Vina activated Mobility, hoping the skill could give her some kind of answer. As the acid flew toward her, mobility skill told her to bend backward. Vina contorted her body as if she was doing the lowest limbo move she had ever done. The acid spray flew past her but some still dripped onto her armor and face. The burning pain distracted Vina for a second. She lost her balance and fell from the cliff edge.
Vina screamed and flailed her arms as she fell back first. The air rushed past her ears and her stomach was filled with butterflies. Despite her panic, Vina felt her dexterity allow her to control the orientation of her body. She moved her body so she was upright and feet down, but still falling fast. She could see the rock wall in front of her zooming past.
Vina desperately reached out to the stone, hoping to find a handhold. Her armored palms ground against the stone and the skin on her exposed fingers was ripped away. Suddenly her hands felt something other than stone and she clenched her hands as tight as she could around it. She had only a second to register that it felt like rope before her momentum was arrested and her arms felt like they were ripped from their sockets.
The pain in her shoulders was killing her, but for the moment she had stopped falling. Vina looked around and saw she had grabbed some kind of thick vine. Beyond the vines though, she could see a flat area cut into the cliff side. There was a shadowed entrance behind the old vine growth. Vina couldn't believe what she saw. It was a cave carved into the side of the cliff.
Using nearly all of her stamina, Vina swung herself to another vine closer to the cave. She used her legs to rock herself back and forth, her arms screamed in pain the entire time, and when she felt she was close enough, she let go. She had only a few points of stamina left now and couldn’t control her landing. She hit the stone floor hard. The pain that erupted from her shoulder instantly told her she had broken something again. She lay there for quite some time, waiting for her stamina to come back.
Then Vina was hit with an incredible amount of additional pain as numerous windows popped into her vision.
You have broken a bone in your right arm and shoulder. Your right arm is now unusable. You have strained muscles. Your left arm has reduced strength and dexterity by 7. You have burns. Your risk of infection has increased by 78%. You have broken ribs. Your stamina regeneration is decreased by 62%. Your stamina is limited to 46% of your maximum. You are afflicted with mild bleeding. You will take 2 damage per minute until the bleeding has been stopped. You are afflicted with internal bleeding. You will receive an unknown amount of damage over an unknown duration of time.
The windows followed up with the list of damage she had received in her fight with the acid throwing man and her subsequent fall. She decided not to review that right now and just get a summary. She was currently sitting at 40 health out of 130. Vina raised her one good arm and inspected her hand. She had skinned it badly and blood was flowing from her fingertips. The fact she was bleeding internally, externally, and continuing to take damage forced her to take action. Vina rolled onto her side and got to her knees. Using her remaining hand, she pulled bandages from her backpack and wrapped her hand the best she could.
Vina saw her stamina had stopped regenerating, but it was far from her maximum. She took a breath and could feel stabbing pains. Every breath was agony. Still on her knees, Vina spoke to herself, “You’re alive. Get up and survive.” She forced herself to her feet, cradling her right arm with her left. She looked around.
She stood in a cave with two pathways. Vina was in too much pain even with the adrenaline running through her body to come up with a plan. She began walking down one of the paths, using the wall as a support. As the path darkened, Vina turned on her lantern. The pathway suddenly narrowed and she saw a stone door at the end of the extremely long tunnel. It was lit up with blue runes. “Am I hallucinating?” she thought. She took a step toward the door, but mobility told her to jump back. Vina fell backward instead as a sharp projectile shot out from the wall and impacted on the other wall where she stood.
“Traps?!” Vina cried. Vina lay on the ground where she had fallen to recover stamina. She had forgotten she left Mobility on, but it had saved her life once again. However, it had consumed a portion of her very limited stamina pool. She decided she would keep it on for now anyway. Despite the demand it had on her limited resources, she was in no shape to protect herself without it.
Once Vina’s stamina recovered, she turned back and took the other tunnel. As she leaned against the wall, Vina suddenly realized this path was leading toward Termily. She was unable to quicken her pace however, and slowly, ploddingly continued to walk the tunnel. She had no idea how far she had walked when the path suddenly ended. In the lantern’s light, Vina could see a single rune word. It was not lit up, but she had no problem understanding it. The word carved here was Exit. Vina lifted her left hand. The pain was excruciating, but she pressed her still bleeding fingers against the rune.
You have been afflicted with Bacterial Infection. Bacterial infection will take effect in the next two days.
The stone wall in front of Vina made a grinding noise when the rune lit up red. Stone steps, like those from the sinkhole, appeared slowly and formed a ladder to the ceiling. Her ribs screaming at her, but Vina painfully climbed the ladder until she could see another rune word. She knew this one already. It was the word Seal. Vina groaned in pain and frustration. She didn’t want to think anymore. She wanted to go to sleep.
