I immediately regretted opening my eyes. It meant I was awake. And that meant all my senses were functioning.
My 'bed' stank, badly. Daylight was streaming across my eyes and forced me to bring an arm up to block it out, which resulted in an extremely distressing 'schlop' sound. My left arm was covered in white and red blood, unpleasant colors striping the limb. Of course, putting it above myself made it slowly drip viscous liquid on my face. I sputtered, fully awake now, as if I hadn't been before. I tried to force myself to stand up, but the flesh below me was so soft that it was tough to find any sort of balance.
Not only that, but the sounds that were being made by my motions, along with the rancid stink, just about made me hurl. I exhaled as hard as I could while I rolled off of the mass of muscle and skin. Exhaustion is a hell of a drug. After a few rotations, I found myself rolling on stone, and finally pushed myself up to a standing position.
I'd slept through the night, that much was for sure. The sun was climbing over some of the nearby rooftops, granting me a vibrant view of the plaza. It was an absolute mess. The front gate was a mass of corpses, though there were splatters of blood and bodies all over that section of the square. That was nothing compared to the pieces of mimic that lay everywhere. Bits of torn tentacle adorned the place, leading to the whole place looking like some sort of insane battle had taken place.
"Heh."
The mimic itself was deflated a great deal, its bulk barely holding up against its own little chest hat thing. It was draining of color, as well, its flesh becoming a dull gray-pink as its blood wet the ground beneath it. Surprisingly, the bonfire was still lit, though it was more of a smolder than anything else. All around the plaza, quiet reigned, only broken by the crackles of the remaining flame.
Also, as before, it stank. Death had come to this place and made its mark, and I doubted even torrential rains would be able to clean this place of it. But that wasn't my concern. I needed to move on, but before that, I needed to find some supplies. Four 'buildings' of note were to be investigated, and I set to work. The first of them was the armory in which I'd found my current weapon. Its contents were a couple simple weapons. Daggers, scuffed-looking axes, and rickety bows lined the walls, along with some spears that were inferior to the one I'd grabbed before. Nothing really spoke to me, but I did reach forward to grab two of the daggers. Knives were essential for survival, even a modern girl like me knew that.
The second building I approached was slightly larger, also built into one of the existing structures. I stepped inside and found a simple sleeping area. Some bedding was there, along with all sorts of busted, ragged cloth. I ranged around inside for a bit and set aside some of the more intact stuff. If I could bring any of it back with me, I could wash them and use them. I looked down at myself, noting how disgusting my current clothes were as well. Yeah, washing was going to be necessary.
I put aside all the materials that I'd want to keep and strode towards the largest building, one that was surprisingly free-standing and was reminiscent of an actual log cabin. I briefly wondered how and why the hell they'd build something right here with wood that large, but quickly dismissed the thought as labyrinth weirdness. I pushed the door open (not locked, yay!) and blinked at what the interior held.
I had expected a building like this to look like some sort of old mead hall, or beastly den, or something. Instead, all it held were two ornate treasure chests on either side of a portal that looked like the exit from this place.
"...Well, okay." I stepped back outside and looked back toward the center of the city. There was some sort of edifice there that had begun to peek out, and I was sort of expecting that that was going to be where this part of the labyrinth ended, not here. Did that mean I'd beat the boss? Was the boss the mimic, or the stronghold? I'd probably never get an answer to the question, but regardless, I was happy to realize that for once, my exit from the labyrinth was going to be peaceful.
Those chests, though. I lowered myself down, and shot a Mana Bolt at the one on the left.
No reaction.
The one on the right?
No reaction.
That still wasn't enough, not anymore. I reached out and used the length my spear gave me to shove them open, waiting to see if anything jumped out at me.
No reaction.
Those bastards still didn't look safe to me, but I crept forward, ready to get the fuck out of there at a moment's notice. My caution was unnecessary, though, as both of them appeared to be normal boxes. In the left, there were a pair of gloves made of some sort of cloth. On the right, there was a... book. A book? Timid Hart by Rin Wallach. I reached down and grabbed it, poking through the first few pages. Nonfiction of some sort, writing of an old hero named Hartwin that completed some great deeds and founded some sort of empire.
But, why was it my reward? Was there important info in there? Well, it was something. Hopefully at minimum I'd be learning more about avare at the very least. I left the book in the chest and picked up the gloves. They didn't feel magical, as far as I could tell, but they definitely were well made. They had no sigils or markings on them and were just a dull gray, but they felt nice. I shrugged and laid them nearby. No way I was going to put those on with my hands as horribly messy as they were.
I exited, and resolved to loot this place as well as I could. One more structure, but it was probably worth checking things out nearby as well. I grinned. Yesterday might have been a nightmare, but now I was living in a pleasant dream. This would be nice.
