For a moment, there was silence (both literal and mental) as Zorian stared into his opponent's unblinking eyes. Zorian isn't one of those people with a phobia of spiders, but it's hard not to be intimidated by a creature that can read your mind and be completely at its mercy due to induced paralysis. He couldn't even try to physically overcome the effects, the paralysis was purely mental - he literally had no control over his body.
The situation is not entirely hopeless. As a mage, Zorian is almost inherently resistant to mind reading. For any aspiring mage, the ability to clear away distracting thoughts and emotions and otherwise train one's mind is a must. That said, controlling your thoughts for long periods of time is tiresome. A stray thought crossed his mind and he slipped... It was only a matter of time before this was an important secret for that damn spider. Resisting mind-reading will do him no good if the creature becomes frustrated by his resistance and decides to take a metaphorical sledgehammer to his mind.
Spider spoke first. Or rather, communicate with him telepathically first, since that seems to be the only way it can talk to him. It does make sense - spiders don't have mouths to talk with. ha
[You are not trained,] Spider is stubborn. [it's a pity. I would love to trade technology with a human psychic. However, this is to be expected, given your species' unhealthy attitude toward psychic magic. ]
…What?
[Why is there confusion? You can't know nothing about this gift," Spider said, funny at the thought. [Look, it’s right there! You just felt my emotions. If not empathy, what do you think it is? ]
Zorian's brain froze instantly. Does he have empathy? This... is so ridiculous! He is neither sociable nor friendly and cannot empathize!
[What a strange idea,] mused the Spider. [Aranea like me are open-minded, but there are also many loners among us. I'm sorry to say that some people even use their empathy to deliberately create discord online. ]
The point! It’s a scary time to be distracted. A serious question needs to be considered.
[You must be mistaken,] Zorian thought back and knew the spider would know what he was thinking. [It is more likely that you accidentally attached your emotions to the telepathic message you sent me. ]
[No need to insult,] Spider immediately sent it back.
[I am the Spider Matriarch. If you want to deny the obvious fact of your ability to empathize, I'll play along right now. What I want to know is what dispute you have about my website. As far as I know, we've never done anything to you, so I'm confused as to why you would warn our enforcers. ]
What is she-oh. He warns Tyvin about the telepathic spiders, and the Enforcers then search for the creatures. correct. Of all the things he'd been worrying about over the past week, he'd never thought about letting the spiders track him down and set enforcers on them.
[Would you believe me, but I never intended the Enforcers to hunt you down,] Zorian sent. [All I did was warn a friend to be careful about you when going into the sewers. Everything seemed to spiral from there. ]
[Why don’t I believe you? I'm reading your mind,] Spider pointed out. (Mysterious. Or, for that matter, why you felt the need to warn your friends about us, we don't actively attack humans.]
"It seems this is related to the time loop you are trapped in?" Spider asked innocently.
[To the amateur, your ability to control your thoughts is quite impressive, but it's a form of psychological defense that only works if you know your mind is being read. I watched you and your team for a long time before carrying out this ambush.
Although you are open, your friends and sisters are virtually defenseless against my power. They didn't even notice, let alone scan their thoughts, as I searched through their memories.
He thought for a moment and sighed inwardly. This is hopeless. The spider had completely outsmarted him and now had him cornered.
The creature looked a lot gentler, but he almost wished it was ferocious - he could easily recover from death, ha. But a skilled mind mage can do something to him and then be with him all over again from the beginning.
[You insist on seeing me as a threat, which honestly makes you quite tired,] Spider sent the message with obvious annoyance.
[I'm here to talk, not to fight. The enforcers hadn't even found us, let alone dispatched any of us, so I had no reason to feel bad. This isn't a revenge act - it's an attempt to defuse a situation before it gets out of control. I know people like us look scary in your eyes, but please don’t imagine me as a slobbering beast that wants to eat you. We are no worse than humans.
