Back in the Aurelian Kingdom, an interesting phenomenon was taking place.

A while ago the kingdom suffered an unprecedented famine but since then things have changed drastically. Food, and especially the staple of TomGrape, was cheap, readily available, and plentiful. The gaunt and famished faces were replaced by soft and plump roundness. But the problem was that it didn’t stop there. Maybe the TomGrape was just irresistible, or maybe there were other factors in the play, regardless, everyone had grown rather fat, no, not just fat – Obese.

Well-rounded ladies and large-sized gentlemen roamed the streets. And it's not just the body size that changed. If anything, the clothing industry had boomed from ever-increasing demand for a larger size of clothing. Surprisingly, the highly coveted Blue Cloth had found its way to households with otherwise modest means. It wasn’t just rich merchants and nobles who were wearing that fashionable blue nowadays; how splendid! Even better, the spiders had taken it upon themselves to meet the increasing clothing demand, and who could compete with a spider? – they were masters of weaving!

Admittedly, the plump ladies and generously proportioned gentlemen wouldn't wear the clothing for long, soon it would be a size too small. Spiders were well aware of that fact, so to keep the otherwise expensive items accessible to common people, they have been weaving only simple patterns with few flourishes and the cloth itself was kept thin. However, the populace didn’t seem to mind. And why would they? Unlike a dull peasant tunic, which most had used to wear, the spider tunic was still patterned and expertly woven and… it was the opposite of dull, it was vivid blue. It was simply Spidery Magnificent!

Since the clothing was made from Blue Cloth it came with all of its extra bonuses. Most importantly it came with Dirt Resistance. The effect was more useful than it sounded, it could repel more than just dirt. You could spill on it juice, wine, sauce, oil, and all of it would just flow off of the cloth leaving no marks or stains, meaning that it barely required any cleaning. And considering the eating habits of the denizens of the Aurelian Kingdom such clearly magical tunic was no less than a God send. ‘Sloppy eating, yes! But stains no more!’ a spider would often say that line after selling the tunic.

Needless to say, no one was afraid of spiders anymore. Quite the opposite, to speak ill of the spiders was becoming a taboo here in the Aurelian Kingdom. What if they decided to leave? – a shudder-inducing thought indeed. Obviously, since Aurelius The Great (previously known as just Aurelius II, or the puppet king) opened the city to spiders things were getting only better and better. Thus, the capital of the Aurelian Kingdom underwent a type of transformation and a cultural shift. If you asked a slightly leading question: ‘Do you think we live in a new Golden Age?’ – many would nod with ‘Ah! That’s right!’ and ‘That’s exactly it!’ or similar statements.

The spiders kept bringing new things and concepts to the capital. The newest of which was a certain building with a certain name, Spidery Delicious. It was erected at the border of the Merchant Square in mere weeks. At first, the people thought that the spiders were building some sort of a temple to the Spider King. The confusion was understandable because the building was grand in scale and scope. It was built using the unconventional techniques of spiders and used unknown and exotic building materials. The architecture was unique and something only a spider could come up, but no doubt it was Spidery Magnificent. Wooden snow-white walls, blue webs, purple roof, carved IronOak furniture; understandably, everything just stood out and screamed extraordinary!

Within only a week various wild rumours spread about Spidery Delicious.

“It is a temple.”, “It’s the Royal Armoury.”, “Magic University!”

“No. It is a place. To gather. And to eat.” The spider chirped simply to dispel the rumours.

Anyways, the Spidery Delicious was opening today. Spurred by rumours, curiosity, and hunger for wonder a huge crowd had already formed by the building. Round women and even rounder men were roaring and eager to go inside; they jiggled their soft and plum flesh in excitement. The crowd was dense and blue, from afar it looked like a rippling lake, a lake full of jiggly jelly.

Two spider guards stepped away from the grand doors opening them with a flourish. The jiggly lake jiggled violently threatening to flood inside. The spider guards were well aware of the avarice of humans, so they were armed in preparation with Peacekeeping Sticks. The crowd was well aware of the power of the stick and its mercilessness, but even then, they shoved and pushed.

“Behave!” The spider chirped dispensing the stick with generous application.

Ironically, the rounder the humans got the more resistant they became to the stick; however, the situation was controlled in the end. Only a certain number of humans were allowed in. Their round shapes promptly filled the seats in front of the table. Each table had its little spider waiter, waiting just above on the ceiling web. The humans were presented with a plethora of food options.

“Forbidden Sauce, that sounds exciting.” The plump lady slammed her hands together.

Boulder-shaped gentlemen nodded at the menu options. “I’m tired of the little morsels the merchants call food at their stalls. Double Whammy Mega Bird Burder XXL. Finally, a well-sized meal.”

“Eh, are you on a diet or something? I’m going with Slam Dunk Triple Giga Squirrel Burger.” A mountain of a man declared.