You have been afflicted with Shock. You will lose consciousness in 5 minutes. If you do not receive treatment soon, you will die.
Vina broke out into a cold sweat and felt her breathing quicken. Vina searched the ceiling for a way to break the seal. She saw a word she had never seen before and made no attempt to understand it. She pressed her bloody finger against it as well. A slab of stone slowly slid to the side, revealing the fading evening light above her.
Vina climbed out, her multiple injuries slowed her down. She was surrounded by bushes and she had to painfully force her way through them. Vina looked around desperately and saw the town to be closer than it was before. With nothing to support her, Vina stumbled, drunkenly, toward the town walls in the distance. Vina’s heart pounded in her chest as her vision began to narrow. The timer in her vision flashed, warning of her impending loss of consciousness. Vina felt the fingers of death reaching into her soul. “I’m going to die”, she thought.
Trying to get her eyes to focus, Vina saw a road, and she headed in its direction. A part of her mind told her she might be found more easily there. But she stumbled, landing on her injured arm. Vina screamed from the pain, no longer able to hold it back.
“Oh no!” a woman’s voice shouted. Vina only glimpsed a bit of red hair before she passed out.
~~~
Vina awoke with a start. She looked around wildly, her heart pounded in her chest. She was laying on a comfortable bed in a room. Beside her was a cup filled with water. Vina felt the dryness in her throat and knew she must be dehydrated. She drank the water deeply and checked her status.
Health: 130/130 You have no infections You have no broken bones You are not bleeding You are not in shock You have mild dehydration.
“How…” Vina said, her voice trailing off.
A woman suddenly stepped into the room. “Ah! You’re awake. We were not sure you were going to pull through. How are you feeling?”
Vina stuttered, “Uh.. Uhm… I.. I.. I’m alive somehow?” She truly had no idea how she survived. She had never been that injured in her life before. She was certain death had come for her when she blacked out.
“Well, yes you are. We all had concerns, but you’ve managed to make it in the end. My name is Prany. Do you have any other status ailments you can see?”
Vina checked her screens once again and shook her head. “Just dehydration. How long was I out?”
Prany nodded solemnly. “The Professed used a mixture to keep you asleep for five days. She used her aspect to slowly heal your more grievous injuries before healing the less serious ones. She worked nearly nonstop for two days before she was satisfied that you were stable. It’s rare we see injuries as bad as yours in this place.”
Vina expressed her appreciation to Prany, but Prany just chuckled and said, “You can thank the Professed instead. She’ll be doing one more check up on you and then you are free to go.”
Vina was soon checked out once more by the Professed and was let go. Prany returned and walked her out of the room she was staying in. Vina stopped just before leaving, confused. “Hey... where did my backpack and lantern go?”
Prany hesitated and said, “Your possessions are sitting in just the other room. Since they are soulbound, we couldn’t move them far.”
Vina looked closely at Prany’s face and saw some discomfort in her eyes. Vina didn’t ask anymore questions and only nodded. She suspected Prany and maybe the others had seen her lantern. “Is this going to be a repeat of Prosit?” Vina wondered to herself.
She stepped outside to see two very different people. The first was a tall thin man with a hood pulled up over his head. He had a long knife that was clipped to his hip and his armor was nearly as fancy as Vina’s. The second was a woman. She had absolutely massive muscles and her full plate mail armor that glittered in the morning sunlight. She wore an equally large sword strapped to her back. Both figures towered over Vina. She gawked at them, impressed by their appearances. They seemed content to wait for her to gather herself.
Stolen story; please report.
“Hi. I am Vina. I’m told my backpack is nearby?” she said.
The lady spoke first. Despite her size, her voice was light and fresh. “Hello Vina. Welcome to Termily. I am Ebba. My partner is Calum and we are officials at Termily for The Watch. Your backpack and gear is over there. Your arrival surprised us. Before we allow you full access to the town though, we need to speak with you in private. Could you follow us? ”
The man remained silent and Vina swallowed hard. Why had they sent officials to get her? Vina nodded her agreement, took her backpack, and walked between her two escorts.
They led her down a path toward the center of the town. The path was completely flat, unlike what she saw in Prosit. There were no cobblestones here, and under Vina’s feet, it felt the same as concrete. She was escorted to what she guessed was a town square or a market. The town center was massive and more people than she had ever seen in this world were gathered there. Vina groaned internally. “How am I ever going to find my sisters here?” she thought to herself. “Ebba, can I ask you a question?”
Ebba looked at her, “Yes, Vina?”
“When I was brought in. Was there someone with me?” Vina asked curiously.
Ebba thought for a second, “I believe I was told one of the town girls found you just outside the gate. She dragged you to town and saved your life.”
