The Spider Queen

(Alpha Star System- Planet Gaia)

(Peterlor Estate- Training Room #005)

Cleo took in a few deep breaths and closed her eyes. The princess was currently sitting down in the middle of a wild open field with hundreds of robot droids floating around her location.

Each drone was roughly the size of a large dog with multiple plasma cannons attached to their metallic frames.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The only sound that Cleo could hear in this quiet place was the steady beating of her heart and the dull humming noise coming from the machines.

Cleo was not someone who neglected her training and mech controllers had to constantly use their mental force in order to improve it.

The princess focused her mind and felt the thin threads of energy circling around inside her head.

She stretched out her right palm and dozens of these threads exited her mind and extended outwards towards the drones.

Cleo bit her lip as each thread split multiple times until an invisible spider web of mental energy covered the entire room.

These mental threads penetrated the metallic bodies of the drones and soon the hum of the machines got louder and louder.

The princess opened her eyes and began her practice session in earnest.

She clapped her hands and thousands of targets appeared on the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The drones immediately began to fire at the targets and Cleo gritted her teeth in pain as she felt a massive headache coming on.

Using so much of her mental energy to control hundreds of drones was quite the exhausting task but she had to push forward.

Cleo knew that objectively she was weaker than her girlfriend.

It was not a fact that bothered her usually, but the thought had been on her mind over these last few days.

What if Sophie reached a high cultivation level but she remained in the same place?

Cleo couldn't stand the thought of being useless in a fight and being unable to protect the one she loved.

Of course, part of her knew that this kind of thinking was ridiculous, but Cleo couldn't help how she felt.

Blood slowly dripped down from the corners of Cleo's eyes as she continued to command the drones to fire for an additional six minutes.

Eventually she was forced to withdraw her control and the drones hovered silently in place as the sound of plasma shots firing disappeared.

Cleo reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and a healing serum. She injected the serum into her upper arm and winced in pain.

The princess raised the handkerchief to her eyes and wiped them slowly to get rid of the blood.

Fortunately, she managed to clean herself up without leaving a trace.

The last thing that she wanted was for Sophie to find out that she was pushing herself too hard during training.

Cleo stretched out her arms and let out a heavy sigh before walking towards the targets to see the results.

The princess approached the wall at the back of the training room and observed the state of the multiple targets pinned against the wall.

"Okay… not bad… definitely some room for improvement…" Cleo muttered quietly as she stared at the results.

Most of the shots had landed near if not directly at the targets and some had even hit them right in the center.

But there were a few sections where not a single shot had landed near the target and a bitter sense of disappointment filled Cleo's heart.

She needed to work harder.

Cleo powered on her wrist communicator and took a quick picture of the target wall. She placed the picture in a folder and named it 'Day 3 Results'.

The princess walked out of the training room and found herself in the middle of a long winding corridor.

Cleo checked her communicator and saw a few missed messages from her girlfriend, so she immediately opened her inbox.

Sophie: [Hey babe! Lessons with my dad finished early today so I'm out in the garden]

Sophie: [Do you want to spend an afternoon together?]

Cleo: [Sure honey… just send me your location]

The princess had to ask because there were multiple greenhouse complexes and gardens scattered across the underground city.

The vibrant flora helped to make the underground city feel alive and more pleasant to live in.

Plus, the duke knew how much his daughter loved plants, so he was quite happy to build multiple spaces for them to thrive.

Buzz!

Cleo checked her communicator and saw the spot where Sophie was currently located. It was only around a five-minute walk away which wasn't too bad.

The princess hummed softly as she wandered through the enormous mansion and finally arrived at the exit.

From there it only took an additional three minutes to walk around to the back of the mansion and reach the flower garden.

A gentle smile flashed across Cleo's lips as she saw a gorgeous seven feet tall hybrid girl sitting down lazily on a bench.

She was surrounded by a field of colourful flowers that only served to enhance her otherworldly beauty and charm.

The sweet scent of nectar lingered in the air, and one could hear a faint buzzing noise coming from the tiny insects that hopped from flower to flower.

"Hey babe!" Sophie cheerfully spoke as she raised up her hand and waved. Cleo walked over and sat down on the bench next to her.

The princess gently rested her head against Sophie's lower arm and enjoyed the warm, soft feeling of her girlfriend's body.

"How was the leadership training with your dad?" Cleo asked curiously as she snuggled closer.

Sophie wrapped her arm around her girlfriend as she furrowed her brows. The training session today had been quite the tough one.

Duke Peterlor had increased the difficulty of the simulation and the one today in particular seemed to be designed to be unsolvable.

"So today he put me in a situation where I had to rule a planet with various tribes that all hated each other," Sophie softly complained.

"No matter what decision I made… at least half of the tribes would be unhappy which led to a rebellion."

"Sometimes their objections didn't even make sense! Like for example there was drought, so I suggested placing a dam on the largest river to build a reservoir…"

"And then several of the tribes began to curse at me because apparently the river was sacred and the reincarnation of their goddess."

"They were willing to die in order to protect the river! And of course, other tribes believed in different Gods so that was a whole mess…"