Mel tried to pull the doors closed, but they wouldn¡¯t budge.
¡°Typical.¡± She blew out a strand of dirty blonde hair and limped back into the room. Mel put her back to a corner that let her see the doorway without being immediately visible, in case some monster wandered in as she went over her spoils. Before she could open her inventory, golden lettering flashed in the air.
You earn the Blessing: [Wound Recovery]
[Wound Recovery]
(Blessing, Common)
Being uplifted is difficult. Even the most prepared races falter at first. To that end, the Shard provides a Blessing to all new souls once they take a wound. Minor and moderate wounds that would normally limit maximum health and healing will now recover over time, provided they are not afflicted. This Blessing only lasts until you reach Copper Rank.
Imprint: While Mundane rank, all wounds that are not severe, fatal, or afflicted, will slowly recover over time. Proper care speeds up recovery.
Holy shit, that¡¯s pretty awesome, Mel thought to herself. My own invisible doctor to sew up all my ouchies. She chuckled, then winced and held her ribs. I sure as hell need it. I wonder if I¡¯m the first person to get wounded? On that note, where the hell is everybody else?
She could feel her wounds knitting, further backed up by the slim red bar she took to be her health. What was odd, however, was that it had several jagged slashes at random intervals.
No, not random. Each one is a wound.
Instead of emptiness beyond the red filling heath bar as she expected, there was a cross-hatched design filling the remainder of the bar.
That can¡¯t be good.
As her health ticked back up, it bumped into one of those jagged marks over her health bar at around 35%. The mark burned brightly, then fizzled out. At the same time, Mel could feel an intense itching sensation from her ribs.
The jagged mark over her health bar burned to ash and vanished, allowing her health to continue rising. Mel took her hand away, still tacky with blood, but when she pulled her coat open to look at the wound, all she saw was fresh pink skin. Her emerald green eyes widened in wonder as the pink scar tissue shrank and shrank until it vanished completely, leaving nothing but blood-stained skin.
All over her body, wounds vanished. Cracked bones knitted back together, cuts closed on their own, deep bruises disappeared.
I was more busted up than I thought¡
During the rush of the fighting and her initial arrival, she hadn¡¯t taken much interest in the other resource bars.
She did notice them appear during the fight with the monster, but only an idiot would have let herself get distracted at such a critical moment.
Now, however, Mel gave them a good hard look.
They were layered on top of each other in the bottom left corner of her vision. A red bar for health on top, a blue bar she guessed was mana since it was a sliver from being full, and a third green bar that was at half and filling fast.
¡°That has to be stamina, right?¡± Usually, Mel didn¡¯t make a habit of talking to herself. But you try waking up in the middle of a crypt buried alive and then forced to fight a mist monster without anybody to talk to.
Hearing her own voice was vastly better than silence.
She looked at the three bars and concentrated, hoping she could adjust them somehow because their current orientation was confusing as hell.
It took a few moments. Her health continued to tick up slowly while her stamina and mana completely filled and disappeared, confirming her earlier theory.
Eventually, she got the hang of it. Mel placed her health in the bottom-left, her mana bottom-middle, and her stamina bottom-right. That way, when they appeared, she would know exactly which was being drained without having to even look.
Glancing around the boss room to make sure there wasn¡¯t a new threat to her relative safety, Mel was startled by a flash of Shardscript.
You earn the Title: [Boss Rash].
[Boss Rash]
(Title, Legendary)
While others were duking it out with fluffy rabbits, cute hedgehogs from hell, rabid squirrels, and oversized lizards, you brazenly challenged a Boss monster as your first opponent before anyone else in the competition. For your rashness, your opening attack on Boss monsters now deals dramatically increased damage with a heightened critical hit rate.
As a Legendary title, it is eligible for additional growth should you satisfy specific requirements. Additionally, should you be slain, this title will be transferred to the victor.
Mel looked the title over closely. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be surprised if people try to kill me for this.¡±
Then again, that meant if she killed somebody, she would get their Legendary titles. Which was definitely the silver-lining to a murderous incentive.
¡°Good to know that I¡¯ll probably need to be wary of skilled people.¡± Normal people probably wouldn¡¯t have a Legendary title. The title explicitly mentioned it could be transferred because it was Legendary. In Mel¡¯s eyes, that meant she was probably safe around normies. She would need to keep a watchful eye on anybody who showed a modicum of skill.
¡°Assuming there are any people here,¡± she said, activating her silversteel ring with a thread of mana.
A blue bar flashed into existence in the bottom-middle of her vision and then quickly vanished as it filled back up.
Inside the expanded space of her inventory, Mel found the new items. It was a nice touch that they went straight in without needing to be picked up, but she could see how it might cause inventory woes in the future.
There were only two new items in there. A pile of wispy-looking coins, and a black-iron lantern.
She reached into her inventory and took out a coin, turning it over in her fingers. Dried blood flaked off and fizzled against the coin¡¯s slick surface.
[Mist Coin]
(Copper Rank, Item)
(Uncommon)
An overwhelming condensation of Mist mana in the shape of a coin. Exceedingly light, this coin is cool and damp to the touch, as if it might fade away at any moment.
Imprint: Use to reinforce the Grade of an attribute and aspect skills bound to Mist aspect, up to Copper Rank.
¡°Sure, that¡¯d be great!¡± she said with forced cheeriness. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯d use, if I had Mist aspect !¡±
Mel chucked the coin into her inventory. The way it bounced around the gray space made it apparent how few possessions she owned. She probably could have put the coins in her coat, but she felt more comfortable using the ring¡¯s inventory.
She took out the lantern next.
[Ghostflame Lantern]
(Copper Rank, Item)
(Rare)
An ancient, heretical lantern left twisted and disused for Ages at the bottom of a long-forgotten tomb. Ghostflame, birthed from burning the bones of the dead, retains a powerful link to the departed, reacting to the presence of the disturbed dead.
The ghostflame within burns with a cold, brilliant light. Its light grows when in unnatural darkness.
Imprint: Infuse with mana to ignite. Additional mana can be used to increase luminosity.
After using her ring a few times, she was more than comfortable using her mana on the lantern. The pile of suspiciously small bones at its center burst alight with a pale flame similar to the torches in the room she woke up in.
It took her significantly longer to find a spot on her coat to hook the lantern. Once she did, it magically attached without any further input from her.
¡°Now what?¡± She was clearly at the bottom of a tomb filled with more monsters. Her health was going up slowly, but¡wait, what was that?
Squinting, though she realized she didn¡¯t need to, Mel focused on her health bar. Without the other two bars cluttering it up, she noticed several small symbols beneath it. Each one was tied to a small thread linked to one of the jagged marks on her health bar. One was an image of a leg with an ¡°X¡± on it, and a red blood droplet with the number 3 next to it.
Oddly enough, that was the precise area her health was stalled at. It didn¡¯t seem to heal this wound on its own for some reason. Why was that?
Affliction: [Bleeding (3)]
¡°Oh, shit. No wonder.¡± Her blessing specifically stated that it only healed wounds that weren¡¯t severe or afflicted.
Mel reached down to the hem of her dress and ripped off a strip. It wasn¡¯t hard, even with her shaking fingers. She created a makeshift bandage out of the silky cloth.
The wound on her left leg was the most severe. It bled profusely, far more than it should have. Even considering it didn¡¯t have anything to cover it when the monster clawed her calf, the cuts were pouring out an alarming amount of blood. She tied off the bandage with a practiced hand.
The pain lessened. She breathed a sigh of relief. It took focusing on her red-soaked bandage to bring up the Shardscript again.
Affliction: [Bleeding (2)]
¡°So I¡¯m getting somewhere.¡±
After a few more minutes, her bleed affliction dropped off entirely. As soon as it did, the jagged line overlaid upon her health¡ªthe final wound marker¡ªvanished.
Her health recovered at a glacial place, but she was confident she could get back to a full bar.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Mel deliberated between opening up the Emporium or making her way out of this horrible place. She had earned battle points, but would it be enough for anything good?
I don¡¯t even know how many I¡¯ve earned.
A monster wandering in made the decision for her.
The walking suit of plate armor was held together with spectral glowing blue mist. Red burning eyes glared at her through a visored helm.
Mel rose unsteadily to her feet. ¡°Sure hope you¡¯re going to drop some good loot.¡±
The Mist monster¡¯s axe chopped into Mel¡¯s twinblade just as it appeared in a swirl of ash.
She blocked the blow with surprising ease. Mel pushed off its axe, then snapped a kick into its knee, and immediately regretted it.
Kicking armor with bare feet hurt.
Like any well-adjusted 20-something, Mel transferred that pain into unfettered rage. She yelled and twisted her twinblade around to cleave into its armor.
It was a shock at how easily the blade sheared through the spectral mist. The armored suit¡¯s arm dropped to the ground, complete with the axe it had been holding.
Mel reversed the cut and sliced up into its midsection. The metal breastplate had clearly seen better days, because Mel¡¯s attack cleaved halfway into the breastplate before it stopped.
Even then, Mel had more than enough leverage to twist and wrench the twinblade with all her might, cracking open the breastplate like a crab shell.
The pieces of metal fell to the ground, revealing a glowing core of light where its heart would otherwise be. Without hesitation, Mel stepped forward and stabbed her twinblade at the mass. The orb cracked like glass and shattered.
The spectral light of the monster vanished, causing its disparate armor pieces to fall to the ground with a clatter.
You defeat the [Wandering Mist Soldier (Mundane Rank)].
You gain runes of experience.
You gain Battle Points.
Quest Update: Tales From the Crypt
Objective: Defeat or sneak past every monster on your way to freedom (1/12).
Reward: [Aspect Gem (Rare)]
Additional Objective: Defeat every monster within this Hero¡¯s Tomb (1/12).
Reward: Bonus runes of experience.
Mel couldn¡¯t help but notice how much easier that fight was compared to the last one. Maybe the runes are beefing me up without changing my stats somehow?
She nudged the collection of armor with a foot, bringing up the loot option again.
(1) [Pair of Rustwing Boots] has been stored in your inventory.
(2) [Copper Rune Coins] have been stored in your inventory.
Wasting no time, Mel opened up her inventory and pulled out the pair of low-cut boots. She wasn¡¯t thrilled about sticking her bare feet into a pair of boots previously inhabited by a ghost, but with her toes still hurting from the kick, she didn¡¯t have much choice.
[Rustwing Boots]
(Copper Rank, Armor)
(Uncommon)
A pair of well-used boots belonging to the Rustwing Company of old. Known for their swift flanking maneuvers, the Rustwings served the Old Lord with grace and skill until they were betrayed and cut down by the very lord they served. An echo of the past wearer¡¯s Deeds has been instilled in these boots, improving their parameters.
Imprint: Raises movement speed on difficult terrain.
¡°Uncommon rarity? Not bad.¡±
Not that Mel had a good grasp on the differences between rarities. Nothing so far had formally introduced them to her.
The boots were strangely comfortable, as if they were sized just for her. The soles were padded with a plush material most shoe businesses would make a killing from.
At least she wouldn¡¯t accidentally break her toes now, and the imprint on them seemed interesting but tricky to test. What exactly counted as difficult terrain?
She looked back over the last message she received and frowned. ¡°Still not telling me how many Battle Points I get, huh?¡±
Mel squared her shoulders and tightened her grip on the twinblade. Without any aspect, she didn¡¯t imagine the Emporium was of much use to her.
She was tired of waiting for monsters to come and get her. With her health at over two-thirds full, she figured it was now or never.
Mel stepped out of the door and took the narrow bridge one step at a time. A pile of armor on the far side glowed with Mist magic, causing Mel to abandon all caution and sprint across the bridge.
She crashed her twinblade into the rising form and brutally clubbed it to death before it even had a chance to stand up straight. ¡°One more down, ten to go.¡±
***
Caught between two ghostly stagecoaches rushing up and down the wide sloping avenues out of the tomb, Mel twisted and spun her twinblade to deflect the pair of approaching mist creatures.
The stagecoaches, right out of Victorian times, rushed past in a gust of frigid air, each moving in a different direction. She had seen firsthand what happened when something was in front of them. Though they looked like mist, they were as solid as a freight train.
And hit just as hard.
Mel raised her twinblade and blocked a rusty scimitar aimed at her neck. Sparks flew from the contact. She counted silently in her head, twisted on the balls of her feet, and held her twinblade up to deflect another blow from a different monster.
Just as she finished her countdown, with the first monster lining up its next attack, Mel mule kicked as hard as she could. Her boot connected solidly with the breastplate of the mist creature behind her. At the same time, she thrust her twinblade out, using it like a hockey stick to shove the monster in front of her.
The Mist monsters tumbled into the oncoming path of the speeding stagecoaches.
They broke apart into pieces.
Quest Update: Tales From the Crypt
Objective: Defeat or sneak past every monster on your way to freedom (10/12).
Reward: [Aspect Gem (Rare)]
Additional Objective: Defeat every monster within this Hero¡¯s Tomb (10/12).
Reward: Bonus runes of experience.
As much as Mel wanted to retrieve their loot, the stagecoaches didn¡¯t give her much time. It wasn¡¯t worth the risk. Getting hit by one of those would be a death sentence.
Mel should know. She used them often enough to kill the creatures she came across.
