The Opossum who was now alone, although it didn’t know it, tried its hardest to chomp the shiny insect sized creature. It had already killed two of its siblings and it wouldn’t allow it to survive long enough to stab it as well. The silver ball wasn’t what it really wanted but to get to the good smell they’d all gotten a whiff of earlier, it needed this thing dead. While it chomped and chomped on the youngest sibling’s throat, the tinier silver insect continued to hit it, but it didn’t hurt too much. Maybe because of the consistent beating it was taking from the smallest insect, it didn’t even realize it had been struck by something harder until another three additional attacks had already landed. Disoriented, it ceased its chomping and tried to turn towards what had hit it so hard.
Another four attacks to the head and the Opossum tried to back away from the dead, now headless corpse. Another four hits and it was dazed, not knowing where the attacks were coming from or where to attack. It had to keep fighting, it needed to feed on the delicious smelling thing. The thought of fleeing wasn’t an option as hunger overtook any sense of self preservation. The dead body came to rest on the bottom of the riverbed and continued to release copious amounts of blood. It spread out, completely obscuring the otherwise clear waters. With the fading light of the sun, it was no better than fighting in the dark. The last beast spun its body, whipped its tail about and snapped its jaws at its surroundings over and over as hits continued to rain down on it from all directions.
In its mad fury, its claws managed to connect with something for a split second before whatever it had hit was gone again. The attacks paused briefly before the bludgeoning continued. Attempting to swim to the surface was met with blows from above so the Opossum attempted to swim to shore. If it could get on solid ground and be able to see again, then it could kill these things and eat the good smell. But it couldn’t, swimming towards where it knew shore must be only led it directly towards more painful attacks. It needed out but it didn’t understand. So much anger and hunger ran through its mind that it didn’t even consider letting the current take it further downstream. While it was blinded by blood and clouds of dirt that were kicked up in the battle, the Orbs weren’t.
Although the last beast fought ferociously, it began to slow. It had gotten more glancing blows on its attackers, but they kept coming. There must have been hundreds of the evil food stealing insects as far as the Opossum knew. Finally, the attacks were too many, it was too tired, too hurt and its lungs were burning. Something like clarity entered the mind of the creature far too late to matter. Feeling itself dying, it tried to move with the river’s flow, away from the blood and dirt. Swimming and clawing along the bottom with all its strength, the last monster made its way into clearer waters. Seeing them for the first time confused and infuriated the beast. Four round and shiny insects were the only other things in the water; not hundreds but four tiny insignificant bugs. A rush of bubbles came from the Opossum as what remained of its too long held breath escaped. It could do no more as it watched the final blows come, muscled relaxed and newly returned vision faded. The creatures’ desperate fight for life ended even before the final blows fell.
Alex did everything he could to stop himself from screaming. He held his head so hard that he thought he might crush it as pain surged through him. The pain from the bites were nothing compared to what he was feeling in that moment. He wanted, needed Emerald to focus the Wound Care Aura on his head and forget his bites but the little Orb continues to heal what it felt were the more concerning injuries. The briefest flash of not being fully in control of his Orbs crossed his mind before the searing pain shut out the ability to think altogether. If his body had enough strength, he’d have been kicking his legs furiously. As he was already exhausted from the brief encounter, he just twitched a bit. Time felt stretched as pain bombarded him. Eventually, the pain did subside, but his mind refused to believe it was over for a time. Breathing in ragged breaths, thoughts slowly started to return.
“Wha… what happened?” Alex asked to the empty sky above him. His voice came out in a scratchy whisper, and he hoped his throat wasn’t destroyed by all the screaming he must have been doing. Slowly, he attempted to sit up onto his elbows. Doing so was painful and looking down, Emerald was still hard at work, mending his Opossum bites. I wonder if it had rabies… crossed his mind before he realized that Emerald was still healing him, so either the healing was taking a lot longer than normal or not much time had passed. Looking to the sky, which he still wasn’t a big fan of doing, he could see that the Sun was still hanging just above the clifftop trees. His fight with the leader and his subsequent brain eruption couldn’t have lasted more than a few minutes.
Looking at the river he could see two of the other beasts floating away in the distance. Maybe fifteen feet away he could see a large dark spot in the water. There was a large cloud of dirt that was slowly drifting away but he could see a lot of blood mixed in as well. As this large shape wasn’t moving, it had to be the third and final Opossum, so he knew V.V. had taken care of them. Seeing as all three animals were dead, he was about to check the System panels when he saw something rise from the water. His Sphere and Opal rose up carrying a mangled piece of scrap in place while Ruby and Sapphire were holding it from below. Alex tilted his head, not understanding what he was seeing at first before his heart stopped beating. He twisted his head in all directions, moving his extremely sore torso to the left and right to get a better view. V.V. didn’t appear suddenly beside him as she was so often prone to do. He’d known already but he’d hoped just maybe it wasn’t her.
