《Arachnomancer》 2 Troll "ughhhh." Gin Why did I have to do that. Legs aren''t supposed to bend that way. Something wrong with my neck too. Oddly enough though I don''t feel any pain and can still think clearly. Huh?..... I can''t move.... -few hours later- Still no pain, just a ringing in my head....I''ve tried to call for help but all that comes out is a groan. No one''s coming, not like I have anyone in my life who would worry about me getting home.... Wait, I hear something, chances are its just an animal like a rabbit or a deer. "Another one ehh, this version is full of these height hoppers and face exploders." ????? I can''t see who it is as my head is in the wrong direction, but I hear?.... It''s voice is scratchy and it moves from high pitches to lower ones....Almost as if multiple people are talking. Then it hits me. A stench similar to that of rotten cabbage mixed with sewage. If I wasn''t in my current condition I would be retching. "ALIVE?!?!?! MOTHER WILL LOVE THIS MORSEL!!!! NEVER SEE LIVING ONE!!!! Wait, she give instructions to Ymrilab. What instructions? Oh yeah, remember." Ymrilab As I hear these ramblings I regret jumping for the 50th time today. I hope that I''m just hallucinating that some psycho walked up on me. However, I get rolled over even though I didn''t feel anything touch me. What leaned over me could only be described as a small troll. Big completely red eyes surrounded by black and green pustules. A fat body with long twig-like arms and stubby legs. Black course air covered almost its whole body except it''s face and random patches that had red pulsing orbs that dug into its skin. Its mouth had jagged teeth that ran from one side of its head to the other. "Hello there morsel~. You were supposed to go to Mother''s ''Pantry'' but you''re still alive~. For that, you get something really nice~." Ymrilab I want to get away but my body doesn''t listen. As I scream internally, the troll rips one of it''s pulsing orbs off of it''s head. The end that was embedded into it had little reds roots twitching, as if alive. "Open wide~, huh? ahhh, paralyzed, just gotta shove the ''Happening Egg'' in~" Ymrilab As I start freaking out even more internally as I hear ''egg'', my mouth is opened by its hairy hands with so much force that my teeth and my jaw are broken as blood starts rolling out of my mouth. I''m glad I couldn''t feel that, otherwise I may have passed out. No..... That may have been preferable.... "whoops~ Say ahhhh~"Ymrilab "AHHHH" Gin I do say ahhhh but more in a grumbling/screaming sort of way as whatever the hell that is gets shoved down my throat. My senses begin to blur into nothingness as the only thing left is my consciousness. 3 Happenings Nothingness. When you close your eyes what do you see? The color black right? But that is still something. Would a person with no eyes perceive ''nothing''? What is ''nothing''? Questions like these riddled my head throughout my life. However, today I have had that question answered. What true nothingness is. No, not void as time and space should still operate in the void. Nothingness is the complete lack of everything. Pretty simple right? However, for something to exist, it has to be within time and space.... or within the mind, but that''s dominated by time and space. That''s why the concept of nothingness is maddening. ''Where'' is this nothing. Is it there right ''now''? How about ''later''? Consciousness should not be able to survive without a body. Maybe that''s how I was able to experience ''nothingness''. Just a mind, not in any specific place or time. I may be wrong, but this is the most interesting conclusion to come to so I''ll stick with it. Technically I should not know that the experience I had, happened, since time didn''t exist there to allow me to process what was going on. However, I had no vessel for my consciousness so I figure time may be irrelevant in this case as well. Now on to current matters..... I must be back as I can process information, but the only thing I can process is a specific feeling. A feeling of something worming its way to my very core, assimilating with it. The only thing I can think of is that rooted egg thing I had shoved in me..... Hmmm? My other senses are coming back. As luck would have it, I also had the feeling in my body return as well. "eergg" Gin I end up groaning as I figure out I''m encapsulated in a white cocoon that emits a low level of white light. Im feeling calm though and I feel my senses starting to slip again. Not good..... I started jerking violently as it''s the only option I have. *crrrrk *wahcahhh I hear a heavy groaning and then a whiplike sound. Im falling..... *crsssshhhh Luckily I didn''t land on my head as I hit the ground. The cocoon seems to have taken most of the impact as it shatters into dozens of small plate-like fragments. The sight that appeared before me in the low florescent glow of those plates would stay with me forever. 4 Fallen Nes I thought I had hit the ground during the fall..... I was wrong. What I had landed on was a corspe pile. But not a normal one. Oh no.... Twisted arachnid corpses that were twice my size lay for as far as the glow went. Red, black, green, and brown. Some large and hairy, some thin and scalely. A couple even have human torsos attached to them.... Arachne, creatures that have recently become more popular in recent fantasy..... As the smell of all the decay swarms me, I start dry heaving. It takes a little over a minute before this sensation fades. When it does that worming feeling starts to grow but it''s no longer unpleasant. I start to focus on myself. My skin is a weird shade of greenish pink, very sickly looking. My t-shirt is extremely ragged but thankfully my jeans are fine. Then I notice a problem with my chest. There are thin rootlike tendrils crisscrossing in and out of my skin..... Over where my heart should be. Explains the worming feeling..... Is this.... ok? I should have died, but instead I became paralyzed and had a troll shove an egg down my throat. Now I''m sitting in some monster spider graveyard with roots invading my insides. What are the chances of this happening? Am I in a coma and everything that''s happened a dream? Maybe this is what the afterlife is like..... No matter the situation, I can either accept how things are, or try to off myself again..... I have a feeling I may end up in an even more bizarre scenario if I do that though..... *Schlop *Tonk A weird noise enters my ears as I turn around to see a smaller grey spider drag its way over the decomposing monster spiders towards me....Half of it''s legs are broken. Its eyes are either destroyed, or hanging out of its head. Only one still functions as it glows a light blue. It stops in front of me and stops moving. Dead.... Maybe?.... "GODDAMMIT!!!!"Gin My chest starts to burn with pain as the roots lurch onto the crab-sized spider and clutches it to my chest. It starts to sink into my chest. Not breaking the skin but merging its way inward untill it''s fully submerged and the sickly skin covers it up. Finally, the roots go back to their old position and the pain dissipates. "What the hell...." Gin 5 System .... I start examining those roots more closely. A shiny blood red, almost as if made of ruby. Thin like wire, but as I handle it, its extremely tough and rigid. They weave in and out of the skin over my heart. *ztttttttzzz I hear a sound. Similar to the static sound of a television, and a screen that looks similar to that appears in front of me. It starts to focus into what looks like a dark red status display. ------------ ------------ General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) Class: Undecided level: 0 Exp:0 Required Exp:10 Titles: Host of HappeningsV.1(unique)(+1 Luck,+10% Luck) Sideworlder[X.347](rare)(+2 Per, Untraceable perk) ''Pantry'' Dodger(rare)( Attracts ''Eaters'', Closed System Perk) Nothingness(epic)( +2 Int, +2 Wis, Steel Mind Perk) Status: Health(74/91) Resource(0/0)(Unclassified) ----------- Str: 8.3 End: 9.1(10.1 -1) Agl: 10.4 (11.4 -1) Int : 16.7(14.7+2) ------------ Wis:17.3(15.3+2) Cha:9.9 Per:14(12+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) Condition: Minor Poisoning(-1 End, -1 Agl, 25% slower health regen) Clearing up due to newly added immunity Perks and Skills: -Race Traits *Human(common)- +9.94% accelerated learning +9.94% experience gain +Immunity to offensive light magic. *GreaterArachneva(unique)- +.06% true damage added to all forms of damage, +when affected by true damage, it is converted to physical damage. +Immunity to poison. +Dark Vision -Perks: *Untraceable(Rare)- User leaves no natural markers behind(examples being scent, footprints,skin, and hair) *Closed System(Rare)- User does not need to ingest anything to survive. Also allows an extended breath based on End. *Steel Mind(Unique)- User has gone through some form of extreme mind-tempering resulting in an immunity to mind afflictions. -Skills(seperated into tiers and further into levels) Negotiation T2 lv3 Cooking T2 lv2 CQC(close quarters combat) T1 lv3 Crafting(includes sewing, woodcrafts ect. Forging would be a different skill.) T1 lv2 Taunt T1 lv2 I feel a coolness wash over me as the screen appears. As I read through it I realize that it must be this ''Steel Mind'' perk that keeps my mind from going chaotic again. Mind afflictions. Kind of a broad term, but that may be why the rank of it seems high. There are a couple auxiliary subscreens that explain what some of this means like the ranking system. Common would be the lowest rank including base species like humans and goblins, which apparently exist. It would also include basic weapons, and perks like slow metabolism. Next is uncommon which includes species like drow and dwarves. Finely crafted weapons and perks like ambidextrous exist in this category Rare being the next step up is qualitatively very different, dragonoids and fairies being examples for species. Magic weapons and perks like my own untraceable are here. The rest is not given but it seems to go in order as common, uncommon, rare, unique, epic, legendary, mythic, and transcendent. Ignoring the fact that I''m no longer 100% human for the moment, I start examining the subscreens on levels. Seems I can get stronger by leveling just like in games and I can unlock a class at level 1. The classes available seem to be based on certain prerequisites that have been completed though. Experience is earned by swallowing the golden mist that comes off those you kill. Only the person who gets the kill will be able to swallow the mist, but there are a couple of exceptions. Unfortunately these spiders seem to have been dead for a while and have probably been drained of their mist already. There was that one spider though. Hmmm, I look at the .6% Greater Arachneva and figure that was the grey spider''s species. But was does it mean for me to be .6% spider?..... My mind seems to be working differently, but I think that''s because of Steel Mind.... Thinking about it won''t do anything for the moment. Just staying here is dangerous. I need to get some experience for the moment. Hmmmm??? I wonder if there is any other spiders that are still alive.... 6 Nightmares Ahead I start looking around to see if any of the spiders are still alive. Can''t really tell if they are alive from just looking though, so I pick up a forelimb that has seems to have been twisted off. Its suprising light and has a sharp claw at the end of it so it''ll make a great poking tool.... This will probably take a while.... -a few hours later- "1087" I counted the last corpse that I''m willing to poke. Im not even a fifth of the way through all the corpses but I''m giving up. How is there not a living one out of all of these? Maybe this pile has been here for a long time? I also checked out the surroundings thanks to being able to see in the dark. The room is in the shape of the dome. It''s a couple dozen meters high by a few hundred wide. The walls are made of web but are different from the cocoon I was in though, as they are a dark purple. There''s a passageway that is extremely large. I guess that''s the only way... As I make my way down the passage there are arched openings into rooms that are devoid of anything. I look through those rooms but..... Nothing.... This passage is too long.... Huhhh??? light??? I start jogging towards the light and come into a massive chamber. The walls are a mix of white and purple webs. The white giving off a low glow just like my cocoon, but the purple seems to devour that light. What lays in the center blows my mind... I thought the previous spiders were massive but, holy cow..... A spider.... queen? I guess that''s what it is. Just like the walls it''s coloured a dark purple and white. A small human torso sticks out of the top of the spider''s head, but it seems to be covered in a purple grime. There is a small book being grasped to her chest. I figure its really important.... Should I take it? I edge closer until I''m right next to it''s spider head. Ehhh, it''s looking at me.... those shiny beady eyes.... I know it''s dead.... well I hope its dead.... Should make sure.... If its not, well I''m scewed.... I stab one of its 8 eyes and.... *Pluokk .....It popped.... A dark purple goo starts to ooze down its head.... Gross.... Back to the more pressing matter I start moving the arms of the human torso that has the book by extending my spider spear and.... *Plok ...Why did it have to land in the puddle of goo.....Well.... I pick it up by its corner and start shaking it off. After that I start rubbing the bottom of it on the webs under my feet to get the last of it off. "Ugghhh, sorry arachne queen?" I apologize for some reason and focus on what I have. A diary.... I read through it and find some interesting knowledge. Apparently, this is a daughter of some super arachne. She left her mother''s nest to set up her own. After a lot of searching she found her soul mate killed all his ehhhh.... Oh god.... a..anyways she set up her nest here with him. This place is thousands of miles underground and there is a pocket in the earth nearby where there is a drow settlement. She had them feed her.... I don''t want to know what.... skip... Anyway it''s a lot of her fawning over her husband, blah, blah, spider babies, blah, blah, wait. She mentions something about her system. Nothing I don''t know already. Still I''m not the only one with a system, huh. As I read on it takes a turn from the fluffy crap. A drow poisoned her husband so she ate him to continue his life in her.... what???? Oh no.... this is getting bad.... I think I''ll stop here for now as I''m not even halfway through it.... I can kinda guess where it goes.... She got poisoned too and from glancing at later pages she goes even more insane.... I edge away from her corpse and stumble. What''d I trip on? Hmmmm..... Eggs.... About a dozen. " I wonder if they give...." *plok As i mumble to myself, I stab one of the eggs and it pops bringing up a transparent subscreen. +1 experience "They do.... " 7 Arachnomancer +1 exp *Level up 1 free attribute point 1 free skill point *you hear something gnawing Last one eh. I browse the subscreen on attributes. Attribute points can raise the level of an attribute by one, but after it reaches 20 you require 2 to raise it. You also get a perk starting at 20 and every 5 afterward. They can also be raised naturally through various means like training, but that will slow as they grow. Titles can add bonuses that don''t slow attribute growth. Titles attributes also dont make it so you need 2 attributes once you reach 20. Say you have 20 strength and 2 of that comes from a title. You wont need to pay 2 attribute points per increase until you reach 22 strength. Skill points are also on this screen, and they allow you to level one skill up regardless of tier, without the increase in experience for the next level. I''ll leave those points until I choose a class. As I mess with the General screen I bring up potential classes 1.Spearman(common) 2.Chef(common) 3.Corpse Hugger(rare) 4.Arachnomancer(*Growth-unique) 5.Happenings Hunter(random/common-epic) 6.Hollow Explorer(epic) ... A subscreen pops up that introduces classes. Only species that can''t evolve can aquire classes as that is their way to gain strength. All clases can rank up, but it takes a tremendous amount of effort to even raise a common rank class. The only exception are *Growth-rank classes which can generate missions to rank up. These mission''s difficulty is based on class rank and level. There''s no penalty for failing, but depending on class rank, it may take a long time for another to appear. I look back at the small subscreen that says (*you hear something gnawing) and it has a weird effect..... Whenever I look at it I hear something chewing quite grotesquely and my vision turns red, but if I turn away, it disappears. Just close that subscreen I guess.... Anyway back onto classes, I cross out the first three as they don''t seem very useful. The first two as they don''t have much potential and the third is just plain weird. All it''s skills and perks seem to be for seducing the undead. It even has a perk so that you can do ''things'' with the undead.... Yeah.... That''s definitely crossed out. Seeing that Arachnomancer is a growth skill I''ll check that out last as it''ll probably be my choice. Happenings hunter is interesting as it centered around luck. It has perks and skills that evoke fortunate events. However, none are really focused on combat, and although there is a skill that will make enemies suffer misfortune, it does not seem that reliable. On top of all of that, it''s rank is random. Crossed off. Next up is Hollow explorer. This class is based on ridiculous movement speed and detection. Its perks have bonuses to these and they increase with your level. It has a couple of combat skills which deal true damage which is nice. But..... My current attributes are not the most compatible.... I go back and look at arachnomancer. Just like how a necromancer creates undead, this class creates spiders. However, it is more based on creating broodmothers which create spiders. It''s a class is based heavily on Intelligence and Wisdom, so it is very suitable for me. After debating with myself for a while, I end up picking arachnomancer. *Ding 8 Status Updates and Summoning the Broodmother I feel a weird soothing feeling flow into my head as I look at my updated status General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) Class: Arachnomancer(*Growth-Unique) level: 1 Exp:0 Required Exp:100 Status: Health(101/101) Resource-Mana(346/346)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- Str: 8.3 End: 10.1 Agl: 11.4 Int : 16.7(14.7+2) ------------ Wis:17.3(15.3+2) Cha:9.9 Per:14(12+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) +1 free atribute point -Perks(new) *Spider''s Stealth(uncommon)- Can easily re-enter a concealed status. *Arachnid Ruler(unique)- Gives +50% health to subordinates classified in the arachnid category. Gives +10% to all damage inflicted by subordinates.Gives +10% overall damage resistance to any subordinate. Able to use limited telepathy(only thoughts can be transmitted) with subordinates. *Subordinates Welfare(rare)- able to share a perk of at most rare-rank with subordinates. -Skills(new) Summon the Broodmother(0/3)T1 lv1-Creates a Broodmother in a special plane which can be summoned. On creation has the same level as the user. The user will be able to share experience. Broodmothers can be re-summoned after death. Ever tier will allow an additional summon and every 2 tiers will increase all Broodmothers'' ranks. *Special(class)- Whenever a Broodmother is created, the user can choose between 3 aspects that will imbue it. Cost: 40% of total mana per summon. Cooldown: none Summon Arachnid Guardian(0/1) T1 lv1- Creates an Arachnid Guardian in a special plane which can be summoned. On creation is 2 levels ahead of User. The user will be able to share experience. Can be re-summoned after death. Every two tiers will allow an additional summon as well as increase all Arachnid Guardians'' ranks.*Special(class)- Whenever a Arachnid Guardian is created, the user can choose between 3 aspects that will imbue it. Cost: 40% of total mana per summon. Cooldown: none Stealth T1 lv1- Enter a concealed status. Can be difficult during combat. Cost: none. Cooldown: 10 secs Looking over the newly updated status has me greatly overwhelmed. Reading through the subscreens made me relieved though. The only thing that really needs attention is health, mana, attributes, and the tier of skills. Trying to calculate the damage dealt is not very practical as most things have resistances to a large number of things. Immunities basically only exist in racial perks. It seems that I have become heavily reliant on poison damage so I may have to rely on summons for other forms of damage. Well might as well summon something.... ugghhh.... Do I have to say the skill name or.... Maybe just think it really hard. SUMMON THE BROODMOTHER!.... Nothing.... "Summon the Broodmother" Gin I end up mumbling the summon and a screen pops up. *Choose aspect *Metal *Cystal *Poison Ehhh???? That''s all? Usually for most things I get a description for choices but this.... Well, lets go with metal? I have no idea what a crystal spider would be like.... Poisons out as other creatures may have poison resistance or immunity so I can''t stack that. Metal it is. *Ding As I hear the system notification, a grey portal of about 2 meters of height appears in front of me. A grey spider that''s about 1 meter high drags itself out..... This guy.... WHY ARE YOU SO FAT!!! This guy has jowls that droop down and its short but meaty legs are as thick as my torso. Its abdomen is way bigger than its front section. If it could stand, it would probably be as tall as that portal, but it just drags itself with its front legs.... As I stare at it, it stares back with its creepy blue human eyes..... WHY DO YOU HAVE HUMAN EYES!!! *Ding Another notification???? Hmmmm..... A name..... I guess it is female?Right? Can''t name it fatty then.... Juicy?.... No. Names don''t really need meaning so lets go with.... Kess. As soon as I decide on a name a new set of screens and subscreens pop up. Subordinate Name:Kess Race: Grey Iron Arachneven(rare) (Evolution Possible at level 5) level: 1 Required exp: 300 Health (300/300) Resource-Iron essence(120/120) Shared perk- Closed System(defaultly selected) Loyalty: Max Condition:none Even though she is subordinated to me, I cant see most of her screens and I think some of her general screen is missing....I''ll have to ask her to show her skills later....It seems that creatures that evolve need more experience to level, but in exchange they can rank up much easier than those who have classes.... Ohhh, with new evolutions they can inherit weaknesses and can rarely lose attributes.... But, they can also lose old weaknesses and gain attributes. They will however keep perks and skills from previous evolutions. Evolution is kinda unstable. I wond- "HEY, where do you think you''re going?!?!" Kess was dragging her way towards the Arachne Queen with saliva drooling from her mouth. I can venture a guess as to why. She looks at me and her eyes start tearing up. I won''t pity you. Even with human eyes that wont work. You don''t even need food anymore thanks to closed system. "Do I really want to summon more?"Gin "Schhhrree."Kess 9 Another One Should I summon another? Well lets see what Kess can do first. "Show me what you can do."Gin "schrrreeee?"Kess What? Don''t give me that face. It''s gross. ''Do Something!'' As soon as I think that, Kess starts rubbing her meaty forelimbs together making a metallic screech. A smaller portal opens up bringing in 5 grey spiderlings. No..... Well, at least they can stand. They have beady eyes like a spider should have too. I must have activated that telepathy ability. ''Lets see, can you do anything else?'' After that thought Kess starts slapping the ground with her limbs. *rumble *rumble *Shiiiink A metal spike about a meter tall stabs out of the web floor with a lot of force. Impressive. Wait, why''d you stab one of your own subordinates? She''s drooling again.... "I''ve seen enough, I should try to summon a guardian too I guess. Summon Arachnid Guardian."Gin *Choose aspect *Ink *Cloud *Ash Those are different. I thought things like fire or lightning would pop up. Ink would be like water I guess? Maybe, it can do things with drawings? Cloud has relation to water too but it''s in gas form. Would it be immune to physical attacks? Lastly Ash. Doesn''t seem to useful although it has to do with fire and it brings up images of rebirth in my head. I''m leaning towards cloud but I can''t think of a specific weakness ash and ink have. Ink might have a good resistance to physical attacks since its a liquid..... Lets go with that I guess. Its all conjectures anyway. As I finish the selection, a dark liquid gathers on the ground and builds itself into the form of something quite different from what I was expecting. Other than being extremely overweight and having human eyes, Kess looks kind of like a wolf spider. This new one looks more like a black widow minus the mark. I immediately look at her eyes and thankfully, they are not creepy. They are just normal black beady eyes. She is much smaller than Kess, less than 1/6 of her size Then I notice something weird. She''s constantly dripping ink but it leaves no mark when it touches the ground. Lets go with Set. Another screen similar to Kess'' pops up. Subordinate Name:Set Race: Ink Widower(rare) (Evolution Possible at level 5) level: 3 Required exp: 750 Health (270/270) Resource-Ink essence(95/95) Shared perk- Closed System(defaultly selected) Loyalty: Max Condition:none As soon I name her, I get a thought put in my head. No, not a thought.... More like a feeling. Excitation. I take a look at her it she seems to be holding back from jumping on me. ''Well lets see what you can do.'' "Sheeeeeee"Set Set jumps at my face and sticks to it. I.... I cant see..... Or breathe..... I tried grabbing her to throw her off, but my hand just sinks in and she starts vibrating even more excitedly. ''Come on! Get off!'' Must have been sent as a command as she hops off and reforms into a spider form. Apparently she blobified to me. Come on. I''m feeling despair through telepathy. Ok.... ''You can stick to me as long as it doesn''t cause me trouble.'' As Set gets permission she breaks up into streams that flows along my upper torso and head becoming tattoos that curve and twist into a maze-like pattern. She seems to dislike the roots in my chest as she keeps away from them. I start to feel power flow through the tattoos as they break away from my body and slash at the remains of one of the eggs I broke earlier. The tattoos start to fade until I cant see them anymore and I can see a few more slashes appear on the eggs remains. So, she can use stealth as well. Can''t really determine the lethality of those slashes since it''s an egg but.... "Good job"Gin She reforms into a spider on the ground and starts shaking in happiness.Hmmmm.... I feel like I''m forgetting something..... Wait, Where''s Kess?!?! I look around frantically and spot her a couple meters away. She''s.... Eating the broken eggs. Not only that she''s forcing her subordinates to carry here. Not only a glutton but lazy huh.... Luckily they are made of iron too otherwise.... "Kess"Gin She freezes. Her subordinate turns her to look at me and she starts to tear up again. Again, that won''t work. Please stop. Something weirds going on with Set too. She''s getting way too excited. "How do I deal with this?"Gin 10 Not Trees!!! I decide to distribute the attribute point. I have some ideas on how I can increase my physical attributes but I''m clueless when it comes to the others like luck and wisdom. Can luck even be increased naturally? Well I''ll find out eventually. I put the attribute point into intelligence as that and wisdom are the most important for me. I''ll save the skill point as it would be really inefficient to use it now. Skills only get a lot stronger when they tier up anyways. Str: 8.3 End:10.1 Agl: 11.4 Int : 17.7(15.7+2) ------------ Wis:17.3(15.3+2) Cha:9.9 Per:14(12+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) ....Dont feel any smarter.... I was expecting a big change which is why I put this off.... Well it is just 1 point. Cant have that much of an effect right? As I throw out a rhetorical question Set starts pocking my leg. "Hmmmm? What is it Set?"Gin "Sheeee~?" ''I''m sorry. I dont speak spider''. Hmmm... She sent a feeling through, is it want? She''s staring at my face and sha-.... She wants to cling to me again. Why do you have to be like this. Were you created to be this way? Thinking on it though, she is a ''guardian''. Might be the best place for her to protect me..... Nah, looking at her I doubt she can think to that degree, she''s probably just weird. ''Alright just make sure to go into tattoo form.'' I give her permission and she breaks up into streams just like before but, this time she completely dries into my skin. With this I won''t have to keep on eye on both of them. I have this weird feeling that if I leave Set or Kess alone something bad will happen..... "Sccchreeee"Kess "Sccceeee"Spiderling #1 "Sccceee" Spiderling #2 Ignoring Kess, who''s making her spiderlings dance for some reason, I think of my next objective. I probably have to leave this place. More and more of the white webs are being converted to purple and it''s giving me a bad feeling. I glance around and see something horrifying.... The arachne queen is decaying quickly. Its abdomen is mostly corroded into goo. ''You see now Kess'' "Sccchreeeuggg"Kess She tries to make her usually screech but her saliva makes it sound gross. She is looking very intently at something and that got my attention. I see a small white gem at the edge of the giant puddle that has been building. Hmmm, do mosters drop gems on death? No, the queen is mostly corroded so it must lie in their bodies. I''ll snatch it up I guess. I gotta wipe off the goo but, it should be fine. I shove it into my most valuable place. My pockets. Now, to go on an adventure gyahahaha! Wait. Where''s the exit.... -half an hour later- After searching with the spiderlings for a bit we found the exit. I like these guys. They are very diligent and, they even salute to me when I address them. Too bad that whenever I don''t need them, they go back to Kess. I''ve seen her do some weird things with them like making them dance or lower their front legs so it looks like they are worshiping her. Before we go up we may need some more spiderlings. ''Kess can you summon some more spiderlings?'' "Scchreee!" She seems excited. She does her ritual of rubbing her limbs together and opens up 3 portals this time spewing 15 spiders out total. I might be wrong but I think I saw one of the original ones give them a look of pity. Now, it''s time to leave... As we make our way up, the tunnel changes from purple webbing to a blue-grey stone. Its a pretty long tunnel which makes me feel bad for the spiderlings that have to carry Kess.... Set has been quiet. She has been transmitting a feeling of satifaction over for a while as well. As I start analyzing random things again, the spiderlings start rocketing up the tunnel with Kess. Damn it!!! I start chasing then until I reach the exit. As I look outside I see that Kess is munching on a tree. "Kess!!!"Gin "Sccchreee Scchreeee!"Kess Why is she so childish.... She''s begging to me with all her spiderlings too. ''You can eat fruit, grasses, or mushrooms!!! Not trees!!!'' 11 Forest of Anger Oddly enough she didn''t stop munching after I told her to stop. She was eating through it at a ridiculous speed and a tree that was a half a meter thick was felled just like that. Golden mist? +10 exp(After share) Was that not a tree? A treant is the only species of monster that I can think of but, this tree didn''t have a face. Wait something weird is going on..... I start paying attention to my surroundings. The height of this cave reaches dozens of kilometers high and it even has some sort of pseudo sky. There are clouds and plenty of lighting. If I hadn''t read that diary I might have thought that this may be the surface. Behind my back is the blue-gray stone making a wide wall that slowly slopes upwards. This cavern may be in the shape of a dome. Then there is what is to my sides and in front. A forest full of life. Trees, berry bushes, flowers, small streams, insects, and critters. All untainted by mankind. However in that beautiful scene, was something genuinely disturbing. Eyes. I thought Kess had creepy eyes but this is much worse. All the tree''s had redish bloodshot eyes and were staring at me. I was right they are treants. However they do not look happy. As I start edging back towards the cave, I realize that the they are just staring. Not moving. Can they not attack? Maybe they can''t move? Well, this is an oppurtunity then! Either that or a trap but, what the case, I can get benefits and flee in the worse case. ''Kess take your spiderlings and start taking down treants''. ''Set you''re with me". Taking my spider limb spear from earlier I start jabbing a treant in its eye and Set cuts it clean in half with a flick of ink. Wah?!?! That was way more lethal than I thought it was!!! I wonder why it didn''t do much to the broken egg earlier? Anyways, time for a hunt. +10 exp +10 exp +10 exp +10 exp It was by the time that the fourth tree fell that something changed. The treants have developed full facial features which are staring even more intensely. They also started making weird noises. Whenever they move their mouths a weird noise similar to bending wood is made. I have a bad feeling. Lets stop killing. +10 exp "Crkkkkkk!!!" Treant 1 "Errrrrrrkkkk" Treant 2 "Leeeerkkkk" Treant 3 Holy Hell!!! The tree''s are standing up on their roots! I was afraid this would happen at first but, I figured they couldn''t move and could only stare. ''Kess we need to get out of here!'' I give Kess an order and we all start sprinting towards the cave. However, the treants start blocking it with their roots so we can only go in the direction with the least amount of them. My arms get clipped a couple times while Set keeps the more deadly swinging branches away. The spiderlings are less lucky, getting caught in tangling roots or being stomped. into the ground. Some sacrifice themselves to protect Kess too. Finally! An open field is ahead and further on is a 40 meter high rocky cliff. We start pulling way ahead as treants are pretty slow. I get the few spiderlings that Kess doesn''t need and have them carry me up the face of it. These guys are pretty strong. Most of the ones we left behind are still alive but, they are slowly being suffocated to death. I look down to see dozens of treants reaching the cliff. They just make angry snapping noises at me and wave their branches. I pay close attention to them as they may have some special means to do something. I was right, out of all the treants a short but massive one about 6 meters thick at its base and 5 meters tall comes out. Its roots are really ridiculous as well as they are a meter each. It latches onto the cliff and starts climbing. Shit.... The cliff is against the wall of the cave so we have nowhere to go.... We can only fight... I start converting portions of the cliffs edge into poison resulting in it sliding down onto the shorty. He starts screaming a terrible sound and is squirming. The trees below scatter as poison pours down the cliff It works! Again! Again! After the third time I''m out of mana as it still hasn''t entirely regenerated. Shorty has turned a terrible shade of green and is even more pissed off. As he makes his way up I think of another plan and send a couple messages to Set and Kess. *Rumble *Rumble As his head makes it over the edge, I first have Kess jab a couple metal spikes into his face, resulting in an ear-piercing roar. After that I had Set, who had detached from me earlier, slice a couple of vital roots. One last spike to the face and shorty went tumbling down and.... *Craaashhhh A large golden mist as big as me swirls around and I draw it in. +130 exp 12 Mistaken *Level up +1 free attribute point +1 free skill point *You can see something gnawing I immediately put the attribute point into intelligence again, Close the gnawing screen before it has an effect, and check my status. ---------- General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) Class: Arachnomancer(*Growth-Unique) level: 2 Exp:90 Required Exp:175 Status: Health(19/101) Resource-Mana(13/346)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- Str: 8.3 End:10.1 Agl: 11.4 Int : 18.7(16.7+2) ------------ Wis:17.3(15.3+2) Cha:9.9 Per:14(12+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) Condition: bleeding(-1 hp every 5 seconds) remaining time:(based on end) 3 seconds -Skills(Increase) Summon the Broodmother(0/3)T1 lv3(+2) Summon Arachnid Guardian(0/1) T1 lv3(+2) Poison Pool T1 lv3(+2) Laying down, I feel like passing out. Probably from blood loss..... I''ve made a lot of mistakes.... First was how I decided to start killing treants because of greed.... They got quite pissed and reasonably so. They were not initially hostile but, my desire for experience ruled over me, resulting in a massacre. Second was that I lost caution after I thought they were easy pickings, splitting up to take down a couple treants. I did notice something wrong but, I was too late from stopping Kess from killing another one. Third, I did not use my skills to my advantage, I have the stealth skill and so does Set. We could have gotten away with taking one down at a time slowly but, again, I was greedy. Fourth, I did not have a couple of plans in case something bad happened. I figured I could rush back to the cave and be fine. However, that option was blocked off so we had to leave it up to fate and rush out of the crowd of treants. I ended up losing a lot of blood because of that as I got torn up.... If it wasn''t for Set blocking a lot of those attacks I would be dead. Lastly, was the fight with shorty... I didn''t know if Set could cut through its roots that held it to the cliff face so I had to gamble. Luckily she was able to do so but, if she hadn''t been able to cut them..... I also probably should have used Poison Lance instead of Poison Pool.... It did scare off the rest of the treants though.... So lots of mistakes have been made. I should get moving. I can''t stay out in the open like this. There may be flying monsters especially considering the nests I can see on some of the rocks up here. Hmmmm.... ''Kess can you have your spiderlings dig a hole?'' "Schreee....."Kess She gets the spiderlings started. There are only 7 of them left but, they still work quickly making a large hole that can fit all of us. I have Kess block the entrance with a couple spikes. This is still dangerous as I dont know if there are subterranean monsters but, I doubt they would live in a cliff. My choice seems to be correct. Plenty of humanoid bird creatures swarm the cliff moments after the hole is done. Harpies. The ones I see have wings for arms, bird legs, and their entire body except their head is covered in feathers. They know I''m here as they claw at the spikes, but can only stare and screech at me. I have Kess put a few more spikes in and I begin my recovery..... -half a day later- I got a much need rest. I haven''t slept at all since I came to this world. ''Kess.... Set.... why are you two hovering?'' "Schreeee~" Kess "Sheeee!!" Set After shaking the two off I checked my status and I have full Hp and Mp. Weird how Hp regenerates so quickly. Could be do to me losing most of it through blood loss though. Now what?..... I sit and brainstorm about the future. Adventuring is not the most suitable job. With the world being full of unknowns, building up strength is the safest thing I can do. Setting up a base would the best thing I can do. I can have the spiderlings go out and aquire experience while I continue building up strength here. There is a lot to consider with building a base. This cliff is a suitable enough place but, I am worried about the harpies on top. It''s also unknown if there are any subterranean creatures. I plan to have the spiderlings dig out tunnels as that is the safest and easiest way but, it could still lead to collapses. The harpies.... I doubt their claws could cut through the spiderlings but, certain birds pick up prey and drop them to their death. I could just have them go out at night to hunt. (It seems there is still day-night cycles even underground).... They are more suitable for night anyways. The issue of construction is the hardest to solve. Manpower is the easiest sitaution as Kess can summon more spiderlings. The cliff itself is the issue. It is made of rock but it could become unstable if I just have the spiderlings dig out tunnels. What comes to mind is to use wooden columns to hold up under pressure.... Wait.... The arachne queen''s nest was constructed entirely out of webs so maybe.... ''Kess can you spin webs?'' She gives me a weird look but, begins spinning along with her spiderlings. After a few seconds, what I am handed astonishes me. Unlike the webs in the queen''s nest, these have a metallic look yet, they also seem to retain the properties of web. I can also change adhesiveness along with rigidity. Maybe I can make armor and weapons out of this later. More importantly, I can have the spiderlings layer the tunnels they dig out with this to stabilize them. On to base..... No, nest construction. 13 Nest and Re-Happenings I first had Kess summon a couple dozen spiderlings and I tell her to summon some more whenever she can. I have the spiderlings dig out the hole and make it into a room of about 10 meters by 10 meters by 5 meters(high) and layer it in web. This should be the basic room composition. To make it a bit more interesting I create a couple of pools of poison as well. It took about 2 hours to make it. To get arid of the rock debris I have a couple of the spiderlings push it out of a small hole/tunnel in the cliff face. We can plug it up later with really thick layers of metal webbing. Kess has also been eating a large portion of it.... Maybe it''s normal for metal creatures to eat stone? Anyways from this first room, I have tunnels built that slant downwards and further in land from the cliff face. I am worried about flooding so I have a couple of the spiderlings dig little drainage shafts with web grates. After this it just becomes an automated process of Kess summoning more and more spiders as they dig out and, layer rooms and tunnels with web. I kept an eye on things adding poison pools here and there. It''s rather boring work but Kess and Set''s antics bring sone amusement. Like that a week went by. The nest is now quite expansive reaching the entire height of the cliff (40 meters) and goes in a little over a hundred meters. The only thing left is going to be the central room of the nest which is going to be twice the size of standard rooms. As we finish up I feel the archne queen''s crystal start pulsing in my pocket and a weird feeling washes over me. Kess and Set start freaking out and the entire place starts shaking. A small black obelisk rises from the webbed floor and the shaking stops. I see a black pulsing slot which matches the arachne queen''s crystal I.... What do I do..... This thing is suspicious as hell. I think I''m supposed to insert this crystal in the hole in the obelisk but..... This feels like I''m being led on..... It''s also emitting this aura of dominance.... Maybe this is a way to swear allegiance to some god or something? I''d rather not piss off a god but, I have no idea of the repercussions of obeying it. Even that is only speculation. I don''t like choices that you know nothing about. Especially big ones like this that may have many unforeseen consequences.... I take out the crystal and examine it further. A small, beautiful, white gem. It has countless sides and is pulsing a white light. As I inspect it my heart starts pulsing and matches the crystal''s. Just like before with the grey spider the roots lurch on the crystal and drags it in. ... ..... My consciousness gets distorted as I feel something click in my head. ~Happenings~ ----TerIToRy CorE---- . . . . *E??????????r???????????????????r????????????????????????????????o????????????????????????????????????????????r????????????????? . . *Core Establishment completed without obelisk set-up. Ugggghhh?..... *Core established in host:S-690715424 *Host:S-690715424 gains privilege of Territory Core ---------- General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) *Territory Core Host* Class: Arachnomancer(*Growth-Unique) level: 2 Exp:90 Required Exp:175 Status: Health(101/101) Resource-Mana(346/346)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- Str: 8.3 End:10.1 Agl: 11.4 Int : 18.7(16.7+2) ------------ Wis:17.3(15.3+2) Cha:9.9 Per:14(12+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) Condition: Normal -Perks(New) *Territory Master(unique)- Gives privilege of territory management and advanced system privilege to host. This is usually given to a Territory Obelisk which is controlled by the host. I start to focus back into reality. I check my status screen which popped up automatically. There are a couple subscreens on territory management and about advanced system privilege. Territory is a set space that a host has taken control of and established a base on. Not only that a Territory Crystal is required which can form a core when placed in an obelisk. I seem to have formed one inside myself thanks to my roots. Anyways once a core is formed a distance of 500 meters around the place of formation becomes your territory. This can increase as a core is upgraded, bringing along other benefits too. Whenever a being dies within the territory, a separate energy is gathered besides exp. This energy can be used to upgrade the Territory Core as well be infused into subordinates, bases, equipments, etc. to strengthen them. Next up is advanced privilege. This identifies more things through the system. So now I can see information on enemies, equipment, constructs, and special items. It also establishes a personal beastiary to keep records on creatures I''ve come across. I''ll check out things later, what I need now is.... Rest..... Whatever happened when that core was established took all the energy out of me. I walk over to one of the walls and curl up against it. Its a little uncomfortable but, I''ve been through much worse. Set turns into a shapeless blob of ink next to me. Kess also comes over and lays down too. I fade off into unconsciousness... 14 War I wake up to see the spiderlings scrambling around. Set and Kess are also missing. What''s going on?!?! Running through the tunnels I reach the hidden entrance at the base of the cliff. *Booom +10 exp +10 exp +10 exp ... +130 exp level up(3) + 1 free attribute point + 1 free skill point *Eaters have started to move Kess has leveled up(2) After reaching the opening I see plenty of treant corpses including another shorty. Wait I can see their info now. Lesser treant(common)- Lower-rank treant that fills their forests. Not hostile unless you attack their brethren or intrude on their sacred areas. Treant brute(uncommon)- treant that acts as a great deterrent to invaders. Smaller but much thicker than most treants, this specimen crushes forward with little care for it''s own life. There is literally a wall of treants being built around the entrance with Kess wrapping web on them to make them stay together. I can see Set off in the distance chopping more and more of them up +10 exp +10 exp At the rate things are going I might level up again. Wait, why are they doing this? '' Kess, Set come here.'' I give the order and, I see Kess flinch while Set rockets back here. Kess rides her spiderlings back and looks at me with upturned eyes. I think I know what''s going on..... Set and Kess probably wanted to get revenge on the treants.... *Sigh(Gin) I pet her head and am surprised. I thought it would have a metallic feeling but, its more fleshy. "Scccchreee~" Kess I feel a sense of joy from her but.... Is there something else in it? Probably just my imagination. Set makes it back really quickly and stares at me with expectation. You too huh. "~~SHEEE~~" Set Ughhhh..... What was that... I''m feeling kinda gross seeing her spasm on the ground. All I did was pat her head. I don''t even want to focus on the feelings that are being sent through... A screen pops up and I start to hear some strange noises *CREEENNNK *ERRRRRRNKKKK *Treant circle(rank-uncommon) has declared war on your unnamed territory(common). Shit! ''Get back into the nest!'' I give an order and immediately sprint into the nest. I had to carry Set along as she was still spasming but, luckily she''s not that large. There they are. A lot of treants start moving into the clearing. They stop right in front of the treant wall being built, which is about 20 meters in front of the hole. In the front are 3 brutes and a much larger and older looking one. Elder treant(uncommon-rare) - Treant that can be the base of a treant forest. Strengthens and commands subordinates in a 30 meter radius. They are a species that can reach rare rank easier but, the difficulty of advancing ranks beyond that is immense. Welp.... This is interesting.... I don''t think they can do anything as long as we''re in our base and we don''t have the firepower to deal with this. I mean.... Set and I have stealth so we can.... Wait.... Why didn''t she kill them with stealth! That would have prevented this! ''SET! Make sure to use stealth whenever you can so we don''t have these problems!'' "Sheeee~~" Set I''m not sure if she understood. Seriously.... Anyways back to this conundrum. Hmmm....The normal treants are moving. What are they going to do, beat on the side of the cliff? I don''t think that will make it collapse all too much. Some stray pieces may fall off but for the most part this cliff has been reinforced with dozens of metal rooms and tunnels. *Boom *Boom See, nothing. The only other thing they could do would to be to try and infiltrate with roots but Set could just chop them up..... Ohhhh, They''re getting pissed *Boom *Boom They hit even harder but get no results. All it''s doing is pissing the harpies on the top of the cliff off. Their screeching is echoing all the way to here. Hmmmm. I wonder if I can get them to fight. I don''t want to turn into a psycho who kills everything or, tries to get everything to kill each other for their own benefit. Standards are important. Well.... Lets just be hostile towards everything that''s hostile towards me. Harpies did try to kill me earlier when the nest was just a hole. While I was contemplating, the harpies began to attack without me having to do anything. They swooshed down and started clawing up the faces of a couple treants killing them. A couple dozen even picked a brute and dropped it from the sky. *Booooom At this point another screen opens up *Harpy colony(uncommon) joins the war. Hostile towards both factions. I guess this is justification to kill them. While the treants are preoccupied waving their roots into the air and trying to bat harpies away with their branches I give an order. ''Set start killing with stealth activated. Kess get your spiderlings to swarm on them. Also start spiking them as well.'' I activate stealth myself and sneak around the new battlefield. I occasionally shoot a poison lance whenever a harpy has trouble moving or I get a clear shot at one of the treants faces. The real heavyweights though are Set, the elder treant, and a much larger white harpy. Harpy(common-uncommon)- Most common airborn monster that infests mountains, forests, and cliffs. Have great enmity towards treants as many have been killed by landing on more aggressive brutes or by intruding on their sacred areas. Great swarmers. High-harpy[variant snow harpy](rare-unique)- high harpies are very powerful leaders. They can lead upwards to 5 thousand normal harpies. Snow harpy variants are much stronger overall and have intelligence similar to humans. They are even acknowledged in some places and are allowed to roam around towns. .... My side is the one taking the least loses as my spiderlings don''t take much damage. There are the occasionally ones that are dragged underground and suffocated while some are picked up by harpies. However, that does not have a major effect on the numbers. Over the past week there are a little over 300 have been summoned making them a serious force. Harpies are having a lot of casualties. My spiderlings will jump on them, hold them down, and chomp them to death. Set just chops them out of the air. The treants are entangling them and wacking them out of the air. Kess.... is only going after treants because she cant jump..... The treants have even more casualties than the harpies as Kess spikes them, Set chops them, and the spiderlings tear them apart. The harpies have been going after their faces as it''s the easiest way to kill them and, occasionally, one is lifted off the ground and dropped. Ive had dozens of notifications and a level up. After a while another level up appears for both me, Set, and Kess. Gin(5)( 3 unused attribute points 5 skill) Set(4) Kess(3) Something drastic changed when I got my fifth level up though. The weird screens that pop up when I level up changed * Eaters have arrived. At that notification, a giant blood red gate opens up in the middle of the battlefield, preceded by a net that stretches over the sky to prevent escape. The battle stops as everything stares at it. *Pulp *Pulp ..... A dozen red rats about a meter tall and a massive rat around 4 meters tall scampers out. They look like a combination of a hyena and a rat but are furless. So.... Are these eaters? Pantry rat(common)- The pantry is a place comparable to the hells in danger and horror. At the lowest of it''s monsters lies the pantry rat which everything feeds on endlessly. Even it''s own kind. It may be common but it shows strength much stronger than it''s rank. Pantry rat[variant giant](common)- While it remains a common rank even in it''s variant form, this pantry rat shows more cunning and strength than its brethren. Be aware that it has poison that is comparable to a wyvern''s. The Pantry..... 15 End Of The War The Pantry..... So this has relations to that troll and the egg..... There seems to be hell in this world based on this description as well.....Rats are the lowest of The Pantry''s hierarchy but these are not weak creatures. There rank is also common which makes no sense..... Unless rank is based more on growth potential. *Mission Generated: Conditions: -Take down the first group of eaters as well as win the war. - You can''t lose more than 40% of forces - You can''t lose any Broodmothers or Arachnid Guardians Rewards: - Job Class Rank increase They make the first move and start tearing apart nearby treants and harpies. I had already withdrawn the spiders when everything had stopped. After scanning the mission I had Kess and Set retreat as well. Part of the nest is in the net so, I had everyone bunker up in there except Set. I had her tatoo herself to me and we both used stealth. While watching the harpies and treants start to work together against the rats, I decide to distribute points into attributes. I have 3 points. I can put 2 points into intelligence and get a bonus or I could put 3 into wisdom and get one.... I might as well go with intelligence and put the extra in wisdom. ---------- General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) *Territory Core Host* Class: Arachnomancer(*Growth-Unique) level: 5 Exp:40 Required Exp:1000 Status: Health(102/102) Resource-Mana(279/366)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- Str: 8.3 End:10.2 Agl: 11.5 Int : 20.7(18.7+2) ------------ Wis:18.3(16.3+2) Cha:10 Per:14(12+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) -Perks(new) *Greater mind(rare)- reduces cooldowns by 30% increases damage done by 20% reduces mana usage by 10% Skills(improved) *Poison Lance T1 lv4(up 3) *Stealth T1 lv4 (up 3) *Summon the Broodmother T1 lv6 (up 3) Summon Ararchnid Guardian T1 lv6 (up 3) The new perk is pretty impressive. Hmmmm? Charisma, endurance, and agility increased. It was only by .1 but still..... Was my Core strengthened? Territory Core [Fused](common)(unnamed)- Core that was fused with a being. Strengthens lesser aspects of the fused being along with itself. While I was looking at screens, the battle is still going on. 6 rats have been killed total leaving 6 left. 2 were killed by the treant brutes but now there is only 1 brute left. 1 was killed under a wave of treants and harpies. and the last 3 were killed by the Variant high-harpy. She was wounded in the process and can''t fly. The other harpies are defending her from the rats furiously. The elder treant has been dueling the giant pantry rat but he is not looking so good. The rat is having trouble doing physical damage but the poison it has is working wonders. Guess this might be the best time to come out. I want to try capturing the harpies and treants.... Well the treants are kind of a lost cause at this point as the last brute just died and the elder treant is probably not going to live past this fight. ''Kess I want you and the spiderlings to kill the rats attacking the harpies. After that, subdue the harpies. Dont kill them if you don''t have to.'' It''s a risky decision to do this with the quest that I have. If the variant high-harpy wasn''t injured, I wouldn''t even consider this option. However, I want to try subordinating them as flying subordinates are a great advantage to have. While Kess is doing that I take Set and sneak up on the duel between the elder treant and gaint rat. I could catch the rat off guard but, there is the chance of the elder treant dying from poison. If that happens I won''t get any benefits from it''s death. It''s not just greed either. I have a feeling that these ''eaters'' are much more dangerous in a long drawn out battle. So instead of going for the more logical choice of attacking the rat, I choose to sneak attack the elder treant. I have Set coordinate with me to attack it at the same time. I lauch a poison lance while she chops at its face. +650 exp Set levels up(evolution available)(5) Kess levels up(4) +200 exp(from a rat kess kills) The attack worked as it dies right away. The giant rat is pissed though. He immediately charges at us and I immediately realize just how huge he is. He''s a real giant at 4 meters tall but, that does not make him slow. I quickly throw myself off to the side and avoid its claws. This fight is the opposite of the elder treant''s. I can take the poison but one solid hit from it and I''m dead. The attack from the rat slams the ground stirring up some dust and dirt. Good. I immediately re-enter stealth along with Kess. The dust resettles and the rat starts looking around and sniffing. Too bad. Thanks to the untraceable perk, I can''t be found through most means. However, I should probably retreat a good distance. Its bestiary screen said it was not just large. It was also cunning.... I quickly hide a distance away. The corpse of the elder treant may be helpful as well so I hide behind it. My choice was correct as it starts throwing up rocks at ridiculous speeds with large sweeps. Then, Its eyes turn red as it starts throwing up more rocks at even faster speeds. It seems to have gone into a berserk state. +200 exp(kess kills another rat) *level up +1 attribute point +1 skill point Hmmmm.... How should I deal with him.... I could try leaving him be until his beserk state is over but, he may look for other targets to kill. I wonder.... How far is the distance for poison pool. It never displayed distance limits so maybe I can use it from here? It is level 3 so I can make a 3 meter pool. He is 4 meters tall but, I can submerge a portion him for a good amount of time if he loses his balance..... I cast poison pool towards his back legs as soon as I see him kick up his front legs. Going midair for a second, his beserk state is lost as panic takes over and he falls and rolls around in the poison pool. It takes a while for this guy to realize what''s happened and drag himself out..... Gross.... A large portion of his skin is melted and bones are showing through in its legs and in its face. A weird green smoke drifts off its exposed muscle as it cries. Holy shit. I dont remember my poison being this vicious.... I think it may be due to having more points in intelligence plus the greater mind perk increasing damage to a level where common resistance is useless.... Anyways I have to kill it quickly. Thankfully Set and I are still stealthed as that was not a direct attack. While it screams in pain we sneak up and coordinate attacks again aiming at its exposed neck. The lance I fire is even more ridiculous as it burns through its neck. Set''s chop meets little resistance as it cuts more than half of the rat''s neck leaving its head hang downwards.... Its dead. Hmmm? No golden mist? As I get confused I get a notification. *Quest completed-Reward: Job Class Rank Up With that notification, a golden orb rises out of the giant rat and rushes into me. 16 Entire status sheet and postwar (Author''s note: You can skip the sheet if you want. There is a couple of new things but they will be mentioned later anyways.) *Rank up ---------- General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) *Territory Core Host* Class: Arachnomancer(*Growth-Epic) level: 6 Exp:150 Required Exp:1200 6 Free Skill Points Titles(max): Host of HappeningsV.1(unique)(+1 Luck,+10% Luck) Sideworlder[X.347](rare)(+2 Per, Untraceable perk) ''Pantry'' Dodger(rare)( Attracts ''Eaters'', Closed System Perk) Nothingness(epic)( +2 Int, +2 Wis, Steel Mind Perk) (Author''s note: Kind of regret introducing titles. I want to just fuse them with perks since they are basically the same but I will keep them as is for now. I''ve been biting off more than I can chew by keep introducing more and more things.... ) Status: Health(102/102) Resource-Mana(196/386)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- Str: 8.3 End:10.2 Agl: 11.5 Int : 20.7(18.7+2) ------------ Wis:19.3(17.3+2)(He put an attribute point here) Cha:10 Per:14(12+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) Condition:Normal -Race Traits *Human(common)- +9.94% accelerated learning +9.94% experience gain +Immunity to offensive light magic. *GreaterArachneva(unique)- +.06% true damage added to all forms of damage, +when affected by true damage, it is converted to physical damage. +Immunity to poison. +Dark Vision -Perks *Untraceable(rare) *Greater mind(rare) *Closed system(rare) *Territory Master(unique) *Steel Mind(unique) *Spider''s Stealth(rare-ranked up)- Can easily re-enter a concealed status. Much more difficult to find after you re-enter stealth. *Arachnid Ruler(epic-ranked up)- Gives +50% health to subordinates classified in the arachnid category. Also gives subordinates in arachnid category an overshield equal to their health but, it lacks any damage resistance. It will regen after combat is over. Gives +15% to all damage inflicted by subordinates. Gives +15% overall damage resistance to any subordinate. Able to use telepathy with subordinates. *Subordinates Welfare(rare) Skills *Poison Control(New)-Gives the ablility to control poison with your will. Mana consumption is continuous. The more mana you put and the higher Int is, the faster it can move and you can more accurately control it. Skill growth can not be displayed. *Poison Pool T1 lv4(up 1) *Poison Lance T1 lv4 *Stealth T1 lv6 (up 2) *Summon the Broodmother T1 lv7 (up 1) *Summon Ararchnid Guardian T1 lv7 (up 1) *Negotiation T2 lv4(up 1) *Cooking T2 lv2 *CQC(close quarters combat) T1 lv3(up 1) *Crafting(includes sewing, woodcrafts ect. Forging would be a different skill.) T1 lv2 *Taunt T1 lv2 -Subordinate Name:Set Race: Ink Widower(rare) level: 5(Confirm evolution) Required exp: 1200 Health (300/300) Resource-Ink essence(110/110) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: Normal Name:Kess Race: Grey Iron Arachneven(rare) (Evolution Possible at level 5) level: 4 Required exp: 1000 Health (400/400) Resource-Iron essence(165/165) Shared perk- Closed System(defaultly selected) Loyalty: Max Condition:none --------- *The war is over The rank-up gave quite a bit. It upgraded Arachnid Ruler increasing damage and damage resistance for subordinates. It also gave an overshield which is ridiculous. It even effects the spiderlings even though they are not my direct subordinates. Spider''s Stealth got an upgrade as well making it harder for an enemy that has already discovered me once to find me again. Lastly there is the new skill poison control. From the looks of it, the skill is similar to something like telekinesis but only for poison. I did get it from a rank-up so It must be extremely useful but.... Telekinesis would be better right? In a lot of different fantasy and sci-fi scenarios it is common. It could be incredibly powerful in this world if even an epic-class only gives a discount version of it. Hmmmm.... It could be that this skill is more specialised as well making it more powerful or more well controlled when its acting on poison vs. if telekinesis were to act on it. Only time will tell. Now on to the next matter the harpies. Kess must have ended her fight since I got the rank-up reward. I make my way towards her to see a pile of cocoons. A lot of harpies must have died as there is only about a hundred of them. Next to the pile I see a much larger cocoon next to Kess along with plenty of spiderlings doing a weird victory chant. "Scccchreeeee!!!!" Kess "Scceeee!!!" Random spiderling "Scccceeee!!!" Random spiderling Waiting a while for them to finish, Kess finally notices me, picks up the large cocoon, and has her spiderlings sprint towards me. She slams the cocoon on the ground in front of me.... Really.... Be more gentle.... Patting her head I look at the Variant high harpy. Its face is all swollen as tears roll down its face. I''m sorry.... Honestly if it weren''t for it being a bird this creature would be a real beauty. She has long blueish-white hair and redish gold eyes. She is a little baby faced despite being bigger than me. She also has some huge uggghhh.... Cough... Cough.... Wonder what that feeling was? Probably nothing important. Anyways I don''t know what to do with her. Do I just ask her to be a subordinate or do I have to do some ritual? This is all kind of alien to me. Hmmm lets try this. I raise my hand upwards and lower it onto her forehead. "Subordination!"Gin ... They all just stare at me, making me feel a little embarrassed..... I end up trying a plethora of things to try and subordinate her. Eventually a screen pops up. *Captive is compatible for assimilation into a Broodmother. However, doing so will have unforeseen consequences. Y/N? Hmmmm..... Do I really want another one.... Will this assimilate all of her current subordinates? Honestly I don''t know the consequences of half the things I do already so this is nothing new. Yes? * All captives of the same category will be brought to a seperate plane for assimilation.... Please stand by..... They all just sort of fade out of existence leaving me and the spiders standing there..... Next up would be the evolve Set but, I think I should wait..... A couple minutes later I get a new notification. It describes a whole lot but, here are the main points: 1. Due to many bloodlines existing within the Variant Harpy, assimilation resulted in all the bloodlines devouring each other leaving one 2. This broodmother will have an extra aspect based on the remaining bloodline. 3. Although the Variant Harpy was compatible for assimilation, the species produced is a hybrid species and, therefore, is unstable. 4. The remaining harpies have been turned into hybrid spiderlings under the new broodmother. 5. Whenever I summon her next, her subordinates will follow. 6. I can choose the next aspect when I summon her. "Summon the Broodmother" Gin 17 Hybrid \u003cPassages from the Zyn Ve''r Bestiary- Hybrids are very unstable individuals. Most don''t live very long and are usually the result of a magical accident. The most famous ones such as chimeras and basilisks are more stable due to having multiple heads. This is due to their minds being properly segmented. For example, a basilisk has a chicken head that holds the desires and traits of a chicken while the snake head holds their own. Instability arises when one mind holds both, resulting in a choatic mess where the original traits and desires are distorted. Despite that, sometimes when the component entities are compatible enough, terrifying beings are born. The worst of these high-compatibility hybrids that has ever appeared was one formed from a spider and a human. No, not an arachne, something much worse. The monster that devoured the entire hell of gluttony. The one that births countless children that she feeds upon. The owner of ''The Pantry''. ''Crave Mother Sillith''. ------------- *Choose Aspect *Disease *Eldritch *Corruption ... These aspects are.... Quite different.... Nothing pleasant here. I have a bad feeling on this next one. Well, lets look over the aspects. Disease is a very terrible force and may affect me as well so that''s crossed off. Eldritch is kind of.... Unknown.... Brings up images of teeth, eyes, tentacles, and twisted thorns. Corruption is even more unknown than eldritch. Something that continuously advances and converts. Might have the same issue as disease and effects me..... Eldritch I guess.... When I picked eldritch, blood started to flow from nowhere, building up into a clumpy pile of red gel. It''s roughly about 4 meters tall and wide. Out of one of the clumps a face similar to the varient harpies appears with a huge grin on its face forcing its eyes to squint..... I just wanted a flying force.... The gel like mass grew out different things to use as limbs. Arms, thorns, tentacles..... 8 total.... Does this even count as an arachnid at this point? It also grew out a large white feathery wing and a small malformed bat wing... ''Flying force?'' "Yeeeuuurggg mashta" abomination Suddenly a huge amount of gel clumps rise from the ground and start growing out limbs, faces, and wings and they take off and fly around... Ahhh..... ..... I''m glad I have steel mind, otherwise I think I might have had my brain fry at this point. I think there might be a certain aura of horror being generated from these guys..... Yeeeurrg Mashta? Wait, she can talk?!?! *Cough Time for a name huh.... Eldritch....maybe Oc''thugni or Cthuild''endos.... Need something more simple.... Xelu. -Subordinate Name:Xelu Race: Bloody Arachnoharpy Horror(rare) level: 6 (Evolution possible at level 15) Required exp: 1450 Health (270/270) Resource- Blood/Eldritch essence(100/100) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: ? .... With that over let''s try talking with her. Hmmm? Kess and Set are sending messages over. I can understand what they want to send over better due to partial telepathy being upgraded to full after I ranked up. They still can''t form words yet but, I get the gist. They think the new broodmother is dangerous. Well, yeah. Anyways. "Xelu ughhh, hi?"Gin Honestly I dont know what to say to an eldritch monster.... I could try asking about what she knows about the one plane where she was created/modified. "Do you know anything about where you come from?"Gin Unlike what I expected she didn''t speak. Instead she sent a message over through telepathy. ''From you'' Xelu ''That''s not what what I mean where you come from before I summoned you. The other plane.''Gin ''Nothing there, before there.... Pain.... Pain.... Pain....'' Xelu After that she just repeats pain over and over again. I think something horrifying must have happened to that harpy after I assimilated her.... Honestly, I don''t know if this individual is the same creature. One thing is certain though. She is broken. And here I am, feeling nothing about this. I hated people who tortured animals in my past but, now that I''m here, now that I broke another creature, nothing. I still find enjoyment from Kess and Set''s antics and I can feel a variety of emotions.... I don''t think this is because of steel mind.... I think it''s this. Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% This has been something that I''ve ignored to a degree. I''m not fully human. What does that mean? I haven''t had any physical changes other than racial benefits. So it must be my mind that has changed. I think it''s only a portion of my mind. The portion that makes me feel repulsion from killing others and the portion that makes me feel terrible for doing.... Evil. There is no doubt that what I did could be considered evil. Does it really matter if I was aware of the consequences? I chose an unknown option that directly resulted in breaking this creature. Yet.... I can see myself doing the same in the future. My aversion of doing evil is gone. That does not mean I''ll purposely choose to do similar things. It means I may overlook it. ..... I have Kess go around with the spiderlings to collect things from the corpses and bring them back to store in the nest. Meanwhile, I try talking to Xelu. She knows very little and her memories of the past are very cloudy. Kess and Set have distinct personalities but, Xelu is sort of robotic in her interactions with me. Even that smile that is always plastered on her face is really fake looking..... I guess I''ll check her abilities next. "Xelu can you show what abilities you have?"Gin A orb of blood floats in front of her and she shoots it at the ground a distance away. It explodes in a weird way as blood makes it''s way out from the impact forming veins mid-air. After that she uses an ability which makes 2 meter tall tentacles grow out of the ground. They can shoot thorns out of their suction cups. This ability can apparently last as long as you want so it can make good sentries. We went back to the nest to try summoning new eldritch spiderlings. Her summoning ability is quite a bit different from Kess''s. She has to use all of her mana to summon a black sludge pool which will spawn a new spiderling every 10 hours. Once we have enough of these we can have a massive amount of forces summoned every ten hours. It sort of outshines Kess''s summoning method but I have a feeling that will change after she evolves. Xelu should already have the benefits of the first evolution as it says she can evolve next at level 15. Well I guess Set''s evolution is next. 18 Evolutions -Subordinate Name:Set Race: Ink Widower(rare) level: 5(Confirm evolution) Required exp: 1200 Health (300/300) Resource-Ink essence(110/110) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: Normal I bring up Set''s screen and confirm the evolution. Set is wrapped in a shiny black ink shell. It starts pulsing out black energy after a few minutes and she starts making weird noises..... I can tell she is enjoying it but.... Is evolution supposed to be an enjoyable thing? There are a couple screens that explain what evolution is now that Set is evolving. Evolution is basically a restructuring of the body for monsters. It can''t increase their rank but it gives other benefits such as changes in attributes or an additional aspect. The attribute change can decrease attributes sometimes though. Say a monster is built to be an assassin. quick, nimble, and stealthy. If the monster goes down a different evolutionary route, for example a tank, it will lose attributes in Agl and will have a harder time in stealth. However, that is something uncommon. Most monsters evolve in a way that suits their current build increasing the appropriate attributes. There are also those that acquire an additional aspect. This makes a creature a variant. Like the variant harpy and the giant rat. Additional aspects have a huge effect on the monster altering their appearance in a drastic way. Enough of this though onto evolution. Set is giving off weird feelings through telepathy. She can''t speak but, maybe after this evolution I can ask what was so enjoyable about it. A screen pops up giving countless options. It seems this is a benefit I get. I can evolve my subordinates in any way I wish. I immediately scrap all options that lower her current attributes. Most of the left over ones will improve her current skills and primarily the Agl attribute .... Some even will intoduce new skills... However, the ones I''m most interested in are the ones that will give aspects. Wait. Is.... I immediately choose the evolution with an aspect that has caught my eye. Life. I doubt it will be overpowered at this point but in the future.... Well who truly knows. The pulsing of the ink shell increases and eventually the colors start to change. An amber colored energy starts to wrap around the black energy turning them into threads. These threads starts waving crazily outward from the shell. After a couple more minutes the shell has amber colored liquid flowing through it as well and it starts to break apart. Set walks out and I''m immediately suprised. Her size has not really changed, not even half a meter tall. However, her body which was a stagnant liquid now constantly flows up towards her eyes. Amber colors are mixed in the ink flow as well making it look kind of amazing. Before her eyes were just black orbs but, now they have a flow as well with black and amber colored liquids swirling. I bring up her status screen to see what has changed -Subordinate Name:Set Race: Ink of Life Widower(rare) level: 5 Required exp: 1200 Health (310/310) Resource-Ink/life essence(200/200) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: Normal Her health has not increased that much but, her resource has had a massive boost. I can speak to Xelu so I wonder if I can speak to Set now as well? "Set can you reply now?"Gin ''Creater?!?! I can finally share everything!''Set Hmmmm?.... When Xelu sent thoughts through it had a robotic tone but, Set has more of a mature female voice, in contrast to her personality. She goes off into a tangent about something weird which I ignore. I''m aware that she might be a little crazy. Hopefully she will become much better than the arachne queen. I didn''t read her diary much past her insanity phase but, I have a good enough idea..... I wonder what the life aspect will allow her to do? Will she be able to create life? That would just make her another broodmother wouldn''t it.... Maybe, it will let her raise the dead by giving them life.... No, her species has changed to an Ink of Life Widower so it has to do with ink, right? I can probably just ask her what she do. "Set can you tell me what you gained form the evolution?" Gin ''.....Forever.... Hmmm? what was that? Ohh yeah. Ughhh, my attributes haven''t changed all that much. I did gain a few perks and skills though. The perks are pretty good but the skills are weird. One can heal by trading the damage with a picture, giving whatever is in the picture the damage. It uses up all of my resource though. The other creates runes that can slowly draw life out of enemies by sticking it on them. The runes can be used then but, it doesn''t say how....''Set Those are pretty impressive. I''m not sure to what degree the heal works but from the sound of it, it should work on just about anything.... I''m not sure how resistances work with the runes.... Is life damage even a thing? Is it true damage? Well it won''t work on enemies without life and most enemies can probably just smear it since its made of ink. Thinking on it though, there are a lot more conditions for the runes.... Probably worthless on aquatic creatures.... While in thought about such things Kess comes up to me. It seems she is done with transporting the corpses from the battle. They should have some loot in their base. I have no idea on where the treant base is but the harpies is right above me. I send out Xelu to look for the treant base and, send Kess out to loot the harpies base. Now the next plan of action is to gradually gain strength and potential, swallow any other local territories, and search for drow settlements. I don''t have any clue on where the drow live but, I know they are somewhere close. They shouldn''t be too far as the arachne queen mentioned a close settlement that she got sacrifices from. They are not too important to me though. Just a potential problem. The most immediate situation is to see what I have. I figured out that the territory orb can increase my stats but, what else can it do? How am I supposed to do things like strengthen subordinates? I try messing with it for a while but, I get very little from it. However, I did learn something about wars. Evertime energy is absorbed the territory will grow. However, territories can''t grow past a territory they overlap. Say for example a territory is overlapped with another that is north of it. It can''t grow any more north but, It can grow around that territory and in every other direction. Wars can be fought to eliminate one side to give room for the other to grow. They don''t usually occur though, unless one territory has a huge advantage over another. It seems that setting up a territory here caused an overlap that pissed the treants off. The Harpies did not mind the overlap but, the treants showing up and hitting the cliff made them angry. I''m waiting for Kess and Xelu to return before I do anything else for the moment.... Actually, I think I need to have a talk with Set..... 19 Unstable Minds While Kess and Xelu are away I sit down with Set in the largest room of the nest. Honestly, I don''t know how to start this conversation. I can''t just go "Hey you are kinda crazy, lets try to fix that". Thinking on it, maybe it''s not unusual for a spider''s mind to be like this. What would a giant intelligent spider''s mind normally be like?..... Actually..... She may not be that bad..... Still, I at least have to have a talk about it..... *Sigh(Gin) ''What''s wrong creator? It''s normal for you to stare at nothing for long periods of time but, you have a weird look on your face. You can tell me anything and everything. Perhaps you want me to bind to you again? Fufu~ If it''s what you desire~'' Set "No, no that''s not it. I''m thinking about minds. "Gin ''Minds? What about them?''Set "Well, I am not sure. I''m mostly human while you are an arachnid. The foundation of our minds are different..... I was thinking.... That there may be something wrong.... However, we are fundamentally different so I am probably mistaken..... Rather, there is probably something wrong with me...." Gin ''Heh? I can''t understand. If there is something wrong with my mind I can change it if it''s for the creator. Creator doesn''t need to worry. Your mind is fine..... The new one on the other hand, has a rotten mind.'' Set Got to get her to address me in a different way. Creator is kind of weird..... New one? She probably means Xelu. I don''t see the issue with her.... There was the one warning about her being unstable but wasn''t that talking about her body? Her mind didn''t seem that bad though. She was a bit robotic but, I figured that was just a personality quirk. "Can you call me something else. Creator is a bit too much." Gin ''Master, leader, chief, king, or god. I actually want to call you something different but, it would be a little embarrassing to say. So, what sounds good~?'' Set "It''s hard to imagine that you have been around for a short time.... Why are they all.... Fine let''s go with master. Xelu has already started calling me that anyway." Gin I end up giving in. I want to try to convince her to call me by my name but, I have a feeling it will be a wasted effort. Onto a more pressing issue. Xelu. "What do you mean by Xelu having a ''rotten mind''?"Gin ''You haven''t noticed? She is crazy~.'' Set What? Crazy?.... She does have some mental trauma. However she seemed very sane to me. Maybe Set caught onto something I missed. ''She is not like how any living creature should be~. In the short time that we have seen her, she has shown no actions of her own will. Just a puppet~. We can''t go against master. Though, me and sister would never want to. The new one on the other hand is likely having her actions and mind restricted. Her every urge is probably pushing her to erupt in madness. Hence her mind being rotten.'' Set That''s a lot to take in. Set noticed something vital. Xelu is not a robot or a puppet. She should have more complex interactions with the world. However, she only waits around for me and does nothing else unless I talk to her. This is much more than a personality quirk. The only thing I can think of is to share steel mind with her. However I can only share skills up to rare-rank. Steel mind is a unique skill so, unless I can rank up subordinates welfare, I can''t really help Xelu. ------------ After a while Kess returns with the spiderlings carrying all sorts of equipment and valuables. I go to the entrance of the nest to greet her along with Set who reattached herself to me. She seems to love ''binding'' to me as she put it. Kess looks at me expectantly with all her spiderlings behind her staring at me. I pat her head and she cheers, along with all of the spiderlings. The spiderlings start rushing in to put away the loot in empty rooms near the back of the nest. I''m left with Kess who is still looking at me with anticipation. I give her permission to eat as much as she wants. I know that''s what she wants. ---------- Its been a few hours since Kess has returned and Xelu still hasn''t come back. I''ve been holding back from contacting her through telepathy. She may just be having trouble locating the base. I didn''t say about looting it so she should return right away..... Hmmmm? Ahh, I see them now. It doesn''t appear that there are any missing so it must''ve been nothing. They land in front of me with Xelu landing about a meter away.... Her subordinates start looking at each other and then at me. One scratches right above its face. Can''t really say they have heads as their entire bodies are made of gel clumps. These guys are fine? I didn''t get a good look at them earlier but, they give off the same impression as Kess'' spiderlings. Why is Xelu the only one that is messed up? "So, what happened" Gin ''We found the treant base'' Xelu .... "Where is it?"Gin ''about 2000 meters that way.'' Xelu She points with her tentacle, directly opposite the way the nest is pointing. Surprised how well developed Set and Xelu''s brains are. How do they know general knowledge? Its doubtful that meters are the measuring unit in this world. I can only guess that they must have some of my knowledge imprinted in them. --------- The light is starting to fade so it''s time to settle down for a while. Everyone gathers into the nest. In the main room I have Set, Kess, and Xelu lay around me. After all that''s happened we need to rest. Xelu lays sideways and her face sinks into her body along with all her limbs effectively making herself into a gel-pile. Kess lays against me. She is 40% larger after devouring a portion of the corpses from the rooms that are basically larders now. She is more satifyed now more than I have ever seen her. Despite being made of metal she does not seem hard. Kinda like a giant warm meatball. As for Set, she created a more viscous amber sheet underneath me so I don''t have to lay on metal webbing anymore. It''s strangely comforting in more than just a physical way. She herself is still in tattoo form. Well, goodnight.... 20 Gearing up This time I don''t wake up to an emergency. Everyone else is still asleep so I quietly move around them to not disturb them. Set is still binded to me so I can''t tell if she is conscious or not. Some of the metal spiderlings salute me as I make my way out. Some of the eldritch ones see that and sloppily copy them..... Anyways I head towards the exit and sit in front of the nest. The air quality is not the best in there. I look up at the fake sky and decide to scout a little. I should probably wake Set up. I rub the tattoo on my shoulder and start talking to her through telepathy. ''Set, time to get up'' Gin ''Ohhhh~ master not there~'' Set Note to self, don''t touch Set randomly. She sent an influx of.... Something through telepathy along with her message. ''SET'' Gin ''whosa whasa, ohh it''s just master'' Set She unbinds herself and looks at me with a weird gaze. "Good morning" Gin I pat her head and, she doesn''t convulse this time but, her eyes gloss over and she starts drooling.... Didn''t know a liquid creature could drool normal drool. Shouldn''t it be ink or something. Anyways, I wait until she recovers and tell her my plan. I want to quickly scout out the treant base. I didn''t get much out of Xelu other than the direction and distance. I also want to see if there is anything worthwhile there. I can''t imagine the treants collecting valuables like the harpies. We both enter stealth and make our way to the base. It''s not a very far distance so we get there within 20 minutes. It''s a basin about 30 meters in diameter and, is filled with several small ponds. There are stones arranged so that they make a half circle around the basin. I don''t see where they would keep their valuables.... An hour of searching bears nothing. They have to have something right? I walk up to the largest pond. There is a lot of displaced dirt, probably from where the treants uprooted so the footing here is not the best. Hmmmm? There is a network of roots branching out from the pond. I don''t know how deep it is since it''s murky but it may be worth checking out. Should leave Set here as liquids areas are probably not good for her. I slowly wade into the water to not break stealth and dive down. Closed system allows me to breathe longer as well so I should be fine in that regard. The only issue is it''s hard to see. I reach the bottom and start following the outbranch of roots with my hands. Stealth is still active so it shouldn''t be a monster. The origin of the roots is weird. It looks like an upside down tree trunk but in the center of it is a small wooden chest. I grab it with both hands, clutch it to my chest, and start swimming up. Set saw me break the surface and she raises her front legs up and down celebrating. I swim out and lay the chest down. Should I open it now? Might be better to wait until we get back to the nest.... ---------- We made it back before the others woke up. When Kess learned that I went out to the treant base she freaked out a little. She was checking out if I had any wounds and was relieved to see I was fine. Honestly, I''m a little suprised and happy. She usually is only centered on food. Going towards the rooms that were converted to treasuries I place the chest down on a pile of coins and open it up. Kess and Set are a little curious too and try to take a peek. A little green root ball lies inside. It reminds me of the red egg I was forced to eat. When I pick it up I get a notification. *Heart of The Forest(rare) - no equipment restrictions - reduces hostility on wearer - nature loves you( is permanently applied on only the first wearer) - bark-skin spell can be used every 24 hours I put it on. Apparently it is a necklace that wraps its roots around the wearers neck. This is the first peice of equipment that I have ever looked at but the effects are pretty good. Just the reduced hostility would be immensely helpful. An enemy that would attack you on sight, now will just look at you. A short-fused person will not get angry over little things. However, this effect can''t be omnipotent so, it probably can''t effects strong people and creatures. Not sure what this is about nature loving me. Can''t everywhere but cities be considered nature? How can it love me? I test out bark skin and it''s really weird feeling. It does not turn skin into bark but it stiffens it up and makes it really hard. I try hitting my legs a couple times and no damage is done. Admittedly, I am really weak physically so this may not be the best way to test it out.....After about 5 minutes the spell ends returning me to normal. Even though it was the only thing in the treant base it is super useful. Next I''ll look over the loot from the harpy base. There is a lot of coins. Probably in the tens of thousands. Copper, silver, gold, blue, and weird black ones. Next would be equipments. There is a lot of them as well but most are common. There are about a dozen uncommon and a single rare. The rare is a pair of black gauntlets that have shiny rubies socketed in the palms. Inside the rubies are runes. Wonder how they did that? *Gauntlets of The Battlemage(rare) -Equipment restricted to those who can use spells and have hands -increases damage done by spells without a staff by 20% -Prevents damage to hands(reduces durability if damage is above a certain amount) -Barely there I don''t understand what ''barely there'' means until I put them on. The gauntlets seem to be able to fade away and I can touch things with my hands unobstructed. They only appear when I want them to or if damage is going to be done to my hands. The rest of the gear is unimpressive only having armor effects. Special effects only appear after rare-rank it seems. I equip a green uncommon robe over my clothes, a common pair of boots, and I an uncommon knife that looks like a machete. Luckily that came with a sheath so I don''t have to carry it everywhere. Now that everything is settled it''s time to hunt. 21 Searching Alternate POV "Run"??? "Help! Please....."??? "I don''t wanna die!"???? I need to flee. Nonono, shit. Why did this have to happen. The forest has been so peaceful. NOOO BROTHER!!! Cursed spiders! I''ll never forg-.... "What?"???? My guts. Go back in. I need to get away. What.... Is this creature? Not a spider or drow. Wait don-..... Gin POV Honestly, I wish I didn''t have to watch this. I started hunting a wolf pack after they tried to kill one of Kess'' spiderling but, I didn''t expect this. The wolves are very expressive and deeply grieve over the death of their kin.... Some cry and start shaking their heads as they know death is coming. Kess'' spiderlings are pretty ruthless and chop them down regardless. I see a slighty larger wolf that has had its guts chopped open by a spiderling.... Whimpering. The spiderlings left it behind so, I walk up to it and put it out of its misery. *Shhhhnggg They did start the fight but..... Maybe I should have left these guys go.... Well, what''s done is done. *Clap "LISTEN UP" Gin All the spiderlings gather in rows and salute me..... This is surreal. It''s like I''m a leader in an army. Anyways, back to the situation. We need to find enough aggressive monsters to kill to get Kess to level 5. I don''t want to kill peaceful monsters. All of the remaining plant monsters and small critters in this forest are passive. The wolves are the only monsters so far that have attacked us of their own will. They almost immediately regretted it though as half of their numbers got killed within a dozen seconds. The rest fled and we chopped them up. I also got a bestiary log for wolves which is a little interesting. Wolf(common)- Lowest rank canine monster. Will form packs even without a higher rank leader. Some are as intelligent as the human race but, they all have deep emotions for their kin. Not many monsters roam the immediate area..... Well this is the former territory of the treants so I doubt anything really threatening is nearby. I can only go further out I guess. For now though I should have the spiderlings collect these corpses. "It''s time to collect the spoils and return. Good job guys.... Wooh" Gin I awkwardly give a little cheer to the end.... "That was kinda cute master~" Set Crap. I forgot that I have Set binded to me. She gets quiet when she is bonded to me so I forget most of the time. ------- We return to the nest to see Kess and Xelu expanding the nest. Xelu and her spiderlings can create web as well so I''m having her build an extension from the top of cliff. The webs bond together into weird blood vessels which will grow flesh around them after they are put in place. I look up to see the giant pulsing flesh clump on the top of the cliff. Kess helped anchor it to the old nest by reinforcing metal bands to it. A few eyes appear that look around erratically. *Sigh "That looks evil as hell." Gin Now I didn''t just leave Kess here to help with reinforcing the flesh section. I have her order Xelu around. I tried to get Xelu to build a new section but if I left her to her own devices she starts making mistakes. When that happens she stops doing anything until new orders are given. So to keep everything going I ordered Xelu to follow Kess'' instructions. I don''t know how they communicate. Xelu seems to now what Kess wants though. She does order her subordinates to do some complicated stuff so, maybe it has something to do with that? I call them both down from the cliff. Xelu glides down while Kess.... jumps down leaving a giant crater behind. "Okay, Set I want you to work with Xelu to scout out the local area. We can probably convert a room into a map room after you look around enough. Kess lets work to get your level up." Gin Set unbinds from me. I think she is dissatisfied. I know she doesn''t like Xelu so I can see why she isn''t happy. That and she hates being apart from me but, she has to be the scout. She is the only one that could possibly make a map. "Xelu make sure you listen to Set''s orders." Gin ''Yes.'' Xelu "Set you can ask for a reward once you are done." Gin ''Yes! I''ll record everything~!'' Set After motivating Set I head off into the woods with Kess. We bring only a few spiderlings as we have to have a good force behind in case a new force appears to start a war. I also figured Kess would be good at detecting enemies which is why I brought her. When we left the arachne queen''s nest Kess seemed to know that there were enemies before we even left the tunnel. "Make sure to only go after aggresive enemies. If you level up today I''ll let you eat as much as you want again." Gin "Scchreee!" Kess With that Kess is super motivated. I may need to limit the amount of times I let her feast though. She is looking around frantically while the spiderlings carrying her around are having trouble. Hmmm..... I need her to lose weight but, she can''t even walk normally. Her spiderlings have to carry her around because of that meaning she won''t exercise. It''s a cycle.... I think I have an idea. "Kess I''ll give you more opportunities. As long as you can walk on your own I''ll let you eat from the larder. Deal?" Gin "Sccchree....." Kess She agreed but she doesn''t seem that motivated about it..... Now that I think about.... Will closed system allow that? Exercise should still allow her to lose weight right? I can''t imagine this perk having a fatal flaw like not being able to lose weight. Otherwise, Kess'' future would be sad. She fires herself up again as she remembers the deal about leveling up. After half an hour of searching we come up on something weird. We come up on another cliff but, there is a small brickentrance sitting at the bottom. Torches lie on both sides of it and the inside has a glowing blue portal looking thing. I''m guessing this would be.... A dungeon. I had an idea that something like this would exist since there were levels and mythical creatures but, I didn''t think we''d find one like this. Kess is looking at me for praise. She is similar to Set in some ways. I pat her head and her eyes squint in happiness. Should we go in? I had been planning to get Kess to level 5 today but, I dont know what kind of dangers may lerk within.... It doesn''t look intimidating if that is anything to go off of. "Kess what do you think" Gin She has her spiderlings put her down and sends one in.... *sclllopp The portal makes a liquidy sound. It reminds me of portals from an old sci-fi show I used to watch. A little bit later the spiderling returns and makes noises at Kess. She nods at me, gets picked up by her spiderlings and, heads in. Well, lets see whats in there. 22 Gnome dungeon What awaited me on the other side was suprising. Instead of a cave, a colorful marsh spanned as far as I could see. Pink and blue mushrooms lay everywhere and little folk stomped along in the distance. I don''t like this place. Kess just looks baffled. "Well, lets try hunting one of those guys." Gin We walk until we get close to one of the little folk. He looks like a garden gnome except he is wearing pink and blue. His face is more look a pink goblin''s as well. He turns around and roars. "What''re ya doin'' ''ere!" Geoffrey It can talk.... It has a weird deep acent and it looks pissed. I''m not sure what to make of this.....!! "Wait Kess don-....."Gin *Shiiink Kess just spiked him. It''s went through his jaw into his head carrying him up into the air. All the other gnomes look over and start shouting. "Oii, Did tha'' fud, shank Geoffrey?" Merkel "Tha''s right Merkel, get ''im!" McGregor A dozen or so gnomes start running at me from a distance and a bestiary page pops up. Fairy Gnome(uncommon)- Fairy gnomes are completely different creatures from Earth Gnomes. They are rude twisted creatures that can use basic fairy and blight magic. Most other fairy creatures avoid them due to their behavior. Despite their looks, these guys may be very troublesome. I think blight may be under either poison or disease. I''d rather not find out though so, I start running along with Kess. Their legs are very stubby so I quickly outpace them. I shoot a couple poison lances behind me, hitting 2 of the gnomes melting their faces off as they scream insults. One throws a small pink bag letting lose small creatures. I shoot a poison lance at the bag before they spread out and I get another bestiary page. Pixies(common)- most common fairy species. Creatures with almost no intelligence that are known to be extremely ravenous. Their sharp teeth and claws make them very dangerous as they have been known to rip eyes out and chew their way into wounds. They hurl insults rapidly, most of which I cant understand. Kess seems to be getting pissed though. She starts spiking gnomes at an incredible rate. After most of them have died a few flee at an even faster speed than they used to chase me. "Fuc'' off ya wankstain!" McGregor With that last insult they are gone. They sunk into the marsh to get away which I''d rather not get close to. Who knows what lies in ''that'' marsh. I wanted to talk to them.....Well, I doubt that I would have been able to have a useful conversation with them so maybe Kess'' decision to just kill was right. I guess we should explore the rest of this place for now. There is a sort of path made of small mushrooms leading from the entrance so maybe I should follow that. --------- We made our way back to the entrance and have followed the path for a couple minutes. Luckily we haven''t encountered any more gnomes. Kess is still pissed and is even more determined to hunt. Earlier she showed no interest in the corpses of the gnomes which suprised me. She may have been that angry. Looking forward, I see a large village of dirt huts. Ahhhh..... A gnome village.... Kess'' eyes focus on the village and she cools down. She may have realized that these guys pose a serious threat. It may be better to try to avoid it but. I can see several other villages in the distance. Don''t tell me this is a kingdom? I.... have an idea. It is cruel but, it should work. I order Kess to stay back and enter stealth. After reaching one of this houses I convert a large area into a pool of poison, immediately dunking dozens of gnomes into it. Poison Pool is a very useful skill as its magnitude increases with every level. Right now I can convert 4 meters of earth or rock into poison which is extremely useful for a very crowded village of small folk. Combining this with stealth makes this a very dangerous force. If I do this a couple more times and Kess will level. All the gnomes are freaking out and are shouting terrible things. I quickly flee before any of the patrolling gnomes find me breaking my stealth. Reaching Kess, she seems to be in a great mood. I think she is developing a real hatred towards the gnomes. I''m not proud about what I did but, she seems to have loved it..... This is just for gnomes right?.... Putting aside the possibility of Kess developing sadistic tendencies, I start observing the way that the gnomes are dealing with what happened. They quickly block off the area around the poison pool and start a manhunt in the immediate vicinity of what happened. A couple gnomes with mushroom armor and spears start organizing it. --------- The gnomes never really spead too far out from the village. They tried looking for any signs but I left none behind making them think it was another gnome that did it. The spear gnomes got upset and blamed it on a couple of other gnomes which led to them being hanged. It''s weird how they had a stage set up beforehand for that. Anyways, now that everything is quited down, I sneak into the village again. Searching around a little I found a place where the density of gnomes is much higher. Weird noises are coming from there..... I convert that hut and the ground around it into poison, then quickly flee. Rather not see the outcome of it. Not going to be a pleasant sight. Kess levels up(5) .... .... Set levels up(6) Surprisingly enough gnomes died to level both Kess and Set up. A little more and Xelu might have leveled as well. That''s enough dungeon delving for now. Hard to tell how much time has passed so we should get back to the nest. Set and Xelu should already be done. -------- Walking upto the nest, Set is waiting outside with Xelu who is staring at a butterfly. She seems confused. ''It''s weird seeing you come back with no feed for sister, master~.'' Set "I did most of the fighting today so, the corpses were not really salvageable. Kess is ready to evolve if you want to watch." Gin ''Sure~!'' Set It''s Set''s first time seeing another creature evolve so she is a little excited. We go to the main room of the nest and I bring up Kess'' screen *Ding 23 Prospects Name:Kess Race: Grey Iron Arachneven(rare) (Evolution Possible) level: 5 Required exp: 1200 Health (430/430) Resource-Iron essence(170/170) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: Engorged --------- After I confirm her evolution, Kess gets wrapped in a torrent of spinning metallic webs. Just like Set, Kess gets a myriad of options. Some of the options for making her a tank look tempting. However aspects are more important..... What''s this? -Imbues the aspect of Gluttony into Kess uhhhh? Nope. Definitely not. Deadly Sins are a no go. I can see a lot of problems with any of them but, gluttony could very well be the most destructive in nature. Especially in a world of monsters and, quite possibly giant ones. Looking over the other aspects, I am met with another eye-catcher. -Imbues the aspect of Ancients into Kess What does that even mean? Old power?.... I really doubt that.... If it was just the aspect of old that may have been a red flag but, ancient is something different. It usually refers to the things that are from an age long past, so long past that complete understanding of that time is impossible. Some may scoff at others being awestruck by the the past. However, do you truly ''know'' the past? This aspect may not be based on anything in particular from the past. It could very well be an aspect that represents the unknown of it all..... Well, it could turn out to be old power. Lets see..... After confirming the torrent of web expands and shrinks repeatedly. I feel a deep shaking, but nothing else has moved. Searching my surroundings I see Set. She looks really excited as she stares at the torrent. I look back to the torrent to see.... No, I see no real difference. The difference is in feeling. The feeling of personally seeing an ancient monument of great proportions. ------ Eventually the torrent breaks up and threads its way into the nest mixing that.... Aura, into the nest. Focusing back on Set, it doesn''t seem like she is different. I know that is completely wrong though. She seems more dignified and..... Great? She is standing on her own legs now as well... I hope that this aura is not brainwashing me. I don''t like having things mess with my mind. The steel mind perk is an exception. It has basically kept my mind in a good state, free from falling into crippling panic and madness... Why isn''t it nullifying the aura?Perhaps it actually benefits me? Enough of this though. Back to Kess. Name:Kess Race: Ancestoral Iron Arachneven(rare) (Evolution Possible at level 15) level: 5 Required exp: 1200 Health (460/460) Resource- Ancient/Iron essence(240/240) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: normal Her health and resource have both increased by a moderate amount.....She should be able to speak as well. "Kess." Gin "Hmmm.... So I can speak to Gin now, huh." Kess Unlike Set, who can only talk through telepathy, Kess can actually speak. Xelu can as well but, her speech is pretty bad. Set is staring even more intensely at Kess. She must want to be able to talk normally. "So, is it fine to call you Gin or should I call you Mr. Cinders or something." Kess "Gin is fine, quite different choices from what Set wanted to call me." Gin "Well, she is a weird one but, I understand why she is so obessed with..... " Kess ''Sister doesn''t know what''s what master! I guarantee that I''m normal!'' Set I couldn''t hear the end of Kess'' words as Set suddenly jumps in. Kess'' voice is soothing in a way. She is pretty casual unlike Set who treats me as some sort of super being. She seems to be the most normal of the three. Wait, what is normal? Kess is looking at me and seems to be waiting for me as Set is smacks her legs. "....You can visit the larders." Gin "You said earlier that as long as I could walk I could devour as much as I want right?" Kess "...."Gin "So the reward from helping earlier should be postponed until I can''t walk anymore." Kess Shit. I forgot about that. She is going to eat the larders clean. Here I was thinking that maybe she changed after her evolution. It''s a good thing none of us need to eat, otherwise we would probably starve with her around. Kess goes prancing off to the larders. What happened to that dignified figure?.... She will probably be in the larders for quite awhile. I forgot to ask her about her new abilities. I''ll do that later I guess. ''Master can I rebind?'' Set Set looks up to me. Why does she like binding to me so much? "Sure?" Gin ''Thanks master'' Set ------- Sitting in the main room I start contemplating our next plan of action. Now that Kess is evolved, getting the others to level 15 will take a long while. It may be better to focus on something else. I could start grinding skills out. My skills did get a good boost from the gnome dungeon so I could just grind there. Specifically these 3. *Poison Pool T1 lv7(up 3) *Poison Lance T1 lv5(up 1) *Stealth T1 lv8 (up 2) These are my core skills that I use the most. Poison controll is the new skill that I got from ranking up.I haven''t tried it but, I have a feeling it will join these 3.... If it lets me control poison inside enemies that would be insane. ---- I go through the nest until I find a poison pool. There are quite a few of these scatted throughout the nest as environmental hazards towards enemies. I try using poison control and I''m immediately suprised. I can control it by moving my hands allowing me do whatever I like with it..... I don''t need to use my hands as I try kicking and a portion of it blasts out. I can also passively create poison from my limbs as well. This is cool! I check my resource and cancel poison control.... I''m almost out of mana. I doubt I even used it for 3 minutes. So I guess this is to be more of a trump card. -------- Today has been very interesting. It tired me out considerably though. Me, Set, and Xelu are going to rest for tonight. I think Kess is still in the larder. It must be getting close to empty at this point. At first when I saw all the corpses in there I thought it would all just rot in there. However, after I saw the amount Kess ate in one night, I knew it wouldn''t be enough for her. ------- After awhile of staring at the roof Kess comes back in. She is much bigger than before the evolution. Don''t tell me.... She finished off the larder..... I guess she used up her reward as well as she probably lost the ability to walk hours ago. She is about 80% larger than when I first summoned her. ..... No more larder visits for you. I should make small packages for her to reward her from now on. She drags herself to lay next to me. She seems extremely satisfied. I hear her whisper. "I love..... food" Kess With that, she passes out. I should soon as well. 24 Drow -Alternate POV "So, do you know why I have called all of you here" Vivec "I''m guessing it has to do with Das Vola Forest" Sigrid "Ohh? You already know? Interesting as you-" Vivec "Cut the shit Vivec, what is so important that you had to summon all of us here?" Ivan "Ahem, as you all know Das Vola forest is a forbidden territory that housed a certain creature. Not too long ago we managed to poison this creature''s spouse with gods poison. In the end the creature was poisoned as well killing it. Since then not much has happened in that forest although, it still remains forbidden." Vivec Seriously, this guy likes to talk. Calling our old protector a creature. Sure she had us give sacrifices, but, we never had to worry about invaders. Now the fallen dwarves are causing countless problems. "However, we had left a couple scouts in that area just in case. It seems that the forest is changing. A cluster of treants was wiped out and harpies no long fly about the forest. There have been sightings of weird abominations and, worst of all.... Spiders...." Vivec Shit! Dont tell me some of the old protector''s children are still around! They weren''t hybrids but monsters created from a human and a spider. I''ve never fought one personally but, it was said that even three of them could wipe out our settlement. Thankfully the protector''s madness drove her to slaughter her own children. We confirmed that they were dead. We can''t have missed any of them. "We confirmed her children were dead.... Are they undead now?" Fellia That''s the only conclusion I can make. There should be no way any of her children could have survived her attack. Even if one supposedly did, it should die from the poison she filled the nest with. "Fellia, you know that they couldn''t turn into undead." Vivec How then. "We will send more scouting parties out. We shall also deploy three of you to oversee the issue. This must be dealt with quickly. We can''t let the fallen dwarves know about this or they may try to take advantage of the situation." Vivec -------- In the end, Sigrid, Felix and me were chosen to handle the issue. I''m hoping that it has no relation with the protector, but that is impossible. For spider monsters, which are completely foreign to this area, to suddenly appear where the protector was located..... Sigrid seems to know something. I heard that she has minor prophetic abilities. Whether that is true or not is hard to tell. Time to gather up a scouting force. ------- -Gin POV After waking up I had Kess come with me to the field in front of the nest. Her spiderlings had to carry her out as she can''t move very quickly on her own. They seem to have gained the ancient aspect as well. Anyways I wanted see Kess'' new abilities. "Kess, what did you get from the evolution?"Gin "I got an ability to create metal dust that penetrates into enemies and can turn them into metal. There is a summoning ability too, It seems to be similar to Xelu''s. I can make small metal mounds which summons a minion every 10 hours but, it uses all of my resource to create one." Kess I have her show me her metal dust ability. She shoots metal dust out of her mouth which builds up into a fog. It moves towards a tree and..... It turns into a metal tree. Simple enough. It should work really well against hordes of creatures. We decide to build the metal mounds on the top of the cliff as they take up more space than Xelu''s summoning pools. We can have Xelu build sentries around the mounds as well. We will also put a few in the nest just in case the ones outside are destroyed. This will all take a long while to implement though as mounds cant be built consecutively ------- Now that everything else is dealt with I take Set with me to attack the gnome dungeon again. Trying to follow the path Kess and I took earlier, we get slightly lost. ''Master? Where is this dungeon?'' Set "....." Gin Trying to remember landmarks that I found along the way I suddenly hear something. "Rivz no oshevicsil slihn?" ???? "Doplan slizas valkoa div!" ???? I can barely hear a weird language spoken very quickly. Both me and Set go into stealth. We slowly make our way past some large trees to see a small encampment of tents. In it are thin ash colored? Elves? No elves are supposed to be green. These guys are grey and they have really red eyes. ''What do you make of this?'' Gin ''They look dangerous. We should probably take them out before they cause us trouble.'' Set ''What do you mean? They could be friendly?'' Gin I don''t know what they would think of us.... They may be drow. The arachne queen mentioned them a few times. I don''t know the strength of them so it would be best to retreat. Impossible to tell what they would think of me but, they probably hate spiders as the arachne queen probably ate quite a few of them.... If they find our nest, it would be a disaster. Between the spiderlings running around and the giant fleshy eldritch nest on the top of the cliff..... There is nothing friendly about it at all.... We quickly return to hide the nest. First I had Kess close up the entrance at the bottom of the cliff. I tried to camouflage the flesh nest by covering it with metal webs and sticking stones and such to it. We did the same to any part of the nest that had metal webbing sticking through the cliff face. It looks weird but, It could still be considered to have been created by nature. -------- I made the right choice. The forest started to get flooded by drow in the next few days. Luckily, they didn''t pay much attention to our cliff. After about a week, their numbers died down quite a bit. They still have patrols around but, nowhere near their previous numbers. .... Should I try capturing one? 25 Drow captive I take Set with me and head out after dark. I don''t know if they have any detection abilities so, it''s best to remain really cautious. After leaving the nest we search for patrols. We found one taking a break near the old treant base. Again, I can''t understand anything they say so extracting information may be difficult. Hmmm.... After they finish their break they start heading somewhere. A little bit of tailing leads us back to their base. It is much larger than before with dozens of larger tents set up. However, it is mostly empty. I''m guessing that they may have either found what they were looking for or they have given up. I notice a drow that is giving orders to a patrol before they head out. Abducting an officer may be a problem. They would have more information but, who knows if I can communicate in a meaningful way with them. ------- We managed to sneak into the base. I''ve tested the effectiveness of our stealth a few times. It is suprising effective. Only a unusually alert drow had thought that she had noticed something but, she shook her head and went on with her duties. Spider''s stealth and the untraceable perk are probably playing a huge role. Otherwise stealth would be a ridiculous skill in general. Eventually we make our way to a tent full of beds with sleeping drow. This might be the best area to wait. Trying to kidnap one while they are sleeping would be trouble. Especially when there are others sleeping everwhere. Waiting for one to wake up to relieve themselves would be the best opportunity. They would probably walk a good distance from the camp.... That is if drow are hygienic in general..... I don''t have to wait for long as a female drow who''s eyes are covered with cloth wakes up and walks out. Blind. Can she see or..... Magic? Best explanation for something strange. It may be best to pass this one up. You''d think that blind people are less perceptive but that is not technically true. They have to sharpen all their other senses to make up for the loss of their sight. In this world of magic and abilities, it could be that she acquired special perceptive skills as well. As she walks past us, she glances in our direction. Crap. She noticed something. Luckily, she didn''t raise any alarms and is just heading in our direction looking confused. ''Set, can you incapacitate her?'' Gin ''Yeah, she just needs to get a bit closer.'' Set I hope she isn''t an important figure.....As she gets closer, Set detaches herself and gets ready to pounce. *Swooosh Set jumped at her face and starts going down her throat..... Ughhhh.... The drow struggles a bit and passes out. Set jumps back to me and clings around my neck. ''Filthy creature~. Master she didn''t come out to relieve herself. It was to clean off.'' Set Yeah.... I''d rather not know. Now to get her back to the nest. Fortunately we are in a dark area of the base. We have to be careful with her as we cant make her enter stealth. Picking her up I smell a weird odor..... ------- We managed to get her out. Evading some of the patrols without stealthing was hard. It was about time that the guards were exchanging shifts so, I was able to get away through one of the holes in the perimeter. After that it was smooth sailing. After returning to the base she was cleaned up and wrapped by Kess'' webs. I don''t think she would have the muscle strength to rip those up. I made she to gag her too in case she has some weird abilities..... I think I''m turning into a pervert..... I left Kess to watch her as I look at her gear. Surprisingly, she had a rare ring. Had. After taking it off, it broke into hundreds off pieces. It seems that some pieces of equipment have protective measures on them. Everything else is uncommon so I had the spiderlings move them to the treasury. ------- After waiting awhile she regained consciousness and makes a muffled yelp. I took her blindfold off ealier and now I can see that she isn''t blind. She stares at me with a weird expression. Then she looks around and sees Kess, Set, and Xelu who has been asleep the whole time. She starts tearing up... I remove the gag. "svelllon insa verskal!?!?" drow captive "I can''t understand a thing that you are saying." Gin "Common? You are human..... You should let me go if you want to live." drow captive "Can you say anything more stereotypical? Anyways, you should realize your current situation. I hate to be the evil guy here but, you are not getting out of here. Realistically, if I let you go, only trouble would follow. Your friends have been searching for a while and still haven''t noticed this nest. Most likely they won''t be able to get you out of here even if they knew this place existed." Gin "What?... So I....." drow captive "What you can tell me will determine your treatment. Who are you?" Gin "... I am one of the leaders of the drow. Sigrid." Sigrid "How did you know I was hiding in the drow base?" Gin "I have..... Special abilities that allows me to glimpse into.... the future?" Sigrid "You don''t know the full extent of your own ability, huh? Anyways, what is your group doing here?" Gin "There has been sightings of spiders and abominations in this area. We were sent out to see if that monster''s children are still around. Most of our scouts are checking her nest out. I can see we were entirely wrong now....." Sigrid ------- After asking more questions I got a lot of useful information. It seems that the drow are afraid that some of the arachne queen''s children may be alive. They are apparently incredibly powerful. Their scouts haven''t been able to find anything in the surroundings of the nest so they have gone into the nest to see. The two other leaders, Fellia and Felix, left Sigrid behind to watch over the base as they explore the nest. Sigrid used that time to ''please herself'' with the slaves that were brought along. The structure of drow society is a bit weird. It is best described as a religious matriarchy. At the very top are the religious figures. The arch-priests. After that is the royal families of the drow, then the lesser religious figures. After that is the nobles, commoners, and slaves. Drow usually worship three different beings. Snakes, spiders, and crows. The settlement these drow are from used to worship spiders and had the arachne queen as a ''protector''. However, they were dissatisfied with giving sacrifices so they poisoned the protector''s ''mate''. The protector went crazy, killed her children and, ate her husband. ------- After getting a good amount of information from Sigrid, I am left with a problem. What to do with her. 26 Wretched ones -Fellia POV Shit! What''s wrong with this nest!?!? We thought, that it would in the worst case, there would be a few of the old protector''s children. But no, this place has become some weird biome for poisonous creatures. We should have realized something was wrong when all the webs that were supposed to be white turned purple. We didn''t decide to leave until we found the corpses of the protector''s children. By then it was too late. Centipedes, lizards, even squids. They climbed out of the pile of corpses. What were creatures like those even doing here!?!? This place isn''t a dungeon now is it? Can''t be.... The original 273 members of this expedition has dwindled to a bit over 10. Even Felix has been poisoned. I don''t think he''ll make it. When we ran out of the hallway he fell into a puddle of weird goo.... That must be what was used to kill the protector seeing as her corpse is missing..... He''s dead..... I have to get back to Sigrid. She knows a lot more than she lets on. She may appear to be a waste but, she has survived pretty long as a member of the religious faction. ------ She''s gone. Piece of shit. I killed the slaves she was screwing. It can''t be a coincidence that she dissappeared now.... Why would she up and leave though? It cant be.... I leave my subordinates behind and sneak back to the protector''s nest..... No.... Hundreds of creatures have started pouring out of the nest..... It''s turned into a wretched hive. I didn''t think they existed. We''re all fucked. They were supposed to be tales to scare children. ... ... I see Felix. His head is attached to the top of a snake''s head. Not a snake. It has spider legs. His.... head is bobbing around but, suddenly in turns in my direction and smiles. ------- -Sigrid POV My acting worked wonders. I would''ve been screwed if he just let me go. Luckily he is not that stupid. After answering some of his questions, he goes quiet. The metal and black spider stare at me. They both give me a disturbing feeling. Still, I am in a safe position now. This nest is the only safe haven for what is about to occur. A massive amount of wretched is something that has brought down countries.... I wonder what catalyzed their spawning? It could have been caused by what was done to the old protector and her family..... No, there had to be a spacial disturbance to have them spawn. Perhaps this one is involved. He is a very unique individual that appeared out of nowhere. There is something wrong with his head as well. I wonder how he could survive what is to come but, my ability has never been wrong..... I hope he doesn''t just decide to kill me. I can offer him my knowledge or my body. He should latch onto one of those. -Gin POV What to do.... It''s too dangerous to just let her wander the nest. She probably still has some trump cards since she is a leader of the nearby drow settlement. I can''t exactly trust the info she gave me either. Most of it should be right but.... "Alright I will leave you incased in web. The spiderlings will take care of your needs." Gin "Wait! I have more information. You seem to not know much so I can help. You seem to be alone so I can help with other things as well." Sigrid Alone?Other things?.... Gross.... Remembering the scent she had on her when I kidnapped her I get a little insight on how she is.... The knowledge would be helpful though. Can''t be sure of the accuracy of it though. "Why should I trust anything that you say? In fact, what you have told me could be lies. I will not place any real trust into you." Gin She goes quiet for a bit. She must be thinking out what to say. *Sigh "I''m willing to be subordinated." Sigrid *Captive is highly compatible for assimilation into a Broodmother. However, doing so will have unforeseen consequences. Y/N? I''m not sure what to do again. I''m fine with Xelu, Set, and Kess but, that is because they have max loyalty. What is loyalty? How does it influence subordinates? I doubt that if I accept her as a regular subordinate she will be loyal. As for making her into a broodmother? I still don''t know.... At least she is ''highly compatible''. Xelu was just ''compatible''. Is it because Drow worship spiders? lets shelve this issue for a while. I need to see how the rest of the drow will react now that one of their leaders is gone. "I''ll think about it. Until I think of what to do, you will remain here. Xelu, Kess, watch over her in case she makes any suspicious actions." Gin I have Set rebind. We leave the nest to spy on the drow. I can''t imagine them sitting still after one of their leaders disappearing. I climb a tree near the encampment they set up..... Huhh???? Out of the tent that Sigrid came out of ealier I see a drow with sword. She is holding a head in her other hand. Looking at her bearing I think she may be another leader. Thinking on it, the head may belong to a slave. She tosses the head into a bush as she leaves the encampment..... She disappeared.... ''I can follow her if you want master~'' Set Set gives a suggestion which I agree with. She points me in the direction that she is heading. ------- I am met with a familiar sight. It is the Arachne Queen''s nest.... The difference is that weird creatures are flowing out. Those.... Are hybrids? They are amalgamations of different creatures. Some even have humanoid features. I see one with a human head that is alive..... The drow leader exits stealth and collapses on her knees. A centipede scuttles up to her. It is massive. About 3 meters tall and who knows how long. How it squeezed out of the cave is a mystery. It grabs her head with its mandible and swallows her. It twitches a whole bunch and her head pokes out of the side of its one of its body segments. This world is horrible. 27 Bunker down I''m not too heavily impacted by this. Xelu is much worse looking. Still it''d be a horrible way to go..... I''d better get out of here. The massive amount of monsters makes me nervous. I sneak rather slowly until we are a distance away, then I sprint full force back to the nest. The spiderlings open up a small hole for me to slip through. I don''t know if there is a limit on the amount of creatures that will come out of that nest. I''d rather not find out. Seeing as Kess and Xelu have abilities that can potentially produce infinite amount of spiderlings, I have a good guess though..... We should bunker down and increase war potential. I can make several plans as well in case the nest is compromised. First of all, increase numbers. In total, there are close to about 500 spiderlings. We have a few sludge pools and metal mounds producing them inside but to reach a significant influx we would need at least 30-40 of them. The problem is spacing. The sludge pools take up a portion of flooring while the mounds take up a portion of the room. The sludge pools take up less space overall but, eldritch spiderlings wouldn''t be the best defenders..... Should we make spawning rooms? Just clean out massive areas width-wise but only as tall as the mounds need. I could take a chance and build the spawners up on top of the cliff.... No, I already take enough chances. Some of those creatures can climb from the looks of them as well. Speaking of which it may be a good idea to hide the flesh nest better. I''ll have Kess cover it with rocks and dirt to make it look like a mound on top of a cliff. Just have to make it look more natural somehow. Perhaps make some decoy mounds in other parts of the cliff? I go to the main room which has Kess and Xelu watching over the drow. "Kess, we''ve got work ahead of us" Gin ------ After filling Kess in on the plan she starts working on hiding Xelu''s nest better. I regret making it but, it can''t be undone easily. Destroy it? We''d have to tear the outside flesh away to just get to the vein webbing. On top of that it would be a waste. I start sketching up plans for spawning rooms. I can''t leave Xelu to watch over the drow by herself so, I draw the plans up at the same time. Thinking over several issues, one that sticks out is rock waste. We probably can''t just dump it outside anymore..... Scratch that I''ll just have Kess eat all of it. I don''t understand what happens to all the stuff she eats. Thanks to closed circuit we don''t need to consume anything but, what happens if we still do? After watching Kess I surmised that nothing happens. She gained weight but overtime she slowly lost some. After her evolution most of it was gone until she went to the larder. Perhaps waste gets recycled into the world or something. With that issue handled next is an old issue. Subterranean creatures. They may not be able to break through the thick layers of metal webbing in the rooms. The only rooms in danger are the ones in the outermost part of the nest as well. Station some spiderlings there in case that does happen. It may be more of an issue when building new rooms though. ------- Most issues have been resolved or are planned to be resolved. Now that Kess is done with hiding Xelu''s nest, It''s time to close up all holes other than a few air shafts. A thin film of metal webbing is filling those up allowing some air to flow through. Only a liquid creature like Set could squeeze down one. I just hope this is enough. -------- Vivec POV We have lost all contact with the scouts. To lose all communication is strange though. We have over a dozen messengers going to and from the encampment at all times so, for that to stop.... They are most likely all dead. Don''t need confirmation. It is fine to treat them as if they were. Replacements shouldn''t be to hard to find. The real shame is that Sigrid was among them. She handled quite a few troublesome groups. Now that she is gone they may cause problems.... Lets just use them on the frontline when we send out an extermination force. Say that Sigrid requested them to work there. There is the chance that the settlement will fall but, what would that matter? I can escape at anytime and still be treated well anywhere else. Superior blood would be welcomed in any drow settlement. I may need to shuffle things around to gain control again but, it''s all just a matter of time. "Ivan, gather up a extermination force, it seems thar those three are dead." Vivec "Shit, why do I have to clean up after those trash." Ivan He calls them trash but, he is the same. At least they had drive and charisma. He would be utter garbage if not for his strength. He will probably fail in the fight to come. It is best to plan out an escape now. ------ Well this is unfortunate. I was completely wrong. No spiders in sight. Just abominations with humanoid body parts. Most are actually weak. The quantity more than makes up for that though. We weren''t able to set up a force before they started banging on the walls. Fleeing may be.... Difficult.... ------ We gave up the outer walls. The filth can buy us some time to organise ourselves. Ivan is still alive surprisingly. Bastard used his subordinates as shields. I may have done the same but, not so obviously. Now there is tension between him and his troops. I''m not too worried. I still have a tunnel built that runs several kilometers away. ------- I sneaked away while the others were fighting. This tunnel should lead towards a cave not to far from another settlement. Hmmm?..... Oh.... this is the end. I see a weird snake lizard with a drow head as well as a centipede with one as well. How are they in the middle of the tunnel though?.... Those are..... Felix and Fellia. Kind of ironic. These abominations must be wretched. Between these two, a slug slithers up to me. I''d rather not so, I take a knife from my side and- *Sqliddsssshhh 28 Eldritch flesh -Gin POV Now that everything is planned out I need to figure out what I want to do with this one. I have to think of something as she needs food. The larders are empty and I don''t have anything to give her so, she may starve if left alone. Hmmmm... Xelu''s web grows flesh around itself so maybe..... That''s a terrible thought but, it may be the only option for the moment. Will it have aftereffects? Well can''t be helped. "Xelu I want you to spin a small amount of web here." Gin "Yeaaaeeuurrggg Mashta." Xelu "AHHH IT TALKS!?!?" Sigrid Xelu fumbles over on her appendages and spins a couple of vein webs. After a couple minutes flesh starts to slowly cover it and a eyeball swirls around on it. I don''t think she will want to eat it but there is nothing else so..... She is looking at me with confusion. "We don''t have food here as none of us ''need'' to ingest anything. The food we usually stock is all gone so this..... Is all I can do for the moment." Gin She looks pretty baffled. "This... Fleshy.... Eyeball.... Thing? Nononono! I can''t, Anything else! Wretched should be fine! Please!!!" Sigrid I don''t know what to say. I can''t go out and kill wretched for her. Perhaps if it was possible to kill individual ones, but, they are all massed into a group so trying to take them down individually is impossible. Lure them away? That would risk luring how many others along. "I''m sorry but this is all I can do..... Sure it gives off that.... Twisted aura, however, I think it should be fine to consume? Right?" Gin I look over at Xelu and she tilts her head. I should''ve guessed as much. Trying to make it not seem so bad may have had the opposite effect as Sigrid is having a panic attack. I should make an emergency larder for situations like these. Kess may bug me about that though. Preserving corpses for long periods would be a problem as well. Kess usually eats them within a few days so they may have only rotted a bit. Although, from what I have seen, it does takes longer for them to rot in this world. Perhaps.... Magic? I have no clue. Anyways, I don''t know what I should do in this situation..... I''ll wait until she is done panicking. She may try to escape now that her situation is a bit.... No, very awful. Best to keep an even tighter watch on her. -------- A few days pass uneventfully. Sigrid still has not taken a bite but, she is actually starting to look tempted..... Kess comes back to inform me of the progress. Two spawning rooms have been carved out. They still need to layer it in with plenty of webbing but, after that is done, we can start filling it. Each of these rooms can fit around 20 mounds or 30 sludge pools. I plan on filling them with mounds though. Calling it a room doesn''t do them justice as they are ridiculously wide. More like a hall I guess. Still, Kess is not as bloated as I thought she would be. Sure she is pretty fat.... Those halls are massive though so to eat all of that rock and still be able to move is an impressive feat. Filling the spawning halls with mounds will take a while. It uses up all of Kess'' Resource in one go. I can probably have her watch Sigrid while I do other things. Well, not like I have much to do either..... This is going to be boring.... ------- A week passes by slowly. It has been a bit slow. Kess has almost filled the rooms entirely and I''ve been messing around. I was experimenting with my poison. I''m not testing it on living things but, it''s actual properties. It is highly corrosive in nature melting organic and metallic substances with ease. The only exception is Kess'' webs which is the foundation for the nest. I tested how it affects me as well. The corrosion property doesn''t affect my body but it will destroy armor. Luckily, I used a seperate set of common gear before trying that. It does affect comrades too, though to a lesser degree. I didn''t try that myself. One of the Xelu''s subordinates smacked against the roof and fell into one of my poison pools. It seems they take reduced damage as only a bit of its wings and limbs were scorched. Even that was superficial. Another point of research is twisting threads of metal webs together with eldritch ones. It hasn''t produced any real results though. Xelu''s webs produce flesh which just covers the two. I guess it would be better to build future flesh nests with it. That''s a ways off though. Why build flesh nests when Metal ones seem to be superior? Efficiency. Having Kess, Xelu, and their spiderlings all building is the best option. Plus, I think I may have missed something about her nest. --------- There are quite a few new spiderlings in the base. About 900 spiderlings roam the nest. I will make more sludge pools at some point but that is for the future. Eldritch spiderlings will be my main attack force in the future. Metal spiderlings are obviously for defense so, they have a much higher priority... I may need to expand the base soon as it is getting a little crowded. We aren''t at capacity but, with the new mounds It may happen if given another 2 weeks or so. .... Should I open up to the outside?..... No the numbers aren''t enough. After I get enough mounds built then I don''t have to worry about defense. Then, I will focus on building sludge pools. The eldritch spiderlings will lead the attack on the wretched. If they produce indefinitely, as long as we can kill faster than they produce then a stable source of exp will be available. On top of that, any that attack our base will be also provide energy for the territory. I don''t know how to allocate that stuff. It seems to automatically go towards strengthening the core in me. Now I haven''t had any increase in stats from that either. I think the wretched scared everything off. So, nothing really dies around here even though it should be the one of the most dangerous areas. Now there is the issue with Sigrid..... I didn''t mean for it to happen, I swear.... There was no other choice. It''s not like there are mushroom farms down here.... So, she had to eat the flesh.... Perhaps? I wander if turning her into a broodmother may fix this? 29 Flesh to Fire I didn''t pay attention to when Sigrid started eating the stuff. What I do know is that after a few days she started to.... Change.... She would be greedily devouring the flesh off the veins as soon as they grew. Her eyes had a sort of crazed look. Her body had bloated and her own flesh would squirm under her skin..... It only got worse from there..... She would break out in fits of laughter and start talking in drow. I don''t know what she was saying....I''d rather not know.... After that phase was the self-abusive phase. She would smash her face into the ground over and over. She broke most of her face doing that along with a good portion of her teeth. When me and Kess stopped her, she just smiled. It was at that point that I stopped her from eating the eldritch meat. However, that had a horrible result as well..... Which leads to the current state. She.... It.... is now a blob of organic matter at this point. There is no distinguishable features. I think the bones are gone as well since what''s left is almost like a liquidy goo inside a skin bag. They couldn''t have just dissapeared so, they probably liquified as well. I seriously wonder if I am more messed up than I first thought. No it''s the situation. I''m not at fault.... Right? Xelu tilts her head while looking at me.....? Have you been getting more expressive?.... Anyways, next is the biggest issue. What to do with this. I could kill it. It''s impossible to tell if it''s living in misery or not though. There is the other option as well..... *Captive is extremely compatible for assimilation into a Broodmother. However, doing so will have unforeseen consequences. Y/N? It changed from ''highly'' to ''extremely''. I can''t tell what sort of creature will be made from this. I do wonder if it would be another eldritch broodmother though. I am sorry about what happened to Sigrid. Who can tell if the original Sigrid is still hanging around in there or if she is ''dead''..... Well, the past can''t be changed so..... I select yes. The blob dissapears. It must have- *Subject has been brought to a seperate plane for assimilation I wait a little as I did with Xelu. I start reflecting on my actions a bit. Feeding eldritch meat to someone was a bad idea. The thing is..... I wanted to see what would happen. Just pure curiosity. What resulted could be considered an evil deed or a sin. The intentions.... Could they be considered bad? Probably. I realize that I''m changing in an indescribable way so, I might as well go along with it. Especially since I have no idea on how to prevent this change. ------ Unlike with Xelu I only had 2 two notifications pop up 1. Since the subject was extremely compatible the result will not be a hybrid. 2. Both aspects can be chosen for the new level 6 broodmother. However an error occurred with random generation of the second aspect. *Choose aspect 1. Lust 2. Skeletal 3. Deepfire *Choose aspe- error 1. Mummer 2. Jester 3. Harelquin I seem to have encountered another error. They seem to be a common occurrence.....? Let''s see here. Lust is definitely out. Sins are dangerous things. Although not as bad as gluttony, lust can be very troublesome. Xelu and Kess have auras that effect surrounding creatures so, there''s a large chance that lust would have one as well. Now for option number two. Bone is an odd option. Would it become a skeleton? Bony web? Doesn''t seem that impressive.... Well aspects like blood and ink have large potentials so bone might be in the same category. As for deepfire.... What is deepfire? Fires from the deep? What is the deep? Perhaps its a concept in this world..... Who knows..... Damn, weird things always pop up. Getting options like eldritch and plaque for Xelu and getting gluttony and ancient for Kess. Now there is this..... I''ll probably pick it as well....? Now that I think about it, better options usually only appear for the second aspect. I think I have a clue as to why the first aspect options are better this time. The second aspect options are weird. A mummer, A jester, or a harelquin. They have subtle differences but in the end they all stem from the same thing. People in weird costumes being amusing. Now what one should I choose? Well, I''m not too knowledgeable about the subtle differences so let''s just go with jester. So a deepfire jester. Sounds ominous. Not as bad as a skeletal or lusty jester. There is the arachnid part to take into account..... Something weird is going to be born. As I finalize my choices a dark blue flame with lighter blue edges manifests in front of my face. It''s quite small. It starts to grow and eventually forms into a figure. Kess is basically a giant metal wolf spider, Set is a black widow, Xelu is..... Whatever she is. This new being though. It would be an arachne. Well, not quite. It has a humanoid looking upper torso attached to the top of it''s spider head. The spider head still has all It''s features by the way. So you could say it is doubleheaded. As for what type of spider that is I have no clue. It has really thin limbs and its body is as well. It is only a little bigger than the humanoid torso on top. The humanoid part is clothed in a flame set of jester clothes. The colors of it crisscrosses with dark and light blue flame. She is wearing a light blue smiling mask with a diamond and a heart under the quinted eyes. Her hat is split into two droops at the ends with bells at the ends. She looks at me, tilts her head, then nods. "This is much better. Not a filthling drow.... That race was ohhh so vulgar. The new desires are wonderful. This body is quite nice as well." Nameless She starts grabbing at her body but her hands just phase right through. She grows frantic as she tries even harder. It seems that she is similar to Set. Still, Set has a physical body. What her body is made up of is.... She isn''t a burning gas right? No use contemplating over something like that. "Right a name, hmmm...." Gin As she grows upset over not having a physical body, I think. I don''t know if she wants to be called Sigrid anymore. Just in case though, I should think of a good name as a sort of penance.....Hmmmm..... Fire.... Jester.... Fester? No, that''s terrible. Let''s make it a mix of god names.... Vulcan and loki..... Vulki? Hmmmm..... As I sit and contemplate, the new broodmother collapses and sits motionless. Well I guess it is laying down. The spider part. I can''t tell about facial expressions as it''s face is covered by a mask.... Is she that upset about being intangible? You would not have to worry about most attacks though. Set who had been quitely bonded to me sends over her thoughhts. ''We have a weirdo here.... Anyways, she better not want a physical body for the reasons I''m thinking.'' Set Set was the one that subdued Sigrid and she was upset afterwards. She started sending a lot of pure rage through telepathy then. Suddenly the new broodmother jumps up and seems to have come to terms with something "I guess everything has it''s pros and cons.... So, Gin, was it? I''d prefer a new name. Sigrid was nice and all but, that old self is gone." Nameless "Well, your new name Vulki." Gin 30 Sillith \u003cPassages from the Zyn Ve''r Book of Gods- ....Among the gods lies the seven sins. Many don''t consider them ''gods'' because they ruin the image of what a god should be. Some religious factions even call them devils or demons. From that, their realms were titled the seven hells. However, unlike normal gods, these seven are immortal. No matter what happens, they will reconstitute themselves. Well, with one exception. The Gluttonous Sinner was devoured by Sillith. Sillith''s most famous achievement. Not only did she devour him, no, she ate the entire realm of gluttony and produced her own. Not only that she produced countless ''children'' that have created countless scenes of choas. Although, they consider themselves to be ''children'', they are more like micro-organisms that depend on her for life. ''The Larder'' Although a larder is a room to store food, it has a different meaning here.... It lies within her stomach. How do I know this? It is because I''ve been there. I pride myself with gathering knowledge, but, The Larder is a place that I escaped from quickly. For what lay within, was the sight of truest nightmares....