A sparkly and shiny mer pointed her head out of the water.
“You came!” Day jumped out of the lake towards the nearby Spider King.
He stopped the incoming embrace with a firm hand, yet still, the water splashed making him all wet. “Of course I did. What were you thinking sending a note like that?”
“Oh, that…” She blushed. “That song, I was just overtaken by it and wrote something embarrassing.”
“Aha, ’make some waves’, and ‘make my fins flip in joy’ - some rather bold phrases were used…”
Day Sapphire blushed even harder.
“I’m married you know.” He reminded.
“…”
“And soon I’ll have a child.”
Day fiddled with her hair refusing to meet his eyes. “I know, it’s just that.” She paused. “I’ve missed you. I really did.” She looked at him with big and sparkly eyes. “There might have been some poor choice of words leading to a misunderstanding. So I’m sorry.” However, instead of looking sorry, she was clearly ecstatic by the illegal meeting.
“Well, all I’m going to say is that this can’t go any further.”
“Go further where?” She asked giving him a puzzled look, which may or may not be fake.
“Go deeper into the CreamKelp fields,” he pointed at the nearby plants.
She turned to look at the dense aquatic vegetation and remained quiet for a moment but then turned back to gaze wishfully directly into his eyes. “But I prepared something very special…”
“I don’t think I can afford it.” He said simply.
“Afford? It’s a gift and gifts come free.” She smiled at him.
Yeah, no… things like that always had consequences.
“Look.” She produced two Rainbow Shells, just like the ones she wore on her chest. “This is it, this is what I wanted to give you.” She offered the items with clear embarrassment. “It’s something to help you in your underwater adventures. I wanted to give it sooner but never found the time...”
“Huh? So you weren’t trying to?”
“Trying what?”
“You know…”
“What?” She asked attempting to look innocent, but the colour of her cheeks told the truth.
“I see. So it's like that... Okay, I’ll take the shells. You just invited me to give this gift, that’s it.”
“Yes, that’s it.” She smiled. “Now try them.”
Well, the shells had to go on a specific spot but he doubted they would stick there, regardless, he tried.
“Ha-ha. What are you doing, silly? Not there.” She took the shells from him and pressed them to the sides of his neck.
[You have equipped Deep Lake Delights. Temporary perk Water Breathing obtained.]
“Now, your underwater adventures can be a reality.” She looked at him expectantly.
“Wow, that’s useful. Thanks!” He thanked.
“…”
“What?
For some reason, Day just pouted at him.
“Never mind… Wanna test it?”
Yeah, he kind of did. How long would it work, and what would the ‘water’ breath smell like? He had all sorts of questions. He nodded.
“Come, swim with me.” She motioned.
In the end, he still ended up in the CreamKelp field. Admittedly, he wasn’t the best of swimmers. Day Sapphire was smiling at his attempts to catch up.
“Here, let me give you a hand, [Water Manipulation].”
The water pulled him closer to the mer, he was still swimming but somehow faster and with more grace.
“Thanks. This is rather fun.” He replied. Even if he was underwater, his voice remained clear.
Oh, and the Dark Lake ‘water’ breath smelled just like the water tasted – cooling fresh but with a tinge of Dark zest.
“I want to show you something, come.” Day guided him past the CreamKelp field.
Soon they went past the field and emerged into deeper waters. Likely the centre of the Dark Lake, and from the looks of it this was the new Mer Settlement. There was a good bunch of houses seemingly made out of coral and decorated with various shells.
“I can see you’ve been busy. This is a nice place and it’s coming along well.”
“We did the best we could. But still, we need to construct much more.” She pointed at a large netted area. “The fish farms especially take a lot of resources. But it’s coming along nicely.”
Indeed, past the woven mesh, there was a large flock of fish swimming inside idle and without a single worry.
“And over here.” She pointed at the freshly grown reef. “We’re trying to farm clams, the ones you Mutated. But more importantly.” She swam closer to a rather large clam and picked it up from the silt. “Argh.” She struggled to pry it open and failed. “Please, open it up for me.”
“Okay.” He did just so. “Oh…” Inside was a pearl.
“Yes, Black Pearl. A unique material to this lake, I assume Dark infused water has something to do with it.”
He rolled the pearl in his fingers, it was round and shiny despite its colour.
“Any magical uses for it?” He asked.
“It's useful by being pretty, isn’t that good enough?”
