The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Zrudread University Main Campus)

It was a beautiful day. The two suns shone brightly in the sky and small bird-like creatures soared above Sophie.

The hybrid girl was currently walking through the city on her way to the drop off office to pick up the gift that her father had sent her.

"Is that her? She looks really strong…"

"Did you place a bet on her to win? The odds are four to one… not bad for a first year…"

"Of course, I did… do you think I'm crazy?! She is definitely going to win! I don't know why the betting office is using those odds…"

Well, if there was something different it was that a lot more students than usual seemed to be staring at her.

Surprisingly most of the whispers and gossip were quite positive especially from the Mendolesa warriors who were thoroughly impressed by her strength.

Sophie had already given out a few autographs and it may sound a bit conceited, but she vaguely felt like one of those celebrities in the ancient Earth era.

Still, she wasn't allowing this newfound fame to go to her head since she was well aware that in a life and death fight… anything could happen.

You never know what kind of hidden cards or special tricks would be hidden up the sleeves of your opponent even one who appeared to be weaker than you.

Sophie hummed a light tune as she approached a tall grey building with several robot androids in uniform walking in and out.

There was a short line outside the entrance to the drop off office so Sophie joined the back of the queue and waited patiently.

She didn't know what kind of gift that her father would send but honestly, she would be grateful for just about anything.

Sophie opened up her wrist communicator and began to absentmindedly browse the campus open forum.

Clips of the first-year battle ranking exam had gone viral and she was not the only one whose clips got hundreds of thousands of views.

All the elite class students had their performances recorded and their techniques were already being analysed.

Unfortunately, this was a side effect of modern technology.

It was almost impossible to keep a technique or fighting style secret in this age of rapid information exchange.

Zrudread University actually encourage the clips to be shared since it would give the students a taste of what tools their enemies would use.

The ability to react and win in high pressure situations even if your opponent was familiar with your skills was something that had to be taught.

Sophie's eyes widened as she saw some truly impressive cultivation techniques. There was a Mendolesa boy capable of creating wind tornados from his palms.

A human girl who was an expert swordsman with the ability to cut something hundreds of feet away.

There were other notable examples as well and Sophie was soon lost in an endless world of different fighting styles and moves.

Fortunately, being in the qi tide stage meant that her memory had been greatly enhanced so she was able to easily recall the contents of every video that she had seen.

Sophie closed her communicator and let out a heavy sigh.

She was still confident that she would be able to win but it was important not to rest on her laurels next year.

Unless she broke into the void stage which was highly unlikely, the gap between herself and the other students would slowly decrease.

It was not that Sophie didn't think that she could eventually reach the void stage, it was just that her cultivation progress was gradually slowing down.

She could be completely wrong, but Sophie had the sneaking suspicion that in order to break the barrier to enter the void stage she would need to hunt down another target for the goddess.

Speaking of the hunter goddess…

Sophie was pleasantly surprised to discover that the mysterious otherworldly entity had not left messages inside her mind for a few months now.

In fact, if it weren't for her powers Sophie could delude herself into thinking that she was no longer a vessel.

But… well… the harsh reality would usually set in a few moments later.

"Next person please," a robotic voice loudly shouted and broke Sophie from her train of thought.

She looked up and discovered that she was now in the front of the line and an android was beckoning for her to enter.

Sophie quickly walked inside and saw a wide-open space with dozens of androids moving back and forth.

There were metalloid crates, brown packages and small envelopes all travelling around the room on conveyor belts.

The androids would mark the packages with different numbers and hand the correct ones to the students inside the building.

"Hello… please verify your identity please," an android approached Sophie and spoke politely. Its cold metallic exterior softly glowed under the light.

"My name is Sophie Peterlor and here is my student and ID card," Sophie replied calmly. She reached into her pocket and pulled out two pieces of identification.

A flap opened up in the center of the android's chest and a beam of green light was shot from the scanner inside.

This light scanned Sophie's documents and then her facial features in order to verify that it was really her.

An invisible beam also swept her body from an opening in the ceiling, but that scanner was to make sure that she wasn't a Quafes student pretending to be someone else.

Eventually the flap on the android's chest closed and he led Sophie to the corner of the room where a small metallic cube was placed on the conveyor belt.

"Here you go… have a lovely day!" the android spoke warmly as it picked up the strange object and placed it in Sophie's palm.

The hybrid girl looked at the cube in a bit of a daze since she had never seen anything like it before.

This was her father's gift?

Well… she guessed that it was the thought that counted…

Wait hold on…

Sophie discovered that there was a note attached to the bottom side of the cube. She carefully unfurled the note and read the words written on the sheet of paper.

.

.

.

.

My dear daughter,

I must congratulate you on remaining an elite class student. I am very proud of your hard work and effort throughout the term.

I know how difficult it was to cover the material that you missed last semester as well as catching up with the lecture notes from this term.

When you disappeared… my world no longer had meaning.

You are my only daughter in the whole wide universe, and I would gladly trade all my wealth and power to keep you safe for the rest of your life.

Still, I know that you do not want to become a bird trapped in a gilded cage but rather a soaring eagle that takes flight.

On a certain side of the device in your palm is a small button. Press it when you are alone, and the true value of this gift will be revealed.

I love you always,

Dad.