I considered giving it a coffee bean to see if it would try to eat it and get itself drunk. I decided against it. I didn’t want to accidentally kill Velariah’s pet spider. For some reason, I also felt guilty… I knew what it was like to have my limbs be unresponsive…

Why was I feeling sympathy for a freaking spider?

We worked through the huge stash of cherries, peeling them and slowly creating a mountain of beige beans. Once we had a fair amount done, Elly entered the kitchen to get a bowl of water.

“Does Elly know?” Seralyn asked as I worked through the beans with four hands.

I shook my head. “She doesn’t.”

“Any intention of telling her?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I’d like to, but I just don’t know.”

“Just do things on your own time, El. The most important people for our journey know. That’s enough, for now.” Velariah spoke.

“So what is this… coffee?” Nira spoke, breaking the silence that followed Velariah’s remark.

“It’s a drink that gives you quite the kick of energy.” The white-haired elf explained. “It’s delicious too.”

“The reason I ‘invented’ it in this world, so to say, was to create a proper export product for Dawnleaf. You’ve seen the prices they asked at the guild, when we had given some to them to test. You’ve seen the farm next to where we gathered these berries. Those fields are going to grow those plants. It is certain to improve this village’s economic situation.”

“That’s very noble of you,” Draco commented.

“I don’t know, Draco. I am set to receive a part of the profits myself. I don’t know if that makes it noble at all.”

“It still does,” He said with conviction. “It will be a huge boon to the village indeed.”

I smiled and continued peeling the beans. That was, until my eyes glanced back to the spider that was still fixated on me. My smile disappeared in an instant.

At least it wasn’t the most creepy-looking spider, I guessed.

“You guys up for some games after this?” Velariah asked the group. “Elania and I were thinking of having a fun evening sometime soon anyway. What do you think?”

“I’m fine with anything. Will there be booze?” Seralyn asked.

“Heh,” Velariah chucked. “We have some. You better not get drunk if we plan to do anything tomorrow. Speaking of, what are our plans for tomorrow?”

“I don’t think we have anything planned currently,” Draco spoke. “I would not mind a more... casual night.”

“So that’s a yes,” Velariah confirmed. “Nira?”

The harpy simply nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Neat,” The elf continued. “We’ll have Elly join as well. El, are there any other games you could fabricate before tonight?”

It seemed no one bothered to bring up any plans for tomorrow. Did that mean we would take a day off? It’s not that I minded in particular. It just felt a bit… odd.

“I could probably come up with a few things… I think? Are you not afraid that Elly is going to hate you for making her cook for this many people?” I asked.

“As if you don’t count for many people on your own!” Seralyn said and grinned.

“Huh, I guess you’re right.” I feigned ignorance. “I had my large meal for the coming days already, though.”

“Elly will be fine,” Velariah reassured me. “You try to get one of those games you mentioned fixed.”

“Easier said than done. I don’t even know where to begin… or shop for any materials I’d need.”

I started thinking. I put my elbow on the table and supported my head with a hand as I continued working on the cherries with two hands and an absent mind.

Checkers should be simple enough. Monopoly was probably too complicated to create on the fly. I’d prefer to have properly carved figurines instead of simple, engraved pieces of wood for chess.

“A large part of this village’s income is lumber, right?” I asked.

Velariah nodded.

“Do you have any craftsmen that could fix a few simple things?”

“Of course. What were you thinking about?”

“Something called checkers. It should be an easy enough game to create and play. The only downside is that it’s one versus one. Hold on, do you have a piece of paper? I will draw what I need.”

“If you can draw it, can’t you play it on paper?” She asked.

“Well, yes. But actually, no. It normally uses a wooden board and pieces. I’d like to stick to that. Paper is kinda… meh.”

She reached for her pack on the table and fished out a piece of paper and pencil. I quickly drew a checkers board, I preferred the 10x10 version. Unfortunately, that meant that chess would require a different board.

