The spider's nest was significantly larger than 6 expected. When the mission description said "super massive", he figured it meant in comparison to a regular spider's web.
Instead, what greeted him was truly a super massive spider's nest. He had seen skyscrapers that didn't reach as high as this thing, and he doubted he had ever seen a building that was as wide as it.
It looked like some sort of silky spire, piercing the sky, covering the ground in its imposing architecture.
The words "spider's egg" made much more sense now. It wasn't that it looked like an actual spider's web sack that would explode into millions of tiny spiders, but that it was built like an egg, one a chicken would lay. If it weren't clearly made out of web, it might be mistaken for a giant chicken egg.
Not only was the nest itself huge, spanning miles around, the entire circumference of it entirely out of sight for 6, it was also surrounded by a massive region of webs, miles of it in every direction.
If the spiders weren't such a big threat, this would surely turn into a unique source of materials. It would take years upon years to gather all of these spider, even if hundreds of workers were assigned to it.
In the books 6 read before coming here, almost every spider infestation spread out over the ground. The oddest part about this one in particular was that it was built taller than it is wide. Given standard web physics, it shouldn't even be possible.
It truly look like a chicken's egg, endlessly larger than it needed to be, made from webbing.
The size was so large that it was hard to gauge how big the nest actually was.
No spiders were swarming him, so 6 was able to at least confirm the distance he was placed was safe enough to observe the nest from.
"Hey Trivrium, you wouldn't happen to be kind enough to have also placed me within walking distance of a town, would you?"
She didn't respond with words, but an arrow did appear in front of his eyes, pointing in the direction away from the spider's nest.
Although 6 could certainly enter the spider's nest immediately, he wanted to gather some information first. The inhabitants of this world, especially ones closer to the spider's nest, should have some valuable information about the start and the appearance of the spider's nest. This could give him the clues he needed to find the root cause of the infestation.
He had some thoughts about it already, but he decided to try his best to not make an early assumption.
Luckily, Trivrium continued showing him an arrow every few minutes of walking, allowing him to know he wasn't veering off course.
The surroundings didn't look all too fantasy-like, much to 6's chagrin. It looked like a basic country area from earth, untouched by industrial methods.
The air was clean and it felt nice to breathe in.
The giant spider egg behind him did make up for the otherwise lacking fantasy atmosphere, so he settled for that.
Seeing how large the egg still seemed as he walked away really emphasized how massive the nest is. Despite having walked miles, the nest hardly looked any smaller. He continued walking, determined to reach somewhere more interesting than the empty fields surrounding him.
Several hours passed like this before he finally came upon a forest, far out of view of the spider's nest.
Passing through this oddly located forest, he soon reached a town in a large clearing inside of it. Comprising of wooden houses, some with thatch roofs, and some with traditional wooden roofs, it was a backwards town compared to the living situations he was accustomed to seeing on Earth.
It looked more like a village he would see in a history book, or at a historical site.
He understood why the people of this town would be terrified of the spider's nest. There were perhaps 40 houses in all, meaning 40 families. It couldn't be more than 300 people. These people probably didn't even have real weapons. It would be hard not to be terrified, especially when the nearby town entirely disappeared with the appearance of the nest. They probably relied on some nearby lord for protection, and once that lord failed, they were defenseless.
It was the same everywhere, 6 thought. The powerful make the rich rely on them, but the weak are still left to fend for themselves when it comes down to it. Why Trivrium allowed this to happen on her planet was beyond him.
He didn't want to talk bad about Trivrium though. Perhaps there were things he didn't know, or perhaps someone was already on a mission to fix this.
Casting his unnecessary thoughts into the passing breeze, 6 continued his mission. He had to admit, being the stranger wandering into town to solve an otherworldly situation for a town definitely fulfilled a fantasy of his. Taking this as seriously as he could, he swallowed his excitement and walked into town with a stern face.
He didn't want to put on a merry attitude in front of terrified villagers. Some of these people may have lost friends to the nest. It was better to be safe than sorry.
Although it was clear that there weren't a lot of travelers that passed through this town, he could confirm that it wasn't unheard of. There was a clear road through the town, a dead giveaway that wagons passed through the town,, and he could see an inn.
He ignored the inn for now, not entirely because he wasn't sure if he'd be able to buy a room with no currency from this world, in favor of visiting the main house in the village, the large one in the center of the town. Usually houses that stand out from others in the area are owned by people in a position of power, and he was betting on some type of village chief.
Although the village wasn't empty, there were noticeably less people walking about than there should be for a village this size.
As he walked with purpose, none of the villagers seemed inclined to bother him, especially considering his odd clothing.
6 even saw a few families tell their children to go inside when they saw him, including a few who started running to other houses to tell the inhabitants something.
"Dad, one of the little boys down the street told me to tell you that there is a stranger in town walking towards our house." A young teenage girl said to a middle aged man sitting in a large comfortable chair.
