[Enhance] flashed through her as Bria advanced on the zombies. It wasn’t much of a boost, but it was enough to bridge some of that gap. The first monster reached her a moment later, slamming into her raised shield with the force of a battering ram. Still, she braced, and held firm. Then, she pushed back and struck. Her blade pierced into the monster’s neck, grinding against the bone within. Gritting her teeth, Bria twisted the blade as she wrenched it free. The monster stumbled back, then fell as it twitched. Stepping forward, she spun her blade around and drove it through the monster’s eye.
A single chime sounded in her mind and she smiled. It might have been weakened by the earlier battle, but it was still one less enemy for her to face. Unfortunately, the other three were now moving as one, which meant the same trick wouldn’t work. Instead, Bria did the stupid thing and channeled her newest spell.
[Flame] lashed out, the blast of fire wide and unfocused. Heat washed over her as the monsters were caught in the roaring inferno. The three remaining zombies tumbled in their advance, screeching at a register that threatened Bria’s hearing as they writhed on the ground much as she imagined a person would if set aflame.
Once again her stomach churned, then the scent of burning flesh reached her nose and she did retch. Not that there was much to come up, but she continued to heave even as the flames died down. Another chime sounded, but Bria could see the other two clawing their way to their feet despite blackened flesh. She sent a second [Flame] at them, and covered her ears until the remaining chimes sounded.
The stench was unbearable, but Bria forced herself to look at the damage she had wrought. Charred corpses laid there in a rictus of agony, the expression lost in the burnt flesh and bubbling fat. God, why did fire have to be so brutal? Couldn’t she get something nicer like ice or even lightning?
Then again, she could imagine how each of those could be devastating in their own respect. No, it was probably for the best that she grew used to what killing was like, especially in this world where everything struck down makes you just a bit closer to a higher threshold of power.
Speaking of, she pulled up her own status.
Status:
Name: Bria Ortega
Level: 06
Experience: 155/490
Class: NONE
Hit Points: 45/51
Mana: 21/44
Strength: 48
Defense: 43
Agility: 41
Magic Might: 37
Magic Defense: 43
The experience for each Ghoul had varied, but they were worth less than the soldier that almost killed her. The upside was that they could be taken down in groups with minimal magic. Each flame spell had taken six mana, putting her just under half. The flood of power that came with leveling usually restored mana reserves considerably, but she wasn’t sure she had enough mana to waste it in a rush to get to the next level.
Resting to recover was the safest bet, but she didn’t want to wait around while her friends might still be fighting. No, Bria needed to press on. But, not without harvesting the cores in the zombies and checking the soldiers for anything useful first. Cutting into the charred flesh was disgusting, but the core was right where she had expected from Neth-amii’s lessons and demonstrations. Right within the heart sat a silver core.
She recovered each, using that as the excuse to let her mana regenerate a bit. Then came the bodies of Ri-durak’s men. Their armor was dented and largely ruined, and heavy besides. Even with her expanded pack it wouldn’t be worth fixing up just to take it to someone who could resell it. Even their weapons were largely wrecked, aside from the Class holder’s sword, which went into her bag for Krow to investigate. What really caught her eye were the expanded pouches with various bronze and silver orbs within. It was a small fortune, and one she happily pocketed along with the expanded pouches.
Emptying each into her own pouch took a moment, but she didn’t dare try to fit one expanded space within another. Something from her old math classes told her that might be a bad idea. Then, came a small vial of liquid that glowed in the light. That too was carefully packed away for later analysis by their merchant friend. Only an idiot would drink random liquids they found on a body.
Once she had stashed anything worth keeping, and secured the glowing sticks from the soldiers to her belt, Bria stood and stretched despite her revulsion. Another handful of mana had recovered in the time it took to search the bodies, which was welcome. Oh how she missed game logic where the loot just popped into her inventory. Still, she needed to keep going, which meant walking deeper into the mine turned dungeon.
