The Spider King was there at the landing pad watching the ship to slowly descend.

“Huh, strange.” He observed the distinctive lack of a goofy grin and waving he expected to see at the top of the ship deck. “The Centauri aren’t back.” He concluded.

That just meant that they still were working on catching the live specimens for the breeding programme. The ship finished docking allowing him to board and check the cargo hold.

“Oh my.” He was slightly taken aback.

The cargo hold was filled with various plants, some potted but there also were fruits and little bags filled with seeds. He was slightly confused here, he didn’t tell them to do all that. The nearby spider jumped in to give an explanation.

“Trusty Advisor. Told us to look for beneficial plants. For you to Evolve. And to investigate local monsters.”

‘Ah, Trusty Advisor, ever reliable, full of good ideas’, – he gave a silent thank you.

“Come see the cages.” The spider encouraged.

He approached the IronOak cages with both interest and caution. The Centauri Champion did mention that they will be heading to the Dark Forest, and judging from the name the forest would hold some formidable monsters. He checked the cages containing various critters: Mossy Moogle, DarkWillow Sproutling, Shadowling Sprite, NightShade Pup, ShadowPaw Squirrel, Twinkleleaf Fawn, Twilight Owlcat, and so and such…

Yes, there definitely was a theme going on, but none of the monster-animals looked neither scary nor formidable. Actually, they were rather cute, hence why he was somewhat surprised.

“Sorry.” The spider apologised for some reason. “Did we get. Your preferences wrong?”

“I see… So, this is my preference?” He gave another look at the caged creatures. “I guess, yeah, you’ve got it spot on. But just to be sure there are real monsters out there in the Dark Forest, right?”

“Yes,” the spider chirped, “we left those at the outpost. Should we ship them here?”

“No, there’s no need. If I Evolved an already vicious monster, it would make them even more monstrous.” He operated under that assumption. He looked around again, “I can’t see it, where is my fish?”

“Yes, of course. Please follow.”

The spider guided the Spider King up to the command deck. A strange place to keep fish if you asked him, but maybe the spiders were just keeping a good eye on it since it was the main item of their quest. As soon as he saw it, he instantly knew that this was the rumoured SapphireScale. However, there was a slight problem… The aquatic creature was more woman than a fish, no doubt, they had captured a type of a mermaid.

Her upper body was that of a woman, and her lower half was a sapphire scaled fish tail. She was rather long, or was it tall? – regardless, it should be somewhere close to 2.5 metres. And the tail was the fattest part of her body, her better half was rather slim and feminine, with all womanly charms included. However, with no mistake, she still was part monster. Her fingers were long and webbed, she had blue fins on her elbows and back, not to mention gills on both sides of her neck. Yet still, there was a mysterious charm surrounding her. Her face was round and cute having delicate features. The eyes were piercingly deep blue, just like her hair which were long and flowed loosely in the water. Her sapphire scales reflected the light making the water to shimmer blue around her. She was so enchanting!

He had realised he was staring like a fool only after the spider navigator came to greet him.

“Spider King,” spider navigator saluted, “we present you the SapphireScale.” With those words the spider handed in a small file. “Those are her stats.”

At first, he thought the spider just collected the data the Inspect would give, and while that was there, that assumption still was wrong. He flipped through the pages scanning past the text. This was almost like a manual, no, this was exactly it. It had all the details needed to look and care after the SapphireScale. And it had more, like her three sizes, the type of man she fancied, and her favourite colour, why did the spider feel the need to include that?

“Thank you, this will be highly helpful.” He thanked somewhat impressed at the extensive research the spiders did.

He approached the glass tank, the Mer inside was looking at him with body language betraying anxiety.

“Day Sapphire, be not afraid. I won’t eat you, there was a misunderstanding.” He bowed slightly in apology.

He must have said something wrong because his words had only spooked the Mer further.

“I mean it.” He said while using Aura Projection to convey his friendly intent.

“You…” The Mer swam closer to the glass wall. “You can speak Old Mer?” Her fear was replaced with amazement.

Thats right, his Language Comprehension must have kicked in, but he expected Demon Language and not Old Mer.

“I guess that’s right. Old Mer, huh, just so you know I have a special perk which allows me to speak all languages.” He explained still presumably in Old Mer.

The Mer in the tank just gazed unblinking while he spoke. He too was staring at her, still feeling enchanted by this otherwise fantastical encounter.