Wounded and tired, Mel used her twinblade like a walking stick to make it the rest of the way to the upper section.
She had gone through three levels already, each one filled with a collection of monsters. They were always facing away, clearly expecting intruders to enter from above. It was one of Mel¡¯s only advantages. Some wore armor¨Cthose were easier to kill¨Cwhile others were more like the boss she first killed.
It took her a while to realize she still had a source of fire, and with the [Ghostflame Lantern¡¯s] help, she was able to burn them just as easily. In fact, the white flame of the lantern seemed eager to destroy the mist creatures.
She often used that to her advantage, twisting the hip with the lantern out front to force the wraiths to reposition.
The ghostly stagecoaches thundered past just like dozens of times before. She reached the flat rise where the stagecoaches turned around and raced back down in an eternal circuit. Instead of finding another level to the tomb, Mel found a door past the stagecoach¡¯s path.
The entryway was littered with broken bones, rusted armor, and age-worn statues.
She waited for the stagecoach closest to the door to pass, then walked up to the entry. ¡°It can¡¯t be this easy.¡±
The doors were splintered and banded with rusted iron. Her lantern flickered fitfully, as if it could feel a strong gust of wind blowing into the tomb that she could not.
Mel grasped the two iron rings and pulled, bringing in a gust of deliciously fresh and humid air full of life and green things from outside.
Quest Complete: Tales from the Crypt
Objective: Defeat or sneak past every monster in your way to freedom (12/12).
Reward: [Aspect Gem (Rare)]
Additional Objective: Defeat every monster within this Hero¡¯s Tomb (10/12).
Reward: Bonus runes of experience.
¡°Hold up. What about the last two monsters?¡±
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Mel realized what they were. The two monsters had been rattling alongside her, racing up and down the tomb the entire way. Just because they weren¡¯t attacking her didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t monsters.
The stagecoaches.
She looked up at the roof of the tomb. ¡°Eat a buffet of dicks, tomb.¡±
(1) [Aspect Gem (Rare)] has been stored in your inventory.
Mel immediately opened up her inventory to see what all this aspect fuss was about. Waiting inside, next to a growing pile of both [Mist Coins] and [Copper Rune Coins], was a faceted gem the size of a softball.
She pulled it out, watching with interest as thin tendrils of fog drifted between her fingertips. The gem was nearly weightless, but she could feel a steady heartbeat of power within.
¡°Maybe this is what I need to defeat the stagecoaches?¡± She paused, then continued in a sarcastic tone. ¡°Yeah right, Mel, mist is totally going to help with that.¡±
[Mist Aspect Gem]
(Aspect Item)
(Rare)
A distilled manifestation of Mist Aspect in the form of a raw gem. Tendrils of fog crawl beneath the rough surface, obscuring a hidden realm captured within the crystal.
Imprint: Use to bind [Mist Aspect] to an attribute.
Mel stared into the jewel¡¯s depths for longer than she meant to. The thing was beyond beautiful. The fog was constantly moving as if it were alive.
It was a million times more captivating than those little incense waterfalls she remembered seeing in gift shops as a kid.
Do you wish to bind [Mist Aspect] to an attribute?
¡°I sure as hell do,¡± Mel told the system.
Please select an attribute to bind: Strength, Agility, Vigor, Sense, Arcane.
Mel had no idea what she should pick. There was no telling what binding an aspect did. Which, in a weird sort of way, freed her from deliberation. If she had no idea what it did, then there was no wrong move to make.
Aspects were clearly important, and she wasn¡¯t going to waste her time trying to decide. ¡°Anything worth doing is worth half-assing,¡± she announced to herself.
Mel selected agility. Not only because her class specialized in it, but because something about Mist being paired with agility felt right.
Are you sure you wish to bind [Mist Aspect] to Agility? This choice cannot be undone.
¡°Way to trigger a girl,¡± Mel said with a snort. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure!¡±
The gem dissolved into a pool of mist in her hand. She felt the cold, damp air of the first autumn morning filling her veins. She dropped her twinblade and fell to her knees, screaming as the pain ratcheted up to untold levels.
It felt as if her bones would shatter like brittle icicles. Miraculously, they held as her knees hit the floor. Her blood froze, agony crawling up and down her veins with icy dread.
Fighting to remain conscious, Mel snarled defiantly and spat out every curse she knew (and a few she made up on the spot) until eventually, the pain began to recede.
It felt like a year, but it couldn¡¯t have been any longer than a few seconds. By the time she blinked her tear-filled eyes, the pain was gone. In its place was a wellspring of power.
You bind [Mist Aspect] to your [Agility] attribute.
Your [Agility (Mist)] advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 0)].
You awaken the [Hidden Mist] Mist aspect skill.
¡°Sweet,¡± Mel said, rising to her feet and taking a step forward.
That was all she was able to do before darkness closed in around her and the floor rushed up to greet her. She was out cold before she hit the ground.
Chapter 3 – Hidden Mist
Groaning in pain and soreness, Mel awoke with a start. She thrashed around, trying to defend herself, before she realized that nothing was attacking her. She was safe.
For a given value of ¡°safe¡±.
¡°What the hell happened?¡± She put a hand to her head. It came away sticky with old blood. A quick look at her health bar didn¡¯t show any new status effects, wound markers, or much of anything, so she figured it was just a standard old injury.
At least this way I can see if I get a concussion, Mel thought to herself as she sat upright.
Using the wall for balance, Mel got to her feet and took stock. Judging by the bright light filtering through the canopy of trees outside, she hadn¡¯t been out very long.
That was a good sign.
Curious, Mel checked her status.
[Mel Harper]
Race: Human
Standing: [#N/A] Exile (G-League) [1st Echelon]
Class: Mystic
Rank: Mundane
Next Rank: Copper (20%)
[==Attributes==]
Strength [No Aspect Bound]: Mundane (Grade 0)
Agility [Mist Aspect]: Copper (Grade 0)
Vigor [No Aspect Bound]: Mundane (Grade 0)
Sense [No Aspect Bound]: Mundane (Grade 0)
Arcane [No Aspect Bound]: Mundane (Grade 0)
[==Aspects==]
[Mist Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 0)
¡ñ [Hidden Mist] (Grade 0)
Mel nearly pumped her fist in excitement. Though there were still many questions left unanswered, she understood at least one thing: binding an aspect was important if she wanted her stats to get out of Mundane rank.
And in a place full of monsters eager to kill Mel, that was priority number one.
Despite feeling like she had just gone ten rounds in a boxing ring after a weeklong bender, Mel could tell she was lighter and faster on her feet.
She shuffled her feet back and forth, amazed at the ease and speed while she punched in short, fast jabs in the air.
¡°Damn, I could whoop Ali¡¯s ass and look fine as hell doing it,¡± she said, conveniently ignoring that she was over a foot shorter than the famous boxer.
¡°The Mist aspect!¡± she cried, suddenly remembering.
Blazing in front of her eyes was her very first Mist aspect skill.
[Hidden Mist]
(Mist Aspect)
(Copper, Green/Spell)
(Grade 0 [0%])
Cost: Modest Mana
Cooldown: Moderate
Shroud an area in mist, obscuring the vision of your enemies and making them easy prey.
Imprint(Copper Rank): Create a layer of obfuscating fog that you and any allies you designate can see through. Area affected by fog is considered difficult terrain. Mana cost increases as the area of fog increases. Additional mana may be expended to illuminate the fog from within.
Mel held her hand out and made a few motions with her fingers. She didn¡¯t know why she did, but it felt right. As if she had done this a million times before.
Unfortunately, nothing happened.
¡°Hm.¡±
She tried several times before eventually giving up. Mel was glad that the only witnesses to her failure were the two ghostly stagecoaches. No matter what Mel did, they charged up and down the ramps in their eternal circuit inside the Hero¡¯s Tomb. At one point, she began to flail her arms like a flightless bird.
That was when she knew she was on the wrong track.
¡°Let¡¯s try this again,¡± she muttered to herself. Despite a lack of any status effect telling her something was wrong with her brain, she knew something wasn¡¯t right.
Her memories came in fits and starts, though she guessed being locked in a sarcophagus and deprived of oxygen might have had some lingering effects.
Mel moved past it, aware somewhere deep inside that she had always done that when the going got tough.
This place was dangerous. She needed to focus on surviving. Learning how to use that aspect spell could help with that.
Mel refocused herself, standing tall (for a given value of ¡°tall¡±) and upright with her palms pressed together in a meditative pose. When she looted monsters, there was a tingling feeling in her middle. It was the same way when she bound the aspect and when she opened her magical inventory.
Following that line of logic, Mel found the wellspring of Mist within and threaded a tendril of mana toward it. The moment she did, something huge and hungry tugged at her soul and the ground wobbled beneath her feet.
At first, she thought it was an earthquake, but later realized it was her own unsteadiness as she tapped into her Mist aspect for the first time.
Aspect Skill: [Hidden Mist]
Cold fog pooled around Mel¡¯s ankles, creating glistening patches on the stone floor. In the span of a few heartbeats, she was completely enshrouded in a chilly mist. It spread out in every direction, seeking to fill every void in the tomb.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
The mist rolled out of the doorway in one direction, and deeper down into the tomb in the other. Mel could see through the mist as if it wasn¡¯t even there, yet she was completely aware of it at the same time.
Weird.
Glittering patches gathered on the age-worn statues, and sarcophagi lining the walls in alcoves.
¡°Cool.¡± Mel whispered.
Stepping forward, she only made it a few steps before she nearly swooned, stepped on a patch of slick stone, and fell flat onto her back.
Stars popped in front of her eyes when her head cracked against the stone, but the pain was only temporary. Worse by far was the lightheadedness she felt.
Judging by the thin sliver of blue remaining in the bottom-middle of her vision, her mana was nearly empty. And still draining.
¡°Forgot to turn it off,¡± she groaned to herself.
It was the work of a moment to halt it, which gladly didn¡¯t force the mist to dissipate. Instead, it hung around. Its constant outward expansion was halted.
¡°Good to know,¡± Mel said, getting to her feet. She avoided the slick patches this time. An easy enough task, since she could see through the mist.
She could feel where the edge of the mist was without even looking. There was a light haze to her vision, a faint brightening that told her she was inside her created mist.
¡°This would be awesome on those sweltering Brooklyn summer days.¡± Mel stepped up to the edge of the ramp and froze, mostly from the sudden memory of playing in the spray of a fire hydrant, but also because she heard the ghostly stagecoaches rumbling toward her.
She had to find a way to deal with them, but she didn¡¯t see how causing a little mist would let her do that.
A ghostly stagecoach thundered by, its bladed wheels throwing sparks through the mist and rumbling the ground beneath Mel¡¯s feet. She waited for it to halt just short of the wall and to turn around in place, as it always did.
It slammed full speed into the wall. Several pieces of its ghostly timbers and armor lining the coach¡¯s body cracked. Lines of brilliant light shone through the gaps, revealing that there were no passengers within. The stagecoach righted itself and turned around just in time for the second stagecoach to crash into the wall as well.
¡°Oh damn. You all just ate shit worse than me,¡± she said, startled.
Neither stagecoach seemed to care or notice. They never reacted to anything, in fact. She had assumed they were following a specific track like a roaming trap.
It seemed they were relying on sight this entire time.
By the time they were halfway down the ramp to the lower levels, both stagecoaches were no longer damaged.
¡°Something must be healing them,¡± she muttered to herself, making for the middle of the ramp that she used to fight the last two possessed suits of armor.
The stagecoaches had been a huge problem for her initially. That was until she realized they were basically robots.
The damned things didn¡¯t care who or what they ran over, but they also didn¡¯t care to chase her. If she was in their way, they would have crushed her flatter than a crepe. However, if she was just a few inches out of their way, they wouldn¡¯t bother to shift their route to hit her.
They were more like an environmental hazard than a real monster, and she had used them to great effect to help her dispatch the other monsters.
Now, however, she needed to find a way to kill something that she could not fight. The only advantage she had now was her new aspect skill: [Hidden Mist].
First one, then the other stagecoach rumbled past her. There was a faint tug as they streaked by, exhilarating and terrifying all at once. It was similar to the feeling of standing near the edge of a subway platform when a train car rushed by.
Interestingly, Mel noticed that the fog followed her. It was like a massive, flowing cloud with her at the center. That was a pleasant surprise, considering how much mana she used to create it.
In the time it took her to go down several levels, she noticed the mist thinning. It wasn¡¯t eternal. Eventually, it would fade away. She could pull it into a smaller radius, thickening it back up, but it was only a matter of time before it vanished completely.
¡°I can work with that.¡± Mel stood still as the stagecoaches rushed by in different directions. She spun in place as the countervailing currents pulled in different directions, then continued on her way.
Mel¡¯s improved agility, and her [Rustwing Boots] made the trek down much faster. It wasn¡¯t only the lack of monsters, other than the stagecoaches, but her increased speed and confidence.
Ahead, the sloping ramp dropped off into the dark abyss of a gorge from which she could see no bottom. A narrow stone bridge crossed the gap to the boss room she had originally come from.
¡°Hell of a start to an adventure,¡± she said, looking at the bridge and the door beyond. ¡°Who starts at the bottom of a dungeon? Honestly, what a dick move.¡±
Then again, she doubted she would have been strong enough to face the mistwraith at the bottom if she hadn¡¯t snuck up on it. In a fair fight, that thing would have sliced her to ribbons.
