The Spider King was walking home at a casual pace, his mind was focused on a system message.
[Congratulations! By successfully rescuing your first princess from captivity, you have obtained Achievement: Knight in Shiny Armour]
Achievement: Knight in Shiny Armour > +20 Rep with Princesses.
It was a while since he got any of those, and the message was welcome. But, “I don’t get it. Am I not the one who got her captured?” It just seemed backwards.
For some reason the system registered him as the one who rescued her, and if so, it should have been the Centauri. But maybe the Monster System did so because he was the one to issue them that quest. Or maybe it took the targeted princess feelings in consideration.
“Does this mean she sees me as her rescuer?” He could only guess. “Ah, that’s probably why she went so easily with everything I asked.” He went with that assumption.
But also, there was this ‘+20Rep with Mer’ thing to consider, he got that in tandem with his achievement.
“Rescuing princesses is a lucrative business…” He wondered if he should inquire his subjects if they heard any rumours about trapped princesses, preferably in some tower or dungeon. And, it’s not like he needed to get his hands dirty, he could just employ the services of his subjects. “Here I go again, getting distracted. I better hurry home before getting myself yet another side quest.” Yes, there was a thing he was putting away for too long.
…
The Spider King was sitting on a spider crafted couch with his wife nearby. Lamia Queen had a worried expression on her face.”
“I can feel it.” He said while looking at her intently. “It’s growing.”
“You look like in pain, sss, let me help you.” She put her hands on him. “Here, a healing massage.” Her eyes went big. “I can feel it, sss, it’s getting bigger!”
He nodded; he could feel that too.
“Big is good, sss. I’m happy for you.” She smiled with a broad grin.
He breathed out deeply. “I think it’s over…”
“Oh, it didn’t even last that long.” She patted his chest for the last time and took her hands away.
There was no need for her to massage his chest , since the changes were happing somewhere deep behind the ribs, but he appreciated her wanting to support him. Indeed, the Modification: Monster Core did its job efficiently and effectively. And now he had a somewhat heavy and hard crystal nested deep inside his chest.
[Monster Core obtained, +500MP]
He was able to interact with the system to get a better understanding of this Modification; It did come with a manual. The core much like his body stored mana (500MP capacity), however it didn’t have the hard cap. With time it will grow bigger increasing the maximum mana it can store. And also, it came with a bunch of other perks.
Discharge Core: Expend the stored mana in your core to empower your body and your abilities. You grow bigger and stronger, your fists hit harder, and magic burns brighter. Unleash the final stage of the boss fight on your opponent!
Implode Core: Are you fighting a losing battle? Are you surrounded by your enemies? Are you captured with no way out? Implode your core and make your problems disappear in the glorious explosion.
[Requirements have been met (Monster King). Hidden perk unlocked]
Core Seed: At the decrease of -100MP from your maximum core capacity, you can implant a part of your core into another monster. The monster will grow stronger and unlock better perks and evolutions over time, however, this power comes with a hidden price. The daughter core will retain an ethereal link with its parent granting you the ability to Shatter it at any time.
“Okay…” He blinked a few times thinking.
He decided not to test Implode Core because that sounded dangerous. Well, with his Undying perk, technically he could survive but that probably would leave him severely crippled and still at the death’s door with 1HP. The other two sounded promising.
He turned his gaze from the screen messages and to his wife. “It says I can use Core Seed to implant other monsters with a part of my monster core.” He began slightly suggestively. “It would give them increased MP capacity and better potential for higher grade perks and evolutions. Wanna try it?” He remained quiet about the Shatter part because he didn’t want to scare her and he would never use that on her anyway.
The Lamia Queen was gazing at him with an obvious interest. “Sss-sure, it sounds fun. But how does that work?” She gave him a naughty grin. “You wouldn’t need, sss, to pierce me, sss, to put that core seed in, sss, would you?” Her hands were back on his chest.
“What? No!” How did she even got that idea… “I think simple skin contact and mana transfer is enough. Shall we?” He asked putting his hand on her chest.
“Hit me, sss!”
“[Core Seed]!”
With those words the both of them breathed out sharply. His monster core contracted, and the Lamia Queen was bestowed with her own monster core.
“[Status]. Yes-sss! +100MP!”
The Monster King here was the rare exception, his current mana pool was at 4900MP, but a +100MP increase to a normal human would double their mana pool. So, in other words, +100MP was nothing to scoff at.
