The Grand Weave

I was dead certain I was of the demon race. At least, according to my status, it labeled me as a felkin. But I wasn't entirely certain that with a few more skills down the line, I could honestly say I wasn't a spirit. Already, most spirit beasts I met referred to me as a Spirit Lord. I realized I hadn't answered, and Zharia was giving me a look of confusion.

"Tell them no. And tell them to hold off on the questioning until after I fixed my throat. And please, don't add extra words. Currently, we're stuck in a cramped room with them, and I don't need to piss off a bunch of strangers when they outnumber us four to two," I pleaded.

Zharia gave me another gentle peck before flipping around and spreading out her wings. "My Master has requested silence. Protecting you has temporarily taken his ability to speak. And my Master is not a spirit."

Their jaws were on the floor again, with varying levels of confusion and doubt on their faces. The looks I received were starting to annoy me, and I felt my anger flare. Even if I was a spirit, who are they to stare so rudely at someone who risked their life to save them? The flash of anger went away a heartbeat later. The irrational rage I felt disappeared so quickly I almost doubted it was real. But, the sense of worry I got from Zharia was enough to make me believe otherwise. I shook my head and pushed the concern for later. Andrew looked like he wanted to say something, but he held back. With prompting from Zharia, he sighed and cleared his throat.

"I apologize for any rudeness, Cyrus. We just thought you were something different," he said carefully. After scratching the back of his head, he stood up and turned to his team. "I'll begin first watch. Ruina, you know what to do. Everyone else, get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us. Just because we are in a safe area doesn't mean we are completely safe."

I frowned at his statement. From what I knew, dungeon monsters should never come into the safe areas. It was what made the whole area "safe." I assumed that once we reached the safe area, the witch wouldn't be able to follow us. I didn't question why we needed a watch rotation before; now, I needed to know.

"Zharia, ask him why we need a watch rotation. If we're stuck here for twenty-four hours, then I want to know if we're safe."

She squawked loud enough to grab Andrew's attention, making him turn to us with an eyebrow raised. "Are we safe here, human? Why must you keep watch?"

"For the most part, we are. However, if the dungeon starts to fill up without anyone culling it, the boundaries of the dungeon monsters start to lift. It's not uncommon to see monsters travel between floors. Generally, unless a monster steps into the safe area, it won't even know we exist. If one gets close enough, we might have to take it out before it notices us."

"Do you plan to include my Master in this rotation?"

"Err. No, I wouldn't dare to assume. He has already helped us out more than enough. But, if it wouldn't be too much to ask if you could heal my shoulder and help Ruina after she tiers up, that'd be great."

"He has no problem with healing you. For now, he requests you leave him time to rest."

Andrew gave a solemn nod before walking off to the back-middle wall and sat down with his eyes switching between each exit every few minutes. I slumped against the wall in fatigue. Using Zharia as my proxy wasn't ideal, but it helped that she was direct in her way of speaking. I could have stayed alert and attentive, but at this point, if the four wanted to do something nefarious to me, they were welcome to try. Zharia was more than eager to turn them into charcoal if they attempted anything while I was sleeping.

However, even if I was on a stone floor, it didn't mean I had to lie in discomfort. With a mental prompt, I summoned a sleeping bag and a rough pillow to sleep on. There were a few looks of mixed emotions from the others, but I disregarded them and went to bed.

I woke up after some time but didn't open my eyes immediately. According to the system clock, I was asleep for around four hours. It wasn't the best nap in the world, but my body stopped feeling like it was dying.

"Zharia? Don't answer this out loud. Did anything suspicious happen while I was asleep? Also, thank you for keeping watch. I'll return you to the soulspace after I summon Áine."

"Welcome back, Master. Don't worry about the humans. They haven't gone near you. They talked about you when they thought I wasn't listening, but nothing dangerous. They also think you're a noble, muttering something about a storage device."

"A noble, huh? If only that were true. Alright. Go rest up, Zharia."