“Sorry about the misunderstanding, but…” He spoke with a tinge of guilt.

And there was good reason to be guilty. No, not because of the misunderstanding, that was not his fault, but because he still wanted to keep this Mer. A good man would apologise, recompensate and release her back into the lake. However, like most men, he was flawed. There was an irresistible desire to keep her. Who wouldn’t want their own personal mermaid, and especially as shiny as this one here?

He continued. “… But would you like to stay as a guest? I’ll promise we’ll treat you well.”

The Mer was thinking. It was hard to tell if she understood his hidden intentions or if she was seriously considering the offer.

“I always wanted to travel,” she spoke in sing-song voice, “and to learn about the spiders and their homes. And the one who rules them. I heard great things about this ruler. Ever since I was young, I dreamed of meeting him.” She jumped half out of the water. “Do you happen to be, the Spider King?” She avoided giving a straight answer.

“What?” He asked somewhat taken aback by the sudden burst of words.

She was clearly just messing with him. There was no way for her to know about the spiders, especially not then she was still young; the Spider Kingdom was not that old, and neither was he.

“After hearing the Centauri Champion’s description, I was expecting a gigantic spooky spider, but you must be the legendary Spider King, right?”

Legendary was alright but gigantic spooky spider was not, Centauri Champion, please give better descriptions! – He shouted internally.

“I should have introduced myself first.” He had that flaw. “I’m Spider King, ruler of the Monster Realm.”

“I’m Day Sapphire.” She smiled at him. “You’re more dashing than I imagined. It’s pleasure to meet you, Spider King. I would love to be your guest.”

Considering the previous image of him she had in her mind her words weren’t that surprising.

“No, it’s my pleasure to host one of the Mer. Shall I show you your new quarters?”

“New quarters? I’ve assumed this was my new room.” She swam around in the tank.

There was space for her to make a spin, but clearly it still was too small.

“There’s no way that is adequate. I have a pond prepared.” Once again, he said so apologetically. He expected just a fish and not an actual Mer, so the pod was somewhat barebones at the moment.

She wiggled her tail and smiled. “I’ve always dreamed about my own pond. I can’t wait to get in there.”

“Then, let’s not delay this further.”

The tank was put on wheels and wheeled by spiders out of the Galleon Whale. Just as they came outside, he couldn’t help but laugh at the expression Day Sapphire made. Whatever she expected, clearly this was not it.

“Is this how the dry land behind the forest looks?” She gazed at the spidery structures with wide eyes filled with wonder. “Oh, I know what this is. It’s a city.”

She was somewhat correct. “Yes, this is MegaFarm, the home of spiders.”

“MegaFarm is beautiful beyond belief… And how many spiders are here?” She looked somewhat cautious at the busy spiders zooming past the glass tank.

“I’ve lost track…” He tried to remember. “Including recent hatchlings that would be hundred thousand spiders.”

The big eyes of Mer grew only bigger, and she sunk deeper into her tank. She was murmuring something, but the water made her sentences incomprehensible. The strange behaviour didn’t last long.

She jumped half out of the tank and smiled at him. “The Spider Kingdom must be very successful to feed so many spiders. They must consume a huge amount of meat.”

“Nah, they’re zealous tomgrepatarians, they don’t eat meat at all. It’s mostly Lamia who eat meat, but we have squirrels for that.” He pointed at the Obese squirrel nearby.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The Mer inside the tank patted her slim stomach as if concerned about something.

“Just so you know, us Mer, will never get fat like that. We can’t.”

“Huh? Oh, okay. Good for you, I guess. The pond isn’t much further, just that way.” He pointed in the distance.

They arrived at the artificial pond. The plan was to guide the rivers and form a lake, but that megaproject was still under construction.

“It isn’t much, but I recon it’s better than a cramped fish tank.”

“No, this is perfect. May I?” She gave him a meaningful look.

He nodded despite not too sure what she meant. She swam to the furthest side of the tank and then propelled herself out of it jumping into the pond. Almost magically so, there was no splash and the water where she landed made only a few ripples.

“Wait…” There was a slight problem. “The water is infused with Dark mana!” He cautioned a bit too late.

Of course, the plan was to mutate the SapphireScale but since she was sapient that would be a lot harder.

The Mer poked her head out of the water. “It’s fine, I have Aquatic Adaptation.”

Just to be sure he used Inspect to check her status for negative effects, where he found she had Dark Resistance: Lesser, instead.

