The way back was quiet in an uncomfortable way. The person that we were leading to our nest was clearly not the talkative type, but then neither were Cellestra nor I. All in all, it made for an awkward trip.

I was more than happy when we finally arrived at our destination and saw the carpenter eye the webs warily before his eyes found the logs that had been left to dry. I had considered taking them with us earlier, but transporting them all would be a bit of a hassle and I wasn’t sure if they would be useful. They probably were as the previous two logs were taken when we got our furniture, but it wasn’t like we’d given them much of a choice.

“If you want, you can have those. We have no need for them,” I said.

“We’ll pick them up later, then. Where would you like the fence?”

“Here,” I said. “Between two of these tree stumps, its height not exceeding those.”

He nodded and walked to one before taking a step away from the tree and jabbing his stake into the ground, before giving it a hit with his hammer. He then repeated the process until he reached the other tree stump, and I was left wondering what he was doing.

Was he measuring length? The toughness of the soil? I didn’t know, but those two options seemed the most straightforward to me.

He nodded, again causing some of the accumulated dust to fall down.

“Yep,” He said. “We’ll do it. Five gold coins for an oaken fence between these trees. I can get the boys over here and start right away.”

I was wondering if five coins without bargaining from my side was a bit too generous for the job, as he seemed to be impatient and eager to get started. There wasn’t a word about any kind of payment or discount in return for the logs, which was a bit disappointing to me, but I wouldn’t press the issue as I wasn’t in dire need of favors. Building a reputation would be hard enough as it was, and being nice to others would always go a long way.

“Uhm. If you don’t mind. Today is not really a good day. Would you be willing to start tomorrow?”

He took a good look at me, waited for a few seconds, and nodded.

“Can do,” He said. “We’d get started somewhere in the afternoon, then.”

“That’s fine by me, but we may not be here, then. Shall I pay now?”

He shook his head.

“No. First, we deliver the goods. Then, we get paid. We’ll just get to work if you’re absent if you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine by me. If you need us, we’re usually here in the evenings.”

He nodded before taking the stake and hammer with him as he walked off.

“Not the most talkative type, is he?” Cellestra said after the man had disappeared from view.

“Not really, but that’s fine. I personally don’t mind it much, I just want that fence. Can’t wait for it to be finished. I’d love to see the look on my parents’ faces when all is done here.”

“And don’t forget Elira. I’m certain she’ll be exhilarated.”

“True,” I said before sighing deeply. “I suppose that means that everything we needed to do is now done.”

“Seems so. Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, trying to sound confident, but I could hear in my voice that it wasn’t the case. “Let’s get this done.” I paused for a few seconds before I continued with a whisper. “Elysa, let’s get this over with.”

I confirmed the enhancements I wanted to learn which included the spawn spiderlings option and their upgrades. The whole thing cost me a whopping five hundred evolution points but the possible strength this could give me, in the long run, was more than worth it.

I felt the familiar warmth of the enhancement converge at the bottom of my abdomen, in the area that Cellestra had told me was for eggs.

Goddess, I still couldn’t believe I was actually going to do this.

When the process had ended, I decided to skitter into the nest, wanting the comfort and safety of the walls around me before starting the process. Cellestra didn’t follow.

“It’s fine, Cellestra. You can be here if you want.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I don’t care much.”

It took her a few seconds to react, but ultimately she decided to enter, all while I was wondering how to go about this.

Elysa, since I need to lay those eggs, can I decide how many I want?

Well, that was reassuring. At least I wouldn’t have to go through the process of laying thousands. Hold on a second.

“Do they actually need to eat to live?” I accidentally called out loud, causing Cellestra to look at me with confusion and then understanding. I was expecting a giggle as was her usual reaction to my mishaps, but there was nothing, her face was pure seriousness.

A tiny amount of mana, huh? That made it sound like I could have an entire army of spiderlings at my disposal, but I certainly didn't intend to go that far. I imagined five would be more than enough to take care of simple watch duty and to see what they could do in a fight.

They’d probably take time to get stronger, but even if they died, any gained skills and enhancements would be reapplied to any new spiderlings I’d create. I could, of course, always help them overwhelm enemies that were stronger than them. There was nothing that prevented me from assisting.

I sighed deeply one last time as I tossed my weapon to the side.

“Hey,” Cellestra said softly. “Cheer up. If this works out, you’ll have the best night’s rest you’ve had in a while.”

“You’re right. I just… I hope this won’t mess with my mind.”

Cellestra moved before me and took me in for a comforting hug, her hand running through my long hair as she whispered into my ear.

“You’ll be fine, Kea. I know you will be.”

I hugged her back and let out another sigh.

“I sure hope so. But let’s get this going. For real now.”

She nodded and broke the hug while I prepared and mentally confirmed that I wanted to spawn five spiderlings. When I did so, a new blue square popped up before me.

The first line caught me off-guard due to its implications. For now, I simply waved it away and confirmed (as I felt in my mind that it was required) the current modifications.

Within seconds, I felt mana from my body converge at one point, creating something, before it happened again and again, until five objects of concentrated mana had formed. Then, I felt movements inside my abdomen.

The sensations made me nauseous. I couldn’t compare it to anything I’d felt before. It was as if my insides were being twisted and tossed around. It didn’t hurt at first, but after some time, I was starting to feel bloated with pain building up.

I gritted my teeth as I let out a groan, causing Cellestra to look at me with concern. I tried to put her at ease by feigning a small smile, but I could tell she knew it was fake, and it did little to diminish her worry.

Elysa, let this end soon, please.

Then, at last, there was relief.

I ended up with five yellowish spheres, each slightly transparent, but not enough to see through, or see what was inside. They were about three feet in diameter, far bigger than I’d expected. Though, with my size to compare them to, I supposed it made sense. If the spell was going to be of any use in combat, I more or less needed them to be this size.

I heaved a deep sigh, knowing the worst part was over. Now, all we had to do was wait until they hatched… and then figure out how I gave them orders.

I hoped it would remain at that, just orders. I had actively avoided the evolution that allowed me to control other creatures for moral reasons, and even though I had no clue how that would work, I hoped I couldn’t do it with these spiderlings.

The creatures in the dungeon scared me deep inside because they were hollow, soulless. I secretly wished that these spiders wouldn’t be like that.

I had no idea why I was thinking about them like this. I wasn’t supposed to, was I?

Goddess, I’m a mess…