CHAPTER 10: GOING DOWN
He looked around himself, inspecting the glorious landscape. Yupp, pitch black darkness, can't see a thing! Other than the mushrooms anyway. Not eating those. Scratching his head in consternation, Arcanis was reminded of his pounding headache and quickly ceased the motion. I really need to stop waking up with a headache and no idea how I got where I am. For someone trying to not raise attention and stay out of politics, I sure am doing a piss-poor job of it.
Stopping his mind from running into non-helpful side-tracks he took stock of himself and his surroundings. Arcanis still had everything he had worn when stepping out of the inn last night. Assuming that it had been last night anyway. Which pretty much amounted to his clothes and his leather armor, which he had gotten into the habit of wearing most of the time by now. A few coins in his pocket, so he had not been robbed. Makes me wonder what this is all about. If this is Thomas' idea of a joke we'll need to discuss his ancestry and upbringing. Or lack thereof. Still ... it doesn't really feel like he'd do something like this.
Back to the issue at hand. He - again - returned to his current situation with some reluctance. Dark cellar. Natural, uneven stone surface ... a cavern? The air felt weird, not quite as if under water, but also not quite like regular air. Moving around to test its effect, Arcanis realized it did not affect his body's movements, so apparently it was nothing physical. The cavern was not quite silent, the echoes of many sources noises leading to a weird kind of background humming, rumbling acoustic, that was rather ominous while defying identification of any sound in particular, baring one exception. Focusing a bit on it, he managed to isolate a weak watery sound from the direction of what little illumination available indicated was a wall. Moving towards it, he realized there was some water sparsely flowing down the uneven wall - little more than a drizzle, really.
As the aspiring wizard reached the wall, he noticed a shift in the air flow - fresh air was flowing down from straight above and while it was hard to see anything given the little light available, he was able to make out an even darker spot in the ceiling, presumably a hole leading further upwards. Neatly cutting off the option of following the incoming airstream to help guide me out of this cave... system? He turned back and scanned his surroundings - the light situation did not help, but with some concentration he was able to make out the contours of what appeared to be a mostly dome-shaped cave with one ground level entry on the opposite side.
Remembering his inventory system, Arcanis called it up with a thought.
Inventory
* Beginner Staff
* Simple Knife
* Travel Rations (3 days)
* Torches (10)
* Writing Tools
* Book
4 Free / 10 Capacity
He had hidden this ability, as in one of his previous lives - three? iterations ago? Arcanis nodded to himself, nobody else around to hear his inner monologue. Yeah, must have been three iterations ago. - revealing that ability had him almost murdered more than once. Dimensional storage was not always ubiquitous.
Given that no-one else appeared to make items appear on demand as well, it probably was a good call this time around.
Given the current circumstances, a book was unlikely to help, but the torches were a different story and the aspiring wizard summoned one with the flick of a thought. Holding the torch, seconds of silence ticked by, only the ambient noise interfering in this solemn moment.
I really shouldn't have forgotten to include something to light them.
With a sigh he put away the torch again and retrieved the staff instead - it might not light the way, but at least it would allow testing the ground ahead and be useful in a fight. Determined to stop idling about, Arcanis set out to explore his environment, making for the exit of the current cave/room. The uneven floor, combined with the bad lighting situation made this more arduous than he would have expected, but the Staff proved its worth - both for navigating the floor as well as balancing aid when he failed. He made it through the entrance, which lead into a weird kind of tunnel, which twisted in all dimensions, testing both his balance and his stamina.
As time went by and minutes - probably - turned to hours - hard to judge time without an external reference - and he made his way through several bare caves, his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness until finally a very welcome system notification interrupted his journey.
You have unlocked the skill: Night Vision!
Night Vision (Level: 1) [Nature]
"In the dark of night, there are only shades of grey"
Whether through practice or simply because your parents did not let you out when others would see you - hard to blame them, really - you have gained some measure of skill at seeing with little light.
The dark is ... well, at least less of a stranger to you, but note that at least some vestiges of light remain needed in order to see something.
+1 Mana, Reduced sight penalty from darkness
Finally! The cave system did not magically turn bright, but the strain on his eyes got noticeably less and contours showed slightly better. Thus Arcanis' journey continued slightly easier and he relaxed a bit.