Thinking of how she did the mistwraith dirty by cutting off its strength got Mel thinking. There was a way she could deal with the stagecoaches after all.
Focusing, she was able to release [Hidden Mist] entirely. She didn¡¯t trust herself to walk across the narrow bridge and avoid the slick patches her mist made.
Once on the other side, she took a few minutes to let her mana replenish back to full and used [Hidden Mist] again.
This time, she focused on trying to shape it. An impish smile curled on her lips. The mist was as easy to mold as putty in her hands.
Frosty blue mist spread across the bridge and expanded over the gorge.
She could even focus where the slick icy patches formed. The distant thundering of a stagecoach told her that time was running out, so she pushed as much mana into her efforts as possible.
To either side of the narrow bridge, she created large patches of ice. Thick mist consumed a few yards before the drop and hung in the air over it. That last part had been particularly tricky. The mist kept wanting to fall into the gorge.
She had to concentrate to keep the mist in place, which meant her mana was being constantly drained. Denying gravity her due was harder than it looked.
The first stagecoach rushed by, performing its customary route, followed shortly by the other.
The ice cracked and shattered beneath their wheels. The stagecoaches noticed the problem too late. Though they tried to stop, their wheels couldn¡¯t find purchase on the slick ice. One after the other, they plummeted into the darkness.
Mel stared after them. She was shocked that it had worked, then frustrated as she realized her mistake.
¡°Dammit. My loot!¡± There was no way she was getting anything from them now.
She completed the quest, however.
Quest Complete: Tales from the Crypt
Additional Objective: Defeat every monster within this Hero¡¯s Tomb (12/12).
Reward: Bonus runes of experience.
Countless runes riding streaking lines of light rushed out of thin air aimed straight at her heart. Mel summoned her twinblade and nearly struck at them, before she remembered they were not dangerous.
Right, I¡¯ve done this before.
The moment they hit her chest, she understood their purpose. They were power given form. Her veins felt like they were on fire, her face flushed with heat, and her entire body went rigid on the balls of her feet.
Once she regained control of her body, she leaned against the thick doors of the boss room. She couldn¡¯t quite put a finger on the sensation. Exhilarating, yes, but it was also draining. She felt like she had just won a marathon, but that she also ran a damn marathon.
Safe in the knowledge that the monsters in the tomb were dead, Mel allowed herself to slide down the door and sit on the ground. Shardscript flashed across her vision, confirming her suspicions.
You defeat (2) [Grave Stagecoaches (Copper Rank)].
You gain runes of Mist aspect experience.
You gain Battle Points.
Your [Hidden Mist] Mist aspect skill advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 1)].
Your [Agility (Mist)] attribute advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 1)].
Mel leaned her head against the splintery door, right below her old bloody handprint. She smiled and shut her eyes.
Chapter 4 - This isn’t Kansas
Mel stayed in the doorway to the boss room until she recovered enough to feel comfortable moving out from her relatively safe location. With all the monsters dead, and no stagecoaches to run her over, she could take her time inspecting the rest of the tomb.
She found several small caches of loot, but still no pants. Not that it was a dire need. Her coat was more than long enough to cover her, but the fight with the mistwraith had made it clear that she would need them before long.
There were countless offerings to the dead. Mel wasn¡¯t above a little light grave robbing. Especially if their reanimated bones had been trying to kill her an hour ago. Small pouches of coins, and old, rusted items that held no value that she could tell. Still, she took some of the more interesting items that might be useful.
Like the three [Managlass Bottles], their contents long-since drained, and several types of mushrooms that caught her eye. The [Grave Glimshrooms] were hard to miss. Found in the deeper alcoves, they glowed with jarring hues, like they were bathed in black light.
She wouldn¡¯t have picked them up if the system hadn¡¯t made it clear they were safe to eat.
[Grave Glimshroom]
(Copper Rank, Item)
(Common)
This bioluminescent mushroom grows in the darkest, deepest tombs and graves. Despite their colorful glowing caps ranging across the spectrum, they are not toxic. Fungus connoisseurs pay great sums for their favorite hue.
Imprint: When eaten raw, sates hunger, replenishes vital resources, and confers a temporary glow.
While Mel was fairly hungry, she wasn¡¯t about to stuff her face with a suspicious mushroom she found in a grave, no matter what the system said about it.
Not when she might be able to find something outside.
However, there was no use in being too picky . If she couldn¡¯t find something to eat soon, she could eat the mushrooms if she had to. She gathered up every [Grave Glimshroom] that she could find. And since they glowed in the dark, that was pretty damn easy to do.
The other variety of mushroom she found was significantly less appetizing. Which is saying a lot when you¡¯re faced with eating a mushroom that looks radioactive from the way it was glowing.
It didn¡¯t help that [Death Morels] grew on and around the graves rather than nearby.
[Death Morel]
(Copper Rank, Crafting Material)
(Rare)
A honeycomb textured mushroom that grows in areas steeped in Death and the lingering traces of Guilt. Contrary to its name, an overwhelming amount of energy is trapped within its wrinkled flesh. Highly poisonous if eaten raw.
Obviously not eating that either. I might be able to fight monsters with a twinblade and some magic mist, but some kind of funky Death poison? Nah.
Breathing fresh air outside once more, Mel stepped out under the dappled light of the canopy. She looked behind her, realizing how easy it would be to walk right past this place. It was built into the wall of a mountain. There was hardly any ornamentation that would offer a clue that there was something interesting here.
The only thing that told Mel there was something off here (aside from having come out of the damned thing) was that her [Ghostflame Lantern] was flickering and blowing toward it like the flame was being pulled into the tomb.
No matter which way she moved, the flame pointed at the tomb.
¡°Handy. You and me, ghostflame, are going to be grave robbers, I guess.¡±
The lantern flickered in response.
¡°Aight, that¡¯s creepy.¡±
It flickered again.
¡°Listen, I¡¯m not anthropomorphizing a god damned lantern, okay? We¡¯re not doing this.¡±
The flame flickered from white to black, and the snap of a twig pulled Mel¡¯s gaze up from the lantern to a skeletal creature draped in rotten flesh and rags.
¡°Oh.¡± She summoned her twinblade and fit the lantern onto her coat, leaving both her hands free to wield the weapon. She watched as the rotting skeletal creature squelched its way toward her, a rusted spear held in its bony hands.
She grimaced at the sounds, somehow more disturbed by that than the fact it was some kind of undead monster.
¡°I¡¯m killing you just for those gross sounds,¡± Mel told the thing as she waded in with a probing strike.
Pale necromantic fires flared in its empty eye sockets. Some long-buried instinct in Mel had her diving to the side and rolling. At the same time, she threw up [Hidden Mist] just as a jet of pale flame roared from the skeleton¡¯s mouth.
Monster Skill: [Flame Breath]
Had she continued to attack it, she would have been burned alive by that strange flame. Instead, she came around the side. Shrouded in the mist, the skeleton had no idea where she was, and with the icy patches forming on the forest floor, Mel¡¯s boots made her even faster.
Paired with her higher agility, Mel closed the gap in record time. Even if the skeleton had known exactly where she was, she moved far too fast for it to do anything other than die a second death.
Her twinblade came whistling for its ribs, shattering them and its spine on impact. The rest of the body collapsed into a pile of bones. Mel tied off [Hidden Mist], worried that more monsters were around.
She held her twinblade at the ready, poised to strike again. The way her [Ghostflame Lantern] was freaking out told her this wasn¡¯t over.
A moment later, pale streams of wispy light drifted up from the jittering pile of bones. Mel stomped with her boot, crushing whatever reanimating life force was left.
You defeat a [Skeletal Spearman (Mundane Rank)].
You gain runes of Mist aspect experience.
You gain Battle Points.
The notification confirmed that the ordeal was over.
New Quest: This isn¡¯t Kansas
Explore your unknown surroundings until you find an area suitable to create a Haven.
Objective: Discover or create a Haven (0/1).
Reward: [Soul Kiln]
[Campfire Instant Scroll]
If I was from Kansas, I¡¯m pretty sure I would consider this an improvement, Mel thought to herself as she looked for more monsters. At least it¡¯s not Ohio. She suppressed a shiver.
Enshrouded in mist that spread 10 feet around her, Mel moved slowly through the underbrush. Like the stagecoaches, the skeletons and living armors seemed to be mostly magical.
She would have thought that meant they could more easily detect her within the mist, but that clearly wasn¡¯t the case. She snuck up on one living armor sitting ramrod straight, peering directly at the entrance to the tomb. Mel crushed the second life from its body with a decisive blow to the back of the helmet.
Stomping on the pile of rusted armor did nothing but scatter the pieces and alert the nearby monsters to her location. It wasn¡¯t until the armor began to reanimate that she could finish the job.
Noted.
Nearby monsters came to investigate, but once they came upon her [Hidden Mist], something seemed to go haywire in their heads. They froze, stiff as a statue, and went completely inert unless they heard a sound.
Mel tested her theory several times by throwing rocks and sticks, which broke the spell and caused the creatures to investigate the noise.
After that, it was easy to dispatch them while only taking minor damage. Somehow, the mist she made was more than just visual. It also magically obscured her.
Unfortunately, the monsters had nothing of worth on them. The few items they seemed to possess broke down into nothing when they were defeated.
Out of spite, she took one of their bones and stuffed it into her inventory.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Now how the hell do I find a ¡°Haven¡±? she thought to herself.
She doubted they would have motels or friendly campsites already set up with attendants ready to greet her.
Then again, maybe my luck is so bad that I¨C
Mel didn¡¯t have a chance to get the thought out before a flash of light streaked by her left ear and drew a line of blood across her cheek.
By then, her mist had completely faded away, leaving her exposed. I was sure I killed all the skeletons! Then she saw her assailant.
A man dressed in ragged crimson robes, his hood barely concealed his grinning yellow teeth. ¡°That was a warning shot,¡± he said, tapping the short bow in his hand.
Mel touched the wound on her cheek with her fingertips. She inspected the scarlet stain with more interest than the man. Partly because the amount of blood that coated her fingertips was far more than the thin wound should have bled.
Sure enough, a glance at her health bar showed a jagged wound marker at roughly 90%.
Affliction: [Bleed (1)]
While she was patently ignoring the bleeding wound and the man, she focused on her periphery.
She couldn¡¯t have said why she did it other than instinct. Something within her screamed out that there was more to this than met the eye. This man could have killed her, so either he wanted something, was a terrible shot, or something worse.
And in Mel¡¯s opinion, when the options are bad to worse, always believe the worst thing.
¡°There are bears out here,¡± the man said jovially. ¡°It might do to be kind to people you find out here.¡±
Mel chuckled to herself. ¡°I¡¯d take my chances with a bear,¡± she told him. ¡°I could use a new fur coat.¡±
There! Off to the left, she saw shadowy movement. A flash of red told her that these people didn¡¯t have any idea how to blend in. On her right, another red robed form was slipping through the underbrush.
If she had focused her entire attention on the man in front of her, she might have missed them. Now she had a better idea of what was going on.
¡°Then, by all means,¡± the man began, ¡°go play with your bears. But leave your loot. I saw you leave the dungeon. You¡¯ve got something worth taking, and I¡¯ll be doing the taking. Think of it as a way to pay your respects to the Bloodtide Covenant.¡±
Great, Mel thought, a creepy group of dudes. That¡¯s exactly what I want.
She focused a trickle of mana to activate [Hidden Mist], using it to coat the ground from the grass up for several yards instead of spreading out from her. In the short time she had with the skill, Mel had learned several tricks.
She just had to be careful with how much mana she spent. She didn¡¯t seem to have much of it, and it drained faster than any other resource.
There was a shuffle to her left as the fog began to obscure the man stationed there. [Hidden Mist] typically spread out from her location, but with a subtle twist of mana, she could perform the inverse and leave a clear center while obscuring the outer reaches.
To the bandits, it probably looked like an innocuous mist was rolling in. The sun was falling after all. It couldn¡¯t have been that odd.
Once both cloaked men on either side were completely shrouded, Mel made her move. She took a few steps forward, holding her hands up non-threateningly. ¡°All right, you got me. I took some choice loot from that¡dungeon you called it?¡±
¡°That¡¯s right.¡±
¡°So you take it and leave me alone, that¡¯s the deal? Nobody else is with you?¡± Mel asked, pausing only a few feet away from the man.
¡°Just me. I¡¯m a forward scout for the Bloodtide. We know you Earth folk are new to the way of the world, so we¡¯re taking pity on you.¡±
¡°Earth people, huh?¡± Mel said, taking one more step. She created a slick patch of ice right behind him, hidden by the low-lying fog creeping in from the periphery. ¡°And you¡¯re some alien or something?¡±
The man snarled. ¡°Why do you use that word? We are human like you, only better! Now hand over your items and we won¡¯t have to show our superiority.¡±
To show he wasn¡¯t messing around, the man nocked an arrow to his bow and gave it a light draw.
Before Mel could make her move, somebody shouted from the side, ¡°She¡¯s a Witch! This fog isn¡¯t natural, Ian! Kill her and take that title!¡±
Mel¡¯s eyes widened at the same time as Ian¡¯s did. The man snarled, drew back the arrow to his cheek and made the last mistake he would ever get to make.