The spider waiter hung on a thread just above the table making positive chirps as if to praise their orders.

“Spider I can’t seem to make up my mind. Can you suggest me something?” The plump lady asked with a smile.

“Then. I encourage you to try. Our Squirrel Nuggets. Would you like a sample?”

Even before the plump lady could even jiggle her chin for confirmation the spider had already produced a single nugget.

“Meh, just a morsel like in those stingy merchant stalls.” The boulder-shaped man didn’t sound impressed.

The lady must have differing opinions because she snatched the meat nugget and gobbled it up with gusto.

“Wow, it's breaded but not dry. The meat is juicy and practically melts in your mouth. And there is that hint of TomGrape sweetness.” She said as if she was some sort of food critic. Those didn’t yet exist in the Human Kingdoms.

“I’m surprised. The Lady. Is so well-versed in food. We feed the squirrels TomGrape. To make them plump. And the meat sweet. However. If you dip it in the Forbidden Sause. It is even better!” The spider pointed at the sauce container.

“Is that so? Then get me, what… fifty Squirrel Nuggets, no, make it a hundred.”

“Understood. An Extra Large Grande Venti Bucket of Squirrel Nuggets.” The spider crawled back to the ceiling web to get their order from the kitchen.

A bit later, on an entirely different table, a group of only moderately round men were marvelling at a peculiar discovery. Mind you, moderately round was considered out of fashion nowadays.

“I’m telling you my Obese negative status just disappeared!”

“But you just ate three whole meals… you’re lying.”

“I’m not. Man, I’m even willing to pay a Scribe to prove it.”

“Hmm… Spider, is this drink some sort of medicine.” The man pointed at the half-empty glass bottle.

“Spider-FizzPop™ is there. To quench your daily thirst. And to fill you with life!” The spider chirped the slogan it was instructed to chirp. “It’s not medicine.”

“If you say so.” The man finished the bottle and then smacked his lips delightfully. “Hey, my negative status just disappeared!”

“I told you!”

“Shit, I didn’t ask for the price. This drink must be expensive.” The man said with a tinge of panic.

The other man also paled at the realisation. If Spider-FizzPop™ was able to get them rid of the negative status effect it was comparable to a Potion and those were expensive commodities.

“No cussing!” The spider reprimanded the panicked man with a stern chirp.

The man paled even further, he didn’t want to be thrown out of the Spidery Delicious, his otherwise good reputation would plummet sharply. He bowed his head in apology.

The spider mellowed and chirped to inform the two. “The drinks are free. You can have as much. As you want.” It added in a more pleasant chirp.

“Eh?”, “Huh?”

“Spider-FizzPop™. To quench your daily thirst. To fill you with life!” It chirped happily. “Want more?”

“If it’s free… why not?”

“Yeah, fetch me another bottle.” The man smacked his lips in anticipation.

Hence, another unexplained phenomenon was taking place. The round humans would come to Spidery Delicious to engorge themselves with food, but surprisingly they would come out slightly thinner. A mystery indeed!

…

While the Aurelian Kingdom with its own King and set of laws sounded like an independent nation, it was not. It was only a small part in an otherwise big bundle of kingdoms which formed the Holy Empire. As part of the Holy Empire, the Aurelian Kingdom had to follow the emperor’s will and pay yearly tribute. Since it was at the far and insignificant edge of the empire the Aurelian Kingdom was left to its devices to do as it pleased, that is as long as it paid the tribute.

Aurelius the Great knew of this arrangement, hence why he had a complicated expression on his face. No, he wasn’t worrying about the tribute, after all, he had dealt with the corrupt nobles and freed their ill-gotten fortunes. He freed that gold right into the now not-so-empty Royal Treasury. The worry was stemming from another matter, the obvious fact that he had shifted his loyalties.

The Holy Empire was very particular about the position and treatment of demi-human races. Those were only fit to be slaves. Yeah, there was that. Now imagine how they viewed actual monster races like Kobolds and Lamia. The problem here was that the capital was experiencing an increased presence of spiders. And those were clearly of monster race.

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Aurelius the Great, not only couldn’t kick the spiders out of the capital, even if for a few weeks, he didn’t want to! And for many good reasons. First, the people would revolt, surprisingly, they grew to love the spiders and their magnificence, but rather than love, it was ugly dependence. No, let’s just call it love. Second, Aurelius the Great was loyal to the Monster King, he had no desire to backstab him in any way. And why would he, while the Holy Empire did nothing during the famine and the war, the Spider King helped, helped and helped. Of course, there were many other good reasons, he could sit there and name them all day.

“Even then. I must meet them. I must try to reason with…” He sat on his ‘throne’ deeply in thought.

...

