Chapter 32: 1.32 Running and Bowling

Faragi

Remember to hop into discord if you have any questions or suggestions for the story. I see people ask me questions on it and I try to answer them in the next chapter in an organic manner so people don't get info dumps thrown their way. 

Of course I can't answer everything for the sake of spoilers but I'd be happy to explain anything that wansn't clear enough.

Enjoy!

also, no proofreading was done. I'll edit tomorrow!

I had spread out the pillows over a larger area so we would have plenty of space to sleep. 

Who was I even trying to fool? 

Of course, that was never going to happen. 

What ended up happening was an elf sneaking her way up to me while I had my eyes closed. It was hard to see in the darkness but when I felt her slow, steady breath near my face, it told me everything I needed to know. 

She was not going to give up. 

I had the feeling the trip we would be undertaking only served to add more fuel to her fire. She was trying to get closer to me like there was no tomorrow, literally and figuratively. It seems she had fallen asleep a long time ago and I was left wide awake with conflicting emotions. 

I swear she was doing it on purpose. 

Sure, she had said she would sleep better here than in her own room, but what about me?  

I sighed as I turned around a pillow so that the cold side was up.  

I stretched my pedipalps and accidentally touched Velariah's legs with one as I did so. I was surprised when I heard a soft giggle through the quiet snoring. At least she didn't wake up. I quickly retracted them and tried to fall asleep, again. 

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I think I must have fallen asleep because the next moment I knew I had my heart pounding and tears in my eyes. What happened? 

''Elania?" Velariah whispered softly. "Are you alright?'' 

Did I cry in my sleep? Was that even possible? 

''Elania?'' The elf's soft voice sounded again. 

''I don't know? What happened?'' I whispered as well. 

''I think you were crying?'' She let out as if were a question. 

''I don't know.'' I let out again. 

I had no idea what happened. Was that my emotions messing with me? I didn’t even know it was a thing, it never happened before. 

Maybe I should give this whole thing a chance? 

Velariah put her hand on my head and carefully wiped away a tear with her thumb. She then let it slide through my hair and I could feel my heart calm down as she did do. She repeated the gesture several times and I could feel myself fully relaxing at her touch and slowly faded away. 

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I woke up to the sound of running water. Turning my head, I saw Velariah with her head in the sink. She was still wearing nothing but her underwear and I quickly turned away from the sight, but not before I saw she had noticed me in the mirror.  

''Oh, hey Elania. I didn’t mean to wake you. You got some sleep?'' 

I rubbed the last sleep out of my eyes before replying.  

''Yeah, not too bad, I guess.''  

''I expected as much. Did you know that your front two legs twitch when you sleep? What were they called again, penpals or something?'' 

I buried by face in a pillow in embarrassment. Why did it seem like those spidery parts had a mind of their own? Did they touch Velariah? They seemed to do that on their own quite a bit... 

''Pedipalps...'' I said with my face still half-buried. ''They are called pedipalps...'' 

'"Anyways, your turn.'' She said as she stepped away from the sink. 

She was combing her hair while putting on the shirt she had tossed on the floor yesterday.  

I got up and dug through the bag of shirts. I found another white one and wondered for a moment if I should change my ''underwear'' too. It seemed Velariah was too occupied with herself so I decided to put one a fresh beige bra quickly while she wasn't looking. 

''No need to be embarrassed.'' She let out as she was putting on her pants and looking at my back in the mirror. 

I was turned away from her and managed to finish putting it on without having to cause awkward scenarios.  

''But you're staring. How can I not be embarrassed when you do that?'' I replied with a slightly flushed face.  

''You should take it as a compliment!'' She replied cheerfully.  

A succubus for sure. The more I got to know her, the more I started to doubt her mother's lineage. 

May she rest in peace. 

I put on the shirt and Velariah handed me the comb. I started working through my hair and washed my face at the same time. 

''Must be nice having an extra pair of hands. Saves you quite a bit of time in front of the mirror, doesn't it?'' 

''Yeah, it's not too bad. Once you figure out how they work that is.'' I look at her in the mirror. ''That part took me a bit of time though.'' 