Which is when he was struck from behind - a weight impacted his back and a piercing pain from below his right shoulder as he fell forwards. Doing his best to turn his fall into a roll, he twisted himself at the same time, trying to shake his attacker. He tumbled over the floor - painfully, given the uneven ground - but by the time he turned around he was again alone in the cave.
He warily looked around while ignoring the pain, but was unable to find his attacker. He heard a light scratching noise behind himself and whirled around, turning his move into a staff attack ... hitting air. Remembering his magic, he cast "Healing Touch" on himself.
His opponent used that distraction to pounce, this time striking Arcanis' legs from behind, almost hamstringing him.
Again, moving swiftly, Arcanis turned and struck at the same time. He felt his staff connect with ... something, eliciting an angry yeowl in reaction. The aspiring wizard saw a retreating shadow, but noticed a disadvantage of using his healing magic - the bright glow had hurt his night vision.
Before he was ready again, he was impacted on his back and sent tumbling across the floor. And again. And again.
For several minutes, this game continued, his attacker staying hidden and striking from darkness, his healing counteracting the damage. His mana was slowly draining - down to less than half of his 280 maximum - and he got another two hits in on his assailant.
Breathing heavily, Arcanis noticed movement in the corner of his eyes, went low and executed a system-assisted sweeping strike ... hitting only air. A fierce, piercing pain hit him in his right arm and he finally came eye to eye with his black assailant. Angry, feline eyes stared at him and an angry snarl could be heard as the predator jumped away.
His right arm refused to move as he wanted and he was forced to drop his staff. In desperation to get his arm moving again, Arcanis cast "Healing To..." only to be interrupted by another strike hitting him in the stomach. Confused and distracted by the pain the aspiring wizard lost control of his spell and angry mana exploded in his face. Hit as if by the angry fist of a Titan, Arcanis was flung through the room and hit the wall, his head hit rock and the world turned dark.
* * *
Why always on the head? With a groan Arcanis regained consciousness. His body hurt all over, and with trepidation he checked his resources.
HP: 23 / 730
EP: 300 / 490
MP: 200 / 280
Close call he sighed in relief before applying another "Healing Touch".
HP: 47 / 730
Appreciating his improved healing output, he was interrupted from casting the spell again by a painful mewing sound from the other side of the cavern. By some miracle his staff survived the explosion with only minor scorch-marks and he picked it up before investigating the sound. Twenty steps away he finally found a shivering, broken body on the floor. By what he was able to see, it looked like a cat the size of a large dog, the black pelt burnt on the side facing him.
Noticing him, the cat-like creature hissed at the young man and Arcanis raised his staff high, before bringing it down with maximum force, smashing in its head. The creature dropped dead and a wave of system notifications hit Arcanis in one long series of pings, causing him to lose his balance himself, falling back to the ground.
You have raised the skill: Weapon: Staff to level 6
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1% Damage with Staves
You have raised the skill: Weapon: Staff to level 7
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1% Damage with Staves
You have raised the skill: Weapon: Staff to level 8
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1% Damage with Staves
You have raised the skill: Weapon: Staff to level 9
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1% Damage with Staves
You have raised the skill: Weapon: Staff to level 10
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1% Damage with Staves
You have raised the skill: Staff: Sweeping Strike to level 2
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +5% Maneuver strength
You have raised the skill: Staff: Sweeping Strike to level 3
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +5% Maneuver strength
You have raised the skill: Staff: Sweeping Strike to level 4
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +5% Maneuver strength
You have raised the skill: Staff: Sweeping Strike to level 5
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +5% Maneuver strength
You have unlocked the skill: Staff: Redirect!
Staff: Redirect (Level: 1) [Martial]
"You forgot something, let me return that to you"
You have realized that trading an eye for an eye leaves all blind.
Color me surprised.
When facing the strong, why use your own strength when their's is ready to be used against them?
Pick up the energy in an enemy's attack, redirect it using the spinning motion of the staff and return it to its owner.
Ineffective against lunges.