A group of Imperial taxmen were making their way towards the Royal Palace of Aurelian Kingdom. Officially they were here to collect the tribute, but that was just an excuse, otherwise, they wouldn’t have come in tow with the Holy Inquisition. Well, they didn’t come in full force, just a platoon of a hundred or so inquisitors. They weren’t here for war, only to investigate a rather disturbing rumour.

Admittedly, the investigation was done before it could even start. The offences were that obvious. King Aurelius II, or King Aurelius the Great as the people called him, was guilty. All that was left was to simply face the man and declare his sins. Then, depending on the King's actions the Holy Empire will react accordingly. So, they simply rushed towards the palace.

...

A group of people burst into a spacious but oddly barren throne room. The Imperial Taxmen and the Holy Inquisition didn’t encounter a single guard on their way, so they didn’t expect to see Aurelius II here in the dusty throne room at all. However, here he was, sitting on a plain stool in the middle of the room. He was alone, but he was fully clad in pitch-black armour. It was a miracle the stool didn’t collapse under his humongous frame and the weight of those thick armour plates.

“Welcome, friends.” He greeted his guest by standing and opening his arms wide.

It was obvious the King had gone crazy. The palace was stripped barren, and there were no guards not to mention servants, but here he was pretending that all of this was fine. The darkness must have consumed his mind.

Even the chief inquisitor was shocked. “Aurelius… Are you alright?” That concern was unlikely for the chief inquisitor, often he would just strike the heretics and be done with it. But he was concerned.

“Of course, I am. Things can't be better. You're here for tribute, yes? Despite how this might look.” He waved at the barren throne room. “I have your money. And the next year's money, take it as a bonus.”

Everyone looked around, there was no money only debris and dust.

“[Eclipse]!” Aurelius II bellowed unceremoniously. A pile of ash fell from his closed fist.

It was mid-day, and the throne room had many windows, but even then, the entire space went completely dark. The darkness was unnatural and clearly of a magical nature.

“What is this spell!” The imperial taxman shouted in alarm afraid that he was blinded.

The Holy Inquisition reacted at the danger promptly with a bunch of their own spells.

“[Divine Light]”, “[Radiance]”, “[Blessed Aura]” … the men cast a number of individual spells, they differed one from another, but all were of Light affinity.

But even the best of their spells failed to disperse the darkness completely, at best only a small radius from the caster was illuminated. Regardless, they kept at it.

Due to their efforts, or maybe because the Eclipse had concluded naturally, the throne room returned to its normal state. King Aurelius II was still there, standing in the same spot as if nothing had happened. But there was a change, in front of him was a pile of Imperial Coins, gems, and jewellery.

“I couldn’t get it all in coin, my apologies, but there is enough.”

This wasn’t just two years of tribute; this might be even four or five depending on the quality of gems and jewellery.

“Are you trying to bribe us!” The imperial taxman yelled an accusation. He was obviously infuriated. Well, he had the Holy Inquisition with him, so he had to, and if they weren’t here maybe he could… but that’s beside the point now.

“I never seen magic like this. This is some forbidden form of Dark arts... Men, don’t touch even a single coin, they might be Cursed.” The chief inquisitor warned his men and especially the taxman.

“So, the rumours were right, you have succumbed to the Demon Lord.” One of the other inquisitors stepped forward brandishing her longsword; it was already coated in the glow of Radiant Light.

“Tch.” Aurelius II clicked his tongue in frustration. “You couldn’t be more wrong. As far as I see it, I did my duty to the Emperor. Just take the tribute and go.” He shooed them with a wave of his hand.

There was definitely something wrong with Aurelius II, that confidence of his couldn’t be explained. However, the chief inquisitor was a competent man, he knew better than to underestimate the evil.

“[Reveal Status],” he invoked a skill.

The Chief Inquisitor backed a few steps down out of sheer shock.

“Something’s wrong!”

That was an understatement. The Aurelius II Status Screen looked all wrong. Where to even begin? First, it was completely unfamiliar, the layout was different, likely an effect of the mysterious Error[System_Override]! status effect, but the chief inquisitor could still follow what the table was trying to show. At least to some extent, the icons on the right were a complete mystery. Second, the System had clearly identified the King as some sort of a monster, the name tag was ‘Corrupted Human’, and just like a monster it came with its special perks. Normally humans had no such perks, at best talented or blessed individuals would be born with special traits like Increased Agility, Sword Proficiency, and the like. But this thing had some scary-sounding passive perks. Obviously, the Reveal Status was unable to show the known magic spells and class skills of an individual, but clearly Aurelius II knew magic, however, the problem was that this Corrupted Human managed to cast Eclipse which should’ve been impossible because he had no mana and no magic affinity. Something was broken!

