With most of the recovery made he was able to leave his chambers and find that the White Sprigans have integrated in the farm activities already. With their natural gifts, he will be able to supply the Human Kingdom with TomGrape even quicker than he previously estimated. And so, the farmland expanded even further.

While he was walking and appraising the good work of Sprigans, a Drow Assistant caught up with him. “King! You’re better already?” She sounded happy but also somewhat disappointed.

“Yes, spiders took good care of me.”

“And I… I made this to cheer you up.” She retrieved a peculiar container from the pouch hanging by her side.

He took the item in his hands, it was insulated with IceShard Bird Leather. He opened the wooden lid, the container was filled with a cold and creamy substance.

“Ice Cream!?” He was overjoyed.

“I tried following the recipe you wrote down for me…. Did I get it right?” The tone of her voice betrayed anxiety.

There was only one way to find out. “Amh,” into his mouth it went. “Yes, this is perfect!”

It was heavy and creamy, the texture was soft and there were no rough ice crystals in the mixture to ruin it. He recognised the signature sweetness given by TomGrape syrup; it was pleasantly fruity and rich.

“Mmm…” Without even realising it he’d demolished all of the ice cream. He looked at the emptiness with sadness and the clarity returned to his mind. “But where did you get the milk from?”

Indeed, humans here didn’t rear anything even remotely similar to a cow, and it's not like he could milk a forest dear or something.

“The Drow found a solution, you don’t need to worry.” The assistant replied as if it was no big matter.

He nodded to that reply. However, it sounded a tiny bit suspicious, but probably it was best if he didn’t know… It did taste excellent, he just hoped that this wasn’t some centipede milk or something.

The Drow Assistant continued. “So this means I should make more?”

He showed the emptiness of the container. “But of course! I already crave more.”

“Then I’ll take it as your permission to increase the supply of milk.”

“Yes, you can speak with Spider Advisor he will allocate an appropriate budget.”

“Oh, I don’t need money. It’s the Fertility Potions.”

He scratched his chin, so that potion allowed her to increase the supply of milk.

“You can have them.” He pulled out a hundred flasks out of his inventory.

“Yes, that should be enough.” She made some notes in her notebook. “I’ll get them delivered to the Drow.”

“You know what, I have business there, so I’ll do it myself.” He put the potions back. “Shadow Walk,” he disappeared leaving trails of wispy darkness floating in the air.

“But… He’s already gone.” She sighed scratching something out in the notebook.

…

On his way toward the Drow Village, he passed the Living Wood Tree. The dryads finished growing it, and it was standing big and majestic. He could see clusters of fruits beginning to form on the branches.

“Apples?” He recognised the tiny buds.

But as far as he knew the Living Wood Tree wasn’t a fruit tree so something must have changed.

“I’ll be back once they ripen.” He left towards the Drow Village.

There he found the High Chief busy in the Drow Archives working on Magical Scrolls.

“I see you are replenishing our stock already.” He praised the hard work.

“Yes, the Darkness Spider is giving me a hand.”

Only then did the Chief mentioned he noticed the shadowy form in the darkest corner. The spider scribbled one scroll after the other like some sort of well-oiled machine.

“You have something to show?” He was here because the High Chief requested it.

“I do. Let's go to the workshop.”

The workshop was just a floor below. It was a wide area filled with worktables of various kinds, interestingly it wasn’t dominated by Drow but by the spider crafters.

“Look at this.” The High Chief handed a square piece of black fabric.

It felt smooth between the fingers. He put it into the Magical Inventory, [Black Cloth] x1.

“A new type of cloth?”

“Yes, we had finally harvested enough of ShadowAgave. And that’s why I requested your presence. You see, the material is promising. It strengthens Dark enchantments making it suitable for magical clothing. But harvesting it isn’t an easy task. The plant radiates the aura of Terror making the harvesting process a difficult task for us.” The High Chief stopped talking and gave a meaningful look.

“And how can I help you?” He asked willing to give a hand.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Please allow us access to your spider farmers. We’ve found them to be immune to the debuff.”

“Sure, consider it done.”

“Thank you, King.” The Chief bowed ever so slightly. “I’ll recall the children from the farm cavern. And with the help of spiders, we should increase the amount of plants we can manage.”

“I’ve almost forgotten.” He retrieved Fertility Potions from his inventory. “My assistant mentioned that… these are useful in procuring milk?”

“Oh… that whole affair. I assume it was a success?”

“Yes, the ice cream was delicious.” It was a pity he couldn’t give the High Chief a sample. And even if he had a sample, it probably wouldn’t survive the trip. Just too tasty to resist.

“Then I shall hand out the potions personally and give them your thanks. I’m sure they’ll be delighted.”

There was another thing he needed. “And I have these.” He took out the undead weapons he had scavenged. “I just can’t seem to be able to melt them.” The improvised forge at home couldn’t handle it.

The High Chief inspected the worn and broken weapon in his hands. “Isn’t this made out of that metal… Glem or whatever it was.”

“The one the scorpion merchant was selling?”

“Yes, it seems the same material but enchanted with Dark magic.” The High Chief threw the item back onto the large pile as if it was trash. “The worst of Dark magic type – Death.” He frowned.

“But melting it should break the enchantment, yes?”

“Yes, once again King you’re right. But we’ll need to ask the scorpion merchant about how to do it. That is…”

“That is if he will be willing to sell the information.” He finished. ”I reckon we should just up the temperature in the forge. That should do it.”

“It’s masterwork already. Can it even burn hotter?”

“Eh? But we were over this already, we just need Air Spirit Stones to improve the forge. Then it should be able to burn hotter.”

