The Spider Queen

(Alcorae Star System)

(Tantibus University- First Year Training Center)

"Oh Lord hear my prayer! Channel your holy light into my soul so that I may become a sword of righteous."

"For it is in your grace Lord that I may stand before you today as a vessel to carry your divine strength!"

Archangel Descent!

A blinding flash of light filled the training room which caused several of the first-year students watching the slender figure to cover their eyes.

When the light gradually faded away, the students could see a beautiful lady with otherworldly grace and strength standing proudly in the middle of the fighting ring.

Rachel stepped forward towards the training dummy with a calm look in her eyes. Four angelic golden wings had sprouted from her back and a pale halo floated gently above her black curly hair.

What was originally in her hand was a plain wooden sword given to the students for the examination session, but it had now been transformed into a metalloid lance composed of unknown materials.

She bore a striking resemblance to the legendary heroines from ancient Earth known as the Valkyrie.

Rachel's dark brown skin, lean but muscular physique and hazel eyes captured the attention of all who witnessed her glory.

Several boys and girls in particular blushed furiously as they recalled passionate nights spent in her apartment.

Rachel positioned her body into a fighting stance with her lance extended outwards and then whispered slowly,

"Holy Sword Art- First Strike."

"Phantom blade!"

She flew into the air using her newly sprouted wings before unleashing a flurry of sword strikes towards the immobile practice dummy.

An endless sea of identical lance phantoms appeared at the tip of her blade causing the onlookers to exclaim in a mixture of shock and awe.

The practice dummy only lasted for one second before disintegrating under the impact of her heavy strikes.

Bleep! Bleep!

A mechanical voice echoed through the room as the diagnostic AI calculated the resulting force of her attack.

[Congratulations! Student: Rachel Empyrean Has Passed The First Stage!]

There was a slight pause before thunderous applause filled the space.

Tantibus University was one of the four most prestigious colleges in the Earth Federation, but their students were famous for being relatively easygoing.

There was little to no animosity or rivalries among the students due to the emphasis on teamwork and group formations taught during combat sessions.

Rachel in particular was extremely popular among her peers both for the crazy parties that she held at her apartment every weekend and her social skills.

"That was amazing!" a pretty girl ran up to Rachel and shyly handed her a small piece of cloth to wipe her face.

She was a slightly chubby girl in her early twenties with fiery red hair and cute dimples that could be seen on her face as she nervously grinned.

"Thank you very much. Aren't you such a sweetie?" Rachel smiled gently and took the handkerchief from her lovestruck admirer.

She politely didn't mention the fact that her species were shapeshifting blobs of bio-liquid, so it was impossible for her to sweat.

The shy girl opened her mouth to say something else, but she was rudely pushed out of the way by the crowd of students eager to talk to Rachel.

"I was like… super impressed that you turned into an angel! I thought only a baptised saintess could do that!"

"It's so annoying that the final exam for combat class is going to be three stages for one exam."

"Geez… I just want to go home!"

"Yo my buddy R'erlar from the Hydra Star System is in town tonight…. Don't tell the dorm manager but I'm pretty sure he's packing Jamma Juice!"

"Friday is going to be wild!"

Rachel politely smiled and chatted one by one with her classmates until the professor yelled for them to go back to the spectator zone.

The crowd reluctantly returned to their seats while Rachel turned her head around to see where the exit was.

Once a student completed the first stage, they were basically free for the rest of the day, so Rachel planned on heading back for some relaxation.

But first…

Rachel ran back a few steps and held the palm of the shy girl who was shooting wistful looks from a distance while walking back to the spectator zone.

"Hey cutie," Rachel whispered softly into her ear.

"How about we go on a little date Saturday night? Here's my Virtual Net ID."

Before the pretty girl could react, Rachel had already taken out her communicator and showed a string of numbers.

"See you," Rachel winked flirtatiously and then left before seeing the girl's reaction.

She didn't see that the starstruck girl's face had turned as red as her hair.

It wouldn't be so bad to try an innocent date every once in awhile.

The problem was that those types usually wanted some kind of long-term commitment or exclusive dating and that wasn't really what Rachel desired.

Of course, she was always upfront and honest with her partners about her open relationships.

But frankly… to call them relationships was already a bit of a stretch to put it mildly.

Those nights of passion on the average weekend were more hookups than anything substantial.

Rachel sighed heavily as the cheerful mask she put on in front of her classmates slipped away as she slowly walked towards the dorms.

The sky was cloudy and overcast with a cold chill in the air as winter was soon approaching.

There was no one she could really connect to here.

Her real friends were all in the same university and they could meet each other whenever they wanted.

Well except for…

Rachel's mood lowered as the cheerful image of Sophie laughing and joking with her during the university entrance exam flashed across her mind.

It had already been months.

The only reason why some of the noble heirs had not officially been declared dead was the fact that their families still held out hope.

Other noble houses had already chosen replacements and moved on.

Duke Peterlor was an unmarried man and now that there was an entire dukedom to be gained by bearing his child…

The number of noble ladies eager to gain the title of duchess had quadrupled.

Unfortunately for the noble ladies, Duke Peterlor had rarely appeared in public since the incident at the Imperial palace.

Rachel absentmindedly opened up her communicator and pulled up the bounty profile for her missing friend.

Duke Peterlor was certainly a generous man and any information leading to his daughter's retrieval would result in quite the substantial reward.

Rachel had also tried to use the information channels of the Nephilim Church to aid in the search but her status as a prospective saintess did not allow her to wield too much power.

"Something on your mind? It is truly a rare sight to see you not coming out of the Dean's office for stirring up some trouble in class," an elderly voice sarcastically muttered.

Rachel glanced up from her communicator device to see the familiar sight of the bishop sent to act as her bodyguard by the church.

The high-ranking leaders said that these bishops were sent to provide protection to all saintess or saint candidates, but it was an open secret that their actual duty was monitoring the behaviours of their charges.

Although that didn't mean that they weren't well trained protectors.

Bishop Walsh stood at an imposing six feet with muscles that were barely contained by his brown robe.

His sickly pale skin and bulging veins that wriggled furiously with every movement he made was enough to unnerve Rachel slightly whenever she saw his appearance.

She had never seen him truly use all of his strength before but even her archangel form wasn't enough to put a scratch on him during their sparring sessions.

"Not in the mood today Bishop Walsh," Rachel tiredly replied as she was still feeling a bit upset after seeing Sophie's profile.

Bishop Walsh raised an eyebrow in disbelief as he saw the defeated posture of his usually troublesome charge.

"Alright cheer up. I have some good news about that friend of yours who went missing," Bishop Walsh spoke.

Rachel hurriedly ran up to the bishop and shook his shoulders vigorously. She fired off a series of questions at the elderly man,

"What? Did you find her? Is she alright?"

Bishop Walsh allowed himself to be tossed around for a few moments before replying in an almost smug tone,

"No… but I did manage to get Priestess Lilith to agree to perform a divination next Saturday."

"There is not guarantee that it will work but as far as oracles go…. she truly is one of the best."

"Just um… don't mention this to the anyone else… I had to pull some strings if you understand what I mean…"