Going to meet your neighbours empty-handed is never a good idea. He didn’t have a lot of different products on his farm, but the stuff he had was of high quality. With great effort (he needed to use slug jelly in convincing), he had wrangled a few of his workers and loaded them with gifts; he took simple things like Blue Cloth, TomGrape fruits, and a jar of Slug Jelly.

He had noticed that his workers had recently become more chatty and sociable. It wasn’t rare to see them chittering between themselves and for better or worse they had realised that something of significance is happening. They either wanted to take part in it or were just jealous of slug jelly treats, either way, what this meant was that now he had keen volunteers ready and roaring to go and greet the newly discovered neighbours. The issue was that there were just too many volunteers: like half of the entire village.

The spiders were lined up in neat rows and were waiting for him to start the journey.

“Guys, I know you are excited about meeting new people but this is just too much. I don’t even have that much jelly and this jar is for neighbours.” He tried to reason. All in vain.

These spiders were just too stubborn.

“If everyone goes, who will look after the farm and the plants?” He tried again.

“No-Pro-Ble-Mmm.” The largest in the group replied.

He recognised the speaker, It was the leader of the troublemakers known as Jesters. He decided to call it Chief Jester.

At this point he wasn’t even surprised that his spiders were sapient and could speak, he was way past this point. He just attributed it to them being born out of magic.

“Ahh.” He sighed; there wasn’t much point in arguing with spiders. “If you say so… I guess there is strength in numbers and that forest isn’t exactly without dangers.”

They began a slow march towards the depths of the jungle. He noticed a bunch of clearers working on what seemed to be a road; one of the spiders was teaching the others, It was the same one he had used before.

“You learn quickly, don’t you? Good work, we will need this road.” He praised their initiative.

He knew where he needed to go so the journey was much shorter, and when the road gets done it will be even faster.

There in front of him was a familiar sight of the wooden palisade, but this time there were even more people in the guard towers. He reconsidered them as archers.

“So many archers, are they at war with someone?” He wondered out loud.

It was likely, and if so, he came at a bad time. He looked at his spiders, there were over a hundred of them.

“Yup, they will definitely misunderstand.” He concluded. “Guys, let me go alone.” He signalled the spiders to wait.

He took a deep breath of air and walked out of the forest and into the clearing. The booming sound of a horn rang from one of the watchtowers rousing the people behind the walls into motion.

“It will be okay.” He reassured himself and kept walking.

More and more people poked their heads out of the palisade walls. Ever increasing number of arrows were aimed in his direction.

“They are just cautious.” He kept walking slowly but confidently.

He was close enough to distinguish individual faces from one another. They looked like humans but not quite. Their hair was blond and long, their skin pale and their ears elongated.

“Elves.” He concluded. “I knew it…”

A single arrow was shot from a longbow and it pierced the ground two feet away from him. He stopped walking and waved at the elves.

“Hello, I come in peace!” He shouted.

He could hear some sort of commotion happening behind the walls but no one replied to him yet. It was probably because they were cautious of a weird stranger. Then he realised that he indeed looked quite odd, scale armour and all. He took his helmet off.

“Look.” He pointed at his face. “I know I’m not like you, but I am friendly and unarmed. Can I come in for a talk?”

Someone finally replied, “You want to talk?” Their tone was tinged tones of disbelief.

“Yes, I even brought you gifts. All to show my goodwill.” He put on his best smile or tried to. It was hard then there were so many arrows aimed at him.

“What gifts? I can see nothing in your hands.” Now there was open hostility in the man's voice, “It’s the monsters which will flood our city once we open the gates. Isn’t it? That’s your ‘gift’.”

Ah, so they noticed the spiders.

“You mean, my spiders? They are friendly and perfectly well-behaved.” The last part was a lie.

The man didn’t reply for quite a while. He became quite nervous just standing there in the clearing. If for some reason one of the spiders decided to come and say hello he knew the elves wouldn’t take this well.

“What do you want?” Someone else asked this time.

“Mmm…” He thought he was clear the first time. “To be friends, have good relationships, to be allies that sort of stuff. We are neighbours after all.”

“How can we be friends with monsters?” The man asked in turn.

It kind of struck a cord. These elves had a stick up their ass, there was a reason he hated the elves…

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“If I don’t look like you it doesn’t mean I’m a monster. Have you ever heard of the saying: don’t judge a book by its cover?”

There was mocking laughter and then a reply. “Oh, we know you are a monster. But we also know that we can’t win against your forces of evil. If you want to attack us and wipe us out you will have to do it the honest way, we aren’t buying your trickery and inviting you inside these walls.”

“But…” He was out for words. “I didn’t do anything wrong did I.”

The man laughed again.

“Your very existence is wrong. However, you haven’t killed any of us, not yet, so I will follow our tradition and let you leave. So leave now!” The elf commanded.

It seems the neighbours weren’t very neighbourly. He should have expected it, they were elves after all.

“Whatever I did to offend you, I am sorry.” He tried to be a bigger person. “I brought gifts, and they are yours regardless you want them or not. You can throw it away if you don’t like it… I will leave now.”

He took a small step backwards, no arrows came to pierce him. He put his helmet on, turned his back to the elves and walked towards the forest just as calmly as before.

He could hear cheering coming from behind the walls. For some reason, he found it mighty annoying.

