Dyani donned her new armor with a sad smile.
Crimson Alder Cuirass (Artifact)
* Level: 1
* Condition: Pristine
* Description: A Cuirass (chest armor) that was transmuted into living Crimson Alder wood by a Morphos Djinn. This armor is enchanted to repair itself from nature affinity ambient mana or mana from the user and adapt its fit to the wearer. After evolving into an artifact, this armor has gained the Soulbound and Growth attributes. Originally a higher level, this item has been levelbound to level 1.
* Attributes:
* Soulbound (Toughness Attribute)
* Self Repair
* Adaptive Fit
* Growth
* Levelbound
She hadn’t soulbound the armor yet, mostly because she didn’t know how. Without binding it, it wouldn’t grow in strength by absorbing experience from her, or be able to accept her mana to repair itself, but it would still serve as high quality armor.
Besides, she needed every scrap of experience she could get, and it would find plenty of nature affinity, ambient mana to feed into the self repair function in Root Perch, especially while she was working right below the Mountain Oak’s roots.
Despite the very different feel of the cuirass’s nature mana and her father’s fire mana, the feel of it reminded her of him. He had used this armor, at least until it was transmuted from metal to wood, and it still had a hint of his spiritual signature.
Dyani took a deep breath to fully appreciate the comforting shadow of her father’s spirit, and immediately started coughing.
“Deep breaths….Sewer….Bad,” she panted out as she recovered.
Once she could breath normally, she navigated to her cache of supplies and donned her Hollow Silk Mask. Its primary purpose was to protect her from airborne pathogens, like Plover Moss spores, but it had the side benefit of absorbing odors. Since it wasn’t new, it didn’t fully clean the air, but it cut the stench of this place in half.
Dyani equipped her other gear, including her Sourbirth Jug that generated the vinegar she used to kill moss, a simple glowstone on a necklace, and the spear tipped with the Stiletto of Bloodletting. Examining the blade, she found that the blood she’d fed it from slaying monsters had repaired its previously pitted and rusted surface.
She hadn’t noticed any increase in its efficiency, but the weapon was already so effective in draining these low level monsters of blood, at least the ones that had blood, that it was hard to tell. A true test would involve fighting a higher leveled monster, but Dyani was more than happy to put that off until she was a real Slayer.
The only other magical item she carried was the General Cleansing Tonic she’d bought from Hoss along with her mask, but she didn’t need to grab it.
General Cleansing Tonic (Common)
* Level: 1
* Condition: Pristine
* Description: An alchemical tonic that increases the body’s ability to break down toxic substances. Has a moderate cleansing effect on all level 1 toxins, a high cleansing effect on non-magical toxins, and significantly decreased effect on higher level substances.
The vial of blue liquid was small and potentially life-saving, so she always carried it on her belt, especially after she’d discovered from Hoss that the glass was reinforced.
It wasn’t unbreakable, a solid blow or magical attack could still shatter it, but it wouldn’t break from dropping or bumping it. She didn’t even have to hide it from her mother. Nymin had been relieved to hear about it after Dyani’s spore infection, not even asking about the cost, despite their tight financial situation.
After gearing up, Dyani performed her daily patrol. This consisted of clearing any moss or monsters in the area between her entrance and the waterfall, as well as planting any extra glowing, blue mushrooms.
After several weeks, the path was dimly lit, and all but the dumbest monsters knew to avoid it. The bit of territory she’d claimed gave her a sense of accomplishment, even if the location left much to be desired.
After killing a small patch of ordinary moss and planting half a dozen mushrooms, Dyani turned her attention to hunting. She felt more prepared than ever, so she chose a passageway she hadn’t yet explored, since its entrance was partially blocked by a cave in. After dumping a generous helping of vinegar over the pile of stones to kill any hidden moss, she climbed over.
She did her best to avoid getting dirty, but when she stood on the other side, she was covered in dust and grime.
“At least it isn’t sewage,” she muttered, cleaning her hands as best she could on her shirt.
Dyani lifted her glowstone above her head. This passage was darker than her mushroom-lit area, but otherwise looked very similar. The partial collapse had blocked the flow of sewage, but the many branched nature of the sewer prevented it from overflowing in one area. The sewage here was actually less disgusting. Being stagnant had allowed it to decompose into something like moldy earth.