Shouldering her pack, Bria started down the only path out of the large cavern. The path tilted down at a slight incline giving her little choice but to follow it. Another room opened up, and this time she could already see multiple paths leading out of it. Unfortunately, there was also a pair of zombies eating one of the fallen knights.
A blast of [Flame] set them screaming, and Bria’s sword finished the job. Magic made the fights almost easy, at least once she got past the idea of them experiencing intense pain prior to death. Still, better to save her mana for a larger encounter should it happen. That group of zombies earlier would have overwhelmed her even with [Flame] working absurdly well.
Pausing to catch her breath, Bria tried to figure out which path to take next. A quick movement of her foot marked her origin point with an X shape, then she eyed the other pathways. One was set on a ledge above
Based on the number of coffins, the mine had clearly been abandoned long enough to be taken over as a proper crypt before being abandoned completely.
Or perhaps it was all intentional to turn the space into a dungeon. She had no idea, and wasn’t a scholar of this world’s magic. Gil-hana probably knew more on the subject, and it might make for a decent conversation if Bria could remember it once things calmed down.
Taking the first room to the right of her entry point, Bria followed the trail deeper into the caverns. Twenty minutes later she’d reached the end of the path in the form of a cave-in. Grumbling in frustration, Bria retraced her steps and then scribbled another X into the dusty ground before taking the next path.
As she walked, Bria came across a boarded up warning that she couldn’t read. Unfortunately, she didn’t have much of a choice but to duck under it and press on. As she did, the air turned humid the further in she went and the temperature began to rise steadily. That was probably a bad sign for a cave, but there were only so many paths to check.
As Bria entered the next room, her breath was stolen as she quickly tucked the glowstick under her shirt. Warmth washed over her as the hot breath of a massive snake exhaled. After a few frozen moments that seemed to linger forever, she hesitantly withdrew the glowstick. The sleeping serpent seemed entirely unbothered by her presence. Looking down, Bria found herself coated with the rotten blood of the undead.
Her scent matched the cloying and putrid air of the cavern itself. Not daring to make a sound despite knowing that snakes didn’t tend to have proper hearing, Bria walked as softly as she could past the coiled serpent and continued deeper into the mine. Thankfully, the path narrowed enough that the serpent wouldn’t be able to follow.
This one showed promise as light began to slowly illuminate the path ahead, which had Bria picking up the pace with the hope that she had found a way out. Finally, she emerged into a large space with ramping slopes that led further down. Carts lined the path on rusted tracks, some still filled with glowing crystals.
“Well, found the mine,” Bria muttered, still looking about. “Or would this be a quarry?” At least the crystals kept the space illuminated enough that she didn’t technically need the glow sticks. It wasn’t the open skies, but it wasn’t a dead end either. “Now, do I explore this or double back to search for another path first?”
A low groan from the ramp drew her attention as a single zombie shambled up. Setting her pack down, Bria steadied herself in preparation for the fight. More groans followed, and Bria’s eyes widened at the sight of more zombies shambling up from the depths of the mine. Knowing her odds if they were allowed to surround her, Bria broke out into a sprint.
Her shield slammed into the first zombie, knocking it back down the ramp, and into the two behind it. The three monsters fell into a heap and Bria bit back a curse at the sight of another group of zombies just starting up the ramp. Worse, the entire trail leading down was practically writhing in motion as figures began to move upwards.
“This just isn’t fair,” Bria muttered, her eyes falling on the rusted cart. “Well, it can’t hurt!”
With another casting of [Enhance] she slammed into the cart with a screech of groaning steel. The brake snapped and the cart rolled free. With a cry of elation, Bria pushed it to the precipice of the ramp just as the zombies all clustered together. The cart tipped, and with a helping shove, gravity took care of the rest.