“You’re right, we might be able to develop an enchanting ritual. I assume you have the source of stones already?”

“Sort of. I’ll just buy them from Human Kingdom.” At an exorbitant price that is, but gold wasn’t an issue. “And then we will improve it. Simple.”

The High Chief nodded. “There is another matter to discuss. I might be asking for too much, but would you be willing to share your FlameThrower design with us? I’ve been asked to deal with an infestation and that would be mighty useful.”

“But you were there when I made it.”

“We were only following your leadership. Without detailed instructions, and a blueprint, I doubt we would be able to replicate it.”

Indeed a mistake could lead to the item exploding.

“I’ll see what I can do. And the spider builders should be able to help, the ones at my farm do have Reinforce perk.”

“Builders? So it's not a Crafting perk.”

“No, the original use is to strengthen the building’s structure. But apparently, that can be abused in crafting.”

“That is a very interesting piece of information. I shall add it to the archives.”

“Sure, you do that. But don’t give the FlameThrowers to Kobolds, I know they’ll beg you like they begged me. Those pyromaniacs can’t be trusted with that.”

“I’m well aware. Won’t happen.”

“Then I shall trust you with the design, send the builders and FireAgave juice. The spider crafters, I see you have them here already, ask them for help. I’ll draw the instructions and the blueprint now.”

“Thank you, King. We are most grateful.” The High Chief whispered something to his servant girl.

The girl ran in and out quickly producing the heavily decorated ink pot and quill, and the finest parchment. This was for him to write on. For some reason, this felt very official, so he did his best in drawing the blueprint, and just so, Comprehend even enchanted his ability to do so. Upon finishing he surprised even himself at the quality of the blueprint.

“Following the instructions should be a piece of cake.” He handed in the blueprint.

The High Chief possessed no such perks and had a complicated look on his face. “I’ll leave that to the crafters.” Then he thanked once again showering the King with pleasantries.

“Then…” He raised a finger stopping the High Chief. “I have another request for you. Take this.” He pulled out the Devouring Spear. “When you deal with the infestation please fill it with souls.” He needed those for more Amber.

“But… But this is the symbol of the King’s Power. I can’t take something this important.”

“I can’t be expected to prowl the Dark Tunnels and kill the centipedes by myself. As a King, I have better things to do.” Nah, he was just lazy and that task was simply unpleasant. “Just take it, fill it with souls and return it to me. Consider it as your payment for my blueprint.”

The High Chief took the weapon with a trembling hand. “I can feel the power.” Even his voice shook.

Nonsense, he was just exaggerating! “You don’t have to be so dramatic. Just don’t stab anyone important by accident.”

The High Chief was silent, he just stared at the spear.

He delivered the potions and the undead weapons so there was only one thing left to do. And that was to take a dip in the Mana Spring, yes, it should complete his mana recovery. He left the unresponsive High Chief in the workshop and headed for the last destination.

The Mana Spring like many things in Drow Village had undergone a renovation. It was expanded and the rocks surrounding it were now carved and polished. The important change was the tree roots stretching all the way from the ceiling and dipping its ends in the water. The culprit was the Living Wood Tree, by the looks of it the Drow didn’t seem to mind the intrusion and let the roots grow wild around the spring.

At this moment the Drow were preoccupied with their daily activities so the spring wasn’t too busy. A perfect time for him to take a soak. He took his robes off and walked to where the water was the deepest. The water felt refreshing and the fatigue was already leaving the body. His mana began to tickle up ever so faster– the spring did its job. He rested his back on the root and observed the surroundings absent-mindedly.

Occasionally so a spider would approach the Mana Spring and take a sip out of it.

‘Hey, this is not soup, I’m bathing in here!’ He wanted to shout remembering that strange quirk the spiders had. But shouting seemed impolite and it would spoil the good mood. He closed his eyes to catch a bit of rest.

Just before he fell asleep he was woken up by a splashing water. There was another visitor, it was a woman with a baby in her grasp. She didn’t seem to mind his presence, so neither will he. He closed his eyes again.

“Greetings, King.”

It seems she yarned a conversation. “Greetings.” He opened his eyes to meet the gaze and replied.

The woman submerged the baby in the water a few times as if she was baptising her.

“Does the water do something for the baby?” He asked curious.

“Oh yes, we believe it does.” She smiled. “Enhances the mana capacity.” She elaborated.

“Does it work for everyone?” He was even more curious. Maybe he should take a dip here more often.

“Ha… Would be nice wouldn’t it? I’m not too sure about the adults, but the babies are the most receptive to the magical water.”

This sounded more like a superstition than a fact, so he left it at that. Regardless it was nice to see the Drow increasing their population. It meant that they felt safe here.

The woman let the baby go and took a deep dive a few times by herself fully submerging her body. Surprisingly the baby didn’t need support and was seemingly a superb swimmer.

The woman wriggled the water out of her hair and spoke. “I’ve been told the ice cream was a success?”

Oh, there were rumours of it already. “Oh yes, it was. I’ll make sure to bring some samples over when we have more milk.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She scooped her offspring up. “The Fertility Potion is payment enough. Yes?” She tickled the baby and asked not him but the baby. “Yes, it was.” She replied for the baby still tickling the giggling youth. “Let's just hope the King doesn’t get greedy and snatch all of your milk away and turn it into ice. No-no-no.” She continued engaging with the baby.

But, so…Was the baby given to drink the cave mole milk? – Or whatever animal they managed to milk. Or was it that it was he who…

“No, it couldn't be.” He refused to believe it.