He smiled. “I’m glad you like it.” It was good to see her happy and to see that the experiment worked without any trouble. Even better, as if to reassure him, his core grew to 401MP, it would take some time to go back to 500, a day or a week perhaps, even so, it was rather fast, so he wasn’t troubled by it.
Lamia Queen wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you, dear husband! I love you!” Her tail slithered around him tightly. “Let me reward you properly.” Her eyes glowed and she grinned at him seductively.
Needless to say, next he was bound and assaulted by a barrage of kisses. Then he remembered that over the past week or so, it wasn’t just Bursting farm animals who he had neglected… Tending to your wife also was an important job. However, this was no position to be for a man, bound and subdued by his wife that is. He struggled against the tight bindings to get on the top.
She, as all Lamia would, had only enjoyed his attempts to escape. “You’ll put another egg in me. SSS!” She declared then and there.
The first egg hadn’t even hatched, and she wanted another. He wasn’t quite ready for the double responsibility, and so this time he’d put some serious effort to escape.
For a time, he was winning, until… “[Discharge Core], SSS!” She invoked.
Her body glowed and the muscles in her tail bulged in fresh power. Whatever gains he had made, those were lost that instant. The Spider King was assaulted with increased vigour. The Lamia Queen became that final boss he had to defeat. Of course, there was 101 ways for him to escape, that is if he really wanted. But did he want to? – No, not really.
“I have you defeated. S-S-S!” She laughed. “Sss-submit to me.”
“No, I can’t believe I’ve lost!” He said with a fake shock. “I guess I have no choice, [Transfer Mana].” He topped her up to prolong their play.
“SSS! ”*Smooch*, “S-s-s, that’s right.”, *Smooch*.
The two continued to engage in a game called ‘Hero defeated by Lamia’ play-testing various skills and abilities until the couch they were wrestling gave up, tapped out, and eventually broke.
…
The Spider King was in the large room, the room was filled with potted plants and cages holding the creatures of the Dark Forest. They were there for him to Evolve, Mutate, Imbue, Harvest, and just experiment however he wished. Like a kid in a theme park, he was giddy with excitement. So many options, so many possibilities.
A small desk for him was constructed, he was sitting besides it, on the desk was a rather small cage with a peculiar creature inside, Shadowling Sprite. Of all the critters captured, this one was the most unusual. Despite the tiny wings on its back, they somehow managed to keep the rather big and round ball in the air. The sprite was grey instead of blue shade called navy blue, but in his mind, he could imagine it shouting ‘Hey! Hey, listen! Watch out!’.
On further investigation he found that the creature wasn’t just a ball of light with things, it had a tangible body. To his surprise it felt like a jellyfish. Clearly, unhappy at being touched the sprite zapped his fingers, much like a jellyfish would, making them numb for a few seconds.
The main reason he picked this one was the passive perk the sprite had, it was called Produce SpriteDust. He still had to see the SpriteDust in action since the creature just refused to release any, but he had a strong hunch it would be powerful ingredient in Alchemy.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Oh also, it had the Forest Guardian perk, “I’ve remember seeing it somewhere…” He paused thinking only to find himself salivating for some reason. “But I can’t remember where.”
Anyway, he had the sprite on his desk to upgrade it, and without further notice he poked his finger through the cage poking at it. “[Evolve].”
The inside of the cage shone in the brilliant purple light. Later, his eyes scanned the upgraded sprite.
He planned more experiments today but, “That was a hungry evolution…” He lamented at his dried-out mana pool. “At least, it didn’t dip in the negatives. [Inspect].”
Monster Race: Spirit
Variant: Shadowling Fairy
Magic Affinity: Dark
🌟
🎆 🧚 🎆
🧁
HP:10
MP:500
STA:100
Active Perks
[Shadow Veil], [Cursed Touch], [Dark Aura]
Passive Perks
[Produce FairyDust], [Forest Guardian], [Hexcraft]
Resistances
[Light Resistance: Medium]
Yes, the creature inside the cage now was a fully fledged fairy. The miniature woman was no taller than six inches, and she was extremely cute. Her body was doll-like with big round head and otherwise slim and slender proportions. Her skin was smooth and radiant, moreover, it was glowing with subtle luminescence. Her purple eyes were large and vibrant, already sparkling with mischief but also wisdom. Adorning her slender frame were purple gossamer wings, resembling those of a butterfly, they too shimmered with iridescent glow. Her hair was short and black like the night, the strands were fine and silky allowing them to flutter around her head untamed as if in water. Truly a magical creature!
