POV: Blythe:

Oh, this is not good. That was the first thought that ran through my head when that scream came. If Les got attacked, then it means that there was a creature with enough stealth and detection to catch her, and only one creature comes into mind: the shadow walker. This monster is a spider that can essentially camouflage itself very well with the darkness and appears in caves with a high mana concentration… like this one. But the problem is that the shadow walker should not be up in these upper levels because the upper levels are too diluted for those spiders. If a shadow walker is found up here, it means that this is a mutated shadow walker which is also not good since they would be even stronger than a normal shadow walker.

With this in my mind, I ran with all my might in the direction of the scream only to see Les being dragged into a hole in the cavern wall.

“Les! I’m coming!” (Blythe)

“No! Watch out!” (Les)

I turned around to see an acid centipede looming over me. Oh shit. I got careless. I fell backward and awaited the sharp pain from the acid, but it never came. When I looked up, I saw Trevor with his shield raised. He quickly bashed the shield onto the centipede’s head and chopped it off with a swing. Immediately, his sword began to melt. Muttering, Trevor threw the melting sword at the approaching centipedes.

“Are you an idiot for just running ahead like that? Get back into formation. Adal!” (Trevor)

“Got it. [Flame Wall]” (Adal)

A giant wall of flame suddenly appeared between the centipedes and us.

“We need to *cough* retreat. Les’s scream probably attracted all sorts of monsters here, especially considering we are near an *cough* intersection, who knows what will…” (Trevor)

Trevor ducked as a giant bat swooped down on him. Before the bat could attack once more, I shot it down.

“We need to go.” (Trevor)

“Not without Les.” (Blythe)

“Be reasonable Blythe. Les is probably dead by now. You know that shadow walkers don’t save their food. Let’s go. It’s too late.” (Adal)

“NO! I am not leaving Les here. I don’t care if she is dead. I won’t forgive myself if I abandoned her like this. Let go damn it!” (Blythe)

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I saw Descal.

“I. Les. You. Run.” (Descal)

Before I could say anything, he smiled and threw his sword to Trevor. Afterwards, he ran through the dying flame, used a centipede’s head as a launch board and flew into the hole that Les disappeared into.

“Whoa. What is that dumbass doing?” (Adal)

“He said run and leave Les to him.” (Blythe)

“Then, I will take him up on that offer.” (Trevor)

Before I could do anything, I was picked up like a sack of potatoes and carried off by Trevor while Adal provided cover for us by blasting the caves with fire to slow down our pursuers. I began to cry and pray for Descal’s return with Les.

POV: Descal

I am gonna say that my time in this world just gets shittier. First, it is the blood plains with the stupid plants, and now this bullshit. Why the hell am I doing this for her when my condition is already starting to deteriorate? I started to run down the dark cavern that was gradually getting colder as time passed. It was also extremely dark so I strengthened my eyes and manipulated it so that it could detect and convert wavelengths of light outside the visible spectrum into colors that my eyes could understand. I also started to read my surrounding with an improvised mana sonar in which I periodically send out pulses of mana and read the reflected mana that comes back to me. It is similar to the echolocation of bats.

Soon I arrived at a gigantic cavern with spider webbing everywhere. The cavern had some fluorescent crystals here and there which gave off this really eerie lighting. I noticed the drag marks, and I followed them until they suddenly stopped. I looked up, but it was hard to determine if Les was up there especially with the dense webbing all over the ceiling. I am going to need to have to climb the webbing, but I am not risking it when there is a spider that is loose around here. So the question is how I am going to find that spider. No. I am going to lure that spider to me.

Since this is a spider web, the spider should be sensitive to disturbances in the web. Since that is the case, I pulled out a bunch of plant material from my storage. What? I thought it would be useful. I then proceeded to make something like a hastily made scarecrow out of it. I then went to an ideal spot, threw it on a nearby web, and started to shake the bait.

“C’mon you fuckin spider. Come out.”

