James felt wrong, really wrong because he didn’t feel anything. It was like his whole body was numb, his senses muted and blurred. He couldn’t see or even move muscle. He didn’t remember how he got here, only that an IED exploded on their way to the base and shrapnel flying everywhere. Then, there was only darkness. For a while he was just floating there in his mind, an empty canvas that he wanted to fill with something, anything even. His thoughts wandered to the members of his squad, hoping they made it through the attack that surely followed after the explosion. He thought about his family that would hear about his death, that he was KIA in the middle of a mission.
While his mind was occupied with thoughts he didn’t notice the light in the distance at first. But it soon appeared in his ‘vision’ a text box just like in the old RPGs he played when he was young.
----------------------------------------
We greet the traveler, the system welcomes you into its folds. For you have been granted a new chance in life, take what you deserve and reach for new heights. You’re the author of your own story and nothing can stand in your way if you decide to take this chance! We welcome you in the world of Kindraire, Empire of the Kings Your race and starting area will now be decided…please wait….
----------------------------------------
James would frown if he could, he must still be alive and in really bad shape if saw floating messages all of a sudden. Maybe he was dreaming about his childhood and a game he once played but the more he thought about it, that didn’t make sense at all. Still he was a soldier so he waited, curiosity and discipline was the only thing that stopped him from going mad.
----------------------------------------
Analysis of the traveler completed, race and starting location determined.
Status
Name: James Wright
Race : Arachnid (Stage One)
Level: 1
Class: N/A
Titles: N/A
Deity: N/A
Racial Skills: [ Venom I][ Web Construction I][ Vibration Sensitivity I ]
Class Skills: N/A
Stat points get allocated based on your actions and decisions!
Starting location: The wailing forest - Level 50+ Territory
The system wishes you luck as a traveler! May your life be long and fruitful!
----------------------------------------
As soon as the message faded from his vision he felt the world come back into focus. The numbness in his body receded slowly and what he felt was horror, his body wasn’t human anymore, that fact didn’t even register in his mind even if he saw the notification. Kicking around he felt something break apart, one of his many legs piercing something, sunlight streaming into his…egg, he realized. He was a newborn spider after all, right?
Piercing the soft egg with multiple legs he managed to push himself from the shell. His whole body was still wet and when he looked around it felt weird and uncomfortable. His vision wasn’t the best, as he was human he would definitely need glasses but he could see well enough, no doubt the system helped him to manage the change between human and spider. The problem was the field of view he had available to him. Front, sides, even a part of his abdomen was visible for heaven's sake! Nearly three hundred and sixty degrees, his mind was flooded with information. His sight, the vibrations he felt with his legs. It was nearly too much, the worst thing? He couldn’t even close his eyes.
It took James around two hours to adjust to his situation, when he got used to his new eyesight he tried walking, there was so much going on. His legs felt stiff and slow compared to his body before, having no hands was also a huge downside. Three times already he tried to grab something only to see one of his legs brush against a stick, no fingers or a thumb in sight. He even managed to tangle his fangs up, only to scratch his soft carapace with it, nearly killing himself because controlling a new organ like, well a venom glad wasn’t easy.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
But soon he managed to settle down and just do things, a soldier followed orders so he just started walking around, his legs doing the work more on instinct at this point. He managed to walk, even sprint after a while. His eyesight faded into the background, still he noticed when there was movement on his back or sides and there was a lot of movement.
Soon after he hatched from his eggs, his brothers and sister did the same but there was no place for family here, the newborn spiders ripping themselves to pieces. Blue blood stained the wood instantly while they feasted on each other, their bodies not more than nutrients for their siblings. James avoided all this by just climbing out of the tree and into the open world.
In front of him was an ocean of dark green leaves, thick trees standing far apart. Their bark gnarled and in the color of ash. Birds flying over the treetops, their massive bodies easily snatching small boars from the ground that roamed around digging for mushrooms. As far as he could see there were only trees and death around him.
He stayed a while longer before entering the tree again, the bloodbath was finished but not for James. He learned one thing in this world, if he wanted to survive he needed strength. So he would never shy away from doing what felt right to him. Looking at his eating siblings he approached them one by one, climbing on their bodies and digging his fangs into their back, stabbing again and again until they stopped moving.
He repeated this until only one spider remained, himself. He even ate their flesh to replenish his energy. In the field nothing was wasted when you find yourself in an emergency situation.
----------------------------------------
Title unlocked: Killer of Kin. Other arachnids will attack you on sight, be cautious.
You reached Level 4!
Stat points allocated automatically!
----------------------------------------
James nodded, which looked really weird when you need to move your entire body to do so. He fed on the corpses a while longer before leaving the tree for good. There was much today and not enough time, he needed to build a life for himself after all and what better way than to kill some weakened creatures?
He didn’t really know how web construction worked but there was no harm in trying, he let instincts take over and soon a small bead of web fluid dripped against the bark of the tree. But no string or anything, he tried again feeling something mixing in his body and another bead of web fluid attached itself to the tree but this time a thin string was forming from his body. Slowly moving down the tree he felt the string expand, his body producing the needed fluid to form a string from it.
Making his way down the tree wasn’t really hard, his sticky legs giving him excellent traction on the rough bark and he was approaching the ground at a quick pace. A few feet off the ground he stopped and walked to a nearby branch, his legs easily holding him in place as he looked around. Not far from him were a few of the boars huddled under a tree, it seems the attack of that bird left them in a frightened state. It was good to avoid the open spots, that was obvious. He managed to make his way over to their tree, even this far down there were many branches locked together, forming bridges of the human turned spider. Hiding between some leaves he decided to wait for the night, he was sure the boars would settle down eventually and then it was time to strike,
----------------------------------------
In a realm no mortal could ever reach…
The sound of tiny sharp legs fluttering over the ground was filling the large circular chamber. Thousands of spiders working on webs or devouring prey, in the middle of it a single web, the strings as thick as fingers. A woman was sitting on it, an orb slowly turning black in her hands, the image of a small spider sitting in a tree vanished from the crystal surface. A smile tugged at her lips as she looked at the orb.
“Do well my champion, I have so many plans for you. There wasn’t a Harbinger of the Swarm for thousands of years now…make me proud.'' The whole chamber was silent as her body vanished into motes of ligh, the goddess leaving her little realm. Finally there was something happening after thousands of years, a change nobody could stop.