[I'm not sure that would reassure me. Humans can be very scary,] Zorian pointed out. [But I understand what you mean. So what now? Law enforcers will soon tire of their search and leave you alone, and I have no intention of taking any further action against you and your... network. So is the problem solved? ]
[Well, yes,] Spider agreed. [You don’t really think I’m going to ignore the whole time loop business, do you? ]
[In fact, I kind of hoped you would,] Zorian admitted. [This is not what you really care about-]
[Oh, I beg to differ,] Spider interjected. [I just discovered that my memory is effectively wiped on a regular basis. I am very worried. ]
The spider had a sense of determination and stubbornness about him, and he didn't know how he could read the body language of a giant spider, but apparently he could. Maybe she had a point when she said he had empathy.
[Look,] Zorian tried, [if we're going to have a serious discussion about this, I'd be very grateful if you would free me from my paralysis. ]
[I don't quite believe you. ] Spider told him bluntly. [You will scream and things may get chaotic. ]
[I won't do that,] Zorian promised. [That would only put my sister and friends in danger. I'm sure you can handle anything anyone in this house throws at you. ha]
[Well, I'm not. I've lived too long to underestimate mages. ] Spider said. [Told you, though. Why don't I let you go for now? Later, when you've calmed down a bit, you can enter the city tunnels and have a friendly conversation in the neutral zone, where you'll be safer. ]
Actually, that...sounds like a good idea. Well, except for the question of why—
There's a reason why I accept the idea of you being trapped in a time loop, rather than thinking you're crazy. I have important clues that may help you solve this puzzle and break the cycle, but I won't share them until I'm rewarded. We can negotiate a fair price.
Zorian swallowed hard, finally realizing the seriousness of the situation he was facing. Is her group that organized? He knew that the spider in front of him was a representative of a larger group. She was the "Spider Matriarch", perhaps just a loose group, with only a dozen spiders at most.
Suddenly, those dark eyes stared at him, seeming more threatening than before. God, what had he gotten into?
[I'm glad we can understand each other. Take a break now and we'll talk again when you're not so nervous. ]
A suffocating telepathic force pressed gently but firmly on his mind. He tried to resist, but the mental attack seemed to completely ignore his mental defenses. Zorian passed out quickly. When he woke up a few minutes later, he was alone in the room and there was no sign of the giant spider in the house.
. . . . . two. . . . .
Zorian then thought long and hard about the matriarch's "proposal" and ultimately decided that he really didn't have much choice. I was very interested in some of the things that were said during the brief exchange. The potential benefits of striking a deal with her were too great to ignore.
Regardless, it's a good idea to make some preparations before facing the matriarch.
Apparently spiders are considered semi-mythical due to their rarity, and they are sentient and magical in nature, but the details vary wildly from there.
Zorian could see three possible explanations for this. One, there are a staggering number of subspecies of spiders, all with very different appearances and abilities. Second, the author is making something up. Third, Alanea is a mage in the human sense, with a flexible spell-casting system that can produce a variety of effects. Judging by his luck, this is definitely the third - the most worrying possibility. A group limited to psychic magic is a dangerous foe, but one that can be dealt with with adequate preparation.
A group of mages using a new spellcasting system, but he's unfamiliar with its limitations? This is literally the definition of unpredictability. Equipped with a flexible spellcasting system that can produce a variety of effects. Judging by his luck, this is definitely the third - the most worrying possibility. A group of one-trick ponies limited to psychic magic is a dangerous foe, but one that can be dealt with with adequate preparation. A group of mages use a new spellcasting system.
Spider was vulnerable to light, was nocturnal, and he was pretty sure his spell formula skills were enough to cobble together some flash grenades. — It's not much, but it will hopefully buy him enough time to escape if things get worse.
Luckily, empathy isn't a particularly sensitive topic, so he can turn to Ilsa for help. However, he also noticed that his landlady was interested in esoteric branches of magic, even though she was not a wizard herself. She had enough books at home to fill a small library. He figured there was no harm in asking, the key was that she was approachable. ha
One night, he approached her while she was washing dishes.
