Reincarnated As An Archmage’s Daughter

In the Academy's medical wing, Hania stood at the entrance, the orb hovering sullenly at her shoulder. Truck-kun was back in the Dream Library, organizing her coma-books onto a shelf labeled "FOR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT AND BLACKMAIL."

​Professor Arachnia waited at the end of the hall. "You came," the professor observed.

​"I said I would."

​"Many princesses say many things." Arachnia turned and gestured with one leg. "Follow me."

​The medical wing had many chambers, each one painted with a different color. Hania counted seven doors before they stopped at the eighth.

​"Before we enter," Arachnia said, "I want you to understand what you're walking into. The patient's name is Tessik. She is a fourth-generation weaver from the Northern Caves. Three hundred and forty years old. She has been producing silk for the Crystal Caverns architectural guild for two hundred and twelve of those years."

​"That's a long career."

​"Hm. Her webs support the eastern spire of the Royal Palace. Every thread she produces is a masterpiece." Arachnia's mandibles clicked. "Six months ago, she collapsed mid-weave. Diagnosed as advanced-stage silk rot. The fungal sap has slowed the progression, but her spinnerets are failing. Within the next lunar cycle, she will lose the ability to weave entirely."

​Hania's stomach tightened. "And then?"

​"And then she will be reassigned to the kitchens. If she's lucky." Arachnia's voice was flat. "If she's not, she'll be moved to the Deep Caves, where spiders who can no longer contribute are sent to live out their remaining years in silence."

​"That's horrible."

​"That's reality, Princess. We are a kingdom built on silk. Those who cannot weave are..." She paused. "They are not discarded, but neither are they celebrated."

​Hania squared her shoulders. "Then let's make sure Tessik doesn't become one of them."

​Arachnia glanced at her, then opened the door.

​★★★

​Tessik was smaller than Hania expected.

​The spider lay on a bed of woven moss, her body curled in on itself. Her once-glossy carapace was dull, pitted with dark patches. Her spinnerets were wrapped in bandages soaked with the fermented fungal sap. The smell was overwhelming. But it was her eyes that hit Hania hardest. Eight of them, focusing on her, clouded and dim.

​"Tessik," Arachnia said gently. "The Princess is here to examine you."

​One of Tessik's legs twitched. "The Princess?" Her voice was thin. "Why would the Princess come to see me?"

​Hania stepped forward. "Because I think I can help you."

​Tessik's eyes shifted toward her. "You're nothing but a young human."

​"Yes."

​"Can humans even weave?"

​"Apparently. I made a few inches of silk yesterday. It was lumpy." Hania paused. "But I'm learning."

​Unexpectedly, Tessik's mandibles curved into a smile. "Lumpy silk is better than no silk."

​"Words to live by." Hania knelt beside the bed. "May I examine your spinnerets?"

​Tessik extended her abdomen slightly. The bandages were stained black. Hania carefully unwrapped one and winced.

​The spinneret was a ruin. The delicate organ was cracked and oozing. The mana channels beneath the surface were dark and sluggish.

​Hania reached out with her senses, the way she had learned to sense her own mana. She traced the channels from the spinneret up into Tessik's body.

​It was worse than she'd expected.

​The rot wasn't just in the spinnerets. It had spread through the entire mana network. The nodes at every major joint were infected, the channels between them clogged with crystallized mana.

​"How are you still alive?" Hania whispered.

​"Stubbornness," Tessik smiled.

​Hania sat back on her heels. Her mind was racing, mapping the damage, tracing the pathways, and finding solutions.

​The orb pulsed beside her. She's really sick. I can feel it from here. Her mana is... sad.

​Yes, Hania thought back. But it's not dead yet. There's still a spark.

​She turned to Arachnia. "I need three things."

​The professor's eyes narrowed. "Name them."

​"First, a detailed map of Tessik's mana network. Every node, every channel, every point of damage. I need to see the full picture."

​"Second?"

​"Second, a practice subject. A spider with early-stage silk rot. Someone whose network I can study without the risk of—" She paused. "—complications."

​Arachnia's mandibles clicked. "You mean someone you can experiment on without killing."

​"I mean someone whose damage is less severe so I can practice the infusion technique before I try it on Tessik."

​"And the third?"

​Hania took a breath. "I need a full vial of undiluted fermented fungal sap."

​Arachnia fell deep into thought. "The sap is a controlled substance. In its undiluted form, it's toxic to spiders. Only the most experienced healers are permitted to handle it."

​"I know."

​"Then why do you need it?"

​Hania looked at Tessik, then back at Arachnia. "Because I think the sap and the mana infusion need to work together. The sap stabilizes the immediate damage. The infusion repairs the underlying channels. But if I use diluted sap, the stabilization won't hold long enough for the repair to take."

​Arachnia looked at her with shock. "That's... not a method anyone has tried."

​"That's because no one has thought of it before."

​The professor went silent for a moment. Then, slowly, she nodded.

​"You'll have your map by tomorrow morning. The practice subject will be arranged. As for the sap..." She paused. "I'll acquire it. But if you fail, Princess, you will not only lose Tessik. You will lose the trust of every spider in this kingdom."

​"I know."

​"Do you?"

​Hania met her eyes. "I know what's at stake. But I know that if I don't try, Tessik will die a slow death as her own mana suffocates her." She stood. "I'm not going to let that happen."

​Arachnia's mandibles curved into something that might have been respect. "Let's do that then."

​The orb waited until Arachnia had left before speaking.

​You're really going to do this.

​"Yes. That's the plan."

​Could you please think twice?

​Hania paused. She turned to look at the orb. It was still hovering at a maintained distance.

​"You want to help?"

​I can sense mana. So... I could... guide you while you work.

