Cellestra ate, but I could see she had trouble with the steak. Not cooking it properly had left it tough. I chuckled at the sight of her struggling and she giggled in response, saying that it was still delicious. I didn’t doubt her there.

Soon enough, we were back in action and another bison lay felled and was being eaten.

“I wonder if I should eat one myself, you know, try to gain the heat resistance skill for myself.”

“Think it would help against those Firags?” Cellestra asked.

“Haven’t even thought about that,” I let out. “It might, but I don’t know for sure. Can’t say I'm keen on letting myself get hit by fire just to try it out.”

Cellestra giggled softly.

“You make a good point,” I continued. “But I don’t feel like I desperately need it right now, so let’s just keep that in the back of our minds and have the others get stronger first.”

“Want me to write it down?” She suggested with a smile. “You know, in case we come across any other skills.”

“I wonder if theirs and my own skill work in the same way, as in, we can acquire the same abilities from the same creature. I reckon it does, so in that case, it could be interesting to keep track of things in that way.”

“Why don’t you ask?” Cellestra said, curiosity twinkling in her eyes.

“Good point,” I said. “Elysa?”

Skill: Devour (Evolving) and Skill: Spiderling Devour (Evolving) can acquire the same skills from any target although the effectiveness and levels gained can differ.

“As in, one might need multiple gains of the same skill to get to the same level, right?”

Affirmative.

“Well, guess there’s our confirmation.”

“Let me just write it down then,” Cellestra said, taking off her backpack and digging through its contents. She pulled out an inkpot, a quill, and her notebook. She had difficulty writing without a hard surface but still managed in the end. “Who knows, maybe we’ll end up with a list.”

I chuckled. “Who knows?”

Spiderling Devour (Evolving) Skill Activated:

Shayla has acquired skill: Strong Exoskeleton.

Shayla passes this skill to nearby Spiderlings.

Myria has acquired skill: Strong Exoskeleton.

Faerith has acquired skill: Strong Exoskeleton.

Elle has acquired skill: Strong Exoskeleton.

Amarys has acquired skill: Strong Exoskeleton.

Kealyna has acquired: Spiderling Upgrade - Strong Exoskeleton.

I stared at the square that had suddenly shown up before me, my lips slowly circling into a smile. The spiderlings immediately stopped eating and Cellestra stopped writing when she noticed the sudden shift in behaviors.

“Something happened?” She asked, her quill still at the ready.

“We just got exactly what we were looking for.”

“No way.”

“Yes way,” I said happily. “Strong exoskeleton. Took a few hours, but our patience has been rewarded. Still a long way to go, but the foundations are there.”

Elle shared in my happiness and skittered up to my front to take me in for a hug. I giggled as I ran my hand over her head.

“I’m glad to see you happy, but there is something else I’d like to see today before we go home. I’m sure you’d love to as well, Cel.”

“What may that be?” She said as she carefully dabbed the end of the quill with a piece of cloth.

“I want to see what five spiders using fireballs can do against one of these things.” I turned my attention to the creatures in question. “I guess I don’t really have to warn you about what these bisons can do, do I?”

The shaking of their pedipalps and the fact that they’d seen the speed and weight of these beasts firsthand confirmed that they knew exactly what kind of threat they posed.

“Alright.”

I then explained the bit of a plan that I had in my mind. I’d try to get a bovine’s attention while the spiderlings skittered closer and unleashed all their firepower at once. With luck, I’d keep them fixated on me as they dished out spells. Even if the fireballs weren’t the strongest, enough of them would eventually bring it down. Besides, this was an ideal practice target as the bison’s fur had proved to be quite flammable in the past.

And so we went to work. I charged up to an animal and ran my blade across its side, creating a cut that was merely superficial and not lethal in the slightest. Yet it was enough to anger the animal, and it turned to me to start a typical charge. As it stood there for that one second, it received a barrage of fireballs cast by Elle and the others.

It was enough for it to turn around and shift its gaze to the others, but I wouldn’t let it.

I jumped right next to it and stabbed it in its undamaged side, and then again, and again. I didn't put too much force behind the blows, but the pain it inflicted was enough to grab its attention back.

It forced me on the run, just as another volley of fireballs was flung toward the beast. Those, combined with the previous assault, were enough to cause flames to spread all over its fur. It halted charging me and turned around once more, but the damage was already done. It couldn’t continue further than a couple of yards and collapsed, the flames literally burning it alive.

Your Spiderlings have killed a Common Bison.

“Not bad,” I called out as we converged at the smoldering beast. “But here’s the real question. You each used two fireballs. Now, I’m wondering how much more do you think you can use before depleting your mana pools?”

They seemed to be confused by the question, but I couldn’t really blame them. They’d only recently acquired the spell and none of them had pushed their limit regarding spellcasting capabilities yet. I supposed the only real way to find out was to have one of them cast the fireball spell over and over until they couldn’t cast it any longer.

“Uhhh,” I let out, thinking whether it was a good idea. “Faerith, would you mind using the spell again and again until you run out of mana?”

She eagerly nodded and immediately threw a fireball into the distance.

“Wait a second there. Let’s get back to the entrance and do it there. We’ll call it a day after that.” I looked at the charred remains of their last kill and imagined that it wouldn’t be the tastiest meal they’d ever had.

“You girls want to eat that, or?”

It seemed I wasn’t the only one that agreed that blackened meat wasn’t appetizing as the five of them almost immediately shook with a definitive ‘no’.

“Well, I won’t force you to. Cellestra, how are you holding up?”

“Could be better. Starting to get sore again.”

“I can imagine. Let’s get our business finished here and then help you out of that armor.”

We made our way back to the entrance without running into anything, and once there, I allowed Faerith to do her thing. She managed to cast two more fireballs before she made clear that she couldn’t do it again. I felt a hint of sadness in the ever-so-active spiderling, but petted her as I told her I was proud nonetheless.

“Five fireballs is nothing to scoff at,” I said. “And with your sisters, that makes twenty-five total. Some more upgrades and you’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

My inspiring speech prompted Elle to jump forward again to hug me. I couldn’t help but smile and give her a quick pat on the head before leaving the dungeon. As I did, I felt anxious for a moment at the thought of the man from before being on the other side, but to my relief, there wasn’t a trace of him when we got there.

With a deep sigh of that same relief, I helped Cellestra when she took her armor off before we made our way back home.

“Another day of work is over,” I commented. “I’m happy with our progress, but I hope we’ll be able to hunt separately from each other soon, I’m sacrificing my own growth right now and it’s making me feel conflicted.”

“Well, you said it yourself,” Cellestra said while running her hand over my back. “Some more upgrades and they’ll be a force to be reckoned with. I suppose that qualifies?”

“Hm,” I said with a chuckle. “True. By the way, I believe Felmar is stationed at the dungeon again tomorrow. I feel like asking and informing him about the situation wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“You mean with the inquisitor? That sounds about right, I’d say. You still want to stay at the farm tonight?”

“I do feel like it.” I nodded. “Unless you don’t want to, of course.”

“No objections here.”

“Great. Then let’s make a certain girl overly happy then, shall we?”

Cellestra let out one of her cute giggles but didn’t say a word.

It was clear she very much liked my family and it left me wondering if I’d ever meet hers, and if our interactions would then be just as easy and carefree. Yet, anything regarding that matter seemed too far away to even imagine right now.

Who knows? Maybe one day.