Chapter 106 – The Art of Deception

“Well then. What are we going to do now?” I ask with the war hammer still resting on my shoulder.

The queen eyes me attentively while clutching her bone staff. I wonder what kind of magic she can use, but I will also be happy if she doesn’t get the chance to show me. Overcoming her soldiers is not a big deal. With magic, you never know what to expect.

“Do you swear to leave our lair in peace after I fulfil your demand?” the big-tittied spider woman asks with a note of uncertainty.

“Yes.”

She nods as some of her muscles slowly relax. “Good. I will bring you a—”

“No.”

All the tension returns immediately after I interrupt her. The queen looks at me warily, either unsure of how to proceed or waiting for me to continue.

I smirk at her. “You rejected my initial offer. It is only natural that I come up with another after factoring in the hospitality you have shown me.”

The chamber stays silent for a brief moment. Only the occasional scratching of the pointy legs of the many Arachnes present around us breaks it. Not seeing her objecting, I move on.

“Don’t worry. I’m not an unreasonable man. The essence of my request remains the same. I want one Arachne for all the trouble. But, I will be choosing which one. I can’t have you throwing at me some weak, handicapped slave worker to get rid of them, right?”

The queen’s ladylike lips form a thin line as she keeps drilling into me with her eight pitch-black eyes. She clearly isn’t happy but also doesn’t seem to be stupid.

I grin at her. “Call everyone here. And I mean everyone. If I find out that you hid even a single person from me, I’m going to collapse this whole cave system with all of you still inside. And don’t think you can escape. There are seven more people just like me waiting for my return at the edge of your territory. We don’t want them here, do we?”

Her biggest pair of eyes widen considerably and a faint shiver passes through her big body. The queen starts to shout orders immediately after I finish. Many worker and soldier Arachnes skitter to multiple exits leading out of the throne chamber. I hope it’s big enough to fit all of them.

In the meanwhile, I walk away to give the queen some space and take care of my appearance. I shouldn’t leave all this blue on me for too long. I can’t get everything off me with Livelihood Magic, but most of it is enough.

The worker spider women clean up the room too, dragging away the mutilated corpses and even trying to scrub the dark blood off the floors and walls with a fluffy version of their webs. It’s fascinating to watch them walk over the vertical surfaces or hang in the air from their spider halves while working. If only this tribe wasn’t so aggressive.

Slowly but surely, the spacious cavern fills with various Arachnes. I can more or less notice the division of roles thanks to that. Workers make up the biggest chunk of this community, followed by soldiers, elite soldiers, sentries, and the queen.

Then, a whole avalanche of tiny skittering noises echoes into the throne room from a few exits. I turn my eyes towards one, and at that moment, a flood of the dog-sized guys I have murdered earlier pours into the chamber.

I shudder at the countless little spiders running out of the tunnels and climbing up on the walls, covering them more and more with their creepy arachnid bodies. The numbers are insane. She really is bringing everyone, including what I think are the grunts or pets.

Ten minutes is what it takes for the commotion to finally come to a still. No more spiders or spider women walk into the throne chamber. It’s filled almost to the brim, including the walls and ceiling. It gives me serious creeps to be literally surrounded by so many of the skitterers but I try not to show it.

“Huuuuuuuuuman,” the queen calls to me. “As you have asked, this is everyone. Even the injured have been brought here. Make your choice. One of us, as per your demand.”

“Won’t they try to attack me the moment I leave your territory?” I ask.

“The one you choose will become your slave for the sake of our tribe. I swear on my name, Schie’nhada’raa the Queen of Abyss Eaters, to uphold that word.”

“That’s a long one,” I mutter to myself and then smirk at her. “What if I choose you?”

The queen is taken aback for a moment, clearly not anticipating such a turn of events. Seeing an utterly gobsmacked spider woman is enough for me though and I laugh a little.

“I’m jesting, Your Majesty. As I said, I’m not an unreasonable man. Let me have a look.”

A fragment of an awkward smile forms on her blue lips as the corner of her mouth rises faintly. Let’s not push it too far. It is fun playing with her like this, but I would rather not have all those spiders drop on me after she gets done with this.