"Lord, can you spare some time?" he asked. "I want to talk to you about something."
"I told you to call me Imaya," she said, stopping what she was doing and giving him a gentle glare. "Of course I can talk to you, but I have to get this done first. Pull up a chair and come over here while I finish."
When she was done, Imaya sat down at the dining table and motioned for Zorian to join her.
"So..." she began. "What on earth makes me, a grumpy tenant, so heavy-handed about asking me for advice? You've been avoiding me, and I almost thought you hated me."
"I don't hate you, uh, Imaya," Zorian finished, correcting himself when he saw her angry expression. "I'm just busy, that's all. My little sister almost monopolizes all my free time."
"She's really a difficult person to deal with, isn't she?" Imaya speculated. "However, I still don't see what a busy boy like you wants from me. Are you trying to seduce me? Ha"
"What!? No!" Zorian said angrily. Gosh, she's at least twice Zorian's age! "I'm not-"
He stopped when he saw Imaya's uncontrollable smile.
"Very interesting, landlady," he deadpanned, deliberately not calling her "tonight" to irritate her. "Very, very interesting..."
"Well... it's actually related to magic. I noticed you have a lot of books on esoteric magic at home."
"I like it," Imaya said. "I've always been interested in magic, especially rare magic. I even attended a wizard's college as a teenager, just like you. In fact, that's how I met Ilsa - we were classmates at the time. But that was a long time ago.”
"So I guess you've read all these books?" he asked.
"Every one," she confirmed.
"Could there be something to do with empathy?" Zorian asked. “Specifically, how do you tell if you’re an empath?”
"I did read something on the subject, although I don't have the book here." She gave him a curious look. "Why? Do you want to be an empath?"
"Hmm...maybe," Zorian admitted. "I mean, this sounds unlikely to me, but I recently met a true empath who seemed convinced that I was one of them.
"Yeah." Imaya hummed. "If another empath tells you that you are one, why do you think that's unlikely?"
"Shouldn't empathy be obvious to someone who has it?" Zorian asked. "Well, it's not obvious to me. Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything that would indicate that I'm one of them."
"Nothing?" Imaya asked curiously. "I find this hard to believe - being an indicator of empathy is so common, and many experts insist there is nothing supernatural about empathy - some people are just better than most at reading people's body language and Environmental cues. It's more likely that you simply ignore the signs. For example, can you honestly say that you've never had an instinctive 'feeling' for someone you just met?"
"Well, no, I can't say that," Zorian admitted. "I've always felt that way. But it's nothing unusual."
"That's probably true," Imaya said. "How often do you get hunches like this? How reliable are they generally?"
"I..." Zorian hesitated. "I get this feeling every time I talk to someone. From what I've heard, they tend to be pretty accurate. Why? Is it so unusual?"
Imaya gave him a confused look. "A little bit, yeah. What do you say every time you talk to someone? How about random strangers minding their own business? Do you have these... 'feelings' about them too?"
"Well, sometimes?" Zorian admitted, shifting nervously in his seat. "Some people have really strong personalities, you know? You can pick them out in a crowd without even trying."
"Every time I go into a big enough crowd, I get this weird mental pressure, and if I stay in there long enough, I get a headache."
Zorian shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hated telling people about stress because most people immediately assumed he was either delusional or making it up. For example, when he was a child, his family never believed him when he tried to describe the phenomenon to them, instead believing that he was making things up so that he wouldn't have to follow them to various social events. Eventually, they grew tired of his claims and threatened to send him to a lunatic asylum if he didn't admit he was lying, so he never raised the issue again.
"That's... an interesting question," Imaya said cautiously. "Tell me, is the pressure constant or does it vary based on some criteria?"
"It varies," Zorian said. "The more people in the crowd and the denser the crowd, the stronger this feeling..."
He suddenly realized something and his voice gradually trailed off. God, he's so stupid!
"Yes?" Imaya urged. "What emotion?"
