Alicia white
Yggdrasil time [20:11]
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As Alice stood before the towering statues, an unsettling scent of blood filled the air. The thick, heavy stench of blood felt alien to her, she immediately discerned that it did not belong to her, instead emanating from the imposing figures. Her large white pupils caught sight of gray textures on the cold, stone body of the knight. It suddenly dawned on Alice that it was no ordinary texture, but rather fresh blood glistening from her bioluminescence.
Could it be a player who spawned in this place?
However, in spite of their powerful presence, Alice was not afraid as she was able to realize their mechanism before her pending doom.
I am rather lucky that I adapted my eyes to visual intensifiers. If not for that, I would have died by now.
Suddenly, Alice’s black eyes widened as her third eyelid swept across her gaze, breaking her thoughts. The unfamiliar motion startled her, making her heart skip a beat. However, the transparency of her third eyelid allowed her to maintain an unwavering stare, effectively halting the statue’s creepy movement and keeping it within her sight.
The biological adaptation to the visual intensifier, which enabled people to see in the low-light environment, was something the citizens of the Aetherian Empire became familiar with during their university. However, for Alice, decades had passed, and she had not adapted her eyes since then.
To be startled by my own body. How laughable. Augment, regulate my blinking patterns so I always have one eye open.
She was never the type to adapt her body, especially the eyes. It is rather uncomfortable to the point it is her last option. Alice inspected her surroundings once more before setting her plans on how to deal with statues.
Let's designate a callsign for the statues… "Creepy Statue" should be good enough.
Alice kept her gaze fixed on the two statues in front of her, her mind racing to determine the origin of the bony statue. To her dismay, the statue seemed to have emerged from a hidden niche in the nearby wall, unnoticed during her initial inspection due to its engulfing darkness. Her face turned grim.
However, the visibility can only go so far, leaving Alice to ponder the potential number of statues concealed within the hidden niches. With one of her eyes, she could see broken pillars, worn-out wooden tables and chairs, and perhaps shattered window glasses scattered on the floor. These peculiar obstructions felt oddly placed as if deliberately arranged to ensnare and ambush anyone who dared to pass through.
Perhaps there are more creepy statues in those obstacles.
Alice was uncertain how intelligent these creepy statues were, but regardless, she could not afford to let her guard down. Clutching her bell, she readied her arm-
*CLANG!*
A loud, jarring metallic noise reverberated down the hallway as Alice vehemently struck the bell against the knight statue. She had mustered all her strength to break the statue's head, but her efforts proved futile. Vibrations ran through her hand, sending a shock coursing through her entire body, causing her to lose her grasp on the bell and falls to the ground.
'If only I had chosen a baton or a sword as my weapon,' Alice lamented, her mind filled with mild irritation.
Since it was a sound-based weapon, as commented by Dianna, it would not work against these creepy statues. Alice tried doing what Dianna suggested - smashing the bell on their head, but unfortunately, that did not work either.
Alice picked up the fallen bell with a numbed hand and pondered, ‘Since these creepy statues have a tendency to move when out of sight, maybe I should sacrifice one of my eyes to keep them company?’
Once more, she inspected the two statues, checking if they had any equipment she could borrow and use to her advantage. But unfortunately, they did not seem to be carrying anything. Alice clicked her tongue inwardly, then began retreating to the room she came from.
While eyeing the holographic map, she carefully navigated and managed to return to the room. Then, a green dot entered the map, she presumed it was the Handgobbler. However, it appeared to be further than she had previously seen.
‘Will this work?’ Alice wondered.
Alice took another step inside and clung to the wall on the left side of the doorway. She could hear heavy steps from the other side of the wall until it stopped. The creepy statues fingertips were creeping into the doorway, halting mere inches inside.
If only I had a hammer at my disposal. Those fingers would have been thoroughly crushed, you creepy bastards.
Alice cursed these unnatural beings, entities that should neither exist nor have the possibility of existence, yet somehow they do. Her body trembles involuntarily, succumbing to a fear she tried to contain. Alice watched the map with one eye before summoning another flickering flame.
The fire appeared in front of her, weak but bright enough that Alice used her 3rd eyelid to protect her eyes from the bright light despite the white veil covering her face. Immediately after, she commanded the flame to move further away from her, levitating towards the finger that crept on the entrance.
