Riven finally focused on the spider resting on the back of his hand.
It was… small.
Much smaller than the others in the chamber.
Barely larger than the tip of his thumb.
Compared to the heavy-bodied venom spiders behind the glass, it looked almost unimpressive. Its body was thin and narrow, colored a deep pitch black that swallowed the lantern light instead of reflecting it.
In the shadows of the chamber, it almost disappeared entirely.
If it hadn't moved, Riven doubted he would have noticed it at all.
Seris leaned closer.
At first she had only glanced at it.
Then her eyes narrowed.
"…Ah."
Riven looked up.
Seris was staring at the spider with an expression that was equal parts recognition and mild surprise.
"A predator spider."
Riven blinked.
"A what?"
Seris didn't answer immediately. Her gaze lingered on the small creature for another moment before she straightened.
"It's a species that hunts other spiders," she said.
Riven glanced down at it again.
"This thing?"
Seris nodded.
"Yes."
"They rely on stealth more than strength. Their venom isn't particularly deadly, since most spiders possess some level of natural resistance to venom anyway."
She paused, then added,
"So the poison has a different goal."
Riven watched the tiny spider again, slightly curious now.
Seris continued, almost thoughtfully.
"When a predator spider bites something, the venom leaves behind a trace."
"A mark."
"It spreads slowly through the body, and the spider can follow it."
"No matter how far the prey runs."
Riven frowned slightly.
"So it just… tracks them?"
"Eventually," Seris said.
"It catches them."
She folded her arms loosely.
"It's a patient hunter. They don't rush."
"Sometimes they follow prey for hours. Sometimes days."
Her eyes drifted back to the spider on Riven's hand.
"What makes them strange is that they're known to hunt spiders much larger than themselves."
Riven glanced toward the terrariums.
Some of the spiders inside were several times the size of the creature now sitting on his skin.
"And they win?" he asked.
Seris shrugged faintly.
"Apparently."
Her expression turned thoughtful.
"I've always suspected there's more to their venom than people realize."
"Because on paper…"
She gestured vaguely toward the small spider.
"It shouldn't be strong enough."
A short silence settled between them.
Riven looked down at the creature again.
Compared to the frostweaver.
Compared to the ember-spinner.
Compared to the armored widows in the chamber.
It looked almost harmless.
Yet it had been the only one willing to bite.
The spider shifted slightly, its legs settling comfortably along the darkened lines of the tattoo.
As if it had no reason to fear them at all.
Weird.
But at least one of them accepted me in the end.
Riven lifted his gaze.
"So what now?" he asked. "I can use the poison to track people?"
Seris tilted her head slightly.
"Probably."
Her tone was casual, but thoughtful.
"You'll have to experiment a little."
She gestured faintly toward the spider.
"No one here has ever bound venom from a predator spider before. They usually ignore people completely."
Her eyes drifted back to Riven.
"So it's… unusual."
Then she glanced toward the rows of terrariums lining the chamber walls.
Most of the spiders were still pressed against the glass.
Watching him.
Seris frowned faintly.
"But then again…"
She waved a hand vaguely through the air.
"This whole situation was unusual."
After a moment she nodded toward his hand.
"Go ahead. Let it return to its enclosure."
Riven nodded.
He slowly lowered his hand toward the open terrarium.
The spider didn't move.
It simply stayed where it was, resting quietly against the tattoo.
Riven tilted his hand slightly.
Still nothing.
"…You can go," he muttered.
The spider shifted.
For a moment he thought it would crawl away.
Instead—
It tapped the tattoo.
Once.
Softly.
Like a tiny knock.
Riven froze.
He had felt something like that before.
Then something answered.
Beneath the skin of his hand, the tattoo pulsed faintly.
Not the venom reservoir.
The mark itself.
A thin thread of sensation spread through his awareness.
A connection.
He knew that feeling.
There was already one such connection tied to his tattoo.
It currently stretched outward—far beyond the sect walls, pointing somewhere deep within the distant forest where he had been for the Newcomer's Trial.
Now another thread appeared.
Short.
Immediate.