I tried to yawn loudly, but the only sound that came out of my throat was a hoarse gurgle. With a mental sigh, I sat up and scooped up Zhaira. While conveniently ignoring the feeling of exasperation from the small bird, I held her up to my chest and felt her familiar weight return to my soul.

Oro and Aaron were the only two awake as I looked around the room. Andrew was out cold next to Ruina. Both looked at me with wide eyes before glancing away. On a whim, I made my mask display a question mark and inwardly chuckled as the confusion spread over their faces.

I checked my soulspace to make sure Áine had completely recovered. From what I could tell, she was perfectly fine and ready to be brought out. The little fairy appeared in my hand with a quick flush of my mana. Her wings flapped out, and with a pirouette, she launched into the air, turned around, and booped me on the nose.

I caught the fairy and brought her to my shoulder to sit on. "I thought you only booped after the healing was done," I teased.

In return, she lightly patted my cheek and began the restoration of my vocal cords. It wasn't a long process, and thankfully all of the fire mana that usually impeded Áine's healing had long been converted to my own. When the green glow faded from her hands, I began making different sounds like I was doing a warmup exercise for theatre. With a contented sigh, I relaxed against the stone wall.

The two were looking at me again, and I didn't blame them. I probably seemed a bit insane from their perspective. When I looked at the two closely, it wasn't hard to see how exhausted they were. Oro looked ready to pass out on the spot.

I stood up and silently made my way over to the two. Their bodies stiffened as I got closer. Stopping before Oro, I gave a halfwave and leaned against the wall.

"Oro and Aaron, right? I'm fully rested now, so I can take over the watch," I said.

Oro had a flash of relief on his face, but Aaron looked worried. I still didn't understand why the man felt so apprehensive about me, especially considering that it turned out I wasn't some scary spirit. If the man wanted to stay up, then so be it. At the least, Oro looked tired enough to pack away his concerns over me.

"It's my turn to sleep anyway. But, do you mind if I ask a favour first?" Oro asked hesitantly.

"Sure, what do you need."

He pointed to where Ruina and Andrew were sleeping. "Do you mind healing them? Andrew hid it well, but his shoulder was causing him a lot of issues. I doubt he would have managed to fall asleep if it wasn't for how tired he was. And my sister tiered up after you went to bed. I don't know if you can do anything for her, but please try anyway."

"Sure thing. I already promised to heal you guys."

"Thank you. I'm off to bed."

As he walked past, I had Áine hit him with a quick heal, and he nodded his head in thanks before laying next to his sister. The man was asleep within a minute of closing his eyes. With Oro in dreamland, only awkward silence remained as Aaron kept his mouth shut in a thin line. After a couple of minutes, I sent over Áine to gently work her magic on Andrew and Ruina. Using the distraction, I finally took a shot at breaking the ice.

"So, is there any particular reason you seem afraid of me?" I asked calmly.

A dozen seconds went by until he sighed and looked me in the eyes. "I don't know you. I don't know who you are. I don't even know what you are. You say you're not a spirit, but you look like one. The others may not be able to feel it, but I can. You feel exactly the way a spirit does, and it's driving me crazy. Not to mention you casually pull out a sprite and a spirit beast from your chest like it's nothing."

My mouth hung open after his explanation. His voice sounded almost angry and accusatory. But his words only brought more confusion than answers. Even if I was a spirit, why would that be a bad thing? And what did he mean I felt like one?

I started slowly. "I'm not lying to you when I say I'm not a spirit. And why would it be a bad thing if I was one? Need I remind you that a spirit was the one who saved you from being a vegetable, dead on the ground on the cavern floor, ready to become fish food?" I asked with a hint of venom in my voice.

I expected anger, for him to grit his teeth or ball his fists. If not anger, I expected at least remorse or a wince, something appropriate as a reaction to my words. I didn't expect him to get a thousand-yard stare. He visibly paled and seemed to forget about me for a moment until he came back to his senses and looked away.

