Zerine was walking around the cavern to stretch her legs when she kicked a rock. The rock was made from a dark stone that looked to have been melted slightly and roughly circular. Seeing the melted and smooth state, she pick it up, startled at just how heavy and large it was. The rock was large enough it took both her hands to pick it up.
Varino’s chirp made her glance at the spirit, who was drifting on a cloud, looking at the rock curiously.
“Yeah, I think I will keep it. If you see rocks like this, can you gather some? I think they are from Starborn, bringing debris with them,” Zerine said.
Varino whistle cheerfully and began zooming around the space followed by Little Red, the two chatting, finding several more rocks. One of them had geodes of every color within it which took their breath away. Zerine was shoving more stones into that spatial storage when she paused.
Am I turning into a hoarder? She wondered to herself. Zerine went over a mental list of things in the rapidly shrinking available spatial storage. She had gathered pants that both Kimi and Varino and pointed out during their excursions, plants she had identified for alchemy, and quintessence. There were much more too.
Hmm treading a thin line, but no, I’m just gathering what might be useful and hopefully can be sold after the test, she thought, trying to not over think as she put away another geode held up by Varino.
There was a blinding flash, and the large Starborn was floating near the barrier protecting the Star Seed.
“Welcome back!” Zerine said cheerfully, walking up to the ball of light.
Varino zoomed around the Starborn, whistling happily, while Kimi scuttled up, clicking their greeting.
The Starborn made several electronic tones, which made Zerine raise an eyebrow.
“We didn’t expect any gifts for helping sense we. But-”
Varino and Kimi spoke over her, saying they would be honored to accept the gifts, but wondered why? They thought they had declined a reward.
After some more electronic tones, it became clear that the Starborn simply wanted to repay them back. It wasn’t an easy fight, even with the four Starborn that had helped. It also said something that made Zerine feel a chill go down her spine.
“I was gathering the gifts when I sensed powerful enemies approaching and came quickly. Time is also running out before the solar winds change and we leave.”
Before Zerine could ask about the powerful enemies, a pile of rocks and a glittering gemstone appeared at her feet, while Varino peeped in her surprise as her eyes glowed brightly, and a shining green crystal pyramid appeared in front of Kimi.
“Thank you so much,” Zerine said in shock.
Kimi’s two large eyes were shining in awe while Varino seemed to be in a trance.
Now I am definitely becoming a hoarder, she thought, amused, looking at the rocks, which look similar to the first one she found.
The Starborn made several electronic tones.
Zerine blinked. The Starborn said that it gave Varino knowledge and insights on space and time concepts, while Kimi received some sort of thing that was a cross between a catalyst and natural treasure called an Evolution Stone. Or at least that is what she got for an exploration when she asked. Again, the Starborn had said something Zerine hadn’t heard before, making her make yet more mental notes to do research once she got back home.
Kimi moved quickly and etched runes around the pyramid. Yet again Zerine found herself at a loss as the Runic spider created runes she had never seen before. She had even talked about runes with Kimi, but these were entirely new. In less than a minute, Kimi was mediating with the pyramid floating in a circle around the spider. Wisps of green and gold floated into the spider.
“Umm, thanks again and I hope we can meet again someday,” Zerine said, sensing that the Starborn was going to leave them quickly and there was a sense of urgency about the ball of light.
The Starborn made several more tones, thanking them and saying farewell along with wishing them luck, before vanishing in a flash of light, taking the Star Seed with it. Now that the Star Seed was gone, the thrumming mana faded, and Zerine found herself feeling…off and she wasn’t certain why. Ambient magic was still going wild due to the mana storm and the Star Seed had a strange calming effect to it, or maybe because it was some sort of natural treasure that had overpowered the ambient magic. She shook her head and the strange feeling faded.
Zerine swore softly as she realized she hadn’t asked the Starborn more questions like she had planned too.
