The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Elite Student Housing Complex- Mansion 456Y)

Sophie slowly opened her eyes and felt at peace. She was now back inside the training room sitting down cross legged on the ground.

The last words that her mother had told her still rang in her head.

"I am very proud of the woman that you have become. You will one day surpass both me and your father."

A silly smile began to spread across the hybrid girl's face as she leaned back and stretched out her legs until she was now lying down on the floor.

Her dad was alive!

He was still alive!

A large invisible weight was lifted off Sophie's chest as a sense of relief flooded her thoughts.

She always thought that her dad had not died but…

She would be lying if she said that there wasn't a small part of her that was secretly worried that the official government report was telling the truth.

And that wasn't the end of the good news!

Her mom was going to rescue her father and then head to the Federation. There was a not so small chance that they would all be reunited in person as one big family!

Sophie was aware that they would face significant roadblocks but just knowing that her mom and dad were alive was more than enough for now.

Knock! Knock!

"Hey babe… are you okay?" Cleo's voice came from the other side of the door.

"More than okay! Cleo! I saw my mom again! I used the connection between the Spider Whisper Art practitioners and… and… I spoke to her again," Sophie excitedly spoke.

"My dad is still alive! My mom is on a starship on her way to rescue him as we speak!"

"Awesome! I'm so happy for you!" Cleo replied joyfully.

"Do you want me to bring any snacks? Can I come inside?"

"Maybe not yet… I… wait a second…" Sophie's voice trailed off as she realised something strange.

She didn't feel strong anymore. In fact, she felt… weak?

No… not weak exactly… just different in a way that she just could not put her finger on.

The hybrid girl cocked back her fist and slammed it into the ground with all the force that she could muster.

Nothing.

Not even a crack.

Her fists did not hurt but there was no cultivation energy in her blow.

Sophie furrowed her brows and concentrated on the qi floating around in a galaxy-like formation inside of her dantian.

BOOM!

An enormous rush of energy filled her body with so much force that the pressure exuded by her mere presence was enough to destroy the training ground below her feet.

Sophie quickly cut off the connection and the pressure immediately disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place.

Cool… but were void cultivators supposed to have an 'ON' and 'OFF' switch?

Actually… Sophie was fairly certain that the qi inside of her dantian was not supposed to look that way.

She flicked back on the invisible switch and once again a heavy pressure began to surround her body.

"Sophie?" Cleo asked loudly with concern evident in her voice.

"I'm okay babe! Just give me around thirty minutes and I'll meet you in the living room!" Sophie shouted back in reply.

Her girlfriend hummed in acknowledgement and then walked away. Sophie could hear her footsteps as well as the beating of her heart.

She could observe the tiny micro-organisms floating through the air as well as the numerous specks of dust that filled the room.

Her senses when her qi was active magnified ten-fold.

No… perhaps even more than that since Sophie could pick up on sounds several thousands of miles away.

Sophie made sure to cut off the connection to her dantian and her body returned to its natural baseline state.

She then tilted her wrist upwards to check her communicator. There were a few files inside the Peterlor database that dealt with void stage cultivators.

They were the powerhouses of the universe.

From this stage onwards cultivators could be considered as living weapons during times of war.

Only a small fraction of a single percent of all cultivators would ever make it this far and Sophie was pretty certain that she had achieved the second-best record.

After her father of course…

But who knows… maybe if the opportunity presented itself in the future, she would be able to break into the god stage and break his record.

The only issue was the fact that her cultivation journey was decided by the Hunter Goddess… without her powers she would not be able to increase her cultivation level.

And Sophie was definitely not in the mood for another hunt anytime soon. Not when she had barely survived the last one.

Contrary to what some may think… Sophie did not enjoy putting herself into situations with the risk of death.

She just happened to always stumble into them…

Maybe it was a side-effect of being a vessel? Who knows…

Sophie shook her head and drove those thoughts to the back of her mind. She focused on the files on her wrist communicator and began to read.

Okay… so normally it could take weeks or several months for a void stage cultivator to gain control of their strength.

Then they would be able to adjust their power to mimic the lower cultivation stages. Sophie frowned slightly as she accessed another file and read what had been written down.

'The true mark of a void stage cultivator has to do with their qi. The qi inside their bodies turns into a near solid state inside their dantians.

This hardened qi forms a perfect circle or sphere. The sphere continually rotates so void stage cultivators never run out of qi.

It is said that to achieve the god stage… cultivators must shatter the sphere and allow their qi to fuse directly into every part of their bodies.'

A sphere?

Sophie closed her eyes and looked into her dantian.

Nope… that was definitely not a sphere.

"Huh… so… huh… that is pretty… weird," Sophie muttered quietly to herself as she compared the shape of the qi inside her dantian to what it was supposed to look like.

Sophie really had no words as she reopened her eyes and thought about what to do next.

As far as she could tell there were no harmful side effects from her qi taking on this unusual shape, but she wasn't sure how she matched up against other void stage cultivators.

Well hopefully that was a question that she would not have to answer anytime soon.

Sophie walked up to the heavy metalloid doors and calmly opened them. She stepped outside of the room and headed for the living area.

It was time to just unwind and do some relaxing.

Sophie stretched out her arms and yawned sleepily as she walked down the stairs and saw her girlfriend sitting down quietly on the couch.

"Hi gorgeous," Sophie teased softly as she slowly approached her girlfriend and then pounced on her.

She wrapped her arms around the much smaller girl until the princess had no chance of escaping her grasp.

Sophie then proceeded to lightly kiss and nibble on the side of her neck while Cleo squealed and begged her to stop.

The hybrid girl's hand sneakily reached for the back of Cleo's dress and with one smooth move she unzipped the back of the outfit.

"Babe! It's only four o' clock! I… fuck…" Cleo's voice trailed off in a moan as she could feel her body heating up.

"Sorry… darling… I'm in the mood to celebrate…" Sophie grinned wickedly as traces of pink crept up along the edges of her golden eyes.