Horizon had always been an oddity. It’s believed to be the largest continent of Mirage, as well as the birthplace of the First Dragons and it's taken well over a century since its discovery to even reach its shore, the Administrator’s finally opening up this continent for all to see. It’s filled with enough treasure and resources to even make the richest merchant baulk at the sheer quantity and is still covered in so many mysteries.

Because of this many individuals come here and hope to start a new life and/or become filthy rich. Either from trade, hunting exotic monsters or even discovering new Dungeons to make a business out of. Since Horizon has an unusually high amount of Dungeons, both Raid and Temple Dungeons, in fact, a lot of organisations have taken the first come, first serve approach up north and are slowly making their way down south. We’ve only been here for over several decades and it's been recently discovered that the continent also has an overwhelmingly sized underground system, filled with tunnels, wide expanses and the fan favourite event, Hive of Phrylia. It would take god knows how long to chart it all.

According to the Administrators… If it was possible for people to live down there comfortably, up to 10 billion people could be housed there. That’s how big it is. Such a thing should not be physically possible, right? Yet, there is no reason for them to lie about such a thing.

Even those unsavoury… Inarin, was it? The humanoids with the fox ears and tails have been reported to have reached the shores of Horizon. I fear that it means that their presence had already been established back when our people first came to these lands.

No matter.

We expect an economic boom sometime soon. It will not be fun.

-Studies of Horizon and establishment, by Paladin Micheal of the Order of Pallathena.

---

Easy does it now.

Hoo-boy, this is scary.

After a moment of considering my situation, I finally decided I was prepared enough to try and leave the tree. My body seems to be fully responsive now and thanks to this shoddy system for giving me a heads up, I should be relatively safe. I have a bite skill I can use now, so I’ll make do.

Now I’m slowly descending from the tree, keeping my grip firm on the bark while a non-sticky yet firm thread connecting me to a branch further up kept me from falling. Each time I went by a branch, I applied another thread. Safety first folks.

I learned that the properties I could change involved durability, stretchiness, firmness, width and stickiness. I could think of ‘sticky wide thread’ and boom, sticky wide thread. Can’t change pre-existing web though so if I need to replace stuff for a base, I’ll have to take it down and replace it. However, I can’t seem to make firm and sticky threads. It works more like a slider, to be honest. You can have equal ground, but you can’t go completely nuts and make a web that has the highest durability and everything else. Not only that, the more you make and the more complex it is, it makes ya hungrier.

Which is why I’m starting to get a lil’ peckish.

Eek!

…Okay I’m fine, almost fell but I’m reoriented now. Let’s continue.

…

I gotta say though, this forest, jungle, whatever, was gorgeous. From the very top of the tree I saw what I believe was the mountain my ‘mother’ was talking about, and a little further still was the sea. A light green sea that seemed to glow faintly under the moonlight. Although it was hard to tell, it certainly wasn’t too bright. But I do notice it.

Then we had the slightly humid forest of big butt trees.

Gorgeous big butt trees mind you. The whole area consisted of magical glowing plant life that cast shadows on the just as rich plant life below. Vines that would hang from the branches or connect from tree to tree, pulsating bright green fluids through them like it was blood vessels transporting blood. Other bioluminescent colours, a gentle purple from some type of mushroom lit up glowing pink crystals that jutted out in rocky formations on the ground while a large glow bug of sorts quietly buzzed nearby. The gentle green light from its abdomen reacted to my body and soon, the gaps in my carapace and the blue marks on my body began to glow, a strange, if faint, red light lit up around my eyes and my horns emitted a bright white light.

Almost gasping, I eye up my horns. The light lit up parts in front of me that the moonlight couldn’t whilst the blue and red seemed purely for aesthetics, like a +2 to light while the pale light was like, +10. Was this that bio-light from that skill?

I was all pretty now. Glowy, colourful… And very visible to potential predators. This illumination was practically a super-strong flashlight.

