She passed through the barrier, and circled around a large tree, hoping it would hide her from sight. Devi hadn’t seen anyone else cross the barrier and was betting that the man wouldn’t gamble at leaving the safety of the clearing just to go talk with her more when there were easier targets inside the clearing.
She waited a few moments to ensure that no one was going to follow her, and when no one came, Devi let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the tree. She had never been this far in, always keeping a foot or two away from the clearing, and what lay before her was breathtaking.
Above her stretched a thick canopy made of dark green leaves with a few deep reds and purples mixed in. What little sunlight did manage to break through illuminated the sparse undergrowth. Bushes with dark red leaves bunched up against the thick trunks of the trees, while small flowering plants were scattered around. Vines snaked their way up tree trunks or hung limply from branches. She couldn’t identify any of the plants around, and the fact unsettled her a bit. Not even a dandelion was to be found, and the plants she did see all seemed to be alien, leaves in odd shapes, or in a color she would never expect to see on a plant.
As unsettling as the forest was, the prospect of talking with the person she had dubbed ‘politics man’ in her head was even worse. It wasn’t that she disliked talking to people, it was just that people generally got on her nerves and then got upset when she said so. It was exhausting sometimes, and she didn’t quite want to go through that right now.
She decided to explore the forest a little bit before going back to the clearing. Hopefully, by then the man would have lost interest in her and she could go back to figuring out how magic worked, and she would have explored a bit and seen what lay outside the odd barrier.
Now that she was in the forest, Devi decided it would probably be a good idea to put on the armor she had purchased. She had no idea what lay waiting for her in the trees, and the dark atmosphere had gotten her a little spooked.
It took her a little while to figure out all the buckles, but she ended up getting everything situated. A pair of leather vambraces covered her forearms, while a leather chest piece protected her torso. Two leather shin guards were buckled on, and she couldn’t help but compare them to the protective wear she saw soccer players use. It didn’t seem like the armor offered much protection, but it was much more than her simple shirt provided, so she gladly accepted it.
She turned her attention to the large crossbow she was lugging around. It had a lever attached, which she assumed was to pull the string back so she could load it. But when she tried to cranck it, it was surpzingly hard to do. She could only pull the lever back maybe half way, until she braced the crossbow against her leg and the ground. After she did that, she was able to pull the string all the way and noch the bolt.
Well fuck, I guess I can not do this while fighitng, or at least do it really fast. She scowled at the crossbow, at least I can keep it pulled back for a while.
It felt odd wearing leather armor and carrying around a loaded crossbow, but she really did not want to be jumped by a goblin unprepared. Dying by monster was very low on her to-do list and since everything seemingly obeyed game logic, the likelihood of that happening was far too high for her liking.
Eventually, I am going to have to explore this forest, Devi tried to reason to herself. There is no reason why it should not be now. Besides, there are probably not even monsters around.
Having psyched herself up, Devi ventured further into the dark forest. She kept her eyes peeled for any sign of danger, but after a few moments of seeing nothing, she began to relax her vigilance. There were no odd claw marks on the trees, or suspicious howls echoing through the forest. Actually, there wasn’t much noise at all, just the rustle of leaves made by the slight breeze, and the sound of her footsteps.
She lost herself in the act of exploring the forest. Stopping to look at an odd flower, or studying an interesting bush. Everything looked slightly different than the plants back home, so there was no limit to the number of things that caught her eye.
After she had been walking for a while, she heard a rustle from one of the bushes to her left. Immediately on guard again, she pulled her crossbow up and aimed it at the bush.
She waited like that, tensed up, ready to shoot at a moment's notice, until a small form jumped out in front of her. Its bushy tail puffed up behind it, little paws landing in the loose leaves that littered the forest floor.
Staring at her was a squirrel, but instead of being no larger than 10 cm, it was at least as big as a small cat, maybe even larger if you counted the tail. Its fur was a dark red, fading into a white on its tummy. A large bushy tail stretched up behind it, with a dark black stripe down the middle. The squirrel twitched its nose, and then cocked its head to the side, staring at Devi with two cute little eyes.
It’s so cute! Devi thought to herself, as she lowered her crossbow. I guess even the animals are slightly different here, I have never seen a squirrel with that coloration before, and this large. There was something off about that critter though, a little voice in her head telling her to be cautious, but she couldn’t put her finger as to why she thought that. Maybe because it is larger than usual?
