Right in front of the Spider King was one of his spider subjects. The spider stood proud, its form was crystalline and majestic. Once again the Mutate proved its worth: the spider grew larger and produced even more crystals, more and of higher quality. Large pillars of see-through material grew on its back, it looked magical but also very heavy.

He looked at the rainbow which formed by chance in one of the crystal pillars. “You look dashing, Crystal Spider.”

The spider made a spiderly curt bow lowering its body and tipping its head ever so slightly.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the sparkling rainbow. “You must be very proud of your pristine crystals. But, if you don’t mind, I would like you to part with just a few.”

“Anything for you, King. I owe you. For this Mutation.” The spider chirped in a crystal-clear voice, it sounded positively serene. “[Shed Crystal]”, a large crystal pillar toppled from its back and fell towards the stone floor.

He panicked worrying that the crystal might shatter, but he didn’t need to, it was hard, very hard, so hard it cracked the stone floor instead.

“Would you like another?” The spider sang in a mirthful chirp but didn't wait for a reply. “[Shed Crystal]”, yet another crystalline pillar hit the floor.

“That is enough.” He said in an urgent tone, a few more would ruin the otherwise rich image of the Crystal Spider leaving it looking like a freshly sheered sheep; he didn’t want that. He wanted to preserve that magical image of the spider. “Thank you.”

“No need. For you, my King. Anything.” The spider chirped in its angelic voice.

He gestured for the nearby spiders to carry the crystals to the workshop and then followed from behind.

The large pillars, with great effort mind you, were cut into small gem-like shapes. With that done he had obtained no less than a hundred of Spider Crystals. But this was just the beginning of the hard work. He moved them from the workshop to the ritual room. The room was already staffed with spider mages. The spiders were cloaked in dark robes made out of Black Cloth, the cloth came from ShadowAgave. The robes gave them interesting perks: their forms were cloaked in a shadowy haze making it hard to even guess that it was a spider beneath them, instead of walking they just swam through the air like some sort of spectre, and they had the Terror aura surrounding them. Maybe not the most positive image for an otherwise cute spider, but they were Dark mages after all and powerful in their craft.

He nodded at his fellow practitioners of the Dark Arts, “Let’s begin,” and then he scattered the Spider Crystals right inside the intricate magic circle.

This was a ritual the spider mages developed by learning from the Drow and Wisp. It was a unique way for them to enchant the otherwise Neutral crystal with Dark essence. The ritual began and the magic flowed into the crystals changing them permanently. What was once clear and pristine was transmuted into the opposite. The crystals became opaque and black, they were so dark that it was almost as if they absorbed the light itself. Also, it was dangerous to stare at them directly, because if one did that he would feel drawn to the black crystalline abyss losing the sense of time and falling into a trance-like state.

While there were dangers, the crystals weren’t really dangerous by themselves. It was okay to touch them and carry them, just don’t look at them for too long. Oh, and don’t die carrying one unless you want your soul absorbed! So what happened here was that the Spider Crystals were transformed into Soul Crystals.

With the ritual compleated shadowy forms of the spider mages became less ghost-like, an indication that a great amount of mana was drained. But that was only temporary because each of them reached inside their robes to retrieve a Regenerate Mana Potion. The Toxicity was increased, but their mana will be restored by the time they redrew the glyphs and replaced the sacrificial ingredients for a repeat cast of the ritual. They had to do it a few times to corrupt upgrade all of the crystals.

He looked at the box now filled to the brim with something that was not dangerous at all and then smiled at the result of their hard work but, “Wow!” He felt woozy all of a sudden. “Shouldn’t have looked.” He closed the lid shut. “With this, we inch closer to spider Immortality!” He announced pleased with the successful outcome.

The spiders chirped in approval.

He tapped the sealed box. “Now we need to figure out how to link these with the Soul Well.” He tapped the nearby orb and purple lighting flashed inside as if excited by his words.

“You mentioned. There are hints. In the True Dark Tome.” A spider mage chirped also excited. “May we borrow it? To research it in full.”

There was only so much he could do alone. “Yes, that would be helpful. I’ll leave the research to you.” He left the box, the book and the orb to the spiders’ care. “Do your best and let me know if you reach a breakthrough.”

The spiders gave him the spider equivalent of thumbs up.

…

While he tried to keep the wyrm hatchling close at all times, sometimes it was unwise to have it nearby; it was quite a troublemaker. The White Sprigans managed to Grow its body to a juvenile form, but the mind remained childish. That’s why he didn’t take it to the ritual room. Actually, he couldn’t take it to a lot of places. For example: If he took it to the workshop the juvenile loved to knock the precious alchemical potions off the shelf and just watch them drop, that gaze was intense and he could swear that each time the wyrms’ face was cast with disappointment because the enchanted potion bottles failed to smash. In other words, it was just getting bored very quickly and then it would resort to various shenanigans. It was very possible that the wyrmling had ADHD! – if that’s possible at all. Or maybe it was just a very energetic wyrm.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Anyway, currently it was chasing the poor Mushroom Spider while hissing at it.

“Hey, what did I tell you? No eating spiders!” He scolded the wyrmling.

Surprisingly the juvenile stopped, “Meow?” it voiced faking innocence and confusion.

The Mushroom Spider walked towards him. “It steals. My magic mushrooms.” The spider complained.

“Magic Mushrooms?” He was curious.

“I grow them for the Drow. They like it very much.” The spider plucked a spindly cap from its body to show it.

The wyrmling perked up at the sight of the mushroom.

“Oh?” He looked at the wyrmling which was now trying to snatch it from the spider. “I thought it likes insects the most… but apparently it likes magic mushrooms more.”

“It steals them. I need them for the Drow.” The spider complained again.

