Well, it was my first repeat try. I was back in that nice temple that'd welcomed me during my prior trip. My first thing to wonder, of course, was if the things that had appeared there before would respawn. I treaded over the ground with purpose, more confident this time. I would do what I had to to succeed. Unfortunately, despite my initial optimism, the supplies area remained empty. "Looks like I'm stuck with what I've got."
There was no reason to stick around, then. I quickly left the temple, and looked around. The forest was as much as it had been before, so I was looking forward to trekking out and seeing what was out there. I took a deep breath to center myself and trudged forward, keeping my eyes open the best I could. Those beavers would be everywhere, if last time was any indication. It wasn't like the forest was terribly interesting otherwise, so with it being old hat, it was much easier to focus on watching my surroundings. I kept my arms limber as I walked, ready at a moment's notice to fight whatever I needed.
'Forward' was nice, but I needed a direction. Which way to go? Deeper into the forest, down south, or back north? It would be a decent idea to see if the areas outside of my starter spot changed or refilled or something. It also was less likely to have Nathan or Rachel there, I figured. I'm one of those weirdos that like to figure out how stuff works before going and exploring more, so I bet they would go back to exploring instead of retreading old ground. Back north it was!
Unfortunately, because there were fewer interesting things for me to check out, I found myself getting bored again. Irritated, I lightly slapped my cheek. "C'mon, Allison. You know the moment you let your-"
A screech called out of the trees to her left, and I turned quickly towards it. Another damn beaver, sprinting straight for me. "Guard down, you'll get attacked." I lowered myself slightly and spread my stance out. My thoughts went to my strategy as it charged at me. I should Parry its attack and go in for a Mana Bolt... wait, could I activate my Spark the same time as a Parry? I didn't need to voice the skills that used my Endurance, so maybe I just try to do both? Nothing to do but do it.
It predictably jumped at me like they all did, and I sidestepped before it even got close. Seeing this, its tail moved, but my hand was already coming down to Parry it. As I was making contact, I shouted out "Spark!" and felt exhilarated as the mana surged through me. The creature screeched as it flailed wildly and crashed to the ground in a heap. It certainly wasn't dead, which I needed to rectify. It was writhing in place, but big enough that I could crouch down, and fire a Mana Bolt into the side of its head. I didn't trust my personal strength to be able to take it out easily, and without a sharp weapon, this was my option. With a sickening snap, the head slapped to the side and the little thing stopped moving.
I frowned, and felt my bile slightly rise, before shoving it down. Why did this bother me so much? I'd stabbed and cut creatures already, but this bloodless little kill made me feel ill? Irritating. I calmed myself with some breathing exercises, and picked the thing up. It was heavier than the one I'd grabbed the other day, but I heaved it back towards my entry point. It went all of maybe a meter before thudding into the ground with a sick sound, and I gritted my teeth in disgust.
Yeah, I shouldn't trust my strength. I'd have to get over this reluctance until I got a proper killing implement, or it was going to be very unpleasant in here.
What was that about therapists?
Moving on. I'd barely started and already gotten a into a fight, but I was doing way better. One endurance skill and two mana skills, as opposed to an injury and more resources used. It'd also been interesting to feel how different the spells had been with a proper target. The Spark spell felt a lot like a tickle of energy that danced away from me, while a Mana Bolt could be more compared to reaching your hand out to catch a baseball, but having it bounce out of the glove.
With thoughts on magic to sustain my imagination, I travelled onward towards my destination. What would the mine bring this time? Empty caves? An entirely different area? Just the same, but respawned? My mood had brightened considerably upon my successful fight. It was getting easier. I could breathe a little, not worry so much about every fight. This, of course, immediately was hit by the chilling rain of the realization that I was absolutely getting overconfident.
My grin found the side of my face even as the other side grimaced. Us humans sure were complicated, weren't we?
A longer bit of walking gave me my first indication of what I might find on the other end of my trek. What I found - or more importantly, what I didn't find - was that little pond I'd encountered the first time. The forest was frustratingly empty, and boring, almost like it was half-formed. It was absurd! I had to keep my wits about me while there was just nothing there for me to check out.
"So damn annoying." I looked around, almost hoping that I'd be assaulted by one of the beasts, but kept walking.
And walking.
And walking.
