"That's… impossible."
Seris' voice was quiet, but the disbelief in it was unmistakable.
She stared at the terrariums.
Inside the reinforced glass containers, spiders that had been resting moments earlier were now moving. Dozens of them crawled toward the side of their enclosures closest to Riven.
Some moved slowly.
Others rushed forward across their webs, legs tapping rapidly against the glass.
Every single one of them faced him.
Seris stepped closer again, her sharp eyes narrowing.
"…Move a step to the side," she said.
Riven took a step to the left.
The reaction was immediate.
The spiders followed.
Tiny bodies shifted across webs. Larger ones dragged themselves across branches and stones inside the enclosures, their clusters of eyes fixed on him.
Seris stared.
Then she looked at Riven, who was looking at his hand.
Then back at the spiders.
Inside her mind was spinning.
She had been overseeing this hall for nearly twenty years.
And not once had she seen anything like this.
Normally, when a disciple entered the chamber, most spiders ignored them.
A few might react.
Occasionally one would approach the glass.
That was a sign of strong compatibility.
But this—
Seris swept her gaze across the rows of terrariums.
Nearly every spider in the chamber had moved.
All of them were pressed toward the glass.
Watching him.
Riven looked between the enclosures.
"…Is that bad?" he asked.
Seris let out a short breath.
"No."
Then she paused.
"…It's incredible."
She stepped closer to one of the terrariums and examined the spider inside.
A crimson-backed venom spinner pressed its legs against the glass, tapping lightly as if trying to reach the boy standing outside.
Seris tore her gaze away and straightened, gesturing for Riven.
"Go back to the hallway."
Riven did as she asked.
As he moved, the spiders moved with him, until he disappeared from sight.
Seris watched the display with increasing interest.
"Well," she muttered.
"It seems the spiders like you."
She followed Riven into the hallway.
Seris stopped a few steps away from him and crossed her arms, studying him again—this time with far more interest than before.
"Well," she said at last, "that answers the first question."
Riven waited.
Seris tilted her head slightly toward the chamber behind them.
"If the spiders had ignored you, there would have been no point continuing. We would have sent you away."
Her eyes flicked over his body.
"But clearly that won't be a problem."
She gestured toward a small side room branching off the hallway.
"Come. The first step has nothing to do with spiders."
Riven followed her inside.
The room was simple—bare stone walls, a low wooden table, and a few floor cushions arranged neatly across the floor.
Seris motioned toward one of the cushions.
"Sit."
Riven lowered himself to the floor.
Seris handed him a manual.
"This is the method you will need," she said.
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"It allows you to cut away a small fragment of your soul force without destabilizing the rest."
Riven nodded.
That part he remembered.
The fragment would later be mixed with venom and turned into the poison reservoir.
Seris gave him some time to familiarize with the text and then continued.
"I will also help guide you through it."
A short pause.
"Close your eyes," she instructed. "And focus on your mind palace."
Riven obeyed.
His awareness sank inward.
The quiet space of his mind palace appeared again, the faint reservoir of pale soul force resting at its center, with five petaled blossom drawn over it.
Seris' voice reached him from outside.
"Guide a thin portion outward."
Riven slowly drew a strand of soul force from the reservoir.
It stretched outward carefully, hovering just beyond the boundary of the mind palace.
He paused there.
Even knowing the theory, the next step felt uncomfortable.
Cutting away part of his own soul force…
The idea still felt wrong.
Seris seemed to sense the hesitation.
"The Spider Dew will restore the loss afterward," she said calmly. "Don't worry."
Riven knew that.
Still, the feeling remained.
"Cut it now."
He studied the thin strand of soul force hovering outside the reservoir.
There was no real reason not to continue.
So he acted.
With a controlled motion, he severed the strand, according to the method described in the manual.
It was a slightly unusual process but after a while the small portion of soul force separated.
For a brief moment the sensation was strange—like losing the feeling in a finger that had always been there.
Then pain shot into his mind.
Similar to when the Dual Fate Seal had burned itself into his soul.
His body quivered and cold sweat began to run down his forehead.
After a moment, he stabilized, but a throbbing pain still stayed.
His gaze locked onto the seperated soul fragment.
It drifted slightly outside the mind palace.
Independent.
Unstable.
Normally he should be losing all control of it by now, but somehow he could still move it.
There must have been something special about the way the method instructed him to cut it.
Seris watched him carefully.
