After leaving the pit, Bathilda returned to the room where she had valiantly eaten the King Slime's core. She had recieved a myriad of skills and multiple level ups for her efforts, but it was the passageway opposing her own that had the little Lesser Vampire antsy.
There in front of them, at the end of the tunnel, was light. Not a light fabricated by anything inside the cave, but natural sunlight. Bathilda and Hiro stopped right before exiting the cave. A lush forest full of greenery was waiting just a few steps away, but Bathilda had encountered a new problem.
I can't go out there. I've got no clothes on. Granted, I might look like a small child, but I'm definitely not one. Plus, I still have my dignity.
Trying to convince herself as opposed to Hiro with her last statement, Bathilda winced at the thought of still being stuck in the now cave. Even though she had finally found her way out, she couldn't walk around in her birthday suit. It was a fluke that the Lesser Vampire remembed a skill she had seen from the varying categories whilst browsing her catalogue.
Back when Bathilda had to backtrack or during her evolutions, she would spend copious amounts of time browsing through the skill list. Bringing up the list, most of them were still unobtainable due to their cost, but they weren't what she was looking for this time.
"Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please." She begged while scrolling down the large list. "Where the hell was it?" Her eyes shoot from one section to the next as she sped her way through until she finally found the one she was looking for.
"There are thousands of skills on this list and I hardly make enough points to buy what I need. Nevermind what I want. Still, this will have to do for now. There's no way I'm walking around with out anything covering my modesty." Sitting on 50 skill points after defeating the King Slime and evolving, Bathilda felt as though she deserved more for her hard fought efforts. Regardless, she went ahead and spent 20 of her points on a spell she didn't necessarily need.
It was a spell she most definitely wanted though and sometimes wants out trump needs.
Knowledge about the spell entered Bathilda's mind as she gained immediate understanding about its capabilities. It was more than enough for what she needed and she casts the basic spell as soon as she had finished learning. A small, white summer dress appeared from thin air and sat beautifully on top of her skin.
Spell: Minor Illusion
Create mild illusions to trick and deceive people. Cannot conjure spells more than 20 feet away from the caster. Cannot add substance to created manifestations.
"It's not amazing, but at the same time, it is." Bathilda beamed with a twirl. The frills of her dress rose up with the motion and she finished with a smile.
"OK, Hiro," Bathilda announced with an inflated courage now that she was modestly covered, "Let's go!"
Marching out of the cave's only entrance, Bathilda couldn't tell if it was just her size as a Lesser Vampire, or it it was the overgrown trees, that drained her confidence and made her feel small. Regardless, the nature inhabiting the area directly in front of her ex-base was absolutely enormous.
"It feels as though I've been shipped off to the Land of the Giants," she joked to Hiro who failed to respond. Not recieving a reply, Bathilda turned around to face the cave and saw that Hiro was still standing there... Naked.
"Jeez, Hiro. Put some clothes on or something would you? Damn pervert. You don't want to make this place known as 'The Forest of Loli's' do you?" Finally in a good mood, Bathilda laughed while Hiro flushed red. The irritation was clear as day on his face.
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Damn it's good to be wearing clothes. Or at least having clothes covering me.
"I cant!" Hiro called back after a minute.
"Why not?" Bathilda was confused. Surely Hiro should be able I do everything she could, right?
"I don't know? You're the main body, shouldn't you know?" He angrily snapped.
Tracing a finger along her mouth, Bathilda played with her fangs while she tried to figure out why Hiro wasn't able to cast (Minor Illusion).
Is this one of the skills that clones are restricted from using? It could be, but I can't see it. It's not as though the spell takes a lot to use. It reduces my available MP by 10, but that's all there is to it really. Is it because I had a clone summoned before I purchased Illusion magic? Oh, that could be it. As far as theoretical guesses go, that sounds like it could be a winner.
"I've got an idea, Hiro. Although, I'm not sure how it will work without wings." Smiling mischievously to the mortified eyes of her smaller, summoned self, Bathilda let off a (Wing Blade+) with all the power she could. Her aim was to obliterate Hiro's body, painlessly and efficiently, in one quick move. It would also let her test her newly acquired strength.
Without fully comprehending the rise in value of her status numbers though, Bathilda ended up doing much more damage than she had originally anticipated. Granted, Hiro's cloned-body was ripped apart by the ferocious blast of wind created by her arm, just as she had hoped for, but so too had the entire mountain where her base was located.
Bathilda's mouth dropped open. By some minor miracle, the remaining top half of the mountain stayed suspended in the air for a second before falling down. By another minor miracle, the top half managed to land without breaking apart anymore and left the mountain to looking like someone had stolen the middle section. The awkward-looking mound no longer featured the entrance Bathilda had left from and where Hiro was last standing.
After recovering from her self-caused PTSD by almost dropping a mountain on herself, Bathilda recreated her hitchhiker to test the theory. Unfortunately though, cooperation and helpfulness were not the thoughts on Hiro's mind as he was immediately ousted into another clone.
"God, damn it, Bathilda! I'm pretty sure you're doing that on purpose now!" He screamed adorably once more.
"Well, I suppose that was my intention this time. In my defence though, the clones aren't really real and it seemed like the quickest theory to test," she smiled.
"I'm real though! I'm fucking real, Bathilda! There are only so many deaths a man can take before they destroy his soul, you know?" Playing the pity card, Hiro dropped to his knees and looked at Bathilda through a perfect replica of her own scarlett eyes.
"You can always go back to the Oasis if you want?" Bathilda replied casually. Hiro was not someone who needed help in her opinion. He had hijacked her reincarnation for his own selfish gain and he had been far from helpful.
Grumbling to himself in a childish manner, Hiro frowned and admitted defeat. The Oasis, or heaven, was far worse than the new planet that they had come to. Even if he had already died here by the hands, or wings, of his ride.
"Fine. What now then?" Hiro finally conceded.
"I want you to see if you can use (Minor Illusion) now. If you can create a simple dress, or something like that, you can stop showing my bits off to the world." Laying down the law, Bathilda explained her expectations to Hiro.
"Again? Fine, hang on... Wait a minute. Hey I can use it now. How did that happen?"
"I think you were restricted before because you had already been summoned. If that makes sense. You were created before I learned how to cast Illusions. That meant you're not able to learn the new skills I acquire once you've been created. Not unless you're destroyed and then resummoned, that is." Summing up her theory in an easy to understand few sentences, Bathilda smiled a very human smile and threw Hiro s hearty thumbs up as he cast his spell.
Hiro on the other hand created a sunflower-themed dress, but he was still frowning at Bathilda. "You could have cancelled the clone spell and recreated me after. You didn't need to go all out on me."
"To be honest, I wanted to test how strong I've become. After seeing you not take much damage from that fall, I was pretty curious. Sorry, Hiro. Either way, it's finally time to go." Her feet left the ground and Bathilda rose up through the air.
"Really? I can't wait to see other people." Hiro finally perked up and smiled himself as he too rose from the floor to join Bathilda in the air.
"I know. It's been forever since I've seen someone other than me and I wasn't even a person in the beginning. Before that though, we need to get a good look at where we are." Bathilda instructed as they began to rise above the canopy. Unsure of what they would find in this brave new world.