The tower's fourth floor must have been where Em spent most of her time. There were small, old, and shoddily repaired bookshelves. The books on them were well taken care of, but some showed the wear and tear of time or overuse. They were placed orderly and sorted by color. It was an odd choice, but Lee didn’t expect the Dewey Decimal System in this new world.

Placed along the left wall was a small workbench. On top of it lay an open book with a slightly ripped page held up by nearly invisible threads connected to the ceiling. To the left of the book was one of the clay jars he had seen on the second floor. The blackened ash filled it to the brim.

Against the right wall was a mound of torn mattresses, furs, hay, pillows, blankets, and other bed-like materials, all thrown together with little to no care. The large indent in the center led Lee to believe that this was Em’s resting spot, causing him to frown slightly at the unfavorable conditions.

Em scuttled past the makeshift bedding and went to the far side of the room. Another table was set up against a blackened window. On the table lay a hefty open leatherbound tome. Lee thought it was a spellbook, like his own, but found it was just an ordinary book after using Identify.

Em closed the hefty tome and shoved it to the side, waving her hand to Lee in a ‘come here’ gesture. “Come. I would like to show you something.”

Once at her side, Em grabbed a different book from the bookshelf and scuttled back towards him. She placed a book on the table as Lee did the same with his Orb of Light. He read the cover.

The God Touched, by Rupergia Holmes.

Lee didn’t get a chance to comment on it before Em started an absolute tirade.

“This book mentions those whom Gods and Goddesses have blessed. There are several books in the series apparently, but I only have this one. It has accounts of the various deeds and adventures of the god-blessed within—From heroic battles to the simple tasks of helping the less fortunate. It says that the God Touched or God Blessed have glowing eyes and are destined to achieve greatness!”

She took a short breath and continued.

“BUT! Some never achieve greatness. Some bring ruin and devastation to everything in their path. This specific book doesn’t mention much about those instances, but it does note them in passing. It is said that Lucian Thexis was once god-blessed during the early formation of the Kingdom.”

She turned to stare at Lee with unerring focus, directly into his glowing eyes. Her deep wanting for knowledge oozed out.

”Healer Lee, are you a God blessed? If so, would you tell me the tales of your adventures? Your great tribulations and successes?”

Taken aback by the frankly absurd shift in Em’s demeanor, Lee froze and didn’t know what to say. Eventually, he settled on trying to manage her expectations. “Well… I am what you call God Blessed, but I haven’t had many great adventures or anything like that yet. It’s been less than a month since it happened.”

He watched as Em shifted in place as he slowly continued. He didn’t want her to start treating him like someone special, like others he could mention. “I don’t know what that book says, but I don’t think all those people who are blessed are destined for greatness. I was only blessed because my goal aligned with Arcani, the Goddess of Magic. It helped that I created healing magic, but don’t think of me as a hero or anything like that.”

Em raptly listened as she stared unblinking into Lee’s eyes. Then, she showed Lee the most fierce grin and chittered from her fang-like maw beneath her ‘legs.’ “You must be at the beginning of your own book!”

She made her way to the bookshelves and ever so carefully placed The God Touched back onto the shelf; the amount of care she took when placing it back was unnecessary, as it looked to be in fine shape. She grabbed a different, thicker book and made her way back over to Lee. Looking at the new book's title, he read Casting and Confluence.

“This book is filled with the hypotheticals of what elements exist within the world. Tell me, what element is your healing magic?”

Lee was still too stunned at the eagerness and passion shown by Em to function at his full mental capacity. He just mumbled the answer out. “It’s Life.”

Em carefully swiped through the book's pages, searching for any mention of the life element. This gave Lee enough time to come to grips with what was happening.

“Em, I can see that you’re enthusiastic about this, but I have some questions of my own. How about we trade questions with one another?”

Em slowed in her page-turning, whipping her head to face Lee. “Yes! We shall take turns with our quandaries. As I have already asked, you may take your turn.”

After taking a second to inspect Em again, Lee put together some puzzle pieces. She was… excited. As someone who never leaves her tower, Lee thought she must not get many visitors. She probably didn’t have many social interactions and was pouring out her pent-up topics. He nodded as he decided on his line of questioning.

“So, you’re an Arachne? You’re the first I’ve met. Are all Arachne coated in metal? Or are you perhaps made of metal?”

Em instantly lost most of her excitement upon hearing the direction of Lee’s questioning. She reverted to her more authoritative and metallic regal tone as she lost her fierce grin. Her rapidly twitching legs slowed and stilled as she answered. “That is what my species is referred to as, yes. Not all are as heavily armored as I am. I am unique in more ways than one.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She ended with a pointed glare toward Lee, daring him to ask the unasked question. He picked up on the hidden statement. ‘She was not a monster.’

She slowly returned to her book and shuffled through the pages, leaving them in silence.

Well… That could have gone better… Lee thought.

Eventually, she found the page she was looking for. After gingerly running her thin, gauntlet-like covered fingers over the page, she asked her question. She wasn’t as enthusiastic as before, but it showed a bit in her tone.

“Is the life element composed of Light and Water?”