Target: Aurelius the Great

Monster: Corrupted Human

Magic Affinity: None

🕸️📜🕷️

💪👑🧴

⛰️🪙 🏴‍☠️

HP:300/300

MP:0

STA:300

Active Perks

[Unstoppable Tackle], [Boulder Roll], [Body Slam]

Passive Perks

[Dark Empowered], [Bulky], [Deflect Magic], [Scroll Master], [Vigorous Fat]

Resistances

[Light Weakness: Medium], [Physical Resistance: Lesser]

Status Effects

Error[System_Override]!, [Obese]

“Men, keep your distance. He is a monster!”

The rest of the inquisitors gave an uncertain look to the chief inquisitor.

“I mean, real bona fide monster, the status is clear! It says…” He paused still struggling to come with the terms of it. “Monster: Corrupted Human.”

“What?!”, “How is that possible.”, “But humans can’t.” – the inquisitors reacted with shock and disgust.

“Let’s purge this monster.” A longsword-wielding inquisitor stepped closer to the Corrupted Human.

Aurelius II didn’t seem all too perturbed by the reveal of his status. “Take your tribute and leave. Consider this my last warning.”

The chief inquisitor now knew where this mad confidence stemmed from. Taking this monster on with only a hundred men seemed a risky business, the monster was clearly capable.

“No, don’t get close.” He warned his eager but inexperienced colleague. “We’ll retreat. Just this once.”

“Chief Inquisitor, what are you saying? The monster is here right in front of us.” The longsword-wielding inquisitor protested.

“Yes, Monster unlike any we've seen before.” He emphasised. “A Corrupted Human empowered by no one else but the Demon King.” Who knows maybe this isn’t even Aurelius II, the Reveal Status clearly states that he’s Aurelian the Great and not the former. “ There is no reason to lose good men and women here.” He reasoned further. They can always come back with the full army.

“But…”

“No buts!” He reprimanded the woman sternly. “Aurelius II, or whatever you are, we’ll take our leave today.”

Aurelius II sighted as if tired by all the drama, “But you’ll be back, right? I know you will. At least take the gold with you.” He pointed at the shiny pile. “I’m a changed man, I don’t go back on my promises.” He nodded. “Yeah, tell the emperor that after you deliver my tribute.”

The taxman reached for the gold.

“Don’t you…” The chief inquisitor stopped him by grabbing his arm.

Aurelius II shook his head at their antics. “I assure you, it’s not Cursed, or anything like that.”

“We’ll not risk it.” The inquisitor looked at the men behind him. “Now, let's leave this accursed place at once.”

The inquisitors, ever so cautiously, moved towards the exit.

“Oh, and to clear up the misunderstanding.” King Aurelius the Great casually stepped towards the retreating inquisition. “it’s not the Demon King, but The Monster King. And you should know better than to cross him.”

The fleeing men seeing the Corrupted Human approaching increased their pace.

“Oh, and another thing. I strongly advise you to leave the resident spiders be. I can’t guarantee your safety if you harm them.”

“I’ll kill you, monster.” A rather eager inquisitor, the one with a glowing sword, shouted just before leaving through the door.

She was the last one to leave. Aurelius the Great didn’t pursue the inquisition through the palace halls. He close just closed the doors and began walking towards his ‘throne’.

“For their own sake, I hope they’ll behave.” He sighed again.

A shadow moved from a particularly dark corner towards the King. A large form of the spider manifested in front of him, the creature wore an excessive amount of golden jewellery.

“It seems. My presence was unnecessary. They’ve left peacefully.”

“Yeah, but they didn’t take my gift of goodwill.” He sighed again but in disappointment. “I kind of figured they won’t.”

“So, human, what comes next?”

“They’ll attempt to crush the Aurelian Kingdom and Kill me. I don’t think it’s safe for spiders to remain. They kill them too.”

“So barbaric. They are no friends.”

Aurelius the Great slumped heavily back on his ‘throne’, there was clear sadness on his face. “I can’t hope to match the full power of imperial might…” Whatever confidence he was displaying minutes ago it was all gone.

“Well…” The spider began with a chirp. “They aren’t friends, that’s clear. But we have many human friends in the Aurelian Kingdom. Good friends, like you.”

The boulder-sized king smiled at those words. “it’s the first time you called me that. I am honoured.” He attempted a bow without standing up from the tool, almost breaking the furniture in the process.

“Yes, you are also a subject of the Spider King. An ally.”

“Of course. A loyal subject if I might say so myself.” He clearly liked where this was going.

“So… You can expect some help from the spiders.”

“And the Monster King?”

“His majesty remains preoccupied with duties of most importance. I rather not distract him too much.”

“Oh…” He said it as if his high hopes were just crushed.

“Don’t underestimate us spiders. Our help, even if limited, will be enough.”

“Then we’ll manage. Thanks.” He attempted a bow but the tired ‘throne’ finally buckled under the weight and exploded to fragments.

“Aurelius!” The spider scolded. “That was Reinforced +2! You should visit the Spidery Delicious already.”