“What about you, Nira?” I asked out of the blue. “What’s the reason for you to go on adventures?”

 

“I—” She started before swallowing. “I want to see the world and make friends. I feel like I am obliged to share my gift with people. When I look at you guys, I realize how unlucky I’ve been.”

 

“The gift of healing, you mean?”

 

She nodded.

 

“I heard it was rare, yes. I can’t thank you enough for being with us. It’s prevented quite some issues already, I’d say.”

 

“Happy to help,” She smiled shyly.

 

“Heh,” I chuckled. “Bit of a shame we’re kind of stuck here. Not a lot of world-seeing to be had.”

 

“It’s fine,” She spoke. “I needed some time to heal as well. I seem to be completely fine now. I’m looking forward to our journey, wherever it takes us.”

 

“Probably danger,” I shrugged. “Good thing is that some form of danger allows you to grow stronger, though.”

 

I looked at the harpy. “How does that work for your magic? Do you get any offensive abilities too? How do inherities with regards to healing magic work?”

 

“It’s different for everybody,” She spoke softly. “Some do, some don’t.”

 

“Yeah, I’ve noticed. It’s hard to predict what your abilities will turn out to be.”

 

She nodded. “I’m fine with whatever, as long as you’ll have me.”

 

“Don’t worry about that. You’re a reliable member of the party. Whatever happens, you’ll have a place with us.”

 

“Thanks, Elania.” She smiled.

 

“Come to think of it, everyone is reliable. I guess we got lucky with that, huh? I wonder how our magic damage dealer will be? That is, if we ever get one.”

 

“I believe Draco already filled in recruitment forms at the guild for that,” Nira spoke.

 

“He did? Interesting…”

 

I thought for a second. “Guess we do have an excellent spot to try out new people. I do believe that Arch was honest when he said he prevented any real harm from coming to Velariah. Of course, it’s wise to remain skeptical in that regard, and it’s not something we should mention when we have somebody tag along, but still…”

 

I would hate to get blood on my hands. Then again, adventurers knew the dangers that came with the job, at least I hoped so. I had completely disregarded that part about the profession as I had other reasons to become one. I’d started to truly learn about them just recently… the hard way.

 

“Agreed,” Nira said.

 

Steps coming down the stairs caused me to shift my attention. Velariah entered the room first with a few smaller weight plates in her hands, followed by Draco and Seralyn.

 

“Right,” The white-haired elf said. “You guys wanna head out?”

 

“Sure,” I replied. “By the way, where does Elly keep that leash for Gray?”

 

“Hmm. Good point.”

 

Velariah opened the kitchen door and walked inside. “Elly?” She called.

 

Moments later, Velariah exited the kitchen, carrying the leash in question.

 

“I wonder what the hell this was doing in the kitchen,” She said while holding the leash up and staring at it.

 

“Anyways, let’s go.” She spoke and walked over to attach the leash to Gray, who was still sitting on Nira’s lap.

 

“You say that, but you’ll still take a while to get ready,” Seralyn grinned.

 

I smiled. She was right about that. I was gonna need a bit of time as well.

 

After a bit of time that we had to spend putting on our armor, we were on our way to the fields outside the village’s eastern gate.

 

“So, how do we go about this… spar?” I asked Draco, looking at my covered blades. “Do I just leave the scabbards on them, or?”

 

“You can take them off if you want to train your reflexes. Parrying was one of your goals, right?”

 

I nodded.

 

“Yeah, just remove them. I’ll attack slowly at first and speed up over time. Let’s see if you can keep up.”

 

Okay then.

 

I removed the wooden scabbards and looked at our companions, who stood a fair distance away at the side. Nira held on to Gray’s leash who, in turn, looked at Draco and me with curiosity.

I smiled as I took a defensive stance.

 

Draco readied his axes and asked if I was ready.

 

“Let’s go,” I said.

 

Draco made slow swings which I easily parried. This much, I could manage without ever resorting to blocking. Draco gave me advice on my movements and started to speed up his swings slowly.

 

At some point, I realized I had botched a proper parry and awkwardly blocked a blow.

 

“Look at my movements,” He advised.

 

“Easier said than done when I need to track two weapons at once,” I said loudly, slightly frustrated with myself.

 

“You’re one to talk!” Seralyn called from afar.

“Oh, shut up.”

 

“Easy, Miss Elania. Let’s try that again, you’re doing fine.”

