“It’s like a rope,” said a young, childish voice as Shai’s mind hovered between drowsiness and wakefulness. “Aren’t snakes supposed to be yaaaay~ big?”

“Haven, you’re so stupid,” another childish voice retorted.

Shai stirred, a numbing pain throbbing in her tiny head.

“It moved,” the first voice said. “It moved, Sanctity!”

“Shut your empathy... I’m going to get berated because of you—”

Shai lurched up, sensing the movement and commotion. She let out a ferocious hiss, feeling weight down on her head, causing the pristine white spider to leap backwards. Thankfully, she wasn’t confined, nor did she find anything amiss with her surroundings, except for the metallic mask covering her head.

It didn’t hinder her sight, or make her feel uncomfortable. The only issue was that she was unable to remove it from her head. The runes engraved in the mask shimmered as she tried to break. Upon closer inspection, she identified an isolation script and scripts akin to the grand dream formation. There could be a whole lot more she couldn’t understand.

“Sanctity, it’s going to eat us,” the timid spider stammered, retreating a few steps.

She ignored their concern and inspected the thing on her head. The information she got through [Golden Eyes] helped quench her desperate need to get rid of it.

[Veil of Empathy (Elite):

Invented by the delicate hands of a Master Forger, the Veil of Empathy shuts all the wearer’s empathic pulses from emitting. The mask also captures outward empathic waves and interprets them to the wearer’s understanding.

Enchantment:

Empatic Veil +5.

Telepath +4.

Stealth +2.]

Did someone—likely the spider granny—covered this mask on her head so that her negative empathic waves wouldn’t wantonly affect fledgeling spiders?

Thankfully, [Golden Eyes] got her a way to unlatch the metallic mask off her head, though she didn’t remove it, considering it for a moment.

She heard two voices of empathic spiders ... Shai wouldn’t want them to act strange in her presence. She searched around but found only the diminutive spider, barely three feet tall.

“Sanctity, it’s looking at us!” the [Veil of Empathy] helped her interpret what they said.

Strangely, the spider was double-headed, and from what she gathered, each head seemed to have their own consciousness.

Sanctity bolted forward. Midway through her leap, she shot a blob of web that landed on the other head to her left.

“Excuse us, Miss... snake?” the fledgeling spider said. “Sorry, I forgot your name, Miss Snake.”

Shai said nothing, her eyes gleamed in a golden shimmer as she assessed them.

[Sanctity - Empathic Fledgeling Lvl 17.]

[Haven - Empathic Fledgeling Lvl 17.]

So they were separate entities, but born this way? She kept these thoughts to herself, concerned it might upset them.

“That’s because Sanctity wasn’t paying attention when Marvel instructed her,” added Haven, clearing the web from her face. She actually ate it... It seemed they couldn’t control the body simultaneously.

“Ahem!” Sanctity, the right head, emitted an empathic vibration, which couldn’t be anything but the arachnid equivalent of an awkward cough. “I was asked to mend Miss Snake’s mind from any residual sting. Unfortunately, Haven woke up and disturbed your sleep.”

“Hey, don’t pin all the blame on me,” Haven protested, gaining confidence as the snake showed no intent to devour them. “You just couldn’t do your job, Stupid Sanctity.”

Shai narrowed her eyes, unsure of how to respond.

“You said Marvel asked you to do this?” she asked, finally.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Yes,” Sanctity replied, while the other head chimed in, “Marvel was soooo~ bossy, thinks she can push me around... If only not for stupid Sanctity—”

“Oh yeah, did I catch that correctly?” A new voice intruded into their conversation as Marvel landed on their rear. “Little Haven?”

The four pairs of Haven’s eyes flashed in red, and she clattered her mandibles together. “Marvel, I...”

“Did you wait for the dramatic moment to show yourself?” Shai asked, her tone carrying a hint of sarcasm. She hated to admit it, but the mask made it easier for her to exchange the minute tone of sarcasm.

Marvel returned her gaze, but chose not to respond directly. “I’m exhausted from overworking,” she said. Turning to the spider duo, she added, “Little fledglings like you cannot even begin to understand the efforts I make on your behalf.”

At this, both Sanctity and Haven’s mandibles clattered, producing a crackling sound. They were intelligent enough to keep their jokes to themselves.

“Overlooking my sacrifices,” Marvel turned back to Shai, somewhat amused. “You’re awake now... The mask looks good on you…”

Shai hissed, clearly not finding it funny.

“It’s good that you didn’t rush into your advancement right after reaching Lvl 25.”

