, I hope it does what you want it to do.”

I looked at the net in front of me. I could easily step into it, and it was high enough that I could still place my feet on the ground if I wanted to. I imagined this would be quite comfortable, especially when snuggling with Vel.

“Is it time for bed yet?” I asked with a half-smile. “I’m so beat.”

“Yeah, no shit,” The white-haired elf commented. “You did amazing work today, El. It deserves to be said.”

“Hmm.” I smiled.

She started taking off her clothes and then put them in the sink. “Let’s get some sleep, I’m looking forward to seeing you in action tomorrow.”

I was fixated on the work I’d just done. I wondered if this could be considered the ‘final trial’ to be promoted to a fully-fledged spider. I imagined there wasn’t so much left that normal spiders could do that I couldn’t.

I smiled at the thought.

“El?”

“Hm?”

“Oh, you sleepyhead. You really did it this time, didn’t you?”

“What?”

What was she talking about?

“Here, let me help you.” Velariah, in only her underwear, appeared in front of me and took off my shirt without me even getting the chance to struggle.

“You’ve worn yourself out. You should honestly stop doing that.”

“Sorry, mom.” I joked.

I didn’t even have the energy to care anymore.

She chuckled before jumping in the pillow-covered web. She then exerted some weight and I could see her move up and down slightly as she did so.

“Holy crap, El, this is amazing.”

“Told you so...” I said as I carefully put my pedipalps and two legs in the hammock before jumping in.

The web seemed to handle the stress just fine and I was glad.

Velariah was on her back and had her arms stretched above her. I obliged the gesture and lowered myself into her arms. A kiss was planted on my lips before I knew it.

“You’re right. This does feel much better.” I said.

I let my legs dangle loosely at the sides and under the hammock as I got in a comfortable position to sleep. I could now stick my left pedipalp between pillows and through the hammock which made hugging the elf a far better experience. That had been one of the main things that bothered me before.

“To think I’m going to overwork myself again tomorrow.” I sighed softly, close to the elf’s face.

“Aw, you don’t have to.”

“I want to. I want to get this inherity thing out of the way at last. I’m several years overdue, I’ve been told.” I paused for a second. “Hum, I don’t even remember how old I am. Can’t even tell how long I’m overdue.”

“We’ll know soon enough, El. We already figured out a fair deal on our own, anyway.”

“True, but I just want complete closure on that chapter of my life,” I spoke softly as I hugged Velariah with my two right arms.

“Soon...” Velariah spoke softly. She then clapped out the lights.

After a few seconds of silence and hugging lovingly, the elf spoke again.

“Good night, El.”

“Good night, Vel” I replied.

I was met by a loving kiss and completely let go as I was too tired to resist.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The peace of last night was quickly forgotten as loud knocking on the door awoke me. There was no way Elly knocked that loud.

“Velariah, Elania, are you guys in there?”

It was Veltheril.

He’d already returned.

And he sounded angry… or was that concern?

I clapped on the light.

“Yes, we’re here,” Velariah said. Apparently, she’d been awoken by force as well.

“I don’t want you guys going into the forest until the guild gives the ‘clear’ signal. I’ve heard you guys had an encounter with an unknown monster. I was also told you brought home a wolf pup that seemed to be connected to the monster. I’d like you to bring it out here as soon as possible.”

Was he going to do anything to Gray?

Please don’t tell me…

Velariah must have noticed my face. She had her hands on my cheeks.

“It will be fine,” She promised me.

I looked over the edge of the hammock and found Gray running in circles. There was no way Gray was a danger to anyone…

“We’ll be there in a sec,” Velariah said loudly as she wriggled herself away from under me.

I brought my legs back into the hammock from under it, stood up, and carefully hopped out. I made my way to the sink, quickly washed my face, and brushed my hair while Velariah got clothed. We then switched around and finished by donning our tags.

We then walked into the dining area where Valtheril was seated at the table. His face was locked with obvious concern. His eyes were fixated on the leashed wolf behind me.

“Good,” He said with a stern face. “We’re heading to Master Pylanor to have him inspect that wolf pup.”

“You won’t do anything to him, right?” Velariah asked in my stead.

Valtheril shook his head. “If it is what I think it is, he’ll be fine.”

He walked off to the hallway and I had a hard time bringing myself to question what he thought it was. I wasn’t sure if I’d want to know either.

I helped Velariah with her armor as Valtheril waited impatiently. I didn’t bother to equip my gauntlets, I simply carried them with me. Once outside, he kept up the brisk pace towards the treemender’s oak.

Gray seemed to be excited to be outside again. He eagerly followed the general towards the center of the city.

Once we were inside the massive tree, he picked up the pup and planted it on the closest bed before calling over Pylanor to his side.

The treemender petted the pup affectionately and let him get used to his smell to put Gray more at ease. Once the pup was calmed down, Pylanor put his hand on the pup’s head. His magic flowed through the young wolf and then concentrated in the treemender’s hand again.

“It is as you expected, general.”

