I woke up with my eyes already taking in everything they could take in. It was quite hard not to, considering I couldn’t close them.

It only confirmed once more that this wasn’t actually a dream.

I had been cursed by some god who used me for some kind of sick game of theirs. So I thought.

At least I had this blessing I received from Elysa. It was the only thing keeping my sanity in check. I feared either anger or hopelessness would have consumed me otherwise. At least, I would be able to understand my own kind in the future. I reckoned that even if I was a spider, as long as I could communicate with someone, they would not try to kill me right off.

I let out a mental sigh. What was I going to do?

Hey Elysa, is there another way for me to obtain experience besides killing?

Experience is gained through killing creatures and certain achievements.

I may have been trained to kill effectively, but I learned that to protect innocents, not slaughter my way to attain more strength. The message before me was slightly disheartening for that reason.

Though, I guess, killing non-sapient beings was not as bad? I had killed plenty of mosquitos and spiders in my old life…

What are these achievements exactly?

Achievements are hidden until the requirements are fulfilled.

Well, that’s not of great help now, is it?

Just great…

I walked to my web to remove it in order to start my second day as a spider.

When I approached it, thanks to my new not-as-terrible vision, I could see some things wriggle in the web. From the sound and shapes, I could make out that I’d caught two mosquito-like creatures?

I imagined I should at least kill them for the experience. I wouldn’t say no to free prey. Whether I’d eat them would depend on the taste.

You have killed a Vampiric Cave Mosquito: EXP+15

You have killed a Small Vampiric Cave Mosquito: EXP+9

Vampiric mosquitos? Weren’t all mosquitos vampiric because they sucked blood, anyway?

I waved the thought away as I tried eating one of the mosquitos’ blood-filled abdomen.

Disgusting.

I spat out whatever I could spit out and dropped the mosquitos in the back of this cranny.

Eating my own kind was better than this. Not that spiders tasted great…

I should probably go down and continue where I left off yesterday.

I did just that. After getting the web out of the way, I skittered my way down to where the eggs were after making sure there were no threats. Unfortunately, I wasn’t alone anymore.

Several of the spiders appeared to have hatched and were crawling around with seemingly utmost effort. I had arrived just in time.

I crawled up to the nearest spider and pinned its behind down with my extra limbs. I then sank my fangs in it and pumped venom into its body. It let out a hiss as it struggled to break free from my grasp. It soon stopped struggling.

You have killed a Tiny Black Cave Spider: EXP+15

Level Up!

Kealyna has reached level 7!

You have been awarded 2 EP.

I was making progress towards my level cap. I did appear to have another issue at hand, though.

The hiss that the spider let out, did not go unanswered. One of the spiders walked my way, and I didn’t like the look of it.

Deciding I would be able to overcome this sibling, I resolved to take a stand and fight as it ran towards me. I gripped its head with my pedipalps as it bared its fangs.

I then pulled my own head over my opponent’s while pressing theirs down and sank my fangs down into the creature.

You have killed a Tiny Black Cave Spider: EXP+18

This wasn’t nearly as difficult as I’d expected it to be. I was able to control my limbs well enough to resort to fighting in a somewhat martial arts style.

I saw two spiders fight each other close by and decided I’d take advantage of the situation. I was becoming less of a knight by the second...

I sneaked up behind the one that appeared to be winning and when it was about to overpower its opponent with its pedipalps, I brought my fangs down on its abdomen to inject my venom.

Before it died, I quickly ran to the other opponent who seemed to be in a weakened state, and repeated the same action.

You have killed a Tiny Black Cave Spider: EXP+17

You have killed a Tiny Black Cave Spider: EXP+13

Level Up!

Kealyna has reached level 8!

You have been awarded 1 EP.

I looked around and saw nothing in my vicinity. I decided to use the time to eat once more. I removed the carapace from my last target’s abdomen and started ripping out the flesh with my teeth.

Spiders were truly disgusting. Not as bad as the mosquito, but they were still bad. The hunger that had been renewed the moment I woke up was soon sated. I imagined it was because I was newly born. Any species would need a lot of food when they were just born, right?

After eating until I couldn’t eat anymore, I decided to continue. That was, until I saw a large figure enter my terrible eyesight. I decided to make a run for it, knowing that whatever this was could easily kill me.

From the glimpse that I got of the creature, I could tell it was a spider. One far larger than I was. If I had to guess, I would assume it was either the mother of this clutch, or perhaps another spider that preyed on the young.

I did not intend to leave this world yet.

From the corner of my vision, I could see the creature not giving chase as I ran away

The creature seemed to linger around the clutch of eggs. I cursed mentally as it had cut me off from my growth potential.

Not wanting to sit idly and wait until it disappeared, I decided to look for other small creatures that I would be able to kill.

I walked along the edge of the cave wall in search of new prey. There were several small nooks that I could hide in, in case anything larger than myself showed up.

I found a small puddle of water, with more water dripping down in drops every few seconds from the cave ceiling. I looked around to make sure it was safe before I lowered my head to drink some.

I had no idea about spider diets, but I imagined water was important. My thirst had already confirmed that.

I then moved onward until I found a long, pink creature wriggling around. I identified the creature as a worm. I couldn’t imagine anything else looking like this.

I took my chances and decided this creature would not pose a threat. I was upon it within seconds and injected my venom.

It squirmed and struggled. It took quite some time for it to slow down in movements, which made me doubt the efficacy of my venom, but ultimately this too, succumbed to it

You have killed an Earthworm: EXP+15

I decided to try a piece of the creature’s meat and found it quite a bit more appetizing than anything I’d tasted so far. It was still far from decent, but the next time I needed to eat. I’d eat some Earthworm instead.

How much experience would I need for my next level anyway? I had noticed this blessing needing more experience with each level.

Hey Elysa.

Name: Kealyna

Race: Tiny Brown Cave Spider

Level: 8/10

Experience: 15/70

Evolution Points: 6

I noticed I had six evolution points available, but as far as I knew, I could only obtain very weak resistance to magic for now. I did not think it necessary, so I decided not to spend them.

Maybe I would get some proper options after my evolution? I still wanted to fix this vision, after all…

I continued my journey through the cave and found several more… pests. I managed to kill two more worms, and found a slug that I killed without any effort. It even tasted somewhat nice. It was the best I had found so far.

I then ran into some kind of beetle. It was about my size and completely black. I skittered closer with great care to observe if this particular beetle possessed any kind of weaponry. I knew certain beetles had nasty, large mandibles that could likely crush me.

This one, however, seemed to not possess any such characteristics.

When it didn’t attack me as I approached, I decided I could take on this creature and ran over to it as fast as I could. I was about to launch myself upon its abdomen when its hind two legs kicked me in the face.

Ouch.

It then tried to run away.

Oh no, you don’t.

I chased after it and managed to catch up. I jumped on its back again while dodging its legs this time. I took hold of the creature’s back and sank my fangs between its armor plates.

I found my venom reserves run dry as I injected it.

Uh-oh.