4. This is exhilarating!

Bosoms.

Large and heavenly, but this time they belonged to Rue, her dark hair fell over her shoulders, her eyes staring directly into his as he woke up.

He shook off her, putting a hand to his mouth and coughing.

"Awake so soon?" Rue said, "maybe Garura should've warned you about mana sickness."

[MP: 250/250]

Sirius glanced over at the notification and swiped his hand at it, pushing it away. He more or less now understood what happened.

Gift was more than just a skill, it was a recruitment system. Whether it was the reason the system brought him here or just another tool to survive was still unclear. But at least now, Sirius understood how it worked.

"Rue, can you use magic?" Sirius asked, turning to her.

She perked up instantly. "Yes, I can, Young Master! Would you like me to teach you? Oh, I would be absolutely enthralled if—"

"Not right now." Sirius pointed past her, toward the stone throne Horst once sat upon. "I want to test something. Fire whatever spell you want at that."

"Of course!" Rue straightened, already raising her hand.

The air around her shifted. A pressure built, subtle at first but quickly growing.

Sirius could feel it now he was paying attention—mana, colorless as oxygen, yet so distinct. It gathered around Rune, pooling, condensing and then crackling.

A sharp spark ignited in her palm, then—boom.

Flames erupted, a wave of fire tearing across the cave, swallowing the throne whole.

Stone cracked and shattered, the embers of flames bouncing off the cavern walls. The entire chamber was momentarily bathed in a crimson glow before the fire faded, leaving behind a smoldering ruin.

Sirius stared, mouth slightly open.

Where the hell was that when Horst was beating him half to death?

He shook his head. That wasn't the point of this test.

He turned to Rue. She looked at him expectantly, almost like a child waiting to be acknowledged.

"How much mana do you have left?"

Rue tapped her chin, tilting her head slightly. "Hmm... that's kinda hard to say. Before you named me, I didn't have any mana at all—just the knowledge of how to cast spells from my mother. So... maybe about half? Give or take. Probably give. Or maybe take—"

An imprecise estimate.

That confirmed his suspicion—she didn't have a system like his.

If she did, the system would have notified her about the mana cost. But there was nothing. No purple screens, no warnings.

Which meant the Arachne probably didn't see their magic in numbers like he did.

Sirius didn't speak. He just let time pass.

One minute. Five minutes. Ten.

Then, finally, he glanced at the system.

[MP: 250/250]

He turned to Rue. "How about now? Have you regained your mana?"

She nodded. "Yes. It flows in the air, after all." Then, her face lit up. "Oh! If you want, I can teach you everything I know about magic! I have so much knowledge passed down from my mother, and—"

"Okay, let's name the rest of you." Sirius cut in, already turning to the others.

At first, he was worried that each time someone he named used mana, it would directly drain from his pool. But now, he understood. It was a one-time tax. Once he named them, that was it. If his mana pool grew, theirs would grow alongside it—but it wouldn't take from him again.

Still, if he wanted to name everyone without passing out, he needed to adjust the split.

"System."

[Allocation changed: 3% per recipient]

And so, over the next hour, he named the remaining thirty-five members of his clan. One by one, they shed their old forms, their bodies changing from Spiderfolk to Arachne, their features becoming predominantly human.

It was strange seeing them like this, knowing they were still spiders, yet looking so... normal.

But finally, it was done.

[MP: 63/250]

He felt a little lightheaded, but nothing he couldn't handle. And with that, phase one was complete.

Which brought them onto the second stage: Housing.

Now that they all looked more human—and he was human—there was no way they were staying in this musty cave. They needed real houses. A village, to be exact.

Building them would be tricky. Tools, materials, manpower, it was a lot to consider. But luckily, Sirius happened to know exactly how to build houses. He had covered architecture in school before dropping out and rerouting to finance.

He might not have finished, but the base knowledge was there. And that was all that mattered.

He clapped his hands together. "Alright! I don't want to alarm you, but I'm gonna destroy your home."

A collective gasp rippled through the Arachne.

"Has mana sickness made the young master lose his mind?" someone whispered.

Sirius sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No, I haven't lost my mind. We're going to build a village—a proper one. The Arachne have changed, and our home should change too. I know how to build, but I'll need your strength to gather the materials."

Garura, standing beside him, furrowed his brow. "Build? Like the dwarves do?" His massive arms were crossed, muscles flexing unconsciously.

"Yes!" Sirius grinned. "Exactly like the dwarves do." He wasn't entirely sure if that was true, but it sounded convincing.

