How did she do it?

I don’t know.

I followed the elf to the dining area and then to the hallway. As usual, she had Elly help her with her armor.

I considered for a second putting mine on and ultimately decided I would do it, just in case. It would be quite surprising if the goblins decided to attack again, but one could never know. I have a feeling that this was exactly what caused Velariah to always go out in armor.

I would not be surprised again.

I picked up my weapon, and Velariah opened the doors to the outside. We had something of a plan set up for the day. We would start with a hearty lunch, followed by a quick visit to the tailoring shop. After that, we would go out and relax in the grass for a couple of hours while Velariah worked on filling the spools she’d got.

I remained quiet for the entire journey. I was glad that our companions weren’t in the guild hall. I wasn’t feeling much like talking at the moment. I’d rather have some time alone with the elf right now.

I guess it was somewhat like a date. I smiled at the thought.

I was not that hungry, but I figured I should eat some if I were to provide as much silk as I could.

We sat down in our usual spots and had to wait a bit before we could order. There were a couple of people ahead of us.

I was glad when I was told that somebody had brought in a Saibon Boar. I ordered a double portion of pork chops before I even realized it.

I ate quietly. Too quietly apparently, because Velariah asked me if I was okay.

“Yeah, I’m alright. I’m just a bit… you know…” I answered.

“Conflicting emotions?” She asked earnestly.

I nodded. “I guess you could call it that.”

“Are you worried?”

I nodded again. I was more than worried.

She put down her fork and took hold of one of my hands on the table.

“What’s the matter, Elania?” She asked quietly.

“I’m scared to death, Vel. I’m starting to fall in love and I don’t know how to deal with it. I feel so happy when I’m around you, it makes me worry I will slip up when we are out in combat and cause you harm… or worse…”

“I guess that’s normal.” She said with a neutral expression. “There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way. All I can say is try to keep things together when we’re in a fight. It gets easier over time.”

I put a pedipalp on her lap as she held onto my hand.

“Thank you, Velariah, I needed that.”

“It’s alright. I fell in love a while ago, already. I felt the same way, I still do. It does get easier, just don’t allow it to overwhelm you.”

She paused for a second. “I’m scared as well. You’re not alone.”

“Thank you.”

I still held on to her hand as I continued eating.

“You mind giving me my hand back, though? Unlike you, I do need this one to eat.”

Oops.

I let go and earned a chuckle from the elf.

During our breakfast, Nira walked in and took notice of us. She made a quick stop by the Lore keeper and had some coins handed to her before she made her way to us.

“Welcome back, Elania.’’ She said with a smile. “Glad to have you back.”

“Thank you, Nira. It’s good to see you again. How have you been?”

“Much better, thank you. I can fly properly again, too.”

“I hate to ask, but are you okay, mentally? I imagine you took quite the blow while you were captured.”

Her face looked down at the table and, for a moment, I thought I had made a mistake by asking that.

“I’ve been dealing with it, it’s getting better. Draco has been of great help to me in handling it. We just finished a quest together, I imagine he will be here soon - he was just off to get some new supplies.”

That lizardman, always reliable. It was good to hear she was doing better.

“How about you?” She asked. “You’ve been out for a few days. How are you?”

“I’m okay. I’ll just need some time to allow the carapace to harden. Once that’s all set and done, we can look for more quests.”

“Your carapace, it looks more… how do you call it?”

“Bald.” Velariah chimed in.

“That’s one way to put it, I guess,” I said in response. “I seem to have lost quite a bit of hair. Not sure if I dig the new look.”

“I like it,” Velariah said.

“Of course you do,” I replied with a wicked smile.

“You guys sure get along well, don’t you?” Nira smiled slightly.

“A little too well,” I answered.

Velariah grinned.

Nira gave me a confused look.

Draco entered the building at the same time and sat down at the table.

“Welcome back, Miss Elania. I assume everything went well?”

“Yup, no issues. Just took longer than before. Also...”

I raised the furthest back rear leg.

“Seems I did in fact, get my leg back.”

Nira gasped. “I hadn’t even noticed...”

“I get it, there are too many limbs to keep track of. Imagine walking with these.”

I contracted and retracted the joints of my raised leg.

“I couldn’t...” Nira said softly.

“That’s great news,” Draco suddenly said.

He seemed to get a certain fire back in his eyes at the sight of my recovered leg. I knew the loss had probably affected him more than me. I was glad we could close that chapter.

Nira laid her wand on the table and beckoned over the waiter. She and Draco ordered as Velariah and I finished up.

“Have there been any good quests?” I asked, as I drank the last of my juice.

“I grabbed one yesterday and held on to it for when you returned,” Draco said. “Sir Valtheril sent a missive. We are going on the offensive soon regarding the village’s goblin problem. There are all sorts of quests going out right now to aid in the final assault.”

I thought Valtheril was out to talk to artisans about the canal? Why would he suddenly decide to mount an assault on the goblins in the forest?

I doubted my companions had the answer to that question.

“The quest I picked up is to clear one of their caves. The area has already been scouted and we’ve got a fairly good idea of what awaits us. It’s just that there’s a bunch of them and they have access to fresh poisons, it makes this quest significantly more dangerous.”

