Elania sat on a boulder just outside the Waystation entrance, humming her best rendition of Misty Mountains Cold. One of the novices had been in-and-out a few times to fetch water and had looked at her with a funny expression. Well, not everyone had her taste in music, or maybe he didn’t appreciate her mangled attempts. Even if she didn’t have a Singing skill, which was unfair, she was doing her best. Although as she thought about it, she wasn't sure if the look was for the humming or because she was spinning the contract screen like a spin-top balanced on her finger.

Learning that the [System] screens could respond to touch and direction was an incredible revelation. Most of the screens had been misaligned, as if they were for a taller person, and had forced her to lift her head or get in other uncomfortable positions. It wasn't just moving the screens; she could resize the screens, their colors, along with the text size and font. She could even move them a reasonable distance away.

She happily continued humming while rearranging elements and building what she considered her ‘Hud’ which was placed at a comfortable location in her vision and included some basic stats, but most importantly her ‘Power’ gauge. It was nearly full as she had topped up after the fight with the Alpha and Taniel. She was still angry about that.

[Power: 194/208]

She wondered if there was any magic that could replicate songs from her memory. There was a whole library of songs from Clamavi De Profundis that she'd like to import. The thought had her smiling; maybe she'd eventually be able to play boss music when fighting?

Sighing, she gave the contract screen another spin. The whole setup might have been mistaken for a really realistic VR setup, complete with customizable screens and tactile sensations. Except that wasn't possible. The technology for that kind of thing wasn't even on the horizon except in fiction, and nothing so far had given her any hint of this being a setup.

"Elania."

She looked up to see Tanyan, who was wringing his hands and looking a bit worried. He hadn't stopped being skittish since she'd brought up the contract. She had ended up feeling a bit guilty for teasing him and had stopped with all the questions.

Still, it wasn't her job to put him or the others at ease, "What's up?"

She restrained a smile when he actually looked at the ceiling for a second before shaking his head and continuing, "Taniel's still unconscious. I wanted to try a few herbal remedies to see if they would help. Could you go and find a few mushrooms for me?"

"Sure, but only if..."

"...if I answer a few of your questions. Right. Alright, I can do that. Are you sure you aren't some kind of Question-Demon?"

"No, I'm just an urban girl that fell down the rabbit hole further than Alice could have ever imagined."

"Right... I get it."

He didn't, but that was fine, and she closed her screens and hopped down off the boulder.

"So, what do you need exactly?"

"Most important ones are [Fenicia's Fungal Growth] and some [Bright Stem.]"

He pulled out a leather pouch, along with a leather glove.

"You'll want these. Don't get the Fenicia anywhere near your eyes, nose, ears, mouth or..." His gaze crept downward and then his cheeks turned a bit red as he failed to finish the list.

Elania wanted to know just who Fenicia was and why she had been sticking mushrooms between her legs, but she didn't figure the poor embarrassed monk would know. Scratch that. She didn’t want to know.

"I've seen the Fenicia before, but what does the [Bright Stem] look like?"

"They are the small ones that like to grow on the sides of rocks near the water, long spines with a bright glow that comes from underneath the cap."

"Right, got it. I think I saw them when we crossed the stream... but I think they were called [Green Caps] though...?"

"Right, they look almost the same, but the Green Caps have a slight green hue. You don't want to mix them up as the Green Caps are mildly poisonous."

Elania smiled and nodded as she took the glove and the leather pouch. 'Don't pick the poison mushroom, Elania. Don’t get the obviously capital B bad Fungal Growth between your legs either.’

"Ok, I'll be back in a bit."

"I need about half and half of each, the whole pouch full."

"Got it."

Elania scraped the stupid [Fenicia's Fungal Growth] with her leather glove with a frustrated scowl. The [Glow Stem] had been relatively easy to find when she knew what to look for; even if there was only one or two in each patch of [Green Cap], there were plenty of those along the stream, and they were simple to pick.

The [Fenicia's Fungal Growth] was not as common, but the real problem was it wasn't quickly plucked off the rock. It had grown like a coat of flaky paint. She was able to pull some off, but that left most of it still adhered to the stone surface.

She had considered using her knife, but after Tanyan's warning, she didn't want to risk contaminating the blade with something that might be... problematic later. Although if the stuff was as bad as he alluded to, it would probably make a nasty surprise for anyone wounded by it.

