By the time we were done with Sontar, it was lunch. I changed into a plain white shirt instead of summoning the Mystic Armor back, it was the entire point of our little trip after all. Elyssa had finished her shopping before us and we met back up with the group at the same table we had been at the previous evening.
"I see ya got some new clothes," Gwynn said, "looks nice on ye." She gave me a thumbs up and a wink.
"I hope it did not cost you too much," Darrel added.
"Sontar gave us a very good deal," I said. "He was enthusiastic to work with a radically different body type than usual."
"What did you guys do this morning?" Vel asked.
"Walked around and talked to people," Gwynn shrugged. "Found the blacksmith, a nice fellow named Kenor. He agreed to take a look at my hammer and the work's a lot cheaper than back at the guild."
"Hamak and I gave our report to the scouts," Darrel said. "We got a nice bonus from it. Sixty silver bits."
"Dain also updated us on the surrounding jungle," Hamak said, "there have been some rune panther migrations and the path back to the guild might be a bit more dangerous than previously."
"And you made a friend Katherine," I looked at the rogue.
"It was very instructive," she answered with a mysterious smile.
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After lunch, Vel and I went back to our temporary residence. Hamak and Elyssa went with us while the rest went back to explore the village. Since I didn't know how long it would take, I wanted to get the molt out of the way first. I was far from an expert on spiders, at least this part of their biology, but I knew it was necessary for spiders to grow since their exoskeleton couldn't expand like skin. I wasn't sure if I would grow during the molt, I was massive enough for my tastes, but I was at the mercy of the system on that front.
Once we were safely behind doors. I started to prepare. If I needed to extract myself from my current exoskeleton, I would need plenty of space to flail around. I started by layering some silk on the floor to form a soft carpet to avoid hurting myself if I rolled around. Then, my spider instincts told me to lay with my back on the floor.
"I'll be right beside you the whole time," Vel was holding my hand. "And I'll heal you if anything happens."
"Thanks, love." I smiled.
"Now … the moment of truth."
The option to molt was inside the Arachne Body skill.
Arachne Body - Rank 1, Level 20
Passive, Permanent
Permanently transforms the user into the form of an Arachne. When the user reaches the maximum level for a rank, the user can choose a new subspecies and initiate a molt. The molting time depends on the quality of the new subspecies and the level of the user. Be sure to molt in a safe place.
Rank 1: Arachne Hatchling - 20% increased skill experience gain for all Arachne class skills
Rank 2: [Start Molt]
I mentally pressed the button and another menu appeared before me. It seemed there were multiple paths open to me.
Choose Evolution
Arachne Hatchling
First stage of the Arachne transformation.
Bonuses: 20% increased skill experience gain for all Arachne class skills
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Quartz Arachne
The Quartz Arachne is a magic specialist, their body contains several organs that improve mana generation, storage, and conversion. Their exoskeleton is more resistant to magical attacks.
Bonuses:
Mana Core (5000 MP, 200% MP/h), Magic Gland (+5% Conversion Efficiency)
Copper Arachne
The Copper Arachne is a specialist of martial combat, their exoskeleton is reinforced against attacks by a special layer underneath that softens blunt attacks and prevents piercing attacks from going through.
Bonuses:
Hardened Carapace (+10% HP), Reactive Mesh (-20% Physical Damage),
Healing Gland (+20% HP/h), Adrenal Gland (+10% SP, +10% SP/h)
The obvious one for me was the Quartz Arachne. I was a mage first and foremost and the bonuses were very good. The secondary mana pool was an interesting addition. The amount wasn't ground breaking but I expected it to grow if I continued down that path. The increase in conversion efficiency, however, was very good. When spells changed pure mana to their chosen element, there was always a loss. It looked like the gland made the process better and would correlate to a proportional increase in the power of my spells.
"I'm about to start," I said.