\u003e ------- ????? POV The meeting with mother has left me in a daze. Kin? What is that shit? Aren''t we all her kin? No, she has never seen us as such. Just snacks and pawns to use. That is not so bad though. We have one purpose. To serve. It is just terrible to hear her say those words. The meeting was centered around a small troll creature named Ymrilab. He was just an ordinary scavenger. Taking away random corpses from sideworlds. However, one of the corpses that he was supposed to scavenge was still alive. How could that be? In all the eras that I have served mother, not a single being that was supposed to be scavenged has been found alive. Mother was excited about this. The troll apparently fed him an Egg of Happenings. They are ''legendary'' items said to be able to do anything. However, no one has ever survived the process of ingesting them. For this reason the Eggs of Happenings have become more common. They are still rare but, they can be aquired easily by major powers. I did wonder why mother would always have them attached to the scavengers. It must have been in anticipation for a surviver..... This is the first time I have seen her happy about something other than food. It seems that he is not to be a meal for mother either. She got angry when I mentioned that and, said that he is something along the lines of ''kin'' to her. Kin! Bahhh! Some weak being like that should not be comparable to mother. Well, we got the order to do no harm to him and protect him if need be..... There is still a small test to occur though. A larder rat is to be thrown at him as a small test..... It would be unfortunate if a slightly larger one and a couple extra were to be thrown at him. ------- Shit! How could this have happened? For a single pup to take out all of the rats including the giant rat..... Granted he did use the lives of all of those monsters as cannon fodder..... He has a small army under his control. He may be a tamer as a summoner should not be able to create numbers like that in such a small time. Perhaps he tamed a broodmother..... I can''t imagine him having the strength to do that..... Mother is suspicious. She is interrogating the others at the moment. I will be found out. I can''t keep this from her..... ''He'' needs to die. There should be a spatial disturbance where he was inserted into that world. A lot of corpses as well..... With a guiding hand a special reaction will take place. If I''m going to be erased, I should at least have done this much. ------- "Do you know what you have done, Dane?" Sillith "Yes and I have no regrets." Dane "....? Even though you are supposed to be loyal to me?" Sillith "I did this because of my loyalty. How could a pup like that be your kin? He doesn''t deserve to be treated as such. Your mind may be seeing him as something he isn''t. To prove that would require his dea- ummmhhpp...." Dane "I won''t allow fodder like you to say such things. I''ve kept you around for a while since you are useful but, it seems that you think that your opinions precede my orders. That should be impossible though... hmmmmm..... It may have to do with..... Well you shall be disposed of. Aein erase him." Sillith "Yes, malady" Aein Ahhh.... ------- Aein POV I looked on as Dane fades. He was quite a capable vassal for the lady. He just had to go against her for this though. How? None of us can go against the lady nor, do we have any desire to do so. He seems to have been envious of the fact that the lady considers.... Gin was it? As kin. Still he should not be able to go against her. He received an order. It is a not so simple matter. Someone else may have altered his mind to bring about such a result..... Anyways, should we aid that Gin? Wretched surges are very bad. He should not be able to withstand one. "What should we do now malady?" Aein ".... Aein what do you think of Gin?" Sillith "???? Well if malady treats him like kin, then he is and therfore should be treated as such." Aein "That is how Dane should have seen it as well.... As for Gin he should be fine. You all underestimate what it truly means for him to be ''my'' kin." Sillith Perhaps I have. Looking at his origins, he seems rather simple, maybe a little pathetic. However he lived after eating an egg of happenings..... Is that why the lady considers him kin? No, there may be more to this. "There may be more like Dane, search throughout all of my vassals for more that have incorrect thought processes." Aein .....Dane was foolish for thinking on his own. We were created to serve. That is our greatest joy. For him to make decisions against malady based on his feelings is his sin. Just the fact that a lot of vassals consider malady as their ''mother'' is an issue of feelings..... It may be time to purge the vassals of these fools..... "Should we conduct another purge malady?" Aein ..... "....Yes it is about time we have another...." Sillith 31 Vulki After I named her, a status screen came up. -Subordinate Name: Vulki Race: Deepfire Arachne-Jester level: 6 (Evolution possible at level 15) Required exp: 1450 Health (120/120) Resource- Deepfire essence/free energy(500/500) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: normal Woah.... Her health is really low but her resource is massive. The others have had a little balance between resource and health but this is pretty extreme. It''s a good thing that some attacks probably won''t damage her. I doubt that physical damage will affect her.... Unless a massive force is used, I guess.... I can''t really guess what effects that Jester aspect will bring. "So, what can you do?" Gin "I could do a lot of things for you. It''s too bad that a body made of flames will make most of those impossible." Vulki Ehhhh.... A pervert has appeared. I know she offered herself earlier, but, I figured that it was because she wanted to escape. It turns out that she is just like this..... Well.... Crap.... The most normal subordinate I have is still Kess. ''She is as disgusting as when we first met her.~'' Set Yeah.... Set doesn''t like her as well. She didn''t like Xelu at first either but, overtime the two-..... well Set bonded with her. Xelu probably can''t bond with others or even understand orders that well at the moment. She is getting better though. ------- A week passed by after that. Vulki brought a lot of noise with her. Set will talk nonstop about how ''great'' I am so I usually ignore her ramblings. Kess will talk about food and her hatred of gnomes. Xelu..... Well she doesn''t talk. Now there is Vulki. She likes to talk about anything and everything. It was quite annoying at first as I''m used to the quiet. I came to like it though. Despite having Kess and Set to talk to, I still felt like I had no one to bounce ideas back and forth with. Perhaps it has to do with her past as a religious figure. I was surprised at the fact that she had such a high status. Even the lowest of religious figures in drow society have a higher status than most nobles. The reason she was able to become one was only because she had a forsight ablility. Apparently she used to have a much higher position but, was banished to that settlement due to her..... ''Nature''. Besides her foresight ability which she has retained, she has gained a couple new ones after assimilation. The most interesting being deepfire manipulation. It seems much cooler than my own poison control. Her flames are unique as well. Unlike normal flames, deepfire flames don''t produce heat.... Instead they ''drain'' whatever they come into contact with. I haven''t had her test them on any enemies so I can''t know what exactly they would do. Now on to her jester abilities. The first of which has to do with her mask. She filps it upside down and the face on it fades until it becomes blank. She told me that it can steal someones face or head. It would then replace her own and she can extract all information they have along with depriving the victim of their senses. The second ability involves her bells on her hat. They can cause hallucinations if she uses a good bit of resource. Luckily she has a massive amount to draw from. She has a perk that increases her resource regen drastically as well. Now onto her spiderlings.... She built 3 dark blue flame cubes. The cubes hover but still take up even more space than Kess'' mounds. As I expected, her spiderlings are just mini versions of her. The only difference is that they have more childish masks. Well, they can''t speak yet either, but, they are pretty mischievous. They particularly find joy in messing with the other spiderlings. I''ve seen flipped over metal spiderlings, kicking there legs all over and baffled eldritch spiderlings falling over themselves. Chastising them is useless as they just find new ways to cause mischief. Recently though, they stopped pulling pranks on the other spiderlings and only pull them amongst themselves. I don''t think I will create anymore broodmothers or guardians anytime soon. I can get more after increasing their skill levels but even then.... So reviewing over all of them there is Set who can slash open enemies, heal, sneak, and place killer runes. Kess can spike enemies, create spiderlings, she has an aura, and last but not least she has a metal petrification ability. Xelu can create spiderlings, Shoot out orbs that vein out and penetrate whatever they hit, and create tentacle sentries.... Thinking on it I should fill the nest with them. I have not really witnessed a good portion of my subordinates abilities be put into practice. ------- Vulki POV- I have been reborn. No longer a self-absorbed wench..... For I have fallen for someone. It is probably the result of brainwashing, but, so what? Is there a point in living if there is nothing to latch onto? Love. That is the only thing this feeling can be described as. The drow concept of love is extremely vulgar. There were some who successfully had a ''pure'' love but they were extremely rare. Speaking with him brings great enjoyment unlike anything I''ve experienced before. He is a deep thinker which has it''s pros and cons. He overthinks a lot of things. I seem to have become a secretary of sorts which has angered this ''Set''. She must feel the same way as me about master Gin. I shall grow on her over time. The one that worries me the most is this ''Xelu''. I have seen similar situations. The religious drow used to experiment on slaves. That is until they rebelled and killed a royal. Everyone related to that incident were incinerated and, experimentation on slaves was put to a halt. It seems that master Gin is worried about her as well but, he is clueless on how to fix her. After hearing about her conception, I am stumped as well. Perhaps..... The best I can do is become her mentor. She has very little understanding and, a lot is missing out of her so I can only build her up..... Thinking on it, I should educate the litte ones. They cause too much trouble for others. I can''t destroy their fun though.... Let''s just corner it off so they only mess with each other. Should I educate Kess and Set as well? They cause a lot ofstress on master Gin. He doesn''t get tired of it though and bends into their desires..... Perhaps..... I should let them be and just join in on the spoiling..... No, I won''t fall for temptations! Even the sleeping next to Gin one!.... I..... I''m sorry master..... I don''t think I can help it.... I want to be spoiled too! 32 Ready ----- A lot of time passes. I can''t keep track at this point. It''s not like I have a clock or any sort of thing to record it. What I did was watch the cycle between light and darkness and mark down a day. However, what is the point of that? Time does not seem like an important thing at the moment. Anyways, 120 mounds have been created. I plan on having Kess continue producing them and have Xelu and Vulki start on constructing their own. The experience to come from this war is going to be massive. I do regret having to sacrifice the spiderlings but, they seem to know about this and are fine with it..... Well, that is according to Kess..... Perhaps they reincarnate into new spiderlings after they die? Back onto the matter of experience, Kess has been stagnating at level 5 and the rest of us at level 6. For now the goal is to get everyone to level 15 and to possibly rank up again. It won''t be easy this time. There was no way I would have completed the last rank up if it wasn''t for the treants and harpies. This time we are facing off against wretched. I got a lot of information from Vulki on them. Apparently, they are a legend of sorts. Not the good kind either. They devour anything and everything and assimilate whatever they eat into themselves. The ones they devour don''t die either..... That''s the reason they are called wretched..... I ask her about their affiliation with the aspect of gluttony and she gets confused. I mention all of the coincidences that I have encountered. I have a lot of relations to gluttony. Between Kess, my roots ''eating'' things, the larder, and now these wretched. "This is.... I think there may be more examples than you think. When you assimilated me into one of your subordinates, that could be seen as ''eating'' our old selves and producing a new being. In fact, now that I think about it, would experience be seen as eating power from other creatures? That''s odd though, the system effects everything so for that to have-....." Vulki "This talk is too much for me." Kess ''Master, why don''t you talk to me this much~.''Set ''????'' Xelu Everyone else is upset for various reasons. Xelu and Kess don''t understand. Set however is a little scary at the moment. Her tone was pleasant but, there seems to be something weird mixed in as well.... Likely my imagination. "-.... You said you have a relation to the larder? Do you know what the larder is?" Vulki "Not really, It has to do with why I am in this world is all I know.... I was attacked by some rats from there a while ago as well." Gin "WHAT!?!? WHY!?!?" Vulki "Ehhh? I kept on getting messages like about gnawing after level ups and after my fifth they appeared from a portal. Luckily we were in the middle of a war so, we let them kill each other." Gin "Well.... Anyways, the larder is said to be where one of the most evil, vile, and powerful being resides. A lot of drow actually worship her as well. Sillith. You can find countless shrines to her. Even for settlements that worship snakes, spiders, and crows. Other than her realm and her name, not much is known. It seems that every powerful being that the drow race has discovered is scared of her though....." Vulki "So what is she? A god?" Gin "Probably? As I said, not much is known. The fear that she produces is nothing normal though." Vulki ... "Onto another subject, this place is getting full so, it''s about time to open up the nest." Gin "War?" Kess Kess looks at me with expectation. She has been upset recently. She developed a hatred of rocks and is really looking forward to the upcoming war. I can''t wait to get some fresh air myself. "This is going to be a long war from what I can tell. Luckily the wretched won''t form ranks or make strategic attacks. Their shear numbers and strength is what they have advantages in. They have a large variety of forms as well. It may be difficult but, as more mounds, pools, and cubes are built it will only be a matter of time" Gin ------ As we opened the main entrance at the base of the cliff, I was suprised. There were no wretched. In fact it seems that no life existed anywhere nearby. The trees, grasses, bushes, everything was gone. No insects or small animals. What was left was torn up dirt and stones. It seems that the wretched came through here and took everything. This will make it difficult. Sneaking will be harder.... On top of that, it makes this whole area an open battlefield.....? I don''t see any wretched. Their base should not be too far so to not see any coming this way is weird. I send Set out to scout. What she comes back with is weird. ''They are splitting up into two steams. One goes towards the dungeon and the other towards where Vulki said the drow settlement should be'' Set I expected them to go towards the drow settlement but, the dungeon was something I did not take into account. It makes this easier though. The plan is this. Xelu and Vulki will build as spawners as they can on top of the cliff. Kess will build defenses around them and Xelu will put down some sentries to help. This will be much quicker as rooms don''t need to be carved out. After we have enough spawners, spiderlings( Xelu''s and Vulki''s) will be sent to attack the stream going towards the dungeon. We will keep on building mounds inside the nest as well. After that, I expect the stream to either split off further or for it to re-aim itself at my nest. The wretched aren''t the smartest of creatures according to Vulki, but, they at least can tell that they probably missed some creatures in the vicinity. That is fine though. At that point we should have plenty of spawners constructed. It will be a stream of my spiderlings facing off a stream of the wretched. 33 The circus has come to town "Welcome one, welcome all to the circus in the edge!" *clap *clap *distantly* "oh yeaaah!" "Calm down now, today we have a ''special'' attraction but, that is for later. First up is this. mysterious creature from one of the innumerable sideworlds" What walked out was a tall, thin, and pale creature. It''s hands, feet, and neck were shacked with chains. It also is gagged so it can''t make any noises. It''s pupils shivering as it looks around Poor creature..... Wait, what am I doing here? I fell asleep a minute ago. This scene is quite odd..... I''m sitting in a wooden stand inside a massive blue tent. It seems that this is a circus? The people are weird too. They are wearing victorian era clothing. The kind nobles from then would wear. They have ridiculous white powdered wigs as well. The weirdest part is their faces. They look like they have skin stretched over a normal face. You can see where their eyes bulge into the skin and movements as they talk. As the ringleader yells everyone focuses in on the pale creature. "Now it''s up to the crowd. Stay, slay, or save! This pale Uniquity is in your hands!" Ringmaster "Slay! Slay! Slay!" Crowd *rumble *clapping They all go into a frenzy stomping on the wooden stands and clapping their hands in rhythm with their shouts. Why does this creature deserve this? It collapses as its eyes start watering. Everyone quiets down as the ringleader starts up again. "Today we have brought in Gillian to be the slayer. An all time favorite of the crowds!" Ringleader "YEAAAHH" "I LOVE YOU GILLIAN" "GILLIAN YEAAHHH" A small white robed figure walks through a gate that opens from the floor. It seems that there are stairs that lead downward? He has elaborate red runes drawn on his robes. He raises his arms and it seems that he is clutching iron stakes in his gloves. The crowd roars as he nears the creature. There is a huge amount of bloodlust reeking in the air. This Gillian stabs his stakes into the creatures limbs and attaches chains to the ends of them.... "RIP! RIP! RIP! RIP! RIP!" The creature is picked up by the chains.... They are attached to wooden rafters above.... As they get tighter and tighter the creature starts squealing through its gag. Tears fall on the dirt center floor of the tent..... I try to move. To to shout. Anything....? What is this? A nightmare? I thought these were gone. No, this is no nightmare. *sqweeeech "YEEEEEEEAAHHAHAHAHHA" The crowd starts cheering and it evolves into laughter. The pale creature..... What remains are just chunks and scattered organs. I''ve seen worse but, this is incredibly unpleasant for some reason. The crowd quiets down after a while and the ringleader starts up again. "With how riled up the crowd is, I think we should move the main attraction forward~. Unfortunately, this little sludgeling is being supported by that lard-mouthed dirty bitch. Perhaps some day she will be put on the stage to entertain everyone here~. For now this whelp should do." Ringleader The ringleader drags me onto the dirt stage. Apparently I''m bound in the same way as the pale creature. As he walks up to me and takes off his top hat he stares at me with his skin-covered face. He leans into my face and- *sqweeeeuuchhhh My clothing is ripped open as roots jab into his face, whipping around furiously, and they tear him to shreads. They secrete a weird Golden-green fluid that melt his chunks.... He gets what he deserves. Everything fades out as I wake up sweating. More strange happenings. Is this what it means to be a host of happenings? To be surrounded by terror-inducing situations? Just what is all this shit!?!? As I grab my head and dig into my scalp, Set wakes up. Her bed is nice to lay on. Something about the life attribute gives great comfort. She can''t mass produce webs like the others but, a bed is simple enough. Right now though, the comfort is useless. ''What''s wrong master!?!? You''re as pale as a ghost!?!?'' Set "Nothing.... Just that I''ve had a.... Horrible nightmare.... Worst I''ve had in since I came to this world...." Gin ''Master????'' Set "Anyways, it''s best we get some rest. Tommorow''s the big day. 180 mounds.... 40 cubes and 40 pools.... I just hope this much is enough. There is no going back." Gin ''It''s all right master. I''m confident in my scouting. This amount could even be said to be a bit overboard.'' Set "..... Thanks Set" Gin -------- Alternate POV Hmmmm.... The plant in Sillith''s subordinates was caught. It seems that they are exterminating those who have emotional bindings..... Smart. Too bad though. A few other plans have been put in motion to eliminate that ''kin'' of hers. The circus won''t care about his backing. They may find that to be more of a reason to kill him. In the end they are just insane people who have too much power. Even if he gets help from Sillith to escape, the wretched put in place should do the job..... The only issue.... Did he really survive eating an egg of happenings? If he did then anything we do would be useless. The higher ups would still try to kill him though. This may just result in the quick growth of a new monster. One Sillith is enough to deal with. If he grows into an enemy of our''s.... Which he most definitely will at this rate..... Perhaps I should defect? Sillith is not the best of employers as her subordinates are all brainwashed to hell and back..... That and the absorbing part is kinda gross..... Still, I have a chance to live that way. Just have to be careful, I can probably alter a few records in case he survives.....If he lives past the circus and the wretched, he either ate an egg or has luck similar to someone who has.... Envy is terribly vindictive. Fake my death? Best option. Plenty of unexplained deaths here. Gerik has a pretty huge grudge since I took this job. Some brainstorming and I should be able to concoct a good plan. 34 Wretched War The war started off differently than expected. I had planned to start it up myself but, it seems that the wretched must have noticed something..... Perhaps one of them noticed Set despite her being stealthed and led the others to here? She has scouted out the stream quite a few times so, maybe being able to see through stealth is a rare skill that one of the wretched just so happened to have. They haven''t reached the nest yet but, it won''t be long. "Vulki. Xelu..... Well, Vulki take Xelu with you and chip away at the stream. Just command your spiderlings to fight as we don''t know if more powerful wretched exist. Retreat if you need to. The nest is fortified enough to be withstand their siege and Kess'' spiderlings can hold them down." Gin "Yes, master gin. Should we do anything with the corpses?" Vulki Kess stares at me with expectation. I''ll give a little I guess. "Kess, when you are free you can have some spiderlings drag a few back. Keep an eye on the fighting though." Gin ..... Thinking on it..... They won''t revive or anything right? Wretched are very diverse creatures, so they probably have a a lot of different skills and perks. There could even be parasitic variants..... Worst case scenario, She''d have to be put down and revived..... No, wait, Set''s healing ability may be able to remove it. Anyways a seperate larder will be built detached from the nest. For now though, the issue is to see how well we can deal with the wretched. Vulki and Xelu went out with a horde of spiderlings along with the occasional onesthat spawn and run out to support them. After dealing with the wretched comes building new spawners. Kess is doing that in her free time and I''ll decide on how to allocate time for Xelu and Vulki to build them depending on how well we deal with the wretched. There is something that makes me worried though.... What would happen if one of the broodmothers was eaten? Do the wretched really kill the things they eat and then assimilate or... Perhaps it would be similar to when I assimilated them? No use worrying. I told them to retreat in case things get bad for a reason. ------ After a while I start getting a lot of notifications. +30 exp +25 exp +35 exp +25 exp ... The experience values range from 10 to 45 and come in at crazy speeds. At this rate- *Level up + 1 free attribute point + 1 free skill point *Level up *Level up ..... By the time I open my status screen I get another level and then soon another comes. After I get to 10 a change happens. Looking at my screen, I''m left dumbfounded. General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) *Territory Core Host* Class: Arachnomancer(*Growth-Epic) level: 10 Exp:1200 Required Exp:12000 4 Free attribute points 10 Free Skill Points Status: Health(102/102) Resource-Mana(196/386)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- Str: 8.3 End:10.2 Agl: 11.5 Int : 20.7(18.7+2) ------------ Wis:19.3(17.3+2) Cha:10 Per:14(12+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) Condition:Normal -Perks *Untraceable(rare) *Greater mind(rare) *Closed system(rare) *Territory Master(unique) *Steel Mind(unique) *Spider''s Stealth(rare) *Arachnid Ruler(epic) -Skills *[Poison Control] *Poison Pool T1 lv7 *Poison Lance T1 lv5 *Stealth T1 lv8 *Summon the Broodmother T2 lv4 (up 7) *Summon Ararchnid Guardian T2 lv4 (up 7) *Negotiation T2 lv4 *Cooking T2 lv2 *CQC(close quarters combat) T1 lv3 *Crafting(includes sewing, woodcrafts ect. Forging would be a different skill.) T1 lv2 *Taunt T1 lv2 Set and the broodmothers all reached level 10 as well. It seems to be a major stopping point. The experience to reach the next level is way higher. The experience from level 6 to 7 was 1200. Now it''s 12000 which is ten times higher..... It does make sense though. At the rate I was going, I could have reached a ridiculous level. The summoning skills I have also reached rank 2. The only bonus this brings is that summoning a broodmother or guardian is now cheaper and I can summon another broodmother..... I won''t.... Not for a while anyways..... What suprised me was that the guardian summoning skill increased along with the Broodmother one. Must be based off of the highest level one that I have. Only possibility I can think of. Now. What to do with the free skill points and attribute points..... Obviously one point goes to wisdom..... Well lets put the rest in intelligence. Once it goes over twenty two a attribute point will have half the effect. Still Intelligence is the most useful stat for me. It increases damage along with other things. Poison control is based entirely off of it as well. Now onto skill points. I have been putting them off as a single skill point wont make much of a difference. 10 however can raise a skill by a whole tier. Sadly Poison control can''t be raised..... I''m thinking of raising my three main skills to tier two. The ones that I use the most, poison pool, poison lance, and stealth. Stealth is my only form of defense. Technically, I have a necklace that I aquired from the treants which allows the use of a defensive skill but, I would rather save that for emergencies. Poison pool and poison lance''s damage will increase exponentially every tier. Add on the increase in intelligence and it gets even more ridiculous. Between that and gear bonuses..... Holy crap. Confirming everything I get another perk from having a stat reach 20. Status: Health(102/102) Resource-Mana(406/406)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- Str: 8.3 End:10.2 Agl: 11.5 Int : 22.9(20.9+2) ------------ Wis:20.3(18.3+2) Cha:10 Per:14(12+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) Condition:Normal -Perks *Untraceable(rare) *Greater mind(rare) *Wisdom''s blessing(rare)- Extremely rarely, a notification will appear that will give valuable information. It will be saved into your screen to come back to later. *Closed system(rare) *Territory Master(unique) *Steel Mind(unique) *Spider''s Stealth(rare) *Arachnid Ruler(epic) -Skills *[Poison Control] *Poison Pool T2 lv1 *Poison Lance T2 lv1 *Stealth T2 lv1 *Summon the Broodmother T2 lv4 (up 7) *Summon Ararchnid Guardian T2 lv4 (up 7) *Negotiation T2 lv4 *Cooking T2 lv2 *CQC(close quarters combat) T1 lv3 *Crafting(includes sewing, woodcrafts ect. Forging would be a different skill.) T1 lv2 *Taunt T1 lv2 The new perk is.... Weird. I won''t call it useless but, compared to greater mind, it seems to lag behind. Well, I have no great amount of knowledge about this world and who knows how much it''ll give so let''s wait and see. The increase in intelligence is disappointing.... Perhaps it would have been better to put that in another stat..... Hmmmm???? Ohhh. I got a bestiary page on wretched. Wait, what the hell is this!?!? 35 First waves Wretched one(common-epic)- Hybrid creatures that assimilate others into themselves. They have wide variety of forms and have low intelligence. Creatures that are assimilated do not die and instead become a source of body parts. Some wretched assimilate tens of thousands of beings, becoming massive behemoths in the epic rank. These creatures have terrifying potential. Hopefully, no higher rank ones will appear. It seems that I was right in thinking that assimilated creatures are not dead. I need to make sure that no matter what, none of us get assimilated. If someone is..... Then we have to target that wretched with all that we have. ------ To get a better look at the battlefield I have Kess open up the eldritch nest at the top of the cliff. What lay before me is utter choas. Corpses are everywhere with wretched slithering and diving into them. Most of them don''t belong to spiderlings....? In fact I don''t see any. I don''t see any wretched with their aspects..... I decide to look for one that is about to die. An eldritch spiderling was knocked to the ground after getting hit by a ball of green spit. An octopus with small wolf heads sticking out of its own grasps its way over. Watching it swallow the eldritch spiderling, I see nothing happen..... Wait don''t tell me. *Spllllooooakkkkk I see its flesh crawl as it starts ripping its skin off with its tentacles. A couple seconds later it explodes into a fleshy mess. Good god..... Well, eating eldritch flesh is not an good thing to do. Even for these creatures that are designed to assimilate things. I see a deep-flame spiderling explode into fire in the distance, cackling so loud that it drowns out the sound of fighting for a short bit. It seems that they don''t even leave corpses behind. I guess I don''t need to worry to much about Xelu or Vulki getting assimilated. Still, the deaths on our side is minuscule. Those 2 were the only ones to die in the past hour. Vulki has been keeping the deaths to a minimum. The spiderlings are cooperating extremely well together. When one has taken too much damage the others will cover them to retreat and recover. That is a very efficient way to go about it. ------ The stream slowed down a little after night fell. It may have to do with wretched not having night vision unless they devour a creature with that ability. Most of the ones we fought are newborns straight out of their base. There are however a few more powerful ones that returned along the other lines. The octopus with wolf heads was one such creature. I am curious. What does the arachne queen''s nest look like? Well, that is probably something I won''t see for a while. When we quadruple the amount of spawners for Vulki and Xelu then maybe we will see. By that point they should have already evolved again. I am almost level 11 so that may not be that far off. Looking at the state of things, I plan on having Vulki watch over the battlefield during the morning while having Xelu watch over it at night. I will also have a few spiderlings to monitor the situation from the top of the cliff. Just in case. Xelu can handle matters to a degree but, when it comes to matters that need a lot of thinking, she falls behind. I want to join the battle as well since skill experience is best raised in combat. Some of the wretched may be able to see through stealth so I do have to be wary... Well I should be fine with Set. I can make sure to stay near our own forces as well so in the worst case they can defend as I flee. ------ I wake up along with Vulki right before the sun rises. She takes over the forces from Xelu, who actually did well last night with barely any casualties. I have her go inside to rest as well as build new spawners whenever she can. I was right. As dawn broke, the flood of wretched resumed with a few stronger looking ones taking the lead. The strongest looking one is a large snake with several heads sticking out of it. It has spider legs so it scuttles around instead of slithering. Those must have been drow from their settlement. It''s probably best I try to take that thing out with Vulki and Set instead of letting it rampage. "Vulki, that one needs to die quickly. I have a feeling that it won''t be so simple to kill though...." Gin "I was thinking the same thing. So how do we go about this. I can swarm it spiderlings so that the amount it kills stays low or-" Vulki "Let''s kill it together." Gin "Are you-.... Alright let''s kill it." Vulki ------ Vulki POV- Master Gin has put me in charge of the army. Despite being here for a shorter time than Kess or Set, I am given more authority. Well, that is due to being more developed mentally. They will probably become much more mature after the next evolution. Still, it''s odd. I had a chat with Kess. She has no notion of what love is. She said that master Gin is an absolute figure for her. One whose decisions are to be followed even if they conflict with her desires..... Despite how great her desire for food is, she showed no hesitation in this. Is what I feel love? I find myself having the same feelings loyalty to master Gin as well so maybe..... Am I getting confused in my own mental irregularities? No, even if it is..... I will bask in it. Whether it is just pure loyalty or something more..... This captivating feeling that Gin gives me is all I need. ----- As morning came, so did those wretched. They are quite gross fellows. A particularly nasty one has master Gin worried. I can see a few familar faces sticking out of it...? Is that Felix? Hmmmm..... This is troublesome. I never liked that scum. He and Fellia were quite close in a weird way. Despite a trust sprouting between them, he always did that things that broke that trust just for it to be re-established. Quite weird. It seems that master Gin wants to fight it personally. I was worried about what may happen to him but, with Set here as well, it should be fine. He entered stealth and had me attack it head on. Set wants to stays attached to him..... Ahhhh, why couldn''t I have been a guardian. Staying close to master Gin and even sleeping with him like that! Unknowingly, I enter a rage as I start burning this creature. The flames drain its back legs of life as it starts hissing and the drow heads start hurling profanities at me. I scuttled away as it tries to approach me. I had the little ones make a circle so that this fight is not too choatic with other wretched trying to join in. Master and Set are nowhere to be seen which is a good thing. It''s back legs fall off as they start to crack apart. It drops its back snake body and swipes a huge cloud of dust up. With dust blocking my vision I started whipping up flames in a circle. The mix of yellow-brown and blue is quite a spectacle. I ignore that though and spot the snake''s silhouette in the cloud. I have a bad feeling. *Swooosh I barely dodge as a sticky slime is through over. No, it was vomited. I can see a whole bunch of parasites flopping around in the clump of bile. I can''t let master Gin get hit by one of those. Suddenly I hear it roar. Its front half is sticking into a pool of poisonous acid. The back half of it had a good portion of its tail cut off. Seems like they acted. It drags its head out with green fumes bellowing off its flesh. Not much damage was inflicted as the snake scales are still clinging to it. Honestly Its suprising that it only took that much damage from the pool. It must have some sort of resistance. It has the drow heads search around. I won''t let you! I charge at it dodging the clumps of vomit and pound a mass of flame into its back. A few of the heads explode from the force and the rest start howling. They may have some a detecting ability so it''s best to keep the beast itself in check. Hmmmm? I send a message to master to retreat. The spiderlings that have been holding the other wretched at bay are having trouble. I can''t let this creature live though. I order some of Xelu''s spiderlings to bombard this fellow which finishes him off. He tried to curl up to defend its side that I smashed but, one of the blood orbs managed to hit it in that area. After that it veined it''s way into the creature and destroys its insides. I swear, Xelu and her spiderlings are terrifying in more than one way. It probably would have taken us a while yet to kill the beast. However a blood orb alone just finished it off. They are even weakened versions of her own but..... It can kill this creature. 36 Always more problems Kess POV- Vulki is a little odd. Well, aren''t we all? Whatever, doesn''t matter. I had my minions drag back the largest morsel from that fight. Gin is afraid of bringing them into the nest so I decided to just eat right outside the nest. Don''t need to preserve them since a steady supply is here. "Hoooooohh!" It''s quite a lot. I don''t quite like the spider legs attached to it but, I''m not picky. Hmmm? Ohhh. It seems that Gin''s worries were correct. One of the heads sticking out of it is still alive. It''s mumbling something. "Fellia.... I''m sorry. uoohhhh!!!" Felix So..... uhhhhh.... it''s crying. Bobbing back and forth it seems to be distressed. Should I kill it? Probably won''t live long without a living body anways.... *Stick I jab a leg into its face. Well, I''m a bit famished so, it''s time to dig in! Gin Pov- Kess is eating right in front of the nest. Watching her tear the skin and muscle off the drow heads is quite terrible. This is why we should build a detached larder. Back to the matter at hand. That fight was closer than what I would have preferred. One swipe from its tail would have left me shattered. There were creatures swimming in its vomit that could probably harm me as well. Checking them afterwards left me stunned. They were similar to a tadpole but, they had a few extra long thin limbs. Dissecting one led to the discovery of a horrible maw that was hidden under a thin layer of skin. Yep. I don''t want to fight these things anymore. I can raise skills on regular monsters later. I quickly return to the nest with Set who is checking me out for wounds. I obviously don''t have any..... Still I appreciate the action. I go towards the main room. The only one here is Xelu. After Vulki took over her education, she has gotten slightly more expressive. I think she has been taught some weird things though..... As I approach she waves her tentacles and thorns robotically..... This is a result of Vulki trying to program her. She gave her orders to do certain things in specific situations. For example, when I walk up to her she waves her limbs..... I tried to undo this, however, even without the order in place it became second nature for her. Well, she has developed some natural reactions as well. The most apparent is the facial expressions she makes. It is defaultly emotionless. However, when you start explaining things to her, an intrigued or baffled face may appear. It''s like watching a child learning new things. I hope Vulki doesn''t corrupt that pureness.... "Hello Mashta" Xelu "Still calling me mashta huh. So how''s your education coming?" Gin Her words have become more clear. However, she still calls me mashta for some reason. I don''t mind all that much but, it leaves a weird feeling when a giant, bloody, eldritch spider creature calls me that. "Vulki''s education? She is trying to teach me that weird stuff again." Xelu Crap. She really needs to stop that. I''ve told her to be careful with what she teaches Xelu. I banned her from even mentioning some of the more aweful things. What was she like before? To even know..... No, I need to get that image out of my head. *Shivers ''What''s wrong master?'' Set ''Nothing, just a horrible thought.'' Gin *Level up(11) *Kess has levelled up ... Well everyone is level 11 now. Only 4 more until the next evolution. That''s a long way off though. The experience requirement has become a hefty sum now. I also haven''t had a mission generate. Surprising since this seems like a large enough issue to make one. Perhaps I need to invade their nest? Thinking on it though, I''ve never seen anything that is legendary graded let alone anything higher... ------ After an hour of relaxing Vulki rushes into the room flustered. "Master Gin! There is a group of drow outside. I don''t know who they are but, they are strong. It seems that our fighting has lead them here." Vulki Ohhhh? I didn''t expect drow to appear here. Perhaps it''s an extermination squad. They are most likely sent by the higher authorities of drow society. They may be scouts. With the local drow settlement destroyed they must be on high alert. "Well lets go see them. Let''s bring a lot of spiderlings just in case...." Gin ------ Drow scout POV We were sent out from the royal capital Ghoulil to find the wretched hive. Dozens of settlements and even a few cities have been crushed already. The fallen dwarves have suffered just as badly as us and will likely send scouts as well. There has even been talk among the religious faction about an alliance. The nobles and royalty would never agree but, with how things are now.... It may not be a choice. We first made our way to the first settlement that was destroyed. The stone walls are crumbled and no signs of life are anywhere to be seen. It gives off an eerie feeling. From there, we located the stream of wretched. Following the line back from a distance, something weird came up. The wretched break off into three different directions..... For only half of them to cause as much choas as they do..... The other three want to report on this right away. I cannot allow that though. We need to see where the rest of the wretched are headed. Some seem to be heading to a dungeon. If I recall correctly, this is a massive dungeon that was considered a forbidden place. Fairy-type monsters are just as evil as demon-types. This dungeon in particular is full of them and it is even said that in its depths, a legendary one exists. After going to the end of the other offshoot of wretched..... We saw something crazy. A human. Who controlled a broodmother and had some weird creature that shot out black liquid attached to him. As well as an army. This could both be a boon and a bane. With the wretched invasion going on, he will hold a good bit of them off. However, once we end it..... We will have a powerful rival. That cannot be allowed. Perhaps we can recruit him. I have the newest member go towards that firey broodmother. Arachne broodmothers are rare as hell already so one made of fire.... He seems to be communicating with her just well. A minute later she takes off to the cliff. Hopefully this turns out well. What, I didn''t know, was that this encounter would be the downfall of the drow race in its entirety. 37 Hatred Gore warning: It doesn''t happen until Vulki''s POV. You can skip over it if you want. It''s just to let you guys know that she is not a good person basically. Drow POV- When we see the human leave the nest we are given a big surprise. He comes out with more than one broodmother. Honestly, if it wasn''t for the smaller spiders with the same appearances, I would think them to be just a normal spider..... What is that? A blob with weird appendages stumbles over as well. These are his subordinates? Dangerous. I was thinking that we could perhaps ally ourselves with him but, with his war potential, it would be better to assassinate him. We have given up the element of surprise. Still, if we could escape.... We have those. Even in the event that we fail.... We need to lower his war potential. Gin POV- Walking up to the drow scouts, I see that the leader is deep in thought. She looks up at me and seems confused. "Hello? You guys wanted to come into contact with us?" Gin "Ahem. Yes, it seems that we were mistaken. Excuse us." Drow scout leader What the hell? This is suspicious as hell. I order the spiderlings to surround these guys. They end up panicking and draw small things from under their coats....? FUCK! Crossbows fire at me. My vision is blocked by red. Huhhh. Xelu.... *Boom *Boom *Boom A couple of massive chunks are missing. Through one I can see the scouts panicking as they are surpressed by the spiderlings..... My blood feels cold. A feeling is drudged up. Hatred. Set immediately reacts and starts drawing on the ground to create an image. She detaches herself to do it easier. I walk up to the drow who have been wrapped in webbing already. Kess and Vulki are fuming mad as well. "Vulki, extract everything you can from them. It doesn''t matter how you do it. Kess, go monitor the battlefield. We left it without a commander which is dangerous." Gin ""Yes"" Vulki and Kess I am not consumed by my feelings. It could be due to steel mind or from having my mind altered from being part spider. It doesn''t matter. What matters is my negligence. I should not have walked towards unknown entities with no real planning. Looking at the ground, I see a crossbow along with a small quiver. Explosive crossbow bolts. Something I did not expect to find on a drow. I take them. They are powerful. I have the urge to just break them but, that is nonsensical. Walking back over to Xelu and Set, it seems that Xelu is already healed. I calm down a little seeing that she is fine. Technically, even if she had died from the bolts, I could re-summon her. However, seeing Xelu almost die evoked terrible feelings within me that I thought would never appear again. "I''m sorry mashta.... I almost died." Xelu She says something ridiculous in her robotic tone. I am the one at fault. I am weak. The power and forces that I had built up made me complacent. I make the same mistakes over and over. You always hear about people learning from mistakes but.... It''s something that isn''t so simple. My mind always settles back into the same way which results in things like this happening. I will talk to the others later. I want the others to keep me from making unnecessary risks. "Xelu, you didn''t do anything wrong. I made a fatal mistake. Being complacent. I will talk to guys about this later... ------- Second Gore warning: Vulki POV- ..... In the short time since I was reborn, master Gin has always been an easygoing and calm person. However, the scene gave me witness to something that makes me boil in hatred. Drow. I was never really fond of that race. It is a rotten pustule. The only way to keep it from harming master gin is to remove it. First up is these four though. To try and kill Gin is unforgivable. I may introduce this into Xelu''s education as well. The nature of her aspect would make her a talent in this area. I make sure that they have no chance of escaping first. My fire is a good tool for this sort of thing. However it is too quick. I go out an collect a few corpses of the wretched as well as the clumps that were blown out of Xelu. Really, the only one that will have any real information should be the scout leader. I will leave her for last and take my time with cleansing this rot. I want to see what would happen when I transplant wretched flash into their bodies. Taking up some wire that I had Kess make me a while ago I go to work. Well, one of the metal spiderlings that I borrowed from Kess does. I am immaterial which makes it hard for me to do this personally. First off I have the spiderling tear a chunk out of a scout''s side. I quickly run my fire over the wound to stop the bleeding. Although my fire does not produce heat. It can be used seal up wounds oddly enough. A good thing to keep in mind in case any of the others are hurt. In that chunk that is taken out, I have some wretched flesh put in. This is a more interesting piece as it is was taken from where two different creatures were fused together. While I have Kess'' little one sew in the piece of flesh I start one with the second matter. The parasites from the wretched that me and master took down are not unique to that creature. I have found that some of the others have them swimming through their guts as well. I have another metal spiderling pull out a parasite. I want to see what they do. None of the spiderlings are susceptible to these creatures but, master Gin should be..... The creature gnaws its way into the second scouts abdomen kicking its legs as it pushes forward. The scout screams horribly. I''ve seen a lot of things done by the religious faction on experimental subjects but this..... I''ve only heard screams like this from some of the most horrible things that were done. Perhaps I can make more of these creatures? These wretched are dangerous indeed but, if kept under heavy watch for any signs of abnormality along with a strong enough containment unit.... I may have a good resource. As the scout''s screams get more intense a whole bunch of smaller parasites wiggle their way out of his mouth, ears, nose, and other exits. One even managed to wiggled out of his eye socket. I burn the life away from the few that manage to escape from his body prompting the rest to re-enter his body in a haste. It seems that they are semi-intelligent. Surprising as wretched are not supposed to have much intelligence. After that I watch as his skin slowly starts to break revealing cavities in his inside. With wretched tadpole creatures swimming in his guts. At this point I hear another scream from the first scout. The flesh that was implanted in him has veins bursting out in it. His previous skin starts tearing and it also starts to turn green and black. I wasn''t expecting this. Green blood starts to flood outward as he starts to bulk up squishing him in his web cocoon. His pained screams turn into a weird raged yell. I kill him to prevent any mishaps. I need to dicuss with master Gin about creating a laboratory. I have a feeling that experiments will become a major part of my activities in the future. I also kill most of the tadpoles as the other scout is now long dead, with only his bones remaining. The other two turn a deathly pale grey. Well, your turn now~. 38 Uncommon territory Gin POV- I have Xelu go aid Kess with wretched duty as I go to check in on Vulki. I end up finding her in one of the more remote rooms that we have. Taking a quick peek in leaves me stunned. Yeah, I didn''t need to see that..... The scout leader will probably spill everything just from the look of things. I decide to ignore whatever goes on in there and take a look at my experience. Level 12 is not too far away. Things are getting progressively slower as the amount of experience required is increasing. Hmmm? I notice a change in attributes. Strength and endurance went up .2 points. Territory core must''ve been strengthed. As I think that a new screen pops up under my status. General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) *Territory Core Host* Class: Arachnomancer(*Growth-Epic) level: 11 Exp:12545 Required Exp:14000 Status: Health(104/104) Resource-Mana(406/406)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- Str: 8.5 End:10.4 Agl: 11.5 Int : 22.9(20.9+2) ------------ Wis:20.3(18.3+2) Cha:10 Per:14(12+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) Condition:Normal -Perks *Untraceable(rare) *Greater mind(rare) *Wisdom''s blessing(rare) *Closed system(rare) *Territory Master(unique) *Steel Mind(unique) *Spider''s Stealth(rare) *Arachnid Ruler(epic) -Skills *[Poison Control] *Poison Pool T2 lv1 *Poison Lance T2 lv1 *Stealth T2 lv1 *Summon the Broodmother T2 lv4 *Summon Ararchnid Guardian T2 lv4 *Negotiation T2 lv4 *Cooking T2 lv2 *CQC(close quarters combat) T1 lv3 *Crafting(includes sewing, woodcrafts ect. Forging would be a different skill.) T1 lv2 *Taunt T1 lv2 Territory Core [Fused](uncommon)(unnamed)- Core that was fused with a being. Strengthens lesser aspects of the fused being along with itself. Allows for the strengthening of others now. It''s changed. Now its uncommon and apparently, I can designate others to be strengthened as well. The energy that is usually absorbed into the territory core whenever something dies can now be set to a subordinate of the territory. I designate it towards Set for now. She is my last line of defense. It seems that the area of the territory has increased as well. It is now about a kilometer in radius, which is about twice its previous size. The dead wretched have made great contributions to me. Still, I wonder what is going on in the dungeon. I don''t think the fairy gnomes are strong enough to withstand that flow..... Only possibilities I can see are that the gnomes have really strong individuals or there are other monsters in that dungeon. Whatever the reason is ot benefits me as it takes away a large portion of the wretched..... ------ Vulki walks over to me with a metal spiderling carrying a few sheets. How the hell did she get these? Wait. These look more like leather? Oh no..... She has the spiderling hand them over to me. "I got a lot of new information from her. It seems that she was really willing to divulge everything. Unprofessional in my opinion. Anyways, I summarized it all and had it written on these leathers from some dead wretched. Oh, Set, I may need some more ink by the way." Vulki Thankfully the leathers came from wretched. I figured she had used the skin from the drow that we had captured. I have developed a small sort of hate towards drow but, I would rather not use their skin for writing. Only evil villians would do that..... Although..... Thinking on it, our forces have questionable aspects and spiders are not usually given good reputation. ''I still haven''t accepted her. It seems that we share some common interests though. Like our undying passion for-'' Set I ignore Set as I would rather not know. She seems to be the most isolated out of them all. She doesn''t talk to the others much and she has been growing more introverted as time goes by. I asked her about it and she said that my life takes priority over all else. She cannot allow something to happen especially now that we are at war.....War? Thinking on it why hasn''t there been a war declaration? Unless the wretched don''t have an offical territory established. I''ll put that line of though off until later. What matters now is this information. Looking over it all I see some suprising information. The mystery of the dungeon is solved as well. It seems that a ''legendary'' creature lives in there that kills any large invasion into the dungeon. The drow learned this the hard way. First time I have seen anything about a legendary creature. The rest of the information consists of what the drow have learned of the wretched and the political undercurrents that are going on. This scouting force was established by all three religious factions and the royal family. The most that could be sent were semi-elites as all forces are being used to hold the invasion of wretched at bay and even to try and force the wretched back so that a bigger force can steel their way towards their hive. The wretched we have been fighting consists of newborns while the drow have been fighting ''mutated'' ones. Similar to the one Vulki and I killed earlier. The information that suprised me the most relates to the religious faction. Apparently, a prophet in the faction that worships spiders had his eyes bleed as he saw a vision. He then started ranting about how that a much more dangerous being lies near the wretched hive. That being will spell the end of the drow race. Of course the drow ignored that, as he seemed to have gone mad afterwards. That can''t be me.... Right? I''ll ask Vulki about it later. She seems to have been a prophet as well. I place the leathers down and see Vulki staring at me with anticipation. I praise her and try to give her a headpat but, my hands just phase through. She seems to upset about that. ''Hmphhh, it''s best that she can''t come into contact with master. I can only imagine.... Why. Why, can''t I have a more humanoid body....'' Set It seems that Set has made herself upset as well. 39 Not gone ye Alternare POV- Welp. Suprises come in bunches. After that sludgeling defiled me, a lot of pressures have been pitted against us. Still.... What was that. It was quite a pleasant feeling to be shredded. Nothing should be able to effect us physically, so that foreign feeling was amazing. Putting my top hat back on, I order the stagehands to hurry up. That dirty bitch should be ''cleaning'' her subordinates right now so we have a bit of time to work with. Lord Sloth should be able to protect us but..... That''s if it even desires to do so.... Better employer than envy though. Those poor bastards keep disappearing recently as well. A stagehand pulls on my cufflinks. Ohhh? A transmission? Hopefully Lord Sloth is contacting us. It''s quite puzzling that he would contact us so soon though. Walking into a smaller tent, I''m bathed by the red glow of my room. Ahhh how I''ve missed it so. If it wasn''t for my job as the ringleader, I would never leave you. I shoosh the screams of the lesser creatures that have lost their physical forms and open up the curtains in front of my receiver. Lord Sloth appears this time as a small child covered in sheep fur. I take off my hat and bow. "What have you done this time! Sillith is encroaching the core of my hell!!!" Sloth What?!?! For her to already have!.... Don''t tell me that the second hell will be lost? Hells should only be able to be usurped by beings that have a similar nature to it. Even then, it is almost an impossibility. Perhaps her aspect of gluttony will allow..... "What are the other lords doing? They can''t allow for this to happen!" Ringleader "Lust and Envy tried to help but, they suffered heavy blows to their forces. She is demanding that I surrender along with you specifically! What have you done!!!" Sloth The only thing I''ve done was kidnap that sludg-.... Ha... Hahahhaha~ For that? Time we escape huh. Sloth is going to be lost. He should bear the responsibility as our employer. No one would take us in so we can only rely on ourselves. Kidnap the whelp again? Never. Only bad endings there. One day we will have Sillith on our stage~. Perhaps we can even force that sludgeling down her throat. Ahhh~ I can imagine the scene now~. "Sorry Slothy boy~. It''s time we make our exit. It was a fun time working under you~." Ringleader "wahhh????I knew it. You never truly submitted. You crazy devils. I can guarantee this though. If I fall you have no chance for survival." Sloth I give a wide smile. The skin over my face breaks a little revealing what truly lies under. "Heeeeaaaa~ not if we climb into the abyss~!" Ringleader *Sigh "Truly insane. I should never have delegated all that work to you guys." Sloth *Gluuurge *Rumble I see a giant mouth swallow Sloth whole suddenly. After that I hear a whole bunch of crunches followed by digestive noises. Gross. The mouth turns into a woman. I try to turn the tranceiver off but, it seems I can''t. I give her a rude gesture before breaking it by headbutting. Just for fun~. Looks like a lot of work is in order.... Goodbye sweet room.... Aein POV I purged the ranks of subordinates quickly. Unexpectedly we came into a little bit of information from one. Some circus trash have gone after Gi-Young master. Malady confided with me on his relation to her. It seems that he is ''physically'' related. An actual relative of hers. It seems that she had a ''minor'' obsession with him but, rarely came into contact with him. He went missing though.... Then he appeared in that world after countless years. The rest that she told me afterwards was erased from my mind. Whatever malady wants. At the moment she is fixated on Sloth. The fool that backs psycho trash. Well, more like it allows them to do as they like as it lazes around. We know that Envy is a problem as well.... However, it seems malady has plans for envy that will take time. While she is off to the realm of sloth, I need to watch over the young master. Malady is not very appreciative of doubt but, it is needed. Until she becomes an omnipotent being, it is required. The young master is growing forces greatly. It''s a surprise that he acquired a class that allows the summoning of broodmothers. The question is.... From where? His spiderlings just ''pop'' out of these weird spawners. I haven''t witnessed the creation of his broodmothers either. I can''t find the original coordinates from where they appear. It''s as if.... They come from nothing. Back onto observations. The drow of that world seem to keep causing issues. They are feeding the wretched and strengthening them. They even attacked the young master. I can''t interfere unless something really bad happens. It seems that for now, he is bound to that world and its system. Until he reaches a certain level of existence he can''t leave. I did a little research on it and there seems to be a few requirements. Reaching a certain level and class/species ranking along with some other things. I shall watch over him and wait for that day. Hmmm???? Malady sent a transmission. "Aein! I want all circus ringleaders rounded up and fed to Hadofithinn" Sillith Im told something ridiculous. Gin POV- Reading over the papers again I find something I missed the first time. A mention of Sillith. It seems that the drow who worship her are trying to find their ''saint''..... They don''t have the ''largest'' faction but, they have the strongest so this is something big. Especially since they won''t move in most occasions. Too bad I seem to have developed a slight hatred to drow. Vulki excluded of course. Perhaps I could have pretended to be their saint in order to gain a lot of force. It''s stupid to have this feeling in general towards drow. I can''t help it though. Minds work in mysterious ways and my own baffles me a lot due to be messed up..... I wonder if this saint is something like a hero? A great evil(The wretched) appeared and it would only be fit for a force of good to appear. Just like countless stories.... Unfortunately, this ''story'' will most likely be more complicated than that. 40 Explosion Gin POV- A couple days have passed since we have dealt with the drow scouts. I should talk to Vulki about this disgust for drow that is forming in me. I don''t want this feeling inside me. She should be resting for now as Xelu is keeping the wretched at bay. Walking through the hallways I reach a room that is set up to be a strategy room. She is staring hard at a map made from treant bark and Set''s Ink. She has drawn out the local area along with the drow kingdom/religious country. It seems that they don''t call their own country anything which is slightly odd. Other races just call them the Drow Theocracy as the religious factions are much more prevalent in their society. When she drew it up, I finally had a real idea of how large this underground pocket is. The ''sky'' is quite large. I already knew from the archne queen''s diary that it is dozens of kilometers high. Honestly, it looks endless. Next up is the ground area. The pocket is thousands of kilometers in area in the shape of a rounded off triangle. To the south-west corner is the forest where we are plus the Drow Theocracy. They occupy a little over a fifth of the pocket. To the north part of the pocket lies a country known as Black Iron Pyre. The naming is a little odd on that one but it has the largest area covering a little under half the entire pocket reaching almost down to the southmost portion. It seems to be a country of fallen dwarves. With similar appearences to drow, they have red eyes and grey skin. However, as expected from dwarves they are short but extremely well built. Unlike normal dwarves they can''t grow beards. A lot of other races think that is the reason for their short-temperedness. The south-eastern country is made up of many subterranean creatures including monsters like minotaurs. Known as the ''Union'', they have the smallest country with only an eighth of the pocket as territory. The rest is wilderness or forbidden areas. Their people are grouped into clusters of 1500 people each with one acting as a representative. The representative is the smartest person from that group and they determine laws. I was quite suprised on the amount of information Vulki had on them but, it seems that the drow have led several campaigns to ''convert'' them. What they were actually were doing is capturing large quantities of them for slave labor. It seems that the Black Iron Pyre does the same to the Drow Theocracy except that they are more blunt about their reasons. Enough of that though. I walk up to Vulki who raises her head. Her mask is a little spooky but, I find that cool to be honest. "Hmmm? Does Master Gin need something? Are you in need of relief? Unfortunately I can''t come into physical contact.... However! I have been able to manipulate Kess'' spiderlings to a degree that I swear I can feel what they''re feeling so maybe-." Vulki I know that she is joking around but still.... That joke produces some weird imagery in my head. Luckily Set is asleep at the moment so she won''t make snide comments. It seems that she has developed a weird sleeping mode that she can go in and out of really quickly. She seems to guard me more attentively whenever I am asleep (or so I''ve heard) as well. Anyway. "I''d have to turn down that offer. I came here to talk to you about a problem I''ve been having. I seem to have developed.... some sort of dislike for drow....." Gin "?!?!..... Am.... I Included?" Vulki "No! of course not." Gin Her tone seemed a bit weird when asking. I could see her getting upset but, something felt a little off for some reason. Hard to tell what goes on in her brain....? Does she have a brain? She is made of fire so perhaps she has a fire-brain or something. "Thank go- uhhh I don''t really believe in gods anymore so.... Thank... You???" Vulki "Your welcome?" Gin This conversation has become weird. Real weird. Especially now that she is giving off a feeling of realization through telepathy. "Ahem, so back onto the issue of you hating trash. Isn''t that natural? I only realized after becoming as I am that the drow race is scum. I would tell you about what I have seen over the years but, I don''t want to pollute your mind. The drow in this pocket are bad but..... I''ve heard rumor that the drow throughout the rest of the world are even worse and are known as ''scourge''."Vulki This is my first time hearing about the rest of the world. Obviously this pocket is a small portion of the world. I can only wonder how large it is in its entirety. Vulki seems to pick up on my interest in the world and I swear.... The smile on her mask got slightly wider. "We can leave the talk about the world for later. Honestly, there is no innocence in drow. Even the way we-..... They.... are born is full of sin. From what I know human children are born almost as a blank slate. Their latent desires exist. Lust, greed and the like. However, they are not born with the inability to truly care for others. Along with heightened desires.... I have seen a few mentally damaged drow force themselves into believing that they do care about others. However, they either end up sizzling out or exploding. They realize that their ''love'' is false and move on..... The other thing that happens is they develop a deep unnatural obsession, usually with a mate.... That never goes well...." Vulki It seems that the drow are designed to not care for others. This doesn''t actually lower my dislike for them but, I can accept their nature. At least a little.... "So from a logical standpoint, drow are scum. They.... Are designed to be that way. Since... They are basically fallen elves who side with ''false'' gods.... Just like fallen dwarves they can never truly be happy either. The defining feature for what our races could have had are expunged as we wallow in our own sins...." Vulki ..... She seems to be..... Quite depressed over this. After becoming an arachne she must have experienced feelings that she couldn''t have as a drow.... However, I think she realized this stuff long before she became an arachne..... As she said. Drow are designed to be a bad race..... Perhaps I can- *Boooooom A huge blast rockets sound and shakes the nest causing small stones to jumble around. I give a look to vulki and she nods. We quickly go outside to see a giant dust cloud. It seems to be a good distance away. Set wakes up and goes into high alert as Kess fumbles out of the nest. I start worrying about Xelu. However after a minute I see her come back with the spiderlings and salutes. "The dungeon exploded." Xelu "What?!?!" Gin 41 Fly Gin POV- "The dungeon exploded." Xelu "What?!?!" Gin Thankfully our forces are safe. It seems that the wretched are all rushing towards the explosion for some reason. Then I hear it. A high-pitched buzzing that grows to drown out all sound. ''Everyone back into the nest. Lockdown the nest as well. Something bad is going to happen.'' Gin I give the order through telepathy and right before we close up, I see a dark figure emerge in the dust from the explosion..... Drow Royal Guard POV- The scouts we sent out have not returned. Since we have no idea on the situation we can only send more and develop a force to combat these abominations. Well, our forces are all gathered already. 