The Orbs gingerly placed the twisted form of V.V. at Alex’s side, remained for only a moment and then began to slowly orbit around him to keep watch. Alex simply sat and stared at his motionless companion. What had happened to her? His brain wanted too badly to go back to being in a fog-like state, but he was clear. V.V. was laying right in front of him, dead… There was no other way to look at the situation. She looked more like thick barbed wire now than a sphere of beautiful silver metal. He slowly reached his hand to his little friend. This couldn’t be happening; she was so sure of herself, and he was the one that was always about to die… As he placed his hand on what remained of his precious companion, tears started to fall.
“V… V.V. I… I’m sorry I was so… w...weak” Alex tried to say, words getting caught in his throat.
“I… I could ha… have saved you…” Tears obscured his vision and sobs started to wrack his body.
Zzzsigh
“Zzwill you… stop cry… ing… and pick me… up?” A voice came from the mangled ball that Alex’s shaking hand rested on and he ripped his arm away and attempted to scramble back but was too weak to go anywhere. After his brain caught up to the words that were just spoken, his eyes widened in shock!
“V.V! H…how are y…you alive!? You’re so… m…messed up...” Alex gasped out through sobs that he couldn’t control. One moment his only friend was dead and now she was somehow alive again.
“Zzzstop crying… you big… baby. I need… Mana.” V.V. said, her words pausing and varying in volume.
“Mana! What do I do!?” Alex said in a still too loud but not quite yelling voice as he gently picked V.V. up.
“Zzzstop pan…icking. Juzzst… stay still.” V.V. said and Alex began to feel a tingling sensation run through his whole body. The tingling began to flow through him, into his arms, his hands and then out. Waves of tingles washed over him, again and again as he sat with V.V. in his arms. Minutes went by as the comfortable rhythm continued through him. He didn’t say a single word as V.V. absorbed Mana directly from him. The thought of asking how his little cueball was doing it didn’t even try to escape him as he simply sat and waited. Alex’s eyes started to feel heavy after ten minutes of constantly feeding his little friend the energy she needed but he didn’t mind. She could have every spec of Mana he had if it meant she’d be okay. His eyes were trying to close once more when he felt a shift in his arms and then another. Looking down, V.V. was starting to move.
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Slowly, bit by bit, V.V.’s body began to meld back into itself. The mangled barbs that protruded all over her silver form shrunk until they were gone. Her spindly, tangled body was next to slowly retract back into something close to spherical once again. After sitting for another twenty minutes, V.V. had returned to her original shape, albeit smaller than before. She was now more comparable in size to the Orbs than to the Sphere. The tingling sensation subsided as Alex felt V.V. attempt to float out of his grasp. For a moment, he wanted to hold onto his little companion, but he released the grip he didn’t realize was holding her so firmly. V.V. floated into the air in front of Alex and spun in slow circles before turning her black eye onto Alex.
“Thank you, Alex. That was the most unfavorable situation I’ve had the displeasure of being in. I refuse to fight underwater again unless I’ve acquired several abilities designed for submerged combat.” V.V. said with something like relief in her voice which quickly faded, replaced with annoyance.
“I thought you were dead…” Alex said quietly.
“Nope, just very stupid. I had no idea Opossums were so well versed in water warfare. If the opportunity presents itself, we should acquire more knowledge on Earth wildlife.” V.V. said as she began floating into the air.
“…Yeah, I guess so. I don’t know what I would have done if you’d died…” Alex still spoke in a quiet, almost defeated voice.
“Well, I would have expected you to grow powerful enough to pull me back from the void of death one day I suppose. We should move into the woods to wait out the night.” V.V. opened her Map and used her Detect skill while talking to Alex.
“Right… I would have done that, but I don’t think I could survive without you…” Alex said, his voice slowly returning to normal.
“Hmm, maybe. I believe you’d be able to survive without me. In fact, you may have thrived without me. With me around, your growth is hindered. We’ll have to put you in situations eventually to help you become more confident in your abilities.” V.V. said as she began floating back towards the woods.
Alex sat and watched V.V. float away like she hadn’t just almost died. As he watched his friend go, he decided that what happened earlier would not happen again. He’d tried to resolve himself and change to better adapt himself before, but he’d still tried to avoid fights and hide. Doing those things was only putting himself and V.V. in more danger. V.V. had said as much but he was too stubborn and too ignorant of the consequences to listen. No more, he’d fight everything to never see V.V. in such a state again. His little friend seemed almost indifferent to almost dying but Alex was anything but indifferent. As he watched his only friend and dearest companion lying there, dead, his mind had started to spiral into horribly dark places. If she’d not spontaneously come back to life, as far he could tell, he shivered at the thought of what would have become of him.