With my hands on my hips, I take a glance around. So damn many. I’d say around a hundred of just the Arachnes. Perhaps double or more if we include the critters. I can see the Royal Guard at the far back. She’s trying to hide them from my sight, most likely. Clever.

But, I already know what I’m going to pick.

Unable to spot my target in this mass of giant spider abdomens, I launch myself into the air and jump on the back of the nearby Arachne. She turns her humanoid half at me with some anxiety in her deep ebony eyes but I smile at her, taking a moment to admire her perky blue breasts.

“Don’t worry. Not you.”

Without wasting too much time, I start bouncing off their spider asses and running around the chamber. I must say, this is fun, as wrong as it looks and sounds.

There’s just one problem. 

Tits.

Something like two hundred tits of various sizes all around me. It’s hella distracting when they suddenly make waves as the Arachnes turn their humanoid halves to look after me. Hundreds of bouncing globes sway as one sea of blue. 

Finally, in that ocean of salacity, my eyes catch on a flash of difference. A big smile quickly finds its way onto my lips.

She’s here.

Dropping onto the ground, I walk up to the fully humanoid girl with pale white skin and silvery hair sitting on the side of her thighs on the stone floor. My smile turns into a faint scowl as I notice fresh bruises and wounds on her malnourished body. In just this short time they have already hurt her again.

I crouch in front of my new friend as she stares at me with that neutral expression of hers. I gently cup her chin up to look as if I’m examining her and whisper, “Do you still want to go?”

We gaze into each other’s eyes for a brief moment and she nods softly. Brushing my thumb over her cheek, I stand up and turn towards the queen. All the Arachnes between us clear a path and make it possible for the two of us to see each other.

I start slowly walking forward. “You hid her pretty well. I must applaud you, Queen Schie’nhada’raa. Normally, one would try to keep their most valuable asset far from sight. You instead, dropped it somewhere in the middle. Smart. And it would have worked if it was anyone other than me.”

Clear confusion takes over the queen’s face. I smirk at her.

“That one.” I point behind me at the albino girl. “I can tell she is special. Did you think I wouldn’t notice? She’s the only one like this around here. She’s unique. And strong. You shouldn’t have left her scars, bruises, and wounds unattended like that. They make it too obvious. She’s the most experienced warrior here. She must be very important to you, right?”

Schie’s facial expressions shift a few times from the aforementioned confusion to curiosity, then slight disbelief, and finally end at happiness. She immediately tries to hide it, but the big grin is almost impossible to force down as the corners of her mouth keep twitching and spiking up.

“Oh, Human, does it really have to be that one?” She brings both of her hands to the middle of her chest and makes an attempt at an anxious expression, which fails miserably.

“Are you thinking of going back on your word?” I raise a brow at her and cross my arms over my chest, now standing before the throne and looking up.

“Ah, how could I dare. I made an oath. Oaths have to be upheld, no matter what.” She makes a supposedly sad bow. “Since it doesn’t look like I would be able to change your mind, Human, I hereby announce that she is now no longer part of our tribe. The moment the two of you leave this chamber, she becomes your rightful slave and dishonour will fall on both her and me if she disobeys her master even once.”

I make a pretentious nod. “I hope so.”

She then looks towards the albino girl. “You heard my command. This Human is now your master. Your new queen. You know what that means, right?”

The poor Arachne must have responded with some kind of confirmation because the queen’s smile grows bigger in a flash. I can pick up a small chatter slowly rising amongst the other spider women and it clearly doesn’t sound unhappy. She really had it rough here.

Schie turns to me again. “Is there anything else, Human?”

I shake my head. “No. I will not bother you anymore. The agreement has been fulfilled. I no longer desire to involve myself with your kind. If there’s nothing you might need from me, Queen Schie’nhada’raa, I will take my slave and leave.”

“I do not wish to hold you back, Human.”

And with that, I turn around to walk toward my new friend. I can tell that it will take some time before she perceives me like that too, but there’s no rush anywhere. I’m sure though that she will find some common ground with Sirgia. They both are the quiet type and suffered a lot in their lives. And perhaps Astrea too.