20,000 troops from the royalty and nobility and 30,000 zealots from the religious faction along with 15,000 mercenaries and slaves to use as fodder. A force this big hasn''t been assembled in quite a few years. Keeping a force of this size a secret is impossible so, the fallen dwarves may try to use this as an oppurtunity.... We shall use half of our forces to keep them in check.... That leaves a little over 30,000 troops to work with. We set up camp a dozen kilometers away from the site of origin. When mid-day rolled around, something happened. A massive explosion. That can only be two things. Dozens of high-leveled fire mages cast a massive spell or.... Dungeon explosion..... I look at my subordinate who is cleaning her armor. She nods and quickly climbs a tree to get a better view. She has an skill called eagle eye which is just what is needed. "I see a large dust cloud. Its higher than all the cliffs in the area. Huh? Sir. There is a figure in the cloud. About 100 meters in height and 50 wide. The legendary creature most likely...." Drow scout "Shit, I know.... The Zephyr Lord broke out. What is it doing?" Royal Guard "It''s slowly floating over to where the origin point of the wretched should be. It seems that some of the dungeon creatures are following it as well." Drow scout I have a headache coming on. This has turned into a delicate situation. It doesn''t matter if the wretched devour the dungeon creatures but.... If the Zephyr Lord dies.... The wretched will eat it''s flesh and bunch of epic-rank ones will come about. Well, that''s if that thing can even die. There has been campaigns many times larger than our current one that have tried to take that behemoth down. They all failed miserably though. No matter what we did it would assimilate it''s spawn into its own body to regenerate..... What is it planning on doing? It''s size won''t allow it to attack the wretched hive. Unless it plans to tear them out or flood the hive with its spawn? Who knows.... Legendary creatures, monsters, and people are ridiculous. Let alone the rumors of beings above them. I take off my armor and climb a tree as well. As I get to the top, a buzzing sound spreads over the forest. I look over to see it emerge from the dust clouds. Really an ugly behemoth. A massive fly with an elongated trunk and is covered in thousands of small wings. Millions of smaller flys surround it as it levitates to the wretched hive. I must get the spatial mages ready to establish a gate. With a ''few'' sacrifices the gate can encompass all 50,000 of us. "Get the spatial mages ready as well as the blood mages. We''re getting out of here." Royal Guard. "Really a waste of time and resources, huh, not that it should concern us. Do you mind if I have a little fun with some slaves first?" Drow scout "Do so if you want to remain behind." Royal Guard She mumbles something and walks over to the mages tents. Plotting against me again? Why do so many among our race have to be like this. *Sigh Gin POV- We sealed up the nest even more than before. However, I would like to get a visual on what is happening. I decided on making a temporary hole at the top of the cliff to see what is going on and I suprised to see an army to the right.... How did we not notice that.... Granted it is far and out of the way. After observing for a while I see many glowing lights as their camp is abandoned. Some sort of teleportation. To be able to use that on so many people.... I seal that hole up as I can only see the abandoned camp through it. I have the spiderlings open another and what I see gives my heart a jolt. Looking out towards the wretched base I see a huge fly monster surrounded by some weird black waves circling it. "Vulki, what is that? The dungeon is supposed to have a legendary creature so, is that it?" Gin I back off to let her look through the hole and she nods after looking. "That should be the Zephyr Lord. We should probably seal this hole up. The wretched are talked about as myths and legends due to how rare it is for them to establish a foothold in the world. This creature is a true legend though. The spawn from it can heal any of its wounds. Also, as long as any of its spawn live it can return even if it''s main body dies." Gin Why didn''t she tell me this earlier? Well, it doesn''t matter at this point. I''m just glad I didn''t meet it in the dungeon earlier. There was just fairy gnomes and pixies from what I''ve seen. I have Kess'' spiderlings fill in the holes and after a couple minutes the sound of buzzing starts to vibrate the entire nest. A few minutes later I hear explosions which last for quite a while. Legends..... My class is only one rank from it but it seems that there is a massive void in between. I can''t imagine being able to fight that creature even if I was a few dozen levels higher.... *Ding *Mission Generated: Conditions: - Survive after being noticed by an agressive legendary-rank creature/person that is at least level 50 ¡Á(pending) - ???? - ???? - ???? - ???? Rewards: - Job Class Rank increase Ahhh. This is something crazy. That pending.... Does that mean it has noticed me? "Vulki.... I think it noticed us...." Gin "..... Hopefully its too enraged at the wretched right now and will forget about us....." Vulki 42 Wisdom Gin POV- The mission can be put off for later. What is important is creating insurance in case that goliath tries to attack the nest. Worst case scenario is that we have to abandon it.... We can''t run away either so perhaps we should dig a long tunnel. I get Kess and her spiderlings to work immediately with excavating. The amount of metal spiderlings has reached a ridiculous degree so its progressing rather quickly. After two hours the buzzing and shaking stops which worries me. I fit all of the spiderlings into the tunnel and perpare to close it off at any moment. After waiting for a while nothing happens. Phew.... I can''t be sure that the giant fly monster is gone yet, but, as more time goes by, that is more likely. I check the mission and the first objective is checked off with the others remaining unknown. I get Kess'' spiderlings to check out the situation as I wonder why this objective was so easy to complete.... Did something else attract it''s attention? ------- Royal Guard POV- We have a few farseers watching the situation with scrying pools. Normally these would only be used in wars but, this matter is an exception. Hopefully, the Zephyr Lord can take care of the wretched and then go settle down in another dungeon. Ohhhh.... It looks like all the dungeon monsters are dead. They got killed as the Zephyr Lord tears its way down through the ground with blasts of wind. Well, fairy gnomes are irritating creatures so that''s a pleasant thing. After a while a large explosion booms as the Zephyr Lord gets blasted out of the hole that it dug. A large amalgamation climbs out of the hole.... Well.... Wretched have a limit of epic rank. The problem with them is that they appear in ridiculous numbers and can grow in strength quickly. This creature should be a fusion of epic rank ones that came back to protect the core that summons them. Some powerful drow and monsters died due to not grasping the situation quickly enough when the wretched first invaded. If you don''t prepare, you will be washed away by numbers. Still, it is no match for a true legend-rank being. The amalgamation is thrown into the air as thousands of blades tear it into mincemeat. The core is destroyed along with it relieving me. Now the only issue is the Zephyr Lord. It should look for a new dungeon to reside in but..... There is the chance that it will attack our country..... It turns its head to look at a cliff in the distance but then something happens. A mechanical sound bursts as a bolt jabs into the creature''s side followed by an explosion.... The size of the bolt indicates that a ballista is the culprit but, who would roll a ballista into that area.... I have the farseers look for it and, I get cold sweats looking at the situation. Fucking fallen dwarves.... They have a few tied up drow and a ballista set up nearby. What they are doing is obvious. They are trying to get the Zephyr Lord to attack our people by pinning it on us. The Zephyr Lord knows about our country due to torturing information out of drow that have gone to kill it. It will think that we are responsible.... Shit.... This is no longer a situation I can handle. I run out of the scrying room to find the captain. I find her drinking tea with the queen in a private room. Those two have been weirdly close recently and rumors are spreading like wildfire.... The king, he is nothing but a toy the queen keeps around to continue the bloodline.... Ignoring their flirting, I immediately report the situation. Thankfully, they are both level-headed individuals. They won''t blame situations that are unavoidable on their subordinates. "It seems that the fallen dwarves are looking for a fight. Although a legendary creature may not be as bad as a wretched invasion, it is still a horrible creature to deal with." Drow Queen "Mmmm.... Well we can probably lure it into another country.... Unfortunately, with the terrain it would be too difficult to lure it into the fallen dwarves country. Have a group of scouts lure it to the ''Union''. Those trash never listen to our demands and have been getting out of hand recently as well." Royal Guard Captain Bowing, I leave the room to get to work. As I shut the door I hear a small moan. Why is our race so promiscuous? Personally I find it kinda gross. I did have several organs removed and have gone through a couple procedures to keep myself from falling to lust. The experiments I went through when I was little made me ''different'' from normal drow as well. In particular I find no sense of meaning in anything I do..... "Inival! Get to work!" Royal Guard Captain "Uhhh! Yes Ma''am!" Royal Guard/Inival I get together a large group of criminal slaves and scouts. Leading that monster towards another country will take a lot of sacrifices. The scouts are to use the slaves as decoys. *Sigh "This is going to be a pain...." Inival ------- Gin POV- It seems that the Zephyr Lord is truly gone. That''s a load off my shoulders. Still. It would have been nice to farm the wretched for a bit longer I am currently half way to level 13. I must have missed the notification while focusing on something else. What should I do to get experience now? I could start a war with the drow but, after hearing Vulki talk about their nature, I have a few scruples with that. Plus I may end up killing children, which I am entirely against. For the same reason I am against attacking other countries as well.... Kess'' spiderlings are quite adept at digging..... Perhaps we can find another pocket? From the sounds of things, the pocket we are currently in is quite mild. Most are engulfed in killing and the people in others are ''supposedly'' even more barbaric. *Ding Ohhh? What''s this? *Wisdoms blessing has activated. Knowledge granted ''Vampires''. I forgot I had that skill. It hadn''t activated for a while so I just figured that it may be somewhat of a dud. Looking over what I am given suprises me. Isn''t this basically a full book? The screen keeps going on and on as I scroll down. In it''s entirety I''m guessing its around a hundred thousand words long. I glanced over some of it. It''s all about vampires and their kin..... The system is not unique to me. So anyone with this skill can accrue massive amounts of information if they live long enough, huh.... I get Kess to work and get reading. I''ve had many boring spells but now I have something to pass the time. 43 Ring Kess and her spiderlings have been expanding the nest as well as building probing tunnels to try and search for new pockets. At the same time Xelu, Set, and I have been exploring outward while I''m not reading about vampires. The forest is surprisingly almost fully grown back. The wretched had devoured a large portion of it leaving nothing behind but, they did leave the new sprouts alone oddly enough. Quite nice as the cliff is noticeably weird at this point with Xelu and Vulki''s spawners on top of it. I tried to hide them by stacking rocks in front of them. However Vulki''s cubes glow a weird color at night, somehow making it look ominous. The most changed place would have to be the arachne queen''s nest. It was a bit reckless even though I had Set check it out first. Surprisingly, not a lot of damage was done to the actual structure when the Zephyr Lord attacked. Only the entrance had been widened from it''s siege. What I saw from first entering was that all of the webbing had turned into a toxic looking purple, with some of it showing a little bit of a neon green. Even the rock near the entrance had started to turn from blue to purple. Whatever poison was used to kill her must have been extremely potent. Anyways it seems that this place has been entirely cleaned out. Checking the room I had first ''appeared'' from gave me a suprise though. All the corpses are gone leaving a large empty space. Hmmm? I notice a little silver twinkle from something. Nothing should be reflecting light as the purple webbing absorbs light..... Well there is a faint green glow, but that should not be able to produce a twinkle like that. I walk over on high alert with Set. I had left Xelu outside to watch for any potential threats.... What I see is a small silver ring. Engraved on it is the name ''ALEX''....? Name seems familar.... What is this doing here? Only guess I have is that it was buried under all the corpses. Unlike me and my subordinates, most organisms need to eat so maybe.... ''A ring in a place like this is weird, isn''t it?'' Set She''s thinking along the same lines huh.... I have an odd feeling seep into me. A similar feeling as to the one that Kess and Xelu give off. This one though..... I can only explain it as a desire to keep it close. A ring that makes you desire it? I''ve heard that somewhere before, although where exactly eludes me. I slip it on my ring-finger and move on. What I didn''t know was that this action would cause some choas in the future. ------ Leaving the Arachne queen''s nest, I decide to check out the dungeon. Telling this to Set and Xelu leaves them in a weird state. Set seems to be seems to be checking out our surroundings with with extreme focus and Xelu is scanning from above. Did Vulki tell them something? I enter stealth and slowly crouch-walk to the dungeon. What I see is a bit weird. Space seems to distort and parts of it stretch out and rubberband back. After a while it seems to die down and everything is calm. A unique sight indeed. I can see the ground the entrance is burned but the entrance looks fine just that the portal is missing.... I''d rather not go inside the area behind where it should be with space being as weird as it is. My decision is correct as it acts up again rapidly stretching, almost reaching to where I am.... Hopefully, this doesn''t turn into a problem. The Drow higher-ups should have some idea and since they aren''t doing anything..... It''s fine? Well that''s enough investigating for now. I have a hankering to get back and start reading over more information on Vampires. ------ Returning to the nest Vulki looks relieved. I start explaining to her the situation at the dungeon and she nods. "Dungeon explosions are uncommon but not rare. Usually the strongest creatures that emerge are epic-rank ones so they are not treated with any real importance as most are killed by the space distortions. The drow had experimented with the distortions a bit but, there was no real benefits to be found...." Vulki I lay down after talking about the rest of what I discovered. The most comfortable things are usually made by Set. She made a bed for me previously and she recently made a long couch. It''s made of viscous amber and blank ink that doesn''t stick to anything. The best part is the sense of ease given off when you rest on them. I start reading as I hear Vulki start to educate Xelu about common sense. ------ Aein POV- I watch the young master go about his days. It seems that he must have access to some sort of knowledge. Based on him being a summoner, the most likely skill is Wisdom''s Blessing.... Eventually he goes out with his subordinates. Set and Xelu. They have some unique aspects but, the one that interests me the most is the one named Kess. It seems that she is extremely gluttonous..... Although, she may not have that as an aspect, she may have the potential for it to appear whenever she evolves..... Malady seems to be happy about that as well for some reason. Observing him run around, he eventually makes his way to what looks like a familar nest..... I haven''t seen that place in quite a while..... Hmmmm? Something shiny? Young master picks it up and observes it, as do I. He puts it on his finger and..... leaves? A small silver ring. Alex. I have an excellent memory so, why do I feel like I''m forgetting something? I''ll report this to malady. She probably has some insight on this matter. ------ I tell malady which results in her picking me up by my arms and spins around with me. Weird. She is extremely happy and giggly. It must be something pleasant. In most cases she is cold and unapproachable. However, since young master has come around, a portion of her hidden persona has been leaking out. Suddenly a scream echoes throughout her realm. The prisoner huh. Malady''s mood sours as she sends out signals and the screams quiet down. Eventually a smile breaks out on her face again. "This is quite a pleasant occasion?" Aein "Yes! Yes! The ring is quite special to me, I had planned on using it to~but I had lost it~ who woulda thought it would end up in his hands anyway~" Sillith Her words break up in the middle but, I get the gist. She had been meaning to give that ring to him. 44 Intruder While reading through the information on vampires, I hear a loud metallic grinding noise. Metal.... Kess? I immediately shoot up and run towards the workzone that Kess has been digging in with Vulki and Xelu lagging behind. When I get there I see a small figure bundled up in a cocoon and Kess with a white scratch mark on her leg. Looking closely it resembles a human but with slitted eyes and scales cover a portion of it''s face. "Gin, we have an intruder!.... I caught her and she scratched a little. Can.... I have it?" Kess "Tivolk desant Kriltook!" Intruder Vulki hears this and scowls. "Translation?" Gin "You''d rather not know. Nothing of any importance." Vulki "????What the hell is a human doing in these parts?" Intruder I don''t get it. it sneaked into this nest and now it is asking what I''m doing here? I can''t tell the gender as it''s facial features are no help..... Well, thinking on that question, I guess it is weird for me to be living with a nest of spiders.... "I live here. Now what are ''you'' doing here." Gin "Well, I heard humans are more trustworthy then those fucking drow..... I was a slave that they were going to use as cannon fodder. When they used us as sacrifices for their spell, I hid and managed to escape. Luckily, I had a defect in my collar. Otherwise.... I would be a pile of magic goo." Intruder I bring Vulki to the side as the lizard person starts swearing out Kess. "Do you have any idea on whats this all about?" Gin "Drow enslave plenty of creatures. This one should be from the ''Union''. I don''t know about the specific species though.... I''ve never seen one quite like that one..... Back to the matter, drow usually bring slaves when they go to war or in their skirmishs. Mainly to use as cannon fodder or sacrifices to use for large scale spells. I''m just stunned that their was a surviver." Vulki She confirms that information. What''s so suprising about a survivor though. I ask her and she explains how slavery works in drow society. It is either done through a collar or a tattoo. Collars are known to have problems and tattoos are much more reliable. However, certain individuals enjoy using collars for some sick reasons. Collars are apparently very volatile and have been known to choke slaves to death or explode at random times. Thinking on the matter I bring the others away and leave a few spiderlings as guards. "So what are your opinions on what I should do?" Gin It is important to get more input in the matter. "Can''t I have her?" Kess "Kill her." Set "Educate?" Xelu "Just feed her Xelu''s web flesh. I turned out fine." Vulki Hmmm..... Surprisingly useless inputs have been given.... Kess and Set''s choices are basically the same. Xelu is confused about the whole issue. Vulki''s.... Well I''d rather not go through that again. I do have an open slot for a broodmother.... I don''t even know it is a female. Can a male become a broodmother? A shiver runs down my spine as my thoughts turn a weird direction. That is until I hear yells from the place we left the lizard person.We quickly return to see Vulki''s spiderlings ordering Xelu''s spiderlings to use their tentacles to.... "STOP! STOP!" Gin "Ahhh. If only I had the same aspects that Xelu has I could-...." Vulki I get a few confused looks from the spiderlings and Xelu while I hear Vulki mumble something weird. The lizard person is covered in a weird slime. I see tears build up as it looks at me.... "Pervert...." Intruder She starts sobbing as a notification comes up to show that she has submitted and that she is extremely compatible to be a broodmother..... I swore to myself that I wouldn''t.... These four are already a pain to deal with..... "Master, I change my mind, I think she should be assimilated into a broodmother." Set "Why''d you change your mind?" Gin "Well, I feel bad for her and she is not really corrupt. I just wanted to kill her at first but, it seems that you are really against that despite her stabbing Kess..... Seems to be the only option unless you don''t mind the possibility of a massive leak of information....." Set I didn''t expect Set to think on this matter so much. Looking at the notification I see that she is extremely compatible just as Vulki was so, I don''t need to worry about another Xelu being created..... I''m really not a good person huh. Well lets go with it. I select Yes. The lizard person is whisked away leaving an empty cocoon. I get a few options for aspects but, I leave it for now..... If I can aquire a way to somehow erase things from minds then I wouldn''t need to worry so much about a leak. Both Vulki and this lizard person ended up being assimilated due to it being the only option that I wanted to choose. I want to prevent myself from becoming a ruthless killer..... There was technically enough reason for me to kill Vulki when she was a drow and also to kill this lizard person as she attacked Kess but, if you look for it, you can easily find reasons to kill anyone. Just because someone slights you doesn''t mean you should kill them or even burn in thoughts of revenge. Admittedly, when the drow scouts almost killed Xelu I raged a little. Even if she had died I could resummon her. However the sight of Xelu protecting me and getting chunks blown out of her had a huge impact. On top of that, those drow did that with full malicious intent so, I don''t regret anything that I did..... Or that I had Vulki do.... Anyways I take a look at the aspects that are available and go into thought on what I should choose. 45 Husk Aein POV- Hmmmm.... The young master is very odd. Instead of killing the intruder he let her live. After a while I got to see something ridiculous though. She disappeared without a trace. Most beings leave behind residual energy when they are teleported or moved. This though..... It''s like she was erased from existence..... That can''t be right. I start using the various observation skills that I have aquired over the years and then I see it. Over the young master, a spider is floating. It is entirely red with only circles of black indicating that it has eyes. It is swallowing the body of that intruder. After a few seconds its body bulges as it gets her down and not long after, an egg is layed. A transparent white egg. A few minutes after the young master seems to have decided something and, nods his head as the egg changes color and cracks. Just before it hatches the spider turns to me and tilts its head. Malady needs to know of this!!!.....??? What? What does malady need to know? I was watching young master catch an intruder.... After that? Memory modification. How? I must inform malady of this matter. For something to be able to do that to me.... It cannot be good. ------ "Something modified your memory? Something that resides around Gin..... It.... couldn''t be right? Let me check real quick...." Sillith Malady seems to have an idea of what it could be. She tried to undo the modification but, it seems that the memories were entirely erased. I await her orders as this matter can''t be simple. "It seems that it is not much of an issue, Aein. It should be my old husk. After I obtained this body I had to leave my old one behind. From what I can tell the husk seems to have found it''s way to Gin and fused with his class." Sillith "Then it is nothing to worry about then. I just wonder how it could have found him so soon. The husk must have fused with his class right when he formed it...." Aein "Heeee~ I''m not surprised. Only natural instincts~" Sillith Natural instincts? I shouldn''t ask. I would probably have my memory erased again. "Thankfully, I didn''t cut connections with my husk. Now, I can watch from close up heee~..... I still need you to watch him though." Sillith She speaks in a weird feminine tone and, then switches back to a monotone one to tell me to resume my duties. ------- Gin POV- The options brought up this time are interesting. *Choose aspect 1. Pride 2. Draconic 3. *Hatred *Choose aspect- Error Code Ha7ell0v30101 1. Human/Fungal 2. Bestial 3. Faceless 4. Cabbage Lets just go down the order of these things. First is another sin, pride. That is a definite nope. I can imagine a massive amount of problems with that choice. Next is draconic.... Something to do with dragons? Well, she was a lizard person.... Actually, thinking on it, I never got her name..... Anyways draconic seems to be the only viable choice as I see hatred being the third. I wonder what that asterisk beside it means? Onto the second aspect. For some reason, there are four choices..... Gonna ignore that last one.... I don''t undestand what human/fungal means but, the human part is a good choice. Bestial is an odd one. It should be something like a wild aspect I think. Faceless.... I don''t have good experiences with faceless creatures so I will cut that choice off as well. So the choices I''ll go with is draconic and human/fungal? Would that be three aspects?.... Probably not. The human/fungal aspect is probably fused to a heavy degree. As I confirm my choices I hear a weird gloop. I look down to see a small mushroom sprout from the ground. Blue with white spots. *Gloop *Gloop gloop More start sprouting, leaving me a bit stunned *Glllooooooopppp A massive one sprouts but, it morphs into.... a humanoid figure? Well not quite. Instead of human legs it has eight spider legs sticking out the bottom of its torso. Similar to an arachne but, it is missing the lower spider body. Thick blue and white scales start to cover it''s body, making it look even more bizzare. The only part that isn''t covered in scales is her head. Similar to the previous lizard person but with more fat. She was probably starved as a slave so her features before were rather gaunt. Scales are present around her eyes but, only a few. Her hair which was previously filled with mud is a white blue as well. Reminds me of Xelu when she was a harpy except that the new broodmother''s hair is shoulder legth and curled at the ends instead of straight and long. Her eyes are different though as all eight look at me with confusion. Similar to Kess she has human eyes but that is more reasonable as she is a.... Humanoid? Similar to Vulki she has an incredible figure.... Not that I''m into draconic, fungal, spider people. Thankfully, the scales cover all the important places. She comes closer to me with an even more confused look. "What?" ????? How do I answer that? Hmmmm.... Perhaps I will take Xelu''s earlier advice into account. "Can I have some help Vulki, this is probably going to take a lot of explai-" Gin I look over at Vulki to see her eyes burning while also giving off a weird feeling. She runs over and, tries to grab various parts of the new broodmother. Her hands just phase through as she can''t touch anything though.... ''A true pervert indeed.'' Set Kess and Xelu are rather curious as they start examining her as well. Finally Vulki faces me and looks rather down. "This will take a lot of explaining. You don''t need to worry about her flipping out though. We have a heavy bond with you from the moment we are assimilated. She was at the end of her ropes before. I wouldn''t have been suprised if she died from starvation, sickness, or from parasites not long after we captured her. She was rather weakened" Vulki She didn''t seem that bad when we captured her? Perhaps Vulki had a much better grasp on her condition than I did. Anyways, I should probably get her name. I ask her and she shudders and tells me that she only had an identification number..... Well, I guess It''s time to think of names huh.... A dragon name.... Nidhogg, Fafnir, Ouroboros.... Hmmm.... Not very nice dragons..... Dragons are not usually considered ''good'' creatures for that matter..... I do remember a lot of different movies and such from my old world painting them in a pleasant fashion though..... ----- After thinking on it for a while I gave up on thinking of a dragon name due to the nature of dragons in general. So instead I decided on a name from a greek goddess. Nemesis or Neme for short. 46 Nemesis (Author''s note: Kind of a long chapter. It is basically about nemesis'' life until this point. There is some nasty bits but, nothing too bad. Just putting this here as a small disclaimer.) -Subordinate Name: Nemesis Race: Fungal Humanoid Dracanae (rare) level: 12 Required exp: 17,000 Health (???/???) Resource- Mixed draconic energy(300/300) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: normal Seeing the experience requirement, I cringe. It has been getting larger and larger. Now that the wretched are no longer there to provide experience, I will have to find a new source of mobs. I''d rather not go to war with the various countries at the moment. They are much more dangerous to me than the wretched were as they have a lot of mages and assassins. Looking at her being indoc-.... ''Educated'' by Vulki, I can see that she has come to terms with what happened. In fact she looks a little excited....? Is that expression excited? I feel my heart sink as I realize that I may have another ''odd'' one. Nemesis POV- Listening to this fire thing explain the situation, I am immediately drawn in. It seems that I was converted into an immortal creature under thae saint. My mind seems to have become a little weird. Or was it always weird? I was born into slavery, like my mother before me. Our ''master'', my father.... He was a priest that worshipped snakes. He was obsessed with finding a lamia. Unfortunately, they only appear on the surface so, he found the next best thing. Lizard people. I''m not to knowledgeable on my mother''s past but, I know she suffered a lot under her previous master. So the way she was treated by father made her fall in ''love'' with him. She would always tell me how much she loved him and about how lucky I was to have a father that ''cared'' about me. In reality, he only cared about her. Despite his loving attitude towards my mother for being a lizard person he saw me differently. I was an abomination. Nothing more than my identification code..... He had a room below the shed we had in our yard. He would bring me there to ''play''. He would shout obscenities and laugh as he used his ''toys'' to crush various bones and organs. He would always heal me after he was done and act as if we just had a normal time playing with toys. I can''t tell if my mother was oblivious to this or if she kept quiet as she didn''t want to risk herself for me. As I got older the play-times got worse and worse. His favorite thing to do was pushing iron rods under my ribs and smashing down to make a nice line of bones pop up that he would pretend were drums and bang on with sticks. I had to sob along to the beats otherwise he would stick a metal spike into one of limbs and start twisting.... I can''t say that I became used to the pain. In fact it was the opposite. Each play-session became more and more painful until one day I snapped. When he was trying to get me to come along to his shed, I did. However, before he could strap me down I took a metal spike and jabbed into the area between his neck and skull instantly killing him. I was in a weird state of remorse mixed with ecstasy. A feeling I will never forget. What happened after that was horrible. I managed to sneak out of the shed and flee into the wilderness. It was a day and a half later that I realized that I had pursuers. My father was an extremely famous healer who was valued even by the royalty for his skills. His skills that he aquired from torturing me. So when they realized he was dead they immediately sent out a few royal guard members. Not much of a struggle. I was caught easily and tied up. When they had camped for the night before the return trip, one of the royal guards came to talk to me with glazed over eyes. I forget her name. Ival? Inial? Whatever, she told me that I would meet some saint in the future and that I would be one of his direct subordinates. She then told me what I would have to do in the future. I don''t know why but, for some reason I truly trusted her words. After she finished with the chat her eyes returned to normal and she looked around confused, eventually shrugging it off. My treatment from then on was consistently horrible. I was forced to work in a iron mine that had collapses on a daily basis. My body which was not used to this type of labor collapsed daily as well. Whenever that happened the guards would kick me until they were tired. This continued for a few years. It was during this time that a developed a small talent. A talent to make myself unnoticeable. This helped me survive as being beaten by guards daily would have probably been the death of me. I had made plans to escape but I was too slow with them. I was reassigned to a group that consisted of other unfortunate slaves and mercenaries who were either foolish or had a large amount of debt. We were told that this was just a small expedition to exterminate some monsters but, seeing the faces of the soldiers made me think otherwise. During the time we took to travel to the area of extermination, some slaves would be taken away by a scout and a few others.They never returned.... Luckily, they never set their eyes on me.... Then one day we heard a massive explosion followed by a buzzing sound. The mercenaries and slaves panicked but were forced to come down under threat of death. We were all herded into a magic circle. They told us that it was to get us out of there. That we would only hold them back. Lies. Terrible lies. The others started to bleed and a massive red magical shield covered the circle to prevent any resistance. More and more blood flowed into it but, I never did bleed.... Why? After a good portion of the people around me were drained, I was teleported out of there. I collapsed and looked up to a familar face of the royal guard from a few years ago. Eyes glazed over she told me that I would meet the saint soon, I just needed to find him. Apparently, I would have met that saint at some point in time even if she hadn''t interfered..... Hard to believe them.... She put me in that mine instead of where I was supposed to go to. The breeding house..... The name sounds absolutely horrifying and, from the amount of info I got on it from her, it is. What the group behind this royal guard apparently wants is just for me to put in a good word with the saint. They are afraid that he won''t be accepting of them.... The royal guard told me the direction I would have to go to meet him. I first found a place to hide though. I dug out a hole in the mud and buried myself leaving only a hole to see from. Not long after all sound was basically drowned out by the buzzing. Honestly, I wasn''t too frightened. It wouldn''t matter if I were to have died at that point. However, I wanted to meet this ''saint'' so, I closed the hole and waited for everything to quiet down. I dug my way out and went to the location the royal guard pointed me to only to have my heart drop. Spiders.... Lots of spiders..... Was I lied to.... It couldn''t be right? Perhaps this saint controls them? Some Drow seem to worship spiders so maybe? I sneak my way into their nest but, it was rather difficult.... I heard crushing noises come from one passage and I was a little curious. Peeking in I saw a massive spider sitting on a few smaller ones. I had grown too confident as I tried to get a closer look and was captured after a small wrestle.... The spider started talking common but, I figured that I must''ve misheard as I shouted some of the things my father used to call me. At that point more and more spiders of different varieties came in alongside a human? A human? I ask him why he is here but he just turned the question around as if it were natural for him to be here. I answer it with semi-truths. The guys who see this guy as their saint don''t want to be revealed yet. After that, he went to ask his spiders their opinions while I was subjected to..... A form of torture I never experienced..... Even father never did anything perverted.... As I start yelling they all rush back and the torture stops as he yells. "Pervert....." Nemesis I mutter as I start crying. I thought that I would be subjected to more tortures in the future. My mind couldn''t handle it. I felt my body start to lose strength as my willpower faded only to experience something bizarre. I can''t remember what exactly happened here. My mind was in shambles as I had given up. Next thing I know I feel weird energies inside me as I instinctually sprout from the ground with a much different body. ------ That brings me back to now. The fire being explains many things about the world to me. The main focus though was the greatness of ''our master''.... ... M??????????????y???????????? ????????????????????S????????????????a?????????i?????????????????n??????????????t??????? 47 Secret Tunnel~ Kess POV- Seeing Gin talk to the newbie I get lost in thought.... Fungal.... I don''t like that aspect. I have a feeling that it will reduce the amount of snacks I get. I haven''t really cared about any of the others when they came along but, this is different. My gluttony is needed. Otherwise I would turn into someone like Set or Vulki. Idolizing Gin to a terrifying degree. Although, I do like Gin a lot, that is a degree of mental illness that I''d rather not reach. Xelu is pretty fine. She is full of confusion and curiosity so she doesn''t focus too much on Gin. I have a feeling that once her mind settles.... Well who knows~.... I can see the newbie breathing heavily as she talks to Gin.... Another one huh. 100% loyalty brings the crazy out of creatures. I start listening in when they talk about abilities. I hope she has abilities like Set who barely ever has the chance to use them. Her rune ability has only been used on dying enemies and, even then, very rarely. ... Damn. I was right. She basically creates undead by having spores infiltrate corpses or weak creatures. Well, not really undead as the spores are alive and sprout in the corpse.... Her draconic aspect gives her a massive boost in physical abilities while the human part pf the fungal one gives her fungal undead greater intelligence. It seems her spiderlings are kinda useless though. They are really fast and strong but, at the same time whenever they come into contact with anything with too much force, they explode into a massive cloud of spores. Her webbing is a weird blue and, releases stronger spores at short intervals.... A talent that she basically had from before is that she is extremely good at going around unnoticed. Perhaps her and Set can work in tandem. Negotiation time. "So, Gin, this won''t effect my snacks at all will it~." Kess I try to water my eyes up as I make the cutest face I can. I don''t know if it''ll work with a face like mine but, my eyes are just like any other mammals. WORK!!!...He gives a scrunched up face. Is that a good response? "You can keep the majority of the corpses we get. Just give Neme the stronger ones." Gin Crap. Can''t be helped, I guess. The stronger corpses have a more crunchy texture which is pretty good. The weaker ones can almost be slurped down as the bones break into millions of shards very easily which is an enjoyable feeling as well..... Everyone gets back to work so I should as well. ------ I have a lot of my minions working on digging a tunnel. The amount of minions I have at this point is uncountable. With me building more spawners it will only get even more crazy. Looking at the tunnel which is probably a dozen kilometers long and about 30 meters in diameter gives a feeling of satisfaction. I immediately start overseeing the excavation. My minions are not dumb but, if I left the work to them for too long a collapse would only be a matter of time. They start swaying back and forth and they start ''screeeeing'' as they work. It seems that after teaching them various things they have developed a sort of sub-culture. The ones that aren''t dancing or working are bowing to me. Hmmmm~. These guys enjoy working for me. I enjoy working for Gin but.... What does he enjo-.... Stop. I need to focus myself. I won''t turn into Set, Vulki, or the newbie..... I see that the pile of rock debris has gotten much larger. Not as delicious as flesh but, it''ll do. ------- After consuming rock for a few hours I''m interrupted by a few of my minions that are rather frantic..... It seems that they dug into a secret passage. I explore it a little and am left bewildered. Statues of fat humanoid creatures fill the passage leading upto a massive space several kilometers wide and high..... There is also a temple. The only thing is that it''s on the roof of the cavern.... Looking close it seems to be infested with centipedes. A few fall down into a green lake that I didn''t notice at first due to the ridiculousness of the temple taking up my mind. *Sppppppoooooooalllll A weird sound errupts as a horde of fish fly out of the lake devouring the centipedes before they reach the lake.... Gin would probably like to know about this place. I withdraw for now. I was a little worried about having to eat rocks for a while but, now I''m filled with a sort of relief. -------- Gin POV- Kess seems to have uncovered a secret tunnel. This is one of the things I was hopeful about. We should be fine as long as there is no legendary creatures. I take everyone along with me too explore it along with an army of spiderlings just in case. Neme seems to stay close to me whenever she doesn''t have anything else to do. I was stunned to learn that she stared at me for several hours when I was reading up about vampires. Isn''t she just as bad as Set? Set seems to want to stick to me all the time which is pretty weird but, at least she has the excuse of being a guardian.... We make our way down the massive tunnel that Kess dug and reach a small tunnel. I see the fat humanoid statues. They have horns, hooves and a weird looking tail.... Cow people? Perhaps this was an old place of worship. Still.... What is it doing so far underground. I doubt that cow-people live this far down. Eventually we see the giant temple. It kind of looks like an ancient Aztec temple except that it is made of blue stone. The kind of temple that sacrifices would be made on.....? I didn''t notice the place was illuminated. Since I can see in the dark, I didn''t notice at first but, there is a blue light that is almost like a thin fog that covers everything. A little eerie. Welp, lets just let the spiderlings explore the place. I''m not one to take risks. 48 Reverse Temple I stay nearby and have the spiderlings climb their way to the temple. Xelu''s spiderlings can just fly towards the temple so they reach it a bit quicker. When they reach the top though, something ridiculous happens. A large rumbling occurs and my view becomes distorted. When everything settles down I finally understand what happened. The entire cave flipped leaving the lake on the roof while the temple lies on ground level..... Kess and Xelu are greatly confused while Vulki and Neme are closely guarding me. Set is on edge right now as it seems like she is trying to drill her way deeper into my skin. I try to guess what happened. I can''t tell if the entire cave just flipped or if.... Gravity for us was reversed. I start sweating at imagining the consequences..... If we were to go outside wouldn''t we fall into the sky? Well..... We would still be technically underground so I guess it would still be fine? I check my status and find out I was right. Under condition it has reversed gravity with an unlimited time attached to it.... It seems that we ''have'' to explore the temple now. I tell the others what I''ve discovered and other than Xelu, they seem a bit worried. Neme even proposes something horrible. "Well, I can be resummoned after death right? If I die in there I can just try again and again until I conquer it." Nemesis She seems rather eager.... That kind of mindset is something I can''t approve of though. The rest just think I should use spiderlings but, who knows if we can get more from the nest. I have Kess have her spiderlings check out if the tunnel is still ok. I get really bad news. The tunnel is gone.... After contemplating I come to this decision on how to conquer the temple. Kess'' spiderlings will act as tanks, Vulki''s will act as mages and by the most heavily defended. Xelu''s will be similar to aerial assassins. Unfortunately Neme doesn''t have many spiderlings at the moment so they won''t have too much of an effect. I can use them in emergencies as bombers when the time comes though. We will follow behind this group and have another smaller group of spiderlings covering our rear as we advance. Retreat is an important thing to keep in mind as well. It would be better to retreat well ahead of the time that we would be ''forced'' to retreat. My planning was ruined though. When we advanced to the entrance, all of the centipedes fled quickly into the temple. We did manage to kill one but, unlike what I imagined, it only provided one experience point..... proceeding through the temple was easy as well.... No enemies or traps paved the way making me slightly nervous. I would have felt much better if we met some form of resistance. This is just eerie. As we continue down the passage, metal statues of cow people start to pop up on both sides of the passage. Buried into the brick, they stand really tall, about three meters. Unlike the ones outside, these are covered in heavy armor with only their horns and hooves exposed. They each carry blue halberds with cloth covering the ends. I thought that they would spring to life and attack but, I was only partially right. They followed behind our group without showing any signs of aggression. More and more of them escorted us as we went along. "I don''t like this" Vulki "Do you have any clue on what''s happening Vulki?" Gin "No, this is quite a bizzare event. The fact that none of the things in this temple are hostile....." Vulki "Perhaps the temple isn''t abandoned as we thought?" Kess I''m suprised as Kess actually gives a thoughtful answer. She seems to be interested in the living statues. Perhaps seeing another form of life that is made of metal caught her interest? I just hope she''s not interested in them as a source of food.... The tunnel opens up into a twisted room. Extremely odd looking as the walls ,floor and roof are twisted together. Not sure if this due to a strange power or if the room naturally looks like this. The very end of the room goes back to normal though as there are steps that go up to an altar. The top seems to have brick thrones with two giant metal statues covered in even heavier armor than the ones from the passage. I''m guessing one male, one female due to their structures.... King and Queen? When we reach the altar I get to see that it looks like the same kind that aztecs ripped the hearts out of people on..... Uhhhhh..... Thats not going to happen here right? After a few minutes a shadow congeals itself in front of us bowing its head down while it raises the palms of its hands up. Three cards appear. One black with a shiny gold lining, one white with a dull blue lining, and finally, one Grey with a glowing red lining. Is this an oppurtunity or a curse? I''ve seen similar scenarios happen in games and stories before and the results are usually drastic. Some people are gifted with great fortune, While others are rewarded with death or sometimes, a fate worse than death. Cards seem to hold some sort of significance in the grand scheme of things though. Between reading the future or determining someone''s fate, cards are important items. So how should I choose which card to pick? Honestly I don''t know. If they were all the same I would just pick a random one. However they all have unique aspects to them. The black and gold one give me a feeling as if I had everything in my grasps. The grey and blue one give me a feeling of tranquility as if I don''t need to worry about anything. The grey and red one makes my blood boil as if I could fight for the rest of my life and never tire. However..... This all seems wrong. Why would I just be given this chance? Is it because we discovered this temple? Is this whole thing a giant and elaborate trap to somehow enslave me by making me pick up a card? I don''t trust any of this so inaction is my only option. I pass a few hours discussing things with Set. She is the most cautious out of all of my subordinates. She seems to have a similar mind to me. ''In the end, this is all too convenient. I wouldn''t pick up any of the cards. I doubt that a temple like this would just ''give away'' some sort of benficial opportunity. As for what to do from here.... I haven''t the slightest clue..... We''ll most likely have to fight our way out. With the amount of metal statues here plus those two huge ones.... It''ll be hard.'' Set Hmmmmmmmm.... 49 King and Queen If we have to fight our way out it would be best to think of a strategy. I discuss with everyone and eventually settle with this. Me, Kess, Set, and Vulki will try to kill the king and queen as quickly as possible while Xelu and Nemesis along with the spiderlings, will hold the rest of the metal cow people back. I lay down a few poison pools preemptively while Nemesis and Kess start laying web in case a few metal soldiers break through. As soon as I step off the altar, a massive aura of hostility was born. The cow shadow disappeared into nothingness as the King and Queen''s eyes light up red. I run back up the altar and stealth along with Set. Kess spikes their feet making a very sharp metallic noise. The king ends up stumbling into a poison pool. It doesn''t just have a poisonous nature. It''s a very potent acid as well. The queen quickly pulls the king by his feet while green vapors spring off of him. *Roooooooooaaaaaaaa He screams in rage. I hide on the otherside of a poison pool as Kess and Vulki prepare to take the King on. I shoot a few poison lances towards the queens feet. It does more damage than the poison pools as I see a good bit of her armor is corroded quickly. She looks towards me. Crap..... Set quickly detaches and disappears somewhere while I kite the queen around one of the pools. A few seconds later I see a rune glow on the back of her helmet. Set must have helped. The queen starts raging as well as she tries to clear off the rune with her arms but, unfortunately, her armor is too bulky. She ignores me for a moment and- ehhh? She dunked her head into the poison pool clearing off the rune. Smart. *Gingaling Vulki used her bells and both of our opponents start wobbling. I see can see the King''s armor is deformed and part of it is a grey color. It seems Vulki''s flames don''t just drain life ehhh..... I quickly cast a few more poison lances towards the Queen''s feet. After taking damage she breaks out of Vulki''s hallucinations and starts towards Kess. I re-enter stealth as I run over. It seems that Set has been helping to take down the king as I see several runes over his body. His armor is even more deformed and has cracks where it is grey. All three of them must have gone all out after Vulki used her bells. I warn Kess who is the Queens target through telepathy. She quickly retreats and shoots a few spikes in between her and the queen. I use poison control and start lashing whips of poison from the nearby poison pool at her feet. She turns and charges me down. Crap! I dodge by jumping into one of my poison pools. My lower half is submerged melting off my armor and clothing. Luckily I''m immune to poison and apparently, acid. I stay in the pool for now and start throwing more whips towards her but, I quickly retreat further after seeing what she''s doing. A few rocks whiz past my head and make massive splashes. I manage to dodge long enough for the others to finish off the king as a mournful roar blasts. I look over along with the queen who reaches out. The king.... Melts? Into a stream that flows turns into the queen''s hand, turning into a massive halberd. Her eyes turn from red to a deep black. I quickly use my necklace''s ability- bark skin. She waves it over the pool sending me flying from the shockwave. *Cough I spot out a good bit of blood with a few chunks..... Luckily I had that otherwise.... Kess and Vulki rage as they strow themselves at the queen. A blue-green cloud also fills the entire room. Spores. They start attaching thmeselves to the queen.... They start coalescing into vine-like structures that try to impeded her movements. Set returns and quickly draws an extremely realistic picture of me on the ground and I end up feeling much better. That healing ability is quite bizzare but, works wonders. I re-stealth again and launch an attack on her feet again. Kess and Vulki notice the damage done to her feet and start aiming there as well. Not only that it seems that Vulki used her one ability that steals faces. The mask looks to be made of metal. The queen who''s vision is blinded by losing her face, feet are damaged, and movements are being more and more impared by vines, rages..... Her armor starts to turn a hot red. Kess, who is close ends up taking the full force of her attack, cho-..... "Set go help her!!!" Gin I start using poison control..... Waves and waves roll in on her. I pick the queen up with them, high into the air and, smash her into a poison pool like a meteor. Cracks splinter the bricks, even reaching up the walls. Realizing that I''m out of mana I try to rush over with a machete that I never thought I''d use but, Vulki stops me. The queen struggles out of the pool and collapses. I have a bunch of notifications pop up but, I need to know Kess'' condition. I walk over to see Set looking down..... "Kess disappeared into particles.... She needs resummoned....." Set I turn cold. I know that Set, Xelu, Vulki, Kess, and Nemesis can''t truly die. However seeing them wounded, hurts me. Seeing Kess die. Hurts me. This will continue on until the future. Seeing them die..... With strong enemies appearing in the future, we can only fight to prevent death..... I can try to hermit myself as much as I want but, to get stronger is the only way. I''ve had reservations with attacking the drow due to ''morality''..... Perhaps It''s time to put that sort of thing behind me until we are strong enough to accept something like morality. 50 Part of me With the King and Queen dead, the subjugation of the rest of the soldiers went quickly. Xelu and Nemesis did a good job and actually wiped a good portion of them out. It seemed that the centipedes tried to attack as well but, they died due to the spore clouds that are still lingering everywhere. Not only that, they seem to be trying to revive the fallen soldiers as well..... Anyways, what now? I look around at the upheaved brick, pools of poison, corpses, and finally, at the place where the cards were sitting. Surprisingly, there is one card lating there. Unlike the previous ones this one doesn''t give off any feeling. I walk over cautiously to see what it is.... A completely red card with numerous eyes swirling on it. They seem to be watching me.... Anticipation? Odd. Well, I''d rather pick up this card then the previous ones..... Should I though? Honestly it may have been the better choice to pick one of the three cards earlier. I did not know the battle capabilities of the metal cow people. With the amount of information that I lack when it comes to just about everything, it may be a miracle that I''m still alive. Vulki can fill in some information but, she has only knows so much. Getting lost in though a good few hours pass. With my mana regenerating I finally get enough to resummon Kess which I immediately do. A small metal circle with countless engravings pop up and a mound forms. A few moments later the mound explodes into Kess'' form. Well, I guess it is Kess. She stands up from laying down and looks around with a confused expression..... Wait, how do I know how to read spider expressions? Hmmm, perhaps I got that vibe through telepathy?..... "Did I pass out or something???" Kess "Uhhhh, no. You died. I resummoned you just now." Gin "??? Well I guess it''s about the same huh? Anyway- Nemesis!!! Don''t tell me you took all the corpses!!!!" Kess I look over to see a army of blue-green stautes standing and trying out movements. They look a little weird with mushrooms spouting out of the chinks in their armor. They also have a moss-like covering over their armor as well.... Kess and Nemesis seem to be arguing a bit so I''ll leave them. Getting in the middle of fights is something that never pans out how you would imagine it too.... Eventually Kess has ber spiderlings carry away a few of the soldiers despite them being ''alive''..... It''s just good that Kess is okay. I was worried that death would have penalties like losing memories or it would alter their personality. Looking at her status nothing seems to have changed. Speaking of.... It seems that we barely earned any experience here. I figured that the statues would provide a good bit but.... Nothing. We got about a thousand from the centipedes..... It''s going to be hard to reach level 15 huh. Leaving my thoughts, my vision is placed on that card again. To do or not to do.... Fiddling with the ring on my finger, I decide to go for it. This situation is quite different to the previous one. I''m not being coerced into it. Instead my own desire and curiosity drives me to do it. That could be a trap in and of itself.... I pick up the card and the eyes in it squint in happiness as a small smile is formed out of nowhere.... Not a creepy one but, a slightly cute one? My sense of what is ''cute'' may be a little skewed. It seems to react with my ring and, eventually, the card turns into red threads that fuse with it. The rings a bit special too huh. The system doesn''t register it as anything special.... ''Hello'' ???? ''Hello?'' Gin I hear a voice through something similar to telepathy which makes me a little panicky in the inside. I respond with a ''hello''. I get no replies so, I try a few more times asking various questions. Could I have had a small hallucination or something. I have heard that humans have many small hallucinations everyday. They just don''t realize it. Think you saw a shadow, mishear something, confuse an inanimate object for a living thing.... This seemed more ''vivid'' though.... I''ll try again later I guess. After everyone is set up we make our way out of the temple. Gravity could flip back since we finished it. I half-cling to set who digs her legs into the brick the last few steps out of the temple... *rumble *rumble. Instead of falling, we return back to our original positions. The exit is filled with spiderlings from the nest. They must have been worried after we lost contact. I decide to keep the passageway to this place but, I have the spiderling make webs across the opening to serve as a warning. There may be something to gain from this place still. We haven''t even checked the lake yet. I return to the main room of the nest and I lay down on the viscous bed that Set made me. I''m..... Tired.... General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) *Territory Core Host* Class: Arachnomancer(*Growth-Epic) level: 12 Exp:6076 Required Exp:14500 Status: Health(104/104) Resource-Mana(406/406)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- Str: 8.7 (up .2)(due to territory core aborbing energy) End:10.4 Agl: 11.5 Int : 22.9(20.9+2) ------------ Wis:20.3(18.3+2) Cha:10 Per:14(12+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) Condition:Normal -Perks *Untraceable(rare) *Greater mind(rare) *Wisdom''s blessing(rare) *Closed system(rare) *Territory Master(unique) *Steel Mind(unique) *Spider''s Stealth(rare) *Arachnid Ruler(epic) -Skills *[Poison Control] *Poison Pool T2 lv3 (up 2) *Poison Lance T2 lv3 (up 2) *Stealth T2 lv 4 (up 3) *Summon the Broodmother T2 lv5 (up 1) *Summon Ararchnid Guardian T2 lv5 (up 1) *Negotiation T2 lv4 *Cooking T2 lv2 *CQC T1 lv3 *Crafting T1 lv2 *Taunt T1 lv2 . . . -Alternate POV Heee~ I''ve finally talked to him after all these years~! I can even watch him through a closer perspective now!..... *sigh "Is something wrong malady?" Aein "Everything ''is'' fine." Sillith When can he be by my side? That stupid system is keeping him locked to that world. I can''t even come into contact with him.... Perhaps I can mess with things a little? Aein''s been getting a little more interested in him as well. Only natural when you spend your days watching someone~. A bit stalkerish, no? Well, I did make that part of her job.... She could be considered a part of me so that''s fine, even if feelings do develop. Will develop. Those little ones can be considered a part of me as well now that I think of it~. If only I could live through them.... Well, at least I can talk to him. What to say..... 51 Cult of the Mush -Mushroom Clergy POV "Errrrrrrrr (Today marks the first meeting of us Mushroom-folk. As I took the corpse of the metal cow queen I shall lead." Mushroom leader "Huuuuurrr (Why don''t we have one of the mushroom spiders lead the cult? They have a closer relation to the goddess than us.)" Mushroom mob 1 "Gaha gaha muuuuurrr (*cough *cough, this isn''t a cult my good fellow but, a true group that worships our creator and our creator''s creator. Although the spiders could technically be called our creator they are just used as a conduit to bring our existence about. So the goddess is the true creator while her creator is like an archgod or something. We are too lowly to worship him though so we can only worship the goddess.)" Mushroom leader "Deeeeeeeerrr..... (That''s kind of a depressing way to put it.) Mob 2 "Seeeeerr (How are we lowly creatures? We even developed a method of communication.)" Mob 3 "Gahuuuuurrrr (Well, we were created through his and her resource. Without their existence we will cease to exist. For those of you that don''t know why we should have a religion, It''s not like we have any other motivations in our existence so, why not create one? Onto another matter.... The beast has stolen our newborn brethren from our flock. The goddess tried to reason with the beast but, in the end had to concede. Although we are allied with the beast, we can''t let this fly. So we shall get advice from the fiery ones on matters of ''pranks''.)" Mushroom leader "Pluuuuuuurrr (Shouldn''t we think of a name before anything else? I thought of a good one. Cult of the Mush, good right?)" Mob 2 All the other mobs nod "Gaha gaha tuuuuuuuuuurrr (*Cough *cough, Lets make it Path of the Mush, Right.) Thus the Cult(path) of Mush is born. ------ Gin POV- I woke up to see Nemesis'' zombies having a meeting. One even has a stand made of mushrooms that it beats on like a certain old world dictator. Wow. I didn''t expect the greater intelligence from the human/fungal aspect to have this effect. I get up to realize that I''m the only one here (besides the mushroom people). I go down a couple corridors and find Vulki slouched over a map. I made mention to her, Nemesis, and Set about the way we will go forward from here. Vulki has told me before that the drow are ''inherently'' bad which made me.... Pity them? Not quite.... Anyways, I''ve decided to go on the offense against some of them. Nemesis has told me a few tidbits of information though. Apparently a group of drow wants to be subordinated by me. They believe me to be their ''saint''. I have heard of them before but I didn''t expect to have any relevance to them.... A meeting has been set up by nemesis. I''ll leave the matter to her. I doubt they could hurt her. Why is that? Well because of her health. I wondered why it was represented by question marks in her status so I did some questioning. Apparently, her consciousness can manifest in any of her subordinates which can then morph their bodies into a new one for her. So, they could attack her but, it won''t do any good as she could just abandon it for another. This sounds incredible but the process can take around a day. On top of that the original consciousness has to be willing to give themselves up. Who would do something like that? Rather than an ability, this is more of a racial characteristic of mushroom-creatures. Similar to Kess'' metal body, the volatile nature of Xelu''s eldritch flesh,and the non-solid bodies of Vulki and Set. ------ "So what kind of strategy do you want to use. Full on slaughter? Kill all adults? Those that fight back?" Vulki "We''ll see how well the negotiations go with the drow that worship Sillith first." Gin *yelp huhhh? My imagination playing tricks on me again. I take a close look at my ring..... *sigh I swear I''m going crazy "The wretched we''re pretty hard to deal with. The drow withstood the stronger variants of them without other countries trying to push cor war which speaks of how strong this country is. In my opinion it may be best to try to put them under your thumb. Pushing any race into a corner may result in them using terrifying magic or weapons. Lets hope the negotiations go well. We can try to take over from the inside. If you want to destroy them after taking over, it would be a thousand times easier as well." Vulki Hmmmm..... I don''t want to eradicate them from the crust of this world.... Drow are not a race that is trustworthy though.... Perhaps.... "Vulki, do you think we could convert the drow race into different one?" Gin She gives me a startled look and goes into thought eventually shrugs. "I was converted thanks to your class.... From what I have heard from you, converting others is only possible when making a broodmother like what you did with Xelu.... Although, you may be able to do something with nemesis. If you can leave the original body alive while having the conciousness created by the spores serve as a failsafe in case they act up. You could also just enslave them as well....." That is the more realistic outlook.... Converting a whole species would be hard. Nemesis'' spores could spread far and wide so that is definitely an option. Enslaving.... I dont like that concept.... Drow are fallen elves or the descendents of them. They commited sins against their gods and creators resulting in this cursed race. According to Vulki. I don''t think gods would care if I turn them into mushroom abominations..... Anyways, leaving spores inside a whole bunch of people could act as bombs is the same as slavery..... I need to experiment. If the negotiations go well, maybe I can have the drow bring in scum for experimentation. -Nemesis POV It wasn''t too hard to get into contact with the drow that follow my saint. They left a few people nearby. When I mentioned what we want, they were overjoyed. Eventually, I got to meet the same royal guard that brought me to this wonderful home. Something that I never ''really'' had before. A home..... With glazed over eyes she said that they agree to everything we want.....? I haven''t even put out our terms yet. I would, without a doubt, do anything my saint tells me to do..... These people..... Are drow though. Worship is a big part of their culture but.... Well, I figure that something will be put in place, a magic contract or something to keep both sides feom betraying the other.... "Wait, don''t you want to make it impossible for betrayal? We are all willing to sign a slavery contract, put collars on, and have runes engraved in us." Inival What the fuck? *Cough What the heck? What is wrong with these people? 52 Kinda freaky The negotiations seem to have gone well.... A little too well.... From what Nemesis told me, these drow in particular are freaks. They have three real leaders. The royal guard Inival, a blood mage Drungal, and a noble that works with this faction, Madam Farblight. All weirdos. The royal guard has had countless experiments done on her. She is missing many organs that should normally be required to live. On top of that her mind is a little ''special'' allowing her to freely manipulate it. The fact that Nemesis thinks her mind is special scares me a little. Drun is a thin short guy with a constant smile plastered on his face. He seems to love gore or something as he has severed arms, legs, and various other body parts hanging from his robes. He seems to have taken to one of Kess'' spiderlings.... .... .... .... Lastly is Madam Farblight. A meatball woman. She seems to have an idea on who Sillith is as she claims to indulge herself for her god.....Now, what exactly is a living meatball? Perfectly round. It should not be possible from a normal sense of logic. Weight usually sinks on heavy people.... Nemesis says that I should never have to see what was burned into her eyes. Anyways.... Other than that she has dyed blonde hair that resembles drills.... According to Nemesis she was wearing rather.... explicit clothing. I don''t want to meet this person.... Appearances aside it seems that her personality is fine, though a bit haughty. I should be able to meet these people tommorow. A few measures need to be put in place first. For this, Xelu and Kess is working on making an area outside the nest. They are covering the area with sentries and making it impossible for an assassin to sneak in. It seems that they are fine with anything we do so, I plan to have Kess'' spiderlings dangle around their necks as another measure. Fill the area with Nemesis'' spores and it should work as a meeting area. The only one even more stressed then me at the moment is Set. She seemed rather odd after the fight at the temple. Even more quiet than usual.... I just hope things won''t turn weird. ------ The next morning I meet with Nemesis outside who is nervous for some reason. Is something wrong? "Ummmm..... Master..... Before you meet them I think you should prepare yourself mentally. Inival is fine but the other two are a bit..... Anyways good luck. We will all be close by ready to spring into action, with Set binded to you just in case." Nemesis We walk towards a dull metal cube that is covered in sentries ready to attack at any given moment. The air is full of spores as well. Nemesis is able to control them well enough to not sprout out of nowhere. Anyways, I enter through a hole in the side to see a round table with three.... What is that? Ahh~.... My eyes..... I don''t need my eyes anymore.... Interupting my inner agony, the one who is dressed in a scale armor comes over to me. Must be Inival. A good head taller than me. A light-gray skin that is covered in scars. Some look like they should have resulted in death.... The only ''weird'' thing about her is her eyes which are glazed over. Why? I couldn''t even guess. "Greetings our saint." Inival She bows down, as does they other two. They take the same stance that the shadow cow-person took with their palms aimed up. Must be a general way of greeting for people of this world.... They return to a normal posture and look at me with deep interest. *Slliisssshhhppp I swear that the-.... Ahem....Madam Farblight licked her lips..... Quite loudly as well.... I walk over and sit in a chair that seems to be reserved for me. The other three sit around the table as well. "Lets get to matters then. What makes you three believe that I am a saint." Gin "???? Well it''s because you''re a saint. By the way I''m enjoying the company of my beloved. Thank you for helping me meet her." Drun That''s not really an answer. That second part should be about the spiderling wrapped around his neck. I see it shudder slightly as its legs strangle him slightly making him shudder... In pleasure? "AHEM, that''s not what the great saint wants to know. He wants to know to how we came to know about this. Hmmm? Why are you backing away? I''m not going to eat you or anything!" Farblight Her voice is just as intimidating as her appearance. Her voice booms throughout the room making it quiver. "We received an odd sort of transmission telepathically. A influential person of great importance came to this ''world''. This person is deeply connected to ''Sillith''. You are that person without a doubt. You''re unique ability to control broodmothers is proof of that. Whether you are a saint, apostle, or vessel, it''s all the same." Inival "The worshippers of Sillith have never received any sort of sign that our god is really out there. Some have even gone off this road.... However the strong remain to their beliefs. The other religious factions cannot garner our undying passion." Drun "That''s why this transmission is important. We have decided to give everything of ourselves to our beliefs. It''s said that to be acknowledged by a god would cleanse ourselves from this ''state''. The other factions don''t ''really'' care about being cleansed or even worshiping true gods." Inival "Even if you will sacrifice us all, if there''s the slightest chance for one of us to be cleansed.... It would made all our effort worth it." Farblight This is a lot to take in. The main thing is their devotion. It seems to stem from the desire to be ''cleansed''. Do they hate being drow? Odd.... They cling to the hope that the one they see as a saint, who has some undetermined connection to Sillith, can cleanse them. No matter the cost. This type of faith is admirable but, incredibly foolish. Dangerous as well.... *Three entities wish to be subordinated. These entities have a large number of subordinates as well. Accept? Y/N? Well. With the amount of measures they are willing to undergo, I guess it would be fine to subordinate them. It seems that I wont be able to assimilate them though. Just as I think that my ring glows a low orange *Error *Error *Alien entity has invaded the sys-tmmmmnel- *Error *Erro 53 Conversion of Memories *error *error *System has failed in expelling alien entity. Retribution is toooooooo--- *error *Retribution failed *Anomaly 78 suspected. Host is to be put in a existential field to protect them- *error *existential field generation failed. The system cannot provide further support to host. Alien entity shall be persecuted. ..... ..... Well. This ring is quite a devious item. Who knows what is to happen. The system seems to not like it. Alien entity..... Is it the ring?..... Or something else?.... Should I remove it? Can I remove it? Nope. Well I guess I can''t really do anything? Technically, I could chop my finger off and have Set heal it later.... While I was focusing on these oddities, I failed to notice what was happening to the drow in front of me. That was until the orange glow that had enveloped them started humming. *boom Kess crashed down from above. She had a pocket built above to come down instantly in an emergency. The others should be coming in soon. I prepare to cast a couple poison lances if need be as I slide over to Kess. The glow faded away to reveal....? They are quite different. Skin color changed from an ash grey to an odd red. A dull red.... Their eyes are shining like rubies. A spider tattoo seems to wrap their necks which are no longer being held hostage. Where did Kess'' spiderlings go?.... The trio kneel and lower their heads. Other than their racial characteristics changing, I notice another oddity. Inival''s scars are healed and, Madam Farblight''s size went down quite a bit. If she weighed 400 kilograms before, then she probably is only 200 now. Drun hasn''t really changed. A little bit taller I guess. *Forceful subordination carried out. Entities Farblight, Inival, and Drun have been subordinated. I try to look at their statuses but, unlike with my summons, only name, race, and level is shown. -Subordinates Name: Drun Race: Devoured elf Level: 14 Name: Farblight-Subordinate Race: Devoured elf Level: 13 Name: Inival Race: Devoured elf Level: 27 Besides their rather odd race, their levels are rather high. To get to my present level, required a massive amount of wretched to be killed. So for them to have high levels speaks to the amount of death that surrounds them. Inival specifically. After I reached level 10, the amount of experience required increased exponentially. I''m guessing that isn''t a one time occurrence. ... Even if they are subordinated I can''t view their levels of loyalty. I am not too sure about what loyalty even represents..... So, I still need to prepare for betrayal..... If I over-relied on someone like Inival, I could very well be screwed. I can''t say that their minds have been altered like Vulki''s and Nemesis'' so, it''s best to be careful. "Uhhhh, why are you guys kneeling for so long? It''s a little weird." Gin "We desire to be slaves to you, great saint. The very goal of our faction that has been out of our grasps for thousands of years has been fulfilled. Not only once but repeatedly. It may be repeated again and again as well. The curse upon us and our generations to come is gone." Inival "Not only that, my darling has been fused with me! Such a joyous occasion! I can barely contain myself!" Drun Fused? So are they.... Technically under my control through the spiderlings? The tattoos on his neck glows orange and a spiderling is summoned. Is it perhaps similar to how I summon Kess and the others? Kess looks confused as she looks between the spiderling and Drun. "Come over here." Kess "Ok" Drun "Screeee" Drun''s spiderling Hmmmm..... Welp this is quite a situation. I hope this means that I don''t need to worry about betrayal.... Best to keep an eye on them anyways. "Gin, this spiderling is a higher level than me." *whispers* "My own minion is showing me up...." Kess The tattoo around Drun''s neck glows again and the spiderling disappears into bright particals. The other two should be able to do the same. What I am curious about, is if I can do the same thing in the future. I look at the silver ring on my finger. Alex. The name rings in my head. My memory is not as bad as it used to be. I can remember most things pretty well now but, the memories from my previous world are a bit hazy. I haven''t forgotten anything so what is this.... I leave the situation to Nemesis as I go back to the nest. Something is going on with my memories. ..... ..... Neice. I had a neice by that name didn''t I? My step-sister had plenty of children so, I never really made an effort in remembering their names. Alex was her first kid so it stuck more than the others. My step-sister was a bit of a social butterfly unlike me. We got along well enough. Better than my biological father.... I never considered that man to be my dad. Funnily enough my step-dad was extremely nice. He worried about me as much as his own children. His previous wife was a horrible person, so for him to have had that bright disposition was a miracle. Memories flood in. I guess I never really tried to process them. They still flowed in my head. I just needed to piece them together. Some are nice, others are horrible. They all make up who I am. Even if I had neglected them. ------ After going through memories, I remember some rather terrible things. I was rather involved with my family when I was younger. I even went to my neice''s and nephew''s birthdays birthdays. I went to different parties, gatherings, weddings..... Why I became ''alone''. I had a close relationship with a girl. We had both worked at the same store for a few years. We had a sort of good chemistry between us. She had no interest in me though. A fiance. She was hospitalized after an accident. A crazed man went on a rampage, driving a truck through a crowd of people. The things you see on the news all the time.... She happened to be one of the victims. I had rushed to the hospital but, wasn''t allowed in to her room due to lack of any sort affiliation to her. She died a week later. After that my mind changed a little. Relationships with other people became a burden. I had trouble before this incident but, I was still motivated.... My family tried to help. Alex''s name came up quite a bit there..... I can''t quite remember too much about that as my brain refused to process what was happening around me at that period of time.... The quality of those memories are quite horrible.... I also went on anti-depressants for a while. Only made it worse. After that moment, memories really became useless things to me. Relationships even more so. I just lived. 