“I guess it is.”
“But I’m sure it has plenty of magical uses as well.” She reassured.
He nodded and deposited the pearl into his inventory.
“And over there.” She pointed at the coral structure resembling a well. “I’m sure you’ll love it. Go take a peek.”
The well emitted a blue sparkling glow, it was positively enchanting. Why did the Mer need a well at the bottom of the lake? Well, it wasn’t for water for sure. Curious he swam up to the well and looked inside. It was filled with sparkling sapphires, no, they were scales.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“When we shed them, we store them here. I think we gathered a good ten thousand or so. They’re all yours.”
He blinked twice at the amount.
“Congratulations! This is our gift to you and your wife. May your child be like a sapphire – precious, shiny, and sparkly. I’m sure the spiders will be able to fashion a dress or armour, whatever is more appropriate.”
Overtaken by greed, “Don’t mind if I do, [Magical Inventory],” he stored everything emptying the well completely.
Day Sapphire looked at the now empty well with a pout.
“What?”
“No, nothing.”
“…”
“Wanna see my house?” She asked with a blush.
“Yeah, sure.” He was rather curious how the mer lived.
Day grabbed his arm and pulled him towards one of the buildings. She was officially a princess but the house was just like the others. The inside consisted only of one room. Large shells, coral and stone were put together to form aquatic-type furniture: a few chairs, a table, a wardrobe, and a bed; it was rather modest. He noticed a shelf filled with a collection of carved figures of spiders, toys which could be acquired only with the special meal served in the Spidery Delicious. Somehow, the mer here found a way to get them, even if there was no underwater restaurant.
The other thing that stood out was the large banner just above her bed. It was a gold-threaded hexagon with four golden orbs inside – a symbol of the Spyder Kingdom. Clearly, she was one you could call a loyalist. Aside from that, the rest of the room was littered with various pieces of aquatic jewellery, ranging from pearl necklaces, to shell bracelets. She sure liked jewellery, but strangely, she wore none.
Day Sapphire sat on her bed, it was plain stone, but perhaps, considering that they were underwater, it didn’t feel hard to sleep on.
As if reading his mind. “Wanna test my bed?” She asked suggestively.
“Ha-ha. Good one.” He laughed.
She smiled back. “Huh… I guess that’s all I wanted to show. Let's get back before the concert finishes.”
“Yeah, thanks for inviting me. It sure was fun to see your settlement. Oh, and thanks for this.” He touched his neck.
“Think nothing of it. I’m just returning the favour.” She touched her shells and gave him another suggestive look.
“Right…”
“Do you still have my scale?”
He pulled it out to show. “Yeah.”
“Are you keeping it safe?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you keeping it close?”
“Yeah.”
“Good, don’t ever lose it. Now, let's go.” She grabbed for his arm. “[Hydro Charge]!”
They flew like two torpedoes in the water.
“Too fast, too fast! I’ll lose my trousers!” He yelled but Day didn’t listen.
…
The Spider King sat back down in his chair, the only sign of the illicit escapade was his slightly damp hair, and he was back right on time. The crowd roared and clapped praising the solo singer.
“Sss! This was amazing!” The Queen Lamia turned to look at him. “Who could know, sss, the siren could sing so well. Which sss-song was your favourite?”
He wasn’t there for the most part, so. “They’re all so good it’s hard to pick.”
“I know, right!” She nodded in agreement.
He looked at the leaflet. “And now is the games and the feast?”
“Yes. But before that, come, sss!” She grabbed her husband by the arm and began dragging him almost at a sprint.
He suspected that the Siren’s song was again a culprit in this strange behaviour.
Let’s not speak of what happened in that cleaning cupboard and instead let’s concentrate on a certain event which came right after the feast. No, not hatching, not yet.
In a large open area where the feast was taking place, on a hastily erected stage, three highly evolved spiders were demanding everyone's attention.
The Trusty Advisor began: “To commemorate this momentous occasion.”
The Lorg G Bling continued: “To celebrate the might of the Spider Kingdom.”
And the Spider ArchMage finished: “To enshrine our achievements in undying history.”
“We present you…” All three spiders pointed at the distance.
As the sun disappeared over the horizon, casting an orange glow across the vast TomGrape fields, a shadowy figure emerged from the darkness in the east. It was a colossal structure, unlike anything anyone had seen or imagined before. It was a giant citadel nested on the back of an equally humongous metallic spider. It stood tall and magnificent on its eight enormous spider legs, the metallic surface reflected the fading light of sunset.