She took careful steps backward, not allowing herself to stumble accidentally, and counted her movements - one, two, three... ten. With each step, the heat gradually faded away, distancing herself from the candle-lit flame until she no longer felt the gentle heat.
More or less 3 meters? I wonder how far away I can be away from the fire until it disappears. Is there such a mechanic? I assume there is.
As Alice pondered, the green dot she had been observing suddenly ceased its movement, only to charge towards her location with alarming speed. In mere moments, the Handgobbler appeared beside her, its arms stretching unpredictably, and its enormous body swayed in unsettling motions. Alice was taken aback by the creature's erratic behavior, far more intense than anything she had witnessed before.
It came swiftly without a sound, not even a vibration on the floor that determined the Handgobbler's moments of arrival. Alice shuddered. From where she stood, she could see numerous arms stretching from its expanded mouth and wrapping around the fire to the point the light no longer escaped its grasp.
“IT'S AWAKE! AWAKE!! WAKE!!” The screeching noises echoed.
Alice was surprised by the deafening sound that she immediately retreated back several steps in reflex. Endless goosebumps erupted on her body,
*Thud thud*
Alice heard a violent thumping sound coming from the Handgobbler. She could see its arm drawing back, forcefully punching through a tabled web of the hands. The bones in its body creaked, yet did not stop itself.
“IT'S AWAKEEE!!!!”
Screams pierced Alice's ears, causing her vision to blur. She lost her grasping on the wall and tumbled backward. She felt an odd yet familiar sensation, something had broken off - the fire she summoned disappeared. Not only that, but she felt that her body no longer moved as she commanded.
What? What happened? Why can't I move my body!?
Her body was paralyzed, rendering her unable to move no matter how hard she tried. Desperate, she commanded her augment, but that didn't work. With her body laid against the floor, she found herself staring at the ceiling. Panic rushed over her body as she could hear heavy footsteps approach her.
Straining her eyes, she forced herself to look towards the source of the sound. To her horror, she discovered a creepy knight statue kneeling beside her, its hand clasped up high as if preparing to strike the helpless Alice laying beneath. Behind it, she noticed the other bony statue on the floor, frozen in a crawling position.
Move! MOVE! AUGMENT! DO SOMETHING!
The Conscious Augment, responsible for obeying every command of the mind and controlling every fiber of the body, refused to respond. The pain in her torn hand returned, intensifying her agony. She felt the desire to close her eyes, distress overwhelmed her as she fought against the instinctual need to give in.
Panic gripped her mind as she faced her impending end. Without the presence of the Conscious Augment, her thoughts went awry, leaving her unable to think clearly. It was only between fragile self and the statue, and she fought desperately against the overwhelming instinct to shut her eyes, her every fiber filled with dread.
After what felt like an eternity to Alice, the Conscious augment finally returned to her. As her hands flinched from the force she exerted, her veins bulged with newfound strength. Alice slowly crawled backward, retreating away from the threat. Gritting her teeth, she clenched them so hard she felt the control returning to her body, like a surge of power coursing through her.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
What was that? How come my conscious augment did not respond? How is that possible? What?
After the Conscious Augment returned, it immediately regulated the pain in her torn-off arm and resumed control over her eyes. Alice's fuzziness began to clear. She felt a deepening confusion as her attempts to understand the situation created baseless assumptions, leaving her unable to comprehend what had just occurred. She retreated to the corner of the room, seeking solace from her racing thoughts and carefully evaluating the bewildering situation at hand.
That last screech from the Handgobbler... As I recall from the memory bank, it appears that it had previously paralyzed my body as well, though to a lesser extent compared to the recent experience.
Clenching at the head of the bell in frustration, ‘How come I had not noticed that? Why was this screech so much more powerful, to the point of paralyzing my Augment?’
However, during the assault of the Handgobbler, Alice noticed a peculiar detail. The creepy statue did not try to move around the Handgobbler, suggesting that one of the Handgobbler's eyes kept the creepy statue motionless.
After all, it was only when Alice became paralyzed and the fire vanished, that the Handgobbler calmed down and walked away. At that moment, the statue began to move towards Alice. She was unsure if it was by some coincidence or some other weird relationship between the Handgobbler and the statue, but there were no other options but to test it out.
Alice cautiously waited, her senses on high alert, until she felt her body was free from any paralysis. With slow, careful movements, she made her way towards the entrance, one of her eyes never straying from the creepy statues. Her other eyes locked onto the Handgobbler, just a few meters away from her, confirming its presence with an unpleasant chill running down her spine.
