Blair

My skin ached, flared with mild pain. Scraping everything off was more irritating and tedious than I would have imagined. The wind felt sensitive, but the water was relaxing. Cleaning my hair was probably the worst part but I got it done. At last, I was able to soak in the water without a care in the world. It was going to be the same water I would drink, but so what? It didn’t particularly matter to me at least. All my worries were washed away by the sort of lukewarm water of the pond. I had found a small rock to sit on, enough to allow me to not even worry about swimming or holding onto anything.

Everything just felt right at those moments. Enough to allow me to think about my next moves. Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave this cave⁠—nest thing. It seemed impossible without at least some form of Guardian killing, which granted, I did look for a Guardian, just not a level 26 one. Then there were the Exploration Reports left by the explorer, Lara.

If the crystal on the ceiling were to break, the entire space would cave in. I did not know if it was good or bad, but it was something at least. That said, it seemed that the worms and ants were unable to enter the place I was in, in short: it was effectively a safe spot. I did not know how thick the walls were, but at least it survived the ice-blast of the worm, but it was hard to enter. The ground was too uneven and hurt my limbs when going through. If possible I wanted to be able to slide inside for quick recoveries.

If I was going to stay here then I had to do something. I wanted to hunt those worms and ants while swiftly avoiding both guardians. That was my goal for now at least.

I closed my eyes, basking in the water. Yes, I was going to kill them all…

◇ ◇ ◇

[Incubation Period: 2 days 23 hours 13 minutes]

I groggily awoke, the timer loomed atop of my vision, water splashed. Where was I? I made sense of the day counter and did quick math as memories came to me. It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened, but eventually it all clicked. It was the first time since the Deep Dark fell…

It was the first time I had gotten some sleep. Proper one at least. Though other elves regularly slept for much longer, I had grown used to napping instead of sleeping. The first thing I did was stretch; feeling my rejuvenated was great. There were still rashes, blood clots, and the like, but I was free of dirt, actual blood, or muscle pain.

I felt reluctant to get out of the pond, but my fingers felt soft and weird. I had soaked too much water it seemed. I got up, water streaming down my sides back onto the pond. I grabbed my cloak and used it to dry myself as if it were a towel, then I looked at my actual clothes that were still filthy and decided to wash them.

And so I did.

An hour later, and the pants were clean, as far as my whatever was left of my torso thing? It broke apart, no modesty covers left. A sigh left me as I got rid of the incredibly torn cloth. Unfortunately my underwear still had to dry so I left it there, and surprisingly I felt exposed, only the Osthus Tree blessing remained around my neck. Even though I had been exposed for so long. I wore my surprisingly dry cloak to give myself a sense of whatever, and headed towards the door, then paused.

I had to crawl through it too. I frowned, feeling adversity. Looking around, I had brought my bow and spear. The spear could corrode things, with that ability in mind a weird idea formed in my mind. I had already been using it as something that wasn’t intended. Grabbing it, I pushed some mana to its tip and hit the stone above the crawl hole. As if it were mud, it melted and fizzled. I never thought I would be using a spear to dig a tunnel, but here I was: chipping away to make a tunnel for ease of access.

◇ ◇ ◇

A doorway was soon carved, and I found myself back in the safe-chamber I had initially entered, still sharing the room with the explorer that had died. The one who had tried everything in their power but still died, stuck, buried underground with no one to see them. I shook my head, and decided to go back to the pond chamber. My feet dithered, the small echoes of my footsteps arrhythmic and nonsensical, pacing around without aim and full of indecision. Teetering, I finally made my choice. Putting my mana through the spear tip, sharpening it, I moved to the farthest corner of the room, I chipped and chipped. Away, the stone went, melted away under the tip of the magic coming from the spear-tip.

It didn’t take long before I managed to make a small space, an indent on the wall that went down, wide enough for the explorer to fit. With a heavy heart, I grabbed it from the torso, its body smelled of nothing, it was simply dry; devoid of life, a husk of what it once was. Solemnly, it was moved to the hole and placed with its belongings arranged in a neat manner. I got a closer look at its body one final time, and realized that its claws were akin to crystals, transparent and uncolored. But that was all I found. Breaking the stone atop of it, it was buried under rubble. Perhaps it wasn’t proper, but it was the best I could do for now.

I stared at the hole in silence before turning around and going back to the previous room, I still had other things to do, things to figure out. I had time before the second day began, or the third day ended⁠— ended? It felt a bit counterintuitive to think about the timer when the day clearly displayed the number ‘2’. It didn’t matter, I had things to accomplish before the time came to an end. Now standing before the first entrance the ice had melted, though a chilly howl still entered through the opening accompanied by the distant sounds of rattling, scurrying, hitting, and the like, things remained chaotic outside.