I shrugged.

Couldn’t have it simple, could I?

After that, I explained that the pieces could simply be cut from a pole, one half should be black, the other half white, or whatever color the wood was. I imagined we could simply use light and dark wood, or sear one side of half the pieces to turn them black.

“Alright, that looks simple enough. I’ll go with you to get this fixed.” She turned to the other party members. “You guys make yourselves at home. Take a break if you want to. If you need anything, just ask Elly.”

Elly exited the kitchen with a bowl of water right as Velariah said that and nodded.

“We will be back soon!” Velariah said as we walked into the hallway.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Once more, we had the discussion of her putting on armor, and once more, I was unable to sway her mind. I sighed as I helped her put it on.

A few minutes later, we walked down a side street in the eastern part of the village. A large, wooden building, rivaling the guild’s warehouse, was located at the end of it. The front entrance would be too small for me to enter, but I imagined I could get in from the back entrance. From the sounds coming from the building, I could make out loud sawing.

There had to be a way for them to carry logs inside.

“I’ll just explain this real quick and have them deliver it to the mansion later on.” The elf said as she waved the drawing I made in her hand.

I nodded and she entered the building.

Was it really necessary for me to come with her?

Once again, I was left waiting outside…

I should have brought Gray with me. He’d understand how I felt… I think?

Were dogs allowed in most stores? The guild didn’t seem to have an issue with it.

My mind wandered off to the wolf pup. He seemed to have a special kind of attraction to Nira. Her feathers intrigued him, and he was happy to jump into her wings. Nira’s reactions to it had been quite amusing.

Like me, she could probably make her own bed by filling pillows with her own feathers.

That was such an odd thought.

Velariah walked out of the building with a smile on her face.

I raised my eyebrows in anticipation.

“Easy enough to make, they said. Will have it delivered to me soon, they said.”

“Wonderful. If that’s the case, we should commission a chessboard soon, too.”

“Chess? What’s that?” The elf’s eyes lit up.

“Nothing for me or you, I’m afraid. There’s too much thinking involved. Your father may love it, though.”

“Hey!” Velariah poked me.

I chuckled before she pulled my face down to kiss me.

I was surprised by the quick movements and was still looking at her with shock as she parted.

“I missed doing that.” She smiled. “I don’t think we’ll be doing that a lot today. Also, that expression of yours is cute.”

“Thanks?” I blushed.

“Let’s head back. I really want some coffee.” The elf said as she took one of my hands.

Yet one more reason I didn’t like her having her armor on. I’d much prefer to hold her hand without the gauntlet separating us.

We walked back to her home and soon reached the mansion again. I could see the others still working on peeling the cherries as I helped Velariah with her armor. It appeared one batch was already laid out on a blanket in front of the hearth to dry.

“Finally, you’re back,” Seralyn said. “Lucas here has been going crazy, running around in circles without stopping.”

Lucas? Who the hell is Lucas?

“Who the hell is Lucas?” Velariah spoke my thoughts.

“Your new pet.” The brunette replied.

I walked back to the table to see the spider Velariah had brought in running around in circles, almost as if it was panicking. When I approached the table, it suddenly stopped and continued to stare at me.

“You actually named it?” I said in disbelief. “I cannot believe you named it.”

How did she even know what gender it was? Never mind, she probably didn’t. At least I hoped she didn’t.

“That’s what you do with pets right?” Seralyn spoke again.

“That thing is not a-...”

I sighed deeply.

I give up.

What does this spider have with me, anyway? Seriously, it stares at me all the time.

I silently started peeling the beans again, only throwing a few glances at the spider now known as Lucas every now and then.

He still creeped me out.

“What are you going to feed that thing anyway?” I eventually asked.

“Grasshoppers,” Seralyn grinned.

How original.

“That’s actually a good idea,” Velariah said. “Though, I have no idea how to get them.”

