Hey guys, off work for two weeks. Might try and power through some writing, we'll see. Obviously this is once a week, but I've been neglecting a few of my other projects, such as editing Pocketful of Shrapnel for a kindle release. It's lack of popularity is a sure sign it needs a lot of work before I do, but I spend a lot of money on a book cover for it, so I need to get it done haha.
The next few days flew by like a blur. Ellena had one simple goal, to find the path to the second floor of the dungeon. She didn’t plan to use it yet of course, she still struggled far too much with the Monsters on the first floor, but the search for it would bring her to most corners of the labyrinth-like first floor anyway.
With her Guardian aura activated constantly, the battle-loving Mushman got into many fights. On the first day, by the time she reached her previous deepest point she had already killed around twenty monsters, mostly Horned Rats, they bred quickly and a lot.
She also managed to evolve her first skill during this time. Her [Unarmed Combat Novice] evolved into [Unarmed Combat Journeyman]. She had expected it at some point, it was a decently common skill, every mercenary, warrior or knight had some sort of combat skill. Hers simply grew quite quick as she trained it in battle.
By the end of the second day she had cleared out the route for the most part and even with the slowly leveling Guardian skill many of the weaker beasts did their best to avoid her.
It was halfway through the third day when something significant happened. In a random combat, in another random level up, Ellena received something interesting. When checking her stats, she saw something she had never seen before.
“Overall level has increased from [Level 35] to [Level 36]!”
“Unique skill [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 14}] has increased to [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 15}]!”
“Skill [Swiftfoot lvl 6] has increased to [Swiftfoot lvl 7]!”
“Skill [Warriors Heart lvl 7] has increased to [Warriors Heart lvl 8]”
“Skill [Night Vision lvl 6] has increased to [Night Vision lvl 7]”
“Ability [Mushroom Shield] unlocked for unique skill [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 15}]. Prerequisite; reaching level 15 in skill.”
“Ability [Mushroom shield] requires a minimum of 10 mana to activate.”
An ability. Ellena had never used magic in her past life, she didn’t know any magic users particularly well, but the old Dwarf that lived in her village had basic understanding. Though some magical abilities must be learnt on their own, many were unlocked just from levelling the corresponding skill enough. This must have been a similar situation. Unique skills were so rare and strange that so much had yet to be discovered.
The only issue was that it used ten mana to use. Also the fact that it’s a minimum requirement did not fill the Mushman with hope. This would be the abilities weakest and shortest lived form, so she made sure to temper her expectations. Even so, she wanted to give it a go. Or rather she had to, her heart thumped too hard in her chest to not.
If it was a shield, she needed something strong to hit it, not so strong to seriously hurt her, but strong enough to truly test its mettle. There was only one creature that qualified for that on the first floor. The Crying Mollit.
Ellena had already been keeping an eye out for their den in this place, this only gave her more motivation. She had to save the shield until she did, and that filled her chest with great anticipation.
Further down the corridors she went, slaying a few more beasts along her path. She did her best to temper her excitement, a few handy skills assisting with that, but they could not temper it entirely.
Finally, nearing the end of this particular delve into the Lair of the Lonely Wolf, she found it. Or at least she thought she did. Why else would there be two Mollits standing by a tall crudely carved doorway. Den guards, it had to be.
Even so, taking on two at once was not within her calculations. Even if the shield was effective, could she fight two at once? One hit alone would drain her health significantly, two could knock her down and three? Three might end her journey for arms far too early.
The Mushman took a deep breath, steeling her nerves and advanced forward, activating Guardian once again. As soon as she did, the two guards noticed her, and didn’t wait another second.
Ellena grinned and activated her new ability. In front of her, a round mushroom head like disc rushed into existence. It was coloured and shaped like her head, but it was flat and partially transparent. She checked her stats quickly before the two Mollits reached her to see that it had truly drained. The answer was yes.
The first Mollits fist came crashing down on the little shield, bouncing effortlessly off of it. The shield seemed fine, the scream from the large beast told Ellena that he was not. She spotted him grasping his now mangled hand as the other beast moved in.