Fantastic.

Hmm, well, I would assume this would be Dawnwood then. At least this doesn’t cost energy on my part. Does this apply to plants as well? I’m certain bioluminescence costs energy, right? It’s all chemical reactions. Maybe I’m thinking too hard, who knows how this Pseudo-System works?

Okay, almost there. And-

Plap!

Touch down! We have landed, I repeat, we have landed on moist soil. Mission success folks!

Hell, from what I can tell this forest was full of wonder, it looked overgrown and glowy, I could see flowers growing on trees, a strange three-eyed bird glaring daggers at something off in the distance, a piece of bark breaking off before revealing itself to be a bug and flying off.

Uh. Hold on. Is that metal sticking out of the ground? Kinda looks like armour. There’s some red on it.

…Oh. OH.

On closer inspection, yes, it was armour, but it was equipped by a… Now very, very dead human.

The features were identical to a regular human, don’t see any elf ears or cat ears or the like. A woman who clearly did not have a good time, her left arm was barely hanging onto her body by a couple of strings of flesh and muscle and her right arm was twisted in such a gruesome way, surely it was no accident. Her weapon, a spear, was snapped in half and the armour around the stomach had been punctured by something, a foul purple fluid seeping from the wounds- Bleugh, guts. The state of her body underneath was enough to make me feel incredibly nauseous.

Blegh.

Ugh. Keep your non-existent lunch inside alright? I didn’t realise actual human corpses were… A lot more haunting than the ones on TV. Unnerving even. It’s making my flesh shiver and my stomach lurch.

(Pinker, dryer, not as bloody as I thought it would be.)

She reeks too. The body looks like it hasn’t been here long, but it sure smells like it. Vinegary too. Yuck. I don’t even think I could eat her even if I wanted to. This is an adult, right? She looks so small. My leg is almost longer than she is!

…A-Assuming the lady is about 5’5 on average… Take a measurement here and there, doot-di-doo…

…

So!

Compared to the average human, I seem to stand about eight feet tall, maybe a lil more, and around about the same across, over half of it consisting of my butt. Speaking of, my big ole’ abdomen was bigger than she was in every way. Five feet across maybe? Measurements suck, it's difficult to figure out. But if I was a vehicle, about five or seven people could sit inside with some effort… Odd comparison. But makes sense to me. Not too keen on it being so big, that's where all my organs should be, it's a massive target so I gotta make sure it's nowhere near a sword, fangs, claws, whatever!

…Oh god, I’m freaking massive. I thought I was just average spider size, maybe a tarantula or the size of a small dog if we’re going full fantasy monster. But nah, I’m bigger than a car.

I am so sorry arachnophobes.

Okay, let’s just focus on other stuff then, like this pretty forest!

Gosh, my abdomen is pretty much buzzing with excitement! A whole new world to explore, creatures to find and learn about, and whole new cultures to indulge myself in.

Excitement threatened to overwhelm me.

But then I’m reminded of my ‘mother’, the one who said I had the power to make humanity pay for reasons I assume is bad history. It makes me wonder what she did to this body that made her think I could wipe out humanity. Surely I can summon meteorites or something. Poison humans? Be really good with a kitchen knife?

The thoughts make me chuckle, coming out as a hoarse cackle through my mouth. God, I never really realised how much I didn’t sound like my old self.

Well, regardless of what she wants. Unless every single human had decided to wrong her in this new world, I have no intention of wiping them all out. Hell if it was just a group, deciding to kill an entire species because of the actions of a few is… Well, it's wrong! My morals won’t allow it. I may be a spider monster now, but I’m still human inside. I’m not gonna suddenly drop kick babies off a cliff the moment I suddenly look like a monster. That’s utterly ridiculous.

And that is what matters. If that person has attempted to murder me, well, fair play, self-defence is self-defence. Otherwise? My mum is gonna have to live, er, continue being dead with the knowledge that her lil’ eight-legged daughter isn’t going to be drop-kicking lil’ Timmy with no warning.

