Day 44

I'm still waiting.

I guess they must be taking stock of the losses and providing medical care to the injured. It sure is taking them a while. I must have scared the bejezzus out of them. They'll no doubt be using Niala and little rat as hostages at all times, but that has solutions. They're so few they can't do that well and protect the caravan from regular monster attacks.

With so much crystal around I have plenty of material, just nothing that would do me any good to use as an upgrade personally.

I settle in to wait, having turned my jungle of violet crystal into a death-trap. The crystal monster from earlier was the only one here, the room's boss seems to have been cleared out. My steel golem, perhaps? The other group came through here.

I don't really sleep, but I do lose track of time. Huh. I guess I can't even sleep any more. I don't know if that is a good thing yet or not. I won't get caught unawares, but how do I unwind? Oh, haha. It's because I'm clockwork, isn't it?

Also I'm starting to feel hungry and thirsty... how odd. My stomach is still there but it is blocked off by the ring. Is this going to end with me starving or dehydrating to death?

…

time passes.

This is taking entirely too long.

I venture back into the room of ravines.

I can't believe it!

I fooled myself!

They circumvented my plans.

Using ropes and the slaves they managed to haul the people and carts over to the other side that I cut off. Their bulls aren't here but their blood is. I think they rigged up a pulley system, used the bulls to haul the carts to safety and then killed and dumped the bodies of the bulls over the edge.

Shit.

They cut the ropes too. But one is just long enough to use. I make a pick out of stone and use it as a grapnel. It catches on a rocky outcrop after a few tries.

I leap off, taking the slam into the stone wall fairly well. Minimal damage.

As I start to crawl up...

Son of a bitch!

They played me!

A set of ten spearmen appear at the edge, stabbing down at me. The slave girl is with them, one of my knives in hand as she cuts at the rope.

I can't get close, they're using the spears to push me down with their leverage!

I manage to get a hand on one spear and pull the owner over.

He collides with me, clinging to my shoulder. Then it is all over as I enter free fall, the slave girl's smirk the last thing I see.

The soldier claws at me as we plummet.

Well... not much I can do either way; he's a dead man. I use him as a shock absorber, landing on him.

It is quite a collision. I feel things break all over.

But I'm alive. Having reinforced bones and muscles has perks.

The bad news, I'm down to just four hundred and twelve points of durability.

My left arm snapped completely in the fall, both the elbow and the wrist shattered. My right hip is cracked, I can't walk without limping.

Half my face was ground off in the impact with the rock floor. I think on top of that I have a concussion.

Still the torso's share was absorbed by the soldier. It is why I'm still alive.

I glance around at this new place.

It isn't quite what I hoped; I was expecting the fallen cart to be here. However this room seems to be a honeycomb of smaller rooms.

There are paths, but it is an absolute maze. I have no clue which direction is which.

Even looking up, all I see is sheer rock walls.

Shit.

I'm lost.

That is infinitely worse than being trapped.

Any direction I go could be certain death and I may not realize.

…

Well the cart can't have ended up very far from here.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I also have what I can take from the pulverized man. Damn, I may even have to eat him if it comes to that... if I can figure out how to eat.

I strip him of his leather armor, wearing it loosely is about all I can do with it. The cap doesn't fit nor do the boots. The blood stains aren't pleasant either. Not to mention the need to tear the rear of the pants to let my tail out. At the bare minimum it obscures my chest a little.

The spear fell with us, but it broke. I salvage the head and fashion it into a knife.

Double damn, back to knives again. Hell, my claws are better as a weapon than this bronze age garbage. Still as a tool it may be useful.

I leave the corpse as a baited trap, with a set of jaw traps made of stone and powered by the dead man's tendons littering the area. Hopefully I catch something I have less scruples about eating.

There are three paths. One smells like water, one like death and one like dust.

I take the water path, since it is a necessity.

There are three more honeycomb rooms, connected to a passage.

Nothing that dropped from above but I have two other chances with that.

I reach... a river. Again? Are they spaced at regular intervals? Is it the same one?!

Something to explore if I have to, but with no materials I'll be fish food in no time.

I circle back to Corpsey McSplatter.

Path 2: Dusty Trail.

I find the cart. Hallelujah!

Oh, wait. It is just the cart, shattered. No weapons, no corpses, no iron ore. Just broken wood. Shit... that means there is someone else out here salvaging.

There are two new paths, from here. One is hot the other is strangely sterile. I don't smell the culprit of the theft, which is troubling. They lack a scent and didn't leave a trail.

The scentless path is likely the one the scavengers use, but I can't be certain. I follow it but find something frustrating. The mouth of the room is cut off. A massive vortex of sand blocking my entry. It is very suspicious, but I don't have the means to penetrate it without being sandblasted into dust... oh. That explains the smell.

The hot room is also difficult in it's own way, a vast volcanic vent. I'm not going out there in a hurry either. Gusts of steam threaten to broil me.

I retreat back to the pancake man.

Bingo!

I caught an animal.

A big crab, it must be from the river. It is two foot wide across the shell.

Uh... okay not a crab. It's a giant bug. (Pseudo-scorpion) A giant mite?

Weird looking. But still, I prefer this to eating a person.

At least cooking isn't hard, I just push it a few feet into the Volcanic room with a plank and it is instantly steamed.

…

So how do I eat?

Well I guess I'll try the usual way... I don't see how that will work but it can't be worse than nothing.

My taste buds still exist and they're crying...

Tastes like it was marinated in drain cleaner. Well I still have the nourishment skill. It is probably edible.

The food drops onto the ring...

Grinding sounds echo as my heart spins frantically, tearing the material apart at the sub-atomic level. Of course I don't know how it works, only that it does. It's a goddamn nuclear powered reactor and not a typical fission one either. Antimatter perhaps? One thing is certain... I'm not feeling hungry any more.

Also my durability rose ten points... now that is welcome news.

Now to find a way back to were I used to be.

What we learned:

Intelligent locals...

Only two ways to go: River or Death.

The lower levels are stranger.

Slave girl so needs to die.