“Aren’t you beautiful!” He exclaimed happy with his work.
And of course, “Hey, thank you!” She replied in a tiny but enchanting voice.
It was pleasant to the ear, unlike a certain ‘Navi’ fairy he knew from his original world. And, by this point, the evolved monster talking was of no surprise to him. Of course, fairies could talk!
The fairy gave him a toothy grin filled with razor sharp canines. No doubt the Dark affinity still did its thing, making the fairy look rather carnivorous and vicious. Still, in his book, she was very cute regardless.
“Welcome to the Monster Realm, I am the ruler here, the Spider King.” He poked his finger into the cage for a handshake. “Please, enjoy your stay here.”
The fairy shook the finger, but… “No, I can’t.” She fluttered her wings in protest. “I must return to my forest.” She looked at him conflicted. “Thank you King for Evolving me, I am most grateful, but I have important duties in my forest. I am the Forest Guardian!” She said so while puffing her otherwise modest chest bigger.
“I see…” He said while thinking of how to sway this creature to his side.
The fairy wasn’t quite finished. “To show you my gratitude, I’ll gift you something very special. Something you surely desire.” She beamed another toothy grin. “Now, will you let me out please.”
He already knew what it will be, no doubt the gift she was speaking of was the FairyDust. He already had high hopes for that. To reciprocate the goodwill, he opened the cage letting the fairy out. The fairy fluttered closer, and he prepared the palm right under to catch all the dust.
“Ready?” She asked with a giggle.
“I am.”
The fairy darted closer planting a kiss on his cheek.
[Debuff active: Confusion], he was hit with the message.
And then, right after, a bunch of dust was thrown right into his bewildered eyes.
[Debuff active: Blindness]
“Ha-ha, sucker, I’m out!” The fairy darted right out through the window.
The stunt left him stumbling around the room like a fool for good few minutes.
“That trickster!” He slammed his fist on the desk. “I didn’t even hear her chanting. I reckon this was Hexcraft, or Cursed Touch.” Or perhaps the combination of the two to pierce his resistances.
However, there was a minor bonus. “Hey… My mana pool is full…” He blinked.
His entire pool was restored, likely the after effects of taking FairyDust right into his eyes. And best of all, unlike potions, there was no Toxicity.
“I have to catch that trickster.” He darted out of the building.
He called for spiders, and everyone was looking, but despite their efforts the fairy could not be found. She lived up fully to that classic fairy stereotype where fairies were depicted as being mischievous but also extremely hard to find and overall elusive creatures. No doubt the fairy’s Shadow Veil came useful. It allowed her to blend into shadows and avoid any detection.
Hence so, the Shadowling Fairy disappeared without traces.
…
A few days had passed, and everyone pretty much gave up on looking for the elusive creature. At first, he expected the fairy to pull some tricks on him or his spiders to give her position away, but she must have been smarter than that. Nothing of note had happened.
That was so until he was rudely awakened by a rather rude kick on his nose. There right by his face was no one else but the mischievous culprit. Her otherwise cute face was tainted with an awful pout.
“I didn’t realise the size of this place!” She said as if complaining. “No matter how far I fly, it’s just spiders and webs… spiders, and webs… for miles and miles, What is this place!” Her face mellowed. “I didn’t realise how far away I was from my forest.” She was looking at him beggingly. “I want to go home.” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “Please take me home… Bahh!” She began to sob and cry.
The cry must have woken his wife up. “Sss! A Bug!” She swatted at the fairy without hesitation.
The blow sent the mischievous flyer crashing to the wall and then dropping limply to the floor.
“What was that!?” The Lamia Queen hugged him by an arm as if scared of the ‘bug’.
“A Shadowling Fairy, a failed experiment.” He summarised. “But you shouldn’t have done it.”
He stood up urgently to inspect the forest creature.
“Good, she’s alive, just unconscious.” He poured the Health Potion over her body.
And so the fairy was recaptured, however, he didn’t want to keep the creature here against her will. That was what a dark and evil mage would do – cage the fairy to extract her dust daily. He was a Monster King, and a Dark mage, but that didn’t mean he was evil.
Later that morning, the fairy was brought to the control deck of the Galleon Whale. By the request of Centauri, the ship was filled with alcohol, Palm Juice this time, and was ready to fly back to the Dark Forest. Yes, he will be returning the troublemaker back to her home. But not without saying a goodbye first. Hence why he was looming over the tiny bed the spiders had constructed for the fairy to recover and waiting for her to wake up.