After a moment, she nodded.
"Good. You seem to be fine."
She stepped back.
"That fragment will become your venom reservoir."
"Now you decide where to anchor it."
Riven opened his eyes.
Seris gestured vaguely toward him.
"Place it somewhere practical. Somewhere you can reach quickly when you need to draw poison."
She tapped two fingers against her own wrist.
"Most disciples choose their hands."
Her hand moved down slightly.
"Some prefer their feet if they rely on kicks."
Then she raised an eyebrow.
"Elbows are popular as well."
A faint smirk appeared.
"And a few idiots put it on their tongue."
Riven blinked.
"…Why?"
Seris shrugged.
"Because they think spitting venom sounds impressive."
A brief pause.
"They usually regret it."
Riven glanced down at the faint wisp of soul force hovering near his chest.
The fragment felt strange.
Not painful.
Just… separate.
He thought about where it would be most useful.
His feet could work.
But poison would be easier to apply with his hand.
His gaze drifted to the back of his hand.
The spider-shaped tattoo stared back at him.
Eight thin legs.
A small body.
Simple lines.
The image felt… fitting.
Without another word, Riven guided the fragment of soul force downward.
It drifted slowly through the air until it hovered just above the back of his hand.
Then he shaped it.
Seris had told him that once he absorbed the poison it would gain some colour and settle on his skin.
Almost like a tattoo.
So he might as well make it fit.
Slowly it turned into the same simple outline.
A crude spider.
Its thin legs spreading across the lines of the tattoo beneath it.
Seris waited patiently until Riven called out.
"I'm ready."
Riven stood up.
Seris gave a small nod.
"Follow me. Let's choose your poison."
Seris walked into the spider chamber again.
The moment Riven stepped in behind her, the reaction returned.
Dozens of spiders stirred inside their terrariums.
Small ones rushed across delicate webs. Larger ones shifted from their resting places, legs dragging slowly across stone and wood.
Clusters of eyes turned toward him.
Seris exhaled slowly.
"Still doing it," she muttered.
Seris gestured toward the rows of terrariums.
"Well," she said. "Looks like you have options."
Riven walked slowly along the rows.
Spiders followed his movement inside their glass enclosures, pressing toward the side closest to him.
He studied them carefully.
Some were small and quick.
Others were thick-bodied creatures with heavy legs and glistening venom sacs.
Most of them looked dangerous.
Some looked disgusting.
Eventually one caught his attention.
It sat inside a terrarium slightly larger than the others. It was about the size of a football—like the ones village children had used to kick around in the dirt outside.
Its body was dark, almost metallic black, with faint blue lines running along its legs. The creature was larger than most in the chamber, its abdomen thick and heavy, a faint shimmer of venom visible beneath its shell.
Riven pointed.
"That one."
Seris glanced into the terrarium.
"Hmm."
She studied the spider for a moment.
"Good choice."
She stepped forward and unlocked the glass enclosure.
The door slid open with a soft click.
Then the spider moved.
It crawled out, descending along a thin strand of web before landing lightly on the stone floor.
Seris was already preparing something.
She dipped two fingers into a small jar and pulled out a faintly shimmering paste.
"Hold your hand out."
Riven extended his left hand.
Seris carefully rubbed the mixture onto the back of it—directly over the hovering fragment of soul force shaped like the spider.
"The scent will guide it," she explained. "The spider will bite where the poison is meant to bind."
Riven nodded.
He held his hand steady.
The spider approached.
Eventually it reached his hand.
Seris watched closely.
"This should be quick."
The spider moved one leg onto the back of his hand.
Its legs settled directly over the faint shape of the soul force spider.
For a moment it stayed there.
Still.
Then it shifted slightly.
But it didn't bite.
Riven frowned.
"…Aren't they supposed to bite?"
Seris narrowed her eyes.
"They usually do."
The spider remained still.
Then it changed the leg that was touching the back of his hand.
Riven shivered slightly.
Spider sect or not...
This really wasn't too nice an experience.
But then the spider stopped.
Riven tilted his head slightly.
"Go on," he muttered under his breath.
"Bite."
The spider didn't move.
If anything, it looked uneasy.
Seris frowned.
"That's odd."
She waited another moment.
Nothing.
Finally she sighed.
"Try again."
She applied a little more of the mixture.
The scent grew sharper in the air.
The spider shifted again.
Its fangs extended slightly.