Plus I’m a social butterfly! If all the people are dead, how am I supposed to connect to them?

Well, I suppose there’s the harpy gal from earlier. Surely there are other intelligent races then? Maybe I wouldn’t go insane from the loneliness if for whatever reason I decided stabbing was the answer to all of my problems.

Okay, it might be a few hours, maybe up to a day of walking to get to the mountain. Then look for a ravine? That might take longer depending on what it is. Could be on the other side. If that is the case, then I should see about camping out for rest when needed, meaning I’ll need to test my webs. And maybe even my digging for that matter.

Now that I’m on solid ground, I should start heading toward the mountain. As tempted as I am to entertain the thought of disrespecting my mother’s final wish and eff off into the sunset, I might as well check it out. Who knows? Maybe there are other goodies there! Not like there’s anything else I have any interest in pursuing right now so might as well, right?

Grrmmmghgle.

…

Okay, now that I’m thinking about it, instead of marching off to possible death, I should actually see about getting food. Unfortunately, I highly doubt there’s a restaurant here, otherwise, I’d pop in and politely ask for a burger, so I’m gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way.

Yeah, that’s right! It’s spider time! Time to kick this chicken breast brain into overdrive and take the path of the orb-weaver and experiment!

---

Mwah, beautiful.

The basic base has been completed, I repeat; the basic base has been completed. Everything is in working order, over.

Hehehe~

It’s not quite the palace of my dreams nor is it in a good enough spot to use at its full potential, but it's a nice little nest to chill at. Situated between four trees, the base consists of two spider web platforms surrounded by walls, the first platform was about three metres above the ground while the second platform acted as a ceiling, essentially creating a mini house. Inner parts were firm and strong enough to stand on, the outer parts were sticky so that anything that gets too close gets stuck. Loose threads hung below the rim of the nest acting as the human-sized equivalent of a paper fly trap. Those strips of sticky paper you’d hang on a doorway in the summer but this time, you could catch a human! When something gets caught and it starts struggling, I’ll be able to know real quick!

I did try and use the corrosive fluid from my bite to try and coat some of the webs. One web is slathered in it and nothing happened. Which is… Good? It didn’t melt the web which is fantastic, but until I have test subjects I can’t properly gauge its effects. The fire above my head doesn’t burn it either. Another mystery.

I’m hoping if anything gets caught on the corrosive web, they’ll actually feel the toxins at work. If not, I’ll be a sad, oversized arachnid.

Poisons and stuff are sick, I love being able to use stuff like that in games. Makes me feel like a scary assassin whenever I watch an NPC’s health chip away from the darkness. Makes me want to rub my little claws together and go ‘yesssssss’ in evilness.

What else… I made some extra webbing around the area. A few tripwires of sorts led to sticky nets. Initially, I planned to make pit traps but… I was tired. This was the best for now.

There’s also the human corpse I got in here.

I cleaned her up a bit and after taking her broken spear, fixing it a bit and making a shoddy holster for it to wrap around my abdomen, I put her down near the edge of the nest (it is not pleasant being near human corpses). The spear itself was ‘repaired’ because I stuck the halves back together before wrapping that part up in firm threads. Will I use it? Who knows, probably as it would give me some range? I may be a monster, but my human brain is still there and it would be an utter shame not to use that to my advantage. Although I will admit, I was no expert in using spears and it wasn’t helped by how small it had felt in my hands.

But I had no intention of eating her, however. The problem was that I had no clue if this would work. This nest might be able to effectively trap stuff (in theory), but none of that matters if nothing bothers to wander by. All that webbing made me extra hungry, so hungry I could eat a freaking horse.

If I catch something, great! I’ll call this operation a success and give the poor girl the burial she deserves.

If not…

…

Well. Realistically, I could use her as bait. As I said, she reeks but she might be appealing in some way to the wildlife. Poor gal is my last resort.