And finally, as the sun was finally beginning to set, I reached what might be a destination. It was clear that the basin was different than before, given the length of time I'd had to travel without running into the mine. However, at long last, the trees began to thin, and the way opened up. Not to any sort of mountainous wall, or the bunker-like mine that had appeared before, but instead appeared as though I was coming upon a decrepit town that had been abandoned for ages. Broken buildings rose from the spotty turf, made of mostly stone, brick, and wood.
That answered the biggest question - this was new. Possibly a different version of the labyrinth entirely? I hoped I wouldn't find the others here, or if I did, just Rachel. I really didn't need to deal with a homicidal asshole today, or tonight, or ever, really.
What didn't fill me with confidence was the fact that I was walking into this blind. The town - or city - was on the same plane, so there was no way to get a good lay of the land. And as soon as I thought that, I slapped a hand up to my head. "Just get atop one of those buildings, idiot." They were only two or three stories high, maximum, so there had to be some of them with multiple floors. In a situation like this, I needed info.
Now more cautious, I stalked forward, at the ready. It was getting dark, the area was new, and I was out of supplies, having eaten what I had throughout the day. I needed food and water, and I needed safety. I could feel myself starting to get tired, as well.
The first building I approached stood solitarily away from the rest, like a scout resolutely holding back the forest. The first floor had an opening for a window, so I could easily peer inside upon reaching it. Inside was both disappointing and promising. It was largely destroyed, with no easy way to climb up to a second story, but it did have scraps. Armor and weapon scraps, to be exact. Even if these would be useless, it indicated that there might be more to find going forward. I moved on past this building and began to excitedly pick through them, checking the interiors whenever I could. For a while, I found nothing, but the place seemed to be so huge that I wasn't too upset.
As the last of the sunlight was hitting the area, I came upon something significant, at last. Unfortunately, it heralded a vast difference from my last experiences. Little mammals, bugs, skeletons; with the exception of the berserker, I hadn't had to fight anything with human-like bents.
Standing around a well, greedily drinking from contents recently plumbed from it, were a pair of gray-skinned furred humanoids. Extremely lanky and gangly, they were somewhat tall, maybe around 180cm each. Extreme underbites were complemented by a pair of black tusks adorning each of them. Their shoulders were left bare, but their lower bodies, starting above where their navels might be, were covered in a thick brown fur. It looked bristly to the touch, but likely kept them much warmer than if they didn't have it. They had two arms, each sporting long, rakish four-fingered hands that terminated in claws that look like they would tear through flesh pretty easily.
Hiding behind a wall, I observed them the best I could. They didn't speak to each other, just looking about their surroundings. There were a pair of basic clubs leaning against the well, likely their weapons. That suggested intelligence of some level, and I was nervous about what I should do. Do I ty to talk? I'd be giving up my advantage of a sneak attack, but I needed that well, and I had to choose between morality and need.
I resisted the urge to growl in frustration. What should I do? Hope we could communicate? Attack? What did I care about? What was this labyrinth? Could it create intelligent creatures? Was this a real place? How did this all work? What if I killed them? Did they come back later? Did they even exist or were they figments?
I shut my eyes with force, trying to banish the spiraling thoughts. It's simple, Allison. Empathy. I'm human, and I should treat that as the privilege it is. I should attempt communication, no matter what. Dark Forest theory be damned.
I stood and moved towards them casually, crunching my footsteps against the patchy ground to make what noise I could. I kept my hands at my sides, looking directly past them, wanting to not meet their eyes in case it was some weird predator thing. A lot of approximate knowledge might really help me here, thanks summertime TV.
The two creatures startled and grabbed at their clubs, looking at me with concern. I now noticed their eyes were a dull blue, lacking any sort of variation in color, quite like an insect's. A low growl came from them, prompting me to stop. I had to force myself to keep my movements calm, not allowing anything to tell them I was dangerous. They spread out a little, splitting up, warily circling me.
I opened my mouth and started to speak. "I mean no harm, I just need tha-" as my hand slowly moved to point at the well, one of them jumped at me with its club high in the air.
Well, that solved that.
I Dashed backward to put some distance between us and ruin their flanking maneuvers. I shot a Mana Bolt directly at the spot I'd left, letting the Bolt reach the creature as its club let out a puff of dirt from hitting the ground. It was knocked back, but not fully off balance, and looked at me with renewed energy. There was no time to process the change as its partner charged at me, head down. It looked like it was going to attack me with its tusks instead of the club in its hands.
Was it... stupid?