“That works out I guess.”

“This pond feels amazing.” She beamed him another smile.

Yeah, there wasn’t much of the pond yet. It lacked all the necessary plants. In turn, he presented her an apologetic smile.

“If you give me a list of plants,” he began, “I’m sure we could get them and plant them here.”

“I have Aquatic Adaptation, but I doubt most of the plants would be as resilient.”

“No worries there.” He assured her. “I have the right perks for that.” He remembered something. “Speaking of which.” He walked knee-deep into the water. “Give me your hand.”

The Mer stretched her arm without hesitation, but as soon as he took hold of it an undeniably pinkish blush developed on her cheeks.

“Monster System?!” She asked bewildered.

“Yeah, accept it.”

She must have done so because soon she invoked, “[Status]. I see…” The look she gave him this time was entirely different from the others he has had received so far. She gripped his hand tighter. “How is it possible for you to do this?” She asked while struck with awe.

“I’m a Monster King for a reason. Welcome to the Monster Realm.” He let her hand go.

“And these icons on the right?”

“Skills you can unlock.” He explained. “But it will take time before it happens. They're rather exp hungry.”

She blinked at him clearly still trying to take everything in.

He had an idea. “You know what… Since you’ve been so cooperative. I have a small reward.” He produced a certain fruit out of his inventory space.

The Mer looked at the golden orb somewhat suspiciously but still she took it and ate it with bites which only grew in size and scope.

“Forget the TomGrape, this is my new favourite food!” She declared and then her eyes darted past the messages she just have received. “No way!” She explained jumping out of the water.

“Big way!” He smiled happy that it managed to cheer her up. “What did you get?”

“Exp and a new skill, Royal Bloodline. It’s a passive giving me a status boost.”

He had to see it for himself. “[Inspect]”

Monster Race: Mer

Variant: SapphireScale Princess

Magic Affinity: Water

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HP:100

MP:500

STA:200

Active Perks

[Sonic Scream], [Hydrokinesis], [Cutting Splash]

Passive Perks

[Sapphire Scales], [Marine Empathy], [Aquatic Adaptation], [Royal Bloodline]

Resistances

[Dark Resistance: Lesser], [Water Resistance: Lesser]

Yeah, her HP, MP and STA doubled. That’s all right, but he didn’t expect that ‘princess’ addition to her variant. However, he did remember a certain kobold obtaining Dragon Blood at some point, so maybe this was similar.

Just as he was pondering all of this, Day Sapphire jumped out of the water embracing him tightly. “This is amazing! It recognises I am a princess!” Worse, she planted a direct kiss on his lips. “Thank you! Thank You!” She leaned for another.

A reluctant hand landed on her round face pushing it away.

“I’m glad you’re happy, but I’m married.” He looked behind him with worry. Luckily none of the Lamia were around, only spiders. And you can always trust the spider to keep a secret.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me…” Her arms let him go.

It was probably his Aura Projection which he was blasting on full power, or so he reasoned.

The awfully tight embrace he had just received reminded him of another uncomfortable issue. “Sorry again about the misunderstanding. I’ll tell the spiders to treat you as a person and not an animal to be eaten much like squirrels are.” No, not exactly that issue. “And since you’re official a part of Spider Kingdom, you’ll have to wear these.” He pulled two Rainbow Shells out of his inventory. The two weren’t clam shells, they were insect shells from the Scorpion Desert, but they fitted the overall theme.

The Mer blinked at him with clear confusion, and then what must have been the realisation.

The edict number one was: No one shall go naked. A rule zealously enforced by the spiders, with the only exception being animals. Hence the necessity of the shells.

“Like this.” He demonstrated putting the shells on his chest. “Here, try it.” He handed the pair.

“Like this?” She took the shells sticking them on that perfect spot.

“Yes, that’s perfect.”

“They’re so shiny! Thank you for the jewellery.” She launched into another hug.

The second hug finished the task of soaking his robe completely, not that he minded either of the things. Since, she wasn’t going for a kiss and the shells cushioned the blow, this was now okay, right… right?

She let him go eventually and with that, “I’m sorry but I have a few errands to finish. Just call the spiders if you need anything. I’ll come to see how you do a bit later.” He waddled out of the pond.

Indeed, he had so much to do, the multiple distractions weren’t helping. He did need to finally pick that Modification: Monster Core and go through the transformation.

