~ CHAPTER 10 ~
THE MAGIC OF GIVING AND RECEIVING, PART 2
Despite its implausible biology, the thing appeared to have no difficulty lifting me up off the ground, whereupon it brought me a little above its head and dangled me close to its slowly disentangling maw. I’d like to say it was a revolting feeling, but apart from it being oozy, the only part that was genuinely uncomfortable was how tightly it was crushing me. I guess that was my Water Affinity at work again.
In any case, it was around that point when I recalled that my mortality was at stake. Or at least my next few hours of play time. The thing stared at me. I stared back at it. The thing opened its slathering orifice and brought me closer… and I slugged it.
Nothing happened.
The thing eventually let out an ‘aaaaughhhhhh’ sound and cocked its head to the side in what felt like it must have bemusement, then resumed its original course of action. I’d dealt a grand total of zero damage, probably because I hadn’t activated any of my Skills. At this point, the day’s events had led me to the conclusion that I didn’t yet have the knack for activating the System with my mind, so I sucked down my embarrassment and blurted out the first Skill name that came to mind. “Force Infused Palm!”
A moment later I remembered that I had to actually use the Skill, not just activate it. I thrust my palm forward, and felt a gratifying whoomph as my Mana collided with the thing’s lower jaw. I was most definitely at melee range, so I also activated the Knockback effect. The result was not all that specular.
Luckily, being knocked back caused the thing a brief moment of disorientation, during which I was able to wriggle free of its grasp and plop feebly to the ground, eventually landing on my butt. I stood up just in time to mumble “Imbued Defence” and successfully deflect the next slurping attack with my arm.
I couldn’t remember the name of my other Skill, so I settled for jabbing out my hand again and telling “Force Infused Palm” to no one in particular. I guess I sortof hit somewhere vaguely around the thing’s stomach, and the force of my Mana caused the mass of swamp matter to ripple and buckle inwards for a moment like I’d thrown a rock into a pond, but before I could fully appreciate the effect I discovered I was laying on my side a metre or so away with a painful throbbing on the side of my head.
The thing let out another gurgling moan and trudged towards me. I scrambled to my feet, but stumbled as a wave of blackness seized the edges of my vision. Steadying myself, I raised my hands in what I thought was close enough to a fighter’s pose and prepared to take the next attack as my head throbbed and my blood rushed in my ears. I thought I heard Essy say something. I waited for the creature to come into view.
I waited some more.
Finally, I looked up to observe the thing booking it away from me as if it had been caught red handed in a bank heist. I sniffed, and a musky odour filled my nostrils altogether much too thickly.
A tiny concerned face filled my vision. “You back with us? How’s that?”
“Huh?” I said. “What happened?
“I figured out an Enchantment to saturate you with the pheromones of that thing’s most feared natural predator. Figured it was worth a try.”
“Oh. Does that mean we won?” I looked at her dubiously.
“Close enough. How are you feeling?”
“Kinda woozy.”
“Yeah, no surprise there. You have a grand fucking total of one point of Stamina right now.”
“Uh… Thanks for saving me.”
“No prob.”
We were silent for a moment, allowing ourselves time to collect our thoughts. My mind gradually returned to the present as I caught my breath, and the blackness at the edge of my vision receded in proportion with my Stamina regeneration.
After a while Essy floated up beside me and faced me with a glum expression. She sighed. “Hey River? I’ve got bad news for you sweetie.”
“Alright, tell me.”
She paused. “You’re not cut out to be a martial artist.”
I chuckled. “Yeah I… kinda figured.”
She joined in with a little giggle, which prompted me to laugh out loud. A moment later we were both laughing freely, letting the relief of having narrowly avoided virtual death wash through us.
After that, I still had a little bit of resin left to gather, though the poison had now worn off, so Essy agreed to hang around for a little while while I made my last couple of dives. Without the poison showing me exactly where to touch, it was ridiculously more difficult, and I almost got poisoned all over again, assuming the underwater ones actually were poisonous. Eventually, though, I crawled back to dryish land with a filled jar held triumphantly aloft, and the two of us set off back to the town.
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We sludged along mostly in silence. Essy was Drained from having used up all her Mana, and spent most of the trip drooped over my shoulder. At some point I noticed something flicker in the corner of my vision under what I thought was Amii’s name, but I could only see the [Out of Range] status there, so I wasn’t sure what it had been.
