Keizeix stood beside Sia before the throne once again.
This time, however, the atmosphere was completely different from their naming ceremony.
The Queen sat tall and still at the center of the throne platform, her massive spider body resting beneath her humanoid torso while the King sat beside her.
Shirespoke and Marike remained several steps behind their pupils.
Neither mentor looked entirely recovered.
Shirespoke still carried bandaging beneath his clothing, and Marike's normally sharp posture showed traces of exhaustion from having burned through so much Mana creating clone after clone during the battle against the Heroic humans.
Keizeix himself felt fine.
More than fine, actually.
Consumption Heal had restored the three legs torn from his body so completely that there wasn't even a scar.
Sia, however, still bore several faint discolorations beneath her golden and silver patterns from having her own lightning turned against her.
The Queen's gaze moved between them.
Then to their mentors.
"We have received the reports."
Her voice echoed through the throne chamber.
Keizeix bowed lower.
Sia followed.
The Queen continued.
"Two newly named children of our bloodline entered a minor southern engagement and, within mere days, helped devastate enough of the enemy army that they sent Heroic warriors specifically to eliminate them."
The King leaned forward slightly.
"That alone would have been noteworthy."
His gaze settled on Keizeix.
"Then Prince Keizeix, while still beneath the Heroic realm himself, found a way to poison both of those attackers."
Keizeix remained silent.
He wasn't entirely certain whether this was praise or the beginning of a lecture.
The Queen looked toward Sia.
"And Princess Sia manifested an Attribute-like lightning ability with enough destructive potential that the enemy Heroic specifically altered her own water to turn that power back upon you."
Sia's legs shifted.
The memory clearly bothered her.
The Queen noticed.
"Failure does not dishonor you."
Sia looked up slightly.
"What matters is whether you learn."
"I will, my Queen."
"Good."
Then the Queen's eyes returned to Keizeix.
"And you."
Keizeix stiffened.
"You disobeyed your mentor."
Shirespoke suddenly found the stone floor extremely interesting.
Keizeix bowed.
"I did."
"You nearly died."
"Yes, my Queen."
"You lost three limbs."
"Yes."
"And then somehow grew them back."
Silence.
Keizeix felt Shirespoke's stare from behind him.
The Queen's eyes narrowed.
"We will discuss that ability when you are prepared to explain it."
Keizeix's heart skipped.
But she continued before he could answer.
"For now, your secrecy has caused no harm to this clan. Quite the opposite."
The King smiled faintly.
"You have both earned recognition."
A servant stepped forward carrying two small black-and-gold plaques.
"Your first combat distinctions will be recorded within the Silversilk royal archives."
Sia visibly straightened.
Keizeix felt pride rise inside him.
The Queen raised one hand.
"However..."
There it was.
"...you have learned the wrong lesson if you believe your victories mean you are already powerful."
The room seemed colder.
"There are enemies in this world who will not fall by the tens of thousands merely because you charge them."
Keizeix immediately thought of the two Heroic humans.
The Queen smiled slightly.
"Fortunately, you are about to meet some."
---
Two days later Keizeix found himself traveling again.
But not south.
This time the army moved northeast.
Shirespoke walked beside him.
"What are we fighting?"
"Beetlekin."
Keizeix turned.
"Beetles?"
"Several breeds."
Shirespoke nodded.
"They cooperate under a collective territorial alliance. Rhinoceros beetles break formations. Iron-shell beetles hold defensive lines. Burrowing beetles undermine fortifications. Horned cavalry beetles attack from flanks."
Keizeix stared.
"They sound organized."
"Very."
Sia, walking nearby, looked interested.
Marike continued the explanation.
"They have contested Silversilk territory for generations. Unlike the humans you fought, these are not soft-bodied opponents wearing armor."
Keizeix immediately understood.
"The armor is part of them."
"Correct."
Shirespoke smiled.
"And that means your habit of punching through armor may prove rather disappointing."
Keizeix didn't like the sound of that.
---
The northeastern battlefield proved very different from the human front.
There were no elegant banners.
No large lines of shining knights.
Instead enormous insectoid warriors covered the distant hills.
Black.
Brown.
Deep green.
Metallic blue.
Some walked on six legs.
Others had developed partial humanoid torsos like higher-ranked spiderkin.
Keizeix saw huge horned beetles carrying shields that looked almost unnecessary considering the thickness of their own shells.
Others held polearms.
Some had enormous mandibles.
The largest were nearly three times Keizeix's current size.
Keizeix stared across the field.
"Those are ugly."
Sia tilted her head.
"We are spiders."
"Yes, but we're attractive spiders."
Sia considered that.
"Fair."
Marike sighed.
"You two are impossible."
The battle horns sounded.
Keizeix lowered himself.
Sia's black-purple lightning crawled faintly across her body.
They looked at one another.
"Ready?" Keizeix asked.
Sia's eyes gleamed.
"Try not to embarrass yourself."
Then both charged.
---
Keizeix discovered the problem almost immediately.
He struck an Iron-shell beetle directly in the side.
**CRACK!**
Pain shot through his front leg.
The beetle moved perhaps half a step.
Keizeix stared.
The beetle stared back.
"Oh."
The beetle slammed its shield into him.
Keizeix went flying.
He crashed across the dirt, rolled twice, then recovered.
"That's new."
The beetle charged.
Keizeix fired silk at its legs.
The webbing caught.
The beetle stumbled.
Keizeix attacked the joints.
His leg struck the narrow softer membrane between armored plates.
The beetle screamed.
"There."
He attacked again.