"...Emotional for some reason," Zorian said lamely.
There was a brief silence, and then Zorian stood up from his seat and began pacing the room angrily.
"Your ability to empathize is so great that you literally feel the emotions of the crowd, as if there's tangible mental pressure being exerted on you," Imaya said after watching him pace back and forth for a while.
"And you don't think there's any indication that you're experiencing stress." An empath? "
"It's... there. It's always been there, it's been with me since I was a kid. Do you know how much trouble this caused me? Isn't empathy Is it supposed to be a favor? Most of the time I try to ignore it in the vain hope that it will go away in time."
"Well, yes," Imaya agreed. "Empathy is often described as a great gift. But there are many reports of empaths being so powerful or unstable that your case was relatively mild considering some of the horror stories I've read. It would have been more Oops."
"Zorian?" Imaya asked after being silent for a while. "Can I ask you a sensitive question?"
"Of course," Zorian agreed. The least he could do was satisfy her curiosity.
"I have a feeling that even before you know what you do now, you don't enjoy being an empath," she said. "why is that?"
"No," Imaya said, a smirk on his face. "I must hear this."
Zorian rolled his eyes. Embarrassing, he deserved it.
"Okay, you don't tell anyone, okay?"
Imaya imitated closing his mouth.
"This is because empathy is often described as a female ability, a girl's ability," Zorian admitted.
"Ah," Imaya nodded. "Of course a boy would be troubled by something like this..."
"A lot of people said I lacked masculinity and his family were the worst offenders in that regard, especially his father, but he kept it a secret.
"I won't tell anyone," Imaya said. "If it makes you feel better, there's little evidence that women are more likely to show empathy than men."
"I guess," Zorian said. "Few magical abilities are gender specific."
“And I also think those people have no idea what they’re talking about,” Imaya said with a seemingly innocent smile that hid a hint of mischief behind it. "I think you are a very handsome young man who will make some girls very happy one day."
"Thank you, thank you. What's the other question you want to ask?" Zorian said.
"I assume you'll try to develop your abilities further?" Imaya asked. Zorian nodded. "Well, I hope you'll keep me posted on your progress. This is going to be a lot of fun."
Zorian agreed, even though it was essentially an empty promise. She won't remember any of this the next time she reboots. After the conversation, Imaya continued to do her housework while Zorian returned to his room and planned to go to the Spider Garden.
. . . . three. . . . .
"Well, this is it," Zorian said loudly, standing in front of the sewer entrance. The matriarch did not tell him where in the sewers she wished to meet him.
"I'm giving you one more chance to turn back. You don't have to risk your life with me, Kyle."
He glanced pointedly at Morlock who followed him, trying to gauge the other boy's emotions with his newfound ability to empathize. Sadly, the boy's emotions were so well controlled at the moment that he was clearly determined to see it through. He already knows about time loops, and he's obviously very smart, not that he wants Kyle to go with him. Kyle, on the other hand, insists that it would be extremely foolish to attend such a meeting alone, and that Zorian needs a partner to cover for him.
Zorian reluctantly agreed, not quite willing to risk other people's lives, and Kyle seemed amused that Zorian was more concerned about his own safety than his own, considering that once the cycle restarted, Kyle would be back to normal and Zorian Probably not, but Zorian's moral sense hasn't adjusted to the implications of time loops yet, and the idea of him letting Kyle die in the tunnels and leaving his daughter alone in the world bothers him deeply... even if it's only for a week or so time.
"I told you to give it up," Kyle sighed. "I will definitely go with you. If nothing else happens, then the 'Spider Matriarch' and I can have a conversation about psychic magic."
Finally, they entered the tunnel, Zorian leading the way. He chooses his path carefully, occasionally leaving a magical trap in their wake in the form of a stone covered with spell formulas. If they must escape, the trap is positioned to surprise any pursuers. A force field was set up to delay the attackers, forcing the pursuers to slow down in order to process the cube and give them enough time to reach the surface.