A moment later I heard Essy’s voice both in my ear and in my mind. <“Heh, Amii, looks like she finally found you.”>
The little girl’s voice I’d heard earlier responded. <“Yup, sure does. Took her long enough.”>
Essy chuckled. <“What’s it been? Like, two hours IRL? She must be getting rusty in her old age.”>
<“Yeah, haha, though I don’t see her anywhere. There’s a girl who looks my age with white hair coming over, though. No way I‘ll believe that’s her.”>
<“Haha, yeah that’s not happening. Weird. Well regardless, good luck. You know we’ll be here for you.”>
It sounded like Essy was trying to give encouragement, but I wasn’t sure which of the two of them she was trying to encourage. I decided not to pry: I didn’t really have any idea what the conversation had been about, but it didn’t sound like it was any of my business.
With that, the silence descended once again, and I went back to my thoughts. The walk was peaceful, especially once my hair and dress started to dry, and I allowed myself to just enjoy the feelings and sounds and smells that drifted past. I barely noticed when we finally got back to the gates, but eventually started to perk up a bit once the throng of players came into view. Finally, a short distance past the gate, it came time for us to part ways.
Essy lifted off my shoulder and fluttered backwards, facing me with a smile. “Hey champ. Whatever you wind up deciding to do, make sure you drop by sometime and say hi, aright? I’m probably gunna set up shop as soon as money allows, so I’ll let you know where it winds up being.”
“I bet you just want the customers.” I grinned at her.
I expected her to chuckle, but she just looked slightly offended instead. “What, not allowed to have friends over for a friendly chat?”
My face fell. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, of course I’ll stop by. Just let me know when it’s up and running.”
“Great!” She beamed. Then, a moment later, “Oh, by the way, I guess I should thank you. At least there was one good thing that came from all that shit.”
“Oh, what’s that?”
“Thanks to you, I learned that there actually is some value to having super fuckin’ high Nature Affinity.”
I could only laugh at that. “Alright I’ll take it, you’re welcome.”
She grinned, then raised a hand to wave as she floated backward. “Bye!”
I waved back. “Bye.” Then she disappeared into one of the streets, and I was alone again.
I started making my way back towards the Keeper’s sanctuary, thinking over everything that had happened. My reverie was interrupted when a little *ding* sound echoed in my ears, and a window popped up.
[Desirée] has sent you a private message.
[View] [Dismiss]
I paused, then walked over to the side of a building before checking it out.
[14:37:02] [Desirée]: Hey, please don’t tell me she invited you to the group after you sent her a friend request, ok?
I pushed the button to reply.
[14:37:46] [River]: Uh, yeah, that’s basically what happened.
A moment later another line appeared in the window.
[14:38:24] [Desirée]: Tsk. Well whatever. Probably too late now. Anyway, listen, word to the wise: stay well away from that lot. Especially Essy and Amii. At least if you value your sanity. They’re practically magnets for the kind trouble you really don’t want to be involved in. Specifically: the kind of trouble that just logged on five minutes ago. That’s all. Good luck!
I didn’t have anything to say to that.
~ ~ 26/1/1/14:38 ~ ~
Status: [River]
Class: [Novice Mistborn Magical Martial Artist]
Location: [Cowl’s Landing - Bastion Square]
Health 34/38 ~ Mana 17/40 ~ Stamina 21/41
[Drained (15%] Equipped Skills (5/8):
[Force Infused Palm]
[Myriad Fists]
[Imbued Defence]
[Unarmed Discipline (Passive)]
[Body Conditioning (Passive)] Statistics:
Defence +8
Resistance +4
Constitution +4 (-15%)
Willpower +4 (-15%)
Endurance +4 Equipped Items (2/8):
[New Arrival’s Simple Dress]
[New Arrival’s Simple Shoes]
Other Skills:
[Inscribe: Rune of the Creator Flame (0/1)] Other Items:
[Special Edition Founder’s Token]
[Novice Healing Potion]
[Novice Mana Potion]
[Small Pouch]
[Vial of Silver Gemdust (10)]
[Small Iron Key]
[Sugary Biscuit]x2
[Jar of Resin]
Active Quests:
[Acquire Ancient Flame-Seared Ink]
[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 2)]