It had to barely be able to see me with such an attack. I frowned and waited a moment, raising my hands at the last moment. It came within a few steps of me and I stepped aside, like a matador with a bull. I intended to use my Parry skill to hit the back of its head and knock it to the ground, but with whiplike speed, the club came up towards me. My torso took a heavy hit as I connected with my attack and I was forced backward, huffing. My attack had been successful, though, and it fell to the ground in a crumple. Heaving, trying not to lose what little of my lunch remained, I dove forward and put my hand on its head and cast Spark. I couldn't use my voice without breath in my lungs, so had to accept the silent cast and hope it was enough to incapacitate this thing.
The creature convulsed underneath me, and I had to pull back to avoid those claws. However, with breath finally returning to me, I stole its club before I backed off. I stumbled backwards to see the its partner rushing at me. No way I could move well enough to Parry that, so I Dashed to the side to force it to waste time chasing after me. The extra moments that gave me allowed me to finally get my stance back and I readjusted the club, reveling in the acquisition of the weapon, as simple as it was.
After a small wait, the creature readjusted its position, but chose not to pursue me. It looked down at its companion who had stopped shaking, and attempted to get it to stand. I blinked as it struggled to get the other one raised up and simply raised my hand to send a Mana Bolt its way. They were absolutely stupid. Even as novices, my fellow humans and I had understood the need to not ignore an active threat. The magical energy impacted the upright creature who looked at me in surprise and fell on its ass. I Dashed forward and used my momentum to use the hunk of wood as a golf club against its chin.
Even I winced as the impact cracked one of its tusks and completely broke the other. I doubted it'd be conscious after that one, and if it was, a head injury like that would certainly put me out of commission. I swung around to see that one out cold, but the one I'd Sparked had managed to get itself upright and was swinging its claws at me sluggishly. It did manage to rake it across my leg, earning a shout of pain from me, but a Mana Bolt to its visage put it back on the ground, and I quickly smashed its face in with the club with all the force I could muster. A sick sound filled the air as I did, and I could feel the sensations through the weapon as its skull parted beneath the blow.
I breathed hard as I investigated the two bodies before me, dully noting that one of them was still alive. Obviously that one was the beaten up one, not the one with the face I'd just pulped and was not going to inspect more closely. I already had to put what I'd just done out of my mind. The visceral feel of beating a skull in... I gagged, and had to hold my mouth closed with my other hand. I dropped the club and stepped away, trying to get my breathing under control. It was difficult - exertion and disgust were not pleasant bedfellows. "I don't think I'm cut out for big bonks." Something about a slash or stab was way easier to parse than the... awful crushing sensation.
I don't know how long it took me to get my calmness back, but I looked around for something, anything to bind this creature. Who knew if it would even wake at all, but if I were going to find rest, I'd need to secure it. Searching through nearby buildings, I managed to find some rough rope of questionable quality, but I did what I could to knot up its hands behind its back, securing it against the exposed foundation of a building. God - Gods help me if I needed to get this thing undone without a sharp object.
My next objective was to bind my leg, which I did by tearing away some of my current cloak. It was a nasty gash, but not very severe, so a light tourniquet would do to reduce blood flow.
Without much else going through my mind, I collected the club that lacked the viscera trim and finally went to collect water from the well. It took me a little bit to figure out how to properly work the mechanisms, my modern ass having no experience, but it's not like it was complicated. The fresh, if earthy, water helped me to wash away some of the grossness that had accumulated in my mouth during the fight. I also just drank deeply, my thirst reasserting itself with force after I came in contact with the liquid.
I looked around me, pointedly ignoring the corpse nearby. I should bed down for the night, and there were plenty of scraps in the houses around me. Was that why these creatures were here, and not back the other way? There was actually stuff to find here, as deteriorated as it was. I spent a little time gathering pieces of what might have been clothes at one point and bundling them together in the building that housed my prisoner. I idly worried about bedbugs or something, but remembered that this place seemed to be bereft of insects and shrugged.
I looked up through the broken ceiling of my temporary shelter, and started. In the sky were four moons again, but different moons. The smallest one had stayed, but now there was a dark, bloodred orb that drifted across the night sky, looming large in my vision. A golden yellow sphere was close to it, much closer to average size, and next to it was a dark gray one that seemed barely visible.
Was it something about the labyrinth? "Who fuckin' knows," I said as I got comfortable. There's nothing I can do about it, and rest here was what I really needed. I closed my eyes, pushing the wonder of the satellites out of my mind.