“Oh boy, that didn’t go well at all.” He reflected. “I really don’t like them, elves.” He entered the forest where his spiders were waiting patiently.

“Sorry guys, they won’t welcome us.” He apologised to everyone gathered there.

“Let's leave some gifts, and just go home.” He untied a few sacks and left them laying on the ground. “Maybe we can find better allies somewhere else.” He tried to be positive.

And thus unceremoniously so, they walked all the way back to the farm.

…

He tried to be positive, he really did, but a lot of things weighed heavy on his mind. Elves deciding not to treat him and his spiders as equals implied many things, none of which were good.

“Now they know about us, and we know how they see us.”

The usual escort of spiders was present of course, but he was just talking to himself.

“We need to be cautious and careful. I need to protect my people. Yes, this is the duty of a King. ” He nodded to himself finding the resolve to move forward.

“We need to protect this kingdom. We need walls, we need warriors.” He looked at the group he had casually named Jesters. “Can you help me with that?”

“Yes.” Chief Jester chirped.

It felt like he was dreaming, he didn’t expect a reply so readily.

“I guess, you guys are really sapient. Should I rely on you more?”

Chief Jester chirped something complex so he didn’t quite understand it, but he knew it was a positive reply.

“Then I will.”

From that day on the farm began to change. Whatever wood was gathered from clearing jungle it was used to make a wooden palisade, the walls surrounded the most important buildings while the farms were still outside it.

There was also a new group of nimble scouts, venturing deep into the jungle and probing for danger.

For the warriors he still had none, likely he would need to wait for a new clutch of spiders to be born.

The construction took days to achieve, and due to a lack of builders he had to contribute a significant amount of his time. The time was well spent because he had finally acquired enough Building exp.

[Congratulations! You have reached Building lvl .1]

[Skill Reinforce obtained.]

This wasn’t a passive perk but a skill he could activate. Instinctively he knew what it did and how to use it. He began using it on sections of the palisade wall, and with some application of rope and wood, he made the wall more sturdy. He wasn’t just adding it to the wall, he was using the skill while doing it, and somehow it made the wall more sturdy; Magic, go figure. Anyway, doing this gave him a small tickle of Building exp.

“I have a way to level my building quicker now.” He smiled at the prospects.

But by heart, he was a farmer, he just liked it more. The proof of that was the two storage houses full of TomGrape, the third one was on its way. And the farmland was still expanding, so maybe he will need a fourth one too. That and he needed more spiders for various tasks.

His wish was granted sooner than he expected, well kind of, they haven't hatched yet but by the best guess, there were at least a thousand of eggs waiting to hatch. For whatever reason egg production just exploded. It kind of made sense they had ample food and need for workers.

He just couldn’t wait for the eggs to hatch.

While he was waiting, he remained cautious of possible elven incursion. He just didn’t like the outcome of his diplomatic mission. The results of it gave him many sleepless nights. However, for one reason or the other, the elves seemed to leave him be. That however didn’t mean that his spiders left the elven territory.

His explorers were probing further and deeper into the jungle, further into the forest. Best of all, they were bringing him various goods. Fruits, berries, and nuts were offered as tribute to the King. He would prefer some meat but he still had no way to preserve it.

The explorers would also bring various plants they found peculiar. Most of which were useless to him, but there was one exception: it was a thick vine full of spiky thorns. He hoped to use Acclimate and Unnatural Selection to turn this plant into something he could use for defence. A patch of it was already growing in a small field where TomGrape vines used to be.

…

The new flock of spiders have hatched, and this time he was well prepared. He was busy crafting them the necessary clothing.

In addition to the usual workers now he had a group of scouts, a larger group of explorers (who were not scouts if similar), and finally some warriors.

He had more warriors than he needed really, half of the hatchlings seemed to be of the warrior class. Aside from the obvious fact that they were bulkier and bigger, there was an odd change in their carapace. Instead of smooth obsidian chitin, their body was made of hexagonal segments giving them an armour-like look. The segments were just like the ones the eggs had, meaning they were just as sturdy if not more. Plus, the warriors preferred to walk using only four legs, keeping their front two unoccupied. It was a shame the two arms weren’t quite yet arms and they still couldn’t hold tools but it was a step forward in an obvious direction.

“I will need weapons eventually.” He stated the obvious.

But the resources in the jungle were limited, all he had was chitin and wood.

“So clubs and spears it is.”

He decided and began testing the first designs.

[Congratulations! you are now proficient enough to craft a chitin spear of superior quality.]

[Congratulations! you are now proficient enough to craft a wood club of superior quality.]

These were the results after many hours and multiple attempts. The wood club was just as the name implied and a simple weapon to craft. The chitin spear had a more complex design and even provided more Crafting exp. He used the chitin chips for the spear tip and some blue rope to secure it in place. He even decorated the shaft in carved patterns hoping for some bonus or reward, but there were none, however, the spear looked quite badass and he kept this one for himself.

The warriors had finished growing, however, they weren’t quite ready for the weapons still preferring to use their mandibles. Also, they had become quite restless, their mock battles had grown too fierce and often he had to break them before they could hurt each other. This meant only one thing – they were bored and eager for action.

He gathered all of his warriors in a cleared field. They looked in anticipation.

“No, I won’t attack the elves.”

There was a sliver of disappointment in their eyes.

“However, we are going for another fully-fledged expedition. No! Conquest. Because we are ready!”

The spiders chirped giving him their cheers and approval.