The Spider Queen

Sophie listened seriously as her aunt drew closer and began to speak in a solemn tone,

"Each star of Ethnaise contains its own space for training and cultivation but practitioners can transfer their consciousness into other areas every couple of months."

"The duration of their stay depends on the strength of the person transferring their consciousness."

Rai'lle's form began to shake and flicker as her outer appearance became engulfed by dark shadows.

She was merely in the Qi tide stage and it was impressive enough to be able to stay for the duration of ten minutes.

Unfortunately, it seems like it would be quite some time until the aunt and niece pair could be reunited once more.

There were only three current cultivators who trained in the Spider Whisper Art and the empress had ordered all the remaining amulets to be placed in her storage ring.

Out of the three, Sophie and Rai'lle were the only ones with the amulets so Thai'lle had no way to access the space.

Sophie's identity would not be exposed to any of the royal children at least for the current moment.

"Time seems to be up," Rai'lle looked down at her body with a sad grin before lifting her head to gaze at Sophie one last time.

"You seemed to have inherited my sister's impressive beauty."

Sophie could detect a strange mixture of nostalgia and grief in Rai'lle tone that left her slightly confused.

Sophie reached out to try and grab the disappearing figure, but the shadows had completely coated Rai'lle's body and she vanished seconds later.

(Several days later)

"Sophie!" came a pitiful whine.

The hybrid girl furrowed her brows and kept her eyes closed while remaining in a deep state of meditation.

"Sophie!"

This was clearly not going to be a useful session as the constant noise surrounding her made it impossible for her to concentrate.

"What is it Astrid?" Sophie gritted her teeth to calm herself down and tried to speak in a calm tone.

"Why don't you want to spar anymore?" came a sullen reply.

Astrid was gazing at her with the look of a pitiful wife abandoned by her husband while Rachel roared with laughter in the background.

It had been several days since the incidence in the space and Sophie had spent most of the time in silent meditation.

Sophie did warn her roommates that she was doing an important task but did not expect the meditation to last for such a length of time.

Astrid was not a simple-minded beast as her outer appearance would suggest but…

She was beginning to miss the daily battles!

"Alright fine!" Sophie groaned and Astrid's ears immediately perked up in excitement.

"Let me do some private training and we can spar tonight."

Astrid was thrilled by the prospect and gave Sophie a big hug and small lick on the cheek to express her joy.

Sophie smiled back and then walked into the suite's transporter to book a meditation room to help her concentrate a bit better.

She had no choice but to spend every day absorbing and trying to memorise the information that her aunt had left behind.

Even with the knowledge available being only a fraction of the total amount due to the seals, it was still more than enough to give Sophie a massive headache.

The meditation room was only the length of a small bedroom, but the floors and ceiling were painted a calming shade of green.

Soft gentle music was emitted from the speakers as a cool breeze circulated around the room which caused Sophie's hair to sway slightly in the wind.

"Ahh…" Sophie was greatly relaxed by the peaceful atmosphere.

She had finished with the basic knowledge about the structure of the Insectoid Empire and now had a greater idea about the culture of her mother's faction.

Sophie then decided to look over the information about the three martial arts that complemented the Spider Whisper Art.

The Spider Whisper Art was compatible with three martial arts of the Arachne tribe that were based on speed.

It was counterproductive to learn more than one as the qi circulation patterns were unique for each martial art.

Learning more than one could also lead to qi deviation if the practitioners were unable to distinguish between the different flows during a fight.

Each martial art had its strength and weakness clearly described within the sea of knowledge that Rai'lle had given Sophie.

She had even included her own enlightenment and notes on the different arts to help her niece make the right choice.

Zephyr was the name of the first art which specialised in aerial type combat.

It involved strengthening the spider appendages to allow the practitioner to shoot up into the air and strike from unpredictable angles.

This art's main strength was to decrease the body mass of the practitioner which made the body more lightweight and aerodynamic.

The weakness of course was an increase in the fragility of the body.

Umbra was the name of the second art which focused more on stealth type moves.

This martial art also required some type of mana affinity and would mix fierce strikes with shadow magic to produce devastating effects.

Perfect for assassins was the special note that Rai'lle had placed next to the information about this martial art.

This art was impressive but cultivators with righteous qi or holy magic would be able to dispel any shadows formed.

The last martial art technique was called Rsychosis and it was by far the most difficult of the three arts to train in.

It dealt with mental disruption!

This involved moving the body in a specific motion during combat to implant hypnotic suggestions in an opponent's psyche.

It did not require mana or mental force but anyone facing this art would find that the illusions produced were almost unbreakable.

This was a very serious decision to make and Sophie had to stop and ponder for a few minutes before making her choice.

She would learn to train in Rsychosis!

Zephyr was a useful art, but aerial combat was not a significant advantage against high tier cultivators who could also fly.

Truthfully, the ability to use shadow magic and become an unseen assassin did appeal greatly to Sophie's hidden desire to act cool.

But her low mana affinity made this an impossible option.

Rsychosis was a martial art with techniques that could hold up against even god stage cultivators and would be useful throughout her cultivation journey.

Creating illusions seemed to be the tricky and cheap method that Sophie had high expectations for during the university entrance exam.

If she could combine her new sneaky skills with some well-placed poison traps…. hehe.

This was going to be fun!