“Kealyna…” My mother said. “We cannot possibly accept that. If you’re going to risk your life in dungeons – and I know I’m not going to be able to talk you out of it – you’ll need the money for yourself. I mean, by the goddess, you’re injured right now.”

“That was an accident, and it won’t happen again. We’re still being trialed, so we get to know our limits. Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”

“If you say so…”

My mother didn’t seem to be all that happy about this. No surprise given the way she’d eyed my wound ever since my arrival.

“Really mom, I’m fine.”

“If she says she’s fine, then we’ll have to trust her, sweetie,” My father said. He then turned to me. “Still, your mother is right.”

I nodded. “We’ll make sure to get things sorted for ourselves first. I just want to help her as well. Actually…” I paused before turning my head to the brunette. “Cellestra, we have that spell scroll. We should probably check how much it’s worth.”

“Probably a great deal. Perhaps more if we sell it at the temple.”

“Smart thinking,” I admitted. I felt a bit guilty about potentially abusing this blessing. It didn’t feel like it was in line with what I believed in, but it would just be dumb to not try to get a bit of extra cash. I was sure we could put it to good use.

“You told me something way back about spell scrolls, right? Something with mana pools? I was thinking… since Elira seems to like magic so much, maybe we could try to find a scroll for her that doesn’t require too much mana?”

“Hmmm,” Cellestra let out. “I would assume her mana pool is quite small indeed. I’m not sure what she would be able to learn. Something simple shouldn’t be hard to find. I imagine even something like that would turn her world upside down… in a good way.”

I smiled. “That’s what I thought.”

“Honestly,” My mother said softly. “I’m speechless.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m in a position to give some back to you now. Even if we spent so much time apart, I still owe you so much for who I am.”

“I…” She stumbled. “Thank you.”

“You don’t owe us anything,” My father said, calm and collected. “You becoming who you are is on you.”

“Perhaps so,” I said, shrugging. “But your love is something that has led me through all of it. I fought so that others could experience what I couldn’t.”

He sighed. “You’re something else. You know that?”

“I’ve been told, yes.”

He picked up his dropped watering can and emptied the last bit of its contents. “I’ll just refill this one last time and finish things up here. Would you like to share your dungeon story with us after that?”

I nodded before I skittered over to him. “Sure,” I said as I refilled his can with my spell.

“Well, that’s one way of doing it,” he said, scratching his head. “Thanks.”

“What do you know about this dungeon?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Lilinia answered. “Only that it’s a beginner dungeon.”

“So, that doesn’t seem to be entirely true. It’s got that name because, as we’ve been told, it increases in difficulty very gradually. The guild uses it for that reason to test people’s abilities.”

My mother nodded while my father continued watering.

“It’s quite different than the dungeon I explored before back in the forest near Cellestra’s house. The first floor is a massive steppe. There were some animals there that I’d never seen before, like a horse, but with black and white stripes. Apparently, it’s called a zebra. There was also something called an anteater. Have you ever seen one of those?”

My parents were both smiling at the excitement that became apparent from the way I spoke.

“We have,” My father replied. “We saw this odd animal once at the edge of the forest when we went to Elysa’s shrine. When we asked the priest, he said it was called what you just said.”

“Then,” I continued. “There was something massive, like way bigger than I am. It was completely gray, had two massive tusks and a nose, long like an anteater, but it could move it around, like a rope. It was called an elephant.”

“Never seen one of those,” My father said. “And from your description of size, it shouldn’t be hard to miss.”

I chuckled. “You definitely wouldn’t miss it.”

I sighed, slightly smiling from telling the story. “Then, the second floor started with a pack of wolves. We didn’t continue as we had the accident happen there.”

“You forgot one thing,” Cellestra said, hinting at the bison creature.

“I didn’t,” I said. “It’s a surprise. You know?”

“Ah,” She let out, then smiled.

“Now I’m curious,” Keelarin said.

“I’ll let you know, tomorrow.”

We talked some more about the things that happened since our last meeting. Our trip to the city, the crafters, and the guild wasn’t skipped. Then, I told them about how I had started building a nest in the forest. My mother seemed to be put off by the idea, but I assured her it was one of the most comfortable ways for me to sleep. Once it was finished, it would also keep us dry and out of the wind.

After that, she seemed a lot more understanding. I’d also told her I was trying to learn how to use my silk to create clothes. Some of that had obviously already been apparent as I was wearing these silken wrapping around my chest.

The threads were still strong and hadn’t deteriorated. They had just gotten way too dirty. I was amused when my mother pointed it out. I had simply nodded to it and answered that I planned to take a bath, but that things had kept getting in the way.

After some time, my father left us to go and pick up Elira from school. We filled the time by getting some tea and playing with some of the cats that lived here. It seemed that there were now two furry creatures that had gotten familiar with me besides Shadow. One of them was completely white, and one was gray with a black patch around its left eye. It was also missing half of its tail. My mother explained it happened when he lost it one day when he was hunting. They didn’t know how.

Nevertheless, it hadn’t made him any less affectionate. All three cats were intrigued by my hairy legs. They showed it by rubbing their heads against them.

Cellestra used the moment to pet them to her heart’s desire.

Eventually, my father returned, Elira with him. As soon as the elven girl saw me, she ran towards me and hugged my waist.

“Hey there,” I said, patting her head. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” She said. She then looked at my eye and seemed to be frightened by how it looked. “What happened?”

“Accident. It will heal, though.”

“Magic?” She asked, her eyes wide open.

“Yes, magic.”

“Can you show some more magic?” She asked excitedly.

“I’m afraid I can’t. I used all of it trying to heal that. Sorry.”

She looked disappointed but nodded.

“Maybe tomorrow.”

She nodded again.

“How was school?” I asked.

“Boring. The teacher made us do math. I want to learn magic, like yours!”

I grinned. “I know it’s probably not what mom and dad want to hear, but I hated math too. I didn’t really find much of a use for it either.” I shook my head. “That’s not entirely true. The basics are very important. You will use them your entire life.”

“That’s what the teacher says too.”

I chuckled. “Well, it’s true.”

I couldn’t resist the look in her eyes when we talked about spells, so I decided to brighten her day, perhaps more than that.

“Once you get the basics, I promise I’ll help you learn magic one day.”

“Really?” She asked, looking up with the brightest of eyes.

I nodded. “Really.”

“You’re so cool!”

I patted her head again, not knowing how to answer that. My parents were both smiling at our little interaction. It felt odd, yet comfortable and familiar at the same time to see such innocence that I once had myself. Things really were simpler back then. I missed those days, but at the same time, I was happy with who I was and the path laid out before me.

The moment I was having with Elira was unceremoniously interrupted when my stomach, or perhaps one of two (I didn’t know), located in my spider abdomen growled… loudly.

“What was that?” Elira asked.

“I’m… pretty damn hungry…”

“Woah. You won’t eat me, right?”

I giggled. “I would never.”

“Want me to make you something?” My mother asked.

I shook my head. “I’ll take some bread or something if you have, but I doubt it will do much. I planned to eat my fill in the dungeon tomorrow. One more thing they are good for.”

“You went to a dungeon?” The young elf before me asked.

“Yep. That’s how I got this injury. You better make sure you learn math and then if you learn magic, practice it a lot so you are prepared for whatever you face.”

If Elira ever wanted to set foot in a dungeon, it wouldn’t be for many more years. It wouldn’t hurt to have her understand the importance of learning and practice, even if I did use a little lie to do so.

“Okay,” She replied softly.

She then looked at the cats climbing my legs.

“Hey, Kealyna… can we go for a ride?”

I smiled at the girl. “Sure, why not.”