+1 Agility, +1 Constitution, +5% Maneuver strength
You have raised the skill: Dodge to level 11
+1 Agility, +5% Speed for the purpose of evading attacks
You have raised the skill: Night Vision to level 2
+1 Mana, Reduced sight penalty from darkness
You have raised the skill: Night Vision to level 3
+1 Mana, Reduced sight penalty from darkness
You have raised the skill: Night Vision to level 4
+1 Mana, Reduced sight penalty from darkness
You have raised the skill: Night Vision to level 5
+1 Mana, Reduced sight penalty from darkness
You have raised the skill: Athletics to level 2
+1 Agility, +1 Constitution, -1% EP Consumption from exertion
You have raised the skill: Athletics to level 3
+1 Agility, +1 Constitution, -1% EP Consumption from exertion
You have unlocked the skill: Balance!
Balance (Level: 1) [General]
"Few things are more exhilarating than walking on the edge of doom and not falling after all."
Being knocked over again and again, you have gained at least some resistance to having that done to you.
Again.
It was probably inevitable you would get this skill at some point, given your proclivity for painful lessons.
+2 Agility, Improved stability and sense of balance
You have raised the skill: Balance to level 2
+2 Agility, Improved stability and sense of balance
You have raised the skill: Magic for Dummies to level 6
+1 Power, -2% Spell Cost of Simplified Spells per Level
You have raised the skill: Healer to level 8
+1 Mana, +1% Power of benevolent healing magic effects
You have raised the skill: Healer to level 9
+1 Mana, +1% Power of benevolent healing magic effects
You have unlocked the skill: Combat Casting!
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Combat Casting (Level: 1) [Magic]
"There is no overkill, only 'Fire' and 'Out of Mana!!' "
You have looked into the eye of the beast and lived to tell the tale.
Increase your casting speed and Pain Tolerance.
+1 Power, +1 Constitution, +1% Cast Time Reduction, +1% Pain Tolerance
Almost makes it worth the pain.
* * *
Arcanis spent the next twenty minutes recovering and healing. Trying to apply the few pointers the Dwarf had given him, he attempted to figure out how to lower his Resilience, to allow for easier healing. However, without any further clues and no indication anything he tried did anything ... his success was questionable - if it had any effect, it was indistinguishable from the random variation between each cast.
Five minutes into his attempt at recovery, the body of the cat dissolved into black smoke, leaving behind a nasty smell, reminiscent of rotten meat. Startled, the aspiring wizard almost lost control over his healing spell, but barely managed to avoid yet another explosion. Best get used to the stench, given how much ... flavor I will acquire before this adventure is over.
Finally, after many, repeated casts, his health recovered, his mana was back up at capacity and his energy was looking well. Only one thing was odd ... Why is my health not going higher?
HP: 765 / 850
Just to verify, Arcanis cast another "Healing Touch", but his health would not budge. He felt once again healthy, baring a light headache - it had been stressful journey so far - but his HP did not reflect that. Seeking an answer he finally found it in a note on his status screen. Expanding it with a thought explained things well enough.
Minor Concussion
"Not every learning aid is pleasant. Or particularly helpful."
Cause:
Head Trauma
-10% Max HP
+50% Balance Penalties
+25% Spell Failure Chance
Impaired Mental Faculties
Awesome! Now if only there were some info on how to get rid of it.
Resigned to his immediate fate, Arcanis decided to move on - at least he would not have to deal with the 'Impaired Mental Faculties' beyond his current headache: For some unknown reason, he was exempt from most mental System effects, for good or ill - always had been, no matter the iteration and no matter the System or what his status showed. Maybe the many hits to my head across the different lifes have imprinted at soul level.
* * *
Moving on through the cave system, the odd feeling in the air became more pronounced and at each fork Arcanis picked the one seemingly going upwards. Given the uneven nature of the system, he was unsure whether he was having much success with his choices though. His eyes adjusted better and better to the environment however, whether it was actual adjustment or just the Night Vision skill coming to the rescue. No way to tell.
After some time - he would guess about half an hour, though it was hard to be sure - the aspiring wizard turned around the corner to find a truly odd sight: Down the next cave on the left side there was a doorway - perfectly rectangular and brightly lit. At least compared to the previous hours of grim darkness, anyway.
Cautiously - and as silently as possible - he approached the oddity and peeked through the bright opening. The doorway led into a perfectly square room, about five meters per side, the floor perfectly flat and even, covered in flawlessly regular hexagonal tiles. The wall was equally even and appeared to be made of solid granite blocks reaching up to about three meters height.
There was no source of light.
