Chapter 10: HBA – Chapter 9 – Arc 1 – Interlude – Father Daughter Relaxation Time

Different places. Different times.

 

In the place where Mir emerged from and a few months after he had done so.

 

A man was sitting on a stool beside a glimmering ring of purple-blackish color. 

 

He had a sun-kissed skin tone with black hair and black eyes decorating his head.

 

In his hand was a rod made out of wood. The rod had various markings, indicating that the wood was carved and enchanted for a specific purpose. 

 

Yet, no matter its material or the skill that it took to make, the rod still paled in importance to the thing attached to it.

 

The rod was just the holding tool. The silk used for the line connected to it is one of the multiple unique materials in existence., for there is only one way to acquire it. 

 

And that is to have traded something special for it. 

 

The reason is that this silk contains Divine in its name for a reason. 

 

It is produced by a spider, making it spider silk in nature. But the term Divine, in its name, meant not just any spider produced it.  No, it had to be made by a Si Clan Divine Spider from the Spider Pantheon of the Northern Forest.

 

The higher the status of the Divine Spider, the greater the quality of the Divine Si Spider Silk.

 

Currently, the man was using the highest grade of the Divine Si Spider Silk. 

 

Only this man did not treat the Divine Spider Silk as anything precious. The reason was simple. 

 

He was the one that produced it in the first place. That being the case, why should he place such emphasis on it when he can make it any time he wants?

 

When the enchanted rod and the Si Spider Silk met, they created a tool that any fisherman would kill, his parents, and who knows what else to possess. 

 

The fishing line made out of Divine Si Spider Silk was woven into a bundle and attached to the handle of the wooden rod. 

 

On the top of the enchanted wooden rod, was a small ring through which the spider silk passed. 

 

Then it entered the big ring with purple-blackish light coming out of it.

 

The man professed no impatience as he fished through the Nether Sea Portal. He only had one goal, but he doubted he would reach it. 

 

What bit on the other end of the fishing line, was determined by pure luck. 

 

The material that made up the fishing rod only increased the chance of something biting the bait. 

 

However, he still kept doing this occasional hobby. 

 

There were times when he had caught quite bizarre things along with creatures. 

 

However, in these last few months, he had been hoping for something special to bite. 

 

Something that he knew would not happen but still tried for it. The attempt felt quite relaxing for him to spend his time like this, from time to time. 

 

It helped him tune out the Divine Politics he was usually part of. 

 

Especially as of late as the constant squandering of discovering that their most famous and most important tool, the Si Spider Silk Net, had had its first failure in a long, long time.

 

Thinking of it again, Zenak’Si had no choice but to shake his head at the improbability. He could not remember the last time a similar thing had happened. 

 

That was how masterfully crafted the net was, yet somehow it had failed. And the greatest enigma was that he had no idea how it occurred in the first place. 

 

Zenak’Si had checked and rechecked multiple times. His net was working perfectly. 

 

There simply were no gaps from which to escape. 

 

Yet, the tale his daughter told him had to be true. Otherwise, that would mean that his daughter had lied to him. 

 

If she had, she would have felt the mistake the first second she came back. 

 

He was its creator, and he felt that the net had been deployed and caught nothing, so she had not lied. 

 

Of that, he was confident, without a doubt. Especially since there was a witness to everything

 

Still, the use of the net so close to the Li’On Pantheon territory created a diplomatic incident that he wanted nothing to do with. 

 

Hence, fishing and hoping to catch the cause of the problem in order to figure out a solution, yet knowing it was of no use. 

 

Hence, delegating the problem to others while he unwound simply fishing.

 

With his line cast out, Zenak’Si remembered the words his daughter used when she had come back.

 

He ignored the remark the Ghost had said about his daughter, but he focused on the specific line of words used ‘I don't want to wake up just yet.’ and ‘There is nothing that I can't do in a Dream.’.

 

Dreams? I can't deny the possibility due to the intangibility of the Dream Realm, but there should be more to it since my net worked on Dream Creatures, or at least it did before.

 

Should I test it out, just to be sure?

 

Then he felt a presence appear closing on him. 

 

It was familiar to him like the back of his hand, as he had watched it grow up.

 

His daughter Zak’Si had come. 

 

Her steps were slow, as if still uncertain of what she was doing.

 

It took some courage, but she did enter his workshop. 

 

“Daddy? Can I come in?” Zenak’Si heard his daughter ask.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Great.” Already more cheerful from not being denied, his little girl entered. 

 

Zenak’Si watched her enter from the corner of his right eye. 

 

His daughter had similar features to him, a sun-kissed skin tone, with black eyes and black hair decorating her head.

 

Zak’Si’s mood wasn't the only cheery thing, as her whole body moved with her emotions. She skipped a bit before arriving before him.

 

“Daddy…have you caught it?” She asked him with hope in her eyes.

 

He knew what the hope stood for, but her house arrest would stick no matter what happened. There was to avoid her punishment for using his rod and taking his net without permission.

