I awoke with pain still coursing through my body. I hadn’t even regained my vision yet. Instead, I started running, knowing damn well there would be predators heading for the bird that fell with me.

Then, I bumped into a wall.

What?

I waited a few seconds for my vision to return to normal.

When I could see, I was shocked. I saw four glass walls around me and a wooden ceiling above me.

I looked around in my enclosure and saw dirt ground, a small metal bowl with water, a log, and some branches that were trapped in here with me.

Oh no.

I looked beyond the glass walls and saw the inside of what looked like a home.

I saw a kitchen area to the left with a wooden counter, sink, cabinets, and a stove with a small pot on top of it.

I also saw a bookshelf filled to the brim with thick books to my right.

The enclosure that I was in was located on a table near a window. Sunlight entered the room through the window and bathed me in it as well.

I could see a few more of these kinds of enclosures on a table in the middle of the room in front of me. There was only one chair present at the square table.

When I observed them for longer, I noticed a large tarantula in one of them, hiding under a log.

Beyond the table was a wall with a wooden door leading to another room.

I didn’t look closer at where I was. I knew I was trapped. I tapped my legs against the glass but found that I wouldn’t be able to break it. I couldn’t get a grip on it to climb up to the top either.

I used the log to elevate myself up to the wooden ceiling and tried pushing it, but found that it wouldn’t budge either.

Dammit.

Somebody had turned me into their pet.

I sighed mentally (and perhaps physically) and lowered myself onto the dirt again.

The pain in my limbs, especially the ones that had been severed or partially severed by whatever that magical attack was, flared up again. I had passed the shock of finding myself trapped in a glass cage and it was back in full force.

I let my legs dangle to the side as I lowered my main body into the dirt.

I felt defeated.

I would have to hope that whoever kept me here would be willing to let me go…

Hey, Elysa?

I needed distraction from my situation…

Could you show me those last messages I got before I got knocked out?

You have killed a Large Forest Hawk: EXP+409

Level Up!

Kealyna has reached level 8!

You have been awarded 4 EP.

Level Up!

Kealyna has reached level 9!

You have been awarded 3 EP.

Achievement Earned: Giant Slayer

Killed an enemy that is considered “Extremely Dangerous” to your current race.

You have been awarded 10 EP

Hidden requirements for future evolution complete.

I would have been happy.

I seriously would have been, if I wasn’t caged.

And in a hell of a lot of pain…

I took a look at my personal information.

Name: Kealyna

Race: Orange Jumping Spider

Level: 9/10

Experience: 43/220

Evolution Points: 21

I wasn’t too far off an evolution either.

My thoughts got interrupted as I heard and saw the door leading to the other room open. A humanoid figure stepped into the room I was currently located in.

The first thing I noticed was her ears.

She was an elf!

She had long, pointy ears, much like I had in my old life.

At least she wasn’t human. I was thankful for that. Being caged by a human would have been utter humiliation.

She had long, light brown hair and purple eyes.

I hadn’t seen that color before. That was interesting.

Her attire was quite simple. She wore a green shirt with brown trousers. She also had a belt that seemed to contain knives and tubes with liquid.

I would almost guess she was some sort of alchemist.

Well, there were the books…

She noticed me staring and walked up to my enclosure before lowering herself so her face was in front of my cage.

Her purple eyes stared directly at me and I raised my pedipalps and brought them down in vertical strokes several times to get her attention.

She then spoke a few words of which I understood none.

Damn this.

I needed this communication skill.

And I needed it badly.

I lowered my pedipalps for the last time. All I could do was stare.

I stared right through her as I felt hopelessness hit me.

How was I going to get that language skill if I couldn’t go out and hunt?

I was screwed.

She smiled at me which only served to anger me.

Let me out!

She then reached for something below my enclosure that I couldn’t see. When she appeared again before me, she held a stag beetle between tweezers and opened the lid slightly to move it inside my enclosure. The opening she created wasn’t big enough for me to escape, and even if I did, she’d likely catch me again as I saw no way out of this room.

I couldn’t open a door, after all.

She held the beetle still with the tweezers and the insect struggled to get away but failed.

I imagine she was holding it with the tweezers because I was still injured. I reckon she did not want to risk me getting injured further.

How nice…

I thought that with sarcasm.

It would give me experience, however…

With slow steps, I approached the beetle. I severed its head with my strong legs. That was the quickest way for me to kill it, after all.

You have killed a Forest Stag Beetle: EXP+29

They gave me a fair amount of experience, but I was going to need more than one beetle to hit my level cap.

I let go of the prey and stared back at the elf. She looked at me with large eyes.

I raised my pedipalps again and brought them down in the same vertical manner.

The elf seemed to be looking at me with intrigue now.

Good, I had her attention.

I moved one pedipalp and pointed at the beetle. Then, I withdrew it and pointed it at my head.

I tried to convey ‘give me more’. I don’t know how good of a job I did at it, though.

The elf simply smiled and left me behind as she walked to the tarantula’s enclosure.

She then took out one of the test tubes from her belt and uncorked it. Her next action was using the tweezers to lift the tarantula from its enclosure.

I could see her bring the spider up to the tube and use some kind of magic. The next thing I saw was venom dripping down into the glass tube.

After she finished, she placed the spider back into the enclosure and took out another beetle from below me, which she let loose inside the tarantula’s enclosure. She didn’t hold this one down with the tweezers which confirmed my suspicion.

So that’s why she kept spiders…

She used them for venom, likely to make medicine or anti-venom.

Just great…

At least I guessed I was safe here…

With nothing to do, I simply stared at my enhancement options once more.

Currently Available Enhancements

Enhancement

Cost in EP

Improved Regeneration

10

Very Weak Magic Resistance

5

Weak Magic Resistance

10

Jaws and Teeth

5

Improved Jaws and Teeth

10

Weak Toxin Resistance

3

I had twenty-one points to spend, ten of them being from the achievement I got after killing that hawk. Since I was in pain, I was tempted to increase my regeneration level.

However…

As things stood, I didn’t really need it.

I was in a cage, as frustrating as it was, I was safe here.

Then again, I would need to get the improved regeneration skill before my evolution, either way.

I decided to put it off for now. Depending on how things went in here, I could always pick it if needed. For all I knew, I would be stuck in here for a long time. I might even skimp out on leveling regeneration altogether. If I was stuck here for multiple evolutions, I was bound to be able to pick that up again at some point.

And I would need points to acquire the language skill too. I had no idea how much that would cost me… or when I could pick it up…

I noticed the elf staring at me once more. I had unknowingly eyed her the entire duration as I gazed at my enhancement options.

I saw her purple eyes move to the side, then back to me. I looked over to where I saw her pupils dart without moving my body.

She had obviously looked at the beetle.

She stood up and knelt once more, her face mere inches from me, separated by the glass.

How was I going to get through to her?