“We can’t have a fire in an enclosed place like this, so you’ll have to deal with preserved foods. Not that there’s anything to hunt out here.” Urath mentioned to Carthur, who was walking a bit aimlessly around the small cavern.
“I’m...detecting trace amounts of an unusual manna... probably what’s keeping this place warm, looks like it’ll last a few weeks.” he said, as he sat next to Urath, pulling dried meat out of nowhere.
The little moth watched on as they ate, the overwhelming scents attacking her antenna and enrapturing her wholly, both of them enjoying the meal with Urath looking slightly uncomfortable with the constant stare. Eventually she pulled out another piece and handed to the little moth who looked at it a bit before attempting to copy them, placing one end in her mouth, only failing to eat and instead just tearing it up a bit and struggling to get it out.
Urath rushed by her side, gently washing out her mouth with water and calming her down. It was during this moment, that a thought came to the little moths mind, a feeling it had all but forgotten missing a word to describe it, no matter how hard she tried. All she knew was that Urath represented it.
Host species may absorb in lieu of eating
“I’ve heard of this before, some rare insects don’t have mouths, so when they evolve or turn to monsters they may gain an imitation for the likes of speaking and attacking, but none have ever gotten a true mouth for eating.” Carthur explained as he took out another canteen.
“YOU KNEW?!” she shouted to him.
“Only that it was a possibility!”, he countered. “And what happened to not getting attached!?”
Before either could get too deep in argument, the little moth pulled out a pearl to absorb, grimacing slightly before it started to glow.
“NO!!” Carthur took the pearl right out of her hands. “This is way too strong!! That’s why you were in Overflow!”. It started glowing stronger in his hand before shattering into pieces that he collected before handing them back to the little moth.
“These [Rough] shards should be much better!”
She took the shards out of his hands, absorbing just one and receiving none of the backlash she’d come to expect. Instead she was greeted by a screen that caused her to run up and hug Carthur enthusiastically. “Thank you!”
Mp 20/25 +3 at 60% Ec
“Eh? It’s nothing... you can let go now, Urath’s getting jealous!”, he said, slowly prying the girl off. “You should be getting to sleep anyway.”
“Okay!” the little moth went to her corner, quickly falling asleep as the two prepared their own spots.
“I’m not.” Urath called out to Carthur
“Hm?”
“I mean I wasn’t.” she continued.
Carthur picked up what she meant quickly. “Yeah, I know.”
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Level Up!
Stat Change New Mp +5 30 Str N/A 4 End N/A 7 Dex +1 9 Wis N/A 3 Int N/A 4 Lckd N/A N/A
Species Mothman Child (Luna Female) Main Quest Unavalible Class N/A Lvl 3 Hp 100% Mp 20/30 (-1/h) Str 4 End 7 Dex 10 Wis 3 Int 4
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The little moth woke slightly panicked when Urath and Carthur weren’t immediately visible. She calmed when she noticed them both standing against the wall in a darker spot. Her stretching was interrupted by another screen
Warning! Hosts Mana is under safe levels
Do you wish to absorb: Starlight Mana Shard x5?
“Forgot how long kids sleep. We’ve lost light, lets get going.” Urath piped up, stepping away from the wall and motioning to Carthur to open it back up to leave. With a slight hand movement and glow of manna, the solid wall pulled itself back to let in the morning light.
“It’s sooo bright!!” the little moth shouted in surprise as she ran to catch up to them.
Carthur chuckled, turning back to address her. “I’m guessing this isn’t normal then?”
She shook her head while looking around again. “It’s pretty!”
“it’s even better outside under the sun!”
“Sun!... Sun?”
“Seems she’s lacking a lot of information. Think we should teach her?” he asked Urath, who was moving through the undergrowth aggressively.
“Do whatever.” she replied, without ever slowing.
“Don’t mind her.” Carthur explained to the little moth. “She didn’t want to leave without you, and is now annoyed at how damp everything is... but really, is there anything other than dead trees and fungi in this place!?”
She shook her head, pulling out one one of the Star-cage flowers. “This all!”
“Oh, yeah. We’ve got to work on your speech. Tell me, what [Int] does your [Status] read?” He asked, confusing the young girl.
“You... don’t know what a [Status] is, do you?” he sighed. “You know the [Light], or [Words], or [Intuition]? That called the [Status Screen] by scholars, it can be brought up by saying or thinking [Status] or [Stat] or through feeling if you’re good enough.” he explained.
“Satus!”
“[Status].”
“[Status]!!” she repeated, bringing up the screen showing all her stats.
“I assume that worked as other people can’t perceive them. Now what does it say next to [Int]?” he asked
“Four!”
“That’s high enough. And your Highest?”
“[Dex] of 10!” she answered bringing both Carthur and Urath to a stop temporarily.
Carthur cleared his throat before continuing. “To explain why that’s so surprising, we need to start with the basics. This’ll be a bit long. The System, that’s the information processor and adapter that works the [Status], works at a base 10 adult human. Essentially a 10 in all stats at level 15 is the exact average of a 16 year old human in a low risk moderately active life.”
“This the means that you are as agile or [Dexterous] as a fully grown man. The [Weight] you hear and feel on words is just a way to differentiate from normal words, but is not necessary at all. For example lie detectors ask for [Weight], so ‘I have [Skill]’ instead of ‘I have Skill’.”
“You get that?” he asked his passenger.
“Nope!”
“Ah...”
“Well... every night, at the turn of the new day, all levels will be applied, with some exceptions, certain [Rewards] and [Items] that can allow early levelling. Each level up will apply +1 at minimum to different stats, usually what stat earned the level. Classes give extra points based on the classes specifically, getting more the better the class, along with extra [Stat Points].”
The little moth stared blankly at Carthur, obviously not grasping anything he was saying.
“Haaa... ok. Just... all colours go roughly White/Yellow/Orange/Red/Pink/Violet/Purple/Black... though Black is speculative as only one power over Violet has show there true level, with Gods and such having their own special [Cla- Colour], if any at all.”
“I told you the poor thing wouldn't understand!” Urath suddenly called out, taking the little moth girl out of his hands. "Now get your magic stuff done already!"
"Haa... fine yes, I'll start the tests." He replied. "You didn't need to hold her though?"
"Carthur!"
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Species Mothman Child (Luna Female) Main Quest Unavalible Class N/A Lvl 3 Hp 100% Mp 20/30 (-1/h) Str 4 End 7 Dex 10 Wis 3 Int 4