Please work… Please work.
Alice prepares herself to execute the plan. She knew she had to carry this plan on this only one opportunity, as failure would result in her demise. With bated breath, Alice stepped outside to the open hallway. She summoned a small fire and commanded it with her thought to move between the creepy statues.
She saw the figure of the Handgobbler appear almost out of nowhere behind the creepy statues, crawling with its hundreds of hands like a spider. It scuttled towards the fire, its elongated hands curling around the flames, warping itself together with the creepy statue. Before it slowly restricted any light from escaping its arms, she saw several eyes sprouting from its palm like a snail. She can't help but feel disgusted at its form.
Run!
Alice knew she did not have all the time in the world; the fire she made to restrain the creepy statue would eventually fade. She sprinted away, running towards somewhere. Alice wanted to command her augment to assist her body movements to run faster. However, she felt that her augment was getting overloaded by numerous demands of her mind.
As the adrenaline surged through her veins, Alice rushed down the hallway, enveloped in absolute darkness. The only source of light was the glow of bioluminescence emanating from her mouth, barely illuminating the surrounding area. With visual intensifier eyes, she navigated through the obstacles that stood along the way.
As she jumped over a broken pillar, her eyes caught a disturbing sight beneath - numerous hands were erratically moving before they became motionless at her gaze. She picked up her space and continued to run.
Alice weaved through the various broken furniture, one of which a statue emerged from the cabinets, frozen in place as soon as Alice locked eyes with it. Startled by its horrendous figure, she unconsciously dropped the bell but pressed for time, chose not to retrieve it.
Tch! I should have hanged it!
She continued to run, following her instincts, she tried to avoid places where it screamed of danger. The hallway seemed to stretch endlessly before her, and the walls seemingly closed in on her due to her heightened senses.
My mind...
Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself forward and risked a glance over her shoulder. Her horror reached its peak as an uncountable swarm of statues gave chase behind her. The sight sent shivers down her spine, intensifying her desperate need to escape. She couldn't afford to slow down or falter.
In the distance, Alice's attention was drawn by the emerging cross-section up ahead. A blend of fear and hope consumed her thoughts as a faint glow gently radiated from the left corridor. In a fleeting moment, Alice grew tense as she had to swiftly weigh her options.
The presence of several statues lurked beneath the front pathway, forcing her to act decisively. Without hesitation, she instinctively veered towards the left corridor, placing her life on the path and wishing it would lead her to safety.
As soon as she entered the left corridor, she rushed through the pathway, seemingly clear of obstacles compared to the previous. Her eyes were drawn to a faint glimmer of what appeared to be crystal-like stone, but she didn't have the luxury of time to inspect it. What captured her attention even more was the black fluid splattered across the ground and the gray liquid emanating a similar glow to her bioluminescence. It hinted at one thing on her mind.
Blood? And bioluminescence?
She couldn't discern it due to her eyes, but if she was correct, it could mean several Seekers had passed through this corridor before. Due to the light sources, it granted Alice the ability to see more of her surroundings, bringing a sense of security. By the end of the hallway, she saw rays of moonlight slipping through the window, implying an outside world.
With hope in sight, Alice quickened her pace. Just moments before she reached the window, she glanced back over her shoulder, and horror filled her eyes as statues crawled from all sides of the hallway. In an instant, an object hurtled towards Alice with alarming speed, and a searing pain shot through her back shoulder as a sword pierced her flesh.
Without time to react or even attempt to dodge, the force of impact propelled her towards the window, dragging her to the outside world. Alice expected ground beneath her. There was, but it was far beneath her. She found herself falling through the sky instead.
W-What!?
As Alice continued her descent, she looked down, her eyes fixated on an expansive patch of land stretching beneath her. Despite its gray and dark appearance from above, she could easily recognize this particular terrain. It stirred a sense of familiarity within as Alice had experienced this scenario before. Glancing back from where she had come, she saw a floating island with a morbid castle in ruins sitting on top.
She saves this sight in her memory bank for later use. Afterward, Alice quickly assessed her physical condition. Fortunately, with the Conscious Augment, she didn't feel any pain in her shoulder she had been struck. Alice attempted to pull out the sword, but its deep lodgment proved too stubborn for her current strength, forcing her to deal with it after this predicament.
