For the next decade, I simply lived on the island, indulging in every comfort. During this time, I thoroughly explored it. It was convenient to leave household chores to the clones. I wasn’t in a hurry to establish my colony, as I intended to do so only after fully developing my magical core. However, I wasn’t particularly bored. Magic, much like chakra once did, consumed all my attention.
Moreover, the ancient knowledge described unimaginably complex feats with reality: space travel, portals to other worlds, magical technologies capable of creating anything from calculators to space battleships, biotechnology for creating new life forms, resurrection of the dead, immortality, and so on. Unfortunately, I had only obtained scraps of the described power. Queen Azjol-Nerub fled to this world with the knowledge of a mediocre office clerk. The most she could do was open an interworld portal. Nevertheless, I saw that scientific research into existing spells could provide a foundation for establishing an interstellar civilization. The only question was why I needed such a civilization.
Finally, I felt that I had mastered magic enough to apply the most intricate spells from my ancestors' legacy. I had long considered this moment to be a turning point in my life. I moved to the location chosen for the future city and laid the foundation for a building where my descendants were to grow and be educated.
After hatching one egg, I placed it in a special room and began monitoring the maturation process, while also controlling the surrounding conditions. Unlike my northern relatives, I was primarily interested in producing a female with the highest intelligence and magical abilities. Two weeks later, a tiny spider emerged, which I immediately began to educate, instilling the thoughts I needed.
I planned to build a society where spiders would not be afraid to express their opinions, where the gifted could contribute to society, and where selfish, envious, and power-hungry individuals would be ruthlessly eliminated. The last point was crucial because even a small layer of such individuals could corrupt any society into a pack of wolves.
I never considered myself a good educator. In fact, I generally avoided dealing with children, but here I had to exert considerable effort, teaching the pure mind of the spiderling all the subtleties of future life. Unfortunately, this particular individual did not meet my stringent standards. The queen had imbued her eggs not only with genetic memory but also with her thoughts and emotions. What could one expect from such an idiot? It was only natural that her daughter began to exhibit less-than-desirable traits.
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Fortunately, spiders reached sexual maturity in just six months. So, I waited for this time, fertilized the female, and then used mental magic to oversee the entire process of embryo development. The second generation was much better, especially since I had completely isolated the new female from her mother by sending the latter to the afterlife. Another six months passed, and I produced the third generation. This time, the reason for discarding was not consciousness but heredity.
Spiders had no issues with inbreeding. We were artificially created. Our DNA had no defects, and errors during reproduction were corrected during the development of the egg cells. However, spider DNA was extremely versatile. During the formation of the egg cell, limitations were set on the activation of various genes. This program could be partially circumvented by setting external conditions for egg formation, but ultimately, it had a profound impact on the spider that was born.
This knowledge was embedded at the genetic level, but only females had access to it. Thus, I only learned about such details from a completely loyal individual. And as much as it pained me, I had to sacrifice her for my eugenic policies to overcome all the limitations imposed on spiders over the past six thousand years.
The third generation was deemed successful, so I named my future mate appropriately—Llos. Quite symbolic, in my opinion. I even entertain the possibility that she might one day become the goddess of dark elves.
Next, I launched the breeding program at full capacity, and my time for the next year was entirely occupied with caring for the offspring. Eventually, as the offspring grew up, they took their fate into their own hands, and all I had to do was guide them on the path of civilization development.
After ten years, the island was covered with delightful cities, fields for crops, and lakes for fish farming. Furthermore, environmental care was a priority, so much of the territory now resembled elven parks.
The island’s population was divided into three castes—mages, warriors, and workers. The latter drove the economy, mages advanced science, and the warriors... the warriors just sighed and conducted endless drills. After all, there were no enemies within a couple of thousand kilometers. However, I did not relax; on the contrary, I tried to channel the ever-active warriors into the driving force of evolution. Under their vigilant supervision, mages developed spider aviation, workers built a couple of flying aircraft carriers, and I arrived at the idea of conquering this entire world.