In the darkroom, iron legs scratched the wooden floor. Despite this, the little spider was still silent, slowly creeping up on its prey.

The spider moved toward the only source of light in the room, its robotic eyes fixed on the hunched back of a lonely, skinny guy.

As he approached the base of the table, the spider lifted his head upward with a quiet squeak. He let the tips of his four small paws mana and began to climb up the table leg as if on a flat surface.

Arthur was absorbed in his work and unaware of the approaching death threat. In his hand, he clutched the mana stone of light tightly. His eyes were closed, he tried to feel the mana flowing in the stone with all his inner senses.

A couple of hours ago Arthur had decided that he needed to learn how to use mana. After surfing the internet, he found tutorials for children on mana control. For the elementary level! For children under the age of 3!

He was now trying to replicate the advice given in these books. After several hours, Arthur began to pick up some vibrations within the uncut sphere. It was as if pulsating energy was beating there inside. His task now was to catch it, to grab hold of it and try to pull it out.

His nose was bleeding from the strain. He had been at it for hours and so far had not achieved much.

The cellar he entered turned out to be Arno's workshop. Arthur found his records and realized that the former owner of his body was very immersed in the process of making all manner of devices and, most importantly, weapons.

He carelessly wiped the blood from under his nose with the sleeve of the shirt he was wearing and, without pausing for a second, continued his agonizing ordeal.

'If I can't even do that, it's easier for me to repeat Arno's fate. You can't survive in this world without it anyway,' he inwardly scolded.

Closing his eyes, Arthur tried to visualize the mana. He imagined it in the classic version - intangible blue energy. In his mind it was as if he was stretching it out in length, forming a thin line out of it.

His heart raced when he finally noticed that the vibrations in the stone had finally changed. He realized that he was already close to reaching his will.

But he could not allow himself to relax. This was a crucial moment. He had to finish the whole process.

But there was one factor he hadn't even considered. A deadly factor that was determined to ruin everything Arthur had worked so hard for.

The little spider climbed up the table onto the boy's back, who paid no attention to anything around him. It jumped onto his neck and...

"Ouch..." - cried out in sudden pain Arthur, he reflexively struck the stinging spot. The spider's sharp iron leg bit into his neck, making him bleed in that spot.

"Shit. Damned spider. Selina, I swear I'll throw you out."

Arthur grabbed the spider with his hand and stared at it with an angry look. This damned robotic creature had interrupted all his long work. He was about to throw the spider to the floor and smash it, but at the last moment, he was able to contain the rage tearing at him from within.

"What the hell, you stupid spider. Why do you even seek to harm your master? Was Arno such a big idiot that he set you up to kill him?"

Selina, or rather Selina Two, was, as Arthur found out, one of Arno's inventions. She was a robot with a specially designed mana battery inside. More importantly, Selina Two was a battle drone capable of using a magical attack.

The mana battery inside the spider was similar to the level 1 mana core of an ordinary hunter. It was just as capable of releasing mana, concentrating it, and then attacking. After reading Arno's notes, he realized that Selina Two's main skill was [Energy Strike], which released arc-shaped mana on the target.

Arthur was very interested in the potential of this spider. He had already imagined several ways to use it in the hunt, once he learned how to control it properly. You could even say that this little spider, the size of a palm, was even stronger than Arthur himself at the moment.

That's why he still didn't break the wooden floor with this spider after his treacherous attack.

The young man sighed frustratedly. Again he had to start all over again.

It took another hour before he returned to the same stage. This time, he managed to pull a thin, light line of mana from the stone that was only slightly more than the thickness of a thread. Arthur smiled happily when he saw it. His hands trembled uncontrollably with the joy of success.

Now he tried to manipulate the thread mentally. And to his surprise, it moved obediently, following his commands. It was like controlling a third hand. Once the mana line appeared, controlling it began to feel like something completely natural.

'Congratulations Arthur. Now you are no longer a primitive animal and can even open the hot water faucet.'

After he calmed down, Arthur looked around. There was still a lot of work to be done here. He had to deal with all of Arno's inventions, and go through and study all the collected documents. In short, a sea of problems.

But when the guy's stomach rumbled, he knew he couldn't take any more research today. It was time to go home. After Arno's words, home, which he began to think of as nothing less than the open mouth of a beast.

******

'I never found anything. Not a single entry, not a hint. In terms of getting the mission done, I failed completely today.'

Stolen novel; please report.

Arthur spent most of the day looking through all sorts of papers and documents collected by Arno in his workshop. He had come to that remote place for one purpose only: to complete the system's assignment. But in so many hours of searching, he found not even the slightest hint of what the reason led him to that very forest, to that very tree. That's why he switched to his other problem - his inability to control his mana.

'Huh... what should I do now? Search this house? Watching Elia and Sofia?'

But Arthur shook his head dejectedly. He was not so presumptuous as to believe that his actions could go unnoticed in front of the goddess and his sister, who was already living her second life and had a great deal of combat experience.

'Then we'll postpone the search for now. I'll head to the guild tomorrow. If I can boost my experience, I'll unlock those powers the system talked about. It's a crime in itself to be so weak in this world. And then maybe I'll finish the mission in another way.' - Arthur made up his mind.

Now the boy lay tiredly on the oversized bed in the matrimonial bedroom. On the blanket with which he was covered, a four-legged iron creature was actively running from side to side. It was Selina One. Unlike its namesake, the first model spider was not a robot and had no intelligence of its own. All of its movements were controlled by Arthur.

He sent a thread of mana into the mechanical insect's mana battery. Arthur wore a special wristband on his arm, with a built-in mana stone, from which the light line flowed.

Selina One under his command could now not only run, but he could even make it jump. It was a giant step forward in the ability to control her.