53 Conversion of Lives *error *error *System has failed in expelling alien entity. Retribution is toooooooo--- *error *Retribution failed *Anomaly 78 suspected. Host is to be put in a existential field to protect them- *error *existential field generation failed. The system cannot provide further support to host. Alien entity shall be persecuted. ..... ..... Well. This ring is quite a devious item. Who knows what is to happen. The system seems to not like it. Alien entity..... Is it the ring?..... Or something else?.... Should I remove it? Can I remove it? Nope. Well I guess I can''t really do anything? Technically, I could chop my finger off and have Set heal it later.... While I was focusing on these oddities, I failed to notice what was happening to the drow in front of me. That was until the orange glow that had enveloped them started humming. *boom Kess crashed down from above. She had a pocket built above to come down instantly in an emergency. The others should be coming in soon. I prepare to cast a couple poison lances if need be as I slide over to Kess. The glow faded away to reveal....? They are quite different. Skin color changed from an ash grey to an odd red. A dull red.... Their eyes are shining like rubies. A spider tattoo seems to wrap their necks which are no longer being held hostage. Where did Kess'' spiderlings go?.... The trio kneel and lower their heads. Other than their racial characteristics changing, I notice another oddity. Inival''s scars are healed and, Madam Farblight''s size went down quite a bit. If she weighed 400 kilograms before, then she probably is only 200 now. Drun hasn''t really changed. A little bit taller I guess. *Forceful subordination carried out. Entities Farblight, Inival, and Drun have been subordinated. I try to look at their statuses but, unlike with my summons, only name, race, and level is shown. -Subordinates Name: Drun Race: Devoured elf Level: 14 Name: Farblight-Subordinate Race: Devoured elf Level: 13 Name: Inival Race: Devoured elf Level: 27 Besides their rather odd race, their levels are rather high. To get to my present level, required a massive amount of wretched to be killed. So for them to have high levels speaks to the amount of death that surrounds them. Inival specifically. After I reached level 10, the amount of experience required increased exponentially. I''m guessing that isn''t a one time occurrence. ... Even if they are subordinated I can''t view their levels of loyalty. I am not too sure about what loyalty even represents..... So, I still need to prepare for betrayal..... If I over-relied on someone like Inival, I could very well be screwed. I can''t say that their minds have been altered like Vulki''s and Nemesis'' so, it''s best to be careful. "Uhhhh, why are you guys kneeling for so long? It''s a little weird." Gin "We desire to be slaves to you, great saint. The very goal of our faction that has been out of our grasps for thousands of years has been fulfilled. Not only once but repeatedly. It may be repeated again and again as well. The curse upon us and our generations to come is gone." Inival "Not only that, my darling has been fused with me! Such a joyous occasion! I can barely contain myself!" Drun Fused? So are they.... Technically under my control through the spiderlings? The tattoos on his neck glows orange and a spiderling is summoned. Is it perhaps similar to how I summon Kess and the others? Kess looks confused as she looks between the spiderling and Drun. "Come over here." Kess "Ok" Drun "Screeee" Drun''s spiderling Hmmmm..... Welp this is quite a situation. I hope this means that I don''t need to worry about betrayal.... Best to keep an eye on them anyways. "Gin, this spiderling is a higher level than me." *whispers* "My own minion is showing me up...." Kess The tattoo around Drun''s neck glows again and the spiderling disappears into bright particals. The other two should be able to do the same. What I am curious about, is if I can do the same thing in the future. I look at the silver ring on my finger. Alex. The name rings in my head. My memory is not as bad as it used to be. I can remember most things pretty well now but, the memories from my previous world are a bit hazy. I haven''t forgotten anything so what is this.... I leave the situation to Nemesis as I go back to the nest. Something is going on with my memories. ..... ..... Neice. I had a neice by that name didn''t I? My step-sister had plenty of children so, I never really made an effort in remembering their names. Alex was her first kid so it stuck more than the others. My step-sister was a bit of a social butterfly unlike me. We got along well enough. Better than my biological father.... I never considered that man to be my dad. Funnily enough my step-dad was extremely nice. He worried about me as much as his own children. His previous wife was a horrible person, so for him to have had that bright disposition was a miracle. Memories flood in. I guess I never really tried to process them. They still flowed in my head. I just needed to piece them together. Some are nice, others are horrible. They all make up who I am. Even if I had neglected them. ------ After going through memories, I remember some rather terrible things. I was rather involved with my family when I was younger. I even went to my neice''s and nephew''s birthdays birthdays. I went to different parties, gatherings, weddings..... Why I became ''alone''. I had a close relationship with a girl. We had both worked at the same store for a few years. We had a sort of good chemistry between us. She had no interest in me though. A fiance. She was hospitalized after an accident. A crazed man went on a rampage, driving a truck through a crowd of people. The things you see on the news all the time.... She happened to be one of the victims. I had rushed to the hospital but, wasn''t allowed in to her room due to lack of any sort affiliation to her. She died a week later. After that my mind changed a little. Relationships with other people became a burden. I had trouble before this incident but, I was still motivated.... My family tried to help. Alex''s name came up quite a bit there..... I can''t quite remember too much about that as my brain refused to process what was happening around me at that period of time.... The quality of those memories are quite horrible.... I also went on anti-depressants for a while. Only made it worse. After that moment, memories really became useless things to me. Relationships even more so. I just lived. 54 Change of Plans A week has passed since I fist converted the trio into devoured elves. It seems that plans need to be changed. The trio wanted to work from the inside to slowly bring the kingdom under my control but, with their current appearences it would be impossible. Disguise magic does exist but, high level individuals will be able to see through that. The biggest issue at the moment is to see if I can covert more drow into devoured elves. Sillith probably played a major role in conerting them.... Im also that I''m worried about is that this ring probably has a connection to Sillith... I swear, I hear it whispering at times. Why does beings keep on appearing.... Between the Zephyr Lord, that damned circus, and Sillith coming into play how many times now.... Forget it. I can only deal with it. Anyways, I had the elvish trio bring in a few more drow for experimentation. Surprisingly, they brought in a bunch of children.... Children are one of the major reasons why I didn''t start a massacre on the drow. I will still wage war but, not a genocide. Listening to Madam Farblight I learn a good bit on how drow society brings up children.... "Most drow would rather not raise children. Those who do either do so for ''amusement'' or for labour. Noble''s keep their children as well to keep their bloodlines going. Oftentimes, children are sent to orphanages where a wide variety of things can go on. Orphanges are valuable resources in drow society as they produce most of the soldiers in the kingdom. Whether it is the religious factions, royalty, or nobility, all factions want orphanges for this reason." Farblight As to the reason why they sent children to be tested, they said that children''s minds are very malleable. Although the trio has been converted their mindesets haven''t gone through a major change. Although, they have reported new feelings and emotions along with horrible feelings when they do things they considered to be fine before. That leads to now where I''m sitting in a room with plenty of children, basically holding them hostage as Kess'' spiderlings are ready to crush them at any moment..... Set is binded to me while the broodmothers are ready to come in at any moment..... A lot of precautions but, they may be necessary. In my old world child soldiers existed so, for a more brutal world like this one... "Well, you children are here to test something. If you can become like the trio and be converted into devoured elves." Gin As I tell them my intentions their eyes light up. A few start squirming in anticipation. I thought drow children were supposed to be horrible? They are just like human children. Well, from my first impression anyways. The youngest one is about 7 years from what I can tell. Much more mature than human children but, that is most likely due to environment. As I try to figure how to convert theses drow a prompt comes up. *You have been given authority to convert *'',-?*¡ã` Error----rrrrrr * Guide mana to ______ and designate target/s System''s a little buggy. Wonder what happened to punishing the one who messed with it. It was most likely Sillith. She''s a god isnt she? My knowledge is lacking in general so I can''t even guess as to what is going on in that front. Vulki did mention aquiring ''special'' books. Zyn Ve''r books I think she called them. They are massive and have relation to some master scholar who loves to explore and accumulate knowledge. Back to the matter at hand. I designate the children in front of me for conversion. Oddly enough, the ring glows blue and orange this time. Is it because mana is used? The new elves are a bit different as well.... The devoured elves share the same distinct features as the trio. However, the new elves have a blue-green skin color with blue eyes and hair. I''m guessing this is because I''m playing as much of a role as Sillith did with the previous three.... Wait, I thought a god was needed to convert drow? This spevies appears to be related to me..... Authority..... I focus on that word. I check a few of the kids statuses as they are already subordinates. They were subordinated aling with a massive amount of random drow when the trio was converted. -Subordinates Name: Villy Race: Arachno Elf Level: 4 Name: Draph Race:Devoured Elf Level: 2 Name: Vinalin Race: Arachno Elf Level: 3 The trio who have been quietly waiting off to the side look surprised. Drun and Farblight look really happy while Inival is giving off a rather bewildered vibe. I go over and ask for their input on this.... "It doesn''t matter if it is a devoured elf or whatever this new type is. As long as the ''drow'' part is eliminated that''s all that matters." Drun "With this we can start some interesting plans as well. Establish a foothold into drow society as we cleanse it. We can even give you the ''sinners'' who refuse to convert for experience!" Farblight Uhhhh that''s..... Well, I have decided to lower my morals down so I''ll go along. Inival has a very weird expression. She''s.... not going to cry, right? "I have a rude request, great saint.... I wonder if it is possible to reconvert into the new type of elf....." Inival We are all suprised by the suggestion but, I decide to go along with it. I guide mana to the ring but, a very odd situation occurs. Orange energy seeps out of Inival and locks in with the pure blue energy I release. It looks like puzzle pieces being put together as the energy lock together..... "Hahhhhh, Hahhhhhh."????? ???? I swear I hear heavy breathing as I look around. No one else seems to hear it as they observe the reaction happening to Inival.... Woah. The energies dance around and swirl into Inival. Her skin turns into a more beautiful red while her eyes and hair turn blue while small hints of green make their presence. ''This new one is dangerous to master''s ...'' Set Set who has been quiet the whole time mumbles something. 55 Conquering the Drow Name: Inival Race: Unconsumed elf *error *error * error..... ... Level: 27 ... Well. The system is having more and more errors recently. What the hell is happening? ------ Aein POV Malady has been making very big moves recently. It seems that she is willing to give master Gin aid even at the point he is at. If we could just remove these system administration bastards everything would turn out the way she wants.... *sigh They just dont die. No matter how they are killed, they return. On top of all this malady has gotten worse. She has started watching Gin''s daily life all the time, along with me..... I understand her desire to protect him from foreign disturbance but, this is way past that point. Using ''small wishes'' to accomplish such matters..... Why does she have so many of those stored away?..... Perhaps I should adjust my mindset. Though, I''m not sure how to make myself obsessed to that level.... I need to see malady. ------- "Malady.... I have found myself full of doubts.... That is not allowed. I..... Is there some way to adapt my mind to be similar to yours?" Aein Her grin grows wild. She seems to be full of inexplicable joy. My words go unheard as she starts breathing heavily....? What is going on? I start watching what''s going on and, see a very odd scene. Orange and blue energy is locking together like puzzle pieces connecting. Why is malady breathing so heavily from this? Perhaps there is some more profound meaning for the energy to connect like that. Unfortunately, I have very little knowledge about the matters of men and women. A connection between the two? Hmm.... I wait a little for malady to calm down, her form which is very random most of the time turns into a 16-17 year old girl all of a sudden. Black puffy hair curled at her shoulders. Rather short with odd clothing. Blue trousers that have a zipper and button?..... A fine white shirt with a cute black cat face..... Her chest is always large no matter what form she takes.... This time they look rather soft like a pillow. Why does she do that? I know that there is some sort of meaning to it..... I always leave these confusing matters subordinates as they never explain anything! ''I want.'' Sillith ''I want.'' Sillith ''I want.'' Sillith A light voice resounds from within but, it''s not my own inner thought. This most definitely isn''t like telepathy either. She suddenly looks over a little confused. "Ahhh.... Aein. You saw something you shouldn''t have. Come over here. I''ll fix this up." Sillith ----- "Malady.... I have found myself full of doubts.... That is not allowed. I..... Is there some way to adapt my mind to be similar to yours?" Aein "So that''s what this is about. I guess something has to be done, huh. Lets go with that. Don''t want another incident..... Even if you guys won''t go against my will it''s not ''healthy'' to have doubts about what I''m doing. Someone may try to take advantage..... Let''s teach you guys about ''love''. Properly. -Gin POV After Inival is turned into whatever she is, the other converted elves want the same thing done. However, it seems that the process can''t be reproduced as there is major resistance. We move on with talks about the upcoming conquest. We aren''t sure if we should try to take out the leadership of the drow first and insert puppets, or, if we should be more agressive and start converting settlements. The biggest issue with starting a conquest is the matter of foreign influence. Mainly from the Black Iron Pyre. The country that the fallen dwarves have built. I wouldn''t be suprised if they put forth as much force as possible to wipe out their old rivals. The ''Union'' shouldn''t be an issue..... Yeah, right. A country that attacks them on a regular basis being put into dire straits, there is no way they won''t try to pull something. Unless we can keep information from leaking as we take over the leadership I don''t know how to keep both of those forces out. Vulki has horrible feelings for the fallen dwarves. Far exceeding her hate for drow based on her.... Words.... Nemesis found her language to be interesting and started cussing them out with even worse vocabulary....I had to have Xelu leave as this type of influence would be very bad on her. So, after even more discussion the final strategy is to forcefully try to convert the leaders of the religious factions along with drow royalty. To be converted they have to be willing.... We can make them willing enough. After that we plan to announce to the drow masses that they can be converted. The unwilling ones will be ''dealt'' with.... This decision made me very upset. I kept wavering on it. I mean, it will become a ''CONVERT OR DEATH'' sort of scenario. The main bulk of the religious factions will probably be purged. This is not due to greed for experience either. I decided on this as there will be religious people who will die for belief. Is it better to give them what they would want or, to forcefully break their ideologies and most likely their minds? At this point..... I think that I am objectively evil. As time goes on this sort of thing becomes more prevalent. Eventually, I ''will'' not even waver on matters like this..... Lets begin. ------ The process is rather slow. I was braced to see plenty of horrible scenes. It is quite different though. Groups of Kess'' spiderlings were escorted to different areas in the Drow Theocracy in mass. The other spiderlings have been smuggled very carefully in small numbers as they are more.... Noticeable. Major focus has been set on the capital and the main temples for the different religions. Deep holes are hidden in certain key locations. Why did the Sillith faction build these? Well, to throw countless bodies in as offerings of course..... A few cases of exposure have been encountered but, it was waved off as giant spiders are not uncommon in drow society. While the spiderlings were being escorted everywhere, I read up on vampires and, I converted more and more drow. I had Kess stop her digging job as that may unearth something that we can''t deal with at the moment. Anyways, despite the Sillith faction having the ''lowest'' numbers there is still a ridiculous amount of followers. Key personnel will be kept as drow for the moment to help with infiltrating and for keeping up appearances. I worry that the lower members may act as spies as well so extra caution is being taken into account. We don''t need to care about already converted people as they have spiderlings fused into them. On top of that everyone who has been converted..... Enslaved themselves to me..... Intriguing, but, highly disturbing. Now as to prophets.... Most of the time they are useless only giving small amounts of info. Cases like the one who was treated as a madman who predicted the fall of drow are really rare. To a level where that occurs only once a thousand years. Still, that guy must have felt very wronged to be treated as insane. The drow that I''m going after are the ones in this pocket. To convert all the drow in this planet would be impossible.... I think. 56 Operation Part 1 -Inival POV The spreading of the great saint''s spiderlings is going well. The devoured elves and arachno-elves are hiding in different temples outside the capital. We have built up as much force as we can. It''s about time to start the operation. I will lead the attack on the royal palace while Farblight and Drun will work on the religious factions. We need to be quick and decisive with this. ----- Hundreds of elites are hidden under cloaks, standing in front of me. The best time to strike is in the ''mating hour''. The guard will be most slack at that time. Lady Kess'' spiderlings took the initiative and have tunneled under the palace. They are quite intelligent and have dug rather deep. There are many hidden rooms under the palace that they could have accidentally dug into if they weren''t careful. The other spiderlings are in low number but, they can work well if used correctly ... The queen and the captain are rather cunning creatures..... I refuse to believe that they haven''t seen that odd movements have been made. They ''will'' not expect this force though. The numbers of metal spiderlings is rather high. Without the requirement for sustenance, an army such as this becomes a huge asset. To be able to share a skill that makes consummation unnecessary. On top of that he has some sort of passive skill that strengthens us and allows telepathy.... As expected of the great saint. ... ... Let''s begin ... *boom *boom *boom The secret tunnels running out of the castle have been destroyed. After that, a huge magic circle covers the sky over the blue palace. Can''t have them teleporting now. ''Lets go!'' Inival ''Mmmm'' Subordinates We rush to all of the possible exits of the palace. I personally oversee the top of the palace. The queen has an artifact that allows limited flight. It is hard to say if she will flee or lead a counterattack... Lights start illuminating the different corners of the castle but are quickly extinquished as screams fly. Lady Kess'' spiderling are flooding through the area followed by a wave of spores. Fires start burning the areas that are carpeted and have tapestries. The outer circle of the castle is quickly brought under our countrol. We have to be careful. Technically the castle is a ''territory''. With certain spells, special effects can be applied to the subordinates of the territory owner. A minor regeneration effect and muscle hardening to name a few. The inner castle is connected to the underground as well so Kess spiderlings will burrow in from those points. The only problem is the ''core''..... Seeing that no one tries to flee from the castle, we draw further into the castle. A second wave of elites will surround the castle after we do so. The spiderlings have dealt with all of the troops as we catch no stragglers. Hundreds lie wrapped in heavy webbing as they writhe on the ground as the spores infiltrate them..... Others have been dissected in chunks as some of the corpses start rising..... The inner castle is in much more termoil. When we arrived there we found a bunch of heavily armored guards grouped up with royal guards and mages. The armored guards are keeping the spiderlings back with huge tower shields as the royal guards try to attack and retreat repeatedly. The mages shoot spells but, most are not too effective. The only ones that deal significant damage are frost and spells that limit movement. As we are about to back the spiderlings up huge balls of weird fire start incinerating....? Rather, it seems to sucks the life out of those it burns, leaving their skin look like cracked pottery. Laughter. Those spiderlings are enjoying themselves a little too much. This attack is followed by Lady Xelu''s spiderlings latching onto the thoats of some of the less armored royal guards, shoving their tentacles down their throats as their skin starts to writhe. Some try to stab blades into the spiderlings. This throws blood everywhere that seems to be extremely toxic. ..... After a couple minutes the guarding force is wiped out with a good portion being captured. Despite there being hundreds of them...They were wiped out rather quickly. Those guards were not weak either. All of them were at the very least level 10 with the highest reaching 20. With the inner castle under control, the only section left is the core. This is going to be troublesome.... The captain is level 33 while the queen is 23. Long lives come with a lot of beneficial perks..... Stronger royal guards will be present as well. I bet a blood sacrifice will be used as well. They won''t be able to accept this attack. This would be much simpler if they didn''t need to be caught alive. Lady Set is here as insurance if needed. I''d rather accomplish this without her help though. This is my mission to prove myself. Looking through the familar corridors I see royal guards armed to the teeth. Huge shields create a solid wall of metal. Lady Kess'' spiderlings follow to my sides as they seem to want me to spearhead an attack. I have a greatsword that I picked up ealier from a dead royal guard. I charge swinging the whole weight of the blade through a gap in the sheilds. A sheild goes flying as I cut him from his shoulder to his crotch as the blood spoils his neighboring shieldman. A few spears a jabbed at me so I jump back as the tide of spiderlings flows forth. Many drop down from the top of the corridor ambushing many of the less armored guards. Half an hour latter the soaked with blood, piss, stomache acid, and shreaded organs. The ones that are still alive have very traumatic expressions. They fought well against the the mutated wretched but, the spiderlings are way more intelligent. With their dead comrades turning into fungal monstrosities they stood very little chance. I make my way to the queen''s chamber. The door is partially open. I push it open to see the queen and captain sitting in chairs around a small table. Sipping tea.... I reposition my blade to my right gripping it hard. "No need to be so tense. Inival is it? Your appearence is quite beautiful now. All those scars are gone. Your chest is a bit sad but, that comes with intense training I guess." Queen What? Why''d she start talking about my chest. She does know that this is a coup right? "Ahh, in case you haven''t figured out yet, we give up. No point in fighting a lost battle. You don''t plan on killing us anyway. So might as well go along with it. I wonder who the one behind you is though. Obviously, the spider religious faction would take a liking to whoever it is.... You are under Sillith''s faction right..... Someone related to that faction huh..... Wasn''t there something about a saint?" Queen Cunning creature. Rather, she is a cunning monster. She even knew that I was part of the Sillith faction. It seems that she has a great idea of what is actually going on. I can''t expose the great saint to her just yet. The captain has been quiet. Is she?.... I look over to see her kneading the queens thigh..... "What? We really aren''t planning anything you know. Just a question though. We won''t have to face some sort of execution or anything right?" Queen "We plan on keeping you guys in control. You do know what this new appearance of mine means, right?" Inival "..... So you are an elf..... I thought that was all bullshit...." Captain "You.... Wait! You plan on having something similar happen to us! That prophet wasn''t insane! The end of drow! Still.... We aren''t too thrilled about that. You guys in the Sillith faction have seeked to become elves for quite a while but, we are fine in being the way we are.... Well we don''t have much of a choice now, eh." Queen I bring out two collars as a few mages walk in behind me. Enslaving them in multiple ways is them best option. I''ll keep a heavy watch on them as well to make sure no funny business goes on. The two sigh and cooperate with me.... Are they really not planning anything? We need to be extremely careful introducing these two to the saint..... 57 Operation Part 2 -Drun POV *Whistling "Sir we have convinced the spider faction to submit, however, the leaders from the crow and snake faction told us to go fuck ourselves." Subordinate ''Well. What do you think I should do my beloved~?'' Drun Shivers? Must be out of love! Meaning, she agrees with any desicion that I make~! "Let''s go. They don''t know how unfortunate thet are to have turned us down. Madam Farblight has a hatred for those crow followers so, the snakes belong to me~" Drun ------- The temple of snakes is a rather gross place. It is covered is a yellowish-green snake musk that smells rather sour. Out of all the religious factions, they have the least morals. I shut down all emotional faucets. I know that what I will see will make me rage if I don''t condition myself correctly. I have gotten new emotions since being converted. Empathy being the most prevalent. Some cultists are standing at the entrance to the main temple. Theyare wearing snake masks while their whole figures are shrouded in green and red robes. About a dozen are waiting with jagged daggers. They plunge them into unfortunate slaves that are to be used as sacifices...? Ohhh? Why''d they put up a spatial barrier? That''ll prevent these gremlins from scrambling away as well? Do they think they stand a shit''s chance in hell against us!!!! Spiderlings burrow out of the ground leaving tunnels that spew more and more of them out. Overwhelm them my beloved''s brethren! I let them do most of the work. My subordinates are a bit uncomfortable doing nothing. Trust me guys. That temple is going to be more of a pain in the ass to sort out than to capture. After a couple hours everything is done. The only place left is the ''core''. I take a dozen elite mages and move in. A bloody barrier with traces of gold blocks the way..... The amount of grief required to instill gold into a barrier.... We start draining the barrier. Blood mages usually have two diiferent methods to using their abilities. To use their own mana to create blood to use as a resource or, to use external sources. External sources can be used to great extents. Sometimes other things are mixed in as well. Hatred, grief, rage. Even love. All sort of feelings are tied to a person''s blood. We break the barrier rather quickly.... What we see on the other side is bad. Bad even for drow. Mangled bodies are chained to the celing, crying, begging to die. All of them have stakes shoves into their orifices. The ground is covered in a rotten amalgamation of substances. To the right side of the room, their is holes in the blue-brick. Bloated snakes fill them as I hear cries coming from that way as well.... Presumably from the ones that have been eaten alive. My sight finally rests on the alter to their god placed in the center of the room. There is a giant statue that has a snake wrapping around a man and woman who are hugging each other in fear. A dozen cultists stand below it. Their leader, Dosgulas, is wearing a purple-gold robe and a mask that only covers the upper portion of his face. Dead bodies surround him. Drow of all ages, some fallen dwarves, even some bestial species from the union are present. Parents are hugging their children, covered in vile fluids. The mages behind me are shocked and disgusted.... My beloved''s brethren fill the room killing the snakes at the side. The cultests don''t move. Their leader even smiles. "My, my, you guys are rather strong. You have proven to be an acceptable ally. Tell your ''saint'' that we will be willing to negotiate deals with him." Dosgulas "I knew you guys would be disgusting so, I had a small chat with our saint. If we see things that are unforgivable, we can act as we like. Indeed, it would be in every living beings best interest that sadists like you guys die." Drun I am not a ''good'' person. Evil is in my bones. I do believe in a certain concept though. Good. Evil. Pure. Corrupt. I am evil. However, I am not corrupt. Not exactly pure either, as I have a couple odd hobbies. Like collecting limbs for example. Anyways, this puss needs to be wiped away. As we start edging towards the enemy, Dosgulas laughs. They all plunge knives into their hearts as blood starts to spin into the air. The bodies start flying into the swirling blood pool as well. Even the ones that are still alive do so as well. Oddly, none of us are affected.... A giant fleshy snake emerges. It reminds me slightly of Lady Xelu but, I shake my head at that thought. Lady Xelu doesn''t have this disgustingly corrupt aura. Gold, purple, and green colors are mixed into the red of the blood. All representing the feelings mixed into this true abomination. This is going to be troublesome. Me and my subordinates quickly construct a barrier over the snake. It bashes into it with plenty of force despite being mostly composed of blood and flesh. Meanwhile lady Kess'' spiderlings are getting to work. We''re taking this place down. Then we are destroying all traces of it with fire and blood. The snake realizes what''s going on as the place starts to shake. Despite having many blood mages acting on the barrier, its starting to fade..... I cut open my arm along with the others. Black colors start merging into the barrier. The place starts crumbling so, I make may subordinates retreat after a short argument. I hold the barrier alone as it fades a little. *rumble *rumble Ahhhh.... This going to hurt.... ------ I wake up to see my subordinates surrounding me. My beloved is standing over me. Did she save me? I knew my love would not be misplaced with her~. I roll over and everyone else realizes that I''m awake. They start worrying over me. I feel a warmth that I''ve only felt when I met my beloved. I''m truly a blessed person. "Sir, are you ok!?!? You never tear up let alone cry!" Subordinate I wipe away a tear that somehow wiggled it''s way out. The great saint Gin. He helped me to achieve this ''warmth''. I shall pay him back, for as long as I can. "Wahhhhhhhh"???? A cry scrapes my ears. What is that? I trudge over while my subordinates worry increases. My beloved hobbles over as well. I see.... A baby. Not sure how it survived all that choas. What? Am I supposed to do with this child? 58 Operation Part 3 - Madam Farblight POV The great saint has given us all missions to prove ourselves. I immediately chose to go after the crow worshippers. I used to be engaged to their leader. It was a family thing and I had no say. However, once that corpse fucker saw me, he had the engagement called off right away. ''How am I supposed go sleep with a huge chunk of lard?'' Even after elevating my family to new heights, even making dukes show respect to us, my rage didn''t boil down. If I had the choice, I would murder all of these crow worshippers. To bad that the crows are known to have very little corruption. How you ask? Through a complex system of slavery. Every member of The Crows is a slave. They are all enslaved to each other which makes it impossible to overule an order unless every member agrees. I gather a large amount of forces at their cliff. Their main temple is built a small distance away from the capital on a precarious cliff.It looks extremely unstable but, it has remained for hundreds of years. Other forces have attacked it as well to try and make it buckle. All failed attempts. We are not really on a murder mission so that is not really an option... It would be a good point of attack though..... Kess'' spiderlings can crawl their way up. We also have a good number of Xelu''s spiderlings with us. It was easy to smuggle them here as the temple is a bit away from civilization. So, have our forces with a small number of Kess'' spiderlings go in through the front with us. While we are doing that a huge force will climb the cliffs as Xelu''s spiderlings cause choas from above. Only thing left is to get started. Already have a layout of the place. That shit should be sitting on the top of the weird leaning tower sticking out of the stone temple. We need to make sure to capture all of them though. All of the members of the main temple are here at the moment but, if even one escapes, their slave crests will become an obstacle to agreeing with our orders. They have a good amount of orders inprinted inside them including ones that prevent them from working with outsiders... I have a group of mages that I borrowed from Drun set up a barrier to prevent any type of teleportation. Seeing as they worship crows, they may have some sort of thing that could allow flight so I will leave of couple dozen of Xelu''s spiderlings to keep them out of the air. Have to be quick. After the barrier is set up We''ll rush these fuckers. The Crows are not know to be strong or magically inclined. Instead they are slippery bastards. ------- I rush along with my subordinates as the barrier is erected. Hordes of metal spiderlings flow forward tearing down any sort of defense. They are having a little trouble actually catching anyone but, after they start laying web throughout the whole area they start catching preys. The subordinates I brought along have very strong defenses and good movement techniques. Very little offensive capabilities though. Although they are not very agile, they can move in ways that helps them corner these slippery fucks. Add on the metallic webbing that''s starting to cover the labyrinth-like passageways this mission is going relatively smoothly. We make our way up the temple capturing more and more of The Crows until we reach the top. The top of the temple is opened up to the skies. Their is a giant staircase that leads to the leaning tower. Close. We arrive after a bunch of Kess'' and Xelu''s spiderlings have already dealt eith most of the situation. They probably came from the cliffs.... As for Xelu''s spiderlings, I can see a couple drow wrapped up in their tentacles. They look terrified as they should be. So. That just leaves the tower. I lead the way and open a large wooden door. Inside the tower is wooden as well. He must''ve thought that the place would never be invaded..... Books and vials cover the floor and walls as a wobbly staircase winds its way up the tower..... I don''t want the place to collapse so, I only have Xelu''s spiderlings follow along, floating. Walikng up the staircase carefully I eventually make my way to the top..... That was frightening... He must have made this place so that people who are a little hefty will have trouble. I''ll engrave my foot into that little shit. What I see at the top is quite suprising. The place looks to be made of fine wood. Very neatly arranged unlike the bottom, which had books and vials laying about. The main point is the giant multicolored glass ''eye'' that looks over a huge distance. Luckily, it can only see far away, otherwise, he may have noticed the spiderlings at the bottom of the cliff earlier. The shit is sitting in a fluffly couch that looks like it is made of feathers. He''s smoking a pipe and just gazing out of the eye. There is no way he doesn''t know that I am here due to the ''moderate'' amount of noise that I made in my..... Approach..... I see a beautiful skinny girl sitting next to him, gazing as well..... He turns the chair and they both end up facing me. He is..... Old? Not really old but, his hair is starting to whiten. He should be around fifty so that is way to young for something like that. Drow usually have happen when they are at least 200 years old.....His eyes have shades of grey as well. Signs of turning blind. He smiles wryly as he mumbles something inaudible to me. The beauty by his side smiles wryly as well. "It''s been a while ehh, ''Madam Farblight''. Quite a new title. Though, I guess that nobility will not mean much in the days to come. The days of drow will come to an end. It''s just too bad that it couldn''t be achieved through our father.... He''s a open god though. Won''t care if we worship one, two, or a hundred different gods. Sillith. To think that a relative of hers would appear.... Quite spectacular....." Crow leader What? Relative of Sillith? How does he know some of this information? "Hmmmm? Are you confused? More than one prophet has seen what is to come. Most have kept quiet about it though. Whether we work against the flow or accept it, nothing will change..... What will be, will be." Crow leader "Then why didn''t you guys just give up. If you knew that this would happen why fight back." Farblight "Well..... I''m not a dictator you know. They all chose to fight back with everything they had. All useless though. I gave plenty of warnings but, they just slipped their ears. I do want to see the man himself. Sylphy and me may be able to experience ''love'' as well. I do have to apologize for myself those years ago. I was, after all, ''just a regular teenage drow''." Crow leader Apologize? What has happened to this little shit? My rage. Is being replaced with indifference. I just don''t care about it anymore... *sigh I guess everythings done on my end..... 59 Meeting Gin POV While my new subordinates were capturing the various leaders of the drow, we were working to create a seperate meeting area. We did construct one to meet with the leaders of the Sillith faction but, that one is a bit.... dreary? It was best to build something more grand. What was constructed is amazing. A small stone castle that is dyed a shiny grey due to metal webbing. Small bonefires made of deepfire line the staircase that leads to the main hall. The doors are left open as they are made of really thick stone. Inside is a heavy circular stone stable surrounding a regular firepit that is about 14 meters in diameter. At the far end is a massive throne covered with a gel-like ink that is very comfortable to sit on. Several smaller thrones sit at a lower height with room for more to be added in the future. Dozens of chairs surround the table but with a smaller amount of the gel on them. The walls are decorated with stone murals and deepfire scones that help brighten the place up. The murals are a bit weird.... Most of them are filled with spiders devouring things. One that catches my eyes is a highly detailed one that looks like thousands of eyes are staring through some sort of hazy mist. Honestly, I thought Kess would just carve out food or something..... Although, people are food for her... Anyway the main hall takes up most if the castle as it is only to be used for meetings and events. They built a laterine and some escape routes along with several other facilities but, they aren''t of much importance. I may have them build some similar rooms in the nest. The nest is great and all..... However, it isn''t meant for humans in it''s design. I have a feeling that everything is settled now. I kept on getting hundreds of notifications for experience and now its all silent. The experience values are a bit weird but that is probably due to it being divided between 6 different individuals. People like Inival only have to worry about acquiring experience for themselves so they can increase to a high level..... Level 14..... Very little left to 15..... After that I can evolve the broodmothers along with Set. Hopefully I can get my summoning skill to increase a tier as it will make them increase a rank. Not really sure what effects that will have. I can see a horde approaching from the north. Looks like they are back. We all wait at the castle to see 5 cocooned people being dragged behind by Inival towards us. Drun and Farblight not far behind. Must be the leaders. They kneel down in front of me and start talking about how they went along their missions. Inival and Farblight''s went relatively smoothly while Drun''s was more horrible to hear. Faint crying errupts from behind him halfway through and he starts shushing.....? Is that..... A baby..... ------ The baby is to be left to the trio. The area he found it was highly suspicious..... It may have to so with the corpses that were used to create the giant flesh snake. The reason it''s to be left with the trio as that I can''t trust the broodmothers and Set to raise a child. The trio also have experience raising orphans for their organization as well. The most suprising thing about the child is that it is not a species that anyone is familar with. It has a small whip-like tail, bat wings, and small horns that are constantly producing a bloody substance at their base. They named her Ten..... I ''do'' have an inkling on what she actually is..... I''d rather keep away from her because of that. A unique subspecies of vampire that I''d rather not deal with. Anyways after figuring out what to do with the child I looked over the figures that are cocooned to the chairs in the hall. All are rather calm. Most be used to the dark side of drow society. I sit down at the table as the broodmothers and Set surround me. Vulki and Nemesis are the only ones trying to look dignified... "So, hello. I''m the ''Saint'' that the Sillith faction is backing. I''d rather be called Gin rather than ''great saint'' though." Gin "I''ll go next ehhh. I''m the queen of the drow, Ravel. I have to say, despite the being dragged around and being held captive part the treatment has been rather well. Never thought you''d be a human" Ravel "Im her majesty''s personal guard along with the captain of the royal guard, Wetho." Wetho That leaves the religious leaders minus the snake one. The queen seems to be full of energy and is rather friendly but, that means nothing to me. Wetho seems to be the quiet type. According to Inival, they are both perverted and cunning animals. I look over at the other three. One has odd eyes. The crow leader who is going blind. He is right next to a thin girl. Apparently, they are a couple. Not sure why Farblight brought both of them. Last but not least is the leader of the spider faction. He looks like any other drow except he is wearing bottled glasses. He surrendered willingly and is reading a book that one of Kess'' spiderlings is holding. "Names are rather pointless, lets get on to the main business here." Spider leader He wants to get down to business but, his eyes never leave the book he is reading. Wonder if it''s an interesting read. I don''t know the language unfortunately so I can''t catch any of it. "Ahh, yes, conversion. It''s just too bad that father couldn''t provide this to us. Sillith should be fine though. The process has something to do with that ''husk'' lingering behind everything doesn''t it?"Crow leader What is he talking about? ''''husk'' lingering behind everything''... I may have a conversation with him afterwards. The thin girl stays silent, her eyes never leaving the crow leader... "I brought you all today to hopefully start the end of drow. It''s a bit weird saying this..... Anyways I have the means to mass convert drow into two different types of drow. The red ones like Drun and Madam Farblight, and, the blue-green ones like those children over there." Gin I point to a small cluster of children to the side. The queen frowns as she looks back at Inival. "Why can''t I become like her? She is way more beautiful than she used to be. Although, the other two types seem to make others more attractive as well...." Ravel "We tried to reproduce the results but, what happened to Inival seems to have been a unique process. As for the change in appearence, I don''t see how that matters????" Gin Ravel and Wetho give me a horrified look. Even Farblight gives me a bewildered look. Only Inival and me are confused. I didn''t say anything weird did I? Whatever, not important. I have the spiderlings line up the leaders of the drow as I start working my magic. Let''s see what comes out of this. 60 Blood Overlord Orange and blue glows enveloped the five of them. I can see that they were forcefully subordinated as well so I got a glimpse of their statuses. -Subordinates Name: Ravel Umbra Race: Devoured Elf Level: 7 Name: Wetho Race: Arachno Elf Level: 29 Name: Spider(original name abandoned) Race: Arachno Elf Level: 14 Name: Crow(original name abandoned) Race: Devoured Elf Level: 12 Name: Slyphy Race: Devoured Elf Level: 26 I think Ravel is the first individual I''ve seen that has a last name. Perhaps it''s a thing only royalty are allowed? Something is weird with the crow leader and spider leader. Their ''original'' names were abandoned..... Then there is Wetho and Sylphy. I expected Wetho to have a high level since she is Inival''s former boss but, Sylphy is at a really high level as well... As they are taking in their new appearences I get a couple messages from the system. *5 Individuals forcefully subordinated. All of their subordinates are forcefully subordinated as well as their territories. *All subordinated territories are now subterritories and provide 10% of their energy to the main territory. *Due to subordinating a ruler of a ''civilization'', primary access to territorial energy is unlocked. So, using the energy that the territory gathers from the dead requires a ruler huh. I''ll take a look at that later after dealing with these leaders and figuring out what to do with that child..... Their appearences are rather changed. The queen looks rather excited. Her hair is a deep ruby as her eyes have taken a golden hue. I finally realize why she is excited, she realized that her figure has become even more ridiculous. She was wrapped before but, that barely kept ''things'' tight. Honestly, it doesn''t look realistic to me..... Different world I guess.... Wetho is entirely blue unlike the usual blue-green. Her eyes are a firey red. She doesn''t have a very ''puffy'' figure like the queen as she is much more muscular. ''Spider'' is looking really satisfied as he probably enjoys being an arachno elf. He is more of a green color with very little traces of blue. His eyes have turned purple and look a bit toxic somehow. He quickly goes back to reading his book. Then there is Crow and Slyphy. Crow no longer has an aged look and his eyes are transparent revealing the inside of his eyesockets. It looks a tad disturbing. As for his body its now a dull red like normal devoured elves. Sylphy has the same appearance of regular devored elves as well. Only special attribute is that she has a weird aura coming off her as she stares at Crow. Wonder why some of them have unique appearences after the conversion. There must be something that effects the transformation. Some sort of dormant energy or something. I can only come up with things that can''t be confirmed. They all return their gazes to me after they check on their conditions. Well, except Spider who is reading. "You guys are no longer drow. I didn''t expect that unique appearences that the process produced but, that is fine I guess." Gin "Thanks! This is exactly what I was hoping for after I saw Inival! Didn''t expect the subordination point though..... As thanks.... I''ll have the army slowly capture our people to go through this. I''ll single people out so there is not much resistance~. That mindset of ''why should I care if it''s not me?'' is already deeply embedded in my people." Ravel She walks up to me and whispers something "You can join me and Wetho whenever you want as well~." Ravel I''d rather not. I know that this queen has ''problems'' despite her appearence..... Now that I''m thinking about it, I don''t think I can be seduced. "Steel Mind'' has had some major effects on my mentality. It''s for the best I guess. Suddenly a chill runs down my back. It seems that I''m not the only one as Ravel twitches a bit. ------- The queen and the rest of the drow left to get to work. Now I need to think about what to do with that child..... Vampires are quite a troublesome race. Can control blood. Have charming abilities. Strong physical and magical capabilities. Have an affinity with soul magics. Superior ones can even forcefully subordinate individuals just from a drop of their blood. The one that showed up at my doorstep just so happens to be one of the top subspecies. Blood Overlord. A species that stands at the top of all vampires along with ''Children of Dracula'' and the ''Original Bloodkin''. Children of Dracula are direct descendents of the first vampire. Whether it is actually dracula os debatable. Original Bloodkin can be any type of vampire. They ''just'' have to purify their bloodline to reach that level. Then there are Blood Overlords..... Born out of blood, sorrow, and luck. They are unkillable as long as their blood exists somewhere. Whether that be through their children or through the insertion of blood into their slaves. They are also extremely malleable in their childhood. You would think that could be a good thing as you could raise them to be good. However, it doesn''t usually turn out that way. They are so malleable that they are impossible to direct them in a predictable way. Due to that, they are usually psychopaths.... On top of that they require very little experience to grow strong, unlike most top species among vampires. I watch Nemesis who is currently watching over the child. She is whispering songs to the her as she sleeps. I did not want to have anything to do with the child but, it seems that there is no choice. She will not tolerate drow or elves..... Drun is actually recovering right now after what happened post-meeting..... I was the only one she would tolerate at first. Nemesis wanted to help which I was very doubtful of but, it seems that she is rather good with children. I just need to make sure she doesn''t influence her in any weird way..... Actually, it may not be a good idea to let anyone else watch over her. ----- Third person POV Gin was sleeping on an ink bed, surrounded by his broodmothers and Set. A sleeping child cradled in his arms as it would break out in tears otherwise. A barely audible noise repeated itself as the peaceful night went on. "I want" "I want" "I want" 61 Taking everything in Gin POV- I realised a big issue after having the first group of drow sent to us. The shear amount of conversions that I have to do is ridiculous. In a weeks time after the meeting with their race''s leaders, I had converted thousands but, that barely made a dent in the overall population. Their population in just this pocket reaches up to a million. After I move out further it will become a major obstacle in conversions. I met with the queen again to see if she had any idea of what to do, which she did. It turns out that the Union has an artifact that can amplify the radius of spells. It could potentially help with this.... That is, if the conversion of drow is considered a spell.... Anyways, it seems that the Drow Theocracy and the Black Iron Pyre are also planning to attack the union which is in my favor. Their country was weakened due to the Drow leading that legendary creature into their country. Many of their forces died fending it off. It eventually left and settled in one of their dungeons. Now what to do..... I have not left this forest at all. I want to explore the other areas of this pocket but, I feel that I am too weak. That probably won''t change unless I have another arachnid guardian that is focused towards defense.... On top of that I have to take care of this kid now..... Ten? Was that her name? She is a pain as she needs to be fed. I only realized how weird it is to not need to consume things. Kess is the only that eats and that is due to her own gluttony, not because she needs to. Luckily I have Xelu here whose webbing is perfect for Ten. Not only does she drink the blood from the webbing, she eats the flesh that grows off of it. At first, I had a horrible feeling that what happened to Vulki would repeat itself here. However it seems that she is immune those effects. Most likely due to being an immortal race..... She has grown on me a little but, I ''will'' keep my guard up. While waiting for the war I decided to have Inival and Drun instruct me in combat. I am basically a poison mage that has talent in stealth. So while Drun and his subordinates that are proficient in poison magic teach me, I have Inival instruct me when it comes to countering people. Most of my opponents so far have been rather unintelligent or, have been a good degree weaker than me. When I wasn''t converting drow during that week I had them teaching me. Thanks to that my poison magic has increased by leaps along with several physical skills have gone up. I am very close to reaching level 15 as well so, this upcoming war should have a lot of benefits. General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) *Territory Core Host* Class: Arachnomancer(*Growth-Epic) level: 14 Exp:18760 Required Exp:20000 Status: Health(104/104) Resource-Mana(406/406)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- Str: 9 (up .3)(due to training) End:10.6 (up .2)(due to training Agl: 11.5 Int : 23(21+2)(up .1)(due to learning) ------------ Wis:20.3(18.3+2) Cha:10 Per:14.4(12.4+2)(up .4)(due to training) Luck:12(10+1+1) Condition:Normal -Perks *Untraceable(rare) *Greater mind(rare) *Wisdom''s blessing(rare) *Closed system(rare) *Territory Master(unique) *Steel Mind(unique) *Spider''s Stealth(rare) *Arachnid Ruler(epic) -Skills *[Poison Control] *Poison Pool T2 lv9 (up 6) *Poison Lance T2 lv9 (up 6) *Stealth T2 lv 8 (up 4) *Summon the Broodmother T2 lv9 (up 4) *Summon Ararchnid Guardian T2 lv9 (up 5) *Negotiation T2 lv7 (up 3) *Cooking T2 lv2 *CQC T2 lv3 (up 1 tier) *Taunt T1 lv7 (up 5) *Crafting T1 lv2 So most of my skills have gone through a boost. CQC went through the most dramatic change as it is now a viable option to use. It involves not just attacking but, dodging and defending as well. My physical stats have had a decent boost too but, I am still nowhere near a regular warrior... ------ "So what is it that you wanted to discuss?" Gin "I can see a lot of different things. Things that ''hide'' away from regular vision. They can be a representation of something like the blood tie between you and a certain god''s image or they can literally be something that is hiding. I see a figure hiding around that is connected to you deeply. An ancient husk that is rather concerning. Normally, when a being ascends, they leave a husk behind. Just like how a snake sheds it''s skin. I know very little of ascending but, what I do know is that one must have either a legendary class or race to do so. So, for such a thing to bind to you..... It''s rather fascinating. Especially since I had thought that father was the only one from this world to have ascended." Crow So basically this guy has ''special eyes''. What the hell is this ''husk'' doing? What am I supposed to do with this information? "So do you have a way to counter this?" Gin "Counter? Heavens no! Nothing can be done until you ascend, which ''will'' happen. Just a matter of when." Crow So.... Why even mention this. It''s just going to be another thing lingering over my head..... "Well, I have some things to test out so, goodbye." Gin "Take care, Gin. Sylphy is getting rather antsy so I have to leave for a little bit." Crow As I was about to leave, I see him stand up and exit. I get a little curious so, I peek out the door. I see Sylphy carrying Crow over her shoulder as they walk into the woods.... I want to go after to see what is going to happen but, I pull myself back from doing so. I''ll probably see something either horrible or really weird. ------ Now, to go check out the territory functions that were unlocked due to recruiting the ''former'' drow queen and the others. I had put it off for a bit but I should probably check it out. Uhhhh..... Territory? As I think that, a screen pops up showing me some things that I can now do *TE- 17290 *TE-EX-15 *Instill Energy -Territory Expansion -Base Reinforcement -Equipment Reinforcement -Stat Increase(Self) -Stat Increase(Subordinate) *Creation -Subordinate -base -equipment -magical construct(Ex: short range teleporter, energy generator) I open a few of the various screens to see massive amounts of information. The various screens under the Instill Energy screen are basically equations to determine the amount of energy needed to upgrade something. The shear amount of them is mind boggling. Under the Creation screen are countless things that can be produced with energy. The amounts vary to extreme degrees, with some needing so much energy that I can''t find the end of the number, to some needing only 1 point of energy. TE seems to be just regular energy while TE-EX is a special type that is needed to create subordinates, equipment, and bases that have minds. *Ding *Constructed base found *Would you like to convert it into a territorial base? Y/N As I look at the base subscreen a notification pops up. I tap on Yes bringing up a new screen. 62 Overseer Nothing really happened except a new screen popped up. *Nameless Nest -Structural Strength: 1900 -Security:2050 -Population: 2200(current residents) -Description: A small nest made of several types of webbing. Has a good foundation but is missing several key facilities and figures. .... Well. I wish it would tell me what the nest is actually ''missing''..... I start looking through the different types of things in the territorial screen. One thing in particular catches my eyes. Magical Construct: Overseer Program Price: 0-99999*99999 TE, 10 TE-EX(optional) Description: An overseer program manages territories and bases. One can pay as much as they want for one but, the more invested the better the overseer. An overseer can be improved with TE. The owner of the overseer can change it''s permissions at any time. For an added 10 TE-EX, the overseer will be upgraded to an AI life-form that is a exact copy of one of their creator''s subordinates. This is something that I definitely need. I am slightly wary of the AI option but, the program itself should be fine. I input 5000 TE into the screen and purchase it. A pop up appears showing the overseer''s information.... It seems the amount of TE put into it affects the amount of functions it can have along with it''s calculation ability as well as the amount of things it can manage..... I glimpse through it and toggle different permissions on and off. There are literally hundreds of them with some being rather.... Well.... Bizarre. One is the permission to allow the overseer to choose subordinates to breed and produce better offspring..... Rather messed up. Another is the permission to allow the overseer to organize death games to produce superior subordinates. Obviously I toggle those off. I don''t need these things going on in the background. After going through the whole list of permissions I double check to make sure that everything is in order before confirming them. Immediately the base starts to have changes. I notice that things are being added like lights and doors. The ground that was uneven in some places start to even out along with the walls. That was an issue that I couldn''t really fix. We initially constructed the nest in an even fashion but, over time parts of the nest. started to sink or bend. If it was in one or two places that would have been fine but, the whole nest turned into this uneven mess. I watch on as the overseer starts to fix issues simply. I have a few notifications pop up as it requests for 2 things. *Asking permission to build a ''Lesser TE Generator'' Y/N * Asking permission to build 10 ''Watchers'' Y/N Apparently, the overseer can''t spend more than 10% of Territory Energy on specific items. It also can''t spend energy as it wants after TE drops below 50% of the highest value owned unless it is an emergency. I immediately grant the first permission. A generator is going to be a vital item for the future. I look at what ''watchers'' are in the territory screen. I find out that they are items to allow overseers to observe things directly..... The Overseer has a layout of the nest to look at along with permanent features such as the poison pools that I layed out and furniture. However it can''t actually see what is going on in the nest. For that it needs watchers. I grant that request as well as I watch my TE drain away. Different changes keep occuring over the nest bringing my broodmothers over with solemn.... Expressions? I explain to them (mostly Vulki and Kess who was worried about her work so far on the nest being undone) that this is all part of the power that comes with owning a territory and having certain things unlocked. I am not too sure why this only unlocked now but, it must have something to do with conquering several other territory cores. The exact wording was ''Due to subordinating a ruler of a ''civilization'', primary access to territorial energy is unlocked''. What exactly counts as a ''civilisation'' though....I''m also a bit curious as to why I didn''t get territory cores when I converted the harpies or when the Treants were defeated..... Anyways, now that the territory is being looked after I can start expanding my vision onward. The next objective is to obtain the one artifact that is supposed to be in the union. I doubt that I''m the only one that wants it.... As long as the drow or elves acquire it I should be fine as the queen can probably muscle it out of whoever gets it. However..... If the Fallen dwarves get it, things could get complicated. I''ve been rather confused on how to deal with the fallen dwarves. I initially wanted to just deal with them like how I did the drow but their ''curse'' is a bit different from the drow''s. According to Vulki, the fallen dwarves used to have two different groups. Those whose gods banished them and those who abandoned their gods. Technically I should be able to convert the first group..... The thing is, the groups aren''t seperate anymore. They have lived down in this pocket for millennia, far longer than the drow have. So, they interbred to the point that the curses have mixed together. Their situation is more permanent and I can''t really deal with that.... I could still subordinate them. Their loyalty would not be very high though..... I know that those who I have converted can''t really rebel. The energy in them would end up going berserk and unlike when they were punished by their previous god, they would just end up dead. On top of that they seem to have lost any sort of ''idea'' towards that, which I find weird. I would like to see their loyalty levels. I don''t know what numbers are the norm as I have only seen my broodmother''s and Set''s'' loyalties which are all at 100. I guess in it would be best to just kill any dwarves we come across for now. I''m not a big fan of killing civilians but, the ones we come across would be soldiers so it should be fine. This is all for the future. For now, lets explore some of the different things that were unlocked.... 63 Undercurrents Ravel POV- Becoming an elf brought along many issues. Luckily, only me and Wetho were converted. I can''t make any public appearances without covering up. I could try to find an illusionist but, some would be able to see through that sort of thing.... I know the old shits in the noble families would make a huge fuss if they saw me. Luckily everyone''s attention is placed on the religious temples that were attacked. A lot of attention is placed on the Union at the moment as well.... The Union..... Gin Cinders. Quite an odd man. I was hoping he would take up my offer so I could learn more while having a little fun but, it seems that he may have been a bit intimidated.... I guess.... I am ''technically'' a ''married'' woman. That king is useless scum though. Noble families always give their most useless ''heir'' to us royalty. Trying to make our later generations less outstanding. ..... Now that I think of it..... I don''t need that king anymore do I? Elves have much longer lifespans then drow. From three hundred years to fifteen hundred. I''ll dispose of him secretly. No one will really care or notice. I''ve already killed a few other ''kings'' that pissed me off before anyways. *tap *tap I tap my desk in annoyance. I should find a way to deal with those nobles. I have a sizable amount of loyalists among them but, a force has been growing these past few years. I''m sure that they had connections to those snake worshippers as well. I might need Drun and Madam Farblight''s help on this. Drun is good for hunting down trash while Farblight should have a lot of information about this group. We can use this upcoming war to eliminate their fighters as Wetho and a few others as dig their roots out. *knock *knock Wetho comes in with our ''special'' tea, making a slightly lewd face. Her new appearence makes me blank out for a few seconds. BEAUTIFUL! I really owe Gin for this. Lust along with a plethora of new feelings rush into me. I calm myself down as we really do need to discuss some important things. Wetho takes a seat next to me and starts groping my chest as it''s quite natural for her. I feel a heat build up.... Calm down Ravel! Calm! "So, the preparations are going pretty well. We will be ready to invade the Union in 5 days. From what the scrying pools can see the Fallen Dwarves are only a few days behind. what should we focus on plundering this time?" Wetho "Ahhhh~! We should go for riches this time instead of slaves~. A couple mines were discovered in the Union''s land a couple years back. A firegem mine along with an obsidian deposit are among the most valuable if I remember correctly. Gin does seem to frown at slavery as well. Quite odd as humans are extremely famous for enslaving other races. Their fame even reached all the way down here..... Now that I think of it doesn''t he have slaves as well?" Ravel "We can probably aim our forces along with the religious factions on plundering riches but, the nobles will capture slaves no matter how we try to push them. More than that, I''m worried about those pyre bastards. They will probably be after the same things. That saint will probably have obstructions with that artifact as well...." Wetho "Speaking of which, are you ok that I tried inviting him in on our ''activities''?" Ravel She stops kneading my chest as she ponders for a second. She eventually responds with this. "???? I''m fine with that. We can''t have children between the two of us and he is much better than that disgusting King. He acts nice on the outside but in reality he is the type to force married women into his bed. Luckily he stopped trying to mess with us after I had a ''talk'' with him." Wetho .... Royalty are required to produce children. I''m still young and have a few siblings that are still alive so I haven''t felt that pressure yet. Wetho is strong and can fight any pressure that her family puts on her about having children but, I''m not. This is part of the reason we wanted to go along with the conversion as well as why we want to convert all of our species in this pocket. At that point Gin would become a supreme ruler and I can escape this pressure that my family will force onto me just by asking him. Wetho did volunteer to help against the pressure but, that wouldn''t work..... So this situation is a real blessing. Perhaps after it''s all over we can join Inival as assistants to him. It would be a lot less stressful, more free, and more satisfying than this job..... It''s decided. For that saint we will bring this country under his control and then retire. I want to be as selfish and carefree as possible and that nest would be the best place. A place were I can be ''myself''~. "Ahhhh~!" Ravel Wetho picks me up and we go to the mushy couch at the corner~. Lets have some fun~! Gin POV- For some reason I feel like a lot of troublesome things are going to happen. Vulki is a prophet right? Why does she never tell me about anything troublesome that''ll happen. She has only used it to tell me when someone is coming. I know that ability can''t be activated purposely but, still..... Apparently Ravel and Wetho came by to tell us that they will be ready to invade in a few days and wanted to ask us for a few things. First off, they needed to borrow Farblight and Drun who were free so that''s fine. Next they wanted to have a huge number of spiderlings delivered to the border. Most of the spiderlings are spread throughout the theocracy. Most of the drow know about these ''docile'' spider monsters that are being used by the religious factions as labour. I borrow a good number to them. Why? Well because I plan on joining them. I realise that I may be endangering myself but, I need to grow stronger. Leveling can increase power. However, that doesn''t mean that I will do well in a fight. I learned from my spars and practice with Inival and Drun that I am still weak and need plenty of protection. So, I plan on staying safe by bringing Inival, Set, Xelu and Nemesis along with a massive horde, leaving the other broodmothers to defend the nest. Inival and Set will act as personal bodyguards while Xelu and Nemesis(mainly Nemesis) will direct the flow of forces to keep danger away from us. ------ What we didn''t know, was that everyone underestimated the Union. 