 

For a newcomer maybe. Being a newcomer wouldn’t be enough to survive. That much was for certain.

 

Draco continued his blows. I noticed he didn’t put a lot of force behind them. Rather, he seemed to slow down when the axes got close to me.

 

“You’re holding back, aren’t you? Strength wise, I mean.”

 

“I am. I’ll increase the power behind them once your form is fixed.”

 

“And who taught you all this?” I asked as I parried two simultaneous blows, one from each side.

 

“I had several trainers in the human cities in which I dwelled.”

 

He swung again, both axes coming down from overhead. I blocked them with my blades in an X-formation.

 

“You know, if I had my spear, I’d have you by now.” I held up my two unused arms.

 

I was not currently using my spear. Instead, I was purely focused on learning to use my new weapons defensively. Parrying, or blocking with my swords like this, would allow for deadly counterattacks.

 

“I know.” He smiled.

 

He started swinging again, increasing his speed once more. I started to struggle, but I could see myself improving already.

 

I realized just how much control I had over my body. I could still coordinate where my legs were going without even having to pay attention. I hoped the same experience would be materialized when using my arms. If I could learn how to move those around in a fight as quickly as I learned how to use my legs, I’d be much more efficient in an extremely short amount of time.

 

Speaking of legs…

 

I parried blow after blow and then counterattacked by lightly pushing Draco back with my front two legs. He stumbled slightly and smiled.

 

“Defense seems to be the most important for you, indeed.”

 

“Speed, most of all,” I answered. “I know what my legs can do,” I chuckled. “You’ve seen what they can lift.”

 

“Let’s see if you can keep up the speed.”

 

His speed became faster again as he started hacking away at me. There were times where I had no choice but to block. One attack went completely uninterrupted and hit my chest armor. The force behind it wasn’t enough to cut through the metal, but I was slightly shocked.

 

Draco immediately stopped his attacks.

 

“Are you alright, Miss Elania?”

 

“I’m okay.”

 

I cursed inwardly for my lapse of judgment and the fact that I allowed it to break my concentration.

 

“I shouldn’t be distracted by missing. That’s probably the worst I can do in a real combat situation.”

 

“Glad you see that,” Draco replied.

 

We continued for a while. I missed one more attack and had his axe hit my armor. This time, I quickly brushed it off and stepped backward, before continuing to defend myself against his attacks.

 

The number of attacks I blocked instead of parried became gradually less over time as well.

 

All in all, I was quite happy with the progress I was making. I saw plenty of opportunities where I could counterattack with either my legs or my second set of arms.

 

I do have to admit that axes were probably the easiest weapon to defend against. Maces would have more force behind them, making parrying harder, and swords could be used to stab.

 

I always feared stabbing attacks. I didn’t have the slightest idea how to defend against those without actually dodging or blocking.

 

Maybe blocking was the answer, after all?

 

Draco’s attacks sped up once more. I parried and blocked left and right, while slowly moving backward.

 

Even if they weren’t swords, the least this was doing was improving my reflexes, which was exactly what I needed. Most monsters wouldn’t even use conventional weapons; those would be reserved for trolls and goblins and the like.

 

Draco stopped and I was left panting.

 

“You’re improving, Miss Elania.” He smiled.

 

I lowered myself to the grass to regain my strength. “Thanks, Draco.”

 

“Way to go, El!” Velariah cheered as she walked up to me. “Wanna have a go at it with me as well?”

 

I nodded. “Let me get something to drink first,” I said.

 

She handed me a canteen and I started drinking. At the same time, I saw a pillar of light reaching to the sky from deep in the forest. I wasn’t the only one that observed it. There could be no question about what that was. A ball of light descended from the top of the beam and crashed down.

 

Nobody said a word. I didn’t know if Nira had seen that before, but the rest of us knew exactly what that was.

 

I didn’t know what to make of it. I didn’t dare to ask, either.

 

“My father...” Velariah whispered.

 

I walked up behind the elf and hugged her with my two free hands. She kept staring in the direction of where the pillar had just now disappeared.

 

“He’s fine,” I spoke. I didn’t know what else to say.

 

I knew he would be. Besides, there was nothing we could do from here. Even if we had been there, he outclassed us by immeasurable amounts.

 

“You’re right. I just hope that he used that attack to end whatever caused the necromantic corruption.”

 

“If that’s so, he should be back home soon,” Draco said.