I just hope for my sake, I don’t have to resort to it, she deserves better than…?!

Oh hey! Maybe I don’t have to! There’s movement on the right side and it's moving quite a bit judging by how much it's shaking! The vibrations send tingles up my legs and cause me to drool a copious amount of corrosive saliva onto the floor. Hehe, oops. Let’s have a peek and see what oversized flies flew into my parlour… Parlour? Is that right? Eff it, web.

Stuck to a dangling, non-corrosive web was a creature I could visibly compare to a monitor lizard with frills on its neck. A tad larger than that breed of lizard though, and possesses a large third eye on its forehead similar to my own. Nearby there were two other lizards, one having an axe-tipped tail and the other having quills on its back. They both seemed agitated at the sight of their partner stuck in the web, which seems close to breaking as the trapped lizard starts to thrash.

Ah. Didn’t think about that. I probably could have sacrificed some of the stickiness for more durability. Well, that’s a lesson I suppose.

Let’s try this then-

?!

Suddenly the third eye of the lizard glints a dangerous orange, its entire body tensing before shooting a beam of light that catches my arm. Nothing hurts. But I was very quick to notice my arm turning grey and hard! The sudden weight nearly makes me stumble and I take a few steps back to register the situation.

Petrification?!

What, is that a basilisk? I can’t think of any other mythological or fantasy lizard that can do that. Nevermind that. How bad is petrification?

I claw at it, my heart fluttering when it is indeed rock solid. However, I could feel something strange. Hollowness. It’s like a shell around my limb rather than full petrification.

Gah, can’t focus right now, the basilisk is almost out. Time to activate threads!

I pull out a thread from my spinnerets, this time making it less sticky and more durable before throwing it down towards the ground near the basilisk. Very quickly, the eye glints again… Only to close in irritation when my web thwacks it dead on. This time, however, I don’t stop, instead, spinning the thread in circles like a ribbon which slowly begins to wrap around its torso and tightly seal its limbs away. It wasn’t enough to completely cover the lizard, like, at all. But the thread seemed to have temporarily immobilised it.

Good to know. I’m very pleased about how strong these webs are. Honestly, I’m starting to suspect that the regular type webs are also good enough to trap a large creature. I might not even need max sticky.

In fact, the other lizards are trying to get their friend free, but can’t seem to break through. The axe-tailed one had sliced through the sticky web, but not the regular one. In fact, the lizard is now struggling to pull his tail from the thread.

Huh. It’s that strong?

…This is very good information. They literally aren’t able to do anything against the regular webs. Maybe my size is also a factor? Larger bodies mean more webs and it might also mean stronger webs? If that’s the case, let’s throw some more down then! One order of regular web, coming right up!

The ever so startled barks and other noises lizards make were like disturbing jingles to my senses as the webs descend. Very quickly all three of them are tied up in a bundle and despite their desperate attempts, they were utterly, hopelessly stuck.

Let’s grab this thread here and pull them up like so- Oi, stop struggling!

Now is the wrapping part, something I thought I was going to hate. I’ve seen orb-weaver spiders wrap up their prey with sheets of webs with such precise speed and coordination with each limb that I was never going to pull off. Except suddenly as my victim lay in my grasp, something in my brain just clicked. It was like a lightbulb. A surge of energy that controlled my body, a guide as I wrapped up the first lizard in rapid speed before tossing it to the side and moving to the next one.

Interesting. Gee, wish I was that fast with just moving in a direction. Thanks.

Y’know what, I’m supposed to be a monster with the power to ‘make humanity pay’, I would be utterly shocked if I don’t have some power behind me to actually make that a reality. Should I assume that it should be a cakewalk then..? Nah. That will definitely bite me in the abdomen. But I’ll try and be at least a little more confident. Never too much of course.

Hissss.

Thwack!

Shaddup lizard, stay in the damn sack!