Arriving in front of the hated girl, I kneel down and carefully pick her into my arms, observing if she will let me. Not only does she not resist but even joins her hands behind my neck and helps me out by pulling herself up, ending in a princess carry.

Well, maybe it won’t take that long before she warms up to me, perhaps.

I walk with her towards one of the exits while casting Rejuvenate to take care of her fresh bruises. The big Arachnes make way for us and I leave the throne room. To the queen, I must look like a loser, picking the worst trash her tribe had to offer, but I wonder who is the real winner here.

The thin girl in my arms keeps staring at my face the whole time. I try my best not to ogle her chest and feminine mound. Even though she is clearly malnourished, she’s still a beautiful woman. With extra six black spider legs, but nevertheless. They are currently wrapped around her tummy like a protective corset, most likely not to inconvenience me.

“Do you have a name?” I ask as we make it through the caverns.

She shakes her head.

“I see. Do you mind if I give you one?”

After a moment of pondering, she responds with a negative again.

“Hmmmm…”

A few decent names float through my mind but I don’t really want to slap some cliche ones that are often used for Arachnes or similar women in fiction. It never felt exactly right to me. Something more unique would be nice but it’s not always as easy as with Safi and Emi. Perhaps I could ask Shino since Japanese is kinda nice and has a decently meaningful construction of names.

At the same time, I can’t really get rid of one specific name that keeps popping up in my head repeatedly. I sigh to myself and glance down at the emotionless girl.

“What do you think about Hecate?”

She nods immediately, making me chuckle.

“I didn’t even get to explain the meaning, hahaha. Well, I guess we’ll go with it anyway. I thought of it because Hecate is associated with a goddess ruling over darkness, the underworld, but also revenge. That’s just one of the images but she was portrayed as an avenger. Do you still think it’s okay?”

Without giving it too much thought, Hecate nods.

“It’s settled then. As I might have mentioned, I’m Alastair. We are going to meet a few of my friends soon. They won’t hurt you. They might be surprised a little, but I will always protect you, alright?”

It looks like the whole situation has started to finally come to her as Hecate shows signs of her fatigue. I lean her skipping head onto my chest.

“Rest a little. You have earned it. I won’t make you overwork yourself like the women back there. We can talk more later. I’ll wake you up if anything happens.”

She tries not to fall asleep, but in less than a minute, all her jet-black eyes close as she succumbs to her weariness. Her head adorably rests against my neck while her petite fingers have moved to grasp my vest.

I follow the path toward my Partners while trying not to wake her up. She is so exhausted though that I’m sure there’s almost nothing that can achieve such a feat. So precious and adorable. We’ll bring you back to full health soon.

The good side of walking the corridors now is the fact that there are no scary spiders anywhere yet since they have all been called to the throne room. It makes this trip a little easier and less tense.

It takes me a while to find the proper exit leading out of this cavern system. In retrospect, I should have asked for a guide, but I didn’t really want anyone else from the tribe accompanying me.

So, after around an hour and a half of exploring, I can feel myself getting closer to the presence of the girls and no more thick stone walls seem to separate us again. Perhaps sensing the others or something like that, Hecate stirs a little and her pretty eyes open up.

“Hello again. We are going to meet my companions now so don’t feel scared, okay?”

After she nods at me, I pick up the pace a little and soon notice traces of light coming from around the corner. Slightly squinting my eyes and shielding Hecate’s with my hand, I walk into it. I sure hope she isn’t ultra-photosensitive or something. Otherwise, I’ll need Sirgia to make her some classy shades.

“Look! He is back! Told you he was close! I could feel it!” Marcia’s voice reaches my ears.

My eyes quickly grow used to the levels of light and I find all of my travel companions by one of the stone walls, either standing or sitting. They all look slightly battered here and there but generally unharmed. I certainly am not the only one who got into a big fight.

“What took you so lo—”

Kamil stops his complaint midway after noticing something in my arms. Marcia snickers and elbows his side.

