Marvel was thoroughly against the idea of letting the Elven healer tend to her wounds. It might sound like a foolish child’s whining, but she had reason to be wary of allowing an unknown entity to treat her, especially when it required her to be at her most vulnerable.

Perhaps they had a treaty between them, but that did not excuse the fact that the two parties barely knew each other. Surrendering control of her body demanded a level of faith she couldn’t muster—even if the healer looked like a handsome blond elf who seemed as if he could never do any wrong.

“Will you agree if we take an oath to do no harm?” the Witch asked, finding the negotiation going nowhere. Taking a leap of faith, she swore earnestly, “I take an oath to do no harm to you and any other spiderlings we come across—or your allies.” She craned her neck towards her companion, giving him a look. He didn’t forget to add, “Unless they attack us first.”

The elf vowed too, reinforcing the point.

Marvel jerked slightly, feeling the oath settle on her soul. Even I felt a bit of its weight, considering I was regarded as an ally of the spider clan.

“Is that all right now?” Isla asked. “Will you take our help?”

Now that the oath was in place, the biped interlopers could not harm them without facing dire consequences. Well, I didn’t know exactly how dire the consequences of broken oaths were, though Marvel had mentioned it would be the last choice any awakened individual would make.

“Can they harm unwittingly?” I asked, curious.

“They can,” Marvel answered, stepping towards the interlopers. Just to be safe, I jumped off her body to keep a safe distance away. “Though that won’t relieve them of the consequences.”

“I’ll make sure they try nothing fishy,” I said, activating my [Golden Eyes].

“What do fish have anything to do with healing?” Marvel asked. “Wait, is it another stupid idiom? Well, fishes are scaly and reek with a disgusting stench.” It was only then that the little spider noted her inter-species reptile friend had scales too. “Not you, though. You don’t reek. Almost bleak with that mask.”

Before I could reply, the olive-skinned girl coughed. “Sorry, I didn’t expect you to be so… chatty.” She still looked incredulous, and regrettably, she had every reason to be. It seemed Marvel had once again forgotten to cut the telepathic connection between them.

“Hold on for a minute,” the elf said, crouching next to the metre-tall spiderling. “I have never worked on a… complicated specimen like yourself. I have to study your anatomy a little for the healing to be perfect.”

Even though he said that, within two minutes, he cast his golden light of healing onto Marvel’s wounded appendages. New limbs grew out before their very eyes, the process almost too quick to believe. Within moments, her legs had regenerated to their new state. Well, not their original state, considering how fresh and delicate they looked.

“Give it some time,” the elf advised. “And don’t forget to circulate your essence through them.”

Marvel pressed her newly healed appendages onto the ground tentatively before flashing a couple of pairs of her glaring eyes at the elf. “You are not bad for a biped.”

The blond elf chuckled, not taking offence at her jab. “So, do you agree to take us to your elders?”

Marvel still kept her two healed limbs hovering in the air as she moved. “You left me with no other choice,” she said, turning her full glare towards the interlopers. “But I warn you… any form of hostility or scheme, and you will not see the light of day.”

So, with two new members in the party, we four strolled into the strange pathways of the sacred land of the empathic spiders.

Once again, we found ourselves wading through the shimmering Florens, leaving us with no other choice but to trudge through them. The strange plants had grown on all sides of the channel. The Witch suffused her whole body, as well as the elf’s, with a thin layer of essence barrier. It restricted all forms of ecstatic agents from entering their bodies.

I watched with my [Golden Eyes] and found it quite easy to replicate the effect. It felt like a higher form of Force Shield, and I had to utilise all my essence-weaving control to use it.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Just a little more, I thought inwardly. Once I advance, I can take all the skills I require.

Of course, that was a lie. My skill reserve and slot would still be limited. But with a few more slots, it would be far more useful. That didn’t mean I should neglect training—mastery provided the extra points I so desperately required, not to mention the possibility of evolving them.

“With even a tenth of these stocks of Floren,” Isla the Witch muttered, “it could completely overturn the alchemy business on its head. Hell, the amount we wasted simply by passing through is worth more than a small fortune.”

She probably said it to get a reaction from Marvel, who didn’t bother to indulge her.

We moved through the strange pathways for hours, sometimes even circling the same tunnels multiple times. It became increasingly apparent that Marvel did not know the way.

“I do not want to meddle, but it looks like we are on the same path again,” the Witch commented.

“I know,” Marvel admitted.

“You cannot blame me,” she expressed privately to me. “I’ve only been here once, and that was barely after I was born.”