When I confirmed my choice, nothing happened for a minute or two then an itching sensation started to make its way all through my body. It started at the ends of my legs and crawled upwards slowly. The more it crept up, the more unbearable it became. After ten minutes, it felt like someone had set the underside of my skin on fire, or doused it in acid. I spread the sensation across as many mental partitions as possible to make it bearable.
I cast Rejuvenation to get an idea of what was happening. The outer parts of my exoskeleton, the hard carapace, were slowly being separated from the inner layers which connected to the muscles and other tissue. In between the two, a new exoskeleton was slowly growing. Its composition was noticeably different from the previous one.
The inside of my body wasn't spared and I saw that two new organs had started to grow inside of my thorax. The mana core was a sphere about the size of my fist made out of some kind of crystal-organic flesh. Behind it was the magic gland which was shaped like a bean. It matched the core in height and width but was around twice the length.
With the new organs growing, the itching around my thorax reached a peak and I felt my exoskeleton split, right below my butt. I scrambled to widen the crack and relieve the pressure. I used Psychokinesis to pull the two sides apart as gently as I could, I knew that if I moved too fast I risked damaging the soft exoskeleton underneath. Each centimeter I opened it, the pressure lessened and after twenty minutes I managed to partially wriggle myself out of the opening.
My abdomen couldn't fit through the joint so I continued to split my old carapace in two. It took an additional half an hour to free my behind but the feeling when I did was heavenly. With enough space, I started to use psychokinesis to slowly pull the old exoskeleton off like an old sock.
Vel helped me as well. She periodically sprayed me with a mist of water. If the new exoskeleton dried and hardened too fast, there was a risk it would fuse to the old one while I was still inside. That would, obviously, be extremely bad. Once my thorax and abdomen were separated, Vel helped me wriggle my legs and pedipalps out of their prison.
After three hours of itching, I finally managed to get my last leg out. I kicked the old exoskeleton away with Psychokinesis and lay down. I was exhausted. Being a spider was hard work.
"That was …" Vel said as she held my hand.
"Horrible, exhausting," I said. "And now I have to wait for it to harden back up."
I was glad that I hadn’t gained in size. My thorax had become a bit rounder due to the new organs but it was about it. The carapace plates that protected my legs and pedipalps had taken on a silver-blue hue. My fluffy spider hair was much shorter than before, at only around two centimeters, and had changed its golden highlights for a cobalt blue color.
"Let's see if I can get back into the nest … I need a nap."
I moved my limbs with as much care as I could and gently righted myself up. The outer layers of the exoskeleton weren't fully hardened but the inner ones were solid enough to bear my weight as long as I didn't try any acrobatics.
I climbed inside the nest and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
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Velatha brushed a strand of hair away from Lis' face. Her girlfriend had fallen asleep the instant she had been safe back in her web. It was adorable.
She watched as her back rose and fell to the slow and steady rhythm of her breath. Occasionally, one of her legs twitched slightly. Liscura had always been a light sleeper, one that moved often in her sleep. Velatha had often caught her smiling at some dream in the middle of the night. Though, more recently, she had seen her fair share of anguish too, ever since their quiet life had been shattered into a million pieces by the Crimson Lys.
She vanished most of her clothes and lay down next to Lis who didn't wait long before taking her into a four armed embrace. She leaned in and basked in her girlfriend's warmth.
The molt had brought back some painful memories of the temple. The pain Lis had been in and the helplessness she had felt.
Neither of them had expected it to be such an … intense experience.
At least they knew what to expect.
A small part of her wanted to ask Lis to just … not do them. To spare herself the pain. But she knew it was foolish. If the transformation could be controlled or reversed, it would be further down her class evolutions and she didn't want to deny her girlfriend that.
Their quiet life was over after all. Velatha knew she'd never be able to return to a simple life of tending greenhouses and preparing medicines. For all its perils, especially in their cases, she had tasted the thrill of the adventure. The blood pumping adrenaline rush of being surrounded on all sides by monsters with only her wits and spells to survive. The exulting feeling that came with victory.
There was a reason a lot of young elves spent several decades as adventurers after all.