Stepping back to brace against the draw of his bow, his rear foot hit the icy patch and kept going. He went down in a painful, awkward split, made all the more painful as Mel summoned her twinblade and speared him through the chest.
His filthy robes offered no protection to her blade except to cover up the profusely bleeding wound.
She made her weapon disappear into ash to disengage from the man as fast as possible. There were still two other archers more than capable of attacking her if she stood around.
Despite that, an arrow thudded painfully into her shoulder. Another arrow struck about a foot lower, at a more tender target.
¡°My ass!¡± she cried out in fury and pain.
Spinning around, Mel dropped low to the ground and summoned her mist to flow up over her shoulders to completely hide her. She scrambled awkwardly to the side as more arrows whizzed through the mist where she had just been.
I¡¯d have been dead without the mist obscuring their shots.
Even with her boots enhancing her speed over difficult terrain, and Mel¡¯s ability to see through the obfuscating fog, she still couldn¡¯t find the two accomplices in the gloom of the forest.
Remembering an effect of the mist she hadn¡¯t tested out yet, Mel dangerously injected more mana. The mist became suffused with a dull glow, illuminating the darkest shadows of the trees and underbrush, easily marking out her two attackers.
Their lack of reaction told her that the illumination was for her eyes only.
Now playing the role of hunter, Mel crept painfully through the trees¡ªher every step a symphony of agony¡ªas the two men tried in vain to locate her. They weren¡¯t complete idiots. They fired, moved, then fired again, always at the spot they guessed she might be.
They couldn¡¯t have known how fast Mel could move in the mist. She was behind one of them after a few volleys, slicing into the tendons on the backs of his knees.
Once his legs gave out, Mel drove the twinblade down through his shoulder and into his chest like she was planting a flag. ¡°That¡¯s for shooting me in the ass!¡±
The man gurgled and gasped, his fingers moving shakily as red sigils burned in the air.
Mel had only a moment to react. She dove to the side and put herself flat to the ground a fraction of a second before the man¡¯s body swelled grotesquely.
Aspect Skill: [Blood Bomb]
The ensuing spray of scalding blood and viscera burned her back but was quickly put out by her mist. Trees shattered and bent away from the gruesome explosion. The air was blasted from Mel¡¯s lungs as if a giant had just stomped on her.
You defeat the [Bloodtide Covenant Archer (Mundane Rank)] .
You gain runes of Mist aspect experience.
You gain Battle Points.
She was still recovering when she heard muffled footsteps and then a shrill cry. ¡°Toman!¡± the other man called, his voice choked with pain and sorrow. ¡°Please, answer me! Toman!¡±
As Mel¡¯s senses returned to her, she realized the majority of the mist had been blown away from the attack. Which only made it more curious why the sobbing man only a few feet from her hadn¡¯t noticed and killed her yet.
Splintered debris littered the ground all around her, but it wasn¡¯t until she looked over her shoulder that she realized the truth. Her coat looked nearly indistinguishable from the mist itself. Its dark leather was now a pale swirling gray, helping to hide her in the remnants of the low-lying fog.
That¡¯s right, my coat¡¯s imprint stated it would change with my first aspect.
Mel could hear the grief in the man¡¯s voice just a few feet away. He must have thought she was killed in the blast. It certainly was strong enough. If she hadn¡¯t been supernaturally fast, this would have been the end of her story.
Picking agility had been the right choice.
Pushing down her sympathies for the third man who had just tried to kill her, she surged to her feet and lunged at the grieving figure.
He wasn¡¯t as off-guard as she would have thought. The man raised his bow just in time to block the attack. A swift kick to her gut knocked the wind out of her lungs again. Mel jerked to the side and rolled off his boot. She fell hard onto her shoulder, where she spun about on a patch of slick ice to line up another desperate attack.
Kicking out with one leg and hooking with the other, she snared his ankle and took him down alongside her. Her twinblade came down on his exposed neck like a guillotine blade. There was little force behind the attack, given the disadvantageous angle, but there didn¡¯t need to be.
Her twinblade¡¯s razor-sharp edge was more than enough to cut through the man¡¯s exposed flesh. He flailed around while Mel rose unsteadily to her feet.
That was when she noticed the cut wasn¡¯t as deep as she thought. If he died, it would be a long time coming. Somehow she missed the arteries and instead only opened up his throat.
¡°My bad,¡± Mel said, driving her twinblade down like a pike into his heart. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to do you dirty like that.¡±
You defeat the [Bloodtide Covenant Archer (Mundane Rank)] .
You gain runes of Mist aspect experience.
You gain Battle Points.
Mel winced. Her shoulder and butt were on fire from the still-buried arrows, but she didn¡¯t want to be anywhere near here when the rest of this Bloodtide Covenant showed up.
She was all alone with nobody to help her. But first, she had some bodies to loot. She could practically hear Tom Cardy singing ¡° loot that body, gotta loot that body now ,¡± in her head as she limped around to each of the bodies. In the case of the Acolyte, she found that she didn¡¯t need to touch the body at all.
Which gave her a mini-panic attack when she realized the reasoning. A chunk of him was in her hair. Also, on her shoulder. And a suspiciously brown smear on her wrist.
Would you like to loot the (2) [Bloodtide Covenant Archers (Mundane Rank)]?
Would you like to loot the [Bloodtide Covenant Acolyte (Mundane Rank)]?
¡°Yeah, yeah, hurry up,¡± she whispered, trying in vain to wipe the Acolyte¡¯s remnants off her with a bundle of dried leaves.
Chapter 5 – Blood Loot
Once Mel had limped far enough away with her spoils to feel safely hidden from any prying eyes, she stopped and leaned against a large tree to rest. Her bleed affliction faded before the battle was over. She guessed it was due to how small the cut had been. Aside from the loot she gained, there was one special notification she was interested in.
You earn the Title: [Bloodseeker]
[Bloodseeker]
(Title, Legendary)
Earned by slaying Ian Valgrom and transferred to you upon his death. Ian¡¯s bloodthirsty nature was nurtured from a young age by the Bloodtide Covenant, a relatively new Covenant on Lormar. Once uplifted into the multiverse, Ian wasted no time in using his innate talents to find those with strength he could steal. The irony would not be wasted on Ian that his slayer would go on to use his unique talents to further her strength.
Whenever you encounter another person, you are able to determine if they are in possession of a Legendary title. Bleed afflictions you inflict are also more severe than usual.
As a Legendary title, it is eligible for additional growth should you satisfy specific requirements. Additionally, should you be slain, this title will be transferred to the victor.
¡°No wonder he flanked me with his cronies. I¡¯ll need to be more careful around people with Legendary titles.¡± She grinned to herself. ¡°At least now I¡¯ll know who is worth killing if it comes down to it.¡±
Not that she enjoyed thinking about that. Mel wasn¡¯t a murderhobo at heart. At the same time, she wasn¡¯t going to shy away from killing somebody who was trying to kill her.
While she was sure there were plenty of useless titles, if she ended up fighting more people, [Bloodseeker] would let her prioritize her targets.
Not only because she could gain another title, but because their title might give them an edge if she didn¡¯t target them first.
The rustle of leaves in the breeze grabbed her attention. She looked up, astounded at how tall the trees were. She hadn¡¯t realized how massive they were until that moment. The one she was leaning against was carpeted in vibrant green moss and big enough around that you could drive a pair of cars through it.
¡°Please don¡¯t secretly be a monster about to kill me,¡± she whispered to the tree.
Fortunately, it didn¡¯t respond.
And neither did her lantern, which meant she was at least clear from tree-based enemies and undead skeletons.
¡°This sucks,¡± she muttered under her breath. Walking with two arrows in her was shitty. Pulling them out would be even worse. ¡°Where¡¯s my fun, happy-go-lucky adventure? Where is the broken skill that makes me unhinged and all-powerful on day one?! Why can¡¯t I just get all my aspect skills at once? I demand a refund. Zero out of ten. Would not adventure again.¡±
She had already snapped off the shafts to avoid them smacking into anything, but that still left the painful arrowheads.
Since both wounds were on her back, she couldn¡¯t get a good look at them to tell if they were barbed. Not that it would matter. She couldn¡¯t see the wounds to cut the arrowheads out.
That¡¯ll be a fun little surprise for me.
Glancing at her health bar, Mel got another dose of bad news. While she didn¡¯t have an affliction that she could see, the physical arrow heads lodged in her back apparently counted as afflictions, regardless. Her health was capped at roughly 60% with two wound marks, and her blessing wasn¡¯t doing a damn thing about them.
So this is what would happen if I got wounded without the blessing, Mel thought to herself.
She had no choice but to find a way to remove the arrowheads.
Knowing the bloodthirsty fiends that had tried to jump her, the arrows were probably designed to make their victim bleed when pulled out.
Then again, they were pretty weak. Even three on one, she probably could have taken them.
Finding a source of water would be good. Not just because she was thirsty as hell, but because it would make cleaning all this filth off actually feasible. The last thing she wanted was an infection.
Maybe a river would count as a haven? That quest hadn¡¯t been completed, so this sure wasn¡¯t it.
Mel strained her ears to listen for any signs of water. Her health was uncomfortably low at 60%. Her stamina drained several times faster than usual as well, and her mana recovered at nearly half the speed she was used to.
All in all, things were not looking up. If she ran into another pack of would-be-murderers, Mel didn¡¯t like her chances. And there was a good chance that finding a body of water would increase her odds of finding other people.
That could mean some semblance of safety, or those people could also turn out to be¡ murdery .
On the other hand, if she didn¡¯t take care of her wounds, she wasn¡¯t going to last long.
Without the adrenaline coursing through her veins, she didn¡¯t know how effectively she could fight. She could feel one arrowhead scraping against bone if she moved her arm the wrong way. It was sickening how she could feel the sound more than hear it.
Setting off again at a slower pace, Mel leaned on her survivalist knowledge. What little she could remember. She looked for damp ground, animal tracks, and even peered up through the gaps in the canopy for hints at where the birds were flying.
Eventually, she came across a depression formed from an old riverbed. Following it downhill, her patience was rewarded with the sweet sound of trickling water.
A small stream intersected the dry riverbed and was carried away further downhill. Mel followed it as several more streams joined with it to form a wide path of surprisingly clear water the width of a road.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
She held herself back from immediately approaching the water¡¯s edge. Instead, she looked for any signs of monsters and people.
Seeing nothing, Mel shakily dropped to one knee on the edge of the water. Over the last hour, a new status icon appeared beneath all three of her bars. A little blue droplet that meant she was dehydrated.
The fact that it impacted all three resources was concerning.
She had been checking the stream for anything that might foul up the waters, but there was nothing she could find without going further upstream.
It was hard enough work walking downhill with two arrows in her. Going uphill might have killed Mel. She cupped her hands and drank her fill. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she should have found a way to sterilize the water, but these were desperate times. Exhausted, in a world of pain, and dealing with mysteriously winding up somewhere very dangerous, Mel definitely wasn¡¯t in a clear state of mind.
Besides, she had superhuman capabilities. If she got sick, she got sick. You¡¯ll die of dehydration way before anything in the water will get you.
Her throat convulsed at the first few swallows, forcing her to take it easier. The next few handfuls stung her cracked lips, but she hardly cared.
Eventually, the status effect icons went away. Even if she hadn¡¯t looked for them, she would have known that she was on the mend. Her mana and stamina both ticked up at a steady pace. Her health was stuck at 60% until she dealt with those arrows, though.
Note to self: hydration is the key to regeneration.
Now came the part she was dreading. Those arrows had to come out.
She had found an [Exile Survival Bag] on one of those Archers. It had some basic stuff in it, like a few [Rough Bandages], a [Simple Flint & Steel], and a [Threadbare Blanket]. No food, no rations, which wasn¡¯t great. Not even some kind of waterskin. She had some [Managlass Bottles] she could use at least.
Most of the items she gained she tossed at the sight of the battle. She had no need for their soiled red robes, stained pants, or broken weapons. Even though they had some Copper gear, the armor had class requirements she didn¡¯t meet, since her class was Mystic.
What useful items they had, she gladly took. Unfortunately, that meant her inventory was nearly bursting with miscellaneous junk.
Mel silently cursed the Bloodtide for not having any potions that could have easily healed her wounds without issue. Assuming such a thing existed. And for trying to kill me, too, she added. Clearly some of the items they had were stolen from other people, but those people seemed just as destitute as she was.
Judging by how there was still a bit of daylight left, she doubted that there had been much time for the bandits to truly get going. If there were a lot of people here, as the system suggested, she probably had been one of their first encounters.
Three less dickbags to compete with, Mel thought to herself as she spread out the pitiful blanket on a flat rock beside the stream. It was useless for warmth, but its threads were sturdy and strong.
Using a knife she gained from the Bloodtide members, and cursing up a storm, she managed to cut out a few sturdy strips.
Finding a sapling that was thin enough with smooth bark was the real chore. Once she did, she painstakingly reached behind herself. Without her enhanced agility, she didn¡¯t think it would have been possible to tie a strip of cloth right behind the arrowhead lodged in her shoulder.
Despite her higher agility that translated into supernatural flexibility, she couldn¡¯t pull the arrow out on its own. So, she did the next best thing.