This question caused Lee to smile. She didn’t ask what the life element was made of; she asked if her guess, or the guess of whatever information was in the book, was correct. This told him a lot about how curious she was. She could have just gotten the answer but went in another direction.

“It is not. I actually don’t know what Light and Water’s advanced element is….”

Lee, still smiling, glanced her way as she frowned and began waiting for Lee’s follow-up question.

“Would you like to find out what Water and Light make together?

Her frown stayed as her brows creased. After a moment, she simply said one word. “Yes.”

Her unblinking gaze never left Lee’s form as he activated his ability, Arcane Synthesis. The wet water mana coursed through his left arm, and the bright light mana flowed down his right as he placed his palms against one another.

The ability activated.

Both forms of mana glowed in his Mana Sense, and slowly twisted and converged with one another, creating a very pale white and cyan wisp of… Moonlight?

It was the only word that came to his mind. The mana itself felt as if it were telling a story. A story he thought Em would enjoy. The figure of a woman, or a Nymph, walking out of a stilled ocean as the moon shined down from high above in the dark starlit sky, casting its ephemeral light upon the water's surface.

It was beautiful…. But Lee didn’t know what he would ever use it for. What spell is there to make with Moonlight?

He started to turn to face Em and tell her about the new element but paused as he noticed her. Her dark red eyes were locked onto his hands as a single blood-red tear rolled slowly down her pale white cheek. Her face was serene and calm, not stoney or fierce as he had previously seen.

He didn’t know if Em had Mana Sense, but if she didn’t before, she did now. He cupped his right hand, pooling the Moonlight mana on his palm, then reached upwards to Em’s metallic arm. He brought her arm towards him and did his best to place the Moonlight mana within her grasp. She gingerly tried to hold the mana, but after a few seconds, it faded away.

She stared at her now empty, cupped hands for a few seconds before she slowly brought a hand up to her face and felt the red tear. She inspected her now red finger before looking towards Lee. She spoke in almost a whisper.

“What was that…?”

Lee just smiled as he gave her time to come to terms with what happened. He wasn’t sure if she saw what he had, but it was definitely something that hit her emotionally. “That was Moonlight mana—the advanced element of Light and Water.”

She just stared into her cupped palms, causing Lee to grow a little worried. He was about to ask if she was all right when she spoke firmly and with a deep conviction. “I will learn this element. I thank you, healer Lee.”

Lee raised his eyebrows, slightly shocked that she was capable of casting magic—especially the magic he had just made. Light and Dark mana were both rare elements for someone to have. If he was being honest, he fully expected her to have the Dark element if she was able to cast magic. He would not have guessed she had Light at all. Maybe it was a tad judgemental of him; he mentally scolded himself for that. Never judge a book by its cover.

Deciding to continue their conversation, he tapped her arm, which let out a tiny ringing sound as he did, and gestured to her. “It’s your turn, I believe.”

She uncupped her hands and brought one of them up to rest beneath her chin as she thought deeply. Her excitement from earlier was now wholly lost, replaced with a more serious tone. “What was that you just did? You can make element combinations at your leisure? It must have been a skill, a powerful one at that. Or, an ability?” She questioned as she eyed Lee.

Usually, asking about skills, abilities, or stats was considered rude. But, given the circumstances, he understood. Nobody randomly creates an element out of thin air and expects someone else to ignore it.

“It was an ability gifted to me by Arcani. It has a week cooldown, but in a few years, I’ll be the proud owner of most elemental combinations. I think…”

Em nodded as she followed along. She was still thinking deeply. Lee decided to ask his question since it was his turn.

“What brought you here to this tower? I have to say, I was surprised to hear someone was living here.”

She hastily glared toward Lee, and he heard the beginnings of a hissing sound come from her spider maw before it tapered off. Her head tilted to the side as her eyes softened. “You do not know?”

He shook his head, and Em calmed a little. “People like me are stationed around the kingdom to defend the common folk. I am the defender of Breye.” She tried to change the topic quickly. “Tell me, where do you come from? Bardum?”

Lee… didn’t know what to make of that. His first thought was that the kingdom was full of assholes, but after taking a second to think, he realized that people like Em would probably be treated harshly or worse.

“No, I come from somewhere else. I’m sorry, I don’t think I can answer that truthfully.” Lee said.

Em just nodded and reverted to her thinking posture. She waved her hand to Lee to take his turn.

“Why do you not leave your tower? I think Vanessa and Robert wish you did.”

She didn’t even take a second to respond. “I do not need to leave my tower. I have all I need.”

“But…” Lee started but was cut off by a metallic slashing hand and a sharp voice.

“It is my turn. Hold your tongue!” She spat out, then returned to her calm state of being. “You say you created healing magics? Would you be willing to teach me if I am capable? I am not wealthy, but you may peruse my collection of items and take what you will.”

Again, Lee realized he was in front of an Arachne when she cut him off—a slight amount of fear rearing into his mind. “That’s my whole reason for traveling. I want to teach everyone my healing.”

He summoned his spellbook, the chain attached to his waist—a trick he managed to discover while traversing the Shadowgrove. He placed the ornate silvery gilded spellbook onto the table and let Em look at it.

“You may learn the element and my spells for free. If you can learn it, of course.”

Em grinned and eyed Lee.

“Excellent.”