“See? He can’t even go for a walk without returning with a girl in his arms. In the middle of nowhere.”

Kamil groans and rolls his eyes, looking away. Shino, Teffith, and Ghilerie step closer as my new friend watchfully observes them.

“Who is this, Sensei? She looks so pale…” Shino is the first to speak.

“It’s a long story, but this is her natural skin colour. I think. Anyway, this is Hecate. She is an Arachne. I think.”

“Arachne?” Ghilerie raises her eyebrows at us.

Glancing at the spider girl in my arms, I meet her black eyes and realize that she most likely can’t understand them. There’s at least one fix to that issue. A partial one.

I send out the prompt to Hecate and brush over her hands clutching my vest.

“Would you mind becoming my Partner? Nothing much would change but you would be able to understand my other Partners and sense where I am,” I speak to her in Terrerian.

She stares into space for a few seconds and I soon get the prompt that she has become my Partner. Then, she stirs a little and I help Hecate down onto the floor. The girls gasp quietly after the six onyx spikes unravel from around her torso and hang in the air by her sides.

“Yep. An Arachne.” 

I plop a hand on her damaged silver hair. As I mentioned earlier, she is around a head shorter than me, perhaps a bit less.

“While going towards you guys, I stumbled on a cavern with literal spider women as we know from back home. I saw this girl being abused by the more spider-like people and just couldn’t look another way after that.”

“That’s so like you.” Teffith smiles warmly and I chuckle.

Noticing the spark in Shino’s eyes, I turn to her.

“They are hostile and aggressive. Unless you don’t mind indiscriminately slaughtering them in self-defence, I would advise against it.”

Shino deflates a little after I have read her intentions so I step closer to peck her lips a few times to cheer my lovely samurai up. 

“Besides… All of them are completely naked…” I whisper to her ear, causing a beautiful rosy flush to appear on her cute face as I pull away.

“Did you kill them all to save her then?” Ghilerie glances at the pale spider girl standing by my side.

“No. There are hundreds of them. Not sure I would be able to obliterate an army even with my strength. And I would have to worry about the location too.”

“You snuck her out then? How romantic!” Marcia giggles from the back.

I smile wryly. “Close. I killed a few of them until they listened to me. They brought me to the queen. I killed a few of her elite guards after she ordered to get rid of me. She then surrendered and I told her I want an Arachne as compensation. I picked Hecate and walked away. You should have seen the queen’s face. She tried so hard not to show how happy she was as I chose Hecate, thinking that I thought she is the most valuable.”

Marcia whistles. “That’s a story I would like to hear in detail.”

“Yeah,” Teffith agrees with her.

“Maybe later. We’ll have time. First, we need to discuss what to do.”

Paul stands up from the wall. “I think we might have found a path leading up and outside. Should be fine to check it out.”

I sigh. “See, there’s one small problem. I switched my ability into that super boost you have seen when we fought the worms. I need a day or two to be able to become Mr IceCream again. So, the surface might not be the best option.”

“Noooooooo…” Marcia whines dejectedly, clearly for a reason other than our inability to continue over the scorched earth.

“Hmmm…” Paul ponders visibly while stroking his chin. “That leaves us with two options. We either set up a camp and wait it out, or we try to continue under the surface in the meantime.”

“We aren’t going to sit on our asses in this dark cave for almost two days, are we?” Kamil asks with a deep sigh.

“I gotta agree with him,” I reply. “We should at least try to do something rather than waste time. And, we better get away from this tribe. I don’t want the queen thinking that we are scheming something on the edge of her domain. Trust me, so many spiders give you unimaginable creeps.”

“Yeah. We’ve met some. And I always hated fighting Jungle Spiders in the woods. Ugh.” Ghilerie shudders a little.

“There are obviously other dangers lurking in the darkness but we can’t be safe anywhere as the worms have shown us before. We move on then?”

Everyone nods and our next course of action is decided. Kamil stands up and glances at Hecate before looking away.

“Is she going to stay naked forever?”

Marcia snickers and slaps his butt. “What, are you getting a little heated from seeing this alabaster-skinned fairy with slightly deadly wings?”

