Shielded by Seals [Chapter 17] (Patreon)

Travel exhaustion! It is strong. But okay, let's catch back up. Three posts today.

Also, just a heads up that after Chapter 25, release pace will slow down to 3 a week.

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ToC: https://www.patreon.com/posts/132353583

Keekri had witnessed the idiosyncrasies of Argyle’s spawn. And the unfortunate resemblance to his father.

The naturally grey hair, the grubby hands, the scrabbling movements-- the child had been spat out in the very image of the relentless monster that had seduced the flower of the Fang Family. Yet the longer he observed, the more he attempted to understand the personality of this second general commoner… rather than the insidious darkness of Argyle Prime… what carried through was a work ethic bordering on wickedness.

Fang Family blood, Keekri’s eyes had flashed. A little bit of that old pride he had been taught as an Outer Hand surface. Inherited from his mother. 

The boy’s repeated intense training matched the dedication of someone three or four times his age. In terms of mentality and stubbornness, Keekri hadn’t seen a rival. It was a firm attitude that proved he would be an invaluable asset to the Fang Family. 

Yet Keekri felt the smallest scratch of irritation as the boy’s face remained relatively impassive as he led the boy to the small and bare guest room, after informing him of the momentous import of this judgment. That unflappable disinterest… that was all Argyle.

Doubly irritating because Keekri and Goluk had to carry in the damned pig.

“This  room will be your own for these days. The Gloom has many opportunities if you possess the faculties. Meals are available, for those brave enough to seek them.” Keekri leaned over the child, attempting to frighten him. “Yet if you stray too far…”

In the past, he found that leaving the threat vague would cow the newly arrived blood. Osiris Scowl just looked at him without any expression.

Keekri harrumphed and swept away, leaving the blank-faced child to stew in solitude. He was too exhausted to wait for the dense boy to begin to whine, as they all did eventually. Not even a Fang Direct Blood could handle so many rapid changes in the environment, not at that age.

He and Goluk moved toward the edge of the Gloom area, underneath the shadow of the silk, where the outer hands slept. Goluk looked at Keekri and frowned. “So, will you answer me now? Is this worth it? You’ve observed him. What do you think about his blood?”

Keekri kept his tone neutral. “...it’s very likely pure.”

Goluk whistled. His bitter expression melted and his eyes shone with greed. “Then, because we retrieved him-”

“All of this is for the Family,” Keekri cut in with a cold voice. In his heart, he still somewhat believed it. “Do not let yourself be distracted by small benefits.”

Keekri separated from Goluk and headed for the bathhouse. He filled a bucket with scalding water and splashed himself. Steam swirled around him. He breathed slowly in the dim room as he dried, drop by drop evaporating and leaving his skin tingling. His dissatisfaction with the Fang Family lurked in his heart, breathing loudly in solitude. He wondered if they were truly worth all of his efforts.

Yet he forced his body to move; indulging himself would help no one. Keekri then went toward the canteen in the Gloom and froze in surprise by the entrance. Outside of the canteen, riding his hog, was the young Osiris.

The boy looked at the uniformed individual by the door. “It costs points to eat? Do I have points?”

Keekri could tell that the outer hand member in charge of the canteen was baffled by the strange toddler, but did her best not to show it. “Not yet. You must accomplish tasks in the Fang Family to earn them. Considering you have not yet been judged… there is only one task: climbing into the lower webs and harvesting silk.”

The employee led the boy and the hog away as she explained the task. Keekri drifted after them.

They reached another shadowy area, purposefully far from the illumination of human habitation. A series of broad ladders leaned against the base of the nearby stone pillars. Above, there was a dense network of wooden pegs driven into the pillar, which allowed one to climb further, to the area dominated by the webbing. 

The employee pointed it out, explained that he must climb and retrieve strands of web, and then bowed. “If you do not work, you do not eat. That is the Fang Family way.”

*****

I frowned up at the web above. Glad to see the commodification of human labor is alive and well, even in fantasy worlds…

I was still chilled from the walk and now I found out that I couldn’t eat until I had harvested spider silk? Should I try throwing a tantrum, just to test how they handle it? How would a normal child even survive?

Which is probably the point. A normal child would spend a night hungry, affecting their mental state. My thoughts were sour. Then the test involves a meal and you are instantly grateful for the Fang Family… bah. An admirable dedication to brainwashing…

The woman bowed and returned to the canteen. Which left me-

To cheat!