“When will I get a chance like that again?” she muttered, shoving the stones into her spatial storage. She paused as she picked up the glittering gemstone. The gemstone appeared to contain a purple, blue, and green star. It was beautiful and the perfect size for a ring, pendent, maybe even an earring.
“What to do with you,” she mumbled as she put the gemstone in the bracelet and continued with the pile of stones. Did she know what exactly these stones were? Nope, not a single clue. Will she happily hold on to them till she found out if they were valuable? Hell yeah.
She was just done when there was a strange crackling sound, like electricity. Then the mana whirled for a moment and Zerine spun to look at where Kimi had been mediating.
“What the…hell happened?” she said incredulously, staring at…well an egg!? It was around the size of a watermelon and had green, dimly glowing, mystic runes covering it. The material looked like any other hard-shelled egg with its shining white exterior. Zerine curiously poked the egg, finding it warm to the touch.
“Umm, Kimi??” Zerine called worriedly.
There was no reply.
“Great, now Kimi is in some kind of egg thing, Varino is staring off to space, and there powerful en…emies. Fuuuck,” she said, remembering what the Starborn had said. She facepalmed, dragging her hand down, sighing as she did.
Varino’s alarmed peep made her turned to the little spirit who had both hands-on Kimi’s egg, looking just as worried as Zerine felt. Varino tapped the egg whistling asking if her friend was alright.
“I think Kimi will be fine, Varino, but how are you feeling?”
Varino perked up at the question and chimed, waving her arms excitedly.
“So, you gained some insight into your other concepts. That’s great! I-I do have some bad news, though,” Zerine said, hesitating.
Varino pointed at Kimi’s egg and warbled her concern about the spider.
“Oh, no, it’s not about Kimi. I suspect the Evolution Stone will help not hurt them. But there are powerful enemies approaching and the Starborn practically fled with the Star Seed. Soo, yeah there maybe problems coming soon,” Zerine said.
Varino whistled a question, asking why did the Starborn leave so abruptly, which Zerine didn’t have an answer for. Her best guess was that it had something to do with the Star Seed and the enemies coming. When she told Varino that the spirit looked more worried and burbled that she would mediate and watch Kim’s egg so she would be ready to get them out of here if they needed to flee.
The fact that the spirit was being very serious only served to put Zerine more on edge. Her instincts were telling her they would have trouble and soon, so Zerine quickly took inventory, which didn’t alleviate her stress. Zerine still had plenty of energy restoration pills. Somehow, she was down to less than twenty healing pills and was full on everything needed to heal Varino. They were low on quintessence for Varino, though, so she would have to be careful and would most likely eat more of the spirit manifestation fruits, which they only had ten remaining.
As for her gear, she was down to one scythe, ten knives, her bow with fifty arrows, and a short sword. Her armor was mostly fine. She did wish she had her crest, so her dragon scale covered more because it was fine. The only ones that got the most damage were her gloves, which she had on another pair and gauntlets. The gauntlets of leather were showing the steel and chain mail underneath it and weren’t repairing. Her poncho was also in tatters, apart from the hood and the parts that went over her shoulder.
Zerine was making sure her sword was firming strapped to leg and belt when auras washed over the island that made Zerine’s heart race. Varino’s frightened peep, followed by the spirit running to her and clutching her leg, showed that the auras were far beyond anything the spirit could handle.
“It's alright, Varino. They won’t bother with us being so much weaker than them,” Zerine reassured the spirit, which was only partly correct. If it were Metal Heads, they wouldn’t care and simply kill them, but most creatures wouldn’t bother killing those more than two ranks below them. It was one of those strange unspoken rules of their world because once you reached C-rank those significantly lower rank wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight, which wouldn’t help the being gain insights or push themselves to help grow in power. Of course, that was for most creatures. Some still needed to hunt and eat, and intelligent beings had rules about handling those lower ranked than yourself, but sometimes they were ignored. And there was always the chance of being caught up in highier ranks fights by accident, but she didn’t say that to Varino.
