"The oldest of the ancient races such as cyclops, dragons or vetarri were no strangers to experimenting with life itself, creating many chimaeras in the process. While vetarri and other younger ancient races' creations seemed to have been created with a specific purpose in mind, from tunnelling beasts the size of castles to swarms of ravenous tripods capable of rending a paladin to a bloody set of armour in mere seconds.
The chimaeras created by the two oldest races are rarely alike to one another and range from absolutely anything a sane mind can imagine to creatures which even the insane lose their minds for the second time when trying to comprehend the reason for the monsters' creation.
From the little it shares about its past, the Door of Divination acting as the front door of the halls of divination in the top spires of the Academy is a draconic chimaera, a creature of flesh and bone. The door speaks randomly every decade or two in a voice described as bringing even the most stoic members of Geni'i to tears. An army of mind-controlled thralls is always stationed around it with feathers and paper waiting to transcribe its prophesies. Unfortunately for Humanity, not all of the chimaeras are as peaceful as the door and are more than happy to test our resolve after being awakened by greedy adventurers or unfortunate miners."
Extract from "On Ancient Question"
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Deep underground, illuminated by a vague purple shine barely strong enough to not be drowned completely by the all-consuming darkness around it, a guardian lay still in the bandaged arms of the person she was meant to protect, utterly confused on who was meant to protect who.
Iris felt the cold-blooded kitten above her, slowly running her incredibly sharp teeth on the elf's exposed neck. The small teeth could puncture Iris's pale skin and begin to drain her warm blood but Kia never actually bit her. In what the elf assumed was a show of incredible will, the petite blood-sucker only simulated dining on the risen by only using her soft lips to bite the warm-blooded undead. The kitten would purr loudly as she feasted on different parts of Iris's head, leaving damp smooches on her neck and ears before retreating back into a deep slumber.
This and the weak erratic pulses of purple light told Iris she was still alive and not in some kind of paradise for the dead. The lack of any other sensation left the elf unable to count the hours, days or maybe even weeks as they slowly passed them. She wasn't even sure if she was awake for most of the time as closing her eyes made little to no difference in what she felt. One thing she was certain off, she and Kia had stayed like this for less than a month as her status still showed 3 months as her age.
Undoubtedly the still living part of her was concerned at the passage of time but the risen didn't care, she could force her way out of Kia's grasp with barely any problem but why would she do that? She had an eternity to look forward to if she doesn't screw her second chance at life because of her stupidity.
Status
Iris
Race: Risen {Undead}
Age: 3 months
Title: [Anchor of Undeath]
Classes: [Risen Level 31 ] [ Hoplite Level 21]
Talents: [Masterful Translator] [Pure Mana Manipulation(awaken)]
HP 1800/1950
Strength 430
Constitution 426
Dexterity 436
Wisdom 428
Intelligence 428
Charisma 425
MP 1025/2250
Combat;
Active Abilities: Mana light, Mana Shockwave, Mana Missile, Flame, Touch of Decay, Shackles Off, Fortitude, Sparks, Infernal Mirage, Calm Mind, Crippiling Blow, Firebrand, Self Combustion, Bouncing Shield Throw, Shocking Touch, Negative Life.
Passive Abilities: Combat Precognition (F+), Regeneration (E), Nightvision, Enhance Vision (A), Enhance Hearing (B), Mental Resilience, Immunity to Magical Domination, Immunity to Magical Charm, Strider
Physical Resistance (E), Monster Experience Gain (B),
Magical Talent (E+), Taunt Aura, Mark of Darkness, Anchor.
Basic;
Abilities: Cooking (Level 5), Survival (Level 5), Maid (Level 6), Fishing (Level 1), Cleaning...
She read her status sheet once more, marveling at the absurdly large numbers for someone her level. It was quite childish and maybe the enjoyment of looking at her status fade with time but for now, it felt very good to see anything except complete disappointment on the status sheet.
"Wherrre is Ibis?" A worried purr sounded above the elf's ear before she felt Kia shift in the search for this Ibis.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Eeek!" The girl squeaked loudly, letting go of Iris and covering her chest with her arms.