“Why?”

“There are numerous complications, I’ll explain later,” Marvel continued briskly. “For now, we need to move. You’ve been summoned.”

“Why?” Shai blurted out. “By whom?”

Although she had an inkling about the answer, Marvel’s response confirmed her suspicions. “By Solace, of course.”

“Now what she wants from me?” Shai mumbled, not really a question, but Marvel was happy to give an answer.

“She’ll likely offer guidance on your advancement. Don’t underestimate her advice. Few are as knowledgeable as Solace on this subject.”

Shai didn’t doubt Marvel’s claim, yet she couldn’t help but let out a hesitant hiss. She was skeptical to believe the spider granny would help her out of goodwill. There was probably a catch.

Nonetheless, she conceded that hearing Solace out might be the right choice. After all, her options were limited.

Turning to the young spider duo, Marvel said, “And you two are coming as well. No dawdling. You need to prepare for the evacuation.”

“Already?” asked Sanctity, her tone laden with resignation.

“The gate opens tonight for a brief period. Would you have us miss our window?”

Shai was still unfamiliar with the intricacies of the spider clan, but from the look of how Marvel was behaving, it was apparent that the elder spiders had managed to rope in the little rebellious spider into their ranks. All it took was letting Marvel in on the serious business. After all, that was all Marvel ever wanted.

She seemed stress out, but glad to be of some help.

It didn’t take long for them to reacquaint themselves with the elder spider, as the place where Shai was given to rest wasn’t far from the main structure of their dwellings. After leaving the fledgeling duo in the care of Serenity, only the two of them remained in the presence of the spider granny.

“There are about six hours left until the gates open,” Solace said. She wasn't looking at them, but there was no mistaking that her words were directed at them. “Before all the chaos and madness that ran amok in our home, occasions such as this were considered a pilgrimage... Many of your elder sisters found their way on the journey through the inner realm... However, the situation is far more insidious this time. I cannot foresee a path where we wouldn’t face some form of threat...”

Shai exchanged a look with Marvel, who had been unnervingly silent the entire way.

“Regardless of matters not in our control, we need to address the problems at hand,” Solace finally said, her eyes shining bright crimson. “That brings you two here.”

“I’ll do whatever Solace asks,” Marvel declared curtly, showing her complete approval and acceptance.

Shai was inclined to hear more.

“It has been a year since any of us entered the inner realm,” Solace continued in her solemn tone. “There wasn’t a great supply of sustenance in the first place, and I fear much has changed since then. So before we enter, you two have to solve the problem of food for all the fledglings.”

“What?!” Shai couldn’t help but blurt out. “Why are you pulling me into this?”

“Why, indeed... I wouldn’t have summoned such a distrustful reptile if I had other options,” Solace said in a softer tone, all pairs of her eyes boring into the little snake. “But I know for a fact that Little Shai won’t succumb to corruption. That clears one of the two criteria for this task.”

Shai hissed indignantly. “What is the other?”

“Someone with the ability to transport a great load of rations,” the elder spider said, her tone amused. “I hear you have spatial storage ability?”

Even though she phrased it as a question, it was evident that Solace already knew another of her secrets. Shai only had one spider to blame for that. She turned and glared at Marvel, who avoided her gaze as though this had nothing to do with her.

Could the elder spider have discovered her inventory without Marvel’s help? Shai wondered. Marvel had described her ability as something related to the Concept of Dimension, but the smug elder spider likely knew much more about it.

“Of course, I’m not asking you to do this for free.” Solace lifted her front appendage, and a sphere of golden lustre manifested upon it. The golden light dimmed to reveal an oval-shaped fruit. “You know what this is, right?”

Shai didn’t know, but as her [Golden Eyes] assessed the fruit, hunger surged through her core.

[Mandate Fruit (Light):

Mandate fruits are manifestations of the Way. Ingesting a Mandate fruit helps an aspirant condense the law contained within the fruit. This particular fruit contains the concept of Light.]

While Shai’s greed resurfaced, Marvel asked apprehensively, “A Mandate fruit? I only received one in my entire life... but why the concept of light? Wouldn’t something like toxin related be more in harmony with Shai’s characteristics?”

“Light, because your friend need not be as blind as you, Little Marvel.”

Marvel clearly disliked the remark, but Shai’s attention was glued to the Mandate fruit as she salivated uncontrollably. The carrot presented by the elder spider was simply too enticing to be missed, even if she feared the stick that would follow.

After all, one of the prerequisites for the [Eye of the Crusader] was the Concept of Light.

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