This is my safe space, I thought looking around the empty chamber before then turning to the entrance. It was the way to my safe space, but it was only safe for as long as things couldn’t enter it, that said entering it for me was a large inconvenience.

I pondered with the spear in hand before making quick decisions. Ultimately I couldn’t just clear a doorway open, so I had to improvise. I had to make it easier for me to access, even if it was through weird means. Smoothening out the stone. I made mental notes. Making one side of the opening bigger, adjusting the ground for sliding, and removing sharp protrusions. I nodded to myself and got to work.

◇ ◇ ◇

It almost felt like a waste of time, spending time with the burial and then making the entry point easier, but my survival truly depended on it. I even had to dig a small groove right outside by poking my spear... I didn’t want to get killed by the worm or the ant guardians, both were strong, stronger than anything I had ever seen, they had already fought a few times while I was setting up my hideout. I couldn’t… I couldn’t act rashly. A sigh left me as beads of sweat dripped down the ground, I looked at the time once more.

[Incubation Period: 2 days 19 hours 52 minutes]

It had been some time since I had woken up. I looked for my bag and found the Prophecy, just to make sure of the state of things. I had about eight hours to make things work somehow, and be sure I did not need the Prophecy.

[E ranked Prophecy: The Undying Wisp. 0d 8h 9m]

I stowed it away and checked other things, my potions ⁠— thirteen total, 8 health ones, 5 mana ones ⁠— my arrows (12 total), and finally my clothes, that were now dry. I only ended up putting my remainder of pants, my belt still held strong enough to at least inspire me confidence. My cloak protected me from the chilly air with some reassurance, and my weapons were still as sturdy as ever.

Glim hadn’t said anything, perhaps it didn’t feel like speaking, or maybe it was just sleeping, though it didn’t matter right now. I took a few deep breaths to ready myself, before venturing out, there was no need for warm up or any kind of preparation, I had everything set up. I slid through the now smooth entrance and in an instant stood right outside ⁠— a small amount of pain shot through my leg after the fact ⁠— the ground became coarse as soon as I took a single step, but it was to be expected. The glittering mana stones shone over me like starlight. I was back in the main chamber, there were a few ant and worm corpses near the entrance, but no living ones.

Faraway, I saw what I believed to be the frontline of the battle though a lot of things had died, a lot of things, corpses of monsters littered the distant stone plains, slain, eaten away by others, stepped over, mangled⁠—destroyed. Some had been frozen away and others seemed gray as if they had turned to ash. But even then, the ants and worms still battled, and in the faraway distance I could see some ants coming to reinforce them. My cave seemed to be on the ant side, which I was unsure if it was a good thing or not. I took a deep breath, and began to jog towards the closest group of monsters; worm or ant, both were experience points, both were quest points, and both were useful for my current needs.

In no more than a few seconds I reached a small group, a skirmish of nothing more than three worms and four ants. The worms spewed frost, and the ants seemed to grow mana stones on their body to defend. I quickly scanned their levels.

[Suvia Ant. Lvl. 16]

[Suvia Ant. Lvl. 21]

The lowest ant and the highest one, meanwhile on the worm side:

[Rime Worm. Lvl. 23]

[Rime Worm. Lvl. 17]

The decision was a bit hard, but I remembered how docile the ants were and quickly made my plan. A closer look told me everything I needed to know, two out of the four ants had been injured in some way and their attacks seemed slower, meanwhile the worms grew fierce, growing ice on their bodies to try to impale the ants. I paid careful attention, I had to be effective and swift⁠. It didn’t take long for the ants to grow desperate and try to tackle the worms, this time however using more than one skill. The ground around the worms seemingly caved in, and their bodies protested but unfortunately slid together like ragdolls. Two ants grew more stone and jumped, like wrecking balls they dived for the worms, but the worms encased themselves with ice. What followed was a small explosion of mist as what seemed to be coordinated became nothing but a mangled mess of fighting and chewing. A worm rattled, and an ant stepped back trying to turn and flee, and that’s when I pounced.

Spear in hand, overcharged its tip with mana, it was shoved onto the ant’s head from behind, then shifting the mana I felt a strange connection with the ant but ignored it, instead it became a sweeping blade, sharp enough for its entrails to spin as rocks collapsed from its body. Fumes billowed, as the ant was maimed, its life slipped in nothing more than a split second.

[You have killed: (E) Suvia Ant. Lvl. 17]

[Level up: You have achieved level 15.]

I smiled to myself as another notification came.