A crack had formed in the shield, but even so it had soaked up the punch of a fully grown Mollit, something that even Ellena's helmet could not do. The name Mushroom Shield was quite accurate, its defense was astounding.
Ellena had no time to marvel at her new ability though, as the other Mollit had already figured out how to get past her small defense. He simply ran past it, straight for the Mushman. Luckily for her, he was not particularly fast.
She could have easily dodged the attack, but she was testing the shield. She knew about its defensive capabilities, but could it also be used as a weapon…
The Mushman willed the shield to fly towards the oncoming Mollit. It flew at a great speed, quicker than she had thought it would and then smacked straight into the beast's head knocking it against the cave wall.
A grin spread across Ellena's face. She had finally gained a weapon, an actual weapon outside of just headbutting her foes. Though, just like with her head, it was not quite what it was designed for.
With a glance, the ex-Human willed her shield to keep the second Mollit down, knocking it and blocking it out the corner of her eye. Then she charged at the other guard that was still distracted by their mangled fist.
She darted at full speed and launched herself at the Mollits stomach, who spat out saliva and blood upon the impact, falling backwards with a ground shaking thud. Ellena wasted no time, turning to face the other beast that swung its raging fists at her shield.
At this point, the shield was covered in many minor cracks and dents, but that was fine, it just needed to last a little longer. She pulled it back to the Mollits surprise, then willed it towards her foe's face. His nose cracked and dribbled blood, the Mollit tried to grab at his face as he yelled out in pain, but Ellena did not let up.
The shield flew in for another hit, then another, one from above, the next an uppercut, until finally one last spray of blood burst from its head. Slowly, the beast's eyes turned blank and it fell to the ground. That was one down.
Ellena felt a sharp pain down her back as her body was propelled forward. She had let her guard down whilst fighting one of the Mollits, only for the other to recover and get a solid hit on her. A small growl escaped her lips.
From her now horizontal position, she then threw the shield at this other Monster. He lifted his arm to block, but was too slow, the shield introducing his head to a particularly jagged outcropping of the cavern wall. With a sickening crunch, the second Crying Mollit fell and Ellena was victorious.
“Overall level has increased from [Level 36] to [Level 38]!”
“Unique skill [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 15}] has increased to [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 16}]!”
“Skill [Unarmed Combat Journeyman lvl 2] has increased to [Unarmed Combat Journeyman lvl 3]!”
“Skill [Warriors Will lvl 5] has increased to [Warriors Will lvl 6]”
“Skill [Pain Resistance lvl 6] has increased to [Pain Resistance lvl 7]”
“Skill [Guardian lvl 5] has increased to [Guardian lvl 6]”
Each Mollit was worth a whole level. A helpful thing to know. What was also helpful was the demonstration of her new ability. Ellena pulled what remained of the Mushroom Shield to right in front of her. It had been shattered, broken into tiny pieces, which was just fine. The shield had more than served its purpose, and that was in its weakest form. She couldn’t wait to see how powerful it got later on.
For now though, despite that she still had a bit of time and a bit of energy, Ellena made the smart decision for once and decided to head home. Going deeper into the Mollit den would be far too much for her right now. Two were a tough fight, a whole cave filled with them would be suicide.
The fact that she needed to level a bit before tackling them meant that she needed to level even more before she went down to level two. The ex-Human felt impatient, even though she had plenty of time. Or maybe she was just enjoying herself far too much.
She turned off Guardian and headed for the exit. She had no idea what Ellephwen had planned for the evening, or if she had finished her new bed, but Ellena felt excited nonetheless. The things she had learnt the day before had ignited an excited interest in education.
After about fifteen minutes, the remains of the shield dissipated entirely. So even with just one burst of mana it still lasted quite a while. It could also be that every level of Mushroom Helmet gave a minute of activation for the ability, but that was a stretch, it wasn’t as if she had actually measured the time, it was purely guess work.