I stepped through the portal chamber below the Sanctuary. Happiness hit me as I spied all the supplies I'd shoved through the portal, and started the process of lugging it all up to the Sanctuary. Upstairs and outside, there was actual daylight, though I could tell I spent a decent amount of time within the labyrinth today, what with the first vestiges of sunset starting to streak across the sky. I couldn't really tell exactly why, but it did feel different from the sunlight inside the labyrinth. Magic. It's always magic. Somehow.
Getting clean was my next task. I was still covered in blood, now all dried and gross, so I took to cleaning some of the better cloths and rags that had been available to me, setting them out to dry, and then using my remaining cloak to give myself a bit of a sponge bath. It wasn't perfect, and I knew my hair was absolutely disgusting, but I wasn't willing to shove my body into the fountain all gunked up, not until I had a better idea of how its filtration worked. It was certainly much later in the day when I finished, but I had artificial light inside, so went about getting everything set up.
An hour or two was all it took, really, due to the fact that I didn't have things in the way to move. I set up a little ring of rubble right outside the front entrance, imagining that I'd use it as a little fire pit once I took the time to get some wood. In order to acquire said wood, I laid the three primitive axes near the front entrance on the inside, and one of the knives. In the back, around the throne, I set up the materials that I'd gathered for bedding. A satisfied huff escaped me as I nodded and was sure that tonight would be a much nicer rest.
The food went into the freezer, except for what I'd eat tonight. Some unpleasant and hard bread, big piles of mystery meat, and two thick tentacles. Were they going to taste awful? Maybe, but fuck it, I'd earned the things, so I was going to cook and eat that damn mimic.
I brought the two cookpots near to the front as well, mouth watering while I imagined the fresh food I'd be making. The extra weaponry and tools were pushed into the storeroom on the side, but I kept my spear within reach at nearly all times. Having been disarmed once, I wasn't going to go far from my pointy stick again any time soon. I used a rock to hammer in a couple of the rustier knives around the front entrance to hang up the large piece of cloth I'd grabbed and stepped back, satisfied with my new, ah, 'door'.
This place was looking much better! Honestly, what I really needed now was some wood. I'd need to cut up some logs, sticks, and whatever, get them dried. I'd found some shards of flint, which went by the cookware, but green wood wouldn't be the best for cooking. I set my musings aside, peeking outside. The first moon, the little one I was coming to find comforting, was just cresting the range. It always went up first. I considered waiting to see if any followed, but a yawn interrupted me. No, tonight was going to be a regular night. Just sleep in some comforting bedding, clean, not in danger, not upset, just, sleep.
Back inside, I did glance briefly at the Lens room, bouncing it back and forth in my head. I could do it now and save some time tomorrow, but... it might be better to wait until I was rested and had a clear mind. So, I turned out the lights and felt my way over to my bed, ready to rest.
The next morning found me with a pleasant chill. Instead of feeling cold, I was all bundled up, and stepping out into the morning air was refreshing instead of biting. A drink from the fountain (which was still improving from somewhat unpleasant to kinda okay) woke me up more, and I loosened up. My joints didn't hurt, my head was fine, and I was ready to face the day. Being young and healthy again can never be underestimated. I glanced toward the Lens room again, but huffed. I should get into a routine, before just getting into stuff. I drove the sleepers from my eyes and walked outside, feeling the sun on my skin.
A light jog later, I had a sheen of sweat on me and reentered the Sanctuary. The last potato from the current sack and a piece of jerky found themselves in my hands and I popped over to get another bag thawing. The Lens was dominating my thoughts, however. I knew I'd had that one notification about a skill, and I bet that fight had been worth a level or two. I 'toweled' off and popped into the Lens room, nabbing it and taking a look at my status.
AdultHuman Allison Level 725 Yrs 0 Mos Class:Mageblade Resilience: 25Mana: 35Endurance: 25 Afflictions: NoneAffiliations: NoneTraits: Daredevil, Electric 2 Level Pending Passive Skills: 0 Skill Factor Active Skills: Close CombatMana SenseDecisiveness Mana BoltBasic ParryQuick CastMartial Style(+) DashSpark I grinned. Two levels, and it looks like my Martial Style was ready to go up? First thing was to check on the existing skill, so I tapped it with the Lens.
Good to know. Maybe this skill would help me cobble this together, or was it just reflecting me? Hard to tell just yet. But, hey, it was nice to see some progress.
But those levels - two levels! Nice to be rewarded for hard work. I poked it, ready to get my upgrades moving.
Fuuuuuck. Spark and Dash being here would be direct increases to my combat power. I would love to have that, but my mind went back to the blind panic of being grabbed by the mimic. The numbness of my arms. Shuddering, I looked again at Observant. Maybe I was hamstringing myself by not doubling down on my strengths, but...
"I really, really don't want to go through that again. Damnit."
I tapped the Observant skill and it appeared on my passive skills list. I blinked a couple times, wondering if I could tell if it had gone into effect, but nothing really stood out to me in here.
I put the point in Endurance again. Movement had been crucial, and it was clear that I was going to need to keep it up as long as possible.
I stepped back and looked at my status, satisfied with the quick changes.