“I understand. See you later, my prince.” The Mer waved him off.

…

Day Sapphire looked at the leaving Spider King. There was that strange sensation of butterflies fluttering in her stomach, she couldn’t explain the reason for the feeling, nor the meaning of it. Perhaps for that reason, her mind pulled her to remember last few weeks.

First, she got herself captured and was fated to be slaughtered by the barbaric frogmen, her meat consumed by Demonic races and her precious scales sold off. At that time, she was fully resigned to that fate, refusing to eat or even drink. And then the Centauri came, a small blessing in disguise, after clearing the misunderstanding she realised that she won’t be killed and eaten. That was good, right? – A welcome improvement. That was when she decided to find some good in the worst of situations.

Of course, her life came with a price. She was told she will be kept alive in order to breed more Mer. A somewhat strange reason to keep her alive, but considering the alternative she wasn’t entirely against it. Well, it would all depend on how they treated her there in the Spider Kingdom.

There inside the ship, the spiders were somewhat chatty, even friendly. So, she used that chance to extract as much information from them as she could. Mainly about the ruler of the spiders who desired Mer, SapphireScale in particular. The spiders had only praises for their Spider King, even if he was a monstrous spider, he sounded like a good ruler. And so far, her treatment wasn’t too bad. For a captured slave it was exceedingly good, the container they were keeping her was spacious and the food she got was… super tasty.

All of that pointed that the ruler in charge could be reasoned, or even swayed. That was then she began hatching a small plan. Instead of being miserable, like she undoubtedly was, she’ll play it nice and try to sell herself as a good and obedient Mer to improve her future conditions.

Once she reached the Spider Kingdom, just like she intended, she flashed her shiny scales intent to bedazzle whoever was there to claim her. Surprisingly the Spider King was not an actual spider, he even somehow spoke Old Mer. Even better, the plan had worked! The man charmed by the shine of her pristine scales went on to offer her a status of a guest. A stark improvement from a status of a slave, which she took readily.

And soon, another misunderstanding was cleared up, well she realised it on her own. She wasn’t here for the meat or her scales at all. She was here to be kept as a pretty thing for either the King or his other guests to marvel. She could understand that, after all, all Mer were beautiful. There were some challenges on the way for her future cage, like the knowledge that the place was invested with so many spiders her mind struggled to imagine the number. But she shoved her bad emotions into the deepest corner of her mind and carried on displaying herself as best as she could.

‘Smile, be pleasant, look good, praise him.’ She kept reminding herself.

Anytime he looked at her, she straightened her tail to show how long it was, wiggling it slightly in the water to make her scales glimmer and shine. At her home, the Deep Lakes, something like this was reserved only for courtship rituals, and otherwise would be considered inappropriate, but she was desperate here.

Her future cage, the pond, was way bigger than she imagined. Not deep at all, but plenty of space for her to swim around. And her efforts to bedazzle the King paid off again, he took her hand looking at her with affection. That was then a strange power flooded inside her. She couldn’t quite grasp the full meaning of the gesture. Moreover, she was offered a peculiar fruit. She ate it only to be left gobsmacked… And from there her surprise only increased. The Spider King possessed powers she couldn’t fully understand.

She was just a ‘guest’, but even then, he bestowed an incredible power upon her. Through strange ritual, the system was forced to recognise her as a princess, right-out doubling her strength. She was so overwhelmed by happiness she lost control of her own emotions. Luckily, the Spider King was receptive of the little accident. Even if he said something about having a wife, she was rewarded with exotic jewellery. The frogmen had stripped her of her baubles, necklaces, and bracelets alike, so she was beyond happy to receive some. It just that the place to carry them was somewhat odd…

Regardless, she understood the silent message conveyed by the gift. She made a mental note to be more touchy-feely with the Spider King, that is as long as his wife was not around. She smiled at her own genius, she might have started as a captured slave, but now she was much more. Slaves never would be granted power, not to mention jewellery. Surely, if she continued her conditions will only improve.

However, there still was a slight problem, that strange sensation of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. The Spider King was more genius and kind than she had expected. And he was undeniably rich and powerful. And even, if he wasn’t Mer, she saw him as handsome. It was strange how the world worked, it might be because of the delicate state of her mind, or the unlikely gifts she had received, but the time the Spider King disappeared out of her sight… it was she, princess Day Sapphire, who was left bedazzled and completely Charmed.