64 AI Gin POV- Two days left.... I''ve been preparing all I can for the trip as well as trying to set the nest up so that it can function without me for a while. One of the reasons that I decided to leave Vulki and Kess behind is to have people who can lead in my absence. However, when I mentioned that to them they didn''t seem to happy. I also realised a problem. A strange issue with the overseer. Other than me no one can access it. You can try to communicate through the watchers but, it will just ignore you. There are two ways to fix this. Dump an astronomical amount of TE into it or change it into a full-fledged AI. Obviously only the later is actually an option. I struggled with this idea as TE-EX seems to be a very special resource. I know that TE can be acquired slowly through generators or through the absorption of energy from the dead. Where does TE-EX come from though? I honestly can''t find anything through all these screens.... There are generators for it but, they require a lot of TE-EX so that won''t help at all. In the end I pumped 10 TE-EX into the screen..... *Ding *Randomly selecting subordinate to build AI personality and knowledge template off of. *Subordinate Kess selected *Please wait a moment.... Kess huh? That''s actually a good outcome. She may not be as good at commanding as Vulki or Nemesis from what I''ve seen but, she is definitely skilled. The only problem is that Kess is a very gluttonous girl so, I''m not to sure how things will pan out. Well what''s the worst that can happen?.... Why''d I think that? Rogue AI are definitely a thing! Although it shouldn''t be possible for it to betray me, it could still bring about tons of issues..... *AI constructed. Please designate a name. Hmmmm..... I guess a name similar to Kess but, it should still distinctly different..... It may be like Kess at first, however, it should diverge from the original with time so Kess 2 wouldn''t do for a name..... ------ After toiling around in my mind I came to two names. One is only a couple letters away from Kess, Tessa. The other is something entirely different, Monika. That name popped up in my head while thinking of names for an AI. I''ll go with Tessa though since that''s actually pretty good. Seriously why Monika? Just Monika? No other names? *AI designated ''Tessa'' *Booting up AI ''ehhh?????'' Tessa Booting up? Can I turn it-.... Her?.... Can she be turned off then? I think she is confused so I better start explaining what''s going on. ''Gin!?!? Gin!?!? Where am I!?!? Everything''s dark! Where is my body! The hunger!?!? Why is it setting in!?!? I have no body!!!! Ahhh.....'' Before I can speak up she starts speaking in a frantic voice with a weird tone. Kess is not usually a very ''emotional'' person. Complete opposite of Nemesis. She eventually goes quiet and I start to feel a strange irritation in my chest. ''So where to begin.... Let''s see..... Do you have any idea of what a clone is?'' Gin ''G-gin?'' Tessa She asks in an absolutely terrified voice. I feel horrible about what I have to tell her.... ''You know about the system..... Specifically about the territorial stuff that has came up and about the overseer?'' Gin ''G-gin? Y....Yes.... Clone..... No.....'' Tessa She seems to have come to a conclusion just from that. ''Yes..... You are a clone of Kess'' mind. Your new name is now Tessa... I just want to-'' ''Nononononononononono!!!! How am I supposed to eat without a organic body! Even a physical body in general!!! Bad.....'' Tessa Thats good. I was worried that she would break down over the fact that she is a clone. However, it seems that she is only worried about eating.... Ehhhh? ''Ha'' ''Ha'' ''Ha!'' ''HAHA-HHHAHAHH-AHAH'' Tessa Oh no...She is laughing hysterically as her voice starts to have electrical sounding distortions. The irritation in my chest grows as her laugh continues. ''FAULT! Gin''s? No. He ''will'' never have fault. Mine? No..... Kess????..... Kess..... That bitch! Why does she get a body! Focus. Deprive! I will never allow her to consume anything! She will share my insanity! Lose her focus! HAHA-HAH-AH-HAHA-HA'' Tessa I should probably say something. She may have a problem but, I can''t allow her to create another..... Even if this whole thing is ''somehow'' my fault. I''m sorry.... ''I''m sorry, you can put me at fault and hate me if you need. Just don''t mess with other''s, ok?'' Gin ''????Can''t deprive Kess? Then what? Focus. No focus. Why not?.....'' Tessa It seems that Tessa is in thought now. She seems to be either unwilling or unable to blame me. I don''t think she was really angry at Kess either..... She has said ''focus'' a few times. I wonder if this has anything to do with why she seems a little ''off her rocker''. I go into thought but can''t come to any conclusion. All of my subordinates don''t seem to have a ''human'' mentality. I wish I could understand..... It seems that even Kess who I thought was very stable has a deep and tangled problem. I shouldn''t ever deprive her of food after witnessing Tessa''s madness. I start to wonder if the other''s have landmines in their behaviours..... I guess.... I should let them do what they want? I already do most of the time though.... ''Gin~?'' Tessa ''Y-...Yes?'' Gin ''Is there ''anything'' I can do for you~.'' Tessa Be normal? Probably shouldn''t say that..... ''I don''t really have anything in mind. Just some work I guess.'' Gin She whispers some things through telepathy that I am unable to hear due to the lack of volume in her voice. ''Not enough. I better give up my useless reluctance about ''how'' I should be'' Tessa After a couple dozen seconds, she speaks up, saying something that relieves me. ''You don''t need to be so stressed Gin. I won''t cause any problems. Instead I will deal with them.'' Tessa Welp. I guess everything is fine at this point.... 65 Pocket War Gin POV- The war has begun..... Well, there is no fighting as of yet. A group under Spider picked me up along with Inival, Set, Xelu and Nemesis. Drun and Farblight are working for Ravel at the moment while I''m planning on leaving Vulki and Kess behind to look after the nest. I really hope Tessa doesn''t cause any problems..... After we got picked up, we we''re led out of the woods into a large series of destroyed fields. The wretched had not just attacked the towns and cities of the drow but had also dug up the soil and devoured it. Years and years of care for the land had been wasted.... On top of that destruction I can see large chunks of land torn out probably from the Zephyr Lord that the drow had to deal with as well. We walk through this wasteland and eventually come up to a blue cobblestone pathway. Me and Inival need to stay concealed so we accept masks and cloaks from Spider''s subordinates. Xelu and Nemesis enter a carriage that they had left here. A large blind lizard pulling it as one of the drow take up the reins. Spider''s subordinates wanted me to enter as well but I want to see the different sights as we go along. Inival and Set who is attached to me remain as well..... The road keeps going on and on. The pocket is rather large so getting to the Union will take a while. After about two hours of walking the road converges with several others and changes from blue cobblestone to a brown asphalt. I can see several other carriages and cages on wheels. Inside are plenty of strong looking people of dozens of different races. Even some drow are locked up in there. I ask one of the subordinates that are transporting us and he replies that they are among the last batch to be transported to the border for the war..... The drow apparently save hundreds of thousands of slaves to use in times of war..... We move for a couple more hours until we reach a keep that is absolutely massive. I look to my sides and it seems to go on indefinitely. It was built as a countermeasure against the wretched..... Now, it also serves as a place of residence to those who lost their homes. Of course it''s not entirely out of goodwill. A lot of crops are needed to feed the Drow Theocracy. The farmers will need to ''repay'' them with crops leaving just enough to live off of. Other than the size of it, a catching feature of this keep is the material it is made of. Most things at this depth are made of blue stone. However, the keep seems to be made of a jet black stone that has green veins flowing through them. Quite beautiful in a weird way. As I''m drawn to the keep I see a crowd near the gates. It seems that a group of preachers are?.... ehhh???? "The end is coming my friends! That ''Queen'' and the religious liars are only contributing to it! Have you not heard of those who return to their families with red and blue skin? Are they really the same people? No! Fakes made to replace them! What will you do when you are being replaced and have no one to look to for salvation? Join us and- ughhhhh!!!!!" Drow Preacher They seem to be trying to recruit people into a new faction and eventually the guards tackle and subdue them for blocking the gates of the keep. This place is basically a military base that holds civilians. Not the best place to preach. What suprised me was that their faction was built on my actions.... I should probably ask Ravel or Farblight about this..... As far as I know, only small religious groups and the nobles aren''t in on the conversions.... After the group is subdued a guard in full black armor comes over. She raises her visor and nods to one of Spider''s subordinates. They converse a little and eventually she speaks up. "You guys came a little early ehhh~ Good! We''ll send you over to the border momentarily!" Drow Guard She lowers her visor and leads us through a seperate smaller tunnel into the keep. It opens up to hundreds of buildings built on the side of the wall and a secondary inner wall lies ahead past some fortifications, ballistas, catapults, and a massive moat filled with oil. Inival speaks up seeing this. "It''s been a little while but, I know the place quite well. We used it before going towards the forest to try and subjugate the wretched. Krychek should still be the commander. I hope we don''t encounter him...." Inival We continue being led on and enventually get close to the inner wall where a massive circle filled with magnificently carved engravings lay. The engravings seem to be individual letters but, if you look at it from a distance it looks like a picture of an eye that is cut in two. The grooves are filled with fine transparent crystals as well giving it a very mysterious vibe. We wait a few more minutes before a massive man about four meters tall comes out of a side passage of the wall. Farblight was the largest drow I have ever seen but, this guy has her beat. However, no trace of fat lies on him. A bald muscle man through and through. He wears some black greaves that go up his legs and comnects to the bottom half of some plate mail. A pair of gauntlets extend the legth of his arms as well. After seeing us his eyes light up as he strides over. Inival slowly slides behind me and stays a few feet back. She is technically my bodyguard so she can''t leave, otherwise, she would probably sneak into the carriage. He is quite a energentic man as he shakes the hand of Spider''s subordinate with a weird fervor. The guard lady who led us quickly leaves after giving a salute. It seems that this guy is troublesome in some way. Eventually he focuses on me. He comes..... I feel like a dwarf as he lowers himself to eye level with me and then nods. "Mage huh? At least he has some basics of combat beaten into him. WELCOME TO MY LITTLE KEEP BOY!" Krychek He clenches both of his arms on my sides picking me up and setting me on his shoulder....? What is going on? I feel another force drag me off as I end up laying in.... Inival''s arms. Set is babbling something but, I fail to make out her words as they seem a little weird. "Krychek! Stop!" Inival Inival shouts at the goliath and he gets a huge grin plastered on his bald face as he probably realises who Inival is. "Did you come back to accept my proposal of marriage then, Inival?" Krychek "No, I have already found the person I belong to!" Inival He is stunned for a second, looks at me, then he brings out a small notepad and pen and crosses something out. He chews on the end of pen as he stares at the notepad for a few seconds, eventually pocketing them. "Only 79 candidates left out of 279. Am I really not that attractive?" Krychek He whispers that but, it is still highly audible. A little pitiful. Especially with the expression of grief that he is making. Inival shouts at him a few times and he evetually gets himself back together. "Right the teleport thing, ehhh. I don''t have anything to do with that." Krychek "Then why are you here!?!?" Inival "I''m the commander?" Krychek He asks in a confused manner leaving Inival dumbfounded. I think he means to say that he is the commander and can be anywhere in the keep. At least I hope that''s what he means by asking. Hmmmm....? Who does she belong to? Cant be me right? I''m human(ish). Perhaps Drun. She could also want to be with Ravel and Wetho as well..... Not important. So if this guy has nothing to do with the teleportation procedure then who does? While Inival and Krychek play the idiot and the retorter game, a small mousy girl stumbles out of the same passage Krychek came from. Krychek focuses on her and a huge grin appears on his face again. He''s not going to- "Did you come back to accept my marriage proposal then, Mede?" Krychek Almost word for word.... This guy.... Despite her size the girl has a hot temper and growls at Krychek. "I''m here for work Krychek! I have already gone through this with you! I don''t like you at all! Even with your seduction attempts, it''s impossible! I''m almost a fourth your size! I would die!" Mede "Playing hard to get ehhh~! Two can play at that. Dummy~!" Krychek I get a feeling of horror as this goes on. Even more than when Xelu was created or when Vulki was turned into a ball of flesh from eating Xelu''s webbing. Seriously, this guy. "Anyway, Wetho gave direct orders to have you teleported to their direct army. I suggest you guys hide in the carriage before being teleported. Their army is being watched by the shit-spawn nobles so it''s best to remain hidden" Mede "Hey, hey, Mede, I''m a noble you know. I am part of Madam Farblight''s family so it''s not like all nobles are bad~. Krychek "You are an especially evil noble. Lets get this over with so I can escape from this shit-stain!" Mede I get in the carriage along with Inival. Spider''s subordinates are supposed to stay behind to make sure the next batch of slaves are brought to war. *errrrrrrrrr A blue glow envelopes the air as it begins. I expected a whoosh or zoom but, being teleported had a grinding noise.... Similar to a metal rusty door opening. I open the door of the carriage to see another magic circle but in a different place. In the distance are hundreds of tents with a massive one taking up the center. I see a few familiar faces approach from the circle''s side. A war is really beginning huh. 66 I am become death Gin POV- Ravel and Wetho approached with a heavily armored guard. Ravel is wearing a tight purple robe with golden web patterns that have small spiders hidden within. Wetho is wearing a set of black armor that only covers key places while chainmail protects the rest. A long and wide greatsword covered in skull patterns that look to be in agony is being dragged behind her making the mages upset as they have to fix the circle..... As they reach us Wetho flings the sword to Inival who just squeezed out of the carriage. She catches its handle and looks at it with a complex expression. Something between bewildered and excited. "One of our best swords. Seems to love causing choas and destruction. Take care of it." Wetho "Yes!" Inival Inival seems to have forgotten about her encounter with Krychek ealier as her gaze is drawn further into the sword.... Weird. "As for Gin.... Here." Wetho She walks over a passes a small box to me. It is finely decorated and has a good weight to it. I open it to see an orb. It''s about the size of a baseball but, is basically weightless. A screen pops up showing me its abilities *Fateless Orb(epic/growth)(Artifact)(Owned-Gin Cinders) - Adjusts to owners rank in class or species. Whichever is highest. -Existentially Bound -Semi-eternal (Can break. Takes 3 months to recover.) -Increases all damage randomly(15%-200%) -Decreases resource usage randomly(15%-60%) -Blocks all types of unaccepted observation -Isolates clones, probes and other items/beings that are not ''main bodies''.(100 meter radius.) ..... Holy shit.... Just the increase in damage and resource reduction would make this an incredible item. It has a chance to inflict 200% more damage on top of the regular damage..... Not sure how likely that is though..... Then it has all these special effects..... These effects energize well with my stealth skills and perks.... I''m turning into some super mage assassin at this point. Why does Wetho have this though? Why give it to me? I guess they probably have some weird biological loyalty to me or something.... Conversion is a weird process....Ravel gets rather close and starts explaining some of my doubts. "This is an item we''ve had sitting in our treasury for a while. No one could contract it so it was pretty useless. After I was converted, I had a thought. Perhaps you could contract it. Thing is, I would not be able to bring it out despite being queen. So I decided to have Inival collect a sample from you to test it in secret. Didn''t wanta get your hopes up and fail, ya know? That was a problem in itself. You don''t seem to lose hair or skin. No excrement to collect either.... Had to make a deal with one of your broodmothers.... Anyways the contract went well so I could take it out on that basis. Should be useful, no?" Ravel She explained it all at a extremely fast pace and before I could begin to digest any of it, both Ravel and Wetho started leading me to the giant tent. The inside is seperated into a few rooms. The biggest has a map dispalying the Union along with its borders with the other two countries. Little figurines stand at different points reminding me of my old world a little. Wetho takes the lead in explaining their plan. She explains what each of the figurines represent. Slaves, soldiers, elites, noble forces, forces from the temples, etc. I notice a figurine of me along with some of my broodmothers. After watching Wetho move the figurines around with a stick for a while I get a general idea. They plan on messing with the Black Iron Pyre''s forces heavily as an elite force sneaks in to steal the artifact that I need, along with other things in their treasury. The nobles seem to be an issue as well so they plan on using Drun and Farblight to deal with them. Then there is me. The situation in the Union is unique. It is made of many different species who live in seperated clusters. However, cities also exist and they are where the different races come together. They are places where trade and recruitment of soldiers happen. I am to attack a couple cities with the spiderlings that have been rounded up from around the drow theocracy. The objective is not to kill citizens and capture cities but, to instill choas across the Union. The Union has existed for a long time. It is not simple to conquer their lands, otherwise, they would have been picked apart by the Drow Theocracy and the Black Iron Pyre long ago. It seems that the overall scale of the war is not too large. It won''t end after the treasury is robbed but, the Drow Theocracy plans to take the backseat leaving the Black Iron Pyre to deal with everything. It doesn''t seem to have anything to do with me either. Although dwarves and drow are mortal enemies, they seem to have a cycle where they let the other side take the lead every other invasion. Of course conspiracies are not uncommon things here. In many past occasions, one side would try to take the spoils of war after the other did most of the grunt work..... ------ Five days pass quickly as we prepare as much as possible and plan out different things. I am not a confident person when it comes to things like this so I keep planning for the off-chance of shit hitting the fan. Eventually we hear word that fallen dwarves are planning to attack a fortress. Mictiel Fortress. Wetho immediately sent out her number two and a number of elites to harass them. At the same time the best of the best when it comes to stealth plan to sneak into the unions capital. My turn. I leave the camp and head off towards a medium city. It has a population of about 120,000. Mostly of smaller humanoid races. I have about 2,300 spiderlings.... It''s a good thing I''m not planning on conquering.... Although the military number is around 4000, most fit citizens can take up arms if need be. We made sure to leave in the middle of the day so that when we reached there it would be midnight. Being able to see in the dark is wonderful. We gather 4-5 kilometers away from the city. Set is on high alert, Xelu is confused while Nemesis is.... Excited? huh. Anyways, we advance towards the city as stealthily as possible. Lights begin to grow as a low wall appears. Pale hairy guards are looking out into the darkness every now and then. They are most likely a species that has nightvision or darkvision since they are keeping a lookout. We stop before we get to close and get caught..... The next step would be Xelu''s spiderlings. Creatures that can fly in the middle of the night are especially dangerous. I plan to have them pick up guards and drop them off the wall. After we get that done it would be time to transport Nemesis'' spiderlings from underground. A good number of Kess'' spiderlings are already working on that.... I only plan to kill until they can pull themselves together and rally. After that it is time to flee. If they come after us I can probably pick off a good number as well..... *swish *crunch *swish *swish *crunch *crunch We wipe out about 2 dozen guards off the wall before anything is noticed. A pale guard finally noticed that many of his comrades were missing so he rung an alarm bell. Many fires were lit up on the wall illuminating further distances. Soldiers flung to the walls as an enemy siege is expected.... Thing is.... It will be coming from underground. I hear shrill screams as I know the city has been infiltrated. I get to an area that overlooks the city.... Massive spore clouds cover a fifth of it..... This is way larger then expected.... I get an influx of notifications for experience and the long awaited level up. Welp, It seems..... That I have really gone through it and have killed a bunch of innocents. Quite honestly, I feel nothing about that. 67 Union of Races Alternative POV- They are coming. For as long as the Union has existed we have been plaqued by Fallen Dwarves and Drow. Our families enslaved and forced to endure atrocities. However, this time we can strike back. I''m sitting with several other leaders of the most numerous and powerful races in the Union. The cunning Goblins, Pride Ogres, Living Ghouls, and several beastmen races.... My race is somewhat new(We came here in the last 200 years) to the Union as a teleportation accident lead to our species shifting to this pocket. Unfortunately our numbers are low due to us first appearing in the Drow Theocracy leading to the loss of thousands of avarice trolls. They only captured a few of us due to our appearences not fitting their ''aesthetics''. It was a slaughter.... My race is one of the larger-sized species in the Union along with the few Minotaurs and Pride Ogres so we are viewed as important members. Although we may not be as physically strong as either races we have powerful regenerative powers along with several powerful mages. Hmmmm? I see a rather tall pride ogre come over.... Not again. *Smack "Nice to see you Varres, my friend!" Ogen Ogen! This brute! Doesn''t realize how strong his pats are! My shoulder hurts for a few seconds before the pain recedes.... My mind goes blank as I look at him. Pride Ogres did not wear clothing many years ago until a certain pervert appeared amongst them. He made clothes that displayed muscles and their reproductive organs more than if they were naked. Very very tight clothing.... Ugghhhh..... "Ogen, you should learn that brutes like you should be quiet! Shut the hell up!" Tot "Huhhh!?!? What can a lesser succubus say to those with real strength!?!? Sucking on the rotten diseased shafts of lepers seems to be your only ability." Ogen Ogen takes a pouch off his belt and throws it at Tot. Something rolls out..... Is that?.... She recoils at that. She seems to have gotten a whiff of it as she gags and dry heaves. She gets angry afterwards and storms off. Ogen is a Pride Ogre who no one really crosses as he seems to have a knack for angering and disgusting any race in existence. "Hah! You should learn from me, Varres! I have enough pouches to counter hundreds of races. Look at Tot vomiting in that barrel. You could argue forever with her but, just a toss of a pouch made me the winner!" Ogen ------ After listening to Ogen rant about his own awesomeness, the head walks out. Fully garbed in black robes with a black haze obscuring his face. Technically he is not the leader of the Union but everyone treats him as such. Stronger than even Ogen, smart, and listens well. The perfect leader..... Everyone quiets down and listens to him. "Nice to see that everyone''s here for once. Everyone knows that an attack is coming after the effort we had to use to repel the Zephyr Lord.... It seems that the Black Iron Pyre is going to lead the invasion of our country.... However we won''t tolerate this. Unlike the previous times we now have a special consumable artifact.... We also have Varres who has learned a particularly unique magic that can turn the scales. We will cripple the Black Iron Pyre''s forces and kill the Drow Queen, Ravel." Union Head "R-ravel.... She''s in their forces?" Tot Tot asks, a little scared. She was captured by Ravel''s guard once in a battle and given to a king as a plaything. She only escaped since the head personally lead a force to get her back. It came with a price though.... The head lost his left arm while a lot of elites died. Why did the head do this? Because Tot, while pissy at times, is a good person and a honourable leader. She is good friends with most of us too, minus Ogen.... "Yes, I have also heard rumors of a new faction in their society under the complete control of a single individual. He controls hordes of spiders and is said to be extremely evil..... Make sure to collect any information you can on this fellow if you can but, be careful. He is most definitely not simple. Especially since any attempts to collect any real information on him has basically failed...." Union Head "Sounds like a fun guy! I''ll make sure to introduce him to my friend ''Mister Fister''." Ogen Ummm?.... Okay..... Everyone ignores Ogen''s iffy statement as we continue to talk about different strategies and things to watch out for. Eventually a scout runs in and alerts us all. Apparently, Fallen Dwarf scouts have been spotted near Mictiel Fortress. Their main forces are probably not too far behind. I''m probably not needed for that. They are probably going to use ''that'' consumable artifact there..... Originally, it wasn''t a consumable. However, it didn''t produce much damage making it basically useless. However the Head experimented with it and found a way to overload it to cause an ridiculous amount of damage. Use that with a artifact that helps widen the area of spells and abilities will make it able to blow a chunk out of a map. Ogen and the Head will probably work on that. ------- My mission.... Is to capture Ravel. The head originally planned to just have me outright kill her but, after a few suggestions were thrown in he changed his mind. Hopefully this all goes well. Tot is to aid me in infiltrating, thankfully.... Still, I have this idea pop up in my head every now and then. As if we are all just following some sort of script that''ll lead to our deaths.... As if our actions are predetermined to result in nothing towards our own desires. Own desires.... Perhaps those are predetermined as well.... I can try to describe this to Tot but, she will just brush it off as ridiculous. ------ As I prepare to move out towards to enemy camp I here a scout who is panicking. A city is under attack! Damn! Everyone else is preoccupied with different matters! The head and Ogen are already out towards Mictiel Fortress.... I quickly find Tot who seems to have gotten the same news. She nods and we quickly depart from the capital! We have to make it! ------- What we arrived to was a half ruined city with hundreds crying over dead ones while others are working to try and save people. Weird blue flames are burning as people fail to extinguish them. Many have been torn to shreds while others are have been drained into mummies. Then I see something horrid. Walking corpses covered in weird fungal growths. The guards are still fighting them. Tot immediately charges to kill them. She can take care of them. I run over to the dying to help heal them. That is what I am best at after all..... 67 Union Side Alternative POV- They are coming. For as long as the Union has existed we have been plaqued by Fallen Dwarves and Drow. Our families enslaved and forced to endure atrocities. However, this time we can strike back. I''m sitting with several other leaders of the most numerous and powerful races in the Union. The cunning Goblins, Pride Ogres, Living Ghouls, and several beastmen races.... My race is somewhat new(We came here in the last 200 years) to the Union as a teleportation accident lead to our species shifting to this pocket. Unfortunately our numbers are low due to us first appearing in the Drow Theocracy leading to the loss of thousands of avarice trolls. They only captured a few of us due to our appearences not fitting their ''aesthetics''. It was a slaughter.... My race is one of the larger-sized species in the Union along with the few Minotaurs and Pride Ogres so we are viewed as important members. Although we may not be as physically strong as either race, we have powerful regenerative powers along with several powerful mages. Hmmmm? I see a rather tall pride ogre come over.... Not again. *Smack "Nice to see you Varres, my friend!" Ogen Ogen! This brute! Doesn''t realize how strong his pats are! My shoulder hurts for a few seconds before the pain recedes.... My mind goes blank as I look at him. Pride Ogres did not wear clothing many years ago until a certain pervert appeared amongst them. He made clothes that displayed muscles and their reproductive organs more than if they were naked. Very very tight clothing.... Ugghhhh..... "Ogen, you should learn that brutes like you should be quiet! Shut the hell up!" Tot "Huhhh!?!? What can a lesser succubus say to those with real strength!?!? Sucking on the rotten diseased shafts of lepers seems to be your only ability." Ogen Ogen takes a pouch off his belt and throws it at Tot. Something rolls out..... Is that?.... She recoils at that. She seems to have gotten a whiff of it as she gags and dry heaves. She gets angry afterwards and storms off. Ogen is a Pride Ogre who no one really crosses as he seems to have a knack for angering and disgusting any race in existence. "Hah! You should learn from me, Varres! I have enough pouches to counter hundreds of races. Look at Tot vomiting in that barrel. You could argue forever with her but, just a toss of a pouch made me the winner!" Ogen ------ After listening to Ogen rant about his own awesomeness, the head walks out. Fully garbed in black robes with a black haze obscuring his face. Technically he is not the leader of the Union but everyone treats him as such. Stronger than even Ogen, smart, and listens well. The perfect leader..... Everyone quiets down and listens to him. "Nice to see that everyone''s here for once. Everyone knows that an attack is coming after the effort we had to use to repel the Zephyr Lord.... It seems that the Black Iron Pyre is going to lead the invasion of our country.... However we won''t tolerate this. Unlike the previous times we now have a special consumable artifact.... We also have Varres who has learned a particularly unique magic that can turn the scales. We will cripple the Black Iron Pyre''s forces and kill the Drow Queen, Ravel." Union Head "R-ravel.... She''s in their forces?" Tot Tot asks, a little scared. She was captured by Ravel''s guard once in a battle and given to a king as a plaything. She only escaped since the head personally lead a force to get her back. It came with a price though.... The head lost his left arm while a lot of elites died. Why did the head do this? Because Tot, while pissy at times, is a good person and a honourable leader. She is good friends with most of us too, minus Ogen.... "Yes, I have also heard rumors of a new faction in their society under the complete control of a single individual. He controls hordes of spiders and is said to be extremely evil..... Make sure to collect any information you can on this fellow if you can but, be careful. He is most definitely not simple. Especially since any attempts to collect any real information on him has basically failed...." Union Head "Sounds like a fun guy! I''ll make sure to introduce him to my friend ''Mister Fister''." Ogen Ummm?.... Okay..... Everyone ignores Ogen''s iffy statement as we continue to talk about different strategies and things to watch out for. Eventually a scout runs in and alerts us all. Apparently, Fallen Dwarf scouts have been spotted near Mictiel Fortress. Their main forces are probably not too far behind. I''m probably not needed for that. They are probably going to use ''that'' consumable artifact there..... Originally, it wasn''t a consumable. However, it didn''t produce much damage making it basically useless. However the Head experimented with it and found a way to overload it to cause an ridiculous amount of damage. Use that with a artifact that helps widen the area of spells and abilities will make it able to blow a chunk out of a map. Ogen and the Head will probably work on that. ------- My mission.... Is to capture Ravel. The head originally planned to just have me outright kill her but, after a few suggestions were thrown in he changed his mind. Hopefully this all goes well. Tot is to aid me in infiltrating, thankfully.... Still, I have this idea pop up in my head every now and then. As if we are all just following some sort of script that''ll lead to our deaths.... As if our actions are predetermined to result in nothing towards our own desires. Own desires.... Perhaps those are predetermined as well.... I can try to describe this to Tot but, she will just brush it off as ridiculous. ------ As I prepare to move out towards to enemy camp I here a scout who is panicking. A city is under attack! Damn! Everyone else is preoccupied with different matters! The head and Ogen are already out towards Mictiel Fortress.... I quickly find Tot who seems to have gotten the same news. She nods and we quickly depart from the capital! We have to make it! ------- What we arrived to was a half ruined city with hundreds crying over dead ones while others are working to try and save people. Weird blue flames are burning as people fail to extinguish them. Many have been torn to shreds while others are have been drained into mummies. Then I see something horrid. Walking corpses covered in weird fungal growths. The guards are still fighting them. Tot immediately charges to kill them. She can take care of them. I run over to the dying to help heal them. That is what I am best at after all..... 68 Mictiel Fortress Ravel POV- The vice captain of the royal guards took about 500 royal guards to mess with the Fallen Dwarves at Mictiel Fortress. I''m currently watching through a scrying pool that a few mages are maintaining. Scrying Pools are quite useful as they give a topdown view of a situation. Although they are very useful there are plenty of requirements. On top of that items that can block them do exist.... Thankfully, I can see the current situation. The Fallen Dwarves are using heavy ballista to take out any defenses on the wall while several groups of heavily armoured dwarves are pushing barricades on wheels forward. Behind those barricades are Fallen dwarves carrying explosive crates. Occasionally a catapult from inside the fortresses walls lauches a firey ball that hits one of these groups, sometimes resulting in a large explosion. The siege goes on for a few hours, the wall has crumpled in many portions as the armoured dwarves smash through into the fortress. I ask the mages to refocus on the vice captain. The water in the scrying pool becomes misty and he and his guard appear. They are actually close to the back of the Fallen Dwarves forces. I can see piles of crates, unused catapults, dwarven alchemists, and several other dwarves that are probably meant to deal with resources. They must have planned to reuse this force on several other Union bases and cities..... The vice captain sees a bunch of explosive crates. I can see the plan that is hatching in his head. He gives out a few orders for his subordinates to distract the small force that is guarding this forces rear. Honestly this is rather risky. The full force of this army is probably around 60,000 total including logistical personnel. 45,000 of them are soldiers with 5,000 elites with heavy armor. Right now, about 1,000 elites are attacking along with 20,000 normal soldiers..... I continue to watch and eventually get bored. "Wetho, Watch over the situation. I am gonna go take a nap. Wake me if anything interesting happens." Ravel "Yes." Wetho .... "Hope they all die" Wetho ------- Ravel POV- "Hmmmm?~" Ravel "Wake up! Something weird has happened!" Wetho Wetho jerks me awake. For her to be flustered is not good! I immediately get dressed as the mages around the acrying pool are dumbfounded. I look in to see something incredible. The area where the fallen dwarves forces were is nothing but a crater. Molten metal filling it up as fires burst out of it at times. Why did I have to take a nap!?!?! This is amazing! "What happened" Ravel "A small force with some Pride Ogres burst into the enemies lines. Ogen was among them. Then the one cloaked guy who attacked our capital some years ago and a few mages used some sort of giant ruby to cast a massive meteor spell. The fire that came off it''s impact was even more ridiculous as it melted the ground, all of the dwarves, even our own royal guards who failed to flee..... They quickly suppressed the remaining dwarves.... The battle is over." Wetho "They finally have the nerve to really fight back. Amazing! What about the force we sent to the Union''s capital? Have they encountered problems?" Ravel "No.... It actually went well. However, they couldn''t find the artifact we wanted to get for Gin. It was probably used in this attack...." Wetho "Shit! Well, that''s no good." Ravel "Should we retreat? If they are planning to attack us next..... We need to ensure your safety at the very least." Wetho "No need to worry. I doubt they would try the same thing against us. First off, an attack like that probably can''t be used repeatedly. Second off, we have many enslaved people from the Union here. They wouldn''t want to kill their own people. Even for me. At worst they would send an assassin to try and take my head." Ravel "Even that is worrying enough...." Wetho "What I''m worried about right now is Gin.... He should be attacking some cities. I gave him that artifact to keep them from spying on him but, now I can''t use the scrying pools to watch... I should have asked for his permission. I could have given him communication equiment too. Fuck! Stupid stupid!" Ravel I start pulling my hair in frustration. I''m used to preparing only for myself and Wetho''s safety in case something horrible happens. Getting in contact with Gin in case of an emergency never even popped up in my head. Partially due to underestimating the Union.... They have changed.... Usually when the Union is attacked, they just endure it and hole up most of their people in forts, cities, etc. and stay on the defense. Both us and the Fallen Dwarves have been careful not to push them too far. A cornered rat will fight back..... Well, they did have a sneak attack on our capital a few years ago though. For a short succubus that I gave to one of the past kings that have ''ended up dead''.... That cloaked bastard gave Wetho a good fight but, she eventually chopped one of his arms off and he was forced to flee with that succubus. He is probably the one who brought about this change in the Union.... A dangerous fellow.... However, he may have attachments to his comrades which can be exploited based on how he has acted.... Enough of that though. "Wetho send our fastest scouts out to warn Gin. Something fishy is going on with the Union and I''d rather not take chances with unknown situations." Ravel "Already did that. Lets just hope that they get to wherever he is quick enough...." Wetho ------ Gin POV- After having my spiderlings cause a little choas in that city, we quickly fled. I hadn''t expected to do that much damage.... A lot of innocent citizens are dead as well.... I gave up the matter of morality a while ago, although, I still will not cross certain lines. I had found that I was more upset about the change in my mindset rather than about the actual horrible things that I sometimes cause. So, I am trying to condition my mind to see no problems with these sorts of things. Looking at a small map that I had borrowed from Wetho, I pick the next target. A small city, almost a town even. Should have under 50,000 people total. Let''s be quick with it then. I probably should have asked Ravel or Wetho about a communication device..... How am I supposed to know when I''m done here?.... 69 Fungal Fever Gin POV- Reaching the next city I was left flabbergasted. Staying a little over 4 kilometers away I have Xelu''s spiderlings scout the place out. This place has much stronger defenses than the previous city. It seems that many larger species live here too. I can see the mythological minotaurs along with giant red muscle dudes..... How to go about this..... The walls are much larger and they have tons of anti-siege weapons including ballista that would tear through most the spiderlings.... Luckily, plenty of Nemesis'' spiderlings remain. They did the most damage on the previous city due to there being no countermeasures for something like spores. Fire spells will do a small amount of damage but due to it''s draconic nature, they are pretty resistant to most elemental damage. I guess it will be the same as last time? Have Kess'' spiderlings dig in and drop many fungal spiderlings..... Feels a bit cheap but, it seems to be a really effective strategy. It''s not as if my objective is to kill anyways. It''s just to cause choas..... Lets retreat back after this operation. Need to see how things are with Wetho and Ravel''s side.... ------ Everything is in place. Just need to initiate the attack. I don''t think I will use spiderlings other than the fungal ones in this attack. I don''t want to lose too many.... Vulki''s may be fine to use but, I''m not sure if things like arrows that are imbued with magic will damage them. Anyways, lets start the attack. ------ Varres POV- I got reports about strange movements of animals close to Strongblood City. Me and Tot decided it would be best to check it out. It could be the signs of another attack. We don''t want a repeat of that scene with undead fungal creatures..... I made sure to send a messenger along to the Head about the current situation. Hopefully I get a reply soon.... The previously attacked city was left in the hands of a friend who is an expert on rebuilding. The Union has been attacked countless times so rebuilding after destruction has become a sort of skill among many of our people. The loss of life can''t be ignored though. Children and elderly were included..... You don''t go after those types of people. It should just be soldier vs soldier and leader vs leader. Whoever did this attack disregarded this unofficial rule. Of course I''m not suprised as the Drow Theocracy and the Black Iron Pyre do that quite frequently. ----- Me and Tot arrived at Strongblood City to see everything alright. It seems that whatever force is moving hasn''t attacked yet. We meet with the heads of the city and warn them about the potential danger. To which they replied with. "Huh? Danger? Spiders? We will just destroy anyone or anything that comes our way. That city was full of weaklings so it''s no wonder that a whole bunch of them died." City Head 1 "Right? Why would we have to worry? I''d like to see them even try to pull of the same feats here. Dropping guards off walls. I doubt they could even make our guards budge! Don''t need to worry about them digging holes either. Only moles and worms do that. Should we be worried about them? No!" City Head 2 Not helpful at all. Might as well have not informed them..... No, the knowledge we obtained from the previous attack may save lives and that is most important. After the meeting, Tot and I visit several places around the city. We warn several different groups that an attack may come. Some take our warnings to heart while others just ignore us. ----- When night falls, after most of the peoples of this city are asleep, a large fireball is launched into the air. A sign that something is really wrong. Me and Tot were waiting in an inn for something to happen immediately spring into action. Honestly, there was a chance that I was wrong here and the suspicious movement of animals was just a coincidence. It seems that something really was going on though. As we rush out of the inn an alarm bell is being rung as a massive cloud starts spreading over the city in the dark. If you didnt have any light you would think that it is just fog. However, the color gives it away. It''s a sickly green with hues of blue mixed in. Even with my healing factor I wouldn''t risk going in. I get together a large number of remaining guards along with anyone who is willing to fight. After a few minutes, it starts happening. Walking corpses start marching out of the cloud. They hold onto weapons and charge into the lines that I had set up. The worst thing that I had learned about these undead from the previous city is that they are intelligent and know how to use weaponry. They are quick learners as well and can counter strategies that are employed against them. So, it is best to take them out as quick as possible. "Varres, go help with healing. I''m going to search for whoever is behind this" Tot "Right. Just be careful. Your stealth is not without fault. People like the Driw Queen''s Guard Captain are able to find you." Varres "I know.... I''ll never be captured by scum again...." Tot She vanishes into the air as I have a new worry bud in my heart. These attacks are probably being orchestrated by that one guy that the Union Head was talking about. What are his weaknesses?..... Can he only control spiders and these undead? How far is his range of operations? Will he able to spot Tot? Perhaps he is aware of us..... Impossible to say. I just wish that this was an even playing field that we could duke it out on.... I can only keep these guards together in this fight against the dead for now..... I really do hope that the Union Head can come reinforce us. If not, even Ogen or some elite troops will be able to diffuse the danger here..... *Sigh 70 Another one? Gin POV- After bombing the area with spores we fled and built a temporary underground shelter. In a forest not too dissimilar to the one that houses our nest. Why are we building a shelter? Lurking in the dark is our specialty so, why wait around until dawn and be more exposed? Tons of experience notifications come in and eventually a series of notifications about accepting a ranking up all of my broodmothers and guardians appears. *Rank up all Broodmothers? Y/N? *Rank up all Arachnid Guardians? Y/N? Both summoning skills reached tier 3. The highest levels of those summoned seems to be what determines it. Otherwise, ''Summon Arachnid Guardian'' shouldn''t have stayed the same tier as ''Summon Broodmother''. It also seems that I can''t rank the broodmothers up separately. I do want a higher combat potential but, I''m not sure if the process is immediate or not. The evolution process is relatively quick. However, this is different from evolution. It is an unknown. It could very well be an immediate process..... Enough of that though. Since Kess isn''t here, work on expanding this crowded hole is taking a bit. Nemesis is not good at directing spiderlings outside of battles and lashes out when things don''t go well. I''ve scolded her a couple times for that and she seems to be.... Depressed? She''ll be fine. Just a small bit of scolding. However, she won''t return to command duty for now..... Even Xelu is better at ordering them..... I joined in with Xelu and we got a lot of dirt moved. It''s too bad that we had to dispose of it outside. Again, another time Kess would come in handy. We eventually ran into another problem. The air is not too breathable here so shafts had to be built to bring some in. What was left was defense. So for that I had Xelu puts down a lot of sentries on the walls and ceilings to prevent intruders. I''ve been up for a while so I guess I''ll need a little rest. Lack of rest can lead to bad judgements and I can''t let that happen..... ------ Aein POV- "Why? How? Why is? No. Aein we have to have artifacts in storage to counter something like that right?" Sillith "I''m afraid not ma-... Mrs. Cinders..... You usually devour them right away for a chance to aquire their abilities." Aein "I always kept the more useful ones though. What about them?" Sillith "Although some will help with farsight abilities, none have an effect specific enough to help here...."Aein *Sigh I was taught about what true love is from ma-.... Mrs. Cinders. Love is a exhilarating feeling that you get from any neutral or positive interaction with Gin. I just never had the ability to experience this feeling before but, Mrs. Cinders opened this up for me. Now, we can''t interact with him by watching anymore. All due to that drow.... Drow.... *Sigh Well. Nothing to be done with them. Gin has taken their species into his hands. Otherwise the different worlds in this universe would have one less type of lifeform..... Mrs. Cinders.... How about Mistress? Gin will become sir then? Good, I could be sir''s maid.... Then we could sneak around together as if we were committing something taboo behind mistresses back. Of course she wouldn''t care though, as I am technically a part of her. However, that would require sir to come here. As long as he is out in the universe he is in danger. Once he has met certain requirements he can leave that hellhole. A god will then be able to ''employ'' him. I doubt he would ever be unemployed. Someone who has eaten an egg of happenings.... If we can''t keep an eye on his progress..... If he is taken in before we can.... IF..... An unknown god does.... He will be gone..... Gone.... Gone.... "There has to be a way to go around the ability of that artifact, mistress. The effect is ''blocks all types of unaccepted observations right''? So as long as he accepts we can continue viewing. The ring he wears can still communicate with him even though other functions have been cut off so-." Aein "No! Do you understand the reprecussions!?!?" Sillith "We shouldn''t get in trouble. Gods contact people through mediums all the time." Aein "....Not that type of trouble. The feelings of bliss would overwhelm me. It''s to a frightening level. Just ''watching'' Gin makes me....." Sillith Hmmmm?.... Mistress..... She never confided in me this much before. I guess a sense of unbreakable trust has formed since we are....? Partners in crime? Something along those lines. "Mistress.... If we can''t record his progress. We may miss the chance to ''employ'' him. An unknown god could even take him....." Aein "That''s..... Another problem..... I can''t ''employ'' him. You know what happens to those I employ...." Sillith Ahhhh.... I had forgotten. Those that are employed under ''Sillith'' no longer are individuals. Instead they become part of her, due to ''Gluttony''.... How then?.... "You don''t need to worry about that. I have a trustworthy servant who is willing to help on that front. Do you remember Grant?" Sillith "That bastard who wouldn''t leave you alone? Yeah, I just remember he disappeared randomly. Caused a lot of unrest....." Aein I guessed that Mistress took care of him since she never allowed a male to express themself to her. Now that I think of it, not just Grant, there has been several disappearances.... Grant was the most disgusting of them all but, the others may have.... "Yep, I know what you''re thinking. They are sharing space with Sloth. Minds have been taken care of. That''s the thing about ''gods''. Immortal for the most part, but their minds can easily be shattered and replaced with ones that will serve me and Gin in the future." Sillith Lots of things are starting to make sense. Although I was Sillith''s most trusted employee, my memory was regulary cleared and lots of things were mysteries. Mistress. seems to love talking about these things. I must have heard too many things in the past. However, things are different now. "Still the issue of stal-.... viewing him still remains. Gather up your courage mistress. You can do it." Aein "Alright.... However if I disappear for a week.... You''ll know why. Don''t you dare come near my room either." Sillith I have never actually seen Mistress'' room. After being taught about love though.... Pictures of him maybe pasted everywhere? How bad could it really be? 71 Alex? Sillith? Gin POV- After having everything set up in this temporary shelter I decided to pass out for a bit. Of course all of the spiderlings are on high alert just in case..... I had trouble sleeping. I kept on fading in and out of consciousness and eventually just started staring at the ground above me..... That''s when a voice interrupted my stupor. ''Umm.... Can I watch you?'' ???? What? Where''d that voice come from? Hallucination? I knew I was lacking sleep but-. ''Is everything okay?'' ???? So, it is real? It seems to be female but, it has an odd tone. As if ''she'' is trying to make ''her'' voice higher and more feminine than what it probably is. So what? ''She'' wants to watch me? No. Absolutely not. ''Ahhh, you know how to use telepathy right? Try using it towards your ring. I''ll take care of the rest! Mmm~....'' ???? That was.... A weird noise. So the ring is what is talking? No, something is probably using it to talk. I don''t trust those that make their voice higher. I''ve known a few guys in the past who have trained their voices to be more feminine than even some girls. Some girls do the same thing to appear more ''cute'' though.... ''Who and what are you?'' Gin ''Ahhh.... You could call me Alex, maybe?'' Alex I''m guessing that''s not ''her'' real name.... Most names I''ve heard are along the lines of Sillith, Ravel, Farblight, Crow and so on. The name is very common in my old world..... My niece was also named that.... ''So ''Alex'', what are you and what do you want'' Gin I take a very neutral tone with ''her''. I have to be very careful with this encounter. I know nothing about this ''alex''. ''You could say I''m a god. I just want to watch your journey. That artifact you have requires I ask....'' Alex Hmmm? This orb? So it can obscure even a god''s perception?.... A god? Wait? Shit! ''Uhhh.... So why would a god take an interest in me? Im just a weak summoner here...'' Gin ''Haaaaa~.... You have a lot of potential. I want to recruit you. Unfortunately I can''t do it personally so, I will have a subordinate recuit you for me. Whenever you ascend, keep an eye out for the one called ''Grant''.'' Alex She lets out a weird noise again.... Then she goes on about a new subject. Ascend? ''Ahh, ascending is a process which allows you to break the bonds that tether you to your world. You can then leave after being ''employed'' by a god. This requires legendary ranking for your race or class. You also need to be level 100.'' Alex Level 100. That''s a long way off. I can''t remember doing anything that would catch the attention of a god.... The reverse temple? Nah... Perhaps it had to do with taking over the temples in the Drow Theocracy.... Between the different gods that they worshipped.... ''Do you have some relation to the Crow God, Snake God or Spider God? Perhaps Sillith?'' Gin ''???? There is no god of crows, snakes, or spiders. Those are probably people who have ascended. You could say that I have a relation with Sillith though.... Anyways, I''ve been following you for a while. Not that long after that small troll, Ymrilab, gave you an egg of happenings.'' Alex Any doubts that I had that she may not be a god vanished. This matter involves me being sent to this world in the first place. A complicated matter.... Still. I''m not sure how I should deal with this situation. Turning down a gods offer sounds like a bad idea.... To what degree of power does a god hold? No idea. I''d rather not take the risk. If she were to curse me or something I''d have no way to deal with it. ''Yes, you can observe me I guess. As for the offer.... Please give me some time.'' Gin If I wouldn''t have given her permission for that who knows what would''ve been the consequence. The employment issue can be put off for quite a while. ''Take your time and think it over. I need to get going. Important ehhhhh~.... Things to do.....'' Alex *Sigh Hopefully everything turns out well.... This whole thing is way out of my control. I wonder though..... This ring has some connection to Sillith. In fact, I have plenty of connections to that god now that I think about it. She could actually be Sillith.... I have heard plenty of things from the Sillith Faction that she is mainly worshipped due to ''power''. She is very evil god apparently. So, she could be trying to bait me with an amicable pseudo-personality or something. What could I do if she is though.... *Sigh Aein POV- After the Mistress communicated with sir Gin, she took off to her room looking very red. She warned me not to come near her room but, she never said anything about remotely observing it. She is probably too distracted to notice if I spy a little.... Activating a couple observational skills, I take a look. A large fluffy golden bed seems to be the only thing in there. The walls and floors have a carpeted surface. Quite odd. I expected pictures and shrines to Gin. Mistress leaps into her bed and starts.... Twisting? The mistress usually does not have consistent appearences. She randomly changes her forms when she is bored. However there is one appearence that I have become aware of that she holds with great importance. The form of a mid to late teenage girl with black puffy hair and black eyes. Rather voluptuous although, she seems to include that aspect in all her appearences..... This appearence.... Is rather unique. Why am I bringing this up? Well, she changes into that appearence on the bed but, this time it''s a bit different. As she continues to twist, her flesh begins to tear, spraying golden blood all over her bed before it soaks into it. Her face began to display spiderish features. Her mouth and lower jaw sinks in just to be replaced with fangs and thin black teeth. More eyes started to appear on her face until not a single place was left with skin. Her nose sunk into her skull leaving dark holes behind as well. "Ohhh~! These memories, feelings~! Ohoooooooo~!" Sillith She starts moaning and I cut off my skills. The mistress restored my lost memories after I realized how I should view Gin. Among those is some odd things.... Just who is Alex? How is she related to the mistress and sir Gin? I probably won''t find these answers until I become a god myself..... All I can do is wait, unfortunately.... 72 Ambush Or.... Gin POV- After that encounter sleep was impossible. Brooding over my thoughts the light outside the shelter started to fade. We move back to Ravel''s camp after it''s dark. I really need to aquire some sort of communication device or something. Telepathy works with all subordinates, ''technically''. I still haven''t found out how to use it with anyone other than the broodmothers and Set. It also can''t be used over lengthy distances either. I watch the outside turn pitch black and, I start ordering the spiderlings along Xelu and Nemesis. "I want to guys to get them to move quietly and quickly back to Ravel''s camp." Gin ''Tsskkk! That one. Dont be tempted master. Once I acquire some humanoid form I will make it so that no one else will mean anything in your eyes.'' Set Set actually speaks up for once. She keeps to herself a lot recently. I can tell that she is very alert most of the time. Each time I get injured she becomes very agitated and it seems as if her alertness is getting progressively worse. To a degree where she abandons talking..... Perhaps that''s something I should look for with the new broodmother or guardian..... Some sort of scouting subordinate would do fine as well. I can probably borrow one from Wetho. I could also get one from the Sillith Faction as well. "Hurry up you gar-.... Nice... Spiderlings.... We need to return to the previous camp before sunrise.... Or else." Nemesis "Go to camp. From before. While dark." Xelu Nemesis doesn''t seem to want to treat the spiderlings well. A vast difference to how metal spiderling community that Kess has. They seem to enjoy following Kess and I''ve seen them dance in weird ways in celebration. Some even worship her.... Although.... They do inexplicably die sometimes.... Then they get eaten.... Xelu''s spiderlings are rather simple minded and will follow instructions rather well. Her curiosity leads her to get them to do weird things sometimes. When eldritch clumps of flesh with tentacles and thorns start pushing themselves together in weird ways.... You start questioning your sanity. Vulki''s spiderlings are all a ball of energy. They are extremely mischievous and caused plenty of problems before Vulki reprimanded them. Since then only themselves and enemies have suffered through various tragedies that they conconct. Even Nemesis suffered from them before she was converted..... ----- We get moving rather quickly. After a while, we come to a clearing filled with a faint blue glow..... Fireflies? Interesting. I catch one and bloats up and explodes into a blue goo in my hands.... Gross! I rub my hands through the grass. I''m not sure if my hands smell now.... *sniff Surprisingly nothing. Anyways I leave the clearing to see a small patch of trees. Walking closer, Set freaks out. ''Watch out! There are people in there!'' Set I focus in and see a couple massive figures along with a couple small ones. "Shit! How is he that observant!?!? Well, the element of suprise is gone...."???? Only six figures walk out. A brown hairy.... Troll? Not quite like Ymrilab. It has tusks and is more lean than pudgy. Two small figures look like sterotypical goblins. Green, pointy nose, thin limbs.... Next is a massive red ogre. Very peculiar clothing.... Something that would make parents would cover their children''s eyes. Sleek black spandex covers him very tightly showing an aweful sight. On his hips are a bunch of pouches that radiate a aura of foulness. Putrid green gasses escape sometime with his minute movements. A young girl with a similar set of wings and tail to Ten is there as well. Only her tail has a heart shaped figure at its end and her horns don''t leak blood. Lastly is a fully obscured figure. Black robes with some sort of mist blocking his face. "So you are the one that is working for the Drow Queen, huh.... I''m surprised you lingered around for so long. If you would''ve run back to that drow encampment, we wouldn''t have had time to set this ambush up." ???? Damn. These guy knew about the route I wanted to take back.... How did they know I was around here though? Sure I attacked that nearby city but, unless they specifically knew the distance that I took from it.... I look back and realise my own stupidity. A horde of spiderlings are truly hard to hide. Especially when some are litterly made of fire They are probably strong for them to try and ambush me with only the six of them.... "Can we negotiate here?" Gin "Negotiate!?!? Did gou want to negotiate when parents turned into some kind of undead monstrosities and tore their own childrens hearts out!?!? Did you want to-" Young Girl "Tot, that''s enough. What''s the point of arguing?" Troll "No, Varres, he needs to know why he has no right to negotiate with ''actual'' people." Tot *Sigh "Fine." Varres "Absolute scum. No better than those pieces of drow shit. A worthless creature that only brings horrible-" Tot Nemesis interrupts her by shouting heavily foul language. That ''Tot'' seems to hold a deep grudge against me. I did start a horrible slaughter though so, I won''t deny her words. I''d thought that drow were horrible before but, I find myself able to commit similar atrocities. In the end though, what does it matter? Why are those parents and children important? I do feel a deep attachment to Set and the others as they are truly important to me. Inival, Ravel, Wetho, Drun, and all the other elves are different in a way as well. Perhaps I am a hypocrite and can arbitrarily value people. Well, that doesn''t matter. What matters is dealing with this issue here. "-Dirty bastard producing sow. Why don''t you let that giant pervert fuck your throat out of your anus-" Nemesis "Nemesis, stop!" Gin I only caught the end of that there. It seems that Set and Inival are angry as well. Xelu doesn''t seem to understand and is trying to match the moods of the others.... I hope she doesn''t pick up on the type of language Nemesis was using.... "Negotiations are open...." Dark figure "Union Head!?!?! You can''t be serious!?!? That guy has no morals!" Tot "I agree with the head as well" Ogen "Ogen!?!? Weren''t you the most eager to introduce him to your ''mister fister''!?!? What is going on!?!?" Tot "Tot. Calm down. You should have some sort of sense on how dangerous this guy is. I feel my scalp itching just standing here" Varres "We can still kill him!" Tot "Not without losing a few of us at the very least. At worst we could all end up dead. It''s not just him either. There is a horrible presence lingering here." Varres "Quite perceptive Varres. Anyways. Gin is it? We want to make a deal. You have a lot of influence in drow society it seems. I want you to end their involvement in this war, if at all possible.... It seems that the Black Iron Pyre is launching a massive strike on us...." Union Head "Union Head? Why are you telling him about that?" Goblin 1 "It would''ve been fine to just ask him to try and pull back enemy forces." Goblin 2 "He''ll learn either way. We captured a drow noble and learned some information. The main reasons behind the drow''s invasion is due to this artifact and due to some valuable resources we''ve uncovered. We''ll hand the artifact over along with the resources that we have collected so far over if you pull out...." Union Head It''s quite a deal. It makes sense though. What did they do to piss off the Fallen Dwarves so much? To the degree that they are willing to bribe the Drow Theocracy to leave.... I can''t really make a decision here though.... Ravel will be the one to make the final decision.... "Someone''s coming.... Drow Scout?" Goblin 1 A drow scout is running really fast with his legs flinging forward in ridiculous arcs. He comes to a halt behind me. He looks at the situation and sweat starts building up on his forehead. "Umm.... Her majesty wanted to give the Saint a method of communication.... Here...." Drow Scout That''s rather conveniently timed. Huhh?.... The drow scout takes off at an incredible speed, probably running away from these elites from the Union.... "Well. That makes matters more simple." Union Head Yeah..... 73 Raveth Gin POV- *Zagan Activating the device that looks like a T.V. remote brought up a small blue figure of Ravel..... Reminds me of a certain AI from a game series where you hunt aliens..... "Gin! You need to be careful! A guy in a black robe destroyed a massive force of fallen dwarves. Things are gonna get heated up pretty soon. Ehhh? Is that?" Ravel "Yeah, I came into contact with a whole group of elites from the Union it seems. They want us to pull out of this war. They''ll give us the artifact we were after and also some resources." Gin "..... That''s..... Difficult.... We could easily pull out the forces from the religious factions along with the royal factions army.... However the nobles are another matter..... Actually, I want to discuss something with their ''head'' if you could hand the device over." Ravel I hand it over. "I would rather just have this guy communicate with you and act as a messenger. He at the very least is only a murderer." Union Head "Do you really want to negotiate? If you do, don''t ever badmouth anyone from our side. Especially him." Ravel "Fine..... We are offering what has been obtained so far from our obsidian mine and firegem mine. About 7,000 kilograms of the former and 300 of the later. Also an artifact that mainly serves to widen the area of effect of spells and other magical abilities." Union Head "Deal. However we will take a bit of time. loose ends that need clipped." Ravel "I have a general idea. Good to see that they are finally going to be killed." Union Head "..... Are you sure that you don''t want to help with ''that'' matter" Ravel "I''m very sure. Bye.... Ravel...." Union Head The Union Head tosses me the device back along with a bracelet. It is a glassy black and has an almost holy white gem embedded into it. What was that though?..... Aren''t negotiations supposed to be a long grueling process? It also seems as if they know each other quite well. After a few minutes they head out and Inival speaks up. "It''s been a while since I last saw him. You probably noticed that something odd was going on there. Best to ask Ravel...." Inival "Rude piece of garbage." Nemesis "....." Set "Hmmmm?" Xelu Nemesis says something but, Xelu catches my attention. It was only at this point that I realized that she was making her spiderlings mush together in messed up ways again. "Xelu!?!?! Stop!" Gin "Hmmmm? Okay. What is-.... Wrong? With this though?" Xelu How do I explain this? "Xelu, these types of actions are wasted on mere spiderlings. You should do these yourself but, only with the Saint." Nemesis "Wait! Dont teach her weird things!" Gin "Okay." Xelu "Noooo!!!" Gin .... After trying to reverse the damage that Nemesis caused for almost half an hour I bring out the communication device. Ravel appears as a blue digital avatar again with a weird expression. "Well, I never expected that to happen.... To be able to negotiate with him is something I never thought possible. Especially through the hate both sides have built up....." Ravel "Who was he?" Gin "My twin brother." Ravel .... I learned the past of the Union Head. His name was Raveth. Despite being Ravel''s twin, he was nowhere near as talented. Most drow civilizations are matriarchies. So he had no chance to become a ruler. Even if his sister didn''t take over, a niece or an aunt would have. So instead of rotting away in the royal palace, he took to magic. Illusion magic, blood magic, destructive. All types of magic interested him. However, something itched inside him. Why are drow limited to certain types of magic? Why are classes limited as well? So he never accepted a class. Experience accumulated but, he could not level up. He wanted to be someone special. Drow are cursed elves. Only special individuals and gods can fix it. However, what if a drow did not want to become an elf but, something different. Raveth went down a rabbit hole into hell. Alchemy. Out of all the different classes that became available, A special type of alchemist class appeared. One that allowed the use of any type of magic for a set period of time by using different concoctions. One that allowed one to turn yourself into whatever you want. It was not that simple though. Alchemy is a subject that requires equivalent exchange. You can turn lead into gold. Turn a cat into a dog. However there are prices. Mana, materials, blood, life..... As a drow he could not use specific types of magic, even with the specific concoctions. So, he started experimenting on himself. At times he became a hybrid monsters while at others he almost became a full-blooded member of another race. They all had problems. None of them allowed the use of any type of magic. He set out on an ambitious mission. To create his own race or find an existing one that are masters of magic. He left the royal palace and disappeared. Years later, a new figure appeared in the Union. It was ignored by all as the Union goes through people as their people are enslaved and killed all the time. However, when a succubus named Tot was enslaved, he broke into the Drow Theocracies Capital and freed her. That is when Ravel came to know the truth. She tried to have Wetho kill him. That failed unfortunately. She tried to get him to take absolute control over the union and ally with the Drow Theocracy. Another failure..... Whatever he is now, whatever his goals are. Almost everything about him is now unknown. "Keep away from him if you can. He is strong enough to get away from Wetho while carrying someone. I wanted to have an extended war here to gather experience but, it seems that something ridiculous is going to happen between the Union and the Black Iron Pyre." Ravel "Roger that." Gin .... No POV- The war had only just began. Even with Gin pulling out, it would only be a matter of time before he would be thrown back in. 74 Times Ravel POV- "I cant believe he would actually try to make a deal with us." Ravel *Sigh "Still it''s good that he didn''t fight with Gin. The chances of him winning without Kess and Vulki is about 50-50. Even if he did win, Raveth would be able to escape anyways....." Ravel "....Do you want me to hunt him down again?" Wetho "No, from the sounds of it, he is surrounded by elites. On top of that, this is their territory. Not worth the risk....." Ravel .... After a while Gin returned. Looking at his army, I see very little casualties. The only real species that seems to have taken a blow is the one fungus species. Knowing how that species operates makes it understandable. He walks over and has a suprised look on his face? "Hey Gin~!" Ravel He kneels? What''s the point of that? You only do that when you submit to someone. I already submitted along with Wetho so why do that. I look behind me. Tacticians, generals, along with other major staff. Is he kneeling to show face or something? Pointless! "Come on don''t do that~. You need to show dignity instead!" Ravel Although they are ''trusted'' staff, I don''t want them looking down on him. In a way it could even be seen as them looking down on me. Why are they trusted? Well, it''s a bit complicated. One question that lingers in different societies is ''what is loyalty''. Although most are unable to view it, it does exist in the system. I have an artifact that lets me view it as most countries do... With it, I can see how people view me. It has helped identify plenty of traitors..... Now how do you ensure your subordinates loyalty? The best way I found was enslaving them from young. If you raise them while making the sole purpose of their existence yourself, then it doesn''t matter if they are drow or not. The highest level I got from that is 85. Betrayal does not exist in their mind. Others are not important. Wetho has a loyalty of 70 which is quite high. As expected of my partner. However, Gin is.... Different.... At times his loyalty level will be at around 70. At others around 30. Extremely unstable..... I worry that he may have ''problems''. Perhaps he just has a problem with me previously being a drow? This is something unanswerable unless asked..... "Who is this pup? He should be laying himself on the ground instead." Drow Staff What? That''s not right? I look at the staff and realize that he is one that was forced into that position by the nobles. He was enlsaved so as to be ''trusted'' but still.... I look over at Wetho and make a hand-motion. She nods and asks to see the staff member privately. His face scrunches up in a horny manner and he struts out of the room with Wetho. Does he really think he stands a chance with her? Idiot. "So. Huh?" Gin I interrupt and lead him out of the tent towards a more private place. I''d rather not have to deal with more nobles causing problems. The time is coming. After we deal with these trashes, we can finally move forward. Madam Farblight and Drun are getting everything prepared. The noble factions think that I''m looking for a male concubine. What that really means is that if the current king were to die they would become the new one. A life where you could drown in pleasure. Of course I''ve never done anything with any of the kings. Wetho is my only partner, although, I am growing fond of Gin for some reason. Was it the conversion? Can''t be.... Otherwise Madam Farblight, Inival, and all of the others who were converted would experience similar things..... Wait.... Are they? Back on topic, the noble factions are going to participate in a game of sorts. The winner will die along with every other noble that isn''t under Madam Farblight. Of course they believe that the winner will actually get to become my concubine.... The game involves your sterotypical tournament. Here''s the thing though. No drow are allowed to participate. They must use slaves that they capture within the union. That part iss almost done as most of the nobles have already cheated and brought slaves back from the Drow Theocracy. A few are trying their luck in the Union which is why I had to ask Raveth for some time before we pull out. As for how we plan to wipe the nobles out....Secret~. "You aren''t planning on seducing my saint? Right?" Nemesis Woah! Where''d she come from? Nemesis is Gin''s newest broodmother. I don''t understand how his class works but, it seems to have something to do with broodmothers and whatever Set is. Basically weird spiders or something of the like. "Nemesis, it''s fine. We''re probably just going to discuss about the Union ambush from earlier." Gin "I just want to make sure. Are you planning on seducing him with those udders of yours? Or is it that you want to join us Broo-" Nemesis "Nemsis! Stop! That is not something to be said!" Gin I actually was planning on seducing him but, what is this? Broo? Broodmothers? Join them? Oh. So his class can do that? Why? Do I have a desire for that. I wonder.... I secretly use the artifact that I have to try to see my own loyalty towards him. It actually works. *Loyalty: 90 ?!?!? My chest drops as I see that number. 