Cynthia and the spiders went back to the cave with the xingxing's corpse. Cynthia reasoned that the smell of blood would start to spread and attract beasts. If they didn't go back quickly they wouldn't be at a very defendable place. Beasts would probably still come back at least they'd have a way to defend. If the spiders were able to get the drop on her, they should be able to get the drop on most other intruders. Cynthia also ignored any system messages until she was safely in the cave. Cynthia was the most hurt then Sebas. Cynthia likely wouldn't be able to fight. Sebas could but not much better than the baby spider. The baby spider wasn't hurt at all but she is so weak she likely wouldn't be able to make a difference without hit and run tactics and even then it was iffy whether she could beat any mildly significant enemies on this god forsaken mountain. Their first course of action would be recovering energy but Cynthia couldn't do that without consuming the xingxing's beast pearl but she knew that it would be a very big struggle for her to consume the energy given the massive difference in energy between the two. It would be better if the two spiders could eke out a victory against some weak sentient monsters. Cynthia remembered that the juvenile spider didn't have a beast pearl but did have energy in its body. Eating Sebas was out of the question since his usefulness in the future would heavily outweigh the benefit of eating him now. On the other hand if they encountered an enemy on par with Sebas it might actually be the end of them. They finally made it back to the cave and something Cynthia was fearing came true. In the time they were away a spider had hatched and became a juvenile. She only knew this because after using her energy she learned how to sense outside energy and she could feel it clumped up on the ceiling. She told Sebas and the baby spider to try and get the drop on it and kill it quickly to try not to incur more losses. Sebas actually approached the spider openly to open a dialogue, surprisingly disobeying orders. Cynthia sensed this. "Sebas! What are you doing?! This could kill us all!" thought Cynthia in the direction of Sebas' connection in her mind. "She is my sibling! He could be of great help to you. especially given our current situation! One more ally means less enemies for each of us to handle!" Sebas replied reasonably. "It is a massive risk though!" pleaded Cynthia. "My lady, if we fight to the death we can't win without incurring losses. If we incur more losses we won't be able to defend our spoils and we will likely die." said Sebas. "That's why I said to ambush her!" screamed Cynthia in her mind. "You put far too much faith in my abilities, my lady. A Human Face Spider waiting for prey is far too aware of its surroundings for me to attempt such a thing and come out unscathed." said Sebas. "Fine! But our lives hinge on this and if you fail and we live there will be a MASSIVE punishment for you for risking all of our lives." replied Cynthia in a rather deadly voice. "Greetings sister" called out Sebas in a rather terrifying chittering sound. "Who are you?" replied the spider girl in a somehow kind and caring chittering noise. Cynthia listening to this wondered why she could understand the nuances of how different spider voices sounded when they were awful chittering noises but chalked it up to her connection with Sebas. "I am your brood brother! I hatched and attained sentience before you but I went out on a hunting trip during the time that you hatched and attained sentience here." replied Sebas. "What exactly do you want?" asked the female spider. "Well ultimately I would like you to serve my master, but right now we just want assurance that we can stay here and recover without ambushes." replied Sebas. "I can let you stay here but I can't serve someone whom I don't know." Said the female spider amicably. "Thank you very much!" Sebas said. "Good job!" Cynthia telepathically told Sebas. "She was very reasonable," replied Sebas "my instincts tell me she would make an exceptional brood mother given her temperament.". "That's why I thought she would be of excellent use to you my lady." Sebas continued "a broodmother can practically make an army, and broodmothers don't have much of an issue controlling their descendants.". "How do you know all of this?" Cynthia asked. "It's my instincts. I can tap into a package of information about my kin. Can you not do that?" asked Sebas. "I can't." replied Cynthia "maybe it has to do with me not being the actual owner of this body.". "Anyways my lady, I think you should try to sway that girl onto our side," said Sebas. "You know I can feel your feelings right?" said Cynthia skeptically "I can feel that you fondness of her is more than you simply thinking she is useful.". "I can assure you that was not part of my decision to not kill her." replied Sebas. "I don't doubt that Sebas. I could feel your feelings change slightly when she first spoke." said Cynthia "arranged