As Devi was examining the larger-than-usual critter, it opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and then launched itself at Devi with a screech.
It flew through the air at Devi’s face, trailing what looked like red sparks behind it. Small-clawed paws stretched out to maul her face, and its cute face transformed into a ferocious snarl.
Fuck!
She managed to turn her face away at the last moment so that the squirrel clawed at her neck and shoulder, instead of her eyes.
As the sharp claws dug into her, Devi let out a scream. She could feel her skin tearing as the rodent dug into her. The pain sending tears to her eyes.
Acting on instinct, she reached up and grabbed her assailant, and flung it as far as she could. The squirrel twisted in mid-air like a cat and landed on its feet amongst the dead leaves, beady eyes never leaving Devi.
With a mad scramble, Devi brought up her thankfully preloaded crossbow and aimed it at the squirrel, just in time to see it launch itself at her face again.
Shit shit shit shit.
Devi pulled the trigger on the crossbow, trying her best to aim at the quickly approaching squirrel. A heavy thump sounded out as the arms of the bow sprang forward, the bolt racing to intercept the jumping rodent.
To her surprise, the bolt seemed to be flying straight at the squirrel, only for her assailant to twist mid-jump, at the last possible moment, allowing the projectile to pass harmlessly to the side.
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The bolt sank into a tree opposite Devi, while the squirrel landed a few feet away, annoyingly still on its feet even after dodging a bolt mid-flight. All thoughts of its cuteness left Devi’s mind as the small bundle of red fur got ready to jump at her again.
With adrenaline pumping through her veins, Devi charged the small critter, not wanting it to seize the initiative this time. She didn’t have another bolt loaded and had no time to fiddle around with the lever. Lacking any real weapons, she had to rely on her own body. Planting her left foot, she kicked out as if she was back in grade school playing kickball.
She had expected to see the critter go flying with the kick, but the annoying little thing twisted out of the way again, so her foot only grazed it. As her foot passed by, the squirrel lashed out, clawing at her extended leg.
The claws dug into the protective leather covering her shin, before reaching her calf, tearing through the thin pants she wore and into her leg. She could feel lines of pain burning in her leg where the greaves did not cover.
Devi backpedaled, wincing in pain every time she put weight on her right leg, to put some distance between her and the murder squirrel. It had other ideas though, and raced up to her faster than Devi could pull away.
It lept up again, and before Devi could react, the squirrel dug its claws into her shoulder. Devi stumbled at the sudden weight and tried to regain her balance, but only for her leg to choose this to be the perfect time to give out.
She landed on the leaf-covered ground with a thud, catching herself with her arm, so she didn’t end up eating dirt. Her crossbow clattered to the side, having been absolutely useless the entire time.
Off to the side, she her an odd crackling sound. She turned her head and saw the squirrel on its back to legs, forepaws pointed in her direction. What was surprising was the bundle of red sparks undulating between its outstretched paws.
Does the squirrel know magic? She wondered in a daze.
She soon learned the answer as the sparks shot from the squirrel’s paws and raced toward her.
With a groan, she managed to roll mostly out of the way of the sparks, only a few of them landing on her skin, each with a weak electric shock. Without missing a beat, the squirrel rushed at Devi.
She scrambled into a sitting position and tried to kick out at the approaching rodent, only for it to stop its approach a back off again, her kick not even coming close to connecting. It began to circle her, rushing in occasionally, only for Devi to kick at it to keep it at bay. None of her attacks even remotely came close it hitting, and the squirrel soon began to realize there wasn’t much of a threat attached to them.
The next time it rushed in, it deftly avoided the kick and bit down on the outstretched leg. Devi screamed at the sudden pain, and flaid her other foot, trying to knock the rodent off.
This time she managed to hit the squirrel, kicking it a few feet away. It rolled to its feet, and let out a snarl. She could see her own blood dripping from the row of shart teeth as it got ready to pounce again.
Devi frantically searched for a weapon she could use, when she felt something digging into her thigh. She reached into her pocket a pulled out one of the replicas of the magic tool she had created, using her own blood. Maybe the squirrel would be afraid of fire? She hoped at least it would cause it to hesitate at least a little.
Rushing as fast as she could, Deiv guided her mana to the magic tool, creating a small flame at the tip. It was just in time as the squirrel was about to pounce on her, though when it saw the fire, it backed off a bit, eyeing the flame warily.
