"The only problem that has warranted any solving in the area in the last few years has to do with a little bit of web. Is that enough information for you?" The middle aged man sitting across from 6 said.
"Yessir, plenty and plenty. My questions for you today are almost entirely related to that." 6 said, accepting the now very cold water from the callused hands of the man.
"I thought they might be. Well, I'm willing to share what I know, but I'd like to know why you're interested in it first. Ah, it wouldn't be fair to ask about you without at least introducing myself first. My name is Cypius, Lord of Folrost, custodian of our land. I thank you for visiting us, as times are not the best right now, and every hand helps. May I trouble you to stay at the inn while you're here? The owner is a friend and with no visitors lately, his business has fallen on hard times." the man said, standing up from his chair.
He reached out to 6, extending his hand for a handshake. 6 stood to meet him, grasping his hand firmly.
With the 2 men standing, hand in hand, the difference in stature between the two was fully displayed. Cypius towered over 6, who would normally be on the taller side of interactions. With 6's lankiness, the difference in stature was even greater, as Cypius was built like a bodybuilder, to the point that 6 wasn't sure he could fit through a regular sized door.
6 tried his best not to show it, but the fact that Cypius was one of the lords that Trivrium mentioned shocked him.
When the mission description talked about lords, he imagined castles and forts, nobles and kings.
The image in his mind was that of the common people being taken advantage of by the ruling class.
But in front of him was something entirely different. At the very least, Folrost seemed different.
Although Cypius does live in the largest house, the interior is by no means lavish. It's entirely possible that he needs a large house because of his large stature. He lives among his people, as a neighbor. He even mentioned being friends with the innkeeper.
6 decided it may be in his best interest to dispose of the opinions he formed on Earth. The places he would go and the people he would meet wouldn't be the same as the world he was from.
Perhaps corruption is uniquely Earthlike. Optimism was only a bad trait when it harmed you, and until it harmed him, he decided to do his best to look at things optimistically.
It made 6 sick to his stomach to think that his homeworld, the place he was born and raised, might be the odd one out, the evil one.
What did that make him?
It felt like he understood the man who killed him more now.
Hell, with what he'd learned, it was likely that cleaning up his world was just a mission.
And it hurt to admit but 6 certainly didn't help make the world less corrupt. If anything, he was a contributor to its corruption. He worked on the evil side of the world, its underbelly, and even if he never took jobs that involved innocents or children, he was still a killer for hire.
He who throws the first stone must be without sin, and 6 had plenty of sin.
"I'd rather not sleep in a tree tonight, so I'd love to accept that offer, but unfortunately I don't have any m-"
Trivrium will cover all expenses related to food and shelter.
"I take that back, I guess. Just point me in the right direction when I leave later." 6 said. "My name is 6, killer of things I have killed, master of doing stuff."
"6? As in the number?" Plono asked.
"That's the one. Or the six. Well, i mean, like... you know what I mean"
"Gee, can't wait to see how helpful you are."
"That's enough, Plono. He is here to help, and whatever your feelings are, our people come first." Cypius said, raising his voices ever so slightly and showing the sternness of a father. "My apologies, 6, my daughter is still young, and she wears her emotions on her chest."
"It's fine, Cypius. I too am not fond of handsome strangers offering to help solve my problems when I didn't ask for it."
"Mm, understandably so. Although, I do believe the handsome part was some unnecessary ego stroking, but I won't contradict you. So why are you here?"
"A big ol lady in the sky sent me to try to find out what's going on with our eight legged friends, and hopefully, if I can, solve the issue. I'm gonna be heading into the nest in a few days, but I wanted to gather as much information as I can before heading in."
Plono seemed to catch her breath when he said this, finally dropping the stern face she had kept since he walked in.
"You're a brave man. I admire your courage, but I cannot advise this. I'll tell you what I know, but I hope you may rethink this, or at least prepare more thoroughly." Cypius said.
"I've got some insurance. Big lady in the sky is gonna help me out, don't you worry"
"I understand you are from a higher land, but that by no means makes you invulnerable. We have had adventurers here before. I have seen them perish. Whatever means you may have cannot protect you from the travesty waiting for you if you venture to the nest."
Cypius didn't seem like the type to make warnings for no reason. His stature and mannerisms made it clear that he was a fighter, so for him to be this cautious about the spider's egg, it couldn't be without reason.
With furrowed eyebrows, 6 said "Have you seen it?"
6 did his best not to come off as insensitive about it, but as he saw Cypius' mood take a plummet, he felt that he failed.
"I have."
6 sat in silence at Cypius' words. He didn't know what to say in response to his sorrowful confirmation, so he stayed quiet.
"Dad, I can tell him." Plono said.
