She woke up around midnight, the moon shining brightly in the sky adorned by the countless stars. Sapphire rubbed her head, trying to ease the dizziness, the gentle cold breeze helping with it. Her stomach growled as she looked around.
Hesitantly, though she felt dizzy and nauseous, she took out another sandwich from her coat and devoured it in an instant. Somehow, she felt very hungry, the sandwich doing barely anything to help. She still did not have any desire to waste her food when there was an option right in front of her, and while her conscience told her not to, her stomach ordered her to devour the entire thing, and so she did just that.
Not much time before dawn when she finally finished her meal, the numbness of her mind from when she woke up having subsided. Now, she could think clearly, and only question remained in her mind.
Why in the world did I eat an entire dragon? And how did I eat the entire thing? Sapphire sighed, glancing at the skeleton of the giant creature, though not complete as she even ate several of the bones. Anyways, Appraise, Sapphire sighed.
"Midnight wolf (female), name: Sapphire, level 2. HP: 775/775, MP: 880/880, Stamina: 1080/1100, Strength: 208, Defense: 175, Speed: 443."
"Wait, those things are new. I guess more details on higher levels was no joke," Sapphire observed. "I am guessing HP is my health, Attack is how much damage my attacks can do, and Defense is how much damage I can take without getting hurt, and Speed and Stamina are self-explanatory, so were the other two be honest. But what is the level of Appraisal?"
"Skill:
"Taking this relic was certainly not a bad idea in any way." Sapphire shrugged as she smiled to herself as she got up. "Anyways, I should get moving now. But, before that." She smiled turning to the inside of the cave.
She entered the cave and looked around. The charred corpses were still there, some dried blood around them. She looked around to find anything valuable enough for her to take. There were rumors that dragons hoarded valuable metals and gemstones, but along with that, they also hoarded artifacts and relics. If Sapphire could get her hand on another artifact or relic then she would be on the fast track to becoming truly powerful.
She also collected some gold and silver coins and filled her bags with them, just to make sure she doesn't runs out of them anytime soon. There were many pieces of armor, but they were far too big for her to wear. The weapons also being far too heavy for her for her to use effectively
Such a waste of time, Sapphire sighed as she started to walk back towards the exit. Her leg hit something near the center of the cave, causing her to trip and fall face first into a pile of gold coins. "Ow." Sapphire groaned pushing herself back up.
She looked at what she tripped on, finding it to be a black colored object protruding from the pile of gold. She tilted her head and inspected it, wondering what it was.
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"Appraise." Sapphire mumbled as took a closer look at the object.
"Blade of Lost Shadows, level 1, bound to: none," Appraisal answered.
"Huh? It sounds like a relic or artifact. It's also dark looking, not like the other shiny things a dragon would normally collect, so it has to be a relic." Sapphire mumbled to herself as she crouched down beside it.
Grabbing the dark projection Sapphire pulled it out, the sheath still stuck in the ground as the blade unsheathed in an instant and knocked her off balance. She fell backwards onto the pile of gold, the blade in her hands, just a few inches away from her face.
Sapphire inspected the weapon, a completely black blade, darker than the night itself. The hilt seemed to be wrapped by a black cloth, which Sapphire unwrapped, revealing a completely black hilt, a wolf's head carved into it, blue sapphires embedded in its eyes. The handguard, carved in the shape of a flower with twelve petals with dark blue lines faintly glowing in the petals, reminded her heavily of a familiar flower.
"A Midnight Bloom," Sapphire gasped on recognizing it.
Putting her hand in her coat's pocket she retrieved the Midnight Lily, still healthy and not showing any signs of withering or drying. She realised the twelve petals of the Midnight Lily were identical to the petals of the katana's handguard as she brought the two closer to each other to compare them better.
Just as she brought them closer the katana's blue patterns glowed bright at the tips of the twelve petals and shot to the blade, travelling up the blade and down the hilt. The blade emitted a blue glow as the eyes of the carved wolf head shone brightly for a moment. Sapphire stared wide-eyed, shocked.
"Blade of Lost Shadows, level 1, is now bound to Midnight Wolf (female), name: Sapphire, level 1."
"Woah!" Sapphire beamed with joy, jumping back to her feet.
"Skills of the Blade of Lost Shadows shared with wielder. Acquired skills,
"How am I getting so many powerful things so easily?" Sapphire murmured, waving her head in joy. "This feels like cheating but I am down for it."
Getting up Sapphire retrieved the sheath before walking out of the cave, tucking in the sheath on the left side of her belt, her older katana being on the right. The skeleton of the dragon caused her to jump as it shined in the light of the rising sun, giving it an ominous and terrifying look.
"Well, since you have the guts to scare me, let's see what you got against this." Sapphire steadied her legs as she prepared to attack. "Dark magic, level one." She chanted holding out one arm towards the dragon.
There was a moment of silence as nothing happened.
"Why did it not work? Did I do something wrong?" Sapphire questioned, half to Appraisal.
"Magic requires knowledge of runes, the ability to perceive mana, and the ability to channel mana. Lacking: knowledge of runes."
"How do I gain this knowledge of runes?"
"Knowledge of runes is gained through gaining the
"Sounds tough, guess I will have to do without magic for now," Sapphire sighed as she placed her left hand on her new katana's sheath. "But I can still do this, Dark Slash." Sapphire yelled as she unsheathed her new katana, swinging it in a horizontal arc.
The blade formed a slash of complete darkness as it soared through the air. The slash formed moved quickly in the direction Sapphire aimed it. It sliced through the ribs of the dragon and disappeared into thin air some distance behind the skeleton. The slashed ribs fell down to the ground and shattered, blowing a cloud of dust and gravel.
Sapphire coughed while waving her hand in front of her face. "That was cool, I love this." She beamed as soon as the dust settled. "Now, let's move ahead, I have already wasted a lot of time." Sapphire smiled, happily skipping her way to the left, higher up the mountain.