According to her research weeks ago, the sewage was normally funneled off into larger chambers where hundreds of smaller, white roots grew down from the large, brown roots that formed the ceiling of each passage.
The smaller roots constantly drank up whatever was dumped inside, even absorbing any toxic or flammable gas. That process was the only reason she could survive breathing the air down here, even if it was still unpleasant.
Dyani had never seen one of these chambers in person, but she’d never gone looking. She had encountered junctions that combined several tunnels worth of sewage and funneled it into a single passage, but the increased stench and sense of caution had prevented her from exploring further. If there was one place down here a city worker would check up on, it would be one of those chambers.
As Dyani turned her first corner, she found her first monster. It was another Fungal Rat and she would’ve had no problem killing it, except for the fact it was already dead. Her nose wrinkled at its bloated body, and she reached out with her spear to push into the river of sewage.
The body burst from the pressure but her disgust swifty transformed into terror as a dozen pale-white serpents squirmed from the body, several of which started winding their way up her spear.
Dyani jumped back, shaking the snakes free as her mind scrambled for a battle plan. She spun her spear so the point was facing the monsters and stabbed down. She managed to wound a single snake, one of its siblings seized the opportunity to coil around the spear.
She tried to shake this one off like she had with the others, but it either had a better grip or was more prepared, because it just kept climbing. Dyani was still backing up, but that only helped against the snakes on the ground.
When the snake was nearly at her hand, it raised its head to strike. Instead of two fangs, it had rows of thin, hooked teeth. Those teeth looked similar to the strands on one of those seeds that sticks to your clothes and Dyani suspected that if the snake managed to bite her, it would be difficult to remove.
Every instinct screamed at her to drop the spear.
Instead, Dyani grabbed her belt knife and slid the blade down the spear shaft. It peeled bits and pieces off the uneven wood. When it reached the snake, which was halfway through striking, it cut all the way to the spine.
The snake’s scales were soft as skin, much softer than Dyani had expected.
The monster fell from her spear, letting out a sound like a scream made of hissing. She took two steps back until her back hit the pile of rocks that blocked this passage, but the wounded snake didn’t chase. It flopped over limply, doing its best to move to the side, out of the way of the other snakes that were still in pursuit.
In a display that would keep Dyani from sleeping tonight, the first snake to reach its wounded sibling bit it near the middle of its body.
The attacking snake made a mechanical, whirring sound, and its rows of teeth started moved down its throat, new teeth rotating down to replace them before moving down as well. It was like the teeth were moving on hidden tracks designed to drag prey down to the stomach.
Dyani wanted to throw up. There was no way a creature as small as one of these snakes could swallow her, but she really didn’t want to know what kind of damage those teeth could do to her flesh.
As if unsatisfied with her level of disgust, the snake made things even worse. Once the head of its sibling passed its lips, a seam extended from one side of the swallowing serpent's mouth, reaching halfway down its body. When it opened, its meal peeled itself from the exposed throat, which closed behind it.
But instead of falling to the ground, the consumed snake was now connected to its brother halfway down its length, two necks leading to a single tail. Its neck was unmarred where Dyani had struck at it, but it clearly remembered the attack, as it hissed at her in anger.
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Two snakes, one wounded and one healthy, were now one healthy snake with two heads, both of which were staring at her hungrily.
Dyani imagined a horrible future. A monster with three heads, two from snakes, and one a shrunken version of her own head, begging for death.
She found herself hoping the monster would just kill her, then chided herself for the thought.
“Come and get me,” she shouted, brandishing her spear. The snake obliged her, darting for her legs. Dyani jumped, wishing her father had left her armor for her legs and feet. One of the heads struck at her foot, but she moved it out of the way.
The instinctive dodge caused her to stumble when she landed, and three of the single headed snakes lunged forward to take advantage of the opening.
Dyani spun her staff, grazing two of them while knocking them away, but the third avoided the attack. As it struck, she lifted her boot and stomped down on its skull. The body writhed under her foot, but eventually went still.
Stomping down one more time for good measure, Dyani stabbed at one of the wounded snakes, sluggish from her spear’s blood drain, and let the weapon finish the job.
