The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Forest Lord Kingdom Park)

Sophie took in a deep breath and gently exhaled. It was a beautiful day today and not a single cloud was in sight.

Just the clear blue sky.

The hybrid girl hummed softly to herself as she wandered past the entrance and entered inside the park.

The Inter-University Tournament had finally finished. The winner  was the representative from Tantibus University.

Jessie… the girl who could not see.

Astrid had managed to come in second place while Qiana had faced Jessie in the semi-finals so she came in third.

Both girls were disappointed but it was a remarkable accomplishment for Zrudread University who had the most students in the top five.

And if she had been participating as well…

(Stop it)

Sophie shook her head and tried to drive those distracting thoughts from her mind. It was not good to dwell on what could have been.

Still… she could not help but feel a small twinge of regret as she watched the semi-finals and finals from her living room.

What could have been?

That thought lingered in her mind despite her best efforts.

Screech!

A loud cry snapped Sophie out of her daze, she looked upwards and saw an enormous whale-like animal with tiny wings somehow soaring upwards in the air.

Several keepers wearing green uniforms chased after the animal while desperately trying to get it to return to its pen.

Never a dull moment in the park…

This was the location where all of the combat pets would be kept especially the ones too big for the student accommodations.

The park consisted of different biomes such as frozen tundras, humid wetlands, dry plains, sandy deserts and much more.

It truly was a beautiful place.

Green leafy trees had been planted along the sides of the walkway and small flowers sprung up from the soil.

The only downside was that there was always a faint scent of animal manure.

The scent was extremely faint because robots would regularly clean the enclosures but when you possessed an enhanced sense of smell…

Yeah… let's just say there were sometimes downsides to her physiology.

Sophie hastened her steps as she approached a crossroad, she took the left side and wandered onto a dirt track.

The temperature was gradually getting much colder until she could see white clouds whenever she exhaled.

She was getting close.

It took around twenty minutes for Sophie to arrive at a large artificial lake that had been partially covered in floating icebergs.

The animals living in this habitat had furry coats, blubbery skin or other adaptions to keep them warm in this freezing environment.

"Moon! Come out boy! Time for class!" Sophie cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled loudly.

There was a brief moment of silence and then a large creature burst out from a snow pile hidden in the corner of the lakeshore.

The creature was so fast that its body became a blur.

It did not slow down its pace in the slightest and slammed into Sophie's arms with the force of a bullet.

"You brat," Sophie teased lightly as she raised up her hand and lightly stroked the top of Moon's furry head.

Squeak! Squeak!

(Do I have to go?)

"Of course… it is a combat beast course… how exactly am I going to pass if my combat beast is too lazy to show up?" Sophie calmly replied.

Moon opened his mouth to protest some more but the stern glint in his mom's eyes made the words die down in his throat.

Squeak! Squeak!

(Alright then)

Moon grumbled under his breath as he hooked his claws into the top of Sophie's uniform and used it as a grip to climb up.

"Aren't you getting a little bit too big for this?" Sophie let out a sigh as she felt a heavy weight on top of her head.

Her frostwing bat waved his wings in response but did not move.

Sophie started walking towards the direction of class with a large animal perched on top of her head.

She attracted strange looks from the students that she passed by. Well that wasn't really surprising considering that Moon now had a wingspan of over five feet.

He was too damn big to be on her head!

She couldn't see shit!

Sophie was forced to extend her senses and use her quick reflexes to make her way through the park and avoid bumping into objects or people.

The entire time her frostwing bat lazily relaxed on her head and played with some loose strands of her hair.

Sophie was sure that by now her hair probably resembled a bird's nest. Not exactly the image of an upper class aristocrat.

The pair finally arrived at the forested biome where tall trees towered over the surrounding area and bright green grass covered the ground.

The trees had long black or red vines wrapped around their trunks but strangely enough these vines were not harmful.

In fact it was akin to a symbiotic relationship where the trees would provide space for the vines to grow and the vines in turn would inject vital nutrients into their hosts.

"Ahh welcome young one," a sweet melodic voice came from the side.

Sophie turned in the direction of the sound and saw one of the trees open up to reveal a beautiful woman dressed in a skirt made of green leaves.

Her skin was ashen grey with small bumpy scales that ran up her arms and she possessed a slender tail almost like a whip that jutted out of her lower back.

The mysterious woman's facial features immediately stood out since she had three eyes that were dark orange in colour with pink pupils and a lack of a visible nose.

"Hello professor. How are you today?" Sophie politely asked as she approached the mysterious woman.

"Quite well! Today is a festival for my people know as 'Frean Greas'," Professor Ward replied with a gentle smile.

"Oh… I'm sorry… I didn't know that today was an important day… should I come back some other time for the make-up lessons?" Sophie asked with concern.

"No! No! It's fine. I always enjoy watching my students learn! Come follow me and I will begin your class," Professor Ward cheerful spoke.

She skipped through the forest with light steps that made no sound. Sophie followed closely behind and to her amazement, something quite peculiar happened.

The grass in Professor Ward's way slowly shifted to the side as if their roots were capable of walking.

Her professor would occasionally stop and talk to one of the trees in a language that was hoarse, guttural and dark.

The trees' branches would tremble violently in a regular pattern that looked almost like they were somehow talking back to the professor.