90. A number never before seen. I have that level of loyalty to someone I hardly really know. My fondness for him makes sense now. The fact that I actually see him as a person and not a slave or resource..... Is this fine? ''It''s fine'' Something deep within tells me that and it has a hypnotic effect. It''s fine. Fine... "So, can you make me into one of your broodmothers~?" Ravel My worries, doubts. They all fade along with some potentially important things. Are they really that important though? Weth-..... -rry. Gin POV- Ravel has been acting weird... Although, I don''t know her well enough to say so.... Nmesis ended up questioning her about seducing me. I highly doubt it. I look over myself. I''m unattractive just like my previous world. I''m in my late thirties. Although that may not sound bad, stress aged me far past that so, I appear to be in my fifties. My skin is a weird pale color with miniscule hints of green. Sickly looking. My hair which was originally short and black is now down to my shoulders and looks like seaweed with how green it is. On top of all that I look like a stickman. Not sure if it''s all due to not eating anymore, my species, or my class. I''ve just become something freakish. ... I had to stop Nemesis from giving away information on my class. There''s no way that Ravel would kno- "So, can you make me into one of your broodmothers~?" Ravel She knows! "Ummm...." Gin "I''ll take that as a yes~" Ravel *Subordinate is Perfectly compatible for assimilation into a Broodmother. Doing so will have no unforeseen consequences. Y/N? The prompt is quite different. Perfectly compatible is something I''ve never seen. It says no unforeseen consequences as well. So another problem child like Xelu will not appear? Wait. What am I thinking!?!? She''s the leader of a race! Without her leading it will become much harder to convert the rest of the drow in this pocket. She starts making an upset face. Err..... It this how the one charisma stat works because it sure is effective!?!? "Ummmm..... Let''s see.... If you help convert the rest of the drow in this pocket I will." Gin ..... ..... Wetho POV- Ra-....-rry. 75 Lots of stuff Gin POV- After that, Ravel became extremely motivated. She saw me off as a small escort returned me to the telportation circle. Wetho came back to Ravel with a large amount of blood on her..... Well that guy from before is probably in Heaven, Hell, or wherever it is that Drow go to after death. I do wonder.... Is it different depending on which god they believe or is it a singular belief in that regard?..... I whisper to Inival about this and apparently, drow don''t ''usually'' care about afterlifes. Instead they are focused on their current lives..... Elves are about the same as well. ... After teleporting back through to the black keep a small figure quickly approaches. "You guys need to go quickly! Krychek is coming and wants to invite you guys back to a feast. You ''really'' don''t want to come to that. Trust me." Mede Mede, the mage that sent us off to the camp earlier gives a helpful warning. I enter stealth along with Set and Inival. We left the majority of the spiderlings behind to help with the nobles so, the ones that are left go along with Kess'' spiderlings as they burrow underground. I command Xelu and Nemesis to follow along. Not long after the entrance is filled in.... Luckily the ''closed system'' perk is shared with them. That perk is what makes it possible for me to have an army. It negates the need for food and water. That''s not all it does though. It also allows for extended breaths do less air is needed. With what little endurance I have, I can hold my breath for half an hour which is already ridiculous. ..... Before we had the chance to flee, a giant bald man rockets from the keep and lands in front of Mede who looks rather frustrated. "The Victors have returned! Ehh? Where''d they go? Mede? What''re you doing here? Thinking of me huh? It''s not like I like you or anything~. Dummy~." Krychek "I''ve told you already! I am seriously disgusted by you and your antics!" Mede "I''m disgusted by you too, ''dum-dum''~." Krychek We use this opportunity to get away. Although he may not notice us now since his focus is on Mede, I don''t want to linger around and take a chance. "Are they stealthed or something? Hoooo-ahhh!!!" Krychek He stomped heavily sending a shockwave out about 30 meters. Mede goes flying.... Luckily we are far enough away.... "Ahh? Sorry, my little Mede!" Krychek Before she crashes into a wall he charges over and catches her into a princess carry. ''Lets get out of here, now.'' Gin We slowly sneak out. A few guards almost notice Inival as she isn''t as adapt as Set or I when it comes to stealth. After that we all met outside the gates. It''ll be a long journey back. Especially since we dont have a carriage this time. ----- A couple days later we arrived at the nest. It had changed. Although, the cliff looked rather odd before, all thoughts on keeping it hidden seems to have disappeared. The cliff face for about a mile in either direction is covered in metallic thread. It seems that small spires not too far from the cliff were also built. They have little web bridge that connect back to the nest. Vulki''s webbing seems to be spread over parts of the spires as well. It gives off an evil feeling for some reason. As we got closer Tessa could connect back to me with telepathy. She is.... Rather enthusiastic.... ''Gin! You''re back already! I put those two to work! Vulki was motivated in a similar fashion to me but, that original of mine is truly a pain. She had most of her spiderlings do this work so, don''t believe what she is going to complain about.'' Tessa She calls me Gin just like Kess. Hmmm? She does not seem to like Kess all that much though..... "Master Gin, welcome back!" Vulki Vulki rushes out and tries to cling to me but just phases through. Luckily, it seems that her fires are controllable. Otherwise, I''d probably turn into a lifeless husk.... She is rather upset. Her mask shakes a little as her flames start dancing in a peculiar way. Not long after Kess rushes out. She looks a good bit smaller. "Gin! This AI is horrible! She has me working without food! Meal times! What is that!?!? I get so exhausted from the lack of food that I end up crying!" Kess ''Lies! Everyone here knows that you don''t need food. Jeez. How can my original be so dependent on..... Anyways, even beings that do need to eat to live will usually do so at specific times. Eating constantly while working is no good.'' Tessa ----- After a bit, everyone gets settled back in. Nemesis goes back to the metal cow people that have been fully covered in mushrooms and a weird blue-green moss. Xelu starts making her subordinates do basic movements.... Almost like she is playing with puppets or something. Set just stays with me as does Inival. I guess its about time to look at the different things that are available now. After reaching level 15, the broodmothers and Set can evolve again. On top of that I can rank them up to unique rank now. I look over the various status screens..... General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) *Territory Core Host* Class: Arachnomancer(*Growth-Epic) level: 15 Exp:5600 Required Exp:10000(reduced) Status: Health(104/104) Resource-Mana(406/406)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- 1 Free Attribute point 1 Free Skill Point Str: 9 End:10.6 Agl: 11.5 Int : 23(21+2) ------------ Wis:20.3(18.3+2) Cha:10 Per:14.4(12.4+2) Luck:12(10+1+1) Condition:Normal -Perks *Untraceable(rare) *Greater mind(rare) *Wisdom''s blessing(rare) *Closed system(rare) *Territory Master(unique) *Steel Mind(unique) *Spider''s Stealth(rare) *Arachnid Ruler(epic) -Skills *[Poison Control] *Poison Pool T2 lv9 *Poison Lance T2 lv9 *Stealth T3 lv 2 (up 4) *Summon the Broodmother T3 lv1 (up 1) *Summon Ararchnid Guardian T3 lv1 (up 1) *Negotiation T3 lv0 (up 3) *Cooking T2 lv2 *CQC T2 lv3 *Taunt T1 lv7 *Crafting T1 lv2 My skills have not changed too much as I haven''t taken much action personally. Although I did want to in the beginning..... Anyways another point of interest is my experience. After reaching level 15 it halved. I asked Inival about it and apparently level 10-15 is considered a ''wall''. The next one will be at level 25-30. I ignore the skill point and attribute for now and start looking at my subordinates screens. -Subordinate Name: Nemesis Race: Fungal Humanoid Dracanae (rare) level: 15 (Evolution Possible)(Rank-up available) Required exp: 12,000 Health (???/???) Resource- Mixed draconic energy(330/330) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: normal ------ Name: Vulki Race: Deepfire Arachne-Jester level: 15 (Evolution Possible)(Rank-up available) Required exp: 12,000 Health (170/170) Resource- Deepfire essence/free energy(800/800) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: normal ------ Name:Kess Race: Ancestoral Iron Arachneven(rare) level: 15 (Evolution Possible)(Rank-up available) Required exp: 12,000 Health (720/720) Resource- Ancient/Iron essence(290/290) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: normal -------- Name:Xelu Race: Bloody Arachnoharpy Horror(rare) level: 15 (Evolution Possible)(Rank-up available) Required exp: 12,000 Health (380/380) Resource- Blood/Eldritch essence(190/190) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: Unidentifiable ------- Name:Set Race: Ink of Life Widower(rare) level: 15 (Evolution Possible)(Rank-up available) Required exp: 12,000 Health (420/420) Resource-Ink/life essence(370/370) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: Normal ------- Some of them have had more drastic increases in health and resource than others. Take Vulki for example. Her health barely increased since level 5 but, her resource has gone through the roof. Way higher than what that increase in level would allow for me. It must have something to do with either a perk she may have or something to do with her species. I look through the old screen about evolution that popped up several months ago. I look through it and find stuff about rank-ups. Most monsters can''t choose their own evolutions. They also can''t choose when to rank-up and, usually, if they can rank-up, it will happen along with an evolution. My class and it''s control allows me to do both of these feats though. I can make it so they can gain an aspect or choose one that is a superior version of their current selves. This time I''ll make sure to get input unlike the previous time. Kess and Set are the only ones who have gone through evolution as the others were taken in after level 5 making it part of the process of... Broodmotherification? Anyways, I could not communicate before their first evolution so, I couldn''t get input but, now I can. I send a message through telepathy and wait. Wonder what they''ll want? 76 Desires of Kess, Set, and Xelu After gathering everyone I brought them a distance from the nest, close to where the previous group of treants once inhabited. The reason I did this is because I heard from Inival that monster evolutions can sometimes be destructive. Really powerful monsters can cause the environment to change permanently sometimes as well. That area can then be compressed into a dungeon. Anyways, after we get a distance from the nest, I tell them my plans. "I can choose a specific direction for evolution so, I want some input from y''all." Gin "Y''all?" Xelu "I want a physical body!!!!" Vulki ''I want a humanoid body!!!!'' Set ... "Let''s do it like this. Kess, Set, and Xelu will go in a first batch while Vulki and Nemesis in the second." Gin "Damn....." Vulki "I''m not sure on what I want so getting a bit of time to think on it''s good....." Nemesis .... "As long as I can continue to eat, I don''t have any particular wants here..... Perhaps, something that makes the ancient aspect I have more useful?" Kess I bring up Kess'' status screen and confirm her evolution and rank-up. I start looking through the various different options that pop up. Usually, when I create a new broodmother, It automatically gives them extra aspects based on the amount of evolutions they should have gone through based on their level. So I''m guessing that if Ravel becomes a broodmother she will have three aspects..... I see a couple new aspects that catch my attention. Giant and Titan seem to both increase size drastically..... Nope. Already have to worry about Kess'' ridiculous eating habits..... Gluttony appears again which I cross out as well. Looking through the various aspects, I end up crossing them all out. This leaves the ones that would focus more on the aspects Kess already has and on her physique. One in particular catches my eyes. Kess right now sometimes has problems with walking. The one I''m looking at seems to add a bunch of strength to her base while also increasing the strength of her metal and ancient aspect. She should have no problems with this..... It''s weird that there is an almost perfect evolution like this while there are others that basically have no benefits.... It seems that monsters can have crappy evolutions that stunt their future growth if they are unlucky..... I confirm the choice and the rank-up seems to go along with it. Kess gets wrapped up in a shiny silver cocoon that gives off a weird pressure. While she is evolving I move onto Set who is fidgeting off to the side. "You said something about a humanoid body right?" Gin ''Yes. Perhaps something that allows me to alter my body to how I want? With all the women approaching master, I get a bit nervous. If I could make a humanoid figure that is superior, then that would disappear." Set Set says some things that disturb me. I immediately shatter all of the bizarre and ''eerie'' thoughts that are crystallizing in my head. Don''t think on it..... Won''t do my head any good.... "I''ll see what I can do" Gin For the first time in a while, I get a feeling through telepathy, sheer joy. It eases my mind a little as I bring up Set''s status screen and confirm her evolution and rank-up. I start scrounging through the various options here as well. A plant aspect, holy aspect, and oddly enough a fire aspect are present. I only glace over them though. I doubt any of them would give Set what she wants..... It seems that I may end up crossing out all of the options for aspects..... I even see ''envy'' which is a bit unsettling. I move onto the other type of evolution..... After filtering out the ones that are inferior, I''m left with two choices. They both allow her to morph her body as she pleases. The difference is that one is superior in healing, while the other is superior in stealth.... It is quite hard to choose honestly.... Set is already extremely proficient when it comes to stealth so building on that further would turn her into a super assassin. However, her healing ability is a god-send. The boost would allow for almost instant healing ability while also giving her the ability to heal multiple people at once. After debating for a bit, I decide on the healing one. It was a hard choice but in the end, Set is a guardian. If her stealth ability exceeds mine, it would not do me any good. She would have to seperate from me to be more effective. That would leave me more vulnerable..... It would allow for her to stay hidden when I''m fighting someone and then give a sneak attack..... However, the quicker healing ability could save my life if I''m about to die..... It could save any of my subrodinates. I confirm my choice as ink wraps around Set, this time with more amber colored liquid is mixed in. I look over at Xelu who is watching Kess'' evolution..... Xelu''s evolution is the one that I''m most nervous about. She has finally stabilized so, I''m not even sure about this. "Do you have anything you want Xelu?" Gin She tilts her head which is bulging out of her blood red gel-clumps in an odd manner. Her tentacles and thorns tap in a thinking(?) manner. She responds with a question. "Smarter? If I had more ''smarts'' I''d know, Mashta?" Xelu Another aspect then? I have seen a couple evolutions that would increase intelligence without a new aspect but, they are kinda lackluster when it comes to increasing other attributes.... I confirm her evolution and rank-up..... I have to say..... There are not too many options. Xelu only has a couple dozen options..... In comparison, Set and Kess had hundreds, maybe even close to a thousand different evolutionary choices.... Sloth? What the hell! Why are all the deadly sins popping up!?!? Will they pop up for future subordinates too? What about after I have more than seven broodmothers and guardians? *sigh I slowly cross out sloth. No matter how many times they pop up, I''ll never choose them. I move on to the others. All of the ones that focus on improving her current self are pretty terrible. Very small increases in attributes..... I narrow down the choices and am left with a few more interesting ones. Vampiric, which really overlaps with her blood aspect. ''Alien'', which is full of uncertainty. Finally, there is ''Avian''..... I''m guessing this is here due to her previously being a harpy. I''m not too keen on the vampiric aspect..... As for the the alien and avian aspect, they are kinda iffy too. I''m not sure about what the alien aspect would encompass. Alien is usually associated with the unknown. Creatures of unknown forms with boundless intelligence. As for Avian, there is a lot more behimd that than meets the eye. Raven, Owls, Eagles..... They are symbols of intelligence as well..... They all would have unknown effects on Xelu. Avian could potentially mess up the balance that she has found between being a harpy and an eldritch arachnid. Alien is completely unknown while Vampiric would probably be the safest choice since it overlaps so much with the blood aspect... As my thoughts start to go into a loop, Vulki comes over. She is tilting her mask in confusion as I finished with Set and Kess a lot quicker. "Is something wrong, master Gin?" Vulki "It''s hard to make a choice here. Too many unknowns that could cripple Xelu''s mind." Gin I explain my thoughts to Vulki, leaving her ponder for a while. "I would go with Alien. Although it is completely foreign, It probably won''t effect her like the avian aspect. I think the vampiric aspect would have repercussions as well. It''s really a hard choice...." Vulki I didn''t really think of it like that. The vampiric aspect may cause an upset in Xelu as well..... I agree with Vulki here. If the vampiric choice has potential to do harm as well, the only one that is left is the unknown one. It could be a horrible choice. However, It could also be a great choice. I''m really testing luck with this one.... Clicking on this option Xelu gets wrapped up in a bloody cocoon. It has many eyes floating on its surface and a weird purple energy starts arcing out in an uneven fashion. I look over and it seems as if Kess is almost done as her cocoon starts to crumble..... 77 Troublesome Bunch Kess'' cocoon breaks into a sand-like substance. I take a look at her new form. Still the same old overweight metallic wolf spider. However, she is more of a silver color. The most catching part is the wisps of silver that steam off of her. It starts circling above her similar to clouds going around a mountaintop. Cool! I go over to check up on her condition. She has her eyes closed. Is she?..... "Gggrrreennchhh" Kess She seems to have passed out. A phlegmy sounding snore leaves me speechless. I was worried that she would go on a devouring spree but, it seems that''s not the case?..... I open her status screen to see her new species. Name:Kess Race: Ancient Arachneven Juggernaut(unique) level: 15 Required exp: 12,000 Health (1200/1200) Resource- Ancient/Iron essence(360/360) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: Exhausted Her health almost doubled..... I can tell from the overwhelming feeling coming from her that it''s not only her health that has increased. I wonder if that Cow queen from the reverse temple could even do anything to her now?.... ------- She wakes up before the other two are finished with their evolutions. She gives me a dumbfounded look with her eyes which are silver and black now..... I wish they were spider eyes instead of human-like ones..... "So, how do you feel?" Gin "Gin? Hmmmm..... Power. Huh?" Kess "Something off" Gin "Somethings weird with my status. Strength and Endurance are over 25." Kess Holy crap! I never really asked for their statuses so to hear those numbers makes me a bit surprised. "A couple perks that increases defense and health are there too.....? A crushing pressure ability related to the ancient aspect too." Kess "Can you try it?" Gin "I''ll need a living target. Spiderling?" Kess "No.... That''s fine. I''m suprised you haven''t mentioned food though?" Gin "I''ve been drinking for a while....." Kess "Wha-"Gin I take a good look and it seems that she is slurping some of the silver steam back into her mouth constantly..... Do I no longer need to worry about feeding her anymore? "Tastes good~. She combine it with some morsels. Make a good seasoning." Kess "....." Gin I sit down next to Kess and start to watch the other two. Their process is taking longer for some reason. ... *sluuuurrrpp .... *sluuuurrpppppp ..... sluuurrrr- ''Ahhhh!'' Gin I move away from Kess. She is constantly drinking that silver energy and it''s a bit annoying. Especially when you are right next to her as she does it. *flllshhhhh Hmmm? I look over to Xelu and watch as her cocoon turns brown and rots away quickly. Unlike with Kess, her form has gone through drastic changes. She has a true humanoid body... A short and thin creature.... Her face is still the same humanoid one that came from the original harpy that she was. A little baby-faced but still appealing..... Only difference is that it is purple now along with all of her skin. Her body is thin to a degree that you can see her ribs. A clear beating of her heart shoots through them.... Her limbs are short compared to human standards but, they fit her ''new'' body. At the ends of both of her legs and arms are three-pronged hands/feet that seem to lack nails. A pair of spider limbs stick out of her back..... (Author''s note: I think a version of spiderman had these along with a character from one of those chinese novels.) The most catching thing with her is a new energy that lingers around her similar to what Kess has. It ''flows'' close to her skin acting as clothing. It is a sleek black and red energy that has eyes float around in it. Tentacles sometimes jut out aling with thorns and other weird body parts. I wonder if the spiderlings she has will go through a major change too? We''ll have to see later. Xelu comes hopping over towards me. A few heads short. Probably around a meter tall. Quite a bit smaller. Can she still spin web? Nemesis doesn''t have the abdomen of a spider either.... Do I want to know? "Can you still spin web?" Gin "Yes, Mashta" Xelu Still call me Mashta despite- *Blerrrrghhhh Woah!?!? .... She vomited out a bunch of bloody threads. Purple energy swirl inside of it. Not long after fleshy muscle and fat begins to grow on it..... So that''s how that works...Trying to cleanse my mind of that image I bring up her new status screen. "Is she as ridiculous as me, Gin?" Kesa Kess shouts out a question as I observe the new screen. Name:Xelu Race: Unknown Arachno-horror(unique) level: 15 Required exp: 12,000 Health (400/400) Resource- Blood/Eldritch/Ailen essence(290/290) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: Unidentifiable Her energy increased a good amount. I''m guessing it''s because a third type was added in. Harpy also seems to have disappeared from her status..... Does that mean that she is no longer a hybrid? Has it become recessive in her appearence or something? I try to ignore the weird alien that has begun twitchingas I ponder about the possibilities here..... ... Yeah, I have no clue. "So, how different is your status now?" Gin "..... Very different?" Xelu "How specifically? Gin "The numbers and words displayed are different." Xelu Well, hot damn. Who would have guessed? Her speech has become more refined but, it seems that she is still problems with understanding the meanings behind words. ".....Can you at least show me any new abilities you have?" Gin "I can." Xelu ... "Well?" Gin "Hmmmm?" Xelu "Aren''t you going to show me your new abilities?" Gin "Do you want me to?" Xelu I feel like bashing my head off a wall. "Yes." Gin She holds up her fingers at a bush on the ground. Purple energy that resembles electricity wraps itself in the black and red energy and fires off. It engulfs the bush and.... Transforms it..... A writhing mass of tentacles that squirt purple blood is the end result..... What? What would happen if you use that on a person??? I cut that line of thought off. I sit on the ground to wait for Set and Xelu plops down next to me. It''s surprising that her evolution is taking longer than Xelu''s. ... ... After an hour of waiting, her cocoon splatters out on all of the surroundings. We are currently where the treants used to live before we wiped them out. After the Wretched came through, all that was left was some bodies of water and dirt. Vegetation grows really quick though, as can be witnessed from the recovery of the forest near the nest. Some grasses and bushes near us get splashed with the inky-amber cocoon. They start growing wildly until they are unable to sustain their own weight and collapse.... I guess Set could use her life energy in this way even though its technically not an ability? I look over at Set who is trying to morph her body into a humanoid figure. I can see that she is focusing on specific areas as they are more stable. What areas are they? Well, I''d rather not say..... It takes a bit but, eventually, a stable figure is formed out of a black ink and an amber liquid. It seems that she couldn''t do anything about her eyes as eight beady ones still appear on her face. The rest of her face is still very human. A mouth with teeth that are somehow white. Nose, cheeks, everything seems to be there. A beautiful youthful face even with her eyes..... As for her body.... Did she use Ravel as a model? Ridiculous, almost unrealistic proportions. Her chest is larger than my head. It freaks me out a little. She is about as tall as me, a little under 2 meters. However, she is not a stickman. I try to quit observing her curves and stuff as that''s not a good thing to make my focus.... ....She is not naked, but, she doesn''t have clothes on. It weirds me out even more. Since her body is made of ink, she lacks some things that should not be exposed on a normal human figure. Not sure if it''s due to her lack of knowledge on those parts or what... I really should not think on that. She walks over and hugs me....? Her body comes apart and turns into thousands of strands. They wrap around me and turn into tattoos that cover my whole body. Well, minus the area on my chest where the roots are sticking out of. I look over into a puddle of water and see that my face has some claw-like tattoos on it. ..... I open her status screen as I did with the previous two. Name: Set Race: Life-Ink Arachnomorph(unique) level: 15 Required exp: 12,000 Health (440/440) Resource-Ink/life essence(470/470) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: Normal ..... Her resource increased a good bit and her health by a marginal amount. Still, she should be much stronger. "I''ll show you what I can do now!" Set She is rather excited. She throws out a few globs of ink from my arms and the ground glows gold. A wide complicated circle appears slightly off the ground..... It''s probably about..... 6 meters in width. Hmmm? I feel a warmth in my chest along with a surging strength. Xelu runs over to Kess as she doesn''t seem to like the feeling. "It''ll heal and cure some abnormal statuses. It also slightly increases strength while you are in the circle." Set She explains it''s effects which are quite good. With it''s size it will be very useful. "My other healing ability also had a upgrade on how fast it works. It should be much easier too since I no longer have to make a complicated drawing." Set I nod and look over at Kess and Xelu who are coming this way "..... Set, if you guys ever need anything, just ask. You guys do a whole bunch so, I''ll take requests. ..... ''I ne.............bef.....oth....w....e......l...p'' Set I can hear her muttering something rapidly through telepathy which she seems to no longer need. What is she saying? "Mashta, Kess asked me to ask a question." Xelu "Hmmm? What does she want to know?" Gin "I swear she has gotten even worse. I asked if she could ask you a question and, she doesn''t even wait to hear me out." Kess "Why not just ask yourself?" Gin "Errr. Set was clinging to you with a weird expression. Xelu seemed like a good scapegoat to use to interrupt that. Set ended up tattooing herself to you before this twerp could interrupt." Kess "As for what I wanted..... Do we still have any morsels left in our larder?" Kess "...." Gin 78 Seven Sins meeting Aein POV- "Mistress. The old man wants you to come to a meeting. Something about ''too much interference happening with lower worlds'' although he didn''t seem to care before now." Aein "I''ll go.... Mentions of Gin may appear.... I have to make a claim on him before the others become too interested in him. Especially Envy and Lust...." Sillith A few minutes later we are ready to go to the meeting area in the old man''s territory. Mistress decides to take the appearance of an elderly woman wearing heavy fur clothing that envelopes everything but her face.. As for me.... I am wearing a black business suit along with a full-face mask that depicts some demon. Mistress opens a portal and we get transported straight to the meeting room. A large circular table that has no center takes up most of the room. I can a few figures sitting around it at the moment.... Lust, Pride, Envy, Wrath..... Greed is missing which is not surprising. "Looks like the new ''Gluttony'' is here, that leaves Sloth and Greed.... Greed probably won''t come.... As for Sloth.... I guess you could say that he is here?" Old man The old man speaks up at Mistresses appearance. He is a thin little f-.... Ahem.... A thin and short man with a large mustache. A pair of golden ''bottle'' glasses lies on his large nose. He seems to be going bald despite being ageless. Only a small amount of white hair is still present on the sides of his head. Mistress waves her hand and Sloth appears. He appeared as a kid before but, after going through ''treatment'', Sloth is just a genderless featureless doll that has no will anymore. A few gasps and chuckles come from the group. "It seems that I''m not going to be able to discuss Sloth''s freedom anymore." Old Man "It seems that my efforts to help were in vain huh~" Lust Lust speaks up. She mostly takes the form of ridiculously beautiful and voluptuous women of various races. She seems to be a lamia at the moment.... Lust''s relationships with the rest are rather odd. She is willing to help anyone based on how she feels. She provided a force of troops to aid Sloth along with Envy before Mistress captured him. However, she also has helped Mistress on multiple occasions. No clear allegiances. "Shit! Now she has a Sin under her control.... It may be possible to have someone usurp that puppet''s position though...." Envy Envy usually takes the form of a beholder. A floating head that has a ''terrifying'' mouth filled with fangs. A giant eye takes up most of its face. Several tentacles that have eyes attached to them look around at various things. Envy is a troublemaker. It has caused the most choas and death among everyone present here. A small secret is that Envy doesn''t really care about anything, despite being the ''Sin of Envy''. Its countless years of existence has made it a nihilist. It''s words, actions, and schemes are actually unconscious at this point. "Lazy meatbag deserved it. How long could he continue without strengthening himself or recruiting new subordinates. Weakest piece of garbage here." Pride Then there is Pride. A tan and golden haired ''Hunk''. Usually, only young gods will take that kind of appearence to satisfy their ego. Most will end up taking an appearance that suits their individuality..... Pride does not really get involved in any serious matters saying that they are below him. In actuality, he is just lazy. He would be more suited for the position of Sloth honestly. He likes to badmouth others and pretend that he is some sort of ultimate being. I feel sorry for his subordinates. "...." Wrath Wrath is basically a mute. I think Wrath is female, based on her rare roars of rage. It is impossible tell from her appearance as it is always obscured by many layers of clothing. Even her face is not visible. She gets into fights with Envy a lot.... The Old Man has had to intervene on many occasions. As for Greed. Well, Greed is not important. "So, you lot may be wondering as to why you had to come here. A few people that are in charge of the systems of lower worlds gave me an earful. Stop messing with lower worlds please." Old Man "Sorry, I won''t stop" Envy "Who are you? What gives you the authority to tell me what to do!?!?" Pride "...." Wrath "I have a few people I like from lower worlds so, sorry." Lust ".... Really? None of you are willing to cooperate? What about you Sillith?" Old Man "I have staked out a husband from a lower world. I can''t." Sillith "!?!?!?" Envy, Lust, Pride, Old Man "You have to tell me about it!" Lust "When can I finally find a mate...." Envy "Huh? You don''t plan on eating the poor sap do you?" Pride Mistress gives Pride a deathly look. She then closes her eyes, ignoring the other various questions that pop up. "I want to stake a claim on him" Sillith "I''ll do the same" Envy "I''ll join in as well~" Lust "..... The two of you don''t even know who he is so you can''t." Old Man "Hehe~" Lust "I was even willing on giving up on my beholder appearance.... Damn...." Envy "So, do you have the W981MI form filled out or-." Old Man "Here." Sillith Mistress passes a 80 page form that is filled out. The Old Man flips through it. "You still need his permission. If you can get that I''ll put it through to Theresa." Old Man "So if I can learn who he is and get this form filled out, I can get Theresa to marry us?" Lust "Why are you so interested in Sillith''s potential husband?..... The answer is yes by the way." Old Man "I won''t accept that!" Sillith "Hehe~." Lust "I may not even have to be the one to cause trouble here." Envy "You should learn from me. Marriage is not something to take lightly. Gertrude became a real b-..... Beauty....." Pride "Almost forgot you were actually married.... Only time your pride fails is when Gertrude comes up." Old Man "I''m warning you. Give up on him." Sillith "Hehe~!" Lust "Well, if you get his permission, Lust won''t be able to do anything unless you allow her to. Not until he becomes a god anyway." Old Man "Don''t worry~. If I get him first you can be his second wife!" Lust A heavy bloodlust fills the room. The subordinates of the other Sins start fidgeting uncomfortably. Wrath''s subordinates look fine though. "Now, now, calm down. Please don''t cause too much choas in whatever world this young chap is in either. I''d rather not get another earful....." Old Man "I''ll fuckin kill ya!" Sillith Oh no.... Her one accent is coming out. I''m a bit angry as well. I want to be the second wife too! Although, I am part of Sillith so would that technically make me the first as well? Hmmmm.... 79 Desires of Vulki and Nemesis Gin POV- After sorting those three, I approach Vulki and Nemesis who were watching from a distance. I can see an expectant look on Nemesis'' face while Vulki''s mask is making a barely audible clicking noise. A weird heavy breathing is making wisps of blue deepflame waft off her mask. Weird..... "Well, it''s your turns now. What do you want from the evolutions...." Gin "I want a physical body! I''ve had enough of this!" Vulki She starts grabbing at her own body but, her hands phase through.... Her lack of a physical bodt has caused her lots of trouble. She has to use spiderlings to do menial tasks and it seems to have built up stress for her. "Right, a new aspect then? Some sort of solid or liquid aspect then.... What about you Nemesis?" Gin "I want to be able make others realize the greatness of the saint. Something along the lines of the ancient aspect that Kess has." Nemesis "Hmmmm..... That''ll be difficult. It will be up to fate. If I cant find anything like that is there anything else?" Gin "..... Perhaps a body like Set that is able to be more humanoid?" Nemesis "Lets go with Vulki first. Lets see....." Gin Hundreds of different options flood the screen. Most of them optimize her current body. I filter those out as none are really that interesting. That leaves a couple dozen different aspects..... Lust is still there.... Skip. Hmmm? These are all really intersting! Reaper, distortion, light, fate..... Love? Skip.... Seraphim? That is a type of Angel right? It would probably help with the physical body part. It would allow a new flying force as well. After Xelu evolved, she lost her wings and I''m pretty sure that her subordinates will change accordingly. So this evolution would help compensate for that loss along with achieving what Vulki wants. It''s decided. I confirm my choice and Vulki''s fire envelopes her into a spinning ball of fire. I can see masks spinning around inside with many different expressions. Lets hope I can find a good evolution for Nemesis too. ..... ..... Hmmm? As I was looking through the different optimizing options, I find one that is very special. It turns her draconic aspect into a dragon aspect which would drastically increases her physical abilities. It would also eliminate six of her spider legs while modifying the remaining two able to support her. I''m not sure about how it would effect her abilities but, dragons are supposed to be intimidating creature so, it could potentially satisfy all of her conditions. I quickly skim over the aspects she could gain which solidifies my that option in my mind. Pride.... What is it with the seven sins here? Whatever.... I confirm the optimization choice and Nemesis turns into a giant pile of mushrooms.... Blue and white scales grow all over it and I swear..... I can see faces in the amalgamation..... I wouldn''t be suprised if some psycho killer clown would wear something like that. The cocoon bursts sending the flaming masks out as they dissipate into the air. I look at the new Vulki. She is still wearing the same crisscrossed dark-blue light-blue jester clothing. Her bell hat is jingling as she starts observing herself. Although her clothing hasn''t changed her body most definitely has. It''s no longer made of flames which is a shame as it was good for defense.... She has pale skin similar to me. On top of that she is no longer an arachne. Normal legs. I would say that she is no longer a spider if it weren''t for the wings that are sticking out of her back. There are six of them covered in flaming blue feathers. Instead of bones holding them together, long and thin spider limbs are there for the job. Then there is her firey mask. It is now missing its lower half displaying a portion of her face. If I were a pervert, it would stimulate my imagination. Fortunately I''m a gentleman..... The top half of the mask no longer has a diamond and heart. Instead, there are golden runes flowing across it''s surface. I open her status screen and it seems that she is checking her own out as well Subordinate Name: Vulki Race: Deepfire Aracseraphester(unique) level: 15 Required exp: 12,000 Health (200/200) Resource- Mixed Deepfire essence(1400/1400) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: normal The name of her new species is really weird. Aracseraphester.... I can see that her resource has reached a ridiculous capacity as well. For the rest I''d have to ask her. "So, how does everything look?" Gin "Ridiculous. Intelligence and Wisdom are both twenty-five. A lot of perks related to damage came from the new aspect. A new ability that cleanses anything that I perceive as filth.... Does that?.... So anything I ''perceive'' to be filth? So I alter minds by ''perceiving'' certain parts to be filthy? Hmmm.... It might be limited by its skill level now so maybe not..." Vulki Ignoring the bizarre portions of what she is saying, I can see that Vulki will become extremely important in killing creatures with strong defenses. She should keep close to Kess though since she is very vulnerable to damage. Especially now that she is now longer made of flame. Vulki observes me with an odd expression and it seems she has something to say "ensas Skrlllkishall ep oj a smui?" Vulki Hmmm? What? *bang Vulki! "Vulki!" Gin She says something I can''t understand and falls over. I rush to help. "I''m fine. I tried asking something and lost consciousness for a second? What was that?" Vulki "It seems that you''re fine? Should have Set heal you just in case." Gin ------ After having Set heal Vulki just in case the three of us begin to watch over Nemesis'' evolution. Scales are completely covering the mushrooms now. After about a half an hour of watching the movements made by it, they eventually recede to expose Nemesis. The most noticable thing is her legs. She is only using two spider legs now and they are functioning in a way very similar way that a human''s does. Instead of feet, a group of claws grip the ground to provide stability. She also has a blue-white scaled tail sticking out of her now.... She gives off a heavy feeling of power. It makes my heart-rate go up momentarily as adrenaline builds up. Steel Mind must not be enough to fully suppress the effect or something? Perhaps just being near a dragon will naturally have an effect the body of a human? I check Nemesis'' status screen. -Subordinate Name: Nemesis Race: Fungal Humanoid Dragon(unique) level: 15 Required exp: 12,000 Health (???/???) Resource- Fungal Dragon Essence (450/450) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: normal Her health is still unknown since she is technically a bunch of mushrooms and spores made into a body. If her body were to ''die'' another group would just be used to repair it or even replace it. I already know that her physical abilities are ridiculous now, however, I have no idea on her new ability. "New ability.... I can make humanoid creatures into dragon priests apparently. Perfect!" Nemesis She kneels before me and starts chanting something in a really low voice. I have a feeling that this won''t be a simple matter..... 80 Beginning of another So with a little bit of experimenting, we found that only people with low levels were able to be turned into a dragon priest. We had tested it out on a few elves and it changed their classes to a unique rank class. Something that is not to be taken lightly. It also.... Affected their minds. The way they look at Nemesis is like how a priest would look at their pope. As for how they look at me.... I can''t tell as they always go to their knees and start worshipping. I tried to stop them but, a few almost stabbed themselves so, I guess I''ll have to put up with it. Nemesis also used it on a few of her fungal undead creatures. Speaking of, after Nemesis evolved, they got a major increase in physical strength. Nemesis'' spores themselves also seem to have gotten stronger and can take over a body quicker. Now there are even a few dragon priests among those fungal creatures. Well, just two. The king and queen cow people from the reverse temple. Giant metal fungal monstrosities. As for the abilities of a dragon priest.... Well, they can passively effect people''s minds with their speeches. Other than that they are basically.... Fungalmancers? They create and bend clouds of spores that will turn living things into a heap of mushrooms in seconds. "Different....." Xelu "Hmmm?" Gin Ahhh, she means her spiderlings. After her evolution, they turned into minature versions of herself. They are like a foot tall. I''m just glad that Vulki''s spiderlings now have wings since Xelu''s cant fly anymore. Vulki''s spiderlings are still a pain though. Despite having the seraphim aspect attached, the jester part of them really shines through. Thankfully Vulki has them on a short chain. *sslllllluurrrrrppppp "Why are my minions the same? They are just silver now. A little more durable too I guess....." Kess Kess is obnoxiously drinking the silver energy that is wafting off her own body. Her spiderlings have gone through a huge improvement in strength. Inival tested them out and was unable to kill one. Well, they also couldn''t best her either. Their defenses have just reached a perverted degree. They can still be trapped and thrown around. As for the spiderlings that were bound to some of my subordinates like Inival, Farblight, and Drun, they now them with a boost in defense as they were all Kess'' spiderlings. ----- After experimenting with different things, Inival rushed up to. "Saint. Something''s happened." Inival "What? Are we under attack or something!? Can''t be.....?" Gin "No. It''s Ravel.... She needs to see you. She even had an emergency circle set up." Inival "Where?" Gin "A little away from the nest. You should probably bring a few Broodmothers.... It''s a bit complicated. I''ll explain as much as I can." Inival "Kess, Vulki, lets go." Gin "Fufu." Vulki "....Alright...." Kess I need to know the situation better. Did Wetho betray Ravel.... No, every one of us out of her own volition or is there more to it. "You need to put this on. You don''t want to be targeted. The capital is not a nice place at the moment. Not sure how to bide these two though....." Inival Vulki jerks her wings in a way to catch everyones attention. She can just fly overhead so she should be fine..... Kess can just hide underground I guess. I put on the cloak and mask that Inival hands me. "Lets go." Gin A few mages have a much smaller circle set up. It seems the reason as to why teleportation circles are generally larger is so that they can use more common resources but in larger quantities. If one like this where to be built, It would need rarer more valuable resources. Resources that are limited. As the circle is activated, the scenery around us changes. I''ve never seen the capital so this is quite a site. It''s not in a good state for sure. Massive blue stone buuldings reach as far as the eye can see. Most of the have at least some form of damage. A few that appear to be temples have been levelled..... Not good. smoke is rising from many different areas. Hmmm???.... Screams break out every now and then.... "Good. You guys are here. Lady Ravel wants to see you two." Royal Guard A guard walks up to the two of us in full black and gold armor. It seems to be a special type that they use very rarely. I look around and notice that Kess has already burrowed into the ground while Vulki must have taken to the skies. Set is still attached to me as well in case of an emergency. "We are close to the palace so hopefully we can get there without interruption. The capital is in choas. Luckily the Union and the Black Iron Pyre are destroying each other at the moment. Watch out for any people with an upside down crown on them. They are part of the rebelling nobles." Royal Guard After following the royal guard for a while we reach a gate that leads to the royal palace. "We can''t go through there. As you can see rubble is blocking the way so we have to use a tunnel. I''m not sure if you heard since a lot was going on.... Captain Wetho tried to kill Lady Ravel at a critical moment. We fucking had the nobles. Not just the Captain.... A few of my friends turned out to be traitors. No.... They may have never been my friends. Captain Wetho may never have been one of us..... Fucking nobles..... We''re here." Royal Guard The guard talked with us on the way to the inside of the palace. It seems that he is rather upset. Probably a great portion of the guard are. People that you knew for many years just turning on you is an aweful thing. We eventually reach a room. It''s quite dark and has a gloomy atmosphere hanging over it. "Not possible. Wetho..... Why? You were loyal. 85. Now 10..... Was she a lie? Was this all a delusion? Something that only existed in my head but, didn''t follow along with physical reality? I have to know. I have to." Ravel I can hear her through the door. *sigh "She is unwilling to talk with Wetho to learn the reasons for all of this. After the betrayal Wetho was left.... In a miserable state. She reverted.... The nobles abandoned her as she lost most of her strength. She is laying chained up in the dungeon.... Please bring lady Ravel to see Wetho. I beg of you!" Royal Guard I have had terrible opinions on drow in the past. I know this guy went through the conversion process and became an elf. Even still, it would take time for someone''s mindset to change..... I''ve talked to a lot of different drow as I converted them. Learned their views. Not one. Not one would kneel as he is and beg for another out of true sincerity. I can''t see his face through the helmet but, I know he is tearing up based on his tone. "Please.... End this game with no winner..... 81 Catharsis Gin POV- *Knock *Knock "Ravel?" Gin I knock on the door lightly. Her mumblings stop and I hear movement. When the door opens, i see a horrible sight. A disheveled Ravel is sobbing. Her ruby hair is faded and matted. Her golden eyes are puffy from crying. She is wrapped in a bunch of blankets that she dragged off from her bed. It seems that she has been clawing her face in agony. Bleeding claw marks stretch across her cheeks. Inival who has been with me backs up a bit to let me talk to her.... What do I say? I''m no expert in ''love''. My only example of love being a unrequited one. I guess I do love Kess, Set, and the rest but that is different as well..... Familial? Not quite. Ravel collapses into her bundle of blankets and starts breaking down. "What good is my figure! What good is my feelings! My love.... They are all useless! If I never converted, would Wetho still be here for me? No.... She was never here for me.... What.... Is the point anymore. I have no point." Ravel I see her mind going into a dangerous territory. Suicide.... A very familar thing to me. Before I had jumped off that bridge all those months ago, I had attempted it many times. I always backed out at the last moment. The death of my mother was the last straw. I had only lived for other people so with her gone, it became an ''easy'' matter for me. For at that time, I had no point. I had no desire to find a new point for my life. I kneel down and try to snap her out of it. A weird feeling overtakes me, I grab Ravel''s head and look into her eyes. Ravel POV- Why. Why do I exist. Without Wetho. Gin? No, although I like him, I can see from his fluctuating loyalty that he is not too keen on my existence. I am a ''filthy'' creature. Gin is not too fond of drow and even elves that have been converted. Wetho was my pillar. My love. My point that ties me here. *Knock *Knock "Ravel?" Gin Gin? Why is he here? Did I ask for him to be brought here? I can''t remember..... I drag my blankets that are wrapped around me and open the door. I open it to see Gin and Inival. A bewildered look takes over them. Inival nods after looking at Gin and walks a bit away. Gin just stands there. He is probably looking for something to say. My thoughts go into choas. Why? Why? Why?Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?Why? Why? Why? Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy!?!?!?!??! I reach a breaking point and let out. "What good is my figure! What good is my feelings! My love.... They are all useless! If I never converted, would Wetho still be here for me? No.... She was never here for me.... What.... Is the point anymore. I have no point." Ravel "I''ll tell you a little story. There was once a hopeless guy. Hopeless with love. Hopeless with finding his own happiness. Hopeless with even his own family. Everything became more and more grey. Everything became pointless. Emotions were pointless. Wisps of hope were just illusionary. More and more things became pointless as he went on. Eventually, an important person to him passed. Years later, another. Why continue? He had nothing to hold onto. He had no desire to find anything to hold onto. he killed himself. He died under a bridge, slowly, in agony. Alone in death as he was in life. In the end, he was nothing." Gin I continue to look into his eyes. They are very eerie but, I can''t help but find myself lost in them. His words confuse me. I want to argue but, find myself unable to. "You ''will'' not find yourself like that hopeless guy. For your life still has meaning and true potential. One of your holds is gone.... You can carry on..... You have accomplished things unimaginable for others during your reign. You will end this ''drow curse'' on your people. You will find new meaning, a new hold." Gin I don''t like his words. They make it sound as if that man had no other paths to follow..... At the same time, his words.... They assure me, somehow. That I will be able.... To carry on.... "However, you must get closure with Wetho." Gin I know that. Wetho is dying. If I don''t meet her soon.... I''ll forever regret this. I try to pull my tears back up and harden myself. I drop my blankets and walk out of the room. One of my royal guards is standing there with Inival. "L-lady Ravel. Do you want to go to the dungeon?" Royal Guard ".....Yes." Ravel Umbra Time just seems to go faster as we move towards the dungeon. Several royal guard are standing in front of her cell in heavy armor. They bow and let us in. Wetho is..... "So, you actually came to see me before I die. I didn''t expect that. I want to die alone. Leave." Wetho "Why did you betray me?" Ravel I try to keep myself from cracking as I ask. Wetho looks at me with a blank expression. "How much have you looked into me before I became your captain?" Wetho "You came from a fallen noble house. You were recruited into the royal faction by my mother-" Ravel "Wrong. I came from a noble family that is.... was in power until recently. Your mother planned on using me to take advantage of that family. I got close to you while we were both young. I had several "things'' done to me. Similar to what Inival was doing before she subordinated herself to him." Wetho Wetho points at Gin.... Even so, she should still not be able to fool my artifact that lets me view loyalty. Along with the traitors that helped her. "How I fooled you and that artifact? Bet that''s what you are thinking. That was a bit difficult. We had traded a ton of artifacts and resources for a very specific artifact. One that is designed to fool things, specifically, things and skills that try to analyze parts of a person''s status." Wetho "Why are you willing to tell us this? I thought you were loyal to the noble faction." Inival "Loyal? Loyal. Hahaha. Im as loyal to them as I was to Ravel here." Wetho "So why did you betray Ravel then? that makes no sense." Gin I wanted to ask that question but Gin beats me to it. I don''t think I can ask anymore without cracking anyways..... "I decided to end this pretending. I had enough of this sort of life. My life was at stake as well..... I contacted the nobles with the plan that Ravel concocted. It seems that I miscalculated. I never took into account that betraying Ravel is betraying Gin which made me revert back into this drow skin. So killing ''you'' was a failure. The nobles will probably fall soon as well. It will just be a bit more messy." Wetho "I-i loved you. You loved me.... All of those years couldn''t have been faked....." Ravel I speak out while trying to keep the sobs down. "They were faked to a degree.....However, I will admit. I was fond of those years. However, even if I was, I am a noble. Even if I didn''t betray you, with the records you would find, I would be exposed." Wetho Why!?!? "I WOULDN''T HAVE CARED. I LOVED YOU!" Ravel Wetho shakes her head. "Another miscalculation by me. Love is something that is extremely rare for a drow. We have all been converted rather recently so the feelings, emotions and so on are still developing. I figured that you would just dispose of me." Wetho WHY. WHY. WHY? Why do things have to be this way. *cough Wetho coughs up a ton of blood which runs down her neck. Chunks of flesh are mixed in. I go over to her. "Running out of time huh..... I will apologize I guess..... Sorry, Ravel." Wetho Gin POV- My brain can''t decide whether to be mad or sad here. I watch as Ravel stays by Wetho''s side as she passes away. This situation is seriously fucked. I reign my brain in from going into it''s ''old'' state again..... Wetho is..... *Ahhhhhhhhhh! Ravel is bursting out into tears.... She has been holding herself back but, it seems that she is letting it all out now. 82 Wrath Repor After that..... Ravel spent a couple days in her room. I was kept in a safe area as I waited. Kess and Vulki found their way in and kept me company along with Inival who has been on edge. Apparently the situation is quite chaotic from what Vulki told me. She has seen quite a few things from above. Soldiers from both sides are mixed into the citizens. It is hard for people to tell friend from foe and the whole situation is a real mess. Hundreds of corpses accumulate each day. ... ... Finally, after waiting for three days, Ravel came out. A weird vomit-like smell is coming from her room.... I ignore that as I focus on her. She has lost a lot of weight and is haggard. Still, a very determined look is plastered on her face. Her eyes look sharp. "Thanks for waiting, Gin. I''ve prepared myself. All drow will be converted. I''ll make sure of it. The nobles that aren''t following Farblight will all be slaughtered. Them, their spawn, their servants. They will become irrelevant. I hope you still will accept me as a broodmother after I finish my work." Ravel She no longer has that mischievous and bubbly way of talking. Ravel may recover back to that state or she may stay like this.... "Do you want any help?" Gin "No, this is something that must be done by me. I will execute those nobles personally." Ravel "Will that be fine? You are not-. "Don''t worry. I know that I am weak. I''m bringing out the old royal guard that followed my mother. They can only be brought out when the capital is in a state like this. They all are all at least level 27. They will supress this situation." Ravel She takes her leave while draping a cloak over herself. A dozen royal guards follow her as she walks further away. Inival is dumbfounded by this and tells me something interesting. "That demeanor is the same kind that her mother had. If Ravel''s mother wasn''t reaching the end of her lifespan, Ravel would never have taken the throne from her." Inival ----- We stayed inside the palace for a few more days. During that time, we kept getting reports on the situation. The first day, a lot happened. -Ravel called out the old royal guard. 216 members came out to suppress the choas in the capital. -Ravel started capturing rebel nobles and heavily chained them to the walls of the capital to be eaten by birds. Approximately 1/4 of the nobles were dealt with. The rest went into hiding or fled the capital. -The capital''s unrest disappeared as order has been reinstated. She did a lot in just one day. Looking at the sheer number of old royal guards that came out shocked me to no end. They are all at least level 27..... I seem to have underestimated the drow race. Luckily it seems that they are willing to go through conversion later. It''s very odd. They are all willing which I find suspicious until Inival tells me something. The second day was filled with interesting reports as well. -The royal guard was split into groups to hunt down the rebel nobles. -The ones that fled the capital were all captured as they did not have the speed or skill to evade the old royal guard. They will continue to hunt down rebel nobles that are spread throughout the country -The royal guard and old royal guard started hunting down rebel nobles that are hiding in the capital. They employed several different tactics. It will take approximately three days before they are all captured. -Ravel started seizing property from the rebel nobles. 12,985 properties were seized by regular guard members mixed with soldiers. 270,000 slaves were seized as well. -Ravel personally executed 1,200 rebel nobles and their affiliates The amount of slaves left me flabbergasted. Not only that, Ravel is making things move very quickly. I expected a long fight but, the old royal guard combined with fast decisions are making the process of suppression quick. The next day more reports came in. Drun and Farblight have become involved at this point -Due to the aid of Madam Farblight, the speed of finding hidden rebel nobles has increased drastically. Only a few still remain in the capital. -The old royal guard has hunted down half of the nobles hidden throughout the country. Most of them were found in a single mansion trying to perform a ritual. The old royal guard prevented whatever ritual it was and slaughtered them. -Drun has begun hunting nobles in the country side. He has provided aid using blood magic to track them down. -Blood mages are being used to hunt down the remaining nobles. Those were the last reports we got. It seems that things became exponentially quicker after blood mages began hunting down the remaining nobles. After this was all over, Ravel came to see me again. ... She has serious rings around her eyes and it seems that she has lost even more weight. Still, that look in her golden hued eyes has not faded. A heavy aura of bloodshed is coming off her. She has been executing many nobles personally and has ordered the execution of many more. Her cloak is dyed red from blood. Her skin which was a beautiful red before is now dull due to the blood that has continuously dried on her. She gives me a smile before stating something ridiculous. "We will have the rest the drow in this pocket ready to convert in a week''s time. That artifact that we got from my brother can be overcharged to allow you convert drow on an even wider scale. That''s the best we can do with it since it is still bound to him. We will do it all in one go. Any drow that doesn''t show up will be killed." Ravel I figured we would spend a few weeks to a few months going around converting drow, however, Ravel seems to be really determined to finish it as soon as possible. I ask her a few questions. Apparently, she suppressed this rebellion quickly and forcefully because she didn''t want the Union or Black Iron Pyre to take notice. Although the two of them are deep into war, a crack in a enemy will not be left alone. She also wants to give the throne to any relative that wants it so that she can become a broodmother under me. "I have many relatives in the royal faction. Sisters, aunts, nieces. Someone will want the position. It seems that those that you convert into devoured elves can''t betray you so, I''ll give my position up to one of my relatives that converts into one of them. I''m tired....." Ravel She slowly loses that sharpness in her eyes. Exhaustion takes over as she starts to produce a melancholy look. She slowly walks off, followed by her royal guard. I have wanted to support her but, she denies any attempt at further talk when it comes to Wetho..... Well, it seems that I have a week to wait out.... I wonder if there is a library here? 83 Arrival of Sin ????? POV- "What the hell is going on inside the Theocracy? First a civil war that ended in less than 2 weeks and now there is a massive migration." ????? "On top of that, our backer wants us to capture someone from there. We can''t be fighting a war on two fronts. Even if we are superior to both of them..... If they combine forces we''ll be fucked in our royal arses." ????? "Why would we wage war on the Theocracy? They shouldn''t care if we only capture one individual right? It''s not like the person is royalty or a religious leader or something, right?" ????? "Apparently, the bloke is some weirdly important fella. On top of all this shiet, our backer wants this guy unharmed, ''mentally and physically''. Something about staking a claim on him with his full co-operation." ????? "..."????? "..."????? "..."