A cloud of experience burst from the creature. Dyani considered it far too little for her accomplishment, but its small size allowed her to absorb almost all of it without taking her attention from the fight.
It was only then that the two headed snake neared her. Its increased mass slowed its movements, a small blessing.
She was cornered, without enough room on the cobbled stone floor to pass the monster safely. Dyani couldn’t stop her groan. She stepped to the side, into the channel on the side of the passage and whatever it contained. The viscous mass tried to hold her, but she wrenched her feet free with each step, making a slopping sound.
“Curse this shattered place,” she swore as she curved around all her enemies and stepped back on solid ground.
“Now who’s cornered?” she declared, brandishing her weapons. The liquid seeping into her socks cut into the moment, but she still posed as if she was on the cover of a book.
The snakes were unimpressed. The two headed one was hissing menacingly at another of its siblings, claiming the snake she’d drained of blood as its own.
Dyani was hopeful that the snake wouldn’t be able to integrate a fully dead snake as a head, but it still bit down and let its teeth pull the corpse down its throat.
Both the snakes and Dyani waited in the tension. The two headed snake finished swallowing the corpse, using only one of its mouths. Its neck spasmed and squirmed, as if the corpse had revived, only to find itself being eaten and was doing its best to escape.
The process took nearly half a minute this time, but in the end the snake repeated its disgusting neck splitting and a third head joined its other two.
“A worthy opponent,” Dyani said, nodding sagely.
She turned and ran. A hero from her books would probably slay this monster with a technique they whipped up on the spot, but her thoughts were frozen with fear. Shame clouded her heart, but Dyani could survive that.
She wouldn’t survive a close encounter with several sets of the snakes’ revolving teeth.
Dyani encountered and exited a half dozen intersections, leaping over a pair of Fungal Rats eating an unidentifiable corpse. They scattered away, one going back the way she’d come from.
Hopefully the cursed, cannibal snakes would get distracted by eating it and stop searching for her.
She only stopped running when she realized that she was completely lost. Dyani had memorized enough intersections and landmarks throughout her usual hunting area that she didn’t need to worry about navigating, but this section was totally new.
“Root Rot,” she swore, wracking her brain for the turns she’d taken getting here.
“Left, forward, forward and to the right…..right?” she muttered, swiveling to ensure she was safe from sudden attacks and realizing that these new passages were still covered with moss.
That scared her nearly as much as the snakes. One hand fell from her spear to the handle of her Sourbirth jug.
After opening the jug, Dyani cautiously poked the closest patch of moss. It didn’t move. She repeated the process with the rest of the moss nearby but didn’t find any Plover Moss.
Satisfied that she was as safe as she could make herself, Dyani sat down, leaning against the wall opposite the sewage channel. Taking out her notebook, she drew the path she took from the cave in as best she could remember. Her sketched lines were solid and certain for the first few turns, but the rest were lightly traced, easy to erase.
She glanced up at the large root that formed the ceiling above her.
“I don’t suppose you could show me the way, in return for all the experience you’ve stolen from me?”
The Mountain Oak didn’t bother to respond, but she did hear something coming from a nearby corridor.
It was a hissing sound, which sent her mind to those snakes, but after a moment, she found it was more like the steam released from a kettle than a snake.
Still, it was new, and anything new down her was probably dangerous. She stood, spear in a ready stance. The hissing sound grew louder until eventually a strange creature wandered into sight.
It was a large mushroom with a bark-brown cap and a fleshy pink stalk, but unlike an ordinary mushroom, the stalk split into four, stubby legs that it used to walk.
Well, it was more like a waddle, each step causing the head of the mushroom to sway and bounce. Despite her apprehension, Dyani couldn’t deny that it was cute.
“Hey, little guy. What are you doing down here?” Maybe this was the moment in her quest that she found a quirky pet or familiar, who would follow her loyally wherever life took her.
The mushroom jumped and spun towards her, though the side that now faced her had no apparent eyes to see. It let out a harsh whistle and pointed a small hole in the side of its stalk at her. A transparent liquid with an oily sheen sprayed from the hole, and would’ve caught her feet if she hadn’t jumped back.
The grime and mildew bubbled and hissed under the corrosive liquid, leaving behind polished stone.