He covers his crotch with his hands and groans, making her giggle again.

“I’ll gladly help you out with that issue if you would like. It’s definitely much safer than trying to bone a girl with more spikes than you have holes in your body. Besides, she’s Al’s.”

I shake my head with a smile. “She’s not mine but I agree. Try not to give Hecate any reasons to doubt your intentions, everyone. And I’ll think of something regarding her attire.”

Marcia drags Kamil behind the corner while I take a few steps away with my mute spider girl. Natalie and Teffith stay with Paul while Shino and Ghilerie join the two of us.

“I assume you haven’t ever worn clothes, right?” I plop my hand on Hecate’s head and ask while gently brushing through her dishevelled hair.

The spider girl faintly shakes her head.

“Would it bother you to wear something on your body?”

After a few moments, she tilts her head a bit. I assume it means that she doesn’t know or isn’t sure, and the faint intentions I receive from her do seem to match that.

“Hmmm…” I rub my chin and then glance at my short girlfriend. “Ummm… Shino?”

“Yes, Sensei?” She glances up at me.

“Could you… You know…”

She follows my eyes as I repeatedly glance at a certain point on Hecate's body and she blushes instantly, realizing my unspoken question. A moment later, after a faint flash of light, she extends her hands to me with a piece of neatly folded black fabric on top of them, trying not to look my way.

Clearing my throat, I pick up the fresh piece of panty and unfold it while kneeling down in front of Hecate. I hold it open in front of her legs. She looks at me curiously while tilting her head. We stay like that for a few awkward seconds.

Before I get to explain, I hear Shino’s shy voice.

“Ummm… Hecate-san…” 

My spider friend glances at her. Shino timidly raises the front of her short skirt while her face resembles a ripe tomato. She reveals a matching piece of black panty with a cute little purple ribbon on top currently covering her privates.

Hecate glances a few times between the two pieces of clothing and soon raises and slides her slender leg into one of the holes. After getting both of them in, I pull the sexy lingerie up until it covers her precious place. Letting it go, I nod to myself after seeing it stay in place.

I turn around after standing up and pat Shino’s head. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that and I very much appreciate it.”

Shino moves her red face to me and I pull her in for a brief kiss.

“I love your sexy underwear as much as the lack of it,” I whisper to her ear afterwards, getting a timid giggle from her as she clamps her thighs together.

Since Hecate’s body is very skinny due to her state, including her chest, we skip the bra for now and only throw at her a thin white t-shirt, making six holes for her spider legs first. I don’t want her to get overheated under a pile of clothes if she really prefers it chilly. 

Shortly after we are finished, Kamil and Marcia return; the former glancing away with a very faint blush. I didn’t know he could get this embarrassed. She, on the other hand, is as happy as ever and strolls straight to us, throwing her arm around my shoulder from behind.

“You have ruined the taste of men for me, Al,” she whispers to my ear sensually. “I hope you will take responsibility for that.”

I look at her with raised eyebrows and she giggles at me.

“Just joking. Giving head is still as enjoyable as ever. But it’s hard to forget how tasty yours is. You’d make a fortune if you worked alongside your girls.”

“Hmmm…”

She raises a brow at me next. “What? Considering it now?”

“Not exactly, but you gave me an idea. We could try to make some extracts that influence the taste. Earth had flavoured condoms. With a bit of magic and alchemy, we could possibly make flavoured cumshots. It could sell.”

Marcia stares at me blankly while blinking and suddenly explodes into a hearty laugh, slapping her thigh.

“Bwahahahaha! Brilliant! I can already imagine it! ‘Honey! I’m going to nut in you today! Which one do you want?’, ‘Strawberry, please!’, ‘Alright! One strawberry creampie coming right up!’ Bwahahahaha!”

I can't help but chuckle with her while shaking my head. What the hell are we even talking about?

After she calms down, we group up and hold a short talk about our direction. With a neat magnetic trick from our magical Bard Natalie, we are able to identify which way is which and set off towards the other end of the Barren Valley while staying underground.

