The Spider Queen

(Zrudread University)

(Forest Lord Kingdom Park- Maze Complex)

"Good luck," Luna whispered softly, and Sophie nodded back with a smile while hiding her emotions.

It just had to be me.

Sophie was showing no expressions on her face but was inwardly cursing up a storm at her bad luck.

Out of all the students in class….

She just had to be the first one randomly picked from a list.

Sophie walked up to the entrance of the dome structure and could hear the whispers coming from behind her.

"Thank god I'm not the first one."

"Do you think the maze will be hard?"

"My pet doesn't even listen to me!"

There was a noticeable sense of relief among the remaining students as no one wanted to be first to participate in the midterm.

Sophie paused for a moment to admire the sleek design of the metalloid dome.

From the outside, one could not see a single detail about the maze that lay within.

The walls were massive and seemed to stretch towards the heavens, leaving one feeling like a tiny ant facing a giant.

It would be honest to say that Sophie felt a little bit tempted to activate her golden eyes and see if they could penetrate the structure within but that would defeat the point of the exam.

Her vision did have a limit and in situations where long distances were involved….

It was important to get some practice in dealing with the unexpected.

"Are you ready Moon?" Sophie whispered and gave Moon a gentle pat.

"Just follow my instructions once you enter inside and if something happens then don't be afraid to come out."

"But make sure that you actually try," she narrowed her eyes and stared at her lazy little glutton.

Professor Ward had placed a small collar on Moon's chest with a red button that could be pressed.

Pressing this button would immediately deactivate the traps hidden inside the maze and that would mark the end of the exam.

Of course, this was just an added safety measure as the numerous cameras and surveillance teams monitoring the maze would ensure that no permanent harm came to the pets.

Squeak! Squeak!

[I'm ready mommy!]

Sophie planted a soft kiss on Moon's head to give him some good luck and watched nervously as her furry pet flew into the dome.

Moon flapped his wings powerfully and soon disappeared from sight.

When he entered the dome, a buzzing sound was heard, and a wall rose up from the ground to block the entrance.

The frostwing bat was now trapped inside with only one way to get out.

Sophie immediately sat down on the ground and crossed her legs.

It was important to be in a comfortable position as she did not know how long this exam would take.

She reached for the small blue crystals hidden in her pocket and placed two of them in her right hand.

Frostrite crystals were a necessary part of her mediation process.

Moon and Sophie were both using the Ice Yin Transformation mediation that required extreme cold to focus the mind.

Sophie closed her eyes and focused on the cold chill flowing into her body.

Since hitting the qi tide stage this cold feeling had gone from unbearable to slightly uncomfortable.

Deep breaths.

Sophie inhaled softly with her nose and exhaled quietly with her mouth. The surrounding noise of the students and the anxious feeling in her heart faded away.

She found herself floating in a dark void with a single red line attached to the center of her chest.

This was the blood bond.

Sophie grasped the red thread and poured her consciousness inside.

It was a strange feeling as it felt as though her body was being sucked away to another location.

Professor Ward smiled slightly as she saw the hybrid girl slip into a meditative state.

More experienced combat beast cultivators would not need so much preparation to use the blood bond as one could hardly sit down and close their eyes in the middle of combat.

But this was the best method for those who had only recently established a blood bond.

Professor Ward looked forward to seeing if her student would be able to pass the exam.

There were certainly some 'fun' obstacles that she had hidden within the maze….

It was hard to keep track of time as Sophie could feel her soul travel out of her body for what seemed like an eternity along the red thread.

She saw a massive ball of light at the end of the thread and her consciousness slowly slipped inside.

Boom!

Sophie opened her eyes and felt as though her body had changed and morphed into something strange and yet familiar.

She flapped two powerful wings and flew through an endless pathway that was dimly lit.

The pathway was surrounded by enormous metallic walls

There was an intersection just up ahead as the pathway split into a right and a left side.

Sophie wanted to go to the right, but her body flew into the left path without slowing down.

Wait…

Sophie tried to make small movements but found that Moon's body was not obeying her instructions.

She was simply a passenger taken along for the ride.

Sophie frowned inwardly as she was under the impression that combat beast cultivators could temporarily take over the body of their pets.

But it seems that Moon consciousness was too strong.

Well, no matter.

Sophie spread her consciousness around Moon's body to assimilate fully and gradually begun to heard the thoughts of her pet.

But what she was hearing caused Sophie's astral face to immediately turn black.

(Moon's Perspective)

This place is dark.

I want to go back home.

I don't understand why mommy is making me fly into this scary looking cave.

Maybe I should just fly around for five minutes and then press the red button on my chest.

I mean how is mommy supposed to know what happened.

Moon nodded his head and felt proud of himself. It was the perfect plan!

He would just fly around in a circle until a few minutes passed and then give up.

"Oh? Do you really think I wouldn't find out that you gave up early?!" a loud voice suddenly scolded Moon fiercely.