[Skill [Poison Resistance] Has Reached Level 2!]

A window informing me of my newly obtained [Poison Resistance] Skill Leveling up reminds me that my arms are still glorified pincushions, filled with dozens of two inch spears that were most likely poisoned, if the name {Poisonthorn Pixie} is any clue. You would think that having that many intrusions inch deep in my arms would be hard to forget about, due to the pain and all, but for some reason I can't feel any. In fact, I can't feel anything at all around my upper arms. Now that I'm paying attention to it, the lack of sensation is extremely odd, so I quickly begin ripping out the projectiles as fast as I can so that I can remove the bracers and inspect my arms themselves.

I manage to get all the ones that were impaling my left arm, but before I can start working on the opposite limb, my right knee buckles beneath my weight and I topple to the ground. For a few moments I am confused by the odd turn of events, before remembering the initial strike to the back of that knee that made me tumble initially. Rolling up the right leg of my trousers to above the knee, I wince at the sight before me. A small portion of skin at the back of my knee has turned into a pale pink hue, looking sickly in comparison to the vibrant crimson I have started to get used to. Removing the leather bracer covered in small holes, I confirm that my entire forearm is a similar color, but over a much larger area.

Unfortunately, I haven't been poisoned before, so I start to panic a little as I try to think of what to do. Deciding that letting my other arm continue to be riddled with the offending objects is most definitely not a good thing, I start to pluck them out with haste. It is at this moment that my arms decide they are done listening to me though, as both of my arms lose all sensation above the elbow. When I try to move my arms around, all I manage to do is move my upper arms around as the other halves of the libs flail about senselessly. This only makes me panic more, especially when the eye that had been slowly improving up until now has ceased being itchy, and not in a good way. I sweep my tail across the still riddled bracer, forcefully removing the needle-like thorns as they take some skin and leather with them, but I ignore the small injuries as I'm more worried about the poison at the moment. Once I remove the last few thorns by plucking them with the stubby tip of my tail, it being much more flexible and precise since I acquired [Versatile Tail], I loosen the straps holding the bracer on my arm to free up my other poisoned appendage.

Note to self, your Recovery is absolutely ridiculous, but maybe you still shouldn't let yourself be pumped full of poison if you can help it.

Resolving myself to try and dodge more stuff in the future, instead of just letting magical poison pixies take their time to use deadly Skills while I gawk at their odd looking eyes, I activate my go-to Skill that seems to be helpful in almost all situations. [Light Of Justice] starts to glow from inside all the areas that are affected by poison, my eye glowing dimmer than the other affected body parts as I don't want to accidently singe my brain with self-inflicted wounds. I have no basis in believing that this will actually do anything other than the small bit of the (Holy) Category’s description stating that it specializes in “restoration and purification”, and since [Light Of Justice] most definitely destroys more than it restores, I hope that it has some purification properties. I at least hope it is able to burn up the poison in my body if nothing else, because as long as the poison is gone, I should be able to recover eventually thanks to [From The Brink]. Yes, relying on the recovery ability of that Skill is what got me in this predicament in the first place, but at least I now know not to try out-healing something that is consistently damaging me, or at least not make that my go-to strategy in dealing with stuff like poison.

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Not being sure how long I should singe my innards, I let the Skill stay active for about ten seconds, at which my skin at those areas turn from a sickly pink to an odd purplish color that isn't really much more comforting to look at. Since I still don't have any feeling at any of the spots filled with poison, I can't tell if I did too much or too little searing, but I can't really do anything to change that so I just lay on the grass and wait for anything to change.

To pass the time, as well as distract myself from any self-degrading thoughts related to poor combat performance I might conjure, I do a bit of Skill practice. I first attempt to use [Shadows Of Doubt], but the only noticeable thing that happens is the shadow I cast myself in this well-lit room becomes a deeper shade of black, which I somewhat expected to happen as I just wanted to see if anything would happen at all when I'm not hiding in a shaded area. Maybe once the Skill is of a higher level? Nonetheless, I can just try it out after leaving the Safe Room as the rest of the dungeon will most likely be as dark as its first section.

With that being a bust, I go with the more reliable [Break Enchantment] and [Restful Touch] combo training, which should also quicken my Recovery due to [Rest] activating as [Restful Touch] overpowers its counterpart. A minute or so passes by as I do this, but my concentration on the menial task is broken when I notice a tiny cloud of green mist similar to floating up from my side before quickly fading. When I look over, I see that the thorns I plucked have disappeared, leaving nothing behind but tiny splotches of my black blood in the grass. Maybe the Dungeon itself is what removed them, but I have a sneaking suspicion they disappeared because the Skill they came from timed out, since the cloud only had a passing resemblance to the Dungeon’s monster dissolving mist. This draws my attention to a small black spot marring the otherwise clear surface of the tiny water pool though.

Getting up and walking over to it, I see that a line of black liquid has trailed up from the bottom of the pool and began coalescing into a small round section on the surface. Squinting with my one good eye, I spot what is causing this, the original weapon of the Poisonthorn Pixie I tossed into the small pond. I try identifying the black substance, as earlier I had first assumed the black coating on the pixie’s spear tip was my blood, but instead it is a different substance that is continuing to come out of the weapon even now.

(Puddle Of Wheezing Rose Poison)

“Huh, maybe I shouldn't have tossed that so casually.”

The Moss Wolf Alpha cautiously led his band down the tunnels filled with glowing vines, the scent of their prey still somewhat fresh in this area. While the Alpha would like to rush with his hunting pack all the way to the one who slayed their kin, all the Moss Wolves in the area knew of the dangers of Dungeons due to their Instincts. Even if the Alpha had conquered this Dungeon before with this very same group of pack members with him today, they all knew the place would just repopulate itself with the unnaturally smelling monsters. The Alpha had even discovered how the Dungeon, of which his Instincts had informed him was called the Nature’s Reclaimed Mineshaft, birthed more monsters the larger the amount of wolves ventured in. It is because of this hard earned knowledge from past hunts that the Alpha and his hunting group were prepared for the five {Sap Slimes} that fell upon the wolves’ muzzles.

When this first happened to the Alpha, back when he was no more than a member of the previous Alpha’s hunting party, he had been terrified by the ambush. Now though, the current Alpha and his hunting group opened their maws, letting the slimes inch their way inside, only for the intruding monsters to be obliterated by the Moss Wolves’ [Sunlight Breath] Skills. All of the Alpha’s party was capable of the Skill, their Instincts bestowing the power onto them after many hunts.

The group made sure to swallow the slimes’ cores if they were lucky enough for the items to survive the bolts of light, as they would quicken their growth further, their Instincts having informed them of this trait many times before. Once that swift battle was done, the Alpha sniffed at the air once more, making sure to keep track of the trail they were following, then began to traverse further into the cave once more.