Adon walked the long and lonely path through the darkness that had daunted him last time.

It was quieter than he remembered here. Adon’s inner voice wasn’t taunting him now. The success of his last visit had done a lot for his confidence.

So it became a matter of retracing his steps. Trying to understand the geography of this place a bit better.

Adon had a sense of where things were. He knew he wasn’t near healing magic now, because he had deliberately not come here looking for that. He was closer to the starting point of his last journey than to the end.

The first thing in the void that he came to was the horrifying statue with thousands of limbs that had frightened him before. Adon kept his distance from the figure but didn’t run from it. In a way, the creepy statue was a good sign. And it was exactly what he’d been looking for.

The monstrous statue had turned from a deceptive lure to a landmark. Illusions were somewhere near here. Whatever that thing with the twisted body was, it was trying to take advantage of its proximity to illusion magic to lure in the unwary. It had almost succeeded with Adon.

He navigated around it and inspected the nearer statues. The surrounding figures would hopefully all be closely related. And somewhere here would be illusions…

Adon inspected a couple of statues closely, but although they gave him a feeling of potency, he could not imagine what their purposes were or what effect they would have on him if he tried to use their power.

One was shaped like a circle when Adon looked at it, but as he drew closer, it was clear that there was a long chain of circles linking to it. Like an infinite chain stretching backward into the distance. Adon stepped backward, away from that.

He didn’t want to be lured into touching another power that was hiding malevolence beneath the surface. Or even something that was simply far beyond his abilities. The statue was his clue. Extending infinitely backward said something about this power’s nature. Something that had the possible property of being infinite promised to be more than his body could bear. Perhaps it was a power that an archmage could handle, but Adon was no archmage.

Adon found another statue close by that looked a lot like an infinity symbol, but somehow folded in on itself in a way that should be geometrically impossible. It hurt his mind’s eye to look at it, and he quickly backed away. He could tell that this statue definitely harnessed more energy than his body contained, and it was probably even more dangerous than the last. That creepy crooked statue was in fitting company, it seemed so far. Only the very lost or the very power hungry would want to touch this figure.

Finally, Adon found something that did not make him want to curl into a ball and disappear from this place.

He walked toward another statue close by that emitted a feeling of great power. He didn’t think this was exactly illusions either, but it felt right and good to him. Like he was close to an old friend. Something that matched his nature, maybe.

As Adon drew closer to this statue, the shape of it revealed itself to him. The statue looked like a towering obelisk.

I have no idea what that shape means, he thought. But he could not bring himself to be afraid of it, even though the figure was unknown. It seemed so familiar, as if it was close to something he already understood. It was tall, and therefore somewhat imposing, but it had the significant advantage of not being infinite in any aspect. It was simply a symbol of a magic that, in Adon’s very basic read of the psychology of the powers that resided here, was proud of itself.

Finally, he broke down the fear that was holding him back, and he reached out and touched it. And he instantly felt the surge of power move directly to his brain. There was an instinctive fear as he made contact with the unfamiliar shape, but then the magic went to work on him. This power seemed to supercharge his mind.

He found his thought processes moved more quickly than usual. The fear that normally preceded knowledge for Adon transformed into understanding in record time.

Mental magic. He felt incredibly powerful in a very specific way that he had never encountered before. The feeling brought back a memory of a distant incarnation when he was a drug addict. The insights about the power itself rushed in at an unnatural speed. This power feels a lot like being high. The shape is an embodiment of towering intellect. It feels familiar because I’ve been using Telepathy. My brain’s modification for Telepathy makes me better adapted for mental magic than any insect has any right to be. I can already transmit my thoughts into the minds of others. That will allow me to weaponize this type of magic if I want to…

Adon imagined dozens of different uses for this power. Mental magic could paralyze or manipulate those weaker willed than the caster, forcibly increase Adon’s Intelligence or that of an ally—albeit temporarily—or even kill a target in the right circumstances.

It’s not quite illusion magic, but if I have a specific individual in mind, this should be just as effective at hiding me from their conscious awareness. Wow!

The sense of power continued to intoxicate him as he thought of more things he could do with this. He could do more than just temporarily increase the intelligence of his friends. He could temporarily steal some of the intelligence of enemies. There were some thoughts that Telepathy—at least at its current level—could not retrieve from other people’s minds. It only scooped up surface level things. If Adon wanted to, he could read an enemy’s full intentions at a first meeting. It might take a lot of power, but—

Suddenly the world swam into bright view. Adon looked around, slightly confused. The void was gone, and in its place was a pounding headache.

Oh. I was using mental magic that whole time to supercharge my brain. Brainstorming at super speed. I guess it burns a lot of power really quickly? I ran really low on Mana. Ow…

The last series of thoughts came to him in a rush, and then he put his forelimbs to his head for a moment. The headache was bad this time, but at least he hadn’t run completely out of Mana. Maybe some part of his subconscious mind had been too intelligent and responsible to let that happen. Being paralyzed with a migraine wouldn’t serve the development of his magic talents, after all.

Adon walked over to the crow cocoon, opened it up, and savagely tore into one of the crow’s legs. A drumstick.

Even this tiny part of the crow was roughly his size, but Adon was suddenly almost exhausted. And simultaneously ravenously hungry. He went into a feeding trance.

Munch munch. Chomp chomp. Gobble gobble. Gulp.

