My left arm hurt. My right arm tingled unpleasantly. My head throbbed. My left leg felt like it had been struck in the calf by a nasty piece of shit axe.
Oh, that's right, it had.
Thankfully, I didn't feel like vomiting this time. That would have been insult on top of injury, I think. I tried moving my limbs, and though I was tired and in pain, they obeyed me with only the shadow of hesitation. I pushed myself to a sitting position, nestled up against the box that supposedly would contain my things. I pulled my legs to my chest and hugged them.
"..." I tried to speak, but nothing came out. I had been successful. We took out the boss, Rachel survived the fight with Nathan, and I... got revenge, as I lost. I was angry. I was skeeved out by him way earlier and let my guard down in a big way. Hell, we'd even discussed the possibility of him turning on us, but I still just let it happen. Was it overconfidence? Distracted by winning the boss battle?
"Wait," I finally said, peeved. "I bet there was fucking loot that we didn't get because of that bastard." Typical that irritation made me get past my shock, at least this little bit. But I'd use the emotion, while it outweighed the looming, crushing sense of defeat that hovered around the edges of my psyche.
I breathed, in through my mouth, out through my nose. "Contain. Compartmentalize." Healthy? Again, no, but necessary. Like so many things.
I stood up, ignoring the ache in my body, and opened up the goodie box behind me. I was elated to see a single cloak, two beat-up looking bags, and nothing else. My heart fell. Was it just covered? I grabbed the bags, one of them full of jerky and the other full of jerky and half a cloak, but nothing else was there. The loose cloak covered nothing, either. My sword, my weapon, was gone. I looked around, and took stock.
The trip had gotten me levels (maybe more from beating the boss?) and some clothes and some food, but it had cost me my blade. I hoped it wasn't in Nathan's possession, then. I wasn't optimistic enough to hope that he'd also been taken down by the shock, it had to have been dulled by going through me first. My hand tingled as I thought about the power that had surged through it, and how it seemed to transcend pain in that moment. Wasn't electricity how my nerves worked? I wonder if it was especially painful because of that, or maybe there was this disruption going on?
Shaking my head, I slapped my cheeks. "Get moving, Allison." My clothes were half ruined by the repeated fights. I had pant leg and a half, large cuts running down both arms of my shirt, and all of it was covered in blood, some fresh, some old and dried. I gathered up what I had and moved it into the Sanctuary, where I could rest more properly, and in some fresh air. Thankful to hear the burble of the fountain as I went up, the jitters started to disappear, along with my irritation. I could feel my face morphing into an angry frown. This was going to be one of those episodes, where I was upset with myself more than anything else. Something something "you can't account for everything" or along those lines, my therapist would have said. Well, I was dead, and she was in another world. Was that more a point for her and not me?
"Shit."
I needed to work on my curses. Isn't that what plucky protagonists did in these kinds of stories? They didn't go around just with basic expletives, they got people to like them with expressive vocabularies to voice their displeasure. I plopped my stuff down next to the fountain and found a pew to sit on. I could see outside that it was bright and welcoming, so I assumed it was sometime around midday. Certainly, it did not match my mood. I wasn't in any state to do much other than go over what had happened, properly.
'Debrief yourself, like you're talking to a fifth grader,' Dad would have told me. 'Get granular, and assume she knows nothing.'
"Okay. You went to a new place, and it was different from the last entrance to the labyrinth."
I stood up, and paced around. "You gathered some stuff, knowing you could take some back, and started exploring. Why was that a mistake?"
I stopped and huffed. "You didn't observe long enough. You could have taken extra time."
"No, though. Food and water were important. I wouldn't have lasted forever. I made the best decision I could have at the time. Careful progression."
I walked around some more, feeling the soreness in my legs slowly smooth out. "Okay. So then you walked into the forest, and fought a beaver that hit you. What did you do wrong there?"
I rolled my eyes, annoyed at the 'me' that was interrogating me. God, I was an annoying shit when I was being an annoying shit. "I should have studied the creature some more. I'm no biologist, but I can figure out its weapons and such. I could have at least poked around in its mouth and figured out how its tail was made."
I nodded. "Intel is important. But with that mistake, you kept going. Then you fought two of them. Somehow, you didn't fuck up that fight, but you stuck around too long after. It was loud. You were deeper in. You didn't expect more."
Kicking at the ground, I frowned. "True. Okay." I stopped my debrief, knowing that I had reached the point I needed to. I hadn't been cautious enough. I trusted unknown people too easily. I assumed it was some kind of game, which, to be fair to me, the aether seemed to be almost encouraging.
Speaking of the aether though, I should check to see if I'd gained any strength from the fight. We had beaten the boss, after all. Hoping to distract myself a little, I walked to the Lens room and got to work. My initial status was as expected, though the injuries seemed to affect my stats far less. I was mostly happy to see that I had two more levels pending. Level pending, going by the prompt. The grammar bothered me, but it wasn't anything that really got to me.
For my level six skill, I actually had a couple interesting choices, so I'd have to really think about it. All three were passive choices, so nothing to immediately add.
I admit, switching over to lightning powers did seem kinda cool. I was already going for a 'fast and hard' kind of thing, so it did fit. Had I earned the choice by using it to attack Nathan?
Ah... no. I wasn't really bothered by bugs, but I definitely am not going to pigeonhole myself by grabbing an anti-insect skill.
Definitely didn't need that. I could already drop asleep pretty fast. Maybe it'd get stronger later, but right now, I think my choice was clear.
Did I want to commit to lightning? Electricity? Could I gain more later?
"Who the hell am I trying to convince? Lightning is cool as fuck." I selected the 'skill', and watched it appear in my Traits section, alongside Daredevil. It was cool to know that traits could show up here, but, also, what was the difference between having to pick one from a level up, and just earning it by doing stuff? The strength of the trait? Its rarity?