"I'm happy to see you feel well enough to run away from me," The elf supported herself with her left arm as she turned to face the spooked kitten. Iris stared at the flushed girl, carefully examining her face. A smile crept up on her face as she noticed that Kia's snow-white complexion was as fair as the day they first met with no sign of the terrible burn wounds anywhere she had seen before.
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"I didn't mean to run away, you scared me though." The girl replied as she shuffled closer to the elf.
"You seem to be in less pain than before." The risen said.
"Am I?" Kia's face shifted into an astonished look as she began to pat her body, starting with her face. The corner of her lip would sometimes twitch as she examined her body with a little bit too much fervour but as she was about to touch her right arm, her palm hesitated for a long moment before continuing. "Auch!" The girl's body recoiled as she instantly curled into a ball. "Gave me so much hope." She hissed through her teeth as she tapped her pale cheek.
"Where does it hurt?" Iris asked.
"Where my mana links are..." The mage replied before speaking again. "It's from here to here, then it's run down along my spine and my sides before coiling around into my leg and then foot." She ran two fingers just above her forearm bringing them back to her shoulder before motioning to her spine and her waist, her fingers then hovered over her inner thigh before coiling around her leg and ending at the outside of her foot. "What are you doin-!"
The risen scooped up the debilitated mage, careful to not touch anywhere near the areas Kia had shown. She kissed the girl on her lips from behind, as she took revenge on her by encasing the blood-thirty kitten on top of her lap. The girl's body remained stiff as steel before relaxing as her head rested on Iris's torso while the elf replicated the petite mage by resting her chin on the girl's crown.
The two spend a bit more time like this with Kia resting on her favourite spot while the elf leaned back with her hands behind her back. In the darkness, Kia's eyes added a bit more light to their little campsite, enough for Iris's vision to regain its former strength.
After a long moment, the elf could see the girl growing restless but not enough to voice her complaint.
"Are you wondering where we are?"
"Yes... how did you know?" The petite undead stuttered as she tilted her head backwards to see the elf.
"You told me."
"Mmm? I don't remember this?" A frown appeared on the girl's face as the girl's mind visibly tackled with her thoughts. "I only noticed us being here after I woke up... are you lying to me?"
"No," The elf grinned she replied. "You even told me that you are going to kill me because I feel too much like myself. I feel quite honoured that you would kill for me, even when I kidnap you from myself."
The girl looked utterly baffled by Iris's words but never disputed her words. Rather she began to silently observe the area around her once again.
"Would you like to eat?"
The girl bobbed her head up and down prodding the elf to slowly lay her back on the ground. Iris stretched her body as she stood up after who knows how long of time laying in one position. After she got her body depetrified, she helped the girl find a more comfortable position.
"How will you light a fire?" Kia asked as she rested her head on the rolled-up fabric under her head. "I don't want you to cast spells."
"I won't be casting magic, don't you worry," Iris explained. "Don't wander anywhere and scream if something happens."
"Mmm."
"And it gets quite dark here so listen carefully for any footsteps."
"Mmmm"
"Are you sure that cloth is comfortable enough?" The elf asked pointing at the wrinkled fabric on which the girl sat.
"Iris!"
"Sorry, sorry, I will get going now." The risen scratched the back of her head before turning around and walking away.
The elf placed her right arm on the wall as her vision dulled to the point that she couldn’t see the ground she was walking on. Feeling the wall suddenly end she turned right, stepping into the tunnel she had come from.
“Can’t see a thing.” The risen clicked her tongue in annoyance as she took small steps forward on the much rougher ground than she remembered.
The stubborn elf continued forward, blindly taking small steps in the darkness before she felt the tip of her boot hit the sheer face which she had to climb to get into the old spider's lair.
Feeling the rock to find somewhere to cling onto, she hesitantly placed her foot on the rock before leaping up, putting her entire weight on her foot. The lonely sound of a pebble falling onto the cold floor echoed throughout the long dark tunnel before fading from existence as Iris pulled herself over the top of the ledge.
Iris took a step forward and instantly felt the stiff layer of silk lining the entire surface of the smaller tunnel. Compared to stone or dirt the silk had a little give to it which made walking on it a bit of a struggle but she pressed uphill.