She gently patted Varino’s head. “We will be fine alright.”
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Sounds of fights soon were louder than the sounds of the mana storm. Zerine’s instincts screamed danger as a powerful aura clash occurred. The auras threatened to crush Zerine, snuffing her flickering candle out. The world was stifling, pressuring Zerine from all sides, making it so she found it harder and harder to breathe. She suddenly found herself on the ground, her mouth gaping open like a fish as she struggled to fight against the auras that threaten to kill her.
Varino’s scream sounded like shattering glass and was accompanied by an aura protecting her. Zerine took a shuttering breath in relief. Cool, small hands touched Zerine’s face. Varino’s energy flowed into her as the spirit checked to ensure Zerine was alright.
“I’m fine. It-it’s the aura clash,” Zerine croaked out.
Varino sighed in relief and hugged Zerine’s head.
“Are you able to keep protecting me?” Zerine wondered, getting to her knees.
Varino chimed, saying that mom had taught her to protect Zerine in case of something like this.
Zerine smiled, but a bitter taste of guilt filled her mouth, knowing that Varino was going to strain herself just to help Zerine, which meant in a fight they would be in real trouble. She didn’t want to be a burden, which is exactly what she was right now. The aura clash suddenly vanished, but the sheer number of auras was overwhelming for Zerine.
“What the actual fuck is going on!?” Zerine said, trying and failing to push down the fear that flooded her.
Varino patted Zerine’s knee, but both knew they were in serious trouble and so with great reluctance she went to pull out the emergency crystal. Her instincts screamed a warning. Zerine moved, grabbing Varino and Kimi’s egg in her arms.
“Varino, blast us through the hole in the cavern now!” she shouted.
Varino knew when Zerine sounded like this, it was serious, so without thinking, she did exactly that. Lightning erupted out, blasting the protections and the debris they had used to cover the hole out of the way. Then a blast of air shot them through the now cleared hole to the surface, just in time.
The cavern exploded as something erupted from underground. Zerine didn’t see what it was, but had a very strong feeling it was a Metal Head. Probably some of the ones that survived their battle.
I’m getting the feeling we are being hunted now, she thought as they landed lightly in the crater.
Almost immediately, Zerine jumped away as several beams of pure darkness burned holes where they had been standing. Zerine looked around and her eyes went wide. There were Metal Heads flying, attacking what looked to be people, while the mana storm was still doing it crazy thing. Then a ripple of energy made Zerine stiffen.
“Oh gods,” she whispered, her eyes going wide. “A damn mass manifestation on TOP OF THIS!” she shouted the last words as she ran. Raindrops of fire and water poured down.
“Varino, can you grab the brute armor from my bracelet and use that to protect us,” she said, and soon a curved piece of metal deflected magic.
Silently, Zerine thanked Gary and the brute for making such great protection as her gear, and the metal protected her from the deluge of the different elements.
Tears in space appeared, and horrors from the void emerged. She avoided one that appeared right in front of them.
“Shit, shit shit!” Zerine muttered, sprinting as fast as she could go and cover long distances.
Varino whistled, waving her hands, creating a wind gust that helped her run faster.
The monsters that manifested behind them shrieked and fought one and other, but went silent after several mana flares that made Zerine move faster, fearing that the Metal Head hunting them had their scent or essence trails? Zerine wasn’t certain which and didn’t give the stray thought much attention as she wove through the chaos of the storm and the rampant, incensed monsters.
“Varino, this is the fucking craziest thing we have ever done,” Zerine shouted, staggering from a blast of air created by an explosion. She wasn’t certain if it was from a fight or the storm just being fucking insane.
Varino burbled happily.
“Why is it that the crazier things are, the happier you- Oh fuck!”
Zerine whirled, spinning away, just missing a monster getting blasted back at them.
Varino cheered Zerine on as she began running again.
