“Why are you telling me that?” the little spider asked Nari. Does she think I did that? Lily wondered.

  Truth be told, Lily herself wasn’t sure if it was her fault or just a mere coincidence. Sure, it happened after she used the Water Bolt, but it wasn’t like it changed right in that moment, unlike the time the basilisk’s fire had hit the blue crystals and instantly changed them.

  “Sorry, I was just thinking out loud,” Nari replied, giggling as she looked at the two guys trying to mine the crystal. “Shall we help them?”

  Lily simply nodded back in agreement, joining the girl’s giggles as she headed to aid the struggling adventurers. “Stand back,” she said, and with a nimble jump, she slashed the crystal right from where it grew into smaller fragments, causing them to fall toward the inner ring of her lair.

  The brothers both screamed at the same time, slightly pushed back by how fast Lily moved. “So fast,” Otto mumbled under his breath for what felt like the twentieth time in the last two days, adding a slight whine at the end.

  “How did you know your web was strong enough not to break under the added weight?” Claus wondered as he struggled to lift one of the heavy chunks of crystal.

  “Ugh.” Lily gave an awkward smile. “I didn’t really think about it…” she mumbled under her breath.

  “Kyaaa! You’re just like him,” Nari shrieked while pointing at the mage, then fell to her knees. “Why do idiots surround me? It’s not fair!”

  “I’m not like that spider!” Claus retorted, his pitch growing higher. “I’m a human!” he added, frantically waving his arms around.

  “Would you guys just chill?” Otto chucked as he slowly touched the chunks of crystals, making them disappear one by one into his inventory.

  “And? I also used to be a human before all of this,” Lily said nonchalantly. “It’s not like you’re something cool like an elf,” she added.

  “WHAT?!?” everyone exclaimed in unison.

  Oh crap, Lily thought, since for a moment she had forgotten that she never explicitly told anyone about her reincarnation.

  “I need to know everything,” the golden-haired girl blurted out, crawling toward Lily as fast as she could. “You’re so coo—“

  “Can we please go down before that? I’d like to get a fire going…” Otto cut her off, squeezing his wet undershirt. “Getting a bit cold over here!”

  “D-down?” Claus muttered, for the first time looking through the small empty spaces in between Lily’s carefully placed webs. “We’re s-so… HIGH!”

  Oh no, he’s about to freak out again, Lily thought to herself, but before she could say anything to try to calm him, his brother grabbed him and put him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

  “If you could please make a web, I’ll slide down with him,” the warrior said, moving so nimbly that it seemed his brother’s added weight on his shoulders didn’t affect him at all.

  “Whoa!!!” Lily exclaimed.

  “Yeah, our big boy is powerful!” Nari stated, causing the warrior to blush ever so slightly, and then leaned closer to Lily. “But not as much as you,” she whispered, jokingly.

  “I heard that,” Otto whined, feigning a cry.

  “Can we get this over with?!” Claus yelled, hanging on to his brother for dear life. Without wasting another second, the little spider carefully made an opening and shot a web toward the ground, creating a makeshift rope thick enough to support more than one person’s weight.

  Otto was the first to climb down, with his brother clinging to his back, followed by Nari, and immediately after, Lily, who simply jumped down instead.

  “Here,” Otto told his brother. “You can get off now.”

  The mage hesitated for a second while taking a deep breath. “O-okay,” he muttered, his eyes still shut as he climbed off the warrior’s muscular back, gulping loudly and shaking his feet before he could finally feel the soil beneath. “Finally!”

  “What is your brother doing?” Lily asked Otto once she landed close by him, giggling at the sight of Claus hugging a gigantic rock. “Is he okay?”

  “He’s just happy,” the warrior chuckled, waiting for Nari’s arrival.

  “Kyaaa!” the golden-haired girl screamed at the top of her lungs as she slid down, “it’s so fun!” She laughed all the way down, barely making any thump on landing.

  The brighter the crystals shone, the more the temperature rose, but since they were all still drenched because of Lily’s skill, they had to search for a decent spot to build a campfire, of which Otto thankfully had one too many in his inventory.

  Touching the ground, the warrior summoned firewood out of nowhere, just as if he had used a magic spell, and he skilfully built the foundation for an outdoor fire. “This should do,” he mumbled under his breath, then looked at his brother.

  Claus got down on one knee and pointed a finger right at it, “Fireball.” The campfire lit up in the blink of an eye, and the flames spread evenly across the firewood. “Done,” he said, lifting his finger, which still had a tiny flame coming out of it, and blew on it.

  The humans removed their thickest clothing, leaving only their underclothes, and sat around the fire.

  “This feels so much better already,” Otto chuckled as he blissfully bathed in the warmth, “but I can’t wait to lie down in a nice bed.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Hell yeah,” his brother immediately agreed, clapping his hands. “We should eat at that nice place tonight,” he added, nudging Nari to say something, but she only stood there motionless, watching the fire in silence. “Everything okay?”

  The golden-haired girl hesitated for a moment before looking up, giving everyone an awkward look. “I’m not going back with you two,” she said, “there’s some stuff that I have to figure out first.”

  Her statement visibly took Claus and Lily aback. “W-what are you—” Claus tried talking, but his brother promptly grabbed and shut him up.

  “I figured as much,” the warrior chuckled. “You’ve been weird ever since the spider told us about those crystals,” he said, taking his hand off his brother’s mouth.

  “Are you sure?” the mage sighed loudly, looking up in despair.