Cela hesitated before stepping forward. "But we don't need those," she said softly. "We are fine with the ground. We don't want to trouble you any further, young master."

A chorus of agreement followed.

Sirius clenched his jaw. The thought of them sleeping on cold, damp stone like it was normal actually pissed him off a little. But he exhaled, shaking off his frustration. "It's no trouble. In fact, I want to do this. So, will you help me?"

"Of course, we will," Elendira said, stepping beside him.

Sirius turned to her. Of all of them, her transformation had been the most striking. Her once-black hair now had a golden sheen, and her dark eyes had changed to a deep blue. She almost looked... royal.

But he didn't linger on it. Instead, he turned back to the others, pointing toward the cave entrance. "Alright! Let's get started. First step is materials. Go gather everything we need!"

The Arachne blinked at him, then exchanged confused glances before turning back.

"What materials might those be, young master?"

Sirius paused.

Right. They had no idea how to build.

"Okay," he started, clapping his hands together. "We need wood. A lot of wood. Thick branches, logs, and leaves. Also, stones, flat ones if possible. If we can gather enough, we can use them as foundations and even pathways."

Garura nodded. "Wood and stone... we can do that."

"Good. Now, for the tools..." Sirius trailed off, realizing something. "Wait. How do you guys cut things?"

They all blinked at him.

"With our claws," Elendira said, flexing her fingers. Her nails, while looking more human now, still had a sharp edge to them.

That could work.

Sirius continued. "Alright, then use those to chop down trees and shape the wood. But don't go overboard, only take what we need. We don't want to destroy the whole forest."

Cela tilted her head. "And the stones?"

"Find ones that are already loose. If we need bigger ones, maybe Garura can break them down." Sirius turned to him. "Think you can do that?"

Garura grinned, slamming a fist into his palm. "Easily."

"Perfect. Gather everything at the cave entrance. Once we have enough, I'll show you all how to put a house together."

The Arachne nodded, then turned and rushed toward the forest.

Sirius sighed, watching them go.

Phase two was officially in motion.

Within a few minutes, the Arachne had gathered stacks of wood, piles of stone, and bundles of leaves. It was a decent haul, but what really caught Sirius's interest was something Rue casually mentioned during a conversation.

She had a spell that could transmute materials.

All he had to do was explain the exact density and composition of what he wanted, and—boom.

They had iron!

...Or so he thought.

What she actually made was copper. Turns out, iron was too complex for her to transmute just yet. But honestly, that was fine.

Wood and stone were enough for their basic structures, and the copper? Well, if they ever wanted to pull an Edison, they could use it for lights in the future.

This was exhilarating!

And so the creation began.

Step 1: Prepping the foundation.

Sirius scanned the stretch of grass and trees before them. "Alright, first thing we need is land. Luckily," he gestured toward the forest, "we've got plenty of it. Anyone with fire magic, burn that section down."

"On it!" Rue was the first to respond, thrusting her hand forward. A massive blast of fire erupted from her palm, scorching the ground.

Beside her, Rune hesitated, gripping a small branch with both hands. His mana flickered weakly until Rue leaned over and whispered something.

The moment she did, his spell exploded outward, a raging inferno far larger than Rue's. Flames roared through the trees, burning far more land than necessary.

Sirius sighed but decided to roll with it. "Alright. Now we need to clear out the burnt remains, that way we can—"

"Leave it to me!" Alaric stepped forward, eyes closed, hands outstretched. "I've waited for the moment I could prove myself to the young master!"

The air around him twisted as a powerful gust took shape, forming a spiraling tornado.

It surged forward, sweeping up ash, charred wood, and loose stones in its wake.

"Not so fast!" Rue appeared beside him, grinning. "I can use wind too!"

Another tornado formed at her fingertips, clashing against Alaric's, the two merging into a massive whirlwind that funneled the debris into another part of the forest.

Alaric scowled. "Why must you ruin this for me?" He bumped his forehead against Rue's, glaring. "You had your moment of glory. Why must you interfere with mine?"

"Because your spell isn't nearly as impressive as you think," Rue teased, flashing a smug grin. "You don't even have fire affinity, do you? That must suck."

"You dare mock me?!"

"Enough," Elendira's voice cut through their bickering. She stepped forward, her icy stare silencing them both. "How can you behave like this in front of the young master? Have you lost your minds?"

Alaric and Rue froze mid-head crunch, fingers curling into aborted, apologetic twists, as if they could pluck their insolence from the air and stuff it back into their mouths. 