Okay, second one is done-

Shhhhaaaaaa!

Heh!?

Struggling with all of its might, the last lizard, the one with the quills, lets out a cry and suddenly my chitin stands on end as the creature's scales ripple and tense. My body refuses to move, unable to turn away as the quills turn pink and rise and-

Shnkk!

…Nothing?

Lizard #3 also seems just as confused. Once again it tries to do whatever it's doing. Scales rippling, quills rising and-

…

…Uh. Is it broken? Mods, I’d like to report a bugged mob?

I think the lizard had given up, flopping its head to the floor in apparent exhaustion with its tongue hanging out. It’s… Oddly adorable. It makes me want to pat its head and call it a good boy. Don’t give me that look dude, I need to eat. No matter how cute you act, I ain’t gonna let you go.

So let me just wrap you up and- Hey, hey hold on! What am I doing? Body? BODY?!

Instead of lifting the lizard up like I wanted to, my body begins to move against my will, turning towards the other two lizards before ripping up a hole in the floor and tossing a wrapped-up lizard down. I couldn’t even scream. Scream for the loss of my meal anyway. Oh no, I’m unwrapping it! The axe-tailed one is freeeeeeeee!

No, NO! COME ON! WORK WITH MEEEEEE! WHAT DID YOU BASTARDS DO?!

Gah, don’t release the basilisk- No! Go for the quilled one instead! If that basilisk escapes, all it has to do is get a direct hit to the face and it's over! C’mon! Get your body under control!

Eventually, the quilled lizard jumps through the escape hole and patiently waits for the last of the trio to arrive like a polite little twat. All the while I’m mentally dying and wondering what unfortunate luck I’ve got to experience this on my first catch.

Hm?

Hold on, I can move a finger! I can still do this! Dear lord, it's like trying to escape out of a deep pool of mud that’s rapidly hardening.

C’mon! C’MON!

When I merely hold the still cocooned lizard in my claws, the lizards tilt their head as if confused. The quilled lizard slaps its tail against the earth and extends its quills just like before and wondering why its new slave isn’t being a good spider and releasing its buddy.

Well, BUDDY, have I got news for you! Focus me, focus!

All I need to do is-

CORROSIVE BITE!

It feels as if the invisible control over my body becomes a vice grip capable of shattering my body into pieces as soon as my jaws unfurl, vanishing in an instant when they close in a lightning-fast SNAP that comes close to decapitating the prey. The corrosive fluids seem overkill. Eroding the last bits of muscle that remained in its neck and leaving its head dangling like a depressed cactus.

It certainly shocks the lizards. They squeak and squawk and seem ready to fight until I turn towards them, probably covered in gore and hopefully sending the message when I glare at them with the might of a Mexican woman about to end her kid's life with the almighty chancla. Then they run off with their tail between their legs and scream like a creature from an old cartoon until they vanish into the woods.

…Prey secure?

Mission success? Sorta?

Welp, at least I know that the lizards are to be killed on sight. That was not fun. No siree. Didn’t expect a freaking monitor lizard to suddenly control my body like that. There wasn’t even any cool magical effect or anything, it just raises its quills and tenses and suddenly my body doesn’t love me anymore!

I can’t help but sigh, the noise unfortunately coming out as a hiss. Well, lets enjoy this small amount of joy of capturing prey before I dig in. Uh, spiders usually spit digestive enzymes at food right? Maybe I’m a tad different and can eat it normally. Let’s try it.

Thank you for the food.

Chomp!

Nom!

Hmm… Ugh, what?! It tastes like freaking liquorice! Why does the lizard taste like liquorice? Eff it, don’t complain about the taste of fantasy monsters, just dig in before my luck plummets further and the urge to spit it out increases!

Hurk.

The textureeee… I can’t do this! But I must!

…I’m gonna hurl.

Oh god, why does my meal have to taste like one of the worst things on the planet?!