Vina nodded, “Did you hear her name? I’d like to thank her.”
Ebba smiled at Vina, “That is a kind thing for you to do. Unfortunately, I don’t think I was ever told her name. I only received her description.” Ebba pulled out a pad of paper from somewhere inside her gleaming armor. “Let’s see. Quite a bit shorter than you. She wore an adventurer’s training seal. Bright red hair.”
Vina’s heart pounded in her chest. How many people here had bright red hair? Vina looked around at the people in the market. “Not a single one.” she thought to herself. “What is an adventurer’s training seal?” Vina asked, desperate for more identifying information.
Ebba gave her a considering look, “It seems strange to me you wouldn’t know. Why don’t we go inside.”
Vina saw they had arrived at a white building. It had three floors to it and its windows were opened to the air. To Vina, it was an elegant house. She was led inside and she was soon sat down in a private, but comfortable room. Before she sat, Ebba removed her massive sword from her back. Despite still wearing her full plate armor, she looked comfortable. She procured some documents once more and placed them on the table before Vina. “Can you please fill these out?”
Vina nodded, expecting to see the same kind of paperwork that Prosit had her do. She was not disappointed. However, while she filled it out, Ebba spoke to her. “Vina, you arrived at the border town of The Watch in a horrible state. We are not unfamiliar with the horrors outside our lands. Can you tell me what happened?”
Vina considered for a moment, but decided not to completely lie. She wasn’t sure there was a good reason to. “I was exiled from the Town of Prosit and had no idea where to go. I had learned of your town and decided to come here. Just before I arrived, there was a man on the road. He had six eyes. I guess he was being controlled by the shadow."
Ebba nodded, "Do you know why he was after you? Did you catch his name or whether he was capable of any strange things?"
Vina stared at the wall, the memory was painfully fresh in her mind. Despite her attempts to control her emotions, the fear still had a grip on her and a tear rolled down her face. "No. I don't know why he attacked me. He did not say his name. He was just chanting nonsense about the darkness. I defended myself, but he was a way higher level than me. He used some kind of acid abilities. How does someone learn a skill like that?" She asked Ebba.
Ebba gave Vina a moment to get her emotions under control. She handed Vina a handkerchief from under her armor before changing the topic, "It probably wasn't a skill. You asked me a question earlier that everyone knows the answer to. An adventurer's training seal is given to those attempting to become a licensed adventurer. It authorizes them for certain jobs, responsibilities, and benefits. Specifically, an adventurer's training seal is the first step on the path to becoming an adventurer. Why did you not know this?"
Vina knew this was coming and chose to not lie. Ebba seemed to be a higher level than her and deception would no doubt be much more difficult. Vina desperately needed to remain in Termily. "I came here from another world. I still don't know a lot of things."
Ebba looked at her for a second and gestured to Calum. He quickly left the room. Vina watched him go, “Is something wrong?”
Ebba spoke again, “No not all. The fact you are from another world is very private information. I did not want Calum to know more details than necessary. You said you were exiled from Prosit. Why did they exile you?”
Vina squirmed in her seat, unsure how well this would be received, “I have certain skills that are blood related. The town did not like me using those and I didn’t know. Does this town care about blood skills?”
Ebba shook her head, “Not exactly. It does make some folks uncomfortable, but we have all learned to make peace with some of the less socially acceptable skills. I appreciate you being honest with me, Vina.” Ebba pointed at Vina’s lantern at her hip and asked. “We found that on you and we immediately knew you had some kind of blood abilities. Are they actually skills or do you possess an aspect?”
“It is the blood runes skill.” Vina reassured Ebba.
Ebba somehow pulled out a book from inside her armor. Her eyes were glued to the spine of the book and she read the title. Volume 8: Epic Skills. Silently, Ebba flipped through the book and Vina saw the pages were alphabetized. Ebba dragged her metal covered finger down the page filled with the letter B.
Vina saw one of the skills listed in the book. It read Blood Sense. Ebba flipped the pages and now Vina could see she was searching through the letter I. As her finger flew through the words, Vina saw just one more skill. Ichoric Conversion. Ebba snapped the book shut when she saw Vina’s eyes on her. Ebba pulled out yet another book from her armor and leaned back. All Vina could see was the title which read as Unique Skills. After a quick search, Ebba snapped that book shut too and returned both back into her breastplate. “Well Vina, it appears I do not have any documentation on this skill. Would you be willing to demonstrate for me?”
She shrugged, “Sure. I’ll need a knife.”
Vina couldn’t believe it when Ebba pulled a knife from within her armor instead of the one at her belt. Vina took it, shaking her head and Ebba smiled. Vina suddenly realized Ebba was messing with her. This was a joke.
Vina unhooked the lantern at her hip and placed it on the table. She gasped, really seeing it for the first time since waking up. All of the runes were out. She examined the lantern.