“Not a friend, not a friend.” Dyani glanced over her shoulder for any other dangers before taking several more steps back.
She really needed some kind of ranged weapon, but the only experience she had with one was when she shattered an expensive bit of masonry with a practice crossbow at Veraine’s home. The servants had taken the weapon after that, though Veraine and Dyani had insisted on further training.
There was no use regretting what she didn’t have. She needed to focus on what resources she did have. Dyani had no idea what effect vinegar would have on a mushroom, especially a monster mushroom, which meant she was left with her knife and spear.
She brandished her spear, side stepping another jet of liquid. Taking advantage of the moment between shots, she darted forward to stab down at the mushroom, directly on its cap that looked so much like bark.
Her blade thudded into it, but failed to penetrate deeper than a half inch. Shocked that the cap had the durability of wood, not just its appearance, she tried to pull it out, but it stuck fast.
It reared back to spray her, but Dyani hopped onto its cap, one foot on either side of where her spear was stuck. The mushroom monster’s stalk compressed under her weight, transforming its stream of acid into a gurgling drip.
With her feet solidly planted on the cap, Dyani managed to pull her spear free and retreat.
She moved quickly while facing the mushroom, as she expected an attack.
No attack came. The monster was too distracted by its acid burns.
Apparently it wasn’t immune to the corrosive liquid dripping down from its sprayer. It flailed its body back and forth. Droplets of acid flew off in all directions, but the majority remained on its body.
The distraction and pain would make this the perfect time to attack, if Dyani was willing to brave the drops of flying acid.
Her chest armor would be fine. Even if it took damage, its repair enchantment would take care of it. But there was nothing but regular clothing to protect the rest of her body, and acid would make short work of that.
Spying a few loose rocks, Dyani picked them up and started throwing them. She cringed at how pathetic this fight would look to an outside observer. Here she was, a mighty warrior, afraid of a couple burns and resorting to a battle of attrition with a heavily wounded monster.
If she wasn’t lost, she would’ve considered braving the danger, but she had no idea how long she would be down here and how many monsters she would have to face. The idea of coming across the cannibalistic snakes again when she wasn’t at full strength was enough to make her cautious.
Eventually, the combined damage of acid, a single spear thrust, and her rocks proved too much for the monster and it collapsed, releasing a cloud of experience. Disappointed as she was with the fight, she still smiled as she drank it in.
The experience felt rich and filling in a way the experience from monsters she killed more regularly no longer did.
From class, Dyani knew about Experience Inflation, the phenomenon that caused the experience from killing the same kinds of monsters over and over to become less effective over time. It wasn’t that they released less experience, it was just that experience they released became less effective at filling up her reservoir.
She had no idea how that worked, but she was happy to receive the fresh experience from a new monster. With it, she was more than halfway to reaching level 2.
* Name: Dyani Farlight
* Level: 1.1
* Experience: 54%
* Attributes:
* Mana Capacity: 0
* Mana Regeneration: 0
* Magic Power: 0
* Strength: 0
* Speed: 0
* Endurance: 0
* Vitality: 1
* Mind: 0
* Toughness: 0
* Perception: 0
* Talents:
1. You gain two skill slots per level, instead of one. You cannot absorb skills.
* Talent Skills:
* None
* Skill Slots:
* Empty
* Empty
Dyani considered dragging the monster’s body around with her, in case parts of it were valuable, but decided against it. It was still releasing small amounts of clear acid that she didn’t want to step on. Instead, she cut off the only part of the body that appeared completely immune to the acid, its wood-like cap. The porous flesh below it parted easily under her knife.
That annoyed her. If the mushroom’s body was this weak, she could’ve killed it with a single blow, if she hadn’t aimed for the cap, unless there was some magic protecting it while it was alive that no longer functioned now that it was dead. If she found another one of these walking mushroom monsters, she would test that.
She decided to call these monsters Shroom Walkers until she learned the official name or discovered another type of walking mushroom that forced her to come up with something more specific.
After half an hour of careful searching, Dyani found and slew another Shroom Walker. She was able to confirm that their flesh was much weaker than the bark-like substance on their cap, weak enough that the fear from the snakes she faced earlier was quickly fading in favor of a bit of cocky confidence.