I was certain that back on Earth, one could buy insects as food for spiders and reptiles at pet shops. I imagined that may not be the case here.

“Elly?” Velariah asked.

“Yes?”

“Could you see if you can get your hands on some insects? I have no idea where to even start.”

“Not a problem.” The maid said and headed out.

Why did I feel like Elly would somehow have the answer to all this? She probably did too.

I wondered if this world had any spider experts. I could observe this weird spider that Velariah brought home, but I imagined if there was an expert, they could tell me more about myself. So far, I’d already figured out a fair bit myself.

I imagined it would be quite hilarious if they found out that this spider was in fact a female. I’d love to change the name, Lucas just sounded too… human.

How did one determine a spider’s gender anyway? The thing had no parts that set it apart from me. If one left out all the fuzzy hairs, the eyes, and the fact that my fangs worked quite a bit differently, one would conclude that it wasn’t so different from me.

I sighed again. Why was I comparing myself to a monster?

About an hour or so passed and we were still working on the beans. There was no end in sight. Even with the added manpower, the amount we gathered was just extreme. This would be enough coffee to last me months back on Earth. That made me wonder what the expiration date on it would be.

I noticed that some of the soaked beans had dried enough to roast them. The hearth in the wall beyond the table seemed to do its work well. I hoped speed-drying wouldn’t affect the quality too much.

A knock on the door caused Velariah to stand up to check out who it was. Elly returned to the table with a glass jar with a linen lid, filled with grasshoppers.

She’d actually done it. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Velariah took the jar and carefully took one of the insects between two fingers and walked back to the table where she held it a fair distance from the spider.

The spider shifted its vision from me to the grasshopper and I could see it twitch its pedipalps. Within the blink of an eye, the spider was on top of the grasshopper and sank its fangs into it.

I was creeped out but fascinated. The speed it showed was remarkable. If I could replicate that speed and upscale it to my size…

Holy crap.

Could I jump fifteen meters without issues?

That seemed too good to be true.

How did it do that?

The grasshopper soon stopped moving, succumbing to the venom.

Now came a question that I asked myself earlier at the cave. How did spiders eat?

I didn’t want to watch this but I found my eyes locked on Velariah’s new pet. I could feel Gray moving his paws up one of my legs but I chose to ignore him. I’d also dropped my work. All I could see was this spider.

It didn’t appear to actually be eating. What was it even doing?

I really needed that spider expert to clarify what the hell was going on. Maybe we could ask the Lore keeper if she knew anybody?

It just stood there with its fangs seemingly still in its prey, holding it with its pedipalps and front two legs.

Whatever.

I resumed peeling the coffee cherries again.

In the meantime, Elly roasted the first batch. After she finished doing that, it was time to make some actual coffee. I showed the process of grinding and then putting the ground coffee in a filtration cone before adding boiling water.

“That stuff looks… weird.” Nira commented as she observed the brown liquid flow into a jar.

“That’s what everyone thinks at first,” Velariah replied.

Not much later, Nira experimented with sugar and milk to try to get a flavor that fit her. They seemed to have a great time enjoying their new beverage while I was left out again.

I would have to make do with the smell…

I just continued working through the piles of beans.

We had made a great headway already, and after a short break, we finished up within half an hour. Elly roasted the beans in batches and then saved them in metal containers that she used for tea.

“Finally.” I said with a sigh. “This wouldn’t be half as bad if I could get some...”

“At least you can eat tree hardfruit, right after they come off the tree.” Velariah replied. “I cannot even fathom what that tastes like. I believe you said it was delicious, no?”

I nodded. “Yeah, they taste like bananas.”

“I have no idea what that is.” The elf said in response.

“Long, curved, yellow fruit that grows on trees with the same kind of trunk?”

Velariah shook her head. “Nope. Never heard of it.”

Bananas didn’t exist here?

These people didn’t know what they were missing.

I left it at that, just in case Elly started suspecting things.