''Still.'' She said in a neutral expression. ''Think of the possibilities. You could use them for so many things: Weeding, laundry, dishes, cleaning...'' She paused for a moment. ''Me.'' 

I saw her grin wickedly in the mirror and felt a wave of embarrassment crash over me.  

''Vel!'' I said loudly and I burrowed my face in my hands. 

What was she thinking? How far ahead was this elf thinking? She had to be joking.  

She was doing this on purpose... I just knew it. 

Velariah unlocked the door and walked through. Seconds later I heard a chair scrape across the floor. Another door then opened and I prayed Valtheril wasn't home. What would he think? 

I fished my tag from under yesterday's shirt and put it on. I figured I was going to have to take that off soon to put on my armor but I didn't care right now.  

When I walked into the dining room I saw Velariah munching on what looked, nay, smelled like fresh bread. Elly sat across from her and was currently spreading strawberry jam on a slice of her own. 

If only I was hungry... 

I settled for a cup of mediocre tea. It seemed to be the only thing of sub-Earth quality in this world. If that was all I had to give up to get everything else I would gladly do that any day of the week. 

Wait, I had to give up coffee too... 

Whatever. 

''You don't want anything to eat?'' Velariah asked as I stood at the table sipping on the hot beverage. 

''I'm pretty sure I've have enough for the coming week. Literally.'' 

''Yeah, you went to town on that soup yesterday.'' She spoke with judgment in her voice. 

''Hey, I can't help it. Chicken soup is my favorite and Elly is a kitchen goddess!'' 

Elly had just finished her slice and I saw her leave the table with a blushed but otherwise straight face.  

It appeared I managed to shut down her cockiness. I decided to add some salt to the wound. I would make her pay back for the comment she made earlier! 

''If you want me so badly, you better make sure your cooking is as good as hers!'' 

''Fuck...'' She said. 

Victory was mine! She had nothing to retaliate with at that comment. There was no way in hell she was going to be as good as Elly, not anytime soon at least. A stick figure with the internet troll face danced around in my head. 

Then I looked at her again and felt my heart sink. 

She actually looked sad. Had I overdone it?  

Maybe that was a bit harsh. 

''Just kidding Vel. Please don't take it too seriously. I just don't want to get ahead of myself.'' 

''It's Velariah.'' She smiled. 

Fuck. She got me. 

It seemed she had finished breakfast as she walked up to the kitchen door and knocked to get Elly's attention. She then had her help out with her armor as I tried to get my own fixed without help. I managed to do just fine until I realized that I had forgotten to take my tag off. Fortunately, I was able to fight it out from under the chest plate without having to take it off again.  

I took my spear with me and we set out towards the guild.  

Draco was already sitting in our usual corner with the larger tools such as the pickaxe and the spade laid out next to his axe on the bench. His backpack seemed completely filled to the brim with what I would guess was food and the canteens from before. Seralyn wasn't here yet. 

We greeted him and Velariah struck me with the idea of already attaching the cart to my back and drive it out front. Seralyn would be here soon, she had assured me. 

''Sounds like a good idea.'' Draco had confirmed. ''I'll greet Seralyn in case she shows up while you're in the warehouse.'' 

And so, we walked up to the Lore keeper to ask her to unlock the warehouse doors.  

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Once we walked in, we pulled the cart we had reserved into the open area and I produced a rope of non-sticky threads. I had Velariah bind it around my abdomen and the cart's beams. Due to the beams being far behind my legs I could move pretty much as freely as normal. If the cart had been fastened tightly, I could probably pull it at great speed. I'd just have to be careful to not hit speed bumps... 

The Lore keeper, as expected looked at our antics with great interest but didn't utter a word. She closed the doors behind us after we left. 

Thus, we made our way in front of the guild hall where people were already staring. 

Spider cavalry pulling a cart, with an elf sitting in said cart on top of a crate. What a sight to behold. 

Unbelievable. 

Effective, but an odd sight for sure. 

The sound of the wheels on the cobblestone road must have alerted Draco. Moments later, he appeared in the doorway, followed closely by Seralyn. It seemed she had arrived at the perfect time. 