My sonar immediately picked up something behind me, and I roll to my left. Two legs whiz right by me barely missing my head. Oh crap. That is a big spider. I immediately stand up and reach for my sword. Errrr. Where the hell is it? Oh fuck. Oh my balls. I gave it to Trevor, didn’t I. Oh shit. What type of nooby mistake is that? I am so damn rusty. Oh shit. And my magic repertoire is severely limited. First, I can’t use a lot of spells in this stupid area. Earth spells could threaten the integrity of the cave, fire is a real bad idea when I am surrounded by flammable spider silk, and the cave is too damn dry to mooch off the water vapor. (What, you think magic is omnipotent so that I can just make water? Well, I am so sorry that hydrogen usually escapes the freaking atmosphere, and I don’t have time to properly protect myself from radiation if I do cause the air to decay into hydrogen using magic.)

I once again roll out of the way when the spider pounces on me. Wait. When did shadow spiders jump like that? I manipulate the wind and blast the left legs of the spider causing it to trip and fall. The downside is that the air kicked up a lot of dust that got everywhere and limited my visibility again. I immediately dive at the spider’s head and smash a rock at one of its eyes before jumping away. It immediately started shrieking. Wait. This cry sounds very familiar… Before I could finish my thought, I was smacked away, and I crashed into a wall.

“Ugggh. My back. Damn it. This stupid graphite wall.”

Suddenly, an idea ran through my head. I was reminded of my AP Chemistry class. Alright, let’s go over question six which almost the entire class got wrong. It is true that graphite and diamond are both completely made out of carbon. No other elements. Jimmy, I swear to God. If you say the chemical formula for mercury fulminate one more time, I will make you write me a ten-page essay about it and a presentation to the class… that’s it. You have one week to do it. Now, the main difference between them is that the carbon structure is made of diamond with extremely strong covalent bond in a tetrahedral structure. Graphite, on the other hand, is made up of flat layers of carbon hexagonal planes with the layers being connected by weak Van der Waal forces….

This is graphite. I should be able to morph graphite into a diamond knife at the very least. I just have to alter the chemical structure. Immediately, I picked up a chunk of graphite that broke off from the impact and transformed it into a 30 cm knife while I was on the run. Just when I finished, I got hit by something and tumbled over. It turns out that spider can also shoot globs of sticky silk, and the spider looks to be holding a string. Oh crap.

The spider gives a yank, and I get flung right into a spider web. The spider immediately followed it up with a pounce and crashed into me. Luckily, both of my arms were free so I could grab the spider’s fang before it could sink right into me. I quickly condensed the air in front of me and released it causing a shockwave that blew away the spider. While the spider was still stunned, I quickly cut myself loose and readied myself. But either way, I think I know this spider. It is too much of a coincidence.

“What the hell are you doing here, Arachne?” (Descal)

Immediately, the spider freezes and starts to … err … eye me with its remaining eye. It seemed unsure of how to proceed so I decided to egg it on.

“What? Lizard got your tongue? Spit it out. What are you doing here, Arachne?” (Descal)

“I thought the common tongue of the old was lost among the humans. No, you aren’t human. No human should be able to use chant less magic and have such precise control over it.” (Arachne)

“To me, it isn’t old, and you still haven’t answered my question. It doesn’t really matter who I am. What are you doing here, Arachne?” (Descal)

“I believe it is common courtesy for the person asking to introduce themselves first. Who are you?” (Arachne)

“Oh that is rich coming from a treacherous spider. How far have you fallen, Queen of the Spiders? It seems that you have completely lost that beautiful figure of yours and completely reverted into your spider form. Am I wrong?” (Descal)

“Watch your tongue human. Do NOT provoke me. I will not answer any questions until you answer my question of who you are.”

“My name is Descal. A simple human that wants to rescue a ninja that you have taken from us.”

