Chapter 2 - Decision

How much time had passed?

A decade, a century, a millennium? Or more? Or was it just a day?

Regardless of how long it had been, I found myself in a forest full of different color's trees.

I had arrived here by teleportation. Exhausted both physically and mentally, I prepared myself for my last sleep without any reason to stay alive.

With the last remnants of my strength, I used my spiderweb and wrapped it around myself to form a cocoon. Then I closed my eyes, hoping I would never have to open them again.

But unfortunately, my wish wasn't fulfilled. I didn't know how much I had slept, but, in the end, my sleep ended, and I went out reluctantly from my cocoon. The sight that appeared before me was this forest.

Although I was unaware of how much time had passed, inside me, I knew that all my companions had died, including the one I loved. It was he who teleported me away from that place that was about to be destroyed, although I preferred that he hadn't. But, as always, his decision proved to be correct.

Not long after my awakening, with surprise, I discovered that two eggs inside me, which I had forgotten at the time of my sleep, had been fertilized. Inside them were developing two life forms - the legacy of my love with the one who had changed my life.

To that discovery, I trembled first with wonder and then with joy. Finally, when all was lost, I had found a reason to live and something to remind me that everything we had done hadn't been in vain - the fruits of our love. At that point, I expelled the two eggs outside and wrapped them in a silk sack to protect them. So I put them on my back, where I fixed them using other silk.

Because the priorities had changed, I decided to explore this place and see if it was a safe place for my two eggs while carrying them on my back.

It didn't take long for me to explore the area, and I discovered that there weren’t any dangerous creatures. So as long as my children stayed with me, there would be nothing to fear. However, two things still disturbed my mind, the same things that had always concerned my mind and those of my species: the human race and the demon race.

They represented the greatest danger, and not knowing if the area I was in had strong humans or demons tormented me. Therefore, I decided to extend my research area to the forest's outer region, where I would be more likely to meet them.

*

During my exploration in the outer region, I heard the voices of some men in the distance. As I approached as quickly as possible, without making any noise, thanks to my eight legs that could run smoothly on any terrain, I discovered a group of humans riding some wagons.

From their appearance, they seemed to be merchants, although I was uncertain. Not knowing what to do, I decided to follow them from the forest without being seen. I wanted to find out the humans' strength level in this area, but attacking without information, especially with my two eggs, was risky.

I continued to follow them until evening, when the group stopped for the night, setting up a temporary camp. That allowed me to finally see all the humans in the group, including those in the wagons.

Among them, I was particularly struck by a woman with brown skin. My eyes moved to her big belly. She didn't seem to be fat from her body's shapes, so she was likely to be pregnant, and it shouldn't be too long for her to give birth.

By reflection, I turned to look at the two eggs on my back. Suddenly, I felt a certain sympathy for that human woman, but I immediately repressed it as soon as I noticed it. Part of me hated humans because of what they did, but I also knew that not all humans were guilty of that.

Shortly after, I noticed the presence of other humans who were spreading themselves at various points. It seemed they wanted to attack the merchants from how they were positioned, so they were probably bandits.

It didn't take long for my deduction to be accurate, and, as I had expected, the bandits attacked the convoy. A battle arose between the two groups, which allowed me to evaluate their combative strength.

Fortunately, they weren't a threat. Despite possessing spirit power, they were the weakest humans I had ever met. Considering their non-dangerousness, I jumped forward from behind them to fight them. It would be a great way to stretch out a little after a long time.

In a short time, I killed all the bandits, including the leader nearby. It was then that I noticed the human woman I had seen before. I realized that she was dead by now, but the little human creature was still alive inside her. Driven by an unknown reason, I decided to free the human cub. Cutting the mother's belly, I took out the baby.

He was a male, covered in blood and amniotic fluid. He had a body so small and fragile, and his weight was almost non-existent in my eyes. But, I realized he still had some liquid inside him. So, by sending a small portion of my spirit power, I pushed out the liquid inside him, and finally, he burst into tears and gave signs of life.

At that point, I was overwhelmed by another feeling unknown to me. Although he was a human baby, the enemy of my race, along with the demons, I couldn't resolve myself to abandon him there. So, in the end, I chose to take it with me. I didn't know the reason for this choice, but I didn't care at the time.

With a human cub between my legs and my two eggs on my back, I moved back towards the forest.

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*

I reached a small lake at the eastern end of the forest. The moonlight made the bright water surface shine, giving it a silvery hue. Pleasant tranquility reigned around the lake, interrupted from time to time by the noise caused by some small nocturnal animals in the surroundings.

I approached the water source and plunged into it, rippling the flat liquid surface. The water near the shore wasn't profound, so I had no danger of sinking, although that wasn't a problem at all to me.

Slowly, I removed the piece of the robe that enveloped the child and soaked it with water. I wanted to use it to clean the baby, who was still dirty with amniotic fluid and blood residues. However, since the water was cold, I had to use this expedient. After all, it would be too much for the child to be directly placed in the water.

Although this method wasn't ideal as it awoke the baby while crying from his sleep, I finally managed to finish the job without too much trouble. Then, I let out some silk to dry him and wrap it up around him so that he wouldn't get cold. Once finished, I returned to my den in the middle of the forest while the human cub had calmed down once he was wrapped in his silk blanket.