I snuck a glance toward the woman to make sure she was gone. Then I stuck out a hand and used Silk Shot.

A dense, strong length of silk erupted from my wrist and impacted the stone pillar. With a twist of the wrist, I disconnected it and then used activated Clean. Now that the Skill had grown to Proficient I, I wielded Clean in a controlled manner. I cleaned just the portion where the silk had impacted the pillar, so it wouldn’t stick. Just as I was preparing to drag the silk back and turn it in for these points-

“You cannot use that.”

I jumped. Out of the gloom, my kidnapper stepped forward. His face was in shadow, but I knew that voice; this was the fanatical one, who kept blathering on about the Fang Family. My heart beat rapidly, even though I knew his bark was worse than his bite; had he been observing me this entire time?

Keekri pointed at the silk I produced. “Look at the thickness and the strength. This is produced by a mid-tier spider, not the low-tiers that frequent the area directly above the gloom. They will not believe you obtained this yourself. They will assume you’ve had help. Such a misunderstanding would not be a problem now, but…”

I blinked at him, trying to understand the hint. Keekri fell silent for a bit. “Can you make your Silk Shot thinner?”

I thought about it and then tried it. I compressed my Silk Shot as much as possible when I released it. My Mana Pool surged, tingling at the usual activation. Keekri knelt down, examined the silk, then shook his head. His expression was rueful. “If anything, this is worse. You did not make it thinner, you made it more dense. Only a mid-tier spider on the cusp of growing to high-tier could make something like this.”

I frowned at Keekri. “Well, can I just-”

Rather than explain, I demonstrated. I activated Silk Shot while whipping my arm through the air. Silk spun out of my wrist and traveled in an arc. It cost a little extra Mana, but I kept extending the silk. It swung out and its stickiness clung to the surrounding silk. But its weight meant that it dragged the silk along.

In the end, a huge mess of silk plopped onto the ground.

Keekri took a step back, deeper into the shadows. “This… you will receive less, because so much is stuck together. But… they should accept it. Anyway, continue. Remember, do not cause trouble.”

The man faded into the darkness. I couldn’t help but feel exasperated as I looked at the mess of silk I had dragged down. “Do you think I’m trying to cause trouble? I’m just looking for a meal. If the expectations here were reasonable-”

I moved forward with Clean. It was annoying, but I suppose it was possible to keep the effect sharp and affect only the sticky portions.

In the end, I needed to spend an hour and a half working on the project. Honestly, it was about an hour twenty spent cutting a tiny portion, but then ten minutes when I realized I could focus my Clean and just eliminate the stickiness entirely. Then it was just a matter of pulling and laying out strands of silk.

For using Clean in an interesting way, Proficiency +9%.

The extra proficiency was a nice bonus, but now I had a new problem: transporting the silk. In the end, I sighed and just carried an armful back to the canteen. When I approached, the woman straightened. “You’ve returned?”

“Here.” I passed over my armful of silk.

She flinched and stepped back rather than taking it. We stood and watched as it fell on the ground. The woman shook her head and pulled out gloves. “Because I need to retrieve it from the ground, it will be damaged. Therefore- eh?”

She picked up the non-sticky silk without a problem. Her eyes widened. She scooped it all up. She looked at me. “How…?”

I gestured with an arm. “How many points do I get?”

“This… I’ll need to count,” The woman mumbled. “Silk of such quality…”

“Okay, you start counting that much. I have more.” I said. So I went back and brought another armful of silk. The whole time, I cursed my small body. In the end, it took six trips to bring it all. By the end, the woman was hollow-eyed.

She coughed and stared at the pile of silk in front of her. “Each… each strand of silk is worth a single point. A point is enough for a meal. You… you’ve earned 798 points. Considering the flawless condition… I am supposed to reward you with extra…” She reached into a pouch at her waist and produced a green card. Her fingers trembled, but she drew on the card. “Therefore… here are 1098 points…”

“Alright.” I took the card. Then I offered it back to her. “Please deduct two points, so we can eat.”

She just stared at me. I gestured at Toad. “Him, too. He can eat here, right?”

Toad grunted in confirmation; after the day he had, he could really use a hot meal and some cool mud.