Pulling on her cheek, the panting elf couldn't remove the wild grin off her face which appeared on her face. It felt somehow liberating to be able to climb a couple of meters high wall like it was nothing. She was fully aware that she had done much more impressive feats of physical prowess and how stupid for her to even pant or be out of breath but her brain was riding some sort of high horse. She felt similar excitement after realising she had gained level 50 but back then her mind was almost fully focused on Kia. After that, she either didn't use her strength at all for long periods of time or she was too focused on fighting.
Although she knew roughly what each point threshold did, it was a completely different animal to see for herself what she was capable of and she couldn't stop smiling.
"I guess I still think of myself as her." The two and something-month-old undead whispered to herself.
The elf calmed her mind and massaged her cheeks with her fingers as the dumb smile she was wearing defied all of her knowledge about her new body and was causing her muscles to ache.
"!?"
*Splash*
In an instant, the distracted risen felt her footing shifting from under her as the silk began to tear. Iris reached forward to grab something causing the tunnel to illuminate with weak orange light before the elf's head hit the rocky floor covered in some sort of goo. Iris swiftly sprung back onto her feet, preparing to drive off any arachnids lingering around their parent's lair. Listing carefully to the darkness, Iris partially dropped her guard as she could only hear the faintest sound of running water. The elf dropped onto one knee and touched the ground beneath her, feeling her fingers touch wet soil. The elf stayed still for a moment before she began to claw at her surroundings searching for the object she had hit before. She felt her fingernails dig into soft soil or fine gravel but no matter how hard she hit not a single spark appeared. It was a struggle to know where precisely she was hitting in the pitch darkness but after a while, a flurry of orange sparks illuminated the cavern once more surprising the undead who accidentally swiped her arm quite high off the ground. The small twinkling embers fell onto the ground and quickly went dark but their glow seemed to linger for far longer as Iris’s vision got progressively darker. Looking at the thing infant of her, Iris realised that her fingernails had scratched the armour of the half-eaten spider. Leaving more scratches on the arachnid exoskeleton Iris illuminated the tunnel again while she looked around herself.
“That’s unfortunate.” The risen commented to herself as she straighten her body while she stared at the wall of rubble which had crushed the front half of the giant spider while also blocking off the tunnel ahead. Wet stains covered the few small gaps between the rubble which merged into a small stream at the foot of the cave-in.
Iris watched as the silk layer below her boots slowly turned into white mush which clogged the shallow channels which the water carved into the loose soil. Fortunately for her most of the silk was still dry as wheat in the scorching summer sun but before she started to gather a large heap of silk she could use, Iris our her hand edge of the circular wound. Putting her fingers between the exoskeleton and the spider’s dried-out insides and trying to break off a piece of the armour. At first, the thumb-thick plate didn’t budge at all before suddenly breaking off in Iris’s hand, causing her to stumble with a palm size chunk of black exoskeleton which softly gleamed with a faint rainbow when struck by light. Iris cleaned off the backside of the plate from the sponge-like flesh which simply crumbled into dust leaving her with a perfect size plate she clawed at whenever she needed light.
[Inspect]
[Ogre-Spider’s exoskeleton]
[Ogre-Spiders can be found in many areas of the world as long as the environment can maintain a sufficient amount of food for one Ogre-Spider female and her brood. They are ancient creatures which appeared during the third cycle. Adult Ogre-Spiders create a lair around which they spun massive webs made from thin strands of silk which they use to feel their prey from the safety of their lairs before pouncing on their prey while young Ogre-Spiders wander aimlessly around the world preferring dark and quiet places over everything else.]
“I really have to remember to use inspect more.” The risen muttered before turning around.
With her newfound torch, Iris began to tear the silk from the walls sending a cloud of smoke into the air. Before Iris knew it she was left with a large pile of silk she could barely hold between her forearm and shoulder. If the silk was not as old and stiff as it was Iris could have easily earned a platinum coin or two if she would have collected every strand of the spider’s silk laying the tunnel depending on the properties of the silk but she hoped that Ogre-Spiders had mediocre abilities at spinning their silk knowing how she will try to use the silk in her hand.