A mature Dryder was at least a Three-star. In order to qualify as an elite Dryder, that Dryder would have to at least be a Four-star. To the Dark Elves, such a natural born strength was nothing less than the Spider Queen’s favor. After all, normal Dark Elves had to rely on training to gain their strength. Most Dark Elves never even made it past Four-star if their talent was lacking.
But even though the advantages of being a Dryder were numerous, they also had a glaring weakness: they were unable to reproduce. In other words, a Dryder was unable to reproduce with another Dryder, meaning every Dryder in existence had to have come from a union between Elf and spider.
Vessels for a Dryder birth had to be a young Dark Elven female. What was even more disturbing was that the more devoted amongst them even saw this as an honor.
In reality, Dryders were an undeniably powerful force in Dark Elf society. There were thirteen large clans that ruled over all Dark Elves. Of these thirteen, five had only qualified because of their reliance on Dryders.
In order to maintain the Dryder population, a certain number of females would be sent to the Arachne Cavern annually to become vessels.
Even though these vessels were permitted to return to the clan after fulfilling their duty, very few ever make it back. To put it simply, most of these vessels were often broken in the process…One could only imagine what sort of cruelty they underwent in Arachne Cavern if even a Dark Elf couldn’t endure it.
The reason why Jezsere ran away from home was because her mother wanted to send her off to Arachne Cavern. After all, she was worthless to the clan, and such an existence wasn’t permitted, not even for the clan leader’s daughter.
Honestly, I think that dirty spider could have easily protected Jezsere if she wanted to. But based on what I just heard, I doubt she had the mind to do so. Hmmm… for her to treat her own flesh and blood in such a manner, what a deplorable woman. Really, did this race even deserve to exist?
“But if the situation is so dangerous, why did Jezsere return?”
I was previously told that the both of them returned willingly because they obtained my medium. But did simply handing in my medium absolve them of their desertion and lack of contribution?
That question didn’t last much longer as the Dark Elven Warrior soon provided me with an answer.
“Because both Lady Jezsere and Sir Reyage knew that they couldn’t keep hiding forever. The clan has always adopted an at-all-costs approach to hunting down deserters, unless, of course, they managed to hide themselves with their father. But…” The Dark Elven Warrior paused at that point and sighed. “Even if they reach their father, the fate awaiting them there might not be any better.
“And Jezsere’s father is…”
Honestly, the fact that their father was even alive was a shock to me. I had always assumed that all female Dark Elves were all widows… the kind that never got married… a black widow. Sister, you can’t just drop a bomb like that. Spare a thought for my tiny brain! How will it ever process the fact that that dirty spider still has a living mate somewhere!?
Also, what kind of person is this father of theirs? Where is he now? How did the two of them know each other? And why would it potentially be a bad thing if they ever took refuge with him?
“Lady Jezsere’s father is a Nature Elf.” The Dark Elven Warrior did not explain any further at that point. Even so, I vaguely got the feeling that he must have held an important position amongst the Nature Elves.
Hold on… so Jezsere’s father was a Nature Elf?! No wonder that Dark Elven Warrior did not feel their chances were high with him.
Nature Elves were also known as Wood Elves; the typical fantasy elf that had long golden hair, blue eyes, a handsome, elegant appearance and specialises in archery. The true question was: how the heck did a Wood Elf and a Dark Elf end up together? They were both hated rivals with each other! Why would they ever have children together? There must be a mistake somewhere!
I guess even that dirty spider was a teenage girl once…
“Can you elaborate more on Jezsere’s father? Like how did he meet her mother? And what happened after that?”
If I do say so myself, I’m a connoisseur of such gossip. This might just be a Romeo and Juliet 2.0 in a fantasy world -why would I ever want to miss out on that? If one had to point out the difference between their story and Romeo’s, it would be that they ended up giving birth to children, and they were both alive still. Even so, it was also a fact that the both of them had to be separated because of the hatred between their clans.
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