Maybe I can just back up slowly and get back to the clearing. Hopefully, there would be someone else that can help me with--
Her thoughts were interrupted as the squirrel decided the flame wasn’t a threat and jumped at her again. Devi’s mind blanked as the squirrel flew through the air at her face. In pure panic, Devi shoved as much mana as she could at the magic tool she held up in front of her, hoping that it could somehow protect her.
She felt a torrent of energy start to flow through her arm and into the magic tool, only to be stopped by something that only allowed the smallest trickle to enter the tool. The excess mana started to pool in her hand, and it quickly became very uncomfortable. Small sparks started to fly out as the mana had nowhere to go.
Gritting her teeth, she pushed as hard as she could with her mana, trying to overcome whatever was stopping the mana from passing through. This was the last idea she had, and if it did not work, she had no illusions that she would be able to get out of this alive. The desperation lent her strength as she pushed. Nothing happened for a bit until she felt something give. There was a small fizzle, and suddenly the wave of mana was able to flow into the magic tool.
Fire erupted from the point of the tool, enveloping the rodent mid-jump. Red hot flames poured out of the tool in a stream of fire. She smiled as the world in front of her burned and crackled, all she could see was the gout of fire. All Devi could hear was the roaring of the flames as they burned the air around her.
Suddenly, the flames began to splutter and then died. Devi blinked away the glowing afterimage the fire had left and saw the magic tool had caught fire, the lines where she had drawn with her blood were singed and parts of it were burning. She quickly threw it to the ground and stamped it out, not wanting to burn herself.
A wave of lightheadedness overtook her as she was trying not to light the forest on fire. It felt odd, almost as if she stood up too fast, but more intense. It subsided after a little bit, and she attributed it to blood loss.
She quickly looked around as she was putting out the magic tool, and saw the squirrel had fallen, parts of its fur had been singed and were smoking slightly. Flames licked hungrily at the bed of dead leaves it was laying on. Around was a small area of devastation, a few of the bushes around had singed leaves, but there was a surprising lack of fires, the only ones she saw were quickly dying out.
That is very interesting, Devi thought as she stood up, wincing at all the deep cuts she had over her body. The forest seems to be resistant to being burnt. I guess that is a good thing. She really didn’t want to start a forest fire, mainly because she would be caught in it, and that seemed rather unpleasant.
While she was inspecting the damage her magical fire did, she couldn’t help but grin at the memory of being able to summon forth fire at a thought. Now that, that was actual magic. All that fire? I did that. Magic, real magic.
She was so lost in her thought that she almost didn’t see the burnt squirrel stagger to its feet. Devi whirled around to face it. Crap, it was not dead? I thought it was, but I guess not.
It let loose a scream as it stood on its hind legs. A ball of sparks formed in its paws, but this time Devi was ready for it. She quickly sidestepped them as they shot towards her, and retaliated with a swift kick.
She didn’t know whether it was due to the squirrel being distracted from throwing the ball of sparks, or because it was injured, but this time, the kick connected, sending the squirrel tumbling back.
Not wanting to let it attack again, Deve limped after it, scooping down to snag a bolt that had fallen out of her quiver during the fight. She cautiously approached the squirrel as it rolled onto its feet. The two of them eyed each other wearily. Devi quickly lashed out with the bolt, and the squirrel tried to twist away. Its movements were sluggish as it tried to dodge, the burns obviously impeding it.
The squirrel let out a screech as the bolt sank into it, Devi stabbing it as hard as she could. She really didn’t expect to be able to hit it again, since it had been far too quick for her to even hit before.
As she was blinking in surprise at hitting it for a second time, she was distracted enough to not notice it rear back and savagely bite into her hand. She reacted on instinct, lashing out with her other hand, slamming it as hard as she could, causing it to screech in pain, and releasing her hand.
As quickly as she could, she pulled the bot out and stabbed it again and again, not letting it have any chance to retaliate again. Each time she stabbed the squirrel, it cried out in pain until it collapsed on the forest floor limply.
She stabbed it one more time before she slumped to the ground herself. She was exhausted, cut, bitten, bloody, and even slightly burnt from her own fire. A few windows popped open, but she just sat there, breathing heavily, ignoring them for now.
Squirrels are fucking terrifying.