Throbbing pain became the new normal for Emily. She rested against a tree for the rest of the night dealing with constant agony and spikes in pain. Conservation of her energy was a priority after she'd slain her first couple of creatures. For when the morning light hit, the sounds of the insects trailed off into the distance. The groaning of unfamiliar monsters faded into calmness.
It's almost like this dungeon is a monster itself, luring me in during the day, and attacking me at night. She stood up with a groan, using her new lamp for stability. Clothes, I need them. This makeshift wrapping won't work either.
She considered rerouting backwards towards those plants but decided against it. The fox girl moved further into the dungeon, surprised by the fact that her lantern stayed lit.
While carefully walking through dense foliage, her ears constantly wiggled around, tuning themselves to potential predators. Her eyes darted, and she always looked for animal tracks. The thing is, there were so many tracks and no animals. This place was truly like an oasis at daytime and hell at night.
Though, the remnants of their activity remained, and while her remaining arm ran across a large leaf, she noticed something sticking to it.
"Silk?" Her eyes narrowed in surprise, and a screen popped up in her vision.
[Uncommon: Glow Worm Silk - Silk made from the body of a glow worm, useful for producing clothing.]
It really is silk, and it's from those worms as well. She worked her fingers into the strange white fibers. I can't believe it, but this small amount won't even be good for making underwear, let alone a whole outfit.
She sighed and gripped the small amount of silk in her hand, pressing it against the lantern. The fox girl did observe them while she was slumped against a tree. She saw where many of the creatures flew off to with the coming of day. There was some kind of dark cave system here, near the roof of this place, and from a distance she spotted the path leading up it.
There is no telling how long my lamp will last, but it could be worth it to risk the silk. No, it must be worth it. There aren't many alternatives right now.
The blood loss made her feel slightly light headed ever so often while traveling, so she knelt next to the water and gazed at her kitsune reflection before taking a sip. If she wasn't covered in blood spatter, she imagined she'd have been quite beautiful.
Her face was alluring, and the crimson eyes only enhanced the otherworldly feel of it. Those soft ears would have been perfect if they weren't caked in soot and blood. They twitched uncomfortably on her head, and she winced from another flaring of pain in her missing arm.
Tears pricked at the edge of her eyes while she waited for it to subside. She swallowed them down and gritted her teeth before standing back on her feet. No crying...Even missing an arm is better than going back. You can do it.
The memory of something similar flashed through her mind. She recalled being a child on Earth and having her fingers nearly cut off, but modern medicine had treated her well. The cast and slow healing was able to save the fingers.
Emily shook her head and kept walking, finally reaching the bottom of a sloping trail. It headed up the side of a jagged cliff, but it was at least wide enough for her small body.
Her eyes found something unexpected near a boulder. There was a skeleton, slumped against the cliff. The body was much smaller than that of a human, but it faintly resembled one. Although, it was completely missing a skull. Its outfit was nearly completely gone and in tatters, hanging from pieces of bone.
I guess you must have been killed by a swarm of those things?
The kitsune knelt down slowly, bracing herself with her lantern staff. By the time she was kneeling, her eyes spotted something different. A pendant laid in the skeletons hand. It clutched it as if it was something precious. She looked left and right and all around before setting down her lantern.
"I'm sorry..." Emily reached down and pried its fingers away from the item. Her eyes narrowed, and a familiar screen popped up.
[Rare: Pendant of Holding - This pendant can hold a small amount of items inside.]
Seriously? Can this thing really hold items?
She held it up towards the light, a gorgeous purple stone reflecting in her sight, and a silver metal chain holding onto it. She was hesitant to try it on for fear of it cursing her, but she cast that thought aside. I am already cursed anyways...
The fox girl dropped it around her neck and felt a strange feeling around her chest where it dangled. It was similar to the feeling she had when she cast cybermagic, but it was a little different. This was as if a foreign thing was prodding at her.
She stared at it in confusion. How do I even use this thing? There is no technical manual or anything.
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Emily reached on the ground next to her staff and picked up the clump of silk. Her body trembled with another throbbing of pain as she clutched it. Once again, she gritted her teeth, and she pressed the clump next to the item. Though, it wouldn't go inside.
She grumbled with clenched teeth before taking calming breaths. The fox girl used practiced special forces breathing techniques, until her mind reached a calm equilibrium.
Emily called on that familiar cybermagic power, and nanobots materialized in front of her. They floated in the air before descending towards the silk. Each of the little bots wrapped around it and lifted it towards the pendant. Once they connected this time, the silk vanished into particles that floated into the pendant.
The fox girl watched the purple sheen change slightly, emitting a small glow of light at the center. It was only about the width of a pen's tip, but her eyes were able to see it. Does this indicate how full it is? What if I want to pull it out?
