The Spider Queen

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!

"Yes, you have to attend training!" Sophie sternly spoke as she watched her lazy pet rub against her cheek and shoot her a cute expression.

"No mister… you aren't getting out of this."

Squeak! Squeak!

"What do you mean I'm been mean? Mean?! Do I force you to train as much as I train every day? No, I do not," Sophie replied angrily.

Squeak! Squeak!

(Please mommy… I'm very sleepy… can't we do this tomorrow?)

Sophie grabbed her naughty frostwing and turned him over. She began to tickle the light blue fur on his stomach and soon Moon could not help but squirm uncomfortably.

Squeak!

(MOMMY STOP! I CAN'T!)

Sophie halted her movements with a proud expression on her face. She had really gotten better when dealing with her mischievous companion.

Moon let out a heavy sigh and crawled on top of Sophie's head.

The poor frostwing bat had an expression of sorrow on his face as if he was about to face a life and death situation.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic… I don't know why you're such a drama queen," Sophie whispered lazily as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small treat.

Moon's eyes lit up and he hurriedly stretched out his head and grabbed the snack out of Sophie's palm before she could yank it away.

The hybrid girl's lips gently curved upwards as she spent a few moments playing with her beloved pet.

The bond between her and Moon was a strong one.

It had only gotten stronger over the last few months as they practised special cultivation methods.

Now Sophie was capable of sharing all of her senses with her companion over incredible distances and Moon could also do the same.

Curiously enough she was also able to activate Moon's ice powers but only when he was within two hundred metres of her body.

This was a new development that had only started happening during her last few days on planet Gaia.

Planet Gaia…

Sophie was already beginning to miss her girlfriend and her dad but at least she would see Cleo soon.

The hybrid girl stretched out her arms and yawned sleepily. Moon's lazy mood was clearly affecting her as well.

Today was going to be the first day of training with Professor Macabre so she could not afford to be late.

Plus, she had plans to hang out with Astrid in the afternoon, so her day was basically completely booked.

Sophie glanced at a nearby mirror hanging on the wall and studied her appearance. She wore a black training jacket and a pair of dark pants.

Her golden eyes shone with an eerie light and the four blade-like appendages jutting out of her back seemed a bit longer than she expected.

Did she grow again?

Sophie hummed thoughtfully as she made a mental note to measure her height sometime this week.

She was already roughly seven feet tall so if she gained any more height… she would basically be a giantess!

The hybrid girl left her mansion with Moon sitting down cheerfully on her head. She whistled a happy tune as she walked towards the training field.

It was a beautiful day.

The sun was shining brightly in the sky and a warm gentle breeze brushed against her face. It would be a bit of a walk to reach the training grounds, but Sophie did not mind.

This area is where the elite students lived.

Dozens if not hundreds of mansions could be seen neatly lined side by side, but they were all empty for now.

Zrudread University really treated the students who entered the elite class very well. Extra resources, special cultivation classes, great housing… the list of benefits went on.

But it was not easy to enter the elite class.

Every single person who qualified to attend one of the top four universities was a cream of the crop genius.

More than likely, they had never met another peer as strong as them when they were growing up.

The members of the elite class were the geniuses among the geniuses.

Sophie felt a hint of pride as she remembered that she had made it to the top of the battle rankings.

She was following in her father's footsteps and making him extremely proud of her achievements.

It took around forty minutes of walking to reach the training grounds, but Sophie did not even break a sweat.

Over the vacation she could feel the barrier to the void stage getting thinner and thinner every time she cultivated.

She just needed the right opportunity to arrive, and she could feel that she would be able to break through to the next stage.

Sophie entered a large dome-shaped arena and saw Professor Macabre leaning against a wall while smoking a long white cigarette.

Smoke danced between her fingertips as she inhaled a mouthful of the white cloud and then gently exhaled.

Professor Macabre's brown, wavy hair hung over her harsh looking face. She had lidded blue eyes with dark bags under them that made her seem exhausted.

The small but vicious scar that ran across from one side of her face to the other made her seem scary, but Sophie knew that she had a warm heart.

"Hi professor!" Sophie cheerfully spoke as she waved at the woman wearing a white lab coat.

Moon flapped his wings and squeaked a few times as a greeting. He was not looking forward to the training session.

"Hello Sophie," Professor Macabre smiled as she removed the cigarette from her mouth and placed it in her storage bag.

"I trust that you have completed your assignments for the vacation. Let me check them now before we start out training session."

"No problem," Sophie replied as she dug into her bag and pulled out a large stack of papers filled with questions and her handwriting,

During the summer vacation she had occasionally been in contact with the poison cultivation professor and was given extra assignments to complete.

These assignments weren't worth any marks or extra credit and were just to help her get a head start on the second term.

Although Sophie might be an ace at combat, she did not want her grades in the theoretical classes to slip.

"Wonderful… just go over there and select your new weapon while I look these over," Professor Macabre spoke as she took the papers from Sophie's hand.

The hybrid girl nodded and then walked towards the back of the training arena where dozens of weapons lay on a rack.

Hmm… usually her weapon of choice was whip but Sophie could not see any whips or long swords on the rack.

Instead, there were more niche items.

She saw a bow and a quiver filled with arrows, a curved sickle whose edge gleamed under the light and a pair of heavy gauntlets.

The heavy gauntlets had small holes in the middle of its metallic surface that seemed to be roughly the same size as glass vials.

Sophie touched each weapon carefully as if she was searching for something. The heavy gauntlets seemed like the best choice, so she eventually picked them up.

As she slipped them on her hands, two large spikes jutted out of the gauntlets and tiny electric blue lines appeared on its metallic frame.