[New Milestone reached ⁠— Skills Available]

Not losing momentum, I lunged myself to another ant, its beady eyes stared at me with no emotion, soulless, rock formed around its head and its antennae twitched, but it was too late. A mana imbued tip towards the head, acidic sharpness to destroy everything, piercing right through. I pulled back, and shifted my mana⁠—like breathing, it became sharp⁠—in a flowing motion I swept its head as it was dully cleaved, it shrieked as its movement came to a stop, once more I used the momentum to spin and hit its underside and legs. Effortlessly, cut, the ant lost footing and fell to the ground. Like an executioner I loomed the spear over its head and neck, the antennae atop its head twitched and the two companions finally turned, but it was too late; punched right through its neck, its life was drained as toxic smoke billowed.

[You have killed: (E) Suvia Ant. Lvl. 19]

The two ants turned to me, and so did the worms. But just like what had happened before, in inverse ⁠— the worms pounced onto the ants as it became a messy dance between two groups.

I had to take a moment to breathe, as I looked at them. Disappointment welled within me. The Boreal Kame, Bearer of the Last Flame.

Even while only being level 10, it was much stronger than any of these monsters. I was unsure about their actual stats, but at least the Guardian had some sembleance of thought in each of its actions, the worms and ants were akin to wild beasts vying for food, except there was no food and only stupid slaughter.

A sigh left me as I picked a group of worm and ant, both were severely injured, but that didn’t matter, it didn’t matter that the worm was painted blue by its own blood, or that the ant was missing two limbs and part of its thorax, no, what mattered was their levels.

[Suvia Ant. Lvl. 21]

[Rime Worm. Lvl. 23]

My smile became as deep as it went as the worm pounced atop the ant and rolled along with it. At that moment I saw the battlefield, I saw the rights and wrongs, the possible outcomes, and at that moment, everything clicked. My feet pushed me forth, my mana boiled through the shaft, and the tip became radiant. I lunged, two different types of screams for a single attack, the cracking of ice and rock, both of their defenses fell and their insides melted, my arm was buried under the warm entrails of the worm. I urged my mana onto the shaft, and once more, I pulled in a beautiful sweeping arc, entrails and gore exploded, blue and black blood spilled as the notifications rang across my mind.

[You have killed: (E) Suvia Ant. Lvl. 21]

[You have killed: (E) Rime Worm. Lvl. 23]

[Level up: You have achieved level 16.]

It was like a melody in my ears, it was almost joyful. The monsters were practically defenseless, too self absorbed in their little war. I turned to the left over worm and ant, they were both still going at each other’s throats trying to kill each other. The worm kept rattling, and the ant’s antennae kept moving and trembling, but it didn’t matter as I laced my spear with mana once more. It wasn’t even tiring, the mana had never escaped my body, no⁠—the spear was my body. Unlike arrows I had full control of everything within it. My soft footsteps echoed amidst the shrieks and rattles, and sneaking to the side of the two, I prepared to use the spear like a sword. I prepared my swing, one to cleave through both, my muscles tensed, my breathing stalled and I swung⁠—

A deep rattle echoed through the cave, deep shrieks soon followed, familiar trembling came my way as the battlefield became a shade of red. Warning signals became my entire vision, and my swing stopped midway. Over the horizon I saw the Guardian King moving once more, and on the distant south I saw the silhouette of the Guardian Queen. Cursing to myself I hurried towards my hideout, the worm once more hyper fixated on me as soon as it caught sight of Glim. I saw light behind me, the red line formed, my feet ached as I hastily prepared an arrow, once more my heart rushed. Horror crept on my mind as I expected everything to freeze.

At the corner of my vision I saw the Guardian Queen shine in a deep purple before roaring towards the air. It was hollow but vibrations traveled throughout the cave, the ground beneath me trembled, shaking under its might, and the lines of horror and ice disappeared, the red became unsteady and misaligned. With an earthquake and a rattle of pain, a beam was fired, the line following unsteady and even hitting the roof.

I paused, having a small double-take. A quick glance behind me, and my heart paused momentarily. Standing above all else, an imposing monolith of black rock stood in the far distance, my eyes followed to the top where the worm was profusely bleeding and wriggling, impaled against the roof. I drew a deep breath and still decided to head back to my cave, wasting no time. Ants rushed towards me this time around and tried to stop me but to no avail, two sweeps and two legs gone was all it took before they became unable to chase.

The queen looked towards me, but it was too late, I slid into my little shelter disappearing from its sight. My skin burned as if I had been hit by flame, but the lines and warnings from Penumbral Sense had vanished.

A deep sigh escaped me as I took note of the time.

[Incubation Period: 2 days 19 hours 30 minutes]

Two levels in 22 minutes? I smiled, it truly was a fruitful endeavor. And then I turned to the most important notification.

[New Milestone reached ⁠— Skills Available]