“I said nothing, Marv,” I said with a hissing laugh. “Although, what are you going to tell them?”

It was already beginning to shake the invincible image Marvel wanted to impress upon the two intruders regarding her clan. Regrettably, they had already seen how little dominion the spiders had left here.

“It may look like we are lost,” Marvel said, “but that is not the case. As long as one of my clan members makes contact with the empathic wave I have been leaving behind, they will know where I am. And vice versa. It is only a matter of time before we join them.”

With those words, I had a little more faith in Marvel than before.

[Congratulations! Essence Weaving (E) has reached mastery.]

[+6 Mind, +4 Spirit, +4 Recovery, +2 Physique]

Finally, all this work was paying off. My spidey companion barely seemed to note the change in me, too invested in finding the way, but the Witch and the elf were more perceptive and exchanged a look between themselves.

I bet you've never seen such a fine specimen as myself, huh?

Marvel froze suddenly on the path, her senses scanning everywhere, before releasing an echo of exhilaration.

“Marv?” I asked.

“Shai, it’s Serenity,” Marvel’s relieved voice entered my mind. “She’s nearby, asking what the two humanoids are doing with us.”

“Well, knowing the spider mama, she probably thinks they’ve taken us hostage,” I said.

“You’re not wrong,” Marvel agreed. She relayed their experience with Isla and Faelar to the concealed spider mama. The moment Marvel finished, a figure dropped before us—in a very superhero-like entrance.

“I’m glad to see you’re doing fine,” Serenity said, examining Marvel.

Then a pair of her eyes flashed toward me.

“My fruit! Gimme! Gimme!” I hissed at the first sight of the spider mama, being the inconsiderate little reptile I was.

The elder spider said nothing, most of her attention shifting to the two intruders. She lunged forward and stood between us and the two humanoids, watching them with a reddish glare.

Although I didn't have a good relationship with Serenity, I was relieved by her presence. As long as she was here, she could deal with the two intruders. But my fruit… I glowered at her back.

“She’s wounded,” Marvel said, unsure. “Although she looks perfect on the outside, I can feel her soul quivering. The fight must have taken a lot out of her.”

“You look similar to the human monarch who came here over a decade ago,” Serenity said, her eyes settling on Isla.

Isla froze for a moment, unsure how to reply. Then she shook off her hesitation and said, “Well, I’m her daughter.”

Cool, we now have royalty among us.

“That reminds me,” the elder spider continued, “didn’t we have another biped claiming to be the heir of the monarch?”

Isla’s eyes blinked as hope kindled in them. “Are you… is it true?” she asked, her emotions surging. “Is he short, dark-skinned, dark-haired? Did he say his name? Is it Javi?”

Serenity didn't bother answering. Perhaps she was uncertain or hadn’t even met the stupid youth, merely heard about him from her sisters.

Thankfully, we remembered meeting this Javi—though he’d been in a thoroughly devastated state, mentally more than physically—abused first by the mercenaries he had hired and then abducted by the weird colony of spiders.

“That stupid biped is your relative?” Marvel perked up. She exchanged a meaningful glance with me, which I probably wouldn’t have caught if not for the familiarity I had developed with the little spiderling.

“Looks like we helped his plea without even trying,” Marvel communicated privately to me. “Perhaps you wouldn’t be half bad as a Crusader.”

I only grunted in response. The girl and her elven companion had helped themselves.

Whatever happened now had nothing to do with me. I was going to take my prize, hide in a corner, and try to advance.

Thankfully, Serenity threw the divine fruit to me after a while. It only took a dozen meaningful glances in her direction. Honestly, I didn’t know what she found disturbing about my cute pearl eyes. It wasn’t like I was checking her out or anything. Either way, the key to my advancement was now within my grasp.

I used a force shield to catch the fruit mid-air, saving it from touching the ashen ground. My eyes bulged at the delicate, irresistible aura radiating from it.

“I shouldn’t have to warn you about eating it without preparation, should I?” the elder spider admonished.

Only by exerting all my willpower did I manage to stow it away. While my Hunger wanted to do exactly that, my last assimilation with the Hunger concept had left me unconscious and vulnerable. I didn't want to repeat that. Perhaps Hunger wouldn't be such an influential presence to my emotions after I have another concept to contend with it.

Serenity returned to her confrontation with the intruders, which continued for a while. She left Marvel and me completely out of any vital discussion.

Finally, the spider mama decided it was time to leave.

“Let’s go. We can leave the matter of the treaty to Solace.”