The Spider Queen

(Alpha Star System- Planet Gaia)

(Peterlor Estate- Sophie's Private Office)

Sophie whispered softly to herself as she turned another page to read the rest of the report, 

"House Marshon controls the warp gate passage to the eastern side of the Federation. The current lord barely holds on to this power and is currently besieged by hostile forces."

"It is likely that he will no longer be able to control his family. Credible rumors state that a marriage alliance with the Rowen Clan has been proposed."

The hybrid girl furrowed her brows thoughtfully as she continued to read while thinking about the implications of the marriage alliance. 

As the heir to a dukedom, Sophie was trying her best to become more informed about the current political state of the Earth Federation.

Combat training and attending her online classes took up most of her time but she still dedicated an hour's worth of time everyday to read the latest news.

Not every problem could be solved with cultivation strength and no man was an island. 

Even her father who was the youngest god stage cultivator had regular dealings with other noble families.

Sophie hummed softly as she took out her notebook and jotted down a few notes. 

House Marshon could be an ally on the condition that the lord retained his power and managed to fend off his ambitious relatively.

Unfortunately for the unlucky man his siblings had married into wealthy families and controlled forces of their own.

Siblings…

There was a saying back on ancient Earth that 'blood was thicker than water' but amongst the noble society this was not the case.

Most of the conflicts would begin when a member of a noble house decided that they wished to take the power for themselves.

Father against son… mother against daughter… brother against sister

House Peterlor was no exception and Sophie was aware of her family's bloody history. 

There was a reason why she had no cousins or close relatives on her father's side. Sophie let out a heavy sigh as she leaned back against the chair.

Her heart always turned to a mess when she thought about family. 

It had been months since she had last seen Aunt Rai'lle in the amulet space.

Would she ever encounter her Arachnais family again? Sophie did not know the answer to that question.

She tried to focus her attention back on the report but found it impossible to concentrate. Sophie got up from the chair and walked around the study in order to clear her mind.

She looked at the painting hung above the crackling fireplace and fell into silence. It was a picture of a beautiful meadow with a clear blue sky.

Gorgeous colourful flowers blossomed, and small furry animals could be seen peaking out from inside the grass.

As she stared at the picture, Sophie could feel her irritated mood gradually calm down as she gave the matter some more thought.

Right now… she couldn't do anything. 

She was not strong enough to travel to the Insectoid Empire and return alive.

Cultivators had a lifespan of thousands of years so even if she never saw Aunt Rai'lle in the amulet space again…

She would come to her.

And Sophie really wanted to see her mom for the first time.

Aunt Rai'lle had told Sophie that her mother was in closed door cultivation but surely she would come out to see her daughter.

All Sophie could do now was grow and gradually become powerful enough to visit her mom.

Sophie's eyes gleamed with determination, and she walked back to the desk with firm steps. 

The hybrid girl picked up another report began to read out loud.

"House Obelis are showing open hostility to the Servie race but are secretly in contact with an underworld gang…"

Time slowly passed as Sophie lost herself in a world of political intrigue and strife. It was only when her wrist communicator vibrated twice did the hybrid girl put down the report.

It was time to check if she had assignments left to complete for her online classes.

Sophie picked up the tablet and checked the latest article that Professor Macabre had sent her. 

"Urghhh… not again," Sophie groaned as she saw that the new assignment was to write a two-thousand-word essay on inorganic contaminants.

"Well, there's no time like the present," Sophie whispered to herself as she opened up a blank document and began her essay.

She would occasionally look at her notes to see what information Professor Macabre had spoken about in class but tried her best to put everything in her own words.

Zrudread University tended to be pretty strict when it came to matters such as plagiarism and Professor Macabre especially was a harsh teacher.

She expected her students to not only memorise the knowledge that she taught in class but to apply it to different situations.

Sophie managed to write around one thousand words before finally hitting a wall. 

No matter what she did… she just could not figure out what to write next.

It was like her mind was a complete blank. Sophie wrote down and deleted a sentence multiple times before finally giving up.

Maybe she just needed a break to clear her thoughts. Sophie closed the document and decided to look at her other course.

Sophie checked Professor Ward's last message and saw an unopened file.

She tapped the file and it opened up to display a new cultivation technique called the 'Psionic Soundwave Scripture.'

This technique involved circulating qi towards the meridians in the throat and unleashing a sonic boom that disoriented anyone who heard the noise.

Sophie raised an eyebrow in confusion since she could not understand why her professor had suddenly sent a new technique for her to learn.

She scrolled down and saw that Professor Ward had written a short explanation at the bottom of the document.

This technique was not for her to practice but for Moon. 

Frostwing bats were capable of using sonic attacks and screams but Moon primarily relied on his frozen domain ability.

Professor Ward was concerned that Sophie's pet was limiting himself. It was very dangerous to only have one form of attack.

Her task for Sophie was to get Moon to learn the first part of this technique by the end of next week.

Wait a minute… the end of next week?!

Sophie's eyes widened and the image of Moon's usual lazy self surfaced in her mind. 

Her frostwing bat did nothing but eat, sleep and play whole day.

He would only bother to train if Sophie supervised him personally. Otherwise, he would simply lie down on his comfortable mattress and sleep.

This was not good.

Sophie checked the time on her communicator and then hurriedly rushed out of the study room. 

It was the afternoon now so Moon should probably be in the kitchen for his teatime snack. 

The hybrid girl burst into the dining room and sure enough her lazy pet was being fed by robot androids holding plates of food.

Moon flapped his arms happily when he saw his master walk into the room and his forked tail swayed from side to side.

Squeak! Squeak!

(Mommy! Mommy! Why are you here?!)

Sophie's lips gently curved upwards and Moon suddenly got an ominous premonition that perhaps his days of relaxation were over.

His prediction would turn out to be correct.