“So,” Draco started, as Elly was moving things back to the kitchen. “Do we have any plans for tomorrow? We didn’t elaborate on it earlier.”

“What can we do?” I asked. “We would have to find a new quest or something and move out the same day, if it’s not nearby. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for us to head out right now. A grandmaster has been summoned for my inherity ritual. I’d hate to miss it because we’re out.”

“So we’d have to do simple, unrewarding quests in the neighborhood. It’s harsh to put it that way, but it’s the reality of things.” Draco continued.

“Or we take a day or two off until Elania’s ritual is fixed.” Seralyn added. “Let’s bring out the booze! Wait, can you mix coffee with alcohol?”

Elly was still in the kitchen so I decided to clarify.

“That is a thing back on my planet, you know? By all means, try it out.”

“Neat!” The brunette looked ecstatic.

“I guess the only other thing we could do is continue to explore the dungeon. And by explore I mean, just kill stuff. I don’t know how much longer we can acquire Corium from it, though. It may be a little too low level for us.”

While it was true that we didn’t have too many issues killing things in the dungeon, what did she mean by that?

“How much longer can we acquire Corium from it? How does that work?” I asked.

“At some point, the density of Corium in lower-level creatures is too low to make a difference. Their Corium is unable to be fully absorbed by the body. Once you gather more, you seem to outgrow monsters.” Draco explained. “You have to move on to higher-tier dungeons or monsters who possess more concentrated Corium in order to continue evolving your inherity.”

That sounded like some sort of osmosis. He even mentioned density.

“How can we know when to move on, then?” I asked.

“We can’t.” The lizardman continued. “Theoretically, it’s a gamble that you take. It can either pay off and allow you to grow stronger at an insane rate… or...”

“It kills you.” I finished his sentence.

He nodded.

That didn’t sound ominous at all.

Killing enemies in Arch’s dungeon seemed like the safe way to go, but if we lingered here for too long, we wouldn’t grow stronger. If we didn’t grow stronger, we may have somebody turn against us, me in particular because of what I was.

Maybe I was overreacting? I might be, I didn’t know how many people would be out for my hide (chitin?). I hoped being under the protection of a high-ranking person in the form of Valtheril would deter anyone from attacking me, even outside of this village.

“Stop worrying, El.” Velariah walked next to me and put an arm around my shoulders. “I can see you’re worrying again. You do that too much, you know?”

“I’m sorry. I’m just anxious. You all know why I am now.”

“It’s okay. We’ll be here for you.” She shook my shoulder to try to cheer me up.

“Thanks, Vel. Wait, can I call you that now?”

“I don’t think anyone here will frown upon you calling me that.” She looked at the others. “Do you?”

Nira and Draco shook their heads.

“I do.” Seralyn said.

“Oh, shut up, you.” Velariah slapped her with words.

Seralyn grinned.

Elly entered the room and exited again, taking the door leading upstairs.

“But yeah,” Velariah said. “Let’s take a day or so off. I’m sure we can spend the time well together. I’m sure you guys have a lot of questions. You should hear some of the things that Elania told me. Apparently, they have a device that you can hold in your hand and it allows you to talk to somebody on the other side of the world. Crazy, isn’t it?”

Nira looked at the elf in shock.

“That’s bullshit!” Seralyn called out.

I smiled. “I’m afraid it’s not.”

“Let’s talk over things during a round of Yahtzee. You guys wanna play here or in our bedroom? I’m sure Elania would like a break from standing so long.”

She got that right. Keeping this much weight lifted for so long without a break turned out to be… tiring? The feeling in my legs was odd to describe. I could do with sitting or lying down every once in a while.

We could possibly ask the craftsmen to make some kind of bench for me. There was also the option of simply buying it. The ones in the guild seem to suit me just fine.

“‘Our’ bedroom?” Seralyn smiled wickedly. “I knew it.”

I facepalmed.

Thanks, Velariah…