''Oh my god.'' Seralyn exclaimed upon seeing us. ''This looks even more hilarious than I would have expected.''  

I knew she'd say that. I already had my answer prepared. 

''Seems like somebody wants to walk instead.'' 

''I didn't mean that in a bad way!" Seralyn quickly downplayed the situation. 

''Looking good, miss Elania. Thank you for the ride.'' Draco said politely while taking a bow. 

He then deposited his backpack, weapon and other tools on the cart before jumping on. After that he extended a scaled hand to help Seralyn up. What a gentleman. 

''You should try to be more like Draco.'' Velariah spoke for me. ''Elania is already making this far too easy for us, you should be thankful.'' 

Oh, Velariah was really putting her in an awkward position. 

''I suppose so.'' She spoke quietly. ''Thanks.'' 

I grinned and started to move to the village's southern exit. I hoped the ground beneath the grass would hold the weight that was on the cart. Wooden wheels weren't exactly the most reliable. Especially outside of somewhat decent roads.  

If needed, I would have somewhat of a plan ready depending on the situation. Worst case scenario I would have the others walk instead.  

Yeap, people were staring again. I just laughed at the situation this time. It made for very fun interactions.  

I had also managed to get much better control over my movements. I had slowly started to change the way I walked after I had molted. I was now able to move one set of legs at a time instead of two. It made for much smoother movements instead of the wobbly four legs at a time strategy. It also made it so I could do with much smaller movements in a step which seemed to cause me to tire more slowly as a side-effect. Was this how spiders moved? I wouldn't know. I had never cared about it, after all. 

We reached the outside of the city and started moving through the grass, in a straight line to the volcanic area. There was still the hill before us so I couldn't exactly steer in the correct direction yet.  

We walked around the goat farmer's fields of which one was almost completely transformed. The field next to the forest that was previously unoccupied had been completely ploughed through and was turned into a seedbed. It seemed Valtheril was right when he said they made good progress.  

We moved in the opposite direction though, around one of the other fields, before making a beeline to the hill. I warned my companions to hold on tight as I was about to move uphill. I couldn't have them falling out of the cart, after all. Although, there was still a wooden panel preventing that, I don't think it would be able to hold Draco's weight.  

''Also, Draco, please tell me you brought at least one canteen with alcohol, preferable something strong.'' 

''Why, so you can violate us while you have an excuse for doing so?'' Seralyn had quickly interjected. 

I sighed. 

''Draco, you tell her. Also, I'm not touching alcohol anymore, not to drink it at least.''  

''I think what miss Elania is referring to is alcohol meant to disinfect wounds.'' Draco started. ''And yes, I have brought some specifically for that purpose.''  

''Thanks.'' 

We reached the top of the hill and I halted for a moment, observing the volcanic ridge in the distance.  

''Which of the mountains is the largest? it's hard to see from here, and the smoke isn't making this  it any easier.'' 

There was an unusual amount of smoke rising up from the ridge, I wondered if one of the volcanoes had just erupted.  

''No idea.'' Velariah said. ''I've never been to the Searing Peak before. I don't believe my father mentioned it either, he just said the largest.'' 

''Alright, so we just keep going until we can actually make out a difference I guess.'' I shrugged. 

''I would guess so.''  

''Alright then, prepare for a bumpy ride, I'm going to pick up some speed soon.'' 

I walked down the hill with a normal pace until the ground was flat again. 

''I was promised speed!'' Seralyn called out. ''Where is it?'' 

''Right here.'' I answered. 

I started running. The grass had turned solid enough to support the cart with added weight without issues. That was kind of what I had been hoping for. The weather had been ideal the past few days and it didn't seem like rain was going to be on the forecast anytime soon. 

I ran for a while and didn't actually find myself tiring at all. I was going nowhere near the speed I could achieve if I wanted to, but I reckoned it would be best to not overexert myself. I would still have to learn how much I could actually push myself. This was a great test to find out how much stamina I possessed. 

I couldn't actually believe I was thinking that. Here I was, from a couch potato on Earth to spider cavalry running a marathon in another world. The worst part was that I was actually enjoying it. Who would have thought? Not me, that's for certain. 

