“Hey, Kealyna?” Cellestra asked after a minute or so of me eating.

I turned again to see what she was about to say.

“You’ve not actually eaten anything with your… top half yet, have you?”

“Uh, I think you may be right.”

“Any idea how that works?”

“You mean… for my ability to activate or are you talking about anatomy?” I asked, confused as to what the elf was getting at.

“Both, I guess?”

“Interesting idea. I wonder if I can eat raw meat and the likes with this part of me. As for the skill, it would be quite interesting if it did so I can cut down on time spent eating, but that brings me back to the previous point. I was not planning on eating raw meat, though…”

After a few more bites, a message showed up.

I turned and looked at the blue square before me and smiled as I moved off of the large ape.

“Well, well, well. Look at that,” I let out.

“What is it?”

“Something that appears useful. I got an enhancement called cold resistance that’s available. Thing is, I doubt it will do much for you.”

“To be fair, I didn’t know we’d run into plains of snow and ice in this dungeon. If I’d known I would have put on some more clothes,” Cellestra said.

“Hm. That’s a good point.”

I skittered forward to the hill to see what was beyond it. Once I’d arrived, disappointment filled me. I shook my head as I looked into the distance. There was literally nothing here but plains of snow. I believed I could see another ice wall, much like the ones behind us far in the distance. I wondered if there was a door in it somewhere that would lead elsewhere. For now, I thought it better to check that out some other time.

“What do you say we head back?” I asked Cellestra.

The elf nodded. “Good idea. I had to cancel my spell earlier, and let me tell you, it’s cold here.”

Shit. I’d forgotten to recast it after I started eating. Then I noticed that Cellestra was shivering slightly. I quickly cast the spell twice, keeping one active with my spider brain to my left, and one to my right with my elven half. I then started making my way back to the sandpit room.

“Will you be okay?” I asked. “You’re not gonna get sick, are you?”

“I sure hope not.”

“Crap. I’m sorry. I forgot.”

“It’s fine. Let’s just get home quickly,” Cellestra said.

I did exactly as she suggested and made my way to the archway as fast as my legs could carry me. I would look at this enhancement later. If it didn’t cost too much, I would definitely buy it. There was simply no downside to it.

We soon made our way up through the corridor and entered the sand room. From there, the swamp was easily passed through as all enemies had already perished. A few minutes later, we found ourselves back at the surface.

“You know,” I said. “I wouldn’t mind something sweet for once. An apple or something would be great. Nothing but meat is starting to get boring…”

“I have some at home if you want.”

“I’d love that. Thanks a lot. Speaking of food, would you like me to get anything for you?”

“Hmmm,” Cellestra thought aloud. “I think I still have some, but if you see anything that catches your interest, I won’t say no.”

“I’ll try to keep an eye open,” I said, before realizing what I just said. I then started grinning. “Probably more than one.”

Cellestra chuckled at my horrible joke. “Nice.”

I made my way back through the forest to the elf’s house and started wondering about my plans once again. As things stood, I didn’t have a whole lot to do. Now that I knew the dungeon had another room, I wondered if that meant there was one more to the left in the sandpit room.

It seemed like there was a constant conflict going on in my mind about what I should do. One half of me wanted to use this blessing as much as possible to grow stronger, while the other half wanted me to advance my plans and visit Edhil as soon as I could. Visiting one of Elysa’s temples would be the very first step I was going to take.

I was glad that Cellestra had said earlier that she’d join me, but leaving this beautiful, tranquil place behind brought a certain kind of sadness with it that I couldn’t explain. It hadn’t been long, but I’d grown attached to the elf’s place.

I couldn’t believe I had. I’d been in a cage the first time I laid eyes upon Cellestra.

How far I’d come…

I sighed as I skittered through the forest, thinking about all that could be. The future had never seemed so uncertain to me. I worried about so much, most of all, not being able to find my parents. Just how badly had this curse affected where I ended up? I was in the same world, sure, but how big was this world?

I hoped Elysa would provide me with some answers. I doubted Cellestra would hold a lot of that information.

“Cellestra?”

“Hm?”

“How much do you truly know about this world?”

“Not much,” She admitted. “All I have is my own experience, and then whatever information I got from books, which is very little with regards to this world. I know the surrounding area somewhat, and a few nearby cities, but that’s about it. Why? What’s up?”

I closed my eyes as I spoke. “I’m just… unsure of how to go about things. I don’t know where to start looking. I don’t know how much I’ll have to travel. All that kind of stuff. It just… it drains me, mentally. I’m constantly worrying about it whenever I’m not doing anything.”

I could feel one of Cellestra’s hands move over the hair on my back in a gentle gesture of comfort. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll find out where your family is, and I’m confident we’ll be able to find a cure for me as well.”

I smiled slightly at the elf’s optimism. I found it hard to believe that everything would be easy, but I did find comfort in her words.

“Thank you.”

“Did you have any idea yet about when you wanted to leave?” Cellestra asked.

I shook my head. “That’s one of the things I’m struggling with. I don’t know what to focus on. Getting more powerful will be important in the long run, but my anxiety seems to grow the longer I stay here. This dungeon has been of great help, and I’m sure it will continue to be, but the way my blessing currently works… it feels… slow. I was thinking, do you think I should do one more run in the dungeon and then head out the day after? Do you need to prepare things to head out?”

Cellestra shook her head. “I don’t think I need much. I’ll just get some clothes and a blanket to sleep in at night. Other than that, I think we can get everything I need on our journey. We still have those items you recovered as well. I’m sure we can get some supplies for those when we reach a city.”

I nodded. “I suppose you’re right.”

I turned my head to look at the sky. “I never imagined I would be traveling like this. Everything had always been so clear in my life; to not know where I’m going, or where I’ll end up, it just feels so alien to me.”

Cellestra didn’t respond. Instead, I could feel her continuing to pet my back. The elf truly had her way of washing away my worries. She may not have replied, but I could still feel how she thought about all this.

Evening started to fall when we arrived back home. Darkness was slowly creeping in.

Not a word was spoken as I lowered the elf to the ground when I came to halt in front of her house. She unlocked her door and walked back outside with two apples and handed one to me. She sat down in her doorway while I lowered my body down onto the grass in front of it. I thanked her and took a bite while thinking about what tomorrow would bring once again.

“What an odd turn of events,” I summarized the past few days in one sentence while I munched on the sweet apple.

“For the better I would say, no?” Cellestra replied.

“Yeah. I think so. I just hope things aren’t as you say with regards to some factions being on the brink of war. It’s one of the main things I worry about…”

“Agreed. I wouldn’t want to get caught up in all that.”

After that, silence fell in which we both finished our snack. Darkness was falling quickly and the thought of asking Cellestra to sleep in my shelter popped up again. I had to correct myself into not thinking about that.

“So,” Cellestra started. “You want to head out the day after tomorrow, then?”

I nodded. “I don’t know, but I think we should.”

“It’s fine by me. I can have everything sorted by tomorrow evening. There’s not much to do, truly.”

“Did you not want to join for another dungeon run?” I asked.

Cellestra shook her head. “It’s better I stay home and take care of things. I don’t want to accidentally forget something.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

Cellestra took what remained of her apple and tossed it towards the edge of the clearing. She then took mine and threw that one as well.

“Let’s just go to sleep for now, okay? We’ll talk again tomorrow,” Cellestra suggested.

I nodded once more as I stood back up.

“Let’s do that. Good night, Cellestra.”

“Good night, Kealyna.”

The elf walked back inside after waving and closed the door as I waved at her with a pedipalp. I then heaved a deep sigh and skittered into my nest where I simply dropped into the web and drifted off within a minute.