Syl: Chapter 194 (Patreon)

Chapter 194: Bigger on the Inside

Damn... She really got me there. I don't think there's any monster that I could say willingly killed itself. I mean... I could argue that the monsters were idiots for throwing themselves at me. But that just sounds cocky.

"Moving on!" I said quickly, trying to brush aside the subject. "So I introduced myself. Do you go by 'The Terror' or just Terror?"

"Neither, please... I hate that name; I can't believe someone could force a name on me!" The spider responded mentally.

"Funny story; I had my name forced upon me, too," I replied. "Even Though I've grown to like it, mine actually sounds like a name more than a title. Do you have a past name or one you'd prefer? What about Terry?"

"No... I can't remember my past life's name..." the spider responded somberly. "And please, no name even remotely close to this stupid terror nonsense. I wish I could get rid of it."

"Technically, I could change it for you, but it comes with some attachments," I admitted.

"What sort of attachments?" She asked curiously.

"I could bond you as my monster companion, and then I'd be able to rename you, I think? It's what happened to me."

"I... I don't know if I'm ready for that level of commitment," she said, clearly hesitant.

"I can understand; I'm not even certain if I can bond you," I confessed. "It also puts a different Emblem on you, probably to show civilized society that you aren't a hostile monster."

"Wait. It would let me leave this dank cave and rejoin society?" She asked.

"Oh, right, I should probably explain. So I'm moonlighting as an adventurer, despite being a monster, and I've got a whole secret identity sort of thing going on. Anyway, some adventurers have a monster companion, and from what I understand, you'd be my responsibility, but it would let you enter cities."

"That's crazy. You're a monster pretending to be an elf?" She asked.

"I also pretended to be a human at one point... And a goblin... And a pegasus... I do a lot of shapeshifting."

The spider stared at me in disbelief with her eight eyes.

"That's so unfair..." She eventually responded.

"It was an evolution option; it took a lot of work to get. Maybe you'll get a humanoid spider form later?" I suggested.

"Nothing I've seen before, and I've evolved three times already..."

"You started at tier two then? That seems a little unfair... Then again, you started in these caves while I started on a farm and in a relatively peaceful forest. If you ignore the packs of murder wolves, anyway."

"Tier... Two?" She asked.

"Oh. Do you not have [Identify]?" I was shocked.

She shook her little head.

"It's a skill that lets you see a monster or person's race and class levels. Well, mine recently leveled up, and now I can see the tier of monsters. You're currently tier five, and I'm tier four," I explained.

"Wait, I'm a tier higher than you, but I still lost?"

"Well, I also have a lot of class levels, and I probably have a higher combined level than you. My [Apex Hunter] didn't even trigger on you, sadly..."

"You have a class?" The spider asked in disbelief. "I've been wondering about that for forever. Mine's been blank since the start; I thought I'd get one from an evolution eventually."

"Yeah, that's why I joined the adventurers in the first place. I heard they could get me a class and snuck myself in. They have this magic crystal that lets you pick one."

"C-could I use the crystal?"

"I don't see why not. But you'd need to join the Adventurer's Guild... Or sneak in. Maybe I could ask to use one privately and let you use it?" I entertained the idea.

"Why only maybe?"

"They have this whole... Linked system setup... Thing, a wish from the gods, it's kind of crazy. There could be a restriction that only guild members could use the crystal, for example."

"Oh..." She replied dejectedly.

"I mean, I could be wrong!" I replied reassuringly. "I'm just a bit pessimistic and neurotic about these sorts of things. There's also the issue of trying to sneak you in; the dwarven city is heavily fortified."

"If you're trying to reassure me, you're doing a lousy job!" She shouted, sounding exasperated.

"Sorry..." I shrugged.

"No... I'm... Ugh..." She started trying to reply. "It's just a lot to take in."

I pulled out some fresh, hot food from my [Core Storage] as if it had just been cooked. The spider stared at it enviously, and I placed it in front of her.

"Here. Since you lost your lunch earlier." I offered.

She stared long and hard at the food. "Why are you doing this?"

"Well... I feel a bit bad coming in and taking your home away. I'd probably feel the same if someone took away my tree back in the day. Hell, I felt that way even when I lost my goblin cave... Even though they were secretly betraying me. Well... A few anyway, most of them were decent; I hope Yuzz is doing well."

"Focus!" The spider interrupted.

"Ah... Sorry..." I scratched my cheek sheepishly. "I guess I just feel a little lonely. I sort of can't tell most people the truth about me, and so I thought a fellow [Experiment] might be the next best option. Assuming you don't try to kill me again like the last one."

"You've met others like us?" She asked. "And no... I'm more than happy to bury the hatchet between us."

"Just one... I think?" I replied. There might have been others, but he was the only one I knew for certain.

"He was an orc who evolved into a troll. I thought things would work out, but his orc tribe was pretty brutal, and I felt obligated to stop them from raping and pillaging the land. Lines were drawn, sides were picked, and I fought him. Then left him to stew in his defeat."

"Oh..." She paused. "I've killed dwarves, though; isn't that going to be a problem?"

"Wasn't it self-defense? My employer told me that you don't chase down fleeing dwarves."

"That matters?" She asked.

"I feel like it does," I answered honestly and shrugged. "They were adventurers out to kill you, and you fought back; they knew the risks. On the other hand, the orcs were going out of their way to attack civilians."

