Chapter 5 - A Mossy Awakening V

Claire was disoriented. Getting taken out of and subsequently put back into her body left her feeling dizzy and lightheaded. The sudden lack of weightlessness felt as foreign as it did familiar, like a slice of pizza at a Chinese buffet. It took the halfbreed a few seconds to shake the sense of malaise, during which she steadied herself with one hand pressed against the ground and the other cradling her skull. Once her proprioception kicked in, she leaned her back against the rune-covered wall. Her guard was down, for the most part, but she still kept her spear at the ready. Just in case.

The first item on her agenda was to test her newest skill. The ability had provided her all the knowhow she needed to activate it, but experimentation was the only way for her to figure out the details pertaining to its use.

“Activate Llystletein Authority.”

A pixelated screen popped up in front of her as she spoke the skill’s keyphrase.

Llystletein Authority

Spawnable Drinks

- Cosmogoblitan (50MP)

- Mimicosa (50MP)

- Stale Water (25MP)

Spawnable Food

- Hellhog Bolognese (500MP)

- Pulled Orc (150MP)

- Stale Bread (25MP)

Bread and water aside, she had never seen or heard of any of the items listed, but they weren’t all that difficult to imagine either. She wasn’t familiar enough with the different beverages to deduce their ingredients, but she was able to more or less determine beyond a reasonable doubt that one used mimics in its recipe, while the other contained something at least somewhat related to a goblin. The food items were much easier to picture. Pulled orc was obviously some sort of slow cooked orc dish, while hellhog bolognese was most likely a pasta dish topped with a hellhog-based sauce.

The availability followed two blatant trends. All of them were made of monsters that Claire had personally defeated. And all of them were absolutely revolting.

Hanging her head in disappointment, Claire begrudgingly selected the stale water option. The moss she had eaten earlier hadn’t exactly contained enough moisture to stave off her thirst.

A slow, gentle stream of liquid began to flow from the tip of her left index finger. She wasn’t confident that her candleholder was sanitary anymore, given that it had both been dunked in poison and thrusted inside of a monster, so she drank directly from the source. The first thought that came to mind as she tasted it was that it was somehow worse than she expected. She immediately wrenched her finger out of her mouth and choked the odd-tasting fluid right back up. Though it looked transparent and clean, it was somehow more disgusting than a drink left unattended for days. And Claire knew exactly what that tasted like. She had once left a cup underneath her bed and forgotten about it for an entire week. Choosing to drink it upon its rediscovery had not exactly been a crowning achievement, but it was one that eventually found its way to her wall of shame. And yet, the fluid that came out of her finger made even that seem delicious by contrast. It was difficult for her to even think of the stuff as water.

With her thirst as quenched as her taste buds would allow and her curiosity sated by revulsion, Claire moved onto the next item on her list, determining the way forward. There were three paths available, left, right, and center. She had, to an extent, explored both the left and right. The left was where she had come from initially, and the right was where she had stalked the hellhog. There was still much to explore in both directions but her curiosity kept her preoccupied with the path in the center.

The old mage-cum-librarian had gone out of his way to advise her not to take it. And that was exactly why it was on her mind, as there were several different ways to interpret his warning. The first was that he genuinely wanted to give her advice. The second was that he was blatantly lying to actively combat her efforts to truly reach the lost library. And the third and most likely possibility was that he had mentioned it just to mess with her and force her through the exact dilemma that she was currently experiencing.

“I’m not going to let that old bat get the better of me.”

Claire started walking down the long, winding hallway that was the middle path. It was wide enough to fit five or so fully armoured men standing side by side, or ten Claires. And that made her anxious. There was too much space to keep an eye on. Despite what she had said out loud, the halfbreed was unable to shake her nervousness. She couldn’t help but think about the potential dangers or payoffs that awaited her. It didn’t help that each step slowly led her further and further downwards, giving her the impression that she was slowly descending into the abyss.

Unlike the other paths she had trodden so far, this one didn’t have any particular branches. It remained more or less identical for something in the realm of thirty minutes, save its curvature, which seemed to grow more aggressive as she got further down. She wasn’t confident in her measurement of the time elapsed. The lack of missing health made it more difficult for her to keep track of the clock, and the bit of mana she had spent on water had regenerated nearly instantly.