Looping one end of the cloth over a smooth segment of bark, Mel pressed her opposite shoulder to the half-foot-wide sapling and gripped the other end.
She took several quick, shallow breaths, stuffed a stick wrapped in cloth into her mouth and tugged with all her might.
Her muffled scream as the arrow ripped itself free barely disturbed the few birds up in the trees nearby. Mel¡¯s vision grew dangerously fuzzy.
She nearly swooned at the throbbing pain, but the bleeding wasn¡¯t as bad as she had feared.
The arrowhead in her left butt cheek was much more accessible, but no less painful. Still biting down on the stick, she agonizingly put her left leg up on a stump and reached down to the broken shaft.
Another muffled scream escaped her lips, but the deed was finally done.
Once her vision stopped encroaching with darkness, she bandaged her wounds as best as she could. Mel¡¯s enhanced agility proved invaluable.
She was afraid of how hard it would be without any sort of tape or glue. Fortunately, the [Rough Bandages] were surprisingly self-adhesive, helping her to staunch the minimal blood loss at the same time.
What¡¯s the difference between normal blood loss and a bleed affliction?
The wounds both bled freely, but without the arrowheads in her, her health was regenerating once more.
Sitting awkwardly by the stream so as not to disturb her wounds, Mel took out one of the glowing mushrooms. ¡°We¡¯re really doing this, huh?¡± she muttered to herself.
It didn¡¯t help that it glowed a radioactive green.
She seriously contemplated trying to roast it with the [Simple Flint & Steel]. Technically, it was already in an edible state.
It just looked gross.
Even without the flint, she knew how to make a fire. Now that she had a bow, she could make a fire much easier than normal. The problem would be all the bending and squatting to find enough deadfall. That would cause a lot of bleeding, and Mel had been doing too much of that lately for her preferences.
For now, she would take her chances with the only food she had that explicitly said it could be eaten.
Shutting her eyes, Mel popped the green glimshroom into her mouth. She winced and chewed. If it was edible, the system had a real wide definition.
A pervasive smell of dirt filled her mouth and nostrils. It was somehow both dry and mushy at the same time. She imagined this was what it would be like to chew old dirty sponges that had been marinating in a muddy puddle on the side of a dirt road for a week.
If it wasn¡¯t happening to her, it might have been funny in a schadenfreude sort of way.
Miraculously, she managed to swallow and keep it down.
For a moment, she thought it was going to come back up. Something rumbled in her middle, a low threatening sound like a bull about to charge, and then it was gone.
A short-lived, nearly euphoric sensation flooded her body. Her health, mana, and stamina flashed. Each bar took on a glowing hue as their recovery rate increased dramatically.
The effect only lasted a few minutes, but by the time it ended, she was nearly back to full health. Her stamina and mana were maxed out.
¡°Oh gods, that means I¡¯m going to have to eat more,¡± she said to herself.
While she was sitting, Mel figured she might as well finally see what the Emporium was about. This was as safe a place as any. It had to count as a haven, right?
Eager to see how many Battle Points she had, Mel opened up the Emporium and was greeted with an unsettling message.
You can¡¯t access the Emporium when you are in danger.
¡°The hell does that mean?!¡±
Chapter 6 – Window Shopping
Mel wasn¡¯t taking chances. She packed up what little she had laid out and got moving. Over the next few hours, she followed the stream downhill. The sun began to sink deeper in the sky overhead and the trees started to thin as the temperature steadily dropped.
Every few minutes, or as near as she could tell, Mel tried to open the Emporium. It never worked, which only further urged her on. With the sun sinking fast, spreading its last golden rays across the heavens, she was in dire need of shelter.
Should have stayed in the damn tomb, she thought to herself. Wouldn¡¯t have gotten ambushed, could¡¯ve been confident that there were no more monsters because I killed them all.
The problem with that was eventually she would need to leave. The earlier she left, the more likely she would be away when people came to investigate points of interest. Like the hero¡¯s tomb.
What hero was laid to rest there? Mel wondered. I was the only asshole in the box at the end.
Being barricaded in a room all alone without water and no way out while a group of murderhobos came looking for loot was not an ideal situation.
Said murderhobos would probably be quite a bit stronger than somebody who was sheltering in place too. No, her best chance for survival was to find a place she could rest at, then go out hunting.
She still had four other aspects to find, with no idea how to get another one. Based on the [Blood Coins] the Bloodtide Covenant members dropped on their death, there was at least Blood aspect out there somewhere.
It was too bad she couldn¡¯t steal that aspect like she had the title. Having more vigor would be nice. Or maybe arcane.
Mel came to a fork in the stream. She could go left where the bulk of the water went, but she was curious where the smaller stream ended up and followed that instead.
Less than an hour later, she found herself beside a small pond at the edge of an absolutely massive plateau. ¡°Holy shit,¡± she said in awe.
Spread out before her was the most surreal and fantastical landscape she had ever seen. Dozens of plateaus the size of cities rose up at varying heights. She saw purple lightning storms constantly lashing one plateau, green rain pelting another, a perpetual ice storm shrouding a third, and countless others.
Mel squinted. ¡°Is that¡an entire plateau covered by a tornado of fire?¡±
Leaning over the edge, she looked down at an autumnal forest far below. By her best estimate, she was at least a thousand feet up in the air on top of a sheer-sided plateau.
¡°There¡¯s no way this wasn¡¯t magically created,¡± she said, sure of her assessment. Which made sense, considering she was in a magical competition pitted against countless other people from both Earth, and a place called Lormar.
She felt like she should know that word. It tickled some memory in the back of her head, but she couldn¡¯t seem to unlock it.
Those Bloodtide people were clearly from Lormar, which automatically put the whole population on her shit list.
Not that it was important right now. Mel had found a supply of water, a relatively defensible location, and she could finally open the Emporium thanks to the notification that appeared the moment she found this area.
You have discovered a Haven.
As soon as she did, her quest was completed.
Quest Complete: This isn¡¯t Kansas
Objective: Discover a Haven (1/1).
Reward: [Soul Kiln]
[Campfire Instant Scroll]
The first reward appeared at her feet, while the other vanished into her inventory. Mel knelt and inspected the [Soul Kiln]. It was a perfect cube, made of polished gray stone and inlaid with a gorgeous golden tree motif. The top hinged back to reveal that the cube was empty inside.
Frowning, Mel did a proper examination.
[Soul Kiln]
(Great Work, Relic)
A weighty box engraved with the design of the Realmtree, etched with gold lacquered designs of the Greater Shardrune that hint at a tenebrous truth. Soul kilns are one of the first Great Works, gifted to every sapient soul that enters the multiverse.
Imprint: Place items inside to enhance, then inject mana to fuel the process. Requires a Haven. Requires applicable catalysts.
Mel stared at the item. ¡°This thing is as big as my inventory! How am I going to lug this damn thing around?¡±
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the kiln vanished in a familiar swirl of silver ash.
Less alarmed than she might have been a few hours ago, she focused on bringing the [Soul Kiln] back.
It arrived in another flurry of silver ash, right where she had been hoping it would. ¡°Okay, totally take it back. My b. It¡¯s been a rough day.¡±
Mel paused and looked around. Her shoulders slumped. ¡°Annnnd I¡¯m talking to myself again.¡±
Though the kiln was undoubtedly impressive, she had no catalysts that she could use. So far, every item had a category attached to it, even if it was just ¡°item¡± and nothing else. She had come across armor, weapon, item, crafting material, and now relic types. Not a single catalyst.
Dismissing the kiln, Mel fished in her inventory until she found the scroll. A small bag of copper coins shifted around and nearly fell out before she caught it and shoved it back.
[Campfire Instant Scroll]
(Copper Rank, Item)
(Common)
A furled bundle of yellowed parchment inked with the imagery of a campfire ringed with stones merrily burning beneath a bubbling pot.
Imprint: Spend (2) [Copper Rune Coins] to instantly conjure a campfire bordered by stones with a pot accessory. This item has a chance to be consumed with each use.
¡°Useful,¡± Mel said, putting it back into her inventory.
She had a small bag of [Copper Rune Coins] that she could use. So far, this was the first example of something she could spend the money on.
It would be better to keep something that could instantly create a campfire for when it would be needed. Right now, it was dry, the sky was clear, and she had passed plenty of dry fallen branches and twigs to use as kindling.
With yet another quest under her belt, Mel went back into the forest to gather wood for her fire.
The rest of the evening passed swiftly as she set up a small campfire next to the pond, but far enough away from the edge of the plateau that her fire wouldn¡¯t be easily spotted below.
It wasn¡¯t that she thought somebody would scale the sheer cliff face, but better to be safe than sorry after those Bloodtide Covenant members spotted Mel exiting the tomb.
I guess fighting the skeletons and possessed armor monsters wasn¡¯t exactly what I would call low profile.
Warmed by a crackling fire, she roasted a few more glimshrooms with a [Death Morel] on the side. She used small sticks to make kebabs out of the hastily sliced mushrooms. Mel stabbed the skewers into the dirt and angled them near the fire. She turned them every few minutes (or whenever she remembered) to make sure they cooked all the way through and didn¡¯t completely burn.
They tasted bad enough as they were.
While her evening meal was prepared, Mel perused the Emporium at last.
The magical shop was split up into multiple sections. The only one that she could access was something called ¡°Core Items¡±.
Many unlocks required a higher Convocation Standing or something called an ¡°Authority Level¡±. Neither of which Mel qualified for. Whenever she tried to open another section, nothing happened.
Even with so much of the Emporium locked down, she was surprised at how much was available.
[The Emporium]
(Battle Points: 267)
(Core Items)
[Fallen Realm Seed]
(Mundane Rank, Item)
(Rare)
Darkly glowing desiccated vines tangled around a seed of dwindling energy, which fell from a higher realm of power in the multiverse.
Imprint: Use to permanently enhance restoration and recovery-based effects from items and food by 1 tier, limited to a maximum of 5 tiers at Mundane Rank.
Price: 100 Battle Points.
The very first item caught her eye. It was hard not to. It seemed utterly perfect. Something that permanently increased restoration and recovery from items?
Mel had no idea what it meant by a single tier, but even if it was a pitiful 1% increase to healing, an increase was an increase.
It would mean her glimshrooms would go a little further, restoring more of her health, mana, and stamina, all at the cost of some BP. She could almost get three seeds with how much she had on hand.
I had hoped for more, she thought to herself. Having killed a boss, two Copper monsters, and a score of Mundanes, she figured she would have a lot more BP.
Not to mention those three Bloodtide guys. You¡¯d think killing a person would net you a lot of BP, especially if they killed any other people or monsters.
A normal person might have freaked out about having to defend herself from murderous bandits. Mel was starting to realize she was anything but normal, even with missing memories.
She couldn¡¯t begin to understand how BP was apportioned, but she wasn¡¯t about to hike out into the woods to find a monster to kill, only to hike back and check.
Even that wouldn¡¯t be enough. There were too many variables to cover. What if the system counted style? Previous kills the monster had made, how close it was to advancing to the next rank?
It sounded too much like homework. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
She¡¯d rather go out, slaughter a bunch of monsters, then see where she stood once she got back to camp.
Mel looked around the campsite and nodded to herself. She could make a small sleeping nook in that outcrop of rock near the ledge. It faced the fire, which would keep it warm throughout the night, and it had a modicum of shelter from rain and wind.
With more time, she might be able to construct something a bit better. She only had to rough it for 55 more days.
What an odd number. I¡¯ve heard of tendays, but every month is only 28 days here? How many months are there?
Mel perused the rest of the list. Most of the items made zero sense to her. Those that did, she couldn¡¯t understand why she would use them.
[Aspect Seeker Scroll]
(Copper Rank, Item)
(Rare)
A yellowed parchment scroll sealed with the wax insignia of the Raiders Company. The magic contained within directs the wielder to a bindable aspect of any rarity located within the area.
Imprint: Break the seal with mana to activate. One time use only.
Price: 1,000 Battle Points.
Too rich for my blood, damn. How the hell am I going to get 1,000 BP without having all of my aspects? That seems like the sort of thing you¡¯d want early on, not when you¡¯re already strong enough to have all 5 aspects.
Then again, perhaps that was the point. It might be the system¡¯s way of helping people catch up to those who already had all their aspects. She had gained a little over a quarter of that amount in a single day. By the end of her first week, it wasn¡¯t too unlikely that she would have the BP necessary.
[Petrified Branch of Vigor]
(Copper Rank, Item)
(Common)
A wooden branch fossilized in ambient elemental Earth mana, suffusing it with the power of Vigor.
Imprint: Use to temporarily accelerate the natural growth of the Vigor attribute through training, battle and meditation. Effective for Copper Rankers and below.
Price: 250 Battle Points.
¡°Now we¡¯re talking,¡± Mel said. ¡°Not too expensive, allows me to focus on the improvement of one stat?¡± It sounded perfect, which immediately made her suspicious.
Anything that was too good to be true usually was. Something that was a ¡°training accelerator¡± sounded a lot like ¡°magical performance enhancer¡± to her ears.
Not that she was against it, but if it was like steroids from Earth, she worried about the side effects.
Do you really have the luxury of morals when you know everybody around you will be using them to get ahead? Good morals are fun and all, right up until you¡¯re dead.
