“The spring,” Aelisra whispered with awe. “We finally made it…”
“It was underground all along,” Raina whispered. She and Terrowin were by far the worst injured in the group, with multiple bites and a decent bit of venom coursing through each of them. “The dungeon…the dungeon must have formed near the nexus…drained its…its power…” Raina’s eyes were closing. I laid in her lap, unable to even move from the paralyzing venom coursing through me. I couldn’t even purr to activate Feline Favor. I’d been rendered completely limp. A stuffed cat would have more life than me.
Of course, I’d be even worse off if they hadn’t come back for me. They’d…rescued me. Why? Why had they rescued me? I wouldn’t have done it for any of them; the night we’d fought Qelona was proof enough of that. So why had they come back for me?
Raina could have had any familiar she wanted. Surely, that was the plan, anyway. When the corruption I filtered out for her became too great, I’d be tossed aside in favor of a fresh familiar. So…why bother coming back?
The answers would not come until Raina awoke, and the venom whispered sleep in my ears. Terrowin was already out, so was Raina. Even Cithrael was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed.
The truth was that we’d barely made it out in one piece. I’d thought the fight against the slimes had been close, but this was something else entirely. We hadn’t even won. Not many of the spiders had even died, if Amsiii’s lack of experience rewards had been any indication. Some had fallen, but not nearly enough to make so much as a dent in their population.
Perhaps this blessed respite was just delaying our inevitable deaths. Would we stand even a hint of a chance against the boss that could be lurking around any corner? Were we just kidding ourselves?
Sleep pulled on my eyelids. I couldn’t resist it anymore. I laid my head against Raina’s arm and let it take me.
* * *
I woke with a start, my dreams fixated on the chains that had bound me in the memory Amsiii had shown me. They were my memories. I knew it with absolute certainty. At some point before I was a cat, I was a demon. As a demon, I’d been hunted down by my enemies and captured. No one had come to save me, then. Did that make my current life a better one, since I had servants willing to throw themselves in harm’s way to save me?
Something about that statement didn’t sit right, but I couldn’t put my paw on what it was. Everything was just so confusing. I had so many questions and not enough answers. Chief among them: Why was Amsiii hiding my past from me? It obviously had a record of my memories. Why not give them to me? And why give me that memory when I was trapped by spiders? What had Amsiii been trying to tell me?
Amsiii did not respond, not that I’d expected it to. I’d been at this long enough to know that Amsiii only responded when it felt like it.
I chuckled to myself. The others called Amsiii the World Engine, like it was quantifiable and somehow knowable. I knew better. There was a person behind the numbers and abilities.
System Activation of Welcome to Atria
The AMSIII system is a matrix designed at the end of the Barrier War in order to quantify and protect the realm of Atria and all its citizens. The system fills the roll of shield, gatekeeper, and caretaker of the realm by determining what beings may enter and cataloguing all forces within its dominion.
Ha. Trying to fool me, Amsiii? I hadn’t asked a question of the system. Someone was spying on my thoughts and trying to convince me that there was no consciousness behind the unfeeling words.
Riddle me this, Amsiii. How do I get you to answer in ways other than experience rewards?
Beings hailing from other worlds beyond the barrier may be provided with helpful details about the system so as to keep them from receiving an unfair disadvantage when compared to native residents of Atria. This information is provided at the discretion of the system based on the rules set forth by its creator.
So, who gave me the system activation of Memory Catalogue, hmm?
…
Amsiii didn’t answer.
I purred to myself. Amsiii thought it could fool me, but I was far too clever. It may have had the entire rest of the world content in the knowledge that an unbiased, unknowable, fair entity was pulling the strings on this world, but it wasn’t dealing with someone from the kitten playpen anymore. I’d get the answers I sought. In time, I’d figure out what Amsiii really was.
I rose and stretched my aching limbs. The venom had dissipated from most of my body, though my paws still tingled with a numbness that made it difficult to walk properly. It didn’t help that my back right leg was still oozing with slow blood from my injuries. I only considered myself thankful that it hadn’t bled out entirely.
I didn’t know how long it had been, but the others were still asleep…or at least I hoped they were just asleep. Raina’s breathing was shallow, and I wasn’t entirely sure if Terrowin was breathing at all.
They were the ones who’d come back for me. If anyone was deserving of my favor, it was them. I nestled down between them, purring as hard as I could. I suddenly felt the slowness of the healing like a painful thorn in my side. I had passed on the option of Feline Favor II at level 15. That exact ability would have been helpful right now, but I’d have to manage. I closed my eyes and purred.
After what seemed like an eternity, I could hear Terrowin’s breathing once more and Raina’s had become much healthier. Only then did I stand and approach the knight. He’d been bit many times and his leather and chain armor would need a serious repair job once we got back to town…if it was even salvageable at all.
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He lay still but breathing on the stones. That was unacceptable. If we were to have any chance at fighting the boss, I needed all my hench-humans to be fighting fit. I pushed the knight over with a quick shove of telekinesis and examined him carefully. Most of his injuries were bites, but there was one large gash from a flailing spider leg across his left arm. It wasn’t helping his recovery.
Amsiii, I don’t suppose first aid is something you can tell me about based on these supposed rules that dictate what you can and can’t tell me?
System Activation of Welcome to Atria
Healing is a critical skill only mastered by a few within Atria. Vitality magic may be acquired through the Medical Specialist Affinity Title. Other methods of healing include non-magical first aid and minor healing offered by a few rare abilities. The efficacy of all forms of healing is dependent on the user’s knowledge and ability to envision the desired outcome.
