Lukas no longer carried Tilbo and Prata together.

They had grown too large to be carried on his shoulders at the same time, and each of them was heavy. Besides, as Clavor had said months earlier, Lukas believed that the two of them had become monsters or magical beasts.

They were no longer ordinary insects.

They were magical creatures, evolved, transformed by their connection with him.

But Lukas still considered them his friends. And he would take care of them as he always had.

While at home, Lukas secretly produced webbing.

Every night, after everyone had gone to sleep, with the silence of the mansion broken only by the distant chirping of crickets and Judite’s soft snoring, he sat on the floor of his room and produced long, thin strands.

He wove small webs. Sturdy ropes. Elastic lines.

He stored everything inside a locked wooden chest at the back of his wardrobe. The chest was small, about the size of a shoebox, but it was nearly full. Silvery threads had accumulated inside, gleaming in the dim light.

His first future source of income.

He imagined selling the threads in the city as "Prata’s production." Once she grew larger, when her threads became thicker, longer, and more valuable, no one would question a magical spider producing silk.

It was a safe plan.

...

Lukas had also learned many things about the world during those months.

Mainly from Judite’s private tutor.

Master Thorne came twice a week. He was a retired mage with a white beard and pale blue eyes who wore blue robes stained with potion residue. His voice was gentle and patient, and he loved telling stories.

Lukas sat quietly in the corner of the study, where Judite received her lessons, and listened in silence.

He learned a little more about magical beasts.

He learned about basic magic, how mana flowed through the environment, how humans absorbed it, and how the elements responded to different affinities.

"Magic isn’t just about casting spells," Master Thorne explained.

"Magic is understanding the world. It is perceiving the currents of mana that surround us. It is feeling the flow of vital energy."

Lukas wrote everything down in his notebook.

"Mana: vital energy present in all living beings. It can be absorbed from the environment, stored within the body, and released in various forms."

"Affinity: the ease with which a person can manipulate certain types of mana. Some have an affinity for fire, others for water, others for earth or air."

"Mages train affinities. Warriors train bodily enhancement."

He couldn’t deny it. Learning magic seemed more interesting than learning the sword, as his father wanted.

Magic allowed one to understand the world. The sword was meant to destroy. Lukas wanted to create. To protect. To study.

He also discovered that this world had several intelligent races besides humans.

Elves, dwarves, orcs, beastfolk, humanoid dragons, and many others. Most lived on other continents, far from the human continent. The Kingdom of Rhyne was predominantly human, with few exceptions.

"Are there elves here?" Lukas asked once during a lesson.

"Very few," Master Thorne replied.

"Most live in the southern forests, beyond the Gray Mountains. But I’ve seen some in the capital. They’re tall, and slender, with pointed ears. They live much longer than humans."

"How long?"

"Five hundred years. Sometimes more."

Lukas felt a chill run down his spine.

"Five hundred years..."

He wrote it down in his notebook.

...

Today, Lukas went to bed early.

The sun was still shining outside, painting the sky in shades of orange and gold, but he was tired. The day had been long; he had walked all the way to Woodland Village and back, helped a family repair their roof, and still trained his webbing for an hour in the forest.

Mostly because tomorrow would be a special day.

Tomorrow, he would finally turn two years old.

And Aurora had promised to take the entire family back to Great Rock City.

Lying in the darkness, the lamp on the bedside table had already been extinguished, and only the moonlight streamed through the window. With Tilbo nestled on his pillow, the enormous ant now occupying half of it, and Prata resting on the small table beside the bed, her multiple eyes reflecting the moon’s silvery glow, Lukas stared at the ceiling with a faint smile.

"Two years."

So much had changed.

He had arrived as a helpless baby, trapped in a cradle, unable to move his arms or turn his head. Now he walked, ran, climbed trees, and launched webs like a spider. He had two magical friends, a giant metallic ant and a venomous spider with gleaming eyes. He knew all five villages of the Dmond family, their farmers, and their animals.

And there was still so much left to learn.

’The city. The city tomorrow.’ He thought.

’The markets, the bookstores, the Adventurers’ Guild.’

’I can’t wait.’

He closed his eyes, the smile still lingering on his lips.

Tilbo slowly moved her antennae, nestling against his neck. Prata raised one leg, as if waving. And Lukas fell asleep.

...

Lukas woke up on the morning of his birthday before the sun had fully risen.

The gray light of dawn filtered through the bedroom window, painting the wooden walls in soft shades of blue and silver. The first birds had already begun to sing outside, sharp calls and quick trills that Lukas had learned to recognize during his months of observation in the woodland.

The air was cool, carrying the scent of damp earth from the previous night and the sweet fragrance of the flowers in the inner garden.

He blinked slowly, feeling the familiar weight of Tilbo curled against his neck. The metallic ant was coiled like a small dragon, her legs folded beneath her, her warm body pressed against his skin.

Her abdomen rose and fell slowly, assuming ants even breathed that way. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

On the other side of the bed came the faint tingling sensation of Prata walking along the edge of the mattress. The spider’s legs touched the fabric with an almost inaudible softness, her multiple eyes reflecting the weak light coming through the window.

The silence of the mansion was comforting. Only the distant songs of birds, the gentle wind swaying the trees of the inner garden, and Judite’s soft snoring in the room next door.

But the peace didn’t last long.

The bedroom door burst open with a dramatic creak.

Judite stormed in like a hurricane, her brown hair disheveled, her nightgown wrinkled, and her eyes shining with such intense excitement that they looked like tiny stars.