AdultHuman Allison Level 925 Yrs 0 Mos Class:Mageblade Resilience: 25Mana: 35Endurance: 30 Afflictions: NoneAffiliations: NoneTraits: Daredevil, Electric 0 Level Pending Passive Skills: 0 Skill Factor Active Skills: Close CombatMana SenseDecisiveness Mana BoltBasic ParryQuick CastMartial StyleObservant DashSpark The lens replaced and the door reappearing, I headed back into the Sanctuary and finished my breakfast. The Labyrinth called to me, but I knew I should spend another day outside of it. Reset my head. So what should I do? I meandered over to my spear and picked it up. Gather some wood? Explore the temple a little bit? Maybe both?
Deciding that was enough of an activity, I left the spear next to the entrance and grabbed one of the axes as well as a knife. The outer section of the temple remained neat and tidy, which struck me as a little odd given its exposure to the elements. I extended my Mana Sense for a moment and confirmed that the environs were lightly enchanted, but no proper 'feeling' came through like the other items I'd checked out. Probably something light to keep it clear of leaves and sticks or something. Convenient for cleaners, but inconvenient for someone like me who really wanted some fuel for a fire.
Northward was the easiest direction for me to investigate, and I came upon the edge of the temple just a few minutes later. It cut into the side of the mountain, but we were still low enough that there were trees and plants about. A short consideration later, my axe was left behind and I spent the next few hours scrounging around the area to gather as much fallen wood as I could. Kindling would be important, and by the time the sun was high in the sky, my pile had grown substantially. My legs were aching some, as well as my arms, so I decided to sit down and take a break to nibble on some jerky.
"What do I make first?" That mystery meat was high on the list, and so was the mimic meat. Of course, the list was very short, so they were also both low on the list, but I didn't let that get my spirits down. Once I cooked up one of them, or a portion, I'd get the taste profile. Time to use some of the carrots? A nice stew with carrots, meat, and potatoes would go well. Really, the only thing missing now was salt. I was getting enough in the jerky that I wasn't feeling deficient, but I would have loved to get a supply of it from anywhere else. Some table salt would be awesome.
"Mystery, or mimic?" I hummed. Ah, hell, who was I kidding? I wanted the fruit of my spoils. Finishing off the jerky and standing up, I popped into the freezer to grab a small portion of tentacle to get thawing. I wrapped it in a bit of cloth that was finally dry from cleaning it and laid it out in the sun, before setting off again to gather more stuff. My afternoon activities were accomplished with a little more pep in my step, looking forward to something fresh cooked for the first time in weeks. I cleared out all the areas close to the temple, and my pile of wood by the door was a gargantuan mess of sticks that I'd had to push off to the side to make more room. Lots of deadwood to gather, especially when there was nobody taking any of it for however long this place had been empty.
Sunset was starting to arrive, and I decided to go ahead and start my meal. With no oil or anything, boiling was going to have to be my option at the moment. Maybe a little off, but it was worth trying. I mocked up a bit of a cooking stand using stones and got the fire going using my knife and the flint, watching the embers smolder with a pleased grin before wondering at the fire that crackled to life afterward. Some water in the pot later, I just had to wait.
"Me Allison. Me make fire. Me hunt tentacle monster."
When the water was boiling, I placed the mostly defrosted hunk of tentacle within the pot and watched it for quite some time. It was pretty thick, but the skin had been very fragile, so I wasn't sure how long it would need to go. No way was I going to get diarrhea or something from eating undercooked mimic. The meat within slowly turned from pink to gray, and my stomach was starting to growl. Oh, even if this thing sucked, I was gonna love it. A bit longer and I removed the morsel, cutting into it and finding it gray mostly through.
"Nothing to do but do it." I bit a chunk off and immediately regretted it. Not because of the taste, but because it was fucking HOT. "Haaah haah fuck, stupid." I spit the food out and drank some of my water. I waited for my mouth to cool off and instead carved a piece off, blew on it some, and tested it. Yep, good enough. I popped it in and chewed.
The taste itself was unremarkable. Honestly, it was a lot like pork that was completely unseasoned and boiled alone in a pot. I wonder why. However, I was happy that it wasn't bad at the very least. However, aside from the taste, what stood out to me is the hit my Mana Sense took when I chewed. I don't know why I was surprised - every other sense had interacted with it at some point - but when it hit me, I almost spat it out, before realizing that it was good. Not great, not fantastic, not even as good as the simple jerky I had, but good. It felt light, almost sparkly, a little like eating some popping candy at the same time as a chunk of ham, but without the weird taste that the sugar would add.
With all that in mind, I finished off the piece of meat pretty quickly, happy that I had been able to get myself some food. Maybe not 'hunted' properly, but it was something I had earned, and that was enough to make me feel satisfied with the simple meal. I figured this was worth trying as a stew. Onions or garlic or something extra would be nice to have, but for now, I would make do.
Tomorrow, back to the Labyrinth, better equipped and better fed. I was ready for the next step, come hell or high water.