“Fuck,” He cursed.

But if it was what he expected, that would be good, right?

“What is it?” Velariah asked.

“Necromantic magic,” Valtheril said. “It still lingers in this pup, but it’s of no concern. I merely used it to be absolutely sure.”

He sighed.

“You two are to get nowhere near the forest. I’ll be heading into it myself to find the source of this corruption and cleanse it. Velariah, I want you to inform the Lore keeper and have her recall Allina’s archer squad from the forest while we’re out. Have them positioned in and around the towers and set up a defensive perimeter with the rest of the guards at the checkpoint.”

He looked ready to leave and rush headlong into combat.

“Father, hold on. There’s something I’d like to ask on Elania’s behalf. Could you summon a grandmaster to Dawnleaf for the inherity ritual?”

“Any specific reason you’re asking me?” He frowned.

“We’d like to keep things discreet.”

“Why? No one but the user can read their paper anyway.”

He looked over at Velariah’s face.

“Fine. Pylanor, could you send a summons to Grandmaster Ineus?”

“Not a problem.” The treemender replied.

With that, the general walked out of the immense building, leaving Velariah and me behind.

Why did I feel as if a storm had just passed? I was unable to utter a single word.

“Your little pup is perfectly fine, by the way.” Master Pylanor broke the silence.

“Thank you,” I said softly as I petted Gray.

“Let’s drop him off with Elly and find our companions at the guild hall,” Velariah suggested.

I nodded and followed the elf out of the building after thanking Pylanor.

We walked back to her mansion to drop off the pup who had looked at me with a confused face when we left again, but it seemed he was fine with the affection that the maid gave him. Elly petted him lovingly as we departed once more.

We then made our way to the guild hall where I saw Nira, Draco, and Seralyn already waiting in the corner.

We placed our order with the waiter and made our way to the Lore keeper.

I only now realized I was starving…

I waited awkwardly at Velariah’s side as she conveyed what Valtheril told us. She scribbled down a bunch of words on a paper which she and Velariah both signed. After that, she exited through the door behind her.

We walked over to the rest of our party and sat down.

“Well...” Velariah started. “I hope you guys have already eaten because Elania is about to go on a rampage.”

I sighed.

“What did she do this time?” Seralyn asked with a smile.

“Silk. We told you this yesterday.”

“Ah, shame.” Seralyn reacted disappointedly.

“Have any other adventurers entered the dungeon?” I asked randomly.

I was curious if they had, for multiple reasons. First, I’d like to know if any adventurers had been there at all. It would allow Arch to recover his strength. And second, I’d like to know how Arch treated them. It would tell me a lot. I believed he was able to control what spawned in the dungeon and also how they acted. He could prevent them from killing adventurers if he so wished to.

I had made Arch a ‘He’ in my mind, but I had no idea if dungeons actually had a gender. It sounded so awkward to just refer to Arch as ‘them’ the entire time. The dungeon core was referred to as master by the hellspider queen on guard duty, so I would just assume male from now on.

“A couple, I’ve been informed,” Draco said. “Fought different enemies, apparently, including spiders. No reported injuries.”

“Thank you, Draco. That’s exactly what I wanted to know.”

“I also heard some rare herbs were found in the last tunnel leading to the core room,” Seralyn added. “Not sure how much of that is true.”

“Well, we could see for ourselves,” Velariah said. “Maybe the dungeon will have some special herbs just for us.”

“I should figure out if he can produce goods specifically for us. Imagine how hilarious that would be.” I stated.

“That sounds unfair as hell,” Seralyn said. “I love it!”

“Also, we are not to go anywhere near the forest. Valtheril has returned and he forbade us from entering.” I said.

“Huh?” Nira cocked her head.

Velariah continued my statement. “Necromantic magic. He is going into the forest, likely with an elite squad, to find the source of it and exterminate it.”

Nira looked at Velariah with large eyes at the mention of the word necromantic.

“Explains the wolf not dying,” Draco said.

“I’d never expected to see something like that so close to Dawnleaf,” Seralyn added.

“Yeah well, my father didn’t seem too happy about it either. I’m pretty sure he is rushing towards the source as we speak.”

“Any idea what it could be?” Draco asked.

Velariah shook her head. “No idea. I’m sure my father will be able to get rid of it. Holy magic, next to fire, does well against it. At least that’s what he told me… and I may have glanced over his books sometimes.”

She glanced over at the waiter who came walking in with the first of many dishes for me.

“Not that it matters much, anyway. We have our own business to take care of. I’ll hear from him how it went, maybe we will get some answers to our questions too.” Velariah finished as the waiter placed a plate with two cheese omelets in front of me.

I loved how quick the guild was at serving its members. These elves ran some quality business for sure.

“But for now,” Velariah spoke again. “Let’s just watch Elania win another eating contest.”

I looked at her with a mouth full.

My expression must have been hilarious because Seralyn and Velariah couldn’t contain their laughter. Even Draco chuckled slightly.

These guys…