Augment. Assimilate the sword to my body.
Alice was well aware of her dwindling A-cell reserves, that even at this level of wound could not completely heal itself. With no other options, Alice decided to seal the wound with the blade inside to avoid losing more blood. As her vision faded and her mind seemed weightless, she knew the toll her actions had taken.
Alice's Conscious Augment struggled to cope with the influx of commands from her mind, causing her mind to temporarily blank out. However, the situation was far from finished, and fought against the urge to succumb to unconsciousness.
Augment, terminate the production of bioluminescence, and halt every physical and mental enhancement.
Alice protected her eyes with her 3rd eyelids from the rushing air and turned towards the ground. She thought, 'Is this where my first death will be?'
It became increasingly difficult for Alice to distinguish the terrain due to the film covering her eyes. However, she managed to discern the contours of the mountainous regions up north. As she descended, she noticed hundreds of scattered lights across the land. Among them, there were denser clusters that seemed like settlements.
Turbulence forcefully tugs at her body, wreaking havoc on her hair and causing her white hat to vanish from sight. Initially, Alice believed she had nothing to slow down her descent. However, despite this critical situation, she remained calm and spread her body to maintain her body's descent, evaluating her situation.
'35… 30…15 thousand feet!…’
Alice roughly gouges the distance between her and the ground. Once she determined she had reached a certain altitude, Alice extended her hand and unleashed a torrent of flames, channeling every power she could ever muster to propel herself. The searing heat scorched her pale hands, setting her hair ablaze.
Overwhelmed by its blinding brightness, Alice instinctively closed her eyes to shield them from further strain. Although she couldn't witness the damage occurring to her body, Alice could feel the scorching heat eating her skin, and the suffocating smell of burning flesh assaulted her nostrils.
As her hand strained against the intense pressure, a trembling sensation coursed through her arm. She could feel her fingers giving way, shattered under the sudden change in force.
Moments after, Alice noticed the resistance going against her descent. Her speed gradually decreased until she began. Alice ceased the flames and opened her eyes to assess the situation. As she glanced down, Alice was displeased to see the scorching heat consuming her flesh, the fire caught her body. Her hand was thoroughly charred in black up to her shoulder, with her fingers evaporated. The flames burned her hair, assailing her head, and she was well aware - she was burning alive.
Damnation!
On her sight, she could notice the vast distance between her. Thousands of feet away loomed beneath her. With the flames no longer propelling her upwards, she continued her descent.
Alice breathed a sigh of relief as her eyes caught sight of a mysterious dark liquid directly below. The pale moon cast its reflection on the surface, revealing it as a body of water. Alice determined to fall on the lake and directed her course as she would likely survive. Although it was slightly difficult to balance her body with only a partially destroyed arm, Alice persisted as she avoided flailing around.
Augment, prepare for thermal shock in temperature changes, and regulate my oxygen.
Alice glanced at her map, which displayed multiple green dots around her, but vagueness made the information useless. She couldn't help but click her tongue at the current situation. Alice prepared herself for another propulsion as she continued to accelerate.
6000... 4000... 2000 feet!!
As she estimated, Alice extended her damaged hand as she shut her eyes. With the determination to survive despite the odds, Alice's hand invoked monstrous fire to propel herself once again. The intense heat indiscriminately assailed her body, destroying her divine appearance. She could feel her arms being ravaged by the situation, but Alice had no other option but to persist.
When she felt her body resist the gravity, Alice plummeted to the lake. The sudden plunge caught her off guard, killing the fire she summoned, and opened her eyes. Her body immediately succumbed to an immediate shock, grappling with the rapid change in temperature. She could feel the heat of her body fighting the sudden cold.
However, her Conscious Augment immediately tended to her body and prevented further damage.
Alice felt her body weighed so heavy - she had never experienced this before. She felt her body would not move, no matter what. Alice wanted to command her Augment to forcefully move her body. But her Augment was busy assessing the damage from the thermal shock, filling every processing capacity her Augment could ever.
In a blurry vision, panic gripped her as she suddenly noticed several green dots on her map drawing closer to her position. She was immobile and couldn't do anything about this approaching threat.
She was in despair until she caught sight of a shadowy figure in the distance, their face emitting a radiant glow.
Aetherian?
As those thoughts came across, she became unconscious.