The next day Scratches decided to evolve again immediately after breakfast.  Jelin tried to convince her to wait until nighttime but she was feeling too impatient and already knew exactly what she wanted and he had already set a rule that he wouldn't directly try to stop them at times like that so he watched her go back inside with some minor trepidation.  The link soon sent him the information about her evolution choices like normal and before he could really look it over to see if there had been any changes it disappeared again and he felt her evolution starting.

Conk was also able to evolve but they both wanted to wait for her to improve her healing a bit more first.  They spent the whole day with her trying to heal up all the cuts on his arms and when evening came Scratches woke up.  She had apparently decided to go with worker over crafter and was eager to see what new things she could do.  Conk, seeing her coming out and acting excited finally gave in to her own urges and went in to start her own evolution.

The list came up and there was one new one in the lowest section which he didn't even need to advise her to get.

[Child Null Healer Mantea]

He wasn't sure what a null healer was compared to a healer but either way it was practically guaranteed that she would would be better at healing afterwards.  If it still wasn't going to be enough to help regrow the lost limbs then he had an educated case for a backup plan.  It was something he kind of hoped not having to suggest but it was there in the back of his mind all the same.

Since Conk was out for now he decided to follow after Scratches and see how she was doing.  He arrived to the gathering around her a little late and waited until everyone finally took a step back to get a good look at her himself.  It looked like her entire body underwent minor shifts.  Her waist and forearms were a little thinner, her legs and biceps were a little larger, her fingers were just a bit thinner and longer, her whole body seemed to naturally rest a little lower to the ground, her spider thorax had thinned and shortened marginally, and her shoulders seemed just a little broader.  None of it was change by more than maybe half a centimeter but overall it was enough to notice that there was a difference.  Originally, not counting the wounds, the three arachnae would have looked like triples with only the most discerning eye able to mark any differences.  Now if the three of them were fully healed and stood next to each other, it would be obvious that Scratches was different.

What all of her new changes did for her was actually hard to fully discern, though.  With the fingers, arms, and legs he could guess that she was a little stronger and more dextrous.  The lower body maybe helped with her balance some due to a lower center of gravity but arachnae were already hard enough to knock off balance so he couldn't be sure about that.  Going off the nomenclature that she was supposed to be a worker the only other thing he could even remotely guess was a possibility of improved stamina.  He let the girls know his conjectures before announcing that he was going to head to bed since it was nighttime already.  After a few more minutes of playing around everyone finally joined him and he did his hour of teaching before falling asleep.

The next morning was filled with the sight of Scratches trying to figure her new body out completely.  The sight of her stretching in various ways and then running around made it look almost like she was doing radio calisthenics and sports exercises,  the thought of which combined with the sight made him laugh a little.  After he had his fill of watching her run around he decided to look for Scar. 

Scar's wounds and...well...scars had been mostly taken care of by now due the healing poultices and such that Conk had made.  The worst of her scars, although still visible, now kind of gave her appearance a sort of personality statement.  What were once large pink welts and line all over were now soft silver lines that in some ways could even be said to make her more attractive.  Since she now needed less, or even no, healing then she was the obvious next candidate for evolution.

As it was still morning, she was doing her own kind of training based off of some of his suggestions.  He already knew she was the warrior type but he had yet to take the time to really talk to her about the kind of strength she was pursuing.  He watched as she ran back and forth just outside of their territory, punching and elbowing and even kicking various trees and plants.  The good news was that she had her arms wrapped in her own silk so that she wouldn't hurt herself while training.  Not wanting to wait too long, since she likely had enough stamina to keep going until lunch, he called out to her after he was fairly certain he understood most of her training routine.

<Hey.  I see you've been taking some of my training advice.  How's it seem to be working out for you so far?>

<Hmm...I think I've been getting stronger.  I just can't really tell.>

<I see.  Well, why don't you tell me more about what exactly you want to be and let's see if I can come up with some better ways to help you.  What kind of strength is it that you want?>

<Umm.  I'm not sure?  I mean...I want to be able to win in a fight.  I don't know if that helps, though.>

<Err...well...let me think for a moment.  What kind of fight, exactly, are you talking about?>

<Huh?  Like...the regular kind?>

<That's...not very helpful.  Umm...maybe if I list some types that would help?  There's one versus many, many versus one, one on one head on, defensive control of an area, taking over an area, defending of others, targeted assault, brawling, and I'm sure there are even more that I just can't think of right now.>

<That's...a lot.  Maybe I want to be good at all of them?>

<Impossible.  The best you could accomplish is okay at all of them and if you ever came across someone who was good at one and got into that kind of fight them it would be your loss.  It's best to pick one or a few and get as good as you can at those and then let what's similar in other kinds help make you okay at those.>

<But I don't want to lose any fight.>

<Well, there's an easy way to accomplish that goal.>

<Really?>

<Sure.  Don't fight.  You can't lose a fight you were never in.>

<Are you sure?  Even if you aren't good at every type of fight, it doesn't mean you have to get into every type of fight.  Get good at the type or types of fights you want to be good at and for the rest either don't fight or make sure that you're still better than whoever you're fighting.  Then you'd always win.>

<If you say so.>

<Nobody can be good at everything.  Not even the gods.  That's why they each have their own domains.  So, pick what kind of fighting you want and let's see if I can't help point you in a better direction.>

<Well...what kind of fights do you think I'd be good at?>

<We come to that after all, huh?  Well, let's see.  You've always done very well when it come to protecting, so there's one.  You seem to like lashing out with your limbs more than trying to play it smart or something so we could add brawling to the list.  With those two and that I can much easier imagine you fighting against several others over with several others I'd say one versus many.  If you also feel like you're the one who would be most inclined to protect our home and stuff then defending and area.  Any of that sound not quite right or maybe needs something added?>

<Umm.  I think I kind of like the whole charging into a fight...does that count?>

<Hmm.  So we're looking at a type of fighting where you defend people, places, and things in an aggressive manner...I guess?  Any desire to try and add magic or psychic to your aresenal?>

<I...don't know?>

<Fair enough.  It's always good to have at least one way to deal with things at range but do you want to go further or stick as strictly as possible to close up and personal?>

<Close up, for sure.>

<Okay.  So...an aggressive defender, berserker style with a bit of either magic or psychic edge as compliment.  That reminds me that I still need to work on my own psychic learning...either way I think we have a direction for you now!>

<Yay!>

<So.  From what I've seen of your training so far it seems you have aggressive and brawler down.  At least for now.  So what you need to work one is the defending part and movement.  As for psychic and magic stuff...we'll just have to get to that when we can, unfortunately.  Off the top of my head I have an idea how to help already.  We need two sticks and a bunch of leaves.  The leaves need to be put in the thinnest and weakest webbing possible high up in the trees directly over one stick in the ground.  Then throw the other stick to break the webbing and let the leaves fall down.  You can use your arms and legs to hit the leaves but otherwise no leaves are allowed to touch you or the planted stick.>

<That...sounds too easy.>

<Really?  Try it.>

He helped her as best he could get everything set up and then stood back and watched as she threw the stick up and started the new training exercise.  About five seconds later he saw a leaf stick in her hair and another about to hit the stick while her back was turned.

<You failed.>

<Huh?>

<You failed.  There's a leaf in your hair and another hit the stick.  Looking now I can even see another on your backside.>

<Wait, really?>

<Not as easy as it sounded, huh?>