 

“We should focus on our own matters,” I tried to distract her.

 

She nodded. “We should.”

 

Draco stepped back and joined the other onlookers. They were still watching with great interest at what transpired before them.

 

Velariah, however, seemed a bit out of it.

 

It was understandable, but she would have to learn to stay focused… again…

 

She started swinging her sword at me. I had no trouble parrying the swings. They were far, far slower than Draco’s. They had, however, quite a bit more force behind them. This is where I noticed that building some muscle in my arms would be a huge boon. I could parry them, sure, but stronger opponents could probably break my arms if I tried to.

 

The first part of improving was understanding your weaknesses.

 

Cliché? Sure. Important? Definitely.

 

I found my arms getting sore from parrying and decided to call it quits after a while. I didn’t want to end up with a muscle ache the following day.

 

I took off my bladed gloves and moved my arms around freely.

 

“Good job, El,” Velariah called.

 

“Thanks for the training session,” I said. “You too, Draco,” I called out as he and the others approached.

 

I lowered myself to pet Gray.

 

“Not a problem, Miss Elania. Remember that this also helps us out.”

 

I had the feeling I was the one benefiting from this more than anyone else, but sure.

 

I sighed and looked at the sky. It had gone blood red a while ago. We’d been at this for at least a couple of hours.

 

I stretched my arms again.

 

I hoped I hadn’t overdone it.

 

I needed a quick bathroom break and ran over to the edge of the forest to do my business. I knew the forest was technically off-limits, but I didn’t have a choice in the matter, did I?

 

Nothing happened, I quickly made my way back to the others after dropping some nasty guano behind a bush. It would seem it had eliminated my need to empty my bladder.

 

Weird ass body…

 

The worst part is that it kept changing too, at least it seemed that way. I hardly got the time to get used to things before they had to be done differently again. These gods sure liked to experiment on me…

 

Maybe I should get Velineri’s blessings? Maybe even try to contact her?

 

Another thing for my long-term to-do list.

 

“Any other things we want to do before tomorrow?” Velariah asked the others.

 

“I’d say today was pretty fruitful, maybe not in the most straightforward way, but it was still interesting,” Draco spoke.

 

“Yeah, I’d agree with that. Though, I wouldn’t mind some more action.” Seralyn added.

 

“If we seek out other dungeons, I’m sure you will get your fair share of action,” I commented.

 

I resheathed my blades and carried them with me.

 

“Nira?” Velariah asked.

 

“I had fun,” She said, petting Gray. She’d been very affectionate towards him today.

 

He was adorable, though.

 

I felt a bit guilty after she handed me back the leash.

 

He needed a moment to do his business too. I let him do it next to the palisade in the grass outside. The chance of anyone walking there and stepping in it was virtually zero, right?

 

“I guess we will meet again somewhere tomorrow then?” I asked.

 

The others nodded in return.

 

“Hopefully, there will be something posted at the guild in the nearby area,” Draco said.

 

“Let’s hope so,” Velariah replied.

 

With that, we each went our own way.

 

Velariah and I reached her mansion not much later.

 

After unequipping our armor, we soon found ourselves in the bathroom. For lack of anything better to do, we simply lay in bed and talked.

 

Well, there was the silk we could do, but it seemed neither of us was in the mood to do that right now. We followed Gray’s example and found ourselves cuddling in the hammock instead.

 

“What a day,” She said, as I hugged her side, my right set of legs reinforcing the hug.

 

I truly loved holding her this way.

 

“You could say that again,” I sighed.

 

“I do wonder what your children would look like,” She grinned.

 

“I so do not want to find out about that…”

 

“What? I imagine a couple of mini Elanias would be super cute!”

 

“Vel!”

 

“What? I’m sure you’d say the same thing if you saw them. The only issue is that that was a hell of a lot of eggs. We’d need a bigger table and, possibly, more Ellys to prepare food.”

 

“Vel!” I let out again.

 

“I wonder whose eyes they would get...”

 

“VEL!”

 

The elf grinned. “I’m sorry, El. I just had a lot of fun thinking about it.”

 

“For all I know, they’d look like Minia. There’s no way I’m going to let more spiders into this world…”

 

“Aw, I’m sure you’d love them.” She turned and gave me a quick kiss.

 

“No freaking way.”

 

“That’s not going to happen with me anyway, right?” Velariah mentioned.

 

“I don’t think that’s biologically possible. Then again, I wouldn’t bet money on it. Who knows what this world’s gods have planned for me?”