“Sounds like an excellent quest for us,” I noted.

“That’s what I thought as well.” Draco finished.

I hoped Valtheril had a plan to completely wipe out the goblins. It was going to be the only way to ensure Dawnleaf’s safety.

“Sounds good. If Elania is okay with it, we could start tomorrow.” Velariah said.

“If I feel okay, then sure,” I answered.

I was going to have to pick up my armor from Dworag and probably practice the way I would walk with Velariah on my back. If I could manage to walk and run properly with my legs in the positions that I tried before, I could have Dworag start working on the saddle and stirrups. I felt confident now that I had my leg back, that should make things much easier.

“If you’ll excuse us, we will be picking up something from the tailor and then relaxing in the fields near the east exit. If you need us for any reason, you can find us there.”

Velariah paused for a second. “Oh, and please don’t tell Seralyn where we are.”

Good idea, Vel.

She stood up and waved to Draco and Nira. I waved goodbye to them as well and followed the elf outside.

The sun was shining brightly once more and I could feel its effects on my fresh carapace almost immediately. I could just fall asleep right here, right now.

We walked through the village to the tailoring shop. The increase in humans walking around became all the more apparent. None of them threw angry glances at me, though. In fact, some even waved.

It confused me, but it also made me happy. It made me feel recognized as a person instead of a monster. It seemed the elves were completely familiar with me at this point too.

Life was looking up.

We came to a halt at the tailoring shop where I’d gotten my first real clothing and Velariah entered. It would seem they were prepared for her visit because, not long after, she exited.

“Got me ten spools.” She patted the pack at her side. “Just see how many you can fill.”

“Sure,” I said. “By the way, what does the tailor make with this silk, did he share that info?”

“I’m pretty sure he uses it for noble’s clothing. Expensive party and special occasion dresses and the like are among the most expensive kinds of clothing one can find here. He has the luck that people come from afar for his goods. I imagine the value of your silk would be quite a bit less if he had to transport it first.”

“Can’t believe there’s going to be nobles wearing something that came out of my butt.” I grinned as we walked towards the village’s eastern exit.

“That’s quite the odd thought indeed.” Velariah joined me in grinning. “But hey, money is money.”

“True,” I admitted.

I moved in the manner that Dworag had pointed out, with two legs far forward and two far back on each side of my body. The cobblestones were a bit tricky to navigate across, but once we were out in the grass, things became easier.

“Starting to look good, El.” Velariah praised me.

“An extra leg makes all the difference, let me tell you.”

“I’m always impressed seeing you navigate with that many limbs and joints. Nira mentioned it as well. I don’t know how you do it.”

“Practice... you think I knew how to do it when I found myself in that cave? Guess again: I still learn more every day.”

“Must be quite the switch, from two to eight,” Velariah referred to my previous life.

“You’d probably laugh at me if I had to walk on two again. I imagine I’d fall quite often trying to lift both my legs at the same time.”

I thought about what it would be like to be human. I actually don’t know if I would want to be one anymore, strange as it may sound. The main reason for that was the answer I got in the dungeon.

My life was quickly being filled with adventure and love. If Velariah and I managed to get far together, this body would allow me to stay with her, where a human one would eventually fall short.

Or so I thought.

I never imagined I would, but it would seem I had fully accepted this body as my own now.

I tripped and fell to the ground.

“Seems you still need some more… practice.”

Velariah extended a hand to help me up.

“That won’t do much and you know it.” I smiled at the gesture. “And yes, I do need more practice, but that was just me not focusing.”

“Lost in thought?” Velariah asked.

“Yeah, I was thinking about what that dungeon told me.”

“You mind sharing it with me?”

We were quite far out from the checkpoint now and Velariah decided to sit down on the grass. The past few days have been sunny and rain has been absent - the grass was completely dry again.

I lowered myself onto the grass as well.

“Apparently my aging resets every time I molt. That’s what it said, at least.”

“That’s...” Velariah paused for a second. “That’s actually wonderful news. I think?”

She leaned against me and stared at the forest.

“In a way, I guess. Turned out it was the correct question to ask, huh?” I smiled.

“For sure.” The elf replied.

I spread my legs so they lay spread out and flat on the grass. Velariah took a look at them and asked a question.

“Any idea why all those hairs are gone?”

I shook my head. “No idea. I wonder if it’s because of preference? They were quite sensitive.” I paused for a moment. “Although, that actually doesn’t make sense. For some reason, my chitin without hair is just as sensitive now as it was before with hair. I’m actually at a loss here.”

I wrapped my right arms around the elf’s frame before I continued.

“Same thing with the area between my fangs. It’s a bit awkward to talk about, but when we first met, my privates were more… superficial, to put it delicately. They were just covered with hair, so they were impossible to see.”

“Good thing I never knew that.” Velariah chuckled.

I sighed. “A good thing indeed.”

“You think your body is adjusting itself to your preferences? Maybe environment?”

“I’ve thought about that as well, but I don’t see how any of this would make sense in that regard,” I answered. “Besides, my rear isn’t getting any smaller.” I laughed at my own joke.