marriages to create alliances are common in the history of the world I came from and I'm sure your instincts are screaming at you to continue your bloodline.". "I would never prioritize bloodline above you my lady." said Sebas somehow blushing. "These two ideas are not mutually antagonistic. In fact I encourage you to get close to her. If I can have an entire bloodline of servants that would be very beneficial for me and you would receive full authority over your species of the individuals under me." replied Cynthia "plus you'd have a better shot at relating to her than I would. Given what you've done for me so far, I put my trust in you on this matter, Sebas". "Thank you my lady" Sebas said, his face somehow redder. Two blue windows popped up. "Tip: as Servants progress their senses of self will evolve alongside their power. Make sure to pay attention so their personalities blossom into devotion instead of becoming problematic." "Your servant Sebas' sense of self has grown. He has become devoted to you even more and respects you because of the trust you've placed in him as well as the advice you've given him.". "Even though I felt that myself, it is nice to know that it was significant enough that the system made a message." thought Cynthia "now time for the distribution of spoils but first the messages." a blue window popped up. "See unread system messages? Yes/No". "Yes" thought Cynthia. Three blue windows and three white windows opened. White 1 "You have practiced lounging at an enemy so many times it has become second nature! An art has been created" Blue 1 "Tip: if you complete mundane actions a number of times that it becomes second nature a quasi skill called an art may be created. Arts can be fueled with energy to make the action stronger or more effective just like some skills can. While arts typically don't have special aspects like skills do, their strength lies in the use of energy to empower them. Humans often call arts, martial arts, and skills magic." White 2 "you have done a unique action! If you continue to do the action 'dive bomb', an art may be created!" White 3 "Your proficiency with the skill Poison Fang has increased by leaps and bounds! It has risen by 3 levels!" Blue 2 "You have Completed the quest! 1000 Exp has been received! 1 Servant Slot has been received!" Blue 3 "You have gained a massive amount of exp! Your level has increased by 2!". "Lots of growth." said Cynthia "and arts seem very useful!". "Now time to eat!" said Cynthia. "May I make a request, my lady?" Interrupted Sebas. "Sure, go ahead! You deserve a reward for handling the situation with your sister so well." replied the tiger, rather eager to get this out of the way and chow down. "May I offer some of the meat to my sister? I think it would be beneficial to foster good relations." said Sebas. "That's all you want for a reward? We are squatting in her childhood home technically so we might as well give her some. I will grant you another reward. Choose wisely. If it isn't something I can fulfill now I will try my best when I can." Cynthia said using the carrot method with her first subordinate. "May I have the blood of the ape then?" requested Sebas "I feel as though it will offer me a breakthrough.". "That's easy enough to grant. Drink as much as you want!" Cynthia replied "take an arm to your sister". "Little spider you also take an arm" Cynthia said to the little spider who was having a much harder time stopping herself from eating the ape. Cynthia then started draining the blood from the body for Sebas and then finally once that was done she chowed down on the head, torso and legs. Once she was done she took a look at the pearl. "It's much bigger than before…" Cynthia thought "I'm not sure if I can absorb it without suffering permanent damage". Then a blue window popped up. "Tip: The Forced Regeneration skill can be used to repair cultivation damage. It is not effective at repairing damage that has had time to cement itself but if used as an emergency remedy, it can be incredibly effective. Moreover since the energy does not need to travel far, less is consumed!". "Alright then system, I'll trust you once more. Make sure to heal me when it gets dangerous." Cynthia thought. Then she popped the pearl in her mouth and braced herself. The agony was exquisite. Normal people would simply die of shock. It felt like Cynthia's insides were tossed into a meatgrinder then regenerated and tossed right in again. Over and over. She didn't even run out of energy for healing because she recouped lost energy in the process of making the pearls power her own. She begged for a death that did not come. By the time the pain subsided she could see it became dark outside and there were many corpses outside the cave. Mostly unintelligent beasts and some low level sentient ones. A blue window opened. "Congratulations! Your body has been reconstructed and you have received a lord title! You are now a baron!". "What the fuck???" Cynthia thought before falling asleep.