Arriving at the destination, I took some fallen leaves and gathered them together, creating a small circle where I could put the child. Then, I untied the silk that bound my two eggs to my back and placed them on the ground next to the human.

I didn't know the reason, but the sight of my two eggs together with that human cub didn't seem strange to me; in fact, it seemed like it was the most typical picture in the world.

Fogged by this view, I began to weave a web around my position as I thought about what had happened.

‘Why did I save him? He is human, after all. I had no connection whatsoever with his mother. Yet, the thought he would die like this - enveloped by the darkness inside his mother, without knowing the outside world terrified me. The problem now is: what do I do? Humans will soon find out what happened and investigate. I don't know if this area has strong martial artists, although I doubt it, given those people's strength before. But the child needs to be with his race... ’

Absorbed in my thoughts, I was awakened by the sudden cry of the child behind me. He had woken up from his sleep and was slowly writhing in tears.

With a start, I turned and ran to him. I immediately inspected his body to see if he was okay, but nothing was wrong. I, therefore, understood that he was probably hungry.

I slowly took him with my legs and carried him towards me. Then, pressing against my abdomen, I let out a substance similar to milk. With my spirit power, I brought that substance near the child's mouth. Slowly, I let the liquid flow drop by drop into him, and soon, he became full and fell asleep again.

‘Fortunately, he calmed down; otherwise, I wouldn't have known what to do. For now, I'd say it's time to go to sleep. Then, I'll come back to where the bandit attack happened to see if there is someone who noticed that slaughter so that I could leave this baby to them.’

Thus, the spider with a human baby and two eggs by its side fell asleep inside the thick spiderweb.

*

The following morning, the spider cautiously returned to the massacre site and waited for other humans' arrival.

It was around noon that she saw a large group of people. These had different types of iron armor and were equipped with various weapons. They seemed to be more like mercenaries than army soldiers from their outer appearance, as their equipment vastly differed.

They soon noticed the brutal scene in front of them. Since they were people who made their living making war, the view of this massacre didn't scare them, but the conditions in which some corpses were, worried them.

"Boss, we examined the corpses. This is certainly an attack orchestrated by bandits on a group of merchants since the merchants' bodies show sword and arrow wounds. However, something must have attacked the bandits: they were cut in half entirely with a single blow. Moreover, there is the corpse of a woman with a half-opened stomach and an umbilical cord sticking out." The soldier reported to the head of his venture company.

The boss, hearing this, frowned and dismounted, approaching the woman nearby the bandit's leader.

‘These wounds... can it be the work of some spirit beast? So why did it kill the bandits and then leave the corpses? Furthermore, this is certainly a cesarean section; there is no way that a spirit beast has the intelligence to do it unless it is a high-rank spirit beast?!’

At this thought, the mercenary leader shuddered at the terror of such an eventuality. He remembered very well the stories he heard as a child about the ancient era and the war of the massacre, especially the infernal beasts known as divine beasts.

‘No, no ... it can't be. The divine beasts have been extinct for millennia. So surely it has to be a human, and one high-ranked too. Otherwise, he wouldn't have left the load. But why did he leave the corpses like that, especially that of the woman?’

Unable to find a reason, the mercenary chief stood up and told his men. "Take some horses and tie them to the wagons. Pile the bandits' corpses in one wagon and those of the merchants and the woman in another. We will take both of us with the cargo of goods."

Upon hearing the order of their leader, the mercenaries set to work without complaining.

Meanwhile, inside the forest, a dark figure was watching them from afar with her eight eyes.

‘It's a group of mercenaries. Judging by their actions, they don't seem to be bad people. If I left the child with them, I'm sure they would take him to the nearby city. Yet at the same time, I don't want to part with him.’ The spider thought to herself as she watched the actions of the mercenaries.

She remained like that all the time, and, even when the mercenaries had finished their task and were leaving, the spider remained motionless as she found herself unwilling to act. Finally, watching the mercenaries disappear on the horizon, she turned around to return to the forest where she had her den.

'What have I done? What have I done? Why didn't I leave the child there with those mercenaries? Why is it so difficult to part with him?’ Throughout the journey towards her den, the spider had repeated these questions inside her head like a chant.

Her rational side told her to leave the human cub among his kind, while another side told her, for some obscure reason, not to let that child go. Finally, after hours of reflection, she made her decision.

'I have decided. It is useless to think about it so much. I'll keep him with me and raise him as my son. I don't know why, but my instinct tells me not to let him go. If this is the case, I will become your mother. But to bring you up in this kind of environment, I need you to get stronger. I hope you won't hate me for this selfish choice in the future. In return, I will give you all the love I am capable of, in the same way, your mother would have done.’

With this, the spider extracted the same milk-like liquid from her abdomen. Simultaneously, with one of her legs, she injured her body and blew out a tiny drop of blood from which she took only a small fraction. Then she joined that small part to her milk-like liquid, which took on a crimson color and gave it to the child to drink.

‘This will make you stronger, but it will mark your future. It will probably bring you many problems, but I'll raise you to make you strong enough to solve them. However, as long as I'm alive, you won't have to worry about getting hurt. So, for now, you will grow up healthy and happy. Then, when the time comes, I will teach you more about the world and myself.’

With this choice, the child's future was marked towards the tortuous path of cultivation. If this was a blessing or a curse, only time could reveal it.