The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Floren Sector)

(Planet Corpeola- Outskirts Of The Capitol City)

"So… what exactly do you mean by that? Am I already a void stage cultivator?" Sophie asked curiously as she stretched out her hands.

She did not feel more powerful than before.

The hybrid girl closed her eyes and sensed the qi that was floating around in her dantian. The amount seemed to be the same however…

There was something peculiar happening inside.

Sophie's brows slowly furrowed as she observed liquid droplets of qi energy pressing and squeezing together to form solid star-like objects.

What the heck?

It was an incredibly slow process and so far, only two star-like objects had been formed out of her entire dantian sea.

Mere droplets in a vast open lake of qi.

The familiar voice of the hunter goddess echoed in Sophie's mind and revealed more information about her condition.

[Well not exactly… your physiology is a bit… unique my dear…]

[Right now, you are in the process of transitioning into the void stage, but this process may take a few months to complete.]

"What about the pain? Is it supposed to hurt like this?" Sophie questioned as she opened her eyes and winced.

She felt another sharp burst of pain this time in her lower back that was so fierce that for a moment she had trouble breathing.

[Do not worry my precious vessel… the pain should eventually go away in a few days once your body gets used to the process]

[Until then… do take care of yourself. I would hate to see my favourite vessel get hurt]

"A few days?" Sophie exclaimed in shock as she stumbled slightly. She fell back to the ground and groaned as another wave of pain ravaged her body.

The hunter goddess' voice disappeared from her mind and Sophie could sense that her otherworldly patron had just left.

Damn it!

This fucking sucked. Why was everything so difficult?

For once… just once!

Why couldn't she simply break through to the next stage of her cultivation journey without any problems?

Sophie got up from the ground with a dull groan and stabbed her blade-like appendages into the soil in order to steady herself.

She slowly inched her way forward not using her legs but using her appendages with spider-like movements.

The blazing sun still hung brightly in the sky, but its warm rays of light did little to cheer but the hybrid girl who gritted her teeth constantly.

She had to resist the urge to scream as it felt as though a wrecking ball had just slammed into every organ in her body.

Howl! Howl!

Several dark four-legged creatures with scaly skin and large razor-sharp teeth jumped out of the nearby bushes and surrounded Sophie.

The hybrid girl simply raised up her face and looked directly at the hostile animals with eyes that were slowly turning crimson.

Bloodlust radiated off her body in waves and the creatures who were once confident in their ambush began to look afraid.

Sophie's appearance resembled that of a demon.

All animals instinctively react when faced with the looming threat of death and these creatures were no exception.

Three of the creatures fled immediately while the two in the front of the pack rushed forward with obvious fear in their eyes.

Fight or flight…

Sophie fought against the pain that was clouding her thoughts and simply stabbed forward using her blade-like appendages.

She easily pierced the animals' scaly skin and tore out their still beating hearts. The creatures collapsed on the ground with the life slowly draining from their eyes.

It was a quick and easy battle.

The hybrid girl sniffed the hearts that were impaled on her appendages and then grabbed them using her hands.

She placed the warm organs in her mouth and then bit down.

Blood splattered across her face, but Sophie paid no attention to the warm liquid as she chewed the meaty flesh.

Hmm… delicious…

Sophie finished her meal and felt a warm current of energy flow down to her dantian. The pain ceased for just a moment … or perhaps that was merely her imagination.

Either way she was in a much better mood as she checked her wrist communicator and inputted the location of the spaceport.

She wanted to get off this planet as soon as possible.

For the next sixteen hours, Sophie found herself moving through a lush green forest and fighting off waves of hostile wildlife.

The journey should not have taken so long but she was forced to stop and rest quite frequently when the pain became too much.

She even encountered a few Mendolesa hunters in the forest, but they kept their distance since they were wary of the blood that covered her body.

To be fair Sophie knew that her appearance could sometimes be… terrifying so she did not hold it against them.

Finally, when the sun had long sunk over the horizon and the first stars could be seen in the sky, Sophie saw a large metalloid tower in the distance.

The large metalloid building was surrounded by several shabby wooden huts and poorly constructed shacks barely illuminated by streetlamps that flickered on and off.

She had made it back to the capitol city.

Sophie let out a light sigh of relief and checked her communicator to make sure that she went in the proper direction.

The shortest way to the spaceport was through the slums and ordinarily Sophie would have taken this route but…

She did not want to take any chances especially considering the strange state of her body.

If it was one thing that she had learned during her months in the Unovan Syndicate, it was that you never knew when danger would strike.

There shouldn't be anyone with a cultivation level on par with hers in the slums but knowing her luck…

Well Sophie wouldn't be surprised if a god stage cultivator suddenly popped out.

A hoarse bark of laughter escaped her mouth, but it soon turned into a coughing fit as Sophie doubled over in pain.

She covered her mouth as her body trembled violently.

When the coughing finally stopped, she looked at her hand and saw that it was covered in flecks of blood.

Were the side effects of entering the void stage so great?

What would happen when she reached the god stage and beyond?

Numerous questions surfaced in Sophie's mind as she travelled the long way around the outskirts of the city.

As she circled the perimeter of the city, the true scale of the inequity between its residents was clearly revealed.

The over two hundred story metalloid buildings were in stark contrast to the poorly made huts below them on the ground.

It was like they belonged to two different eras.

The local authorities in charge of this planet had obviously not done a good job in running the place.

It was impossible to make everyone rich in society, but it was not an issue to maintain at least a decent standard of living.

Especially with the technology available.

Hunger, thirst, and shelter should all theoretically be problems of the past, relics of a bygone era without genetically modified food, replicators, and water generators.

And yet…

They still persisted to this day.

Sophie's thoughts shifted to the Mendolesa girl who she had met in the sewers below the city.

She hoped that the girl would take the opportunity to make a fresh start in her life away from the drugs and despair.

But in this city… no in this planet… there were probably hundred of thousands if not millions of Mendolesa warriors who were trapped in an endless cycle of poverty.

What could be done to fix this?