The first mass of zombies were barreled over, each releasing a chime in her mind. The cart wobbled uncontrollably for a moment longer, then fell off the rail and turned into a tumbling mass of steel and crystal that hit the second line of zombies with the force of an avalanche. That might have been her one time use of the cart as a weapon, but the results spoke for themselves.
Bria worked her way down, glancing at the corpses, but didn’t harvest the cores at this time. Instead, she focused on the mass of moving bodies steadily rising to investigate the clamor that had disturbed their slumber. Bria had no illusions that she was prepared to face so many enemies that were stronger than her, but she had one advantage that they lacked.
They were weak to fire, and she could heal herself.
Not particularly well, but it was something. Slowly, Bria made her way down, using her shield to intercept singular zombies and finish them, and her magic to burn the larger groups. With each one felled, she grew that much closer to the threshold. Some were worth less, some more, but experience was experience and soon enough she finally hit it.
You have defeated a [Zombie] 33 EXP Granted!
Bria Ortega has leveled up!
Hit Points: 51+10=61
Mana: 44+9=53
Strength: 48+11=59
Defense: 43+6=49
Agility: 41+5=46
Magic Might: 37+9=46
Magic Defense: 43+7=50
[Bulwark] Learned!
The surge of power brought with it renewed mana reserves, and Bria immediately cast the new spell. A shimmering glow enveloped her, though it wasn’t quite clear what exactly the magic did. The tide of zombies unfortunately meant that she couldn’t stop and investigate, so she pressed on, letting the increased stats help her along that much more.
The next level was asking for almost eight hundred experience, but from what she could make out of the hoard, she might just reach level eight before it was fully cleared. Unfortunately, that meant carrying out more of the grim work. Even now, her stomach still protested the stench, and she was quite parched, but Bria didn’t trust that she could survive if there was anything on her stomach that could come back up at the worst moment possible.
She met the following group with a [Flame] casting as she hacked them apart in her haste to reduce their numbers. One scored a solid hit, only for that glowing field to spark and shatter rather than let it harm her. A barrier then, one that would take hits for her. The mana cost was high, so she didn’t recast it. Despite the pain involved, [Heal] would be more mana conservative than just keeping [Bulwark] up for every hit.
[Flame] took care of the larger groups, even as it ate into her mana with each casting. Bria knew it was only her magic that was making this seem almost easy compared to the men that had fallen before her, and as her mana ticked dangerously low, she was soon forced to fight them more conventionally.
A wild swing left a dent on her shield, sending her stumbling back. Thankfully, that strike had cost the zombie more, shattering its arm nearly completely. The follow up strike with her blade cut deep thanks to [Enhance] fueling her minuscule martial prowess. Worse, her mana never got a chance to recover due to needing to heal herself every other zombie. They weren’t skilled, but they were incredibly strong. Bria’s new stats weren’t enough to match them, even with [Enhance] and she wondered if reaching level ten would be enough given how easily they knocked her around.
Again Bria picked herself up and spat, casting [Heal] to keep her health from getting too low. She didn’t have the mana to spare on [Mend] or [Cleanse] which meant continuing to fight in messy clothes and dented armor. Even her sword was chipped along the edge from an errant swing; though it was holding up remarkably well considering the abuse.
Cutting her way through, she grimaced as [Enhance] wore off with two more zombies between her and the bottom of the quarry. Her mana was sitting firmly at two, which was enough for a single [Heal], but not an [Enhance]. So, she was doing this the hard way.
Shield up; Bria advanced. The zombies pushed against one another as they attempted to grab hold and bowl her over. She braced and pushed, but found her strength lacking. They won, knocking her aside and over the edge. Thankfully she didn’t have far to fall, but the impact still rattled her bones and sent her head spinning.
The zombies flopped to the ground on either side of her, flailing to right themselves. Bria tried to do the same, but her body was stiff from all the fighting. Still, she wasn’t about to let this be the end of her. She stumbled upright and let herself nearly fall as she walked unsteadily over to the closest of the shambling corpses, and kicked hard.