Paul suggests a new formation and we head towards the path that they think could take us a bit higher at least. Who knows what other monstrosities lurk deeper in this abyss. Arachnes certainly aren’t the only inhabitants of this forgotten realm. And my ex-students did encounter some overgrown lizards and such while I was gone.

Shino and Kamil take the front while I and Natalie follow shortly after them. Our duo of archers, Paul and Ghilerie, walk in the middle. Marcia and Teffith cover our backs. As for our new monstrous addition, Hecate keeps very close to me at all times. I can’t fault her, it’s all new to her.

As we travel through the dark brown tunnels, Natalie keeps us in the light with her pretty fireflies. Shino and I can peer into the darkness ahead so she keeps them behind us to not inconvenience our abilities too much. I bet Hecate sees even better considering that she was working in an almost fully dark chamber.

In a bigger cavern, we stumble on a small group of hostile monsters. They look like stone crocodiles, simply speaking. Unfortunately, I don’t really recognize them amongst the monsters that I know so we have to tread carefully.

Our front guard engages first and takes on three of the crocs. Shino and Kamil quickly realize that they don’t only look like they are of stone but are also equally tough. Their weapons barely scratch their armour which has only thin cracks around the joints.

All the melee fighters with slashing or piercing weapons focus on kiting the four-legged flat tanks around while Natalie rains various elemental magic at them to figure out any weakness. Our archer duo does their best too and Paul showcases the might of his powerful arcane abilities by shattering much more of the stone armour with his shots than Ghilerie.

Naturally, as someone with Crushing Fury equipped and a weapon that can form almost any shape I want, I bring out the war hammer again and jump around while playing whack-a-gator. Recently, I've been doing that quite a lot.

But, contrary to the spiders or Arachnes, they don’t go down that easily. My powerful slams do some damage and crush their tough surface almost into bits, but these suckers are damn tough even on the inside. Their muscles must be amazing from carrying all their weight since birth or whatever brings them to life.

What I start, Hecate quickly finishes, though. The white-skinned thin beauty follows my side with only a bit of struggle and I’m certain she would have no issues matching my enhanced movements if she was in her proper physical condition.

Nevertheless, she tries her best to never leave my close vicinity. Whenever I damage one of the crocs enough, she steps forward and skewers it with her incredibly sharp spikes. She repeatedly stabs the poor monster so many times it starts looking like those soft green blocks of something where you stick fake plastic flowers after years of use.

I shouldn’t be too surprised, honestly. She was literally excavating stone walls with those when I met her. These monsters have nothing on her and I bet she could even solo them if she was in her peak condition. Now, just two or three of such combos with me tire her out visibly.

I must admit, the constant skittering sounds just behind my back as she moves her body around using those nimble and sharp spider legs has scared me a few times in the beginning, but I have started getting used to it slowly. And she can move so well with these, so nimbly, agile, in almost any direction and angle. It’s very impressive.

We manage to win the battle without any serious injuries and without spending too much of our resources and strength. That’s what’s important in the long run. We are going to constantly be in a danger zone where any moment of rest is a blessing.

And so, we take a short one to take a few gulps of water and tend to smaller wounds after we wrap up the stone crocs. I sit by one of the walls cross-legged and pat my lap at the tired spider girl. With less hesitation than before, she snuggles herself into it with her back to me and I embrace her like earlier.

She very quickly dozes off in my arms while I stroke her ruined silver hair. Shino, Teffith, and Ghilerie send me sweet smiles after noticing our position and I respond with the same. We decide to take fifteen minutes of a break.

Curious about my new, quite unique friend, I pull up my menus and check Hecate’s bond while slowly sipping on water.

I barely hold myself back from doing a powerful spit-take when I see the window. Fourth level?! Unwavering Loyalty?! What the fuck is going on?! We’ve just met a few hours ago! This is basically one step away from True Love or some equivalent if there’s any!

Maybe it’s because of her nature? She has been serving in that tribe as a slave without ever standing up for herself and her deep loyalty could somehow explain that. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if it has been ingrained in all of them from birth. Perhaps even hard-coded in their genetics.