At the end of the spiralling corridor was a particularly large room, wide enough to fit well over a hundred men, shoulder to shoulder, and just as long. The countless pillars that filled the chamber led her eyes towards its ceiling, a large multilayered construct in the shape of a drill. The further its petals got from the walls, the lower they hung, with the lowest point culminating in the exit Claire had just taken.

At the opposite end of the enclosure was a massive set of double doors, in front of which stood an equally massive knight. His helmet was in the shape of a horse’s head, with the sides open to reveal a pair of jagged, ivory horns. His cherry red plate armour was marred by countless scratches, each painted over with dried blood. Even more terrifying was his halberd, an axe-spear hybrid whose blade was as long as Claire was tall.

The two locked eyes. Claire found a pair of glowing red dots staring right into her own slit-eyed pupils even though the two were over a hundred meters apart. A moment later, the creature roared. It raised its head and snarled at the top of its lungs in a primal display of dominance. The halfbreed froze like a deer in headlights, regaining control only when she realized that a creaking sound was coming from behind her. She spun around immediately and spotted a gate slowly closing over the door from which she had entered. Without a moment’s hesitation, she dove right through it, sprinting back up the way she came.

And not a moment too late.

The gate, which had closed behind her, was nearly blown apart by a halberd-turned-projectile. The spikey tip pierced all the way through, embedding itself into the wall.

Claire kept looking back as she dashed, stopping only a minute or so after she realized it was too large to follow her up. She was on the verge of concluding that it was safe for her to drop her guard when her ears picked up on an odd skittering sound, sourced from the path that lay ahead.

A long yet fat shadow suddenly appeared from around the corner, followed closely by its projector, a beaver-like rodent that stood at half her height on all fours. Its wide, floppy tail was tipped with stone-like armour, and its short incisors sharpened to a point.

She didn’t hesitate to attack the creature. Adrenaline still pumping through her veins from the previous encounter, Claire practically flew at her newly discovered target. Head aside, she wasn’t able to identify any vitals, so she stabbed at the largest target, its back, for the time being.

And failed.

The rodent moved with surprising agility, side stepping the blow and tackling her in the leg. The beast’s oddly shaped teeth dug into her, tearing out a small chunk of flesh off the front of the limb as it passed. She was lucky. It was as unfamiliar with fighting her as she was it. Its lack of experience left it unaware of her tibia, the presence of which prevented it from doing even more damage.

Still, it was painful, incredibly so. Claire’s knees nearly buckled, but she managed to kick the critter off before it could do any more harm.

It charged at her again after it landed, fangs bared and ready to strike. But she was ready for it this time. Sort of. The rodent was much faster than her and she had yet to pull back her weapon following the thrust, so she ended up meeting it midcharge with the makeshift spear’s butt. Getting hit in the side of the head threw the creature off course and caused it to fly into the wall beside her at full speed. She used her momentum to complete a revolving sweep with the tip of the blade, spinning around and slashing the beaver-like beast across its back before it could recover from its self-inflicted head trauma.

Claire smiled to herself, thinking that combat wasn’t anywhere nearly as difficult as the knights had always told her. Her confidence was replaced by contrition without a moment’s delay, however, as she soon realized that the attack, which had been backed by all the force she could muster, had failed to prove itself significant. Her bone spearhead had slid off the semiaquatic monster’s pelt without piercing it. No blood was drawn, no fur was cut, and no harm was done.

The creature lashed out with its tail before she overcame the shock. The heavy, mace-like weapon sent her hurtling up the corridor. She was lucky it hadn’t flung her the other way. She likely would’ve hit a wall had it sent her flying downhill. The combined forces of gravity and the treemuncher’s attack would’ve been enough to break nearly any bone.

Landing on the mossy ground, however, allowed her to skid to a stop and escape with “only” a fractured arm.

The pain was intense, much worse than the hellhog’s half hearted, unintentional swipe. Claire was unable to fight back her tears. She was in so much distress that she even allowed the occasional sob to escape her. But she didn’t give up. She clenched her teeth and used her spear to force herself back up as the oversized rodent once again began charging at her tail-first.

This time, her furry opponent took to the air, swiping downwards with its rear as if to target her head.

The halfbreed ducked to avoid the attack, lashing out with a stab as the two passed each other by. Again, the blade failed to pierce its fur, but the impact to the base of its tail at least seemed to bother it.

