The King had received the Spider Report. The news of the return of the shadow monsters were disturbing.

“[Summon Darkness],” he summoned the most likely culprit.

A spot of darkness pooled in front of him forming a blob resembling a slime.

“Yes, Master. What’s happening?”

“Shadow monsters are back. The spiders have spotted a shadow wolf.”

“Oh no!” It jiggled its slime-like body.

“Don’t tell me you have nothing to do with it.”

“But I don’t, meow, I’ve lost my previous power.” The voice the Darkness used at the moment belonged to a certain wyrmling, a known troublemaker, and for that reason, it didn’t sound all too trustworthy.

“Is that so?” He looked at the slime sceptically.

“It is so. I don’t have enough mana to summon even one of them, meow. But maybe if I can get close, I can take control?”

That was an interesting idea.

“Hmm… is it possible for them to be born naturally?”

“Well, since my… transformation. There is a lot of ambient Dark mana around.”

“Yeah, and there is that rain too.” He decided to let his pet off the hook. “Let’s see if we can catch a shadow wolf.”

“Okay?” The Darkness jiggled uncertainly.

He went to see the spiders to get a rough location where the shadow creatures were spotted. However, there was a certain problem, even if there were shadow wolves around, they were known to avoid spider detection and by extension him the Spider King. It was as if they could feel the spider’s presence from a distance. A Spider ArchMage has been speculating that the shadow creatures had a keen sense for Dark magic and that they could sniff individuals with Dark affinity; and it made a lot of sense.

The King could resort to trapping them, after all, CageBush trapping was a tested method. But since the sightings were rare and the MegaFarm was huge, trapping a shadow wolf could take weeks or months. Well, there was a solution. The spiders had whispered that his wife was preparing a surprise for him, unfortunately, that surprise was sort of spoiled because he already knew about the item she was making.

“Hmm, thinking about it. The item should already be ready. Let’s go see my wife and ask some leading questions.” He urged his pet Darkness to tag along.

“Meow, Okay.”

…

The Lamia Queen was casually lounging in the throne room on a throne. There were two seats one for the King and one for the Lamia Queen, both made equal. But for some reason, when the Spider King wasn’t there she would sit on his seat. Currently, she was clutching a large bundle of TomGrape with one hand and devouring them greedily with the other. The juices spilled from her mouth and down the chin leaking on her blue dress and then all over the throne. She was making a proper mess all around.

The Spider King stepped into the throne room and there was an urge for him to sigh. But really, everything had Dirt Resistance, so it wasn’t much of a big problem. This was just the way the Lamia ate, and he accepted that part of their culture.

“Oh, you here, sss. Come sit.” She patted her tail offering it for a seat.

Recently the two had grown closer, but he wasn’t going to sit on top of his wife, if anything the roles should be reversed. She should be sitting on his lap. Wait… no, there was a whole dedicated seat for her! He was getting distracted by idle thoughts.

“Actually, my dear wife, a certain rumour had reached my ears. I’ve heard of a surprise gift you’re making. And I’m sorry to spoil the surprise. But I’m so giddy at the thought of it, I can’t wait! Is it ready?”

The lamia pouted hearing him speak but soon that pout disappeared.

“Yes, sss, I have it my dear. I was just looking for a good moment. But I guess-sss I have no choice. All ‘giddy’, eh, s-s-s!” She hissed happily.

The Lamia Queen gave a meaningful look to one of the lamia servants in the throne room. The rather tiny lamia nodded vigorously and slithered to fetch the gift.

“I sss-see your pet is tagging along with you today.” She looked with slightly narrowed eyes at the Darkness.

“Yes, I’m training it.”

“You know when we were…” She made an obscene gesture. “It was there in the room, sss, on the ceiling in the darkest corner. I noticed it taking a peek and then it disappeared.”

Yeah, the Darkness here could faze through walls using shadows and otherwise was good at avoiding detection, but…

“Hey, why didn’t you tell me? I would have chased it away.”

“SSS, it was gone as soon as I saw it. And it would have spoiled the mood.”

Now, he too was looking at the Darkness with narrowed eyes. The slime didn’t even jiggle, as if it didn’t do anything naughty. He kept staring with more intensity.

“Master, what?” It finally asked.

“Why were you spying on me.”

The Darkness jiggled. “I wasn’t spying! Meow! I was guarding you.”

“Explain.”

“You are my master, meow. At night I find my way to your room. When you sleep It’s my duty to guard you. And at that time, I thought you were being attacked, meow, but I was mistaken.”

So, in other words, it was always watching him at night then he was sleeping. He didn’t know if to call it cute or creepy. Let’s go with cute. “Aww, thank you so much Darkness,” he patted the top of the slime, “but I need my privacy.”

