“Ugh, what?”
A needle piercing pain runs through my brains
I slightly raise my head and furrow my brows
“Pft, pft, gross…” is my reaction to the dirt in my mouth
My entire body is quivering, it´s freezing
I turn my head and try orienting myself, but I can´t see a thing
An unpleasant feeling of Déjà-vu strikes me…
I´m soaked, did it rain?
I brush the water off my skin and hug myself in an attempt to gain some warmth
High above some leaves rustle which leads to chills running down my body
My eyes have somewhat adjusted to the darkness so I take another look around myself
I take a few steps into the dark and bump into something from which some water spills over
My eyes fly open as I remember my experiment
I lean over the bucket plant I just ran into
“Drinkable water” Appraisal informs me
I take out some water with my palm and take it to my mouth
If your head hurts drink some water as they say
I can´t really tell if it´s helping though.
But the experiment is a success
The water isn´t as sweet but somehow has a nostalgic taste
I manage to turn my face into a weak smile.
Grabbing the stone lying besides the plant I look behind me
There I see my cave to which I start moving
Each step causes a hammering thud in my head, but as I reach my destination a familiar warmth surrounds my body
I venture a little further inside before sitting myself on a huge leaf I brought in the other time.
“Status” I stutter through my teeth, still not having warmed up enough
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[STATUS]:
HP: 8/8, MP: 3/17, CONDITION: EXHAUSTED (HIGH)
Clothing: Upper body: [---] → Effects: [---] Additional: [---] → Effects: [---]
Lower body: [---] → Effects: [---] Additional: [---] → Effects: [---]
Additional: [---] → Effects: [---]
SKILLS:
MAGIC SKILLS:
[Dark element (beginner)] LV 1/150, [Fire element (beginner)] LV 1/100, [Water element (beginner)] LV 5/100, [Mineral control (beginner)], LV 4/100, [Wind control (beginner)] LV 1/125
ENHANCEMENT SKILLS:
[Aim enhancement (low)] LV 1/10, [Concentration enhancement (intermediate)] LV 9/25
EXTRA SKILLS:
[Dexterity (large)] LV 4/50, [Absolute Pitch]
INFORMATION GATHERING SKILLS:
[Appraisal], [Status]
RESISTANCE SKILLS:
[Cold resistance (small)] LV 8/10, [Mental exhaustion resistance (small)] LV 6/10
SUPPORT SKILLS:
[healing Magic] LV 1/20
STILL UNKNOWN/UNSURE:
[Exhaust] LV 1/35, [Odor control] LV 1/10, [silent] LV 1/10, [Float] LV 1/5, [Melanin control] LV 1/10, [Water creation]
Name: Aria, Race: Kid demon harpy (1/4), Rank: E, Rarity: Ω, Age expectancy:∞,
General information: x%?w/n!Σ3=§0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
I see…
I arch my head back, lean it against the wall and close my eyes
Is this the side effect of using MP over your limit?
I should´ve started with transferring only one mineral at a time…
Well, in exchange for this terrible state I got some good level ups – is what I want to say
But fuck level ups. I feel horrible, it wasn´t worth it at all.
Suddenly, my stomach grumbles
“Again?” I ask annoyed
“Not now, let me sleep” and lie myself on my side
5 Minutes pass
*Gurgle*
10 Minutes pass
*Grumble*
15 Minutes pass
*GURGLE GURGLE GRUMBLE*
“GOD OK FINE I UNDERSTAND”
Immediately regretting my decision to shout I crouch over in agony and hold a hand against my forehead
Everything is killing me right now…
Now then, I managed to warm up a little and dry myself, I can deal with my tiredness after I´ve dealt with my hunger
again…
“Haaaa, dammit” I mentally prepare myself to leave my snugly space
As I step outside with gritted teeth I follow the marks I´ve left behind to the Groosha Tree
With each step it gets a little easier to endure
On the way appraisal notifies me that my MP recovered by 1 and before long I pass my final marking
The Groosha Tree mounts in front of me
Though unlike last time no fruits lie on the ground…
Well, it would be too good to be true if there were
Dejectedly I look at the stone in my hand, toss it into the air and catch it again
Then I aim at a fruit, throw and miss it completely
…
I sloppily go fetch the stone and try to get a fruit down for an eternity
Or at least it feels like an eternity, in reality probably around 10 Minutes passed before the first fruit falls
And before I manage to catch it, it splats onto the ground
“No way”
Hastily I approach the puree and dispiritedly stare at it for a while
I sit myself on my knees and sigh, then continue scraping the parts of the former fruit, which are not covered in dirt, into my hand
Though it feels uncomfortably sticky, the sweet aroma coming from it makes me gulp down my drool
I bite into the mass and completely forget my depressed attitude
Before I notice I´m licking my hands
“Status: 4/17 MP → 7/17 MP”
Right, the fruit recovers MP
God what would I do without this tree
Unfortunately my happiness is short lived as the fruit is gone now
All my hard work for only this much?
I look at the Groosha Tree and immediately give up on trying to climb it
Or do I?
“Wait a sec” Circling the tree I search my surroundings
“There!” I set my eyes on a nearby tree
Risking it, I start climbing the supporting branches of the much larger giant standing besides the Groosha Tree
Before shifting my weight onto the branches above I carefully shake them to test their sturdiness, most of them won´t even budge though
Gripping the next branch I feel some crust coming off of it
It sticks to my hand
I wipe the dirt against my leg and keep climbing
After a few minutes I reach a checkpoint where I come to a halt
I hug the tree and look down while catching my breath
Cold sweat starts running down my back as I realize how high up I actually am
It didn´t seem to be that much of a distance while I was still on the ground
I turn my head upwards, there I see some branches of the tree I´m climbing connect to the Groosha Tree
Just a few meters left
I exhale a shaky breath and continue climbing, more carefully than before
Finally I reach the branch linking the two trees.
I carefully lie down and clench it with my arms and legs
Doing this without any kinds of clothes is extremely unpleasant, but ignoring that I move along the branch like a caterpillar
“Simply, don´t look down”
I never was afraid of heights, but this is honestly terrifying
A gust of wind howls through the forest which freezes me up on the spot
My grip tightens even further
I wait until the wind stops while only hearing my own heart beating
Afterwards I inch forward to the utmost front of the branch
I search for ways to cross and slowly begin regretting my decision to climb up here.
Out of all the branches coming from the Groosha Tree only one is slightly thicker than my thigh
I stretch out my arm in an attempt to grab it, but can´t grab it
It´s just out of reach
My only option to cross trees is to jump
Jump…
My vision begins spinning
“Get your shit together. Breathe. It´s only a small jump” I encourage myself
I position my feet for a jump without loosening the hold in my hands
I mentally simulate the landing multiple times until I´m ready
Then
“3, 2, 1”
“GO!”
I jump, arms moving towards the branch I´m aiming for
The less of a second I should be in the air stretches itself like a chewing gum
A nasty feeling soars in my stomach as I begin falling
I finally reach the branch of the Groosha Tree and grab it as tight as I can
“I did it!”
But
Unexpectedly, the branch bends downwards due to my weight
It´s more flexible than I thought
I fall down together with the bending branch
The next moment the branch suddenly stops in it´s tracks
My brain isn´t able to react to the break and my hands slip
“AAAAAAHH!!!”
At a fearsome height, I fall to the ground.