Chapter 43: What Are You?
Arthur was greatly astonished. His lips moved involuntarily, and the words almost came out of his mouth, but he swallowed them at the last moment, and maintained his silence.
’Ahem.’ He let out a strange cough, then stole a quick glance at the spider woman’s face, and found that her cold expressions had not changed, and all she did was furrow her brows slightly.
He took a deep breath, and calmed himself. The Primal Predator bloodline was in a state of dormancy because of the severe damage it had sustained, and for this reason he had to control his emotions by himself.
In truth, he had no difficulty doing so, for he had not relied much on his bloodline, or on the system, he had maintained his independence from them, and worked hard to develop himself.
Given the nature of the life he had lived, he had experienced many disappointments that made him lose trust in others, he was suspicious, and maintained his caution toward everything, and that included the system, and his bloodline.
He feared suddenly losing them, or that they would betray him and turn against him in some way, and apparently, his fears were not just crazy thoughts.
The fact that the system had malfunctioned, and left him to face death alone, was sufficient evidence, and even though his bloodline had helped him survive, this did not change anything.
In any case, the system malfunction was a major problem, but it was not his current priority, for he was not out of danger yet, and still had to overcome one last obstacle, which was the spider before him.
’I cannot speak impulsively, this spider displays great intelligence, yet, I feel as though her personality is unbalanced, I must deal with her with extreme caution, for she is a monster after all.’
Despite the danger of the situation, he did not feel fear, quite the contrary, he felt a little relief that he was able to communicate with her. He had a great chance of surviving.
In addition to that, he had spent the entire past month talking to himself and inanimate objects in the forest like a madman, so he truly wished to have a civilized conversation with a rational being. That is, if everything went well.
Staying silent for too long was not in his favor, so he quickly organized his thoughts.
He faked his expressions and emotions and, pretending to hesitate, asked in a tone carrying humility, confusion, and a little fear.
"I... I can understand what you are saying, how is this possible?"
He fixed his gaze on her, then added with astonished expressions: "What exactly did you do to me?"
Before him, the spider woman was a little surprised, and apart from that, she did not say anything, she continued staring at him with her beautiful and terrifying red eyes at the same time.
She appeared as though she could look into the depths of his soul, and know what he was thinking, and this sent a shiver through his body.
Silence fell, and the seconds passed very slowly, and little by little, Arthur began to feel tense, and after confirming that she would not answer him, he opened his mouth, but did not know what he would say.
He closed his mouth, then opened it again. He froze in his position for a brief moment, and in the end said: "Noble lady, thank you for sparing my life, I appreciate that tru..."
He realized his mistake, and immediately maintained his silence. Because of his tension, and his desire to lighten the atmosphere, he said spontaneous words he did not truly mean.
’Damn, what am I saying? Showing my great intelligence, and my eloquence in speech is not a good thing, I was too hasty. But, truly why is this cursed one so silent? What is she thinking about?’
Fear began to creep into him, and in truth, he faced difficulty maintaining his calmness, and he also worked hard to keep his mouth shut, so as not to make things worse with useless chatter.
Before him, the spider woman tilted her head slightly to the side, then muttered in a low voice: "Noble lady? Spared your life?"
She furrowed her brows further, and after a brief moment of silence, a cold gleam appeared in her eyes, and she said: "Strange, you are very strange, what are you?"
Arthur swallowed hard, and instinctively stepped back slightly. He feared she would ask him this question specifically, because, in truth, he could not answer it, or more precisely, he did not have an answer for it.
Who is Arthur? No..., what is Arthur? Is he the wolf? Or the human inside? Or perhaps he is neither of them? Since his arrival in this world that annoying feeling of disharmony with his new identity had not left him.
"Speak." The Calamity Spider walked toward him, narrowing the small gap between them. At the same time, something remarkable happened, for her form began to change with every step she took.
Her size gradually shrank, until it became like ordinary humans, and her spider legs merged with each other, forming two normal human legs.
Her silk robe extended, and draped over her beautiful legs, down to her bare feet, forming a simple white dress that covered her entire body.
In the upper part, her features underwent major changes as well, her ears became long and pointed, and four short horns grew in her forehead in one row, two on each side of her forehead.
Her hair grew longer, and strangely grew much thicker, and two blood-colored lines appeared, extending from beneath her eyes to her chin.
She stood directly before him, her face was only a few centimeters from his. Her scent was fragrant, and her features were extremely captivating, and her eyes carried a charm that made him open his mouth in astonishment.
In all honesty, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he could not describe her except as perfect, despite all those monstrous features she possessed, like the horns, and the red lines.
"You can speak fluently, your intelligence is very great, and you possess skills you are not supposed to have, and who knows what else you are hiding, tell me, what exactly are you?" The spider woman repeated her question.
Her strict tone, and the light killing intent emanating from her, snapped him out of his stupor. His thoughts quickened, but no matter how hard he tried he could not find a convincing answer, so in the end, he settled for saying: "I am a wolf, but I am not like any other wolf, I am very special."
"Special?" The spider woman’s lips twisted into a small smile that carried no kindness.
Her killing intent grew, and she said in a sarcastic tone: "And what is special about you?"
Her eyes full of allure made him lose himself again, and automatically, he answered: "I... I am a hu..."
He stopped himself at the last moment, and swallowed the word "human" he was about to say, and sighed with obvious regret: "I, I cannot tell you."
Before he found enough time to feel relieved that he had not revealed himself, the spider woman gently moved her hand, and tightened her grip slightly.
At that moment, the silk threads inside his body moved, and he felt as though her cold hand was holding his heart, threatening to crush it at any moment.
The silk threads fixed him in place, he was no longer able to move, or to speak, and even breathing became very difficult, he felt pain in all parts of his body, and could only stare at the spider woman with terrified expressions.
’Shit, I am in real trouble, I cannot do anything now, except comply with her completely.’ Chaos overwhelmed his emotions, and he did not know exactly what to do.
Unfortunately, the purpose of those threads planted inside his body was much worse than he had expected, for it appeared his life had literally become in her hands, and perhaps she could kill him with a mere thought.
The spider woman tightened her grip on his heart further, which made him display contorted expressions, and with extreme coldness said to him: "I have no patience, what are you hiding from me? Speak."
Despite her threats, he did not change his mind, he was not going to tell her his truth, except in the case it was his only option for survival. He gritted his fangs, and with great difficulty answered her:
"Just wait, I am not lying, I truly cannot tell you because I truly do not know the reason for my uniqueness, I was born intelligent, and with the ability to speak. As for the Storage skill I have, I obtained it suddenly not long ago."
Everything he said was true. He had been born human, and this meant possessing a mind superior to other creatures, in addition to the innate ability to speak.
As for the Dimensional Storage skill, he had obtained it from the system after being transferred, without any prior notice, to this world.
"Believe me, this is all I know, I swear." He confirmed again.
With extreme anticipation and anxiety, he watched her reaction, but unfortunately she did not display any clear expression indicating she believed him, she continued staring at him for a short while, and after that she suddenly said:
"Well, I will confirm that for myself."
She loosened her grip, and the silk threads inside his body returned to their stillness, and at that moment, the pain he felt eased, and he regained the ability to move.
He felt relieved, and said, "Thank yo..."
Before he finished his sentence, she suddenly drove a silk thread straight through his heart.