It went back down, and she swung almost drunkenly with her shield, catching the other zombie on the backhand. Lacking the speed or surety necessary, Bria brought her blade down once, then twice, hacking into the flesh of the zombie until she heard the chime.
Teeth dug into the leather on her shoulder, compressing hard on the flesh underneath. A ragged scream tore free as she dropped her sword, reaching blindly. Dull pain shot through her face as her shield smacked herself, but she got a handful of the zombie’s rotten scalp. When she pulled, it ripped free rather than pull the zombie off of her.
Disgusted, she tossed the rotten flesh aside and instead pulled her knife and stabbed blindly into the monster that had bitten her. The blade twisted and wrenched within the monster’s face, and finally the chime she had been waiting for sounded and she pushed the now slack-jawed beast off of her.
Bria Ortega has leveled up!
Hit Points: 61+12=73
Mana: 53+13=66
Strength: 59+8=67
Defense: 49+9=58
Agility: 46+11=57
Magic Might: 46+14=60
Magic Defense: 50+11=61
[Luminance] Learned!
Relief flooded her along with new strength granted by level eight. Bria let out a sigh of relief as she slumped to the ground against the wall, panting heavily. She cast a quick [Mend] to patch up her gear, followed by a [Cleanse] and [Heal] just to be safe. She did not want to take any chances when it came to magical illnesses or even plain mundane ones.
[Luminance] shone brightly, cutting through the dark around her in a way none of the crystals or glow sticks ever could. As she rested, she finally got to take in the lowest section of the mine. It was rather small, with tools still strewn about from where they had only just begun to dig outward. Despite that, there was one thing that drew her eye. A door carved with a familiar relief stood resolutely against the rest of the rock surface.
Now, she knew part of the story, and could follow the carvings that depicted the god’s sacrifice as they gifted humanity with the means to grow beyond their limits. The dark deity Ashe-rah’s condemnation of that, and their sealing away. Yet, there was more to it that she couldn’t place, because the story passed down wasn’t complete. Something told her that it hadn’t been crafted at the bottom of this mine, but rather, uncovered after being hidden away. Was it right of her to risk unsealing it for what had clearly been painstakingly hidden away?
Yet, curiosity was the nature of humanity, and she had to know more. Despite the relief that leveling had brought, she still felt a deep weariness from the fighting. That wasn’t enough to curb her curiosity as she stood on quaking legs and approached the door with caution. She did not need another fight so soon after the last.
Resting her hand against the doorway, Bria channeled her mana, and this time there was no delay in the door sliding open in that now familiar way. Inside, there was only a small room lined with glowing crystal with a pedestal standing in the center of it.
A small box rested atop the pedestal, no bigger than her pouch. Carefully, she approached, fearful of some guardian or trap. When nothing sprung out at her, she carefully took hold of the latch, and flipped it open, only to gasp at the sight within.
A ruby set within a gold enclosure stared back at her, one with a shape that was almost familiar. Carefully, she pulled her notebook out and flipped to the page that Neth-amii had copied over from the altar beneath her shrine. Sure enough, it matched one of the indentions meant for the keystones that would open the path beyond.
Someone had left it in this mine on purpose, hoping the monsters would be enough to safeguard it from anyone that might try and take it. The stone went into her pouch straight away as she stood, looking back up the way she came. Were the other two stones hidden away as those were? What connection did they have to her own world given one was apparently sealed away on her island?
So many questions, but she didn’t have the time to consider the answers. No, she had friends still out there, and an enemy that wanted her dead. This wasn’t the time or place to sit and ponder. No, she needed to press on, no matter how tired she might be.
For Kro-ahnk who was only caught up in this mess by circumstance. For Gil-hana who knew more than they let on about everything that Bria found herself wrapped up in. And for Neth-amii who had become her best friend and didn’t deserve to have some asshole attempting to force a marriage.
For them, Bria began the long climb up and out of the pit.