The world spun forward, and weeks passed by. The threads of fate weaved a new day – a new adventure.

  Spider King stood in the depths of an expansive cavern. There was no warmth, no light – only a calm dark expanse. However, the cave was not devoid of life, on the contrary, it was overgrown. Above, strands of blue moss clung to the ceiling, illuminating the ground below in a somewhat ethereal glow, its blue-toned light feeling cold. The cave floor was teeming with a special crop. It wasn’t just any magical crop, this was the speciality of the Dark Caverns. The cave floor teemed with crops, a local speciality. These were no ordinary crops, but magical ones, the pride of the Dark Caverns. A dense thicket of long, midnight-dark leaves filled the space, pushing against each other, wrestling for space beneath the cold, blue light. If not for the ethereal glow of the moss above, the leaves would have been completely lost in the cavern's shadows.

  “Shadow Agave…”

  He recalled the plant well. A part of his cloak was woven from its strands, giving him the ability to blend with the shadows. Also, many of the Spider Mages chose to wear robes made with such strands. In other words, it was growing very popular.

  The plant grew well in the harshest conditions, so long as it was in a cold and dark place it seemed happy. However, harvesting it posed real challenges. Not only Shadow Agave leaves were barbed and serrated, but the plant was also surrounded by a minor aura of Terror. Harvesting it was a difficult task.

  Alas, he was surprised.

  Unaware of his presence, a merry band of Drow children approached the barbed thicket. They carried large woven boxes on their backs, like the ones you would see on the gatherer spiders. In their hands, they held long, serrated blades. Crude mixes of sacrificial dagger and machete. And for their appearance… Well, this was their traditional attire. They wore nothing more than a sack over their body, with three holes cut for arms and a head. The sack was just like those used to store the Tomgrapes.

  There was something more to these children. Something unusual separated them from other Drow. For starters, their eyes were abyssal black orbs, with a narrow purple strike serving as their iris. The bottom edge of their long ears wasn’t smooth like usual; it was serrated like a saw. Their teeth, too, were different. No pearly whites could be seen, only crimson needles jutting out of their soot-black gums. Their darker-than-usual skin contrasted well with the blue sacks that passed for their clothes. These children looked truly vicious. Monstrous even.

  The Spider King, however, saw them for what they were. Not some twisted creatures of the darkness, but, just children.

  Stepping out of the shadows, he appeared in front of them. “Greetings, Children of the Dark Cavern.” He gave them a title on a whim.

  The children jumped a step back, their black orbs trembling in fright. The fright soon turned to interest, and that soon to childish wonder.

  “No… it can’t be… The Spider King?” Someone uttered in half disbelief.

  He simply nodded.

  The children kneeled as one, a gesture that must have been practised to near perfection. However, there were minor jitters – all born from the novelty of meeting their King for the first time. So, their greeting wasn’t perfect.

  “Rise, you all. There is no need for that.”

  The children stood, their black eyes twinkling as they scanned him. The bravest of the few had cast a not-so-subtle Inspect, prompting their eyes to grow big and wide. Casting something like that, and so brazenly, might be seen as offensive. Yet, he knew they were just curious children.

  “It’s fine. You all can Inspect me. I’ll take no offence.”

  The offer was met with wide smiles. Smiles filled with bloody-looking fangs. The children giddily checked his status table.

  “Hmm…” One of them scratched his chin, mumbling something to himself. “I expected our Majesty to… to be more spidery.”

  It was but a whisper, yet, others heard it, nodding along as if they thought the same. Realising that his inner thoughts had escaped, the child bowed in apology. “I’m sorry! … I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “Ha-ha. More spidery you say?” He took it with good humour. “I can show you just that. [Transform: Spider].”

  A sickening crack shattered the silence as his body began to twist and change. His spine arched unnaturally, his flesh rippling like something alive squirmed beneath it. Veins bulged, blackening, thick as webbing, arcane power coursing through them.

  His legs, once human, snapped and bent uncomfortably, joints reversing with a hideous pop. Bone splintered, then reformed. The muscle stretched, elongated, split. Two became four, four became six, and finally, he was agile like a spider. The spidery appendages gleamed like polished night, they skittered against the stone, testing its strength, their sharpened tips etching small grooves into the surface.