With 267 BP to her name, she could buy a single petrified branch, or two fallen seeds. One would help her recover¡but if she didn¡¯t get hit by improving her agility, then the fallen seeds became less useful.
[Petrified Branch of Strength]
(Copper Rank, Item)
(Common)
A wooden branch fossilized in ambient elemental Fire mana, suffusing it with the power of Strength.
Imprint: Use to temporarily accelerate the natural growth of the Strength attribute through training, battle and meditation. Effective for Copper Rankers and below.
Price: 250 Battle Points.
[Petrified Branch of Agility]
(Copper Rank, Item)
(Common)
A wooden branch fossilized in ambient elemental Thunder mana, suffusing it with the power of Agility.
Imprint: Use to temporarily accelerate the natural growth of the Agility attribute through training, battle and meditation. Effective for Copper Rankers and below.
Price: 250 Battle Points.
[Petrified Branch of Sense]
(Copper Rank, Item)
(Common)
A wooden branch fossilized in ambient elemental Wind mana, suffusing it with the power of Sense.
Imprint: Use to temporarily accelerate the natural growth of the Sense attribute through training, battle and meditation. Effective for Copper Rankers and below.
Price: 250 Battle Points.
[Petrified Branch of Arcane]
(Copper Rank, Item)
(Common)
A wooden branch fossilized in ambient elemental Ice mana, suffusing it with the power of Arcane.
Imprint: Use to temporarily accelerate the natural growth of the Arcane attribute through training, battle and meditation. Effective for Copper Rankers and below.
Price: 250 Battle Points.
[Elemental Petrified Branch]
(Copper Rank, Item)
(Common)
A wooden branch fossilized in ambient Fire, Thunder, Earth, Wind, Ice and Water elemental mana, suffusing it with the combined power of all attributes. Inherently unstable, this item¡¯s potency diminishes rapidly when exposed to the environment.
Imprint: Use to temporarily accelerate the natural growth of all attributes through training, battle and meditation. Somewhat effective for Copper Rankers and below.
Price: 450 Battle Points.
So there¡¯s a branch for every attribute, and then one that affects all attributes, Mel thought before moving on to the rest available to purchase from the Emporium.
[Fire Blossom]
(Copper Rank, Crafting Material)
(Common)
A blazing flower edged in char. Gives off a tremendous heat, but like all flowers, it only lasts for a moment. Used in medicinal concoctions.
Price: 300 Battle Points.
[Thundermelon Bud]
(Copper Rank, Crafting Material)
(Common)
A tiny crackling bud of a thundermelon, ripe with potential.
Price: 400 Battle Points.
[Glintfly Carapace]
(Copper Rank, Crafting Material)
(Common)
The discarded shell of a glintfly. Traces of the stars still linger on its shell providing a dull luminescence like the heavens on a misty night.
Price: 200 Battle Points.
[Gravebloom]
(Copper Rank, Crafting Material)
(Common)
This darkly glowing violet flower blooms in the lightless caverns and tombs of the dead.
Price: 450 Battle Points.
[Sterling Sunflower]
(Copper Rank, Crafting Material)
(Common)
A silver sunflower that grows facing the moon, from which it derives its medicinal properties.
Price: 500 Battle Points.
[Tarnished Sunflower]
(Copper Rank, Crafting Material)
(Common)
A darkly tarnished sunflower that might have once been silver. Deprived of the moon¡¯s embrace, this flower has rotted from within and exudes a thick tarry substance.
Price: 650 Battle Points.
[Blightraven Feathers]
(Copper Rank, Crafting Material)
(Common)
A bundle of glossy black-and-green feathers from a blightraven. Delicate toxins drip from the quills.
Price: 150 Battle Points.
Mel wasn¡¯t sure why a [Tarnished Sunflower] was so much more expensive than the rest of the crafting materials. It was pricier than even the [Sterling Sunflower], so it was possible that it was a more potent version of it, despite being the same rarity.
Maybe I would have a better idea if I knew how to craft. Could that count as a catalyst for the [Soul Kiln]?
She had her doubts.
So far, the system was very explicit about its categories. There was nothing with a catalyst for a category, suggesting that the crafting materials at the end of the list were for something else. Namely, crafting.
Big surprise.
Something she had no idea how to do. Mel wasn¡¯t about to waste her precious BP trying to figure it out. Not yet.
Mel pulled a skewered [Roasted Death Morel] away from the fire before it could burn and inspected it thoughtfully.
[Roasted Death Morel]
(Copper Rank, Food)
(Rare)
A honeycomb textured mushroom that grows in areas steeped in Death and the lingering traces of Guilt. Contrary to its name, an overwhelming amount of energy is trapped within its wrinkled flesh. Though highly poisonous if eaten raw, when cooked, it gives off a pleasant aroma of seared beef.
Imprint: Sates hunger and vastly replenishes vital resources. Raises maximum stamina and health for 24 hours. The amount increases with additional [Roasted Death Morels] eaten.
¡°Well, damn, wish I found more of you.¡±
True to the system¡¯s description, it not only smelled like seared beef, it tasted like it too. The texture was a little off, but nothing like the old sponges she had endured with the glimshrooms.
Looking at the [Roasted Glimshrooms] skewered around the edge of the fire, Mel started to wonder if she had just been an idiot for eating them raw instead of taking the time to cook them.
There had to be a reason they were listed as ¡°food¡± now instead of ¡°item¡± right?
For the first time since arriving in the multiverse, Mel had a peaceful meal and took her leisure to decide what item she should get first.
Which naturally meant her otherwise peaceful night had to be disturbed by a shrill, blood-curdling scream.
Chapter 7 – Damsels in Distress
Mel hung her head and sighed. She looked at the warm fire, then at her resources. Thanks to the food, she was back to full fighting strength. In fact, she was better than before due to the [Roasted Death Morel].
Rather than increase the size of her health and stamina bars, it added a second bar overlaid onto the first of each. It was just a sliver, but Mel wasn¡¯t going to complain about having more health and stamina.
It could mean the difference between life and death.
She chewed another [Roasted Death Morel] as another scream, this one closer and more desperate than before, echoed out of the forest.
Drumming her fingers on her knee, Mel couldn¡¯t help herself. She stood, grumbling all the while, and stalked off into the forest.
A small voice in the back of her mind said she needed to help whoever was stumbling around in the dark out there. She felt certain that whoever was screaming was fleeing rather than fighting for their lives.
That didn¡¯t immediately make them good, but it likely meant she wasn¡¯t about to walk right into a trap.
Then again, if it was a trap, she would probably walk right into it anyway just to trigger it and kill those who had set it.
It would take somebody particularly devious and cruel to set something like this up. Bandits or murderhobos setting up a trap didn¡¯t strike her as being inventive enough to be behind something like this.
Even with her [Ghostflame Lantern], Mel couldn¡¯t see well in the twilight of the woods. The sun hadn¡¯t fully set, but night had come on in full within the woods.
Noises sprang up all around her. Birds hooted, animals snuffled about, things stalked in the dark, and Mel realized she was very much alone.
The woman screamed again, though Mel couldn¡¯t be certain it was the same one as before.
The prudent play would be to use her [Hidden Mist], stalk the person and see what all the fuss was about. However, her delay could cause their death if her mist didn¡¯t render their flight completely useless.
I can do this, I¡¯ve defended myself before. It¡¯s probably way easier when the arrows aren¡¯t flying at me .
With Mel¡¯s head still cloudy, she wasn¡¯t certain of much, but there was one thing she knew with iron certainty: she was no hero.
Then why am I haring off into the dark after a screaming idiot?
Mel didn¡¯t have an answer to that.
Apparently, that was enough of a choice to stir up a prompt.
New Quest: Into the Night
Track down and slay the monster hunting in the night before it¡¯s too late.
Objective: Slay the unknown nearby monster (0/1).
Reward: (10) [Copper Rune Coins]
Runes of Mist aspect experience.
She was forced to use [Hidden Mist], expanding it out a few yards and burning extra mana to illuminate the space.
Everywhere the mist touched turned into pale twilight. Not enough to see perfectly, but a far cry better than the [Ghostflame Lantern].
Colors washed into each other, but she could make out the small creatures hunting in the night. Droplets of black blood splattered on broad gray leaves brought her to the trail of the fleeing screamer.
Mel followed them as fast as she dared, her twinblade out, held to the side. She came upon the monster first, following quickly and low to the ground.
The mist hardly bothered it. Then again, that could be because the mist was thin. It was just enough for her to see by. It wasn¡¯t meant to obscure. She saw the wolfish creature lunge through the air. It shot out like a missile beyond the range of her vision.
Another shrill scream split the night, followed immediately by a heavy thud.
Mel sprinted forward. The monster was now hunched over a form on the ground, its large gleaming claws poised to rake and rend. Her twinblade got there first, slicing into its back and forcing the creature to roll off the woman and face the new threat: Mel.
With both hands on the twinblade, she spun and countered the monster¡¯s blistering assault. Yellow teeth sharpened to a razor¡¯s edge snapped at her throat, but she managed to put the twinblade¡¯s handle up to block the bite.
Scratching claws lashed out, but Mel¡¯s reach was larger than the monster¡¯s. Its red eyes gleamed in the night. It snarled and hissed, constantly trying to get through her guard. Mel swung the smaller creature around until it was forced to release its hold on her weapon.
It crashed into a nearby tree, stunned for a moment. Mel was on it as it returned to its senses. With a curving slice, a spray of blood arced through the air from its shoulder.
A whip-like tail snaked around and ensnared her left ankle. The creature pulled with far more strength than Mel had given it credit for, and Mel was forced onto her back.
The humanoid, rat-like monster crouched and sprang. Mel could have rolled and dodged the attack. Instead, she stabbed her twinblade into the dirt beside her hip.
As the monster lunged at her, she tilted the blade and skewered the creature right through the middle. Before it could do more than claw at her a few times, Mel rolled out and away.
The creature thrashed a bit longer, but she could tell that it was already dead. Blood flowed freely from the grievous wound until the monster finally stopped moving.
You defeat the [Rattin Youth (Rodent Beastman) (Mundane Rank)].
You gain runes of Mist aspect experience.
You gain Battle Points.
An arrow thudded into a tree beside her head. Mel kicked the creature she had initially mistaken for a runty werewolf off her twinblade and snatched it back up. She spun to face the new threat.
¡°Put it down, lady!¡± a quavering voice called out to her. ¡°And step away from Sabrina.¡± He glanced at the groaning form on the ground. ¡°Sabrina, you okay? Did she hurt you?¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The woman on the ground slowly got to her feet. Mel watched with interest as realization dawned on her fair features. Sabrina couldn¡¯t have been more than a few years older than herself, putting her somewhere in her mid-20s.
Quest Complete: Into the Night
Objective: Slay the unknown nearby monster (1/1).
Reward: (10) [Copper Rune Coins]
Runes of Mist aspect experience.
From the quest¡¯s completion, a stream of light filtered into Mel¡¯s storage ring. A sign that the coins automatically deposited into her inventory.
Mel didn¡¯t pay it much attention. She was more concerned with how this was going to play out.
She didn¡¯t want to have to fight anybody because of a misunderstanding.
¡°Bernard, no!¡± Sabrina got up and put herself between Mel and the Archer. ¡°She saved my life! I would have been killed if not for her. Please put down the bow.¡±
Bernard looked doubtful, but he did as Sabrina asked.
The girl looked like¡well, like she had just been chased and batted around by a giant rat, actually. So, pretty much how you¡¯d expect.
¡°My name is Sabrina. I can¡¯t thank you enough.¡± She extended a grimy hand. ¡°My friends and I have been running all day from every kind of beast imaginable.¡±
Mel looked at the hand, then at the woman¡¯s other hand to make sure it wasn¡¯t behind her back. She saw nothing duplicitous in her stature, much less her hopeful tone.
She¡¯s scared and just looking for a friend, a small voice said in the back of her head. Not everybody is out to get you. Most people are normal and just want to be safe.
Mel dismissed her weapon in a swirl of silver ash. ¡°I¡¯m Mel.¡±
The woman started, her blue eyes going wide with amazement. Excitement coursed through her as she lunged forward and grabbed Mel¡¯s hand and shook it exuberantly. ¡°That¡¯s so cool! How did you do that?¡±
¡°Everybody can.¡±
Sabrina screwed up her pretty face, what wasn¡¯t covered in old cuts and dirt at least. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true. I sure can¡¯t.¡±
Mel didn¡¯t feel like arguing. Her vital resources were plenty high, but she still hadn¡¯t slept yet. She gently extricated her hand and looked from Sabrina to Bernard. ¡°There more of you?¡±
As if to answer her question, the sound of a rampaging boar turned Mel around. She had her twinblade in hand with a swirl of silver in an instant. Before she could get into a stance, Sabrina grabbed Mel¡¯s arm. ¡°No! That has to be Shane. We got split up when the monsters attacked. He must have come looking for me. Please don¡¯t hurt him.¡±
Mel relaxed slightly, but did not release her twinblade a second time until she saw that Sabrina was right. A man in rusted chainmail was wheezing and jogging through the forest, crashing into every damn thing in front of him like a juggernaut.
