Footsteps skittered across the wood rapidly, waking me up. My arachnid half, as was apparently usual, had its sensations return first and swiftly focused on what was the cause of the sound.

Elira had apparently started playing tag with the spiders again.

I quickly woke myself up, and wasn’t surprised to see Cellestra let out a yawn due to the noise as well.

“Hi, sis!” Elira happily called out.

“Hey,” I said, yawning myself before raising my torso. “You’re in a good mood, aren’t you?”

“Yep. Can we do more magic training today?”

“When we get back,” Cellestra said before rubbing her eyes. “So later today, sure.”

“Yay!” She exclaimed before running to unlock the doors and throwing them open.

“Well, there’s yet another beautiful day,” I said, observing the clear, sunny weather outside. “But shall we get some breakfast first?” I looked at Cellestra who was looking at the same thing as me before standing up and stretching.

“Sure.”

After a quick breakfast, tea, and sharing our plans for the day with my parents, we separated again as they went together to take Elira to school, getting groceries on the way back home afterward. As for Cellestra and I, we went off to the nest to see how far the builders had progressed, and, if it was completely finished, we’d visit them on our trip to the city.

Before leaving, I told my parents we'd come back here soon to leave the spiderlings behind while we went to the city. If the spiders had any task they could help with I’d instruct them to listen to them.

My father chuckled at it and said he would give it some thought while he and my mom were away.

I smiled and Cellestra and I both waved as we were off.

When we got to the nest, I was pleasantly surprised to see the fence completely erected, plated with heavy oaken planks on both sides, and a sturdy door in the center. There wasn’t a trace left of all the digging that was done, and no equipment remained. It was easy to see the entire structure was already finished.

The door at the center could be padlocked on both sides, and in fact, when I walked around the wall, there was already one there, but it was missing a key.

“Heh,” I chuckled. “I see what they did there.”

“What are you talking about?” Cellestra said as she walked around the structure as well. She seemed to be even more impressed than I was and took her time observing. “Oh,” She then let out when she saw the lock. “Yeah, I see what you mean. You pay, you get the key.”

“Exactly.”

I couldn’t help but test the sturdiness myself and tried pushing against the fence, something which Elle and Shayla noticed and were eager to help with. I grinned as I quickly instructed them not to do that.

They were confused but listened.

“This is supposed to be here. I just wanted to make sure it’s as strong as was promised and well, I’ll be damned, this thing just won’t budge whatsoever.”

“That’s great. Hey, Kealyna?”

“Hm?”

“I just got an idea. You wanted to make walls of silk, right? Why not have your spiderlings do it while we go to town?”

“If only their silk wasn’t weaker than mine,” I said, placing my weapon against my shoulder and crossing my arms. “Then, that would be a great idea.”

“I see,” She said softly. “I forgot that part.”

“That’s fine.” I giggled and patted her back. “Let’s go back to the farm and tell them to listen to my parents. I wonder what my father is going to come up with. I’m sure he has something brewing in that head of his.”

Amarys had no problem understanding what exactly I meant, whereas Elle didn’t seem to quite get it. I explained it once more, in a simpler way, yet she was still confused.

“Amarys, you can guide the others, okay? I’ll leave you in charge.”

She nodded. I was glad that she could always be relied on when it came to more serious conversation.

I could feel that most of them were unhappy to be left behind, in a sad way, not an infuriating one, but they had Amarys to look up to, and she managed to quell their unrest just fine.

They weren’t the only ones that felt that way. I too had difficulties with parting, but I was lucky to be stronger of mind. For me, it wouldn’t matter much if I didn’t see them for a while.

“You got the money with you, right?” I asked as we left. We’d left several things in the storehouse, including the bag which held Cellestra’s armor, and I wanted to make sure we had what we needed.

“Always. Don’t you worry about that,” She replied with a smile.

“Perfect.”

We left the fields behind at last to make our way into town where I couldn’t help but look around to see if I could spot my parents. However, I didn’t focus on it and we were gone from the center within a matter of seconds as I navigated towards the carpenter’s guild.

After knocking, the same person as before greeted us, in his hand a key which he held up in a nonchalant way.

“I suppose you were looking for this?”

“Well, I wanted to thank you for your work and deliver your payment, but I suppose the key would help.”

I thought I saw a smile appear on his face at my attempt at smalltalk, but the density of his facial hair made it hard to confirm. Cellestra paid him the predetermined amount and he handed over the key to her in return.

“Thank you for your patronage,” He spoke politely. “If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to drop by again.”

“Will do,” I said. “Will do. Thank you again.”

With a nod, he disappeared again, closing the door behind him.

“And now, let’s see what Zearis knows,” I continued. “And more importantly, how it can help us.”

My upper two eyes were locked on my halberd’s blade on the way to the weaponsmith. I had no intention of changing it quite yet. Hell, I hadn’t even used it to its full potential. The creatures I’d killed inside the dungeon so far had mostly been too big to fight head on, forcing me to rely on spells and speed.

In a way, it saddened me. I had spent so much time in my old life working on my martial prowess, my sword skill in particular. I was no newcomer to several other weapons such as the spear and halberd. Yet here, I had hardly been given a chance to show that skill besides some minor engagements.

I hoped I could get some at one point. The spell that enhanced my melee capabilities made me yearn for it even more.

And despite not using it much at the moment, I was more than interested in further ways to improve my weapon’s effectiveness, and what I’d seen earlier had caught my interest.

When we approached his shop’s unmanned stand, I could see him inside the workshop, watching and guiding one of his apprentices who was working on a blade. It looked like he’d somehow sensed me as he quickly turned his head, acknowledged us with a nod, but went back to helping his student.

We had to wait for a couple of minutes before he was finished instructing, but at last, he turned to walk up to us.

“Welcome back. I figured you’d show up sooner or later.”

“Why is that?” I asked with a sly smile. “Not confident in your work?”

My joke made Cellestra giggle and Zearis let out a hearty laugh as well.

“No. It’s because you have a certain twinkle in your eye that I don’t see often and I learned exactly what it means.”

“That’s funny. I believe Cellestra said the same. I don’t suppose this twinkle is hard to see then, eh?”

“In your case, absolutely not.” He smiled again. “In any case, what can I help you with?”

“In all honesty? We are looking for some information… and I’d also like a whetstone.”

“Whetstone’s one silver.” He opened a chest under the table, pulled out what I’d requested, and laid it down on the table. “Information’s free. Ask away.”

“Back in the dungeon, I saw a few adventurers in fancy-looking armor, but they had spears with tips of pure fire. I was wondering what it was.”

“Essence smithing,” Zearis replied quickly and confidently. “It’s not something I can do, but it’s no real use for you.”

“How come?” I asked without thinking.

“It’s mostly used to exploit monsters’ weaknesses, but the tips, in this case, are about as strong as a normal steel weapon. It doesn’t beat starmetal, though. Besides, I heard you use spells as well. Are any of them fire-related, by any chance?”

I nodded.

“Then why would you need flaming spears?”

“I guess I don’t,” I said, disappointed with his answer. On the other hand, I was once more assured of the high quality of my current weapon. “Is there anything else I can do to make it more powerful?”

“Enchanting,” he said, his arms crossed as his smile from before was now completely gone. “And you won’t like who the one person in Thymhil is that does it best.”

“Oh no.”

He nodded.

“Yes.”