Would she get that I just didn’t like beetle?

How would I explain that it’s disgusting?

I thought about it and scratched my head with my pedipalp. She stared the entire time I was like in thought.

She then seemed to get an idea.

The elf stood up and walked towards the door, which she entered.

I waited patiently.

I was surprised she dared to leave me alone, but then again, where would I go? She had closed the door behind her…

She returned with the same bird in her hands that I had felled. She pointed at the bloodied animal and then pointed at me while uttering some words.

I assumed she asked if I had done that.

It was either that, or whether I would like to eat this instead.

I thought.

In either case, the answer would be yes.

I moved my pedipalps vertically to say yes. I then moved my pedipalps to my mouth as if I was eating.

After I did that, I pointed towards the beetle next to me again before making horizontal movements with my limbs. I then pointed at the bird in her hands and made vertical lines in the air.

She seemed to get what I meant, as she walked to the kitchen, took a knife from a drawer, and cut off one of its wings. She placed the wing on a plate and put it on the table.

Thank you miss elf.

I skittered over to the plate and moved my fangs aside so I could start eating with my mouth. I ripped off small pieces of hawk meat with my teeth and then swallowed them.

The chunks were tough.

But they were so damn delicious…

This was like a feast. I eagerly nommed away at my kill until I was completely sated. I was positive my behind had grown in size from eating all that.

The elven girl had never let her eyes off of me.

I turned to face her again.

She looked shocked.

Why?

Oh, wait.

I had these jaws and teeth. I guess she had noticed them.

Normal spiders didn’t eat the way I did, after all.

Oh well, if she needed any more confirmation that I wasn’t a normal spider, that was it.

Just wait until I could use magic!

I bowed to her as a thank you gesture, which was met with a smile.

She didn’t strike me as an evil person, quite the opposite in fact. She had kept me safe, healed me, albeit partially, and even gave me free experience to boot! Hell, she even gave me the best meal I’d ever had as a spider. Although, technically… that was my kill.

Oh, well.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do next. For a moment, I feared the elf was going to force me back into the enclosure, but it seemed she didn’t have any intention of doing that.

I hated cages.

I’d been caged for my entire youth as it was.

I wondered, would she give me more beetles if I asked for them?

I was close to an evolution after all. As far as I could tell, she had enough beetles in that jar to push me over the edge.

I tapped one of my legs on the table to get her attention. I then turned my body so that I faced my old enclosure, with the glass jar beneath it. I then pointed my pedipalps at the jar and then to me.

She spoke some words that I still didn’t understand, but stood up and grabbed the jar. She then pointed to the jar, then to me.

I made the nodding gesture with my limbs.

She seemed to shrug, as if wondering why I wanted to kill beetles without eating them.

Maybe she thought I was some kind of maniac for only killing them?

From her perspective, I suppose that was true.

Ultimately she did seem to grant me my wish, for which I was thankful. She grabbed her tweezers and reached into the jar once more, pulling out one of the ten or so remaining beetles.

She held it up for me where I could easily kill it.

You have killed a Forest Stag Beetle: EXP+33

She was about to close the jar when I tapped the glass.

She pointed to the jar again and I responded by ‘nodding’.

The elf was kind enough to give me another easy kill.

You have killed a Forest Stag Beetle: EXP+34

I tossed the beheaded beetle aside and tapped the glass once more.

She sighed and held up a finger.

One finger.

As if she allowed me only one more…

Would that be enough?

She pulled it out and held it up for me one last time.

You have killed a Forest Stag Beetle: EXP+29

Level Up!

Kealyna has reached level 10!

You have been awarded 4 EP.

Level Cap Reached

Evolutions Available!

Special Evolution Available!

It was!

Special… evolution?

I had cheered at seeing the first message. I only read the last part of the last message after celebrating.

I decided I would wait with my evolution until nighttime. I didn’t feel much for knocking myself out right now. Besides, I didn’t exactly know what would happen to me, and I didn’t want this person to freak out at seeing me change.

I would do it when she slept.

I would also enhance my regeneration beforehand.

I bowed to the elf who replied with a giggle.

She stood up and walked to the stove and opened it. She then walked to the other room to return with some small logs, which she deposited inside before kneeling down. She then cast some form of fire magic. I could see a small flame appear in her hand which grew larger over a few seconds. She used the flame to light the wood before closing the stove again.

She took a wooden spoon from the drawer and started stirring in the pot that was on the stove.

Was she cooking something?

I observed her actions with great interest.

Not that I had anything better to do.

She took out a mortar and pestle from one of the cabinets and several dried herbs. The elf sat down at the table once more and started crushing them. She then took out some fresh herbs from a pouch around her belt and added those to the mixture.

I skittered slightly closer, expressing my curiosity.

She took the tube of tarantula venom that she had just extracted and dripped the liquid into the mixture, before taking the metal container with the ointment out and adding a bit of that to the mix as well.

After mixing sufficiently, she stood up and scooped up the resulting paste-like substance, and added it to the pot.

That was definitely not food.

She then returned with another plate and the hawk from before and started plucking it.

That was food.

Deciding I could offer some assistance, I started helping her by plucking out its feathers one by one with my pedipalps.

Not that it did much, but it was the gesture that counted. At least she could smile at my actions.

She spoke a few more words with her soft voice that I really regretted not being able to understand.

Once fully plucked, she laid the meat out in an oven tray and placed it inside the stove, where it would start cooking above the fire. She stirred the pot on the stove for a bit before grabbing a metal canteen from one of the cabinets.

She returned to the table and sat down before pouring a few drops on the plate that still held most of one of the hawk’s wings.

Water.

I’d better drink some.

I skittered to the plate and started drinking from the drops she’d just deposited.

In the meantime, I could see the elf lean back in her chair and relax.

I noticed that I could still feel the medicine that she’d applied to me. The places where it covered my wounds were now enveloped by gentle warmth.

I started to relax as well.

I would at least have a safe place to go through my evolution tonight. I just hoped the elf wouldn’t be too spooked in the morning when she saw my new form, whatever it may be.

I just hoped I would fully heal. I imagined that missing two legs to walk on made me quite a bit more sluggish than usual.

What was that attack, anyway? It wasn’t the hawk’s, that much was certain. If anything, this hawk got me out of a possible worse situation.

As odd as that may be.

The attack that struck me had been far too fast for me to see coming.

Moreover, it was a magic attack. I had completely skipped on getting any magic resistance.

Perhaps I should enhance that sooner than I anticipated.

I’d have to look into what evolutions I could get. Perhaps there would be plenty of room to enhance my resistance against magic.

Speaking of evolutions, what were my options?