The Spider Queen

Mages are equal parts feared and admired throughout the universe.

Only a small percentage of any species' population would have the talent necessary to learn cultivation.

And mages were an even tinier fraction of that percent.

Their mystical arts, strange runes carved into the flesh and general atmosphere of loftiness all contributed to their image of being arcane masters.

Astrid had never imagined that she would eventually go down the path of magic.

As a child like most Mendolesa youth she spent her days playfully fighting and engaging in mock battles with her peers.

Most dreamed of becoming powerful fighters who charged headfirst into battle wielding heavy swords and great axes.

Frontline warriors who stood tall and fought toe to toe with powerful enemies on the field of battle.

Everything changed when it was revealed that Astrid had a grade S talent in mana.

It allowed Astrid to see a small ray of hope after the death of her parents and the subsequent destruction of their company.

She worked several jobs in order to raise enough money to buy magic tomes on the virtual net.

Yes, she had the talent but to rely on talent alone would not be enough to get into one of the four great universities.

For all the complaining, Astrid was well aware how lucky she was to be personally taught by an archmage.

And now in the midterm exams….

It was time to show off her skills and what she had learnt over the last few weeks.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrr!" the Raurqrill howled loudly in rage as he found himself floating in the air above the island.

It was a strange sight to see a twenty-foot-tall leviathan beast desperately shaking its flippers in the air.

Raurqrills resembled the ancient marine reptiles from the prehistoric period on Earth and their deep blue skin hid them well when travelling in the water.

With an enormous maw capable of crushing any helpless students in one bite, they were certainly a force not to be trifled with.

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Astrid muttered softly and the bubble gently floated upwards until it broke the surface of the ocean.

"Grrrrrrrrrr!"

The beast spotted the two-legged prey rising up from the water and felt its blood boil in rage.

Its expression seemed to say, 'put me down you coward!'

Of course, Astrid ignored the angry grunts from the sea beast and stared at her handiwork with a faint sense of pride.

She had first casted a space transfer magic spell to warp the beast out of the water and then used a spatial lock spell to hold him in place.

If only Astrid had been able to learn the spatial rift spell before the midterms, she could have sliced the beast into multiple pieces once it had been frozen in mid air.

"Glacies stiria trabes!" Astrid raised her right arm slowly and chanted.

Dark blue runes lit up her shoulder and frost energy started to accumulate at the tips of her fingers.

The temperature plummeted and sea water beneath her feet froze over instantly.

A long spear-like shard of ice formed in her hand and Astrid tensed up her muscles before chucking the shard at the Raurqrill.

Stab!

The icicle easily penetrated the outer flesh of the beast and sank deeply inside with a faint hiss.

At the point of impact, frost began to spread over the creature's body and its movements started to slow down.

The wet and slimy surface of the Raurqrill's skin became a fatal weakness as the moisture present helped the frost to spread.

Two yellow eyes narrowed in shock as the beast could feel the spear of ice slowly travelling through its body and piercing each organ one by one.

Now it was simply time to play the waiting game.

Astrid stepped onto the shore and headed back to the patch of delicious berries she had found earlier.

The loud cries and screeches from the Raurqrill were becoming fainter and fainter as the beast started to lose energy.

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The purpose of the ice spell wasn't to kill the sea monster directly.

Its purpose was to cause the beast to waste energy trying to free itself.

Aquatic animal had one fatal weakness that could be exploited.

Take them out of the water…... and they would suffocate.

No matter how powerful they were.

Astrid joyfully placed a dark red berry in her mouth and bit down on its soft meaty body.

A burst of flavours and juices exploded out that caused her tail to wag furiously.

The mana expenditure needed to keep the Raurqrill suspended in the air was a bit higher than she initially expected but there should be no problems.

Astrid closed her eyes and quietly started to meditate.

Keeping her concentration steady was the key to maintaining high level spells.

It did not take long for the Mendolesa girl to slip into a state of half consciousness.

Mediation truly made one feel connected to the universe and the world around you.

Astrid smiled peacefully as she felt the warm sea breeze gently touch her face.

Even the painful cries of the dying Raurqrill seemed melodic and tranquil.

One minute passed...

Thirty minutes passed….

An hour….

Astrid remained in this state and felt her mana reserves slowly dwindling away to nothing.

She had clearly underestimated the lifeforce of this tenacious creature.

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The ice spear had destroyed all its major organs and the Raurqrill should not have been able to breathe for an hour.

And yet it still continued to flail around wildly.

Astrid frowned as she considered what to do next.

Maintaining the spatial lock spell was quite costly and she did not want to end up in a situation where her mana was totally depleted.

Maybe it was time to try the new spell she had learnt just a few days ago.

"Vitis flagellum!" Astrid calmly chanted as the mana in her body circulated madly to form a strange circuit.

A thick green vine sprouted out of the ground beneath the floating Raurqrill and grew upwards at a rapid pace.

The sea monster could vaguely sense the danger, but its energy had long been exhausted so it could only make a few half-hearted attempts at shifting its body.

Pierce!

The green vine entered the fleshy gills of the beast and burrowed inside.

Once inside the gills, the vine gradually expanded to block up the opening.

Unbeknownst to Astrid, Raurqrills had a primordial pair of lungs hidden inside its gills that allowed these animals to survive for days outside of their marine environment.

But by blocking the gills…. its fate was sealed.

It only took ten more minutes for the Raurqrill to suffocate and die helplessly.

Astrid gazed at the floating corpse and cancelled her spell.

Crash!

The island shook heavily under the weight of a twenty-foot-tall beast falling onto it with a dull thud.

The forested area where the corpse landed was completely destroyed.

Rows upon rows of purplish trees were flattened mercilessly as well as any small animals unfortunate enough to be within the range of the crash.

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