"Spirits reside in a higher plane. Creatures that can rival the gods in power. And despite what you've done for us, most spirits aren't kind. To a powerful spirit beast, we mortal men are prey, foolish food for the inhuman beast. There is no way to know when a spirit you meet is a friend or foe. Never sure if they won't curse your entire family line for a slight or a moment of whimsy," he droned on in a whisper. He paused and rubbed the spot where his head had cracked open. "And you don't even understand how insane it is that you come along, fight off a wave of nagas, nearly blow us up because you somehow overcharged a vortex trinket, and then manage to have enough mana to bring me back from the inevitable death. Even if we had a health potion or two, there is no guarantee it would have fixed me. Brain injuries are almost impossible to treat without a powerful healing skill and a lot of mana. I should be dead, but I'm not."

I stood in silence and didn't ask any more questions. The boiling feeling underneath my skin had long cooled, and I found myself mentally drained. There was a lot to unpack from his words, but it was neither my want nor need to do so. Whatever trauma he has suffered was his own, and I wasn't about to pry. My stomach growled, and I contemplated offering the man a meal since it felt rude to eat while he didn't. I grabbed two bowls of soup from my inventory and offered him one anyway. I wouldn't complain about having seconds if he didn't want it. Thankfully, he silently accepted the bowl and ate with me.

I didn't know what was in the soup, but it was rich and thick with a kick of spice that didn't overpower the tongue. Having a dimensional storage space with stasis was amazingly convenient. The only thing that sucked was that I only had six more bowls of soup left. A polite cough brought me away from my thoughts.

"I'm... sorry. It isn't fair to treat you the way I did with all that you've done for us. Thank you for the food. It was delicious," Aaron said.

I took his bowl and pulled out two flasks of cold water. Áine flew over and tapped me on the shoulder. A second later, a smaller cup of fruit juice was held in my hand while Áine stuck her hand inside the cup to drink it.

"I do have to ask something."

"And what would that be?"

"If you're not a spirit. What are you? I don't think I've ever seen a race like yours. I'm not even sure how you're eating and drinking right now. Is it an illusion?"

I chuckled softly, having completely forgotten about the mask on my face. Instead of replying, I reached up, unlatched the mask, and tucked it into my belt. I brushed my hair out of the way and gave him a fang-filled smile.

"If I'm being honest, I completely forgot that I had my mask on. Can't even tell it's there when I wear it."

"You're a lot less scary with the mask off. I'm sure you're exactly Ruina's type. I still don't recognize what you are. Your height and ears say elf, but the glowing pink eyes with black sclera and two horns say otherwise. Halfling, maybe?"

My shoulders dropped, and I groaned. "Does everyone always have to attack my height? Seriously, where are the dwarves and gnomes? I'm tired of being picked on."

I tried to play up the feigned insult, but he looked at me in confusion before shrugging his shoulders. Feeling myself cringe on the inside, I straightened up and focused on the far end of the room.

"I'm a felkin. Apparently rare to see on this side of the world. Not surprised you wouldn't be able to recognize my race. I haven't been in Edolus long, but I'm the only one I know besides my dad," I explained.

When he didn't respond, I looked over to see if I had said something wrong, but he wasn't looking anywhere near me. With a hand to his ear, he crouched low and stood still. When I tried to ask him what was happening, he held a finger to his lips and pointed at the stairwell leading up.

A flickering series of scratching noises clicked against the stone stairs. Each click was like metal slicing through stone. When the clicking got louder, the sound was coming more frequently. The clicking stopped at the edge of the stairs, where the shadows covered the area in darkness.

When the first appendage stepped into the gloomy hallway, it was a limb made of blood-red liquid. The appendage sent a shiver down my spine as the scythe-like leg sliced into the step and brought the rest of the body forward. Seven more limbs stepped out and revealed the arachnid made of blood.

"What the fuck is that?!" Aaron whispered harshly.

I pulled out my knife and started channeling my mana. "It's called a blood beast."