Name: Emily VanderRace: [Kitsune]
Age: 22
Sex: Female
Level: 1
Class: [Novice Cybermage]
Sub Classes:
Devotion(s): Kurayami
Title(s):
Health: 100
Stamina: 65/100
Mana: 80/120
Skills: [Novice Hand to Hand],[Telecommunications Specialist],[Kurayami's Voice],[Cybernetic Eye]
Equipment:
Emily narrowed her eyes towards her hands, and the screen flashed in her vision. The target retina of her right eye returned to normal, and the image disappeared. This really is just like a game. It's almost the same as when I died originally. What is going on? Who is Kurayami?
The fox girl swallowed and looked around the cave. The walls were made of the same material as the trunk of the tree, and the place sloped downwards into the earth. Darkness gave way to light, and eventually, she reached something that served as a contrast to the bog above.
It was a wide cave with more swamp, but greenery grew all around. The trees appeared much more lively than the surface counterparts. The vibrant fibrous plants grew all around. The difference was stark.
Emily did a double take, and her eyes searched for a light source. The light seemed to come from above her, but she couldn't find what was projecting it. When she looked towards the false sky, white light danced on her eye.
It made her recall a different kind of white light. Her mind flashed with images of a sterilized room. A robotic arm hung above her head with a light fixture attached, and it shone harshly into her retinas. The raspy voice of a doctor in a long white coat played over in her mind.
"Today, we will be performing another experiment on your body..."
Emily took a deep breath and shook the thought from her head. She placed her hand on the wooden wall, and a splinter dug into her fingertip. The fox girl groaned and plucked it out with her fingernails.
Though, there was something good about learning she felt pain. Dopamine receptors fired in her brain. Her eyes tuned in to their surroundings, observing for predators.
If this is a prehistoric simulation, predators are going to be dangerous. Emily placed a hand to her chin, wondering what her cybermage class was all about. It seems that each one of these tables drains my mana. Four tables, and I lost 40 mana. How would I even go about trying cybermagic?
She walked to a patch of dry land, covered by foliage. It provided a decent amount of cover for her relatively small body. She reached forwards and wrapped her hand around some weeds. It's actually warmer down here than it is up there.
Emily plucked the green stems from the ground and tested how resistant they were. She tried to pulling the greenery with both hands on either side, and it took a decent amount of force until it ripped in half. A tree nearby held large leaves bigger than her head, and she plucked one of those as well.
She gathered more and more bits of plant fibers, until she had a thick glob of wadded greens. The fox girl used them to scrub away some of the filth clinging to her body. She didn't want to test them on her extremities for fear of rashes, so she mainly dry washed her arms and tail.
The tail was a frustrating appendage. It was an added annoyance waving behind her, and it loved to absorb lots of mud. No matter how much she wanted to get rid of it, the muck stuck to her tail. I guess I can't hate it too much. It did give me a bit of comfort before...
She breathed a deep sigh and closed her eyes. Emily had no idea where to start for cybermagic, but she searched for it anyways. A warm feeling bubbled up inside of her body. It was like the feeling one gets when they have a first crush, or maybe it was the feeling of someone riding a roller coaster.
The fox girl opened her eyes, and there it was. A sphere hovered above her hand, yet it wasn't prefect. It was something stitched together by tons of small robotic pieces. They laced on top of each other and a warm glow exited the center. Emily felt something tugging on her core, and after a few seconds the nanobots sank back down onto her hand before evaporating.
Emily felt more tired after that. It was like a new organ next to her stomach felt parched, but this one didn't call for water at all. She tried to look down at her hand with the same focus, but nothing happened. No screen would appear for her. Does this mean I drained all my mana? Just summoning it?
She looked around the place, trying to decide if she could build a shelter in the dungeon. Though, the more she looked around, the more she felt uneasy. It was oddly quiet for a place beneath a noisy swamp. Last time there was an odd silence, she nearly died to a crocodile.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
Her eyes flashed to the water nearby, but thankfully, there was no monster or predator inside of it. She reached for a low hanging tree branch on the same tree she grabbed the leaf from, and she was barely able to snap it from the joint. I doubt this will be a good weapon for a large crocodile, but it's better than nothing.
She walked deeper into the swamp lands, finding that the water was surprisingly clear. It was like a spring, so she knelt down next to it and set her stick aside. The foxgirl used two hands to cup some water, and tasted it. Usually, she'd try to clear the water of particles or filter it, but this time was different.
The taste was exactly what she longed for. The water cooled her throat and quenched her thirst. She felt some energy returning to her, and she released a sigh of pleasure from the sensation.