"Sort a greyish-white in terms of morality," she said before finally taking a bite of the food. Once she started, it rapidly started disappearing.

Since we were still mentally linked, I could hear her gushing about the food in her head. I guessed she wasn't too happy about being forced to eat nothing but the raw meat of the monster and dwarf variety to survive.

"Why did you even stay in this mine for so long?" I asked curiously.

"This wasn't my original... Home, if you could even call it that," She admitted. "I was stuck in my second evolution coma and woke up here; I figured someone must have placed me here. I guess my hiding spot wasn't as good as I thought it would be..."

"If it was up to tier four, I was out for a week... I'm surprised you survived."

"You and me both. I was stuck in that endless void, and then that woman suddenly said: 'Looks like someone found and captured you.' I thought I was done for, but then I woke up in a relatively flimsy box that I broke out inside this mine."

"So someone planted you here... I guess it's fortunate they were trying to ruin the Flinthearts business then. Anyone else would've presumably killed you..."

She nodded glumly.

I had plenty of food, so I dumped more of it out for her. The way she was ravenously eating it, it was like she was starved. She had eaten nearly three times her body weight in food!

"H-how are you eating all of that?" I couldn't help but ask. "I say this as someone who doesn't have a stomach, and everything I eat gets immediately dissolved and turned into slime mass."

"Oh... I'm bigger on the inside than on the outside," she explained nonchalantly.

I stared at her. "Explain a bit more?"

She swallowed a mouthful of food before finally responding. I wanted to tell her that she could mentally talk while eating, but I guess she saw it as rude.

"I'm not actually this size. The bigger body is my real body; that's been the case since my previous evolution."

"So your stomach shrunk, but you still need food as if you were full-sized?"

"Exactly! At least, that was the case up until my latest evolution. Now, all my organs are kind of... Not there anymore?" She tried to explain.

"Not there? What do you mean? Surely you still need your organs and whatnot to live?"

"Well, when I use my [Spatial Sense] on myself, there's like an empty void where my insides should be," She explained. "I'd almost say my organs are in a portal if that makes sense?"

"[Spatial Sense]?" I asked, with eyes sparkling. "Is that a trait or skill? I've never heard of it before."

"Oh... It's a trait I got when I evolved. It's used for [Dimension Magic] and [Blink]," she answered.

"Woah! That's so cool! You've got to show me those!" I immediately exclaimed, almost salivating over the thought of getting new things.

"Show? What do you mean?" She asked.

I giggled. "Oh boy. You're in for a treat."

I held out my hand and projected the [Identify] skill for her.

<[Identify]
Provides basic profile information about the target.
Skill level increases the likelihood of successful identification.
Functionality can be improved through other skills.>

"What!?" She exclaimed, basically darting around the floating text. "You can do that?"

"I had nearly the same reaction," I giggled, then almost word for word repeated what I was told. "You simply open your status menu, focus on the trait or skill, and think of displaying it."

I wondered what skill or trait she would show me.

<[Dimension Magic]
An extremely advanced form of Magic.
Allows one to manipulate Dimensional Mana.
Grants one default spell per level.>

I blinked.

Gods, that's a big one. But I don't think I have Dimensional Affinity?

<Skill [Dimension Magic] requires Dimension Affinity.>

Thought so...

<Error. Existing Dimension Affinity has been locked.
The user must pay a fee to unlock.>

Wait... I have Dimension Affinity? But it's been locked? By who?

<Authority: Gramps. Has requested Dimension Affinity to be locked.>

Gramps! Why!?

<The user must pay the fee to unlock.>

Sure, what's the fee?

<Unlock Dimension Affinity for 10 Trait Points? 11 Trait Points remaining.>

Shit! That's so expensive! Ten whole points!? I mean, I can afford it... I'm sure it's worth it, right?

<Quest received: Teach The Terror (Spider) the fundamentals of Magic.
Reward: Discounted unlock payment (variable based on results).>

Woah! What the heck? A quest for a discount? Sign me up!

<Authority: Gramps has petitioned for this Quest to be declined.>

<Authority: Mother has vetoed this petition.>

I was staring at the messages, utterly dumbfounded, when suddenly, a panicked voice echoed in my head.

"Syl!?" The spider shouted, breaking me out of my stupor. "Are you still there? You've kinda gone blank as a statue for a bit there..."

"Oh... Sorry, I was receiving a Quest." I replied, still somewhat confused about the whole situation.

"A Quest? What for?" The spider asked.

"Mother wants me to teach you magic, I think..."

The spider looked startled.

"That controlling bitch! She's the reason I attacked you in the first place! She told me a powerful elf was coming, and I was doomed if I didn't get better at magic as soon as possible and stop slacking off! The nerve of her! What a control freak after she put me in this horrible body!"

<Quest received: Slap The Terror (Spider).
Reward: 1 Trait Point unlock discount.>

Before Gramps or anyone else could remove this Quest, I rapidly formed a tendril and slapped the spider across the face.

"What was that for!?" She demanded.

<Quest complete.>

<Unlock Dimension Affinity for 9 Trait Points? 11 Trait Points remaining.>

"Sorry! I got a quest." I tried to explain, although it wasn't a very good reason.

"You slapped me for a quest!?" She sounded furious.

"Mother gave me a trait point discount!" I tried to deflect the blame.

"That bitch!"

I half expected another quest, but sadly, it looked like I wouldn't get another discount so easily.