The mental pressure crashed down on Shai, impaling her mind at once. She hissed in agony, as the pain racked her mind. She decided to assault the spider with more of her unbridled emotions, as she did to Serenity to flee from her grasp before. However, before she could make up her mind, the pressure subsided.

“Stop it, Elegy!” Another voice joined. Shai recognised this one to be the Spider mama, Serenity. “You are not allowed to do that. She’s still too young.”

Only a weird noise came, though it sounded condescending to Shai. In her panic, Marvel clutched to the only straw thrown at her.

“Serenity, please,” Marvel pleaded. “I didn’t know about the horrifying thing. I only wanted to help.”

“You have helped enough,” said Serenity, breaking the young spider’s heart, not that spiders had one physically. “Your little fun-seeking almost led to your death and risked the safety of many of our clan. Perhaps we had been too soft on you, or perhaps the lapse in our teaching made you turn out this way. Whatever it is, you need to be punished for directly disobeying your elders.”

Marvel’s eyes lost all intensity. Shai wasn’t sure if she understood all of it, but it appeared Marvel had done something unforgivable. She even stopped struggling in her confinement, silent, wallowing in her guilt.

“You’re not allowed to leave the Hell Chasm, until we decide on your terms,” Serenity announced.

“Not that you have a chance of climbing out of here,” the other spider's voice added smartly.

Then one of the powerful pulses retreated from her mind, but Shai wasn’t relieved, not even when she heard Serenity’s next words in her mind.

“As for you little snake… You’re free to go as you like, but do not for a second think of sabotaging the Empathic Spider Clan. I did not know why the Great Mother ordered as such, but I promise you that if anything befalls Marvel, I won’t bother with what my orders are.”

Shai shuddered at the open threat Serenity left behind. It had left her unnerved, and intimidated. But weirdly, the spider made it seem as though she could leave if she liked, so long as she didn’t harm Marvel or sabotage their clan?

Is this a trap?

Shai didn’t try to escape on her own after the elder empathic spiders departed. For all she knew, they could still be lurking in the dark, listening in, keeping an eye on them. A moment of lapse in judgement, and she would be in the stomach of one of them.

So, Shai did what was left there for her to do. She freed Marvel from the webs, even though the young spider stopped asking for freedom. The spider just didn’t come out of the cocoon after Shai stretched the hole for her to get out.

“Shai,” Marvel’s empathic pulses entered her mind after a few minutes. She sounded rattled, weak as if the assault sucked away all her mental faculty. “I didn’t know... I didn’t know they were listening to us.”

Shai sighed. “I believe you.”

An uneasy silence flowed between them, even though they could feel each other’s presence through the link.

“So what do you think they will do to us?” Shai asked again.

“I...” Marvel didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, cheer up,” Shai said. “Do you want them to see you beat yourself like this?”

Marvel simply looked at her with pairs of disinterested eyes.

I’m terrible at this, Shai thought, but she persisted.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“You know what, your Mama, I mean Serenity said before she left?” Shai tried again. “She said it was their fault for not teaching you better. So why beat yourself up for it? You’re only a child. Mistakes are inevitable.”

Marvel’s eyes flashed a little, but soon they returned to the leaden state.

“Also, you haven’t sullied your Mother’s name,” Shai said firmly. “No, it’s not because that spider stopped you from taking the oath. Even if you had taken the oath, it wouldn’t have sullied her name.”

Marvel’s eyes widened.

“Only when you break the vow you made in her name, will you have disappointed her, sullied her.” Shai thought for a moment to add, “And I’m not saying this because I wanted you to take the oath again. There’s no need for it.”

Considering the reaction to the term “Great Mother”, Shai would rather stay as far from it as possible.

“Listen, Marvel,” Shai said, coming face to face with the spider, who was many folds bigger than her. Yet Marvel was so small and young. “Do you really think they really left you to die? As you said, they follow the rules like it is their religion, but I don’t think they are zealous enough to want your death or even punish you that hard. From what you told me about this Hell Chasm, it all sounded like a nightmare made real to scare children into abiding by the laws.”

Marvel expressed emphatic pulses of denial. Well, that was what it felt like to Shai.

“You’re wrong,” Marvel finally said.

Shai tilted her head in curiosity.

“This place isn’t just to scare children,” Marvel said. “It’s real. Over a couple of hundred individuals sent deeper into this chasm for penance here over the centuries. Do you know the survival rate?”

“Not high?” Shai said the obvious.

“One. Only one of the two hundred offenders survived the journey. And it was Midnight.”

“That scary darkness?” Shai said, a shudder crept through her spine simply by remembering the horrific aura of the spider. Perhaps only the scary and sleepy basilisk could compare to the spider titled Midnight. “I don’t know about you, but I won’t mind the Hell Chasm if I can become powerful like her.”

That seemed to stir Marvel’s spirit, as the spark returned in her eyes. “If we are to climb this chasm,” she began, “we need to form a game plan first.”

“And to form a game plan, we need to understand what we are dealing with,” Shai added, unsure when the “I” had turned to “We.”

“I’m not particularly sure,” Marvel said. “There’s the essence of Darkness, and its nullifying effect, along with a mental corrosion that’s been affecting my mind since the beginning.”

“By the essence of Darkness, do you mean something like the Feast, Hunger, Adhesion?” Shai couldn’t help but ask. “A concept?”

Marvel thought for a moment to answer. “It’s more like the manifestation of the concept of darkness,” she said. “Don’t get the wrong idea. It is a treasure to a high-rank cultivator of Darkness path, but for someone like us, it’s a certain death. All pure essences of cosmic laws are highly toxic. Before iron rank, it is certain death.”

“Hmm.” Shai’s interest didn’t wane. “So that Midnight of your clan...”

“Shai, I know your interest, but you need to understand not everyone is suited for the path of Darkness,” Marvel said, understanding what was going through her head. “She was named Midnight for a reason, fated for the path of darkness. It is not a path suitable for any of us.”

“Well, I’ll have you know I’m named too,” Shai said cockily. “And Shai means Shadow in the common tongue.”

Marvel let out a humph. “Shai means Gift,” she said. “I may be young, but I’m not illiterate.”

Shai was momentarily lost for words. How the hell did this little spider know that?

Perhaps it's just a coincidence. Shai shook her head. There were still other paths left for her to gain strength.

Shai opened her quest menu. “Oh, that reminds me, I got a quest to earn the Mark of Defier for killing the wyrm, and it’s utterly diabolical.”

“What!?” Marvel exclaimed.

“I need to kill a thousand corrupted creatures that were at least on the same level or higher than me to get the mark,” Shai said, letting out an exasperated hiss. “Thankfully, Grandpa seems to count all the corrupted creatures I have killed so far.”

Still, it was a huge number. Shai’s progress was barely 78/1000.

“Grandpa?” Marvel asked, confused.

“You know, the system voice who announces everything,” Shai said. “He sounds like a good grandpa to me.”

“You know that voice...” Marvel was at a loss for words for what she was supposed to say. “Never mind. Mark of Defier—if this mark needs you to hunt down so many corrupted creatures, chances are you’ll get attribute bonuses in percentages. You know what that means, right?”

Even though she asked the question, Marvel’s eagerness held no bounds as she answered herself. “They will be less helpful when your numbers are low, but when your attributes are monstrous, you’ll get the real benefit of the bonus.”

“Really?” Shai beamed. Another reason for her to start hunting those tainted creatures.

“That’s not all,” the spider said with some uncertainty. “Since this is a specialised mark, you might get some resistance power as well.”