The only thing of note in the room stood in the exact center of it: A solid, large chest, made of wood in an iron frame, intricate carvings displaying piles of treasure, the curved lid on top looking heavy enough that Arcanis doubted he would have been able to lift it a few days ago. Considering the absurdity of this room - its very existence, the (presumed) treasure chest, the lighting - the previous monster encounter where the monster evaporated after the fight and the improbability of such large a cave system without a single path too narrow or low for a human to pass through led the young man to one logical conclusion.
They really threw me into the local dungeon.
The one both Thomas and Maria had been adamant he was not ready to face. Not like there had been much chance of it being anything else for some time, but still ...
Distrusting the 'easy' loot, Arcanis readied his staff and cautiously stepped into the room. As his foot passed over the threshold, a weird breeze passed into the room and he whirled around, to face whatever was behind him ... but the doorway was empty and nothing stood outside. Turning back to the room, nothing had changed, the chest remained where it had been, the light still had no source.
Cautiously he inched closer to the chest and poked it with his staff as he entered its range. The box was as heavy as it looked and would not budge to his prodding. Attempts to open it with his staff failed, as he failed to find sufficient purchase to do the pushing properly.
Just to be sure, Arcanis struck the chest a few times, giving it a solid thump with his wooden implement, which produced nothing but a solid banging of wood hitting wood. Probably not a Mimic then. I wonder whether those are a thing here. Those had been a pest in one of his previous incarnations. I wonder if they can summon demons here ...
Finally giving up on the thought of the chest being a monster, he quickly tapped each of the tiles on the floor, checking for traps, but each sounded exactly the same - absolutely solid. With that completed, he considered his due diligence done, moved up to the chest, opened the heavy lid with a grunt and peeked down to inspect his spoils.
A single copper coin laid in the center at the bottom of the box.
A groan of frustration escaped Arcanis lips and he was unsure whether the silent malicious laughter he heard was a production of his imagination. That dungeon sure knows how to mess with me. Still, a coin was a coin, better to have it than not, so he bent down and picked it up, before turning around and leaving the room.
Back on the trail ... or well, at least back out in the caves, not like he had actual tracks to follow, the aspiring wizard moved on, readjusting his eyes slowly, as any darkness adjustments had been ruined by the bright room.
* * *
A few caves later - which unfortunately had turned out to trend downwards after appearing to go up - the environment started to change. First in a rather subtle manner - a few faintly glowing mushrooms extra - but after a few more minutes Arcanis found himself in a veritable mushroom forest. All kinds of them, mixed together in a psychedelic mix of colors and shapes, some illuminated, many not. None of them were more than dim, but the ambient glow was migraine inducing in its shifting colors.
Then came the fireflies, floating under the ceiling in sparks of pure white, beautiful and a much appreciated source of clean light, given all the colorful madness otherwise present.
He sat down in a somewhat hidden corner, where a convenient outcropping of rock from the cavern wall offered a semi-comfortable sitting opportunity, retrieved a ration from his inventory and spent some time recovering from his efforts, now that he finally had enough light not to make a mess of it. The ambient noise had been growing louder and he occasionally felt more of those occasional, mysterious breezes in the air, that seemed ... oddly unreal, as it felt more like his mind was telling him things while it did not register on his skin.
Much recovered sensory discord notwithstanding, he moved on, passing through a narrow passage before entering another cave, the view of which causing Arcanis to stop for a moment and hesitate. The entire expanse could only be called a mushroom jungle, thousands of fungi covered most exposed surfaces. Clouds of glowing insects floating through it all provided the finishing touch, making shadows move and causing the entire visual scene to dance, rather than just being a static attack on any observers visual senses. Boy am I glad I don't have a risk of epileptic seizures!
Closing his eyes for a moment, Arcanis took a deep breath, then another, calming his mind before looking again. It did not get any better on a second look, but at least after an initial descent the cave appeared to go upwards, the exit on the other side being way above his current entry. The sooner started, the sooner done.
Gathering his nerves, the young man stepped into the cave and made his way through the mushrooms to the bottom of the trail. The closer he got to the bottom, the more humid the air grew, this time not just that odd, intangible feeling but real, physical humidity, making the trek an even more miserable experience than it otherwise would have been.
Close to the bottom, he thought he saw in his peripheral vision how one of the tiny glowing insects was waving at him. Wheeling around, nothing seemed out of order however, none of those he could see in any way even humanoid or appearing to take note of him. The fast flashing of the lights as he turned so swiftly however was almost enough to make him nauseous and he had to close his eyes again to ground himself. Great, now I'm starting to see things!