"I won't make my daughter speak for me. Go and tell Asturias that I will be late. You can stay there and help him prepare dinner."
"Dad…"
"Go, child. Thank you." Cypius said, leaving no room for discussion. With a worried glance and concern on her face, Plono walked past 6 to leave the building.
Just as she passed him, she gave him a dirty glance, non-verbally telling him not to say anything he shouldn't.
The relationship between the two was sweet, displaying the care that a father and daughter should have for each other. 6 envied that type of family, even if he saw no mother around.
"Again, please forgive my daughter. She means well."
"I could tell from the way she hates me."
"She doesn't hate you, just more so what you being here means." Cypius said. Continuing, he said "The fact that you are here is both caused by, and a reminder of, our failure. We did venture into the spider lands, hoping to eradicate them if possible, and if not possible, gather as much information as possible before retreating. I suspect our purpose is much like, if not identical, to your own. Am I not mistaken?"
"Yessir, it's worded a tad differently but that's the general gist of things." 6 responded.
"Of course it is. Every land, even your own, wants information. Including our own, and many of our neighbors. Even now, there are people of our world, not the one you come from, still searching for information." Cypius' face was grave, almost to the point of looking pained. "We have none, to this day. It will take more than one man to achieve what you are trying to do."
"Didn't you say you've been there?"
"Ha! And I have! And I have. I and many others of my land. Yet I am the only one to have made the return trip. Do you know how much information I have? I know what it looks like, and I know where it is. I didn't touch the damn egg, and I certainly didn't enter it. The swarm of spiders were on us before we even neared it. You are young. Please, I implore you, reconsider this. Prepare more, grow stronger, just do not enter the nest as you are now." Cypius said, almost pleading 6 to give up his mission.
Unfortunately, he was unaware that 6 has never given up on a mission, even if it was almost guaranteed to kill him.
Even when death was a guarantee, he accepted the mission to kill the mysterious stranger from his homeworld.
If he thought something would be interesting, 6 almost always dedicated himself entirely to doing it.
"Listen, I get that, I totally do, but you simply must understand that I am bored, and would rather risk my life than do my due diligence in such drab matters." 6 said.
A visible vein seemed to be bursting on Cypius' forehead as 6 spoke. His face grew reddened, yet his hands grew pale, the temperature in the room dropping by at least a degree instantly.
"6, you are young, and it seems you know little of the world. Or of life. But you are not a child, far from it. You are self assured, or cocky, or arrogant, or ignorant, the specifics mean little to us. But I have been there. I have seen the spiders, I have felt their bite. If I were to bring off the heat out of your body right now, would you live? If I sapped the warmth of your limbs until they were brittle enough to snap like the branches of a long dead tree, could you stop that?
"If I say yes, are you going to try to do it?"
"Yes." Cypius said, the already bursting vein on his forehead looking like it was going to attack 6 on its own accord.
"Then I will confidently say no."
With a sigh, Cypius put his hands on his forehead in defeat.
"Young one, whatever you do, do not enter that nest. That's all the help I can give you. The spiders have never expanded their territory, they have never attacked those outside of their territory, and they don't even seem to eat humans. All the corpses of those of us that have attempted to assault the nest remain where they are, buried under the webs upon the ground. Just leave them be."
6 took the glass of cold water in his hand and drank it all in a few large gulps. He lightly slammed the now empty glass down on the table beside him before letting put a satisfying 'aahh'.
"Thanks, but I can't avoid it even if I wanted to. And I don't want to." 6 said, getting up from his chair. "I appreciate the advice, and I'll prepare more, but I will enter the nest. I'm gonna stay in town for a night or two, but I'll be out of your hair quickly."
"Do as you wish."
"Would it be alright to ask others about this? I don't want to cause unease but I need as much information as I can get."
"I will talk to the others first. Wait a day, at least, and I cannot promise they wont turn you away, but at least they will not attack you, verbally or otherwise." Cypius said as 6 walked to the door. "Spare the children, however. They lost parents and siblings, they don't need a stranger talking about this so soon."
In the middle of his step, 6 paused, his hand outreached to the door handle. He turned his head over his shoulder to look as Cypius.
"Sir, with all due respect, I believe the kids are the ones with the type of information I need. I noticed them as I walked here, and they have keen eyes and straight backs, much unlike the adults. I saw them relaying information, I presume about me, to this house. That kind of attention to the ongoings in the area is what I need."
"Mm. I understand, but I still maintain my stance. I know the kids you're talking about, and I can let you meet them. The rest of the kids, however, are off limits."
"Okay. I'm not going to terrorize kids for no reason." 6 said. 'At least, not here.' he added in his head as he left Cypius' home to head to the inn.