"Mmm, what does he look like?" The man asked.
"He's average height, wearing some strange clothes, and walks with a straight back. He hasn't been rude or mean to anyone yet, and hasn't had any strange looks while seeing anybody in the village so far." she replied.
"That's good. If he is an adventurer, he should have pure intentions. We can't be certain of it just yet though. You should leave, if he's an imposter I don't want you nearby."
"I want to watch, Dad. I can fight too, and I want to learn how to read people like you do. Can I stay?"
"You can stay, but make sure you're closer to me than you are to him at any point in time. If he gets nearer to you, get closer to me, and if he seems to be wandering aimlessly, just stay by my side. For now, sit in the chair over there," the man said with a sigh, pointing to a chair that was far away from the door, but not too fair as to be suspicious. He didn't want the stranger to think he believed him to be a threat. "If he makes you uncomfortable or things get serious, your first priority is to leave. If a fight starts, don't try to join."
"Yessir." she said, clenching her fist as she stared at the ground.
After a few minutes of waiting in silence for the man to arrive, a knock finally came from the door.
The man got up from his chair, reaching to open the door and greet the stranger.
"Good afternoon sir." the man said to the stranger as he sized him up.
"Hello. If now isn't a bad time, would it be okay if I asked you a few questions?" 6 responded.
"Of course. I have a few hours to spare before I'll have to leave for dinner with a friend, so until then I'll be free for any questions you have." the man said, moving his imposing figure aside to open a path into his home. "Would you like to come inside? It would surely be more comfortable to speak in some nice chairs as opposed to standing in this doorway."
6 saw the man's kind smile and returned it with a smile of his own.
"That would be great. I've been walking all day, and as a man who's already led a full life, my bones ache more than they did when I was younger." As soon as the man agreed, 6 immediately entered bullshit mode.
The man wouldn't understand what 6 meant by "led a full life", but he enjoyed his own morbid joke anyway.
"Ha, I certainly know what you mean. These old bones have seen better days, seems like just a few steps takes more out of me now than a few miles did when I was a kid." the man said, pulling out a chair for 6 to sit on before heading to sit down on his own. "Would you like anything to drink? I know an ice cold glass of water certainly eases my soul after a long day of walking."
This threw 6 for a loop. He didn't see any electric appliances and he doubted a village of this size could import ice to keep their food cold, so he was quite curious as to how they could provide a cold glass of water.
"Absolutely. As the stunning genius I am, I didn't happen to bring any water with me today." 6 said
"We all make mistakes in our youth. I'm sure next time you won't forget," the man said with a chuckle as he motioned towards his daughter sitting down. "This is my daughter, Plono. Dear, would you grab some water for our visitor?"
"Yessir. Would you like a glass as well?"
"No that's okay, thank you dear." He said, as the young girl left the room to get the water.
"So, stranger, what brings you to our land?" the man said with a light tone in his voice, as if he were speaking to a neighbor about the weather.
"Ah, I'm in the area to solve a certain problem. Forgive me for being mysterious, but if you know what I'm referring to, you should know why I'd prefer not to say it." 6 was only saying this to test the man. He wanted to gauge how much he knew about the spider's nest without giving any of his own information away.
He couldn't rule out the fact that an individual could be behind the infestation, and the closer a person is to the nest, the more likely it was that they could be involved.
This didn't mean he was suspecting him, or anyone from the village at all. In fact, he truly believed they had nothing to do with it. It just wasn't in his nature to not take precautions.
Plono returned with the water in her hands now, and interestingly, there was no condensation on the glass. In fact, it didn't seem cold whatsoever.
"Ah. thank you dear. I'll take it now." The man said, standing up to receive the glass from Plono.
6 looked on with interest, curious as to why the man took the glass they offered to him.
The man's hands were cupped around the glass, holding it gingerly. While still looking at 6, his hands visibly become whiter, as if the blood was draining from them.
"I believe I do know what you mean. If I am correct, I thank you on behalf of our people for your discrepancy. No need to constantly remind everyone, you know."
As he was speaking, his hands continued to whiten. They didn't glow, but the shade of his skin was now so starkly white that it felt like they soon would. The glass of water in his hands began changing as well, a white fog clouded the glass and droplets began to form on the outside of it.
6's eyes struggled to tear away from the glass, doing his best to hide his intense interest in the method he was using to cool the glass down.
"I'm 100% confident we're on the same page, despite our vague words that have not actually shared any information. For the sake of others, such as the hypothetical me that doesnt know if we're talking about the same thing, may we perhaps share a tiny tidbit, a small kernel of knowledge, just to make sure hypothetical me, which we both understand is different from the actual me who does understand, knows?"
The middle aged man in front of 6 let out a deep and hearty laugh, while Plono looked annoyed and displeased with 6's relaxed attitude.
"Your ease rubs off on others, I'm sure, even if my daughter doesn't appreciate it."