“Do not lie to me. You are no simple human. No human can use chant less magic so efficiently. Also, there is a certain atmosphere around you… It is small and suppressed, but it exists. Tell me the truth: who are you?” (Arachne)

I immediately froze up when I heard this. To think that it was still leaking out. I guess this body really is struggling to hold up. Arachne is one of the most sensitive monsters I have ever met so I guess it means that my old self still exists. So my body really is a shell.

“So you wish to know who I really am. Perhaps this will awaken your memories.” (Descal)

I unleashed a little bit of my soul energy which immediately began to fill up the room dimming the light crystals. The spider began to shake.

“It cannot be…” (Arachne)

POV: Third Person

“I thought you were dead. It seems not.” (Arachne)

“I am really hard to kill. You know that first hand anyway.” (Descal)

“Exactly what happened that day Dybbuk? 1,239 years have passed since that day.” (Arachne)

“Do not call me by that name. I don’t go by that name anymore. It is no longer who I am. I am now Descal Binus.” (Descal)

“Hehehe. You know that is not completely true either. Your old self still exists. I can sense it. I thought it felt familiar but for it to be you.” (Arachne)

“But I am also changed.” (Descal)

“But for how long?” (Arachne)

“As long as necessary.” (Descal)

“How amusing. Well, then now that you have returned, what exactly are your plans? Will you pursue your old agenda once more?” (Arachne)

“… I was naïve and foolish back then. My thinking was too narrow. I was too optimistic. I understand what he was trying to say to me back then. But either way, I think I owe a duty to this world to see it in a new light. My time in another world has shown me possibilities I never dreamed of. At the moment, I don’t really have a goal, but to live life.” (Descal)

“You… really have changed. In the past, you were always so impulsive. To think that even you could change.” (Arachne)

“Stop flattering me. You didn’t answer my question. Why are you here? What happened after that day?” (Descal)

“Sigh. I was hoping you would forget that. After the battle, I did collect my reward of the forest that was promised to me. The humans did not interfere too deeply with my domain. I even helped out at times, protecting their crops from pests. However, that all changed with the recent war.” (Arachne)

“The warped ones invasion?” (Descal)

“Hahahaha. That is what it looks like on the surface. In truth, it is much more sinister. The leader of the army is an extremely powerful sorceress. She has already pulled in the demons into her army during the current stalemate. She promised them land and souls in the upper world once she conquers this continent. At the moment, she is trying to recruit the undead as well. She has even tried to recruit me as one of her generals, but I declined. My current state right now is the result. I am now residing in this cave to utilize the healing waters in an attempt to break the curses she has laid upon me.” (Arachne)

“Hmmm. This sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it?” (Descal)

“Humph. In a way, it is. However, the sorceress’ goal is definitely not controlling life. She claims that she merely wishes to rule the world, but I can’t help but feel that there is more to it. Her facial expression was extremely suspicious. Either way, does this change your plans in any way? To simply “live life”? This continent is on the brink of a world war once more. Are you sure that you will not participate in any way?” (Arachne)

“Not really. I can still hope that the invasion won’t happen until sometime later. Also, since she is not seeking to chain this world, then I don’t think I need to really intervene too much. Yeah, I will most likely participate, but probably not extensively. Besides, I can always escape to an island and wait out the war, too. If the residents of this world were able to hold out and raise an individual that can defeat the Emperor of Despair, then they can surely defeat this small fry.” (Descal)

“….. I have no words to describe how much you have changed. Just which world did you go to that fundamentally changed you so much?” (Arachne)

“It wasn’t really much. I just had real parents.” (Descal)

“Surely you jest. YOU had parents?” (Arachne)

“Okay. Now that is insulting. Anything is possible, especially in the multiverse. Anyway, I think this conversation has gone on long enough. Give me back the ninja you have taken from us. Also, could you lead me to the spring with the purest content? That would be great.” (Descal)

“When did I become a pet?” (Arachne)

“Look, I may look weak right now, and I am weaker than I used to be. However, I still have enough strength to tear you apart if need be. Do you understand? I am in a really bad mood right now. Don’t push it.”

