(Thorn Of Minor Paralysis)
A spear wielded by many types of {Pixies}, this spear is capable of producing small amounts of (Wheezing Rose Poison) when imbued with Mana, which is a poison with paralytic properties that may immobilize targets if they are subject to enough of a dosage.
The needle sized weapon lying on the grass, charitably labeled as a spear, turns out to be more than worth the effort it took retrieving it from the small pond. While my tail has been extremely useful in many situations since I've gotten it, picking up small objects in murky water is definitely not one of the things it excels at, especially since it hasn't yet regrown its more precise spade-shaped tip. It did eventually get the job done though, which is why I have the “weapon” in the first place.
While the effect listed seems quite strong, the fact that it took a couple of minutes for it to actually inhibit me in any meaningful way, even with taking my Recovery into account, means the poison isn't game changing enough for me to make an effort to implement the weapon in battle. Especially since I now know that applying magic, or at the very least my [Light Of Justice] Skill, cleanses the poison from my system, given how my knee is already good as new after the couple of minutes it took me to fish out the (Thorn Of Minor Paralysis) from the small body of water in the Safe Room. Now I am just waiting on my right eye and arms to heal up, as both were hit with much larger doses than my knee.
At that, I go back to lying down on the grass, moving my limp arms atop each other with my tail, and return to my Skill grinding that got interrupted earlier. It's not the most exciting activity in the world, but it is better than doing nothing at all. Luckily for me, it’s distracting enough to pass the time without me getting too bored, which is good for me since it is taking quite a bit of that time to heal up fully. By the time my eyesight returns to full functionality and my arms return to their lively crimson hue, about half an hour or so passes and I receive a few Skill Levels.
[Skill [Break Enchantment] Has Reached Level 7!]
…
[Skill [Break Enchantment] Has Reached Level 9!]
[Skill [Restful Touch] Has Reached Level 16!]
[Skill [Enchantment Affinity] Has Reached Level 18!]
[Skill [From The Brink] Has Reached Level 13!]
[Skill [Rest] Has Reached Level 6!]
The second to last of those that increased in Level reminds me that my tail is almost back at its full length now, with only a couple inches of length and the tip all that remains missing. With that being the only injury remaining on me, I get up and retrieve my weathered leather bracers, fastening them back on over my forearms, then I head to the door leading further into the dungeon. Once my hand touches the door’s handle, surprisingly enough, a window does not, in fact, appear. Hopefully that means I can retreat back to this room without punishment if I need to, but I guess I won't know till I go on ahead.
Pulling open the door, the next area is revealed to be quite different than I expected. A vast cave so large the upper reaches are shrouded in darkness I can't pierce is located past the Safe Room’s door. Inside this cave of a size I cannot determine is a forest of thin trees with dark bark illuminated by Creeping Luminvines growing both on and around the bases of trees. Analyzing the trees with [Eyes Of Aspirations] reveals that they are called (Shaded Blackbirch Saplings), which only makes me wonder how tall these would grow as they are already ten to fifteen feet in height even while being considered saplings. I am unable to see any of the cave walls through the doorway, with the exception of a line of several Luminvines illuminating something at the opposite end of the expansive cave from me.
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Having not seen any monsters in my vicinity, I enter the new room, and as I do so, the door behind me closes suddenly, but silently. Nevertheless, I turn around to try and open the door, and once I see that it opens easily, I let it shut itself again as I let out a sigh of relief. Before the door is fully closed though, I swear I hear a faint howling noise coming from behind, but when I wait to see if I can hear anything more, no more sounds come, so I just chalk it up to my imagination playing tricks on me.
With the door fully closed, I realize that without the light coming in from the Safe Room, my [Nightvision] has to strain to assist me in discerning anything around me in detail. I try to spot anything around me that is out of place or sticks out in some way, but other than the living beacon that is the Luminvines on the opposite wall, nothing stands out. As such, I venture forward to head for the fairly distant landmark, having no better clue as to a direction I should be going other than that.
A minute or two passes without incident as I weave around the thin trees that are about twice my height, all of them being the Blackbirch saplings, which I can distinguish due to how they live up to their name with their bark so dark they are difficult to spot even with the dim green glow coming from the vines around their roots. This is what allows the monster to attack me without my notice, as something strikes me from behind and I am tossed into one of the trees nearby, slamming into my side forcefully. I turn around to see what attacked me, only to see a long thin branch come spearing towards my chest with sharpened tips, and I dive to the side to avoid the blow, and look over to see what the tree limb is coming from.
{Blackbirch Arboro Sapling: Level 10}
[Current Desire: Defend Room]
The tree limb is, unsurprisingly, connected to a tree. The tree is unfortunately also swinging its spindly arm-like branches at me as it tries to kill me. Trying to ignore the irony in how literally the next monster I fight after leaving my axe behind is a tree, I whip my tail and slice through the thin wooden arm trying to impale me with an effective use of [Power Slash] and [Tail Whip]. The branch gets bisected easily, so I scramble up to my feet and dart forwards while ducking low, avoiding a swipe attack the Arboro attempted with its other branch limb. Thankfully, all the branches and leaves that make up the top of the monster don't seem to be able to move as freely as the extra long branches that make up the monster’s two arms, meaning I don't have to worry about an octopus’ amount of limbs attacking me. Unfortunately, the limb I cut off seems to be regrowing at a rapidly visible pace, making my supernatural healing speed look slow in comparison.
As I duck and dive around the flailing tree limbs, the Arboro stays in place as it attacks me, which is when I spot how it is rooted to the earth with its, well, roots. While this does mean that I could just run past it pretty easily, I also don't know if there is any other way to Level up my Subspecies besides beating monsters and people. Which means I still want to beat the thing, a task that is also seeming to look easier and easier to accomplish as I continue to dodge the wide swings it makes with its branch-arms. Each time I get the chance, I cut down the limbs when they get close enough with my tail, but each time it only takes a couple of seconds for the limb to fully regrow in size. One thing doing this does is make the Arboro tired though, which I notice due to the decreasing speed of the monster’s attacks as I keep cutting down the spearing appendages.
With the decrease in the amount of attacks the Arboro can manage, it only takes another minute for me to be able to close in enough to attempt slicing through its trunk with my tail. With my first strike on the trunk managing to get a third of the way through, I dispatch of the Arbor with only two [Power Slash] [Tail Whip]s, the upper section of tree toppling to the side and crashing into a couple of normal Shaded Blackbirch Saplings.
As the Dungeon’s message appears in my vision informing me of my victory, it immediately blinks away but a moment later. Before I can even question why the Arboro hasn't begun to dissolve even with the battle complete, A howl pierces the entirety of the dark cave from nearby. Moments later, from all around me, five wolves I have become somewhat familiar with begin to circle me while gazing at me with hate-filled eyes, so I use [Eyes Of Aspirations] on them to see what I am now up against.
{Sunlight Moss Wolf: Level 19}
[Current Desire: Vengeance]
{Sunlight Moss Wolf: Level 21}
[Current Desire: Vengeance]
{Sunlight Moss Wolf: Level 17}
[Current Desire: Vengeance]
{Sunlight Moss Wolf: Level 23}
[Current Desire: Vengeance]
{Sunlight Moss Wolf Alpha: Level 27}
[Current Desire: Vengeance]
Well shit, you have got to be kidding me.