He cast a mind shield spell on himself, and if something went wrong, Kyle would immediately cast a spell on Zorian as well. Kyle seemed convinced that the spiders had a way to communicate with humans other than telepathy, and suggested that they use the spell from the beginning, but Zorian knew that if he wanted these conversations to work in any way, he had to keep "Open" mind. productive way.
As they approached the place, he felt a telepathic contact pass through his mind. Like the first time he'd seen a sentient spider, this one was rougher and more forceful than the feather-light touches the matriarch had shown during her "visit" to Imaya's home.
A wave of psychedelic images and unfamiliar emotions hit his mind like a sledgehammer, causing him to stumble back in shock. Kyle immediately got into a defensive stance, but Zorian motioned for him to back off. At this time, he was very sure that the spider he came into contact with was not hostile.
Apparently, the minds of humans and spiders are so different that telepathic communication is difficult.
As suddenly as it came, the "communication" stopped. However, the presence persists and Zorian soon feels a spider contacting him
[Ah, you finally found us. ] The unique voice of the matriarch sounded in his mind. [Very well, please stay where you are and I will come to you soon. ]
"Here she comes," Zorian said to Kyle, who nodded solemnly.
The matriarch soon came into view, flanked by two other Alanian guards. The fact that he was able to recognize the Matriarch among the three spiders, despite the fact that all three spiders looked very similar to him, might just be another proof that he does have empathy.
[I had intended this to be a private conversation between the two of us,] The matriarch spoke his mind. [But since you think it's appropriate to bring guards, I decided to do the same. Oh well, at least you didn't shut me out like your friends did, so you're still better than most people I talk to. ]
"Kyle is here for more than just a guard," Zorian shouted, advocating for Kyle's interests. "He is as certainly involved in this as you are, and I would like him to be fully involved in the discussion. Is there perhaps a way for you to communicate verbally for his sake?"
The matriarch seemed to think for a while, and suddenly began to wave her four front legs in front of her, depicting some complex gesture in the air. Zorian tried to decipher what she was trying to convey, then realized she didn't mean to talk to him.
She is casting a spell.
"There," came a female voice from the matriarch's direction, although her jaw didn't move at all. "This is the Arachnique of the 'Magic Mouth' spell that you are no doubt familiar with. It's just a sound illusion, but it should suffice."
hehe. So they do have more than just mind magic in their arsenal.
"Thank you," Kyle said cautiously
"I will never refuse such a simple request." The matriarch also said cautiously. She clearly had some doubts about Kyle himself, possibly because his mind was protected by a mind shield spell.
"Please, kid," the matriarch scoffed. Zorian heard these words with his flesh-and-blood ears, and it was obvious that she would not give up on communicating with Zorian "the right way". "I could get away from your stupid human mind magic if I wanted to. No, how am I supposed to trust him if he won't even let me read his emotions and thoughts? That's rude."
"Rude!?" he asked, outraged by the accusation. "You think you have the right to intrude into people's minds as you please without permission and you call me rude!? You actually peeked into my private memories. Damn it, I have a reason to protect myself!"
The matriarch sighed telepathically to him, but made no sound for Kyle. "Me too," she said quietly. "Your friend is a potential enemy that I need to know more about, and you are one of the weak points I can target in order to get the information I need. Your mind is completely unprotected after all."
"Then why don't you double-check Zorian's memory? Wouldn't that be faster and more in line with your mission?" Kyle asked.
"Hey!" Zorian protested.
"Because he's open," the matriarch said. "It is an unofficial custom in Alanea to seek permission before delving into the minds of non-enemy psychics, regardless of race."
Kyle narrowed his eyes. "What if a person isn't...'psychic'?"
"He who has a flickering mind is fair game," the Spider Matriarch said scornfully.
"Okay, let's stop irritating each other and get down to business!" Zorian said as he clapped his hands, hoping to stop the quarrel before it got out of hand.
"We're talking about time loops and how you can help me with that. Before we get into that, though, I really have to ask - when you say I'm 'open,' do you mean my empathy ?”