Item: Runic Lantern of Shadow Dispersion Epic This is an epic personal lantern created by a rune master. When active this lantern makes it 30% more difficult for shadows to form. Blood Runes: This lantern is 0% full. The lantern has gone dormant.
“What did you do to it?!” Vina said with a shriek. She could feel the lantern’s deep pain and sadness. It was suffering without a charge. Vina immediately cut her finger and pressed it to the lantern. The first rune filled and Vina kept feeding it. She fed it until suddenly her hand was grabbed. Vina flailed and fought, but Ebba’s gauntleted hand held her firm.
“That’s enough Vina. You’ve given it enough.” Ebba’s voice was calm even as she pulled Vina and the lantern apart. Vina gasped in pain. Her hand was squirting blood like it was trying to escape her body. She felt the lantern’s pain so badly, she not only didn’t slow the blood flow, she was forcing it out of herself. Vina made a choice to stop pushing the blood from her body and she was hit with a moderate bleeding notification. She felt faint when Ebba grabbed her firmly.
“My goodness child. You really didn’t hold back, did you? Here, drink this.” Ebba forced a bottle into her hand. Vina examined it with suspicion.
Mixture: Health regeneration mixture Common This mixture will heal 42 health over one hour and temporarily slow moderate bleeding for six hours.
Vina lifted the bottle to her lips and drank it fully. She felt the liquid flow into her stomach and then out through her body. She could feel the mixture warming her extremities and her head began to clear.
“You almost made me take you back to the clinic.” Ebba said, shaking her head. “To answer your question, we didn’t do anything. The lantern was already on when we found you. It soon ran out of… whatever you charged it with… I guess your blood. I am very sorry to cause you such distress.” Ebba reassured her. “Please excuse me for but a moment.”
Ebba stood and left the room, taking the lantern and her massive sword with her. Vina was not feeling good. Her hands were shaky and she was struggling to understand how she lost control once again. She had pressed far too much blood into the lantern. The warmth of the potion had begun to fade quickly even as it continued to heal her.
The absence of the lantern also caused her great distress, but she reminded herself that it was soulbound. Ebba couldn’t take it far. She could hear her talking to someone from just the other side of the door. Soon Ebba returned back inside. To Vina's surprise, she had a large clay jug filled with a red liquid.
Vina stared in disbelief, “Is this… blood?”
Ebba nodded. “It’s the least I can do after your lantern drained itself. I had it collected from a couple of our work animals. Do not worry, the animals are fine. Can you refill it with this?”
Vina turned her head to look at her lantern, “Kinda. The lantern does it by itself.” Vina moved the lantern closer to the jug. After a moment, the blood crested the spout and flowed down into the lantern.
Ebba took a sharp intake of breath and watched in fascination. After the lantern began to absorb the red liquid, she spoke softly “Vina, that’s not the lantern. You are the one doing that. Can’t you tell?”
Vina’s eyes snapped up to Ebba. Her tone was harsher than she intended, “No. It’s not me. The lantern and the runes are alive. They are starving after being so drained.”
Ebba did not argue, “Are you feeling better now? Will this be enough blood for your lantern?”
Vina watched for a moment as rune after rune lit up on the side. She softened her tone, a slight guilt rising within her at Ebba’s caring tone and her prior outburst. “I think it’ll be enough for now. Thank you for fixing this.”
Ebba tilted her head in a bow, “I see you can power runes with blood. Are you also able to write runes? Can you give me a demonstration?”
Vina nodded and asked for something hard to write on. Ebba took a leather glove out of her breast plate. Vina tried to ignore the ongoing joke, but she really began to wonder how she was doing it. Did she have infinite room in there? When Vina received the glove, she was uncertain for a moment. “I’ve never written runes on armor before…” she trailed off.
“Please try.” Ebba encouraged, moving the small knife closer again.
Vina took the knife and began to scrawl onto the leather, the effort taking all of her focus. She wrote out several of the runes she knew: On, Off, Seal and Finger. Vina also suddenly had some inspiration and guessed at the spelling of a new word: Unseal. Vina started to prick her finger again to activate the runes, but Ebba stopped her.
“Look at the lantern, Vina.” she said softly, in almost a whisper.
Vina looked over and saw blood pooling around the lantern. It started to flow toward the edge of the table and drip onto the floor. To her shock, the lantern had stopped drinking the blood. As soon as she saw the flow had stopped, it started again. “Wha… what?” she said in confusion.
Ebba put an armored arm around her shoulders. “The lantern is not alive, Vina. It’s all you. It’s always been you. You are alive. Can’t you see the truth?”
Unable to deny the evidence before her, Vina's loneliness overwhelmed her, and she began to cry.