Maybe it was okay to try bathing in the water, after all? For a second, she considered it, but she shook her head. Shelter first and a bath after.
She took another sip of the water for good measure, and then she grabbed her new stick. She traveled further into the dungeon, looking for trees that would make a good building material.
Eventually, she stumbled on more cotton tail plants, but she found them hard to pull out of the ground. They were much sturdier than their counterparts on Earth. They were almost like stalks of bamboo with a fluffy tip. This could work, but how do I get them out?
She was missing her time in the military more and more. At least she could suffer there with a multi-tool. She'd have a knife to dig it out with. The fox girl looked down at her branch. Emily picked up a nearby rock and used its surface to shape the branch's end into something much sharper. It ended up being a small makeshift wooden spear, and she used the sharp edge to cut away at the stalks of the plants near the water.
She smiled when she got them out of the ground, and they were firm. She had no way to pocket the cottontail ends, so she left them next to the water. If I can come back and get those, they will be good fire starters.
The fox girl nodded before tucking the stalks under her arm. She gathered enough to make a small tent. For the roofing, I can use the leaves of those trees from before. Yeah...this is shaping up perfectly.
It was the first time in what felt like ages that anything had gone well for her, and she dared a small smile on her face. Her eyes lightened, and she released some of the tension in her shoulders.
She spent some time building a new shelter. She went back and forth between some dry land and the stalks near the water, collecting them, and building a structure. She weaved some plant fibers around them to connect them together, and she used those large prehistoric leaves to stitch on a roof.
After several hours, she had a small thatch tent to work with, and she started building a bed on the inside. She laid down several of the same cottontail stems and wrapped them together to make a frame. For the bedding, she got the idea to rip apart the tips of the plant tails, forming a fluffy mattress.
She worried it might be itchy, but that thought vanquished when she slumped down on the material.
The fox girl grabbed her tail with a tired grin. After a full day's work, she had a small room to sleep in, but exhaustion from her mental battles and working started setting it.
She wrapped her tail around the side of her body to her front and held onto it with both hands. "I hope that I will not wake up inside of that lab..."
Her light voice trailed off, until eventually sleep found her.
///
When she woke up, Emily was surprised to see that light inside of the cave started fading. She didn't know how long she slept, but some of her fatigue faded away.
She yawned and stretched her arms before stepping out of the makeshift tent. The light above had taken on a deeper orange hue and provided less light. It was much like an artificial sunset.
Emily's stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten yet. A feeling of anticipation filled her. The only meals she'd had in years were laboratory slushy mixes that didn't have any flavor at all. They sustained her as a prisoner, but that was all they did. They were neither appetizing or tasty.
She sighed and walked towards the water again. This time, she would get rid of all the muck on her body. She started by grabbing another lump of plant fibers, and then she walked into the water with only her feet. The water was cool, but it wasn't too cold. The fox girl kept walking, and felt the water brace her tail.
The feeling sent a shiver all throughout her body. The sensitivity of it was both unexpected and unwelcome. Though, she found it hard to curse the appendage once again. She stomached the feeling and continued until the water passed her breasts.
Once it was at her shoulders, she dipped her head in. She kept her eyes opened, but there were no animals underwater. She didn't find a single fish. There were only a few plants on the bottom, waving around with the water's flow. Why is this place practically empty while the surface is teeming with life?
She shook her head and focused on her task, wiping away the dirt from her body. She scrubbed harshly, especially on her tail and ears where grime loved to collect.
Her head waved side to side in a frenzy from the sensation of her ears. They're even more sensitive than my tail.
Nonetheless, she continued until darkness started to descend. Though, she didn't know if she could call it descending darkness. The sky translated from different colors. It went orange, and the orange gradually started fading to give way to black. Little white dots speckled the dome of the cave, creating an array of fake stars.
The fox girl dried herself off the best she could while staring up at it. A deep sigh left her mouth. Even if they're fake stars, this is the first time I've seen a night sky in years.
However, the night sky brought with it something else. A faint buzzing sound reached her ears and gradually started growing louder and louder with each passing moment. Her pointed fluffy hearing devices twitched with each sound, and her crimson eyes started searching their surroundings.
Even more sounds joined the cascade. In the distance, she could hear the croaking of frogs, mingling with the sound of insects.
Emily immediately made a break towards her tent. She ran towards the structure and reached it as fast as she could. The moment she was inside she grabbed her wooden spear and bit the thumb of her other hand.
What is it this time?