When he emerged from this state, he was stuffed. The crow’s lower body now ended in one leg and one slightly bloody—mostly congealed blood—stump. He had eaten it bones and all.

Adon had recovered a small amount of Mana, so he activated Telepathy and called out to Goldie. But she was still out of it.

So Adon turned the ability off and allowed himself to rest too. There would be time to talk later. Time to conduct experiments. Time for many things.

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He went into his sleep-like state with a sense of great satisfaction with and hope for the future.

Adon wasn’t sure how long he was out of it. With his low Mana and his brain recovering from being accelerated, it was a deeper rest than he was used to.

He thought he almost dreamed. There was a distant sound of buzzing, but it came at the edge of his range of hearing. A gentle droning sound. Almost like someone snoring.

Finally, the light of day the next morning pulled him back to his senses.

He activated Telepathy once more.

Goldie, are you awake?

I am, she replied. Thank you for healing. Feeling much better.

She still sounded weak to him, but Adon wasn’t worried anymore. If healing didn’t do the full job, time and food would. And they had plenty of both.

Can I bring you something to eat? he asked.

Yes please! I wanted to ask before, how did your hunt go?

Oh, it was successful, he replied vaguely.

He opened his silk crow cocoon up again and began carving off the remaining drumstick.

What did you catch? she asked.

I want you to guess!

Um, another thief spider.

Not quite.

A grasshopper! Grasshoppers are delicious…

Still no, I’m afraid. You might want to wait until I actually bring the food up there.

Adon pushed a little bit of Mana into his mandibles and finally finished cutting through the crow’s thigh bone.

Then he closed the cocoon again and made his way back up to Goldie.

He climbed the web, and he watched how she stared at him as he approached.

What is that? she asked after a long silence.

Oh, no, I wanted you to guess!

He plopped the slightly bloody meat right in front of her.

Well, it smells very tasty, she thought. Can I try it first? That might help me with the guess.

Of course you can. It’s for you! You don’t even really have to guess if you don’t want to.

Goldie sank her fangs into the crow meat, and Adon turned his face away. There was something a bit viscerally horrifying about watching spiders eat. It was weirdly easier to picture himself being what they were eating than to place himself in the perspective of the spider in these situations.

But he hoped she was enjoying it.

This is different than anything I have ever tasted, she thought, the noises of her chowing down still fairly loud.

I would think so, Adon replied.

Is it another bat? she asked. You found where they go to sleep during day? Is this black stuff what fur looks like up close?

Adon shook his head.

It could not be some kind of seafood, right?

It’s not seafood, he sent.

Cannot be lizard, she thought. No scales.

Adon waited patiently.

Is it a baby bird? she asked finally. You stole it from nest.

No, not quite…

You did not… kill an adult bird? Her tone was one of disbelief. Almost laughing at the possibility.

I absolutely did.

Goldie stopped eating and stilled almost completely for a few seconds.

Adon didn’t say anything to break the tension.

Finally, he heard Goldie swallow, and she spoke again.

Seriously? she asked. How?

I blew a hole in its head with magic, Adon replied proudly.

This will make us incredibly strong, then, she thought. I never expected to eat meat of a mature bird in my lifetime. Is there anything left in garden that can stand up to you?

Adon detailed how he had dragged the crow carcass across the garden, scaring everything that tried to attack him away.

Amazing, she thought. I would watch out for Huntsman, though. If you drew one of their interest, it may not give up on finding you. But amazing.

They discussed the future for a while.

I wonder if Evolution may be possible for me after recovery. With this crow… with how successful you are as hunter, we should both have options coming soon. You should have your best option available soon. I am so excited to try a new stage of life. To live a bit longer and see my hatchlings grow and mature.

Goldie seemed more pleased than she had been since they had begun talking. She had been wildly emotional then, even more than he was, to finally have someone to communicate with.

I can’t wait to see you after your Evolution, he sent. I wonder how it will change you. You’re such a special spider already. I can’t imagine improvements to anything other than your lifespan.

She laughed in her mind, and even her body shook with mirth. You are very kind, Adon, but I can think of many things I would like to improve.

I guess I’m not so different, Adon thought. I’m looking for some pretty big improvements, honestly. He thought about how small and vulnerable he still felt relative to any bird, and how he still could not fly. He thought of how imprecise his magical attacks were and how little Mana he possessed. There was much to be proud of and thankful for, but still…

I think if you improve much further, you will be fighting evenly with humans!

That idea seemed slightly absurd, but perhaps only because the sole human Adon had interacted with was the Princess. Probably most humans weren’t like her. He imagined she was rather special.

Then the question will be what we can do for Red, Adon sent. If you and I are moving on, I know you would rather not leave him behind.

Adon. Please. Goldie seemed to want him to stop talking, but Adon thought he knew why. She didn’t want false hope. They had been there before.

He forced himself to press on. I just unlocked a new form of magic. Mental magic. And I might be able to increase his chances of learning to communicate at a basic level. I’m not sure it will work, but I really want to try. Adon still felt that he owed Goldie a debt, with all she’d done for him.

She was quiet for a few long moments.

I really hope you can do this, she finally thought. In a much smaller voice, almost as if she was trying to contain the thought: I wish you had not mentioned…

I hope so too, he replied, ignoring those last words. Even if I don’t, I know I’ll keep trying until it kills me. So the three of us can change our lives together.