I really hoped there was learning on this stuff. I had too many questions and not enough answers. A book would go real far for me here.
My odd level had me put another 5 in my Endurance. I had greatly appreciated the extra mobility from last time, and wanted to continue those gains. I really regretted not having put more in from the start, but I supposed at the end of the day a more balanced approach shouldn't be the worst.
AdultHuman Allison Level 725 Yrs 0 Mos Class:Mageblade Resilience: 25(-6)Mana: 35Endurance: 25(-6) Afflictions: Inj: SystemAffiliations: NoneTraits: Daredevil, Electric 0 Level Pending Passive Skills: 0 Skill Factor Active Skills: Close CombatMana SenseDecisiveness Mana BoltBasic ParryQuick CastMartial Style Dash It didn't look bad. Looks like when Injuries get widespread enough, it just kinda agglomerates in the system, even if they're now more minor.
A nice stat spread! More hearty, more resources, nice abilities.
And I'd still barely won a boss fight, and died after to betrayal. I needed to be better. Stronger, obviously, but better too. I needed to spend time learning more on what to do.
"That's it," I said as I replaced the Lens on its spot. I turned and burst through the door. I would use the time today, the rest of the day, and tomorrow, to do some exercises and figure out the limits of my abilities. It would give me a break from the Labyrinth, and it would be bearable, thanks to the addition of meat to my diet. Meat and potatoes, rahh, manly meals. Protein, at least, for the exercise.
The Sanctuary seemed almost welcoming as I stepped back into it with a better mood drifting in my head. I crossed the distance and stepped outside once more.
It occurred to me that I really hadn't spent much time out here, mostly sleeping or being in the Labyrinth. It truly was very beautiful. Rolling mountains stretched out in every direction, with some more jagged peaks peeking through the horizon to the west. Unfamiliar birds traveled through the air, and the forest around was vibrant with noise from animals and bugs. It was like a wild, otherworldly Appalachia, and it really spoke to my heart. I took a moment, honestly more like a full half hour, to just look around and observe the realm around me.
Finally done taking it in, the wait was punctuated by cracking my knuckles and doing some side lunges. I would need to do some movements to change how I fought. In the absence of a weapon, I'd have to rely on punches, kicks, and my magic. With no martial training, and with no idea where or how to start, truly, the only way to begin was by beginning.
I needed a weapon.
The sunset was a gorgeous thing, the great ball of plasma partially obscured by the range and casting the temple in a brilliant off-orange hue. I fiddled with a leaf from the ivy on the side of the temple, idly wondering if I should just take a chomp to see if it was edible, consequences be damned. The jerky in my mouth, while initially a blessing, was proving to be a very simple and straightforward thing. I would have to use it to cut the other meals of potatoes, or it would get old, fast.
But I needed a weapon. My body was sore between the echoes of the injuries and the running around I'd been doing for the past couple hours. I'd probably looked like a complete idiot, especially to anyone with any real combat training, but it was necessary to get used to the movements. I was throwing in a lot of kicks with my attacks. My nice boots made it so I could strike at walls and not worry as much about hurting myself, but the biggest factor was range and movement. Kicks forced me to alter my balance, even though they had massive potential when paired with my Dashes. Mana Bolts were limited. My fists were pathetic and I needed something else to really be effective Something sharp, preferably.
At least all the leg exercise should make my ass look fantastic. "Yeah, who are you gonna impress, Allison? The murderer or the straight girl?" I shook my head and got to my feet, wincing as the soreness rose. Even if I wanted to go into the labyrinth tomorrow, it would be a bad idea after all that strenuous movement. I'd probably gotten lucky - "lucky," I scoffed - with my body being mostly repaired from previous trips, but this time, I'd get to deal with that muscle pain all on my own.
The plus side of the equation meant I'd probably sleep real well. I wasn't ready for sleep, though, so instead of heading into the Sanctuary, I walked over towards the useless storage shed. The side of the wall looked very target-like to me, so I did the natural thing. "Mana Bolt," I said with little emotion, pointing my fingers at it in the pseudo-gun motion that I used. I felt the now-familiar drawing of energy up to the tip and watched as the pink bullet of power ejected from me. I hit the side of the wall and did leave a scuff, though barely. I frowned. "I have the electric trait now, right? Can I fuck with that?"
Could I even mess with my magic without the skill? I thought of the sensation of it gathering, and tried to find the source. Surprisingly, I found it, somewhere above my stomach and below my heart. It seemed to course out from that spot, and I used another Mana Bolt while bringing my senses inward to observe. With quick reactions, whatever it was squeezed and let out some of the power within, and I felt it shoot up and through my body, into my arm, and finally, leaving me to gather at my fingertips. Once outside my body, I felt my connection to the mana weaken considerably, though there was still a link. The Mana Bolt fired at the wall again, and a meter or two later I felt the connection sever completely. Was this why distance mattered?
Okay. Mana, I could feel. I could feel the difference between internal and external mana. But how to convert that to lightning? What was lightning? Electrons traveling between atoms, right? I raised my hand again, trying to imagine the sensation of a connection building. I actually could feel my mana respond, moving up my arm without being bidden by a spell. It pooled in my left hand, and instead of letting it gather like I normally did, I tried to 'stretch' it and build a bridge to the wall of the storage shed. I couldn't really tell how much was working, so after a minute or so, I released my conscious hold on the magic.
To my surprise, a clash of pinkish sparks left my hand with a sharp ozone smell hitting me right after.
To my disappointment, it fizzled barely centimeters in the open air past my hand before disappearing completely.
"Well, that fucking sucked," I pouted.
"Well, that sucked a little less."