¡°Sabrina!¡± he called excitedly before seeing Mel. He slowed his pace and took up a defensive stance. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±
Tugging on her arm like a child, Sabrina said, ¡°This is Mel! She saved us from the monster!¡±
A high-pitched scream echoed off to the left.
Shane lifted his shield and rushed off in that direction. ¡°That must be Trav! We got split up.¡±
It was startling just how slow they all were. Mel had dismissed the fog when the monster was killed, but she now realized if she used the skill again, she would probably hurt these people.
They couldn¡¯t see the patches of slick ice that formed randomly on the ground, and worse, they were slow . Even if she gave them a head start, she could outpace them jogging backwards.
Mel sprinted past them, straining her ears for the sound of another scream, but nothing came. She did pick up several grunts and thuds, however. Using that, Mel pivoted her direction, calling out to the others where she was going.
She doubted they would be able to find her, even if she kept shouting her location, but she kept it up anyway.
Crashing through the underbrush, Mel found herself in a small clearing backed up against a squat hill. At the base of the hill were four figures. One was slumped on the ground and another was on their feet, fighting off two beastmen with what looked like a large shepherd¡¯s crook.
Mel summoned the mist to her side and sped across the glade at record speed. As she passed the slumped form, it was clear she was already too late to help that one.
Using all her momentum, Mel drove her twinblade into the spine of the rattin on the right. It let loose a gurgling scream, and the older woman who had been fighting both jumped back in startlement.
Ripping the blade out, Mel shoulder checked the creature out of the way to get at the other beastman.
You defeat the [Rattin Youth (Rodent Beastman) (Mundane Rank)].
You gain runes of Mist aspect experience.
You gain Battle Points.
As fast as she was, even with the element of surprise, the second monster had its guard up in time for the strike. A shining silver light coated the beastman¡¯s crossed forearms as Mel¡¯s twinblade struck.
The blade rebounded hard from the strike, like hitting stone. She nearly dropped the twinblade from the recoil, her hands going numb from the vibrations rolling up the blade.
Quick as lightning, the beastman dropped into a crouch and tackled Mel. She couldn¡¯t get her weapon up in any semblance of defense as she was driven to the ground.
The rattin snarled, its yellow teeth gleaming like filthy ivory in the night. Mel wasn¡¯t about to go out on her back, but she couldn¡¯t push the stocky creature off her and avoid its oversized teeth and sharp claws at the same time.
Instead of trying to avoid the bite, Mel leaned into the attack. She snapped her head forward, crushing her forehead painfully into the creature¡¯s snout.
It yelped in pain and reeled back long enough for Mel to knee its groin and throw it off her. Before she could finish it off, the older woman who had been fighting came over and caved its skull in with her staff.
Mel gingerly got to her feet, shaking the feeling back into her hands. ¡°Nice one.¡±
The woman tried to blow a strand of blood-soaked hair from her gore-splattered face. She looked like she was holding on to her sanity by her fingernails.
Her tenuous grasp flew away altogether when she noticed the bloody body beside her. ¡°Travis!¡±
Crawling on hands and knees, the woman went to the side of the body. Mel took a few tentative steps back, partly to give the woman her space, and partly because she didn¡¯t want to be too close in case she snapped.
One by one, the rest of the group entered the glade. They immediately went to the woman¡¯s side, giving Mel an easy out.
She started to back away, but Sabrina broke away from the group, calling over her shoulder, ¡°Maybe Mel can help him!¡± She looked at Mel, realizing that she was several feet away from the group and slowly backing away. ¡°Please. I know you¡¯ve already done so much, but we need you. Travis needs you.¡±
New Quest: How to Save a Life
You¡¯ve been asked to save Travis¡¯ life. It looks bad.
Objectives: Administer life-saving aid to Travis, ensuring he survives.
Rewards: (5) [Small Health Potions]
Mel looked at the quest. You¡¯ve got to be kidding me. Just give me the potions now and I¡¯ll save him!
The system, of course, didn¡¯t respond.
Chapter 8 - How to Save a Life
Mel seriously considered bailing on the group. It was mostly a knee-jerk reaction. Nobody was there to help her when she needed it. Why should she be there for others?
I¡¯ve survived just fine on my own! This is a competition, not a hand-holding event.
These people sure didn¡¯t get the memo.
A familiar voice, like a memory, spoke into her mind, ¡°I know you¡¯re a badass, Mira, but if it comes time for you to do this all again? Promise me you¡¯ll try to live a happier life. For me. For Noth. For all of Brightsong.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll¡try Hal,¡± she heard herself say.
Mel shook the voices from her head. Mira wasn¡¯t her name¡and yet she was sure that man had been talking to her.
It would be nice not to be entirely alone¡ And getting those potions would be incredibly useful.
Mel didn¡¯t have to complete the quest.
Sure, every single one she finished supposedly earned more Deeds, and earning more Deeds enhanced how many runes of experience she gained. [Wayward Traveler] stated as much.
Every bit mattered. A single attribute Grade higher could mean the difference between dodging an attack that would end her life and being just another body in the ground.
Despite how conflicted she was feeling, Mel went over to Travis¡¯ prone form.
The first thing she noticed was that the quest was right.
He looked bad. Blood was everywhere.
Back before ranks and superhuman powers were a thing, this dude would¡¯ve already been dead.
¡°Please help him,¡± Sabrina begged.
Mel sighed and knelt by the groaning body. She wasn¡¯t even sure he was aware of his surroundings. Mel¡¯s gut told her that he was a liability and she should leave him. If she wanted to be merciful, she should end his suffering with one clean strike.
That probably won¡¯t go over too well with the others, Mel thought to herself. She didn¡¯t want to cause any more pain, but she didn¡¯t see any way that she could help him. This was beyond the medicine she knew.
His chest was torn open, though for a wonder his organs weren¡¯t spilling out all over the grass. A dark, tacky pool of blood seeped slowly across the slight incline of the hill.
That [Wound Recovery] blessing wasn¡¯t going to be helping him. If having your chest ripped open wasn¡¯t considered a severe or mortal injury, nothing was.
¡°I have a campsite not far from here but¡¡± She sighed and shook her head. Moving him in his condition would be needlessly cruel. Not to mention it would likely kill him.
Mel didn¡¯t have the best sense of direction, but a rough estimate put them about a mile away from her camp. Assuming it was still there.
The glade seemed open enough, with clear sight lines to the trees. The rocky hillside was too sheer to climb effectively, so it made for a good windbreak and camping site.
¡°Anything,¡± Sabrina told Mel. ¡°We¡¯ll do anything you say. Just tell us what to do. Travis is our friend.¡±
¡°Are any of you Acolytes?¡± Mel asked without much hope. If one of them was, there had to be a reason why they hadn¡¯t done anything.
Sabrina motioned to the older woman. ¡°Maddie is, but¡I don¡¯t think she knows how to help him.¡±
So much for that. Mel didn¡¯t know the first thing about healing magic.
¡°All right.¡± She turned to Sabrina and dropped her voice. ¡°I¡¯m going to level with you. If that was me, I would ask you to give me a swift end. But, judging by your horrified expression, you don¡¯t want that. Fine. Just know that his odds are slim at best just to survive the next hour, much less make it to morning. I make no promises.¡±
¡°Nobody will fault you,¡± Sabrina said, nodding encouragingly, with tears in her blue eyes. ¡°What can we do?¡±
Mel rattled off a list of tasks for everybody to divvy up and see to. They needed water, a campfire, something to boil the water in, and any cloth or bandages they had.
Even with modern medicine and a crash cart at her disposal, Mel didn¡¯t see how she could save the man she knelt beside. Despite her assessment, she would give her all. Not just for the quest, but because she felt like she had made a promise.
Even though I didn¡¯t!
She worked throughout the night, replacing bandages, feeding the semi-conscious man some of her precious [Roasted Death Morels], and slaying any beasts that were drawn to the scent of wounded prey.
It was slow-going, but hour by hour the man seemed to recover a semblance of his strength. By the time morning broke, Travis was able to sit upright and speak in short sentences.
Mel was actually starting to believe he might pull through.
Then he took a turn. There was no warning. He just said he didn¡¯t feel so good, and suddenly he was convulsing with his eyes rolled up into the back of his head.
Tired as she was, Mel was by his side in a flash. She rolled him over into the recovery position until the tremors stopped. The stillness that followed was unnatural, and Mel wasn¡¯t the least surprised to find no pulse when she touched the side of his neck.
Quest Failed: How to Save a Life
She looked up at the others and shook her head. Any attempt at CPR would likely cause more damage than he could withstand. If she could have seen his afflictions, she might have been able to help him, but she wasn¡¯t a miracle worker. Some things just don¡¯t turn out right.
Maddie¡¯s red-rimmed eyes widened in horror. She screamed and ranted, saying more than a few hurtful things that Mel let roll off her back.
The woman was clearly distraught. Maddie probably felt responsible. She picked that healer class and yet couldn¡¯t do a thing to stop Travis from dying. Mel backed away and gave the woman time with her son.
Sabrina came over to join her, putting a hand on Mel¡¯s back. ¡°She doesn¡¯t mean it.¡±
Mel nodded. ¡°I know.¡±
¡°She¡¯s just¡I think she feels like she should have been able to do more.¡±
¡°I know.¡±
¡°She¡¯s an Acolyte, a healer, but she doesn¡¯t know any spells or how to get any. She¡¯s about as useful at healing as the rest of us¡and well, you were able to do more than anybody else. I think she thought you might save him.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
¡°Yeah. I did too.¡±
Sabrina bowed her head and joined Maddie, putting a comforting hand on her sobbing shoulders and kneeling next to her to give the woman a shoulder to cry on.
There wasn¡¯t anything more Mel could do. Travis¡¯ condition had turned so fast. He had been speaking one moment, and gone the next.
A voice from the past whispered to her, ¡°It happens sometimes, Mel. Don¡¯t beat yourself up. You did all you could. There are more people you could help, but you can¡¯t help them if you don¡¯t take care of yourself first.¡±
Mel rubbed her temples. ¡°I must be sleep deprived,¡± she mumbled to herself. ¡°Hearing voices isn¡¯t a good sign.¡±
She sat herself down by the rustic campfire the others had made. Bernard turned out to be the best at making a fire, though it still took him half an hour, even with Mel¡¯s tools.
It had been so bad that she nearly used her instant campfire scroll. Luckily, she didn¡¯t have to. The instant scroll was meant to be a last resort, and whatever killed Travis hadn¡¯t been hypothermia.
Pulling out her [Soul Kiln], Mel fiddled with the stone cube while the others grieved for their friend. She felt out of place, more alone than ever. It felt wrong to be here, but the way most of them kept looking over their shoulder at her told her she couldn¡¯t slip away without notice.
Maddie was the only one who was totally focused on her late son. The others routinely looked up as if double-checking to see if Mel was still there.
I guess I wouldn¡¯t want to lose a capable ally either, Mel thought to herself.
They were lucky they had winded up in this new reality together. They were friends, rather than strangers.
Mel wasn¡¯t sure who she would have expected to find. She wasn¡¯t even sure she would recognize a friend from her past if they showed up out of the blue.
I just need a good night¡¯s sleep, she convinced herself. That was all it was. A night of rest and all would be right in the world.
She looked over her shoulder at the prone body. Mostly.
Since she didn¡¯t have much else to do, Mel took out one item after the other and placed it in the [Soul Kiln]. She needed something to occupy her mind to stay awake and alert.
No matter how tired she was, Mel didn¡¯t think it was right to take a nap. Not with five other people whose motives were murky at best to her so close. Even if they weren¡¯t a threat, they would need to set up a watch.
Not the sort of thing to bring up at the moment.
One item after the other was put in, the lid shut, and a thread of mana infused into the gorgeous golden relief.
Time and time again, nothing happened.
She had nearly given up when a glimmer of magic swirled around the kiln. Out of a desire to be thorough more than anything, Mel summoned her twinblade and tried to set it on top of the open kiln.
Instead of resting on top since it was several times larger than the kiln, it shrunk until it was about the size of a paper towel tube. It just barely fit inside.
As soon as Mel took her hand away, the kiln¡¯s lid snapped shut.
Would you like to bind a [Combat Art] to your [Exile Twinblade]?
Available Combat Arts:
[Quickstep]
New Quest: Exile¡¯s First Art
Learned Combat Arts may be bound and unbound freely to any weapon with the [Soul Kiln]. Successfully bind your first Combat Art to begin familiarizing yourself with the nature of the [Soul Kiln].
Objective: Bind any Combat Art to a weapon or armor (0/1).
Reward: (10) [Copper Rune Coins]
There wasn¡¯t anything else to choose besides [Quickstep], so she selected that. It would probably be the easiest choice she ever made here.
You have bound Combat Art [Quickstep] to your [Exile Twinblade].
Mel opened the lid excitedly, taking her twinblade out to examine it. As she lifted it away from the kiln, it returned to its normal size. The parameters of the weapon were the same, but now it had a new section for its new combat art.
[Quickstep]
(Combat Art, Weapon)
(Mundane)
Cost: Very Low Stamina.
Popular among Assassins and Thieves, this defensive combat art increases speed temporarily to avoid damage and provide an opportunity for a counterattack.
Imprint(Mundane): Increases speed temporarily, allowing you to dodge incoming attacks. Usable on all melee armaments.