Sirius raised an eyebrow. Why do they listen to her so easily? They all had the same amount of mana and should be equally strong, yet Elendira carried an authority the others instinctively obeyed.

Something to figure out later.

Right now, there was another issue, his brilliant plan had just resulted in a mountain of debris being dumped deeper into the forest.

Not exactly ideal.

"Alright," Sirius said, "Gather the wood there. And the stones you just picked up? Set them over there as well, we'll need those for the foundation."

The Arachne moved quickly, gathering the materials and setting them in the cleared field.

Sirius surveyed the now-cleared land. It wasn't perfect, but it would do.

"Alright," he said, clapping his hands. "We've got wood, stone, and space. Next, we start building."

He turned to Rue and Rune. "I'll need planks, thick ones. Can you use magic to cut the wood evenly?"

Rue grinned. "You got it, young master!" She spun toward a stack of logs and traced a symbol in the air. The wood trembled before splitting into near-perfect slabs.

Rune, not to be outdone, did the same, but instead of a controlled slice, his magic sent shards flying everywhere.

Sirius barely dodged a rogue splinter. "Alright, Rune, maybe less power, more precision."

The younger Arachne nodded, dashing toward another log.

While they worked on refining the planks, Sirius turned to Garura. "We need a sturdy foundation. Think you and the others can lay out the stone evenly?"

Garura flexed. "Consider it done."

Within minutes, the Arachne were hauling stone, laying it flat to create a strong base. Sirius walked around, making small corrections, tapping stones into place, and guiding them as best he could.

"Now for the frame..." Sirius said, grabbing a plank and setting it upright. "There's a bit of a problem."

"What might that be?" Elendira asked, bent over next to him.

"We'll need something to tie everything together, but wait. What am I saying? you're Arachne." Sirius grinned. "You can use your silk to hold it all together."

"You want us to use webbing to hold the houses together?" Elendira repeated his statement.

"Yes!" Sirius said. "Your silk is probably stronger than anything I'd find around here. Think of it as glue or rope."

"What is glue?" Cela muttered.

Step 2: Building the frame.

The stone bases had been set, laid flat on the ground. Much better than he thought it would've come out. Sirius clapped his hands. "Good. Now, watch closely."

He picked up a few planks and laid them in a square on the ground. "This marks the base of the hut. Now, we need strong logs at each corner, these will be our support beams."

Garura and Alaric followed his instructions, driving thick logs into the ground at the marked points, forming the hut's framework.

"Now, we connect them," Sirius said. "Use your silk to wrap around where the logs meet."

Elendira stepped forward, pressing her palm against the joints and releasing thick strands of silk. She wrapped it around tightly, securing the four wooden beams together.

Sirius tugged at it. The structure held firm. "Do that a few more times, just to be safe."

Step 3: The walls and roof.

"We'll also use the logs for the walls," Sirius instructed. "Stack them tightly together within the base outline and seal the gaps with mud and webbing."

The Arachne moved quickly, positioning the logs upright and securing them with their silk. Others mixed dirt and water into a thick paste, spreading it between the gaps to make the structure even sturdier.

"For the roof, we'll lay down planks and branches, then cover them with leaves and silk for waterproofing," Sirius continued.

And within an hour, the first hut was standing. It was small, simple, but solid.

Step 4: The Final Touches.

Doors and windows would have elevated the huts from a functional to proper shelter, but the hour was late, and Sirius wasn't in the mood to teach the Arachne the mechanics behind hinges.

Silk might have served, but it was too strong—doors that refused to open were worse than none at all.

Windows were the next step but were hardly urgent. They'd left the huts half-open anyway, the central gap a large but effective entryway.

For now, broad leaves lashed over the gaps shielded the entryway, not just from the wind's nagging insistence, but from any six-legged squatters looking for prime real estate.

Sirius took a step back, looking at the hut with a nod of approval. "See? Not bad, right?"

The Arachne looked at each other in awe.

"We've... never built like this before," Rune whispered. "Horst never let us. He said we only needed the cave."

"Well, things are different now," Sirius said, folding his arms. "We're not just surviving anymore. We're going to live."

A cheer went up from the group.

Garura grinned. "Alright, let's build more!"

One by one, huts began to take shape. The Arachne worked fast, their silk making the process even easier. By nightfall, they had an entire village. Primitive, but theirs.

Sirius exhaled, watching as the Arachne admired their work.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.