She'd been scraping at the stubborn stuff for what felt like forever and only had two-thirds of the amount Tanyan had asked for. She considered taking a break--- her hand was getting stiff--- when a shout drew her attention.

One of the novices was by the stream, and something with green scales and about the size of a bear was gnawing on his leg, trying to drag him into the water.

[Razorscale]

Elania hastily attached the leather pouch to her belt and stood. She didn't have her javelins or spear, just her knife. In just the few seconds it took her to take in the situation, it became clear the novice wasn't going to survive for much longer. There was no way she'd reach him in time, even at a sprint. That only left two options.

She slammed on her [Demonic Aura] and raised her knife. The [Razorscale] roared and spun, releasing the badly mauled novice and glaring at her. Elania didn't waste any time. She channeled her mana and her small knife began to glow. She was getting much better at directing the energy, and a slim stiletto of energy flew at the monster.

It struck it on the side of its massive jaw, spraying a bit of blood into the air, but that only seemed to anger it more. The [Razorscale] lunged forward and charged at her, and she looked at her power gauge warily.

[Power: 176/208]

[Mana Manipulation] was too expensive. She had kept the blast as small as she could just for that reason, but it still ate up a considerable amount of her reserve. She didn't want to make herself any weaker for the physical confrontation.

The [Razorscale] couldn't match the sheer size and weight of the [Alpha Ralfot], but it seemed fast and had a terrifying mouth full of teeth, along with a set of long wicked looking claws on each limb.

'Razorscale is a good name for it, I wonder if those teeth could be used as spearheads.'

She was used to things charging at her by now, and the [Razorscale] did not disappoint her expectation. Instead of waiting for it to reach her, she took off in a sprint to the side.

A little bit of self-doubt crept into her. Was she really doing this? She'd drawn the monster away from the wounded novice, but now she would have to find a way to deal with it herself.

"Elania!" Tanyan's voice sounded clearly through the chaos; he had her spear. He tossed it toward her, and she diverted her direction slightly to bring her closer to its trajectory. It didn’t quite reach her but as soon as it skidded to a stop on the ground, she scooped it up. It was just in time, as the [Razorscale] had quickly caught up to her.

She yelled as she changed direction and rushed forward, aiming the point of the weapon for its throat. It didn't slow down its charge at all, and she felt satisfaction as the point impacted exactly where she had aimed. Which instantly turned to horror as the wood point was deflected to the side and slid off the polished green scales.

It was on her instantly, claws stabbing into her arm as it bit down on her shoulder. Instinctively she turned the impact into a backward roll and planted her feet on the thing's midsection before throwing it off. It hurtled into a stone pillar with a resounding crash.

Her arm and shoulder burned like fire, and she realized the wounds weren't healing immediately. Blood seeped down her side in a light trickle, but the fire seemed to be expanding. Poison? Did poison slow down her [Regeneration]? Didn't she have Poison resistance? Why didn't that help?

A hand fell on her shoulder from behind, and she had to check herself as she whirled and almost punched Tanyan.

"Come on! You can't fight that thing!"

He was right. Her pathetic weapon hadn't stood a chance at harming the armored scales. Elania let him pull her toward their camp, a glance at the wounded novice she had saved causing her to place a hand over her mouth in shock.

The places on his body where he had been wounded looked like they had melted as if he was wax put to flame, a massive pool of blood and melted flesh forming around him. His eyes had disappeared in their sockets, and his face looked like it was frozen in a scream.

Mercifully, she did not have time to stare as a roar from behind sent Tanyan and her into a sprint. She could hear the stone crunching under the monster's feet as it closed the gap quickly. One of the novices had a terrified look on his face as he gestured for them to hurry.

The other was fooling around with a carved stone pillar. It looked like he was desperately trying to rotate one of the stones on the top of it.

"Wait! Wait for us to---" Tanyan was cut off as the activation stone on the pillar finally gave in to the novice's frantic attempts and rotated into place. Suddenly a white bubble erupted at the entrance to the Waystation.

Tanyan skidded to a halt before Elania could, and she bounced off the now shimmering, nearly transparent but solid barrier, her eyes widening in the realization of what had just happened. The novice had trapped them outside with the [Razorscale] with some magic device.