Quest Complete: Exile¡¯s First Art
Objective: Bind any Combat Art to a weapon or armor (1/1).
Reward: (10) [Copper Rune Coins]
¡°Sweet!¡± Mel said, a little louder and more excited than intended. She mentally kicked herself for not doing this earlier. [Quickstep] was one of the things her class had given her. It was clearly intended to be used early.
It would have given her an edge against those Bloodtide members. Though, Mel didn¡¯t have access to the [Soul Kiln] until after that.
Several heads turned at her outburst, their faces ranging from curiosity to outright disgust. Mel bit her lip and forced a chagrined smile. ¡°My b.¡± Unable to contain her enthusiasm, however, she pointed to the kiln. ¡°But I just figured out how to use this thing!¡±
That wiped away any dour expressions, replacing them with interest. Shane, in his rusted chainmail, clomped over to the fire and squatted beside the crackling flames. ¡°How? We all got one of those boxes, but nobody knows how to use one.¡±
Mel motioned. ¡°You remember the combat art your class started with?¡±
¡°Yeah, can¡¯t use it though. Tried a bunch.¡±
Mel held up a finger. ¡°Ah, but you can. Take out your kiln and place your weapon inside it.¡±
Shane shot her a doubtful look. ¡°My hammer is way too big for that,¡± he said, patting the war hammer he had hanging from a makeshift holster on his hip.
As badly as Mel wanted to ask why he wasn¡¯t dismissing his weapon, she decided to keep on task. ¡°Just trust me.¡±
It was clear from his face that he didn¡¯t, but eventually he caved and awkwardly slid his war hammer free of its crude looped holster. ¡°All right, but I¡¯m telling you it¡¯s not going¨C¡± The last words died on his lips as the hammer shrunk until it looked like a toy.
The tiny weapon rolled from his fingertips and into the kiln.
Shane¡¯s eyes glazed over.
I wonder if I look like that when I¡¯m reading Shardscript? Mel thought, right before another quest popped up.
New Quest: Teacher, Teacher
It¡¯s become apparent that these people can learn a great deal from you. Teach them the basics you have already mastered. In the days of old, the true masters were those who learned while teaching others.
Objective: Teach (5) people how to use the [Soul Kiln] (1/5).
Reward: [Ember (Common)]
Additional Objective: Teach survival basics to (5) people (0/5).
Reward: (1) [Small Health Potion]
¡°Woah, what the hell is an ember?¡± Mel mumbled to herself.
Whatever it was, she needed it.
Chapter 9 - Callous Fire
Despite the recent events, Mel found herself teaching each person how to use their [Soul Kiln]. Even Maddie came over to see what all the fuss was about.
She sniffled and wiped at her eyes a lot as she struggled to follow the simple commands Mel gave her. As it turned out, her hilarious shepherd¡¯s crook was a magical staff.
A staff she couldn¡¯t figure out how to use, so she used it as a massive bludgeon.
In between scrubbing her reddened eyes, Maddie stared into the fire and said, ¡°I know it wasn¡¯t your fault.¡±
Mel didn¡¯t know what to say. One sure way to screw up any chance of being welcomed here would be to use her typical flippant response of, ¡°no shit¡± but she kept her mouth shut and nodded her thanks.
It had been the grief talking, Mel had to remind herself. The woman thought her son was going to make it, then he was just gone. It would be a shock to anybody.
Then why doesn¡¯t it bother me? Mel thought to herself.
She had spent all night trying to save him, to help him through the worst of it, but in the end, it had been for nothing. It wasn¡¯t that she didn¡¯t know him. She didn¡¯t need to know him. It was normal, human even, to grieve the loss of another person.
Mel felt nothing. It was almost like she was used to it, which couldn¡¯t be possible. Who would be so used to death that they didn¡¯t bat an eye when it stared them right in the face?
Another mystery for another day. She hoped it was just her frayed nerves. That she was too spent to feel or care right now.
It would hit her in the morning. Like a normal person.
Only you know you aren¡¯t normal, she thought to herself.
Fortunately, everybody had a weapon, so that made Mel¡¯s quest possible to complete.
She felt bitter about failing her quest to save Travis. She really tried to save his life. Having Maddie forgive her made it worse somehow.
She tried not to dwell on it further. There were monsters in the woods, and who knows what other dangers. These people needed to be able to protect themselves.
Mel sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to do it all herself.
That way, she wouldn¡¯t blame herself if one of them kicked the bucket.
Each class also started with a combat art. Nobody was missing out, even Maddie as an Acolyte had one.
Unfortunately, when Maddie pulled her weapon away from the [Soul Kiln], the poor woman lost it. She burst out crying again.
Not just the heartrending crying of a woman who recently lost her only son. This was ugly crying. She wailed like a banshee, tore at her hair, snot and tears rolled and bubbled down her cheeks.
Throughout it all, Maddie tried to say two words, but it was almost impossible to understand her. And then Mel figured out what she was trying to say.
¡° It heals,¡± Maddie sobbed.
¡°What does?¡± Sabrina asked, distraught. Everybody was. Even Mel was unnerved.
¡°The combat art! My combat art! I could have saved him! We got this damned demon box the first hours after the apocalypse! All this time¡all those people¡¡±
After that, Maddie stopped talking. She stared ahead, cradling her staff like it was her dead son. The woman rocked back and forth in silence.
¡°Got the kiln a lot faster than me,¡± Mel whispered. Her thoughts hitched on the word apocalypse.
Huh, I guess that¡¯s what¡¯s really going on.
Sabrina, always knowing what to do, gently got Maddie to her feet and coaxed her back toward her son. She spoke in soothing, low tones the entire time.
Naturally, the system chose that moment to butt in.
Quest Update: Teacher, Teacher
Objective: Teach (5) people how to use the [Soul Kiln] (5/5).
Reward: [Ember (Common)]
Additional Objective Still Available: Teach survival basics to (5) people (0/5).
Reward: (1) [Small Health Potion]
While everybody was focused on Maddie, Mel turned her attention to the quest and its reward.
She pulled out the reward. The ember was a rough-hewn stone the size of a golf ball, but nowhere near as uniform. It felt warm and comforting in her palm, almost too hot to touch, but never quite getting there.
[Fire Ember]
(Catalyst, Ember)
(Common)
A misshapen lump that glows faintly and is still warm to the touch. Place within a soul kiln to apply affinity to armaments or tinge to concoctions.
Imprint: Applies fire affinity to armaments. Applies fire tinge to concoctions.
Mel stared at it with surprise. Her fingers tingled, sensing the power within the small lump of the smoldering coal.
It¡¯s a catalyst.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Immediately, she stuck it into the [Soul Kiln] and added her weapon.
Would you like to alter the affinity of your [Exile Twinblade] to [Exile Twinblade (Fire)]?
Mel¡¯s eyes widened at that. She nodded, accepting the prompt.
She pulled out the comfortingly warm twinblade and looked at it in awe.
[Exile Twinblade (Fire)]
(Copper Rank, Weapon)
(Common)
A sword with blades extending from both sides of the hilt. This weapon is suitable for beginner combat and little else, created for new prospects that survived being inducted to the multiverse.
Imprint(Fire Ember): Inflicts additional Fire damage. Increases Strength attribute scaling effectiveness.
Combat Art: [Quickstep]
¡°That¡¯s actually awesome,¡± Mel said with a grin. She spun the weapon, watching it leave a fanning trail of reddish orange flames through the air.
I wonder what exactly fire tinge does. Not that I even know what a concoction would be considered. Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve found any items in that category, Mel thought.
Peeking inside the [Soul Kiln], Mel was pleased to find that the ember was still there. She reached in gently, concerned it might be too hot. The moment her fingers touched the stone, she realized it hadn¡¯t changed one bit.
A glance to the side showed Mel that the others were wrapping up the body in an impromptu burial shroud. Though she was glad that the [Fire Ember] could be reused, she still wasn¡¯t sure about combat arts.
It was one last thing that she could test out. She removed a small knife she gained from one of the Bloodtide members and set it in the kiln.
Would you like to bind a [Combat Art] to your [Simple Dagger]?
Available Combat Arts:
[Quickstep]
Smiling, Mel put the knife back into her inventory and dismissed the kiln.
That meant both embers and combat arts were reusable.
Time to go collecting embers and combat arts then!
There was something she had to do first. Dusting off her coat, Mel stood up and approached the others huddled around Maddie. The morning sun was just cresting the tops of the trees, and there were things that needed to be done before they could even think about the future.
As uncomfortable as Mel felt around them, she knew that wild animals would be drawn to the spot before long. Monsters already had the scent, and they had fought several more rat beastmen over the course of the night.
The others looked up at her as she approached, though Maddie simply rocked back and forth beside her son.
¡°We need to leave,¡± Mel told them.
Apparently, that had been the wrong thing to say.
¡°How can you be so callous?¡± Nathan asked. ¡°We can¡¯t leave Travis like this.¡±
Mel wasn¡¯t sure where the rage burning inside her came from, but suddenly she felt flushed with its heat. Maybe it was from fighting against monsters and murderers for a whole day straight without any sleep, getting constantly wounded, or the whole waking up in a coffin thing.
Maybe it was all of it.
Something snapped in her.
Despite coming up to his chest, Mel stalked right up to him and poked him hard on the armored leather vest he wore beneath his hoodie. ¡°Listen you idiot, we¡¯ve already fought monsters who came looking for the source of that blood! Travis is gone. This is your new reality. Either get with it, or move aside so you don¡¯t bring the rest down.¡±
¡°But the body¡ª¡± Sabrina said softly.
¡°Is not Travis anymore!¡± Mel cut in. ¡°Deal with it how you want, but even if you bury it, the monsters will still get at it. Do you want to spend the rest of your short lives guarding a grave? That¡¯s what you¡¯ll have to do. Every day, staring at the grave, making sure you never go too far away, always stopping monsters and scavengers from digging up the loose soil. Is that the life you want? This is a new reality. You have every opportunity ahead of you. Don¡¯t waste it.¡±
Bernard stepped up, pulling his bow off his shoulder. ¡°What gives you the right?¡±
Mel lifted up her hands, still stained with Travis¡¯ blood. ¡°This! While the rest of you were trying to help, I was the only one who was actually doing anything. Without me, he would never have woken up. I still failed. You think I don¡¯t know that? But dwelling on it will get us nowhere.¡±
Bernard looked away, his jaw clenching. Mel kept an eye on his hands, just in case he decided to nock an arrow. He was the only one who pulled out a weapon.
And she didn¡¯t feel like getting shot in the ass again.
¡°We can¡¯t just leave him like this,¡± Shane said softly, bowing his head. ¡°It¡¯s not right.¡±
¡°Then bury him!¡± Mel snapped. ¡°But we can¡¯t keep putting it off. Every hour matters.¡±
¡°What¡¯s all this ¡®we¡¯ business?¡± Nathan asked. ¡°The six of us were friends. We never asked you to¨C¡±
¡°Bullshit.¡± Mel pointed at each of them in turn. ¡°Every single one of you asked me to help. But you know what? You¡¯re right.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I was thinking. I¡¯m better off on my own. You take all the time you need. As you say, I¡¯m not one of you. I didn¡¯t know Travis. I can¡¯t grieve for a man I never knew. I could have let all of you die and stayed by my own campfire, warm and safe. And you know what? That¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do. Follow me or don¡¯t, but I can¡¯t stay around waiting to get picked off by some monster or a group of bandits.¡±
Mel turned in the direction she thought was most likely to lead her to her previous camp and started walking.
¡°Bandits?¡± Sabrina gasped. ¡°But people wouldn¡¯t do that, surely?¡±
¡°I can believe it,¡± Shane said. He sighed, his shoulders sagging. ¡°Come on, you know Mel is right.¡±
¡°She could¡¯ve said it a little nicer,¡± Nathan groused.
¡°We¡¯re all on edge,¡± Sabrina said soothingly. ¡°We¡¯re stronger together, just¡¡± Her voice trailed off as Mel passed the tree-line and plunged back into the forest.
She should have known that they would have been ungrateful for her help. Mel was better on her own. No matter what, people always disappointed her. Even with her fuzzy memories, she was sure of that.
¡°I helped them, didn¡¯t I?¡± she grumbled into the darkness. ¡°Do I have to owe them everything just because I saved them once?¡±
Mel left them behind, doubt gnawing at the edges of her thoughts. Sure, she could have used a bit more tact, but seriously, what were they thinking? The guy was dead . He didn¡¯t care what happened to his body. Bury it and get it over with.
Just chuck me into the trash when I¡¯m dead and gone and move on. I don¡¯t care what happens to my body at that point. Why should anybody else?
There wasn¡¯t enough dry wood to burn the body, though that would have been the best way to deal with it. Burying it would just invite more monsters to come dig it up, and who wanted to be around to witness that?
A twig snapped somewhere behind Mel.
Mel slowed down, realizing that her higher agility likely made it nearly impossible for one of them to catch up to her. Despite her earlier belief that she was better alone, Mel had been secretly hoping and expecting this. She turned around, her arms spread out. ¡°Listen, Sabrina I¨C¡±
What faced her was not Sabrina.
A snake with deep emerald scales and baleful yellow eyes rose up to its 10-foot height in front of her. It opened its razor-lined mouth and lunged right for her throat.