Kyle gave him a surprised look because Zorian had never told him anything about empathy.
"Openness means having empathy, but they are not the same thing. Empathy is just one of the abilities you can use, and it's a low-hanging fruit - that's why you can use it even though you don't accept it at all Trained in the psychic arts. Openness often manifests as low, uncontrolled empathy initially, coupled with a gift for divination and the occasional prophetic dream.”
"I...what?" Zorian fumbled, trying to make sense of this new information. Just when he thought he had understood something, this happened. So what exactly is “opening” or “psychic”? Is she saying he's a full-blown telepath or something?
"Yes, with enough training you can do that," the matriarch confirmed. "I can teach you more about it...as long as we come to some mutually acceptable agreement on this time loop business."
"What exactly do you want from Zorian in this regard?" Kyle asked doubtfully.
"Gee, dear Kyle, you want the same thing from him," the matriarch said with a hint of sarcasm. "I want to get into this time loop."
For a moment Zorian didn't know what she was talking about, but then his eyes widened and he understood what she meant.
"Do you want to keep your memories every time you reboot? Join me and Zach in circles?" Zorian asked in disbelief.
Kyle shifted uncomfortably in his position, refusing to meet his eyes, while the Spider-Matriarch looked directly at him with no trace of shame on her face.
"I...I think I understand why you want that," Zorian said hesitantly. "I mean, I'm not very happy with my situation, but even I can see that I've benefited a lot from it. But you guys seem to have misunderstood - both of you." He glanced at Kyle, but Mo Mega Man still avoided his gaze.
"The problem is, I don't know how to get anyone into this loop. I don't even know the details of how I got into it, let alone how to replicate it. I can't bring you into it."
"We got it right, Zorian," Kyle sighed. "We're not stupid. We know you can't do it now. We know you won't be able to do it when this time loop ends." He gave the matriarch a weak glare. "Or at least I do. Maybe the great Spider Matriarch knows something that this poor fool doesn't."
"I agree with Morlock," the matriarch said. "It's pretty incredible that you can take us into a time loop like this."
"You've completely lost me at this point," Zorian complained. "Then what do you want?"
"My idea is to store the memory packets in your mind and let your soul transport them when time is reset." The matriarch said calmly. "It's not as good as sending your entire soul back, but it's more than enough for my purposes."
"I would agree...why?" Zorian asked doubtfully. Sounds like it's going to require some serious messing with his brain. Regardless, it was well beyond his comfort level.
"I'm sure I can find something to seduce you," the matriarch said, emphasizing her message with a mental shrug. "You need information about the loop I have. You want to learn how to control your empath. You need my help against the intruder. Do you need me to continue?"
Zorian sighed and, instead of answering her, turned to Kyle.
"I want you to connect with some people and have you figure out with their help how your connection to Zach works. You can then use that knowledge to bring me into the time loop," Kyle said. "It might take a few reboots, and I don't have anything as enticing as our revered matriarch, but on the other hand, it will definitely help you understand a little more about the time loop in the process."
What's not said is that Kyle is a necromancer and letting them mess with his soul is just as dangerous as letting spiders mess with his mind, maybe even more dangerous.
"Okay," Zorian said. "So let's discuss the details of the Matriarch's proposal. Just out of curiosity, do you have a name? If we're going to do business, especially something sensitive, I want to know who the hell I'm talking to."
The patriarch had no words to answer. Instead, she sent out a brief burst of telepathy.
"The spear of determination goes to the heart of the matter?" Zorian asked curiously.
"It's very close to my real name," the matriarch said. "Just keep calling me 'Matriarch'.
"Okay then," Zorian said. "You tell me there's a reason you take time loops seriously. Why don't you tell us what you mean by that?"
Before the matriarch could reply, a loud roar pierced the relatively quiet tunnel, followed by several more similar sounds. Zorian's face drained of color as he realized the identity of the roaring creature.
A group of war trolls were coming towards them.