“Speaking about your rear…” Velariah pulled an empty spool out of her pack. “Shall we get started?”

“Yeah, go for it. Just be gentle, please,” I said, as I laid my arms on the grass and rested my face on them.

I felt Velariah’s touch on my sensitive spinnerets and just completely relaxed. As long as I didn’t clench, it would just keep coming when the strings were pulled.

I couldn’t believe I was making money doing this.

I felt stupid for not doing it before. I guess I had other priorities to take care of.

“Vel, how much silk did you give those traders again for that crate of iron?” I asked while relaxing.

“I think that was about three spools worth of silk, why?”

“I was just thinking. Wasn’t that a bit of a bargain? It seemed Coldanus was far too happy to take the ore as payment.”

“You forget that it was blessed by a dragon.”

Oh, yeah, there was that.

“Plus, they put a very high value on raw silk. It’s far rarer in their region.”

Supply and demand. The basics of trade. I wasn’t new to the concept, far from it. I just didn’t know what different villages valued yet. Iron for silk could be a useful thing in the future.

I was slowly building my knowledge of this world in my head. This was certainly something I’d have to remember.

“That’s one,” Velariah said after some time.

I had to admit, this felt much better than the instance with the traders where she literally yanked it out of me as if she was trying to launch a Beyblade.

Nice and easy wins the race. Or well, it saved me from having pain in my butt.

“How does this feel for you, El?” Velariah asked.

“What’s with the creepy question?”

“I was just wondering, you said you were quite sensitive down here. Does this feel nice to you?”

“Do you have plans to use this in the bedroom or something?” I asked with a chuckle. “As long as you do it nice and easy, it feels kinda… nice, I guess.”

That was still such an awkward question, though!

“Who knows? I actually might, some time.”

“You’re evil, you know that?”

I heard Velariah giggle behind me.

I relaxed again and turned my head to the right. Far in the distance, I could see the towers of the checkpoint next to the dirt road leading to the forest. Right in front of me was a pedipalp. For lack of anything better to do, I observed it as I contracted and released it.

It was quite fascinating to look at. All the moving parts mesmerized me. On its outer end were three small hooks that I knew could grab into things. I put a finger in them and contracted to see if it would hurt.

Fortunately, it didn’t. I assumed those were simply for grip and not to actually hurt something, or someone.

I yawned.

The sun was just too lovely on my fresh body. I was still observing and playing with my pedipalp for god knows how long when I heard Velariah’s voice call out optimistically.

“And that’s ten.”

I shook my head and refocused.

“Ten? Already?”

“Yup,” Velariah called. “It goes pretty fast once you get the hang of it.”

I looked behind me and saw the elf put away the last of the spools in her pack. I hadn’t focused on her work behind me, but now that I did, I felt some of my strength was drained.

“Now, it’s time for me to relax as well.”

She laid herself down on her back next to where I was still looking and eyed the pedipalp that I was still toying around with. I contracted it a few times before suddenly putting it on her shoulder.

“Rawr, I’m a nightmare monster coming to eat ya.” I smiled as I ran the limb up her shoulder to her face.

“Oh, no. Whatever will I do?” Velariah played her part.

“Tip, tip, tip.” I ran it up to her face with three steps before I planted it on her nose. “Boop!”

I pinched the small claws before I quickly brought the limb to my hands and covered the end with my hands.

“Got your nose!”

Velariah laughed. “Very playful today, aren’t you?”

“You don’t like me showing affection?” I smiled.

“I do, actually. A lot, even.” She smiled back.

So cute…

“If only all days could be like this…” I sighed with a smile.

Velariah took hold of one of my hands and interlocked our fingers.

“Hopefully one day.” She smiled. “Though, I think I’d miss adventuring then.”

“It does have a certain allure, doesn’t it?” I asked. “I think you’re right. I doubt I could do without one or the other.”

I put my right legs around her back and dragged her closer.

“To think I never saw more blood than a simple scrape would produce before coming to this world. I could never have imagined killing anything more than a fly or mosquito, nor having the need to.”

Velariah grinned wickedly.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Don’t you get it? Fly, mosquito - it’s funny because you’re half spider.”

I chuckled. “I guess it is, huh?”

“I do feel a bit bad for dragging you into all this,” Velariah said as she looked up to the sky.

“I’m actually thankful you did. Thanks to you, I discovered ways to grow stronger which I’ll likely need to survive and so much more. That guy your father blasted before, I reckon he wasn’t the first, and he won’t be the last, who tried to kill me. Besides, you didn’t think I planned to live in a cave the rest of my life, did you?”

“Heh, thanks, El.”

I shuffled a bit forward and brought my face to her side. I pressed my lips together and anticipated her kissing me. Instead of that she slightly raised her upper torso and looked into the distance with shock in her eyes.

I could feel shock start to fill my body.

“Please tell me it’s not her...” I pleaded quietly.

Of all the times she could show up, this would literally be the single worst one.

Velariah laughed.

“Hahaha, just kidding.”

She lowered herself again with a huge smile on her face. She then took hold of my head with her free arm and brought my face to hers before kissing me gently.