From the distance, the citadel appeared almost alive, as if possessing a mind and will of its own. The heavy metallic legs moved with a graceful rhythm to carry the massive structure across the farmland. Despite its heaviness, the steps didn’t cause any trembling or tremors, instead, it pierced the ground gently doing the minimum possible damage.
The sheer size of the mobile citadel would be weapon enough, yet still, it had turrets nested on many towers both on the citadel proper and on its oversized metallic limbs. As all spiders should, it came with a terrifying spidery head. The head had the iconic mandibles moulded out of the strongest metal, they were big and imposing and undoubtedly capable of demolishing any other fortification with a single chomp. And as if it was not enough, a massive cannon was nested deep in the spidery mouth.
The spider citadel continued walking with a scary grace. One would expect it to make more noise, but actually, it was eerily quiet in its motion. A trained mage would be able to quickly tell the reason behind the unsettling silence – it was magic. The walking construct was powered by Dark magic, and if a mage was even more learned they would tell that it was powered by… Souls. Thousands upon thousands of spider souls.
While the horde of nearby spiders jumped in joy and clacked their mandibles in excitement, the rest of the more mundane races looked at the walking citadel with eyes betraying terror. Yes, at this moment, anyone sane and normal would feel fear because a sight like that was out of reality, it seemed more like a nightmare. A massive walking spider, a titan amongst titans, made out of the hardest metal and armed to teeth. It was too hard to believe this was real… but it was.
Like the spiders, the Spider King was positively giddy, he pointed at the approaching structure and yelled from atop his lungs. “GIANT ‘ENEMY’ SPIDER,” he named it in an instant. “This is amazing! How did you pull this off?” He asked the three spiders.
“Spider ingenuity.” The Trusty Advisor replied simply.
Ever so slowly, the citadel reached the curious and frightened mass of people. Its motion stopped and its main body was brought closer to the ground.
“Everyone please Inspect it.” The Spider ArchMage urged.
Monster Race: Construct
Variant:
GIANT ‘ENEMY’ SPIDER
Magic Affinity: Chaos
🕸️ 🕸️ 🕸️ 🕸️ 🕸️
🕸️ 🕷️ 🕷️ 🕷️ 🕸️
🕸️ 🕷️ 🏰 🕷️ 🕸️
🕸️ 🕷️ 🕷️ 🕷️ 🕸️
🕸️ 🕸️ 🕸️ 🕸️ 🕸️
HP:1,000,000
MP:1,000,000
STA:-1
Active Perks
[Spite Of The Kingdom]
Passive Perks
[Citadel], [Soul Engine], [Nascent Singularity]
Resistances
[Physical Resistance: Greater], [Elemental Resistance: Greater]
The Monster System identifying the construct like this further proved that it was indeed alive, or at least partially alive. The HP and MP numbers were off the charts of course, and it had a mysterious type of magic…
“Chaos affinity?” The Spider King asked.
“We’re not too sure about that one either.” The Spider Archmage admitted. “And before you ask, we don’t know what Spite Of The Kingdom does either. It sounds a bit too dangerous to try it.”
“Strange… aren't you the ones who made it?”
“Yes and no… there were some unexpected variables.” Lord G Bling mentioned offhandedly.
Spider Archmage nodded in agreement. “All was going according to the Blueprint until we started putting the spider souls. After a certain amount, a Nascent Singularity formed. It sort of has a will of its own.” Spider explained sounding apologetic.
“Singularity… That sounds scary! Guys what did you create?!”
Trusty Advisor jumped in as if to deny any wrongdoing. “My King, I assure you it is safe and friendly. It simply embodies the unified will of perished spiders.”
“Yes, while communication remains difficult, from what we gathered it simply wants to fulfil the Eternal Oath.” The Spider ArchMage added.
“Eternal Oath?” He’d never heard of that.
“The one the first spider made. To serve you, the Spider King, and thus to serve the Spider Kingdom.” The spider explained.
“I see…” He paused trying to wrap his head around all of this.
“Sss, are you boys done gawking at your toys?” It was the Lamia Queen who spoke. “You can play with that later. The sss-sun is down, it's time for our child to hatch. Come, sss.” She urged.