It seemed my companions back in the cart were actually enjoying it too. We made progress faster than anyone could have imagined, it wasn't hard to feel overjoyed at something like that. Travel was, after all, something that took quite a while in medieval times.  

Miles just flew by as I ran through the plains towards our destination. I believe I spotted a few rabbits and I certainly spotted a few rabbit holes which I narrowly avoided. Other than that, these green fields of grass were simple to navigate but still felt amazing to lay one's eyes upon.  

No buildings in sight, just the sounds of nature and a few birds flying overhead. It was quite relaxing. Even though I was actively running, I didn't break a sweat. I did decide at some point to halt for a few minutes, just in case I was overexerting myself. Waking up with a sudden muscle ache would be hell when we still had to go all the way back. 

I imagined muscle ache in eight different legs would probably mean at least four times the pain if I were still human. I'd rather not have that happen. 

I had Draco pass me a canteen with water, which I eagerly emptied. 

''How many did you bring anyway?'' I asked. 

His bag seemed stacked, but I doubted it was filled with only canteens. 

''More than enough, don't worry about it.'' Draco replied. 

Well, if he said so. 

I handed the empty canteen back and thanked him before looking back. 

The village of course, was nowhere to be seen, thanks to the hill obscuring the vision. It seemed that we had already traveled several miles. At this rate, I reckoned we would reach the foot of the volcanic ridge somewhere in the afternoon. 

And Valtheril had said three days by foot. Hah. I was going to do this in hours. 

I knew I could prove him wrong. I would win nothing by doing that, but it would still feel good.  

I stretched my legs before I started running again. I wasn't sure why, could I even strain muscles in the first place? I wasn't keen on finding out.  

Nothing much happened for hours besides Seralyn shooting a rabbit during our next stop. I had never even seen the animal. The rabbit was larger than any kind I had personally known on earth, which added even more to my surprise of not being able to see it. It appeared her attitude may not be entirely misplaced. 

I knew there was a gigantic species but I had no experience with those. It kind of made me curious how it would taste. Then again, I wouldn't need to eat for a while. I would only feel guilty if I had some of it.  

''Elania, can I get some silk to wrap this in until we get to the ridge?'' Seralyn asked. 

''Sure, just use me as a towel dispenser why don't you? I said sarcastically. 

''What's a towel dispenser?" She replied, tilting her head.  

''Never mind.''  

I sighed. I knew what was going to come next. I couldn't really wrap it up myself as I would have to detach myself from the cart and I couldn't be bothered to do that. At least I could prevent Seralyn from having the sick pleasure of doing it. Hold on, Velariah would probably get some sick pleasure out of this as well.  

Spider struggles... 

I guessed Velariah would be my to-go choice, though. 

''Velariah, could you help her wrap it up.'' I crossed my arms and hoped she could do this quickly. 

''No problem.''  

I saw Seralyn remove the arrow, clean it and put it back in her quiver. 

Velariah took the large rabbit and jumped off the cart.  

I looked behind me to see her neutral expression change to a wicked grin while she looked at me. 

Oh no. 

What had I done? 

Instead of putting the rabbit to my spinnerets to stick silk to it, she touched it with her gloved hand. What was worse, she pressed against them. I wasn't some kind of bowling ball! 

I wanted to scream at her, but would imagine Seralyn making some weird comment about the situation so I gritted my teeth, stared in front of me and remained quiet as Velariah pulled out threads of sticky silk and started wrapping the rabbit in it. 

Honestly. I shouldn't have done this. I should have just let predators be attracted by the blood and make Seralyn pay for putting me through this. 

The brown-haired elf looked at the process with far too much curiosity, but it seemed she didn't dare to ask a question. That was probably for the best.  

Once Velariah had one nice cocoon filled with a rabbit, she was helped back into the cart by a courteous Draco.  

We set off once more towards the Searing Peak. 

We had made fair progress; the foot of the ridge was inching closer. That was when a group of five people on horseback started to approach us from the direction of the non-volcanic mountains. I wondered what they wanted?

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