  His once-pale skin darkened, the soft frailty of human flesh hardening into a darkened obsidian carapace. What had been warm-blooded now bore the cold, unforgiving armour of a webbing hunter. His ribs pressed outward as his torso narrowed, his chest elongating, his very shape alien and monstrous.

  The horned crown upon his brow, the status symbol of the Monster King, grew with him, its spiked horns lengthening, stretching upward. Then came the eyes. Golden. Luminous. Imposing. The first pair widened, their pupils thinning into slits that glowed in a brilliant golden light. And then, another set tore their way into existence, splitting open upon his forehead. He saw the world in a new angle, in more colours and shades than a human could see.

  At last, his jaw cracked apart. Skin split, reshaping, reforming, until an iconic pair of serrated mandibles unfurled at the edges of his face. His mouth, once made for simple speech, was now able to chirp the ancient Spider Chirp.

  A low, guttural clicking rose from his throat, inhuman, a dreadful chittering capable to curdle the blood.

  “Huzzah~! How is this?”

  A true monster stood in front of the children, his form imposing and even menacing. No, not just a monster. He was the king of monsters, the Monster King!

  The air around him filled with a thick aura of Dread and Terror. It wasn’t done on purpose, it was just the natural effect of the System perceiving his presence.

  The children trembled at the sight, but not from fear. They felt none of the dread and terror. They trembled because they were overly excited.

  “Amazing!”, “Awesome!”, “Wow!”, “… :3 …”, “^_^” “?uwu?” – they reacted, jumping in excitement.

  But… The Spider King had to ask. “U-woo?” He cast a glance at the one who spoke that strange sound.

  “Yes! This is very – ?uwu?!” She made that sound again.

  Half of the children nodded in agreement, that half being all girls. The other half shook their heads, clearly disagreeing with the notion. The boys voiced their opposition.

  “The Spider King is a warrior! Don’t uwu him!”

  “Yeah. He’s awesome. In a strong way. And not in a cutesy way!”

  “The girls are being foolish again. Ignore them!”

  The girls, however, were firm about their opinion. Offended even that the other side didn’t agree.

  “You boys… You don’t understand. This is Romance, this is fiction becoming reality! A maiden’s dream, ^_^!”

  “Sarah, they’re but foolish boys. They don’t read those books. They don’t read at all… but our King, he’s just so… ehehe, :3.”

  “Spider King, ignore the foolish boys. You are very ?uwu?!”

  The girls nod along again. The boys, however…

  “Children! Enough of that!” In a stern chirp, he breaks it up before it can tangle itself in a web. “Don’t we all have a job to do?” He points at the thicket of agave. “Show me how you harvest it.”

  Yes, he was interested in that. It was odd to see Drow children and not spider harvesters doing this task.

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  Somewhat eagerly, perhaps intent on proving which side was right, the girls and boys formed two teams. Each team fought who could harvest the most. Regardless of their gender, they hacked and chopped at the serrated leaves with equal efficiency. No barbs, no sharp edges, nor the aura of Terror impeded their HARVEST.

  It was obvious that these children were immune to such debuffs. And the reason for that was in their status screen – DarkAffinity. They had dark power coursing through their blood. He already had Drow capable of Earth or Fire magic, but it seemed that they had unlocked a new affinity. And it seemed oddly fitting.

  Whether this was a natural mutation or a great effort on their part, the Drow had found a way to harvest the agave without much need from spiders. This was commendable.

  The Spider King clacked his mandibles happily as he watched the children hard at work.

  “Now then…”

  He turned his attention back to the real reason why he was here. Back to the plant itself.

  “It had acclimated wonderfully to this climate. I didn’t expect it to prosper so much.” His clawed hand caressed the shadowy surface of agave, ignoring its barbs and serrations. “I bet it even keeps the centipedes at bay. But…” He knew that the agave hadn’t reached its full potential. “It can be so much more. This place can be so much more!”

  He used Extract: Seed on the Shadow Agave. A barbed bud of darkness was in his spidery palm.

  “You did well to achieve so much. I praise you. Now, it’s time for you to change again. [Mutate]!” He began changing the plant, pumping it full of chaotic energies. “[Splice]!” He borrowed the strength of IronOak, pushing its best parts into the seed. “[Enchant] > [ObsidianArmour]!” He pushed one of his innate spider transformation skills onto it.