'God, I got to that level in just one day. I always told myself I was a genius. And why did I get bad grades in school? Apparently, the school was just blind.'

Actually, he was well aware of the only skill he had in his status, [Manipulation of Mana]: advanced. He understood that it was probably thanks to that he was able to master it so quickly. But... sometimes he wanted to feel special.

Suddenly a door creaked open and light penetrated the darkroom. Arthur could only partially see the silhouette that had appeared in the passage. Slender, graceful, and already quite familiar.

"My love..." - said the silhouette, slowly stretching out the words.

"Where were you today? You're back so late... I even baked a cake today... I thought you'd enjoy it, but you went straight to the bedroom..."

The silhouette that had appeared was obviously his wife Sophia. The corners of Arthur's lips curved involuntarily as he noticed the way she puffed out her cheeks adorably. She looked like a cute pink hamster at that moment.

It was true that after reading Arno's note, he was initially shocked and even frightened by its murderous content. However, after some time alone and a little cooling of his head, Arthur came to the conclusion that everything was not as terrible for him as he might have initially thought.

In Rise of Darkness, though Arno Mann was only a line in the text, mentioned a couple of times, he was also a "living" line in the text. At least up to the point at which Arthur so foolishly, as it later turned out, had stopped. He remembered exactly what this information had brought up in one of the book's dialogues between Eric and Sophia.

'She's clearly not going to kill you, Arthur, and it's unlikely that there's an immediate threat to my life in the future from her. Although that doesn't change the fact that she's the reason Arno killed himself.' - Arthur pondered, as Sophia slowly climbed onto the bed.

She crawled on all fours, like a graceful cat, across the king-size bed. Arthur swallowed his saliva at the sight. Now she wasn't dressed in the maid's uniform he was already accustomed to. Sophia was half-naked. She had a white tank top that was unsuitable for her size, and she was wearing white miniature panties underneath.

It was a very seductive sight. Arthur could feel the heat spreading through his body, his heart beating faster. But things got much worse when Sophia was next to him. She crawled toward him and whispered in a sad voice:

"You didn't answer me where you were ... Elia was all at work and I was just alone ... it was so lonely."

But Arthur was just silent. At that moment his desire clashed with his mind in an uphill battle.

The girl stood up and was right on top of Arthur, their gazes fixed on each other. Sophia reached forward slightly, causing her T-shirt to slip off one shoulder, revealing Arthur's gaze on her lush breasts.

'I've never felt so. Is it because she's so beautiful or from the realization that this girl could kill me at any moment?' - A heated Arthur wondered.

Sophia put her elbows on his chest and brought her face closer to his. They were a couple of centimeters apart. He could feel her hot breath and her seductive scent permeating his body, driving him insane.

"Don't you feel sorry for me?" - she said in a tearful tone.

His breathing became rapid and his chest clenched. He felt the excitement reach a critical point.

'To hell with reason, even if she's not a goddess but actually a man-eating succubus, I'm ready for the consequences.'

No longer intending to hold back, Arthur lifted himself up and kissed her softly but surely. Sophia's eyes widened at the unexpected initiative, but she gladly let it continue.

It was a passionate kiss. A long, long kiss.

When Sophia broke the kiss, a silver bridge stretched between their lips. Her eyes were closed in pleasure for a few seconds.

After tasting the sweet taste of his new wife's lips, Arthur decisively grabbed her and flipped the girl, who was originally on top, onto her back.

"And you're so spirited today," Sophia giggled.

Her face blurred into a smile, and her eyes shone with happiness. She hadn't seen her husband so active and assertive in a long time.

Even if Arthur had wanted to, he certainly wouldn't have been able to restrain his lust after that. His hands, followed by his lips, began to greedily explore such a perfect body. Soft milky skin, firm buttocks, and breasts that would make any man start drooling.

But the pleasure didn't last long. When his hand went to the girl's panties, she suddenly grabbed it.

"Mmm?" - Arthur squeezed out of himself in confusion.

'What the hell? What's wrong?' - he shouted at the same time mentally.

"Have you forgotten? You're not allowed...the doctor told us not to."

'What? What? What doctor?'

"I think for once in my life you can disobey."

Arthur didn't wait and to keep the girl from escaping he sensually kissed her neck. But his luck turned the wrong way. Sophia was surprisingly adamant.

"He did say that your condition has worsened. Your illness is no joke, Arno. At least wait a week until the next doctor's visit." - She said in a firm tone but avoided looking him in the eye.

The poor guy tried several more times with various methods to change her mind, from verbal to physical, but Sophia showed a seemingly unnatural character.

'You're not a goddess or a succubus. You're a goddamn demon. Of course, Arno killed himself. If someone puts a piece of sweet dessert in front of you but won't let you taste it, anyone would kill themselves after this torture.' - The lad thought angrily. Endless rage blazed in his eyes.

********

When Arthur closed his eyes terribly frustrated and was finally able to fall asleep, Sophia found herself in Elia's bedroom. She was nervously circling the room and was so tense she seemed about to be torn apart.

"Do you understand? You know...he was so...so passionate. His hands were so skilled. And his eyes... and his eyes... you should have seen the way he used to devour me. I'd never seen him like that before."

Sophia rubbed a strand of her hair, her hands trembling. She was still reeling from what had happened, her chest heaving with excitement.

"So? Why did you stop him?" - Elia asked in a lazy voice. Her expression was relaxed and did not seem particularly interested, but inside she was filled with not the purest emotions.

"I ... I couldn't. How could I do that? Today is your day."

"Well, since he was so hot, you could have broken the rule once." - Elia said and faked a yawn.

"No, definitely not. I love both of you. I can't call myself your big sister if I do that. A schedule is a schedule."

Sophia pounded her fist on her palm to emphasize her firmness, but her eyes traitorously showed her disappointment.