~Chapter 2- Petri's Training~

Petri's woods was populated by trees with black bark and blue leaves and was home to many of the Arachna people. They were characterized by four spider-like arms which sprouted from their backs, pincered palps around their mouths, and the ability to expel webbing from their hands.

In their time in the Lands of Ranuulo, Aero, Jirro, and Valr had been living among them. They were greeted by the soothing voice of Gweneva, a young Arachna woman. She had a white and black body, with light blue accents across her.

"Time to go boys!" Gweneva said, hanging upside down from a strand of web attached to a nearby tree. Aero hopped to his feet, eager for the trip they had planned.

The three Ralosian boys left their home and headed off with Gweneva, traveling through the branches of the trees, high above the ground. At the southern end of the woods, they found Petri.

Petri was climbing a tall tree when they found him, his red and blue body popping out from the environment. As soon as he saw the youths, he jumped off the tree with a flip and landed directly in front of them.

"How're you all feeling about this?" Petri asked. Aero and the others gave affirmative nods.

Petri squatted on a rock near them. He always seemed to be testing his flexibility. "Alright, I need you all to be very careful out there. Ants are powerful creatures. One slip up, and it could be over."

Aero and the others nodded again.

"Alright. Let's get going!" Petri turned to the south. There was a mountain of dirt and stone that they had come to call 'the Ant hill'.

As Aero and the others walked, he looked at his cousin, "Jirro, you fought an ant before, right?"

Jirro shook his head, "It wasn't a fight. I found one, but I did all I could just to run away. But that was a long time ago."

Petri glanced back at them, "I'm not going to have you bring one down on your own. That'd be irresponsible of me. You four are going to work together."

Aero and the others traveled through the desolate landscape. Valr levitated off the ground and flew alongside them. When there was a sturdy and tall object, Petri and Gweneva would shoot a strand of webbing at it and swing from it. Meanwhile, Aero and Jirro jogged on the ground.

Petri slowed down his movements as they reached the Anthill. Aero could feel the ground beneath them shake slightly. On the mountain he could see giant creatures with six thin legs, segmented bodies, and pincers on their heads. Ants. It had to have been at least 10 times larger than any of them. They drove their pincers into the earth and burrowed down.

Petri guided them through the mountain to a position he deemed 'safe enough'. He looked over a ridge and saw an ant on its own.

"Okay kids, what's your plan for bringing one of them down?" Petri asked.

Aero looked at Jirro. He was good at planning.

Jirro peered at the ant before turning to the rest of them, "Okay... It looks like its legs are its weakest point, and those pincers are the main thing to look out for. Valr, I think you should distract it out front, Gweneva can web it up from the sides to restrain it. Aero and I will come up from behind and go for its legs. Once it's down, Valr can finish it off with a Focus Beam."

"Why am I the distraction?" Valr asked behind folded arms.

"You can fly," Jirro replied.

Valr paused and looked down at the ground he was levitating above, "Fair enough."

Gweneva's eyes narrowed and looked to Petri for approval, "What do you think?"

Petri shrugged, "Sounds like a good plan to me. I'll be right here though in case something goes wrong."

Aero and Jirro moved through the mountain quietly, circling behind the unaware ant. Gweneva took her place higher up the mountain, ready to swoop down when her time came.

Valr glided through the air and stopped a few meters away from the ant. He waved his arms and caught the insect's attention. It began to snap at him, but Valr flew just out of reach.

Gweneva swung overhead and began to expel bursts of webbing at the ant's legs to restrain it. Aero and Jirro moved in. The two kicked the back legs of the creature in sync with one another, and its legs buckled.

Aero and Jirro went after the next set of legs while Gweneva webbed down the toppled creature.

Once it was flat on its stomach, Valr moved in and pointed his finger at the ant's forehead. A thin purple beam of light emerged from his finger. The insect writhed for a moment before going limp.

"Well done kids!" Petri hollered from a distance. Jirro's plan worked! This should feed the people in the woods for a good while.

Aero felt a tremor in the ground beneath them. The earth began to shift, and from it burst another ant, snapping its pincers viciously. Before he could properly react, the ant was charging at him. But rather than run, he stood ready to fight.

Petri zipped past Aero and landed on the back of the ant. He shot two strands of webbings from each of his hands at the front of the insect and pulled hard, torquing its head back harshly. The ant snapped its pincers even more frantically.

Petri did one violent pull of the webs. There was a loud SNAP, and the ant went limp. Aero could only smile in disbelief; Petri managed to kill it all on his own.

Petri and Gweneva wrapped both ants into cocoons of webbing, and the group dragged their bodies back to the woods. Aero and Gweneva pulled along one of the bodies while Jirro and Valr pulled the other. Aero gritted his teeth and dug his foot into the ground to pull the weight of the creature. He considered it good strength training.

"Petri," Gweneva began, "You must be the strongest Arachna in the world!"

"I'm not one to brag," Petri said casually.

Aero didn't want to leave it at that, "Do you think you're the strongest Arachna?"

Petri's pace slowed, "Maybe... There is one who might be stronger than me. An old... acquaintance of mine named Edi. He's one of King Zantii's Generals now."

"What about King Zantii?" Aero asked, "How strong is he?"

"I've never met him, but I've heard of him being ruthless. He claims he's the strongest person in the world, but so did every king before him," Petri explained.

The group returned to Petri's woods, and the people there made quick work of the ants. They carved them up and began distributing it among the residents.

Aero had grown accustomed to the food they ate here, but he did look forward to getting back to the Lands of Ralosia. He missed the food back home. He missed his sister, his dad, and his friends too. He missed his dog Hopper, who was no doubt wondering where he was. Aero told himself that when he finally returned, he'd be so strong that no one would ever be able to hurt the people he cared about ever again.

After the meal, Aero challenged Jirro and the others to a race, "Let's see who can get to the tallest tree first!"

Valr was content to sit out of the competition, but Jirro and Gweneva heeded the call. After a countdown, the three hurried up through the trees. Aero jumped high, grabbed onto a sturdy branch, and pulled himself up by it, propelling him further up.

Aero jumped from branch to branch, scaling the height of the trees before finally emerging at the top. Jirro followed close behind. He was sure he won until he saw Gweneva comfortably perched at the top of one.

"Took you long enough." She shook her head. Aero smirked, telling himself 'I'll win next time'.

He took a chance to look at the view around them when something caught his eye. To the east he could see Dontown. But further beyond that he could see the purple Denomi Sea.

On the sea were masses drifting across the water. A great many black ships with white sails. On those sails was the emblem of a jagged black sword.

"Who are they?" Aero asked and turned to Gweneva.

Her eyes had widened at the sight of the ships, "It's King Zantii's armada!"