 

“I hope they give you the life that you deserve, El. Maybe it was Velineri herself who brought you to me?”

 

“If that’s the case, I’d like a few words with her,” I replied.

 

Velariah smiled. “Who knows? You’re not angry at her, are you?”

 

“Angry? No. How could I be? I’m just curious why she would set me up with this body and, well, the changes that I seem to be going through all the time.”

 

“Hmm, I do love that body of yours,” She flirted.

 

“I mean, I’m starting to love it too, but you know… eggs, toilet. I mean, what the hell?”

 

“Heh. Yeah, that does seem a bit cruel. Is it preferable to the human version, though? Do tell me.”

 

“That’s just a creepy question, Vel.” I smiled.

 

“I’m dying to know...” She stared into my eyes.

 

I sighed. “Fine. If you really want to know, if this is going to be once per month, or less, I guess it’s preferable. Especially considering we might be away from home for prolonged times. Quickly pushing out a bunch of eggs and being done with it, no nausea or mess for days, does seem like the better option to me.”

 

“Yes. That does seem useful. Do tell me, however, how does it feel?”

 

“You mean…?”

 

She nodded with a wicked smile and expecting eyes.

 

“Vel, you’re the weirdest person I’ve ever met.”

 

“And you love it.” She replied.

 

“I do.”

 

I put a hand in her long, white hair.

 

“If you are so eager to know, it actually feels… kind of good… relieving for sure…”

 

Velariah laughed. “Asking these, for you, awkward questions is among the best things there are.”

 

“I figured as much.

 

I held my head against hers for a while, allowing my body to relax from the training earlier.

 

“I’m happy, though,” She spoke while staring at the ceiling. “You finally managed to speak about your past to our friends.”

 

“I guess…”

 

“You should be proud, El.”

 

“Thanks, Vel.”

 

I kissed her cheek. “By the way, if I start strength training, will you join me?”

 

“Uhh, sure?” She answered with a question.

 

“I just… I want us to be as prepared as possible, Vel. Call me overly cautious, if that’s even a thing…”

 

“I get it, don’t worry.”

 

“I just… I don’t ever want to experience what happened in the dungeon again, you know? We should train both strength and reflexes… and attention, perhaps.”

 

“I said I get it, you dummy.” She spoke softly. “You’re right about the strength and reflexes. I do think that the attention problem won’t happen again. That was a major screw-up, possibly from both of us, as you said. I think we both learned our lesson from that.”

 

“I certainly did…” I spoke softly as well.

 

I raised my human half, took off my shirt, made it into a ball, tossed it at the sink… and missed.

 

Classic.

 

“Tee-hee.” Velariah teased me.

 

She started taking off her own clothes and repeated my actions. Her shirt landed in the sink, but her pants didn’t.

 

“Unlucky, I guess,” She shrugged.

 

I smiled and kissed her. “Hm, I’m curious to see you muscled.” I ran a hand over her belly. “I can still feel some remnants here.” I teased her.

 

“Damn, El. You’re going to overexert me,” She smiled.

 

“Tee-hee.”

 

I put myself on top of her and took her in for another kiss, before putting my legs around her frame.

 

“What’s up with you wanting me to hug you like this, anyway?”

 

“It’s just…”

 

She paused.

 

“El, you’re the first person that makes me feel safe, like, truly safe in a long time. When you hug me like that, all my worries just disappear.”

 

“Oh, and here I was thinking you had a spider leg fetish.”

 

“I do. Well, as long as they are yours.” She peered into my eyes.

 

I brought my pedipalps up to her shoulders and started massaging them while I kissed her.

 

“El, you’re gonna drive me crazy if you continue that!” She said.

 

“You don’t want me to drive you crazy?” I asked.

 

“Not tonight, I’m afraid. If your ritual is tomorrow, we need you in tip-top condition.”

 

“Fair enough.” I kissed her one last time and laid my head on a pillow next to hers, while still keeping a firm hold around her body.

 

The elf brushed my hair behind my ears.

 

“I’m dying to know what it is, or what they are, if it’s more than one.”

 

“Same here, Vel.”

 

I clapped and turned out the lights.

 

“And I hope my father is home tomorrow…” She whispered.

 

“He’s fine,” I reassured her.

 

“Thank you, Elania.” She kissed me again. “Good night.”

 

“Good night, Vel.”