With her mind, she controlled the magic again, and the nanobots pressed against it. A strange thought entered her mind. It was as if a question was being asked by herself. Which item do I want? The only one there...The silk.
The particles of purple light flowed out of the piece of jewelry and manifested as the same wad of silk. Her eyes widened. It actually works!
She wanted to cheer, but another jolt of pain reminded her of the missing limb. She once again stored the silk back in the item before picking up her staff. And at that moment, another chime sounded in her head.
[Congratulations!]
[Your proficiency with Cybermagic has increased. [Novice Cybermage] has gained a level, becoming [Apprentice Cybermage]!]
Really? Is that how it works? I wish I could have gained experience before losing my arm...
She breathed another sigh and decided to continue her journey up the mountain. Though, before she would enter the cave of the worm monsters, she checked her stats by narrowing her eyes towards her remaining arm.
Name: Emily VanderRace: [Kitsune]
Age: 22
Sex: Female
Level: 3
Class: [Apprentice Cybermage]
Sub Classes:
Devotion(s): Kurayami
Title(s):
Health: 100
Stamina: 120
Mana: 160
Skills: [Novice Hand to Hand],[Telecommunications Specialist],[Kurayami's Voice],[Cybernetic Eye],[Apprentice Cybermagic]
Equipment: [Rare Pendant of Holding]
My health didn't increase with levels? Is it because of my missing arm? At least I have more mana now.
Though her stats were pitiful, they were still better than low-leveled worms. She sent a silent thanks to the dead person for his parting gift. Still, if there are dead people, then maybe there are alive people somewhere, too? I really need to find someone when I get out of this place. I still don't know who this Kurayami person is. If I am devoted to it, I would like to know what it is...
She looked upwards in vain. Though, she was really only stalling her entry into the cave. Each passing second should have been precious, but the cool cave air and darkness was like a pit forming in her stomach. It was a signal for endless trepidation.
Nonetheless, like countless brave pioneers she recalled from her Earth life, she stepped into the unknown, her lantern illuminating the cave walls. She immediately recognized webs of silk adorning the walls. Further down, she could see cocoons made of the same substance, and when the cave widened out, she looked up in horror to see countless sleeping glow worms.
There was an array of light shining from the ceiling with what must have been thousands of them.
The fox girl held back her gasp and breathed in deeply to calm her heart. She observed the monsters while sitting still, making sure none of them would move. They all sat unbothered without even waking up. Their light reflected on a water source below, moss growing around it.
If she hadn't seen what those monsters could do to a giant turtle, she would have called the place beautiful. She swallowed down her nerves and walked next to a cocoon of silk.
Shining the lamp on it had the effect of being able to see the outline of a small larva inside. Emily knelt down and placed her lamp on the ground next to her. With a deep breath, she started peeling away the shell of silk.
The larva inside made a small squeak, but it died after a couple of seconds of being exposed to air. A strange liquid poured from the silk egg onto the ground, glowing when it met the open air.
Emily's ears twitched, and her head zoomed around all over the place. Though, none of the worms above her fluttered to awareness. She gripped the sack and used the same cybermagic, wrapping small nanobots around the structure, and sucking it into her pendant.
Once inside, the ring of light at the center of the jewelry grew larger. Now, it was about halfway full, and she was pretty sure she'd gotten enough for at least a basic outfit, given the size of it. However, she wanted to be certain, so she moved to the next egg.
She pressed the handle end of her lantern against it and cracked it open. It split apart easily, and more goop gushed out. This time, the larva screeched, but it didn't stop at only one yelp. Shit it must have been more viable!
Emily stabbed it with her handle, and more goop splattered onto her legs. She looked around, and this time, there were some worms roused away. They wiggled their body and turned towards her, but they didn't leave their post.
After a few heart pounding moments of staring at each other, the worms tucked themselves back into their wings. Emily took some steadying breaths and grabbed the cocoon, funneling it into her storage device again.
She stepped away from the glowing sludge on the ground and made towards the exit of the cave. Once she breached into the light, she released a sigh of relief. She looked down and saw that the pendant was now full of purple light.
The fox girl moved down the slope and tested her theory at the bottom. She grabbed a rock and tried to force it inside of the pendant with magic, but it wouldn't go. Once again, she felt drained from all of the mana depletion and headed towards a water source. She sipped from the dungeon river and started planning out how she would make clothes.
It doesn't need to be perfect. It only needs to serve as a protection against the elements and maybe some light attacks.
Though, there was a question of how resilient the material would be against anything. She wondered if she could reinforce it with her cybermagic somehow, but trying to call it forth again would be pushing it. The fox girl would have to wait for her magic to return.
I really need more levels and to deal with this pain somehow. The wrapping around her missing limb was becoming well over-used. Blood was soaking through the plant fibers. Though, thankfully most of it was dried. It was both a good and bad thing. She was growing more worried about infection. The fox girl really didn't want to amputate anymore of her arm.