  The barbed seed glowed in purple light, its form pulsing and twisting. He forced an obscene amount of mana in. The seed was struggling to contain it all.

  “I know you can do this. Just a bit more… Maybe something to help?” Despite his better judgment, he cast another skill. “[Reinforce]!”

  The seed stabilised, mutating into something new entirely. Without wasting any time, “Yeet!”, he cast the seed into the distance. “Now. [Grow]! Show me what you have become!”

  Another blast of magic flashed, brilliant enough to shower the entire cavern in a purple light. The Drow children stopped their zealous harvesting, all turning to look.

  Something twisted and jagged spun out of the rocky ground, towering above the agave thicket. It was a tree unlike any other, no, actually it wasn’t a tree at all – it was a super giant herb. Instead of a trunk it had a giant stem, which branched at the top in a bundle of broad leaves, much like a banana ‘tree’ would. It didn’t lose its agave heritage either, its leaves were thick, hard, and serrated. This giant herb came with its own fruits, or berries, or whatever that hanging bunch was.

  Curious, the Spider King walked to pluck the bunch hanging from above, his tall spidery frame barely able to reach it. The fruiting bunch resembled a giant blooming pinecone, where the whole was made out of many segments. He tugged at it, plucking a small peace off.

  “What is this? Doesn’t appear to be edible? [Inspect]” He turned what appeared to be an elongated scale in his hand. “ObsidianShard?” He voiced what the message told him. “Oh! It’s hard as metal. Even with my spidery strength, I can’t bend or break it. Clearly not food, then.” He looked again at the giant herb-tree. It was half crystalline in nature, part plant part obsidian rock. “[Inspect],” he concentrated on the plant as a whole.

  Just at a glance, there were many crafting possibilities.

  “Not bad, not bad at all… But I wanted something edible. Shadow Agave, shall we try again?”

  Immersed in his craft, the Spider King failed to notice that the Drow children had gathered to watch him. The purples of their eyes were swirling with excitement. They looked at the magical performance with bated breath.

  “[Mutate], [Splice]!” This time, he spliced it with tomgrape. “[Enchant] > [SpideryMagnificent]!” The seed pulsed in his hand with chaotic magic. “You can do this. [Reinforce]! Yeet!” He threw the newly crafted seed.

  Instead of landing, the seed soared upwards, hitting the mossy ceiling with a magical pop! The impact singed the surrounding moss. Then, something amazing happened. Spindly vines, like spider arms, burst from the seed, spreading across the jagged rocks and stalagmites, weaving a web of barbs and serrated edges. More vines reached down from the ceiling like hunting claws. Dark buds bloomed at the tips of these claws, and within each bud, a plump, juicy fruit appeared. The ceiling was now covered in a web of vines, each dangling claw holding a ripe fruit.

  “Now this is something! [SpinWeb],” he spun a thread to catch and pluck the fruit. “It’s like a tomato, but all leathery and black. But is it edible?” There was only one way to find out. Trusting his high resistance, he bit the fruit. “Argh! Ahh!!!” He yelled, but not because of the flavour. It had no flavour at all. “Shadows? It’s full of condensed darkness… it spills forth like some thick mist. No taste… but it has this clotting, almost sticky texture. So, this is ShadowBulb, and the vine pant is, [Inspect].

  “Attunement? This is promising, especially as an alchemical ingredient. What if I…”

  His monologuing was interrupted by a roaring symphony of objectively cutesy sounds.

  “?uwu?!!!” The Drow girls uwu’ed.

  “Amazing! ~Huzzah~!!!” The Drow boys made a cheer of their own.

  And then, as a united front, the Drow children demanded:

  “Another one! Make another one!”

  The Spider King, spitting the remainder of the clotting darkness out, smiled at the children. “Ahem… More? You want more?”

  “YES!” The united front demanded.

  ===xxx===

  Later on, the Spider King was surprised to learn that he had gained a new Achievement:

  [Achievement unlocked! ?uwu? – The Chaos Blushes Back]

  [Disclaimer! You will, unwillingly and randomly, emit an aura of chaotic charisma, equal parts awe-inspiring and utterly incomprehensible. Those affected may involuntarily utter “?uwu?” upon witnessing your majesty.]

  [Perk unlocked! EldrichEndearment]

  [Perk unlocked! UnshakableMajesty]

  [Perk unlocked! ??? – The Abyss Listens]