“I know, meow. That’s why I left.” It jiggled again.

“SSS! Please don’t watch us sleep. We have guards just outside.” And it’s not like they needed any, apart from stray shadow monsters, the MegaFarm was super safe.

“It is my duty!” The slime bobbed in protest.

“Queen, King, sorry for the wait.” The servant Lamia bowed and handed pale pale-looking item to the Lamia Queen.

It wasn’t wrapped or even boxed. Apparently, the Lamia didn’t have that custom. Really, a missed opportunity. A wrap was there to create that extra tension, a step to reveal the present; it was important because even if superficial it improved the experience. Even if he had known what it was already, he hadn’t seen it with his eyes, but now he did.

Anyway, at least she understood the importance of passing it by her own hands.

“My dear, I’ve got it for you, sss. Now, when you are away, I can always-sss be close to you. And if you miss-sss me, feel free to caress-sss it.”

He took the gift from her hands. It was a piece of clothing.

“I’m very happy to receive it. I’ve always wanted something like this.” He gave her a genuine smile.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“I know, sss, that’s why I got it ready. Try it on already.” She encouraged.

“Finally!” The gift was a plain white west, it didn’t have much flourish but the eye-catching features would defeat the purpose of the item. “[Inspect].”

Item: Vest of the Lamia Queen

Quality: Masterwork

Bonuses

+50HP, +10 Lamia Rep

Active Perks

[Camouflage],

Passive Perks

[Minor Regeneration],

Resistances

[Reinforced +2]

“It fits perfectly. Thank you again.” He embraced his wife with a kiss.

“S-s-s. Should we go to the bedroom?”

“Well… I have to try this first. [Camouflage], can you see me?”

“S-s-s!” She laughed. “This is not how this perk works. Dear, it doesn’t make you invisible, sss, and you’re standing in the middle of the room, s-s-s.”

“S-s-s!” Even the Darkness was laughing.

“Hey, sss, don’t imitate me!”

“How about you teach me how to use it.” He asked.

“Sss-sure, let's go outside.”

Camouflage wasn’t an invisibility, there were a lot of limitations. First, for it to be effective he had to consider the close environment, the denser and lusher it was the better, but dark places and cramped nooks and crannies of the caves would also work. Second, if someone saw him just before he invoked the perk that individual would still be able to see him, in other words, he had to be undetected before using it. The more aware the target was the more likely it was that the perk would fail, so unsuspecting individuals were most vulnerable.

He invoked the perk in the TomGrape fields to test its potential. Unsurprisingly so, the spiders were able to detect him, something to do with their innate ability to sense their Spider King. However, he was able to surprise a few unsuspecting lamias making them jump in surprise. If it worked against Lamia it was a promising skill. Similarly, the Centauri were just as vulnerable to his shenanigans.

“You are having way too much fun from this-sss.” The Lamia Queen didn’t sound all too pleased about his pranks.

“You know, If I just wanted to scare the girls, I could use Shadow Walk. I’m just testing the potential of Camouflage.

“Yes, meow, Master is very happy with the gift.” For some reason, the Darkness jumped to support him.

“I know, sss, just don’t go overboard. And don’t sss-spy on anyone then they are changing. Or bathing, or…” She was beginning a long list of rules.

What was that saying? Ah, yes, with great power comes great ability… hmm, that wasn’t exactly it. Anyway, he had better perks and spells if he wanted to do that type of spying. It’s good he wasn't some sort of a deviant.

“And definitely don’t spy on anyone when they are sleeping. Oh and…” She was still going on.

Well, he had to pretend to listen, and while he did that. His mind went on a bit of a tangent. Here he was wearing his wife's skin. He ate the Drow Ice Cream, ate Centauri Cheese, and let’s just not talk about Forbidden Sauce. And his hobby was milking his best friend. Right definitely not some sort of a deviant, no-no, he had good reason for all of these.

“…and especially not, sss, when I’m in the process of shedding. I might have given you this but you sss-seeing me do that would be way too embarrassing.”

Oh, it sounds like she was done. “Of course! I would never use your gift for evil.”

“It’s good you understand.” She hissed sounding pleased.

“Now, if you don’t mind. I and Darkness have to catch a certain shadow creature.”

“Don’t stay up too late. You need to thank me, sss, for the gift properly.” She blushed saying the line.

Yeah, it wasn’t just Darkness who had duties to fulfil.

“Of course.” He nodded.

The Spider King and his pet Darkness continued their walk between the rows of TomGrape webs. They were walking slowly in order not to break the Camouflage.

“Master, if we’re hunting them isn’t it best if I stay away.”

“Right, good idea. They might be able to sense you. I’ll summon you when I need you.”