  Nari giggled as she slowly inched closer toward the two guys. “Hey, it’s okay,” she said with a reassuring tone, tapping the mage’s shoulder as she spoke. “It’s not like I’m going away forever anyway.”

  Claus sighed again.

  “It’s cool,” Otto stated with a confident tone. “You still have to practice control over your magic, so we’re gonna have to hang around this place for a while,” he told his brother, trying to lift his spirits. “Right?”

  “Yeah, I guess…” the mage mumbled under his breath, sniffling as he spoke.

  “Wait, wait, wait!!!” Lily suddenly spoke up, waving her forelimbs in the air. “Half of the time I’m not even sure what I’m doing, and the rest I kinda wing it,” she blurted out. “Plus, I’m a spider now, so I don’t think it’s the best idea to come with me.”

  “Kyaaa! This whole leaving thing almost made me forget,” Nari shrieked like a banshee, switching her full attention toward the little spider. “You said that you also used to be a human!”

  “Oooh, right! I’m all ears.” Otto crossed his arms, eagerly waiting for an explanation, just as Claus, though he tried to hide his interest.

  “Well… ugh,” the little spider took a deep breath, searching for the right words. “I’m not…” Lily sighed, “I’m not 100% sure what happened, to be honest…” They all looked at her like they saw a ghost.

  “What do you mean you’re not sure?” Claus hastily rebutted.

  “I don’t remember much about my past,” she shrugged.

  Nari nodded as she heard the little spider’s words. “Yeah, you told me that,” she said. “But is there anything in particular that you remember?”

  “Well, I know for sure that I died back in my world before becoming a spider here,” she said, “but I don’t know how…”

  “B-back in YOUR WORLD?” Nari shrieked again, her voice accompanied by loud gasps from the two guys. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?!?” she asked, standing on the spot. “That’s the COOLEST thing I’ve ever heard!!!”

  “You know, it’s not the first time I hear about something like this,” Claus stated, piquing everyone’s interest. “Uh… why are you all looking at me like this?”

  “Speak,” Otto retorted, poking his shoulder.

  “Well, yeah… back at the church,” he said, “in that tiny village where we spent a couple of weeks.” He scratched his chin as he spoke, trying to jog his memory. “Rumors were going around about a book… or maybe scroll, I’m not totally sure… but they said it was about reincarnation—or something like that.”

  Lily’s eyes—all of them—widened in shock at his last word. “Reincarnation? That's exactly what that ghost lady called it,” the little spider said. “I need to know more,” she continued, looking right into the mage’s eyes.

  “As I said, they were only rumors,” Claus shrugged.

  “What was that tiny village called?” Lily asked, her heart beating faster by the second.

  “Oh… uh… it was…” He smacked his lips a couple of times. “Len… Lan… ugh… Lin—”

  “Lindern,” Otto replied. “It was called Lindern, and it’s not that far from the imperial town of Landen, located toward the North,” he added. “It’s a beautiful town surrounded by trees, the whole place smells like fresh nature.”

  Lindern huh? Maybe I could find some answers there, Lily thought to herself. “Thank you SO much!” she yelled, trying to contain herself.

  “There’s only one problem,” he rebutted, culling off a bit of her enthusiasm. “To get there, you have to go through the magical underground passage that connects Dunkel and Landen, and that’s not going to be easy since… ugh, you know.” He suddenly made a weird face, attempting to mimic Lily’s expression, making her laugh in the process.

  Nari raised her hand, giggling loudly. “We could always try my plan,” she suggested.

  “It’s kinda risky, but it could work,” the warrior replied, running the idea in his mind. “Wait, I got it,” he blurted out, snapping his fingers. “There might be something else we could try, but first I have to talk with a buddy of mine, and that’s gonna take a bit of time.”

  “That’s okay, we have to go back to the purple crystals anyway,” Nari reminded everyone.

  Lily nodded back. “Yeah, and I have some other things to take care of before leaving this area.”

  “It’s settled then!” Otto exclaimed, giving a thumbs-up. “We’re gonna go back to the city, and I’ll try to get in contact with my friend,” he stated. “We could meet outside the gates of Dunkel in like… two days? It would be better in the evening, and then we’ll come up with something. Is everyone alright with that?”

  The whole group—though Claus seemed a bit less excited—agreed in unison.

  “We’re so gonna get put into jail,” the mage mumbled under his breath, “or worse, they’ll just execute us!”

  “It’s gonna be fine,” Nari cheered, grabbing his hands while jumping up and down, causing him to blush ever so slightly.

  “Y-yeah, right…” Claus muttered, looking away from her. “But promise you’ll be safe in the meanwhile,” he said, trying his hardest not to tear up.

  “Don’t worry, I have the strongest little spider with me,” she giggled.

  “Uh-uh, that’s what worries me the most,” the mage whispered, side-eyeing the friendly monster.

  “I heard that,” Lily said, mirroring his expression. “You know, I’m getting kinda hungry,” she added, licking her lips while glaring at the mage, who suddenly turned pale, as if he had seen a ghost.

  Claus suddenly grabbed his brother’s hand. “See you soon, be saaafe!!!” he yelled, dragging the warrior away as fast as he could, waving his free hand in the air without looking back, focused on running.

  “Bye, guys!” Nari waved and laughed at the same time.

  “That’s what I thought,” Lily giggled, waving goodbye, then turned toward the golden-haired girl. “Are you ready?”

  The golden-haired girl nodded eagerly, her sparkling eyes full of wonder.