When still, the fairy was beautiful to look at, she appeared so harmless and benign, which he knew now to be just an illusion; but a pleasant one nevertheless. While the spiders were finishing their preparations, he continued marvelling at the magical creature, slightly sad that it didn’t work out.
The blissful face of the fairy suddenly contorted. “Jee! You are persistent!” She opened her eyes. “And your breath stinks!” She shot a jab at him.
“Huh?” He was taken aback by the sudden rudeness.
“What are you, a pervert? You’ve been staring at me for hours…”
Oh, so she was awake… he wondered for how long. “*Sigh*, Is that really what you want to tell me?” He asked with clear disappointment. The high image he had about fairies was getting eroded by the minute. “I’m letting you go home, you know….” *Sigh*, “Are all fairies rude and ingrate?”
The facial expression on the fairy shifted through several iterations.
“No, of course, we are not. We are noble and honourable creatures.” She nodded mostly to confirm that to herself. “I misunderstood your intent. I’m sorry.” She flew out of her bed and closer to his face. “Your palm please.”
He presented his palm for her to stand. The fairy landed but her wings kept fluttering. Tiny particles snowed on his palm filling it with sparkling dust, the FairyDust.
The fairy was left panting and looking sweaty. “I’m all out.” She said between the breaths. “I’m sorry. And thank you for Evolving me.” Indeed, her face looked somewhat apologetic.
It might be just another trick, where fairy was just behaving nice to get what she wanted, but perhaps a bit naively, he still decided to trust her good intent.
“No problem.” He gave her a faint smile depositing the dust into his inventory space. “It’s just sad we couldn’t become friends.”
“Oh? Did that kiss I gave you Charmed you? I’m sure it was Confusion.” She asked giving him a look filled with interest and intrigue.
“No, thanks to my wife’s Charming Gaze I’m near immune to Charm magic. Neither am I Confused.” He explained simply.
“Friends, huh… But tell me, why are you letting me go? I know my worth, setting me free just doesn’t make sense.”
“Oh, so you’re aware… Then what was the point to reveal yourself and beg me to take you home?”
“That… I would have tricked you again, one way or the other. I had a plan, but it all came crashing down.” She shuddered. “Your wife is ruthless! I almost died!”
“Please forget that incident.” He looked at her apologetically. “And I’m letting you go because the very image of a miserable fairy trapped in the cage is deeply saddening to me. While yes, I do covet the magical FairyDust, I have no urgent need of it. The small offering you gave me is enough to satisfy my curiosity. So, I guess, thank you.” He looked at the spiders who were almost ready. “I guess, we’ll have to leave it at that. Safe journey, fairy.” He turned around to leave.
“Wait, Monster King.” The fairy flew towards his face intercepting his steps. “I can’t stay, but we can be friends.” She gave him a toothy grin and offered her right hand for a shake.
The razor-sharp teeth and narrowed eyes made her look untrustworthy, but he could feel that her words were genuine. He stretched his index finger for her to shake. It wasn’t much of a shake since all the fairy could do was rest her palm on his finger, but that was good enough.
“Friends.” He repeated beaming a smile of his own.
“Yes, friends.”
He was happy, but sad still, such friendship would be a long distance one. But if he’d put some effort in, he could make it work.
“I’ll come and visit, next time some time.” He promised.
“Yes, please do. And I will smooth the things out with the Forest Spirit.” The fairy puffed her chest again.
The Spider King’s eyes went wide for a moment. “Of course!” The Dark Forest much like the Ancestral Forest, had its own entity protecting it. If anything, that Forest Guardian perk was a clue. The pieces of the puzzle fell in place and hopefully it was not too late.
“Am… about my spiders. Just so you know, we didn’t invade your forest or anything like that.” He explained somewhat hurriedly.
“Huh?” The fairy tilted her head.
It seems she had never made that connection. Good!
“Anyway, is there anything the Forest Spirit would like. I would like to apologise and appease it.”
The fairy tilted her head again. “I’m not too sure where this is coming from so sudden… But I guess some food offering would be just fine.”
Yes! Simple enough! “We will do that.” He looked at the spider meaningfully.
Looking back on it, the Centauri Champion did warn the spiders of not bringing any fire to the Dark Forest, but she said nothing of the Forest Spirit or its guardians. Well, it was not too late to get a proper permission to set an outpost there. And the little fairy here was willing in helping him. So, in the end all worked out, and he obtained a truly magical friend.