Then again.
Finally the beetle collapsed.
**Kill registered.**
Keizeix looked toward the battlefield.
That had taken far too long.
Against humans he might have killed ten in the same amount of time.
A rhinoceros beetle charged.
Keizeix barely escaped using Shadow Mist.
The creature plowed straight through three spider soldiers behind him before stopping.
Keizeix's expression changed.
These weren't prey.
These were warriors designed by nature to survive punishment.
"Fine."
He grinned.
"Let's learn."
---
Several hours passed.
Keizeix adapted slowly.
He stopped striking shells entirely.
Instead he targeted eyes.
Mouthparts.
Joint membranes.
The softer underside where abdominal plates overlapped.
His silk became invaluable.
He couldn't always kill them quickly.
But he could immobilize them.
Wrap legs.
Bind wings.
Block vision.
Then attack weak points.
His Intelligence began increasing faster than his Strength simply because every kill required thought.
Sia initially performed better.
Lightning cared less about armor.
Her black-purple bolts crawled across beetle shells and shocked the bodies inside.
For the first hour Keizeix repeatedly saw distant flashes followed by collapsing enemies.
His irritation grew.
"Of course."
Another flash.
"Of course lightning works."
But then the flashes became less frequent.
Then weaker.
Keizeix understood immediately.
Mana.
Sia couldn't continuously use her ability.
When she was forced into ordinary physical combat, she struggled almost as much as he did.
By midday, Keizeix checked his kill count.
**Kills today: 614**
He stared.
"That's terrible."
A nearby guard looked toward him.
"My prince, six hundred kills against beetle troops is exceptional."
Keizeix turned.
"Is it?"
"Yes."
"Huh."
He still hated it.
His previous numbers had been tens of thousands.
Six hundred felt pathetic.
But that was exactly the Queen's lesson.
Numbers were meaningless without considering what was being killed.
One beetle warrior might require the effort of twenty weaker humans.
Keizeix closed his system.
"Fine."
He charged again.
---
By evening, he was exhausted in a way the human battlefield had rarely managed.
His muscles ached.
His Mana had been carefully rationed.
His silk reserves felt depleted.
The beetles simply refused to die quickly.
When the withdrawal horn finally sounded, Keizeix almost welcomed it.
Almost.
He returned to camp expecting Sia to look smug.
She didn't.
She looked just as irritated as he felt.
Neither spoke during dinner.
That worried Shirespoke more than their normal arguing.
Finally the reporting officer entered.
He bowed.
"Today's confirmed results."
Keizeix braced himself.
"Prince Keizeix Silversilk: one thousand four hundred and thirty-eight confirmed beetlekin kills."
Keizeix's legs shifted.
Not even fifteen hundred.
The second report opened.
"Princess Sia Silversilk: one thousand five hundred and twelve confirmed kills."
Sia looked toward Keizeix.
Normally she'd gloat.
Instead she sighed.
"Seventy-four."
Keizeix nodded.
"Congratulations."
Sia stared.
"That sounded painful."
"It was."
Marike laughed softly.
Then leaned toward them.
"You both look as though someone died."
Keizeix looked at her.
"Our kill counts are awful."
Shirespoke almost choked.
"Awful?"
He placed both hands on the table.
"Do you understand what you fought today?"
"Beetles."
Shirespoke stared.
"Yes, thank you, young master."
Sia lowered her head slightly.
"We were much slower."
"Because they're stronger," Marike said.
Her tone softened.
"You have grown accustomed to measuring yourselves by enormous numbers."
Shirespoke nodded.
"That can become a dangerous habit."
Keizeix looked at him.
"You killed more than a thousand enemies whose bodies naturally resist physical damage. You adapted to an unfamiliar species, identified weaknesses, survived coordinated attacks, and returned alive."
He pointed toward Sia.
"And you learned that overwhelming an enemy with lightning is not the same as having infinite Mana."
Sia looked irritated.
But she nodded.
Marike smiled.
"Neither of you failed."
Shirespoke leaned back.
"You simply met enemies who deserve more respect."
Keizeix considered that.
Then looked toward Sia.
"Tomorrow?"
Her eyes sharpened.
"Tomorrow."
There it was again.
Determination.
Not arrogance this time.
Something better.
---
Late that night Keizeix couldn't sleep.
His body was exhausted.
His mind wasn't.
He opened the platform and found a message from Tiestra asking whether he'd looked through her family's catalogue.
Keizeix smiled.
He was about to answer when something outside caught his attention.
A scraping sound.
Not from the guards.
Below him.
Keizeix froze.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Scrape.
The dirt beneath his tent shifted.
His eyes narrowed.
He slowly opened Shadow Mist.
Then the ground exploded upward.
Keizeix disappeared into shadow just as enormous black mandibles snapped shut where his body had been.
A beetle erupted from beneath the earth.
Then another.
Then five more.
Keizeix emerged in the shadow of a support post.
Outside, screams began.
The camp alarms sounded.
Shirespoke burst from his tent.
"BURROWERS!"
Keizeix looked beyond him.
The entire camp floor was moving.
Hundreds of mounds rose beneath the sleeping Silversilk forces.
Then Keizeix felt something much larger beneath his own feet.
Not one beetle.
Something enormous.
The earth split.
A massive armored horn began pushing upward from underground.
Shirespoke's face changed.
"Everyone back!"
Keizeix stared as more of the creature emerged.
Its shell was covered in old scars.
Its pressure rolled through the camp.
And then Shirespoke whispered the words Keizeix least wanted to hear.
"Heroic level?!"