“I’m, glad, you're enjoying yourself,” Zerine said between breaths.
Varino whistled, but was clutching Kimi’s egg, her eyes wide with ill-contained fear.
Zerine only saw the spirit’s condition for a moment when she took a quick glance as the whistle sounded strained.
Trying to keep a facade so I don’t worry, she thought, holding the two a little tighter in her arms as she lept over a smoldering log.
When her feet touched the ground again, she felt a rhythmic vibration through her boots.
Now what? she thought.
Her instincts screamed a warning and she avoid a bolt of lightning, but it wasn’t alone. Light, fire, and dark blasted down from the mana storm. Ambient magic went wild, and an explosion launched Zerine. She tucked herself around the two in her arms, protecting Varino and Kimi’s egg. The world rang and Zerine lay on the ground, stunned still clutching the two.
Had she slammed into a rock or tree?
Varino came into her field of view chiming, but it sounded muffled by the ringing in her ears. The world was spinning and pain was spreading from her side with each breath. Her world spun faster as she tried to answer Varino’s question that she wasn’t alright.
Varino’s gaze firmed, then she moved out of sight. Soon warmth spread through her, easing the pain. But that meant…
Gods, she used magic to heal me. We will need every drop if we get in a fight, Zerine thought guiltily as the pain eased and soon was just a memory.
Before she could get to her feet, something slammed into her, sending her rolling protecting Kimi’s egg, finding herself trying to breathe once again, but this time it was from getting the air knock out of her and not because of broken ribs.
Getting to her knees, Varino chimed at her to run.
Zerine turned, still on her knees, to see Varino fighting a brute that had come out of nowhere. Varino was focusing on protecting them rather than attacking. Wind redirected a rod of metal, then everything slowed. Everything moved at a crawl as Zerine watched the brute move, slapping aside the little spirit. Varino let out a clattering chime that turned into a squeak when she hit a rock. That moment stretched on for Zerine as everything around her got very quiet. Even when the brute roared at Zerine, the sound was far away. The loudest thing was the pounding of her racing heartbeat.
The brute roared again and moved towards her, but it froze. Zerine got unsteadily to her feet, her gaze was locked on to the brute. Rage and fear for her best friend blasted out as her willpower demanded that the ambient magic rip the head off the brute. Her willpower clashed with the brute’s, who was soon overwhelmed as her vision turned red and she screamed. The sound of her scream echoed and was laden with her willpower as the head of the brute began to turn to its right. The boom of thunder overtook the sound of tearing metal and the crunching of bone.
The Metal Head brute collapsed, dead. Its head had been twisted completely around, red blood leaking from its open maw.
Zerine staggered from the effort, blood dripping from her nose and eyes. She spat out gobbets of blood as she rushed to where Varino lay unmoving.
“No no no,” she muttered, crouching and placing Kimi’s egg next to Varino.
Zerine forced her magic senses to attempt to feel the mana flowing through Varino. To her relief, she felt it, but it felt weak. Her throat tightened. For spirits, the flow of their internal energy was similar to a heartbeat. She fumbled through the other spatial storage bracket. It had turned into their medical supplies storage after she had stopped caring about gathering the monsters they killed.
A vial of silver fluid appeared in her hands. Their family had a small stockpile of supplies to heal Varino if she was injured. The silver fluid was one such item. The vial contained spirit water from a spiritual place that possessed healing properties. It would help Varino’s body heal and hopefully rejuvenate her magic while helping the spirit’s energy flow through her body. Zerine, not being a healer, didn’t fully understand the physical form of spirits and how they worked, but trusted Raith and Ava, who had insisted on her using this.
She scooped up Varino, cradling the spirit, who was a lighter shade of blue and more transparent. The spirit cued softly.
“You're going to be fine. Drink this,” Zerine said, putting the now uncorked vial to the spirit’s tiny lips. “Drink!” she insisted when Varino didn’t open her mouth.