“It seems that you still retain some of your old self. Fine, I shall. In return, you will leave and never speak to anyone what has occurred in this cave nor my whereabouts. Promise this with the magic tongue, and I shall grant your request.”

“Easy enough, but I will also expect the same from you. Is that clear?”

“This is hardly fair, but I guess I don’t have a choice. So be it.”

POV: Descal

This is only like the third day, and already so much has happened. UGGGGHHH. My head is going to split; it can’t hold it back for much longer. I need to hurry this up. I walked over to the mummified cocoon that held Les and started to cut him open. Good. Looks like he is still breathing. I walk over to the pool of water that held the precious healing water and took a drink. My headache abated a little bit, but not by much. Crap, I forgot that I don’t have a container. I walk over to Les and grabbed his canteen and filled it. Then, I grabbed him, and …. Wait… does this guy have boobs? Uhhh. Les is a girl? Oh my head. I can’t take this anymore. Let’s just go.

I used the shortcut that Arachne taught me to immediately get near the entrance of the cave. I saw the group sitting there in a circle with Blythe intently staring at the entrance. Once I emerged, Blythe immediately took off running toward us.

“Oh my Physis. You’re alive! Thank you so much. And Les. She’s alive, too! Thank you so much.” (Blythe)

She knelt down and started to cry as she hugged Les’ unconscious form. The swordsman walked up to me and shook my hand. Just as I was going to hand the canteen over to Trevor, my mind just exploded. I suppressed my emotional confusion before the fight began in case it got triggered. It was slowly building up throughout the day, and the emotions just burst forth like a volcano as it spread and ripped at my conscious. Suddenly, the emotion sadness and fear emerged from the confusion, and I knelt and started to bawl and scream. The last thing that I remembered before I lost conscious was Adal casting a spell on me. Then, I began to dream.

“My Baby! Are you okay? Don’t. Look at me. Don’t look behind you.”

“The woman is dead. Isn’t she?”

“Don’t talk about it. Look it isn’t your fault. It’s alright.”

“I don’t get it. Why did this person save me from that car? What benefit is there to saving me even though we are not related by blood?”

“Ooof. Sometimes, it is hard to even believe you are five years old. Normally, children your age would be freaking out over this situation. Even an adult would.”

“Well, mom, like you always say, kids can grow up fast.”

“*chuckle* that may be true for you. But I think you should still act like your age. It’s okay to feel confused, scared, and sad in these situations. Just don’t think too deeply into this at your age.”

“You know what the psychologist said. My emotions are a mess so”

“I don’t care about that. Look. I am your mother; it is written all over your face. It’s okay.”

“But why? Why did this completely unrelated woman go out of her way to save me? It goes against all instincts of survival.”

“Sigh. In these situations, you can’t look at this like that. You’re right when you said that humans can be one of the most selfish, ungrateful species in the world. But, here’s the thing. Humans may have the potential to commit acts that rival or surpass the devil, but you should never underestimate humanity’s infinite capacity for kindness. Kindness is one of the necessities for proper progress. Anything built on hatred later collapses. Humans have made it this far, not from selfish behavior, but an accumulation of helping each other. Now come here. It’s okay. It’s okay to cry in these situations, and this is why your mother is right here.”

“If you were in that woman’s situation, would you do the same thing?”

“Sigh. I don’t know. You can’t predict the future.”

“Please don’t. I don’t want you to die.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t die until I at least get to see your grandchildren.”

“Sniff. I… sniff… Do you love me even though I am like this?”

“Shush. You’re my son. It doesn’t matter what you are like. I love you just the way you are. Now, let’s go home.”

“Home…sniff… okay… Can we go to the zoo with Dad tomorrow?”

“Hahaha. Finally, you are acting a little like a kid. Okay. We’ll go. Now let’s get up, and let the police officers do their work.”