"...."
Vikir closed his eyes.
He remembered a former enemy he had once fought for his life.
Danger Rating : S
Size: ?
Found in: Red and Black Mountains, 10th Ridge
-Nicknamed 'Madame of the Depth'. Her full species name is unknown.
In the distant past, the most terrible beings that inhabited the depths of the Oil Pole Hell were spiders of immense size, and it is believed that Madame Eight-Legged is a distant descendant that retains the form of those giant spiders that lived in the ancient past.
The inside of its body is filled with disgusting poison, and its mesh, which is stronger than steel, cannot be cut by anything except the hellfire of the world.
It is a dangerous, supremely powerful beast that has nearly killed Vikir himself several times in battle.
This giant queen spider found it difficult to deal with even the ancient demons that ruled Hell, so they secured an independent space for them to live in a corner of the depths of the abyss.
...And now, before Vikir's eyes, is the last descendant of that dreadful spider…
[Kwi-ing- kyung-]
Vikir's hand rubs against his cheek, a round ball of dust.
It sits or walks on two legs that sprout from its shaggy fur like crude doodles.
'Madame's... cub?'
Madame's cub, or baby Madame.
The tiny, insignificant creature was currently nuzzling the back of Vikir's hand, smearing white saliva on it.
The way he was acting, he looked like a puppy.
" ... Is it because the wolf carried it when it was an egg?"
This is why they say prenatal care is so important.
I could understand, at least a little bit, why pregnant women are given foreign language lessons and classical music while their babies are still in the womb.
Then.
Sticky.
Vikir noticed something strange.
A white, sticky mucus had begun to form where the cub had just licked.
As it touched the air, it quickly hardened into a fine thread.
" ... Is that spider silk? It's incredibly hard."
Vikir stretched the silk that the cub spewed from its mouth.
Ordinary spider silk has a much higher tensile strength than the same amount of steel and superior elasticity.
Moreover, this little Madame was the descendant of Madame Eight Legs, and the web it spewed was the strongest wire ever.
…Boom!
The threads barely snapped after Vikir pulled on them with a considerable amount of aura.
That was the small amount of thread that was pulled out.
"Its elasticity and strength are both dozens of times greater than steel, and it even has adhesive properties...."
It's also extremely resistant to flame, unlike ordinary spider silk, which would melt helplessly in a fire.
'I know. I wouldn't have been able to break this web without Cerberus's hellfire either.'
Vikir thought, remembering his battle with Madame Eightlegs.
[kkiing- kkuing- hegheg!]
Meanwhile, the cub continues to nuzzle against the back of Vikir's hand.
Maybe it's because its mother isn't around, but it seems to be craving affection from someone it hasn't seen before.
Vikir suddenly felt sorry for the little one.
'Your mother was a terrifying creature.'
The thought of that voracious appetite for the eggs she had laid made him realize that it would be far better for the cub to be separated from its mother.
...Whatever.
Because of the first impression, the cub follows Vikir the first time it wakes up from the egg.
Then.
Khororok.
The cub laid down on the back of Vikir's hand with a sullen expression.
"...Are you hungry?"
[haeg-haeg-haeg-]
A puff of black dust, sulking.
It looks like a baker's accidentally burnt choux.
'What should I feed him, anyway?'
Should I feed him insects? Or meat?
Vikir pulled a few biscuits from a drawer, a chunk of salted ham, and a slice of spinach pie that had gone cold.
They were all things Piggy had bought for a midnight snack and shared with Vikir.
But.
[omnomnomnom...]
The cub hadn't really enjoyed the biscuits and ham.
It was just a polite nibble out of courtesy.
Even the spinach pie was gagged and spit out as soon as I put it in its mouth.
"... That's a picky eater."
Vikir made the pup climb onto the back of his left hand.
Boom!
It perched itself on the back of Vikir's hand like a wristwatch.
Two legs wrapped around his wrist and held him there, like an impermanent watch.
"Good. Let's go find your prey."
Vikir immediately set out to visit the dormitories.
But there weren't many places to go.
First, the library. A good place to get information.
Vikir left the dormitory and headed across the field to the library.
Passing through the large, park-like main entrance of the library and entering the lobby, he was immediately drawn to the vast stacks of books that Colosseo Academy boasts.
Endless rows of tall bookshelves were densely packed with books of all kinds.
Vikir went to the Nature, Creatures, and Monsters section and started looking for a book.
"Spiders... spiders... a g...."
As Vikir scanned the shelves one by one.
"Aah! Vikir!"
He sees two round eyes peeking through the gap in the opposite bookshelf.
He turns his head to see what it is, and sees a white-haired girl looking back at him, smiling brightly.
Sinclair.