After one failed attempt at standing on his own, his Orbs and Sphere picked him up and carried him after V.V.’s retreating form. Emerald had closed his obvious wounds, but his right side was almost crippled from the crushing jaws of the lead marsupial. V.V. hack her way into woods much slower than usual but still at fast enough pace that she’d made it ten feet into brush before Alex arrived. The Orbs gently sat him on the ground and Opal created its Dome over all of them except for V.V. She began cutting slender trees down at their bases and replanting them in an impromptu fashion to act as cover over the newly formed path. Once she felt satisfied with the cover, she floated down to the shelter and cut her customary air hole into near the base.
“Are you feeling any better?” V.V. asked Alex after she’d floated into the hideout.
“…Am I feeling better? You’re the one that almost died.” Alex said, shocked by her question.
“We were both in danger but as you can see, I’m mostly fine. I’ll be back to full strength in a week at the most, sooner if we purchase some appropriate supplements. You took a gruesome attack, I felt it. All unnecessary holes in your body have been repaired but you’re still damaged.”
“Please never say ‘unnecessary holes’ ever again…” Alex said, grimacing at the horrific phrasing V.V. had used.
“It seemed appropriate, but I’ll add it to my list of words that Alex finds icky.” V.V. said, no humor evident in her voice, just her standard stoic demeanor.
Alex rested his back against the sloped wall as best as he could. A life and death fight has just happened they were back to inane chatter. He enjoyed moments like this usually where they talked about nonsense, but it felt forced now. If they talked about random things, maybe the terror would fade away and not haunt him going forward. Alex shook his head and looked at V.V. She floated in front of him, staring right back at him. He knew then that she was trying to take his mind off what had happened, downplaying it like it wasn’t a big deal and just carrying on like everything was normal. Was that what he needed? He wasn’t sure but he did know that he needed to be stronger. He finally focused on the waiting System messages.
System Alert.
Combat initiated with Mana Crazed Opossum Level 19.
Combat initiated with Mana Crazed Opossum Level 17.
Combat initiated with Mana Crazed Opossum Level 16.
Combat initiated with Mana Crazed Opossum Level 16.
Combat finished. User defeated 1 Mana Crazed Opossum Level 19.
Combat finished. User defeated 1 Mana Crazed Opossum Level 17.
Companion Combat finished. User defeated 2 Mana Crazed Opossum level 16.
System experience has been acquired.
System rewards are awaiting retrieval.
System quest updated.
Alex glanced over the Combat Log and focused on the System quest.
- Claim the Zone! -
You’ve declared your intention to claim a Zone while being less than 10 miles away from it. Congratulations on your attempt to stake your claim!
Defeat the current subjects of the Zone! 7/12
Defeat the current pseudo-Ruler of the Zone! 0/1
Time until pseudo-Ruler takes True Control. 16 hours 34 minutes 6…5…4…3…
“Damnit…” Alex muttered to himself.
“Zzhmm?” V.V. vocalized her curiosity at his annoyed voice.
“If we’d killed those other five monsters, we’d only have the fake ruler to deal with.” Alex tried to rest his head against the annoyingly curved dome wall. I need to get a Square of Protection… he thought fleetingly.
“Oh. Zzhaha. Now you want to fight? It’s too late to go hunting for anything at this point.” V.V. said, reverberating around the small room.
“If these are the strongest monsters on the island, then would it even matter if we go out at night? Sure, it would be harder to see but beyond that, it shouldn’t be too much to handle.” Alex said, convincing himself that it would be better to go out and get this part of the job over with.
“Alex.” V.V. said in a rare firm tone. “Going out at night is a very bad idea.”
“You went out last night…” Alex said, losing a bit of the bravado he’d been trying to build up.
“Do you know why the Opossum’s came for us out of nowhere? They didn’t hear us or just get lucky and decide to turn directly towards us; they smelled you.”
“…So, they wanted to eat me because I’m human and you’re a… not human?” Alex fumbled over the last part; not sure what species V.V. was exactly. I need to learn more about her… I almost lost her, and I don’t even know what species she is… he thought.
“Not because you’re human but because you’re filled with a rich lifeforce that they need to grow stronger. As Mana Crazed, they also need to consume as much Mana as possible or the condition becomes unbearably painful. Most Mana Crazed die out before evolving beyond that status into something even worse. Since it alters their brains so heavily, all they can think to do is hunt down non-Mana Crazed lifeforms and consume them. They don’t consider me food for some reason though.”
“I’m pretty sure most animals on this planet don’t eat things that look like you, V.V.” Alex said, not sure if she was joking about why the monsters wouldn’t consider her food.
“That’s fine but I’ve got a decent amount of lifeforce in me as well. Oh well, I’m not offended or anything.” V.V. said as she started taking out bottles and examining them.
“So, if I went out at night, more things would come out of nowhere to eat me?”
“Yes, the real predators with heightened senses of smell will come from all over if they get a whiff of you. If you’re bleeding, that’d be even worse.” V.V. said and Alex looked down at his blood-soaked clothes.