The Spider Queen

(Planet Corpeola – International Spaceport)

"I don\'t like this," Cleo\'s voice came from the communicator.

Sophie furrowed her brows and glanced at the screen. She saw her girlfriend staring at her with an unhappy expression on her face.

"Babe… I told you… the hunter goddess only gave me one month to do this task and I only have two weeks left," Sophie replied calmly.

"But… why didn\'t you bring me along?" Cleo questioned with a hint of anger in her gaze.

"Cleo… I love you… but…" Sophie sighed heavily as she thought about what to say next.

She saw Moon on the other side of the screen sneaking up from the behind the bed before landing on Cleo\'s shoulder.

Moon whined softly near the princess\' ear as the frostwing bat sensed his master\'s uncomfortable emotional state.

The hybrid girl took a moment to compose herself and then opened her mouth to reply,

"I know the hunter goddess… she usually wants me to accomplish her tasks on my own. The hunt in her opinion is worthless if I get outside help."

"Plus, I\'m fairly certain that this task will allow me to finally breach the barrier of the void stage… but that means the enemy here will be unlike anything that I\'ve ever fought before."

Cleo pursed her lips together and curled up her fingers into a tight fist. She knew that her girlfriend had to accomplish this task but…

She was worried.

Sophie constantly had to put her life in danger because of this so-called \'hunter goddess\' and Cleo didn\'t like it.

She didn\'t like it one bit.

"Promise me… promise me that you will come back safe," Cleo finally spoke with a slight tremor in her voice.

"I promise… I love you babe," Sophie gently whispered. The pair chatted for a few more minutes before Sophie ended the call.

She stared at her wrist communicator for a few more seconds before getting up from her chair and walking towards the exit of her spaceship.

The metalloid door slowly slid open, and Sophie stepped outside.

She was forced to cover her eyes as the fierce glare of the sun directly shone down on her face.

The spaceport on planet Corpeola was incredibly… rudimentary.

But that was to be expected.

This was a developing planet and much of the population located here were poor Mendolesa warriors of the lower castes.

Only the capitol city where the spaceport was located contained metalloid buildings and skyscrapers.

The rest of the nearby towns and villages were composed of run-down shacks and unstable wooden houses.

Sophie reached into her storage bag and pulled out a black cloak with several holes in the back for her blade-like appendages.

She wrapped the cloak around her body and the memory foam material shifted slightly to allow her extra appendages to enter the holes.

The hybrid girl took a few steps and reached into her pocket for a sheet of paper. It was a map of the sewer system below the capitol city.

This was not going to be a fun request.

It was impossible to know where exactly that damn pet was since the sewer system stretched out for over twenty kilometers.

Still there was no time like the present.

Sophie walked towards the city in the distance and ignored the wary gazes being thrown in her direction.

She leaked out a trace of her killing intent in order to deter any would be thieves from approaching her.

Still there were some who were desperate enough to ignore her warning…

As Sophie walked down a well trodden footpath, several large Mendolesa men emerged from behind some trees.

Horrific scars could be seen beneath their fur, and most were missing parts of their flesh. Some lacked an eye while others an ear or even an arm.

Pus-filled wounds that leaked whitish green liquid were present on their upper arms and legs.

"Your money or your life," the leader was a man with a horrific burn mark that stretched from one side of his face to the other.

Sophie slowly lowered the hood of her cloak, and her golden eyes met the amber ones staring at her with an unspoken threat.

"Are you sure about that?" Sophie quietly whispered.

The hybrid girl did not move a single inch as a terrible pressure descended on the would-be thieves.

They fell to the ground and screamed as cracks began to appear beneath their feet. Sophie\'s golden eyes began to shift to a crimson hue as she felt the urge to kill rise up in her body.

Calm down… calm down…

Sophie took in a few deep breaths and fought down the urges. Her right eye was still crimson, but her left eye had returned to its normal colour.

She withdrew her cultivation pressure and the men immediately fled from the scene. There was a reason why Sophie had not killed them.

This was a planet with many interconnected gangs and criminal factions. She was only here to do a simple task not to eliminate the various crime lords.

Maybe if she had time then she wouldn\'t mind killing a few scumbags, but the hunter goddess had imposed a strict time limit.

Sophie walked through the city and her eyes focused on the various sights.

There were a handful of skyscrapers like what was written on the virtual Net, but the city was much poorer than she expected.

Beneath the skyscrapers were slums and the road itself was covered in a mixture of dirt, faeces, and all manner of filth.

The citizens of the city were haggard and gaunt with eyes that showed varying emotions of despair and numbness.

Sophie had to fight off several thieves and killers until eventually people stopped approaching her.

It was clear to the citizens of the slums that she was not an easy mark.

Qi tide cultivators were respected among the general population of the Federation, and they were considered the truly strong.

Most of the citizens here would have never met a cultivator higher than the qi body or the qi spirit stage.

Sophie\'s boots made a splashing noise as she stepped in a grey puddle that splattered all over the underside of her cloak.

This was one of the times where having enhanced senses was a massive disadvantage.

Sophie\'s sense of smell was so powerful that she felt as though she could taste the foul odours wafting up from the slums.

"Ay cutie! Twenty Enas for a good time!" a scantily clad Mendolesa female whose ribs could be seen against her furry chest strutted towards Sophie.

"Alyssa fuck off that\'s my mark!" another barely dressed Mendolesa this time a male walked up to Sophie and thrust out his hips.

"Oh darling… why don\'t we let the client decided? Or perhaps she wants both?" the Mendolesa female grinned seductively.

"Not interested," Sophie coldly responded as her eyes lingered on the faint scars on both of the prostitutes\' lower regions.

This was a terrible place.

The fact that it existed in the Federation was a shame. Not for the first time Sophie was reminded of the vast wealth inequality that existed.

"Well, if you ever change you mind… call us," the Mendolesa male cheerfully winked as he swayed his bushy tail from side to side.

Sophie nodded politely at them and walked away. She pretended not to see the secret glance that they both shared among themselves.

Her danger sense did not activate which meant that whatever was going to happen next was not going to be a threat to her life.

Sophie walked for several minutes before stopping abruptly at the entrance to an alleyway.

She tilted her heard to the side just as wooden spear was flung at her location. The spear brushed against her cheek and embedded itself in the wall behind her.

The hybrid girl let out a low whistle of appreciation and stared at the spear waiting for the hidden attackers to reveal themselves.

"Don\'t make me drag you out myself," Sophie arrogantly spoke as she leered at a pile of crates in the corner of the alleyway.

"Fine… fine…" a hoarse voice came from behind the boxes. An elderly Mendolesa man wearing a tattered brown robe crawled out.

He raised up his furry paws in surrender and bowed his head. Sophie glanced at the spear and then at the man waiting for him to speak.

"Just needed to see your strength… the name is Jamie… but folks round these parts called me \'Shaman\'," the Mendolesa elder calmly spoke.

"You see… you look like you need some help… I can be your guide."

He reached into the pockets of his robe and took out several dice that had been carved out of bone.

Sophie watched curiously as the elderly Mendolesa shook the dice several times in his palm while whispering incomprehensible words under his breath.

He suddenly threw the dice on the ground and lowered his head until his face was mere inches away from the filth and muck.

"Three… six… three… hahahahaha!" the Mendolesa elder threw back his head and roared with laughter.

His manic giggles echoed through the alleyway and sent a shiver down Sophie\'s spine as she looked at the clearly mad old man.

Wait…

Her danger sense was active!