????? "How do we do that?" ????? Tot POV- My blood is calling me. Something that only happens to very few succubi. I should talk with the Union Head. He is the person who I can trust the most with this sort of thing. ----- ".....Hmmmm... I suggest you follow that calling. Based on the origin of your race..... A very powerful being is most likely trying to get into contact with you. Either that or you are having some sort of ''blood returning to it''s origin'' sort of thing. The latter would be incredible as your race would immediately improve to legendary-rank but, chances are, it''s the first one." Union Head(Raveth) "How do you know this? " Tot "Hmmm? I''ve done a lot of experiments on criminals and on myself. I''ve collected knowledge from outside and so on." Union Head Outside? He can''t mean..... Probably not..... "I don''t actually know how to help. This kind of thing is way over my head. Perhaps you should isolate and meditate. That seems to be a common tro- err..... Well, just try it. I''ll watch over you just in case...." Union Head ----- With the help of the Union Head, I was able to make an isolated space in my room where even Ogen can''t interrupt with his perverted antics. I sit down and try to empty my mind. That''s how you meditate isn''t it?... ... ... ... ... ''f-n-ly A C----onct-on'' ????? "What was that?" Tot ''Is that better~? You have a mighty fine body~. As all my descendants should~! I may need to borrow it for-....???? Indefinitely~? Hehe~! That old man is gonna have a headache~!'' ????? "Ahhhhhhhh!?!?!??!" Tot It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! The pain! Nononono! Stop! Please! "Shhhhrrkkkkkkkkkkk!!!??!??" Tot Raveth POV- "Tot! Get a hold of yourself! Come on!" Raveth "Tot? Are you-. Are you okay?" Raveth "???? Union Head? I''m fine. There is something I want to know though. This Gin person in my memories. You will tell me about him~." Not Tot "Rrggghhh!" Raveth(Union Head) What!?!? What is this!?!? That''s not Tot! I can''t control my body! Shit! Fight! "Oh-ho~? You have a strong will for such a weakling~. Too bad. All I need are your memories." Not Tot "Ahhhhh---cryyykkkk!?!?" Raveth Withstand! "Oh-ho~~! You are really annoying! If I had even a fraction..... Lets not say that~, only villains would say that sort of stuff. I''m a good person you know, Union Head? Would you please let me peek at your memories unobstructed~? I promise to give you back your Tot~!" Not Tot "Errrggggurgggg." Raveth She is asking this as I am convulsing on the floor. "Ohhh, right. I''ll allow you to answer~!" Not Tot "No!" Raveth "Ohh come on~! I promise I will. If I can''t even keep a promise to some random mortal what would that make me?" Not Tot ... I can''t really fight back, can I?..... She will probably scrape through my mind either way..... "What are you? Why do you want to know about my sister''s-..... How can I trust you?" Raveth "Sister? Interesting! Anyways, I am Lust, little mortal. You have no option. I''ll get what I want either way. You being obedient will just make things go quicker and, it''ll make things less messy." Lust "!!!! You can''t be Lust! Gods are not able to inter-." Raveth "No, we are not allowed to interfere too much in lower worlds. I broke some rules~! To achieve something amazing too~! I cant wait to acquire a two-in-one bundle of this ''Gin'' and her! Hueh~hueh~! It seems that you lowered your guard a little. So he is the one who she wants..... Should be fun~." Lust Tot-.... No lust puts her finger over her lips and is making a wide smile. She is bobbing her head back in forth..... "Oh right! I''ll give you Tot. I also won''t kill or enslave you~! Good deal right?" Lust "Grrkkk!" Raveth I feel a squeezing in my head. It!?!? Is she? ''Un--n H--d'' ???? ... ... ''Union Head?'' Tot ... ''She somehow put Tot into my head? Is it really Tot? What the hell!?!?'' Raveth ''?.... I''m in your head? What the hell!?!?'' Tot -------- Gin POV- While I was sleeping in the palace, I noticed that Vulki has been a bit weird. Ever since she has gotten a physical body, she has gone off at certain times only to appear a while later with a blush on her. I have a general idea of what she is doing. I used to do the same thing in my previous world a lot..... I haven''t done that since I came to this world as I seem to have lost the desire. I also usually have others around me so I wouldn''t be able to, even if I did have the desire. I think I''ll just ignore this issue. Yep. Seems like the thing to do. ----- "Hey, Gin?" Vulki "... Yes?" Gin "Something isn''t right. My ability to glimpse into the future showed me something really wrong. Something about..... Lust?" Vulki ''What? Is she?..... C-can you let Vulki touch this ring?'' Alex(ring) It seems that something not good is happening. Vulki''s prophetic ability has not really been too useful but, it seems that she caught onto something that would make ''Alex'' react.....? You''d think a god would have some people that would have catch onto stuff like this.... I guess I''ll allow it? I don''t think Alex can actually do anything too out of line..... I haven''t gotten into contact with her since she asked earlier about observing me. "Vulki can you touch this ring for a bit, it''ll allow you to talk to a certain individual." Gin "Wha? Since when did....?" Vulki "I honestly am at a loss about it as well. I can''t even tell if that person is trustworthy or not. It seems that she wants to talk to you about what you glimpsed." Gin "A girl?...." Vulki ''I am trustworthy. I would never do anything bad to you or your allies.......''Alex The subsequent talk revealed a lot of things. It even gave me a deep sense of urgency that wouldn''t disappear for a long time. 84 This Is Getting Weird. Fast. Gin POV- Vulki and Alex stayed silent for a while. I''m guessing the two were talking a good bit. The expressions on Vulki''s face kept changing and eventually, it stayed as a sour expression. Why was I kept out of the loop? "Gin, after I told this ''Alex'' about the vision I got, she revealed a lot of bad things. Some strong beings are hunting us. One will use minions to go after us while the other is using some sort of possession skill on someone..... This is the weird part..... This ''Alex'' wants you to agree to something. Be careful. The way she was wording it to me, makes it seem as if she is trying to skirt around what exactly she is going for." Vulki ''It''s nothing like that! Vulki just doesn''t seem to understand. If you can agree, these people that are hunting you won''t be able to do anything. Mmmmmm~?'' Alex ''... What am I agreeing to? This is extremely suspicious, you do know that right?'' Gin ''Ahem.... Well, you know how I wanted to recruit you? Well a few others have learned about you. They are not as agreeable as I am. We are all looking to get a stake on you. The put a stake on someone in a lower world, you have to do a binding thing. After that is done, no other gods will be allowed to interfere with you unless they want to be destroyed.'' Alex This is way over my head. Why the hell are gods so interested in me? Is it the egg of happenings? Is it my beautiful face?.... I''m not attractive in the slightest though..... ..... ..... ..... I get lost in thought. I can comb over plenty of thoughts but, my lack of knowledge makes it impossible to come to a definite conclusion. While I was lost in my thoughs, the palace started to shake slightly. A royal guard rushed into the room I''m in. Kess who was eating the flooring jumped in front of me as the guard looked flustered. Set, Kess, and Vulki don''t trust the guards too much. He kneels and says something that stuns me. "Sir Gin, something weird is going on. It seems that the fighting between the Union and The Black Iron Pyre has stopped. They both sent some envoys here to discuss something. They want to meet you." Royal Guard What? Can wars be paused just like that? Could it have a relation to my situation or is it a coincidence?... I follow the guard along with Kess and Vulki. We get to a room with a bunch of royal guards. In the center is Ravel along with a few short statured.... Dwarves? Wait? Is that the one person who tried to ambush me along with the Union head? What the hell. "What the fuck. You think you guys are in a position where you can take Sir Gin away?" Royal Guard ... ... "....You are not Tot. He wouldn''t let the ''real'' Tot come here.... Who the hell are you?" Ravel "No." Ravel "No? You think you have a choice here? I will make him a husband for myself, then I can get ''her'' in a bundle deal. Whether you co-operate or not is only a matter of convenience for me." Lust ''So that is what Lust is after..... Gin, agree to my proposition. The ''binding''.'' Alex "Oh-ho~!" Lust Lust turns to me. Everyone else in the room seems to have finally noticed me. I can feel rage coming from Set and Vulki. Something odd is going on with Kess as well. She is looking at Lust with a heavy look. "You must be Sir Gin~ Hi-ooo~! I seem to have fallen for you at first sight~! Will you marry me?" Lust She gives off a weird pose. I can see that several people in the room are affected. Their breathing gets rough. Dangerous. Very dangerous. "Ahem! Let us set up something up first, we''ll begin the discussion after. Lady Lust, you should not try to get a head-start." Fallen Dwarf She looks over at the fallen dwarves and a disgusted look overtakes her previous ''loving'' expression. "Fucking pieces of shit. I swear I will wipe your vile species off this forsaken rock. Tell Envy that it doesn''t deserve anything let alone this fine one." Lust She takes a full 180 as she starts cussing at the fallen dwarfs. ''Be careful with Lust. She is a very unstable individual. You should agree to my proposition before she causes more problems.'' Alex Before I can digest what Alex just said, a red projection appears from a stone circle that the dwarves set up really quickly. It..... It is a giant eyeball monster. It has a terrifying set of teeth and tentacles with eyes attached surround it. "This is the one huh? So, ''Gin''. I will tell you everything and then you can decide. There was a meeting between the Seven Sins. In that meeting, Sillith said that she planned to take a husband, you." Envy "You planning on buying his trust by telling him the truth?" Lust Lust looks at the projection with a confused look. Her previous angry demeanor is completely gone. "Be quiet, Lust. Otherwise, I will tell Gertrude about what you tried to do to Pride." Envy A sour look overtakes her face as she looks down. She is shaking a little. ''Gin, Don-'' Alex Envy''s voice drowns out Alex''s as it continues on. "She seems to have a weird and crazed obsession with you. I bet that she is in contact with you right now, claiming to be a ''good'' person or something. She is most likely also trying to fool you into her marriage proposition. I''ll give you an offer, I don''t want anything from you. I have no gender or any desire for intimate relationships. So, if you agree to my ''marriage'' proposal, nothing will happen other than the fact that gods will no longer interfere with you." Envy ''GIN DONT LISTEN! IT LIES! LIES! .... .... .... .... . . I??????????? L???????????????O?????????????V???????????????E?????????????????? Y??????????????O???????????????U???????????????!???????????????? . .... .... .... .... . . I?????????????????? U????????????????N??????????????????D??????????????????E?????????????????R????????????????S????????????????????T?????????????A???????????N?????????????D????????????????? Y???????????????????O?????????????????U?????????? ".Sillith .... ------- ------- ------- HOLY CRAP! What is going on with her voice! Something is wrong! Something is most definitely wrong! ------- (Author''s note: I''d like to know what opinions you guys have on this. I know Sillith may seem like the obvious choice to answer as she is much more established than Envy or Lust [to the readers]. However, if Gin were to not pick her.....) 85 Rigged. Gin POV- Sillith, Envy, Lust. Why me..... Everyones looking at me as I try to contemplate the best choice here. Lust is definitely out. She gives off dirty vibes in more than one sense. That leaves Sillith and Envy. I''ve had prior contact with Sillith(who previously called herself ''Alex''). She has helped me learn some of the mysteries with regards to ascending..... However, she also seems to have misled me in multiple ways. In that regard, Envy is laying everything out. His words also seem to have caused a freaky change in Sillith as well. Right now she is mumbling some rather scary things. ... . . G??????????????i??????????????n???????????,????????????????? I????????????? c???????????????????a??????????????????n??????????????? n??????????????????o????????????????t?????????????? s?????????????????t??????????????a??????????????????y??????????????? a??????????????l?????????????????o?????????????????n??????????e?????????????????? i??????????????n???????????????????? m????????????????y????????????????????s???????????????e???????????????????l???????????????f???????????????.????????????????? ... F?????????????????e???????????????s??????????????t?????????????????e????????????r?????????????????i??????????????n????????????????????g???????????????????? a????????????????n???????????????d?????????????????? c??????????????????a???????????????n????????????n???????????????????i???????????????b??????????????a???????????????l???????????????????i???????????????z???????????????i??????????????n???????????????g?????????????? t???????????????o???????????????? k?????????????e?????????????????e??????????????p??????????????????? m???????????????y????????????????s????????????e?????????????????l??????????????f????????????????.???????????????? ... L????????????o???????????????v????????????????????e?????????????????????????????????? L???????????????o???????????????v?????????????????????e??????????????!???????????????? B??????????????????u???????????????z????????????????z?????????????i???????????????????n????????????????g???????????????? a?????????????n???????????????d??????????????? H?????????????????u????????????????????m??????????????????m????????????????i?????????????????n????????????????g????????????????? L????????????????o??????????????v??????????????????e???????????????!???????????? ... L??????????????o???????????????v???????????????????e??????????????????? L?????????????o???????????????????v??????????????e?????????????..... . . Hmmmm..... Envy it is. "Envy I''ll agree to your proposition-?" Gin What''s that feeling. I feel cold. Hmm? I''m shivering? Emvy smiles through the projection and a glimmer appears in its eye.....The ring? "Hahaha! Good choice Gin! However. I now have a deal to make with Sillith. She should be able to communicate through that little ring of yours right?" Envy . . . . A red projection appears from the ring. It seems to be an amalgamation of twisting flesh. I shouldn''t have agreed to Envy. I can tell that from looking at the creature that appears in the projection. It makes me shiver from my very core. Fear is something I hadn''t really felt since acquiring a certain skill. This. This. This- "So Sillith. I want to make a deal. Now that I have Gin''s permission, the last page of the W981MI form has his mark on it. I''m willing to trade it." Envy "It works that way? You can just trade it?" Lust Lust is making a bewildered look. This.... W981MI form? Is that a marriage certificate? It sounds like a tax form with a name like that..... Wait, Envy is trading it..... Have I lost a say at this point? Fuck..... The shivers disappear? "Terms?" Sillith Her voice goes back to normal? However, her twisted body is still there. Is that what she naturally looks like? Oh boy.... "I''m willing to trade as wel-" Lust "SILENCE!" Sillith ..... ..... "Well, you don''t have what I want, Lust. Now, I want Sloth, what remains of Sloth anyways." Envy "Deal." Sillith ..... ..... ..... "Huh?" Envy, Lust, Gin We are all left bewildered at how quick the deal was. I hear a whisper. "What''s this all about?" Ravel Ravel seems to have approached me and is just as confused as I am. "I don''t know. I think I''ve sold my soul or something?" Gin "Well, they were talking about marriage but, can gods even-? I don''t know.... I don''t like them talking about you like property though." Ravel Vulki nods and Set agrees through telepathy. Kess is looking at the projection of Sillith weirdly... ".....Should I have asked for more? Well, that''s that I guess." Envy Envy''s projection disappears into nothingness. The fallen dwarves have already dismantled the circle that was used to make the projection of Envy appear. They are hightailing it out of the castle..... "Fuck. Now this body is useless. Hmmmm..... Should I stay here? Nah. Got some other studs to capture~. Sorry little Gin~ \u003e_\u003c Gotta go~!" Lust Lust''s body crumbles into a pink sand..... Thank god....? The projection of Sillith remains. Sillith talks to me through telepathy. ''... I''m sorry for misleading you, Gin. I truly love you. It''s my fault. Fault. Fault. Fault. Fault. Fault. Fault. Fault. Fault. Fault-'' Sillith ''A-ahhh.... I see....'' Gin I''m truly screwed now aren''t I? Perhaps there is a divorce process?....! I feel a shiver run through me as I think that. This.... Shouldn''t affect me until I can ascend, right?... ... ... ... ????? Wait, why did I agree to any of them? Couldn''t I have just..... I''m an idiot. I should watch out whenever I agree to anything from here on out. ... ''I have to go. I need to settle the matter with Envy..... Bye, Gin." Sillith Sillith''s projection disappears leaving me, Ravel, Kess, Vulki, Set and the royal guards...? Where''s Inival? Was she still sleeping? Seems like someone is going to have to tell her about all of this.... She is a worshipper of Sillith so, she may be upset to have not seen her through the projection. "Trying to force herself on master..... Disgusting" Set "Agreed, they did not give master Gin much of a choice here. Besides, it seems like that Sillith has a few screws loose in her head." Vulki ".....I''m hun..... No. I''m fine...." Kess *Sigh "Why did this have to happen....." Gin "....What are your thoughts on the marriage part?" Ravel Ravel asks me a good question with a worried face. "Honestly, I have no desire when it comes to that sort of thing. Love and intimate relationships are something that have I given up on. Love is fleeting. It fades with age and time. That''s what I have seen in marriages that fail..... They depend on ''love'' and not actual affinity. Partnership. You could say that affinity is included into love but, it is not. At least, that is how I''ve perceived it...." Gin "....I don''t know..... I.... I loved Wetho.... I love Wetho." Ravel "That wasn''t just infatuation, although that was present.... You two had something.... Special. Even with the lack of emotions and feelings as drow, you two seemed to have a special affinity...." Gin ..... The royal guards leave? What''s with this atmosphere? "Gin, I know. I know that I have a special affinity for you. I didn''t know how to express it before. That is why I want-, have to be a broodmother. So that you can feel some sort of affinity for me as well." Ravel ".....It may be rude to ask this, but, you are not using me as a ''new'' Wetho are you?" Gin I ask this jokingly. It''s highly doubtful, but, she may have tried shifting her feelings and ''affinity'' for Wetho over to me in her anguish. Even if I don''t line up in it..... Ravel POV- "No, I''ve had this for a while. A feeling. No, something more. Before Wetho died this has been building. It''s one more deeply rooted than the one I had-.... have for Wetho..... Although it is painful and disgraceful to say so....." Ravel I understand now. What loyalty really is. Not ''just'' a measurement of whether someone will betray you or not. Gin is incredible for helping me realise this. Affinity. That is a part of it as well. Affinity wrapped in Loyalty, spiraling..... What am I thinking of? Is this it? What ''true'' love is perhaps? Even if I am wrong, Even if ''it'' is wrong. I will abandon myself to it. Vulki gives me a happy look as I observe my loyalty for Gin again. Loyalty: 99 86 End of The Drow Theocracy Envy POV- ..... ..... ..... Now what. Not sure why I continue this. I look at the marriage form in front of me. I feel something looking at it. Interest. It''s been a while. Most of the things I do at this point are without thought. Like my body is put on autopilot as it continues to act and scheme lightly. Honestly, I have no interest in acquiring Sloth. I made that deal without any thought.... *Sigh The deal has been made with Sillith..... Perhaps before I hand over the form..... Forgery? I could make another copy of the last page.... I could just get his acceptance a second time too, I guess. Sillith may try to come after me later but, I honestly don''t care. I need something different. Alright. ''Bolts'' Envy ''Yes boss?'' Bolts ''How far away from the Drow Theocracy are you now?'' Envy ''I''m at the border with the Union at the moment. We are getting ready to invade with full force.'' Bolts Hmmm..... How to get in contact with Gin again..... I was able to have some fallen dwarves follow behind Lust before but, it will be much more difficult now..... I''ll just delay giving Sillith this form for now. I can have Bolts try to get into contact with him during the war. The Drow Theocracy will most definitely get dragged into it so it will be a matter of situations..... Worst case scenario I''ll have to make a forgery. That leaves me with finding a new form. Male or female? Probably female, I noticed that Gin''s eyes linger around certain parts of females. His eyes never lingered around the loins of the male royal guards and the fallen dwarves. Now, based on..... Sillith and his broodmother subordinates..... Does he have a spider fetish?.... Is it that or does he have a special affinity for spiders? Makes sense since his class allows him to summon broodmothers... ------ Gin POV- After that weird event, a few more days passand Ravel now has all of the Drow in the theocracy gathered in the capital. Those that hid or refused were killed apparently. Any future drow that are found will be considered traitors and killed as well..... I am currently waiting in my room in the palace. Inival is a bit sad to have missed her chance to meet the god that she follows. "I have a way to contact her if you ever want to." Gin "Really? Well, our faction seems to have a different perspective on things though. Drun and Farblight are no longer obsessed with Sillith..... They should be here with Ravel soon by the way." *knock *knock "Hello, sire?" Drun "Sire" Gin "Ahhh, Drun is extremely appreciative to you. He really loves the spiderling that is fused to him." Inival "I forgot that happens sometimes when drow are converted.... Weird that the three of you all had them fused into yourselves." Gin -Subordinates Name: Drun Race: Devoured elf Level: 17(up 3) Name: Farblight Race: Devoured elf Level: 18(up 5) Name: Inival Race: Unconsumed elf Level: 27 Name: Ravel Umbra Race: Devoured Elf Level: 14(up 7) Their levels have changed drastically. While I was here in the palace they were dealing with a civil war. Well, minus Inival. Ravel and Farblight have gained quite a few levels. Farblight had to deal with a lot of traitorous nobles. Meanwhile, Ravel was executing. hundreds and maybe even thousands of captured traitors. The Experience that humanoids provide is much larger than wolves or treants. People in levels 20 and higher give thousands of points as well. Farblight and Drun kneel in front of me. Drun still has body parts tied to his robes..... I look at the top of Farblight''s head since she is bowed down. Her blonde drill twintails are there as well. She must have dyed them after the conversion at some point since the conversion had changed the color of her hair. "Gin, all that''s left is the conversion. We modified the bracelet that the Union Head gave to us. Here." Ravel Ravel has a serious and expectant look on her face as she hands me the bracelet. Lots of sharp red and black gems are attached making the artifact look ''edgy''..... I take it and follow Ravel. She seems to be excited based on the pep in her steps. I test the artifact a little and I get a reaction..... Hopefully this turns out well..... Going along the corridors which are now decorated with spider tapestries we reach some stairs. After going up them we reach a massive set of doors which opens up to the top of the palace. The door has giant intricate carvings that pulse a faint white. Inival steps forward and pushes them open. "Gin, we have a lot of drow gathered out in the capital. You can leave the announcing and stuff to me. All you need to do is try and use the bracelet and ring together to try and convert everyone here. We somehow managed to pack the whole population into the capital after we started shoving people into the sewers and waterways." Ravel .....Wow..... Okay. We all walk onto a massive balcony overlooking the Capital. Ravel steps forward and makes her presence known with a shout. Inival is standing next as the rest of us stay back and out of sight. Drun and Farblight have an expectant look on their faces. My broodmothers followed along and they are a bit different. Kess looks bored and continues to drink the silver energy coming off herself. Vulki is sitting on the floor and pushing her cheeks with her hands. It seems that she is thinking of something as she has a very happy grin on her face. Her wings flutter a bit. Set is quiet as usual. She is probably looking for potential threats. "MY CITIZENS. Our species is a unique one. However, we are unnatural. That is why we are a theocracy instead of a kingdom, to have a god convert us into elves, as our ancestors were. The reason I had everyone in the kingdom forcefully brought here is to accomplish that goal in a short amount of time. As you can see, I am no longer a drow along with Inival here. A great being has descended for Sillith to grant us our wish." Ravel Descended? What''s that about? A lot of shouts come from below. Some angry, some joyful. Hmm.... She is whispering something. "Gin, can you try to convert all of these drow here? We have one shot at it. The artifact will break afterwards..... Hope to hell it works.... Otherwise we''ll have to start converting drow on an individual basis....." Ravel I start pumping mana into my ring, the bracelet which I''m holding against my ring starts glowing orange and blue. A lot of force builds. The bracelet starts letting out cracking noises as arks of electricity shoot between my ring and the bracelet. *Boom Shit! *Bang Ahhhh.... Wh-?.... The energy erupted from my ring crazily sending me crashing back into the door at the staircase. Looking forward, an orange and blue mist lays in the air. "Master! Are you alright!?!? I''ll heal you!" Set Set is a bit panicked. "I''m fine, just a bit stunned is all. Is- is it working?" Gin The others seem to have heard me and they look relieved. I sneak over to the edge of the balcony. What I see leaves me more stunned than what just happened. 87 The Gin Theocracy A blue and orange mist is flowing over the capital and way beyond it as well. Many prompts come up to tell me about new subordinates as I continue to watch the mist flood into drow, converting them. The others are watching with awe as well. Without even realizing, a couple hours go by. The legendary quest prompt appears again. It seems that I completed two of the requirements simultaneously. - Survive after being noticed by an agressive legendary-rank creature/person that is at least level 50(complete) - Take over a civilization ''completely''/ build a civilization/ destroy a civilization ''completely''(complete) - Creat a miracle that would make at least 500,000 individuals awestruck(complete) - Find a legendary grade material/gear/etc. to reinforce [-----------------] entity(0/1) - Create a Omni-Artifact(must have a poison related artifact fused into it)(Must have an AI interface)(0/1) Rewards: - Job Class Rank increase .....Hmm... It seems that the last two requirements were revealed. The first one I understand. Still, I don''t remember having any epic-ranked gear besides the artifacts that I have..... So legendary..... Will be a little difficult. The second requirement that was revealed is to make an omni-artifact, which I''m guessing is a fusion of several artifacts. The hard parts of that are the sub-requirements. For the first I''ll have to find a poison related artifact. I don''t understand the part about an AI interface so, I''ll have to ask Tessa later... Looking up I see that the mist is dispelling. Looking over the balcony is a sea of red, blue, blue-green, and orange. Drow seem to have different reactions to the conversion process. It results in two different types of elves. The red and orange Devoured Elves, and the blue and blue-green Arachno-Elves. I back away from the balcony as a lot of the citizens start looking up to hear from Ravel further. I''m guessing that quite a few saw me..... "My people! You have gone through a great baptism! We are complete with this! We never officially named our country before, even though The Union and The Black Iron Pyre has referred to us as the Drow Theocracy. Now is the time! This is the beggining of The Gin Theocracy!" Ravel Nononono!?!? Gin Theocracy!?!? Why wasn''t I told about this! *shivers I cringe thinking about the name. Wouldn''t Elven Theocracy or something like that be better!?!? "We shall honor the one who helped us accomplish our goal in this way!" Ravel .... .... Please don''t. I would rather not be remembered in this way. Couldn''t I just become some historical figure or something? Why must the flippin country be named..... *sigh There''s no way to undo this. Ravel already announced it..... "Woooooo!!!" Random elf guy "Yeeeeeeahhhhhhh!!!!" Random elf guy I hear a bunch of roars from below. Ravel turns around and gives me a wink. Is she?..... After Wetho died, her mischievous and bubbly personality disappeared. It seems to have revived though. She turns around and walks through the giant doors and the rest of us start to follow suit. After reaching the bottom of the stairs she bursts out in happiness. She throws her arms up. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I did it! We did it~!" Ravel Her happiness is a bit infectious. Inival, Farblight, Drun, Vulki and I are full of smiles. Kess tilts her head as she watches this. "Now to find a successor~! Hehehe~, Madam Farblight. How would you like to be queen?" Ravel "Ehhh? Me? What about the royal family?" Farblight "The ''Drow'' royal family no longer exists. They were converted so, now they are elves under Gin. We are all under Gin now~! They not one of the highest authorities anymore~ hehehe~! The old royal guard should be extremely willing to help as well~. They were reaching the ends of their lifespan before but, now they can live over a thousand years....." Ravel "I..... Are you Okay with this Sir Gin? No, Exalted Gin?" Farblight ..... ..... Exalted? Exalted Gin?.... "Yeah...." Gin "You okay Gin? Your expression''s looking a bit odd there." Ravel She looks a bit worried which just makes this worse. I tame my expression real quick and try to put on a smile. "Yeah, I''m just confused with titles like ''exalted'' and with the naming of the country after me." Gin "Well, you are of great importance to us and to the country. A ''great being''. It would be blas-, Rude to not give you some recognition would it not?" Drun He was going to say blasphemy..... "Anyways, Farblight, you are Queen now. Should be easy. There should be very little oposition and schemes that are deeply entrenched since the whole kingdom is subordinated to Gin now. On top of that betrayal would mean death..... Good luck~!" Ravel Ravel gives a hug to Farblight. She sinks into her a little before she lets go. After that she hops over to me lightly and has a full-grin on her face. "Now, about the deal." Ravel ------- Aein POV- I should have known that Envy would cause problems. Envy now has it''s hands on a very valuable item that can be used against mistress..... A marriage form with Gin''s approval mark on it... The deal is done. The problem lies in the fact that the meeting to turn over the form is being delayed over and over again. We can''t do anything about it..... Otherwise the ''deal'' will be broken and Envy will have a larger advantage over us.... "Haaaeeeeee!!!!" Sillith *Crash Mistress is currently smashing wooden furniture and pieces of glass out of frustration. "Aein! What do I do!?!? What do I do!?!? Envy has fucked everything up! I should have been completely open with Gin! Now Envy is messing with me! Delaying the meeting over and over like a piece of shit! Fuck!" Sillith I have had fantasies about Gin marrying Mistress and me becoming a maid that would ''sneak'' around with him. Mistress'' love for Gin has spread to me. So now that I''m seeing Envy do this I-... *Crash *Boom "Garbage. Filth. Digusting. Vile. Rotten." Aein I start smashing chairs and table out of frustration. Something about the feeling of it makes me satisfied. "Woah, I''ve never seen Aein get angry....." Sillith ------- We both calm down and begin contemplating. "Envy can only delay for so long. It must have some sort of goal by doing so...." Aein "..... Well, after the form is given to me..... No other gods or ascended can interfere with him until he reaches ascension himself..... Is Envy trying to get something from Gin before then?" Sillith ..... "Envy could be trying to get another form with his mark on it..." Aein "Why!?!? Why do things always have to be this way!?!? Others getting involved with him!?!? Others getting in my way to happiness! Is it my fault? No! I had to make that announcement to the other Sins!" Sillith We have had a lot of problems. Usually gods wouldn''t care about other gods getting married. Unfortunately, Mistress became part of a special group after devouring Gluttony. The Seven Sins. She grew immensely in power but, she became restricted at the same time..... "Is this karma for what I did? All those eons ago....." Sillith 88 Ravel Gin POV- I am alone with Ravel in my nest. After converting all the drow in the capital, we made a trip back. Inival, Set, Kess and Vulki are listening to Nemesis talk about Tessa. They all seem to have a slight dislike for her. Well, Xelu doesn''t have any input though. The only thing that has Xelu''s attention at the moment is making her spiderlings grind against each other... It''s a bit weird..... Especially since they have humanoid figures now..... When Broodmothers evolve, their spiderlings change as well. Now they look like little versions of her with some variance in their faces. Kess'' spiderlings are simply more beefy and silver colored. Vulki''s little jesters now have angel wings.... Their personality is still as bad as before though. Nemesis'' spiderlings haven''t changed at all appearance-wise. The only difference is that they won''t die after exploding spores, however, they will be weakened afterwards. ... ... Ravel is looking at me with heavy expectations. I open up the screen on converting her..... *Subordinate is Perfectly compatible for assimilation into a Broodmother. Doing so will have no unforeseen consequences. Y/N? Yes. Ravel dissapears as several options come up. There are three different things to choose from this time. I guess it''s like this since the level 15 evolution is included? I forgot to ask her what she would want from her aspects... *Choose aspect 1. Wrath(Sathanas) 2. Luck 3. Devoured *Choose aspect- Error Code 1ns3ct01d¦¸ 1. Moth(Unique Insectoid Aspect) 2. Mantis(Unique Insectoid Aspect) 3. Centipede(Unique Insectoid Aspect) *Choose aspect 1. Law 2. Perception 3. Emotion ------ Sathanas? That''s something new. I still wont pick it. So that leaves Luck and Devoured. Devoured is probably there from the conversion..... Luck seems very interesting. Apparently Luck can be a aspect on top of being an attribute. It will probably be my choice here. Thr second aspect will have to be some insectoid one apparently. I see that there is an error code which has happened before with Nemesis..... So moth, mantis, or centipede..... Centipede is out..... Some spider centipede creature? Yeah, I''ll pass on that..... I debate over moth and centipede..... Mantis does seem like it would be more combat oriented but, something about it bothers me... Moth would allow for another flying force. I see a combination that I could do with a third aspect as well. The one I''m looking at is perception. If I combine that with Luck and Moth for it''s flying ablility, I may be able to gather useful information much easier. Law seems to be very powerful as well so it''s a hard choice. Emotion seems like it would either debuff enemies or buff allies... There is the problem of finding enemies that are significantly stronger..... I have never seen anyone with a level higher than 29 other than the Zephyr Lord who I can''t use as a reference..... So, I can''t tell how effective our current strength would be against someone of a high level..... This is all assumptions though. I can''t be sure what an aspect will actually be. Perception could be better for combat, Law could actually be more of a support aspect. It''s hard to say.... Eventually, I decide to go with my first choice. After confirming my choices a large figure ''hums'' into existence before me. Ravel seems to have gone through a major change. She has a humanoid figure despite none of her aspects being something like ''jester'' or ''human/fungal''. She still has the same ridiculously busty figure as before..... However, her body is very different. It is covered in a black and white fuzzy fur. On her back are a set of fuzzy moth wings that have a golden powder constantly radiating off of them. She has a look of bliss on her face as I start examining her head. She no longer has red skin. Instead it is a very pale white. Her hair is very white as well but, with black stripes in it. Then there is her eyes. They are still golden but, her pupils are black crosses with white interiors. I''m guessing it has something to do with her perception aspect. Very odd..... Wait, no spider legs, one set of eyes..... Where..... She brushes the fur on her arms out of curiosity and I see a soft chitin underneath. I''ve been wondering about that. If my broodmothers and guardians keep on evolving, will they eventually lose all of their spider characteristics? If so..... Will they somehow detach from me since my summoning skills are for spiders and arachnids?... I put that line of thought off for later as I realize that I need to rename Ravel. "Would you like to keep your old name?" Gin "Hmmmm~! I would~. I don''t want ''Umbra'' attached to it anymore though....." Ravel Alright then. -Subordinate Name: Ravel Race: Lucky All-seeing Arachnimoth(unique) level: 15 Required exp: 12,000 Health (410/410) Resource- Lucksight Powder(-/-) Shared perk- Closed System Loyalty: Max Condition: Normal Vulki and Nemesis come in before I can ask about her new abilities and what-not. "Welcome to our group Ravel~!" Vulki I haven''t heard Vulki use that tone in a while. It is a tone that gives off a similar feeling to Lust now that I think of it. However, It doesn''t make me feel like I''m in danger and, its a bit comforting in a way. "Master Gin? Do you mind if we all have a talk with her? Some things that broodmothers should know~." Vulki ? Ravel gives me a confused look. I don''t know what she''s on about either. I guess they have made a sort of introductory thing for new members to our group. "Alright, I''ll see you again in a little bit Ravel." Gin I have a guess that it may include strictly female things so I''ll stay out of it. Things are most likely significantly different since they all have altered biologies.... I have made a mistake with my niece before. She seemed a bit off one day and I figured that she had trouble in school or something. Nope, it was just her time of the month, I didn''t get the hint until she explicitly told me. I don''t want that to happen again so, I''ll stay out of this..... ------ I later learned that I was wrong. That ''talk'' was more along the lines of indoctrination. Of course me becoming aware of that was far down the line from this point.... 89 War is not important, what has been going on!?!? Ravel had a private chat with Vulki and Nemesis for a little over an hour. She came back with a big smile plastered on her face. Perhaps it wasn''t about ''private girl stuff''? Well, if it was something important, they would clue me in on what it was about. "So, let''s see..... What is up with your resource?" Gin "Hmmm~? Ahh, it''s a bit weird, you see the golden powder around my wings? I can use it to buff luck stats along with perception while debuffing an enemies. I can control this powder freely and create giant dust fields by spreading it out. I think it will work well with Nemesis'' spore clouds~!" Ravel So, a supporter. Ravel was never really one for fighting personally before, similar to how I operate in a way. Hmmmm.... I wonder how her spiderlings will operate..... Speaking of, we have a ridiculous amount of spawners at this point. Tessa has been working Nemesis and Xelu while I was gone. Before that she was working the rest when I was away attacking the Union. We should have around 170-180 spawners. Because of that, the nest is under constant expansion..... Back to the matter at hand. "I''m a bit curious on how my spiderlings work. My spawners apparently spawn 10 every hour and can form swarms. I can also use them to gather information too, looking at a few of my perks." Ravel ... 10 every hour? Isn''t that exceptionally faster then the rest of the spawners? Perhaps they are weak or something so numbers are used to make up for that? We test it out. Ravel summons a giant white-gold cocoon which actually resembles a sack of spider eggs. The thing squirms a little which unsettles me a little. Nemesis'' spawners are gaint fairy rings, Xelu''s are bloody sludge pools, and Vulki''s are Floating deepfire cubes. Kess has metal mounds that her spiderlings seem to crawl out of.... However, they all summon 1 spiderling every ten hours. After an hour passes the writhing silky sack opens up and 10 golden moth-like creatures fly out. They resemble fairies quite a bit with their tiny humanoid figures. They are no bigger than a baseball. A few see Ravel and start floating around her in joy. Little golden particals float down as they flap their wings. "They should be very weak... However, they have buffing and debuffing abilities too. On top of that there is no limit to the amount of buffs they can have applied to themselves. So it can theoretically stack indefinitely. Of course, buffs wear off after a certain period of time so that''s not the case. Their main purpose should be to provide massive buffs to luck and perception to large forces while doing the opposite to enemy forces. I can also use them as remote viewers to use their enhanced perception to spy on things." Ravel "I see~. My buffs can last around two weeks~! They also are way better than what these little fairy moths can do. There is even a special buff I can use.... I''ll try it out now~!" A golden dust flows around me and then disappears. I check my status and am left bewildered at the numbers. General: Name:Gin Cinders Race: Human(common)-99.4%, GreaterArachneva(unique)-.6% (Evolution Impossible) *Territory Core Host* Class: Arachnomancer(*Growth-Epic) level: 15 Exp:7900 Required Exp:10000 Status: Health(104/104) Resource-Mana(406/406)[(Wis¡Á20)] ----------- 1 Free Attribute point 1 Free Skill Point Str: 9 End:10.6 Agl: 11.5 Int : 23(21+2) ------------ Wis:20.3(18.3+2) Cha:10 Per:19.4(12.4+2)(+5 [335 hours, 59 minutes, 36 seconds]) Luck:18(10+1+1)(+6 [335 hours, 59 minutes, 36 seconds]) Condition:Normal Holy-! This is-! "I can only use that once a week~. I can still use a lesser version of that as many times as I want though. It takes a good bit of time to cast it though...." Ravel I try looking around with my enhanced perception. I can see each line in the wall clearly. There is even a weird effect when I look at the fairies floating around Ravel. I can tell how their movements will be before they make them..... I don''t think it''s telling the future. More like I can tell based on their previous movements and the changes in the tenseness of their muscles..... It''s weird..... I focus on my other senses and they are enhanced as well. I can tell where I am exactly without needing to have my eyes open. I can smell Ravel from here as well. A sweet fragrant smell. Rather pleasant. I stop focusing on my senses and look at my luck stat... I have no idea how luck works.... Is it like fate or like plot armor in stories? What the hell is it?.... Well, if you think of what luck actually is.... You could..... Put it together with probability? Like changing the probabilities of everything to be more favorable. That''s only a theory though. How much each attribute point does and how it does compared to someone else''s attribute points in luck is impossible to guess. "Gin~? I heard that you sleep with your broodmothers all the time~." Ravel ???? Yeah? That''s a weird way to put it though. Makes it sound sexual if you say it like that? "Yeah? That''s all it is though, sleeping." Gin Ravel whispers to herself. With my increased perception I can clearly catch what she is saying. "Damn, Vulki lied to me. Saying that they do this and that with him as they sleep.... Wait, did she mean....." Ravel ....!?!? What are they doing to me as I sleep!?!? I need to have a long talk with Vulki now..... Nemesis walks in with a serious face on. "Saint, it seems that the war between the Union and the Black Iron Pyre has resumed. A few areas of the Gin Theocracy have been attacked as well....." Nemesis Gin Theocracy... Why did it have-..... Nevermind. Nemesis should know about that previous matter. "Nemesis, do you also do things to me while I sleep?" Gin ".....Errrr- Yes..... It was just touching! I never did any of the more risky things like Vulki and Xelu!" Nemesis She gave them away. I''m not suprised to hear about Vulki, but Xelu? Remembering what she makes her spiderlings do, I-.... What the hell have they been doing to me!?!? "I need to know about this in full. Don''t leave anything out." Gin "Did I let a secret out?" Ravel "Set and Kess haven''t been part of it, they usually pass out at the same time you do..... It''s mostly Vulki and Xelu.... I.... I watch over them to make sure they don''t go too far!" Nemesis Nemesis then goes on and tells me everything..... 90 Guilty Vulki and Nemesis are begging in front of me.... After hearing about the situation from Nemesis, I then asked Xelu for the full truth. I could see that Nemesis and Vulki are both guilty. Xelu is innocent, she was following the lead of the other two..... As for what they were doing..... Apparently, they would grind up against me in a weird pleasure, lick every inch of my exposed skin.... Nemesis would even marionette my unconscious body to pat their heads, along with some less wholesome things..... I do wonder how I was never woken up in the middle of some of this stuff..... Punishment.... Vulki POV- Ravel Ratted us out! Xelu ratted us out! ""I''m sorry!"" Vulki and Nemesis "Mashta? Sorry?" Xelu "You''re not to blame, Xelu. You''ve just had some bad influences." Gin Gin pats Xelu''s head and she turns her head upright and grins. She wasn''t entirely truthful either. It seems that she has gotten much more sly since her last evolution. Me and Nemesis are taking the blame while she gets head pats! I should never have educated her this way! Me and Nemesis have had some changes since our last evolutions as well. It''s a bit harder to get our desires under control. I can understand why Nemesis changed since her draconic attribute turned into a dragon one. Dragons are known as creatures of extreme sin and desire. The only thing that seems to have grown is her fascination with Gin. She isn''t quite lustful..... A bit pure..... I''m..... A bit different..... I understand earthly pleasures. Despite my evolution adding a Seraphim aspect, my desire has only grown. To be touched, to touch. It has much more meaning, feeling, and desire behind it than before..... I regret not experiencing this desire with Gin first.... No. ''Sigrid'' was not me! ''She never was!'' *bang I smash my head against the metal webs below me. Blood flows into my eyes turning my vision red. Never! Never! "Vulki-? You don''t need to hurt yourself over this, I was just going to give you two a minor punishment....." Gin Gin seems to have misunderstood my actions..... Wait, punishment? Why does that word make my heart flutter? "I guess that since you are feeling that remorseful over what happened then it''s fine." Gin "Wait! I still feel guilty! I need ro repent!" Vulki "I agree, saint. Without this, we won''t repent and may even repeat our actions." Nemesis "Repent." Xelu It''s odd hearing Nemesis wanting to be punished. I''ve heard about her previous life and it seems to be full of horrible experiences.... Maybe.... ... Gin is looking at us with a awkward expression on his face? "You three seem a little enthusiastic about this. I wasn''t even going to do anything to Xelu.... Let''s see.... You three are no longer allowed near me when I sleep except in emergencies." Gin "Mashta, I''ve repented." Xelu -Gin POV I leave the three and lay down on the new couch that was made. Ravel and Set worked together to make it. It is made with very soft golden silk and amber ink. The feeling is like heaven... Wait. Am I forgetting something?..... Oh shit! There is a war going on! I tell a few metal spiderlings to gather everyone up. They salute me as they head off to the different broodmothers. Set arrives quickly. She sprints and collides into me breaking into threads that immediately turn into tattoos. Tessa had a few tasks for her so she was absent when I interrogated Vulki and Nemesis earlier. She is quiet as usual but, I can feel great relief through telepathy. Eventually everyone arrives. Kess is super engorged making it so that her spiderlings had to carry her in. Among the various elves that we are in contact with, some have taken a liking to the various types of webbing that is produced here. Kess has made a deal with some of them, food for webbing..... Of course Tessa and I still monitor the amount so that Kess doesn''t become useless. If Kess had a say she would just produce and trade web for food 24 hours a day..... Everyone''s a bit curious other than Nemesis and Ravel who knows about what I want to announce. "The war has started up again. This is a good chance to strengthen ourselves." Gin ''I just wish that I could participate as well.... I''ll watch over the nest while you guys are gone. Should probably seal the nest.'' Tessa The tone that Tessa has is a bit weird but, I ignore that and nod to what she says. We''re going to go full force since there is no need to hide anymore. Both the Union and the Black Iron Pyre should be aware of me..... ------ I gather up thousands of spiderlings. It should be close to four thousand including the new ones that Ravel has summoned. Inival who has been living in the meeting hall in front of the nest comes out in full gear....? It seems that she is wearing armor made of a bunch of different threads from Set and the rest of the broodmothers. I should have something similar made. She is carrying that cursed looking greatsword that Wetho had given her previously. I look at the remote that I had gotten from a scout. It should help me get in contact with Farblight who is the new ruler of the elves. I activate it and I wait a bit for the other side. Eventually a small blue figure of Farblight appears over the remote. "Hello, hello? How does this- ohh. Saint, I''ve been trying to figure this thing out. Drun is usually the one to use this thing. Anyways, do you want to participate in this war? It would relieve a lot of pressure and it would help you a lot in terms of levels." Queen Farblight "Yeah, we''re going full-force now. Not much use remaining hidden now." Gin "Yes saint, hmmmm..... Do you remember the way to the stronghold? We were able to set up an emergency circle near your nest momentarily before since it was a bad situation but, that is extraordinarily expensive." Farblight "Yeah I remember..... It''s just that the commander there....." Gin "Krychek? How''s he doing? Still looking for wives? He said that if I wasn''t his cousin he would propose to me..... Not sure why I told you that...." Farblight I don''t think that is the only reason..... "Yeah, he''s a bit too over the top though" Gin "Should be fine, I guess I''ll see you in a few days, saint. We all look forward to seeing you again." Farblight I really don''t want to have to deal with Krychek again..... 91 Former Queen "Haha! If it isn''t my good buddy Gin! Hoaaahh!" Krychek He lifts me up by my armpits and swirls me around..... I was dreading this kind of encounter the whole way here. Inival even got me some special robes to try and hide me..... Right now we are currently inside the previous stronghold. The place has changed quite a bit, lots of elves that aren''t soldiers are ealking about. It seems that the place is now somewhere between a city and a town. The place is still a military installation though so, Krychek is still in control. Looking at this giant, he seems a bit different. He''s no longer a drow and is a devoured elf.... Honestly he looks more like an ogre than an elf. He still wears greaves and gauntlets with a bit of armor covering his lower torso. "Why are you staring at my chest man? I''m not willing to marry dudes. Hmmm.... Perhaps a species that could switch between genders? what would happen of they switch while I''m in-" Krychek *Foom Inival saves me from the grasps of this giant. I hear quite a few comments from the broodmothers and Set. A few even have some murderous connotations..... One is about food.... Ravel walks up to Krychek and looks up 150¡ã to look at his face. "Krychek. You''ve been bothering Gin. Stop." Ravel Her bubbly personality receded. This one reminds me of how she was when the noble hunt went down. I feel a few goosebumps. He seems a bit shaken up after hearing that voice. "Wh-! Why if it isn''t miss Ravel. I guess I have not been courteous enough to our saint..... A-anyways, you guys have come to be teleported to the field camp right? Mede! Lets get these guys going!" Krychek He roars and a small red elf comes out of a side passage. Mede is a bit different as well. She looks at Krychek with surprise. "Y-you actually plan on acting like you should? Have your- Queen Ravel? You-? Look a bit different but, there is no mistake with a chest like that." Mede "It''s nice to see you again Mede. So, has Krychek been acting up a recently?" Ravel Tears leak down Mede''s face. She runs up and hugs Ravel. "Everyday! Everyday he proposes to me and half of the women in this place! He sneaks into the bathrooms while we-! While we-! He says that it''s his duty as our superior to make sure that we are not having any difficulties excreting!?!? What kind of boss does that!?!" Mede Ravel pats Mede''s head as she smiles at Krychek. It is a smile that does not reach her eyes. I hope that look is never directed at me. I watch as Krychek is a bit nervous. His eyes are darting around, as if looking for a place to hide. "It seems that I need to have a talk with Madam Farblight." Ravel *Boom He drops to all fours and begs at Ravel''s feet. "NO!?!? Anyone, anyone but my cousin! Please!" Krychek "Mede, if he acts up again, you or your subordinates can contact us. I''ll make sure to tell Farblight al~l about it!" Ravel She goes back to her cheerful bubbly self halfway through her sentence. It''s a bit odd saying this now but, all of my broodmothers are a bit weird..... Mede showers Ravel with some corny fanatical lines and then gets onto her job. Not much later we are all teleported to the field camp. This is a different one from the previous camp as that was one made to launch attacks into the union. This camp is to defend against the attacks from both the Union and the Black Iron Pyre. It seems that the Union has launched attacks into he theocracies'' lands making their previous peace agreement invalid, making this whole thing, a giant team deathmatch. A three-way deathmatch. ''We both need to be very careful master. Both sides should have an idea on your worth to the Gin Theocracy so, you will be a strategic target.'' Set Set says this is a very serious voice which makes me value what she says even more. Everyone follows Ravel as she seems to have an idea on where to go. We reach a big jet black tent. Some odd music is playing inside. An instrument that sounds like a hybrid between a saxophone and oboe..... Rather melancholy, not something that I would expect to come from here. Ravel pushes aside the flap in the tent and we all go in other than Nemesis and Vulki. They stay outside the tent with a bunch of Ravel''s fairy spiderlings. A lot of spiderlings are scattered around the Theocracy and, a good amount of them are working for the military as well. This is to make sure that whenever we need a large force we can easily gather one. The most eye-catching thing in the tent is a human-sized obelisk. It looks to be made of obsidian but, this being a different world, I could be wrong..... A red elf is sitting next to the obelisk and is brushing his hands against it, producing the music that is resounding through the tent. He suddenly stops and turns to look at us. He is wearing a black and red suit. With his slicked back red hair and his sharp features, he looks a bit devilish. "Lady Ravel, Saint Gin. Miss Inival as well." ???? He nods at us. Ravel gives him a confused look. "What are you doing here? You never leave the palace. Not since mom-, the previous queen died." Ravel "Well, our grudges have faded and now that our lifespans are so long, we need not worry about our deteriorating bodies." ???? "Ummm?" Gin "Ah, where are my manners, I''m Siegfried. The leader of the old royal guards. I must thank you, Saint Gin. My life along with some of my comrades were ending because of age. So when Ravel revealed to us old fellows a way forward, we crushed our grudge against her." Ravel ????? "Before you ask I''ll tell you~. To become queen, Wetho and I killed my mother. If my mother hadn''t been as aged as she was..... Anyways, since I did that, the royal guard underneath my mother refused to follow my orders unless it were a matter of safety to the country." Ravel This. She killed her own mother? I can''t just..... I couldn''t imagine doing that. I loved my mother..... Thinking on it. This world is in a medieval state despite the existence of AI so, maybe matricide is not uncommon? *Floop I hear the flap of the tent open. Spider? It''s been a while since I''ve seen him. The leader of the previous spider faction. All the factions are fused now. Even Crow who was the most reluctant has taken up Sillith as his patron god..... Sillith..... I wonder what is going on? I thought Envy was selling her that page of the one marriage form... 92 Funeral 2 , Love, and The Future Fanatic Alex POV "We are all here to mourn the loss of a dear friend, brother, and uncle of ours. Gin Cinders. My brother. I wasn''t there for him. I knew..... I always thought of him as family..... Mother''s passing.... Brother''s-" ???? "Mother....." Alex I don''t understand. I saw Gin yesterday? He seemed fine... Was it.... Acceptance? Was-?.... Was-???? Lies! He is not dead! He is asleep. ------- ------- ------- I am alone inside myself. Uncle Gin was the only one to glow into my own world. Mother would never understand. Father would never understand. I. I will never really understand. ------- He is asleep ------- Many years have passed since that day. My world remained stiff and stale. A grey undertone of indifference over everything, masked by a smile, a laugh. Hollow. I hunger for the times of life. The times of color from my youth. I brush my hands through my grey and ragged hair. My nieces and nephews have their own children now. Mother is gone. Father as well. My scars remain. My world has waned. I will not die. I''ll go to sleep. ------ ???? A-??? Color? A pulsing red orb. Roots are twining off the bottom of it. Hunger. Even now. I hunger. For color. For life. For Love. For a truthful laugh, not corrupted by my own skin. For joy that is unaltered by my stagnant self. Perhaps this is my madness. A desire that will never be fulfilled outside of it. I grab it. I eat it. I feed on it. Then, I sleep. The next thing I see is a cave. Filled with-? Spider corpses? ------(zzzztttt) Arachnomancer? Summoning broodmothers? What''s this all about? ------(zzzztttt) So you have the aspect of gluttony, huh? A name is..... How about..... Sillith? ------(zzzztttt) Aein POV- M-mistress? She- she is crying? Why? We were working on forcing Envy into giving up the last page of the marriage form and then she suddenly broke into tears. She never cries. "She-.... She did not die..... She feel asleep? She is asleep? Dreaming in me? Me? We. I. I didn''t! I didn''t give into my hunger. She never gave in! We never-!" Sillith What? Mistress! "Mistress!" Aein She collapses and reverts back to her young form. She cries and releases a strange wave of grey energy that blocks me. "Together!!! We were going to meet him together!!! Marry!!! Promise!!! Why did- no, we will? Is it? Or isn''t it! Master...." Sillith Her body starts to change. Her legs split into eight. Her belly turns into a spider thorax. Her head sprouts fangs and more eyes appear. Golden blood leaks out. Small? Mistress shrinks to a size smaller than a fingernail. Tessa POV- Master. My Gin. Everything I do. Every thought. This is not mere infatuation. More than what those broodmothers can ever have. That despicable Kess..... How can she defile these feelings? This love. I want Gin. I want to be part of Gin. I wish I could be more to him. Taking care of his home and greeting him as he returns fills me with a mind-numbing burrowing pleasure. I want more. I want him to want more. Together. Together? I want him to be me. I want myself to be him. That is the pinnacle of my desire. To be one. I hunger for it. I hope he will. I will not be disappointed even if he doesn''t. I will not project unrealistic views on him. My love is immeasurable. No one loves him more than me. Even these ''gods''. Sillith? Envy?..... ...My internal logic is saying that this is insane. A mad ''love'' that has no rhyme or rhythm. Why would I listen to that though? Logic? Can the logic inside me evoke these feelings? Logic could never make me happy.... Am I greedy? Perhaps. This is my greed. My lust. My gluttony and pride. My only light. It must never go out. I need more. More territory. More TE. More. To bring everything under myself. Those gods, Sillith and Envy, they dare toy with Gin. This world, this reality that could make him unhappy, sick. It needs to go away. For that goal. I need power. Something greater than what I have available. Even with Trillions of TE, I can''t accomplish my goals. I need something that can manifest my desire..... Sylphy POV- "So. Hard Life? Fate?" Slyphy My Crow is talking about our God. Nothing nice. "Fate? Bah~. That''s just a fancy and mysterious word for future. Back on topic, yeah, he will have to face some rather difficult scenarios. Things to do with continuation of consciousness, natural impulses, things that he has run from-." Crow "Can we help?" Sylphy "? No. If we try it will just make everything more knotted up. Plus, if we interrupt, we will probably die." Crow "Mmmm. I don''t want that." Sylphy We watch as Gin speaks to Spider. It has been decided that a meeting between the three countries will happen. Some devices are going to be set up. "It will solve nothing. All sides want war. The results of this war is predictable. Unless another Gin appears in the Union or The Black Iron Pyre. That won''t happen though." Crow "Jinx? Why say that?" Sylphy "Just analyzing. My brain has improved by leaps and bounds now that I''m an elf. My lifespan is back to normal too." Crow "Sorry...." Sylphy I''m at fault. Before Gin converted my Crow, he was nearing his end. It was my fault. A penalty. He was an elf before. He betrayed that Crow God for me and lost most of his lifespan. Despite that he continued to worship. He took me as his wife later. Well, I took him as my husband would be a better way to put it. "..... So?" Sylphy "Hmmm? Ahh. Right. Future stuff. Well, I have some general ideas o how things will turn out but, If I told you that, what meaning would it have? The future is not so simple anyway. It may appear that it has a definite outcome or path, however, that is not so. The future has an almost infinite amount of outcomes...." Crow He is going off on his rants again. I don''t understand but, I love to see his passion for whatever it is he is talking about. "Think of the future as a ridiculous number of paths that all overlap, diverge, and converge. On those paths are massive numbers of individuals. New individuals phase out of these individuals, some go out on different paths, some walk on the same paths but, at different speeds or their gait may be a bit different. To make it all more complicated, individuals may converge into others as their future paths are the exact same so, they have to take up the same spaces. While all of this goes on, some just dissapear, or die." Crow "Huh. Interesting." Sylphy I understood none of that. It would be a road of overlapping madness. So much that it would look like a stream. I think. "So you can try to focus on a single individual among all of these clusters, however, a separate one may emerge making that ''single'' turn into multiples. All of that exists for any person in this world. When you are dealing with 10 people for example, you are dealing with 10 of these almost infinite roads. That is all just an easier way of putting it too." Crow "So with predicting events-" Sylphy "Correct." Crow What? "Big events are usually easier to pick up since many copies of many people will disappear. Will that affect our current reality? Or will it affect several other hypothetical realitys? That has a big probability factor put into it." Crow I was going to ask if it was straining. Hmmm? I forgot about the meeting.....? 93 Pyre, Union, Theocracy Gin POV- Spider interrupted our talk to tell us that an important meeting is going to take place here with all of the leaders. Drun, Crow, Farblight, and a few others arrived later and set up a small table. At the center of it they set up two artifacts that resemble VCRs but, on top of them are Multicolored crystals. Drun shoves some blocks with symbols covering them into the VCR things? Blue semi-transparent projections appear above both. Two sets of tables with people surrounding both. I recognize the people in the one to my left. They were the people from the Union. As for the right one, it only has unfamiliar people. Ravel takes the lead "So, why have your countries attacked us? Especially you Raveth, you broke your own agreement." Ravel "Shit!?!? What happened to you?.....? No longer have that slut with you?" Raveth-???? What? What was that? Raveth has a higher tone to his voice than usual. Not only that his whole mannerism has changed. I catch something from him. A whisper, barely audible even with my enhanced perception. "Tot, let me be the one to talk here...." Raveth ..... ..... Tot? I thought that Lust killed her. Based on how Raveth was acting..... Ravel must have heard it too as she states the same theory I had. "You have Tot attached to you somehow, huh? I don''t know what ''slut'' you are talking about ''Tot''. You are the only person who I would call that as you were played with by quite a few men when you were captured by us." Ravel Raveth''s atmosphere goes through a few changes and settles on a calm one. "Let''s go back to the matter at hand." Raveth "Oh really? I found your agressive shits quite funny. Go on, go on. I''ll just sit here and enjoy." ???? Someone from the Black Iron Pyre speaks up. He seems to be the most important person there based on how high his seat is. It makes you wonder how he got up there since he is quite short. Fallen Dwarves are beardless and are quite aggressive by nature. I''ve heard from Ravel that their aggression itself comes from being beardless. However, this leader is different. He has stubble on his square chin. He appears level-headed so what Ravel told me may be true. He has grey hair and red eyes just as any drow would have as well. The captain of the old royal guard speaks up "Still in charge of the Pyre, ehh? Expected you to have died by now, Haunt." Siegfried "Could say the same to you..... So it''s true that the Drow Theocracy has fallen. So Elven Theocracy now?" Haunt "Gin Theocracy." Ravel ... "Hahahahahaha~! Such a stupid name! Pffftttt-hahahaha-" Haunt He pounds the arms of his chair as he laughs while looking down. "Enough" Ravel "We could just bully the Union like we usually do. Not go all out." ???? "Damn it Bolts, we can''t go easy on the Union after that cowardly attack on our men. A whole bunch of our guys died for nothing, so we need revenge. The problem lies with this ''Gin Theocracy''. A united Theocracy is a horrible thing indeed." Haunt "I''ve been thinking along the same lines. Can''t let the Theocracy be, now that it is at it''s strongest, while we gnaw at each other..." Raveth "Just you wait, you cloaked fuck. I know it was you who killed all of my guys. I don''t forgive things like that! I thought I had taught your band of misfits where you belong in this world!" Haunt Inival whispers something to me. I almost forgot that she was next to me. "He''s getting mad. That''s a good sign. Haunt usually has to take calming drugs since he makes mistakes when he is mad." Inival "Bolts! Get ready, plan E!" Haunt "What? If the Theocracy is really a threat like you said then-." Bolts "Quiet, listen to my orders! Someone cut the connection, don''t want these fecal-spawn listening on what I want to do next!" Haint The projection fades leaving the Union and us. I take it back. Haunt isn''t that level-headed "It seems that Haunt is quite mad. A united Theocracy is something that really bothers him." Inival Inival blurts out this. The ruler of the Pyre is quite different from how I expected. Is it really fine to have a ruler like that? "Well it seems that this war is going to be a bit chaotic, I''ll probably see you soon, Ravel Umbra." Raveth "My name is just Ravel now." Ravel "!?!?" Raveth and Tot Drun turns off our projection. "I''m not much of a queen." Farblight Farblight sighs as she looks at me and Ravel. "Siegfried, what do you think we should do?" Ravel "Hmmm? Well, I bet Haunt is planning on blitzing through the Union''s forces and then taking us on." Siegfried "True, it seems that he is ignoring Bolts at the moment so that''s benficial to us." Inival "Bolts?" Gin Drun speaks up and explains things for me. "She is one of Haunt''s daughters. She is usually the most helpful. Her suggestions are not the ''best'' at times but, they always lead to something ''more''. There is a rumor that I heard from captured Fallen Dwarves that she has connections to some ''god''..... It could.... Be Envy???? We know that Envy has connections to the fallen dwarves." Drun "What matters now is to figure out how we should act from here on. It''s up to you Gin. Defend and stay out of it as much as we can. Ransack the Union while the Pyre tries to destroy it. Attack the Pyre while they are busy with the Union. Lots of options." Farblight She says all of that with a weird expression on her face. I don''t know if she is liking her position as the new queen. The attacks from the Union and the Pyre on top of having to deal with a changed society with new issues. I feel a bit bad but, I cant really help much with management of a whole complex society. My work experience and knowledge is not that diverse as I was just regular employee at a store. Not even a manager..... Farblight, Drun, Siegfried and a few others leave me to think. I look over at Kess, Vulki, Nemesis, and Ravel. We''ll have to brainstorm on how to go about this situation. Xelu and Set are not that helpful when it comes to this stuff..... I feel a tug on my robes and I see a little alien look up at me.... I bend down and pat her head which makes her full of smiles. "Huehue~!" Xelu I feel a sugar overdose from the sheer joy on her face. I force down a smile and put on a thinking expression. Nemesis whispers something which I catch clearly. Now that I have enhanced perception I have heard many things that I would not have even noticed previously. "Is it because she is short? Whatever, it seems that he has forgotten about punishments....." Nemesis "Wrong, I still remember. Set and Ravel are the only ones that weren''t involved in that. Seriously, no more of that stuff, ok?" Gin "I''m deeply sorry!" Nemesis "What Incident?" Inival Ahh..... Inival was still here.... Umm.... "Mashta said we molested him.... Angry.... Only curious....." Xelu "????? You let your subordinates molest you?" Inival Why? Seriously. Why? 94 War for the Pocket 1 Gin POV- "So in conclusion, the best results that we could obtain from this war is for the Union and the Black Iron Pyre to cease their existence. Either that, or for them to become completely submissive to the Theocracy." Vulki "We can make great use of Kess and her spiderlings'' tunneling abilities for attacking and retreating. Ravel''s spiderlings can be used to collect information on top of buffing the regular troop''s luck and perception attributes." Vulki "While Bolts and Haunt are moving through the Union, we can attack the Black Iron Pyre and hopefully destroy or capture the territory obelisk in their capital." Vulki Vulki summarises our talks. Ravel and Vulki seem to get along well from what I''ve seen. They were both drow previously so, maybe that has something to do with it?..... In fact, there was not that much resistance to her joining our group..... Whatever the reasoning is, it''s good that everything is fine between everyone. ''Bitch.'' Set ... ... ... ''What was that Set????'' Gin I ask through telepathy as I thought I heard her say something. ''? Nothing Master, I was just admiring Ravel''s ability when it comes to planning and advising.'' Set Hmmmm..... The Pyre should be aware of this possibility though..... It can''t be that Haunt is that immature? Right? Bolts POV- Boss Envy put forth a real challenge. It.... She plans on doing something extremely ridiculous. So much so that even I have doubts on her plan''s success. Luckily, I have father following that worm in his mind. With the way things are going, the Theocracy should attack our country while our main forces are away. My double is currently with father as they march on Raveth''s doorstep. Still. This ''Gin'' is annoying. My god. My boss. Rather my ''godess'' is too interested in him. "Shit." Bolts "Lady Bolts, we have the projection ready." Random Fallen Dwarf "Who''s a lady? Me? Bah, my brothers are more ladylike than I.... Only thing left is to get that ''Gin'' here.... No longer have much pull in the theocracy now...." Bolts ''He will come, Sillith will make sure of that.'' Envy "!?!?!" Bolts When did!?!? ''Just do your job.'' Envy .... .... Mad. That ''Gin'' has made me mad. To make my boss take a stern tone with me. Gin POV- I explained the plan to Farblight, Drun, and Siegfried. They discussed it for awhile with several strategists and made it into something tangible. The plan was good, right? We''re not just going with this since I put it forward, right? ..... ..... After that a large force was made. A main force I guess you could call it. Composition from front to back is like this. Advance Scouts- Made primarily of those with fast classes that have good perception(boosted by Ravel''s spiderlings) Heavy armor troops- Elven troops that wear heavy black and golden armor. They are supported by slaves that act as squires. These squires are important as they carry and maintain the armor of the heavy troops. They must remain by their master so, they can be equipped quickly in case of emergency. The troops themselves are equipped with a wide variety of weapons. Halberds, swords, maces, specialized hand-scythes, etc. Various mages- Mages of all kinds stand behind several lines of heavy armor troops. Usually the composition depends on the objective of the force itself. Royal Guard- The royal guard protect the VIPs, strategists, siege weapons, logistical personnel, and mages whenever they have any leeway. Rear guard- The Rear Guard is a combination of mages specialized in tracking, heavy armor troops that are all equipped with Tower Shields, and scouts that watch the sides and rear of the mammoth formation. This is how the formation is set up from what I can see anyways. My spiderlings will be mixed in to where they would belong. For example Kess'' spiderlings are mixed into the heavy armor troops while Vulki''s are mixed into the mages. As we begin moving I listen in on the Broodmothers "???? Wouldn''t it be better to have a seperate force for us? We can protect the Saint just fine." Nemesis "It''s not like we will remain in this formation~! This is just one that is used while moving. Puts you at ease to know that a bunch of slaves will take the brunt in case of an ambush~." Ravel I''m not too sure about how to feel about that. Not that I''ll naturally feel anything about it though. "Wouldn''t want to waste our subordinates~. Better to use useless people~." Ravel "Well, my spiderlings are useless so if we adapt something like this to ourselves make them the meat-, or fungal-bags?" Nemesis "Not useless...." Xelu "They are though? At least they don''t die after letting out spores now...." Nemesis "Experiment. Curious? Mush moosh?" Xelu "Ahhh, I don''t have that hobby, no. Honestly, I''m more attached to the undead created from my spores. Although they can''t talk, they have great intelligence and have taken up the saint as their focus of worship." Nemesis "Why didn''t you bring any along?" Vulki "I-i have been teaching them some common sense so it would be a waste! I need them to teach newer generations common sense!" Nemesis "Why did I give those corpses up to you? You''re not even making good use of them?" Kess "Huhh!?!? You want to talk about waste? All you do is consume things all day! Your spiderlings are more useful then you are! At least my clergy will spread the word of the Saint!!!!" Nemesis Nemesis'' ''dragon tail'' is beating off the ground as I can see that she is upset. It seems that it''s a good way of interpreting her mood.... *sluurppp-Kess "Just-!?!? Ignoring!?!" Nemesis "Calm.... Neme.... Calm." Xelu Xelu grabs onto Nemesis'' tail and tries to keep it from waving resulting in Nemesis getting more upset. ''Really a pointless conversation here.'' Set I''m not sure if I can agree with Set or not. Speaking of, I''m not sure if she interacts with the others that much anymore. She has always been a bit of an introvert.... Especially since she evolved last. She got a human figure, however, she has basically stayed ''glued'' to me most of the time. Is it an individual thing? I''ve thought that it may be due to her nature as an arachnid guardian, I guess I''ll have to figure that out after getting another guardian.... Ravel comes hopping over to me with a grin on her face. I can see that her eyes are ''grinning'' as well as I observe the black and white cross pupils are bent so that the horizontal lines in them are ''grinning''.... "Nemesis is a bit angry~! It''s a bit fun to watch~." Ravel Vulki comes over as well seeing that Ravel is next to me. "Taking the ''right'' side, fufu??" Vulki What''s with the weird way of saying ''right''? Wait, that ''fufu'' was even weirder???? Who the hell says ''fufu''? "I belong here. ''Fu....Fu.....''" Ravel A weird tension grows in the air. Nemesis and the others stop their shenanigans and start to watch out of interest..... 95 War for the Pocket 2 Gin POV- The tenseness lingers for quite a while. We move along with the formation quietly and eventually a scout breaks the tension that lingers. "We have met with a little resistance up to now. Small militia groups that noticed our army while we passed their villages and towns. Mainly unintelligent folk that committed suicide by running into our ranks." Drow Scout 1 Another scout that accompanied the first nudged their partner. "Go on. Tell them." Drow Scout 2 "A-ahem..... There was a funny ''thing'' that we captured though. We think that it''s named Gork based on its unique noise?." Drow Scout 1 Farblight and Drun are confused as to why this is being brought up. I''m a bit confused a bit but, based on how she called it a ''funny thing'', I guess that it is a bit unique. "Gork." Gork A small..... Person? Is brought in..... how to describe it..... It looks like a human, sort of? A little under a meter in height but, with curled up arms. Its ears are really long and run up the side of its head. It has a perfect set of teeth, the kind that you would see at a dentist''s office. The rest of it''s face is all messed up though. A nose that resembles a pig''s, bulged out eyes that look like they are going to fall out, and a chin that is receded back. I can see why they call it funny. "Gork." Gork .... .... "Gork." Gork We are all confused on what to do with the thing. Farblight and Drun look to me for help but, I shrug my shoulders and give a very small shake of my head. "Gork." Gork "Well..... Let''s just....." Farblight Gork walks up to Kess and ''Gorks'' at her. *Squuuirshh ... ... We are left even more dumfounded as Kess jabs her leg into Gork''s face piercing it. It collapses and dies..... "Should I eat it? It looks edible?" Kess Sorry Gork. I''m not sure if you have some story to tell or if you were a unique individual like Ten. Still, I''ll keep you in my memories.... ... ------- After a few more days we reached a point where a change in formation is needed. We can see the Dwarven capital a distance aways. The odd thing is, it seems that they have shown no sign of noticing us? No, something weird is happening.... ''Ummm.....'' ???? I hear a familar voice transmitted to me..... So does Siilith own the one page now? ''~Gin? aha..... I need some help.... We can''t get in contact with Envy. I can''t get the page it promised. I-it may be a bit troublesome but, could you get some fallen dwarves to help out?'' Sillith Her voice is pretty down. Did she not want to ask for this or something? Well, I would think of it as a troublesome thing if not for the fact that we are about to attack their capital. ''Well, we are about to attack their capital.'' Gin ''Ahh? That''s good.'' Sillith ..... Anyways, I''ll try to get in contact with Envy. The fact that Envy is postponing its deal leaves me with serious doubt. From what I can tell from my very limited view, Envy has me by throat. It could use that page in many different ways.... ------ "What do you mean? Are you telling me this is a trap? A mistake?....." Farblight Hmmm? My thoughts are interrupted as I overhear Farblight talking to a scout. Farblight, Drun, Siegfried, Inival, and several old royal guards have very expressions on their faces. I walk over taking light steps.....? Inival seems to be thinking heavily but, she still notices my approach. She also notices my expression of bewilderment at the atmosphere and explains. "It seems that Haunt''s forces are moving very unexpectedly. They are returning. A large force of the Union is pursuing them..... Retreat may be the best option if we don''t to be dragged into some trouble." Inival "I disagree. It will take them quite a while to return. A few days at the earliest. With the Saint''s spiderlings we can capture the capital swiftly. Kess'' spiderlings in part-." Drun "We can''t capture it that quickly! Even if we do, we can''t take up a good defensive position in a newly captured enemy city! Unless we massacre the citizens, they will obstruct us as well!" Inival "You have to little faith in the Saint''s spiderlings-" Drun Inival interrupts Drun again as he is starting to look heated as well. "I know well how strong they are. I can only fight Kess'' spiderlings to a draw. Still it''s not a matter of that. We can''t well occupy an enemy capital and defend against two armies-." Inival This time Drun interrupts Inival. It''s suprising to see these two this heated. Drun is mostly mild but, Inival can get quite angry. Before she became an elf she had some sort of weird mental state. Now she has a temper. Krychek in particular is good at pissing her off. "We don''t need to occupy the city! We just need to destroy their territory!" Drun Inival goes silent after hearing that as she seems to be thinking on that. Drun seems to be huffing in anger. Bit contagious, that anger was. *Sigh "I''m sorry. I guess you''re right..... *Sigh "I shouldn''t have gotten that intense there..... Come here, my beloved spider." Drun A metal spiderling digs up from the ground and Drun wraps his arms around it... I forgot that he had a weird fetish there. When I converted him, along with Farblight and Inival, they got a connection to some of my spiderlings. It seems that they can fuse with them as well, turning into tattoos.... "Embracing you always makes me calm~." Drun I feel a bit weirded out as he says that. I see that the spiderling is twitching. I want to encourage it by saying ''hang in there'', but, I keep my mouth closed. I hear Farblight and Siegfried discussing our next move when the gates of the capital open up. A group of dwarves heave their way to our army. Must be to negotiate or something ----- "Come on in!" Fallen Dwarf What?