Cellestra walked close and knelt while smiling.

“You’ve been busy I see.”

I nodded with my limbs.

“Why did you bring that here? Do you want me to prepare it?”

I nodded again.

“Alright. Let’s get you and your catch inside then.”

She picked up the fish and walked back towards her home. I followed her as she opened the door and went inside. Once inside, she placed the fish in the sink.

She then turned around and placed her hands on the floor. I stepped in and she gently placed me on the table, next to the piece of paper with the letters. I noticed she added a question mark on it

“I wasn’t prepared for fish tonight, but I’ll make it work. I was just going out for some herbs, anyway.”

She knelt and added some wood to the stove, before lighting it with her fire magic.

“Nice catch, by the way,” She said before standing up and turning to me. “How did you do it?”

I skittered to the paper and started pointing at letters. “Baited out of water.”

“I see.”

She walked over to the kitchen and reached into one of the cabinets and pulled out a small metal bucket.

“I’ll go get some herbs and water to clean that fish. I’ll be back in a bit.”

I gestured yes with my pedipalps.

“Now that we can communicate a lot easier, there are some questions I’d like to ask when I return. Will you be okay with that?”

I nodded again.

“Neat.” She smiled. I’ll be right back.”

She left me behind and wondering what kind of questions she would ask.

I was pretty much done for the day regarding my hunts, and there was still enough time left to try to get to know the elf better, I guessed.

Besides, she hardly knew anything about me. I mean, it was hard to exactly tell her who I was, but I should still be able to do it with these letters, even if it took some time.

My mind wandered off on its own. Why was this elf living here in the forest… alone? Why were her eyes purple? Was that normal for this world’s elves?

I realized I hardly knew anything about her, and she about me, yet she had given me a safe place to spend the nights.

From what I had observed so far, I had to conclude she was a nice person.

But something was off about her… I didn’t know how to put it…

I shrugged it off as the eyes, but maybe I’d find out soon.

I observed the tarantula in its enclosure while I waited, noticing I had grown to almost the same size now.

What was in the other enclosure, though? I hadn’t seen anything yet.

My curiosity got the better of me and I skittered over to it, trying to see what was inside. My powerful eyes couldn’t spot anything inside the glass walls. I had to conclude it was empty.

I decided to take a quick look at my progress while Cellestra was still outside.

I would still need 80 Evolution Points to enhance all the evolution-specific skills. I knew with only two levels left, that that was not going to happen.

There was one other option that I could do.

Since my rainbow spider evolution would allow me to upgrade all my currently learned skills to the maximum level of any skill that I possessed, it would be important to get at least one skill to the “advanced” level.

The only skill that I would be able to get to that point would be my spider thread.

Once I had a skill at “advanced” I would be able to upgrade any other skill to advanced in my next evolution form.

I just had to pray that I would be able to get enough Evolution Points during my next evolution to be able to upgrade most of my skills. I had so many skills, I doubted I could…

This evolution planning was a hassle, but I’d get through it. I had no doubt about it.

I decided to enhance my thread and leave my magic resistance where it was for now. A familiar warmth flowed through my behind, and by the time it subsided, the elf walked back into the room.

She had the bucket filled with water in one hand and some small leaves in the other.

She smiled as she saw me observe her. “Let me just get this fish cleaned and descaled. I’ll be with you in a bit.”

I used my gestures to indicate a nod.

I honestly couldn’t wait to get that speech ability.

I saw the sun set and the world outside the window become dark. Cellestra had several candles throughout the room that she lit as darkness fell. She then placed some kind of crystal orb around the candles’ flames which intensified the light tenfold.

I’d never seen anything like it. It had me staring, even as she continued with the fish.

“In case you were wondering,” Cellestra murmured. “I do catch these fish every now and then myself. I was planning to get a mushroom stew going for tonight, but this works fine, too.”

That made me wonder. How far was she away from any town? Would she need to get everything from the forest?

Would she even be able to have or make bread?

She didn’t seem worried about any of this. At least, not as far as I could see.

Cellestra skillfully filleted the fish and placed it in an oven tray with the leaves she’d gathered. She then placed it inside the stove before making her way to the sole chair.

“So, Kealyna,” She started. “Since we have some more time now, please tell me what happened to you. If you don’t mind telling me, that is.”

I pointed at the letters with my legs to speak with her. “It is fine.”

I then started with what happened not so long ago.

“Was knight. Protected family from bandits. Died. Got reincarnated as spider. Appears this is different world.”

Cellestra’s smile disappeared as I created the words. She simply shook her head by the time I’d spelled it all out.

“Unbelievable…”

“Elysa told me my parents alive in this world. They died when I was little.”

“Elysa…? You mean, goddess Elysa?”

I made my nodding gesture.

“You spoke to her?” She looked at me in shock.

“Yes. She gave me blessing to get strong. When I kill get experience. Enough experience I evolve. Hoping to get strong to find parents.”

Communicating like this took a very long time but it worked. Cellestra seemed dumbfounded after my story. She walked off to check on the fish before returning, all the while she shook her head.

“A blessing from the goddess. I can’t believe it. Why did she turn you into a spider in the first place? I didn’t think she was evil.”

“She did not. got sucked into portal. Curse placed on me. Someone else did. Elysa gave me message. mentioned I should be wary of name Hograd.”

“Hograd? He is a god that the humans and some elves worship here. Not the nicest type from what I’ve been told.”

The elf sighed and leaned back. “I’m sorry you have to go through all of that Kealyna. I believe you want to look for your parents, correct?”

I gestured yes.

“I wish I could help you with that, but you see, I’m not exactly what I appear to be, either.”

I looked at her with a mix of curiosity and fear.

“I may appear like an elf, but I’m not that. Not fully, at least. You see, I’ve always been told I was cursed. My mother happened to be near a dungeon when its core exploded when she was pregnant with me. It appears the resulting energies have corrupted me.”

That sounded bad.

“It’s not that bad, honestly. These purple eyes are a result of that… but there’s something else too, that I’d rather not share as of now.”

She sighed. “Don’t worry. I’m perfectly healthy. All this just caused me to be… exiled. I can’t really go to any village. I’ve been forced to live out here… alone. It’s one of the reasons I’m quite happy with some company.”

She paused for a moment and let her eyes roll to the bookcase.

“I’ve been working on finding a way to reverse this ‘curse’. I’ve had no success so far, but I did manage to create some useful potions and healing powders and ointments that I sometimes sell to a merchant who visits me sometimes.”

That sounded… sad. I truly felt sorry for her.

If only I still had my body and armor. I could try to help her, at least somewhat, as repayment for what she'd done for me so far.

This just felt unfair…