I felt like it was important to use the little time I had to get Cellestra familiar with my magic and more spells, particularly, the defensive ones…

Then again, I had no real idea of the full extent of Cellestra’s power. She has been living here for quite a while from what I understood. Within that time, she is bound to have learned some spells. As she said, though, her spells were very… crude compared to mine.

Cellestra mentioned that she hoped she would be able to learn my other spells more easily once she managed to do the magical barrier that I’ve been trying to teach her.

And so, after dinner, I doubled down on teaching her that spell. Cellestra let her own spell course through me time and time again, and I showed her again and again how to cast the spell. I found out that, during our training session, I became more aware of Cellestra’s flow of mana each time she used her spell on me.

This allowed me to feel her magic better, and weave it closer into my spells.

Cellestra remained fairly quiet throughout our practice. I could tell she was focused on getting this spell right. We spent what felt like hours training, and a result of that was that whenever I felt her magic flow through me as I cast the spell, Cellestra’s flows started forming in the spell before I even cast it.

“Kealyna...” She said after a while, as she leaned back in her chair. “I have no idea how you’re doing this, but I almost got it. I can’t believe it. It’s been a few days only. I would have expected this to take months, if not years.”

She shook her head with a smile before whispering. “I can’t believe it.”

I would have smiled if I could. It finally felt like we were making some real progress and I was overjoyed.

The elf stood up and wiped the smile off her face to stare in front of her with a serious expression. She held her arms outstretched with her palms forward and closed her eyes.

Her focus was a beautiful thing to observe.

As were her eyes… shame she closed them…

I could see her cast the barrier, or at least try to. I saw a thin sheet of transparent, green magic form around her, but then, when it was about to envelop her body, it shattered and dispersed within a fraction of a second.

I had expected Cellestra to be upset, but instead, she smiled widely.

“By the goddess, I almost got it!”

She eagerly tried it again, and the same thing happened. After trying once more she gave up and sighed.

“I guess I’m too exhausted. I’m off to bed, I think. With a bit of luck, I’ll get this spell done tomorrow. I’m looking forward to your physical barrier. I’m hoping it’s very similar!”

I didn’t know how it would be for her. For me, everything just flowed naturally, as if I’d known the spells for a thousand years. They truly were a part of my soul, thanks to this blessing that I was told was woven into it. I couldn’t really see the differences between spells. They just came exactly as I wanted them to.

While it was true that I knew how to cast the physical barrier in my old life, this new one was much, much easier to cast. I imagined I could possibly cast my old life’s version, but there was literally no reason for me to do it. It was terrible compared to what I currently possessed.

I could tell as much. This new physical barrier has exceeded my old life’s with its latest upgrades.

I followed Cellestra to her bedroom and pointed at her bed after she’d undressed and laid herself down.

“Sure,” Cellestra said. “There’s enough room. It’s the least I can do to thank you for your amazing help.”

I was happy she allowed me to sleep on the large bed. I moved the pillow that laid on the floor on top of it and climbed. I put my head on the pillow. Although it was mostly my fangs connecting to the softness, it still was quite comfortable.

This was possibly the last night I would spend in comfort…

“I doubt there would be many people that would not mind a giant spider in their bed,” Cellestra said with a grin. “Just try not to scare me when I wake up, okay?”

I nodded with my pedipalps and watched the elf extinguish her flame as she rolled on her side so that she was facing me. She wished me goodnight and I replied with a wave.

I briefly wondered whether she’d seen my gesture, but in the darkness, I could still see a smile grow on her lips. I was certain she’d seen it.

Once again, I let myself stay awake, even though there was very little for me to do at the moment. I’d already gone through my enhancement options earlier. The only thing I could do was etch plans in my mind for the future.

The more I thought about my spells and what would be smart options, the more I started worrying. I hated it.

At the end, I was simply staring.

Enhancement

Cost in EP

Language Comprehension - Dwarven

5

Language Comprehension - Orcish

5

Language Comprehension - Demonic

10

Language Comprehension - Goblin

5

Advanced Jaws and Teeth

20

Strong Jaws and Teeth

35

Very Strong Jaws and Teeth

50

Strong Spider Thread

35

Very Strong Spider Thread

50

Improved Ice Lance

10

Advanced Ice Lance

20

Strong Ice Lance

35

Very Strong Ice Lance

50

Very Strong Leg and Pedipalp Strengthening

50

Advanced Healing Light

20

Strong Healing Light

35

Very Strong Healing Light

50

Thermal Vision

50

Strong Magic Resistance

70

Very Strong Magic Resistance

150

Wind Gust

50

Holy Pulse

150

The list, at least, wasn’t so bad anymore.

The only things that I could still upgrade with regards to defense would be magic resistance and the healing light spell, and I doubted they would do much against a bear. In my mind, I was already fairly well-equipped for one. The only thing that could theoretically help me further would be my leg and pedipalp strengthening, just to give me a bit more mobility in case I needed to escape.

I was not planning on fighting a bear head-on, though. Ideally, I’d attack it from a tree, as had proven to be effective with a plethora of other larger creatures.

I believed bears could climb trees, but I wasn’t an expert on that. It would, however, buy me time to fire my spells from a safe distance. If needed, I could lower myself on a thread, to then quickly make for another tree.

It took some time this time, but soon enough, Cellestra started getting restless. I knew it was going to happen and I quickly skittered closer and put one of my legs on her head to cast healing light. I cast the spell several times to make sure its beneficial effects would wash away any worries in her poor mind.

After watching her for half an hour or so snoozing peacefully, I decided to get some sleep myself. I placed my right set of legs around her covered frame and put my head down on the pillow that I’d moved closer.

I wouldn’t mind hugging Cellestra for real.

The thought of hugging her made my heart race and my body heat up. The happy thoughts were soon pushed away by gloomy ones as I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep here anymore soon enough. My mood worsened over time at the bleak prospect, but thankfully, sleep soon got me.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Kealyna?” I heard Cellestra call out my name. “I thought I asked you not to scare me.”

I looked at Cellestra, who was facing my side eyes while still lying down. Fear shot through me for a moment when she said it, but when I saw her smiling I realized she wasn’t entirely serious.

I removed my legs from her frame and went back to my side of the bed.

“Once again...” Cellestra continued as she removed the covers and stood up to walk to her clothes chest to get a new set of clothes. “Thank you.”

I was so happy I could be of help.

We soon moved over to the living room while I kept wondering if it was Cellestra’s curse that was taking hold of me. I liked to think I couldn’t be affected by it, but the events of the past few days… things were getting worse. I had no idea what it was. Maybe I should talk to her about it some time?

The thing was, I didn’t want her to worry about things like this. She had enough to worry about as it was, and I didn’t want to cut into the time that she could spend on finding a cure for her curse.

Then again, wasn’t it she who thought learning my magic was more interesting than that?

I kept wondering what I should do over breakfast. I had no idea what to do...