Opening his eyes again, he turned around again - slowly - and continued on his way, but before he even managed a third step he was suddenly shocked as out of nowhere ice-cold water was dropped on him, drenching him from head to toe, as if somebody had dumped a large bucket of glacier run-off. Sheer surprise froze him, and a childlike laughter rang through the cave, but went silent before he managed to recover his wits.
Scanning the environment - the colors did not get any better with time - Arcanis was unable to find the source of his misery. A quick glance at his status showed him a new entry:
Drenched
"There are less unhealthy ways to clean yourself up. Ever heard of showers?"
Cause:
Taking a swim or being pranked
+50% Fire Resistance
+10% Misery
+25% Chance to catch a cold
Great. Even the system is laughing at me.
Giving up his attempt to find the prankster in this maze of luminous confusion, he decided the best way to resolve this was to hurry along and get out of this prime ambush opportunity of a mushroom jungle. More laughter - along with giggling - in a bright, youthful voice kept sounding from ever changing directions, but his tormentor refused to make an appearance.
That is, until he passed a huge fungus, easily double his size and stepped on what turned out to not be solid floor: His right foot sank further as the floor gave way and a loud, metallic clicking sound rang. Out of reflex he jumped away from the mushroom with all his might, hurting himself as he rolled over the uneven ground. Not a second too late too, as it turned out, a large rock dropping from above, splattering the large shroom and everything around it, his foot clearing it by no more than a couple of centimeters. Arcanis did not get away completely untouched alas - by splattering the mushroom with maximum kinetic prejudice, its remains - which included a glue-like semi-liquid substance - were spread throughout a wide area, liberally coating every exposed surface. Which just so happened to include most of the front of a certain young, aspiring mage.
He just laid there for a moment, feeling his heart hammering from the shock, staring straight up. There were fungi - and those glowing insects - even on the ceiling, and he could not see, where that large slab of stone had come from. As he watched them, one of the glowing insects changed path and moved straight down to him. Closer and closer, a distinct body shape could be seen through the light: It was humanoid in shape, two arms, two legs, a head, adult proportions, but at micro-scale, though it also sported two sets of wings, larger than the entire rest of its body. The creature was of a weird, almost translucent color that made it almost impossible to make out any facial features, even as it landed on the tip of his very nose.
Then the pointy-eared, glowing menace pointed straight at him and laughed. It was quivering in mirth, and he felt an impression of innocent, childlike glee coming from the jokester. Not in the mood, Arcanis swatted at it, but it vanished in the last moment and instead he hit his face, liberally smearing the sticky shroom-goo over it.
More giggling and laughter accompanied him, as he groaned in frustration and got back up and carefully looked around. The creature was once again hidden among all the other lights and shrooms, making it virtually impossible to spot.
The young wizard took a deep breath, then another and again, calming and centering himself. It too is part of the dungeon, don't let it grind you down. Checking his status to bridge the time, he noticed a new status effect he was unsure whether to be happy about it or to start cursing again ...
Fae Touched
"Touched by a member of the Midnight Court, you are unsure whether it is a curse or a blessing. Often enough it is both."
Cause:
Being touched by a Fae
Your patience has been put to the test, and like will be again before the night is done.
However the touch of even the least member of the Midnight Court will leave a fragment of fate.
For good or ill, who is to say?
So it was a fairy! Or a Fae anyway, if there is a difference. It seemed to be a matter outside his control, so rather than trying to deal with the unsolvable - his past experience with fairies of any kind was that there was no winning a pranking war with them - he decided to move on.
Cautiously.
His vigilance paid out, as shortly after he noticed a projectile flying at him in time to dodge aside. More giggling and flying objects ensued, and his journey up the other side of the cave was slowed by weaving through a near-constant bombardment of what turned out to be were small mushrooms.
You have raised the skill: Dodge to level 12
+1 Agility, +5% Speed for the purpose of evading attacks
Almost to the exit he was finally caught flat-footed. Unable to dodge, Arcanis barely managed to intercept the fungile projectile with his staff ... whereupon it exploded into a cloud of spores that enveloped him and stuck everywhere the sticky goo was still covering him.
And then the itching started.