Varino’s mouth opened as Zerine gently tipped the liquid down her throat. The spirit’s body began to glow softly, but dimmed as the spirit coughed and shuttered in Zerine’s arms.
“You are going to drink every drop, then rest you hear! You will be fine,” Zerine said, tears pouring down her face. The spirit still wasn’t the right shade of blue. This wasn’t the first time the spirit had been injured, but this was probably the worst that Zerine had seen.
She got to her feet, still cradling the spirit who finished the drink and closed her eyes, falling asleep. Zerine took a shaky breath and scooped up Kimi’s egg, but hesitated. With a focus of willpower that took far more effort than normal, she pulled out the emergency crystal, which sparkled, then shattered.
She frowned, still uncertain if that was wise or not, but it quickly got pushed to the back of her mind as powerful auras washed over the island once again. Her gaze flicked up to the sky. A glowing bema of green parted the mana storm’s clouds, revealing the sky showing that it was extremely early in the morning or evening? She realized then she didn’t know for certain and probably wouldn’t as the clouds rapidly filled the spot once again.
The massive fight above the island made Zerine remember that there was a mass manifestation and Metal Heads to worry about and not what fresh hell was going on above the island. She began running once again. She was fairly certain she was heading towards the spiritual place, but wasn’t completely sure. All she knew was that Varino would be out for a who knows how long and as for Kimi. She did not know what to expect from the egg.
They ran into several attacks as they fled through the forest, forcing Zerine to employ her throwing knives, using her willpower. This led to her bleeding from the nose frequently as she reached her limit for willpower. Zara’s word echoed in her mind as she tucked a knife back into its sheath.
“Survival, training isn’t just about hunting, first aid, and bumming it in the wild. When you find yourself with little to no options, enemies surrounding you, that’s when you truly are surviving,” Zara had said after Zerine’s first few days of survival training. “You got a hell of a mind, Zerine, but don’t overthink things. The best laid plans can go awry and when every second matters, you have to trust in yourself and adapt. What it takes to survive will change depending on the situation, but it will always come down to you. Will you give in, or will you fight with everything you have?”
As a dog-like monster leapt at her back, Zerine knew she would fight no matter what. Her ball and chain flew out, crashing into the monster’s head with a crunch. She began to run once again, but it was far harder than before, not just because she was tired from all the running, avoiding the mana storm nonsense, but it was from the overuse of her willpower.
Metal Heads were everywhere and Zerine now was certain she had no idea exactly where they were in relationship to the spiritual place. She just hoped that the little spirits were alright because she certainly wasn’t. Zerine dodged, ducked, dipped, dove, and yes, dodged some more attacks and stray elements from the mana storm. It felt like everything was going mad.
The sky opened once again from an attack that was so fast that Zerine didn’t even see it. She thought the sky from the mana storm was crazy, but with all the fighting, it looked like fireworks combined with a kaleidoscope. At different points, there were some bright purple flashes and thunder, but Zerine wasn’t sure if that was from the storm or attack. If it was the attack, that would mean her mother was involved, which meant everything was far worse. Silently she prayed again, hoping it was just the storm.
The high rank fights going on around the island only seemed to feed the chaos going on all around her. There were too many close calls from either stray attacks or the mana storm. There were still mana flares that followed them that gave Zerine a terrible feeling. She had first thought the brute was the one that had been hunting them, but clearly there was something worse. Because of course there was. It was just her luck.
“Hopefully, I can get the hell out of here soon,” she muttered, but deep down she knew there was simply too much going on and if there were this many Metal Heads and high rank fights, it probably meant every adventurer in the region was out fighting.
And now we are alone in this hell, she thought as a blast of heat stung her face from a stream of fire that tore through trees nearby them.
She shoved her despair aside, trying to think of something, anything, to help them survive. Then it hit her.
Please, gods let this work, she silently preyed as she ran, ignoring her tired state and headed towards what she hoped would be the shore.