The Knightly Elven… Spider?

My blessing still seemed to be calculating, so I climbed a nearby tree and waited until it was finished.

Just show me the important stuff, Elysa. I don’t need to see all those kill messages, I can already tell that none of them gave any experience.

I had to wait for another minute or so before the next message showed.

I couldn’t believe I’d killed so many creatures with a single spell.

I couldn’t believe those achievements were needed for an evolution as well. I guessed it was somewhat worthwhile in the end? Still, what was Elysa expecting from me? 1000 creatures? For real? The only way to do that was pretty much exactly what I just did; kill insects in massive numbers.

All that had given me a good amount of experience and evolution points. I decided to take a look exactly where I was right now.

By the goddess.

417 points.

Why was I even being conservative about this anymore?

After seeing the destruction that my spider lightning brought, I decided to upgrade it to its maximum rank without hesitation. I then upgraded the cyclone spell to its final rank as well, before turning to the other options I still had available.

While my new selections were taking hold in my body, I was wondering what I would do with the 282 points I had remaining.

I still had some achievements I could try to get. One of them was the one where I had to resist an ailment with one of my resistances. I thought about upgrading the toxin resistance for that reason. The only thing that made me hesitate was that during my next evolution, I would get more points for the same achievement.

I kind of wanted to get the earthen spike spell, too. To instantly upgrade it to its highest rank, I would have to spend 120 points.

I would also like to have a few points stocked up for when I hit my next evolution. Who knew what spells would show up?

Then again, I would still be getting a bunch of points either way. This was because of the two levels and because of that one achievement I still needed for my next evolution.

I decided to take the earthen spike spell, as I had been looking to add a penetrating attack to my arsenal. I thought it would be quite important to get this. While I had the lightning arc, which I thought should be enough to fell a bear with, it wouldn’t hurt to have something in reserve.

I went through each of the changes one by one before I looked at my options again.

Hmmm…

Even if I went for the resistance achievement during my next evolution, there was no real reason for me to delay enhancing my toxin resistance, was there? It would just provide me with some added safety sooner.

I decided to upgrade the skill to its highest possible level as well for 115 points, leaving me a mere 47, a fraction of what I started with.

These skills were so costly…

At least the list of available enhancements had shrunk considerably. The changes took hold as I considered what I would take next, if I were to still take anything during this evolution. I figured there were no real defensive options I could take anymore. I would probably delay upgrading any skills until my next evolution, unless I absolutely needed something on the fly.

Maybe I would actually go for the limb strengthening? Its second-highest level was already quite interesting…

I shook it off after I climbed down the tree. I’d lost a fair amount of time with that fight and choosing my new upgrades after. I actually started wondering if I’d be home before evening.

I did not want Cellestra to start worrying about me…

How would she feel if I didn’t show up in time?

I didn’t know. I didn’t want to know. I resumed my trip back at an even faster pace than before. I followed the river once more, just in case I ran into the one target I needed.

Unfortunately, besides a wolf or two, I didn’t find anything of interest. I reached Cellestra’s home, just as the sun started to set. The sky had just started to turn orange by the time I arrived.

The door was closed this time around, but it wouldn’t make a difference. I couldn’t exactly enter on my own anyway. I guessed that was why the elf had closed it.

I walked up and climbed against the window before tapping it. Soon enough, the door opened and Cellestra showed up.

“Welcome back. You’re a bit late. Did everything go okay?”

Her concern filled me with warmth again. Her eyes were darting over my body, likely checking if anything was wrong.

I didn’t quite have the option to talk here, not unless she brought out the pieces of paper, so I just nodded yes.

“Do you want to come inside?” She then asked.

I nodded again. I had not prepared to spend the night outside and wasn’t looking forward to it at all. This might be the last night I would get to spend in Cellestra’s house, and I planned to enjoy it as best I could.

I started thinking about the things that I wouldn’t be able to see or do anymore once I had outgrown the doorframe and sadness filled my heart. I did enjoy watching her cook…

Cellestra stepped outside and helped me fit my abdomen through the door by tilting it sideways. She then followed me as I walked up to the table. I climbed on top of it and noticed that the terrariums that were once situated on it were gone.

It didn’t take long for me to spot them on the counter in the kitchen. She’d made space just for me. And likely just for one day…

“I’ve already finished cooking dinner. I was just waiting for you to return. Take a wild guess as to what we’re having tonight.”

Wild guess, boar?

Cellestra smiled at me before speaking again. “I have the feeling you guessed it right. It’s boar.”

I knew it.

I positioned myself on the table so that Cellestra would have plenty of space for the plates. She had moved the pieces of paper over so that they would be to her left if she sat down on the chair.

After a minute or so, we started a nice dinner. Cellestra seemed eager to learn what had taken me so long to return and asked what happened again. Now that I had the option to reply to her questions, it made things quite a bit easier.

“Killed Colossal wasp and over thousand ants with new spell.”

“That sounds like quite the spell,” Cellestra replied in awe. “Please explain.”

“Called spider lightning. Goddess made good joke with name.”

Cellestra started laughing and almost choked on her food. I was worried for a moment that she would, but she seemed to recover without a problem.

“Spider lightning,” She let out and then chuckled. “I never did see Elysa as one to joke around. The more you know, I guess.” Her face then retorted to a more serious expression. “Anyway, please tell me what it does.”

“Creates arc of lightning that connects to target. Once hit target, it seeks out other targets nearby. Spell is slow moving. After each enemy lightning splits and seeks more enemies.”

“That sounds strong,” Cellestra exclaimed.

“Was not finished,” I wrote immediately after.

Cellestra’s eyes continued to look at the letters with great curiosity as I continued.

“I made sure the spell did not kill anything as there is extra effect. I connected all ants with lightning before chaining it to wasp that was attacking ants. At the end of spell effect, all enemies chained are shocked. Shock effect grows stronger if more enemies are connected. Over thousand ants caused devastating damage. Wave of blue and white light happened. Ground was black when spell ended. All targets evaporated.”

“By the goddess, Kealyna. That spell sounds highly interesting. I truly wish I could have been there to observe what you did.”

“Was breathtaking,” I spelled.

“And here I am, learning a barrier spell from you. I wouldn’t mind you teaching me some of those interesting spells,” She said with a smile that melted my heart.

“Can do at some point if want.”

I would love to teach her.

Cellestra smiled once more. “I imagine that once I get this barrier spell done correctly, I will actually be able to learn other spells more quickly as I get more familiar with the mana flows that the goddess seems to have woven into those spells. If you want to teach me, I’d love to learn.”

She then closed her eyes while still smiling. “It’s been too long since I learned new magic.”

She seemed overjoyed. I liked seeing her like this. My mind wanted her to feel this way more often.