 

“No, no luck. The only thing caught was the usual.” He replied, and instantly her expression lost its cheerfulness. “You won't be getting out of house arrest. Understood?”

 

“Yes, Daddy.” His daughter replied. Yet, her face told him she wanted something from him.

 

“Daddy? Can I try it once more?” 

 

“Fishing?”

 

“Yes.”

 

For a moment, Zenak’Si considered denying her request as another punishment, but ultimately he decided against it. 

 

With a wave from his hand, a stool on which to sit landed beside him. 

 

Another wave, a rod, flew from the left wall of his workshop and landed in his right hand. 

 

“It does not compare to my own, but it will do the job for you.” He said and presented the rod to his daughter. “ The line will be up to you.”

 

Zak’Si nodded and took it. Her left hand flared with rainbow colors, of all the things it could have been. 

 

From the colored light, a thin rainbow silk line began to manifest.

 

Zenak’Si watched his daughter grow the Si Divine Silk. He just shook his head at the slight enigma that was his daughter.

 

She was special the moment she hatched from her egg. 

 

The reason is that she was born with her current body instead of starting in a spider form, as all the other Divine Children do.

 

No matter which species one descends from, one first had to be born with one's natural body before gaining the humanoid form by reaching Divinity, yet his daughter was the opposite. 

 

The closer she came to Divinity, the closer she was to attaining her spider form. As if the spider form was more special than the humanoid one she currently had.

 

Because of it, she could manifest abilities that only come upon reaching Divinity, like weaving Si Spider Silk, albeit with deficits.

 

The rainbow light was just a manifestation of the phenomena of the silk appearing. 

 

The actual agent of the silk manifesting was the spinneret of his daughter's spider form, appearing in a ghostly shape behind her and doing the job it should not be able to do.

 

Despite the color, it is made of the same material as was his. It behaved the same as any other, except it would vanish into thin air after some time.

 

That characteristic is probably why she thought she would get away from using his fishing rod without me knowing about it.

 

Zenak’Si watched his daughter weave the silk into the world. A few drops of sweat dropped from her forehead before she was done and had enough silk to use for her purposes.

 

Once she had it, she attached the bundle to the handle and pulled one end through the ring at the top. With a swish of her hands, she cast the line into the Nether Sea Portal.

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There was no need for any kind of bait. The Divine Power in the silk and its inherent sticky property was both bait and hook.

 

“Hihi, I hope I catch another Nether Black RockFish.The last one was just so juicy.” His daughter said. 

 

The happy-go-lucky attitude was very unusual because the harsh reality of climbing to Divinity usually is bathed in blood, as every creature starts at the bottom, well, all but this one. 

 

Born with an inherent humanoid form and Divine Power that she could use, it meant she stuck with the adults from the beginning. 

 

Said fact afforded her pampering very rarely seen from the Spider Pantheon.

 

Moments passed as his daughter's smile never vanished, and her hopeful expression only increased when a tug on the fishing line was noticed.

 

That was quick? Way too quick?

 

“Looks like you're lucky. Pull, let's see what you caught.” He told her.

 

Zak’Si’s beaming smile knew no bounds as she pulled. Occasionally showing exertion at the effort, it wasn't long before a familiar face showed itself.

 

“Oh, Nether Black CrayCrab. Not as juicy raw but when boiled, quite good.” Zenak’Si commented. “Throw it to that cage over there.”

 

With one final exertion, the giant black crab of two meters in height, and double that with its legs spread wide, was pulled out of the purple-blackish portal and thrown to a cage. 

 

The cage was a bit smaller in size, but when the black crab neared it, a suction effect appeared to swallow the crab. A second later, it was inside the cage, and now the crab seemed to have lost over half its mass. 

 

The truth was that the insides of the cage were bigger than it was on the outside. That was only possible thanks to the Divine Runes engraved on it.

 

“Maybe we can have it for dinner?” His girl asked.

 

“ Sure.”

 

“Yey, but I am hoping for a juicy fish.” With that said, she prepped the rod and line again. With a swish of her hands, it vanished into the purple-blackish portal.

 

More moments passed. Zak’Si still beamed a smile when another tug appeared on her line.

 

“You're very lucky, it seems. Two times in such a short time.” Zenak’Si commented with a hidden suspicion.

 

“Hihi.” A small laugh erupted from his daughter as she exerted herself to pull out another black crab. 

 

“Ugh, I wanted Fish, not a crab.” Another pull and throw into the cage, Zak’Si prepared her rod and line and cast it into the portal again.

 

“This time, I will get a fish, for sure.” Pouting her cheeks, Zak’Si declared, full of determination to succeed. 

 

“Good luck, daughter.” His voice full of optimism reached her ears, and a beaming smile appeared. 

 

Nodding hard a few times, she used her full attention for it. 

 

However, Zenak’Si refrained from shaking his head and voicing his actual thoughts.

 

It must have been beginner's luck.

 

A few more moments passed, and nothing was biting on the line. 

 

More time passed as his daughter's expression started turning sour. 

 

In an unfamiliar fashion, at least to him, his right hand landed on her head and shuffled her hair as he patted her. 