Whilst still deep in thought, Ellena nudged the front door to the house open, only to have her face squished by an Elvish chest. There was only one Elf she knew, unfortunately her vision was pure darkness so she couldn’ confirm it.
“Ellie! Ellephwen said you went somewhere dangerous are you okay? Are you dying?!”
That certainly confirmed it.
From behind Samora Ellena heard an exasperated sigh. “Samora, the very fact that she opened the door means she is not dying, please release her.”
Rather than releasing the Mushman, Samora’s arms were forcefully removed by Ellephwen, who picked her up with little effort and moved her into the house. Ellena looked up to her kin. What’s Samora visiting for?
“Ah, I had a few requests for her and she’s here to drop them off. I am not skilled with healing magic so I requested that she make a few potions for when she’s not around. You do come back quite badly injured sometimes,” Ellephwen shook her head, hands on hips.
The Mushman looked at the Elf who now sat on her knees staring back at her, eyes a little watery. It still surprised her that this odd person was such a respected healer, but then she had once heard that geniuses are always a bit strange. Though she didn’t remember where she heard it. So I can take these into the dungeon with me?
“Unfortunately no. Most potions require mana to activate the effects, you still don’t have enough.”
Samora nodded along with each word. “That’s right little Ellie, so make sure you’re careful yeah? These potions aren’t an excuse for you to act recklessly, you hear?”
It was an understandable precaution, still it wouldn’t hurt to at least get enough mana to use the potions. Thought once again she probably needed hands to actually use the damned things.
“More importantly Ellena. I finally finished your bed,” Ellephwen interrupted the ex-Humans train of thought and motioned towards the location her old bed used to be.
What lay in its place was nearly a double bed, it was unnecessarily big. Intricate carvings along each side and a hanging canopy above it, complete with curtains. It was a bed that wouldn’t look out of place in a noble's house. Ellena tilted her head then noticed the Dryads smile fade out the corner of her eye.
“Do you not like it?” She asked.
No, it’s amazing! Just seems a bit much for little old me. Do I really need something so big, so elaborate?
Ellephwen walked over to it and tapped one of the wooden pillars that held up the canopy. “We’ve already spoken about this, Ellena. You’re larger than a normal Mushman, it’s very likely your next evolution will be even larger. I just want to make sure we’re prepared. The curtains are just for privacy, weren’t you a teenager in your past like? I know how much they like their privacy.”
“More importantly. It means I can sleep with you when I stay over!” Samora interjected.
“I kept the old bed, it's in the storage shed out back.”
“I’m not sleeping in the storage shed.”
“Then you’re not staying over.”
Ellena listened to the first half of the two fully grown adults bickering, but quickly became distracted, wanting to check out her new bed. She wandered over and jumped up, noticing instantly how much softer it was than the old one. It truly was an upgrade in every way.
“Ah, Ellena, before you go to bed you need to eat something, and you still need your lesson,” the Dryad placed a gentle hand on her head.
It wasn’t as if she had planned to sleep, but without realising Ellena had already closed her eyes, the bed was far too comfortable and she had exhausted a lot of her energy that day.
Her eyes opened back up, but it was a struggle. A very early night was upon them it seemed, but even through her blurry vision she could see her Kin's usual kind expression. Sorry Ellephwen, just give me a second I’ll wake back up.
The Dryad giggled. “No it’s alright Ellena, I sometimes forget how young you are. Sleep well, an early night means a morning lesson before the dungeon, no?”
An early night also meant she would wake up hungry, but the problem was now that she had Ellephwen’s permission to sleep the little Mushman couldn’t stay awake any longer. It was unfair, to throw such comfort at her.
Before she said goodbye to the waking world, Ellena felt one last disturbance. A body falling onto the bed next to her and an odd sounding giggle as an Elvish arm wrapped around her.
“Alright now you’re definitely sleeping in the shed,” Ellephwen tutted.
The weight was lifted from Ellena's body, and the last sound of the day she heard was an Elf healer blubbering.