It didn’t break into a fourth charge right as it landed, instead taking a few moments to stumble about and chitter angrily, as if disoriented. This left Claire confused. The one handed blow she had just struck was significantly weaker than the two handed slash the beaver had shrugged off only moments prior.

She checked her own health as she slowly circled the critter. Surprisingly, she still had about half. She expected her HP to be far lower. The excruciating agony that pulsed from her near-broken arm was magnitudes worse than what she had felt when the ritual had drained three fourths of her life force. Another equally welcome surprise came in the form of the beaver’s newfound caution. Every time she moved, it would do the same, maintaining the amount of distance between the two as would a fencer, a similarity Claire chalked up to coincidence.

She was wrong.

It was staying just far enough for it to pounce at her without putting itself in reach of her spear. Having judged that its five meter leap was punished due to the length of the time it spent in flight, the rodent sought to initiate a similar attack from a shorter distance. The moment its pain eased was the moment it kicked off the ground. The beast dove straight at her chest, swiping the bulky appendage that was its weapon from left to right to crush her frame at its core.

This too was met with an unfortunate counter. Claire dodged towards the tip of the oversized rodent’s tail, moving past it right as it readied its blow. And as the two crossed paths, she once again struck the spot she targeted previously. Spending a few moments circling her foe had allowed her to not only realize that she had uncovered a weakness—which led her to move her grip further up the shaft in order to better target it—but also that she had a combat-attuned active skill at her disposal.

With an entirely unnecessary and utterly embarrassing shout of “Double Stab!”, the halfbreed created a translucent duplicate of the weapon’s tip, one that seemed to somehow exist in the same place as it, but also not exist at the same time. Ignoring the bizarre contradiction, she drilled the spear straight into the base of the rodent’s tail. Adding to the situation’s eccentricity was the fact that only the invisible attack drew blood. Sort of. It didn’t pierce or directly wound the creature, but Claire noted a crimson splatter as ethereal as the false blade accompanying her strike.

She let go of the weapon and drew her two others before the beaver hit the ground. She dashed right at it, aiming at its eyes, the only other weaknesses she was aware of. One of the Double Stab enchanted strikes landed exactly where she wanted it while the other slid across its pelt. That, however, was not to say that it was unproductive. The fur near the beaver’s face was thinner than the rest; her blade managed to dig through it and gouge out a piece of its cheek.

Though at an advantage, she wasn’t out of the woods just yet. Its sharpened fangs dug into one of her arms, holding it in place, and forcing her to repeatedly stab it with her free hand, every strike enchanted.

It was a desperate struggle. She couldn’t quite seem to finish it, and it couldn’t quite seem to gnaw off her arm. Both were frantic, aware of their rapidly draining resources. Claire was finding it harder and harder to put force into her swings. And the prospect of breaking down and crying seemed ever more attractive.

But in the end, right as her health dropped into the single digits, she came out on top.

Log Entry 490

You have slain a level 17 caveveaber.

This feat has earned you the following bonus rewards:

- 2 points of dexterity

- 7 points of vitality

- 1 point of wisdom

Log Entry 491

You have unlocked a new spawnable food item.

Log Entry 492

Makeshift Weapon Mastery has reached level 2.

Log Entry 493

Double Stab has reached level 2.

Log Entry 494

You have acquired the Spear Mastery skill.

Log Entry 495

You have acquired the Dagger Mastery skill.

Log Entry 496

You have leveled up. Your health and mana have been restored and all harmful status effects have been cleansed.

Your primary class, Rogue, has reached level 4.

You have gained 3 ability points.

A wave of relief washed over her as a wave of notifications spammed her log. She began to heal the moment she pulled her hand out of the veaber’s mouth, rapidly regenerating to a state of perfect health.

Claire waited for her hands to stop trembling to finally retrieve her equipment. She considered taking apart the beaver-like creature in order to use its hide as a sort of armour, but she had no idea as to how she was supposed to go about dismantling it, nor did it seem like there was enough fur to make even a simple shirt. Given that it obviously couldn’t fit inside her pouch, she decided to leave it behind, at least for the time being.

“Never again.”

Mumbling to herself, the halfbreed resumed her trek up the corridor.

“I’m never fighting one of those things ever again.”

Needless to say, she was wrong.

Rounding a few corners led her to discover not one but two identical creatures with their heads poking out from the walls.