Right on top of his hand.
Riven felt it clearly.
The predator spider.
A quiet presence resting within his perception, as if a tiny weight had settled at the end of a string tied to his mind.
Then the sensation faded.
The spider stepped away from the tattoo.
A moment later it dropped lightly into the terrarium.
Seris didn't seem to notice anything unusual.
She simply closed the enclosure again.
"There," she said, brushing her hands together lightly. "That's done."
Riven barely heard her.
His thoughts lingered on the strange feeling that had just appeared—and vanished.
Another thread.
Another connection.
Before he could examine the thought further, Seris gestured down the hallway.
"Come with me."
Her voice snapped him out of it.
Riven followed.
They returned to the small room where he had separated his soul force earlier.
Seris moved to a shelf along the wall and pulled out a thin manual bound in dark thread.
She handed it to him.
"The Arachnotoxin Canon" she said.
"This contains the methods for refining and expanding your venom reservoir."
Riven accepted it.
The pages felt surprisingly heavy.
Seris continued.
"If you continue practicing the techniques inside, you'll learn how to control the poison more precisely."
"And eventually evolve it."
She paused.
"But not today."
Her eyes moved briefly to his hand.
"There is something way more urgent you need to do."
She pulled a small vial from another shelf.
Inside, a clear liquid shimmered faintly.
"Spider Dew."
Her gaze hardened slightly.
"Use it once you're back at your house."
"Because if you don't…"
She tapped the side of her temple.
"The loss of soul force might not seem like much at first."
"But eventually it will."
"Your mind will grow restless."
"Your thoughts will never fully settle."
"And you'll wonder why you can't find peace even when doing nothing."
She handed him the vial.
"So go back. Heal first."
"Then start studying the manual."
Riven nodded.
"…Understood."
He turned toward the door.
Then stopped.
Something lingered in his perception.
Faint.
But still there.
That thread.
The one tied to the spider.
He hesitated for a moment before asking something he hadn't planned to say.
"…Can I take the predator spider with me?"
Seris blinked.
"That one?"
Riven nodded.
Seris frowned slightly.
"You won't be able to control it."
"Predator spiders don't listen to people."
She hesitated.
Then her expression shifted slightly, thoughtful.
"…But."
Her gaze drifted briefly toward the chamber behind them.
"If you really want to take it…"
She shrugged faintly.
"There's a technique in the Martial Pavilion."
"A beast-taming method."
"If you learn that first, I'll make an exception."
Her voice dropped into a small mutter.
"It's not like anyone else here will ever need a predator spider anyway."
Seris waved a hand toward the door impatiently.
"Now go."
"Your soul force needs rest more than another experiment."
Riven nodded again.
But as he stepped out of the room, his thoughts remained fixed on the faint thread still lingering in his awareness.
And the small black spider waiting quietly inside its terrarium.
He didn't know why.
But he wanted to keep it.
>>>
Riven returned to Jasmine Garden not long after, the small vial of Spider Dew still cool in his hand.
The manual had been stored in his ring when no one was around.
Inside his room, he sat down cross-legged and studied the liquid for a moment.
Clear. Almost weightless. It shimmered faintly when the lantern light caught it.
Then he uncorked the vial and drank it.
The fluid slid down his throat like water—but the moment it reached his stomach it dissolved. The sensation was strange. The liquid lost all weight, turning thin and immaterial as if it had never truly been physical.
Riven closed his eyes.
He could feel it gathering.
A cool current rising through his body, flowing upward toward the center of his awareness.
Toward the mind palace.
Inside that quiet space, the reservoir of soul force rested where it always had.
But now he noticed something new.
The surface of the pale light looked… dimmer.
Slightly broken.
Uneven.
The Spider Dew moved toward it eagerly, like water drawn to dry soil.
Then it touched.
For a moment it seemed to sink into it.
Then the entire mind palace shuddered.
And everything went wrong.
A sharp ringing exploded through his head.
Pain followed instantly.
Riven's breath caught as something inside his mind recoiled violently.
For a brief, terrible moment—
It felt like he heard something scream.