Wow. There was a whole lot of unhelpful information in that one, Amsiii. If you were still trying to convince me that you’re not an actual being, that was a solid attempt. Unfortunately, I’m cleverer than you, and I’ll get useful information from this in spite of your efforts to deceive me.
First. The explanation told me that my Feline Favor was special. Not everyone had the ability to heal, which made me even more brilliant and amazing than I fully realized. Excellent.
Second, and just as important, however, was that I needed to envision the desired outcome. No doubt this was a focus mechanism for the mana to latch onto. With that, I might be able to focus my Feline Favor to cure specific injuries rather than just everything around me…hopefully speeding up the process some. It wouldn’t beat a dedicated vitality spell, I was sure, but in lieu of a better option…
I nestled myself against Terrowin’s side and began to purr again. This time, I tried to imagine the waves of mana emanating from me being focused towards Terrowin. I pictured those waves entering the wound on his arm and closing it.
Feline Favor shifted some, but not nearly as much as I’d hoped. It fought and writhed at the control I was forcing onto it. I engaged in that battle of wills, ordering it to obey my command! But it just…wouldn’t…go!
I released my focus. Feline Favor wasn’t meant to do what I was asking of it. I needed more. I needed more knowledge, and I needed more power. If I was going to keep my hench-humans alive and on their feet, I would need to grow both.
Instead, I sat with Terrowin and pressed myself into his chest, hoping that the non-magical portion of my vibrations would somehow aid the ability itself in restoring the valiant knight to health. It was the least I could do after he and Raina had risked everything to save me.
* * *
Time is hard to gauge underground. It could have been one day or three. I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I was hungry, and we were running low on rations. We would have to leave our safe zone and soon, if we wanted to avoid starving to death.
After so long resting, but Terrowin and Raina had recovered enough that we might stand some kind of chance in a fight. It would be close, but it was the best we were likely to get. None of us wanted to risk angering the dungeon by remaining in the safe zone any longer than we had to.
“Hey Malzy,” Terrowin called as we packed what remained of our supplies. I padded over to him and looked up. He offered me the handle of a dagger. It was my dagger! I’d thought it lost, but he must have picked it up before their daring rescue! It even still glimmered orange with my telekinetic infusion!
I lifted the dagger with my telekinesis and flipped it around in the air over my head before grabbing the handle in my teeth. Terrowin laughed and scratched my ears.
“Figured you earned it after patching us up like that,” he said. I rubbed my flank against his leg to show my appreciation. I still had a long way to go before my healing would be to my exacting standards, but it was nice when good work was appreciated.
“So, what’s the plan?” Aelisra asked. “Do we go back and try to burn the spiders out? Or press onward?”
“There’s no guarantee we’d be able to kill all the spiders,” Raina answered with a shake of her head. “And even if we did, we may be too injured to proceed after. We don’t know how long before the dungeon will be allowed to hunt us in the safe zone.”
Terrowin nodded in agreement. “I’m with Raina. We need to be at full strength to fight the boss, and the only way to maximize the odds of that is to continue onward and hope there are nothing else trying to kill us before we get there.”
“Let’s just hope that the spiders we left behind don’t come to defend the boss,” Cithrael muttered.
Everyone else either ignored the comment or didn’t hear it in the first place. Personally, I thought both plans had their risks, but, at the end of the day, we needed to escape first and foremost. Our supplies were low, and we wouldn’t be able to afford another rest like we’d just taken. The time to end this was here and now. If we beat the boss, we could be free.
Aelisra turned to the spring, giving it a long, mournful look before turning back to the entrance with determination etched on her features. “Let’s go. The dungeon is stealing the water for the forest. In Valencia’s name, we will stop it.”
We shouldered our supplies and set off once more into the dark tunnels beyond our sanctuary.
Exiting dungeon safe zone for Shaleheart Spring.
Dungeon Monsters have been released.
Everyone held their breath, half expecting a swarm of giant spiders to descend upon us once again. When no such attack came, everyone relaxed. The spiders didn’t seem to want to come after us just because we were fair game once more.
“Okay, so that was the way we came from, so to the right it is?” Raina asked. Everyone nodded and we crept to the right.
The tunnels here were still thick with sticky webs. Not wanting to repeat the circumstances that had led to being trapped in webs, I asked Raina to hold me instead of lounging across her shoulders. I still gripped my knife in my teeth, keeping my ears forward and alert for even the tiniest sound that would indicate the threat that surely waited for us.
Soon, the tunnel opened wide again and the party stopped. This time, the floor was covered in sticky webs with no false safe space to travel through. Reshuffling the order, Terrowin and Raina reached the front to allow for better scouting. The knight poked at the floor with his glaive. It gave way, like a fabric draped over a hole.
Meanwhile, I summoned a tiny flame and threw it into the darkness beyond. These webs were wet and heavy, not likely to catch fire with such a tiny thing, but the light would be critical to our survival.
“Aelisra,” Terrowin whispered softly.
“Yes?”
“If you have a courage prayer, I think you might want to use it,” he answered. “We definitely reached the boss room.”
Illuminated by the light, and staring directly at us, an enormous spider waited. It was easily the size of a house and the hairs on its body crackled with electricity as soon as it saw us. On the walls, sparkhoppers and thunder spiders waited patiently.
“Raina, do I even want to know what the strength of that thing is?”
“Probably not, but the inspection might reveal something useful.” She scratched me behind the ears.
Inspecting hostile creature: Level 20 Sparkspinner Matriarch
A spider of monstrous proportions that has woven its lair to be a home and a trap for all those foolish enough to enter.
Great. Just great.