He was still curious. “So they like it too. Let’s taste it.” He took the mushroom and ate it.

[Debuff: Illusion], [Illusion negated by Enchanted Nutrient Processing], the messages informed him.

“Oh! That kind of magic mushrooms. So these are no good for MP Potions.” He was both surprised and disappointed.

“Good for Drow rituals.” The spider informed.

And probably for other stuff, the Drow did in their private time…

“I don’t think you should eat them.” He scolded the wyrmling.

“Me-ow…” It cried beggingly.

“Well, maybe just one.”

The spider obliged and the wyrmling gobbled up the Magic Mushroom with gusto. In an instant, its fiery nature mellowed and it just curled on the ground purring pleasantly. It radiated an aura of calmness and contentment. Whatever it was, the wyrmling was affected by something else than the Illusion debuff. Maybe even a positive buff?

He observed now calmer wyrmling. “Huh, the ADHD was cured.”

“Meow!” It responded with a tinge of vigour still in its voice.

“And it doesn’t look sedated, just relaxed.”

“Meow!”

“Spider, I might want to borrow your Magic Mushrooms as well.”

“King.” The spider bowed apologetically. “I struggle with supply.”

“Shall I Mutate you?”

“Mutate?” The spider chirped intrigued.

“Yeah, mutate. I did that to Crystal Spider and now it grows the crystals twice as large and twice as fast.”

“Mutate me, King!” it chirped excitedly, jumping even.

He did just that. Interestingly, all of the mushrooms withered and dropped off its back, causing the Spider King a good deal of anxiety.

“Worry not.” The spider chirped. “It will grow back. I can tell.”

Indeed, the mushrooms began to sprout from all over its body. All of them were Magic Mushrooms, the previous variety was gone.

“It looks like you decided to specialise.” He noted.

“Yes. These were. Highest in demand.” The spider bowed again. “Thank you, King.” It straightened to stand proud. “[Shed Mushrooms]”, the mushroom buds dropped from its body. “For you. Little buds. But as potent. As mature ones.”

Luckily the wyrm didn’t jump to gobble them up from the ground; it seems it was content with the previous portion.

“Thanks. I can’t say no.” He collected them. “Both medicine and a treat.” He gave the wyrmling a meaningful look.

“Meow?” It tilted its head curiously.

“And I should be able to make an Illusion Potion with them.”

He gave a whistle to the wyrmling so that it would follow and then walked towards the beginnings of Oberon Tunnel with a clear goal in his mind. Two spiders upgraded three more to go.

…

The Kobolds were clawing at the rock wall, carving stone with their claws as if it was clay. The tunnel was progressing smoothly. A drow architect held an orb in his hands, it was a tool to ensure the correct direction and angle of the tunnel. The Oberon Tunnel was being dug to connect The Dreaded Place and The Scorpion Desert; a mega project which will take months to complete. But as a bonus, the spiders were getting a staggering amount of Kobold StoneBricks, the uses for those were obvious and plentiful.

He walked past yet another Kobold, but this one piqued his interest. The kobold was brown, a colour he hasn’t seen yet. Well, obviously the Kobold Leader conquered yet another tribe. And that was that. Probably…

He chose not to pry about the insignificant and asked instead, “Have you seen the Stone Spider?”

“Yes-yes, there at the end.” The brown kobold pointed towards a large pile of stones.

The Stone Spider was there carving bricks one after the other. The King looked at the bricks with interest, they were different from the ones the kobolds made.

The spider already aware of his presence and his interest replied helpfully, “Spider StoneBricks. Better. Already Reinforced.”

The stone was naturally a sturdy material, but well, there was no reason not to make it even sturdier.

“Hey,” He waved hello at the spider a bit late in the gesture. “Do you want to be mutated?”

“Mutated?” It asked in that stony and gravely chirp, likely unaware of the new King’s perk.

“Mutated.” He went on to explain what he meant.

The Glowing Spider, the main tunnel illuminator here soon joined to listen to the explanation. Of course, the two had no reason to refuse. The results were… not what he expected.

He had observed the biggest change he’d seen so far, the Stone Spider shrunk to a more compact form and its front limbs developed drills for hands. Two big drills to drill the walls and then close to its head two smaller drill limbs for fine details. The drills were still somewhat organic, a peculiar organ previously unseen in nature. The drill bits on those drill hands were made out of some sort of crystal, maybe even diamond; it looked sharp and menacing.

The Stone Spider spun its drill hands testing out them. “Nice.” It chirped.

It was now the Glowing Spider's turn. “[Mutate].” He invoked letting the spider to guide its own mutation.

The glowing spider didn’t change much at all. “What happened? Did it fail?” He had to ask.

“No. Now I can cast [Recover].” The light it emitted grew ever so splendid. The golden motes, delicate like snowflakes, blinked into existence out of nowhere and showered nearby Kobolds, Drow and spiders alike.

The wirmling slithered trying to catch the motes with its mouth. He did the same but with his hand. The golden sparkle melted in his palm as a snowflake would. Suddenly he felt refreshed, like after a good nap or a relaxing bath.

“I didn’t know Mutate can grant advanced AOE spells.”

“Apparently, it can.” The glowing spider chirped matter of factly.

“Meow!” The wyrmling coiled around his leg. It was looking at him beggingly.

“You want to be mutated too?” He asked and the wyrmling meowed to confirm. “Hmm, that is a possibility…” However, he felt hesitant. Mutating legendary monsters was a dangerous thing! And there was a certain pattern going, especially when he mutated someone who wasn’t a spider.

The wyrm continued to look at him with big begging eyes, all six of them. So the effect was tripled!

“Don’t look at me like that…” He tried to remain strong.