So, it’s basically the highest level of affection that doesn’t involve any romantic love. I’m pretty sure she would go and sacrifice herself if I ordered her to do so. Is that because of what her previous queen said? That I’m her master and queen now?

Well, I can’t completely deny any other positive feelings Hecate could be holding in her heart, like some gratitude for reaching out to her or such. In the end, it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t change how I view her. I will just have to be careful with my wishes and make sure to either teach her how to split her own wants with wanting to fulfil my wants or remind her about how to do it.

This also partially explains why she is trying so hard and staying close to me all the time. If she views me as her queen, it’s only natural she goes out of her way to assure my safety and remains by my side all the time as the only subject if she doesn’t count the others in. I will really need to pamper her lots and lots to show her that I care for her much more than those evil bitches.

Now, super curious about her stats, I tap the Status Details button.

»Poison Fang

»Exoskeleton Strengthening

»Thread Creation

»Thread Manipulation

»Thread Strengthening

»Perfect Darkvision

»Acidic Blood

»Advanced Stealth

»Darkness Stalker

»Silent Assassin

Good thing I have been ready this time and didn’t take a sip of water because HOLY FUCK WHAT THE HELL. She could slaughter almost everyone here who isn’t boosted by my dick and even so I have no idea how high are the values of her race. And she is weakened at the moment too.

Lumina was right. Hecate is only at the first stage of her advancement, which kinda looks like unlimited to me, perhaps due to her unique Evolution Stage, but she is a damn monster when compared to most humanoid races at Tier 1 or even higher. This world still has a lot to offer.

I’m now really glad I didn’t pick up a fight with the queen. Even the elites in her Royal Guard weren’t too squishy. I did use Crushing Fury and my huge stats but my weapon was barely able to kill them. Most died from the high velocity and powerful impact. Good that I went all out from the start.

And man, if we actually got intimate, both I would get quite a chunk of stats and she would receive a huge package from me. But, again, this changes nothing. If that ever happens, great. I’m not going to start viewing women as walking upgrades, though.

If she somehow grows to like me and makes a conscious decision without the influence of her deep loyalty, we will see. I don’t even know if she knows what sex is anyway. Her reactions to my privates were full of curiosity. 

Common Arachnes in this word are born from the queen’s eggs and she needs no man to inseminate them. When she dies, another Arachne’s body undergoes some small changes and she becomes the next queen, possibly through evolution or advancement. At least that’s what I’ve read in the castle.

Anyway, that’s a thought for the future. Before anything, we gotta turn this malnourished girl into a beautiful and curvy little woman. I wouldn’t be surprised if she gained a few more centimetres during the process too. Although, I don’t mind either way. Shorter girls are sexy and cute too.

After our break time runs out, everyone starts prepping up to continue and I gently wake up my sleeping spider princess. Hecate takes a deeper breath and her six eyes open all at different times, blinking adorably, making me smile from the mesmerizing sight. She stares at me, waiting for any words or orders most likely.

“Let’s continue a bit further today and find a good place for a longer rest, okay? I’ll let you sleep in my arms. You like my warm skin, right?”

Hecate’s slightly chilly fingers brush over my neck and she nods faintly. I wonder if I will ever get a smile from her.

Saileri

We have an art of Hecate waiting for you at our Discord :) Unfortunately, it can't be shared here since it's a little bit too sexy :)

★━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━★━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━★

Enormous gratitude towards our one and only Living Legend of the highest tier - Moheebi3abc! No less respect for our EX-rank Guild Member - Michael S.! And naturally towards all the S-rank Guild Members - Magiwarrior, Chicken Adobo, Soen Kigi, Fandley, Skyell, Vincent S., William J., The Skittering One, Sonicblackfox, Robert H., Trenton S., James M, Dennis W., SIDracon, Adam R., Luiswu, Rando C.! We wouldn't be able to have such epic adventures without your support! This Guild Master is greatly honoured by your presence!

Up to 15 chapters ahead are available on Patreon!

Don't forget to bookmark and favourite the chappy if you enjoyed it ❤

| Community Discord | Guild Master's Secret Pile of Chapters |