And the laughter. And giggling.
I could really, really start hating fairies.
* * *
You have raised the skill: Night Vision to level 6
+1 Mana, Reduced sight penalty from darkness
You have raised the skill: Athletics to level 4
+1 Agility, +1 Constitution, -1% EP Consumption from exertion
You have raised the skill: Balance to level 3
+2 Agility, Improved stability and sense of balance
* * *
It took him an hour of unmitigated, itching misery before Arcanis finally came upon an underground water stream that allowed him to fully get rid of the mushroom remains. At least, the fairy had stopped bothering him once he managed to make it out of the jungle cave. His slowly but steadily improving skills made dealing with the uneven terrain slightly less of a pain, so there was at least that.
When reaching the river, the aspiring wizard barely managed to restrain himself from jumping right in. The current would drag me under, never to be seen again. The more cautious attempt to slowly immersing himself on the rocky shore almost was his end as well: Following a sense of danger, he managed to throw himself back onto the hard - and painfully edged - rocky floor just in time, barely evading a large aquatic monster. Given the bad lighting, it was hard to make out details, but several rows of sharp teeth in a large mouth gave all the information Arcanis needed to determine, that staying out of the water was probably the better life decision.
Made cautious by his (latest) near-death experience, Arcanis stripped out of his clothes, cleaned them individually, then - very carefully - withdrew water from the river and splashed it on wherever mushroom goo still stuck to his exposed skin. It took a long time to complete, but at least he avoided getting eaten. And I'm su-sure one day I-I'll be warm a-again.
* * *
As his trek continued Arcanis dodged several groups of monsters he knew better than to risk taking on. He had no idea how long he had been walking, the underground defeating any sense of time, but he was getting more and more tired and his exhaustion was impairing his ability to navigate the dungeon safely.
Finally, he reached another illuminated doorway. The room behind it looked identical to the previous room he had discovered, but this one held no treasure chest: It was empty. Curious, he stepped in cautiously and was greeted by probably the most welcome system message this day:
You have entered a rest zone. Dungeon Monsters will not find you here.
He made it to the center of the room and somehow found the energy to remove his still damp armor before flopping to the floor. With his last energy, Arcanis checked out his current character sheet:
Name: Arcanis
Classes
None
Attributes
Strength: 69
Agility: 45
Dexterity: 85
Constitution: 87
Mana: 27
Power: 37
Luck: 33
Derived Attributes
HP: 860
EP: 620
MP: 380
Skills
General
Athletics 4
Balance 3
Cleaning 11
Cooking 10
Gaming 8
Writing 2
Magic
Combat Casting 1
Healer 9
Magic for Dummies 6
Martial
Ambush 1
Dodge 12
Unarmed Combat 1
Weapon: Dagger 7
Daggers: Coup-de-Grace 2
Weapon: Staff 10
Staff: Sweeping Strike 5
Staff: Redirect 1
Weapon: Sword 9
Swords: Riposte 4
Weapon: Mace 7
Maces: Smash 3
Weapon: Axe 7
Axes: Disarm 3
Weapon: Spear 7
Spears: Pinning Strike 3
Nature
Animal Husbandry 2
First Aid 1
Night Vision 6
Pain Tolerance 3
Social
Dissembling 2
Gambling 5
Languages
Herani (Mother language)
Spells
Firebolt*
Healing Touch*
Titles
-
Traits
-
Innate Abilities
Gift of Magic
Magic Researcher
Linguist
Status Effects
Minor Concussion
Fae Touched
Getting there.
Darkness claimed him.
* * *
Aria looked down at the odd, defenseless human, smiling at him as he slept there. Having faith, that the dungeon actually meant his assurances. She intended to see to it that the old lug did, but still ... well, not like the human had had much of a choice in the matter. As far as she understood it anyway, those flesh-and-blood types did not get to pick whether to do this sleeping thing.
She flew down, landing on the youngster's nose tip, her aura casting his face in a bright light, allowing her to inspect him more closely. He was so out of it, the light did not even manage to make him stir. A real cutie. If he were a fellow fairy - or at least appropriately sized - I don't think I would mind seeing where things went. She did not bother to suppress one of her trademark giggles as she imagined the possibilities ... and admittedly improbabilities. Oh well.
Titania really was right about those humans, who would have thought? And this one's Karma needs more balancing than most.