She strode forward, rounded the corner of the bookcase, and walked toward Vikir.
She looked like an innocent puppy, and if she had a tail, it would be wagging furiously by now.
"I've never seen you come to the library before."
"Mmm. I come often. Though this is the first time I've met you."
"Are you here to study or check out books?"
Sinclair wore a badge on her chest that identified her as a librarian.
Vikir was pleased.
"Do you happen to have any books on spiders?"
"Oh, you want to know how to kill a spider? That's what comes up when you search for pest extermination! What, there's a spider in your room?"
Hmm. Spiders do come up, but....
Just then, Vikir felt his left wrist twitch.
[Arring… … ]
The cub's eyebrows were furrowed in a crudely drawn scrawl, giving it an angry look.
It even made a sound to make itself seem threatening.
Vikir corrected her question with a flick of his wrist.
"I'm trying to figure out how to breed spiders, not exterminate them."
"Oh, spider breeding? There are books on the subject. Do you want to get one? Do you like spiders?"
"I don't really like them...."
Vikir was about to reply nonchalantly, but stopped and looked down at his left wrist for a moment.
There, he sees a burnt piece of bread looking up at him with pleading eyes.
" ... but I think it's about to get better."
"Really? You like spiders, brother... that's interesting."
Sinclair looks back at Vikir with a curious expression.
Her questioning continued until she found a book on how to raise spiders.
"Why do you like spiders? Because they have hair? Because they have legs? Because they have eyes? What about centipedes and millipedes and grimas and scorpions? What about beetles? Do you like all kinds of insects? Oh, no, spiders aren't insects."
What a curious girl, Vikir thought.
'I don't think she's always been this chatty.'
It was a bit of a surprise, as she was usually a quiet, studious person.
Soon, Vikir borrowed a few books and went out to a quiet place.
"...Let's see. How to raise spiders."
Vikir slowly flipped through the pages.
"Temperature and moisture control is important... they are sensitive to mold... they need no light... be careful when taking off their shedding skin... molting time varies from individual to individual... toilet training requires patience and repetition... they are easily influenced by their surroundings, so take care of them from the time they are eggs... for larger spiders, it is good manners to wear a muzzle when walking...."
It's all very common sense and common knowledge.
"Hmmm. If it says to give small insects or pieces of meat for baby food, why isn't this one eating?"
Vikir looked down at the cub on his left wrist and scratched his head.
Tsk-tsk.
Even now, the cub was slumped in a sullen pose.
Then.
Vikir turned the page of the last book and saw something.
Some 'extraordinary' spiders, the stuff of mythology, were raised on 'poison' during their infancy.
"...Eating poison?"
Vikir flipped to the back page.
For young spiders with great blood, the outcome depends on what poison they've ingested throughout their lives.
Only a large and varied intake of strong poisons can lead to a great adult spider.
On the other hand, if only weak poisons or poisons of limited variety are consumed consistently, there seems to be a limit to how large one can grow no matter how much he or she consumes.
"I wonder if it feeds on poison."
Vikir jumped into action.
He bites down on his pinky finger to draw blood, and black droplets ooze out.
It was blood laced with the powerful poison of Madame Eightlegs.
However.
[Ex-whack-]
The baby madam, who had a drop of blood in its mouth, trembled and fell to the side again.
"You bastard. What's wrong this time?"
Vikir turned the pages of the book again.
However, when the hatchlings have just emerged from the egg, they should be given the weakest poison first.
As the spider grows older and larger and ingests stronger and more varied poisons, it develops a poison that combines the strengths of many poisons into one, and it soon reigns supreme in its local ecosystem.
"...Yes, the mother's poison is strong."
Madame Eightlegs' poison was certainly unlike anything I'd ever seen before.
It was a powerful acid that contained all the worst qualities of neurotoxins, hemorrhagic, dermal, muscular, gastrointestinal, stinking, painful, respiratory, and protoplasmic poisons.
The poison was certainly too much for the hatchling to digest.
"I see. I'll get you a milder poison, but until then, you'll have to eat an insect."
Vikir catches one of the butterflies in the air, and the hatchling pops it into its mouth, whimpering.
Although it was given to by the master, it's obvious that it's unappetizing.
Just then.
"Vikir! Are you here!?"
Piggy's voice came from far away.
Vikir looked up and saw Piggy running towards him.
Piggy had a newspaper in his hand.
"Vikir, you're in trouble!"
"How did you know I was here?"
"How could I? You're always in your dorm, classroom, club room, library, cafeteria, and gym, but that's not the point... Did you see this!?"
Piggy cleared his throat and shoved the newspaper article in front of Vikir's eyes.
"You're a fucking star now!"