 

“Don't give up so easily.” He told her while glancing directly into her eyes. Only after seeing her nod did their staring at each other stop. 

 

Right after, Zenak’Si’s attention landed on the black eye tattoos-marks on her forehead. 

 

They were the other makers that identified her and the place where she belonged. 

 

He had the same tattoo marker. However, unlike him and the others of the Pantheon, who have achieved their humanoid form and therefore had eight of them, she only had two.

 

When she was born, she had none, but after reaching her current stage of development, they appeared on their own. Proportionally that was also the first time that the ghostly form of her spider form appeared for the first time, along with the ability to weave Divine Spider Silk. 

 

If one followed that progression, it was easy to guess that there were three more development stages for her to go through before reaching adulthood.

 

Silence returned between father and daughter, but that was not unusual for them. 

 

Si Spiders never bothered with child caring. Generally, after birth, they were cast out into the wilds to survive on their own. 

 

Those that survive the maturing find their way back home. Their inherited instinct helps them find the way. Once they return, they become fledgling members of the Si Spider Pantheon, and only after achieving their humanoid form do they become full-fledged members.

 

The only exception, ever, was Zak’Si, his daughter. 

 

So any father-daughter relationship between them was wrought by silence more than heartfelt engagement, at least from his side. 

 

The happy-go-lucky attitude Zak’Si had was her natural way of gaining attention from the adults.

 

Not letting any emotion be shown in front of his daughter, not that he had that many in the first place, Zenak’Si sighed in his mind. 

 

This whole situation was new territory for him, so he tried his best, but the divide between their experiences made it hard for him to empathize with her actions.

 

Good thing she took a liking to that young griffin. Zenak’Si thought, but any thought after that was shoved from his mind when he noticed another tug on his daughter's line.

 

Again? Two times I will accept. A third? No, that is no longer luck. Come to think of it, I never tested the interaction between her silk and the Nether Sea. Zenak’Si reasoned in his mind.

 

Another tug battle between a little girl and something else ensued. Who the winner was was obvious, but who the loser was, became a surprise for both.

 

A large fish with black scales appeared. It had a slightly rocky appearance. 

 

“Yes.” The little girl shouted in delight. 

 

In seconds the ghostly form of her spider form appeared. The spider's legs pinned the fish down to prevent it from moving when the spider bit into the Nether Black Rockfish. 

 

Moments after moments passed, as the fish began to thin from having its insides sucked out while being alive.

 

Only after the fish became a pale excuse of a fish did Zak’Si stop her craze. 

 

Her eyes displayed contentment and satisfaction when her body flopped back to her seat. 

 

Seconds later, Zak’Si manifested a sleepy expression.

 

“Zak’Si?” He called for her. 

 

Instantly she returned to reality. 

 

For a second, she imagined she was in trouble for not sharing the fish, but it turned out to be the opposite.

 

“Congratulations. You're quite lucky. How about this? Leave the fishing rod, and take the two crabs from the cage. Bring it to the cook. Dinner time should be soon.”

 

“Ok.” With a slight relief that she was out of trouble, she followed the instructions, and moments later, she was gone from her father's workshop.

 

Only after she was gone did he pick up the fishing rod and the rainbow spider silk line utilized on it. 

 

He pondered how to test out its capabilities when an idea came to him.

 

Dismantling both rods and reeling his own silk line from the portal, he tied the two ends together. He used a knot that few would ever dismantle, but just in case, he applied his Weaving Runic Arts to the knot. 

 

Done, he assembled the finished product on his rod and cast out the fishing line with the rainbow silk going in first. 

 

With his rod and skills, he cast the line much, much deeper into the Nether Sea than his daughter ever thought possible. And that turned out to be a good thing, as it took but a few moments for something to take the bait. 

 

The tug on the line became stronger and stronger as Zenak’Si pulled on the creature. 

 

Release-Pull

 

Pull-Release

 

The tugging battle kept going on and on. Until Zenak’Si knew the creature was close to the portal.

 

After one more mighty pull, he saw for the first time what he had caught. 

 

It was thick, long, leathery on one side and suction cups on the other. 

 

It was so thick it barely passed through the portal.

 

“A Kraken leg? Did not know there were Krakens in the Nether? Either way, I don't think it will fit through the portal with its size.” 

 

For a second, he imagined forcibly pulling it through, but that would probably destroy the portal, and portals were expensive, especially to exotic places. 

 

Realizing his dilemma, Zenak’Si knew when to give up and used his Divine Magic to depower the portal instantly. 

 

One single cry echoed out of the Nether before the Portal shut down permanently. 

 

The sudden loss of Power broke the connection, and the unstable Portal shearing of Space and Time sliced apart the leg. 

 

The remaining part of the leg began to twitch, but with a twitch of his hand, spider silk materialized around the severed leg, immobilizing it.

 

With another wave of a hand, the wrapped-up leg began to float, and Zenak’Si left his workshop.

 

It seems I need a larger Portal made. Either way, this will make a better dinner than the crabs.

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