​Hania's throat tightened. "Orb, I—"

​I know you didn't mean what you said, you were just overwhelmed. I know you have your friend now, and you don't need me.

​"That's not true."

​It's a little true.

​"It's not." Hania reached out and cupped the orb in her hands. "Listen, orb... Um... The thing is... It’s a complicated thing to explain. Even I don't know how to handle things sometimes. All of these things, feelings, people, and connections are new to me. So I'm not very good at handling things or putting them into words. But know this: you are not a useless orb, you are one of my friends. So... Please forgive me. I shouldn’t have hurt you."

​The orb pulsed weakly, trembling. That's fine. That friend must be very important to you, seeing as you even called him by his name, unlike some nameless orb. But I am satisfied as long as I can stay with you.

​That was the moment Hania realized how she always addressed it simply as an orb. Even a wildflower had a name. She remembered how a name is important for existence.

​"Orb, I... I—"

​Hania, aren’t you late? The orb slipped free from Hania's hand and moved toward the door. You shouldn’t dwell on useless matters. Hurry up.

​Hania felt like she lost her voice to call it back. So, she just followed the orb.

​★★★

​The next day, Hania sat in the Academy's study chamber with a fresh map of Tessik's mana network spread before her.

​It was worse than she'd thought.

​The damage wasn't random. The rot had followed a pattern, spreading along the major channels. The nodes at Tessik's joints were the worst. The spinnerets were the final stage, but the real damage had started months, maybe years, earlier.

​She's been sick for a long time, the orb observed. She just didn't notice until it was too late.

​"Silk rot is insidious," Hania murmured. "It starts slow. By the time the symptoms are obvious, the damage is extensive."

​Can you fix it?

​"I don't know." Hania traced a channel with her finger. "The crystalline blockages are the problem. If I infuse mana directly into them, they might shatter. But if they shatter wrong, they'll send shards through her entire network."

​And that would be bad.

​"That would be fatal." She sat back. "I need to dissolve the crystals, not shatter them. That's what the sap is for. It breaks down the crystallized mana. But it's toxic in large doses."

​So you need to use just enough sap to dissolve the crystals, but not enough to poison her.

​"Exactly." Hania rubbed her temples. "And I need to do it while simultaneously infusing mana to repair the channels. It's like... like defusing a bomb while rebuilding it at the same time."

​That sounds impossible.

​"It's not impossible. It's just very, very difficult."

​Hania looked at the map. "I have to do it."

​Three hours later, Hania stood in a smaller medical chamber with her practice subject.

​Her name was Nettle. She was young, only fifty years old, and her silk rot was in the early stages. A few damaged nodes and channels, nothing life-threatening yet.

​"You're the Princess," Nettle said, her voice awed.

​"I am."

​"You're going to fix me?"

​"I'm going to try." Hania knelt beside her. "But I need you to understand that this is experimental. It might hurt, and it might not work. And if something goes wrong—"

​"You might explode me."

​Hania winced. "You heard about that."

​"Yeah. The medical students have been talking about nothing else." Nettle's mandibles curved. "I'm not scared."

​"You should be."

​"I've been a weaver for thirty years and produced silk for the Queen's private chambers, and the nursery where the spiderlings learn to weave." Nettle's eyes gleamed. "I've contributed. If I die today, I die knowing that my silk will outlive me."

​Hania stared at her. "That's... very noble."

​"It's very spider. We don't fear death. We fear being forgotten."

​The orb pulsed beside her. She's brave. I like her.

​Me too. Hania took a breath. "Okay. Let's begin."

​She reached out with her senses, tracing Nettle's mana network. She reached for the vial of undiluted sap, carefully measured a single drop onto a silk swab, and applied it to the first damaged node.

​The crystal dissolved instantly. The node flickered, mana flowing through it again.

​"One down," Hania murmured. "Now the infusion."

​She reached for her own mana, the silver-purple threads in her core. She guided them toward Nettle's node, threading them through the damaged channels.

​It was like threading a needle with a rope. Her mana was too strong and fast. She needed to slow it down, to match the delicate rhythm of Nettle's network.

​"Easy," she whispered to herself. "Easy..."

​The threads responded. They slowed, thinning, until they matched the exact frequency of Nettle's mana. Then, gently, they began to repair the damage.

​The channel glowed. The node brightened. Nettle gasped.

​"That... that feels..."

​"Good?"

​"Warm. Like sunlight in the deep caves." Nettle's voice trembled. "I haven't felt that in years."

​Hania smiled. She moved to the next node.

​By the end of the hour, she had repaired three nodes and two channels. Nettle's mana network was already stronger, the flow smoother, the damage reversing.

​"I did it," Hania breathed. "I actually did it."

​You did! The orb pulsed excitedly. You fixed her!

​"Not completely. But the foundation is there." Hania sat back, exhausted. "With regular infusions, she'll make a full recovery within a month."

​Nettle was crying. All eight eyes were streaming with tears.

​"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you, Princess. I can weave again. I can feel it. The silk is... it's coming back."

​Hania squeezed her leg gently. "You're welcome."

​Professor Arachnia appeared in the doorway.

​"Well?"

​"It worked." Hania held up the map, now marked with successful repairs. "The technique is viable. I repaired three nodes in an hour. At this rate, Tessik's network could be fully restored in two lunar cycles."

​Arachnia stepped forward and examined Nettle's network herself. Her mandibles clicked in astonishment.

​"The crystals are gone. The channels are repaired. Even the mana flow is stable." She looked at Hania. "This is... unprecedented."

​"I had a good teacher."

​"I didn't teach you this."

​"No. But you taught Lusha. And she taught me that impossible things are just things no one has tried yet."

​Arachnia went silent for a moment. Then, unexpectedly, she laughed.

​"You're going to change everything."

​"That's the plan."