The slime jiggled disappearing into the shadows. Admittedly, the shadow creatures might still be able to feel his presence, after all this was just an experiment. However, he felt optimistic about this. As long as he didn’t use any magic it should be fine. This was because, according to the Queen herself, the perk not only camouflaged visual presence but other types of senses too, like smell and sound, and hopefully magical presence.

Regardless, he kept his pace casual so that he didn’t move too quickly or make any unwanted sounds. He walked around till late at night. Since he’d promised, he couldn't keep at it through the night even if he wanted, so he began walking towards the palace. It was then the TomGrape leaves rustled right behind, he jerked his head to look at the sudden disturbance.

A fat squirrel emerged from under the web.

‘Ah, just a squirrel.’ Even so, he was slightly disappointed. ‘But wait… why is it running? And desperately so.’ The squirrels were fat and lazy, they had no reason to run, unless…

From the same web a large shadow emerged, it aimed its two tentacles towards the squirrel. The fat and slow critter was caught, and the tentacles began draining it of life.

With his quarry right in sight, he acted without hesitation jumping towards the shadow wolf. The Camouflage broke but his arms were already tightly wrapped at the torso of the shadow creature.

“[Summon Darkness],” he called.

The tentacles released the half-drained squirrel and then latched on the Spider King.

[Debuff: Drain], a message informed him.

A form of shadowy slime manifested nearby.

“It’s wriggling too much. Do your thing!”

“Yes, Master.” The Darkness shot a tentacle from its body jabbing it straight into the shadow wolf. “I’m in.” it announced proudly.

The shadow creature stopped struggling, the tentacles dropped down dispelling the Drain effect.

“That was fast.” He complimented looking at the docile shadow creature.

“I’m in!” The Darkness repeated as if looking for praise.

“In?” He could see the slime’s tentacle piercing the monster but there was clearly more to it. “What do you mean in? It’s already under your control, yes?”

“Yes, meow, but… how to explain this.” The Darkness jiggled in contemplation. “Their minds are connected.”

“What? Like a hive mind?” That knowledge startled him a bit. “Is there a leader? A new Darkness?” He asked with worry.

The slime jiggled again. “No. There isn’t. But they are loosely connected. Meow! There are about fifty of them in the MegaFarm.”

Okay, it even knew the number!

“Can you take control of all of them?”

“No, meow, only this one. I would need to make contact.”

A small problem really. “Just call them here. We’ll ambush them.”

“Meow?” The darkness bobbed from side to side. “I can’t, they won’t listen.”

“Ahh… so you’re not powerful enough.” He reasoned.

“Yes, meow, but also, they’re… afraid?”

“Afraid? Of what?”

“Meow! It's obvious. It’s you!”

Okay, so even shadow creatures were afraid of him. Was he some sort of monster? No!

“I don’t think I’m that scary… So, you can talk with them, right? Or is that, you can just get a general feeling.”

“I can talk with them. Meow… sort off. I can’t command them. But we can communicate.” The darkness bobbed sounding uncertain in its own words.

“If they’re so afraid, just tell them to leave.” He said so fully aware that it never was that simple.

“I’ll try.”

“If not, we’ll just hunt them down.”

The Darkness quivered. “And that’s why, meow, they are afraid of you… Okay.” It gave a somewhat positive jiggle. “They won’t leave. There isn’t much food in the jungle. But they say they won’t attack the spiders.”

“Duhh…”

“Okay, meow. They won’t attack anyone. They just want the squirrels.”

“So, they can be reasoned with.”

“Master, what do I tell them?”

“I don’t like freeloaders, tell them that.”

“Hmm… how do I translate it? Meow!” The Darkness jiggled in frustration. “They are confused. Meow, just so you know it's not words we’re talking with. Images, emotions, stuff like that.”

“Hmm…” He also was hmm-ing now.

“Confusion.” The darkness repeated.

“Just tell them that they would need to work and do as I say.”

“I’m trying. But how is that different from my control?”

He looked at the shadow wolf, it was there completely motionless. Puppeted.

“They would retain their free will.”

“Oh, I see!” The Darkness jiggled with vigour. “Okay, meow, they won’t attack anyone and will try to follow your commands.”

“Can they be trusted?”

The Darkness undulated with uncertainty. “Meow, I don’t know.”

It seems that only time will show. And anyway, if it was only squirrels they wanted, why not? There was plenty to go around. And he would gain another interesting minion. Assuming all worked out that is.

“Alright. Tell them I’ll tolerate their existence.”

“Yes, Master.”

He looked at the still motionless shadow wolf. “Should we release this one? To show goodwill?”

“I can, meow, but if I do so it will die.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s a part of me now.”

“Oh, is that how this works? I guess it can’t be helped.” He started walking back to the palace.

The Darkness and the newly acquired shadow wolf were right behind.